1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,960 So good morning and welcome again, everyone. 2 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:05,560 My name's Laura MacFarlane. I generally attend with my 3 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:08,760 husband Greg and son Uyazi, who are both at home today because 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:10,640 they're a bit sick, or at least Uyazi is. 5 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:13,520 And so I'm here alone. And today we're going to be 6 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,000 continuing through our series on Fruits of the Spirit. 7 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,240 Our topic today is going to be on kindness in Galatians. 8 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:23,280 And Nelly kindly has agreed she's going to be reading 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,600 Galatians 522 to 25 for us. There's a few different versions 10 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:30,880 floating around and slightly different words used. 11 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,360 We're going to be reading from the NIV. 12 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,560 But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, forbearance, 13 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:39,960 kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and 14 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,880 self-control. Against such things there is no 15 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:45,560 law. Those who belong to Christ have 16 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,800 crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 17 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:50,400 Thank you. Great. 18 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,080 So I don't know about you, but often when I see a lot of words 19 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,280 that are similar grouped together, I generally think of 20 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:00,560 kind of the general vibe of things, especially if we're in a 21 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,680 hurry, we just kind of say, well, those are all nice things 22 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,760 that we're reading about, kindness, peace, goodness. 23 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,720 So when I read verse 22 particularly, and I'm hoping 24 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,360 it's staying on the screen, the fruits of the Spirit as a whole, 25 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,000 I'm often thinking, well, the fruits of the Spirit are really 26 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,920 just being a good person. And if we look at a few verses 27 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:25,240 just before that, in verse 19, those works of the flesh as they 28 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,560 described, I think, well, that's being, that's being a bad 29 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,640 person. And we really just get a feeling 30 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,480 for what we're reading and then we move on to the next. 31 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,560 But today what we're going to try do is to consider each word 32 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,040 in these verses as breathed out by God. 33 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,800 And we it's important to sometimes take that step to 34 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:46,840 meditate on this particular word. 35 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:48,360 Think how is it different from the one? 36 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,600 Why did God include this list? Why didn't he just say be a good 37 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,080 person? And when we adopt this approach, 38 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,040 we sometimes, at least sometimes, we find that our our 39 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,120 Bible reading can be so much more fruitful and we can really 40 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,520 learn quite a bit. So today we're going to pause 41 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:08,000 and we're going to consider the idea of kindness in quite a bit 42 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:10,600 of detail. We're going to do it three ways. 43 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,640 We first going to try see what we can glean from the word 44 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:16,360 kindness in verse 22. So we're going to look in the 45 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,160 actual verses around it. We're then also going to be 46 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,520 looking at Galatians in general. We know that books of the Bible 47 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,120 like this, which are written by Paul, there's often these 48 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,720 recurring themes that they're not saying contradictory things. 49 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:31,040 So it helps us as we trying to interpret what does God mean 50 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,200 here by kindness, to look at the context of the book as a whole. 51 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:37,200 And then we're also going to be looking at a more holistic 52 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,600 reading by bringing in some other texts and making sure our 53 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:44,440 view of kindness is aligned to a reading of the Bible as a whole. 54 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,920 And I know I'm not the only one who sometimes just groups these 55 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,400 together because a few weeks ago Ryan came and he mentioned that 56 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:54,560 he was preaching on kindness. And I was a bit taken aback 57 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,200 because I directly written my preach by then on kindness. 58 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,520 And then I can't remember what he's actually preaching on. 59 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,160 Could be gentleness, could be goodness. 60 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,920 But the point is that both me and Ryan just kind of group all 61 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:09,640 of those together. You're preaching on gentleness. 62 00:03:09,640 --> 00:03:14,720 OK, there we go. All right, so as we go through 63 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:16,920 the sermon, I'm going to encourage you to think 64 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,840 constantly about two things. Firstly, how does this word, how 65 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,400 does God's word change the way or develop the way that we see 66 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,000 God and this considering this word of kindness? 67 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,320 And secondly, I want us to think also personally, as we go 68 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,200 through this word, what is God maybe saying to me or to us as a 69 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:39,280 church and not just to have this download of more information 70 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,560 like we've had in the week to be stored separately. 71 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,880 We know God's word is active and alive and we know he's speaking 72 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,400 to us. So let's really approach it with 73 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,400 those open hearts. All right? 74 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,920 Today we're going to be looking at 4 questions as we look 75 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,240 through kindness. The first is what? 76 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,280 What is kindness? We're then going to look at why. 77 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,240 Why would we desire kindness? Why would we even consider this? 78 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,800 We're going to look at who who we call to be kind to. 79 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,880 And then we're going to end off with the how, which is often the 80 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,520 the most tricky part. So starting with the what, what 81 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,959 is kindness and particularly how do we separate it from the other 82 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:22,079 fruits of the spirit as you're mentioning gentleness, Paul 83 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:25,480 doesn't give us, unfortunately. A footnote at verse 22 with a 84 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,640 definition of this is what I mean by kindness and Galatians 85 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,400 is a book as a whole. It mentions many things that we 86 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,000 might think is kind. It mentions praying for each 87 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,560 other in chapter 6. It mentions bearing each other's 88 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,760 burdens, but it doesn't necessarily always link these to 89 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,200 kindness. So we're going to have to go a 90 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,560 little bit further. And one of the ways I find quite 91 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,800 helpful when I'm reading something and I'm wondering what 92 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,680 does it really mean in this context is to look at some of 93 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,120 the commentary. Now we have commentators, the 94 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,720 commentary you're going to look at today is for the ESP study 95 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,600 Bible. Commentators who study the 96 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,000 Bible, who look at where's this word used, what are the specific 97 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,640 translations and the message that's overarching in the Bible 98 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:07,760 of as a whole. And they give us some guidance 99 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,440 as to what they think it means. So the ESP study Bible indicates 100 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,280 that kindness means showing goodness, generosity, and 101 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:19,400 sympathy towards others. And that's the the definition 102 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,040 that they give for this particular word that's used in 103 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,080 verse 22 of the passage we're looking at. 104 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,400 The second thing we can do is we can also look at where else is 105 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,120 the word mentioned in the Bible? Now we're going to be looking at 106 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:32,800 the English version. You can also go into the 107 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,240 specific other languages, but where else is kindness used and 108 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,440 what's the context there? What can we learn? 109 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,760 So kindness can also be understood in that way to mean 110 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:49,440 mercy or steadfast love. In Micah 6 verse eight, in the 111 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,000 context of God speaking to his people that he doesn't want 112 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,440 mindless routine sacrifice. He wants peoples whose hearts 113 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,800 are changed, transformed to look like him as those followers. 114 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:02,760 Those are his true followers. And in that context he says he 115 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,400 wants people to of kindness or pursue kindness. 116 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,200 Another clue for us of what this kindness means is found in One 117 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:16,840 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 4 to 6, where it sees kindness as 118 00:06:16,840 --> 00:06:19,960 a part of what it means to love. The verse that we all know very 119 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,040 well, it says love is patient and love is kind. 120 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,640 So it's not the whole of love, but I believe kindness is a part 121 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:32,360 of what it means to love. Another way when we considering 122 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,440 a word in the Bible and how to know what it means is to look at 123 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,640 some examples. Sometimes we know what it is 124 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,880 when we see it, even if we can't describe it very well. 125 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,800 So sometimes what we can do is we can look at examples of what 126 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,840 we might see as kindness in the Bible, and then we can unpack 127 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:51,400 some of those characteristics. What is it that makes it kind? 128 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:54,800 So one example I'll give is from Ruth and Boaz. 129 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,400 We're not going to go to the story, but you can read it in 130 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:01,160 Route 2 to 4. And in the story, Boaz let's 131 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,240 Ruth, who's a poor foreign widow, collect food in his 132 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,720 fields. And what she was collecting was 133 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:08,400 what he wasn't really going to be using anywhere. 134 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,920 It was what would be left for the birds, essentially. 135 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:14,800 But he also instructs his workers to leave a bit extra for 136 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,280 her to make it a little bit easier. 137 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,240 And what's kind about that is, firstly, we know that he asked 138 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,280 around about her. So he knows that she needs the 139 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,600 food. I mean, those days, a woman 140 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,520 without a husband, it wasn't as common, wasn't as easy to work. 141 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,280 And she's a widow, so she really needed some extra assistance. 142 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,120 But he doesn't just go to her and say, well, here's a whole 143 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:37,920 lot of food in a bag. I've done it for you. 144 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:41,080 He gives her dignity, allows her to continue with what she's 145 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,760 doing, but he also doesn't tell her. 146 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,280 So he's not expecting anything returned because she doesn't 147 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,440 even know what he's done. He's simply taking steps behind 148 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,720 the scenes to make her life a little bit easier. 149 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,680 So that gives us a bit of an idea about what kindness might 150 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,360 look like in that story. Another one is from Two Samuel 151 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,280 9. It's David, and I meant to ask 152 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,160 someone how to say this nicely. Mephibosheth. 153 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,200 I'm going to call him Mr. M for now. 154 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,800 So David shows kindness to Jonathan's disabled son by 155 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,920 restoring his land and inviting him in this part of the Bible to 156 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,200 eat at his table every day. So what is kind about that? 157 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,200 Well, firstly, he gives him stability by giving him land. 158 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:29,920 He gives him this long term way to have sustainable income 159 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:31,360 again. He doesn't just throw a few gold 160 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,039 coins to make himself Betty. He's thinking, how can I really 161 00:08:34,039 --> 00:08:38,200 set you up well? But more than that, and quite 162 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,640 importantly here is he gave him recognition and company, so he 163 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,000 was going to be able to eat at the King's table forever more. 164 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:48,280 And he doesn't have to eat alone. 165 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:51,080 So not only does he have that link and that ability to have 166 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,880 some status or on earth, which he might not have had before, 167 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:56,600 but he's also doesn't have to be alone. 168 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:58,920 He's going to be with people around him. 169 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,920 And we know that in those days, disabled people weren't treated 170 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:04,640 particularly well. So it wouldn't have been 171 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,280 elevating the King's status to have him at his table. 172 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,160 But he's really doing it because he wants to show him kindness. 173 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:15,800 And we know that he had very little to offer in return. 174 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:19,280 We know this also because how does he respond to the King's 175 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:21,600 offer? He says, what is your servant 176 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,480 that you should notice a dead dog like me. 177 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,920 So he's he's coming forward in the position that well, I know I 178 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,600 don't have anything to repay you with. 179 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,680 So thank you. This is this is unexpected and 180 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:34,920 it's really just coming from kind heart. 181 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,080 Then the third and last example I want us to look at in the 182 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,760 Bible is from John 81211 and it's about Jesus. 183 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,240 When a crowd brings for forth a woman who's caught in adultery 184 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:49,960 and they want to stone her because of the sin that she's 185 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,840 been caught in, and Jesus protects her from condemnation 186 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,080 and he, he restores her dignity. He was perfect. 187 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,320 He had the moral authority to say, yes, that was wrong. 188 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,280 I would never do it. He, he could have gone with the 189 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,040 crowd who is looking to punish her, but instead he doesn't take 190 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:11,160 the easy or popular choice without condemning, sorry, 191 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,080 without condoning her sin. He shows her compassion. 192 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:17,520 He doesn't join in with a crowd, but it's what, what's quite 193 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,960 important about this part of the story is he also says go and sin 194 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,160 no more. So he, he indicates that this is 195 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,000 wrong. I'm, I'm not accepting it. 196 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,720 I'm not being soft on this, but I'm showing kindness to you. 197 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:33,200 And that's an important part of our definition of kindness as 198 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:35,760 well, because kindness doesn't deny truth. 199 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,040 Kindness just delivers truth with grace and humility. 200 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:44,520 And I've got a personal example that I've shared with some of 201 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,240 you that I was grappling with recently. 202 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,160 I've someone at work who's not been performing very well. 203 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,040 They haven't even been working a full day and their work products 204 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,960 not great. And I've gently communicated the 205 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,080 truths over many months and tried to help them perform. 206 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,520 But I have a Co manager and we manage this person together. 207 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,280 He's not a Christian and he's taken the approach of I don't 208 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,800 really want to deal with this, so I'm not going to be doing 209 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:12,120 anything. That approach is a lot easier 210 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:13,600 because you don't get pushed back. 211 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,200 You don't have to deal with conflict and you're a lot more 212 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,600 liked by employees. And I was, I've been grappling. 213 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:23,000 I've also been considering, well, is that approach more kind 214 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:24,760 because it doesn't feel very kind. 215 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:26,240 I'm having to deal with this conflict. 216 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,600 I'm having to face something and pray about it and make sure it's 217 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,880 done in a nice way. But I I want his job. 218 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:36,480 I want to just just leave it and through lots of discussions with 219 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:40,600 mature Christians and lots of prayer, I've been coming more to 220 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:43,800 the peace that actually that's not a kind approach. 221 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,520 It's not a kind approach to leave it. 222 00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,480 It's because it ignores the growth that you can see in 223 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,720 someone. It ignores their ability to take 224 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,920 opportunities to grow. It also ignores the impact that 225 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:58,120 someone's not performance or non attendance at work having on 226 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,440 others, the clients, the people that you're supposed to serve, 227 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,520 maybe on the Co workers who are picking up more slack. 228 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,560 So often we we avoid these kind of discussions or we avoid being 229 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,640 engaging with difficult topics because we see, well, as a 230 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,800 Christian, I need to be kind and kind just means avoid conflict 231 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,480 at all costs. But we see that that as Jesus 232 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:24,440 did that that's not really what kindness is. 233 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,280 Kindness involves honesty. We want to communicate with love 234 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:30,120 and humility. We want to pray about the right 235 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,680 timing and how much and how to do and if we're the right person 236 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,640 to do it. But we also need to be honest 237 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,560 and kindness doesn't ask us to leave that honesty behind. 238 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,440 So why don't you take a moment and consider something that some 239 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:48,080 examples that might be personal to you take, take a thought and 240 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,640 think about even this week, was there any opportunities where 241 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:53,280 other people showed kindness to you? 242 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,200 Did you see someone give kindness to someone else? 243 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,360 Was someone perhaps kind to you or did you miss an opportunity? 244 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:01,840 If anyone wants to share, you're welcome to pop your hand up and 245 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:03,920 and stand up. But start to start to think a 246 00:13:03,920 --> 00:13:06,240 little bit about what does this mean for me? 247 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,640 Is it something I've even thought enough about to come up 248 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:12,160 with an example? I'll give you a second. 249 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:35,320 Some examples might be quite silly. 250 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:37,120 It might be doing someone's washing for them. 251 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,520 If you have a roommate or someone that you stay with. 252 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:41,520 It might be preparing a meal for someone. 253 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:43,440 It might be paying someone's train fare. 254 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:45,600 It might even just be praying with someone when you know they 255 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,040 really need that support and company. 256 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,160 It might be someone giving someone the better seat in 257 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,880 public transport, if you can see they just they just had a bad 258 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:56,320 day and they just might need a bit of extra comfort. 259 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,040 And what these examples that we're thinking of, what it 260 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,640 should lead the other person to think is why me? 261 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:09,880 That was unexpected because like Mr. M as we calling him, there 262 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,720 should be no specific reason that we do those things. 263 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,240 It's not because I think you're going to help me in the future. 264 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,400 It's not even because I feel guilty about it. 265 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:19,200 So I want to make myself feel better. 266 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,120 It's simply because I know that that would be pleasant for you. 267 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,440 I know it would make your life easier. 268 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,800 So we should be doing things constantly that have that 269 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,640 reaction of what? Why me? 270 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,320 Why would you do this for me? You didn't have to because if 271 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,760 you had to, it might not really be coming from from the heart of 272 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,000 kindness. So looking at these definitions 273 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,360 and these examples and this commentary is some of the 274 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,560 characteristics that we can draw into some bullet points of our 275 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,920 definition of kindness is this, it requires action. 276 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:54,080 So kindness mustn't be confused with just being nice. 277 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,640 Someone can be very nice, but do very little for other people. 278 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,800 I just, I have good feelings towards you, but kindness 279 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,560 requires you to do something. There's also no expectation of 280 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,560 reward or no other reason for being kind. 281 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,640 But what you're really looking to do when you're being kind is 282 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,360 just to make someones life a little bit more pleasant or a 283 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,240 little bit easier. It might be offering to do nice 284 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,000 things for them, helping them, listening to them, just 285 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,080 recognizing them and spending time with them. 286 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:26,120 Or it might be giving as well. And sometimes it might be, you 287 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,080 might be thinking, well, I mean, I don't really know all the 288 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:30,520 opportunities. When Laura gave me a minute, I 289 00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:31,640 couldn't really think of that many. 290 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:32,880 But I'm not going to tell anyone. 291 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,040 So how do I, how do I think about when to be kind? 292 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,040 I mean, it's something that you learn in grade one, but it's not 293 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,400 something I've really had anyone speak to me about after after 294 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,360 that and learning values in primary school. 295 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:46,960 And what I found quite helpful is in Galatians itself. 296 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,280 Early on in Galatians 514, we reminded of the Golden Rule, 297 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,360 which says for the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one 298 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:59,760 command, love your neighbor as yourself. 299 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,720 And we already know from Corinthians that part of love is 300 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,480 to be kind. And where does Paul come up with 301 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,440 this in in Galatians? Where does he come up with this 302 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,280 golden rule? Because he didn't make it up. 303 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,560 Jesus himself taught this and said it twice, once in Matthew 304 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,200 7, once in Matthew 22. Both times he essentially 305 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,800 speaking about the greatest commandment, this golden rule, 306 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,160 and he speaks about loving God and loving your neighbor as 307 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,960 yourself. And if you're anything like me, 308 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,080 you're probably quite good at finding out what you want. 309 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,920 You're quite good at thinking about expectations of what would 310 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,280 be nice for someone else to do for you. 311 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,200 And that's probably the easiest way to think about how can I be 312 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,040 kind is to think about if I was in that person's shoes, what 313 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,360 would I want? What would make my life more 314 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,840 pleasant or easier? If it's a couple who've just had 315 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,760 a child, it might be going to pray with them about their 316 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,960 parenting and about the child. It might be taking them a meal. 317 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,640 If it's a single person and you know, they don't have much 318 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,520 family in town, maybe it's inviting them to some family 319 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,680 dinners, to some family events and just to like bringing them 320 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:08,000 as part of your community. If it's someone's society tends 321 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,640 to shun or only deal with in a certain way, maybe it's simply 322 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,640 taking the time to look them in the eye to have a conversation 323 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,960 that doesn't involve advice or giving but just recognizes them 324 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,440 as a person. Might even be something as 325 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:26,440 simple as letting your roommate have the better room but letting 326 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,600 someone have a shower when you both come home cold. 327 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,120 About giving someone the nicer meal. 328 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:33,360 If you have two options. Small things that you just know. 329 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,920 I would like it if someone did that for me so I'm going to do 330 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,960 it for them now anyway. And then moving on to our why is 331 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,880 what? Why do we need to be kind? 332 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,200 There's a famous movie, I don't know if anyone's watched it 333 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,440 cause called because I said so. And it's really this mocking on 334 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,440 this human idea of always wanting to ask why. 335 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,240 If you tell your kids don't do that, don't eat that you're not 336 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:57,240 allowed to do that. What is the general response you 337 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:01,680 get Why? And as adults we like to think 338 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,520 of it as more childish thing. If someone offered a promotion 339 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,320 and it's not you at work, why something bad happens. 340 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:10,360 Why? If someone else gets a benefit 341 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:14,080 and they're like, why not me? And I think the reason is we 342 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:18,160 often tend to accept things more and we often are able to act 343 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:22,040 more if we know the why. So it's, it's a lot of studies 344 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:24,960 and courage in the workplace is try get your employees on board 345 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,760 or try get your family on board. If it's parenting, if people 346 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,680 understand the why, they're more likely to get behind an idea and 347 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,160 to do it. So why would we be kind? 348 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,240 Why would we even try? The first reason we're going to 349 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:44,600 go back to our cortex today is in Galatians 5, verse 22 to 25. 350 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:49,520 It tells us that those who belong to Christ have crucified 351 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:52,040 the flesh with its passions and desires. 352 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,880 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 353 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,800 So part of the reason why is because it's our very nature. 354 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,960 It's God's design is when we belong to Christ. 355 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,800 Paul mentions later in Galatians 6 that we this new creation, we 356 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,680 we every day we dying to our desires because this 357 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:15,000 transformation is taking place. It's a reality for those who 358 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,520 call Christ their Lord. So we continue to make mistakes, 359 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,040 but we're empowered by the Spirit to be transformed. 360 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,360 And this leads to our our second point is as we being transformed 361 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,080 to be more like God's character. Part of the why is because God 362 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:34,480 is kind, because God has been kind to us. 363 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,440 From Romans 2 verse one to four, it says, Do you suppose a man, 364 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:42,600 you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them 365 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,320 yourself, that you will escape the judgement of God? 366 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,720 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance 367 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,400 and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead 368 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:54,800 us, meant to lead you to repentance. 369 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,440 So how did God show us kindness? God showed us kindness by 370 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,760 sending His Son to die for us. This free offering of grace is 371 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,920 just the most beautiful picture of kindness we know. 372 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,800 So we want to imitate our Father's kindness to us. 373 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:12,040 We wanted to overflow because we know someone has been so kind to 374 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:17,280 us. And Luke 6:35 to 36 emphasizes 375 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:19,840 this idea as well. It says, But love your enemies 376 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,360 and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your 377 00:20:23,360 --> 00:20:26,160 reward will be great, and you'll be sons and daughters of the 378 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,200 Most High. For he is kind to the ungrateful 379 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:32,320 and the evil. Be merciful even as your Father 380 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,800 is merciful. So we are kind because our God 381 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,120 is kind to us, but our God is kind to everyone. 382 00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:41,440 Our God is kind and we want to imitate that. 383 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,440 And then lastly, kindness is so critical and important to God 384 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,920 and often more than we often imagine. 385 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,520 One of my favourite verses in the Bible outlines 3 things that 386 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,520 God asks of us. Now just give you a second think 387 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,280 of three things. If you have to summarize, what 388 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,520 does God require of me? What does God need me to do? 389 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,280 And I will give you a hint that it's in the Old Testament. 390 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,640 What are the three things that you would come up with that God 391 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,560 requires of you? It's in Micah 6 verse 8, and it 392 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,520 simplifies God's instructions to his people. 393 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:20,280 And three, three tasks says he has told you a man, what is good 394 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,760 and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to 395 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,440 love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. 396 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,680 And this is in the context we spoke about it earlier of God 397 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,440 saying he doesn't want this mindless sacrifice. 398 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:36,640 He wants this. He wants this of a Christ or a 399 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,960 follower of him and it sounds quite simple to love kindness or 400 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,720 other other versions use mercy, but it's not something we often 401 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,000 prioritize We it it doesn't sound glamorous. 402 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,320 We might even think it's a bit weak and unambitious in today's 403 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,560 day. We want to conquer, achieve, 404 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,320 lead, and we want to succeed, but I don't know how many of us 405 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:01,000 in our New Year's resolutions had be kind. 406 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,160 And yet it's three-part of three things that God says he requires 407 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,200 of us as a whole is to be kind. And I wonder if we give it the 408 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,760 same amount of priority as God does. 409 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,000 Then the third question is who? I'm not going to spend a lot of 410 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,920 time on this because I know everyone in this room. 411 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,000 We we know who who. It's more just that when you're 412 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,960 in those moments, it becomes a bit cloudy. 413 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:29,960 Is that academically we could write on a paper, we'd all get 414 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,440 100% in theory, but it's the practical that we probably 415 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,320 struggle with a little bit more on The Who, Well, let's look at 416 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,840 it anyway. It's in Galatians 69 to 10. 417 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:43,720 So the same book that our core text is from, and we're going to 418 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,800 read it again. It says let us not grow weary of 419 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,080 doing good for due season. We will reap if we do not give 420 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,440 up. So then, as we have opportunity, 421 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,040 let us do good to everyone. Let us do good to everyone and 422 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,040 especially to those who are in the household of faith. 423 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:03,720 The one thing I don't want us to do is just to catch on to that 424 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:06,360 end part. It's to everyone, but mainly, 425 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,600 mainly just to the Christians. You know, the other people are 426 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,000 the ones we don't really want. So, so we can have a look at 427 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,720 Luke 6 from 35 to 36. We read it earlier, it says, but 428 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,080 love your enemies, do good and lend expecting nothing in return 429 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,240 and your reward will be great. It will be sons of the most high 430 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,400 for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 431 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:27,960 He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 432 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,120 So we have kindness to those who believe we have kindness to the 433 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,960 grateful and the evil. I think that means everyone the 434 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:39,600 the full spectrum. And then how we're going, how 435 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,480 can we be empowered to be kind? Kindness is a quality that's 436 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,520 gained a lot of popularity in the last decade. 437 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,520 I don't know if you've seen, but as I drive to from work, there's 438 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,000 a big sign on a bull ball that's just be kind and you see it 439 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,480 online on people's profiles. It's mainly non religious groups 440 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,200 actually that are putting it forward there. 441 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,720 It's almost like tolerance. It's this ideal, this value that 442 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,120 if we were all just kind, all our problems would go away. 443 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,920 But what these simple declarations sometimes miss is 444 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:13,400 that as humans, we're often not kind. 445 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,000 We find it quite hard. So how do we sustain this more 446 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,840 consistent kindness that the world needs? 447 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,560 And we know if we try in our own strength again and again, we 448 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:26,640 probably going to fail. And then we're going to feel 449 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:27,760 guilty. And then we're going to be 450 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:29,520 focused on ourselves because we're thinking about all our 451 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:31,280 guilt and then we're going to be less kind. 452 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,480 So it's it's probably not a recipe for success is to really 453 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,520 just dig deeper. But let's look at the fruits of 454 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,240 the Spirit again in the context of the whole of Galatians. 455 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:46,200 Galatians 5, five to six says for through the Spirit we 456 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,760 eagerly wait by faith, the righteousness for which we hope 457 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:53,960 for in Christ Jesus. Neither circumcision nor 458 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,760 uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is 459 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,960 faith expressing itself through love. 460 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,080 And I take from this that we're to work through the Spirit. 461 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:07,680 We're to be patient and wait as this process, this righteousness 462 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,200 to come, starts to take root. And we need faith as we express 463 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,240 it through love. And what is it in which we hope? 464 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:16,680 What is the hope referred to here? 465 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,520 We know that it's Jesus who transforms us, who gives us 466 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,680 supernatural ability and power to be kind, although it's not 467 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,640 always in our nature. And we see this coming, this 468 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,560 fruit. It's partly now and it's partly 469 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:31,760 something that we'll only see in the far future, but we know that 470 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,040 it's, it's something that is constantly at work. 471 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,480 And then if we go back to our, our text in Galatians 5 today, 472 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,280 where we started in the same section where Paul speaks about 473 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,560 kindness in the fruits of the spirit, he repeats the same idea 474 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,120 three times. The 1st is in Galatians 516. 475 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:54,480 He says, so I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify 476 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,920 the desires of the flesh. And he speaks about the desires 477 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,160 of the flesh being contrary to this idea of the Spirit, to the 478 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,480 fruits of the Spirit, including kindness that we speak of. 479 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:07,120 Then he goes on in verse 25, he says since we live by the 480 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:10,920 Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 481 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,360 And then finally Galatians 6-7 to 8 gives us further ideas. 482 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,600 It says do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. 483 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,360 A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their 484 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:26,280 flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the 485 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,440 Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 486 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,760 So can we, can we be kind by Googling ideas and just trying 487 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,000 really hard to implement them from tomorrow is I think we're 488 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,160 going to run out of steam pretty quickly. 489 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:42,800 But how do we sow into the Spirit? 490 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,800 Galatians as a whole tells us quite clearly it's by being so 491 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,240 close to the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit, living in 492 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:51,880 the Spirit. And what does that mean 493 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,240 practically? I see it meaning just walking so 494 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,880 closely with God is spending time with God, is being 495 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,760 dependent on him and daily decisions and thoughts as we 496 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,120 keep going back to him and saying, God, I can't do this 497 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:04,080 alone, but I, I know that you can. 498 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:05,880 And I believe you are transforming me and will 499 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:10,000 continue to transform me. And as we move away from that, 500 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,000 we probably get back into our works and we start to fail 501 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:14,600 again. And when we feel like we're 502 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,040 frustrated and we feel like we're not doing a good job, 503 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,320 rather than walking into the guilt, we just need to run back 504 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:21,760 and say, let me walk by the Spirit. 505 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,560 Let me keep in step with the Spirit. 506 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,640 How do I get closer to God? Because because guilt's part of 507 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,080 the reason is to drive us further and further away from 508 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,440 God. But how do I keep in step and 509 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:38,000 live with the Spirit? So let's do a bit of a personal 510 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:39,960 check in and consider our last month. 511 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,480 Were we kind? Karine's nodding. 512 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,960 I think she was. Were we kind? 513 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,240 If we were, was it to our family or was it to strangers? 514 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:54,800 What about people in this community? 515 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,080 What about people that repel us, that we don't respect? 516 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,080 Perhaps they sin in ways we don't. 517 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,600 Perhaps they're people who've been mean or unfair to us 518 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,040 personally. If you like me, we'll probably 519 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,320 find it easier to be kind to children. 520 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,960 We can find it easier to be kind to old people. 521 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:15,840 They seem to deserve our kindness more. 522 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,360 It seems more appropriate. And as Christians, we call to go 523 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:22,440 far beyond that. We're called to be kind to the 524 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,040 able bodied man who who doesn't spend as much of his income on 525 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,640 his family as he should. We call to be kind to the man 526 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,120 who spends more of his money on alcohol than his wife and kids. 527 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,360 The man who doesn't want to work even though we think he should 528 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,200 be called to be kind to the woman who sells her body on the 529 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,200 side of the road. Be called to be kind to the boss 530 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,360 at work. That's selfish and doesn't treat 531 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:49,120 us as an equal human being. These are the people that 532 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,200 include those we are called to be kind. 533 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,240 And remember as we do this, it sometimes seems a bit counter 534 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,840 even Christian. But to be kind does not mean to 535 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,200 condone sin. It does not mean to just be 536 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:05,480 permissive, it means to to just share God's kindness with them. 537 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,280 And why don't we consider those in this community? 538 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,040 Have we been kind to them in the last week, in the last month? 539 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,920 You might have heard the saying that the opposite of love is not 540 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:18,880 always hate. It can also be indifference. 541 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,560 So if if you haven't thought about anyone in this community, 542 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,000 if you haven't prayed for them, if you haven't seen them, if you 543 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,680 haven't prioritized them, perhaps that's something that 544 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,720 God might be pointing out to you. 545 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,280 It's, it's not, it's not. If we avoid, then we avoid being 546 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:36,240 kind. If we avoid, then we we probably 547 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:42,040 failing unkindness. And if kindness doesn't extend 548 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:45,000 beyond our partners or our our close knit family, then we're 549 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,800 probably not being full ambassadors for Christ and we're 550 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:51,600 probably not offering the world the kindness that only 551 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,200 Christians can and that they so desperately need. 552 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,600 So looking at a quick summary of today, our four questions that 553 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:01,960 we're looking at is what kindness? 554 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,240 If we remember one thing on the what I want us just to remember, 555 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,000 the golden rule is afraid of loss of how to be kind. 556 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,920 If we're not sure what the kind thing to do in the situation is, 557 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,480 we consider what would we want if we're in that person's shoes. 558 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,160 And in doing this, we want to remember that we don't need to 559 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,000 condone sin. We don't need to be permissive. 560 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:23,520 We just call to be kind. And the why? 561 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,360 His kindness and Our Calling as we can be kind because God was 562 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:31,520 first kind to us. He's resulted in US having life 563 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,200 and eternity. So as we overflow with his 564 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,960 kindness, we can imitate Him and be kind to those around us. 565 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,280 We know that to be kind is to be kind to everyone, even those 566 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,520 that we we don't feel deserve it because we didn't deserve it 567 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:50,360 when God was kind to us. And we'd accept our limitations 568 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:54,240 and cling to Christ on the how, because Christ is our only hope. 569 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,240 Without walking closely with God, without depending on Him 570 00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,760 daily, we can never hope to transform our character and 571 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,200 offer the kindness to the world that it so desperately needs. 572 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:08,240 I'd like to pray for us as we close the message, if you can 573 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:25,040 stand. Heavenly Father, we want to 574 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:28,880 thank you for the Word today from Galatians, we want to thank 575 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,160 You that when the world can be so confusing and there's so many 576 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,760 messages, God, your message can come so clearly through your 577 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,520 Word in the Bible. Lord, help us as individuals, as 578 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,560 a community to cling to your truth. 579 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:45,280 Lord, help us to experience your kindness. 580 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,240 For anyone here who who hasn't experienced that kindness, who 581 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,400 that sounds foreign to, Lord, won't you move towards them once 582 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,400 you show them your kindness? Show them the path that leads to 583 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:58,480 life, that you accept them, that you love them, and that you want 584 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,120 a close relationship with them, Lord, For some of us who might 585 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,040 have taken your kindness for granted, Lord, that we've gone 586 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,040 in our own path and thought we can do things ourselves, draw us 587 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,080 back, Lord. Help us to depend on you to 588 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,080 transform our character so that we can see these fruits of the 589 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,640 Spirit more and more in ourselves each day, Lord, not 590 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,840 because we are good, but because you are so good. 591 00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:23,280 And the closer we are to you, Lord, the more we can reflect 592 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,600 that, the more we can taste and feel what it is to have Your 593 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,320 kindness. Lord, we pray against the 594 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,200 barriers that we have to some types of people, especially 595 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,200 people who do things differently to us. 596 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:39,040 We all are so fallen and sin, Lord, but sometimes we, we tend 597 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,560 to feel better than those who sin differently to us. 598 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:45,520 Once you point that out to us, Lord LED us in this room, in 599 00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,040 this community, let us people be people who are kind to everyone, 600 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,160 who are kind to who we see as the undeserving because we know 601 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,880 we too are undeserving of your great and eternal kindness. 602 00:32:55,880 --> 00:33:00,200 Lord. We thank you for this beautiful 603 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,400 day, Lord, and we pray that you'll just move among us, be 604 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,120 with us this week. Fill us with your Spirit and 605 00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:11,280 help us to move forward in peace and confidence with our hope and 606 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,440 you, Jesus Christ. I'm in.