Jun. 14, 2026

Have you ever been asked whether you'd want your most difficult person to be your neighbor in heaven?   Because God freely honored and served us through Jesus — long before we deserved it — we should turn around and do the same for every person He puts in our path.

Pastor Lance's sermon begins at 17:33 min into the video. The music “10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)", "Gratitude", "Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest)", and “May The Words Of My Mouth” are licensed under CCLI Copyright #2723035 and Streaming Media #22024223 licenses.

Pastor Lance Green stepped in to continue the "One Anothers" series this week, anchoring his message in Romans 12:9–21. His focus was honoring and serving one another — and he opened with a question that set the tone for everything that followed: why are all 52 "One Anothers" found only in the New Testament?

Why the ”One Anothers” Belong to the Church - The Old Testament addressed a single family — Israel — a people with a shared history, culture, and law. The New Testament is different. Those drawn into the church come from every nation, background, and language, with no common foundation except Jesus. The “One Anothers”, Lance explained, are how this unlikely community learns to live and love together. They are "the badge that we wear as the church, the billboard, the sign of our life that points to, 'I'm a follower of Jesus, and you know that by how I love those around me.'"

Honor: Given, Not Earned - Lance defined honor using the Greek word timē — to regard someone with high esteem, to value them above yourself. Honor is freely given, not earned. He separated it from respect: you may not respect a politician's decisions, but you are still called to honor them — even as Paul wrote this very command while believers were being executed by the Roman government. And service, he said, is how honor is shown. Using a Christmas tree image: love is the trunk, the “One Anothers” are the branches, and every act of service — holding a door, greeting a visitor, making space — is an ornament hung on those branches.

Honor God First - Before talking about honoring others, Lance paused to examine whether our hearts are first honoring God. Are we giving Him our best throughout the whole week, or only when it fits the schedule? "Do I see that I am invited into the throne room of the eternal God? Do I value that time?" He called the room to return to their first love before trying to love anyone else well.

Honoring in the Church, at Home, and Beyond - In the church, Lance challenged everyone to extend "the presidential treatment" — the same honor you'd show the president — to every single person who walks through the doors, because "you are co-heirs with Jesus." He then turned the focus toward home, citing 1 Peter 3:7 and Ephesians 5:25 for husbands, and Exodus 20:12 for children. Even when it's hard: "Don't wait to show honor when you deem them worthy. Show them honor because Christ died for them too."

He also shared the story of Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, who recounted years later being deeply moved when a single Christian at one of his shows handed him a Gideon Bible. Of all the believers at that show, only one honored him enough to act. "Who are the people in your life that you just need to be the word of the Gospel to?"

Receive and Give Impartially - Lance wrapped with two challenges. On receiving honor: don't refuse help out of false humility — "Don't rob other people of the blessing of wanting to honor you." On giving: James 2:1–7 warns sharply against showing partiality to the well-dressed while ignoring the poor. Everyone who walks through those doors — president or homeless man — deserves the same love.

He closed with the story of a difficult patient at Canyon Hand Therapy in Cody, whose demanding behavior exhausted the whole staff — until the Holy Spirit quietly asked, "Would you like this man to be your neighbor in heaven?" The question changed everything. Lance got out a ruler, set the table to the exact right height, and built a full custom playlist called Killing with Kindness. "We don't honor and serve and love for grace — we honor and serve from grace."