1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:02,800 Good morning. How are we? 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,080 If you don't know me, my name's Prit. 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,960 I'm usually in Hemel Hempstead in our Versa Hemel site. 4 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,200 So if you haven't met me, please come and say hello. 5 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,800 I'd love that. And if you've been with us for a 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:20,000 while, you'll know we're in this series called Rooted. 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:21,880 Yeah. Is that news to anyone? 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:26,280 And we're looking through the book of Colossians. 9 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,000 And one thing if you've been around that you'll have noticed 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,200 is that all of us who have preached, we've really, really 11 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:34,360 lent into this like plant analogy. 12 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,880 So I've been on BBC Bite Size and I've been having to read the 13 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,360 Bible and learnt my biology and about how plants work because 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,840 it's not my Forte. Some people love gardening. 15 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,120 Any gardeners in the room? Anyone love plants? 16 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:51,160 Yeah. My wife hasn't got her hand up 17 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:53,200 so she's just give her, she's definitely one of those she 18 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,640 loves not a gardener, but she loves house plants. 19 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,800 She's got all of them. She's got every house plant 20 00:00:57,800 --> 00:00:59,840 there is. She's got names for them all. 21 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,200 She's got an app. She loves it. 22 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,720 And one of her favorite places to go is a garden centre. 23 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,120 Any garden centre fans in the room? 24 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:12,200 Yeah. And now me, as someone who's 25 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,000 just. I'm trying to be a good husband, 26 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,800 you know, occasionally I'll try and treat my wife. 27 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,840 So we'll go on a little date to a garden centre and I might say 28 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,400 this, and this is a very dangerous phrase, lads. 29 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:23,800 All right. It's a very dangerous phrase. 30 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:29,440 But I might say T pick something that you'd like, whatever you'd 31 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,760 like, within reason, whatever you'd like, and I'll get it for 32 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,840 you, you know, So we walk around, we see all these like 33 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,720 beautiful flowers, all these like just gorgeous house plants 34 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,680 or like, like she loves her hanging basket. 35 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,480 And I'm like, whatever you want, pick anything. 36 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:45,960 And do you know what she picks more often than not? 37 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,680 Soil, soil, like literally a bag of dirt. 38 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000 That's what she picks. I don't know, right? 39 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,840 But but she was explaining to me why she does this right, because 40 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,560 she understands something that that before I before I went on 41 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:03,240 BBC bite size, I didn't understand. 42 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,360 And it's this did you know that if a plant is rooted in 43 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,560 unhealthy soil, what happens is you have to help me hit tea. 44 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,280 The the soil becomes what is it hydrophobic, which we all know 45 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:22,200 what that word means, but but if you don't hydrophobic, it's when 46 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:27,200 it's, it basically repels water. So it means that the the, the 47 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,720 plant, the very thing that it's rooted in is now stopping it 48 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,280 from receiving water that it needs for life. 49 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,480 And So what tea does with her plants and what we're going to 50 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:44,760 see in this passage, what Paul unpacks, is this process of 51 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,920 being uprooted from unhealthy soil. 52 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:55,160 And then I'm using the language re rooted into new healthy soil. 53 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,040 And and and I want to put to you there's three stages to this 54 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,880 that Paul's going to unpack. So stage 1 is that, and I want 55 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,680 you to imagine, right, like anyone got a house plant at home 56 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:07,920 in a little pot. Yeah, I want you to imagine, 57 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,840 right, that God, the good gardener or the good, I don't 58 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,920 know what the term is for indoor plants, but the goods indoor 59 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:19,360 gardener, imagine he that you're this plant and he's, he's 60 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,480 pulling you up from this unhealthy soil. 61 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,280 So that's stage 1. He's re rooting you in new soil. 62 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,640 And then stage 2 is all the unhealthy bits of you that have 63 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:32,920 come from that have developed from this unhealthy state you 64 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:35,040 were in. He's just pruning and he's 65 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:37,520 cutting off. That's stage 2 pruning. 66 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,600 And then stage 3, you're in new healthy soil, you're pruned, 67 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,560 you're renewed, and you're ready to thrive. 68 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,760 Shall we dive in to scripture? Who's got a Bible, like a 69 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,200 physical Bible with them? Any physical Bibles in the room? 70 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,200 Great, you guys are winning. You guys are winning. 71 00:03:55,320 --> 00:04:00,120 OK, alright, so we're in Colossians 3 from verse one it 72 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,440 says since then you have been raised with Christ. 73 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,520 Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the 74 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,880 right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, 75 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,480 not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is 76 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:21,360 now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life 77 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,840 appears, then also you will appear with him in glory. 78 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,640 Amen. All right, there's something you 79 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:31,520 need to know before we can go any further with this. 80 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:33,760 There's something that you need to know. 81 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,040 And if you've not heard this before, then what I'm about to 82 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,800 tell you can change your entire life. 83 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,160 Did you know that you have been made in the image of a creator 84 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:49,200 God who loves you and designed you to exist in his presence? 85 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,400 Yeah. But all of us, me included, 86 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,600 especially me, we've been corrupted and polluted by this 87 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,360 thing called sin, which which is which is just like ways in which 88 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:02,960 we've we've we've made-up. We've made a decision where 89 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:04,280 we've gone. You know what I don't think I 90 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:05,440 need? I don't think I need you, God. 91 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,680 I think I know better than you. So I'm going to live. 92 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,960 I'm going to live without you. And So what we do when we live 93 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:14,480 like that is we choose to live without the God who gives us 94 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,720 life. And so that leads to death. 95 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,600 But I want to tell you this morning that God loves you so, 96 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:27,600 so much that he came to earth to be with us in the form of his 97 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,960 Son, Jesus. And he wasn't polluted by sin, 98 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,920 but what he did was He took your sin and he put it on himself. 99 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,360 And then he went to the cross and he died for you. 100 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,920 And then he rose again, proving that he is more powerful than 101 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,840 death, that he is a life giving God. 102 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,960 And now today, right now in this room, he is here and he is 103 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,560 offering you that free gift of life. 104 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,920 Isn't that good news? That's good news. 105 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,920 You know, we were living in a way that would lead to death, 106 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,760 but God gives us a way back to life. 107 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,520 And let me tell you that way isn't just a way, it's a way. 108 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,200 It's the truth. It's the life. 109 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:15,000 And it's not an it, it's a who. It's Jesus. 110 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,280 And you know, the Bible says we can only encounter if we want to 111 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,360 get back to that place where we exist in the presence of God. 112 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:27,240 The only way is through Jesus. And it gets even better than 113 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,360 that. If you've never met Jesus, well, 114 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:34,280 today you can and you should know that he loves you more than 115 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:35,920 anyone. If you think of the person in 116 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,120 your life that you think loves you the most, do you know 117 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:40,000 there's another? And he loves you even more than 118 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,880 that. And it's Jesus and he's 119 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,520 desperate to meet you. And so we'd love this morning to 120 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,800 give you the opportunity to make a decision to meet him. 121 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,840 Very exciting, right? Very exciting. 122 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:55,600 And listen, many of us in this room, we've made that decision 123 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,520 already. And, and Paul's writing to 124 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:00,840 people who had made that decision. 125 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:03,600 And what he's talking about now is, well, you've made the 126 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:05,920 decision. You've decided that you want to 127 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,280 live with this God who gives you life. 128 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:10,280 But now what? Like, what do you do? 129 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,800 How do you live? How should you walk? 130 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:15,480 And so he kind of sums it up in that one line. 131 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:21,200 It says, set your minds on things above, not on earthly 132 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,560 things or, or to use, let's say, the Rooted series translation. 133 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:31,400 All right, it's, it's saying don't root your life in earthly 134 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:35,240 things. Instead, root your life in 135 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,720 things of God's Kingdom, things that are above. 136 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,520 In other words, like don't, don't, don't chase the things 137 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:44,960 that the world chases because it's not going to satisfy you. 138 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:50,440 It's not going to lead to life. There's a famous author, David 139 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,920 Foster Wallace put it like this. He said if you worship money and 140 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,600 things like if they are where you tap real meaning in life, 141 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,080 then you'll never have enough. Never feel you have enough. 142 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,000 It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty 143 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,800 and sexual allure and you'll always feel ugly. 144 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,600 And when time and age start showing, you will die a million 145 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,720 deaths before they finally fly on you. 146 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,000 He goes on to say worship power. You know, you'll feel like 147 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,600 you'll feel weak and afraid. Worship intellects. 148 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,280 You'll feel stupid and a fraud. What he's saying is, you know 149 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,000 the world celebrates and and champions these things. 150 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,560 It tells you to go after all these things. 151 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,600 But actually those things are the things that consume you and 152 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,240 hold you prisoner. They claim to give life, but 153 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:39,320 they lead to emptiness and death. 154 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,360 God has so much more than you, more for you. 155 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,280 So they live for him, live for the Kingdom. 156 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,440 And, and I hear you ask, what does it, what does that mean? 157 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:53,120 What do you mean live for the Kingdom? 158 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,480 Well, let me say it like this, right? 159 00:08:55,480 --> 00:09:02,200 So Paul, Paul says we were raised with Christ and, and as 160 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,920 part of this thing we do, which is learning to be a follower of 161 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,320 Jesus. And John Marcomi uses the word 162 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,280 apprentice. And, and, and, and those of you 163 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,520 who've ever been an apprentice will know, well what you do is 164 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,320 you watch how the person you're learning from lived and then you 165 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,560 try and live like them. So if we were to watch how Jesus 166 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,560 lived, and let's look specifically at how Jesus lived 167 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:23,880 like after he'd been resurrected, right? 168 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:25,480 So Paul says you've been raised with Christ. 169 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,320 Well, let's look at how Christ lived after he was raised. 170 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:30,800 Well, what's the first thing he did? 171 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:36,280 He left the tomb. He ran out of that grave as we 172 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,400 sang earlier, you know now what? And I loved what Ezzy was 173 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,480 saying. Like, like many of us, we have 174 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,480 places of death in our lives. And for some of us, it's a 175 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,440 choice to walk out or it's a journey to walk out. 176 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:52,160 For some of us, it's, it's what what we need is for God to lead 177 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:53,760 us out. And we need to have the faith 178 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:55,720 that he can do that. I don't want to tell you that he 179 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,400 can this morning, whatever those places are. 180 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:04,040 And secondly, Jesus spent his time being weird and ministering 181 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,880 to his disciples, right? I want you to look around the 182 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:08,560 room, right? Just keep, just look around. 183 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:10,960 Just have a little little to your left and your right behind 184 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:14,560 you, right? These are his disciples church. 185 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,880 We are we are then all right. And so if Jesus spent time being 186 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:23,400 with and ministering to his disciples friends, we need to do 187 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:28,120 the same with each other, you know, and let me just plug space 188 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:29,920 this Tuesday evening in this very room. 189 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,000 Do you know your way here? Which all of you do because 190 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,360 you're here. Come on Tuesday night. 191 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,800 And it's a great opportunity for us to just have literally have 192 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,200 space to just be with and minister with each other. 193 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,760 OK. And thirdly, Jesus lived in 194 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,960 supernatural power with the ability to do impossible things. 195 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,760 Did you know that you live with supernatural power and the 196 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,160 ability to do the impossible through in partnership with the 197 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,480 Holy Spirit? So let me ask you this, Are you 198 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,160 doing the stuff as John Wimber would say? 199 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:08,520 You're doing the stuff, you know, everyone gets to play like 200 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,520 close your eyes for a minute. All right, Imagine being in this 201 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:18,600 place and and everyone here is just alive and abuzz with 202 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:23,560 stories of healing and a miraculous like signs and 203 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:27,120 wonders are bursting out of us, bursting into our communities, 204 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,040 bursting through this church that everyone in Saint Albans 205 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,800 and all of Hertfordshire know. If you need a miracle, you come 206 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:38,800 to Verso Vineyard. I'm preaching to myself here 207 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,920 too, right? But but, but what if those 208 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:44,560 things weren't stuff we did on the side? 209 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,200 What if our whole lives were centred around that? 210 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:55,520 So let's let the Father pull up our roots from the earthly soil 211 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,160 and now put them in the new Kingdom healthy soil. 212 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:07,680 All right, so .1 the first stage was what we are re that was like 213 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:09,200 10% confidence, but we'll get there. 214 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:10,560 That's good. Re rooted. 215 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:13,960 Stage 2 is pruned. OK, so we're uprooted from the 216 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:18,040 world re rooted in the Kingdom, but there are still behaviours 217 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,280 if you like, like leaves and branch. 218 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:23,400 Does the plant have branches? What's it called? 219 00:12:23,560 --> 00:12:24,720 Stem. I don't know whatever. 220 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,800 See, I don't, I'm not, I'm looking at my wife here. 221 00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,000 But you've got branches and leaves that are still kind of 222 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,160 like sick and and withering because they they, they, they 223 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,160 come from this. Oh, so So what do we do? 224 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,640 Well, this is what Paul says. Put to death. 225 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:41,280 He likes the extreme, doesn't he? 226 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,440 He just goes for it. Put to death. 227 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:47,880 Therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual 228 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:52,240 immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is 229 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,840 idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of 230 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,880 God is coming. You used to walk in these ways 231 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,360 in the life you once lived, but now you must also rid yourselves 232 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:06,000 of all such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander and 233 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,160 filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other since 234 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:14,080 you've taken off your old self with it's practices. 235 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:17,320 Put to death. Eradicate. 236 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,720 You know the Greek word is necroon which which which 237 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:25,760 literally means to deaden. I love that to deprive of life, 238 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,200 to cut it off. It's extreme in, in other words, 239 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,320 like, like there's some stuff in your old life that you can't 240 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,840 take with you. When you see your new life, you 241 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,400 can't do it. You've got to cut it off. 242 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,480 And, and that first list, you'll notice it's all kind of like 243 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,960 issues of the heart. You know, some of those things 244 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:49,280 that they, they might they might stay hidden, but they can tear 245 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:54,320 us up inside and they can keep us isolated thinking that we're 246 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,840 a fraud. Like we walk into a place like 247 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,960 this and we think, man, if only they knew what what I've done 248 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,960 here. If only they, they knew my 249 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,640 secret sin, like they wouldn't love me anymore. 250 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,200 They cast me out. I want to tell you that's a lie, 251 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,520 by the way. And and if you're in that place 252 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,600 this morning, like, like, bless you and there's freedom for you 253 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,640 this morning. And I'm going to do it. 254 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,960 I'm going to talk about sexual immorality, if that's all right. 255 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,520 Is that all right? Yeah, and, and, and, and I'm 256 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,040 going to skip the like the preamble on the with stats on 257 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,280 how big a problem this like we all know this is a, this is a 258 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,440 problem, right? Like it's a serious thing, but 259 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,320 it's also, it's unfortunately, it's really commonplace in our 260 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,240 in our world and, and even in the church, whether it's 261 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:42,920 pornography, premarital sex, sex outside of marriage. 262 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,120 But what I want to do this morning is look at what Jesus 263 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:51,080 says about this so that you might hear what he's saying to 264 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,280 you today. So we're going to start in John 265 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,400 chapter 8. You maybe, you know the scene, 266 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,960 it's where the religious leaders have brought forward this woman 267 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:04,160 who's caught in the acts of adultery and they bring her in 268 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,120 front of Jesus and they say, shouldn't we stone her? 269 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:08,600 Oh, shouldn't we stone her? That's what the law says. 270 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:15,160 We should stone her. OK, well, and we need to picture 271 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,400 the scene like, this woman is in an unbearable situation, All 272 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,080 right? Like, like her sin, her shame 273 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:27,560 exposed to the crowd. Like, imagine the visceral rage 274 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:33,160 of the crowd directed at this poor girl, you know, Imagine the 275 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,040 shouts of shame on you. You've let us down. 276 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:38,960 No one giving her a chance to speak. 277 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,840 No one giving her a chance to share her side of the story or 278 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,080 even repent, say sorry, no opportunity. 279 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:47,000 And she was probably still naked. 280 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,360 She was probably alone. She's accused, as far as she 281 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,800 knew, she was about to die. So what does Jesus do? 282 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,560 How does he respond? Well, we read he does this 283 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:05,600 right? He gets down on the ground and 284 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,120 he starts writing. And I just imagine, I want you 285 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:10,280 to picture again, imagine the crowd. 286 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,600 All of a sudden they're like, what's he doing? 287 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:19,280 What's he, what's he writing? And and so what's he done in 288 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,800 that moment? Well, I want to put to you that 289 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,920 what he's done is all those eyes that were accusing and piercing 290 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:30,040 this woman all of a sudden now are on Jesus. 291 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,480 And so thus we see his mercy. He says to this woman, I see 292 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,680 you. I see all these eyes looking and 293 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,080 accusing you. Let me take them from you, put 294 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:46,480 them on me. So first thing, mercy, and then 295 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:49,920 secondly, he says something so profound to all of these 296 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,600 accusers that they actually all start one by one, they start 297 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,480 walking off convicted of their own, convicted of their sin, 298 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,480 right? And so all, all of a sudden what 299 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:06,760 happens is now the scene has changed and it's just this poor 300 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:11,319 woman and Jesus. And so thus he's, he's given 301 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,680 this woman mercy and now he's created a moment of intimacy 302 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,800 where it's just her and Jesus. And then he asks this question. 303 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,680 He says, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? 304 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,960 No one, Sir, She said, then neither do I condemn you. 305 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,600 Go now and leave your life of sin. 306 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:37,000 And there we have it, Grace, right? 307 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,520 Mercy, intimacy, and now grace. That is what Jesus is offering 308 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:44,240 you today. And let me tell you, like if you 309 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:48,080 are stuck in that place of sin this morning, the very first 310 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,920 step and my invitation for you today is to tell someone. 311 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:56,120 When you tell someone, it takes what's hidden. 312 00:17:56,120 --> 00:17:58,880 It brings it into the light. When it's hidden, it has power. 313 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,800 When it's exposed, it has no power over you. 314 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:11,200 You know you won't find yourself naked and exposed in front of a 315 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,080 whole load of people. That's not how Jesus operates. 316 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:14,440 That's not how the Kingdom operates. 317 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:21,000 What you'll find is mercy, intimacy with Jesus and grace. 318 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,920 And then your family are going to help you walk in in in a new 319 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,200 lifestyle. And that lifestyle is the 320 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,200 Kingdom of lifestyle. And let me tell you this all 321 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,920 right, Jesus doesn't lower the bar. 322 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:37,840 He doesn't lower the bar. In fact, if anything, he raises 323 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:42,800 the bar in Matthew chapter 5 from verse 27, Jesus says, you 324 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,360 know, you've heard it was said you should not commit adultery. 325 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,880 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has 326 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,320 already committed adultery with her in his heart. 327 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,360 Can we just take a moment to just appreciate how serious that 328 00:18:57,360 --> 00:19:03,200 is, how, how high the bar is? And, and you know, the fact that 329 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,920 our society is so hyper sexualised, like everywhere you 330 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:13,120 look, it's like, and yet that doesn't mean that the bar is 331 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:16,360 lowered for us. Like it's hard. 332 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,800 And maybe what you do when you respond to this and when you 333 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,160 read something like this is you go, oh, right, well, I just 334 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,880 really need to try not to sin. I really need to try hard not, 335 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:27,440 not to do that thing, whatever it is. 336 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,120 And so you try really hard not to do it, but then you get 337 00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:33,920 tempted and then you do it. So you feel really guilty. 338 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,120 And so you go, right, well, I really need to try not to do it 339 00:19:37,120 --> 00:19:39,560 then. But then you get tempted, you do 340 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,400 it, you feel guilty, so you say you're not going to do it. 341 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,120 And so this spiral happens and you just feel more and more 342 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:52,160 guilty and it just goes deeper and deeper and deeper and you 343 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,280 feel more and more trapped, stuck in this like, don't do it, 344 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,520 don't do it, don't do it kind of reality. 345 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,360 And, and hey, we're talking about sexual morality, but this 346 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:03,960 applies to, to any of those things, impurity, evil desires, 347 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,280 greed. How on earth do we break out of 348 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,400 that? How do we overcome this? 349 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:17,160 I'll tell you a story that that T and I endured in our last 350 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,800 home. We every time we went into our 351 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,120 bathroom, every time we stood on a particular tile, we noticed 352 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,360 that a little bit of liquid was kind of like seeping up from 353 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:33,360 under the cracks. So we, we did the responsible 354 00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:34,320 thing. We called a plumber. 355 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,320 We said, hey, would you just tell us what that is? 356 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,840 It's probably water, isn't it? And and he was like, well, in 357 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,520 order to really investigate what I need to do is we need to take 358 00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,840 out the bathtub. I'm going to cut a Long story 359 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:51,160 short, whatever the worst scenario you're imagining right 360 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,560 now. Yes, it was that. 361 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:57,080 And, and I'll just add one more detail. 362 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:02,160 The other side of our bathroom wall was, was a bar and, and 363 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,400 specifically the the bathroom of that bar. 364 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,560 Yeah. So some, let's just say there's 365 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,560 some stuff that we didn't want to come up in our bathroom was, 366 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,840 was coming up. And yeah, yeah. 367 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:21,680 And, and, and our plumber generally, he, he said to me, I 368 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,720 used to work in drainage. This is still the foulest thing 369 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:31,520 I've ever seen. So, so, and listen, this stuff 370 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:34,680 was probably coming up for a long time, but maybe even years. 371 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,920 There was no smell, no sign of it because it was all hidden 372 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:43,400 under this bathtub. Why am I telling you this 373 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:49,960 horrible story? You know, there are things that 374 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,920 feed us or habits in our lives. They're a bit like that bathtub. 375 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,520 Can I say you something? There's nothing wrong with 376 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,720 having a bathtub. It really isn't. 377 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,800 In fact, I'd say it's probably a good thing to have a bathtub. 378 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,560 But sometimes those habits, even though in and of themselves they 379 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,480 are, they are, they are fine. What they do is they cover the 380 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:14,840 mess and the stuff that we need to get rid of. 381 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,200 And so sometimes what it is that we need to do is actually we 382 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,840 need to RIP out some of the some, some of the stuff and some 383 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,880 of those habits in our lives so that we can get to the mess and 384 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,600 so the Lord can do a deep clean. That that passage in Matthew 385 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,160 continues that says, if your right eye can cause the Jews to 386 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,800 stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. 387 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,080 It's better for you to lose one part of your body than for your 388 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:39,480 whole body to be thrown into hell. 389 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:42,880 You know, for some of us, we need to gouge out Instagram, 390 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,360 throw it away. Maybe it's alcohol, maybe it's 391 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,680 certain TV shows or just like the music, like the things we 392 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,760 consume. You know, like I say, they're 393 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,120 not bad in and of themselves, but but for some of those 394 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:00,880 things, actually, we need to move our guardrail to the other 395 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:05,600 side of those things. And in other words, like prune, 396 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,640 prune the leaf from the branch. Does that make sense? 397 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,320 Amazing. Paul. 398 00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:14,760 Paul lists off some things. Also, the second list is kind of 399 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,840 all about things like like how we live life together, like 400 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,640 anger. So we need to cut off anger, 401 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,760 rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lying. 402 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,080 And look, we're all on a journey. 403 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,960 So we, we should have grace for each other when this stuff does 404 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,680 seep out. But but I want to say like we 405 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:35,760 shouldn't be complacent in trying to eradicate these things 406 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,480 from our lives just because maybe we think, well, they're 407 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:38,960 small sins. Everyone does that. 408 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,480 Like we should pursue purity. And, and let me just pick up on, 409 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:45,680 on one of those right on filthy language. 410 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:52,200 I think Jesus heart is that he wants us to be people who don't 411 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,640 do that, who, who don't use filthy language and we're 412 00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,840 different from the world. You know, like I say, we, we we 413 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:03,160 apprentice under Jesus. We try and live like him and we 414 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,320 never see Jesus swear or use filthy language in the Bible. 415 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,880 I mean, sometimes we see him with some pretty impressive put 416 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,120 downs. Like one minute he calls Peter 417 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:15,520 like the rock from which he's going to build the church and 418 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,400 the next minute he says, get behind me, Satan. 419 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,760 Like sometimes I think when we stub our toe, instead of saying, 420 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,120 oh, you know, we need to just say get behind me, Satan. 421 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:25,760 And he had some pretty iconic put downs. 422 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,440 Like he, he called the Pharisees a brood of Vipers. 423 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:31,480 Yeah. It's like, it's like, like 424 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,320 offspring of, of snakes. I I wonder, like if you, if 425 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,520 you're someone who swears and you're trying not to, maybe the 426 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,480 if you think of the last person you swore at, maybe instead of 427 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:41,640 think about what would have happened if instead of you 428 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,360 saying, oh, you and whatever you said, maybe you could say, oh, 429 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,120 you offspring of a snake and see, see how see how that would 430 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:53,320 go down just anyway, the point is guardrails, guardrails is the 431 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:56,400 point. All right, so stage 1 was what 432 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,840 we are re routed. Love it. 433 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,840 And now even louder. Stage 2 was love it. 434 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,000 OK, stage 3 we're nearly there renewed. 435 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:09,600 So Paul says stop lying since you've taken off your old self 436 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,840 with its practices and have put on the new self which has been 437 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,640 renewed in the image, in the knowledge of in the image of its 438 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,320 creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, 439 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:22,560 circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian sky then slave or 440 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,880 free, but Christ is all and is in all. 441 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,160 OK, put, put off the, the, the language Paul uses is like 442 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,520 taking off, taking something off, like clothing, like taking 443 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,320 off a jacket and putting on a new jacket. 444 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:41,040 In other words, to say like the inwards, the interior change has 445 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,080 been accomplished already by Christ, like you are already a 446 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,800 new creation because of what Christ did on the cross. 447 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,880 But now, now that we're rerouted and, and we're pruned, it's like 448 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,640 we, it's like we're living that out and our outward lives are 449 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:04,840 reflecting that inward change. So, so I want you to imagine 450 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:08,480 that it's, it's a bit like this, like, so I mean, tea and I have 451 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,520 moved house since. If you ever come to our house, 452 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,200 just don't be worried about it. We've never had any issues with 453 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:13,040 this bathroom. It's great. 454 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,120 But I, but I want you to imagine, like imagine I go home 455 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,880 this afternoon and then out of nowhere, the previous owner, the 456 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,840 guy we bought the house off like waltzes in and says, get your, 457 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,120 get your feet off the sofa, change the channel. 458 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:28,480 I don't want to, I don't want to watch football. 459 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,320 Get me a beer. Can you imagine how weird that 460 00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,600 would be? I've I would look him in the 461 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,160 eyes, I'd say get out, you offspring of a snake. 462 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:43,720 And, and because because you don't live here anymore, you're 463 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,520 not well, you know, this isn't your home. 464 00:26:47,120 --> 00:26:50,920 NT Wright says when a tide of passion or a surge of anger is 465 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,480 felt, it must be dealt with as the alien intruder it really is 466 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,080 and turned out of the house as having no right to be there at 467 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,960 all, let alone to be given orders. 468 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,240 Like, it's all linked. We, you know, when we're 469 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:08,560 uprooted from earthly things and rerooted into heavenly things 470 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,360 like, like, like what we're pursuing is different. 471 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,640 And because what we're pursuing is different, the way we behave 472 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:16,760 and, and, and, and the way we live with each other is 473 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:18,920 different. And because the way we live with 474 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,840 each other is different, we're a renewed new people living out 475 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,040 this new creation reality reflecting the image of the one 476 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,560 in in whose image we're made. And it gets better because as we 477 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:37,040 do that, our old worldly divisions fall off like the 478 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,320 things that maybe once divided us no longer do. 479 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:44,440 So we become a united people. Like, doesn't the world need 480 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:47,040 unity right now? What if we couldn't we be those 481 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,640 people? And you know, when our 482 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,400 identities are no longer rooted in our worldly positions and 483 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:59,520 instead of rooted in the one who unites us all, you know we move 484 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:05,560 from entitlement to service. What a beautiful picture. 485 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:09,440 Serving each other, serving our communities, serving the nations 486 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:14,360 and the Kingdom. Friends, let's set our minds on 487 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:18,720 heavenly things, allowing the Lord to re root us in soil that 488 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,480 gives us life. And let's allow the good 489 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:27,360 gardener to prune us, cutting off the things of our old lives. 490 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:33,600 And in doing so, let's become a renewed people, living lives 491 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,200 that reflect that we are new creations made in the image of 492 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,640 God, united in the Kingdom. Why don't we stand?