1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,720 I remember the moments leading up to the birth of our first 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:09,400 born. Jane Susan's water broke, we 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:11,880 frantically grabbed all of our items and hurried off to the 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,600 hospital. There was all the excitement of 5 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:19,200 meeting my first child, followed by waiting and then more waiting 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,920 and then more waiting after that and after the process at the 7 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,280 hospital was was sort of jump started for us. 8 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,960 The waiting turned into labour pains but I was ready for this 9 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,880 because after all, I'd been through the birthing class. 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,880 So yeah, I knew all the moves and was fully prepared to give 11 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:40,760 my wife the much needed relief that she required. 12 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:46,280 OK, the moves didn't work, moments turned into hours and 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:47,440 the pain lasted through the night. 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:52,400 But eventually morning came and I began to get glimpses of my 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:57,240 little girl for the first time. I won't get into all the details 16 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:01,240 of exactly what I saw in all those moments, but I was excited 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,120 to meet her. OK, it's OK to laugh at that. 18 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:04,480 I'm talking about birthing pains, right? 19 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,120 It's kind of crazy, OK. When she came into this world 20 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:11,760 though, like, we wrapped her up and all of a sudden we were 21 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,440 parents and I was a father. And I'll never forget it. 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,720 And last week, I actually just watched the video of Jane 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,400 getting her first bath, and my eyes just started welling up 24 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,640 with tears. I should remember, like the love 25 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:31,280 I felt for this little girl in this moment, but it was a new 26 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,600 kind of love. I had never experienced this 27 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,400 type of love before. You see, when you become a 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,720 parent, the dynamic of your family changes. 29 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,320 And because of this, the dynamic of your love changes. 30 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,160 Parents, nod your head. If you're with me out there. 31 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:47,520 OK, you know what I'm talking about. 32 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,120 Most parents probably experience something like this. 33 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,240 And I think with dads in particular, there's this new 34 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,800 sense of care in protection and obligation and responsibility, 35 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,640 right? The the loyalty that that my 36 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,080 wife and I had for each other and towards each other now 37 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,440 included another person. The new family dynamic meant I 38 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,960 had to learn to live into a new kind of love. 39 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,120 Almost eight years later, I'm still learning how to fully live 40 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,520 into this new kind of committed love to my kids. 41 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,040 How many of us parents out there know it is not always easy 42 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,240 living into the type of love kids require? 43 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,080 No, this is the participation moment where you raise your hand 44 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:32,640 and you're honest. OK, Thank you. 45 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:33,720 I see you're out there. OK. 46 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,240 I know it's foggy, but you guys are you guys are responding. 47 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,080 OK, here we go. It's easy when it's when at 48 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,760 first, right? It's easy when they're cute. 49 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,320 It's easy when they're tiny. It's easy when they're little. 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,840 But then they grow up and they start saying things like why 51 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,480 should I or at the minor at a minor inconvenience. 52 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,160 They see that say things like, bruh, you know, and you're like, 53 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,320 what is going on here? You're 8 years old. 54 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,800 Parenting is not easy and and the kind of like loyal, 55 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,520 committed love that kids require so many parents and especially 56 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,720 dads. Often times we see don't live up 57 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,120 to the call and the role of fatherhood. 58 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,880 A recent literature review titled Father Wound and Its 59 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,280 Impact on Children's Psychological well-being is set 60 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,400 out to examine how a child's relationship with their father 61 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,400 shapes their emotional and psychological health. 62 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,840 They wanted to understand the deeper relational impact of 63 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,040 father absence, rejection, neglect, emotional 64 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,640 unavailability, etcetera. In other words, they were asking 65 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:39,480 what happens inside of a child when their father isn't present 66 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,160 and loyal. Their review found that father 67 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,360 wounds are consistently associated with higher risks of 68 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,080 depression and emotional struggles and behavioural 69 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,400 problems and reduced psychological well-being from 70 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,360 childhood into early adulthood. This is probably 71 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,320 self-explanatory for most of us, but the study also found a 72 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,320 hopeful counterpoint that warm, responsive, and emotionally 73 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:07,320 engaged fathers serve as a key protective factor in a child's 74 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,120 life. In plain terms, the presence of 75 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,400 a loving father helps shape a child's sense of self, their 76 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,480 ability to trust, their emotional stability, and their 77 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:23,680 capacity to flourish. In other words, when a father's 78 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,840 love is loyal and it's committed, faithful, and 79 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:31,160 present, the child often thrives. 80 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,520 All of us need this type of committed love in our lives. 81 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,840 Would you agree? All of us need this love and 82 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:40,200 maybe some of you in the room, you, you were meant to 83 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,000 experience that And, and that was not the type of love you 84 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,360 receive. And we have such compassion on 85 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:46,920 that. But all of us are designed to 86 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:48,280 have this type of love in our life. 87 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:54,400 And so today we're continuing on in our community series and 88 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,960 we're talking all about what Christian community actually is. 89 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,040 We use that word a lot community, but what is it 90 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:04,080 exactly? We've defined it this way. 91 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:08,520 That community is a spirit formed, diverse family gathered 92 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,200 around the presence of God. It's formed in the way of Jesus 93 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,760 and it's sent to live out the gospel of the Kingdom. 94 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,680 So Christian community then it's, it's a result of God 95 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,880 making a way for us to be adopted back to himself through 96 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,000 Jesus. That's good news. 97 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,480 We have a family in God and God is our father. 98 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,120 And a couple of weeks ago we mentioned that healthy Christian 99 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,160 community has three different dynamics. 100 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:38,000 Healthy Christian community has an an upward dynamic, an inward 101 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,800 dynamic, and an outward dynamic. When a church is healthy, we 102 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,640 move upward in worship, we move inward in love with one another, 103 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:48,800 and then we move outward in witness to the world. 104 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,040 So today we're going to be looking at an inward dynamic as 105 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,200 we look at the model in words of Jesus Himself. 106 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:58,000 So if you have your Bibles, turn to John 13. 107 00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,800 We're going to be hanging out there today. 108 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,920 Always encourage physical Bibles if you have them, they're on the 109 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,000 back table as well. If you want to go grab one, 110 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:07,800 always just try and get this in front of you if you can. 111 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:14,000 John chapter 13. We're going to begin in verse 33 112 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:20,120 here, verse 33. This is these are Jesus's words 113 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:25,480 here, verse 33. My children love that language. 114 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,080 My children, I will be with you only a little longer. 115 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,240 You will look for me and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell 116 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:35,960 you where I am going. You cannot come. 117 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:43,320 A new command I give you love one another. 118 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:47,960 A new command I give you. Jesus says love one another. 119 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,160 The context of this passage is that Jesus is about to be 120 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,800 arrested and crucified. But first he gathers around his 121 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:57,680 disciples. These are his closest friends. 122 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:01,080 He calls them children, and he gives them some of his final 123 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,440 commands on how to actually love one another. 124 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,560 This idea of love and loving one another is not new in the Bible. 125 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,040 In fact, it's the great commandment that Jesus gives us 126 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:16,760 in the Bible. Love is the first fruit of the 127 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,560 Spirit, and it's said to sort of inform all the rest. 128 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:25,960 And yet Jesus says a new command I give you. 129 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,000 So how is it new? After all, even in the Old 130 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,600 Testament, the Israelites, God's people long before Jesus, were 131 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,880 commanded to love one another. And even in Leviticus, right, 132 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,960 which we know as maybe being kind of dry and like lots of law 133 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,000 and all of that, even in Leviticus 1918, this was the 134 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,800 command. Do not seek vengeance or bear a 135 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:51,840 grudge against anyone among your people, but read it with me. 136 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:58,120 Love your neighbor as yourself. Again, same chapter, when a 137 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,400 foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 138 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:07,080 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native 139 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,880 born. Again, read it with me. 140 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:14,960 Love them as yourself. Now clearly Jesus and the 141 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,840 disciples would have been familiar with Leviticus. 142 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:19,640 They would have known this command. 143 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,200 In fact, in Matthew 22, Jesus reiterates it. 144 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,880 Jesus replied, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 145 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:27,240 and with all your soul, with all your mind. 146 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,240 This is the first and greatest commandment 39 and the second is 147 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,880 like it one more time. Church together, love your 148 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:39,679 neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets 149 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:44,120 hang on these two commands. So Jesus is saying all of the 150 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:48,280 Old Testament, so all of this chunk in your Bibles right here, 151 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:53,840 all of it boils down to love God and to love people. 152 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,160 It's that simple. You want to know what 153 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,320 Christianity is all about? Love God, love people. 154 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,360 Some people say Christians are bigoted, they're hateful, 155 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,240 they're blah, blah, blah. No, no, no, those are the 156 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,800 Christians who aren't doing it quite right, right? 157 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,560 The the ones that are actually Christians and Christ followers, 158 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:11,640 they love God, they love people. There's no clearer message in 159 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:17,440 the scriptures than loving God and loving people earlier than 160 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:18,760 this. Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount 161 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,200 takes it even further and he says that we should even love 162 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,120 our enemies of all people. How we doing at that church? 163 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,120 We good at loving our enemies. We doing all right there? 164 00:09:28,680 --> 00:09:29,320 Yeah. OK. 165 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:35,200 Ouch. Love has always been the command 166 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,000 of God. And yet Jesus, in his final 167 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,320 moments with his his disciples, he's saying a new command. 168 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,600 I give you love one another. So why does he say it's new? 169 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,960 Let's continue on John 13, verse 34. 170 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:58,920 A new command I give you love one another as I have loved you, 171 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:04,040 so you must love one another. By this everyone will know you 172 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,800 are my my disciples if you love one another. 173 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:13,200 So here Jesus doesn't just say, all right, love one another as 174 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,880 yourself. Jesus doesn't just say love your 175 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:20,200 enemies. No, Jesus takes it a step 176 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:25,320 further. He says do all of that, but do 177 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,600 all of it as I have already done for you. 178 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,920 Isn't that remarkable? Jesus goes deeper and broader 179 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,200 and he expands what it truly means to love one another. 180 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,600 He says this is a new commandment. 181 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,560 Do it like I did it. Do it like I did. 182 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,840 Love others like God himself loves you. 183 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,880 That's a powerful commandment. Pretty easy to do, right? 184 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,080 Right. Love people just like God loved 185 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,520 us. OK, A theologian, Joseph Dongle, 186 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,080 writes her this way. He says the command to love one 187 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,600 another's had been known for centuries, being deeply rooted 188 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,640 in the Mosaic law as well as in the preaching of the prophets. 189 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:08,920 So what was new about it? It was new because Jesus himself 190 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,720 now modeled the full nature of love as it never had been 191 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,600 modeled before. Wow, so then it begs the 192 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:24,200 question, what kind of love is this? 193 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,840 What kind of love did Jesus show? 194 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,040 And more than that, because Jesus was himself God, the very 195 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,760 nature of God, he was God. What kind of love does God have 196 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,840 towards us? Just a small question today for 197 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:42,320 us to answer. OK, you know this. 198 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,880 If you've ever tried to learn a new skill, you know how 199 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:49,120 important it is to have that skill modelled for you before 200 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:50,040 you try it. Would you agree? 201 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,160 If you're ever trying to learn something new, it's good to have 202 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:53,440 a teacher who can show you how to do it. 203 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:57,680 So maybe this, for instance, is like the nurse teaching you how 204 00:11:57,680 --> 00:11:59,760 to swaddle up your baby for the first time. 205 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,560 Anyone remember that? Or watching mom comb and braid 206 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:06,600 your hair so you can learn how to do it yourself. 207 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,800 This is the moment many of you you guys maybe know this. 208 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:13,840 It's it's holding the flashlight for dad when he's like knee deep 209 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:16,400 in the engine Bay, right? And you're like trying to hold 210 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,040 it at just the right spot, watching him work, like holding 211 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,280 it with all your might, trying not to get distracted, right? 212 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,640 He's like sweating and grunting and like maybe cursing, 213 00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:25,760 depending on your dad. OK? 214 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,800 Not mine, of course, but right. And you're like don't want to 215 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:30,160 get yelled at. So you got to hold it and write 216 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,200 the spot. You know, anyone out there? 217 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,680 OK, thank you. I'm not alone, OK? 218 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,640 But in those moments, you're learning how to do the thing we 219 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,680 all need, a model. And for the disciples, Jesus 220 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:47,280 served as the perfect master teacher that they could all 221 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,640 apprentice under to learn this new way of love. 222 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,800 He modelled it perfectly. He was a perfect example. 223 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:59,560 The type of love he demonstrated was a committed, loyal, faithful 224 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,560 kind of love. It was a kind of love that was 225 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:07,120 covenantal. Covenantal One of the most 226 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:11,200 important themes all throughout Scripture is that of God's loyal 227 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,320 love, his covenant to his people. 228 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,600 There's a word for this. This type of covenant love that 229 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:19,800 he shows all throughout Scripture is described by the 230 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,400 Hebrew word has said, OK, so everyone say that with me, say, 231 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:25,960 has said you got to get a little Hut in there. 232 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:27,160 OK. I don't know if that's actually 233 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:28,800 how you pronounce it, but we're going to go with it because it's 234 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,920 Hebrew, OK? This word reflects God's 235 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,400 steadfast, loyal, and enduring love for his people. 236 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,960 Let me put it this way, it's actually impossible to grasp for 237 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,880 the relationship God has with humanity without understanding 238 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,960 has said type of love. If you want to know what God's 239 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:49,360 love is like, you have to learn the meaning of has said OK in 240 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,320 the Old Testament, His covenant love is primarily associated 241 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,400 with God's promises, and it's his promises to the patriarchs 242 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:01,160 and the nation of Israel. So God makes promises to 243 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,440 Abraham, he makes promises to Isaac, promises to Jacob and the 244 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:10,600 entire Israelite people and has said is a love that's not merely 245 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,280 emotional, kind of like how we think about it in our culture. 246 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,560 We think of love, we think of like little, little pink heart 247 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,240 bubbles floating around people's heads that we swoon and say 248 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,800 that's so nice, It's sentiment, it's feeling right. 249 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,720 But this type of love is not just emotional, it's actually 250 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:31,120 deeply rooted in commitment and faithfulness. 251 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,200 Does that make sense? So it's not just feeling, it's 252 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,760 commitment and faithfulness. Has said has been translated 253 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,200 into English a number of different ways trying to capture 254 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,320 the meaning of this includes words like mercy, loving 255 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:50,520 kindness, unfailing love. And I love this one steadfast 256 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:54,640 love. So ultimately has said describes 257 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:59,600 an act of promise, keeping loyalty, but it's also motivated 258 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:04,160 by a deep personal care. God's love is not just 259 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,560 obligation, it's also deeply personal. 260 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,360 When he revealed himself to Moses and the covenant on Sinai, 261 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,760 we see illustrated God's covenant love as it reveals his 262 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:17,600 character in Exodus 34 verses 6 through 7. 263 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,680 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming the Lord, the Lord, 264 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:28,320 the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in 265 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,800 love and faithfulness, maintaining said to thousands 266 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:37,040 and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. 267 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,040 This is the type of Father's love for us. 268 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:44,000 This is God's character, abounding in love, patient with 269 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,160 us, compassionate. This is the type of love that 270 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,320 all fathers should model. So here covenant love is linked 271 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,160 with His mercy and His forgiveness, highlighting his 272 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,800 desire. Check this out God's desire for 273 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:03,640 lasting relationship with the Israelites and with us, even 274 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:07,120 despite their shortcomings, which were many by the way, the 275 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:08,480 Israelites were constantly tripping up. 276 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,200 They they could not figure it out and over and over and over 277 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,920 they would mess up and over and over and over. 278 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:19,400 God still loved them. He was committed to them. 279 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:26,520 OK, so has said love is a covenantal type of love. 280 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:32,040 It was 2009 or 10, I can't remember exactly, but I met my 281 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,920 wife and I was in a relationship at the time, but I kind of 282 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,200 noticed her in that moment. That night I met her, I noticed 283 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,200 she was kind of a cutie, but it was kind of weird because I like 284 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,400 she was still in high school, so I was already in a relationship. 285 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:44,800 So I was like, I want nothing to do with that. 286 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:46,320 OK? I'm a man of principle. 287 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:47,920 OK, But eventually what happened? 288 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,880 It was my senior year, it was my senior year and she came to 289 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,440 college. She was, she was a beautiful 290 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,400 little freshman, OK? But I was a senior religion 291 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,320 major. It was forbidden love, OK? 292 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:01,880 It couldn't be done. I was too, you know, dignified 293 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:04,599 and principled to, you know, quickly date someone right after 294 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:06,520 breaking up with another. And she didn't care. 295 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,599 She pursued me hard. OK, Let the record state she 296 00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:14,640 came after me, OK? We fell in love very quickly. 297 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,880 All of the feelings. It was amazing, right? 298 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,480 And then came the time for an engagement and eventually 299 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,720 marriage. Now, when I married my wife, I 300 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,240 wasn't just entering into a contract on paper. 301 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,800 Much more importantly, by making vows to my my wife, we were 302 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:40,440 entering into a covenantal relationship with God and with 303 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:42,240 one another. It's a covenant. 304 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,960 OK, so what's the difference then between a contract and a 305 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:48,880 covenant? Here's the simple way to 306 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,760 remember it. A contract is strictly 307 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,080 transactional. So think of like a business 308 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:56,560 contract. So a business contract, it 309 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,680 outlines I'm going to hold up my end of the deal. 310 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:00,840 You hold up your end of the deal. 311 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,280 If one of us doesn't hold up their end of the deal, contract 312 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,440 is null and void. We cancel it out, We're in 313 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:06,720 breach of contract. Makes sense. 314 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,440 It's transactional. A covenant relationship is 315 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,920 different. There's still the bond, there's 316 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,800 still the agreements, but it's highly relational in nature. 317 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:21,520 So contract is transactional, but a covenant is relational. 318 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,680 When we were entering into a covenant with one another and 319 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:26,600 with God, we were saying, I'm going to stick it out 320 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:29,040 relationally and make promises to you. 321 00:18:30,440 --> 00:18:36,040 So has said is this type of covenantal love makes sense, 322 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:37,840 kind of makes sense. What has said is all right. 323 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:41,920 To illustrate this has said is like a it's like the elderly 324 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,920 husband caring for his sick wife after decades of marriage. 325 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,240 Now if this husband only says I love you but does nothing to 326 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:53,800 care for her, that's not his said. 327 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:59,320 That's not loyal love if he only cares for how her out of cold 328 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,920 duty. However, that also misses the 329 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,440 point of his said. In this way, God's covenantal 330 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,040 has said love towards us. It's not just like an unfeeling 331 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,440 obligation to a group of people he doesn't really care for. 332 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,680 Rather, it's a it's a love that is relationally bonding to us, 333 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,800 faithful committed even when it's undeserved. 334 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:26,120 You catch that even when it's undeserved, God still pours out 335 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:27,720 his love for his people and for us. 336 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,120 We see this in Deuteronomy 79. Know therefore, that the Lord 337 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,720 your God is God. He is the faithful God keeping 338 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:41,200 his covenant of has said love to 1000 generations of those who 339 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:42,520 love him and keep his commandments. 340 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,160 I, I love this line from one of my children's books. 341 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:48,880 They have what's called the Jesus Storybook Bible. 342 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,680 Anyone so good you got to pick one up for your kids or 343 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,480 grandkids or whatever Jesus storybook Bible and over and 344 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,400 over they, they perfectly weave it out throughout the whole 345 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,680 Bible. There's this one line that talks 346 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,040 about God's love, and it says it this way, that God's love is a 347 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:11,680 never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever 348 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:13,920 love. Isn't that good? 349 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,840 Oh, it's just perfectly captures has said love church. 350 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:24,240 This is the kind of love that God has for you. 351 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,240 It's the type of love he has for me. 352 00:20:29,120 --> 00:20:35,640 Never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever 353 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:43,160 love that's has said. And God fulfilled this covenant 354 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,200 promise, this covenant love, by sending his own Son Jesus to 355 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,840 rescue us all back to himself first. 356 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,920 John 49 says this is how God showed his love among us. 357 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,080 What did he do? He sent his one and only Son 358 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:01,800 into the world that we might live through him. 359 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:03,720 Is that good news for anyone here today? 360 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:07,920 Ephesians 2 says it this way. Like the rest, we were by nature 361 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,200 deserving of wrath that that's us. 362 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,560 We're we're deserving of wrath. We are not the ones to keep our 363 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,640 promises. We are filled with sin and our 364 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,840 thoughts and our actions. But verse 4 says, but because of 365 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:25,120 whose great love, his great love for us, God who is rich in 366 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:27,600 mercy. That's the that's the closest 367 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,400 word in the Greek we have to have said made us alive with 368 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,440 Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. 369 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,720 It is by grace that you have been saved. 370 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,520 In other words, God perfectly kept His loving promise to us by 371 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:47,080 sending the One He loved most in order to go all the way to death 372 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:48,880 so we might be able to live with Him. 373 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,000 You catch that? That's a never ending, 374 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,040 unbreaking, always and forever kind of love. 375 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:59,120 That is the love God has for you, and it's the love He has 376 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:04,240 for all of us who are in Him. Jesus himself modeled this 377 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,400 perfect kind of love. He committed his love to his 378 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,160 followers and to the lost. So going back then to our 379 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,960 passage in John 13, in John 13, where Jesus is with his 380 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:17,800 disciples, He's about to be crucified. 381 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,800 And in this very passage of Scripture, as he's telling them 382 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:25,640 to love one another, He's sitting next to both Judas and 383 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:30,000 Peter in the same room. They're chilling together, Peter 384 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,520 and Judas. Judas who would eventually sell 385 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:38,320 him out and betray him for self advancement, and Peter who would 386 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:42,720 deny him for self preservation. And Jesus is eating with them 387 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,200 both, knowing what they're about to do to him. 388 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,560 He still sits with them and he washes their feet and he loves 389 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:52,360 them anyway. He still sits with them and he 390 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:57,320 he, he has his presence with him and he goes to the cross anyway. 391 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,440 He's willing to love them to the very end. 392 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:04,360 John 13 one says, having loved his own who are in the world, He 393 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:09,720 loved them to the end. Listen to that. 394 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:15,360 He loved them to the end. That's a said type of love. 395 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:18,880 Never giving up love, even when it hurts. 396 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,840 And this, all of this is the context. 397 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,800 All of God's Old Testament has said love, all of Jesus's love 398 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,440 to the cross, all of this is the context. 399 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,360 And this is the moment where he looks at each of his followers 400 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:35,680 and he looks at each of us. And he says this in 34 A new 401 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,920 command I give you a new command. 402 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:50,520 I give you love one another. As I have loved you, so you must 403 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,120 love one another. By this everyone will know you 404 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,240 are my disciples if you love one another. 405 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:03,880 Wow, Joseph Dongle continues. He says Jesus himself now 406 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:07,560 modelled the full nature of love as it had never been modelled 407 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,920 before, A humble love which gave itself for others even unto 408 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,440 death. Now the command to love would 409 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,360 stand as the comprehensive principle governing all entering 410 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,560 God's family through faith in Jesus. 411 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,080 What's Joseph saying here? He's saying that if we're in the 412 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:28,360 family of God, which most of us may be in the room or not, or or 413 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:30,480 are, and if you're not, please let us know. 414 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,640 We'd love to introduce you to to Jesus. 415 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,960 But if we're in the family of God, we now have a comprehensive 416 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,600 principle governing our relationships. 417 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,360 In other words, followers of Jesus are to love one another 418 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:47,360 with a loyal, committed, and covenant love. 419 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,160 That's the principle. It governs over all of us. 420 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,560 Christian community, then, is covenantal by nature. 421 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,560 Does that make sense? Bonded to each other 422 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,680 relationally, obligated to one another continually. 423 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,720 Jesus tells us to love one another as he has loved us, as 424 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:12,520 God himself has loved us. So this new command then is what 425 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:15,640 this new command is to live into an ancient love. 426 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,840 Think about how many generations have passed of God just 427 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,800 continually pour out his love on and on and on. 428 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,840 No matter how how difficult the Israelites are, no matter how 429 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,560 difficult we are, God just continues to shower us with his 430 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,080 love. It's never ending. 431 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,960 So the new command that Jesus gives is a is a command to live 432 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:36,560 into this kind of ancient love, a said type of love. 433 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:38,760 You with me. You guys good so far. 434 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:41,360 Stretch it out a little bit. You guys seem a little stiff out 435 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:42,200 there. OK, you good. 436 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,240 All right, let me put it this way, Church. 437 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:49,240 This is the type of love that stays even when leaving would be 438 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,120 easier. This is the type of love that 439 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,920 honors promises when other people break theirs. 440 00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:01,800 This is the type of love that welcomes people back when others 441 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,600 run away. This is the type of has said 442 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,400 love that God has for us. This is the type of love where 443 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:11,080 they have for each other. Is this the type of love we see 444 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,520 in our culture here today? Do you guys see this out in the 445 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:17,760 culture very much this type of has said type of love? 446 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,720 I would say probably not, right? This is radically 447 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,600 countercultural to the way that our culture views relationships. 448 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:27,720 If it's not benefiting me in some way or it inconveniences me 449 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,480 in some way, like dropped, see you later, right? 450 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,520 We're very quick to drop relationships when things get 451 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,480 sticky. We'd much prefer to cancel 452 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,400 people, to ghost them, to block, to unfollow them, right? 453 00:26:39,680 --> 00:26:42,080 There's this thing called shadow banning where you ban someone, 454 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,120 but they don't even really know that you banned them, right? 455 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,920 I feel like so often we shadow ban people in our hearts, they 456 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:49,720 don't even know that we don't like them anymore. 457 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:51,200 They don't even know that there's conflict. 458 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,240 But yet we've just sort of written them off and said, good 459 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,920 luck to you, buddy, right? We do this all the time. 460 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,320 Very common in our culture today. 461 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,360 I once made a Facebook post that was condemning like a string of 462 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,400 violent acts, which should be pretty universally like agreed 463 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:07,840 upon. It wasn't necessarily political 464 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,600 by nature or anything like that. But afterwards I had two 465 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:12,120 different friends have beef with me, right? 466 00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,920 11, friend immediately from college unfriended me and the 467 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:19,120 other one stopped sharing his online movies with me. 468 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,720 Joke's on him, I got to read a lot more and I'm improving 469 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,400 myself, thank you very much. So I'm good, you know, right now 470 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,760 we're, we're good now and we, we're still friends and all of 471 00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:32,440 that. But the point still stands. 472 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,560 We're prone to walk away when there's conflict, not stick it 473 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,600 out. Pastor John Tyson, one of my 474 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,600 favourites, he's the GOAT. He puts it this way. 475 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,560 Our culture knows nothing about loyalty. 476 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,600 We break up with our friends, we move whenever we want, we get 477 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,840 married. We just tap out of the marriage 478 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,080 if it gets too hard. We are not a people trained to 479 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,120 keep our commandments with stubborn loyalty. 480 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,240 But thank goodness our call is the call to Jesus. 481 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,760 Look at Jesus's stubborn loyalty towards us. 482 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,560 He goes on elsewhere to write about the word duty and how duty 483 00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,440 is not a word that our culture and our world loves today. 484 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,200 Would you agree? We love words like success. 485 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:21,800 Take, take me some success. Love that. 486 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,200 We love words like rewards. Love getting some rewards back. 487 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:28,920 ROI, return on investment. Yes, please. 488 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:34,280 I'll take some of that. Duty, not so much. 489 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:36,760 Duty is a four letter word in many ways. 490 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:41,160 And he argues that we need to recapture a healthy sense of 491 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,280 duty in our world to counteract the prevalent sense of despair 492 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:51,240 that so many men are facing. Detachment, estrangement and 493 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:54,240 families or even entitlement, That's something's owed to me. 494 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,000 We need to recapture that. And he goes on to speak to men 495 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,360 directly and he says men that we need to recapture our sense of 496 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,720 duty first to God, who gives them breath and life and 497 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,800 everything else. Duty to our wives who they vowed 498 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,600 to love as Christ loves the church. 499 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,920 Duty to our kids who need a model of dependability and 500 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,240 devotion. Duty to the church where they 501 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,360 contribute and don't just consume, and duty to the 502 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,000 community where they work for the common good. 503 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:25,680 We need to recapture the idea of being dutiful to one another. 504 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:31,560 Christians are to be a people who are stubbornly loyal to each 505 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,880 other. Stubbornly loyal. 506 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:37,840 I love that language. There ought to be a sense of 507 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,040 obligation that we have to one another's well-being because we 508 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:42,680 see this all throughout Scripture. 509 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,760 But one of my favorite pictures of this type of loyal love is 510 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:49,040 found in the book of Romans. Paul is emphasizing giving honor 511 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,120 where it's due, and he writes this in Romans 13. 512 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:56,440 He says let no debt remain outstanding except the 513 00:29:56,440 --> 00:30:00,440 continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves 514 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,440 others has fulfilled the law. Do you hear the commitment 515 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:05,120 language here from the apostle Paul? 516 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,640 He's saying that you and I would do well to make sure that 517 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,200 everything we owe to others is paid back. 518 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,600 But there's one debt that will never fully pay back. 519 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,400 There's one debt we can't fully pay back. 520 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,160 And it's the ongoing debt to love one another. 521 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:23,600 Is that how you view each other? Like, do you walk into church 522 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,640 and you're just like, all right, who needs my love today? 523 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,840 You know, like, do you walk in and be like, I owe people love? 524 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,280 Whoever needs it, you've got it right? 525 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,880 Like I, there's a debt of love that I owe to one another. 526 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,360 So many of us, we're so wrapped up in our own worlds. 527 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,520 We're so wrapped up in raising our own kids, doing our own 528 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,720 jobs, pursuing our own futures, all of that, that we don't think 529 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,000 about the fact that we owe an obligation of love to our 530 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,720 brothers and sisters in Christ. Like perpetually, anytime we 531 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,600 interact, there's a debt that's owed and we get the privilege of 532 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,640 repaying it to continually to one another. 533 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,760 I love that vision. We're a stubbornly loyal group 534 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:02,000 of people to one another. I think we need to re engage 535 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,400 with the practice of willing indebtedness to one another. 536 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,240 Ah, willing indebtedness. Like every time we interact, 537 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,800 it's just like, whatever you need, you got it, I'm in debt to 538 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,880 you. What if we adopted that kind of 539 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,920 mentality? What if instead of dropping one 540 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:19,720 another when there's a disagreement, we practice 541 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:22,320 willing indebtedness to our brothers and sisters? 542 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:26,320 God showed his said love all throughout Scripture. 543 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,240 He kept his promise to Abraham and his promise to the 544 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,600 Israelites by sending Jesus the Messiah. 545 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:36,200 Jesus showed his disciples a said type of love by loving them 546 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:40,560 all the way to the end, pouring out his life so that they might 547 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:45,280 live. And he looks at us church and he 548 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:52,880 says you do it too. You all do it too. 549 00:31:54,520 --> 00:32:01,520 Love one another in the same way that God himself has loved you. 550 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,200 Christian community is covenantal. 551 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:11,440 It's covenantal, bonded, committed together. 552 00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,160 It's not circumstantial like most relationships. 553 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:18,160 Things get bad, I leave, it's not convenient, things get hard. 554 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:20,000 No thanks. Christian community is 555 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,040 covenantal. We're committed to one another. 556 00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:27,640 So why is it so important to grasp the idea of Christian 557 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:29,520 community as a covenantal relationship? 558 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:32,720 There's many, many reasons out there, but here are a few that 559 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,160 help us understand the weight of living into this type of 560 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,240 community #1 real quick. Living in covenantal 561 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:44,120 relationships now is how we both survive today and prepare for 562 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,120 eternity. Survive today. 563 00:32:47,120 --> 00:32:49,840 For the early church, unity wasn't optional. 564 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,600 It was necessary for survival under constant threat of 565 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:55,840 persecution. They needed to be able to fully 566 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,040 trust and lean on each other during hard times. 567 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,560 In the same way, if we're to be faithful to the teachings of 568 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,520 Jesus Church, we need each other. 569 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:08,760 This means we commit to one another relationally, we 570 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,840 continually relationally invest in one another, we pray for one 571 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,000 another, we strengthen one another. 572 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,040 Someone has a need, we seek to fill it. 573 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:20,280 We serve one another and we tell the truth to one another. 574 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,560 This remains church that we remain loyal even through the 575 00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:26,080 trials. One of the biggest 576 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,000 misconceptions of love in our time is that it should always 577 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,800 feel pleasant. Love should always feel good, 578 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:38,320 should make me feel happy. Look, love is great, love is 579 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:39,720 beautiful. There's times of emotion, but 580 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,760 love is not always going to feel pleasant, right? 581 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:48,000 What we learn from Jesus is that sometime love bears pain for the 582 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:52,000 sake of another person. John 15 says my command is this, 583 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,520 love each other as I have loved you greater love has no one, no 584 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:00,280 one this to lay down one's life for his friend. 585 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,440 Is it pleasant to lay down your life for someone else? 586 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:08,080 No, Jesus was willing to bear that pain though for us, love 587 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,760 goes deeper #2 Christian community then is a, is a 588 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,480 commitment to reconciliation, which again is kind of like a 589 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:18,360 four letter word in our society today. 590 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,400 Reconciliation. Sometimes when we're in conflict 591 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:26,199 with our brothers and sisters, it's easy to forget that we're 592 00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:28,320 going to be hanging out in heaven forever. 593 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,520 You thought about that. Like when we're in conflict, 594 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:34,480 like we just want to like butt heads and we want to just walk 595 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,280 away, but we need to remember we're literally going to be 596 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:38,800 spending forever together, right? 597 00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,760 We'd be wise to remember that we'll be living on the same 598 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,080 cul-de-sac in our mansions in heaven. 599 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,080 Now, personally, I'm not prone to be stubbornly loyal or 600 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:52,600 willingly indebted by nature. When things get tense with 601 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:55,639 somebody else, OK? That's not in my nature, OK? 602 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:58,320 My flesh, I don't know about you guys. 603 00:34:58,320 --> 00:34:59,760 Maybe you guys are better than me. 604 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,680 My flesh would rather blow things up. 605 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,560 You know what I'm saying? When things get tense, OK, I 606 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:06,800 hear like, is that nervous laughter? 607 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:10,480 I can't tell. My flesh would rather assert my 608 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,160 dominance. I'd rather burn bridges than 609 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:13,920 build them. OK. 610 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:18,000 I think sometimes even as men, right, we'd rather prove how 611 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:23,560 tough we are by being unfazed at losing a relationship rather 612 00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,960 than being vulnerable, humble and trying to mend it. 613 00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:29,440 It's always harder to press in and forgive. 614 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:35,240 It's always harder. So point blank church, this 615 00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:36,760 might be the question of the morning. 616 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,560 Is there anyone in your life that you need to reconcile with? 617 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,080 God was deeply committed to reconciliation. 618 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,760 He sent his son to do it and then he commanded us to do the 619 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,840 same. He he essentially is like, hey, 620 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:56,000 don't even don't even bring your worship. 621 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,000 If you know that your brother has something against you, leave 622 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,360 your gift at the altar. Leave your worship over there 623 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:03,440 and go make it right with your brother first. 624 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:10,480 Then come back and worship. I just have a sense in the room. 625 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:13,120 There might be some people you need to reconcile with out 626 00:36:13,120 --> 00:36:16,040 there. And look, I know it's hard and I 627 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:18,760 know sometimes it's not even possible and all of that. 628 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:21,360 But as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 629 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:26,920 As far as it depends on you, OK, I just feel like that's a word 630 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,480 for someone here today. Is there a brother or sister 631 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,840 that you'll be spending eternity with that God is calling you to 632 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:37,240 make amends with? If a name is popping up, I 633 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,520 consider you to to text them soon. 634 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:45,360 Now continuing on living in covenant relationships enables 635 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:49,240 us to do justice. Michael Micah 68, he has shown 636 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:51,920 you, our mortal, what is good and what does the Lord require 637 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,760 of you to act justly in the love mercy, to walk humbly with your 638 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:59,000 God has said love is actionable and it's sacrificial, not 639 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,600 sentimental. This means we do right by each 640 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,480 other and we do right by others. The strength we gain from having 641 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,480 this sort of unbreakable support system in the church allows us 642 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,640 then to turn outward and be a blessing and refresh others. 643 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,480 Proverbs reminds us that whoever refreshes others will be 644 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,960 refreshed. Christians, then, are to be some 645 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,880 of the most refreshing people in the world to be around. 646 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:25,320 Why? Because we're totally secure in 647 00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:28,200 God's love for us. We're totally secure and safe in 648 00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,560 God's love for us. We need a deeply interconnected 649 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,520 web of relationships that are living out sacrificially for 650 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:38,160 others. Finally, living in covenant 651 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,120 relationships is how we show the world God's love. 652 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,640 John 1335. By this everyone will know you 653 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:46,800 are my disciples if you love one another. 654 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,680 Church, This stubbornly loyal love isn't about us feeling 655 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:55,680 good, it's not about ourselves. It's not just about us taking 656 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,720 care of our own like the world is. 657 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:01,640 Tired of seeing people just look after themselves. 658 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,480 If Christians choose self preservation like Peter or 659 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:10,080 selfish gain like Judas, we'll blend right into the world's 660 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:12,000 value systems and faulty ideologies. 661 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,640 You agree? A person just trying to protect 662 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,840 themselves? The world says, been there, done 663 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,600 that. A greedy person just trying to 664 00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:24,320 get money for themselves. The world says, yeah, that's 665 00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,400 common. I've seen that show us something 666 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,600 new. People cutting off relationships 667 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,480 when it gets tough. What else is new? 668 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:38,320 The world says, but a people who choose self sacrifice, who 669 00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:40,640 choose to give even when it hurts. 670 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:43,640 A people who lay down their life for their friends, their 671 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:47,560 brothers and even their enemies. They stand out in the world. 672 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,720 The world says, now that's something new. 673 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:53,520 That's something I've never seen before. 674 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:58,440 That might even be a people that I'd want to hang around, that 675 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:01,760 I'd want to spend time with. That might be something I want 676 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,640 to be a part of church. Sometimes I think the world 677 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:11,440 around us is more pained by the disunity in the church than we 678 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:15,440 are. They're aching for it. 679 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:18,680 They're the ones saying you're the supposed to be the ones who 680 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:24,160 have this figured out church. They want it. 681 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,360 They know there should be something better and they're 682 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:30,080 waiting for us to live into it. They're hungry and searching for 683 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,480 the kind of loyal love that God has given to us and we are 684 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:37,480 called to give to one another. This is a fatherly love that 685 00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:41,160 doesn't give up. And maybe there's some of you in 686 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,800 today who like you haven't experienced that type of 687 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:46,560 fatherly love. And I just felt a prompting, I 688 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,520 wasn't planning on saying this, but like we first need to 689 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:53,680 understand something that God loves you like a perfect father, 690 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:57,080 not a broken one. God loves you with a never 691 00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,080 ending love. No matter what you've done, no 692 00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,680 matter if you didn't hold up your end of the bargain, no 693 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,400 matter if you feel like you did things that were unworthy of his 694 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,000 love or his attention or whatever. 695 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:10,240 I just need to say to you today, God loves you like a perfect 696 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:15,800 Father. He loves you so deeply and He 697 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:21,280 always will, and we just need to reach out to Him and receive 698 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:25,120 that love first and foremost. So I just want to encourage us 699 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:29,440 as a church, as the band comes up, my encouragement to you as 700 00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:32,960 the people of God is to start making new commitments to one 701 00:40:32,960 --> 00:40:36,120 another. Maybe you won't live into these 702 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,320 commitments and these promises perfectly at first, but 703 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:39,920 eventually you will grow into them. 704 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:44,040 It's like a marriage, you make the promise upfront to protect, 705 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:47,080 to serve, and to stick by not fully knowing what life is going 706 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,680 to throw your way. But when you are finally 707 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:54,160 married, it's the new family dynamic that pushes you to learn 708 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:57,160 the new kind of love. None of us are ready to be 709 00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,640 parents before our kids are born, but in the same way, 710 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,840 you're never fully trained. But the new family dynamic of 711 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,040 having a new kid pushes you to learn a new kind of love. 712 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,480 And now that you're a part of the family of God, it pushes you 713 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:15,640 to learn Jesus's new command of love, to love one another as God 714 00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:18,960 Himself has loved you. So start making commitments to 715 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,560 each other. I will sacrifice for my 716 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,120 community. I will choose to be stubbornly 717 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:26,440 loyal. I will choose willing and 718 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,880 deadness of love. And I will choose to reconcile 719 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:31,040 when things get hard. You may not live them out 720 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:34,080 perfectly all the time, but with God's grace, He will form us 721 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,520 more and more to become persons of love like Jesus for the sake 722 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,440 of others. And I just want to take a moment 723 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:46,280 to just express my gratitude to the people in my life who have 724 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:50,360 been stubbornly loyal in love. Any of you out there have people 725 00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:53,240 in your life who have just been stubbornly loyal to you? 726 00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:59,440 There's so many, even just dads in our church being Father's Day 727 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:03,440 stubbornly loyal dads out there, that I see you out there working 728 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,120 hard for your families. We see you holding down the Fort 729 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:08,840 while your wife is in the hospital. 730 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,840 We see you supporting children through difficult financial 731 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:16,040 crisis. We see you opening up your home 732 00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:20,560 to Foster and adopt children. We see you working hard day in 733 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:22,680 and day out to provide well for your family. 734 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:26,320 We see you serving those in the next generation through kids 735 00:42:26,320 --> 00:42:28,720 ministry and clubs and sports and beyond. 736 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:33,840 And I just want to say we see you to my own dad who's in the 737 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:36,200 room. Thank you for being stubbornly 738 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:41,720 loyal to me even when I was a pain in the butt and didn't hold 739 00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:44,360 up my end of the deal. I honor you in that way. 740 00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:48,720 To all of you fathers out there and parents out there and men 741 00:42:48,720 --> 00:42:52,680 and women who are stubbornly loyal in their relationships, 742 00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:57,280 way to go, way to go. You're living it out. 743 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:05,080 All of these people are are modeling. 744 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:09,280 The Father's never giving up love for us, this type of has 745 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:13,160 said love that never stopped looking for the wayward son and 746 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:15,240 embracing him when he finally comes home. 747 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,200 Way to go, be strong and courageous. 748 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:23,360 Men, women, families, keep going, we see you. 749 00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:32,760 And to all of us as a church, may we continually learn to live 750 00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:39,080 into this type of covenantal love so that the watching world 751 00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:45,160 will see Jesus through us so that they'll see Jesus. 752 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:56,480 So in closing, because of God's loyal has said he promised 753 00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:01,320 himself to a family and he fulfilled this promise in Jesus 754 00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:06,120 the Messiah paid the price for you and for me by dying on a 755 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:09,400 cross for our sins that anyone who believes in him and 756 00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:11,840 confesses with their mouth that he is indeed Lord. 757 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:15,480 Anyone who places their faith in the death and resurrection of 758 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:21,120 Jesus can also be saved, set free, forgiven and adopted back 759 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:23,480 into the family of God. And if that's you today, it 760 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:27,000 starts with just making a decision in your heart and 761 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,400 praying to God and asking for that and receiving that free 762 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:34,880 gift of salvation. It was Jesus who loved us to the 763 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:38,840 very end, and He told us to do the same. 764 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:41,840 May we now live into it.