By the grace of God, our church has grown significantly over the years. Also by the grace of God, our church has actually survived through these years.
We are now facing the temptations and obstacles that churches our size and our age have always faced. When we were young and small, and no one had any children older than two, it was easy to be critical of those Christians whose walk with Jesus was not new and fresh and ignorant like ours was. Now that we are thirty years down the road, we discover that falling from your first love is easier than we thought—back then when other people were doing it.
And so this is a new commandment I bring to you . . . but it is not new at all. Love one another. I say this knowing that many of you have been doing exactly that, and this exhortation should be heard by you as nothing other than “do so more and more.” I am speaking here to far more than a handful. Many of you need to be encouraged that your ongoing labors of love are not in vain, and that God sees and delights in your works of kindness. As your pastor, I see many examples of this kind of thing—saw a glorious one yesterday, in fact.
But there are some who have accustomed themselves to the culture of this place, and who have figured out ways to insulate their sin from the surrounding expectations. The size and age of our congregation makes this possible. But those who hear the word without doing it deceive themselves. Hearing sermons about loving your wife without actually loving her is not a part-way solution. Knowing that you are to respect and honor your husband without giving yourself to it is the way of folly, not self-affirmation.
So love others, starting with the closest. Be loyal to your people. Give yourself away to them. Get wisdom. Worship God. Love Him, and hate all sin. But in particular, learn to hate the sin of middle-aged congregations.