1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:07,440 Sermon of Galatians has arrived. It's been since October when we 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:11,520 started the series in Galatians, and I've been looking forward to 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,600 the last sermon ever since. So I'm going to invite you to 4 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,960 open your Bibles to Galatians Chapter 6. 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,560 Can you use your Bible app if you want, or you can follow 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:34,800 along here on the screen. The Apostle Paul writes, 7 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:40,720 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live 8 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,240 by the Spirit should restore that person gently. 9 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:52,960 But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 10 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,600 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the 11 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,960 law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are 12 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,440 something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,080 Each one should test their own actions. 14 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,520 Then they can take pride in comparing themselves alone 15 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:23,720 without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one 16 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:31,240 should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who 17 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:36,040 receives instruction in the Word should share all good things 18 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,560 with their instructor. Do not be deceived. 19 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,120 God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 20 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,320 Whoever sows to please the flesh from the flesh will reap 21 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,640 destruction. Whoever sows to please the 22 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:58,360 Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 23 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:05,360 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we 24 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,919 will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 25 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,040 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to 26 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:20,480 all people, especially to those who belong to the family of 27 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:27,760 believers. See what large letters I use as 28 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:33,960 I write to you with my own hand. Those who want to impress people 29 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,200 by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. 30 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:44,760 The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for 31 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:49,360 the cross of Christ. Not even those who are 32 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,480 circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised, 33 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,880 that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 34 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:07,960 May I never boast except in the cross of Christ, cross of the 35 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,400 Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified. 36 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:18,720 To me and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor 37 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:26,040 uncircumcision means anything. What counts is the new creation. 38 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,280 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule. 39 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:36,120 To the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me 40 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:43,800 trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus, the grace of 41 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,000 our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with your Spirit, brothers 42 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:53,360 and sisters. And all the people said Amen. 43 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,200 Let it be. So be it. 44 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,360 He ends with an Amen. Let's remind ourselves, what is 45 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,720 Paul envisioning? Paul's envisioning that this 46 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,480 church, this group of churches in the region of Galatia would 47 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,760 know God in his fullness, that they would know the Father, Son, 48 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:21,160 and Holy Spirit, and they would experience the deliverance from 49 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:26,160 sin that Jesus offers, that they would experience deliverance 50 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,960 from the powers of darkness. This is why he keeps Speaking of 51 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:35,600 their freedom in Christ. They have been set free to live 52 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,360 free. It's been one of the huge themes 53 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:46,200 through Galatians that they would also be a new family, that 54 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,480 they would enjoy their freedom of association as Jew and 55 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,600 Gentile, slave and free, male and female, That these would 56 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,440 have less significance except for this, that they're all 57 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:06,920 following Jesus Christ, the Messiah, that he is the one that 58 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,560 has drawn them. And so now they're reorganizing 59 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:16,800 their life around the Messiah, the Messiah who's the 60 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,240 fulfillment of the promises to Abraham. 61 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,680 Look to the rock from which you have been cut, said the prophet. 62 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:29,600 Look back to Abraham and Paul's drawing from that same, what we 63 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,960 would call a hermeneutic to read all the way back to Abraham and 64 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:38,360 say, look, you people together are the fulfillment of God's 65 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,960 promise to Abraham. So now you reveal the Messiah, 66 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:51,600 you reveal Jesus, you reveal the liberating, freeing powers of 67 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:57,160 Jesus by transforming relationships everywhere with 68 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,360 God's love. This is a little summary of what 69 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:07,280 Paul seems to have in mind as he envisioned the church responding 70 00:06:07,280 --> 00:06:10,280 to this letter, that their relationships would be 71 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:16,040 transformed everywhere because of God's love in their life. 72 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,680 Do you want some of that? Has God stirred up a hunger in 73 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:29,640 your heart and life over this is sermon 11 plus Christmas. 74 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:34,080 So over the past 11 weeks plus Christmas, did he stir up a 75 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:38,680 hunger in your heart for some of this to be your living reality? 76 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,080 We've tried to summarize a little bit of what Paul's 77 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:47,800 envisioning, and now I want to pull it in together just as he 78 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:52,880 does, to say that what Paul is envisioning is the Christ life 79 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,800 lived in a cruciform community. This might be a new word for 80 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,040 you, the cruciform community. Would you turn to your neighbor 81 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,240 and say we are the cruciform community? 82 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:11,480 What in the world does that mean? 83 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:17,080 It means we have been formed and shaped into the image of Jesus 84 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:22,840 on the cross, arms outstretch, nailed to the cross. 85 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:30,520 We are to be like him even as a community formed by the cross. 86 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,400 And I've said that Galatians is a book about spiritual 87 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,200 formation. What is that spiritual 88 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,560 formation? It's to make us like Jesus. 89 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:47,040 Like Jesus How? Jesus on the cross, it's a 90 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,000 little difficult some for sometimes for us to get this. 91 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,000 So Paul says it in a lot of different ways. 92 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,040 He did say you have been crucified. 93 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,240 He says I have been crucified with cross, but like with 94 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:01,040 Christ. But he also said things like 95 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,080 this serve one another humbly in love. 96 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,240 And so we've said that's the Christ life. 97 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,360 The Christ life is that we would humbly serve one another in love 98 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,920 just as Jesus did, ultimately going to the cross and laying 99 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:22,760 down his life for others in love for them. 100 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,360 So let's examine this a little further. 101 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,520 What is this cruciform community to be like? 102 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,760 Now he's going to come on to some real action here. 103 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:43,000 Last week he talked about the character of the people and the 104 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,640 fruit of the spirit that's required in order to humbly 105 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,400 serve one another in love. Say them with me if you've 106 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:55,240 memorized them, Lovejoy. Peace, patience, kindness, 107 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,720 goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. 108 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:02,440 Against such things there is no law. 109 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:05,960 I'm free. Look at all the things I'm free 110 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,240 to be. This is the character. 111 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,200 Now he's going to talk about some more things to do because 112 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,480 you are that. And each of these actually 113 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:19,200 creates a kind of tension in our lives. 114 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,200 And there's four of them. He breezes through them really 115 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,680 quickly here. And we're just about do the 116 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:26,680 same. But I want to list them out. 117 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:30,720 Here are the four things he spoke of valuing holiness. 118 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,280 If you're going to value holiness in your life and in the 119 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:39,800 life of the body of the church, you're going to experience some 120 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:46,600 tension. Keep stay with me a little bit 121 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:50,400 being helpful. If you're going to be helpful to 122 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,280 one another in the church and as the church, you're going to 123 00:09:54,280 --> 00:10:00,680 experience some tension supporting the ministry 124 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:04,360 financially. Uh oh, I already feel it. 125 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,080 Tension. I'm going to experience some 126 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,880 tension if I I have to part with some of my money. 127 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,880 We breezed through it so fast. You're like, I don't even notice 128 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,200 that Paul said that. What, Craig, are you making this 129 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,920 up? And the fourth one that he 130 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:27,480 mentions here really quickly is just continuing to do good, do 131 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,560 good. It creates tension. 132 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:34,000 Are you all familiar with tension? 133 00:10:39,820 --> 00:10:44,460 Attention band you. When you give your attention to 134 00:10:44,460 --> 00:10:47,300 something, it means you're focused and drawn into it. 135 00:10:47,300 --> 00:10:50,980 But really, when we speak of tension, it means that there's 136 00:10:51,340 --> 00:10:55,100 two things pulling right. I mean, some of us put a rubber 137 00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:58,260 band on us so that when we experience tension, we're like, 138 00:10:58,300 --> 00:11:06,280 snap, it's OK, snap, pay attention, snap, it's OK, we're 139 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,040 not going to snap this, but you're going to help me. 140 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:15,240 So this rubber band is of no use until it actually has two parts 141 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:20,360 pulling, right? Two parts pulling. 142 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,600 Now we, if this band is come on, hold on, man. 143 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:30,960 If this band is useful, it actually has two poles that are 144 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,240 pulling to each other and you manage the tension. 145 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,280 It doesn't go away. Tension is meant to be managed 146 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:45,080 in your life, not eliminated. If you had no tension, you could 147 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:53,800 not stand up this morning. Tension is actually very helpful 148 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,440 in your life. But some of you think tension is 149 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:58,200 just drama. Are you still holding on? 150 00:11:58,640 --> 00:11:59,440 Oh, man. You're you. 151 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:01,560 You've actually relaxed Here. Come on. 152 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:03,160 Keep it here. Keep it here. 153 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:04,960 You were. See, He was managing the 154 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:07,920 tension. He just held it out. 155 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:08,800 Go. Just hold on. 156 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,960 Lean back. Thank you for holding on to me. 157 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:17,080 See, he's managing the tension, and this is what we do when 158 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,120 we're healthy and mature people. We manage the tension. 159 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,120 We don't try to eliminate it or throw it out. 160 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,520 We manage the tension that's there in our lives. 161 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:34,280 And each of these four things that Paul speaks of actually 162 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,960 create a great deal of tension in our lives. 163 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,840 But to actually see God work in our life means that we need to 164 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:51,760 have some pull and some push back and some pull and we go. 165 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,720 And then we might have a season of just sort of relaxing, but it 166 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:00,280 creates tension on someone else. OK, so let's look a little 167 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:01,040 closer. Thank you. 168 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:03,320 Give him a hand. He's he really held on there. 169 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:08,360 Thank you, Aidan, for not letting me fall. 170 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,880 Let's look at these areas just a little more closely. 171 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:17,320 We have to value holiness. Notice he says if someone is 172 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:22,320 caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that 173 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,160 person. How gently. 174 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,080 He didn't give any other instructions on how to do this 175 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,200 except this one. Do it gently. 176 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,800 Be gentle. If you discover that someone is 177 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:42,440 caught in a sin, they have a slip up that they've the word 178 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,320 sometimes even has been used to say they've been surprised by 179 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:51,000 sin. Restore them gently. 180 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,760 You know, there is this whole move that sometimes happens 181 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,960 where we think that someone is actually going to get better in 182 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,280 their life if they have somebody yelling at them. 183 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,640 If you find that your children are failing, yell at them and 184 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:16,440 they'll get better, right? No, no, it just doesn't work 185 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,800 ultimately, because you know why? 186 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,800 If you're yelling, it's just an external move. 187 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:30,160 It means that they are being moved by an external, but if you 188 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,680 do it gently, you actually connect with what is the 189 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:39,760 internal intrinsic motivation. And so you want to cooperate 190 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:45,360 with the Spirit of God to reach in gently and find how do we 191 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,840 point to Jesus and his liberating work in your life? 192 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:56,040 And then Paul offers why there's even tension about this. 193 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,560 He doesn't think there's tension just because this is awkward. 194 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:05,920 He doesn't think there's tension just because it might blow up. 195 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,160 They might not respond well. He suggests there's tension 196 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:14,760 because when we address sin, we also become tempted. 197 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:23,160 We become tempted. We've become tempted to overdo 198 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,040 it. We've become tempted to join in. 199 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,640 We've become tempted to say, Oh well, if they can do that, I can 200 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,400 do this. We've become tempted to move 201 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,000 into conceit and pride, as he'll point out later. 202 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,320 We become tempted and there's tension then. 203 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,760 And this tension of valuing holiness in the life of the 204 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:50,480 church means that sometimes the church holds on to points of 205 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:55,040 view that in our society really put us at odds. 206 00:16:03,490 --> 00:16:08,330 Valuing holiness means that you're going to accept some 207 00:16:08,330 --> 00:16:16,120 tension in your life. The second area that he speaks 208 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:21,520 of is being helpful. Notice he says, carry each 209 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,320 other's burdens. And this way you will fulfill 210 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,480 the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? 211 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:31,120 Love one another, the law of Christ love one another. 212 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,400 So he says, carry each other's burdens. 213 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,840 Come alongside and say, I see that you have a burden in your 214 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,600 life and I'm going to help you carry that burden. 215 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,960 I'm going to go with you in this burden. 216 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,440 And he says, notice he goes right away to the tension. 217 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,040 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, 218 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,480 they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own 219 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,600 actions, that they can take pride in themselves alone 220 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,320 without comparing them to someone else. 221 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:04,119 Do you know sometimes we enter into helping other people 222 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,119 because it doesn't just make us feel good. 223 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,440 We like the feeling of being superior. 224 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,640 Oh, there was this deficit in your life. 225 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:18,520 Let me help you. And so now I'm needing you to 226 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:24,680 keep needing me to help you so that I can feel superior in my 227 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:26,720 life. And Paul's noting some of the 228 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:33,120 psychology of codependency being helpful. 229 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:40,080 There's tension in the church in being helpful because notice 230 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,560 what he says on the other side for each one should carry their 231 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:45,640 own load. What? 232 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,120 See why this is tension. We're each carrying our own 233 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:58,880 load, but now he's being helpful to me. 234 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:04,080 Snap. They don't see this is what 235 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,520 tension does. And there's tension in the 236 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,160 church and there's tension in your life group, and there's 237 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,280 tension in your ministry here on campus. 238 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:17,560 When you're helping others accomplish great things with 239 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:22,640 God, when you're helping others become the people God wants them 240 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,560 to be. And there's a time where it 241 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:27,840 feels like, wow, they're just leaning on me. 242 00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,760 But you're each carrying your load because you're helping 243 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,400 something beautiful exist here in this life. 244 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,680 Being helpful must be managed in our life together. 245 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:49,360 So on one hand, he says, carry each other's burdens, but each 246 00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:52,320 one should carry their own load. Which way is it, Paul? 247 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,320 And he's like, yes, it's both. It's both. 248 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,320 This is the life of growing and maturity of being 249 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,240 interdependent. Interdependent. 250 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:11,040 Most of us enter into high school, maybe some of us enter 251 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,480 into it a little bit later of really wanting to be 252 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:19,680 independent. I will carry all my own loads. 253 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,400 And so we try to work hard to create some kind of illusion of 254 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,760 independence and being a self-made person. 255 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:35,320 But the life of maturity in Christ is 1 of interdependence. 256 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,760 And interdependence always has some tension. 257 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:46,880 It always has some tension. The third thing he says is that 258 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:52,600 this this cruciform community is also supporting itself. 259 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,120 It's supporting the ministry of this community. 260 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,560 It's supporting the teaching ministry. 261 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,800 And I think he probably could have gone on to others, but here 262 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,440 very specifically, he speaks of the teaching ministry of the 263 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,280 church. He says, nevertheless, the one 264 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:14,480 who receives instruction in the Word should share all good 265 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,560 things with their instructor. We're not sure why Paul noted 266 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,360 this to be an issue in the Galatian church. 267 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,920 But he draws it out here to say that in the life of the church, 268 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:33,800 there's this self supporting, self-sufficient kind of 269 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:37,320 interaction that happens financially in the life and 270 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:45,720 ministry of the church so that the Word can continue to be 271 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,880 known and shared and integrated into the life of this community. 272 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,320 Remember, he's been trying to teach them how to read the Old 273 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,880 Testament through the cross of Christ all the way back to 274 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:02,560 Abraham. And so now he's saying you need 275 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:07,640 to support your teachers of the word in the life and ministry of 276 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:12,240 the church. And, and he's like, don't be 277 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,840 deceived. God cannot be mocked. 278 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,200 Like this is this is an odd move. 279 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,960 Don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked. 280 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,960 A man reaps what he sows. Well, what kind of sowing has he 281 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:27,680 been talking about right away? It's financial. 282 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:35,320 And so this, this verse has been abused in some settings and some 283 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:40,840 traditions of the church to say, oh, like if you if you sow your 284 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:44,320 money here in the life of the church, you're going to get 10 285 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:48,760 times more, a hundredfold more in your life because you gave to 286 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,600 this church. We're not saying that at all. 287 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:53,680 I don't think that's what Paul was saying here. 288 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,200 But he does say there is some kind of spiritual blessing in 289 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,880 putting your money where your mouth is or where your heart is 290 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,520 or where you're being fed in the life and ministry of the church. 291 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,680 There is some kind of blessing. And notice the blessing, he says 292 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:16,800 whoever sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap 293 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,320 destruction. So he's like, if you're only 294 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:24,440 using your money to feed the flesh, your comforts, your 295 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,800 pleasures, your needs, your desires, he says this is just 296 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,520 sort of destructive. But if you actually sow put your 297 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:42,760 money into things that produce and yield spiritual impact, then 298 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,560 you're going to reap eternal life. 299 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:52,120 What we're going to talk more. I know this is this is huge, 300 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:53,800 right? In some ways to thinking about 301 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:55,400 money and the life of the church. 302 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,680 And it creates tension. And some of you are experiencing 303 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,640 the tension of the church talking about money like this. 304 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,320 You're like, I'm just getting jerked around. 305 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:08,440 Sorry. You did well, man, you're 306 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,280 hanging on. Very responsive. 307 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,960 But Paul is saying, look, if you're going to support the 308 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:18,360 ministry and the life of this church, there's a tension to be 309 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,960 managed, the tension between what you just want to do with 310 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,840 your money, hard earned money. I don't know how many of you 311 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:28,920 students are hard earning money right now. 312 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,520 A few of you, yeah. And some of you are not. 313 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,680 You're in that in between realm of afoot in both worlds. 314 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,880 But there's tension to be managed when it comes to 315 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,120 speaking about money and the life of the church. 316 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,720 So, so much so in this that in a one more week, like next Sunday, 317 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,640 we're starting a sermon series on financial peace and purpose. 318 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,880 It'll be a five week series talking about this tension that 319 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,400 we feel about money and peace and purpose and what does the 320 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,880 scripture have to say to us as a community about this? 321 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:17,200 OK, so that's one of those areas. 4th area, doing good. 322 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,960 Who knew doing good could create so much tension? 323 00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,760 I asked my life week life Group A couple weeks ago to make it a 324 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:32,360 daily prayer, pray, asking God how could I today humbly serve 325 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:38,320 another in love. And even then, someone, someone 326 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,320 just volunteered. Oh, this is going to be really 327 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,440 difficult for me. And we talked and processed 328 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:50,000 that. Doing good creates tension, but 329 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:51,960 it also comes with great promise. 330 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,480 Notice what he says. Let us not become weary in doing 331 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,760 good. Is your arm tired yet? 332 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,960 Minus I think I've been pulling more. 333 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,720 You've just been out there. And so, you know, if you become 334 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,840 weary in doing good, you're you've actually become tired. 335 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,360 Why have you become tired? Because doing good creates 336 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:22,520 tension. We have great inertia sometimes 337 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,280 to doing good. Sometimes in doing good we've 338 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,800 become overextended. Thank you for holding on there. 339 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,680 We've become overextended. We've overdone it, so we have to 340 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:38,720 manage it. So he says, look, do not become 341 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,440 weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a 342 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:51,960 harvest if we do not give up. Do you know sometimes when you 343 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:55,320 do good and you don't get the expectations, you think, well, 344 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:59,040 what's the use in that? Sometimes you do good and you're 345 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:03,040 like, well, they didn't say thank you, so what's the use of 346 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,720 that? I was doing good, but their life 347 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,960 just seemed to get worse. What's the use in that? 348 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:19,280 God. So he attaches it to a promise. 349 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:24,720 Remember, Paul saw that they now lived not just in the present 350 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,600 evil age, but they lived in the age to come. 351 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,960 They had already been ushered into it, and so they were 352 00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:36,560 looking forward to a greater harvest in the new creation. 353 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:39,760 So he says, look, there will be a harvest. 354 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,640 You're planting good things in the lives of others and your 355 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:48,000 community when you insist on doing good. 356 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:56,960 So therefore, he says, as we have opportunity, let us do good 357 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:02,080 to all people, especially to those who belong to the family 358 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:10,120 of believers, do good to all people, especially the family of 359 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:15,840 believers. So it's as if that my efforts at 360 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,960 doing good for the family of believers actually then 361 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:24,720 conditions me to do good for others. 362 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,200 The way in which I respond to vulnerability, weakness, and 363 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,560 need in my own family of believers sets up how I will 364 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,240 deal with weakness, vulnerability, and need in the 365 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:57,830 rest of the world. So how did it go in Galatia? 366 00:28:00,670 --> 00:28:06,670 Did did Galatia pull this off? Did they actually see these four 367 00:28:06,670 --> 00:28:09,440 things? Did they actually become a 368 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:17,240 cruciform community, or did they just sort of get wiped off the 369 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:22,160 history books? Well, there's a really 370 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:27,560 interesting letter that comes from Julian the Apostate. 371 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:32,400 Isn't that a terrible name? Julian the Apostate? 372 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:39,520 He became the emperor of Rome in 361 to 363. 373 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,320 Before that he was the Caesar of the West. 374 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:51,360 When he was 20 years old, Julian renunciated Christianity. 375 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:55,880 He said, I will no longer serve Christ. 376 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:01,120 I will serve the gods of the Greeks and Romans and I will 377 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,600 become a great promoter of the gods of the Greeks and Romans. 378 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:09,160 And so that's why he's known as the apostate because of his 379 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:15,000 apostasy. And Julian the the apostate 380 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:29,200 writes somewhere around 362 three before he died, he wrote 381 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:36,600 to the Greek priests of Roman religion in Galatia. 382 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:43,760 He writes to them and he says, why then do we think that a 383 00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,920 stagnant Greek religion is sufficient and do not observe 384 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:53,760 how the kindness of Christians to strangers, their care for the 385 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:59,200 burial of the dead and their sobriety of lifestyle has done 386 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:05,600 the most to advance their 'cause he's writing a let me interpret 387 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:07,720 for you. It is a little a little awkward. 388 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:12,280 He's writes and says, look, I know we are observing how the 389 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:19,720 Christians are winning in Galatia, and so we need to 390 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:24,440 compete with them. Each of you, he says, ought to 391 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:29,120 do all of these things. It is not sufficient for you to 392 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:34,320 practice only one, but all the priests of Galatia, without 393 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:42,640 exception, must do these things, He says. 394 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:49,600 All of you Pagan priests must also not go to the theater, must 395 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:54,800 not drink in a Tavern, and must not profess to any base or 396 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:59,760 infamous trade. Dude, something must have 397 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,000 happened in the Galatian Church over the next 250 years that 398 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,840 they began to change their culture. 399 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:11,000 Why? Because they were becoming a 400 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,840 cruciform people, he goes on to say. 401 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,200 You must do more things like the Christians. 402 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:24,080 You must build hostels so that strangers may enjoy kindness. 403 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:30,320 You must be willing to do it for anyone, no matter what religion 404 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:34,880 they practice. You must support the poor. 405 00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:41,760 Not just the poor in your own group, but the poor of everyone. 406 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:46,520 You must teach everyone to contribute so that these 407 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:51,560 services may continue. In other words, give money so 408 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,200 that we can do good things, he said. 409 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,720 You must accustom them to such benevolence. 410 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,880 Let us outdo them with our good deeds rather than being 411 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:10,640 disgraced by laziness. Wow. 412 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:17,240 Over the next 250 years, the church in Galatia had a profound 413 00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,600 impact on their culture. Why? 414 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,200 Because they were a cruciform people. 415 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,200 Why? Because they accepted the 416 00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:32,600 tension of being Jesus's followers. 417 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,520 Isn't that exciting? It is so cool. 418 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,800 That's why I've been looking forward to this last message, 419 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:50,640 because we can actually see the impact of being a cruciform 420 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,040 people. We can see the impact of living 421 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,400 the Christ life. Thank you again. 422 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,600 So let me just lay it out here. Our spiritual formation is to be 423 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,360 cruciform. Jesus put it out there and I, I 424 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,720 just want to do this. This will be actually our last 425 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:16,200 point because we're going to run out of time. 426 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:23,080 In this message, you know, Jesus spoke of the cruciform life of 427 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,240 the disciple. Notice what he said. 428 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:32,200 He's asking them, who do people say I am? 429 00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:37,000 Peter said you're the Messiah, you're the one, the one it only. 430 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,560 And Jesus warned them, don't tell anyone. 431 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:44,440 The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the 432 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,080 elders and the chief priests and the teachers of the law. 433 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:50,360 He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 434 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:56,400 In other words, the government was going to turn on Jesus and 435 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,160 he was going to lay down his life and he was going to be 436 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,960 killed on a cross, but on the third day he would be raised 437 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,480 again. So he's like, let's not talk a 438 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,800 lot about that now, but you need to know that. 439 00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:14,400 So then he said whoever wants to be my disciple must deny 440 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,679 themselves and take up their cross daily. 441 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,120 Take up your cross daily and follow me. 442 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:28,320 In other words, Jesus is saying you must have a cruciform shaped 443 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,040 life. Take up your cross. 444 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,800 This would have been really weird to them because the cross 445 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:38,360 was a Roman tool of capital punishment. 446 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:43,040 It was a Roman tool of tyranny. It was the Roman tool of 447 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:47,120 exerting their power and their influence over others. 448 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:52,120 It was their way of saying you are weak, we are strong. 449 00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:02,080 Every tyrant finds their mode of doing this. 450 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:07,480 Every authoritarian regime seeks to do this. 451 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,520 Every parent who thinks they will be the king of their castle 452 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:16,360 looks to how they can exert power over another. 453 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:24,720 It is the move of empire. And Jesus said, when you run 454 00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:39,280 into that, take up the cross. That's the cruciform community. 455 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,680 A few years ago, I had a conversation. 456 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:49,280 You can advance with me. I had a conversation with a 457 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:55,720 student in the MSA, the Muslim Student Association, and this is 458 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,480 probably about eight years ago. We were having an amazing 459 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,040 conversation just back and forth and he was asking me why do I 460 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,320 appreciate Jesus? And asked him, well, what do you 461 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:07,440 appreciate Jesus? And he says, well, I'll tell you 462 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,640 what it says about Jesus in the Quran. 463 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,960 And he processed that with me and and then he says, but Jesus 464 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:18,080 had a deficit. I said, oh, OK, tell tell me 465 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:20,200 about that. What was Jesus's deficit? 466 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,640 You can go back to that verse. And he said Jesus's deficit was 467 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:31,280 that he never governed. He never governed. 468 00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:34,680 He he wasn't a governor. So he doesn't provide us an 469 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,280 example of what government looks like. 470 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:41,320 And every, every great leader actually needed to govern in 471 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:42,960 some kind of way. And I said, oh, that's so 472 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:45,320 interesting. I've probably been processing 473 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:49,680 different responses to that, trying it on for about 8 years 474 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:55,720 now. And recently God gave me an aha 475 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,880 moment. I was listening to Brian Zahan, 476 00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:04,200 pastor at Word of Life Church in the United States share about 477 00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:07,480 this very issue of Jesus and the governance. 478 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,360 And notice the verse. We all know this we from 479 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,040 Christmas right? For unto us a child is born, to 480 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:17,280 us a son is given, and the government will be on his 481 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:24,640 shoulders. Was Jesus deficit and he'll be 482 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,960 called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, 483 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:32,480 Prince of Peace and it goes on to say and and of his government 484 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:38,600 there shall be no end. So how was the government on the 485 00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:45,440 shoulders of this Messiah Jesus? Well, here's how the government 486 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,280 was on his shoulders. The government was on his 487 00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:55,000 shoulders with the cross. Look at Jesus carrying the 488 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,240 cross, the symbol of the government's power. 489 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:04,480 It is on his shoulders, and he carried it. 490 00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:17,200 He experienced it, and upon it His own shoulders leaned back as 491 00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:21,760 he was nailed to it. The government was on his 492 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:25,400 shoulders. And so we we must enter into 493 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:32,800 that strange view of Jesus in the confrontation of powers to 494 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:38,880 say we are our best as a church, not when we're shouting. 495 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,560 We are our best as a church, not just when we're praising. 496 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:50,240 We're our best as a church when we're cruciform. 497 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,240 Because therein is how God reveals His power. 498 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:06,840 How could one of the ugliest symbols in the world be 499 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:12,000 cherished as the most beautiful? Because of the resurrection 500 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:21,240 power of God expressed to the Christ who died on that cross. 501 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:24,640 So much so that now we know he governs. 502 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:28,720 Jesus governs and every knee will bow and every tongue will 503 00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:32,280 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 504 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:40,160 So let me ask, are you willing to accept the tension, the 505 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:44,680 tension of following Jesus? Do you know the temptation to 506 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:49,080 power is all around us? For Rome, they had a special 507 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:52,360 class of people called the gladiators. 508 00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:57,440 Do you know about gladiators? How many of you have watched 509 00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,960 those terrible movies about gladiators? 510 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,560 So much violence, right? So much power. 511 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:10,640 They were in a special class, and the games of the Colosseum 512 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:15,120 were no games at all. They were how the week became 513 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:19,880 killed. As they were devoured by animals 514 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:23,800 or as they were killed by gladiator soldiers. 515 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:31,280 And in four O 4. After Rome had been experiencing 516 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:37,800 Christian governance quote UN quote the games were continuing 517 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:44,920 and at the Coliseum one day, January 1st four O 4, it's known 518 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:50,920 that a priest from Syria jumped out of his seat in the Colosseum 519 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,520 and ran into the playing field and said In the name of Christ, 520 00:40:56,520 --> 00:41:03,640 stop. Telemachus was so moved in his 521 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:10,720 heart by the brutality of the government that he said In the 522 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:18,400 name of Christ, stop. An emperor onerous declared soon 523 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:29,880 after that the end of the games. He outlawed them, but Telemachus 524 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:36,400 was martyred on that day. He was killed on that day 525 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:41,760 because he said in the name of Christ, stop. 526 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:55,400 Many of us fear not that we're going to lose our life when we 527 00:41:55,400 --> 00:42:01,680 stand up for Jesus, but we fear we'll get a little cut. 528 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,320 We fear that we might get embarrassed. 529 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:11,440 We fear that we might lose a little credibility. 530 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:15,520 We fear that someone might laugh at us. 531 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:21,480 We fear that we won't have the right words to say, but 532 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,440 Telemachus just said what was in his heart that day. 533 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:33,480 In the name of Christ, stop. And it got the tension of the 534 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:39,800 emperor and it changed something in the empire of Rome forever. 535 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:50,160 But again, we're always trying to resurrect the old ways, but 536 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,480 Paul says, hey, you, you are the new creation. 537 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:59,200 So in Christ, let the new ways dominate your life. 538 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,880 Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, we, we come and 539 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:17,640 we're a bit sober in this moment because we realize we we are 540 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:21,080 meant to be a people that stand in stark contrast to the way of 541 00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:25,960 the world. And yet the church is always 542 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:33,480 tempted to do another way. The church has always been 543 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:38,280 tempted to hold the cross out front and yet hold the powers of 544 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:42,640 Rome. And so we pray that you would 545 00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:49,360 truly help us to be the cruciform people of Jesus as we 546 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:53,160 come to the table. The table reminds us every week 547 00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:58,680 that we are a cruciform community because it reminds us 548 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:03,760 of your body being broken for us and your blood being poured out. 549 00:44:04,640 --> 00:44:08,320 And you invite us to the table as a cruciform community. 550 00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:14,720 You tell us love one another, for love comes from God. 551 00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:17,520 This is how God showed his love among us. 552 00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:21,680 He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might 553 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:25,720 live through him. And this is love. 554 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:31,640 Not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as 555 00:44:31,640 --> 00:44:34,800 an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 556 00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:40,480 So, brothers and sisters, let us love one another.