1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:06,310 Welcome, if if you are new, my name is Grant and I'm one of the 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,590 pastors here at the church. And it's good to have you with 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:10,290 us. Good to be worshipping together 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,050 and good for you, we believe, for all of us to make this a 5 00:00:14,060 --> 00:00:18,150 part of your weekly rhythm. So thanks for whether you've 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,510 been here for many, many, many years longer than I have been or 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,650 whether this is your first time. We do want to say welcome and 8 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:26,610 we're glad that you're here. Glad that you're leaning in. 9 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,490 We're going to be looking at Loop Chapter 8 in in a couple of 10 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:32,890 moments. But before we jump into that and 11 00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:38,030 before we pray, I just wanted to say a quick thank you from 12 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,710 myself and from the other staff here from the elders. 13 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,570 So this past week, we were invited into like some 14 00:00:47,580 --> 00:00:52,670 intentional time of prayer for Peter and Angela and Holly 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,030 Freswick. And Holly, you may know or may 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,350 not, is in the NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit at 17 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,300 McMaster. And Peter and Angela sent a 18 00:01:03,310 --> 00:01:07,980 request asking for prayer. And so very quickly, there was a 19 00:01:07,990 --> 00:01:11,760 group saying, well, we can jump on Zoom on Wednesday evening and 20 00:01:11,770 --> 00:01:14,040 we can pray. And that's what you did. 21 00:01:14,410 --> 00:01:18,280 And very quickly, we sent out an invitation to our entire church 22 00:01:18,610 --> 00:01:24,360 for Friday to be for us a day of prayer and fasting. 23 00:01:24,510 --> 00:01:28,320 And we know that many of you leaned in, in very intentional 24 00:01:28,390 --> 00:01:33,120 ways to that day to in, in the way you prayed, in the way you 25 00:01:33,130 --> 00:01:37,260 fasted and the way you paused and slowed down and really made 26 00:01:37,270 --> 00:01:41,540 that an intentional move toward prayer and prayer for Holly. 27 00:01:41,550 --> 00:01:44,420 So I, I simply want to say thank you. 28 00:01:44,530 --> 00:01:48,180 You should know there's a group of elders going down this 29 00:01:48,190 --> 00:01:52,460 afternoon and who will continue to pray with Peter and Angela 30 00:01:52,470 --> 00:01:57,080 and Holly. And as they give us updates, 31 00:01:57,230 --> 00:02:01,740 those things will continue to go out on the prayer chain and in 32 00:02:01,750 --> 00:02:04,220 other ways. But that was a significant week 33 00:02:04,230 --> 00:02:06,030 for us as a church. And I just want to name that. 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,910 And I just wanted to say beginning here, thank you for 35 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,250 doing it and thanks for doing it well. 36 00:02:11,380 --> 00:02:13,570 We received many different messages from people saying, 37 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:15,190 hey, we're in, we're doing it. This is what we can do. 38 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,010 This is how we can pray. And so I wanted to begin by 39 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,890 simply saying thank you for that, right? 40 00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:25,960 If you wanna take a moment to find Luke chapter 8, I'm gonna 41 00:02:25,970 --> 00:02:28,220 pray. I'm gonna settle us into some 42 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:31,080 time of reflection and study together. 43 00:02:31,150 --> 00:02:33,820 Luke is most of the way through a Bible. 44 00:02:33,870 --> 00:02:35,970 But if you also want to pull it out on a phone, you can follow 45 00:02:35,980 --> 00:02:38,680 along that way. It'll be up on the screens as we 46 00:02:38,690 --> 00:02:40,440 move through the passage as well. 47 00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:43,810 Yeah. Thanks for your love. 48 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,790 Thanks for your grace. Thanks for settling us into 49 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:49,070 these moments. Thank you that you are with us. 50 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:50,890 Thanks that long before we woke up. 51 00:02:50,900 --> 00:02:54,170 God, you're working in this day. Long after we go to bed, fall 52 00:02:54,180 --> 00:02:58,570 asleep, turn the lights off, put the book away like whatever it 53 00:02:58,580 --> 00:03:01,350 is you will continue to be at work. 54 00:03:02,250 --> 00:03:04,740 Thanks that we can find great hope and comfort in that. 55 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,190 We want to continue to pray for Peter and Angela and Holly. 56 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:13,340 We got thanks for invitations to prayer and we ask for healing 57 00:03:13,350 --> 00:03:16,260 for Holly as she continues to grow. 58 00:03:16,610 --> 00:03:20,440 Yeah, we asked now that as we turn to Luke 8, these few 59 00:03:20,450 --> 00:03:24,220 verses, Jesus interaction with his family and with his 60 00:03:24,230 --> 00:03:28,000 disciples, with some crowd, Yeah, that you would remind us 61 00:03:28,070 --> 00:03:30,910 of what it means to be family inside the Kingdom of God. 62 00:03:31,620 --> 00:03:35,240 So thanks for the ways that we get to lean in as the community 63 00:03:35,580 --> 00:03:39,030 and thanks for moments where we can be reminded that there is a 64 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,090 place for belonging inside this thing that we call the church. 65 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:45,910 So thanks. Teach us, do what you can only 66 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:47,070 do. We pray in the strong name of 67 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:48,780 Jesus. Amen. 68 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,380 So Luke 8 versus 19 to 21. That's it. 69 00:03:53,390 --> 00:03:54,650 That's all we're going to cover today. 70 00:03:54,660 --> 00:03:57,420 We'll see how long it goes. Usually when I have more, excuse 71 00:03:57,430 --> 00:04:01,120 me, less verses to cover it, it ends up being a longer sermon. 72 00:04:01,130 --> 00:04:07,290 So no promises here on this one. OK, but Luke 19 to 21 this is 73 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:10,520 how it sounds. It says now Jesus mother and 74 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:14,280 brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near 75 00:04:14,290 --> 00:04:17,779 him because of the crowd. Someone told him your mother and 76 00:04:17,790 --> 00:04:21,060 brothers are standing outside wanting to see you. 77 00:04:21,250 --> 00:04:25,330 He being Jesus, replied. My mother and brothers are those 78 00:04:25,340 --> 00:04:29,400 who hear God's word and put it into practice. 79 00:04:30,730 --> 00:04:33,000 So I want to get one thing out of the way really quick, one 80 00:04:33,010 --> 00:04:34,720 thing just we're not talking about. 81 00:04:34,730 --> 00:04:38,340 This is not a sermon on how to avoid doing what your parents 82 00:04:38,350 --> 00:04:40,440 have told you to do. I can say that now that I'm a 83 00:04:40,450 --> 00:04:46,880 parent, this isn't like a how to avoid the request of your mom or 84 00:04:46,890 --> 00:04:50,860 dad or grandma or grandpa. Like this is not how to get out 85 00:04:50,870 --> 00:04:53,840 of doing what you have been asked to do what you've been 86 00:04:53,850 --> 00:04:56,720 told to do. Like the next time your mom asks 87 00:04:56,730 --> 00:04:59,280 you to clean your room or do something, don't turn around and 88 00:04:59,290 --> 00:05:02,820 say to her, like, my mother and brothers are those who don't 89 00:05:02,830 --> 00:05:06,740 make me do these things. This isn't this isn't that. 90 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:11,680 And it's not a how to avoid your family 101 seminar either. 91 00:05:11,730 --> 00:05:15,330 Like, this isn't, I'd really rather put my family over here 92 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,700 and just kind of wall them off and live life over here. 93 00:05:18,710 --> 00:05:21,150 But listen, boundaries are good. Boundaries are healthy. 94 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,970 This is also not a sermon about healthy boundaries, but it's not 95 00:05:25,980 --> 00:05:29,240 about how to avoid your family either. 96 00:05:29,930 --> 00:05:33,660 Family is an interesting thing. Family is an interesting word. 97 00:05:33,670 --> 00:05:36,180 I, I had an experience this. So I had to be away for the 98 00:05:36,190 --> 00:05:41,420 weekend, last weekend. And it, I was packing and 99 00:05:41,430 --> 00:05:43,580 getting ready to go. And whenever that starts to 100 00:05:43,590 --> 00:05:47,240 happen, like I don't leave very often without my kiddos, but 101 00:05:47,250 --> 00:05:50,320 like I was packing and like they knew something was up and they 102 00:05:50,330 --> 00:05:52,360 kept coming in and we told them I had to be away. 103 00:05:52,370 --> 00:05:54,500 And this was like, come and hang with me while I'm packing up a 104 00:05:54,510 --> 00:05:57,260 suitcase and things like that. And then I'm getting ready to 105 00:05:57,270 --> 00:05:58,600 go. And finally the time was like, 106 00:05:58,610 --> 00:06:01,280 OK, I had picked up the rental car and I was getting ready to 107 00:06:01,290 --> 00:06:05,010 drive and one of my daughters, I won't tell you who it is, came 108 00:06:05,020 --> 00:06:07,950 up to me and said to me right before she was she was like, 109 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:09,390 she's like, time to say goodbye, right? 110 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,090 So like hugs, like I'm about to walk out the door and she just 111 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:15,010 comes up to me and I kneel down and I'm like, this is ready to 112 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:16,750 say goodbye to her. And she looks up at me and she's 113 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,870 like, they had why do you want to leave us? 114 00:06:25,110 --> 00:06:27,900 And so I had to explain to her, I was like, listen, like, I 115 00:06:27,910 --> 00:06:32,740 don't want to leave you. I don't want like this isn't 116 00:06:32,750 --> 00:06:36,110 something that I'm like, just I can't wait to get out the door. 117 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:38,060 And God, like I had to sit there for a few. 118 00:06:38,070 --> 00:06:41,080 So might it delayed my departure a little bit because I felt like 119 00:06:41,090 --> 00:06:44,230 it would have been very, very wrong to simply say, Hey, love 120 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:45,340 you kid. OK, bye. 121 00:06:46,860 --> 00:06:50,990 So I had to explain to her like this is something that I have to 122 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,920 go to and I am looking forward to to going. 123 00:06:55,180 --> 00:06:57,680 This is a friend who I'm going to be with. 124 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:01,010 And this friend you should know, like when you were young, kiddo, 125 00:07:01,020 --> 00:07:04,930 you called this friend uncle. Like that's how involved they 126 00:07:04,940 --> 00:07:08,010 were in in our life and in your life as a little kid. 127 00:07:08,020 --> 00:07:10,810 And and this was a friend who when mom and dad, when we were 128 00:07:10,820 --> 00:07:14,150 down at seminary in in the States, this friend drove down 129 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,390 to visit us and he came and stayed with us and hung out and 130 00:07:17,580 --> 00:07:20,130 got to know your mom. And then when we got engaged, he 131 00:07:20,140 --> 00:07:23,010 took the photos for us. He did an engagement shoot. 132 00:07:23,060 --> 00:07:27,150 And then when it came time for us to move back home to Canada, 133 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,810 he drove down and with a truck, helped us move our stuff back 134 00:07:30,820 --> 00:07:33,230 up, like risking getting stuck at the border with all this 135 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,630 random stuff in the back of his truck. 136 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,290 And then he stood like, hey, kiddo, like you should know, he 137 00:07:38,300 --> 00:07:40,930 stood up with mom and I at our wedding. 138 00:07:40,940 --> 00:07:42,870 When we got married, he was there. 139 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,710 So like, this is something that I, as much as I don't want to 140 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:50,750 leave you, I need to go and do these things with this friend to 141 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:52,990 be there to support him as he's getting married. 142 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,780 Like this is something I need to do. 143 00:07:56,380 --> 00:07:59,650 And so for us, like family, family can sometimes mean 144 00:07:59,660 --> 00:08:01,890 biological family. And I think we also have 145 00:08:01,900 --> 00:08:05,430 language for including others into what we would consider 146 00:08:05,500 --> 00:08:08,810 family or certainly something that like friend falls short of. 147 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:13,450 And so when we read, at least when I read this passage, I can 148 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:19,870 run the risk of missing how radically upside down and 149 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,390 backwards what Jesus has just said actually is. 150 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:28,910 Because I have, in my experience, language for these 151 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,549 friends who I would consider much deeper and closer than 152 00:08:32,700 --> 00:08:35,700 simply a friend. I would consider them closer to 153 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,419 family. And really, at the end of the 154 00:08:38,429 --> 00:08:44,310 day, that's what Jesus is intending to do, is to reshape, 155 00:08:45,270 --> 00:08:51,510 reconfigure what it means to be family inside the Kingdom of 156 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:53,830 God. But it is a little bit 157 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:57,710 surprising and it's more surprising the more we unpack 158 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:02,070 and look into what Jesus has just said to his disciples and 159 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,430 to the crowds and by extension to his biological family who's 160 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,820 waiting outside his mother and brothers. 161 00:09:10,370 --> 00:09:14,120 NT Wright offers this analogy for us because he says, listen, 162 00:09:14,130 --> 00:09:19,260 it's, it's very difficult for us to enter into this passage and 163 00:09:19,270 --> 00:09:23,780 properly understand and grapple with how radical Jesus is being 164 00:09:23,790 --> 00:09:25,780 here. And so he offers us this sort of 165 00:09:25,790 --> 00:09:27,600 this word picture. And I want to talk us through, 166 00:09:27,610 --> 00:09:32,480 he says, picture CEO of any Fortune 500 company, like these 167 00:09:32,490 --> 00:09:35,180 are the Walmarts and the Amazons and the Apples and the Googles 168 00:09:35,190 --> 00:09:37,590 of the world. So we're talking like big, like 169 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,160 CEO, one of the biggest companies in the world. 170 00:09:40,170 --> 00:09:44,580 Now picture highest stake meeting like stakeholders, 171 00:09:44,590 --> 00:09:48,440 shareholders, staff, like you picture the highest stake 172 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:51,360 meeting that you can imagine with the biggest kind of 173 00:09:51,370 --> 00:09:56,330 decision that needs to be made. And maybe this is how you 174 00:09:56,340 --> 00:09:57,590 picture. Maybe you can picture yourself 175 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,480 sitting in that room, like maybe you're around a board table or 176 00:10:00,490 --> 00:10:02,800 maybe you're like hovering off in the distance, like around 177 00:10:02,810 --> 00:10:04,890 you're kind of watching things unfold in front of you. 178 00:10:04,900 --> 00:10:08,310 But picture the CEO who needs to make the biggest decision of 179 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,230 their year for this organization. 180 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,790 Every single person around the table has budgets and staff and 181 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,130 teams and you know, products to launch. 182 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:20,850 And this decision is going to shape all of the next year for 183 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:23,450 this company, this organization. So that's the meeting. 184 00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:27,850 And in the middle of making the decision, all eyes are on the 185 00:10:27,860 --> 00:10:29,950 CEO. Like everybody's just waiting to 186 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,990 see what direction their lives are about to take for the next 187 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:38,170 365 days. The door opens and an assistant 188 00:10:38,180 --> 00:10:42,670 enters the room and that assistant walks up to the CEO 189 00:10:42,680 --> 00:10:45,900 and leans over and says, excuse me, but that like that important 190 00:10:45,910 --> 00:10:50,750 phone call you're waiting for just came in and, and the CEO 191 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,230 doesn't say anything. It closes the the, the binder 192 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,010 that he's working on turns away. The CEO just walks out of the 193 00:10:59,020 --> 00:11:03,070 room and leaves everybody there in silence, not saying a word. 194 00:11:04,250 --> 00:11:07,320 No, like take 5, No, I'll be right back. 195 00:11:07,370 --> 00:11:09,440 Nothing. Like immediately you're saying 196 00:11:09,450 --> 00:11:11,440 like this, this has to be an important phone call. 197 00:11:11,770 --> 00:11:14,580 Like if this is a phone call that takes over all of what 198 00:11:14,590 --> 00:11:19,520 we're doing and like maybe 5 minutes goes by, maybe a few 199 00:11:19,530 --> 00:11:22,080 more, like can we go? Can we also leave? 200 00:11:22,090 --> 00:11:23,380 Like what should we be doing here? 201 00:11:25,250 --> 00:11:27,440 But just as you like, maybe you're about to leave the the 202 00:11:27,450 --> 00:11:29,750 door opens again. The CEO, that CEO comes back in. 203 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,430 The CEO sits back down at the table and like with the biggest 204 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:38,630 smile that that CEO can muster, turns around and says that was 205 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:43,350 my daughter. She had a swimming race and she 206 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,980 won. And then I go back to business. 207 00:11:49,020 --> 00:11:54,340 Like the indictment of our hustle culture is that a story 208 00:11:54,350 --> 00:11:57,830 actually unfolding like that would be shocking. 209 00:11:59,900 --> 00:12:03,370 Like you'd be surprised and maybe even like a little bit 210 00:12:03,380 --> 00:12:06,710 angry. Like you made us wait for that. 211 00:12:07,220 --> 00:12:09,610 That was more important to you than this. 212 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,100 Like we might expect the CEO to ignore the phone call and make 213 00:12:12,110 --> 00:12:14,530 the decision, get the meeting over and then follow up. 214 00:12:14,540 --> 00:12:17,010 Like, if this is all that's about, then like, what are we 215 00:12:17,020 --> 00:12:18,930 doing here? Like, let's we'd say things like 216 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:26,240 lead well, like let's be strong. It might surprise us for someone 217 00:12:26,250 --> 00:12:30,230 to prioritize their family in a moment like that. 218 00:12:30,910 --> 00:12:35,090 We wouldn't expect it. And that's what's going on here 219 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:40,830 for Jesus and the disciples and his family, but in reverse. 220 00:12:42,020 --> 00:12:47,050 Because in Jesus's day, there was nothing that superseded that 221 00:12:47,060 --> 00:12:51,070 family bond. Like that was what defined who 222 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,820 you were. All of the purpose that your 223 00:12:54,830 --> 00:12:58,680 life has, the direction, it's what gives you identity and 224 00:12:58,690 --> 00:13:02,820 security belonging. All of it belonged to your 225 00:13:02,910 --> 00:13:06,720 family, your family of origin, your biological for like the 226 00:13:06,730 --> 00:13:11,160 family that you grew up in, like that's what shaped your life. 227 00:13:11,220 --> 00:13:14,280 And for the covenant people of God, for the people of Israel, 228 00:13:14,290 --> 00:13:19,830 it is what defined your belonging to that community was 229 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,080 the family that you were born into, that you came from. 230 00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:30,010 And so for Jesus to not drop everything and either go to his 231 00:13:30,020 --> 00:13:33,970 family and speak to them and then maybe perhaps even bring 232 00:13:33,980 --> 00:13:38,130 them in past the crowds and past the disciples so that they can 233 00:13:38,140 --> 00:13:42,850 sit close with Jesus. For Jesus to not do that is is 234 00:13:42,910 --> 00:13:46,030 just as, if not more shocking than that CEO who are in the 235 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,730 middle of a massive decision for his company, walks out to take a 236 00:13:49,740 --> 00:13:53,500 phone call from his daughter who was at a swim tournament. 237 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,270 And until we wrestle with like that level of uncomfortable, 238 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,590 backwards, kind of upside down nature, we don't fully 239 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:09,510 understand what Jesus is doing by then turning to his disciples 240 00:14:09,580 --> 00:14:14,760 and saying, my mother and brothers are those who hear the 241 00:14:14,770 --> 00:14:19,200 word and do it. Because with that one word, he's 242 00:14:19,210 --> 00:14:24,000 turning away in the sense from everything that they thought 243 00:14:24,070 --> 00:14:28,060 should have defined him for the people, from the people rather 244 00:14:28,070 --> 00:14:32,840 who should have been on the absolute inside of inside 245 00:14:32,850 --> 00:14:37,040 circles, like the inside list of inside circles. 246 00:14:37,290 --> 00:14:38,940 That's not a word. Don't quote me. 247 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,890 It's upside down. It's a little bit backwards. 248 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:50,410 What Jesus is saying is that in the Kingdom of God, family, 249 00:14:50,460 --> 00:14:56,960 kinship, belonging, community looks different. 250 00:14:58,790 --> 00:15:02,830 No longer was flesh and blood the strongest bond that could be 251 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:04,950 imagined. No longer was every other 252 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,460 relationship subservient to that of biological family. 253 00:15:08,470 --> 00:15:11,440 And like I said, most shockingly, membership within 254 00:15:11,450 --> 00:15:16,400 the chosen community, the people of God, would no longer be bound 255 00:15:16,410 --> 00:15:20,780 by flesh and blood or kinship. It would not be determined by 256 00:15:20,790 --> 00:15:25,790 those things. Who you were related to mattered 257 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,940 less and what we're going to see, Gina says. 258 00:15:28,950 --> 00:15:37,020 Something else takes its place. So just to recap, there we go. 259 00:15:37,690 --> 00:15:42,520 Now Jesus mother and brothers, it's one group came to see him, 260 00:15:42,770 --> 00:15:45,440 but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. 261 00:15:45,450 --> 00:15:47,580 That's the second group. Someone told him. 262 00:15:47,590 --> 00:15:49,860 So maybe from the crowd, maybe one of his disciples, your 263 00:15:49,870 --> 00:15:55,380 mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to see you 264 00:15:55,440 --> 00:16:02,190 because of the crowd. So they cannot get to Jesus. 265 00:16:02,670 --> 00:16:06,720 Maybe Jesus mother and brothers were showing up to drag him 266 00:16:06,730 --> 00:16:09,380 away. So Mark tells this story a 267 00:16:09,390 --> 00:16:12,280 little bit different. In Mark's Gospel, when his 268 00:16:12,340 --> 00:16:15,720 family comes, it's in the midst of conflict. 269 00:16:15,770 --> 00:16:18,420 Jesus has conflict with Pharisees and with teachers of 270 00:16:18,430 --> 00:16:21,020 the law. He has conflict with then his 271 00:16:21,030 --> 00:16:23,810 family who shows up. And in Mark it sounds like this. 272 00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:26,280 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge 273 00:16:26,290 --> 00:16:28,760 of him for they said he is out of his mind. 274 00:16:30,670 --> 00:16:35,900 But we don't get that here. Maybe they've come to take him 275 00:16:35,910 --> 00:16:40,080 away, like Mark writes. Maybe they've just showed up a 276 00:16:40,090 --> 00:16:41,820 little late and they couldn't find a seat. 277 00:16:43,050 --> 00:16:47,640 Maybe they decided to come and see what he's doing and because 278 00:16:47,650 --> 00:16:49,540 of the crowd they can't get near him. 279 00:16:50,290 --> 00:16:54,400 For whatever reason they are waiting out outside and I want 280 00:16:54,410 --> 00:16:58,560 us to see 3 distinct groups, mother and brothers, that is 281 00:16:58,570 --> 00:17:06,280 family here. OK, that's one. 282 00:17:08,079 --> 00:17:14,250 The crowd, that's two, and then his disciples, which we're gonna 283 00:17:14,260 --> 00:17:23,170 see in a minute here. 3 The Order, I think, is important. 284 00:17:23,839 --> 00:17:31,890 Disciples, crowds, biological family who is on the inside is 285 00:17:32,380 --> 00:17:35,590 wrong. It's slightly backwards. 286 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,910 Anybody in Jesus's day would have prioritized biological 287 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,880 family over the disciples, certainly over the crowds. 288 00:17:43,690 --> 00:17:49,350 And I think what Jesus is doing is pushing against what family 289 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:53,030 or what considered what was considered to be family during 290 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:57,370 the time of Jesus. There are ways of talking about 291 00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,210 organized groups or groups that come together and organized. 292 00:18:01,220 --> 00:18:04,750 It's also mathematical language. I say that because you need to 293 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,250 know this. I am not a mathematician, but 294 00:18:08,260 --> 00:18:13,520 there are two dominant ways that groups can organize themselves. 295 00:18:14,110 --> 00:18:18,310 And one of those ways that groups organize is called 296 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,300 bounded set. So you can think of things 297 00:18:22,370 --> 00:18:26,780 organizing together in this language bounded set. 298 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,440 Now a bounded set looks a lot like this. 299 00:18:30,510 --> 00:18:37,540 A square that is a group of people who are all close enough, 300 00:18:37,590 --> 00:18:43,660 similar enough that they are inside of that square. 301 00:18:43,890 --> 00:18:48,060 I like to talk about country clubs or golf clubs because in 302 00:18:48,070 --> 00:18:54,420 golf clubs it's very clear who is inside and who is outside. 303 00:18:54,670 --> 00:19:01,280 There are very clear sets of requirements to be inside and if 304 00:19:01,290 --> 00:19:06,620 you don't make or achieve those, if you don't qualify, you don't 305 00:19:06,670 --> 00:19:11,840 get to be a member of the group. So what are some of those things 306 00:19:12,010 --> 00:19:14,400 at a Golf Club? I play golf, so let's not be too 307 00:19:14,410 --> 00:19:19,660 hard on all our golfer friends. But typically there are dues, 308 00:19:19,790 --> 00:19:21,540 right? There are fees that you have to 309 00:19:21,550 --> 00:19:24,580 pay and it's very clear. You pay the fees and you're in. 310 00:19:24,650 --> 00:19:26,520 You don't pay the fees, you're out. 311 00:19:26,610 --> 00:19:28,280 What are some of the other things that you need to do? 312 00:19:28,290 --> 00:19:31,640 There's a dress code. You dress a certain way and 313 00:19:31,650 --> 00:19:33,430 you're in. You don't dress a certain way. 314 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:37,200 You are perceived to be out and in a bounded set. 315 00:19:37,270 --> 00:19:43,790 It's very hard for members to move across this line. 316 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,180 It doesn't happen because things are very fixed. 317 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,230 You are either in or you are out. 318 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,350 It's very hard for those who are out to move in. 319 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:55,610 It's very hard for those who are in to move out. 320 00:19:55,660 --> 00:20:00,590 Bounded sets, They focus on what is excluded on qualifiers like 321 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,220 in and out. Neat, it's clean, it's tidy. 322 00:20:03,230 --> 00:20:11,370 You are in and you are out. Family in Jesus's day would have 323 00:20:11,380 --> 00:20:14,900 been considered some level of bounded set. 324 00:20:15,070 --> 00:20:19,820 You're in or you're out based on lineage, based on the family you 325 00:20:19,830 --> 00:20:21,600 were born into. It's fixed. 326 00:20:21,870 --> 00:20:27,380 We we still consider families somewhat more fixed, very little 327 00:20:27,390 --> 00:20:31,940 movement across these lines. But Jesus uses the arrival of 328 00:20:31,950 --> 00:20:35,820 his biological family to say that this is not how we are 329 00:20:35,830 --> 00:20:40,700 going to think about family now inside the Kingdom of God, 330 00:20:40,850 --> 00:20:44,640 inside the Kingdom of heaven as it is unfolding, as it is being 331 00:20:44,650 --> 00:20:49,020 brought near, as it is arriving. One of the things that will 332 00:20:49,030 --> 00:20:52,120 change is the way in which we organize ourselves. 333 00:20:52,410 --> 00:20:54,220 It's not going to be neat and clean. 334 00:20:54,310 --> 00:20:57,120 It's not going to be tidy. It's not going to be like if you 335 00:20:57,130 --> 00:21:01,590 achieve a checklist of like one check, 2 check, three check 4 336 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,650 check, you are in and as soon as you like. 337 00:21:04,660 --> 00:21:06,230 If you miss one, then you're out. 338 00:21:07,180 --> 00:21:12,310 Family will be different and so that's why it's shocking, he 339 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:13,960 says. So someone told me, Brother, 340 00:21:13,970 --> 00:21:16,450 brother here standing outside, wanting to see you, he replied. 341 00:21:17,510 --> 00:21:21,880 My mother and brothers, my family says, are those who hear 342 00:21:21,890 --> 00:21:28,060 God's word and then put it into practice. 343 00:21:30,090 --> 00:21:36,230 Family to Jesus, what defines you as included in the family of 344 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,550 God, he says, are those who hear the Word and who put it into 345 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,380 practice. In other words, Jesus family are 346 00:21:42,390 --> 00:21:47,230 those who hear his teachings, who embrace them, who allow them 347 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,230 to transform their lives so that the way of the Kingdom is lived 348 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,600 out through them. Those who hear the word, those 349 00:21:55,610 --> 00:22:01,130 who put it into practice, it might be easy to think that 350 00:22:01,140 --> 00:22:04,240 Jesus has just simply like constructed another box, right? 351 00:22:04,250 --> 00:22:06,470 Like in or out, Do or don't. There is no try. 352 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:11,780 Kind of like Yoda esque Christianity, but this verb to 353 00:22:11,790 --> 00:22:14,510 do like put it into practice here. 354 00:22:14,550 --> 00:22:17,060 Other translations just simply say do it. 355 00:22:17,830 --> 00:22:23,610 Those who do it. That verb there, poio means to 356 00:22:23,620 --> 00:22:29,710 make, to do. I like put it into practice 357 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:32,470 because it kind of hangs in the air. 358 00:22:32,980 --> 00:22:36,910 There's this like continuation of implied by it. 359 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:41,210 It's not simply like those who hear the word and do it check. 360 00:22:41,220 --> 00:22:46,770 I've done it. It's those who hear the Word and 361 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:53,280 are doing it, are living it out, are practicing it. 362 00:22:54,340 --> 00:22:57,990 Those who hear, who embrace, who live into the teachings of God 363 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,970 in a way that allows their shifts, their changes, their 364 00:23:00,980 --> 00:23:06,020 life so that they live differently in perpetuity. 365 00:23:06,870 --> 00:23:12,320 It is a continuing conversion of your life and your heart and 366 00:23:12,330 --> 00:23:17,150 your mind and your spirit and your soul toward the things of 367 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,350 God. It's not simply I heard it, I 368 00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,820 did it, I'm done, I'm in, he says. 369 00:23:22,830 --> 00:23:26,750 It needs to be put into practice. 370 00:23:27,290 --> 00:23:33,570 It becomes not just something you do, but who you are. 371 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:40,310 I like golf, so I'm sorry I picked on country clubs, but I'm 372 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,170 not a golfer. There's a difference. 373 00:23:44,540 --> 00:23:49,980 I like 2G. It's frustrating, but I am not a 374 00:23:49,990 --> 00:23:51,200 golfer. Why? 375 00:23:51,250 --> 00:23:54,880 Because I play charity tournaments like once or twice a 376 00:23:54,890 --> 00:23:56,560 year. Those are best ball. 377 00:23:56,630 --> 00:23:59,900 If you don't know what best ball is, it's the greatest invention 378 00:23:59,910 --> 00:24:06,490 in golf because four of you hit the ball and then if you're me, 379 00:24:06,500 --> 00:24:10,080 you go into the woods and spend 10 minutes finding your ball and 380 00:24:10,090 --> 00:24:14,270 then you get to pick it up and take it to where the best ball 381 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,780 lies. It's fantastic and if you are 382 00:24:19,790 --> 00:24:23,410 really like me, you plan for that and you take extra balls so 383 00:24:23,420 --> 00:24:26,020 that you don't even have to go into the forest to look very 384 00:24:26,030 --> 00:24:28,180 long. You just take a ball out of your 385 00:24:28,190 --> 00:24:29,820 bag and say I'll hit where you hit. 386 00:24:29,890 --> 00:24:34,550 It's great, that shot becomes your shot. 387 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:35,820 You hit from there like it's great. 388 00:24:35,830 --> 00:24:38,270 The game continues and you just always get to have the greatest 389 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,170 shot of the day. Couple weeks ago I played my 390 00:24:41,180 --> 00:24:43,150 first round of golf this year, 18th hole. 391 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,440 Like I'm tired, my hands are sore, I'm having a great time, 392 00:24:47,450 --> 00:24:50,700 big smile on my face for like my back is sore, my hands are sore. 393 00:24:50,710 --> 00:24:53,700 I went to see a physiotherapist afterward. 394 00:24:54,690 --> 00:24:56,280 I like. By the end of it, I went home 395 00:24:56,290 --> 00:25:01,020 and I wanted a nap. I am not a golfer, but I enjoy 396 00:25:01,090 --> 00:25:07,550 golf. The golfers are ones who go and 397 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:13,810 play around and then leave that round and go to the driving 398 00:25:13,820 --> 00:25:18,550 range and hit 1000 balls at the driving range and then leave the 399 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,510 driving range and go to the putting green and maybe put for 400 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,180 a few 100 times trying to figure out lies and reads and how 401 00:25:25,190 --> 00:25:27,410 they're gonna actually change their game. 402 00:25:27,580 --> 00:25:30,910 Like by the time I've had a nap and a shower and like, I'm like 403 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:35,940 halfway to bed, they're still putting in the work, they're 404 00:25:35,950 --> 00:25:40,560 still practicing, they're still living it out in a very 405 00:25:40,570 --> 00:25:46,960 different way than I am. I don't want the lifestyle 406 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:52,130 associated with being a golfer. I just wanna golf and have a 407 00:25:52,140 --> 00:25:54,090 great time. And if I, you know, have to 408 00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:56,950 Chuck the club into the woods or into the lake because the ball 409 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:58,670 went in the lake, like, that's fine with me. 410 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:03,310 I don't want the lifestyle that's required in order to be a 411 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:09,840 golfer here. The word Jesus says and put it 412 00:26:09,850 --> 00:26:13,380 into practice. It's about lifestyle. 413 00:26:14,370 --> 00:26:18,240 What Jesus is saying here is that to be a member of the 414 00:26:18,250 --> 00:26:21,760 community, to be part of the Kingdom of God, to be part of 415 00:26:21,770 --> 00:26:27,830 Jesus family changes and shapes your entire lifestyle. 416 00:26:28,730 --> 00:26:31,020 It's not just about checking a box, it's not just about 417 00:26:31,030 --> 00:26:32,860 qualifying. It's not just about like making 418 00:26:32,870 --> 00:26:39,360 it in, but just barely. It's about allowing the gospel 419 00:26:39,430 --> 00:26:42,710 and the message of Jesus's life, his death, his resurrection. 420 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,900 It's about all of his teachings getting into your life in such a 421 00:26:46,910 --> 00:26:51,000 way that it reorders and reorients your entire life 422 00:26:51,050 --> 00:26:55,090 style. How you live changes. 423 00:26:56,260 --> 00:26:59,750 That's the mark of the family of God. 424 00:26:59,820 --> 00:27:04,600 According to Jesus. Life inside the Kingdom of God 425 00:27:04,610 --> 00:27:09,020 and family inside the Kingdom of God is marked by your entire 426 00:27:09,030 --> 00:27:15,320 life being shaped around hearing and practicing the Word. 427 00:27:17,150 --> 00:27:21,710 Now here's the grace of it, because I think we can often 428 00:27:22,260 --> 00:27:28,220 hear that message, something similar to it, and kind of get 429 00:27:28,230 --> 00:27:31,250 thrown into fear and shame. Like I can't do that. 430 00:27:32,170 --> 00:27:35,430 I don't do that. Like not my entire lifestyle, 431 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:37,300 like not everything, like absolutely everything. 432 00:27:37,310 --> 00:27:41,220 Like like how, how do I, where do I start? 433 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:44,010 Like you're talking about entire lifestyle. 434 00:27:44,020 --> 00:27:46,780 Like help me just take the first little step. 435 00:27:48,370 --> 00:27:51,060 Maybe I, I, I won't be good enough. 436 00:27:51,110 --> 00:27:54,380 Maybe I won't measure up. Like maybe I can't do that. 437 00:27:54,390 --> 00:27:56,940 Maybe I'll start down the road and, and it'll become too hard. 438 00:27:56,950 --> 00:28:00,850 Like, how do we avoid all of that? 439 00:28:01,870 --> 00:28:05,100 Here's the good news of the gospel right Membership within 440 00:28:05,110 --> 00:28:10,830 the family of God is earned, but it's earned through the death 441 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:14,820 and the resurrection of Jesus. That's the qualifier. 442 00:28:16,090 --> 00:28:19,690 It's earned through the life and the teaching of Jesus. 443 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,630 It turned entirely on the merit of who Jesus is. 444 00:28:25,670 --> 00:28:31,200 It's demonstrated through the lives of those transformed by 445 00:28:31,210 --> 00:28:36,390 the love and the grace of God. That's the difference in First 446 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,600 John 3/1. We've got Oht. 447 00:28:39,610 --> 00:28:41,600 Not sure what's happening there. That's fine. 448 00:28:41,810 --> 00:28:44,400 That'll go away. See what great love in First 449 00:28:44,410 --> 00:28:48,440 John the Father has lavished on us that we should be. 450 00:28:48,570 --> 00:28:53,170 This is not gonna work, children of God, and that's good works up 451 00:28:53,180 --> 00:28:53,860 there. That's great. 452 00:28:53,870 --> 00:28:57,460 And that is what we are, and that's what I want you to hear. 453 00:28:58,190 --> 00:29:00,600 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we 454 00:29:00,610 --> 00:29:02,140 should be called children of God. 455 00:29:02,210 --> 00:29:08,910 And that is what we are. Scripture repeatedly points to 456 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:14,110 you being enveloped into what Jesus calls family, brought into 457 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:18,850 the family of God for it to be declared over you that you are 458 00:29:18,900 --> 00:29:27,120 part of God's family in love. God calls you his child in John 459 00:29:27,130 --> 00:29:31,030 13. Jesus says this a new command I 460 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:34,890 give you love one another. As I have loved you, so you must 461 00:29:34,900 --> 00:29:38,120 love one another. By this everyone you will know 462 00:29:38,130 --> 00:29:43,920 that you are my disciples if you love one another, he says. 463 00:29:43,930 --> 00:29:49,380 What is the mark of a disciple that you love each other? 464 00:29:51,190 --> 00:29:56,700 What is the mark of one who is included into the family of God? 465 00:29:56,710 --> 00:29:59,100 You hear the Word and you and you do it. 466 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:05,990 It demonstrates who you are and how you are. 467 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:11,750 Jesus takes membership and instead of being centred, set, 468 00:30:11,860 --> 00:30:22,880 bound or bounded set, rather he puts himself at the centre and 469 00:30:22,890 --> 00:30:31,880 he says membership to the community, no longer bounded but 470 00:30:31,890 --> 00:30:35,910 governed by direction. And so you could be out here. 471 00:30:37,430 --> 00:30:41,610 And if you are hearing the word, putting it into practice says, 472 00:30:41,620 --> 00:30:46,450 hey, the direction of your life is moving toward the centre, 473 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:51,010 toward Jesus. You could be here and moving. 474 00:30:51,260 --> 00:30:54,110 You could be way out here and moving. 475 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,410 The other reality is you could be here and moving this way. 476 00:31:00,020 --> 00:31:02,650 What direction is your life taking? 477 00:31:04,060 --> 00:31:09,490 What direction are you moving? Are you moving closer to Jesus? 478 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:14,600 Who is the centre? Are you moving further away from 479 00:31:14,610 --> 00:31:17,360 Jesus? Who is the centre? 480 00:31:18,230 --> 00:31:21,810 Because my mother and brothers are those who hear the Word, put 481 00:31:21,820 --> 00:31:24,870 it into practice. And far from being a limiting or 482 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:29,930 confining factor on who can and can't be part of God's family, 483 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:35,530 what it does is it blows open membership into God's family to 484 00:31:35,540 --> 00:31:40,670 anyone. Because it's not about the 485 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,740 family that you're born into. It's not about whether you're 486 00:31:44,750 --> 00:31:48,320 born with like a spiritual silver spoon in your mouth or 487 00:31:48,330 --> 00:31:52,150 like on third base, like what Head Start were you given. 488 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:58,220 It's about the direction that your life is taking, and it's 489 00:31:58,230 --> 00:32:04,350 about how we are allowing Jesus to define that direction. 490 00:32:06,140 --> 00:32:09,990 If you're part of my family, you're gonna naturally start to 491 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:16,140 do the things that I do. And so one Sunday, I showed up 492 00:32:16,150 --> 00:32:19,570 into this room to like sound check or something. 493 00:32:20,660 --> 00:32:24,030 And I walked around the corner and Elizabeth was up here, my 494 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,820 youngest, like, she's 19 months. And she was up here blabbering 495 00:32:27,830 --> 00:32:34,660 away and just like 2 standing up here and I'm like, man, like, 496 00:32:34,670 --> 00:32:37,310 yeah, well, listen, like we just whether she whether she becomes 497 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,890 a pastor preacher who like that's listen like that's that's 498 00:32:39,900 --> 00:32:43,330 where my mind goes. But like, that's not what's at 499 00:32:43,340 --> 00:32:46,560 stake. Children do the things they see 500 00:32:46,570 --> 00:32:51,420 their parents doing. They they start to become like 501 00:32:51,490 --> 00:32:54,250 their family, their aunts and their uncles, like their 502 00:32:54,260 --> 00:32:57,290 grandparents, those around them, those who are raising them. 503 00:32:58,250 --> 00:33:01,620 They start to look like and sound like and copy. 504 00:33:01,630 --> 00:33:04,980 They they mimic the things of their family. 505 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,380 And so if one of my kids comes and says like, well, we're gonna 506 00:33:08,390 --> 00:33:10,570 make bracelets out of this thread, then you better bet that 507 00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:13,190 all three of them are now making bracelets out of that same 508 00:33:13,260 --> 00:33:16,720 thread. They are like one another and 509 00:33:17,150 --> 00:33:20,340 Elizabeth sees me up here enough that she got into this room and 510 00:33:20,350 --> 00:33:25,150 came up here and wanted to preach all sermon, got words to 511 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,950 say. You will be like your family. 512 00:33:30,260 --> 00:33:33,490 You will be like those around you. 513 00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:38,160 You will be like Jesus. That's the call at the end of 514 00:33:38,170 --> 00:33:44,910 the day, is to move your life in the direction of the Kingdom and 515 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,790 along with the direction of the Kingdom, enveloped by the 516 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:51,900 Kingdom of God in a way that it transforms your life so that you 517 00:33:51,910 --> 00:33:56,970 become more like the things of the Kingdom, so that your life 518 00:33:56,980 --> 00:34:00,930 has lived toward greater love, so that you demonstrate more 519 00:34:00,940 --> 00:34:06,830 patience and less anger. Maybe you start to experience 520 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:12,370 this, this incomprehensible non anxiousness. 521 00:34:12,860 --> 00:34:15,770 As you move, the things of the Kingdom will naturally start 522 00:34:15,780 --> 00:34:20,449 flowing out of you because you are becoming more and more like 523 00:34:20,460 --> 00:34:26,940 Jesus. They will flow out of you just 524 00:34:26,949 --> 00:34:31,010 like they flow out of Jesus and and through you like this is our 525 00:34:31,020 --> 00:34:35,960 prayer that each one of us becomes Kingdom people in a way 526 00:34:35,969 --> 00:34:41,030 that changes those around us. Last thing I want to say, this 527 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:48,310 gives a beautiful image of what it means to be family for those 528 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:54,150 who may not have a great relationship or any relationship 529 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:58,880 with their biological family. And so for those of us who have 530 00:34:58,890 --> 00:35:01,580 found ourselves inside this thing that we called the church 531 00:35:01,590 --> 00:35:06,910 for a long time, like the onus is on you and on us to be 532 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:11,000 family. To come alongside and deliver a 533 00:35:11,010 --> 00:35:18,140 meal and to pray for and to check in on and to show up 534 00:35:18,210 --> 00:35:22,590 alongside for the people in this community. 535 00:35:23,410 --> 00:35:26,300 The people you rub shoulders with and have coffee with. 536 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,870 The people you dig in the garden beside, the people you pray for, 537 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:38,370 the people you fast for. That's the call of the church is 538 00:35:38,380 --> 00:35:42,360 to become the community that Jesus describes here. 539 00:35:43,330 --> 00:35:46,840 His family, his mother, his brothers, those who hear the 540 00:35:46,850 --> 00:35:50,660 word, those who are captured by it, and those who do it. 541 00:35:52,170 --> 00:35:55,270 Let me pray, God, thanks for your love. 542 00:35:56,030 --> 00:35:58,910 Thanks for your Grace. Thanks for that. 543 00:35:59,890 --> 00:36:04,150 We have all of it to experience, not in isolation, loneliness on 544 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,330 our own, but in community together. 545 00:36:09,810 --> 00:36:13,600 God thinks that you continue to challenge us to live in the 546 00:36:13,610 --> 00:36:21,920 greater community, to allow all of our life to be transformed by 547 00:36:21,930 --> 00:36:26,190 your teaching, to allow our our hearts and our minds to be 548 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,630 captured by the message of the gospel. 549 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:36,140 Your life, your teaching, your death, your resurrection spirits 550 00:36:36,150 --> 00:36:40,230 presence with us. So God, I pray that you would do 551 00:36:40,240 --> 00:36:44,540 that again today, that you would capture our hearts, capture our 552 00:36:44,550 --> 00:36:48,670 minds, our spirit in a way that transforms us. 553 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,390 God, I pray that each one of us would long to live life like 554 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:57,890 inside of what you've designed in alignment with the Kingdom, 555 00:36:57,900 --> 00:37:00,650 hearing your word, doing the things of the Kingdom, 556 00:37:00,660 --> 00:37:05,060 practicing it, living it out. We gotta pray that you would 557 00:37:05,070 --> 00:37:08,960 challenge us to be that for one another, to be family, to be 558 00:37:09,010 --> 00:37:13,270 community, to be these deep, meaningful relationships for one 559 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,690 another. Friendships that feel like 560 00:37:15,700 --> 00:37:18,830 family feel a little bit more than just friends. 561 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:25,220 Because we know none of us is best in isolation or loneliness, 562 00:37:25,750 --> 00:37:27,990 each one of us created to be in community. 563 00:37:29,550 --> 00:37:32,830 So yeah, I I would pray that you would do that. 564 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:35,410 Make us into the community that you need, not the community that 565 00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:38,600 we want. Make us into the people that you 566 00:37:38,610 --> 00:37:40,220 need, not the people we want to be. 567 00:37:40,610 --> 00:37:43,820 Yeah, that pretty. Make us more like Jesus and, and 568 00:37:43,830 --> 00:37:46,170 in doing so, God, I pray that you would turn our hearts and 569 00:37:46,180 --> 00:37:51,210 our minds to the world in a way that is deeply convicted, in a 570 00:37:51,220 --> 00:37:56,350 way that grieves in, in a way that rises with like righteous 571 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,220 anger for the evil that is around us. 572 00:38:00,580 --> 00:38:05,430 Not in a way that is paralyzed or silent, but in a way that 573 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,270 works in our corner of the world to push back against the 574 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:13,450 darkness. So God, as we continue to 575 00:38:13,460 --> 00:38:18,900 worship and as we move from this place, the parking lot to 576 00:38:18,910 --> 00:38:22,140 transportation home into our houses, into the week to work, 577 00:38:22,150 --> 00:38:28,780 to school, into different groups of people, how would each one of 578 00:38:28,790 --> 00:38:34,120 us take the Kingdom as we go, where we live out what it means 579 00:38:34,130 --> 00:38:40,340 to be called family of Jesus? And will we do it in a way that 580 00:38:40,350 --> 00:38:48,890 is loving and is non anxious and is peacemaking in a world to God 581 00:38:48,900 --> 00:38:53,300 that we know is deeply broken and in the midst of grief and 582 00:38:53,310 --> 00:38:57,060 sorrow and sadness? So you gotta make us ones who 583 00:38:57,070 --> 00:39:01,780 carry your love and your light into the world. 584 00:39:02,190 --> 00:39:05,030 We pray these things in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.