1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:05,520 You probably know this about me, but for those that don't, Advent 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:10,320 is my absolute favorite time of the year and it just so happens 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,040 this is my favorite Sunday of the year. 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:19,840 This is the the Sunday of love as we covered, and it is a great 5 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:25,680 opportunity that Cole has given me to preach to you guys this 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:30,480 Sunday. So I just have a maybe one of 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:34,320 the most important questions to ask you. 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,760 What is love, baby? Don't hurt me? 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,560 Is it a book that's long and boring? 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,800 Is it more than a feeling? The truth is, this is one of the 11 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:52,920 most tired questions that humanity has asked and we've 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,440 asked it forever. In all genres of music, 13 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,520 literature, philosophy, just in community. 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,319 We all ask what is love? And we keep asking that 15 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,920 question. Just like I listed off a few 16 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,400 Boston, Hadaway, The Beatles, Bee Gees, White Snake, and the 17 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:16,280 Magnetic Fields all ask some form of this question. 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,480 And not just in the last like 50 or 60 years, but so do we, and 19 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,600 so is all of humanity. It isn't. 20 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:26,600 It is intrinsic in many senses to the human mind. 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,200 What is love? And equally important, am I 22 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,440 loved? This question is well trodden 23 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,360 because we all want to know. I want to know you want to know 24 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,760 all of us together, we we want to know this question both 25 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:46,480 independently but communally. And we all not just want to know 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:51,720 it, but we want to feel it. We all want to be loved 27 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:57,640 similarly, and sorry guys, we've been down this road as well. 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,120 Dante saw fit to explore the same question. 29 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,880 So just to set the stage because it's one of my favorite scenes 30 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,600 in literature ever, Dante is in heaven. 31 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:17,160 He just got done getting asked by Peter what is faith and by 32 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:21,720 James what is hope? And now he is being questioned 33 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:27,480 by John, the beloved apostle. And of course, John is going to 34 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,560 ask Dante of the three cardinal virtues, what is love? 35 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:35,320 And I'm just going to quote a small portion here. 36 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,240 I don't have it up, so just listen to me. 37 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,200 So this is now John speaking to Dante. 38 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,880 But tell me too, if you feel other chords draw you toward 39 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:51,560 him, that's God, so that you voice aloud all the teeth by 40 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:56,640 which this love grips you. And then Dante internalizes the 41 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:00,200 holy intent of Christ's eagle. I love that he calls John 42 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:03,840 Christ's eagle the apostle. John Christ's eagle was not 43 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,000 hidden. I indeed was made aware of what 44 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,200 he would most have My words declare. 45 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,200 This is John speaking to Dante, and Dante realizing what John 46 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:14,680 has been getting at the whole time. 47 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,840 It's a little hard to picture, but at this time, because of 48 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,720 John's radiance in reflecting God's love, Dante literally goes 49 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,560 blind. So he like can't see at this 50 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,240 point and he's freaking out and this guy is speaking to him and 51 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:32,160 he realizes it's John. And while he's blind, John 52 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,840 questions Dante in more verbose ways than this, but simply, what 53 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,160 is love, Dante? What is love? 54 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:44,560 Frontier? What is love? 55 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:47,200 And we are going to answer that question. 56 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:53,000 However, I would invite you with me to put a pause on that 57 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,120 narrative. The significance of Dante's 58 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,400 answer is earned, and Dante spends a lot of time and two 59 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:05,200 other books, The Inferno or Hell and Pugatorio or Purgatory, 60 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,120 getting to a place where he can comfortably answer that 61 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,040 question. So we as a church have to do 62 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,120 some legwork and earn it as well. 63 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:18,200 Because I am not Dante and we are not about 70 cantos into the 64 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,360 Divine Comedy already. For our text today, we're going 65 00:04:22,360 --> 00:04:27,040 to be looking at a text that seemingly is not about love at 66 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,320 all. In fact, it feels emotive. 67 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,400 Lee, if you hear it when I say it, a little mismatched for this 68 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,600 Sunday, and that's good. That's very good. 69 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:45,120 It's a text laden with shame, with guilt and a series of 70 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:50,040 actions that affect us, us being Christians, Frontier Church, but 71 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:54,840 also us corporately in the most vast sense you can imagine, all 72 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:58,080 of humanity. We are going back to the very 73 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,160 infancy of humanity where it all began. 74 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,680 So if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 75 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,320 3. And please rise, whether in body 76 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,360 or spirit, for the reading of His word should have it up 77 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:17,040 behind me as well. And I'm sorry, we are reading 78 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:19,520 all of it. It's a long 1. 79 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:20,720 Buckle up. Hi, Florence. 80 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:28,000 Hi, honey. All right. 81 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,360 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the 82 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,080 field that the Lord God had made. 83 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:40,520 He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat 84 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,160 of any tree in the garden? And the woman said to the 85 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,680 serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. 86 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:52,760 But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is 87 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,840 in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest 88 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:59,520 you die. But the serpent said to the 89 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,600 woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat 90 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:08,800 it, eat of it, your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, 91 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:11,640 knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the 92 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,080 tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, 93 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:20,560 and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she 94 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,120 took of its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her 95 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,160 husband who was with her, and he ate. 96 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,800 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they 97 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,240 were naked. And they sewed fig leaves 98 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,520 together and made themselves loincloths. 99 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,400 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden 100 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,320 in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid 101 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,480 themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of 102 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,040 the garden. But the Lord called to the man 103 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,640 and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound 104 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:57,000 of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I 105 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,080 hid myself. He said, Who told you that you 106 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,440 were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of 107 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:04,360 which I commanded you not to eat? 108 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:08,920 The man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me 109 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:12,880 the fruit of the tree and I ate. Then the Lord God said to the 110 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:14,800 woman, What is this that you have done? 111 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,560 The woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate. 112 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,760 The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done 113 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,440 this cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts 114 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,600 of the field. On your belly you shall go, and 115 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,960 dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 116 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:37,000 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and I will and 117 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,080 between your offspring and her offspring. 118 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,360 He shall bruise your head and your and you shall bruise his 119 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,320 heel. To the woman. 120 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:49,480 He said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing and 121 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,520 pain. You shall bring forth children. 122 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:55,560 Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over 123 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:58,400 you. And to Adam, he said, Because 124 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:01,040 you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of 125 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,840 the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat it. 126 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,200 Cursed is the ground because of you in pain. 127 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,800 You shall eat of it all the days of your life. 128 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,880 Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you 129 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:15,400 shall eat the plants of the field. 130 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,080 By the sweat of your face. You shall eat bread till you 131 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,080 return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are 132 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,000 dust, and to dust you shall return. 133 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,440 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother 134 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,000 of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam 135 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,760 and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 136 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,919 Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of 137 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,400 us, and knowing good and evil now, lest he reach out his hand 138 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,200 and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. 139 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,880 Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to 140 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:51,840 work the ground from which he was taken. 141 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,880 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden he placed the 142 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,240 cherubim and a flaming sword that turned away or turned every 143 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,440 way to guard the way of the tree of life. 144 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,000 His word is good in Holy Church. You may be seated. 145 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:14,120 I'm going to pray really quick. Heavenly Father 1st, I want to 146 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:17,160 thank you for this opportunity. And a pastor remembered a 147 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,000 conversation five years ago of what this Sunday means to me. 148 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,920 But it's a challenging it's a challenging Sunday. 149 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,640 It's a challenging season for many of us, not just this year. 150 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:34,600 Advent in general. So God work in US stubborn 151 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:43,720 gladness, joy, peace and love in lives, worlds and experiences 152 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:50,520 that seem tumultuous and many reasons to not be joyous, to not 153 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:57,600 be glad in this season create in US such a a a frustratingly 154 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,320 stubborn persistence to sing your praise. 155 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:09,760 Lord, I pray for everyone here in the many known and unknown 156 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:13,920 problems that despite our sentiments and the truth of 157 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:19,120 those difficulties, that we would joyously sing your name 158 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:25,040 this week, that we would be stubborn because of your Spirit 159 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,600 to worship You when we don't feel like it. 160 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:30,480 That's your son's name. I pray. 161 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:35,520 Amen. This Advent season, the theme we 162 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,480 have been working on, and I just said is stubborn gladness and 163 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,240 how Advent answers the pangs, pains and worries of mental 164 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:47,160 health or mental frustrations. And for our final Sunday before 165 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,280 Christmas, I want to show you Frontier Church, how Advent 166 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:57,760 combats shame. If you are a note taker, let me 167 00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:58,960 reopen this. Sorry guys. 168 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,840 If you are a note taker, you can make note that there are two 169 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,240 types of shame that humanity experiences, and they're both 170 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,760 present here. The first one is ontological 171 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,120 shame, and that's a really big theological or philosophical 172 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:14,320 term, so please everyone say it with me. 173 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,400 Ontological one more time, ontological, one more time, 174 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,800 ontological. That is a big philosophical term 175 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,680 that just means being the inner self, the most philosophical 176 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:33,080 core of yourself. That is ontological shame or 177 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,720 shame of being that is linked to the shame of humanity, and we 178 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:42,360 all experience it equally. Regardless of creed, regardless 179 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,040 of how awesome you are at being a parent or a kid or being 180 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,960 single, you can't escape this shame. 181 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,440 And it's present here in Genesis. 182 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:57,840 It's present from the immediacy and it is generated when we see 183 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:02,240 Adam and Eve defied God from the instruction he gave them not to 184 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:06,880 eat this fruit in the prior chapter in Genesis 2 because of 185 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,480 this. This is the shame of sin and it 186 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,200 all started here in this text in them defying God. 187 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:18,240 When Adam and Eve defied God and consume the fruit, humanity, 188 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,520 that's all of us were marred by the that choice. 189 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:24,440 And we have all been marked by this one action. 190 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:28,600 And it is a mark that altered our being ontologically. 191 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,600 We can't escape it. So we think it is a shame of 192 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,200 Adam defying God and it is our shame too. 193 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,680 And the cost of this shame, the choice that was made here 194 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:44,840 initially in Genesis, is eternal, the first sin against 195 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,200 God. It is an eternal shame from 196 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,520 which we seemingly cannot escape, and because of this we 197 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:56,040 see the other two type or the other type of shame and its 198 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,600 consequences present. We see the initial ontological 199 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,320 shame, the first turning from God that affects all of us, and 200 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:08,080 then we see the consequential or active shames, the shame of the 201 00:13:08,080 --> 00:13:12,880 choice and making choices in shame, realizing they are naked, 202 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:18,320 clothing themselves a response to a perceived wrong or concern. 203 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:20,920 And that is the second type of shame. 204 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,240 It's shame of sinful action and consequence. 205 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:28,400 Firstly, as a consequence of that first sin, all of these, 206 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:33,920 these shames of action come from that first shame and that we as 207 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:39,960 a species know this as sin and unfortunately we function in it. 208 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,840 Our daily actions mimic the first action of defiance against 209 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,240 God. We lash out, we disobey, we 210 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:54,560 curse, we kill, we harm, and we are aware, like they were of 211 00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:59,080 those actions. Just like Adam and Eve who sin 212 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,920 and become aware of their state, so much so that they try to 213 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:04,800 cover it up and hide it from God. 214 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:10,520 We too experience the daily consequences of our flight from 215 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,240 God, both in being, but then in the choices that we make. 216 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,600 That first and secondary sense of shame. 217 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,400 Look at the text God, as God is dictating these punishments of 218 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:26,320 Adam and Eve and of the serpent for turning against them, for 219 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:30,720 turning against the good to Eve. There's pain in childbirth and a 220 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,680 desire for the husband. I don't want to spend too much 221 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,960 time on this, but the the, the Hebrew word is teshuka. 222 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,440 It's actually a really complicated word. 223 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:44,600 It would be nice to flatten it and just say look at Genesis 3 224 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,720 and Genesis 4 with Cain. This word is used. 225 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,320 This desire is negatively implicated. 226 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,240 Can't really do that. It's not that simple. 227 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,000 But to say in Song of Solomon where it is used positively, the 228 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,560 Hebrew word seems to be dictated by context. 229 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,960 And here one of the consequences of Eve, because it's in negative 230 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:15,400 connotation, is that this desire is is more than like a a a 231 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,120 normal or a non sinful desire. It isn't good. 232 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,040 And the context dictates that not just the word like we do 233 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,560 here. Sometimes it's a preferred 234 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:30,520 imbalance or denial of unity. And to the man, this consequence 235 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:34,400 of this shame, this action, this ontological state, this change. 236 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,240 Now he must labor in the very earth fights against him, 237 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:45,760 thistles and thorns. He will fight to survive, and 238 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,080 the very things that nourish him will strike against him until he 239 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,440 returns to the ground that's fighting him. 240 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,320 So you know, dust to dust you will return from whence you 241 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,040 came, but the whole time you must wrestle with it to live. 242 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:05,280 And then he has to be taken by the thing that he had to wrestle 243 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,320 with. It's a losing battle, that shame 244 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,480 and consequence of that sin that we all equally experience. 245 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,640 So to put this chapter and I, you know, it's really difficult 246 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,480 because it is such a well well known and enriched chapter. 247 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:28,520 But just to put it in scope here with the shame of this, what we 248 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:35,920 see, beloved, is a waterfall, a cascade of first cause and 249 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:41,440 effect for man, the the shame of original sin that Mars us all, 250 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,000 Adam and Eve eating of the fruit, changing the autological 251 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,920 being of man to that of sinful, A sinful state. 252 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,240 The next cascade, the deluge, continues, Adam and Eve's shame 253 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,640 in awareness for their wrongdoing, the shame of 254 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,240 actions, and then finally, because of the shame of 255 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,160 wrongdoing and our new state, their new state, there are 256 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:10,520 consequences, individual consequences for those first two 257 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:15,800 shames, and we also experience consequence for that shame and 258 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,920 those shames. We experience them to this day 259 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:23,560 on top of our own consequences. In that secondary category, when 260 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:28,480 you sin, there are consequences to your shame that are in real 261 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:31,880 life. If you, you know, yell at your 262 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:36,800 spouse, there are consequences to wrongly handling how you 263 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,600 communicate with the person you love. 264 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:42,840 If you steal, there are supposed sometimes they are not, but 265 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,160 there are consequences for theft. 266 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:48,880 There are consequences for everything that we do against 267 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,360 God that is wrong. And we all carry these shames 268 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:57,720 and these consequences in response to what happened here 269 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,360 in Genesis in the garden, that same cascade. 270 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,280 We experience it in real time, even though it is across time 271 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:11,560 from us. I'm sorry, that's really dense 272 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,320 for for Advent. So I promise, and I ask you guys 273 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,000 to hold on because if you are wondering like I was Casey, 274 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:23,480 what's love got to do with it? Another song quote. 275 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:29,120 Hold on because I think when we enter Advent church, a lot of 276 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,480 us, and that's myself, bring shame. 277 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,800 Hi Julian into the celebration, see you buddy. 278 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,360 It is important that we reconcile the garden because for 279 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:51,360 many of us today, see you buddy. Today our voices are soft, my 280 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:57,000 voice was soft, our thoughts church are clouded and our self 281 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,040 loathing is at an all time high this season. 282 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,320 Why, you may think to yourself, I don't deserve to celebrate. 283 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,080 I was a monster. I berated my spouse or maybe 284 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,640 even struck them. I was a glutton or I acted in 285 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,000 lust and cheated. I acted in hate. 286 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:18,000 I struck my brother or sister. I hate myself. 287 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:25,080 My life does not warrant the warmth and volume of the Advent 288 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,640 season. God, I can't feel the warmth. 289 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:32,080 You may be thinking, Casey, you don't have to talk about the 290 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:35,160 gardener shame. I know the shame. 291 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,680 Well, I'm in the shame. I barely want to be here. 292 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:40,520 I don't think I deserve it this season. 293 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,080 I wish it were quiet and I wasn't expected to sing. 294 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:52,880 And beloved, my response to you is that I think and have thought 295 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:59,440 those same words this morning all week. 296 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,200 All season and it is my favorite season and I I wrestle with that 297 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,080 year after year. I wrestle with the irony of this 298 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,720 being my favorite season. I love Advent more than any 299 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,440 other time and sometimes I don't think I should celebrate. 300 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,320 I am ashamed. I am naked and realizing it like 301 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,120 Adam and Eve did in the garden. I have sinned against God. 302 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,720 What do we do? Frontier Church. 303 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,120 I don't want to sing. I'm embarrassed for all the 304 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:33,520 wrong that I do. So what do we do? 305 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:41,120 Well, tis the season. And I would contend that that is 306 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:47,840 precisely the point of Advent. Advent is God's final and 307 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:53,240 perfect contention against our myriad shames, both ontological 308 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:58,760 and active shames. Advent is God's final and 309 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,000 perfect contention against everything that went wrong in 310 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,880 the garden that affects us all today, and it answers not only 311 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,000 the problem of the garden, but the continued problems that we 312 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,520 experience. It combats those sentiments that 313 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,920 would prevent us from worshipping today. 314 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:21,040 To change pace a little bit, you'll remember in the opening I 315 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,960 talked about John the Apostle asking Dante what is love baby, 316 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:30,040 don't hurt me. We are going to let Dante answer 317 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,560 that question because I believe it is very important for 318 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:40,760 reconciling our shame. So to go back, Don or John asked 319 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,160 Dante who's blind by the brilliance of of John's 320 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,040 faithfulness in heaven, what is love? 321 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,400 And there's a little preamble response, but I want to read a 322 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:55,480 few lines of John's response here because I think I think it 323 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,960 is really beautiful and I think it is where our hearts posture 324 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,080 should be an advent. Because John, remember he had 325 00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:05,120 gone through hell, he had seen people working through 326 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,000 purgatory. And I'm not saying his scope of 327 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,280 what those look like is real, but the sentiment of knowing 328 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,400 hell exists, of working and failing. 329 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:17,400 He's seen all of that. He's seen the effect and 330 00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,200 experiences and acted in the effects of the garden like we 331 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,600 have. And when John asked him what is 332 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:29,640 love, Dante finally responds. My love results from all those 333 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:34,120 things whose bite can bring the heart to turn to God, the 334 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:40,480 world's existence and mine, the death that he sustained, that I 335 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:46,200 might live, and that which is the hope of all believers, as it 336 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:51,080 is my hope together. Sorry, that's one of my favorite 337 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:52,760 things ever written in any language. 338 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:59,160 Do you see that church? Do you see Dante's definition of 339 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,200 love is generated and based on Jesus Christ? 340 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,520 It's based the whole conception of what love is to Dante is 341 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,640 based on the life of Jesus Christ. 342 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,960 I know he says the death, but we include the incarnation. 343 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:20,440 It's assumed in the text God made flesh for us to save us. 344 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,200 The answer to what is love church is what Russell said. 345 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,600 God is love and he came to save us. 346 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,680 That is the genesis of love. If the genesis of our shame is 347 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:36,000 found in Genesis 3, the genesis of love and ultimate conqueror 348 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,960 of that shame would be the birth of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. 349 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,080 It would be the word of God become flesh to save us. 350 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:48,120 To Athanasius, a church father who was kicked out of the church 351 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:50,680 a few times, his nickname is Contra Mundum. 352 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,560 In Latin that means against the world. 353 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,960 Because when the church was straying away from the truth, he 354 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,840 kept fighting for the divinity of Jesus Christ. 355 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,480 Famously his book on the Incarnation. 356 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,400 In the beginning, he says that the incarnation is the central 357 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,080 and most pivotal act of love in time. 358 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,920 In all of time, the incarnation is the most pivotal and singular 359 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,400 act of love by which all other love is defined. 360 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,320 And God did that for us. He said it was God's focal point 361 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,440 of perfect love that conquered death and corruption. 362 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,560 It conquered our shame, both shames, that being shame, 363 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,560 ontological shame, and the day-to-day shame. 364 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,840 To continue in the same thought, Carl Bart famously described the 365 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,440 incarnation in the beginning of his commentary on Romans, which 366 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,160 is a mammoth but very worth your time, he said. 367 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,920 Liz, hang on, you'll like this one because it's math related. 368 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,360 He said. In geometrical terms, imagine 369 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,560 all of creation as a fixed and perfect circle. 370 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,120 So there is a start and an end. As much as we can infinitely 371 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:02,400 imagine through all of time creation, it is fixed in time. 372 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,960 That is a circle. And God being an infinite line 373 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,400 of perfection, truly in the sense of a line, goes on in both 374 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:11,880 directions forever. That is Infinity beyond your 375 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:18,120 imagination, and the incarnation is where on like one pixel the 376 00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:22,840 Infinity of perfection and goodness intersects time, and in 377 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:28,400 that one drop corrects and perfects the entire circle, Carl 378 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,240 Bart said. That is the incarnation of 379 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,280 Christ in time. It is the thing that makes the 380 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:40,600 circle of time good and loved. God saw the shame and 381 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,720 consequences of the garden and said I will save you. 382 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,200 Why I am ashamed, I feel horrible. 383 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,040 God, don't you, don't you understand? 384 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,000 You can't save me. I have sinned. 385 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:59,040 I am naked in the garden. Cast me out and God said, I know 386 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,560 and I will love you, Church. Think of John 316 For God so 387 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:07,720 loved the world that he sent His one and only begotten Son to 388 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,480 save him. That is the love of the 389 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,080 incarnation. It has conquered the shame of 390 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:19,560 the garden and all of your shames, That initial ontological 391 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,680 shame that changed all of humanity, the trajectory from 392 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,480 that one point. All of us changed through all of 393 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:29,680 time, and then all of the myriad of shames of daily sinning 394 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,440 against God. The incarnation obliterated 395 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:35,720 that. God's faithfulness and love 396 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:40,000 obliterated that. Of course, church, the angels 397 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,360 would sing in Luke 2. Of course they would sing. 398 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,000 God looked at a world full of shame and said, I will love you 399 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,680 more than the shame that damns you. 400 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,240 That is why we sing so loud at Advent. 401 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,480 That's why when you are feeling like you don't want to sing at 402 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,840 Advent, I don't want to sing. I don't have the voice, the 403 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:03,200 capacity. I'm tired. 404 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,120 Lord, I'm upset with myself. It doesn't mean we ignore that. 405 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,080 That doesn't go away. Advent is not about ignoring 406 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:11,880 things. Advent is about a course, 407 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:17,680 perfect course correction and the opportunity to Despite that 408 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:23,080 experience, sing anyway by the grace of God to say that we are 409 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,080 complex creatures in that despite I am still struggling, 410 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,960 God, you have enabled me through your incarnation to sing in 411 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,360 spite of that complexity, that struggle. 412 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:38,800 That is why we sing so loud, because God came knowing the 413 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:44,720 shame and the sin of humanity. And he said I love you to all of 414 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,920 humanity. He said I love you to every 415 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,400 church. He said I love you to us 416 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,000 frontier. He said I love you to me Casey. 417 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,440 He said I love you despite your shame. 418 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:03,080 So Church, do not let shame rule you in this season. 419 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,800 It's not easy. You're going to struggle. 420 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,000 But the incarnation, his coming empowers you. 421 00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,880 There is hope, there is joy and there is peace ultimately 422 00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,440 because of his love in the incarnation at Advent. 423 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:25,040 So Church claw fight tooth and nail dragging across concrete to 424 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,560 worship with your full and present heart this week. 425 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:32,040 Not saying it's going to be easy, I'm saying He is worthy 426 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:36,480 and He empowers you to do this. Despite the myriad shames that 427 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:41,720 we experience because of Advent. The very shame that you 428 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,840 experienced that marred your very soul has been conquered. 429 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,720 It was course corrected and God becoming flesh. 430 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,840 Jesus Christ has come and loved you so perfectly in his life and 431 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,800 death that you can be free of those shames. 432 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,360 That doesn't mean that we are free of repentance, 433 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,800 reconciliation, that we don't make mistakes. 434 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:07,880 Of course, when you mess up, confess, ask for forgiveness, 435 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:12,200 but it means that we are no longer drags in that sin. 436 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:18,160 It no longer owns and conquers us because of the incarnation in 437 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:21,560 this season. And really, to be honest, every 438 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:27,560 other season of life, my charge to you, Frontier Church, is to 439 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,720 live a life that is abstract of the permeating, festering shame 440 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,440 of sinful existence. Repent, forgive humbly when 441 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,040 somebody sins against you and is in shame, and also forgive 442 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,640 joyfully. Love well even to death as 443 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,360 Christ did, Dante says at the end of this answer. 444 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:55,120 A little while later when reflecting on Jesus, Dante's 445 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,880 response is really practical. He says I love according to the 446 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:04,800 good he gave to them. Dante and reflecting on Jesus 447 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:09,200 life and death says that his response as a believer is to 448 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,240 love like Jesus did in the incarnation, living and dying 449 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,880 according to how Jesus did to love others. 450 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:24,320 And I think about that in Advent as we love and die and fight not 451 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,040 only to worship but to serve others despite our attire. 452 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,000 Dante is ultimately saying church I will love according to 453 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:33,920 the work God laid out to love them. 454 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:38,080 And remember in Genesis 3, if it all cascaded to a mess that 455 00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:44,760 seemed improbable, unfixable, goodness sake, life altering in 456 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:50,840 the most literal sense to where we were all dead before sin, God 457 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,040 laid out a plan in the incarnation that we celebrate an 458 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:59,000 advent to fix that shame. So Dante's response and our 459 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:05,120 response should be, I will love because God loves and has loved 460 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,320 me. That is the love that conquered 461 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,280 shame church. That's why this is my favorite 462 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:15,080 Sunday of the whole year, the incarnation God coming down and 463 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:19,320 saying, I will love you so perfectly that I will conquer 464 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:23,240 your shame. I will save you from that first 465 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,840 sin that we all experience, and I will empower you and save you 466 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,600 from the multitude of pains that you have committed against me. 467 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:34,560 Still, church, encourage each other. 468 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,920 Seek out somebody struggling. Say, I know the pain doesn't go 469 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:42,320 away, but I'm going to sing next to you. 470 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,520 It's still messy because of those secondary shames. 471 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,440 Even if you know we're saved from that ontological shame that 472 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,440 was experienced in the garden as believers because of Jesus 473 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:57,640 Christ, it doesn't mean all the problems just immediately go 474 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,280 away. We still sin. 475 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,240 Do not let your brother or sister hide in shame. 476 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,760 Encourage them to repent and invite them to be joyous this 477 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:09,880 season. For God loves us. 478 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,600 He loves you and it's called them out of shame. 479 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,040 He's called us all out of death and sin through his birth, this 480 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,400 Advent season that we celebrate, and his death and his perfect 481 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,560 life. So this week, Church, as we 482 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:28,400 March towards Christmas, do not hide in the dark for fear of the 483 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,920 wickedness or shame of yourself that we all inherited because of 484 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:37,640 the story of Genesis 3. God has come for you and He's 485 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:40,800 called you out of the shadows into the warmth of his love and 486 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,880 light. Sing loud despite yourself. 487 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,160 Like I said, we are complex creatures. 488 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:50,320 I know well how feelings can manipulate how you act. 489 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:54,600 Church act in spite of negative feelings because of God's love 490 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,480 in the incarnation. When your soul is weary and 491 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,800 burdened with shame, call out to God with a loud voice in joy and 492 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:05,720 He will answer. God's love has defeated the 493 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,520 shame of the Garden Church, and it has saved you. 494 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,360 That is this Sunday when we celebrate the love of Advent. 495 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:21,320 It is God's perfected love in the Incarnation at the very end 496 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,400 of the Divine Comedy. Forgive me, I've already spoiled 497 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:24,760 some of it. I'm going to actually spoil the 498 00:33:24,760 --> 00:33:26,880 end of it. Many of you won't be able to see 499 00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:29,040 this, but I actually have a phone case. 500 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:34,200 That's Gustav Dorres, the Empyrion Dante looking at a 501 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,440 cloud of angels and circling the Trinity as he's about to look at 502 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,920 it's very famous wood etch, burned wood etch painting by the 503 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:47,760 French artist Gustav Dore for the Divine Comedy a few 100 504 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:52,160 years ago. But Dante is permitted after 505 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,480 some more testing to look at the Trinity and it's at the very end 506 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,080 of the Divine Comedy and it's, I love this section so much and 507 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,920 Will is here and he's heard me talk about it. 508 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:08,080 So I'm sorry, Will. I think it is one of the best 509 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:12,880 expressions of pushing language to it's very mechanical limit 510 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,520 and creative limit to, and this is an imperfection. 511 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,560 But for a human to try and describe the experience in human 512 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:25,719 form, what it's like to look at God in perfection, not the human 513 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,080 perfection, but God in perfection and human trying to 514 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,679 imagine it. And he does this through what 515 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:35,679 are called descending elevated similes. 516 00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:39,920 That's a poetical term that is for Dante, where every time he's 517 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,400 going to try to describe God, he's going to use a simile to 518 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,800 liken himself to smaller and smaller things. 519 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,560 So every time he looks at God, God gets bigger and bigger. 520 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,679 The picture gets more perfect, but he can't understand it 521 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:55,120 because he's human. So it's like God is so big, but 522 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,920 I am like an infant, an infant suckling at night. 523 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,560 Like he just keeps lowering himself every time he talks 524 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,600 about God. I am an Ant who cannot fathom. 525 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:06,280 And it's really beautiful mechanically because it 526 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:10,000 describes the awesomeness of God's perfection and love. 527 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,440 And he gets to glimpse it. And at the very end, I always 528 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,280 think about this in Advent, the famous line, the last thing 529 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,200 Dante records before he's like, my mind is unraveling. 530 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,160 I can't handle this. I'm not going to remember it 531 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,520 all, but it's so beautiful and I feel God's love. 532 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:32,000 His last reflection is that in seeing the Trinity loving and 533 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:37,360 loving him and everything, he feels his will aligning to God's 534 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,800 and the love that comes from God all the way through time. 535 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:46,680 And reflecting on God's love, he says the same love that moves 536 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:51,600 the sun and the other stars. And I think about that, that God 537 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:58,000 in his power and in his might, looked at us shameful, sinning 538 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:03,400 creatures and became like us, humbled himself, incarnated into 539 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:08,560 the form of a baby, the very Maker and mover of the cosmos of 540 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,560 things much greater in scope than us, became the form of a 541 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:18,280 child, absconded that power because he loves you. 542 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:20,480 Church. That is the Advent season. 543 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:26,360 Go in peace this season, worshiping loudly, dealing with 544 00:36:26,360 --> 00:36:31,120 complex emotions, and choosing to the best of your ability to 545 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:34,840 love, to be loved, and to receive the warmth of the Advent 546 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:36,520 season. Let's pray. 547 00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:47,720 Heavenly Father, I petition you today because it is difficult to 548 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:50,880 celebrate this season. I can think of many, many 549 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:55,480 reasons, Namely, one of our our congregants who's in Iowa City 550 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,200 just texted a couple of friends with appendicitis this morning. 551 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:06,200 He's now in the hospital. So we pray for Josh Benton as he 552 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,080 had to go into the hospital this morning. 553 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:09,920 They're already dealing with so much. 554 00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:13,720 God preserve him. I pray for Lauren, for strength, 555 00:37:13,720 --> 00:37:17,600 for Lauren to worship and to experience love this season. 556 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:20,800 They are fighting for joy Church. 557 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,440 May we fight well alongside them. 558 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,920 I pray for all the unknown pains and pangs this season, all the 559 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:31,440 shames that would prevent us from loving and worshipping you. 560 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,880 There's so many I can think of, so many personal excuses why I 561 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:40,600 shouldn't sing one. God crush that in me. 562 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:47,640 Make me and a light of your love, make me stubborn with 563 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,240 gladness that is not conquered by all the pains that would pull 564 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:54,360 me away from you, the evil choices that I have made. 565 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,880 You are worthy of worship. God, thank you for the 566 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:01,360 opportunity to worship and to love you and for sending your 567 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,880 Son to save us. It's your son's name, I pray. 568 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:04,800 Amen.