1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,440 Well, good morning. This is a different look. 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:09,120 Hey, yes, I'm not wearing a black shirt or denim. 3 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:11,240 Let me go ahead and get that out of the way. 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,600 This actually is a different uniform. 5 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,760 So everyone be cool. Everyone be cool. 6 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:18,920 I'm thankful to be here. I'm thankful for this amazing 7 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:20,720 team. Aren't you glad we have such 8 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,880 amazing, talented musicians? Not just talent and skills, but 9 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:29,240 their heart is man, I'm so glad that we get to do small group 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,200 every single week and we get to open the word and be encouraged 11 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,280 how to live our lives like God wants us to live. 12 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:37,480 And so today I'm thankful for the time that we get the chance 13 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,960 to speak. Pastor Alex is out of town, but 14 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,720 I'm thankful for him and his consistency and how he brings 15 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,920 the word. Tears or no tears, he brings the 16 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,800 word, Amen. And we, I'm so thankful that we 17 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,440 have a pastor like that, that has no problems making you or me 18 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,200 uncomfortable because the Holy Spirit is telling him to say 19 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,320 what needs to be said to change our lives. 20 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,800 And so this morning, we're going to talk about some stuff as we 21 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:03,880 continue our series called Roots to Fruits. 22 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:05,880 And if you're like, oh, that's kind of catchy, It is. 23 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:08,680 We worked on it really hard. I'm kidding. 24 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,080 It's simple. But thank you to ChatGPT and all 25 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:13,280 the good things that it gives us. 26 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,520 Come on, you guys know that AI was going to get involved here 27 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,600 somehow. Hey, we are in chapter 3 of 28 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:22,320 Colossians. So grab your Bibles. 29 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,200 Go ahead and get them open. We're going to open that in a 30 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:25,400 minute. We're going to stand and read 31 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,960 just in a few minutes. So I'll get you to stand back 32 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:29,680 up, but have a seat for a moment. 33 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,600 Just don't get too comfortable. OK, So we're going to talk about 34 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,360 a moment of fruit. And what is it? 35 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:39,360 What's the life cycle of fruit? And you're thinking, Brad, this 36 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:41,280 is a really weird way to start. It is. 37 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:43,760 That's just who I am. But I'm kind of a nerd and I 38 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,120 like looking at things. I like looking at the scientific 39 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:47,880 stuff and all that that goes with it. 40 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,880 And so like the life cycle of fruit just starts as a seed and 41 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,120 it becomes a sprout, moves into a vine or a tree, into a flower 42 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,080 or a bud, and then into the fruit that we find on stands or 43 00:01:58,080 --> 00:01:59,880 counters at the stores and the markets. 44 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,880 Like I love strawberries. I love apples and oranges and 45 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,120 raspberries and blueberries, all these amazing things. 46 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,960 But if they're just fake fruit, there's not really any real 47 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,320 substance to them. I mean, they look good. 48 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,000 And a lot of times I think in our lives we have this fake 49 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,760 fruit that we are putting on the table per SE of our lives and 50 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,760 let that be the actual outward work. 51 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,400 But it's artificial. We let that fruit show when 52 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,800 really God wants us to be real living fruit that has good 53 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:35,400 things attached to it. So fruit is good when obviously 54 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,280 we take everything and it's delicious, it's good for our 55 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,920 bodies and our minds. It has vitamins which are 56 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:42,680 essential to a living a good life, good building blocks. 57 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,360 And that's the cool thing is our series on roots to fruits has 58 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:50,440 built on that idea of what it means to have good roots so we 59 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:52,840 can bear the fruit that God wants us to bear in our lives. 60 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:58,680 And so pastor, Pastor Alex spoke on week 1, asking God to fill us 61 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:00,360 and asking what is God's will for us. 62 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,240 Week 2, we looked at the supremacy of Christ in our lives 63 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:06,120 and having Jesus be the center of all things. 64 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,440 And week 3, last week, Pastor Alex reminded us of the 65 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,920 challenge, but also the command to set our minds and our hearts 66 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:17,360 on things above. Now, we had some amazing helpers 67 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,080 last week to help to find the stool. 68 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,840 Yeah, you guys remember that? I watched, I paid attention. 69 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,080 But I also have done this way more than Pastor Alex has. 70 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:30,480 So I don't need somebody to do the example, but it's a great 71 00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:34,200 reminder that we have the focus that we need to find the stool 72 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,840 in our lives when we need to focus on what God has for us. 73 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,200 And so we need to stay faithful and bear fruit. 74 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:43,960 And so the whole story of the Bible, and maybe you'll agree 75 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,560 with this and maybe you won't, but the whole Bible is about God 76 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,240 and it's not about us. Like the whole story is about 77 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,640 him, it's his story. We're just taking these pieces 78 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,120 and these chapters and verses and we're opening him up and 79 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:58,920 letting God speak to our hearts to change us. 80 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,480 And so as we get into this, we need to be reminded that Paul, 81 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,680 as he wrote this letter while in prison to the Church of 82 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:12,640 Colossae, he made Jesus this in his centrality in our lives. 83 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,240 Everything is about God and Jesus, especially working in our 84 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,360 lives. He's the main idea of the entire 85 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,440 letter. So Colossians 312 through 17 is 86 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:24,920 talking about living for others, which is where we're going to be 87 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:26,880 at today. So what does that look like? 88 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:29,240 What does God call us to do? And so before we open the word, 89 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,360 let me talk about habits. We all have them. 90 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:32,600 Yes. Raise your hand if you have a 91 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,560 habit. Come on. 92 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:35,680 That's everybody. Thank you. 93 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,560 And if you didn't know, the students know. 94 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,080 I'll talk to you guys, right? I interact with you, I ask you 95 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,760 questions, and I like responses, right? 96 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:48,620 So for adults, if you like to give me a responsive Amen or uh 97 00:04:48,620 --> 00:04:52,960 huh or come on, or that's right, or bring it or whatever, I don't 98 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:54,520 care. I like when people talk to me 99 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:57,000 because it reminds me that I'm actually speaking what God wants 100 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,520 me to speak. I'm not going crazy. 101 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,480 I'm not going off the the cuff that much, but I might. 102 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:06,640 But habits, we all have them good or bad. 103 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,280 The one bad one that I had that my wife hates the most is I bite 104 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,200 my nails. I'm sorry, I'm not perfect. 105 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,560 I know, I know, everyone keep your seats. 106 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:16,800 But the good thing is I have good habits. 107 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,960 But we have to remember that the habits we want to make in our 108 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:24,600 lives take time to build good habits or take time to break the 109 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:26,840 bad. And so like, one good habit that 110 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:29,800 I have, I try to stick with is I love to run. 111 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,760 I know, I know. I'm one of those guys. 112 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,560 Everyone's like, who are these idiots running on the sidewalks 113 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,360 or on the roads just for fun? Fun. 114 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,840 It's hot or it's really cold and it's it's exhausting. 115 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,440 It hurts. But I love to run because it's 116 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:48,240 good for my body and for my mind. 117 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,240 And so I like to use headphones, listen to podcasts, or maybe you 118 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,400 have like a Wreath of the Bible app and you are just listening 119 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:57,720 to the word and you're getting saturated and covered with it 120 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:59,920 while you're walking or running or riding a bike. 121 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,080 But I run half the time with headphones and the other half 122 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,360 not because I've almost been hit by a car a few times because I'm 123 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,400 not paid attention. Oh, imagine that Brad almost get 124 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:10,400 by a car. We still paying attention. 125 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,120 That's right. I I take it it's it's my it's my 126 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:14,400 cross to bear, I guess in that case. 127 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,280 But I take them out a lot of times because I want to hear not 128 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:22,600 just the music or the podcast, but I want to hear God's 129 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:25,920 creation. I want to stay non. 130 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,080 I don't want to be distracted by whatever I'm listening to, which 131 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,160 goes back to focus the pastor Alex talked about. 132 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,160 But when I run, I like to keep my headphones out to listen to 133 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,760 God. The birds chirping, the dogs 134 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,680 barking if I get too close to their property. 135 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,840 I've had that happen a few times too many. 136 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,360 And but also to hear the rain pitter patter on the concrete, 137 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,000 to hear the wind rustle through the trees, to know that God is 138 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,560 doing things regardless of me doing it. 139 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:56,360 And so the habits that we have and implement in our lives, what 140 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:57,960 are those that God wants us to have? 141 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,200 We need to put action to changing those things that maybe 142 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:02,960 aren't the best. And it does take time. 143 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:07,200 And so we have to think about week 3, which is chapter 2. 144 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,360 Seven through 11 says we get put to death our earthly nature and 145 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:12,920 rid ourselves of those old things. 146 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,240 So this morning as we continue, Pastor Alex had this really big 147 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,640 idea that he gave me from last week, talking about the inwardly 148 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,400 work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 149 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,880 That transformational work is what's giving us the ability to 150 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,640 love outwardly and to become more like Christ. 151 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:31,800 So this morning, can I invite you to stand with us one more 152 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,640 time. We're going to read God's word. 153 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,360 We stand as Pastor Alex says, and I agree with this, in honor 154 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:41,160 of God's Word is a powerful, living, active thing in our 155 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:42,600 lives, and it's here to give us guidance. 156 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,000 So here's the word of God this morning from chapter 3, verse 157 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,440 12. Here's what it says Therefore is 158 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,960 God's chosen people, wholly and dearly loved. 159 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:56,160 Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, 160 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,320 gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive 161 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:02,800 one another. If any of you has a grievance 162 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,480 against someone, forgive as the Lord forgave you. 163 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,160 Let's pause for a second. This is how I read this time my 164 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,760 brain works. I'm just going to let you in the 165 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,320 inward fruit of our lives. That's the transformational work 166 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:16,680 leads to the outward love in Christ likeness. 167 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,400 So we need to forgive as the Lord forgave us. 168 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,760 Let's keep going verse 14. And over all these virtues, put 169 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,560 on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. 170 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:30,920 Pause one more time. That's God's love. 171 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,880 That's not me acting on my abilities and my skills. 172 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,640 That's God's love working through me. 173 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,720 And without God's love in our lives, we cannot be clothed 174 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:41,679 properly. Let's keep going to verse 15. 175 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,200 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of 176 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,280 1 body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 177 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,680 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach 178 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:57,000 and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, 179 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:00,520 hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with 180 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,160 gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in 181 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,840 Word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving 182 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,920 thanks to God the Father through Him. 183 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:12,920 Amen. Thanks for the God. 184 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,520 You can have a seat. We're thankful for the Word. 185 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,200 We're thankful for what it does for us. 186 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:19,520 So I'm going to go ahead and give you the meat to the message 187 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:20,560 up front. I'm just going to give you the 188 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:22,440 three points, and we're going to unpack them a little bit. 189 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:27,000 Number one is to clothe yourselves #2 is for the peace 190 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,160 of Christ to rule in US. And then the third one is 191 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,320 everything is church. But that doesn't make sense yet, 192 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,720 so just bear with me. Everything is church. 193 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:37,880 Slow down, OK? Don't worry. 194 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,520 I'll say them again. You're ready #1 clothe 195 00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:47,240 yourselves #2 peace of Christ rule in US. 196 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,040 And then lastly, everything is church. 197 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,560 So the first one, clothing yourselves, what does that mean? 198 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:57,400 What does that look like? In verse 12, Paul tells us what 199 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,400 we need to do. And I've got some just 200 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:02,040 definition, so bear with me. I'm going to roll through these. 201 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,800 I won't speak too quickly. My wife already told me slow 202 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:09,160 down, be cool. So first thing is compassion, 203 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:13,400 that's an emotional response of recognizing another's suffering 204 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,920 or feeling compelled to ease it. And some of us are really good 205 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:20,080 at compassion and seeing a need and helping to ease that need or 206 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,560 that suffering. Kindness is an intentional act 207 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:26,960 of empathy and compassion to help others without expecting a 208 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,960 reward. Humility, being other centered 209 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:36,240 and not me centered. Gentleness is being kind, 210 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:40,120 tender, or considerate in our actions. 211 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:46,520 And finally, patience. Let's just pause there for a 212 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,320 second. I am like Pastor Alex, that I 213 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:50,880 have road rage. I'm sorry. 214 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:52,440 I know. I'm just going to go ahead and 215 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:53,880 say it again. I bite my nails and I've got 216 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:54,600 road rage. I'm sorry. 217 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:56,360 My wife hates it when we go on trips. 218 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,040 She's like, please don't get a ticket. 219 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,240 Please don't pull up too fast. She she corrects and she 220 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,560 lovingly tells me to not do something stupid. 221 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,360 So I appreciate her, but patience is one that I know that 222 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,760 a lot of us have challenges with, but this means to endure 223 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,200 the delays, frustration, or adversity with calm instead of 224 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,760 anger. We do these things because our 225 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,160 identity is in Christ and He has chosen us. 226 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,760 The beginning is telling us that because we are holy, we're set 227 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,720 apart and we're chosen. That is how we can clothe 228 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:33,280 ourselves with these things is because Christ has done the 229 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,200 work. Speaking of forgiveness, which 230 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:42,680 is in chapter 3, verse 13, it's defined as ceasing to feel 231 00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:47,160 resentment against give up resentment or to pardon. 232 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:50,680 A lot of times we think of forgiveness maybe in the in the 233 00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:56,880 case of looking at like a crime drama or an attorney making the 234 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:59,520 case to release someone for prison for being wrongly 235 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,440 convicted. They're forgiven of that, 236 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:06,680 they're released of that, but we have to forgive since the Lord 237 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:08,760 has forgiven us. You guys all know the Lord's 238 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:10,240 Prayer. Even if you're not a Jesus 239 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,080 follower, you've heard it somewhere, some shape, some 240 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,360 form, but a lot of times we roll through one of the most 241 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,000 important parts starts out and then it goes into God give us 242 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,520 daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin 243 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:27,600 against us as one translation or forgive us our trespasses as we 244 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:29,400 forgive those who trespass against us. 245 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:36,160 A lot of times we just forgive us and lead us not into 246 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,000 temptation. O Lord, no, we need to forgive 247 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,880 as He forgives us. And that is really hard, right? 248 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,800 You guys, are you really good at forgiving people? 249 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,520 No hands. That means we all got a problem 250 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,720 with it. I know that I have a challenge 251 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:56,240 with it, but because that's part of that humanity, that's that 252 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,680 sin nature that I've got, that's frustrating. 253 00:12:58,680 --> 00:13:03,720 But God tells us we need to forgive us, forgive others as he 254 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:08,160 forgave us. And have we sinned against God 255 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,680 in multiple times, multiple ways? 256 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:12,240 Yeah, because again, that's our sinful nature. 257 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,360 But Matthew, Peter is asking Jesus in the book of Matthew and 258 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:18,360 it says God, what? What do we need to do? 259 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,000 Jesus is when it comes to forgiveness. 260 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:25,440 And Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 * 7, but he's not giving a 261 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:26,680 limit. And I heard a really cool 262 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:30,360 example this week is Jesus wasn't telling Peter, OK, if 263 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:35,920 this person sins against you 490 times on the 491st, you don't 264 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,480 have to forgive him anymore. That's not how that works. 265 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,880 What Jesus is doing in Matthew 18 is he's actually giving a 266 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,880 foundation of grace and unbounded forgiveness. 267 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,720 Our society says I'll forgive you, but I'll never forget it. 268 00:13:53,880 --> 00:13:57,320 I'll forgive you, but I'm going to put it in my pocket for later 269 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,120 and I'm just going to Whoops, there it is. 270 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,760 I didn't forget. Too often we do that right? 271 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,040 I do we, we all do this thing, but that's not what God's 272 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:11,960 wanting us to do. And Paul is challenging the 273 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,040 reader to say that we can't be that way. 274 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:17,680 And it's OK that forgiveness takes time. 275 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,520 It's OK that building good habits takes time. 276 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,240 We have to know that the Holy Spirit's working on us. 277 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:27,080 That's that inward transformation to go and be the 278 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,440 outward work. So verse 14, let's look at this. 279 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:36,080 It says and over all these virtues put on love, which binds 280 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,080 them all together in perfect unity. 281 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,240 Let's just hold this for one moment. 282 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:47,000 Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all 283 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,040 together in perfect unity. Love is the focus. 284 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:55,160 It's our motivation as we interact with our neighbors, the 285 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,720 people at the coffee shops, the peoples at the airport, our Uber 286 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,600 drivers, your friends at school, the people at your job that 287 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:07,280 drive you bananas. Love is the focus and our 288 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,040 motivation as we interact, that's the big commandment that 289 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:12,640 God gives us is to love God and love others. 290 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:17,080 We are motivated by it. John 1334 and 35 says this, a 291 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,400 new command I give you to love one another. 292 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,560 As I have loved you, you must also love one another. 293 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:28,200 So by doing this, all men will know that you are my disciples 294 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,560 if you love one another. I mean, First Corinthians 13 is 295 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:33,960 all about love. I mean, I went to an awesome 296 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:36,000 wedding yesterday. We celebrated Nina and Austin 297 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,680 getting married. And this was a big reminder that 298 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:43,520 love is patient, kind, doesn't envy your boast, is not proud, 299 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,120 not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not 300 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,680 delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 301 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,240 Love protects, trusts, hopes, always perseveres. 302 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,480 That's the abbreviated Brad translation. 303 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:00,600 But The thing is, is no matter what, these words are a reminder 304 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:03,680 to us that without love we have nothing. 305 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,480 And I think we forget that in our relationships a lot of 306 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:09,520 times. We can have lots of ability and 307 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:12,160 gifts and skills, but if we don't understand that love is 308 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,640 that foundation, then we don't have anything. 309 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:19,800 So we've got to clothe ourselves as God requires and bind those 310 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,360 things together with love. The inward change, the inwardly 311 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,880 change is becoming what others see outwardly. 312 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,000 So .1 is to clothe yourselves, compassion, kindness, humility, 313 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,320 gentleness, and patience. Point #2 is for the peace of 314 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,840 Christ to rule in US. Week 3, Pastor Alex talked about 315 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,040 setting your minds and your hearts on things above. 316 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:44,040 So not the old self, but the new. 317 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,680 What's happening right now. God's peace is leading us to 318 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:50,440 thankfulness and the Word of God. 319 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,960 Like we talked about a moment ago, it's alive and active. 320 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,080 It's always continually guiding us. 321 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,240 And it's such a great promise to remember that. 322 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,240 So verse 15 talks about let the peace of Christ rule in your 323 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:02,520 hearts. Here's the deal. 324 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:05,000 I did some digging and I listened to a bunch of really 325 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,640 good messages by way of this great resource called YouTube. 326 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,920 And there's some really, really smart people that brought this 327 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:15,720 all up. And they all said the exact same 328 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:16,560 thing. And I was like, well, if they 329 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:18,119 all said it's got to be true, right? 330 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,880 We've seen those commercials. I mean, if you all say it's not 331 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:22,200 found on the Internet, it's got to be true. 332 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,280 Well, they did have some context and they pulled from different 333 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:27,520 commentaries. And they said the word rule in 334 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:32,400 this passage is like an umpire or a referee in sports. 335 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:34,760 They make the calls in the sports. 336 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,120 What's a foul, a strike or a ball goal, No goal. 337 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,080 I mean, I'm a soccer guy. I love it. 338 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,760 I played my whole life. The World Cups coming in a 339 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,560 couple weeks, Good luck getting around town because there's 340 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:47,840 going to be tons and tons of celebrations. 341 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,640 I love it, but I used to also referee because as a player I 342 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,960 know that I needed a good referee to tell me if I did 343 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,040 something stupid or if I got a penalty that affected my team 344 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,560 negatively. I needed to know how to correct 345 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,360 that. And so as a referee, I wanted to 346 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,600 then guide players that were younger, maybe inexperienced or 347 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,480 not mature enough to know what that really looks like. 348 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,400 And so whether they like the call or not, they had to abide 349 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,640 by it. So when we have Christ ruling in 350 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:22,480 your hearts in this way, we need to be thankful about the 351 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,120 decisions that even if one is not that when I would make 352 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:29,520 freely, the correction is not one that I like to have made. 353 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:34,880 We need to know to be thankful and let Christ rule in our 354 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,000 hearts. Verse 16 jumps and says that the 355 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,520 let the word or the message of Christ dwell in you richly and 356 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,640 dwelling is not like a a long term Airbnb. 357 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,080 Everyone like to go to the beach. 358 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,160 Anybody go to the beach? Cool 9 of you come on man. 359 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:54,680 Don't need to travel more east or go South. 360 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,080 I I love that when we lived in Georgia we could go to the beach 361 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,080 and it was close. I know Ohio's doesn't really 362 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,520 have beaches except I go to Great Lakes maybe, I don't know, 363 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,080 I haven't been to Michigan yet, but but I know that the beach is 364 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:08,880 a place that where a lot of people go and relax and vacation 365 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,840 and it's a difference of slowing down. 366 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:15,000 But a lot of times we go and get like a hotel room or a Airbnb or 367 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,480 a vacation rental. I mean, even if you're there for 368 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,960 a week or 10 days, two weeks, or if you're blessed and you're 369 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:27,800 retired and you snowbird, you're dwelling for a really short 370 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,680 time. In this context, in verse 16, 371 00:19:31,120 --> 00:19:34,000 this is saying that it's not a vacation, but you're remaining 372 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:37,840 in this for a long time to live as a resident. 373 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:39,760 So you are making this your home. 374 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,000 So we need to let the Word, the message of Christ, take up 375 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,640 residency in US richly and in our hearts. 376 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:51,560 So we live in the understanding that God has good things for us, 377 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:55,320 correction included, and that we can have hope living in that 378 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:58,840 promise and that truth. So the point #2 is let the peace 379 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:03,400 of Christ dwell in US or rule in our hearts. 380 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,960 So point #3. Everything becomes church. 381 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,240 Brad, what are you talking about? 382 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,680 How can everything be in a church building? 383 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,640 Well, as you guys know, the church is not the building but 384 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,320 the people, right? We're the body of Christ. 385 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:21,400 So every conversation, every correction or even wisdom 386 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,920 gained, it all leads us to worship God and to give him 387 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,680 thanks, not just singing upbeat songs that give us, you know, 388 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,760 kind of pump us up. Like, I know a name is a great 389 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:34,880 reminder. Like we sang it this morning and 390 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,960 it's a great song that says, I know these things about Jesus. 391 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:40,760 He's a healer. He's a sustainer. 392 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,440 Chains break, dry bones come awake. 393 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,600 I mean, yeah, that's cool language. 394 00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:50,320 But do you trust that you know that that that's what we sing 395 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:53,560 about this about him. And so having those things that 396 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,960 allows us to give thanks to him and to worship God and 397 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:01,880 everything that we do. And so the constant prayer, the 398 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,560 constant worship of God and remembering his goodness and 399 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:08,280 blessings in our lives, we should be thankful for those 400 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,160 things. So the second part of verse 16, 401 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:12,840 if you check this back out with me, it says let the message of 402 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:17,680 Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one 403 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,640 another with all wisdom. Admonishment means to give some 404 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,560 type of correction, earnest advice or even encouragement as 405 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,000 a warning. Correction is not a bad thing. 406 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:30,880 I know we don't like being corrected. 407 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,960 I don't like being told that I'm doing something wrong, but 408 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,880 especially when it's from those who want to come alongside us in 409 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,840 our walk with Jesus. We are disciples being 410 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,560 discipled. We are doing the thing that 411 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:47,240 Jesus called us to be right. Does that make sense? 412 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,760 It's not just like, oh, here's some cool laws and here's the 413 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:54,080 the order of the day. It's you and me living life 414 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,600 knowing that neither one of us is perfect, but knowing that 415 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:00,560 God's love ruling in our hearts and motivates us to be more like 416 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:04,800 him, to love other people like he loves us, to forgive as he 417 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,920 forgave. Verse 17. 418 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:12,480 Whatever you do in Word or deed, do it all in the name of the 419 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,160 Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 420 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,200 This covers all of our lives, not parts. 421 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,160 Too much time between the church and secular community. 422 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:23,720 We try to separate things to say. 423 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,880 Oh well, I'll have my church family, I'll have my school 424 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,080 family, I'll have my work family, I'll have my running 425 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:38,000 group, I'll have my arts and crafts group, I'll have my 426 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:39,600 knitting group. Whatever. 427 00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:44,280 I'm just giving random examples because often we block people 428 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,880 into small boxes and we think that because they're not 429 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,480 attached to church on a Sunday that we shouldn't love them the 430 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,480 same way. Because it's a different day, 431 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,480 because it's a different group, because there's not church 432 00:22:56,480 --> 00:23:00,320 attached to it. This covers all of our lives. 433 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:03,200 That we should do all of it in the name of Jesus. 434 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,760 Work, home, play, our conversations, our social media 435 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,000 posts, our status updates, the stories. 436 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,320 There's no division between the spiritual and the secular. 437 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,840 We give God authority by living this way. 438 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:22,520 So you have to ask the question, are we, am I putting off the old 439 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,000 self and setting up my life for the practical steps in our 440 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,840 relationships, work and home to be more like Jesus? 441 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,400 And I think that's hard for a lot of us because we see it as a 442 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,800 set of rules and then we go back to life. 443 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:41,680 Well, I can't interact with my coworkers this way because then 444 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,120 I'm going to be seen as some Jesus freak, Bible thumper, 445 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,880 whatever. I have a guy on our worship 446 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,520 team. I'll leave him quiet, almost any 447 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,680 names. But he had a really good 448 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:55,520 interaction with his boss and he has come to me and said, Brad, I 449 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:56,920 need you to pray with me about my boss. 450 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,640 He's got him a really hard time. He is in a really low place, 451 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,480 going through some really bad physical ailments, a really bad 452 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,600 diagnosis, and I just want to keep talking to him by Jesus. 453 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,480 I was like, do it. Keep talking to him. 454 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,720 All we can do is just love him like Jesus loves us. 455 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:18,280 And he's like, yeah, I agree. And over time, this person has 456 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,480 seen the fruit that this person has in their lives and says, I 457 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,320 see what you're doing. I want to be different. 458 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,520 This person didn't radically just jump over like, I'm going 459 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,000 to be a pastor today and I'm going to love this person. 460 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:34,800 I'm going to take up an offering and then we're going to sing a 461 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,960 song. No, he loved them. 462 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:43,120 He loved his boss, prayed for them, gave of their time for 463 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:45,640 them. To me, that's the kind of love 464 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:49,040 we need to have for our friends in our workplaces, in our homes, 465 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:53,440 in our jobs, and in our schools. All out mission, everything is 466 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,080 for God. So when we worship, we praise 467 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:00,520 God for what He's done, is doing, and will continue to do 468 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,480 in our lives. I have this really cool Bible. 469 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,160 I can't lift it up because it's really heavy, but it's what they 470 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,480 call a parallel Bible, which means there's two versions of 471 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,560 the Bible in there, has the NIV and then the message. 472 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:15,040 The message is really simple because it's more common 473 00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:18,640 language talk, you know, so it's easier for some people to have, 474 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,000 but it loses some of the context. 475 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:23,760 But I thought this last part of the verse, the passages that we 476 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,640 read hearing in the message may give us a little bit different 477 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,280 context. So I'm going to read it to you. 478 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:32,200 Here's what it says. This is from 14 to 17. 479 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,640 It says forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave 480 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,480 you. And regardless of what else you 481 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:43,360 put on, wear love. It's your basic all-purpose 482 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:45,720 garment. Never be without it and let the 483 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:49,320 peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with 484 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,960 one another. None of this going off and doing 485 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,720 your own thing and cultivate thankfulness. 486 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:59,200 Let the word of Christ, the message, have the run of the 487 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,480 house. Give it plenty of room in your 488 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,480 lives. Instruct and direct one another 489 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,840 using good common sense and sing, sing your hearts out to 490 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:11,600 God. Let every detail in your lives, 491 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,640 words, actions, whatever be done in the name of the Master, 492 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,240 Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. 493 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,760 That's exactly what we need to do and that's how we should 494 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,360 respond. Some people ask my wife all the 495 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:32,080 time, what's it like with Brad? I am a chaos hammer, OK? 496 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:36,200 I am here to wreck whatever you think is going to happen. 497 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,400 I just want to mess it up. My wife is great because she 498 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:45,080 holds me together and she gives loving correction all the time. 499 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,720 But one of the things that it says here at the end in the 500 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,800 message version, it says sing, sing your hearts out to God. 501 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,720 It's like a constant Spotify playlist in my house. 502 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,600 I don't shut up. You're like, oh, that'd be nice. 503 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,840 No, it's terrible because every time you think of singing, 504 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,840 tapping, playing instruments, drumming on microwaves or plates 505 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,720 or cups, I always do that again. I'm a chaos hammer. 506 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,120 I just knocked it out of the park because I don't know how 507 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:18,560 else to be. I'm I'm wired differently, but 508 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,080 this is reminding us as Jesus followers, we need to sing with 509 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:25,360 everything we have. Not one type of music, not one 510 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:28,040 certain song. If you like the traditional, you 511 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,040 like the hymns, cool, sing them. Declare God's goodness over your 512 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,000 lives in whatever capacity you can. 513 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,120 You should celebrate and be thankful for what God's done and 514 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:40,960 is doing in your life. This is not a quiet thing. 515 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,760 Sing with all your heart, all your lungs. 516 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:50,080 I can get loud and sound team hates it when I do that, 517 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,800 especially Shane. He's not here today either. 518 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:57,840 But but I can say that because, but they, they want me to not 519 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,760 destroy these things because if you get too loud, you can mess 520 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,400 these things up. And so I want to make sure that 521 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,760 when I'm singing with everything I have, Sunday, Wednesday, 522 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:14,040 Monday, every day of the week, everything I'm doing is for God. 523 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,520 It's hard for us, I get it. Am I always joyful? 524 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:24,640 No, I smile a lot. I try to encourage a lot because 525 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:26,840 I know that if I need encouragement, so do you. 526 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,280 I know that if I need to be reminded of kindness with 527 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:35,400 humility, so do you. We need to love people better 528 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,520 than we do, but we also need to have humility. 529 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,960 We need to clothe ourselves. We need to let God's peace rule 530 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,200 in our lives. And lastly, when we do that, 531 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:47,160 everything becomes church. It all just becomes celebration 532 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,320 and continual worship. So maybe we're going to respond 533 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,080 in a different way. So worship team, if you could go 534 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:56,080 ahead and come on up and we're going to respond in just a 535 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:59,400 moment, but for just a few moments as we're getting in 536 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,640 place and maybe some musical play, I want you to think about 537 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,360 these questions, OK? I need you to ask yourselves, do 538 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,480 I clothe myself with the things that God says? 539 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,160 Am I compassionate but maybe not patient? 540 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,800 Am I kind, but maybe not so humble because I want to receive 541 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:20,480 the credit, I want to receive the reward? 542 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,760 Maybe you're the sweetest person, but that humility really 543 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:32,040 needs some work. Do you allow Christ to rule and 544 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,680 be the umpire or referee of your heart and life? 545 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,080 Maybe you have a really hard time with correction and 546 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:45,120 admonishment. What about trusting that 547 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:46,520 everything you're doing is for God? 548 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,840 Maybe that's where a lot of us may find ourselves today is we 549 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:55,840 don't recognize that everything we do is for Him and about Him. 550 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,680 Is everything church for you or do you just show up on Sundays 551 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,480 just to do the thing? I know I've said it from here 552 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:07,880 before as we've LED that it's just not just a check box that 553 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,280 you mark. And then she said, oh, I made 554 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,560 church today. It is an everyday thing. 555 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:16,720 It is a lifestyle choice to choose to worship, choose to 556 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:18,480 honour God with everything we have. 557 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,920 Maybe you need to trust that everything we're doing is 558 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:29,600 forgotten. And if you're just showing up on 559 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,600 Sunday, maybe today is the day you change. 560 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:35,000 And you say, maybe I need to realize that I can worship 561 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,240 tomorrow and not just have a Sunday faith. 562 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:43,720 Maybe I can worship Wednesday when my kids yell at me because 563 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:45,800 they're having a hissy fit about something I don't agree with. 564 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:49,640 I'm still going to worship God. I'm still going to trust that 565 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,280 he's good because his blessings overwhelm me. 566 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:59,200 I mean, you wonder why pastors cry all the time Because we're 567 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,160 blown away by how good God is. And then sometimes you don't get 568 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,280 it the way we get it. Meaning we see it. 569 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,120 We see the way God's working in your lives, but you don't see it 570 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,800 in that moment. So down the road you come back 571 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:14,640 and you say, hey, I remember this thing. 572 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,600 I remember this time when I was in this really hard battle, I 573 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,760 got that really terrible diagnosis and you prayed for me 574 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:29,760 and God showed up. God's faithful God is good. 575 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,200 And I promised myself I wasn't going to cry like Alex, but I 576 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:39,760 am, because I need to be reminded sometimes that God's 577 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:44,760 goodness is not just on Sundays and it's not just when it's easy 578 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:52,560 for me and easy for you. So take your Sunday faith, move 579 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:55,240 it into the rest of the week, and remember to clothe 580 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,080 yourselves. There's one more verse I want to 581 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:00,120 read, and then we're going to sing. 582 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:01,640 And in a few moments we're going to have communion. 583 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:03,080 We're going to take this, we're going to respond. 584 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,400 This is a physical response and we're going to take it together. 585 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,560 So in a few moments, can I have you stand with us? 586 00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:12,960 I'm invite you to stand. When we come and grab communion. 587 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,600 They're going to be places all around and people holding trays. 588 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,120 But just take the elements and hold on to them for a minute or 589 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,160 two and then we'll take communion together in the middle 590 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:29,640 of the song. But chapter 3, verse 23, this is 591 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:31,440 the last verse I'm going to read, but I want it to be a 592 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,680 challenge for you today. Here's what it says. 593 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:40,600 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for 594 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,200 the Lord, not for the, not for human masters. 595 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:48,360 This is heartfelt work. It is not always easy. 596 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,360 It is not always fun. It's heartfelt. 597 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:01,680 We honor God with our actions. What are we doing to respond to 598 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:07,880 a God has been so good, so faithful, so loving God, today 599 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,640 we're thankful. Thank you for your work. 600 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,800 Thank you for the challenge. Thank you for the ways that you 601 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:21,240 have asked us to not stay where we are, but you've asked us to 602 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,280 clothe ourselves with these virtues and to bind them all up 603 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,080 in love. God, may you get all the glory 604 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:30,320 and honor. This is all for you. 605 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,880 It's not about us. This is for you. 606 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:39,160 May we respond, maybe at the altar, maybe in our seats, maybe 607 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,000 going to find someone that we have a fractured relationship 608 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,320 with. Maybe we're holding bitterness 609 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,560 against them today. God speak to us. 610 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,960 Continue to work as we sing these final words, these lyrics 611 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:58,360 that say that you provide not us, not my work, you provide. 612 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,120 God, you're so good. We trust you, move in this 613 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,440 place. Love you. 614 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:08,560 Amen. Come respond. 615 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:09,760 Take the elements.