1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:08,560 Ephesians one verse 3 Praise be to God, the God and Father of 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:11,080 our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:13,960 realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,480 For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,520 holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for 6 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,560 adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with 7 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:29,120 His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,439 which He has freely given us in the One He loves. 9 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:35,280 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the 10 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,160 forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of 11 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:42,320 God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,040 understanding. He made known to us the mystery 13 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,400 of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He proposed 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,400 in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their 15 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:57,520 fulfilment, to bring unity to all things in heaven and on 16 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,000 earth under Christ. In Him we were also chosen, 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,960 having been predestined according to the plan of Him who 18 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,120 works out everything in conformity with the purpose of 19 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:10,680 His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope 20 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,480 in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. 21 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:20,240 And you were also included in Christ when you heard the 22 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:23,600 message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 23 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:29,120 When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the 24 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,960 promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our 25 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,560 inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's 26 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,000 possession to the praise of His glory. 27 00:01:41,120 --> 00:02:01,020 Amen. Take a moment and just sit with 28 00:02:01,020 --> 00:02:08,919 those words for a moment. Christ above all things, 29 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:13,360 bringing all things in heaven and earth under Him. 30 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:17,480 And now you are invited into that family. 31 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:31,280 September 22nd, 1994. A big day in television, the 32 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:36,320 world premiere of Friends. Raise your hand if you are a fan 33 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:42,920 of Friends, right Friends was a giant hit, a television show not 34 00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,040 about a family. A lot of sitcoms before that 35 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,280 were about families and the kind of hijinks and stuff that they 36 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,440 would get in. But Friends was a a story about 37 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,280 a group of young adults that had a found family in the city and 38 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,040 doing life together. And it was really this beginning 39 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,320 of this trend that we see through TV after Friends. 40 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,800 A few years later we have How I Met Your Mother. 41 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,960 How many people liked How I Met your Mother Marshall still one 42 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:10,880 of my favorite TV characters, right? 43 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,160 Same kind of thing, group of young adults trying to make it 44 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,000 in the city, doing life together. 45 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,760 We love shows like this, whether it's The Office, Parks and Rec, 46 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,160 Brooklyn 99. We love TV shows that are about 47 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,720 friends coming together and creating a community. 48 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,840 We love it in our movies, right? Like The Magnificent 7, if you 49 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,000 like Westerns, Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy, all 50 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,800 these stories about people that should be so different and not 51 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,960 get along, but they come together around a common 52 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,920 purpose. Everybody wants friendship, 53 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,840 everybody wants to belong, Everybody wants to be known and 54 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,400 loved and cared for. We love the idea of found 55 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,440 family. We love the idea of community. 56 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,280 But if we're honest, very few of us know how to make community 57 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,680 work. Because community, frankly, is 58 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,200 inconvenient. It's slow, it's costly. 59 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,839 It takes patience. It takes forgiveness, and it it 60 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:23,280 takes when it becomes easier to leave, it requires you to stay. 61 00:04:30,190 --> 00:04:31,670 And that's why the church is hard. 62 00:04:33,910 --> 00:04:36,750 It takes an intentional choice to belong. 63 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,800 In the 3rd century, there was a pastor by the name of Cyprian 64 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:48,000 who led the church. He was a Bishop, which is really 65 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,720 a pastor of pastors. He was born into a really 66 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,160 wealthy merchant family, so he had kind of a career set up for 67 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:58,880 him. He was going to do really well 68 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,240 in life, but then he came to know Jesus later on in life. 69 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:07,880 And his distinctive was it was that he loved the church and he 70 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,720 believed in the church more than anything else. 71 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:19,200 But while he was Bishop, persecution broke out OK, and 72 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,520 some believers, they they stood by. 73 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:27,920 But when persecution comes, it has a way of revealing what's 74 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,120 actually there and not just persecution. 75 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,520 When anything hard happens in our lives, it has this revealing 76 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,360 nature in our lives. So as this persecution broke out 77 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,720 during the 3rd century, some people stayed, some people left 78 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,320 the church because they didn't have, like, a firm foundation. 79 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:54,000 But when the persecution did eventually end, the real 80 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:58,160 fracture began to develop. See the church started to tear 81 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,560 itself apart over what to do with those who had left the 82 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:06,960 church. The church was asking the 83 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,080 question, those that that left are were they actually ever 84 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,520 there? Was the casual Christian that 85 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,320 they have a place to belong in the church? 86 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,840 Who was in, who had gone too far, and who was going to be 87 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:23,160 welcomed back. And Cyprian he, he saw something 88 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,440 that still feels painfully relevant for all of us today. 89 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:34,040 Sometimes the church survives suffering only to be undone by 90 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,400 division. And so he wrote a couple books 91 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,880 about unity of the church because he knew the deepest 92 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,120 threat was not from the outside of the church. 93 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,200 It wasn't culture wars. It wasn't persecution. 94 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,280 It was hurt people within the church hurting one another. 95 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:00,360 It was Christians wounded and disappointed attacking one 96 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,160 another. It was disunity. 97 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:06,880 And that's not just an ancient problem. 98 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,760 It's a problem that we still continue to have today. 99 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,880 See, we live in a world that teaches us to leave when things 100 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:16,840 get hard. Think about social media, for 101 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:21,080 example, right? You're on your, you're on your 102 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:22,360 feed. I don't know. 103 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,960 I'm if I call it a news feed, am I too old for that? 104 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,160 Is it so-called a news feed? Is that what TikTok has? 105 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,880 I don't know. But when you see something on 106 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:35,040 there, right, you see something you don't like, you see 107 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,720 something you disagree with, you see something that makes you 108 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:39,880 angry. We've been trained that our 109 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,800 reaction is either to unfollow, unsubscribe, unlike, or get 110 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,800 really mad and yell at it. Social media is not a place of 111 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:52,080 patient forbearance, am I right? We're not sitting on our social 112 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,880 media feed going, man, I really want to believe the best about 113 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,800 Greg. He's such a good guy. 114 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,640 I can't believe that he would say such a thing. 115 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,800 Instead, we immediately unfollow or unsubscribe. 116 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,360 We live in a culture that has taught us to divide when people 117 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:16,720 disappoint us, to protect ourselves at all costs, to keep 118 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,200 everything casual. Everything's curated, everything 119 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:27,160 is on our own terms. But Jesus did not save us into a 120 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:32,679 private spirituality. He binds us together as his 121 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,600 people. Scripture describes us as a 122 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:40,480 body, a family. This is the church and that 123 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:45,120 means if we want to have a life with Jesus, if we want to have 124 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:50,960 his his presence, if we want to be Jesus in our city, we are 125 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:55,760 also going to have to learn how to live with Jesus's people. 126 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,800 So this week we are beginning a new series. 127 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:04,520 It is called The Good Church and we started the series kind of on 128 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,000 purpose right after Easter. We're going to be going through 129 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,240 Ephesians 4 through 6, which if you listen to Pastor Ben, his 130 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:18,240 scripture reading, it's out of Ephesians 1 and Ephesians one 131 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,160 through 3 is all about Easter and what happened on Easter. 132 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:26,840 Easter is Jesus died and was resurrection, and through his 133 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,800 resurrection he defeated the powers of evil, death and 134 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:35,800 darkness, and he became enthroned in heaven above all 135 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:40,720 things on heaven and earth. And he took a divided people and 136 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,480 united them so that there's no Jew, no Gentile, no man, no 137 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:46,640 woman, no different social classes. 138 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,240 There's nothing that can divide us. 139 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:55,200 But now, underneath King Jesus, we are one body, one church. 140 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,480 And so Ephesians 4 through 6 begins to describe what does 141 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,520 that then look like? And so we're going to be talking 142 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,800 about that for the next few weeks, talking about being His 143 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,840 church, a people of grace, a people bound by love, a people 144 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,280 trying to disciple in the way of Jesus. 145 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:20,160 Together, my friends, we have to unlearn church as an event that 146 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,360 we go to or an organization that we are a part of. 147 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,760 It's not just like a weekly habit of something we need to 148 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:31,000 do. It is the living body of Jesus 149 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,040 in our world. And This is why the New 150 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,040 Testament talks about this unity of the Christian life over and 151 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,760 over again. And one letter Paul says, For by 152 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:47,400 1 Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or 153 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:51,800 Greeks, whether slaves are free, and we were all made to drink of 154 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,720 1 Spirit. Hear that language coming 155 00:10:55,720 --> 00:11:01,760 together under 1 Spirit. No slaves or free, he says in 156 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:04,680 another letter. In addition to all these things, 157 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:10,720 put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 158 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,800 If Jesus has saved us and invited us into life with Him, 159 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:22,000 then we have to trust not just the ends, not just the fact that 160 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,440 we have been saved, but also the means of how our life is to look 161 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,320 today. We have to follow the way He 162 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,920 designed us to live. So if you have your Bibles with 163 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,680 you, go ahead and open to Ephesians 4. 164 00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:40,280 We're going to be in verses, verses one through 6. 165 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,520 We recommend a physical Bible for a lot of reasons, but it's 166 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,200 also going to be on your phone if you have the app or it's 167 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,360 going to be on the screen. And so like I said in the first 168 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:54,480 3 chapters of the letter, Paul has been talking about 169 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,120 orthodoxy. He's been talking about the 170 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:58,440 truth. He's been talking about the 171 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,360 reality of Jesus as King and him being above all things and 172 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,240 unifying all people underneath him. 173 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:09,000 And then in chapter 4, he begins to talk about what does this 174 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,640 mean for you and I? Chapter 4 verse 1 is a hinge 175 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:21,040 talking about how are we to live in light of what came before. 176 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:27,160 So let's start up. Ephesians 41 says, therefore, I 177 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:31,280 the prisoner of the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy 178 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,680 of the calling with which you have been called. 179 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,800 OK, first word I want you to mark if you have a pen or 180 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:45,640 something, circle it. The word walk, walk in in 181 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,080 chapters one through 3, Paul repeats a phrase over and over 182 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,040 again and it's remember, remember this, remember that 183 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:54,960 Jesus is king. Remember that you are a body. 184 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,800 Remember that there's powers in this world that Jesus is over. 185 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,360 Remember, remember, remember. It's it's education, language. 186 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,600 But then in four through 6, he begins a new word. 187 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:10,160 Remember stops and he begins to say walk, walk. 188 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,640 Paul has been telling us what is true, who Jesus is, what he has 189 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:20,480 done, and who we are in Christ. But it's going to now move from 190 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,480 theology to practice, from what we believe to how we live. 191 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,640 In other words, the gospel is not just something to think 192 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:33,240 about, it is a reality to step into. 193 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,160 Paul is saying you have been called by God, rescued by grace, 194 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,400 brought into a new humanity in Christ, and now live like it. 195 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,760 Let your life catch up to what is already true in Jesus. 196 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,880 Not a casual suggestion, but an invitation into a new kind of 197 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,800 life. You are not who you once were. 198 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,800 You are no long. You no longer belong to sin or 199 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,240 to the world or to a a story. You lived before. 200 00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:06,840 You belong to God now. And if that is true, then there 201 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,640 is a way of life that He is calling you into. 202 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,760 The second word to notice is the word manner. 203 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Now this is this is kind of cool. 204 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:23,720 The Greek word is axios and it means to have the weight of OK, 205 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,800 to have the weight of he is saying to the church that the 206 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,360 weight of of its life should measure the same as its 207 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,680 declaration. It should be who they say 208 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,200 they're going to be. If we're going to say that we 209 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,280 are Jesus in our city, the church should live like we're 210 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:44,960 Jesus in our city. If we say that we're a people of 211 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,400 grace and forgiveness, we should be a people of grace and 212 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,680 forgiveness. Apparently, the way that you and 213 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:57,440 I live together is just as important as what we believe 214 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,480 individually. The late formation writer Dallas 215 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,880 Woodard, One of the things that he talks about over and over 216 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:07,960 again is what is God's goal for humanity? 217 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:11,280 Why did he put us here? Why did he create us? 218 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,400 And he says that it's God's aim in human history is the creation 219 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:22,160 of an all inclusive community of loving persons with God Himself 220 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:27,160 as its primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant. 221 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,240 What he was saying was that the church is not just a good idea, 222 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,080 it is the idea. God's goal was to create a 223 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,680 community of love in which he could enjoy, and the church is 224 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,480 His primary way of doing this. So the church needs to walk in 225 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,920 the way that he called his people to walk as a people of 226 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,200 love for the sake of others, as an all inclusive everybody 227 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,120 belongs. Anyone that walks in these doors 228 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,520 is able to be a part of this community of love. 229 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:03,000 We are here for others. So how do we live in light of 230 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,360 that, right? If we're to live in this manner, 231 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,960 how do we begin doing that? He says in verses 2 through 232 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,080 three, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, 233 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,560 bearing with one another and love, being diligent to keep the 234 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,840 unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. 235 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,280 There's a lot there to unpack, so let's do a small word on 236 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:28,480 each. But first, notice the movement. 237 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:35,000 OK, Paul begins with beneath our behavior towards other people. 238 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:40,040 He begins with the posture of our heart and then he moves 239 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,600 outward. Community is always downstream 240 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,160 of the person that God has created us to be or formed us to 241 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:50,880 be. He has to do an inner work 242 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,200 before we begin to treat people differently. 243 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,720 The way we treat others reveals also the kind of person we are 244 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:03,360 becoming. And so how are we supposed to 245 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,720 live first? How do we begin to live with 246 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,160 humility? And I don't want to spend a lot 247 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,920 of time on this. Pastor Ben just preached on 248 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,560 humility. He did a a pretty good job, I 249 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:20,560 think. So I recommend go back on Apple 250 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,079 podcast, give a listen to that sermon. 251 00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,079 It's good. But I do want to say a couple of 252 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:27,560 things. First, Kyle Snodgrass wrote a 253 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:32,000 beautiful commentary and the book of Ephesians and he talks 254 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,440 about humility like this. He says humility is an awareness 255 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,960 that all we are and have is from God. 256 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,720 The humble person refuses to value self above others or to 257 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:52,560 assign more privilege or important to self than others. 258 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:58,920 The word humility literally means loneliness of mind. 259 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,600 Humility is the surrender of our ego. 260 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:08,760 It is a refusal to live under this illusion that we are 261 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,600 self-sufficient that we make our lives work. 262 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,200 Humility is what happens when you stop pretending you run your 263 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:24,520 life. Paul is saying that the first 264 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:31,360 step into real life together is humility, is to acknowledge God 265 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:36,840 first, God's presence in your life, how God has LED your life. 266 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,720 See, the church doesn't revolve around you and I. 267 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:43,320 It wasn't started by you and I. It's not sustained by us. 268 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,760 It's not built by us. We're not focused here on church 269 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,760 growth. The church is the work of Jesus. 270 00:18:53,120 --> 00:18:58,680 It's the work of Jesus uniting, of Jesus's calling, of his 271 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,040 bringing people in. It's his work of grace and 272 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,200 mercy, and we get to join along with him. 273 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,680 All this means that the beauty and the unity of the church 274 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,480 cannot be brought together by you and I. 275 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:22,360 In fact, my friends, if you and I try to unite the church and we 276 00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:26,160 try to force it to be united and at peace with one another, we 277 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:31,720 will do more damage than good. The only thing that can unite 278 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,840 the church, build the church, sustain the church, is for us to 279 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,080 surrender to God and His work in it. 280 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,880 Second word, gentleness. Now I'm going to be really 281 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,720 honest with you guys. I was working on this part this 282 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:52,280 morning because when we write sermons, when anyone's writing a 283 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,600 sermon, the first person that's getting preached to is the 284 00:19:55,600 --> 00:20:00,480 preacher. Beware the preacher that is not 285 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,280 being preached to 1st. And often when we are working on 286 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:09,320 a sermon, God will put His finger on something painful in 287 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:14,200 our lives that He is working on. And man, let me tell you, every 288 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,240 time I would sit down with this word gentleness for the last two 289 00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,520 weeks I thought this is not too bad, I agree with this. 290 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:30,080 And then last night happened. Our son is 4 month old and he is 291 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:36,440 in middle of sleep regression and sleep regression is really 292 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,760 hard. My parents, can I get an Amen? 293 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,840 You would be surprised on how little sleep you actually need. 294 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,480 And our son was having just a really hard time going to bed, 295 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,600 just a really hard time falling asleep. 296 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,520 And we were doing all the like parent moves. 297 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,400 We were trading off, you know, we were getting along really 298 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,240 well. We were rocking and while 299 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,120 sitting, we were rocking and while standing, we were putting 300 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:03,080 a bottle in his mouth and letting him eat. 301 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:06,680 And then we would do that like awkward, really slow set down 302 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,680 that you do with a baby. And then one of us would like 303 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,520 open a door a little bit and me and a wood creak and he'd wake 304 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:19,560 up. My wife said, yeah, the other 305 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,680 room didn't clear. And man, at first I was like, 306 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,560 peace of God, God with me. I want to be a great example to 307 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:31,000 my wife and my son. At 11:30, I'm getting a little 308 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:32,720 aggravated, but I'm still holding on. 309 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,880 And then my daughter has a nightmare as soon as my son 310 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,880 falls asleep and we're having to comfort her for like an hour. 311 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,800 And then my son wakes back up. And let me tell you, my cadence 312 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,600 was less gentle in that moment. I was finding myself just more 313 00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,760 and more sharp. And I was laying in bed after 314 00:21:56,760 --> 00:21:59,960 that at 2:30 in the morning, thinking about this message and 315 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:01,680 thinking about the word gentleness. 316 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,520 And God began to bring to mind all these moments during the 317 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,320 week. I had not been gentle, like when 318 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,320 my daughter was running towards a hot stove and I yelled at her 319 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,640 to stop. There were other ways of doing 320 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:17,600 that and I can make excuses about just wanting to keep her 321 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:23,640 safe, but it was not gentle. So I don't say this from a 322 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,800 elevated stand. I say this is a another 323 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,920 apprentice of King Jesus trying to figure this out. 324 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:39,840 OK, gentleness is strength under the control of love. 325 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:47,840 It is really easy for us in our world to hear the world 326 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,960 gentleness and humility and think weak because the tools of 327 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,160 this world are not to be humble or gentle. 328 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,600 Again, I mean point to any anything on the news, anything 329 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,360 on your social media feed. Social media is not built about 330 00:23:05,360 --> 00:23:09,480 humility, right? Social media is built as a 331 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:14,120 platform to lift yourself up. But also look at the things that 332 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,760 do well on social media, the things that go viral. 333 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,000 They are hot takes. They're things that people will 334 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,040 disagree with. People don't guard their tongue. 335 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,520 We live in a world where humility and gentleness are 336 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,960 looked down on and are even thought to be weakness. 337 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,600 But it's not. Gentleness is strength under the 338 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,040 control of love. It is power that no longer needs 339 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:56,760 to control or prove itself. Gentleness is the power to no 340 00:23:56,760 --> 00:24:01,560 longer force your will, to no longer need to prove yourself. 341 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,800 It is the kind of soul that is rooted in God, that it does not 342 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:11,280 have to dominate, force or wound others in order to achieve what 343 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:16,880 it wants. Let me speak to the the men in 344 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:24,720 the room real quick. Men, your significant other, 345 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,440 your wife and your kids need you to be gentle. 346 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,640 Gardens do not grow under forced will. 347 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:39,360 If I plant a garden and I am forcing my will look going out 348 00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:43,000 and pouring as much water as I can and fertilizer and and just 349 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,120 yelling at it to grow, it's not going to do well. 350 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:54,880 Over and over again studies have shown that what children need is 351 00:24:55,040 --> 00:25:00,920 a gentle hand in guiding in life and your spouse needs it just as 352 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,320 much. Husbands, if you find that 353 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:07,280 you're you're button heads with your wife, it feels like you 354 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:08,960 aren't getting along for some reason. 355 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:13,920 My challenge to you is check your gentleness, check your tone 356 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:23,480 of voice, check your cadence. Ladies, I say lovingly pretty 357 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:31,280 much the exact same thing. Your, your husband needs your 358 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,320 gentleness. You would be amazed at how you 359 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:40,400 can soften a man's heart by acting gentle towards them. 360 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:47,400 Gentle people do not make everything around them pay for 361 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:53,920 what is unsettled in themselves. Gentle. 362 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,720 Excuse me, this is not a sermon on gentleness, but I just, I 363 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,320 have a lot here, so I'm sorry, but the gentleness also reveals 364 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,880 what we care about. OK? 365 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:08,720 I had a time in my life where I loved to, I'm a giant nerd. 366 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:13,680 I loved collectibles like Funko Pops, collectible cards. 367 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,440 And one of my pride, like pride and joys of my collection are 368 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:20,160 back when Lord of the Rings came out, they came out with these 369 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:24,080 extended edition gift sets and they were beautiful. 370 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:28,960 And they came out with these like beautiful models that along 371 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,760 with the DVD. So like I have like this, like 372 00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:36,200 very breakable Gollum and it's, he's beautiful, right? 373 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,200 Like my wife looks at it on our mantle and goes, man, I'm really 374 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:41,000 glad that my husband placed that there. 375 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,760 And then I have this beautiful, meanest turret and just, and I 376 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,000 remember like taking it out-of-the-box at like 15 years 377 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:51,720 old. And I was so gentle because I 378 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,440 cared about it so much. Or the first time holding my 379 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,920 kids. I'm gentle because I love them 380 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:04,040 so much. We treat things gently when we 381 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,080 do not want them to break, when we don't want to cause them 382 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:14,560 harm. Dallas Willard also talked about 383 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,760 kind of one of my mentors from afar. 384 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,960 He would talk about who should do the correcting in your 385 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,240 church. Often, if we are honest, we do 386 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,240 not correct out of love and we don't correct in gentleness. 387 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,000 We correct in order to fix a behaviour we don't like, even if 388 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,800 it's good or bad. But real correction needs to be 389 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,400 handled gently. And he would argue that the 390 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,120 people in the church that are able to do that are the the 391 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,760 older people that have walked through life and dealt with 392 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,840 their woundings, that are able to correct without trying to 393 00:27:50,840 --> 00:28:02,160 control the other person. 3rd patience, bearing with one 394 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,800 another in love. Patience is the choice to bear 395 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:10,920 discomfort, pain, and more. It is a kind of inner strength 396 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,000 that does not give up. It perseveres. 397 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:16,680 Now, Paul is not talking about grim endurance. 398 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,320 He is not saying just tolerate difficult people. 399 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,000 He's talking about the kind of patience that is rooted in love, 400 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:28,120 which means that this is not merely about surviving one 401 00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:30,080 another, putting up with one another. 402 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,880 It is about remaining open to one another, staying soft 403 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,760 towards one another, refusing to withdraw affection or mercy or 404 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,680 your presence when another person becomes difficult. 405 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,800 Notice love, not affection. If it were to bear with one 406 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,880 another in affection, we would have patience with those we 407 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:53,800 like, and then do away with the people that we do not. 408 00:28:54,960 --> 00:29:00,680 Love turns patience from reluctant tolerance into willing 409 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,680 self giving. One more illustration with my 410 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:07,920 kids and then I'm done. Stop talking about my kids. 411 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:11,840 Raise your hand if you've seen Blue E. 412 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,000 How many of you have watched Blue E? 413 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,040 OK, how many of you watch Blue E more than once? 414 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:23,480 Twice. 3 * 4 * 5 * 6. Yeah, let me tell you, we have 415 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,000 watched Blue E so many times. I have watched Moana so many 416 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,640 times. I have watched it. 417 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,880 I have watched Frozen so many times. 418 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,880 Why do I do it? I patiently endure with my kids 419 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:43,400 because I love them, right? We need to practice a patient 420 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,760 that that comes out of love, a bearing with one another, out of 421 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,200 love. And then finally, Paul says 422 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,000 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the 423 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:58,360 bonds of peace. Another way of saying this is 424 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:05,800 that we make an intentional choice towards unity. 425 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:12,680 We intentionally pursue unity as the church to stay together to 426 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,640 to value staying together no matter what. 427 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,440 Notice what is at the centre of this though. 428 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:24,360 OK, it is the unity of the Spirit. 429 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,520 God is not looking for a community of people that look 430 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,920 exactly the same, that all sound the same, with same gifting, 431 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:32,720 same kind of values and stuff like that. 432 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,920 All this. No, God has created us with 433 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,200 great diversity. This is one of the distinctives 434 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:42,680 of the church. There is a difference between 435 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:47,680 false unity that the world offers and the real unity formed 436 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:53,000 by the Spirit. 1 of Missy and my favorite shows from the end of 437 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,720 last year was Pluribus. Has anyone else watched this on 438 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:58,360 Apple TV? Maybe a couple of you? 439 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:04,040 OK, it's this really interesting show that is like a a take on 440 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,800 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Basically everyone wakes up one 441 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,800 day and almost everyone has like a hive mind. 442 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,280 They're all of equal mind. They're all thinking the same 443 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,040 things, all feeling the same things. 444 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,960 Everybody is exactly the same except for the main character. 445 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,480 And here's the thing, when everybody was is exactly the 446 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,680 same, same mind and all of that, there is complete peace in the 447 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,160 world. War is over, people are no 448 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,400 longer fighting. People are completely sharing 449 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,000 resources. Things look really good. 450 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:42,680 But all throughout there is something unsettling. 451 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,440 And the question the show Act asks is, is this actually 452 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:53,760 better? See, our culture calls us to two 453 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:57,800 sides. On the one hand, we are called 454 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:01,560 to like a false unity that really becomes tribalism. 455 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:07,520 If we're honest, Tribalism is when our identity is completely 456 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,800 swallowed up by by a people group or a community or a 457 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,680 belief. Your belonging becomes 458 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:20,280 conformity and you're safe as long as you align with your 459 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,280 tribe, right? And that's the thing with tribes 460 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,680 is they're usually really open. They're willing to have anybody 461 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:27,520 come in unless they're different. 462 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,640 The moment someone is different than the tribe, they become at 463 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,560 least an irritation, if not a threat. 464 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:40,240 And we see a lot of this, like in our special, especially our 465 00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,520 political discourse these days, the left and right are 466 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,680 incredibly fall apart, far apart, and they can't seem to 467 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:50,440 like see eye to eye at all. You have two tribes existing. 468 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,360 But if I'm honest, I don't see a ton of that in Ankeny. 469 00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,200 What In Ankeny, I see the other side. 470 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:57,720 And that is complete self-sufficiency. 471 00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:00,680 It's that belief that I have built up my life. 472 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:05,120 I, I control my destiny. I can be the only one to make 473 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:10,080 myself successful and the problem with that is, is that 474 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,200 you can't bear the weight of your life. 475 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:20,120 You can't control tomorrow. Tragedy could strike, you could 476 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,640 get sick, someone you love could get sick. 477 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,040 You are not as self-sufficient as you might think. 478 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,880 The problem with each of these is that they are both self 479 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,000 enslaving. In tribalism, you become 480 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,200 enslaved to the tribe and then self-sufficiency. 481 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:43,160 You become enslaved to yourself. One loses itself in the crowd. 482 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:48,000 One loses itself and cuts itself off from loving other people. 483 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,880 Because you cannot have love without others. 484 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,240 And if you are self-sufficient, you can't connect. 485 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,720 The only other way is the way that Jesus offers. 486 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:01,040 See. He gives an identity that is not 487 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,760 achieved by self and not bestowed by the tribe. 488 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:07,400 He gives you an identity through grace. 489 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:12,000 He says that you are deeply loved and that you belong. 490 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,000 He offers kindness instead of suspicion. 491 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,440 He offers patience instead of harshness. 492 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,480 He offers love and hope and healing and he says that you can 493 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:26,760 be a bit different in this community. 494 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,080 In fact, God created you a little bit different than the 495 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,480 others within. But the thing that you and I 496 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:37,800 church have in common is Christ. Pastor Ben and I are different. 497 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,600 Pastor Ben likes to go and fix things in his time off. 498 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:45,719 There's one, there's one time I think you'll be OK with me 499 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:46,960 saying this. It was one time I asked him what 500 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,960 he did with his weekend and he was like, I was in my walls 501 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:54,800 rewiring things. I'm like, what a freak. 502 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:05,680 That sounds exhausting, but what unifies us is Christ Jesus. 503 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,040 There's another friend in here who believes that Star Wars 504 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,920 Episode 3 is the best of the Star Wars movies. 505 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:20,640 Oh, brothers and sisters, I'll rebuke that later. 506 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,040 The goal is not organizational unity. 507 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,840 The goal is unity in the Spirit. Through Jesus, the church is 508 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,000 able to become this kind of community because our life 509 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,400 together does not begin with us. It begins with God. 510 00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,840 And our unity is not held together by our personalities or 511 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:43,280 our temperaments or our interests or our ideologies. 512 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:45,960 It is only held together by the Father, Son, and the Holy 513 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,960 Spirit. And that is exactly where Paul 514 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,760 goes next in Ephesians verses 4 through 6. 515 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,040 There is one body and one spirit, just as you also were 516 00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:00,440 called in one hope of your calling, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one 517 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,600 baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through 518 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:09,080 all and in all. These are the essentials, my 519 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,720 brothers and sisters. You could have other brothers 520 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,440 and sisters that are in this church, other churches, other 521 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:20,200 church traditions, and they still belong to the great church 522 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,960 as long as they hold to these other political ideologies, 523 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:25,760 other values. You're going to go to churches 524 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,480 that are are slain in the spirit. 525 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,000 You're going to go to other churches that have a heavy 526 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,640 emphasis on on serving the community, maybe more than us, 527 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:40,600 maybe, but everyone that follows these things belongs in the 528 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:45,560 church. See, once you think about an 529 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,520 orchestra, real quick, an orchestra has a lot of 530 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,840 different, different elements, right? 531 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:53,840 A lot of different instruments. I forgot the word instrument. 532 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:58,880 You don't want them to all sound the same, right? 533 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,840 If you had all violins, it would be a really boring orchestra. 534 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,000 But what do you have if everyone is playing something different? 535 00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:12,320 You have dissonance. What brings unity, what brings 536 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,280 goodness and beauty to an orchestra is when they are 537 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,320 united in vision towards 1 peace through 1 conductor. 538 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,520 And that is who we are, my friends. 539 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:29,440 One God, we are united in him. So point #1 you cannot follow 540 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:36,120 Jesus without the church. Every time we try to do that, 541 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:42,320 church will feel wrong or our walk will feel wrong, Eugene 542 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,680 Peterson, one of our favourite pastors, wrote. 543 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:49,600 God never makes private secret salvation deals with people. 544 00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,800 His relationships with us are personal, true, intimate, yes, 545 00:37:54,800 --> 00:38:00,840 but private, no Dietrich Bonhoeffer around in World War 546 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:06,960 21 of the that the the rebel pastors against Hitler has this 547 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,240 beautiful book called Life Together, which is all about the 548 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:11,960 church living together. It's all about community. 549 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:15,800 And he writes not what a man is in himself as a Christian. 550 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,680 His spirituality and piety constitutes the basis of our 551 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,360 community. What determines our brotherhood 552 00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:26,080 is what the man is by reason of Christ. 553 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,360 Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ 554 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:35,040 has done to both of us. We do not build community, Jesus 555 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:38,000 does. It is not about what we do, it 556 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:42,600 is about what He has done. And with Jesus being at the 557 00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:45,160 center, we are apprenticing to him. 558 00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:52,120 We are disciples together. One more Bonhoeffer quote just 559 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,360 for good measure. The Christian needs another 560 00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:57,640 Christian who speaks God's word to him. 561 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,200 He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and 562 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:06,080 discouraged for by himself he cannot help himself without 563 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,320 belaying the truth. When you try to follow Jesus as 564 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,920 a self help thing when it is just a personal Jesus, you will 565 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:17,680 make a caricature of Jesus. You need Jesus revealed in the 566 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:20,240 in the diverse body of the church. 567 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,080 You need to hear Jesus through other pastors and teachers and 568 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,320 the people in your in your bands, the other disciples in 569 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:31,080 your community. Fill in the colours. 570 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:35,040 It's like Jesus is a colouring page and when you're sitting by 571 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:36,600 yourself, you don't have all the colours. 572 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:38,960 It's a black and white Jesus that you have made in your own 573 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:43,080 image, but the other people colour him in. 574 00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,200 We cannot become like Jesus on our own. 575 00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:48,880 We can't do any of these. We can't seek his presence. 576 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:52,600 We can't become like him, and we certainly cannot be his presence 577 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:56,200 in our city. We can only follow Jesus 578 00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:59,000 together. Todd Hall is a professor and he 579 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,960 did this multi year study about what spiritual practices 580 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:04,760 actually form us into Christ likeness and he came up with 581 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:09,240 only three. And that is slow, quiet prayer 582 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:11,920 suffering, right? That's great. 583 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:18,040 And then long devoted community to one another. 584 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:24,640 We need community to be formed. But here's the tension beneath 585 00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:27,440 it all. If Jesus has bound himself to 586 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,360 the church, and the church is one of the primary places of our 587 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:34,000 healing and formation, then why is it so often the place of our 588 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,040 wounding? Why does the church often become 589 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:41,240 not a home, but a place of disappointment, frustration and 590 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:45,880 pain? And let me be honest with you, I 591 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:47,560 have also been hurt by the church. 592 00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,760 I have had relationships with other people. 593 00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:54,320 I have relation, had relationships with pastors where 594 00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,760 they have not lived up to who I thought they were, where they 595 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:00,800 have made choices that were either painful to other people 596 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:05,640 or painful to myself. And it is a special kind of 597 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:07,800 hurt. So I again, I speak as a as a 598 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:11,400 fellow disciple that there's something really painful about 599 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:16,680 church hurt because it hits your identity, right? 600 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:20,680 Like you begin questioning something about yourself when 601 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,520 when someone you've looked up to as a mature disciple or a pastor 602 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,560 says something that's hurtful, you begin thinking, was I not 603 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:29,400 good enough? Did I not follow Jesus right? 604 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:32,160 What's going on? Does God love me? 605 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:40,170 Is he still there? But I've also hurt people. 606 00:41:42,170 --> 00:41:46,720 I remember so, so am I. I remember one of the first 607 00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:49,080 times as a pastor, I was sitting down with someone and I said 608 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:55,040 something and I watched the pain in their eyes and I had to feel 609 00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:57,160 completely humbled in that moment. 610 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:05,480 This is really hard because the church that we are a part of 611 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,040 should seem like it should be filled with people that just 612 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:12,920 look like Jesus, but it often is filled with really cranky 613 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:19,160 people, people that are really opinionated, people that are 614 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:21,440 weird. Do you know anybody weird? 615 00:42:21,440 --> 00:42:28,560 You can just look up here. So how can we say that we're 616 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:30,800 supposed to belong to the church when it's so difficult? 617 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:33,360 And let me tell you, the reason that the church hurts is because 618 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,040 of sinners. We are all sinners. 619 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:39,960 There is no perfect church. The fact that I am a Sinner and 620 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,920 our church is full of sinners means that we are going to get 621 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,720 hurt. My friends, I feel blessed to be 622 00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:51,360 a part of Presence Church. Pastor Ben, my wife and Susan 623 00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:53,920 feel the same way. We've had very little drama. 624 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:56,680 We've had very little blow UPS. We have actually been really 625 00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:59,680 unified, and that is a beautiful thing. 626 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,720 But if you are a part of Presence Church, you will 627 00:43:02,720 --> 00:43:06,960 eventually get hurt by someone else here, or even Pastor Ben or 628 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:15,480 I, because we are sinners. So how do we hold this tension? 629 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,680 I think that by remembering that the church is not where perfect 630 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,240 people gather. It is where imperfect people are 631 00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:25,320 being apprenticed to Jesus together, which means of course 632 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:27,680 the church will sometimes wound us. 633 00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:32,400 Wherever real relationship exists, pain is possible. 634 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:37,080 Therefore, if there is pain in your church, there is real 635 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:41,400 relationship. Pain does not happen if there is 636 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:46,880 not true intimate life on life happening. 637 00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:53,040 Pain can be the proof that there is love and formation happening 638 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,160 in the church. Just like someone that has gone 639 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:59,560 through surgery, usually there is pain as a part of the 640 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,720 healing. The church is not the place 641 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:05,240 where no one sins. It is the place where sin is 642 00:44:05,240 --> 00:44:08,600 meant to be confessed, forgiven, and transformed by grace. 643 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,000 And so we are doing this series not because there's problems in 644 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,880 our church, but we're doing it so that we don't have problems 645 00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,840 in our church. See, goodness does not just 646 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:21,840 happen accidentally. Chaos does. 647 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,240 And if we are not intentional about pursuing goodness in our 648 00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:28,880 church, then we will be a Church of chaos. 649 00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:31,920 I just want you to imagine for a moment too, Like imagine the 650 00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:35,400 church that's completely united, not just presence church, but 651 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:37,320 imagine if like all the Ankeny churches got together and 652 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:39,560 completely united or the OR the global church. 653 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:43,480 What if, what if we had a church that wasn't perfect or polished 654 00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:47,800 or or without difference, but deeply, genuinely united? 655 00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:52,160 A people where nobody has to perform to belong, where wounds 656 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:55,160 are not ignored but tended to, where confession is normal, 657 00:44:55,160 --> 00:44:58,560 where forgiveness is normal, where nobody is disposable, 658 00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:02,320 where people stay. Can you imagine a church where 659 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:06,520 love is the atmosphere? Where gentleness shapes every 660 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:09,400 hard conversation, Where patience is deeper than 661 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:13,240 irritation, Where humility has pushed out ego, Where people do 662 00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:17,240 not keep score, Where people do not quietly drift, Where people 663 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,120 move toward one another, not away? 664 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:24,400 We live in a world of suspicion, self protection, and distance. 665 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:31,400 But imagine a church full of love, forgiveness, peace, hope, 666 00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:33,440 healing. Honestly, that would feel like 667 00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:37,360 another world. It would feel like heaven is 668 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:43,800 coming closer than it is today. The power of the church is is 669 00:45:43,800 --> 00:45:46,080 that brings heaven just a little closer. 670 00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:51,400 It gives the world a glimpse of Jesus at the end of his life. 671 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,800 At his last dinner, what did Jesus say to his disciples? 672 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,040 That they were to love one another and that they would know 673 00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:01,160 you are my disciples by your love for one another. 674 00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:06,760 Our first job, my friends, as a good church is to pursue unity 675 00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:09,600 with one another. And it is through that unity 676 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,080 that the world will bear witness to King Jesus. 677 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:18,680 So I've gone over my time, but three just really quick things 678 00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,200 that I want to invite you to practice this week. 679 00:46:21,200 --> 00:46:23,640 This is now I'm putting on my coach hat, something I never 680 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:26,400 thought I'd wear as a as a as a nerd. 681 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:32,480 It's a sports reference. Three quick things. 682 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:35,800 OK, these are really practical to just think about one of these 683 00:46:35,800 --> 00:46:38,320 this week to try. First, pause before you react. 684 00:46:38,720 --> 00:46:41,040 Stop, breathe. When you begin to feel that 685 00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,480 tension, when you something feels like it's escalating, 686 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:47,800 stop, breathe, pray, say Jesus, bring peace to the situation. 687 00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:50,800 Help me to act in the situation how you would bring your 688 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:53,560 gentleness. Second, interpret with 689 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:57,000 generosity. When someone says something to 690 00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,960 you, interpret it as if they want something good from you. 691 00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:04,320 We often walk around the opposite. 692 00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,680 We often walk around believing people are trying to do 693 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:08,840 something to us. Let me be really honest with 694 00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:11,080 you, most people are only thinking about themselves. 695 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:14,680 People are not out to get you. So instead, when you are talking 696 00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,600 with someone, interpret what they're saying with generosity 697 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:20,800 and then finally move towards people with gentleness. 698 00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:23,880 If relationship need action, don't gossip about it, don't 699 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,040 talk behind people's backs, don't try to avoid it, don't try 700 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:31,000 to people please, instead move towards them gently send the 701 00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:34,480 text, make the phone call and just ask. 702 00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:36,880 Hey, you said this, what's going on? 703 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:41,560 It made me feel this way. What, what's what's going on? 704 00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:45,040 In this moment? Jesus has brought us together 705 00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:49,080 and he has made US1 and what God has made 1 he is going to 706 00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,520 protect. Unity is not something we 707 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,720 achieve, it is something that we receive. 708 00:47:56,160 --> 00:47:59,520 And so that's the invitation today, my friends, my invitation 709 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:05,680 today is that we be a church that pursues unity, that we're a 710 00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:10,120 place where we live with humility and gentleness towards 711 00:48:10,120 --> 00:48:13,760 one another. We're patient. 712 00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,920 And if, if you would like to be a part of that today, we have 713 00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:21,560 like the next step of coming to neuter presents, we would love 714 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,880 to have you. But first, I want to invite you 715 00:48:24,880 --> 00:48:27,880 to follow King Jesus because maybe you're not doing that 716 00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,760 today. Maybe you're looking at yourself 717 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:33,040 and you're saying I would like to belong to that community, but 718 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,880 I don't know if I'm good enough. I'm not a gentle person. 719 00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:37,560 I'm not a humble person. And that's OK. 720 00:48:38,120 --> 00:48:39,840 Jesus wasn't calling the the humble. 721 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:41,160 Jesus wasn't calling the patient. 722 00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:42,800 Jesus wasn't calling the perfect people. 723 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:47,440 Jesus calls you today where you are and all you got to do is 724 00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:49,320 make the choice that I don't want to do that anymore. 725 00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,120 I don't want to be that person and turn and begin following 726 00:48:53,120 --> 00:48:55,040 him. And that's the beginning today. 727 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:00,400 And so as we transition into worship, I want to invite you to 728 00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,200 go ahead and, and let Jesus know that. 729 00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:06,280 And I'm going to have a couple people up here that you can come 730 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:08,200 up with and they can guide you through a prayer. 731 00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,720 And then just the other invitation is look at look at 732 00:49:12,720 --> 00:49:16,200 your life with the church prayerfully. 733 00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:19,200 Consider how have I, how have I walked with the church? 734 00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:23,120 Maybe you have hurt one of the dreams that we have always had 735 00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:24,880 for presents. That would be a place for hurt 736 00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,400 people that they could come and receive healing. 737 00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,320 So if you need that today, if you've been hurt by the church, 738 00:49:33,320 --> 00:49:34,920 come and pray with somebody up here. 739 00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,560 Come find Pastor Ben or myself and would love to pray with you. 740 00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:40,120 And then check yourself for humility. 741 00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:43,480 Check yourself for gentleness. And if you don't feel like 742 00:49:43,480 --> 00:49:45,640 you're any of those things, if you're looking at that list of 743 00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:48,600 things that Paul mentions and saying this is not me and I'm 744 00:49:48,600 --> 00:49:50,800 not here and I'm already following Jesus and what do I 745 00:49:50,800 --> 00:49:54,680 do? The prayer is to ask the Spirit 746 00:49:54,680 --> 00:50:00,520 to begin working on it. So let's be a church, a good 747 00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:03,160 church. That begins with being a United 748 00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:03,760 Church.