1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:07,200 Feel free to stay in that place of communing with the Lord and 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:11,680 you can ignore me if you can, if you can just stay in that place. 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,320 I this is this is not in my notes. 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,680 I don't know if any of you watch Michael Mcintyre's big show. 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:27,120 We were watching it as a family last night and OK, sorry, four 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,160 of us in our family were watching it last night and we 7 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,479 got into trouble for not waiting for the 5th member of our 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:37,640 family. But there was a bit in the in 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,760 the programme where they interviewed a family and the the 10 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:45,480 youngest boy had had to have life saving medical care in a 11 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:51,600 hospital. And sorry, my family disagreeing 12 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,160 with me in the story, the detail is not that important. 13 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,080 The the detail that is important is that the when the mum was 14 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:02,240 explaining the story, she said on his medical notes, it just 15 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,360 said he'd been put into a coma in order to save his life. 16 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,240 And the medical notes just said life saving. 17 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:13,720 And at the time I welled up, but I was reminded of it in worship 18 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,840 and I, I felt like maybe there's one or two people here this 19 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:20,680 morning that you need to know that Jesus is the life saving 20 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,880 medicine. He is the thing that we need in 21 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,320 order to be able to live life. So we can. 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,440 If that resonates with you, then we we'd love to pray with you in 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,600 a moment. I'm kicking off this morning a 24 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,320 miniseries. We're going to be looking at the 25 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:41,520 three letters of John, 1 John, 2 John, and three John aptly names 26 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,640 creative, right? If you have not read them, then 27 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,480 you might want to do that. If you've got a Bible, Pips 28 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,120 already said if you don't have a Bible, we'd love to give you 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:52,120 one. We've got some on the 30 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,280 information table. If you've got friends that would 31 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,800 like a Bible, then feel free to take one for them. 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,840 You might want to download the Bible app, which is free, and 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,120 then you can have David Suchet read it to you if you wish. 34 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,160 That's Poirot. For those of you of my 35 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:09,800 generation that loved watching Poirot, we're going to be 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:11,720 looking at 1 John, 2 John, and three John. 37 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,440 So if you get to the end of the Bible and go backwards a little 38 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,920 bit, they're three very short letters and we're going to be 39 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:20,040 looking at them in the next three weeks. 40 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,000 They are small letters. They aren't very long. 41 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:26,480 And if you're like me and you're like ticking off a list, you 42 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,320 could read, you could read them in one sitting and then know 43 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,200 that you've read a book of the Bible in one sitting. 44 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:35,920 That's quite an achievement in my book. 45 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,120 They are small, but they carry huge weight. 46 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,160 They're not abstract theology. They're not distant doctrine. 47 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,720 They are deeply pastoral, relational and communal. 48 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,760 John, in writing these letters, he wasn't setting out to win any 49 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,640 arguments, but his purpose in writing them was to encourage 50 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:01,600 and coach these churches that had been planted that he 51 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,600 absolutely loved. They were real churches, full of 52 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,160 real people, and he was writing to them to encourage them to 53 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:13,000 stay rooted, to stay loving, to stay faithful, and to be 54 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,800 together. And he wanted them to know that 55 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,320 love comes from God. And if you've said yes to Jesus, 56 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,000 if you are a believer, then we need to love God and love each 57 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,760 other, love those around us. We need to put God on display. 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,640 And our love towards others reveals real faith. 59 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,120 It reveals authentic Christianity, authentic 60 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,320 following of Jesus. And for us as a church, for 61 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,840 those of you that are new or maybe haven't been around for 62 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:52,480 very long, you know, loving God, loving people and let's go is 63 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,520 our kind of mantra. That's our vision. 64 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:00,840 And this year we we talked in October about this academic 65 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,640 year. We wanted our theme to be rooted 66 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,320 together. Looking at being rooted together 67 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,160 in Christ, rooted together in community, His church, and 68 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:17,959 rooted together for His cause. And so looking at these 3 69 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:21,079 letters in the next couple of weeks is perfect. 70 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:27,160 And we can take out all of the goodness that John writes and we 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,040 can apply it to how we live. Because I don't know about you, 72 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,480 but we you don't have to look far to see that life can be 73 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:38,560 uncertain and messy and noisy and confusing, can't it? 74 00:04:39,840 --> 00:04:44,320 Culture feels confusing. And sometimes even church, 75 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,840 church with a capital C and church with a little C can feel 76 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:49,920 confusing. We're not sure where we fit. 77 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,400 We can feel that we're living in uncertain times. 78 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,400 We are living in uncertain times. 79 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:59,840 And John was writing to his readers, and we can glean wisdom 80 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:04,240 from this today because he wanted his readers, the churches 81 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:11,560 that he was writing to, to know that Jesus is real, that he is 82 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:17,480 the Messiah, that we shouldn't be lulled into false teachings. 83 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:24,920 And we need to remember that God is love because by understanding 84 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:30,280 that God is love, everything else flows from that. 85 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:37,600 So the question that I think John is helping us answer is how 86 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:42,560 do we recognize what's real Jesus, what's real faith, when 87 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,960 everything around us seems noisy and uncertain? 88 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:52,560 So I want to encourage you over this next couple of weeks to 89 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,440 read 1 John, 2 John, and three John. 90 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,560 Not only will you be super prepared when you come back next 91 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:03,520 week, but there's so much in it that we can't talk about this 92 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:04,840 morning because we don't have long enough. 93 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,760 Every time I read it, I was like, oh, I could say that. 94 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,800 Oh, I could say that. Oh, I could highlight this. 95 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,480 And I did have on my Bible app David Touchet reading it to me 96 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,240 over and over again, and partly because I love his voice, but 97 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:23,440 also because I I understand Scripture better if I hear it as 98 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,360 well as seeing it. So John 1 John is writing near 99 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,640 the end of his life. He's not writing as a distant 100 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,040 theologian. He's writing as a spiritual 101 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,560 father, speaking, as I've said, to churches that he deeply 102 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,160 loves. And he's building on the themes 103 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,960 that he talks about in his gospel, which is a bit further, 104 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,600 further to the beginning of the New Testament, the themes of 105 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,880 life, light and love and all three letters. 106 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:55,200 He keeps returning to these things and he keeps returning to 107 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,160 this. How can we make sure that we 108 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,400 follow Jesus, we have real faith, when so many things 109 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,720 around us are confusing and distracting and look like they 110 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,720 could be Jesus, but we're not quite sure. 111 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:10,280 So 1 John, it's almost like a poetic sermon. 112 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,000 And if I'd maybe been brave enough, I would have just stood 113 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,920 here and read it to you this morning and said nothing else 114 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,000 because those words carry so much weight. 115 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,120 But I wasn't quite brave enough to do that. 116 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,880 But he it's a poetic sermon and he loops around and he repeats 117 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,400 themes, light and darkness, truth and lies, love and hate, 118 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,680 faith that shows up in real life. 119 00:07:34,440 --> 00:07:38,080 And by no way was John when he was writing to his original 120 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,680 readers, also to us, no way was he wanting to condemn. 121 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,560 He wanted to reassure. He wanted to reassure Jesus's 122 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,400 followers that they can know that they belong to God. 123 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:56,760 He was writing to us to say, do you know that you belong to God? 124 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:04,760 Not because we're perfect or we've hit the mark, but because 125 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,040 we trust in Jesus. We can trust in the life of 126 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,640 Jesus and the life that He promises us. 127 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,800 We can walk in the light of Jesus and we can know His love 128 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:22,480 for us and for each other. So, being rooted in God's love, 129 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:28,200 how do we recognise real faith when life is noisy and 130 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,400 uncertain? Firstly, it starts in 131 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,559 relationship and not performance. 132 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,360 Real faith begins rooted in God's love. 133 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,720 Real faith, the way of Jesus, is rooted in God's love. 134 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,000 And that's where faith, real faith, begins. 135 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:50,440 John doesn't start with introductions. 136 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,800 He doesn't start listing off a whole load of things. 137 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,320 What he does is he starts by talking about his experience and 138 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:04,240 you might notice a similarity between 1 John 1 and John 11. 139 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,520 He starts with his eyewitness account of the life, ministry, 140 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,720 death and resurrection of Jesus. It says this in one John, one 141 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:18,320 one that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, 142 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,920 which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at 143 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:26,640 and our hands have touched. This we proclaim concerning the 144 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,800 word of life. He's seen it, he's touched it, 145 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,000 He's telling us his experience. He has lived this. 146 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:37,080 He walked with Jesus as he walked the earth. 147 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,600 This isn't theory. This is lived faith. 148 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:43,960 And John is saying, I'm not passing on to you ideas, I'm 149 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,480 passing on to you my lived experience. 150 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:51,880 I'm passing on to you life. You know, real faith, Christian 151 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,280 faith isn't, doesn't begin with our behaviour. 152 00:09:56,040 --> 00:10:01,000 It begins with a relationship. It begins by being rooted in 153 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,600 God's love and having an experience of that. 154 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,240 And when we realise, when we really grasp that we belong to 155 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:13,120 Him, either through maybe a direct encounter with the Holy 156 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:18,120 Spirit or through being part of a community of faith, we can 157 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:23,920 know that we belong to Him. So we know that faith is real in 158 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:29,040 a noisy and uncertain world when it's rooted in relationship, not 159 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,560 performance. I think one of the most freeing 160 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:38,040 verses in this letter is 1 John 1/8 when he says if we claim 161 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:41,400 that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 162 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:47,280 None of us are perfect and it's OK to admit that. 163 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,960 We don't have to pretend to have it all sorted, to have it all 164 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,600 nailed together. Pretending doesn't produce 165 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:02,240 maturity in US. Pretending for approval or to 166 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:08,120 look good or for the sake of our reputation isn't ever what Jesus 167 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:12,400 had in mind. And John is trying to encourage 168 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:17,200 us and Jesus followers when he was around that performance. 169 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:22,680 Pretense is deceptive. Following Jesus starts in a 170 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,600 relationship. Pretending doesn't produce 171 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:28,360 maturity. Honesty does. 172 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:35,280 So being rooted in God's love and being rooted together as a 173 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,760 community of faith doesn't mean that we're flawless, doesn't 174 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,560 mean that we have to put on a pretence that we've got it all 175 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:45,120 together. It means that we can be open and 176 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:51,960 humble and walking with Jesus together, picking each other up 177 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:56,960 when we stumble. We're not trying to be 178 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,440 impressive Christians. We're trying to be real ones, 179 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:06,000 authentic ones. Real faith begins when we stop 180 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,400 performing and we start trusting. 181 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:13,600 When we press into relationship with God and each other, that's 182 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:19,360 being rooted together. So how do we recognise real 183 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:23,680 faith when life is noisy and uncertain and confusing? 184 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,720 It starts with relationship, not performance, and it shows itself 185 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:33,080 in love. Real faith is evidenced by our 186 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:37,200 love, one for another. This is a theme that John 187 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,000 returns to again and again and again. 188 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:45,040 And in one John 47, he says, dear friends, let us love one 189 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,880 another, for love comes from God. 190 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:53,200 And I think this is the heartbeat of this letter. 191 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,240 John doesn't say love proves that you're nice or love proves 192 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,560 that you're emotionally mature. He says love proves that you 193 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:11,320 know God. If we ever experience love, it 194 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,040 proves that God is involved somewhere. 195 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:19,720 Loving God and loving people are inseparable, and we can't be 196 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:24,400 rooted in God and in God's love if we're disconnected from 197 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:26,920 people. That's never been God's design 198 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:33,240 for us and for all of humanity. Being rooted together in the 199 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:38,040 church, in his community, was his intention, is his intention, 200 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,040 and John is deliberately strong here. 201 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:47,480 He goes on after he's said that, he says in one John 420, whoever 202 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,320 claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. 203 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:56,200 No beating around the Bush. He says it's straight and 204 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,680 potentially that sounds harsh, but yet it's deeply pastoral and 205 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:04,920 he's trying to make a point. John isn't about shaming the 206 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,400 church. He's not about shaming US as 207 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,240 Jesus followers, he's trying to protect us from self deception. 208 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,800 I wonder whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or 209 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:20,200 sister is a liar. I wonder whether you hate 210 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,640 anybody, Or maybe you hate lots of people. 211 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:28,200 Maybe not necessarily a blood brother or sister, an actual 212 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,240 sibling, but a fellow believer, a fellow Christian. 213 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:39,120 And yet I would argue that every single human being is made in 214 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:45,120 the image of God, and so God doesn't want us to hate any of 215 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:53,720 them either. Oh, I'm stuck. 216 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:05,250 Thank you. Thanks, Russ. 217 00:15:06,290 --> 00:15:09,330 As I was writing this, I was trying to, I was, I was doing a 218 00:15:09,330 --> 00:15:12,800 bit of self reflection and this whole, you know, whoever says 219 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,280 they love God, which I claim I love God a lot. 220 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,960 And if I hate anybody, then I'm a liar and I don't ever want to 221 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,480 be called a liar. We were having a conversation in 222 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,200 our family this week about how truth telling is a very high 223 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:29,720 value in our family. And so if we come across if 224 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,720 someone lies to us or lies about us, we find that very tricky. 225 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:40,400 I say we collectively talking as a family, but do I hate anybody? 226 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,760 Do I have any strong feelings of a negative nature towards 227 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,080 people? And as I was reflecting, I was 228 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,960 thinking actually the strongest feelings, negative feelings I 229 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,560 have towards people are generally people I don't know, 230 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:59,360 celebrities or politicians or people that put stuff on social 231 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,920 media that I disagree with. That's when I go and I'm like 232 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,000 Libby, like I don't actually know them. 233 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,080 I don't I get sound bites or snippets or what the media 234 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:18,080 chooses to give me. Like I can watch a game like 235 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,200 traitors and think, well, I don't like them. 236 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,160 Do I know them? They're playing a game like, Oh 237 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,360 my goodness, this self reflection in me this week made 238 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,800 me think, Libby, you need to deal with some of this stuff. 239 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,880 Because actually the reality is, is I think people that I know I 240 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,480 couldn't. I don't think, I don't think I 241 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:39,960 hate anybody and I've I did grow up in a family where if I said I 242 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,480 hate them, my mum would go Libby. 243 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,720 Hate is a very strong word which clearly I must have said because 244 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:49,440 it was quoted back to be my one of my children this week. 245 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:56,400 So hate is a very strong word. But I think John has a point. 246 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:00,840 If we say that we love God and yet we hate people or we hate 247 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,000 somebody, we are of them. It's not OK. 248 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:11,720 That is not what the Lord wants. If love proves that I know God, 249 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,839 as John says in his gospel in chapter 1335, if I say I love 250 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:21,960 God yet hate others, how are the world going to know that I love 251 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,880 him? We will be known, John says, 252 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:28,640 quoting Jesus. By our love, one for another. 253 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,120 What does that look like in our daily lives, in the people that 254 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:41,200 we encounter at home, on our street, who we people we work 255 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:47,160 with? Real faith grows outwards. 256 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,600 If real, if our faith, if our love for God doesn't touch the 257 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,560 how we how we treat people, then the roots haven't gone very 258 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,920 deep. You know, if you follow Jesus, 259 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:05,200 if you come to church, if you pray, you might go to a small 260 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:10,400 group, you might read the Bible, you might even fast, but yet 261 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:14,560 still ball out someone because their customer service is bad or 262 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,040 cut someone, shout at someone when they cut you up driving. 263 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:26,080 I think Jesus is inviting us to look at our hearts because real 264 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,520 faith must begin in love and be reflected in how we treat 265 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:34,720 people. If we say we love God and we 266 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,760 aren't rooted in community and we don't love the people around 267 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:43,000 us in our thoughts, words, and actions, then our faith won't be 268 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,920 recognized in a noisy and uncertain world. 269 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,200 So how do we recognize real faith when life is messy, 270 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:56,160 confusing, and noisy? Well, it starts in relationship, 271 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,920 not performance. It shows itself in love and it 272 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:04,680 moves us to action. Real faith is an active faith. 273 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:11,080 God's love in US moves us towards people and action. 274 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,200 And I think it leads to probably one of the most Vineyard shaped 275 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,640 verses in this whole letter, 1 John 318. 276 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,960 It says, dear children, let us not love with words or speech, 277 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:28,320 but with actions. And in truth, how does our love 278 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,480 show up? How do we actively show our 279 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,040 love? That's, you know, when we talk 280 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,040 about our vision as a church, we talk about love. 281 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:37,880 God, love people. Let's go. 282 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:40,760 It's the let's go bit of our vision. 283 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,200 You know, this is great. Having dinner together 284 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:45,400 afterwards. I love it. 285 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:51,560 This fuels me for my week ahead. But actually, we can't stay as 286 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:56,280 this holy huddle. We exist for the sake of those 287 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,720 who are not yet here. That's the point of the church, 288 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,800 to love those who do not yet know Jesus, as well as to 289 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,160 worship Him and to spur one another on. 290 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,520 Active faith shows up, moves towards people. 291 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,240 And it will cost us something, you know. 292 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,680 Do we notice one another? Not just people in this room, 293 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,240 but people that we come into contact every day in our lives. 294 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,960 Do we carry one another? Will we respond in love when we 295 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,880 notice something or we sense a nudge from the Holy Spirit? 296 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,520 You know, will we look outside of ourselves? 297 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,600 You know, I love the fact that in the last month I know of four 298 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,400 families who have had babies. And as a church, we have 299 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:55,720 provided meals for them. We have looked outside of 300 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:56,600 ourselves. We've gone. 301 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,440 Do you know what? These people might appreciate 302 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,120 it. And many of you have cooked 303 00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:05,760 meals before Christmas. We small groups created hampers 304 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:10,200 for infant smaller families who might not get the treats that 305 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:12,640 they that they would have liked over Christmas. 306 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,760 You know, I've heard of people checking up on elderly 307 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:20,600 neighbors, on shopping for a friend who was poorly, of 308 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:27,080 praying for a friend who has who was injured, and of giving a 309 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,640 word of encouragement to a colleague who was struggling. 310 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:37,800 Real faith moves us to action, not to earn love, God's love, 311 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:43,600 because we have that already, but because our response to his 312 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:52,840 love is to act. If God is love, which John says 313 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:59,160 he is repeatedly, then wherever love is, then God is. 314 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:01,920 And I think that's worth bearing in mind. 315 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,560 So how do we recognise real faith when life is messy and 316 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,760 noisy and uncertain? Real faith starts in 317 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,720 relationship, not performance rooted in that relationship with 318 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,000 God's God and his love. Real faith shows itself in love, 319 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,800 and real faith moves us to action. 320 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:25,520 So I think the invitation today is simple. 321 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,880 Simple, but profound. Are we allowing God to root us 322 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:36,720 more deeply in His love so that the world can see His love 323 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:40,880 through us? We don't want shallow faith. 324 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,400 We don't want performative faith. 325 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,240 We want real faith and real love. 326 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:50,120 So I just want to ask you some questions. 327 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,240 Where is God inviting you to love more deeply? 328 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:04,760 Where might your faith need to move from words to actions? 329 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,440 And what would it look like for me to be rooted more deeply in 330 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:21,480 this community, to be known, really known, and to get to know 331 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:29,480 others when life feels uncertain, noisy and messy? 332 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,960 I think the only thing we can cling to is God, the only 333 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:43,400 person. Cling to him and his love for 334 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,680 us. I'm just going to read I am 335 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:50,120 going to read some of John, so you might want to close your 336 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:52,880 eyes. We're going to pray in a moment. 337 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:58,080 I'm just going to read 1 John 4 and I'm going to read a few 338 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,960 verses. So sit comfortably, but maybe 339 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:08,760 ask the Lord to speak to you. These are these are words that 340 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,240 are in the Bible, so they carry way more weight than anything 341 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:16,440 I've just said. Holy Spirit, would you speak? 342 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,480 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from 343 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,480 God. Everyone who loves has been born 344 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:31,920 of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not 345 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:38,200 know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love 346 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:42,360 among us. He sent his own one and only Son 347 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,920 into the world that we might live through him. 348 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:53,640 This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and 349 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:58,280 sent his Son to us and an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 350 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,280 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one 351 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:09,120 another. No one has ever seen God, but if 352 00:25:09,120 --> 00:25:12,440 we love one another, God lives in US, and His love is made 353 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:17,600 complete in us. We know that we live in Him and 354 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,920 He in us because he has given us his Spirit. 355 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,760 And we have seen and testified that the Father has sent his Son 356 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:31,200 to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that 357 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:36,000 Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 358 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:42,160 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. 359 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,120 God is love. Whoever lives in in love lives 360 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:52,880 in God and God in him. In this way, love is made 361 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:58,720 complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day 362 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,040 of judgement, because in this world we are like Him. 363 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:08,840 There is No Fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear 364 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,200 because fear has to do with punishment. 365 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,600 The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 366 00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,960 We love because He first loved us. 367 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,800 If anyone says I love God yet hates his brother or sister is a 368 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,160 liar. For anyone who does not love his 369 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:37,080 brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen, 370 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,480 and he has given us this command. 371 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,440 Whoever loves God must love his brother. 372 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:50,840 If you're able, why don't you stand?