1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,800 So morning, beautiful people. It's wonderful to be up here and 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:09,280 just sharing this message. We continuing our series through 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,280 Galatians. We've been camping in this book 4 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:13,040 and really letting it get into us. 5 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,040 And today I'm going to be talking on the topic gentleness, 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,640 which is actually, I found it very, very challenging. 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,640 It's a topic I've kind of been wrestling with and I'm sure you 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,720 guys will agree with me that gentleness isn't trending. 9 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,320 It's not trending if you look around us, if you look in the 10 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:37,920 South African society, if you look at what social medias feeds 11 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:41,520 kind of give us. Gentleness is not what the 12 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,360 algorithms are after gentle. The algorithms are after people 13 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,760 that clap back quickly. You know, that fire back that 14 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,600 are confident that you know, will put you in your place, that 15 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,320 will, you know, strength is what's trending. 16 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,920 Gentleness doesn't seem to dominate the debates, doesn't 17 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,720 seem to be, you know, it's more like confidence and forcefulness 18 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:09,160 that that wins the arguments. Having the last word and, you 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,520 know, cancelling entirely seem to be way more effective than 20 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,640 gentleness in our society. But if we're honest, gentleness 21 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:20,480 is something that's actually very, very appealing. 22 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:22,320 It's actually such a beautiful thing. 23 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:27,120 We with frequency, we did a hike on Friday night and I asked many 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,480 of the high schoolers. There were about 3035 of them. 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,880 What do you think about gentleness? 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,160 Like is it relevant? Is it a good idea? 27 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,440 Do you find it appealing? And unanimously everyone loved 28 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:41,960 gentleness. People all agreed that actually 29 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:44,640 we need to be more gentle with one another. 30 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:48,400 It's actually such a beautiful thing, but it's kind of rare. 31 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:50,400 It's, it's, it's, it's, it's appealing, though. 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,320 I think of some examples. Think about someone like Sia 33 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:57,320 Khaleesi, you know, for me, this is someone that kind of in our, 34 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,560 in our society epitomizes it. He's got so much power. 35 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,200 He's the Springbok captain. You know, he's been through 36 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:04,800 hardship. This guy deserves. 37 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,880 He's worked hard to get there. This is a guy that should be 38 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:09,520 super. I mean, he is confident, but 39 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,760 he's not arrogant. He's he's kind of gentle. 40 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:15,240 He's not perfect. I'm not saying he's perfect. 41 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,560 I'm not saying we need to all be like Sia, but I I love his 42 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,960 gentleness. It's very appealing. 43 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,880 I also have this kind of a client, Andrew. 44 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,480 He's a big deal in the conservation world and but I've 45 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,120 noticed when he interacts with people, he's so it's almost like 46 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,600 a resting he's he's a big deal, but he's so humble. 47 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,320 He like even talks softly, even like even Stoops down when he 48 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,920 speaks to people. It's such a beautiful thing. 49 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:42,080 And when you meet someone that's calm under pressure, you know 50 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,280 someone that doesn't react, unlike Ryan when you meet 51 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,640 someone that's calm under pressure, someone that is strong 52 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:51,920 but not harsh, someone that is confident, but they they don't 53 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,720 crush the people around them. You drawn to them. 54 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,920 Such a beautiful thing. And in Galatians, Paul actually 55 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:03,920 reminds us that gentleness is one of the markers of a life 56 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,520 that's going in the right direction. 57 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,440 Scripture points out on several occasions that gentleness is one 58 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,760 of God's most evident attributes, especially in the 59 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,280 way that he deals with us. It's the way he interacts with 60 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:24,200 us, the way he approaches us. It's kind of, he's very, very 61 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,160 gentle. And there's a few things that I 62 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,160 want to start with what Scripture says gentleness is. 63 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,200 First of all, it's a it's a Kingdom mark in Matthew 5, Jesus 64 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:38,200 said blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. 65 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:43,400 There he's quoting Psalm 37 and that word for for meek or 66 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:49,120 meekness is, is blessed are the gentle or people who are gentle 67 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,840 will inherit the earth. He's not talking about weak 68 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:55,080 people. He's talking about people that 69 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,640 don't grasp and don't put themselves forward. 70 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,400 But that's that's what meekness and gentleness is. 71 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,360 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in 72 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:08,960 abundant peace. The same root word for meek is 73 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,880 is translated in English as gentleness. 74 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,200 Secondly, it's a Christ like trait. 75 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:19,959 In Matthew 11, Jesus says this. This is actually super 76 00:04:19,959 --> 00:04:24,640 remarkable. Take my yoke upon you and learn 77 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:30,120 from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find 78 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,360 rest for your souls. And and the reason this is super 79 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,520 interesting is many scholars including Dane Ortland that 80 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:41,480 often point this out that this is the only explicit, explicit 81 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,960 place in all of scripture where Jesus tells us what his heart is 82 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:47,120 like. This is the only place where 83 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:51,440 Jesus describes himself. And look at the words that he 84 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,320 chooses to describe himself. He chooses 2 words. 85 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:00,040 I am gentle and lowly. The King of the universe 86 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:06,320 describes himself, not how we would define kings, talking 87 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:10,280 about how our power and our lands and our Kingdom and 88 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:13,840 everything that is ours. You know Jesus defines himself 89 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,680 by his tenderness. He says I am gentle and lowly. 90 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,480 It's the only place where he describes his own heart. 91 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:26,360 And as when he says, take my yoke upon you, he's saying learn 92 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,120 from me. He's saying, do, do as I do. 93 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,960 Gentleness is part of our discipleship. 94 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,080 It's not just like, hey, an optional character trait and 95 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,160 yeah, I'm going to be a gentle Christian. 96 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,240 Others can be this type of Christian. 97 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:43,400 On that note, gentleness is how it's part of our discipleship. 98 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,400 It's not just an option for us to consider. 99 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,760 Gentleness is also, it's a relational command. 100 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:51,920 We see this in the in the letters to the church in 101 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,760 Ephesians and Colossians. Ephesians 4 verse one to two 102 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:59,440 talking about unity in the body. Paul says I therefore a prisoner 103 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,560 of the for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the 104 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:07,160 calling to which you have been called with all humility and 105 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:12,080 gentleness with patience, bearing with one another in 106 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,000 love. It's also a leadership 107 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,680 requirements in one Timothy 3 verse 3, where there's the kind 108 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:20,200 of the qualifications for an elder. 109 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,520 You guys might be familiar with this passage, but in there, one 110 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,960 of the one of the qualifications for an elder is that overseers 111 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:36,240 must not be violent but gentle. And they're focusing on our 112 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,400 passage for today, our key text. In Galatians 5, we see that 113 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,240 gentleness is a fruit of the spirit. 114 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:47,080 And let me let me read that out. If you're just joining us in the 115 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:52,280 series, I think the key verses 2223 are up there, but I'm going 116 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,680 to read a little bit more to give us the context and really 117 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,360 let's get this into us and see what Paul is trying to do. 118 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,520 He says, for you were called to freedom. 119 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,520 Brothers, this is reading from verse 13 only do not use your 120 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,600 freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love 121 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:13,000 serve one another for the whole law is fulfilled in one word. 122 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:17,280 You shall love your neighbor as yourself, but if you bite and 123 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,640 devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one 124 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:23,640 another. How's this portion now talking 125 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,080 about keeping in step with the Holy Spirit? 126 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,880 Verse 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify 127 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:33,880 the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are 128 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,000 against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are 129 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,480 against the flesh. For these are opposed to each 130 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,840 other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 131 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:45,960 But if you are led by the Spirit, you're not under the 132 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,600 law. But the works of the flesh are 133 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:54,120 evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, 134 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,040 sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, 135 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:02,400 rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, 136 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,240 orgies, and things like these. I warn you as I've warned you 137 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,760 before, that those who do such things will not inherit the 138 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,680 Kingdom of God. And here we go, verse 22. 139 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:17,960 But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience, 140 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,680 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 141 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,280 self-control. Against such things there is no 142 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,960 law. And those who belong to Christ 143 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,039 Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 144 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,919 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the 145 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:38,400 Spirit. Let us not become conceited, 146 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,000 provoking one another, envying one another. 147 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:48,000 Can I pray for us? Father God, thank You for Your 148 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,080 word to us, which is so direct and clear, but I pray that you 149 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:56,120 would help us to understand gentleness correctly in the way 150 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,960 that you modelled it, and that You would help us to understand 151 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:03,440 just this tension of You commanding us to be gentle, but 152 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:05,400 then also understanding that this is something that is 153 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,920 empowered by You, Holy Spirit. It's not something we can 154 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,560 produce ourselves. Maybe for a short while we can 155 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:17,120 fake it, but actually true gentleness is something that we 156 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,800 need you to cultivate in our lives. 157 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:24,680 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Are you still with me? 158 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,840 OK, good. So I want to define gentleness 159 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,640 because we need to be clear here. 160 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,720 This, this word understanding of gentleness. 161 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,560 And I can only speak for the English speakers in here, this 162 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,320 word gentleness. We probably have a wrong 163 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,960 understanding or different understanding of what the Bible 164 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:47,520 is talking about when it's it uses this word and the word, the 165 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,480 Greek word in Scripture is pruatis. 166 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:56,520 Can everyone say pruatis? OK, and this is a, it's a 167 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,720 specific word that would have been used in those times and it 168 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,640 would have been this word would have been used to talk about a 169 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,960 horse, a wild horse that has been trained. 170 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:11,400 OK, think, think of a, a horse that is wild and it's been 171 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:15,400 brought under control and it's been trained to go into battle. 172 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,160 OK, The horse doesn't lose its strength. 173 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:21,800 The the horse still has all of its strength. 174 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,880 What it gains is control and direction. 175 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:30,480 And this is really important for us to understand. 176 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:37,960 Gentleness is not weakness, it's not meekness, it's not a lack of 177 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,560 strength. This word, Pruitt is, is talking 178 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:45,680 about the strength of a horse that is under control. 179 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:51,560 Gentleness is the person that could retaliate, that could 180 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:56,040 dominate, that could crush, but instead chooses to be 181 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,760 restrained. Gentle gentleness is not, and 182 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,280 this is where we see it in our society, like, oh, gentle giant, 183 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,400 you know, sweet, or we know like that meek person. 184 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:11,720 Gentleness is not passivity. It's not people pleasing either. 185 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:13,560 Hey, I'm a bit of a people pleaser. 186 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:15,240 I'm trying not to be, but I can't help it. 187 00:11:16,560 --> 00:11:20,440 I'm getting help. But we often, we often confuse 188 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,280 gentleness with those two things with, with passivity or with 189 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:26,560 people pleasing. You know, people pleasing is 190 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:31,880 saying yes to stay accepted, you know, keeping harmony and, and 191 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,000 keeping the peace at the cost of truth. 192 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,040 People pleasing tries to, to manage relationships at all 193 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,360 costs instead of trusting God. And, and people pleasing is 194 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,600 really, it's really just fear. It's fear that's dressed up as 195 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:53,120 kindness. And this word peratis is, is not 196 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:57,080 avoiding conflict. It's just refusing to use power 197 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:01,120 and agency and your resources to, to crush others and to get 198 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,840 your own way. This word peratis really means 199 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,600 strength under control. Or another description that I 200 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,760 really love is that it's power that's governed by love. 201 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,400 Isn't that beautiful? Strength under control? 202 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:22,760 Power governed by love? Gentleness is not weakness, It's 203 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,640 not people pleasing, and it's not passivity. 204 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,360 That's not what Jesus, that's not how he describes himself. 205 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,520 He was not a people pleaser. He definitely wasn't passive, He 206 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,600 wasn't fearful, and he definitely had a lot of 207 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:39,040 strength, but he chose to constrain his strength. 208 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:41,520 I mean, just just coming as a human, coming as flesh. 209 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:46,320 This is power being constrained into this bag of chemicals. 210 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,600 And I want to just jump back into Galatians Chapter 5. 211 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:54,480 There are these two directions that we've been seeing as we've 212 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:56,040 been looking at each one of these. 213 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:58,360 Well, at the as we've been looking at the fruits of the 214 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:00,720 spirits and the different aspects of the fruit, we see 215 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,560 that there's these two directions that Paul is 216 00:13:03,560 --> 00:13:05,680 reminding us of. He's wanting people to stay 217 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:08,000 free. He doesn't want them to be 218 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,600 trapped. And he describes these two 219 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,120 different directions. There's this, this old way of 220 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,040 doing things. There's the old man, you know, 221 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,360 there's the, and I'm not just picking on the men. 222 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:23,680 So that's the old man and woman, the old way of doing things that 223 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:28,600 he talks about the works of the flesh, this very fragmented way, 224 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:32,440 way of, of living, of being like almost pulled in many different 225 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:36,720 directions, being torn apart. It's reactive, insecure, there's 226 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,320 jealousy, there's envy, there's striving, there's rivalry, 227 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,040 there's fits of anger and the flesh, the the work, this old 228 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:49,040 man is always being fractured. And then he talks about on the 229 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,280 in in verses 2223 talks about the fruit of the spirit. 230 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,440 There's this new man that is displaying the fruit of the 231 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,040 Spirit. There's this life that is 232 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:05,240 integrated, that is relationally whole, that is secure, Lovejoy, 233 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:10,360 peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, 234 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:14,680 self-control, and this picture of the spirit integrating life 235 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,240 and and creating this whole kind of togetherness. 236 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:22,920 And I want to ask you, which direction is your life going in? 237 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,000 Is it becoming more and more fragmented and pulled in all 238 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,600 sorts of different directions, or is it becoming more and more 239 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,760 whole? Is it looking more and more like 240 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,480 the new man? Or is it, you know, are you 241 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,360 still being pulled in that other direction? 242 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:41,400 And I'm talking here not, I'm not talking about perfection, 243 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,120 guys. I'm not talking about have you 244 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,040 arrived here and you're displaying all the fruit of the 245 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,320 spirit and none of the flesh. I'm talking about which 246 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,160 direction? Direction, not perfection. 247 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:55,720 Which direction is your life moving in as you see those two 248 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:59,480 contrasts. And I want to just guard your 249 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:04,360 hearts against sin management. Yeah, this is this is how we 250 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:06,760 sometimes get sucked into things. 251 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:11,120 Try to manage sin in our life and it it doesn't work. 252 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,520 We need to avoid sin. We need to resist. 253 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,720 But trying to manage sin, I think it's a slippery slope. 254 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,640 I want to ask you guys, someone shout out what is an incredible 255 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,320 destination that you want to go to? 256 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:26,760 Just anywhere in the world, Somewhere you've seen on 257 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:28,320 Instagram, somewhere your friends have told me. 258 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,120 Tell someone, tell me, huh. Paris. 259 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,440 OK, Paris, fine. Someone shout out a destination 260 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,320 that just don't want to go there on holiday. 261 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,840 It's not a place that's really, you know, no one's going there 262 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:42,080 on holiday. You don't want to go there. 263 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:49,600 It's a horrible place. Pero we can't do pero man, come 264 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,200 on, we've got people from pero there. 265 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,640 We can't do porch of strums. They're fun studied there. 266 00:15:54,640 --> 00:16:00,440 We can't do it needs to be AP guys Paris and we need another P 267 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,080 por fada. Fun por fada. 268 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,520 Paris or por fada. Because when you want to go to 269 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:15,320 Paris, OK, you don't get to Paris by thinking I mustn't go 270 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,840 to Por Fada. I mustn't go to Porfada. 271 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,120 I'm trying to get to Paris, but I mustn't, I mustn't go to 272 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,960 Porfada. What's happening in Porfada? 273 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,400 Let me check. Let me just check. 274 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,960 Let me see Instagram. You know, no, you don't get to 275 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:37,080 Paris by obsessing with Porfada. You book your tickets, you plan 276 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,840 your route. And actually, the closer you get 277 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,360 to Paris, the further away you get to Porfada, OK. 278 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,680 And that's how we, that's how we, that's these two 279 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,480 destinations that Paul is highlighting us here. 280 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,600 He's highlighting them not, you know, so like, hey, you need to 281 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,080 focus on avoiding folks. No, he's giving a much better 282 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:57,440 option. He's giving the fruit of the 283 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,320 Spirit, this new way of living. And he's saying, this is where, 284 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,720 this is where as a Christ follower under the power of the 285 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,720 Holy Spirit, this is what is going to be produced in your 286 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,160 life. This is the destination. 287 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:17,359 This is where you're going. You don't focus on Porvada as we 288 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:20,680 move towards Paris. We automatically are moving away 289 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,160 from Porvada as we get to Paris. So the Christian life is not, 290 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,960 it's not a focus on avoiding sin. 291 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:30,920 You know that's you're going to, you're going to get bogged down, 292 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,160 you're going to get overwhelmed. It's not about sin management. 293 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,920 It's about walking in the spirit. 294 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:40,480 We still have, we still have a role. 295 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:41,760 It's not we don't go just passive. 296 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:44,480 Hey, if God wants me to be fruitful, God wants me to 297 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,280 display these things. I just sit chair and wait. 298 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,280 That's that's just quietism, I think is the word, Eric. 299 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,480 Well, no, that's just like, no, we still have a role that says 300 00:17:53,480 --> 00:18:00,400 walk in the spirits. We we fix the direction and the 301 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,760 distance from Porfada. It's just the result of us 302 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:09,360 heading to Paris. I think it's very, very 303 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,720 important. And Tim Keller actually points 304 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,240 this out, that in this fruit analogy that Paul is giving us, 305 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,480 he's talking about all these things as a fruit of the 306 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,680 spirits. He doesn't talk talk about them 307 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,480 as goals or achievements. That's maybe where my analogy 308 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,600 falls down. This is not like, you know, a 309 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,080 destination as such. He, he, he talks about it as 310 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:37,400 something as fruits. And there's something that we 311 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,640 can learn about how fruit grows. There's kind of four, four or 312 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,560 five things that Tim Keller talks about. 313 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:46,120 He says we can really lean even more into this analogy that 314 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:48,080 Paul's given us, this fruit of the spirit. 315 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:52,800 How, how do we see fruit being produced on trees? 316 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:56,560 This can really help us. And the first thing is that no 317 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:01,400 tree produces fruit overnight. Doesn't happen. 318 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,480 Plant the tree next day. Where's the fruit? 319 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,560 I'm actually, I've got this, this funny story. 320 00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:10,080 I should tell her Shelley's nodding head. 321 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,520 So my mother played a trick on my father. 322 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:16,520 The one time he had these two lemon trees outside his house 323 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,120 and outside the front door. And he was always looking for 324 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:21,840 the lemons. When when are the lemons? 325 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:22,960 When are the lemons going to come? 326 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:24,040 When are the lemons going to come? 327 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:26,760 And he went away on a ministry trip or something like that. 328 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,400 And she was naughty. She she went and sell a taped 329 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:34,560 some lemons onto the tree so that when he came back into the 330 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,120 house and he's coming up this things like Sue there's lemons, 331 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,680 but no, no tree produces fruit overnight. 332 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:48,280 It's you know, I wish I mean, I wish it did, but it doesn't. 333 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,800 You you have to plant. You have to water. 334 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,600 You have jewels will know this. He's my you know, he's my expert 335 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,760 in the vegetable garden. You plant, you water, you wait. 336 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,920 And and that's, that's what sanctification is. 337 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,680 It's the slow process. Sanctification is the Spirit's 338 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:11,680 lifelong work in us, his lifelong work of making us more 339 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:13,920 and more like Jesus. And it actually takes your whole 340 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,480 life. You know, you don't, you don't 341 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:20,320 graduate from this one. But the question to ask is, you 342 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:23,640 know, maybe in the space of gentleness, are you more gentle 343 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:30,680 than five years ago? Not am I displaying the perfect 344 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,600 gentleness of Jesus Christ every, every time? 345 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:37,120 No, we're talking about this fruit that is being produced 346 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,000 over a long period, period of time. 347 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,880 And again, we're not talking about instant perfection. 348 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,760 We're talking about direction. What direction is your life 349 00:20:46,120 --> 00:20:49,680 going in? The second thing about how fruit 350 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,160 grows is it's, it's inevitable. As long as the tree is healthy, 351 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,400 as long as the roots are in the soil, as long as it's, you know, 352 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,840 in the elements, a healthy tree will bear fruit. 353 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,920 A healthy tree will bear fruit. If there's no fruit at all, 354 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,240 there's there's no life at all. But if there's life in the tree, 355 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,720 it will bear fruit. It's inevitable. 356 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,920 And wherever the spirit dwells, the spirit is dwelling inside of 357 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,080 us. The fruit of the spirit, which 358 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:25,240 includes gentleness, will appear slowly but surely. 359 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,760 The next thing is, and this comes back to the analogy, you 360 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:34,360 can't, you can't staple the apples onto the branches or the 361 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,840 bunch of grapes onto the vine. We're not about, we're not 362 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,120 talking about fake gentleness here. 363 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,920 Yes, you can temporarily modify your behavior. 364 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,880 Maybe you can suppress your anger. 365 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:51,560 You can, you can manage the optics and and what you look 366 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,520 like, but this gentleness is something that is real and is 367 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,120 internal. It's not like you're trying to, 368 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:00,680 it's totally overriding. You actually are gentle. 369 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,880 This gentleness is this beautiful, internal and very, 370 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:11,760 very real fruit. It's all about who we are 371 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,600 becoming. And fruit, fruit grows from the 372 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,960 roots. What is what is the, what is 373 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:18,800 the, what are the roots of your life? 374 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,760 Drawing on where, what are they sunk into? 375 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,320 Where are they getting their nutrients and their water and 376 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:30,560 their refreshments and gentleness. 377 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,720 It grows from our security in Christ. 378 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:39,280 It's it's his gentleness that is becoming our gentleness as the 379 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,160 Holy Spirit does that work. The next thing is that the 380 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,200 growth is symmetrical. So it's not, we don't have this 381 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:48,640 lopsided growth. And here's where I need to 382 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,680 remind us that Paul is, says the fruit of the Spirit. 383 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:54,680 He's that this one thing the he's not saying the fruits of 384 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,000 the spirit. So we don't look at all these 385 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,800 these different things really individually in a way and say 386 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,440 like, Hey, I need to work on my kindness, but this thing I'm 387 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,280 doing OK. No, these things happen 388 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:13,360 symmetrically in our lives. You, you can't, you can't 389 00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:14,920 actually be one without the other. 390 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,000 Doesn't work. You, you can't actually be 391 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,640 gentle without love. You can't have joy without 392 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,280 self-control. You, you cannot have peace 393 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,280 without kindness. All of these fruits, it's not 394 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:31,680 like, hey, which one am I working on? 395 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:35,880 It's like, no, the Holy Spirit, as he works in me, he's going to 396 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,120 produce this fruit that looks like this. 397 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:41,240 This is what my life is going to look like. 398 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,360 So it's not a call today. If you're hearing I need to work 399 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:47,360 on my gentleness, it's not what I'm saying. 400 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:52,520 This is a call to work on the Holy Spirit and as you walk in 401 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,400 the Holy Spirit, He is going to produce a fruit in you that 402 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,640 others will see as many things. It'll be an experience and it'll 403 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,520 be gentleness and kindness and love and self-control and all of 404 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:07,640 these things. The Spirit grows all the fruit 405 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:12,280 in our lives. Another thing about how how 406 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,680 fruit grows is that it's invisible. 407 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,520 So what I mean, I've actually, I remember as a child trying to 408 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:23,880 see if I could see grass grow. I was like, it's our grass is 409 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,320 growing fast. I'm going to just watch. 410 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,360 I'm sure I'll be able to see just the flicker, just some just 411 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:33,120 a hair come up on a grass or just something, you know, 412 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,200 there's like time lapse things where you see like a rose open 413 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:37,760 or whatever. I mean, it's, it's so beautiful. 414 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,240 But you can you can never actually see this with your 415 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,120 naked eye. It's imperceptible, but after a 416 00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:49,280 period of time, maybe after a long season, after storms and 417 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:54,960 wind and rain and you know, all sorts of thing, you're able to, 418 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,280 you're able to see that the growth has happened. 419 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,600 In that situation, I would have exploded before, but actually 420 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,680 doesn't bother me now. That's that's fruit. 421 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:10,280 It's, it's, it's kind of invisible, the growth, but it's 422 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,200 very, very real. So don't don't be discouraged if 423 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,920 you don't see growth every single day, but walk in the Holy 424 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:25,520 Spirit every day. And I'm actually coming in to 425 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,680 land a bit quicker than is normal for me. 426 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:35,480 You guys, should I try And you know, no, I'm going to, I'm 427 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,760 going to keep going. But friends, I hope that you can 428 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,960 see that that gentleness is actually at the very center of 429 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,240 our faith. It's actually at the very center 430 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:47,520 if that's how Jesus described himself. 431 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,920 I mean, look how Jesus came. Look how God came. 432 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,800 He came as a baby in a Manger. Can you think of a more gentle 433 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:04,360 way to enter human history? Look how look how gently and 434 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:06,120 compassionately he lived his life. 435 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,600 I mean children, children were drawn to to him. 436 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,640 I'm told that's one way you can trust, you know an adult as you 437 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,440 see if like children feel safe around them. 438 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,520 Look how compassionate he was. Look how he you know people's he 439 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,000 fed people before he preached to them. 440 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,960 There was this real concern and a care. 441 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,640 Look how gently he submitted to rest in the Garden of 442 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:34,360 Gethsemane. You know when the soul just 443 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:37,080 come, Peter comes and cuts off the ones ear. 444 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:39,200 But what does Jesus, what does Jesus do? 445 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,480 He restrains his power. Peter wants to use whatever 446 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,440 power he has. Jesus restrains his power and 447 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,440 he's so gentle. He actually takes the the 448 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,360 severed ear and he puts it back on the soul and heals and puts 449 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,320 it back on his head. I can't think of something more 450 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:57,160 gentle when you being arrested and about to be put to death. 451 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,000 This is a, this is a very, this is restraint. 452 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,280 Think of how gently he, he answered all of pilot's 453 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:06,960 questions. You know, pilot, who's this 454 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,120 earthly authority way lower than him. 455 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,640 You know, there's this kind of mock trial, you know, just going 456 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,400 through the motions and, you know, just trying to, you know, 457 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:19,680 Jesus, he, he's gentle. He answers all the questions. 458 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:24,960 He goes through the motions and then he gently endures the 459 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,480 cross. He willingly, like a lamb, led 460 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,640 to the slaughter. That's how it's described. 461 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:37,040 He willingly went to the cross and endures the cross. 462 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,280 If, if Jesus Christ was not gentle, there would be no cross 463 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,640 and there would be no redemption for humanity. 464 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,720 There'd be no way forward if there wasn't. 465 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,520 If Jesus wasn't gentle, if he wasn't humble, if he wasn't 466 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:59,000 lowly, the cross gentleness is is not a nice personality trait 467 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,920 that Jesus had. No, it was his gentleness that 468 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,000 allowed him to be there and it was essential for us. 469 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:09,480 The cross screams at us. When we look at the cross, it 470 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,840 screams at us. Power governed by love, power 471 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:18,600 under control. It screams gentleness. 472 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:23,480 Jesus had the power even when he was couldn't touch his two 473 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:25,280 physical hands together and he was up there. 474 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,200 Jesus had the power to stop it in an instant. 475 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,760 The God's Word says he could have commanded legions of angels 476 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,760 to come and rescue it. He he commanded the the sea. 477 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:43,320 He he, he atoms listen to him. He could have asked every atom 478 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,680 to cease to exist, to just explode, or to do something 479 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:49,680 else. But he didn't. 480 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,800 In his gentleness, he willingly absorbed the punishment. 481 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,800 He went through it all, the punishment that should have been 482 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,960 ours to bear. He took it on his shoulders. 483 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:06,720 His punishment became our peace because of his gentleness. 484 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,040 And if you're not yet a Christ follower today, I hope, I hope 485 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,960 you're hearing an invitation. This is a God who is all 486 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:21,040 powerful, yet he does not crush sinners, although we are by 487 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,520 definition his enemies and objects of wrath. 488 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:31,840 And yeah, just going against him, He does not crush sinners. 489 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,520 Rather he absorbs judgement for sinners. 490 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,960 And if you came in here today and you thought Christianity 491 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,520 says things like do this, that and the other, and then God may 492 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,480 accept me. Or let's bring it back to 493 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,000 today's topic. Become more gentle. 494 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:52,760 And when you're gentle enough, Christ will accept you. 495 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:58,480 That's not it at all. No, rather Jesus is the God who 496 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,720 came to us gently. And in Matthew 11 verse 28, he 497 00:30:01,720 --> 00:30:10,760 says, come to me all all you who are weary and burdened, and I 498 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,200 will give you rest. You don't fix yourself first. 499 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:16,960 What does Jesus say you do first? 500 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,440 He says, come, come to me. We come. 501 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:25,000 That's all we need to do. And amazingly, and I can testify 502 00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:30,680 to this, when you when you when you do that, his Spirit begins 503 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,800 to grow something inside of you that you could never produce by 504 00:30:34,800 --> 00:30:38,560 yourself. This is not behavior 505 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:40,240 modification we're talking about. 506 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,840 This is life transformation. And it's a work that he does. 507 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,120 And maybe today, if you're not a Christ follower, you can hear 508 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,240 him calling you gently. He calls you gently. 509 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,360 Sometimes I wish God would just scream at us and give us no 510 00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:58,480 choice and overwhelm us. And you know, we would just have 511 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,600 no choice but to follow him. But it's always a still. 512 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,480 It's a soft, quiet voice that's beckoning us home. 513 00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,720 Can you hear as you hear about the cross, as you hear about who 514 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,880 Jesus is, can you hear him calling you gently and saying, 515 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:18,880 put your faith in me, My grace is sufficient for you. 516 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,400 And if you are a Christ follower, I just want to remind 517 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:30,120 you that in Romans 8 verse 11, Paul says this. 518 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,880 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in 519 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:38,480 you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give 520 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:43,160 life to your mortal bones through his Spirit who dwells in 521 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:52,040 you. Gentleness on the cross to the 522 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,440 grave. But gentleness is not weakness. 523 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,600 There's a very real power, and there's a power that raised 524 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,280 Jesus from the dead, a power that rolled the stone away, 525 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:11,120 breathed life into a dead body. There's a power in that moment 526 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,440 that defeated sin, Satan and death. 527 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:20,160 And that same spirits, that same spirit that did that lives 528 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:25,200 inside believers, the same spirit that raised Jesus from 529 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,840 the grave in power is slowly at work in Christ followers 530 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:34,120 producing fruit of the spirit. That's where we get our 531 00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:36,840 gentleness. I was running around while 532 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:39,240 Stefan was doing the announcements trying to find an 533 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:44,760 acorn of that oak tree as acorns are not in, in season or 534 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:46,520 something. There's, there's no acorns, but 535 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:51,840 I was hoping to have as a final picture an acorn, you know, 536 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:56,120 which is like an oak tree seed. And there's this beautiful 537 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,480 analogy I've heard other preachers use and they talk 538 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:03,160 about imagine this small, harmless little acorn and, and a 539 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,280 graveyard. And this acorn falls off the 540 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:11,480 tree onto like a tombstone, like a slab, a slab. 541 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,760 I don't know what the word is, but a big slab and a grave, you 542 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:17,040 know, a lot of concrete basically. 543 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,760 And this acorn just falls there. And you think, man, that acorn 544 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:24,200 acorn is just, well, it's not on soft soil. 545 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:29,080 It's probably just going to die. But you go back and, you know, 546 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:31,920 it settles itself in like a little crack in the concrete. 547 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,920 And it's like, you know, it's it's kind of got no prospects. 548 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,040 And it looks like it looks like this acorn is totally weak. 549 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,920 It's you know, it's kind of a dry, it's dry. 550 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,280 It's you know, acorns seem a bit dead. 551 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:46,520 You know, they're like a little piece of wood. 552 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:51,280 They're very hard. And you, the story is told of a 553 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:53,760 man that sees this and he sees the acorn, you know, wedge 554 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:58,800 itself on a, on a concrete slab. And he goes back a few years 555 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:02,320 later and he sees, oh, wow, this acorn is actually wow. 556 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,320 It's managed to, it's managed to grow a little bit. 557 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,160 It's like a little, a little sapling. 558 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,960 Somehow it's found enough, you know, roots and whatever. 559 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,639 And anyway, it goes back decades later and out of this grave. 560 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:20,400 This is a tree like that, a tree that has grown very much like 561 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:22,520 that. And I think the analogy there is 562 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:28,960 that sometimes we feel like we this this acorn, you know, and 563 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:34,040 without much prospect or like kind of an impossible situation 564 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,880 or that spiritual growth maybe is going to be very, very hard. 565 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:41,360 But because the Christ follower has the Holy Spirit, because 566 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:47,239 this acorn has life in its DNA, it actually is totally 567 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,840 unstoppable. You know, think the hard 568 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:55,600 surface, the, the concrete, it looks impenetrable. 569 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:01,080 But that's what a life under the power of the Holy Spirit looks 570 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:02,520 like. He can cause such incredible 571 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:07,560 growth and such incredible life. And so just in landing 572 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,160 gentleness might not be trending in the culture around us. 573 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:16,000 The culture around us sees gentleness as weakness, but 574 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,000 actually gentleness in Scripture and from what we've heard today, 575 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:24,240 gentleness is actually evidence of a superpower at work. 576 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,800 Gentleness is the the evidence that the resurrection life is at 577 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,760 work beneath the surface. And the gentleness that Jesus 578 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,720 claims in his own heart when he describes about himself is the 579 00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:41,400 same gentleness that the Holy Spirit grows in us in Galatians 580 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:46,000 chapter 5. So my final exhortation to us 581 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,440 today is, is let's be more like him. 582 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:53,440 Let's allow the Holy Spirit to shape us into people that are 583 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:59,160 gentle and lowly. Can I pray for us? 584 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:01,840 OK, why don't you stand to your feet? 585 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,800 Oh, Jesus, we just want to acknowledge just how incredible 586 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:22,600 you are. And we just consider the cross, 587 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:27,080 how willingly you endured the cross, how you were gentle, how 588 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:31,600 you were willing, how you're willing to pay the price that we 589 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,680 most needed. And I just thank you so much for 590 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,360 my fellow believers here today. I thank you that Holy Spirit, 591 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,800 you promise that you will accomplish this work. 592 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,520 You will produce a fruit in US. You will totally change our 593 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:50,840 lives. You will do all of this if we, 594 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:55,280 if we walk in, in you and Holy Spirit, I pray that you would 595 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:59,040 give each one of us the courage to do so, the courage to go in 596 00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:02,800 a, in a different direction than our cultures, maybe sucking us 597 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:05,440 into that. We will see that Holy Spirit, 598 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:11,640 you are willing to do this work and that we can just, we can 599 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:14,960 just walk in step with you that Jesus, whatever you command of 600 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,880 us, you also empower the Holy Spirit. 601 00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,920 I pray that we would just be more and more aware of your 602 00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,760 power that is available and that is at work and that we would 603 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,600 hand over the reins of our life to you and that you would cause 604 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,640 incredible fruit to grow in this community. 605 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,000 Fruit that will last, Fruit that will have an impact. 606 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:39,920 Fruit that will change the world around us. 607 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,200 For your glory in Jesus name, Amen.