1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:08,000 Before the service Chris had a picture of free range chickens. 2 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:14,080 He grew up and his parents had free range chickens in the 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,960 garden and they were extremely happy and healthy. 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:23,080 And also there's a lot of mess and that's our aim at hope. 5 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:28,360 It's we don't want to have battery farmed people. 6 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,759 It's a very, very serious point I'm making that are weak and 7 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:37,840 anaemic and will kind of produce the goods, but a kind of real 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,560 deficit. So we pay a price in that. 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,440 It's not, we're not going to be a battery farm church. 10 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,040 We're just not going to be that. And I think when we've paid that 11 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,320 price, we can know that we will be healthy and well because 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,120 we'll be deeply relationally connected with God and each 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,520 other and everyone. So I just want to kind of like 14 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,760 show this is what lead leadership is making these 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:12,760 choices that are costly because we are convinced that a more 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,120 relational way to live is the way God's designed us to live. 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,760 And that's very hard to put into a religious context, but we're 18 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,840 committed to that. So I wanted to share that word 19 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,240 free range chickens. We're going to produce healthy 20 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:35,240 eggs and mess. And today we've got Bill 21 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:40,440 speaking 3rd on the series of crucifixion. 22 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,480 And we are wrestling with a big conversation that's going on. 23 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,640 And we want hope to be really on the front foot of this 24 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,040 conversation about really why did Jesus die? 25 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,600 That's a big conversation now when you came here, like maybe 26 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,400 screaming with your kids in the car or you're like had a big 27 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,120 night and you're just kind of wanting to have a decent Sunday 28 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:05,880 or you've got a really stressful job. 29 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,360 You might be thinking, why the heck do we keep thinking about 30 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,880 why Jesus died? Just tell me how to live and 31 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,760 have a happy life and, you know, give me a pat on the back and 32 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,240 send me off. And in some ways, we can never 33 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,800 go wrong through this whole process with just loving God and 34 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,800 loving our neighbour. If you want to know how to live 35 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:31,080 a happy life, love God and love our neighbour and we will be 36 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,040 fine on that for the rest of our lives. 37 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:36,000 We could never think or meditate on anything beyond that. 38 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,360 And at the same time, what we're digging into is the nature of 39 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,720 this God we're loving and there and the nature of the neighbour 40 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,920 we're loving. So it's helping us to understand 41 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,720 who God is, who humans are and how we're designed to be. 42 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,920 So we're wrestling with some complex and controversial 43 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:58,480 issues. And what Chris and I are going 44 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,880 to do is we're kind of sitting with these things and then 45 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,560 probably around the summer, maybe come through to a place of 46 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,440 Kate. How then do we live, which is 47 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,840 the main point of this? And Bill will be, he's doing one 48 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:16,120 more set of three on faith in the summer term and then three 49 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,240 in September of therefore how do we live? 50 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,400 So it kind of fits in with that sense of, OK, in conclusion, 51 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,520 having wrestled through what we think the nature of God is and 52 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:30,160 how who Jesus is and, and what his death meant, we then can be 53 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,080 people who are equipped to live well. 54 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:39,280 So bear with us in this process. The image I keep getting is the 55 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,320 yeast in the dough if anyone's actually made bread from 56 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,400 scratch, rather than the fake version, which is you just put 57 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,440 stuff in a KitchenAid and let it sit there for about 5 hours. 58 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,800 What I mean is people who actually need, you know, like 59 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,440 really need with their arms and hands every single day yeast 60 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,360 into a dough. Jesus said that's all the 61 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,600 Kingdom of God is. Like there's a, there's a kind 62 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:08,600 of a wrestling and a, a process and a fermentation that happens. 63 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,320 That isn't that that makes us fitter and stronger and produces 64 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:16,040 good bread, but it, it's not, it's not a supermarket loaf. 65 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,399 So that's what we're doing and we won't need to do it for a 66 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:22,640 very long time. So you can breathe on that. 67 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,800 But today we are going to look at the third in Bill's 68 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,480 miniseries. He's just been doing on the 69 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:30,400 crucifixion, digging into Romans. 70 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,880 And what we all need is revelation. 71 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,120 We need literally God to reveal reality to us. 72 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,520 This isn't something we can get through intellect. 73 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,560 The flesh counts for nothing. The flesh resists the reality of 74 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,400 God. The flesh can't understand the 75 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:47,760 things of God. So we need to humble ourselves. 76 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,200 It's an anti elitist way of life. 77 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:51,800 We literally need to humble ourselves. 78 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,920 Every single person, old or young, whatever our background 79 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,120 is, we need to humble ourselves and ask God for revelation. 80 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:03,080 So we're going to do that now as Bill speaks, God, thank you that 81 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,240 you love to reveal yourself to us. 82 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:11,560 And I've just been reading in Luke, when you say the son, the 83 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,920 father can only reveal the son and the son can only reveal the 84 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,080 father. And, and we, we need you to 85 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,560 reveal yourself to us. We need you to do that. 86 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,400 We need you literally to unveil our hearts and minds so we see 87 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:27,520 more clearly. The eyes of our hearts are 88 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:30,120 enlightened that we may know you better and know being 89 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,760 experienced you. And so we welcome you today. 90 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,000 We welcome you to come through this morning through Bill's 91 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:41,840 teaching, through what we perceive in Romans, through our 92 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:43,560 conversations. We welcome you. 93 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,400 We want to know you more and experience you more so that we 94 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:51,440 can fulfil that command for life, to love God and love our 95 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,480 neighbour as ourselves. Amen. 96 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:03,200 Thank you Alice. OK, you ready for more Romans? 97 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:09,560 Here we go. This is Romans 6 started last 98 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:11,040 week. We were looking at Romans 5. 99 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:17,760 This is Romans 6 from verse one. First 11 verses. 100 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,320 What shall we say then? Should we go on sinning so that 101 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,240 grace may increase? By no means. 102 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,360 We are those who've died to sin. How can we live in it any 103 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,560 longer? Or don't you know that all of us 104 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:35,680 who are baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his 105 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,360 death? We were therefore buried with 106 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,120 Him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was 107 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,400 raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may 108 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,040 live a new life. For if we've been united with 109 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:54,520 Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with 110 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,440 Him in a resurrection like His. For we know that our old self 111 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,800 was crucified with Him, so that the body ruled by sin might be 112 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,960 done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, 113 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,840 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 114 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,960 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live 115 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,760 with Him, for we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, 116 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,720 he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over 117 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,120 him. The death he died, he died to 118 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:28,000 sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 119 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,920 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but 120 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:37,400 alive to God in Christ Jesus. You may notice a #10 in there. 121 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,320 I, I, I missed one. I normally remove the the verse 122 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:45,080 numbers when I prepare a slide and one slipped through the net. 123 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,080 So I apologise for that. 10 Yeah, getting You're right, 124 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,360 Andrew, I can only apologise. I'm the only one to blame. 125 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,920 Thank you for that feedback. So I got a new phone, new mobile 126 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:04,440 about four weeks ago. You know how some people when it 127 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,520 comes to technology, they're, I think they're called early 128 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,640 adopters. They like to have the latest 129 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,040 thing. Now. 130 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,720 I don't know what the name is for the other end of the scale, 131 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,320 but I'm the other end. Luddite is probably sorry, 132 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,880 whatever techno fear is what I have. 133 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,200 So I had an 8 year old phone. It was called a who are we? 134 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,240 Which was great. You know, every time I got a 135 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,960 text it was like it asked me this philosophical question and 136 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,240 it was a good question. You know, who are we really? 137 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:45,600 Anyway, after eight years, my who are we conked out. 138 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,600 So I had to get a new phone and it's been 8 years since I've got 139 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,960 a new phone. And the process of I spent a 140 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:58,600 whole evening reloading all my apps as I believe they're 141 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:02,240 called. And every single app they were 142 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,000 like these terms that, you know, you have to read through the 143 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,680 terms and conditions. And so I got the first one and I 144 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:13,680 got down to clause 17 and I thought, this is ridiculous. 145 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,360 Do people actually read this stuff? 146 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,000 Well, that's what I conclude. I mean, it's you all know this 147 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,480 because you get the latest phone every six months. 148 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,360 This is news to me. And I I every single app, you 149 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,040 know, after after half an hour, I was a pro. 150 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:31,880 I was going, yeah, accept, accept. 151 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,240 Yeah, whatever. Yeah, yeah, fine. 152 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:45,600 Now this passage I would suggest is like the small print for 153 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:51,080 baptism, OK, because I'm, I, I didn't read the small print for 154 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:53,480 all my phone, all, all my apps on my phone. 155 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:55,760 I just clicked through and I said yeah, yeah, I'll sign up 156 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,040 for that. I didn't read, I didn't check 157 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,000 the detail. I didn't really know what I was 158 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,440 signing up for. Here's my question. 159 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:07,360 When you were baptised, if you've been baptised, did you 160 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,560 read the small print? Did you realise what you were 161 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:15,280 signing up for? Did you realise that you were 162 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:20,640 announcing your own death? I didn't. 163 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:26,520 I mean I, I've had three goes at being baptised to be honest. 164 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,960 Now did I understand what I was doing in any of those 3 165 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,640 attempts? Probably not really. 166 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,600 I mean, in my own defence, the first one was when I was six 167 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,920 months old, so I didn't didn't really know what was going on. 168 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:46,600 Apparently our dog bit the vicar, that's according to my 169 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,880 mother. But whether the dog bit the 170 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,280 vicar or not, I've no idea. I don't remember anything about 171 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:53,360 it. I was six months old. 172 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:58,800 But the second attempt or kind of attempt was I was 16. 173 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,520 I'd become a Christian at school and the thing you did at my 174 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,280 school, if you were a Christian, was you got confirmed. 175 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,680 So I did the confirmation thing because it's what you did. 176 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,760 Did I know what I was doing? It was just what we did. 177 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,520 And then when when I was a student, I was a student in 178 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,080 Manchester at Manchester, Polly and I went to this wild and 179 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,960 crazy church that told me that getting confirmed being 180 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,360 sprinkled as a baby and then confirmed that didn't count. 181 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:33,360 What you wanted was proper baptism, which meant being an 182 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,440 adult and being in a swimming pool in Manchester with two 183 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,960 blokes pushing you under the water and, you know, lots of 184 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,640 people watching. Now that's proper baptism with a 185 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,920 capital B. Did I understand that time? 186 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,400 I mean, I should have got the message, you know, there was 187 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,560 these two people trying to drown me. 188 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,520 You know, I'd if, if I'd been paying attention, I'd have 189 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:01,200 realised that it was somehow to do with death, but I hadn't read 190 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:06,560 the small print. I love verse 3 in this. 191 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:12,200 Don't you know, I hear Paul saying to me, don't you realise, 192 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,800 don't you realise Bill, what this is all about? 193 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:19,920 Aren't you paying attention? Don't you know that you're 194 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,360 telling people that you're choosing to die? 195 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:30,160 Baptizo is is a Greek word and it just means immerse. 196 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:35,560 It just means immerse and Paul is saying if you're immersed in 197 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:41,240 Christ, if you're in Christ, then you're immersed into his 198 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,120 death. That's what you're doing. 199 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,440 That's what we're announcing when we get baptised. 200 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,520 That's the contract we're signing up for. 201 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:54,360 Don't you know? Did you not read the small 202 00:12:54,360 --> 00:13:01,000 print? One thing I've noticed in this 203 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,560 whole series which has been going on for months and months 204 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:10,560 is when I was told the gospel, the gospel I heard 40 years ago, 205 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:20,120 40-5 years ago, the person kind of justify or or backed it up by 206 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:26,840 quoting verses from Romans. And they quoted Romans 323 and 207 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,040 they quoted Romans 623 and Romans 5 verse 8. 208 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:36,080 And they said, look, this proves that the message is Jesus has 209 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,960 died for your sins. Therefore if you accept him into 210 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:41,040 your life, you will go to heaven when you die. 211 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,800 And here's the proof. These verses from Romans, and 212 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:50,680 what I've been trying to do is read Romans as though it is a 213 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:55,960 letter, as though it is a coherent argument, as though all 214 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,360 the bits join up into a single message. 215 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,840 And what I discover is I find myself thinking again and again, 216 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,800 where's Paul getting this stuff from? 217 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:09,880 I mean, hasn't he heard the gospel? 218 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:16,720 Doesn't he know that? Romans 323 says, and somehow, 219 00:14:18,560 --> 00:14:23,760 Well, The thing is if you take a single verse out of context and 220 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,200 join it with another verse taken out of context and then a third, 221 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,760 you can pretty much get the Bible to say whatever you want. 222 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,920 Now, I'm not saying that that gospel is rubbish. 223 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:40,160 I think it contains lots of truth, but it's a very strange 224 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,560 experience to be reading through Romans and thinking, wow, this 225 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:48,320 is new, this is original. I mean, last week it was about 226 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,560 Adam and Genesis one to three and the Garden of Eden. 227 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,640 This week it's about baptism. You know, when have you been in 228 00:14:55,640 --> 00:15:00,640 a gospel presentation, a gospel meeting, and it's been about the 229 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:05,080 Garden of Eden. But I would suggest that this is 230 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:09,680 that, that Paul's message is completely coherent, it's 231 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,600 logical, it fits together, it's a single argument. 232 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,360 It makes sense. One of my favourite Tom Wright 233 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:22,240 quotes is versus mean what they mean within paragraphs. 234 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:26,200 Paragraphs mean what they mean within chapters. 235 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,560 Chapters mean what they mean within letters. 236 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,200 If you put it back into context, you get the full picture. 237 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,920 So for example, last week. Do you remember last week? 238 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:45,360 If you were here, we looked at how in Romans 5, Paul compares 239 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:51,560 the story of Adam in the garden and the story of Jesus in the 240 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,880 garden. The story of Jesus life, his 241 00:15:54,880 --> 00:16:00,040 death and his resurrection and the conclusion, the conclusion 242 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:05,800 at the end of last week was there are now two ways to be 243 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:09,800 human. Because of the life, death and 244 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,120 resurrection of Jesus, there is now a choice. 245 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:17,800 We can either be in Adam, we can be an Adam type of human being, 246 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,000 or we can be a Christ type of human being. 247 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,000 And that's the choice. That's the choice that the news 248 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,000 of the gospel, the news of Jesus, life, death and 249 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,040 resurrection, that's the choice it presents to us. 250 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,320 Now, what's the logical next question? 251 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:38,840 What's the next step? Well, Paul, tell me more about 252 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,920 this in Christ. What does it mean? 253 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,600 What does it look like? How do I do it? 254 00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:49,320 What does it mean to live in Christ? 255 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,720 And this week that's what Paul tells us. 256 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:59,960 Romans 6 is all begins this great 3 chapters which is all 257 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:04,920 about what being in Christ looks like, how to live as a Christ 258 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,040 type human being and how to do it, how you can actually do it. 259 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,640 In practise. This is the human response to 260 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,560 the gospel message, which is the message of Jesus life, death and 261 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,800 resurrection. And what does he say? 262 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,319 What's the answer? The answer is that we are in 263 00:17:26,319 --> 00:17:33,320 Christ when we imitate Christ, that the pattern of Jesus life, 264 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:40,240 in particular his the pattern of dying and rising, becomes the 265 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:46,440 pattern in our life. Our life retells the story of 266 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:54,640 dying and rising, of sacrifice and new life that becomes the 267 00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:00,760 pattern of our lives so that the news of what Jesus did is not 268 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,640 just something that happened a long time ago that we somehow 269 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:11,720 get the benefit from now. Jesus is our model and we are in 270 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:13,920 Christ. We are Christian. 271 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,760 In other words, we're like Christ when we live out his 272 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,800 death and resurrection in our lives. 273 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:24,560 That's what it means to be a Christian. 274 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:30,320 Scholars have a word for this this idea because it's a key 275 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,440 theme in Paul. In lots of his letters, he talks 276 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:39,360 about this idea of how we respond to the message of Jesus 277 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,560 and and scholars call it cruciformity. 278 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:49,520 Cruciformity, the idea that we live a cross shaped a cruciform 279 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,400 life. We live a life which it looks 280 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,360 like dying and rising, imitating him. 281 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,480 It's an essential part of Paul's gospel message. 282 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,040 Didn't you know? Have you not read the small 283 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:07,080 print? Were you not aware? 284 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:12,160 I mean, we had communion early today, earlier on, and we went 285 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:13,920 round the room saying what it means. 286 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,280 We're eating Jesus, death, his body and his blood. 287 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:26,360 We're saying we want that in US. Baptism is saying we want to be 288 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:28,880 in it. Communion is saying we want it 289 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:33,120 in US. Us in him and him in US. 290 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:35,720 Well, thank you very much, Andrew. 291 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:37,080 Did you hear that? He said it's good. 292 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,400 It's nice to have feedback as you're going on. 293 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,640 Yeah, I know, Fickle. That's me. 294 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,080 But what are you saying, Bill? Are you saying we literally have 295 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,520 to die? You know, are you asking us to 296 00:19:53,520 --> 00:20:00,680 be crucified? Well, in Bristol in 2026, it's 297 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:03,560 unlikely. It's unlikely. 298 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,560 But that's not really the I don't think that's really what 299 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:11,760 Paul is saying. What Paul is saying is that if 300 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,640 we acknowledge God, then every day. 301 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:24,640 As we sit before him, he will ask us stuff, He'll ask us to do 302 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:29,560 stuff, and that gives us a choice. 303 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:33,960 And when? When we're before him and we say 304 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:40,480 you are my God, you are my Lord, and he asks us something, then 305 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,360 we find ourselves in exactly the same position as Adam in the 306 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,000 garden. We find ourselves in exactly the 307 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,240 same position as Jesus in the garden. 308 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,440 We're faced with a choice. Are we going to say yes or are 309 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:59,400 we going to say no? Do we acknowledge that he is 310 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:04,080 God? Do we accept him as our personal 311 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,880 God? Do we think he knows what he's 312 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,320 doing? Do we think he's good and wise? 313 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:18,160 Do we trust Him that that's the position we're in if we say 314 00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:23,560 you're my Lord? And The thing is, the point is, 315 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:31,600 if we say yes, if we're faithful servants, if we want to obey his 316 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:36,120 command to love Him and love our neighbour, to serve Him and 317 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:39,960 serve our neighbour, there will be a cost. 318 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,920 There will be a cost. It'll often involve sacrifice. 319 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:49,360 It'll sometimes involve suffering. 320 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,640 And the question is, are we willing to lay down our lives in 321 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,320 that sense in order to say yes to him? 322 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,240 Are we willing to do that? Because that's the contract. 323 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,880 If you read the small print Haven't You heard? 324 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,040 We had a perfect example, really perfect example, a couple of 325 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,120 months ago. Someone here was talking about 326 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:25,200 their process of adopting two children and they described 327 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:30,760 exactly that process, of having a growing sense that this was 328 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,000 something God was asking them to do. 329 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:42,160 And then realising that it would be a huge ask, that it would 330 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,120 look like laying down their lives. 331 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,680 There would be a great cost, a great sacrifice. 332 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:58,040 It would mean giving up so many things and they chose to do it. 333 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:04,440 That's cruciformity, that's the cross shaped life. 334 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,400 That's what we say we want to do when we get baptised. 335 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,040 And now I know what you're thinking. 336 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,960 What you're thinking is, Bill, I thought the gospel meant good 337 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,920 news. I thought this was about good 338 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,600 news. And all you're talking about is 339 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:32,600 cost, sacrifice, suffering, death, laying down your life. 340 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,520 Is that really good news? Because it doesn't sound like 341 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,120 it. Is it really good news? 342 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,040 Yes, absolutely. This is the good news. 343 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:53,440 Why? Well, verse 4, we were therefore 344 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:59,520 buried with him through baptism into death in order that what's 345 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:05,120 the outcome of that choice? In order that just as Christ was 346 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,360 raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may 347 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:17,200 live a new life. That's why we do it where the 348 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,720 passion of Jesus life was laying down his life in order to 349 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,720 receive new life. And the promise for us is new 350 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,040 life. And that's, that's the promise 351 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:34,160 which will be fulfilled if we're willing to lay down our lives. 352 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,160 The the example I've mentioned before of the couple who chose 353 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:46,000 to adopt what I clearly remember is this difficult process. 354 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,480 But then the person speaking said the result has been, she 355 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:58,080 said, it's life, it's real life, it's rich, satisfying life. 356 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,880 And it's so much more than the humdrum, everyday, slightly 357 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,080 dissatisfying life that the world has to offer. 358 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:12,440 And that's the whole point. That's a that life, that eternal 359 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,240 quality of life, the life of the age to come. 360 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:21,400 Zowy life, life in all its fullness is available now if 361 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,360 we're willing to lay down our Adam life. 362 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,600 That's the contract, that's the deal, that's the small print. 363 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,160 When I think of this, I, I always, it reminds me of 364 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:40,640 something I did in my 20s. I think it's telling that the 365 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,520 example I I just gave of the person who spoke a couple of 366 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,120 months ago, that's real for them right now. 367 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:48,680 Whereas when I want to look for an example, I have to go back 368 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:51,520 decades. That probably tells you how good 369 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:57,040 a Christian I am. But in my 20s, I helped on these 370 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:02,600 teenage house parties. And what I remember is every 371 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,520 single I I did it year after year and every single year in 372 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,400 the weeks leading up to the house party, I would say to 373 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,160 myself, why did you agree to do this? 374 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,240 Why? What were you thinking? 375 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,920 I mean, I, I was, but I was mid 20s. 376 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:23,440 I had, I was working for the first time in my life. 377 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,960 So I got four days, sorry, four weeks. 378 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:30,840 I got 4 weeks holiday a year. And this meant sacrificing a 379 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,760 week's holiday a week out of four just to, you know, be with 380 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:40,040 these spotty teenagers. And it was a it was 381 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,840 uncomfortable. You know, it wasn't a luxurious 382 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,160 place where it took where it happened. 383 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:49,520 It was hard work. It was the whole thing leading 384 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,800 up to it was about the cost. And I'd say to myself, why am I 385 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,360 doing this? I didn't feel like doing it. 386 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,000 I didn't want to do it. Why had I said yes? 387 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,200 And then I'd get to the week and it would be a taste of heaven. 388 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:14,640 It really what every single year I would say to myself, Oh, yeah, 389 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:16,880 Oh, yeah. That's why. 390 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,320 That's why I said yes. And I'd sign up for the next 391 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:23,840 year. It was life. 392 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,240 It was life in all its fullness. It was a taste of heaven. 393 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:37,240 That was my experience. And I think the deal is you need 394 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,360 to make the sacrifice in order to experience the resurrection 395 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:44,000 life. It's a package. 396 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:48,280 It goes together. The Christian life is not a menu 397 00:27:48,360 --> 00:27:53,440 in a tapas bar, but most of us treat it like it is. 398 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:56,280 You know, we read one of our favourite verses will promise 399 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:01,000 peace or joy or love, and we'll say, Oh yeah, I'd like some of 400 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,440 that along with my king prawns and my patatas. 401 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,920 Yeah, get me some of that piece. I'd love some of that. 402 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,600 And God, why am I not feeling peaceful? 403 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:18,640 You promised peace and I asked for peace. 404 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,040 I'm still slightly anxious about this situation. 405 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,680 Where's the peace, God? Liar. 406 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,640 I thought you promised. Well, no. 407 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:37,080 The deal is if you choose to be in Christ, then you experience 408 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,680 resurrection life. And we have a number of 409 00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,400 different words to describe different aspects of that 410 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:49,040 resurrection life like Lovejoy, peace, patience, et cetera, et 411 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:57,280 cetera, life, love. But you get it all when you sign 412 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,960 on the dotted line. Now that's it's not hard and 413 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,360 fast. My, my real life experience is 414 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,760 that God is generous. He's so he's far more generous 415 00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,280 with this stuff than I deserve. And he gives me a taste of all 416 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,760 of this stuff. And I think, oh, more please. 417 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,520 And then he says, OK, you can have more, but you need to take 418 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,400 a little further step in terms of sacrifice. 419 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:33,200 Are you willing to give that up? Because this is a process, but 420 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:38,640 this is the choice. I'd say overall it's a package, 421 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:42,840 not a menu. What I find is the more I'm 422 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:48,760 willing to empty my own life, the more he fills it with 423 00:29:48,760 --> 00:30:06,260 delicious things. A few last week, I think, or the 424 00:30:06,260 --> 00:30:09,960 week before Christmas was asking me about this series and Chris 425 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,800 said, are you going to talk about the fact that this isn't 426 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,960 about what happens when we die? That the gospel isn't about what 427 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:22,400 happens when we die, that it's about now, that it's about 428 00:30:22,400 --> 00:30:26,080 putting it into practise now. And I said, yeah, probably 429 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,880 because that's the big question. You know the gospel I heard 45 430 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,280 years ago, the message was if you sign on the dotted line now, 431 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:37,840 then you'll reap the benefits when you die. 432 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,160 It's about that, your destination when you die. 433 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,880 But then in Christian, when I became a Christian, it was more 434 00:30:46,880 --> 00:30:50,240 about it's not just about when you die, it's now. 435 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,760 It's about living the life now, putting it into practise now. 436 00:30:55,120 --> 00:31:00,040 And I'm pleased to announce that Paul is quite clear that this is 437 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,000 all about what happens when we die. 438 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,000 It's all about what happens when we die. 439 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:13,320 It's just that he brings forward his death and makes it. 440 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,640 Now his death is something that has already happened. 441 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:24,360 He counts himself as dead. So this is what we experience 442 00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:27,600 when we die. Have a look at this. 443 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:34,040 This is verses five to seven. Look at the tenses, the tenses 444 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:39,680 in this For we have been united with Him in a death like his. 445 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,960 That's already happened. We've already joined Him in that 446 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:49,560 death, for we know that our else old self was crucified with him. 447 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,280 Done deal. It's in the past. 448 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:59,000 Anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 449 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:06,200 The new life starts now. I retired last week. 450 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:15,760 Absolutely. I decided to bring it forward. 451 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,080 I I mean state retirement age is 67. 452 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:31,080 I think if you're a bloke you should know and I'm only 61, but 453 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:38,200 I was fed up with that life. I was sick of living as a slave 454 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,720 to sin. Sorry to Bristol City Council. 455 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,880 I was sick of that meaningless, empty, unsatisfying, 456 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:54,040 unfulfilling existence. And so I laid down that life 457 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,920 last Monday in order to live a new life. 458 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:06,200 I put it to death and I discovered a new Lord and 459 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,760 master. And she's giving me a list of 460 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:13,200 it's all right. She's in youth. 461 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:20,360 She doesn't know a new Lord and master with a list of tasks, 462 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:27,920 which I'm glad to obey, but I'd be mad to go back to the office. 463 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:34,120 Why do I want to live there? I've, I've, I've, I've rejected 464 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:42,400 that way of life. Verse 11, Paul says, in the same 465 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:48,400 way, count yourselves dead. Count your consider yourself 466 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,240 dead. We're all going to die anyway. 467 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,640 So why not live now as though we're already dead? 468 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,680 Because if we do, because we will then start to experience 469 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:11,080 the resurrection life today. And then when we die, it's just 470 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:16,320 more of the same. It's just an upgrade now. 471 00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,679 What does Paul say? To live his Christ and to die 472 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:24,000 his gain. If we're living the resurrection 473 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:30,679 life now, then that's true. If we're in Christ today, then 474 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:38,239 to die is just more of the same. So the gospel is absolutely 475 00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:46,840 about today and our response to the gospel, the way we receive 476 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:53,320 the gospel and engage with it and put it into practise, is to 477 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:58,520 imitate Jesus life, to imitate the gospel message of dying and 478 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,400 rising again in our own lives every day. 479 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:08,080 That is the cruciform life and it is life in all its fullness. 480 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:14,840 But how do you do it in practise? 481 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:21,720 It's a neat theory and it sounds attractive, but if I'm honest, 482 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,800 I'm I'm Adam. It's so hard. 483 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,360 It's so hard to do that day after day. 484 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,480 It's such a challenge to lay down your life, to choose death 485 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,560 in order to live. The encouraging thing is that 486 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:46,560 Paul knows that. He absolutely knows that and 487 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,160 where he goes next in the second-half of chapter 6 and 488 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:55,160 then seven and eight is all about how we actually do this, 489 00:35:55,520 --> 00:36:00,840 how we actually live that cruciform life in reality, the 490 00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:05,920 process we go through in order to become the kind of person who 491 00:36:05,920 --> 00:36:10,080 can be in Christ rather than in Adam. 492 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:15,480 And so that's where we're going to go next in June. 3 more weeks 493 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,400 of this in in June, but that's the next big theme. 494 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:33,280 Oh, thanks, Alice. So we are gonna have a time of 495 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:39,640 response now. And I think someone once said 496 00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:42,960 they don't deal with theoreticals. 497 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:46,240 They deal with God doesn't deal with theoreticals. 498 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:49,240 He deals with the person. And we don't deal with 499 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:51,720 theoretical things. We have to surrender. 500 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,560 We deal with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that 501 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:58,680 is in front of us right now. The thing that said we're 502 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,680 attached to, the thing that we think is shiny and will give us 503 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:08,920 life today, that's the thing. We we are being invited to 504 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:14,120 crucify, walk past and move into the tree of life, into Jesus. 505 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:19,000 And I think that's the way we can have this transformation 506 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:26,920 happen into us, be forged in US. So what I'd love us to do is, is 507 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,040 quieten ourselves and listen, what? 508 00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,760 What's the attachment? What's the thing that God is 509 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:37,280 saying if I'm sorry, the enemy is saying lying to us and if you 510 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,560 could just have that you could just sort short circuit this. 511 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,080 If that shiny happy thing, that thing that will give you life. 512 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,400 You know what the pull is. We know what the pull is. 513 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:52,120 The Holy Spirit shows us immediately and and what I want 514 00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:56,720 us to do is either today or find people we walk closely with to 515 00:37:56,720 --> 00:38:00,800 say stand with me like Jesus invited his friends to stand 516 00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:04,760 with him and Gethsemane, just stand with me that I can say no 517 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,120 to that and then say yes to to Jesus. 518 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,280 And what I think is a really helpful understanding of the 519 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,840 word faith because we've almost become faith is like a creed. 520 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:20,000 We believe, but actually the word pistees is far more like 521 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,240 trust. So I don't actually use the 522 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:24,160 faith, the word faith much anymore. 523 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,360 I always when I hear it, I think trust. 524 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:33,080 Do I trust Jesus? Do I trust him with this thing 525 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:37,040 that's that's pulling me to to let it go? 526 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:41,360 Do I trust him with my finances? Do I trust him with career? 527 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,320 Do I trust him with relationships? 528 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,520 Do I trust him with things that are going on in the world? 529 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:48,920 Do I trust him? It's the vulnerability, the 530 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:53,400 unravelling, the weakness of actual relationship rather than 531 00:38:53,400 --> 00:39:00,120 the self governing, autonomous. I'm just going to live grasping 532 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:03,320 this thing in independence from God. 533 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:06,680 So that's what we're going to do. 534 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:09,680 And I know some people when I think of the journey of the 535 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,720 cruciform life, some people are on their their horses riding 536 00:39:13,720 --> 00:39:15,640 into Jerusalem. You think of Palm Sunday. 537 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:18,960 They're in a position of, you know, it's good, their lives are 538 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:21,440 good, the career is good. They haven't hit the cruciform 539 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,760 life yet. Then you have other people who 540 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:29,480 it's, it's very, very disruptive and they're feeling their world 541 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:33,120 starting to shake. And then you have, you know, we 542 00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:36,120 see we stand with each other and we hit those places of 543 00:39:36,120 --> 00:39:39,040 Gethsemane, which are deep and personal. 544 00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:42,800 And we just have to be aware when we're in them and other 545 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,360 people are in them just to be with them. 546 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:49,040 And then, you know, there's, there's the process of 547 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:54,000 crucifixion and then there's a relief of death when the things 548 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,440 just we just died. It's just died and, and it's 549 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,840 just buried. And then these unbelievable 550 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:05,600 radical experience of God raising dead things back up that 551 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,400 you never, ever thought possible. 552 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,400 You, you could, it would be on your wildest dreams that he 553 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:13,280 could bring resurrection. And we're all in those journeys 554 00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:15,760 in multiple ways in multiple areas of our life. 555 00:40:15,760 --> 00:40:19,600 And it takes an emotionally healthy community to be aware of 556 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:23,080 the stage another person's in, to rejoice with those who are 557 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,640 rejoicing because they've come through to resurrection. 558 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,000 And to mourn with those who are mourning because they're in a 559 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:34,560 process of cruciformity. And as people say, we're in 560 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:37,560 battles and blessings. At the same time, we can be 561 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:40,760 experiencing 1 area of unbelievable favour and 562 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,760 breakthrough and ease and resurrection and another area of 563 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:48,400 extraordinary pain. And so that's the complexity 564 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:51,800 following Jesus. And what I'd like us to do now 565 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:55,720 is, is to kind of come to a place in an area where we're 566 00:40:55,720 --> 00:41:01,080 wrestling to say we trust. That's the thing today we try, I 567 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,080 trust you with this. So I'm going to pray now and I 568 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:07,920 have some time of quiet. If you'd like to find someone to 569 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,920 pray with you, please do that here or could pray with any of 570 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:15,480 us up here or if you know there's someone you can pray 571 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,800 with. But if Jesus needed people to 572 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,000 stand with him, we do. There is no such thing as 573 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,640 following Jesus on your own. He put us in a body and it's the 574 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:28,280 body that gets formed. Lord, we welcome you here. 575 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:32,240 Thank you that you, you walked this path and you said no 576 00:41:32,240 --> 00:41:36,280 student is above their teacher. This is the path you walked and 577 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:41,080 this is the path we walk and, and we walk it with you. 578 00:41:42,680 --> 00:41:44,880 And so we, we just call into the light. 579 00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:50,280 Now, any area, the area of attachment, it could be 580 00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,160 attachment, it could be idle, it could be something we're 581 00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:57,680 grasping for that the that is like the temptation of the tree 582 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:00,480 of the knowledge and good and evil today that it's the thing 583 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:04,600 we're facing today. And we ask you to show us what 584 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:11,360 it is and we ask you to take us through a, a kind of an internal 585 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:17,880 surrender that we can trust you with this particular area or 586 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:25,880 person or way of life. We just, we just pray you take 587 00:42:25,880 --> 00:43:03,840 us there really gently. Now, I'd ask people to turn to 588 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:08,120 the people next to them to start to share anything, to ask for 589 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,600 prayer. And we're up here. 590 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:16,280 If you want to pray with someone a bit separately, come to us up 591 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,240 here. And we want to stand with each 592 00:43:19,240 --> 00:43:22,440 other in this process, to mourn with those who mourn, rejoice 593 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,280 with those who rejoice, but be people of faith. 594 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:30,960 We actually trust God with these precious things in our lives. 595 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:37,040 And I'm going to this is the official end of the service. 596 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,000 So if you do need to collect children, please do that. 597 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,440 But please don't leave without being prayed for if you'd like 598 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,720 to, or offering to pray for someone else and stand with them 599 00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:48,320 through this process of surrender.