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No perfect people, right? 
And there are no perfect 

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churches, right? 
See. 

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See. 
Yes, there we go. 

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It's true. 
That became really true for me 

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when I was 22. 
When I was 22, I signed on to 

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become a youth minister at a 
church. 

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That church had had 11 pastors 
in a nine year period. 

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I was 22 and I didn't think that
was a really big deal. 

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It should have been like this 
major red flag saying no. 

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But I I really said God had 
called me or God had given me an

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assignment. 
Maybe that was more appropriate 

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is to say that I said God had 
given me an assignment. 

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I was working on my Master's at 
the time of was living in Fort 

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Worth, TX. 
I was dating Ellen at the time, 

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so she came along to that church
too, and by year 2 at that 

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church, Ellen would cry in the 
morning on Sundays all the way 

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to church and then she would 
just go to sleep when we left on

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the drive back to the city and 
the campus. 

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It was a hard place to be. 
The little community that it was

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in was called the Armpit of Fort
Worth. 

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You ever been in a place like 
that? 

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It was just sort of this 
forgotten place. 

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And if if you forgot about it 
too long, it would stink, it 

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would smell. 
It was a really difficult place 

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and it was a really difficult 
church. 

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I my assignment was to build up 
a youth ministry and so I have 

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never done that before and just 
trusted that somehow God would 

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help this happen. 
So I started meeting youth and 

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God was so gracious to us as we 
sort of built this bubble inside

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the Church of kids who are 
really loving each other and his

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parents who are enjoying each 
other most of the time. 

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I tried to go door to door until
there was a church, a person who

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let their Doberman pincher dogs 
out on me at the porch, and I 

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was like, door to door is a bad 
decision in this neighborhood. 

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The youth asked for a lock in. 
Anybody done one of those? 

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They're terrible. 
I had said I would never, ever, 

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ever do a lock in. 
Never say never. 

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So I did a lock in at about 1:00
in the morning. 

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I hear all this rattling around 
and and a youth she had snuck 

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out the window. 
So I go running around and I'm 

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in the parking lot and there's a
truck and there's a guy driving 

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the truck and she's in the 
passenger side and they're 

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backing up. 
So what do I do? 

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I just stand behind the truck 
and this kid gets out. 

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He's 20, I'm 22, she's 16, and I
say you are not leaving with her

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unless you run over me. 
It was such the moment, right? 

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I don't know what possessed me 
in that moment to do that, but I

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was like, I've been given a 
responsibility, I've been given 

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an assignment, I've been given a
charge, and she is my 

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responsibility. 
I said, let's compromise. 

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You can come in for the Bible 
study we're about to do in the 

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middle of the night and you can 
sit beside her if you need to. 

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Is it OK? 
Churches and life situations can

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be really, really difficult. 
The church in Galatia was 

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experiencing a really, really 
difficult time. 

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And Paul is writing to them 
about this to say your conflict 

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with each other that you've been
thrown into now as Jew and 

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Gentile and how to figure this 
out and a really stressful 

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situation there in the 
retirement center of Roman 

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soldiers. 
You're trying to be church here,

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and I've given you an assignment
as a church to humbly serve one 

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another in love. 
And I think some of them were 

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probably thinking, how do we do 
that? 

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How do we do that? 
Where do we find the power to do

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that? 
Won't you just give us a list of

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things to do, a recipe? 
I think Paul anticipated their 

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question after he's been 
pressing theologically his point

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over and over to say you must 
not become circumcised, you must

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not live under the law, you must
live and run the race of grace. 

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Now some of them are going 
humbly serve one another in love

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when we're already fighting with
each other. 

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How do you come down off that 
ledge in order to love? 

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So I think that's the question 
he's answering now in Galatians 

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chapter 5. 
If you have your Bible, open it 

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and let Let's imagine that 
Paul's inviting some people to 

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stand behind a truck. 
In order to see Christian unity,

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to stand behind a truck, in 
order to see that they're 

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treated well, to stand behind a 
truck, to see that they actually

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grow in maturity. 
And so here's what he here's 

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what he writes. 
Galatians 516. 

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So I say, walk by the Spirit, 
and you will not gratify the 

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desires of the flesh. 
For the flesh desires what is 

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contrary to the Spirit, and the 
Spirit what is contrary to the 

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flesh. 
They are in conflict with each 

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other, so that you are not to do
whatever you want. 

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But if you are led by the 
Spirit, you are not under the 

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law. 
The acts of the flesh are 

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obvious, sexual immorality, 
impurity and debauchery, 

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idolatry and witchcraft, hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage,

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selfish ambition, dissensions, 
factions and envy, drunkenness, 

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orgies and the like. 
I warn you, as I did before, 

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that those who live like this 
will not inherit the Kingdom of 

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God, but the fruit of the Spirit
is Lovejoy, peace, forbearance, 

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gentleness and self-control. 
Against such things there is no 

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law. 
Those who belong to Christ Jesus

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have crucified the flesh with 
its passions and desires. 

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Since we live by the Spirit, let
us keep in step with the Spirit.

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Let us not become conceited, 
provoking and envying each 

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other. 
Remember what Paul is 

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envisioning. 
Paul is envisioning that this 

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church would know God in his 
fullness, that they would know 

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the Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, that they would come to 

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deal with this trinitarian 
reality of God, and that they 

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would experience deliverance 
from sin and deliverance from 

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the powers of darkness. 
This is what he was envisioning.

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He had the Longview for the 
finish line. 

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Remember our marathoner? 
He was running that race fast 

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last week, but it was a long 
run. 

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Likewise, he envisions that they
would be a new family, Jew and 

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Gentile, slave and free, male 
and female. 

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That they would be following 
Jesus, the crucified Messiah. 

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We use the term Messiah there 
very particularly to say we're 

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reaching back to the promise 
that God made to Abraham to 

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create a family. 
He's doing it now through 

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Messiah Jesus. 
And that they, this church would

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actually reveal Jesus and the 
freeing power of his gospel by 

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transforming relationships 
everywhere with God's love. 

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That they would transform all of
their relationships in the 

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church and they would they would
transform relationships in their

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society. 
Now Paul is directing the church

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to use their freedom. 
He says, yes, you are free, but 

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you are free to love. 
You have been set free in order 

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to love others. 
Particularly he phrases it this 

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way, to serve one another humbly
in love. 

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Let's call this little phrase 
Serve one another humbly in 

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love. 
The Christ life 'cause I need a 

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shorthand reference today. 
What is the Christ life? 

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It's to serve one another humbly
in love. 

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You know Jesus told his 
disciples, Look, you watched me 

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wash your feet, you actually 
experienced me washing your 

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feet, and you call me Lord and 
Savior or Master. 

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That's what I am now. 
You will be blessed if you do 

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the same thing. 
This is the Christ life, serving

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one another humbly in love. 
And I think this people in 

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conflict are wondering, how do I
serve humbly in love someone who

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wants to run me over with a 
truck? 

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How do I serve humbly in love 
someone who wants to devour me? 

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How do I serve humbly in love 
someone who wants to curse me, 

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cut me, ruin me, exclude me? 
That's not the church I want to 

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be a part of. 
I think I'll just go. 

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He's pleading with them to find 
a way to Christian unity in a 

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church that was struggling. 
He wants them to live the Christ

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life, serve one another humbly 
in love. 

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Even Jesus served Judas. 
This is a huge calling. 

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Where do we find the power for 
such extraordinary expressions 

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of love? 
Let's see what he says. 

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Let's review what he said since 
we just read it. 

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I mean, he's pointing them to a 
who perhaps they wanted to know 

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how, how can we do this? 
And he says, I don't want to 

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give you a how I want to give 
you a who the Holy Spirit 

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empowers you for the Christ 
life. 

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Over and over through Ephesians,
he's been emphasizing this. 

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He says, look in verse 5, 
through the Spirit we eagerly 

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await by faith through who? 
Through the Spirit he encourages

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them, I want you to walk by the 
when we use the word walk, walk 

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this way, he's actually using 
what we would sometimes call 

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your lifestyle, your way of 
life. 

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So your way of life is to be by 
the Spirit of God. 

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The Christian way of life is 
meant to be guided, 

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personalized, animated by the 
Spirit of God. 

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The Spirit of God then is not an
it. 

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The Spirit of God is a who he 
says, listen, if you are led by 

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the Spirit and he goes on, he 
says, look, the fruit of the 

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Spirit can be in your life. 
And he says since we live by the

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let us keep in step with the 
Spirit over and over and over. 

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He's just sort of repeating 
himself. 

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Look, your life now in Christ is
to be by the Spirit. 

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You know, Jesus, the Spirit 
didn't just spring up out of 

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nowhere. 
We see the Holy Spirit involved 

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in the creation, right in 
Genesis chapter one. 

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It says that the Spirit of God 
that was hovering over the deep.

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The Spirit of God is always 
involved in the creating of what

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God desires and wants in his 
world and in our lives. 

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And Jesus says that his gift of 
the Spirit is actually also our 

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life. 
On one of the festival days that

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actually speaks about water, 
Jesus stood up and he said, let 

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anyone who is thirsty come to me
and drink, whoever believes in 

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me. 
As the scripture has said, 

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rivers of living water will flow
from within them. 

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By this he meant the Spirit whom
those who believed in him were 

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later to receive. 
Up to that time, the Spirit had 

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not been given since Jesus had 
not yet been glorified. 

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Now one of the interesting 
things about John is that when 

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John speaks of the glorification
of Jesus, he's actually Speaking

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of Jesus being lifted up on the 
cross, being crucified. 

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And so the pathway to the Spirit
of God being released in our 

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lives is Jesus cross. 
Do you know when I do tabling 

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like in Totem and we set up a 
table and I've got chocolates 

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there, sometimes students will 
run up and say, can I have one 

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of those chocolates? 
And I'm like, yeah, the pathway 

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to the chocolate. 
Chocolate is the question. 

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And so there's a question there.
So answer the question. 

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You can have a chocolate, OK? 
And then they go for it. 

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But here's Jesus showing us that
the pathway to him releasing the

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Spirit of God to us was through 
the cross, and that's the great 

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miracle of God's work in our 
lives. 

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Jesus goes on to speak about the
gift of the Spirit, he said. 

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Next slide He says in in Luke 
24, after His glorification, He 

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00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,520
opened their minds so they could
understand the Scripture and He 

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00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:32,280
told them, this is what is 
written. 

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The Messiah will suffer and rise
from the dead on the third day, 

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and repentance for this 
forgiveness of sins will be 

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preached in His name to all 
nations, beginning beginning at 

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Jerusalem. 
You are witnesses of these 

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00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,720
things. 
I am going to send you what my 

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Father has promised, but stay in
the city until you have been 

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clothed with power from on high.
What is the gift promised by the

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Father? 
It's the Holy Spirit. 

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What is your inheritance from 
the promise of Abraham? 

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It's the Holy Spirit. 
Now Paul's bringing it very 

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clear to say, look, this pathway
for you to live in unity 

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together as the church is to 
take that suffering and go 

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through it with the Spirit of 
God. 

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This is where moral and 
character transformation 

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happens. 
As a people, if we are willing 

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to go through the awkwardness 
and difficulty of relationships 

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in the church to experience the 
fruit of the Spirit in our 

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lives. 
But there's a problem which 

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we've been dancing around here, 
and that is that the Christ life

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00:19:06,460 --> 00:19:09,580
actually contradicts and 
conflicts with the flesh. 

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This idea of serving one another
humbly in Love Actually 

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00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:18,840
conflicts and contradicts the 
flesh. 

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When Paul speaks to the flesh, 
we can say there's three things 

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he's sort of interested in here.
One, there's the the flesh work 

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of these agitators, the false 
teachers who had come and said 

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you need to be circumcised in 
order to be complete in front of

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God, in order to be fully 
accepted. 

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We could say, Oh yeah, that's 
part of the flesh. 

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But there's a second part of 
flesh. 

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And that could be the fleshy 
desires of each member of that 

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church, just the desires that 
they wanted. 

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Most of some of us are a couple 
ways when it comes to conflict. 

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Some of us run away. 
Are you a runaway when it comes 

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to conflict? 
Some of us are run right towards

235
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it. 
What there's conflict, I'm going

236
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:21,200
to run right towards it. 
And then some of us, we are 

237
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:26,120
freezers. 
That is possibly what happened 

238
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:30,160
to me behind that truck because 
I just froze. 

239
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,960
But some of us very similar are 
sort of like fawners. 

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We sort of fawn, OK. 
Four kinds of responses to 

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conflict. 
And in each mode the flesh may 

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00:20:54,890 --> 00:20:57,890
desire something that's opposed 
to the Spirit of God. 

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00:21:01,770 --> 00:21:05,530
That's why you need to listen 
and know the Spirit of God in 

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your life. 
There's another kind of flesh 

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that he might have had in mind, 
and that's this idea that that 

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there's a societal norm that 
could be idolized. 

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That's actually an aspect of the
flesh that said, oh, that's now 

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normal. 
And we idolize that. 

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We aspire to that and we'll 
we'll get to this a little 

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further next slide. 
Notice he says, walk by the 

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Spirit and you will not gratify 
the desires of the flesh. 

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I know my flesh has desires. 
I have human desires, but it can

253
00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:01,200
also have disordered desires. 
This is where addictions come 

254
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:07,400
from, where I'm trying to solve 
a problem and I become addicted 

255
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:13,920
to something else as a temporary
solution to a greater problem. 

256
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,080
He says, listen, the flesh 
desires what is contrary to the 

257
00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:22,480
spirit and the spirit desires 
what is contrary to the flesh. 

258
00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,120
They are in conflict with each 
other. 

259
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,000
We are sometimes walking 
conflict zones. 

260
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,680
Ellen's dad used to say to her 
when she was a teenager, you are

261
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,320
just a conflict looking for a 
place to happen. 

262
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,760
And sometimes we are. 
We are just a conflict looking 

263
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,280
for a place to happen. 
And we don't even realize it 

264
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because those habits are so 
automated. 

265
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Somebody offends us and we just 
thought, but then we get in 

266
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,440
another setting and we take it 
out on somebody else. 

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00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,720
We have stress in one area. 
It squeezes the balloon of our 

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00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,720
life, and we pop out over here 
in a rage. 

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They are in conflict with each 
other. 

270
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:23,480
Paul wants you to know that 
sometimes you are a walking 

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00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,360
conflict. 
Notice how he says this in 

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00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:27,480
Romans. 
This might be another great 

273
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,920
cross reference for you to study
later. 

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00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,000
He says once I was alive apart 
from the law, but when the 

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00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:37,160
commandment came, sin sprang to 
life and I died. 

276
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,600
I found that the very 
commandment that was intended to

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00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,960
bring life actually brought 
death for sin. 

278
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,640
Seizing the opportunity afforded
by the commandment deceived me 

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00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,720
and through the commandment put 
me to death. 

280
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,400
He's saying, look, this is how 
God's law works. 

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00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:59,040
Sin comes up in our flesh. 
The law points it out, but then 

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00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:06,880
sin just holds on tighter. 
How do you get free notice? 

283
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,320
He says, I find this law at work
in me. 

284
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,880
Although I want to do good, evil
is right there with me, for in 

285
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,440
my inner being I delight in 
God's law. 

286
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,400
But I see another law at work in
me, waging war against the law 

287
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,960
of my mind and making me a 
prisoner of the law of sin at 

288
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,920
work within me. 
What a wretched man I am who 

289
00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,920
will rescue me from this body 
that is subject to death. 

290
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:35,560
Thanks be to God who delivers me
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

291
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:41,720
He's saying, look, you are a 
walking conflict zone, you 

292
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:46,400
yourself. 
And sometimes we need to realize

293
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,400
that even in the life and church
and fellowship of the large body

294
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,400
and even a small group, we can 
have walking conflict zones. 

295
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,680
But most of us really don't like
conflict. 

296
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:06,840
And so we ignore the conflict in
ourselves. 

297
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,360
Unless you're journaling. 
Is anybody journaling here yet? 

298
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,480
Do you journal honestly about 
the conflicts you're 

299
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,520
experiencing? 
Let me encourage you this week 

300
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:20,720
to maybe take a little time and 
journal your conflicts. 

301
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,040
I was listening to Darryl 
Johnson, who's was a pastor at 

302
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:30,120
the Way Here and, and he was 
saying that he journals and then

303
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,880
after he gets everything out, he
takes a black marker, a Sharpie,

304
00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:37,640
and he covers up some of it. 
He's like, yeah, I don't. 

305
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,480
I wrote it down. 
It was real. 

306
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,640
It was the truth. 
I just don't need anyone else to

307
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:46,800
read this, just me and God. 
That's a good journaling process

308
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,720
for those of you who are anxious
about what if somebody picks it 

309
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,560
up? 
But we need that process of 

310
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,440
actually being honest about the 
conflict within ourselves. 

311
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:02,200
And that honesty with the light 
of the Spirit of God actually 

312
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,040
brings us to the cusp of a 
miracle. 

313
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:13,680
He says, look, the actions of 
the flesh are obvious. 

314
00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:17,960
I, I don't know that these seem 
so obvious to them. 

315
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,640
Maybe he was thinking that they,
they had this sort of grade. 

316
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:27,800
Well, this kind of act of the 
flesh is only a 70, or this act 

317
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,800
of the flesh is only, you know, 
a 10. 

318
00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:34,120
And maybe they graded the acts 
of the flesh. 

319
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:37,200
I think we do that. 
But he starts off with what they

320
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,480
would have known as familiar 
sexual immorality, impurity and 

321
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:45,720
debauchery. 
Then he says idolatry and 

322
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,240
idolatry and witchcraft. 
And they would have been going, 

323
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,200
yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, 
You're right. 

324
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:55,240
And then he gets to this other 
part of the list that would have

325
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,480
really frustrated them because 
they felt like they were 

326
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:03,440
standing behind a truck. 
Hatred, discord, jealousy, fits 

327
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,720
of rage, selfish ambition, 
dissensions, factions and envy. 

328
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,440
And they would have gone. 
Oh my goodness. 

329
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,560
Like, why did he put that in the
list? 

330
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,320
You know, I'm just trying to 
find my people. 

331
00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,320
I'm just trying to be 
comfortable. 

332
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,480
Why do you have to put that on 
the list? 

333
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,800
And then he he lets up and he 
gives them the familiar thing, 

334
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,040
drunkenness, orgies and the 
like. 

335
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,680
And he's grouped all that 
together and he says, look, if 

336
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,200
you're living like that, you're 
not inheriting the Kingdom of 

337
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,720
God. 
The rule and reign of God is not

338
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,680
at work in their lives. 
You will not inherit the Kingdom

339
00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:52,840
of God. 
And so those are all symptom of 

340
00:27:52,840 --> 00:27:55,520
the conflict that's happening 
inside. 

341
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,400
So what is the solution? 
The solution is a who? 

342
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:07,200
The Christ life actually 
requires your cooperation, your 

343
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:13,040
willful participation, your 
willful cooperation, He says you

344
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:17,120
have been crucified with Christ,
it has happened, you have been 

345
00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:18,920
redeemed, you have been 
delivered. 

346
00:28:19,120 --> 00:28:23,440
And now to walk in that way, you
have to cooperate with the 

347
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,040
Spirit of God. 
Dallas Willard said it this way.

348
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:31,360
He said, listen, God is not 
opposed to effort. 

349
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:38,560
He is opposed to earning. 
We do not earn the Kingdom. 

350
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:44,040
We do not earn His approval. 
We do not earn His love. 

351
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:50,400
We do not earn His forgiveness. 
That is a free gift of grace. 

352
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:59,600
But it does require effort now 
to walk in the way of God. 

353
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,800
And when you walk and keep in 
step with the Spirit, He 

354
00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:11,640
actually generates fruit. 
He generates fruit. 

355
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:18,200
Would you say them with me? 
Lovejoy, peace, forbearance, 

356
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:23,480
kindness, goodness, 
faithfulness, gentleness and 

357
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:28,000
self-control. 
Against such things, there is no

358
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,480
law. 
My friend who was pastoring up 

359
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,280
at SFU at at the Point Church, 
Victor Thomas, before Victor 

360
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,120
went back to South Africa, he 
sort of lived through some of 

361
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,080
the COVID difficulties and 
people would get frustrated 

362
00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:46,280
with, you know, what are we 
doing? 

363
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:51,040
What are we not doing? 
And he could feel the, the 

364
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:54,960
temperature rising among them 
and the conflicts that they were

365
00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,680
sort of having inside and 
outside the church. 

366
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,560
And he says, hey, let's do the 
things for which there's no law,

367
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:04,800
things that there's no law 
against it. 

368
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:11,480
There's no law against loving. 
So go humbly, serve one another 

369
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:16,920
in love, find a way to do it. 
There's no law about that. 

370
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:23,840
He's right, Right. 
I think Paul was sort of tongue 

371
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,640
in cheek here saying, hey, look,
there's no law about this. 

372
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:35,200
So do it when the church finds 
itself under pressure, whether 

373
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:42,400
it's in China or Iran or Myanmar
or Canada or the US or Mexico, 

374
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:48,520
wherever the church finds itself
under pressure, we must return 

375
00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,400
to this. 
Hey, let's do the things for 

376
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:59,760
which there is no law. 
Let's be the things for which 

377
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,640
there is no law. 
And the only way to get fruit is

378
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:10,720
to actually tend the soil in 
which you have been planted. 

379
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:18,720
So I can't make an apple tree, 
make apples, but I sure can tend

380
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:23,880
to the conditions of the soil 
that help produce it. 

381
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,160
Here's three ways to tend to the
soil of your life. 

382
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:34,000
Well, let's let's look at this. 
So some of some of us get into 

383
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,960
this temptation to make religion
and life with God sort of a 

384
00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:43,360
tourist mindset. 
So here's what Eugene Peterson 

385
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:44,720
said. 
There's a great market for 

386
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:46,640
religious experience in our 
world. 

387
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:52,480
There's little enthusiasm for 
the patient acquisition of 

388
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,400
virtue. 
Isn't that great line? 

389
00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:01,080
Virtue, Lovejoy, peace, 
patience, kindness, goodness, 

390
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,320
gentleness, faithfulness, and 
self-control. 

391
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:11,120
All of those are virtues, and 
they're achieved or acquired 

392
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:16,440
through patient endurance, a 
long obedience in the same 

393
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,760
direction. 
So here are three things I want 

394
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:24,200
to suggest to you. 
One, make it your habit to 

395
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:31,920
simply pray. 
Come, Holy Spirit, come, that 

396
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,280
when you're having a time before
the Lord and you just sit and 

397
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:41,480
rest and come, Holy Spirit, 
come. 

398
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,080
And let your heart and life 
settle and just trust that the 

399
00:32:50,080 --> 00:32:56,000
Spirit of God is coming. 
Second is treat the difficulties

400
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:02,080
of your life as if they're seeds
to be sown from which the Spirit

401
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,760
of God can produce his fruit in 
you. 

402
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:14,800
For Ellen and myself, when we 
were serving in that church, it 

403
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:20,040
was a difficult time, but God 
was sowing seeds in my heart and

404
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:28,400
life that changed my character, 
that transformed virtue and 

405
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:32,720
changed relationships, changed 
my whole vision of what it was 

406
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,800
like to serve and lead in a 
church. 

407
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:47,680
We stayed there 3 1/2 years and 
then the only reason we left is 

408
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,400
because we were moving to 
Vancouver. 

409
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:59,080
A long obedience in the same 
direction means that you're 

410
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:02,560
going to take the difficulties 
of your life and say these are 

411
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:05,400
actually seeds. 
If you read the Bible, you will 

412
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:12,239
find that the Bible is replete. 
It is full with really difficult

413
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:24,420
experiences in life. 
I don't know what difficulties 

414
00:34:24,420 --> 00:34:27,179
you're facing right now. 
Some of you have put them in 

415
00:34:27,179 --> 00:34:32,300
your prayer requests. 
And so we know that anxiety is 

416
00:34:32,300 --> 00:34:37,219
on the rise. 
We know that some have returned 

417
00:34:37,380 --> 00:34:44,900
to this new term with dread. 
We know that some are struggling

418
00:34:44,900 --> 00:34:50,960
financially. 
We know that some feel awkward 

419
00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:58,240
about relationships. 
We know that some are longing 

420
00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,680
for some breakthrough in their 
life. 

421
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:13,280
Let those difficulties actually 
be the seeds from which the 

422
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:21,600
Spirit of God brings new fruit. 
Teaches you how to love, teaches

423
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:25,200
you and generates the joy of the
Holy Spirit. 

424
00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:32,080
And then third, persevere in the
community of the church even 

425
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,040
through awkwardness and 
conflict. 

426
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:42,640
It's the spirits school of love.
Some people get anxious because 

427
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:46,800
they're like, why does Paul 
always talking about loving each

428
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,440
other? 
Why won't he talk more about 

429
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:54,080
loving the world? 
Wouldn't you rather love 

430
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,200
somebody on the other side of 
the world? 

431
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,840
It seems easier to do that 
rather than love the person 

432
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:09,480
sitting next to you in church. 
And so one of the challenges for

433
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:14,000
university church life, let's be
honest, is to actually find 

434
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,080
yourself with the people and 
stay there longer than a year. 

435
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:21,760
To stay there two years, three 
years, four years, and then 

436
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,920
you're like, my struggle now is 
to graduate. 

437
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:33,760
But what if you stayed with a 
people for longer and actually 

438
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:39,440
saw what God might do in your 
life and in a people because you

439
00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:44,560
were with them longer? 
Something to consider. 

440
00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:52,040
Let's pray together. 
Lord Jesus, I want to just pray 

441
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:53,840
right now as the worship team 
comes. 

442
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,640
Lord, you know those who are 
struggling with anxiety today, 

443
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:05,040
They're anxious about something.
I pray that you would come and 

444
00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:08,680
meet them. 
Lord, You know those who are 

445
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:13,120
anxious about their future and 
money. 

446
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:16,680
We pray that you would come and 
meet them. 

447
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:24,000
We know, Lord, You know those of
us who are just preoccupied with

448
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:30,880
our Saturday night life and 
anxious about our Sunday morning

449
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:38,200
life today. 
Lord, you know, those of us who 

450
00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:46,200
are struggling with 
relationships with family and 

451
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,840
somehow, Lord, we, you know, 
those of us who are struggling 

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because we've, we've seen 
terrible things on our feed and 

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we're like, how could, how could
people do that? 

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So we pray, Lord Jesus, that 
today you would transform our 

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character. 
Come, Holy Spirit, come. 

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Lord, it was the, it was one of 
the names of our ministry here 

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that we were born for more. 
And I, I really think as a 

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church we were born for more 
love, more joy, more peace, more

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00:38:52,720 --> 00:38:58,160
forbearance, more kindness, more
goodness, more faithfulness, 

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more gentleness, and more 
self-control. 

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00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:09,280
So come, Lord Jesus, and see our
yielded lives, that you might 

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yield that fruit in our 
relationships. 

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00:39:18,770 --> 00:39:23,050
Lord, you've said that unless a 
seed dies, it will not bear 

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fruit. 
And we thank you, Lord Jesus, 

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that you laid down your life and
we are the fruit of your laid 

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00:39:29,850 --> 00:39:33,330
down life. 
And so now we live by your 

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00:39:33,330 --> 00:39:38,760
Spirit, we come to your table by
your invitation, and we 

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00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:44,600
celebrate and remember your body
broken for us, your blood poured

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00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:49,680
out for us, that we might now 
enjoy the age to come. 

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In the communion of your Spirit.
Let's stand together. 

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If you need someone to pray with
you, I'm going to invite our 

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prayer team to go ahead and move
to the landing.