1 00:00:09,230 --> 00:00:13,870 So in the mornings on the way to school, I've been listening to a 2 00:00:13,870 --> 00:00:19,230 book called Be Your Future Self, and I've been listening to it 3 00:00:19,230 --> 00:00:22,230 with my daughter who I'm taking to school and dropping off 4 00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:26,030 there. And it's a fascinating study on 5 00:00:26,110 --> 00:00:30,910 how to be your future self. So I'm wondering for you. 6 00:00:30,910 --> 00:00:34,350 It's a great question as we come to 2026. 7 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:41,640 Are you being your future self? The the shocking question for 8 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:46,040 Mika when I asked her was Can you imagine yourself 20 years 9 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,760 from now? And she's like, Dad, I'm just 10 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,320 18. I, I think at 18 I would have 11 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,920 had a great difficulty myself imagining myself 20 years out. 12 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,280 The way I imagine myself now is I, I have 25 years out and 13 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,920 having built up a bit of discipline around it, I, I do 14 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:11,760 start to find it easier to push out and say, well, what do I 15 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,640 want? And if I want that, what does 16 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,080 this mean about today and who I am today? 17 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:27,760 Now for many of us as followers of Jesus, we sometimes miss that 18 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,240 a lot of the commands of Jesus actually press us to look 19 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:37,320 forward with our faith, to look forward with hope, to look 20 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:42,200 forward with love towards the kind of person we are becoming. 21 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:46,600 So we say it very simply, I want to become like Jesus, be like 22 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,600 Jesus. And so we we actually are 23 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:55,440 pressing forward with our future self and that really should help 24 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,480 us in some ways about making decisions because of the 25 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:04,600 decisions we make today actually do influence how we become our 26 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,840 future self. We've been studying the book of 27 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,280 Galatians and the book of Galatians is Paul's intervention 28 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:15,560 about the future self of the church in Galatia. 29 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:23,600 He is concerned because he recognizes they have come to a 30 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,960 crossroads, they have come to an intersection in the road where 31 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:33,320 if they choose one way, their future self as a church goes a 32 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:36,160 different way. But if they choose the other way 33 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,480 that he says is true to the gospel of Jesus, true to Jesus 34 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:44,760 himself, then they will go a completely different way. 35 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:53,440 As a church and as individuals, we're not used to thinking about 36 00:02:53,440 --> 00:03:00,040 the future self of our church. And some of you really aren't 37 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,920 all that keyed in to your future self. 38 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,640 You're just hoping you graduate. I hope I graduate. 39 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:16,000 I hope this happens. But are you making the decisions 40 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,600 today that actually move you to be your future self now? 41 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:27,680 Are you thinking about yourself as a church and as participants 42 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,920 in a church that actually shape us for our future? 43 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,920 The answer is, is yes. Even if you're not doing that, 44 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:41,800 well, you are. But let's look at the Apostle 45 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:49,160 Paul's movement of where he gets really, really personal in his 46 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,480 movement towards the big ask. And we're going to talk about 47 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:59,000 his big ask next week. But he's being very careful as 48 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,560 he gets to that. And you know, what is the big 49 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:05,840 ask that some of you are hoping someone ask you? 50 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,360 It's like, will you marry me? That's a big ask. 51 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:16,560 Now Paul has a different big ask coming up, but he's moving 52 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,360 towards it with as much care as someone would take in asking 53 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:27,160 someone to marry them. He knows that what he's going to 54 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,680 ask them is going to be really difficult for them. 55 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,160 Being a follower of Jesus does not protect us from having to 56 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,840 make difficult decisions. In fact, it ushers us into them. 57 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:49,320 And so let's let's dive in here to Galatians chapter 4. 58 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,720 We're picking up in our series here at verse 8. 59 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,960 Paul says this formally. When you did not know God, you 60 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,640 were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 61 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:09,440 But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is 62 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,880 it that you're turning back to those weak and miserable forces? 63 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:17,200 Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 64 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,480 You are observing special days and months and seasons and 65 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:26,480 years. I fear for you that somehow I 66 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:31,680 have wasted my efforts on you. I plead with you, brothers and 67 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:36,720 sisters, become like me, for I became like you. 68 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:42,640 You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of 69 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,200 an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 70 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,640 And even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat 71 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,760 me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I 72 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,520 were an Angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself. 73 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,120 Where then is your blessing of me? 74 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:04,760 Now? I can testify that I if you 75 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:08,200 could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and 76 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:12,760 given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by 77 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:17,400 telling you the truth? Those people are zealous to win 78 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,960 you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate 79 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,320 you from us so that you may have zeal for them. 80 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,600 It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, 81 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,720 and to be so always, not just when I am with you, my dear 82 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,920 children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth, until 83 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:44,800 Christ is formed in you. How I wish I could be with you 84 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:51,440 now and change my tone because I am perplexed about you. 85 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,800 You should recognize there some of Paul's very emotional sense, 86 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:06,640 but what he knows about them now is that they know God and 87 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,000 they're known by God. He's questioning a little bit 88 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,480 about, are you really keyed into knowing God? 89 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:19,600 But at least you know God are known by God because he knows 90 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,200 this is what brings them the greatest freedom in their lives. 91 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:29,360 That the greatest freedom in our lives comes when we know God and 92 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,440 are known by God. Our sense of truly being known 93 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,640 by God, but maybe not knowing God as well, started in the very 94 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:46,640 garden when Adam and Eve ate of that fruit and realized their 95 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,720 own sense of guilt, their own sense of shame, their own sense 96 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,520 of fear, and they ran to hide from God when he came to walk in 97 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:01,400 the garden. And God calls out to them, Hey, 98 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:08,280 Adam, where are you? Hey, you dust creature, that's 99 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:10,280 Adam. That's what his name means. 100 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,920 You dust creature, where are you? 101 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,880 I don't think God had lost them, but they had lost their sense of 102 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:28,320 God. The greatest freedom from guilt, 103 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:34,320 shame, and fear comes when we know we're known by God and that 104 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:41,520 we know God, that we know we're loved by God and love God, that 105 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:51,400 we delight in dwelling with God. So my personal prayer for 2026 106 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:55,240 is that I would dwell more deeply with God. 107 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,440 It sort of builds on our Christmas series that God 108 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:05,160 himself came to dwell in creation, to make creation his 109 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,600 home. In case you forgot it, you are 110 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:13,560 part of creation. You are an atom, a dust 111 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:20,800 creature, but you've been filled with a spirit, and so God would 112 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,640 make his home with you. This is my greatest prayer. 113 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,160 And but we know that that movement back into a dwelling 114 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:34,080 and life with God is actually a kind of exodus, and it's played 115 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:38,040 out in the scripture. But for Paul, he's envisioning a 116 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,080 new kind of exodus, a new kind of movement. 117 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,120 This is a review of the last sermon, which feels like it was 118 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,680 lots of weeks ago. But Paul sees that they have 119 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,800 been enslaved. He makes reference to it here. 120 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,640 Why are you wanting to go back and be enslaved again to these 121 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:02,800 miserable forces, these passions that control you? 122 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,480 Why do you want to be go back to slavery? 123 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,400 Because he's envisioning now that for every follower of Jesus 124 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:17,560 there is a new kind of exodus. This new exodus is from slavery 125 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,600 to redemption, where in redemption you experience your 126 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:26,160 adoption into the family of God, into the family of Christ. 127 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,960 And in that experience of adoption, it becomes real 128 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:32,960 because the Spirit of God is poured within you. 129 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:38,600 The Spirit of God is there to care for you, to communicate 130 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:44,320 with you, to guide you, to help you experience the love of God 131 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:48,200 so that you actually call out to God, ABBA Father. 132 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:55,200 And then having that experience, you now look forward to your 133 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,560 future self, your future inheritance and the fullness of 134 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:01,840 it. I'm not just experiencing the 135 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,200 Holy Spirit now in your life. You begin to experience the Holy 136 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:12,200 Spirit with the Son and the Father fully in creation that we 137 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,160 look forward to the new heaven and the new earth. 138 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:24,400 This is our new exodus. But they've come to a crossroads 139 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:31,600 in the now and not yet. They've come to a crossroads 140 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,040 because they want to go back into some kind of slavery. 141 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,440 He says, look formally, when you did not know God, you were 142 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:42,640 slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 143 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:47,760 He's saying for all of you, Jew and Gentile in the Galatian 144 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:54,640 context, whether you are an idol worshipper or not, you were 145 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:59,360 enslaved to those that were not gods. 146 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,760 Jesus spoke about this. He said some of you are enslaved 147 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:13,080 to mammon, to money. He treats money as if it's a 148 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:18,440 kind of power, a miserable power that must be mastered. 149 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,040 The only way to master it is to see that to yourself is the 150 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,800 throne room of God. Seek first his Kingdom and his 151 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,240 righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. 152 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,640 So Paul's concerned they're they're at a point where they're 153 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,920 tempted to go back. He says, look, you're at a 154 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:43,360 turning point. You're turning back to those 155 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:47,080 weak and miserable forces. Do you wish to be enslaved by 156 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,520 them all over again? For the Jewish listener, they 157 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,400 would be thinking, oh, he's talking about Israel in the 158 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,840 wilderness, saying let's go back to Egypt, let's go back to the 159 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:03,720 way it was because at least we had Raisin cakes in Egypt. 160 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,000 We're starving out here in the desert. 161 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,040 Our life is more difficult now that we're trying to follow God 162 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:17,040 in the wilderness. What was happening in Galatia? 163 00:13:17,680 --> 00:13:21,920 In Galatia there was a group of teachers, false teachers, Paul 164 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:26,720 would say, who've arrived and are telling them your experience 165 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:32,760 of Jesus is not enough. You need to become more Jewish. 166 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:40,440 In fact, you men in the group, you need to be circumcised and 167 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:46,080 submit to the Law of Moses in order to be a complete person. 168 00:13:56,820 --> 00:13:59,900 Now Paul is doing an interesting thing because the Jewish 169 00:13:59,900 --> 00:14:04,220 listener is going to be saying, well, what? 170 00:14:04,220 --> 00:14:10,500 What kind of miserable forces are at work by being attached to 171 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:14,920 the law? Why is the law a bad thing here? 172 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,680 And you'll have to go back and follow his argument again. 173 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:23,840 But Paul is arguing that now in Christ they are free of the 174 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,600 constraints of the law, for the law was meant to pull them back 175 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,480 from idolatry. That was tempting them. 176 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:39,360 It wouldn't completely free them from the idols. 177 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,280 It wouldn't completely free them from a heart that's an idol 178 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:54,640 factory, but the law would remind them of this great 179 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,360 problem to which they were enslaved. 180 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,640 And so Paul is saying, I, I know this is a problem for you 181 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,440 because you've already started to observe special days and 182 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,640 months. Somehow the teachers that had 183 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:13,560 arrived there with them had said you need to start following the 184 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:19,000 holidays of the Jewish calendar in order to experience the 185 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:24,400 goodness of the law. He wasn't saying he wasn't 186 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,920 having a problem with celebrating somebody's birthday. 187 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,640 Happy birthday, you December babies. 188 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,640 We we didn't get to do that for you. 189 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,880 We'll pick you up at the end of January if you felt left out. 190 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:44,160 He wasn't actually condemning the celebration of the Passover, 191 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,720 but he was. He was saying that this kind of 192 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,840 movement is actually not necessary for you to be a 193 00:15:54,840 --> 00:16:00,120 complete person in front of God. He's getting ready to make a 194 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,560 really big ask in their lives, but you can see he's emotional 195 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,920 here. Look, he says, I fear for you 196 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,200 that somehow I've wasted my efforts on you. 197 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,240 Isn't that the last thing you want to have a teacher say to 198 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,640 you? I mean, OK, Paul, you're really 199 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:23,240 getting close here to that line of where this is almost too 200 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,480 much. Do you want to have a coach say, 201 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,680 I fear I've wasted my efforts on you? 202 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:35,240 Do you want to have a parent say, I fear I've wasted my life 203 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,680 on you? I mean, Paul is getting really 204 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:44,000 close here to a desperate feeling, and he's starting to 205 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:47,640 pull it back. He's just been so reasonable all 206 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,880 along the way, and now he's pulling back the curtain on his 207 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,280 emotion. I think there's something for us 208 00:16:54,280 --> 00:17:02,080 to learn about this, that Paul is venturing very carefully in 209 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,720 this great conflict. He knows that this is a high 210 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:12,240 stakes, high emotion conversation because it's a 211 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,119 conflict. It's high stakes and high 212 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:17,760 emotion. Have you ever been in one of 213 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:24,839 these, a high stakes? Like the implications of this 214 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:29,080 conversation are big, but you also felt great emotion just 215 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,160 approaching it. Your heart started going. 216 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,240 It felt like your heart had horses in it. 217 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:39,520 It was just going to gallop away. 218 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:45,160 I, I think just a little, a little pause here in the 219 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:50,120 theological movement here and, and let's look at how Paul 220 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:54,280 actually has a high stakes, high emotion. 221 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,760 It's not a conversation. It's a letter that's prompting a 222 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,080 conversation. But I think there's still 223 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,680 something for us to learn about it. 224 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:07,440 Let me see your hands. Do you think that between now 225 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,680 and December 31st that there's a chance you might actually have a 226 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:21,160 conflict with someone? Some of you are living in OK 227 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:23,440 there we're starting to see some of you recognized. 228 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,480 Oh, my goodness. Like do you think that there's a 229 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:32,040 high stakes, high emotion conversation you might need to 230 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,280 have and you already know it's there? 231 00:18:36,120 --> 00:18:38,720 All right, let's just look a little closer at what Paul has. 232 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,000 I think it'll help us in 2026. He says, look, I plead with you, 233 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,440 brothers and sisters, become like me for I became like you. 234 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,320 You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of 235 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:53,160 an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. 236 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,960 And even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat 237 00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:02,920 me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I 238 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:07,920 were an Angel, as if Christ, as if I was Christ Jesus himself. 239 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:13,160 So he's recalling the foundation of their relationship. 240 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,760 He's recalling how the relationship started. 241 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,720 In fact, let's just look a little closer at what what he's 242 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,240 doing here. He's drawing out some of the 243 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:30,680 Greek concepts of friendship that were very common in the 244 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,920 culture. In fact, he's reaching into the 245 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,560 culture and saying I've been a friend to you and you've been a 246 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,720 friend to me. And so he he says, looking in 247 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,320 our friendship, we actually adjusted to each other. 248 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,080 We have a history of making adjustments. 249 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,640 He says, you did me no wrong. Isn't that a great friend? 250 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,760 You, you keep a friend around because they do you no wrong. 251 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:05,160 You keep a friend around because you deal with when things do go 252 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,200 wrong. And you enter into forgiveness 253 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,720 and you enter into that process. We'll talk about that a little 254 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,200 bit. But he's saying in general, I 255 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,320 move towards each other as we do each other. 256 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,360 No wrong. We've had welcome and 257 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:19,880 acceptance. There's been some hospitality 258 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,000 here. He says that look, there's been 259 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,960 honor. Now this is where he moves not 260 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,600 from the he moves a bit away from the Greek sense to say 261 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,640 honor in relationships. But here he says, look, you 262 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,760 honored me as if I was an Angel, a messenger. 263 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,080 In fact, you honored me as if I was Christ Jesus himself. 264 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,600 And this reaches back into that gospel tradition that was 265 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,280 already there in the presence of Jesus, who said, if you welcome, 266 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,160 if people welcome you in the future as if they're welcoming 267 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,000 me. And so he says, look, we've had 268 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,320 that. We've had that kind of honor 269 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:57,680 with each other. Maybe you're at this point 270 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:01,800 going, my friendships are nothing like this. 271 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:07,200 Maybe you're already going. I'm going to pray for deeper 272 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:11,000 friendships in 2026. I'm going to pray that I'm a 273 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:14,480 deeper kind of friend to other people in 2026. 274 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,240 Instead of trying to make everybody adjust to me, I'm 275 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,560 going to adjust to them. Instead of waiting for someone 276 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,520 to welcome me, I'm going to welcome them. 277 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,760 Instead of waiting to holding out on somebody saying, you 278 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:30,120 know, can I trust you? Can I trust you? 279 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:32,360 I'm actually going to start to trust you that you'll do me no 280 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,280 wrong. This is how you make friends. 281 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,920 You take this posture with people and you say I'm going to 282 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,640 honor you in Philippians 2, Paul says it this way. 283 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,960 Take interest in the interest of others, not only about your own 284 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:49,760 interests. Treat them as if they're of 285 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,080 great or worse than you than you are yourself. 286 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,200 This is how we make friends. Now he goes on. 287 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,200 And he says, look, you've been a blessing to me. 288 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:02,920 You blessed me. You didn't curse me, he said. 289 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,800 And and this is really important even for the Gentiles there, 290 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,600 because this was the Abrahamic move to say that while you 291 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:16,080 blessed me, you didn't curse me. And they actually seek to be a 292 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,560 blessing to others. And then he says, look, there's 293 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,480 sacrificial service. He says I was sick. 294 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,600 We don't know what the sickness was, something he was just 295 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,040 sickly. Some, some think it was his 296 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,480 eyes, 'cause he goes on to talk about eyes, that he was sort of 297 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:33,360 having some kind of blindness and infection and problem with 298 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:36,040 his eyes. Some say he was actually beaten 299 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:40,440 up, that he showed up there suffering because he had been 300 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,280 beaten up, having shared the gospel with others who stoned 301 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:48,520 him and threw him out. But nonetheless, Paul says I was 302 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,160 a burden on you and you served me. 303 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:57,360 There was sacrificial service. This is how we build friends and 304 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:59,920 keep friends. But here's the final thing. 305 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,160 And this is where he's having to really press in on them. 306 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:04,720 He says, look, am I now an enemy? 307 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:06,000 Because I'm telling you the truth. 308 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,080 And this becomes a test in friendship. 309 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,520 Sometimes our friends are not willing and ready to hear the 310 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,760 truth that we know. You know, there's always a part 311 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:20,680 of me that I don't know about myself, and that's always a 312 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,400 dangerous part. But it's my friendships and 313 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,680 relationships with others that helps me see it. 314 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,240 And that's a good thing. There's real danger when there's 315 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,240 something about me that I don't know and that they don't know. 316 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:40,280 That's a a shadow lurking in the dark, ready to consume me. 317 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,880 And so it's in our friendships that we actually do need truth 318 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,600 telling. And truth telling has to be done 319 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:51,000 really carefully. And Paul has been working this 320 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,560 with a sense of argument in his letters to get to this point of 321 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,760 truth telling. He's been doing it really 322 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,600 careful. But there has to be a movement 323 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,360 in friendships if they're truly going to go deeper where truth 324 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:10,000 telling is possible. In fact, you will find that it's 325 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:16,600 a small circle of people that you allow the the right to tell 326 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:26,440 you the truth. I know some of you are going if 327 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,160 you're married, if she asks, is my hair OK? 328 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,160 What's the right answer? Does this dress look good on me? 329 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,200 What's the right answer if if the guy says, hey, did you do 330 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,040 you think I did a good job? Was this a good meal that I 331 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:42,600 cooked? And you're like, wow, you 332 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,440 haven't ever cooked. What do I say? 333 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:49,960 And so you're wondering about that level of truth telling, but 334 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,120 there's another level of truth telling that's really, really 335 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:59,320 important to have relationships. And sometimes it takes you 336 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:04,240 learning how to do it. And sometimes you may say, hey, 337 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,560 that didn't go well. I didn't, I didn't do that very 338 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:09,240 well. Can I have a do over? 339 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:16,480 I could have said that better. I think Paul is really pressing 340 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,960 in on reminding them of their elements of friendship that 341 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,920 they've had because he's headed towards telling them the truth 342 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,520 and the truth that's going to require an action that's 343 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,360 difficult. Moving on. 344 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,120 I just want to touch how he revealed some things about 345 00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:37,240 himself in his relationship with them and his conflict. 346 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,000 He's he reveals his sense of urgency. 347 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:41,920 He's look, I know I'm pleading with you. 348 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,680 I'm begging with you, he, he's just said it out loud and then 349 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:50,160 he says become like me and his his meaning here for become like 350 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,680 me is be be like. I am Jewish in relation to 351 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:55,440 Christ. It's not the biggest thing in my 352 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:58,320 life. In fact, I've lowered the level 353 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:02,920 of Jewishness in my life at the foot of the cross, he says. 354 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:07,280 I'm crucified with Christ now. He would also identify the 355 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,640 tension they're feeling. He has some empathy for them, he 356 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,280 says. Those people want to alienate 357 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,920 you from us. In fact, what they were 358 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,800 experiencing is that this group of people had arrived such that 359 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,920 the false teachers had influenced the Jewish Christians 360 00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:29,560 in this to begin to exclude the Gentiles who were not 361 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,840 circumcised yet. And so in that sense of 362 00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:37,800 exclusion and pushing them out, they were creating a kind of 363 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,520 social anxiety that says, well, I want to fit in. 364 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,640 Sure, give me the cut so that I can fit in. 365 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,920 You know, if you had a group of friends who all got a tattoo of 366 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,480 the Maple Leaf on the back of their knee and, and they said, 367 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,040 you know, we're, we're, we're the group who has the Maple Leaf 368 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,160 on the back of our knee. And if you're going to be in 369 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,280 this group, you got to get it. Well, would you sign up for 370 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:10,400 that? Depends on how badly you wanted 371 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,960 to be in the group. And so this sense of alienation 372 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:17,600 and social exclusion and you got to cut off these people in your 373 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,200 life. So you can have this group of 374 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:23,800 people in your life was tied to this whole sense of, and in that 375 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,680 way, you can be whole with God. You can be a complete person in 376 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:33,640 front of God. But he also revealed his 377 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,840 vulnerability. He says, I wish I could be with 378 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,760 you now and change my tone. So he recognizes the danger of 379 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:43,920 texting. He recognizes the danger of 380 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,520 e-mail. He recognizes the danger of 381 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,880 sending a letter with another reader is that this is a 382 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,280 vulnerable position. I wish I could be with you so I 383 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,480 could change my tone because I'm perplexed about you. 384 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,680 He's saying I don't get you. I'm not understanding you. 385 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,520 I don't understand why you've turned your back on the greatest 386 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,000 treasure of your life of knowing Jesus and the fullness of the 387 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,160 power of the Spirit. And so you know the love of God. 388 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,960 He says, I don't understand it. I'm perplexed about you. 389 00:28:17,480 --> 00:28:20,560 So note in his care and conflict, he reveals his 390 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,200 urgency. He identifies with their 391 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,240 tension, but he also reveals his own vulnerability. 392 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,840 This is Paul's giving a master class at the same time on how to 393 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:36,240 do conflict in his letter. And then let's really look at 394 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:37,760 the stake. What's at stake? 395 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,560 This is what he's been working on all the way through the 396 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,800 letter of Galatians, that what's at stake is their status as 397 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,960 heirs of Abraham's family. It's been cast in doubt. 398 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:52,200 Maybe you're not really heirs to Abraham and part of the family 399 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,360 of God. The second thing that's at stake 400 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,920 is their freedom in Christ has been been put at stake because 401 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,760 if the men sign up to go get circumcised, they're actually 402 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,600 going to put themselves under the authority of this synagogue. 403 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,680 They're going to have to come in and be under the discipline of 404 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,840 the synagogue. They're after going to come in 405 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,920 and be taught by the synagogue on how to be Jewish. 406 00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:21,560 And so he's recognizing that there's a loss of freedom in 407 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:27,240 this. And then third, he recognizes 408 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,520 that their confession, Jesus is Lord would be compromised 409 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:37,200 because in Galatia, the Jewish people had taken shelter under 410 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,640 Rome with the Roman exception that, you know, sure, Caesar 411 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,480 says Lord, but we don't really have to say that because, you 412 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:51,040 know, we get Jewish exception. And what he's saying now that if 413 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,560 you follow that route, you're going to have to put yourself 414 00:29:55,560 --> 00:30:00,960 under this legal status with Rome where Caesar is Lord. 415 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,760 And he wanted them to think very careful about the political 416 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:11,080 implications of that move and their allegiance to Christ. 417 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,160 See, being Christian does have social and political 418 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,920 implications and he wants them to be very careful about it. 419 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:23,760 That's why he's going to make such a big ask. 420 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:29,440 So this is what at stake that that he even sees the gospel of 421 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,520 Jesus at stake here. No wonder he was emotional. 422 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:39,160 Now he's really concerned. He says ultimately that Christ 423 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,600 is formed with them. He says I'm in the pains of 424 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,480 childbirth. Notice what he says. 425 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,400 He says, my dear children, for whom I'm again in the pains of 426 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:53,520 childbirth until Christ is formed with you, how I wish I 427 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:58,160 could be with you. He says that he was like a 428 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:01,560 pregnant woman giving birth to a child. 429 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:03,760 You know, it's really interesting. 430 00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,880 He moves from calling them brothers and sisters now to 431 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:10,080 calling them my dear children. He says, I'm going to show you 432 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,080 my parent heart. I'm going to show you my father 433 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,680 heart for you. I'm in the pains and the agony 434 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,480 of childbirth. Have you been there and have you 435 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:23,920 been there at childbirth? Have you seen or observed 436 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,800 someone else? Do you know? 437 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:31,680 In university, I signed up for a class on early child development 438 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,520 from conception to age 2. I was the only guy in the class. 439 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:41,880 It was a little embarrassing, but wow, it was amazing. 440 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:47,480 The development of a child in the womb is incredible. 441 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,240 Childbirth was shocking. I had to learn how to deliver a 442 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,920 baby. Theoretically I could do it, but 443 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,320 on the 1st occasion of having to be there, I almost passed out. 444 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:05,240 And Paul says I'm in this kind of agony until Christ is formed 445 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,120 in you. This is the parent heart. 446 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,480 This is the heart to which every one of us is called to through 447 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:20,000 the Great Commission. That in the Great Commission 448 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,640 you're called to have this longing for the formation of 449 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:29,640 Christ in other people, in yourself, in your children, in 450 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:34,280 the people you coach or mentor or lead, in your friends, in 451 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:38,120 your coworkers, in your neighbors, that the presence and 452 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,760 person of Christ would be formed in their heart and life. 453 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,200 This is to be the agony into which you enter. 454 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:47,960 This is the agony into which the church is called to enter. 455 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:55,560 That we would agonize and labor that each of us would become 456 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,160 more like Jesus. And so we say this about our 457 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,120 mission as a church. This is so good to remind us as 458 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:10,680 we come into 2026, one more, one more, that we are joyfully 459 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:15,360 investing relationships to spark a life journey with Jesus. 460 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,440 What happens in a life journey with Jesus? 461 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:23,320 We get to know Jesus, we become like Jesus, and we join Jesus in 462 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,920 his mission. This is our simple understanding 463 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:31,720 as a church about our labor, our agony, and being in the pains of 464 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:37,000 childbirth is that we would help each other become more like 465 00:33:37,080 --> 00:33:41,920 Jesus. Some of us do it in official 466 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,120 roles. We have a hat that we have to 467 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:46,760 put on. Others of us do it simply 468 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,080 because we're under the Commission of Jesus. 469 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,200 And so we always try to find at least one friend in our life 470 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:58,080 that we're praying for, talking with, studying the Bible with, 471 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,720 inviting into our lives to talk about our life with Jesus 472 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:05,440 together. Do you have a friend like that? 473 00:34:05,920 --> 00:34:11,480 Are you a friend like that? My prayer for you in 2026 is 474 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,880 that you would be that kind of friend, that this confession of 475 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:18,400 Paul would be yours that you'd like. 476 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:22,320 I'm in agony because I'm watching my friend and they're 477 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:26,880 just not getting it. I'm perplexed about how this 478 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:29,639 part of the life of Jesus could be worked out in their life. 479 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,760 And do you have a friend like that who's concerned for you? 480 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,639 We call them life groups, Bible studies, mentor groups. 481 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:43,679 Whatever you want to do, you need to find some kind of group 482 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,560 and community that cares for you like that. 483 00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:55,480 Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, We have so much 484 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:02,920 in this little text today. And for some of us, we begin to 485 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,120 see that we want to go deeper with Jesus this year. 486 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,880 For some of us, maybe we see we want to be a better friend. 487 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:17,760 And for some of us, we need to take that next step of 488 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:22,120 intentional interest in the Christian development of another 489 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:25,880 person. So I pray that you would guide 490 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,840 us as your church as we move forward into this year. 491 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:34,120 I pray that as we come to the table of Jesus that we would 492 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:40,040 understand the agony of Jesus for his creation and for people 493 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,320 that to enter into this intentionality is to sometimes 494 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:52,360 enter into messy, honest conversations that we enter into 495 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:59,080 a kind of suffering, but we also enter into a greater joy as we 496 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,520 see other people thrive in their life with Christ. 497 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,680 Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are seated and sometimes 498 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:16,320 standing at the right hand of the Father looking at us and 499 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:19,520 longing for us. So you've given us your Spirit 500 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,720 and you give fully without restraint. 501 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:31,720 And so we say, come Holy Spirit, come help us envision our future 502 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:37,480 selves, a future self with you. Help us recognize when we come 503 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:42,360 to a crossroads and need to make a very careful and different 504 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:54,290 decision. Let's stand together.