Fall Discipleship Conference 2025 • Session 3 • Jeremy Treat

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That is so good. And that's exactly what
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we're hoping for and praying for to
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experience in every one of our lives.
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Um, and what he just described there,
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that is a picture of
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the kingdom of heaven breaking into
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earth. And that's what we want to
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experience. Your kingdom come. Your will
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be done on earth as it is in heaven. In
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our lives as it is in heaven. And so
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we've been talking about seeking first
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the kingdom. And then this morning we
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talked about following the king in
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disciplehip. Tonight I want to talk
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about how we do that together as the
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community of the king. I want to talk
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about community. I want to talk about
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family. I want to talk about the church.
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And I want to start off by telling you
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about my mom's family. Okay. Um my mom
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is from Oklahoma. I know we got some
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Oklahomaans here. Represent. There we
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go. Uh my mom's from Oklahoma. She grew
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up on a farm. And you're not going to
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believe me when I tell you this, but my
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mom is one of 15 kids. Okay. She has 14
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siblings. You got a whole baseball team
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and basketball team and still a sub.
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Okay. She's one out of 15 kids. She's
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actually number 13 uh in the family. And
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she has this big crazy family. I mean,
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like 15 kids. They grew up in a
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two-bedroom house on a farm in the
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country of Oklahoma. They were poor in
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the summers. A lot of that most of the
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kids would sleep out in the front yard.
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They didn't have running water in their
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house. They had an outhouse out back.
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And so, they just learned to rough it.
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And so, they're big and rough and loud.
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And I grew up going to family reunions
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in Oklahoma. And I mean, my grandma,
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Grandma Grace had 15 kids. I didn't I
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didn't tell you this that my grandma
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Grace, she got married when she was 14,
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had her first baby at 15, and then had a
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baby every other year for 30 years
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straight. Okay, so that's how she had 15
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kids. So they have this big family, the
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rough, and then they all had a bunch of
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kids. So my grandma Grace had over a
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hundred grandchildren. Okay, this is
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like Old Testament family here, but all
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from just one man and woman. And uh and
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so I grew up going to I grew up going to
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these family reunions in Oklahoma. And I
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mean, look, if you're from Oklahoma, we
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might be related. Like, there's a
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chance, okay? Cuz it was like half the
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state coming together and it was crazy.
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I mean, the people like people showing
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up and their overalls and they got their
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dip and their lip and they're smoking,
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got tattoos everywhere. those are just
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the women. Like it was wild the things
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that would be happening in all of this
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and and never a dull moment with my
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mom's family. And so I learned from my
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mom's family that family can be big and
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messy, but family always sticks
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together. Family always sticks together.
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And so tonight, what I want to talk
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about is how the church is a family. And
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we can be a big messy family, but we are
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meant to stick together. Not ultimately
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because of our own grit or our own
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strength or our will, but because we're
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bound together by the blood of Christ.
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Amen. And I think we really need this
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today. Um because we live in such an
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individualistic society and everything
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in our culture is built towards
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individual accomplishment. And so we
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love the idea of community, but we see
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community as another consumer good that
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I can use for my personal well-being.
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And then the digital world is
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depersonalizing everything. AI is
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replacing humans left and right where
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would I need to go ask one of you a
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question? I could just look it up on
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chat GPT. Like it's we're we're it's the
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world is becoming more digital, uh, less
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personal every step of the way. And so
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no wonder it's so difficult that
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community or it's it's so um true that
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community is so difficult for us. And we
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live in a society where we've equated
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independence with strength. And we
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equate autonomy with maturity. So if I
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can do it by myself, then I must be
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strong. I must be mature. And then we
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complain that we can't fit relationships
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into our lives. But what if we could
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have relationships that are deep, that
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are lasting, and that are redemptive?
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Well, that's exactly what Jesus
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proclaims is possible. Why? Because the
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church is a family. And so, in our
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passage tonight in Mark 3, we're going
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to talk about what it means to live not
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only as sons and daughters of the king,
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but as brothers and sisters of one
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another as we follow Christ together.
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So, I want to read uh Mark chapter 3:es
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31-35.
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and um and then I will I'll pray that
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God would speak to us through his word
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tonight. So Mark chapter 3 starting in
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verse 31.
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And Jesus' mother and his brothers came
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and standing outside they sent to him
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and called to him. And a crowd was
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sitting around him and they said to him,
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"Your mother and your brothers are
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outside seeking you." And he answered
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them, "Who are my mother and my
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brothers?" And looking about at those
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who sat around him, he said, "Here are
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my mother and my brothers. For whoever
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does the will of God, he is my brother
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and sister and mother." Let me pray for
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us. God, we come before you as as people
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who we feel the ache of loneliness in
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our own lives.
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We've all had that regular experience of
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uh laying on a couch or a bed and
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scrolling through social media and
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feeling more alone, more isolated every
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second. And we long for community
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because we were made for community, but
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it's hard. Lord, we confess that so
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often we we settle for digital
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connectedness rather than deep authentic
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relationships.
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And we pray that you would teach us from
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your word what it means to really
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function as family to not try and do
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this alone, but to follow Christ um
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linking arm in- arm with brothers and
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sisters who are committed to you but
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also committed to one another. Speak to
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us tonight. Guide us, Lord. We just open
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ourselves up to you. Here we are. Work
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deeply in our hearts. We pray this in
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your son's name. Amen. Amen. All right.
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So the context for this passage in Mark
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3 is that Jesus is on mission. He's
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bringing the kingdom of God. The kingdom
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is breaking in. It's happening in the in
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the chapter right before this through
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healings and miracles and teaching.
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Jesus is saying follow me. The crowds
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are gathering around him. His disciples
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are being formed. But then when you get
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to Mark 3, you have this scene where
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Jesus is sitting with his disciples and
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a large crowd is surrounding them. So
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that's the context. Jesus is lounging
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with his disciples, but this big crowd
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is surrounding all of them. And then
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let's just walk through this passage
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quickly and I'll unpack it. So look at
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verse 31 again. It says, "And his
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mother," it's talking about Jesus here,
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"and his mother and his brothers came
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and standing outside they sent and
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called to him." Now, pause for a second
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here because uh it's it's really
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interesting to think about like Jesus
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had a family like Jesus had siblings
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even. And we often kind of forget about
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this. We don't think about that Jesus is
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fully human. And yet, we're reminded in
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passages like this of his mother and his
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brothers. So, uh, Jesus mother Mary, of
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course, I mean, she would have probably
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just been in her mid4s at this point,
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like Jesus is in his early 30s. She was
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a young teenager, most likely when she
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had him. So, his mother, Mary, is there.
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It doesn't mention anything about his
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dad. You know, we don't know what
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happened to Jesus's dad, Joseph. Uh, the
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last he was mentioned was when Jesus was
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12 years old, but it never says anything
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about him after that. We don't know.
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It's most likely that he died. I mean,
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the average age in biblical times that
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people would live to is actually 25.
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Most people wouldn't live very late in
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life anyways. And so, he he most likely
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died or perhaps um Mark doesn't mention
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uh him because they want to focus on
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Jesus's heavenly father. We don't know.
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But his mother is there and then his
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siblings. So it says Jesus mother and
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brothers, but when it says brothers in
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the New Testament, it usually means like
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brothers and sisters. So it's it's
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similar to like in Spanish when you say
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Manos, that can mean brothers and
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sisters together. And that's what he
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means here. It's talking about his
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brothers, but as we read later on, it
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mentions sisters as well. So Jesus had
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brothers and sisters. And we even get a
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little more detail of this later on in
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Mark chapter 6:3 where someone says this
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about Jesus. Is not this the carpenter,
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the son of Mary and brother of James and
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Joseph and Judas and Simon. And are not
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his sisters here with us? So here's what
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we learn about Jesus. Jesus had four
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brothers and at least two sisters. And
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Jesus was the oldest, of course, since
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Mary was a virgin when he was born. And
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he has all these younger siblings. I
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mean, they would have mostly probably
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been in their 20s here, probably in
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their uh late teens. And it's it's fun
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to think about Jesus as older brother,
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right? Like at least with four younger
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brothers and two little sisters, Jesus
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must have been the best big brother in
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the world, right? just like always there
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protecting, helping out, never giving
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wedgies or anything like that. Like just
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the best older brother. But even then, I
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mean, at first, at least we learn in the
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New Testament that at least some of his
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siblings didn't believe that he was the
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Messiah. I I mean, like I have an older
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brother and if my older brother came to
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me and said like, "Hey, I got to let you
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know like I'm the Messiah, like I'm the
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son of God." I would have punched him.
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LIKE THAT'S HOW WE OPERATE. Like no way
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I would have believed him. I got way too
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much dirt on him. I could disprove that
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easily. And Jesus's brothers and
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sisters, it seems that at least some of
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them, they didn't believe at first. In
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fact, James wouldn't James, the brother
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of Jesus, wouldn't believe that Jesus is
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the Messiah until after the
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resurrection. That's what con that
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that's what convinced him. So that's
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Jesus's family. Okay, his mother, his
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brothers, his sisters, and here they're
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trying to get to him. And so look at
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verse 32. It says, "The crowd was
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sitting around him and they said to him,
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"Your mother and your brothers are
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outside seeking you." Now pause right
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there.
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What do you think would happen in this
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situation? Jesus with his disciples, big
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crowd outside. They say, "Hey, your
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mom's outside. Your brothers and sisters
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are here. They want to see you." What
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what I assume would have happened, I
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would have thought Jesus would have
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said, "Part the sea of people." Like,
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"Let mom come in. Bring my siblings in.
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Like, those are my people. Let them come
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right in." That's not what Jesus does.
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No. Jesus uses this as an opportunity to
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teach one of the most powerful truths
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about the church that you'll ever hear.
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Look at verse 33. And he said, he he
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answered them, "Who are my mother and my
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brothers?" And looking about at those
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who sat around him, he said, "Here are
00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.630
my mother and my brothers. For whoever
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does the will of God, he is my brother
00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:04.870
and sister and mother." So Jesus redefes
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the church as a family and in doing so
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points us to the community that we all
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long for and that we were made for. And
00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:16.710
so I want to spend the rest of our time
00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.670
really just unpacking three truths from
00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:21.190
these verses, from this lesson that
00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:23.590
Jesus teaches here. And the first is
00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.870
this. It's simply that the church is a
00:12:26.880 --> 00:12:29.990
family. That's what Jesus is saying. His
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:32.470
followers are not just a group or a club
00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:35.910
or an organization. They're a family.
00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:38.150
The church is not a building that you go
00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:40.790
to. It's a family that you're a part of.
00:12:40.800 --> 00:12:42.310
The church is not an event that you
00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:43.910
attend. It's a family that sticks
00:12:43.920 --> 00:12:46.870
together no matter what. And the Bible
00:12:46.880 --> 00:12:49.030
actually gives us a lot of metaphors for
00:12:49.040 --> 00:12:51.190
the church. The church is like the body
00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.990
of Christ or it's the bride of Christ or
00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:56.389
it's the flock of the shepherd. The
00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.069
church is like a city on a hill. The
00:12:58.079 --> 00:13:00.230
church is like a a temple filled with
00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.190
the spirit of God. But I would say the
00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:06.230
most powerful and most common image in
00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.990
the New Testament is that the church is
00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:09.829
a family.
00:13:09.839 --> 00:13:11.750
And and I don't think that we feel the
00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:14.389
weight of this today because once again
00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:17.030
we live in such an individualist society
00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:19.350
that really doesn't prize family or
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.310
group. We see the individual before a
00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:24.870
group identity. So I mean think about it
00:13:24.880 --> 00:13:26.550
like this. We I would say we live in the
00:13:26.560 --> 00:13:28.230
most individualistic society in the
00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:31.509
history of the world. And what I mean by
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:33.509
that is if if somebody comes up to you
00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:36.150
and says hey um tell me about yourself.
00:13:36.160 --> 00:13:38.150
you'll probably tell them your first
00:13:38.160 --> 00:13:40.470
name, like where you're going to school
00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:41.670
and what you're majoring in, what you
00:13:41.680 --> 00:13:42.870
want to do with your life, things like
00:13:42.880 --> 00:13:46.870
that. Um, that's very different than if
00:13:46.880 --> 00:13:49.350
if you went to someone in the Messiah
00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:51.670
tribe in Kenya and said, "Tell me about
00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:53.829
yourself." They would say, "Oh, I'm the
00:13:53.839 --> 00:13:55.350
son of so and so who's the son of so-
00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:56.949
and so, and we're a part we're a part of
00:13:56.959 --> 00:13:59.110
this tribe." So, we we live in an
00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:00.870
individualistic society where we think
00:14:00.880 --> 00:14:02.870
of the individual first and then
00:14:02.880 --> 00:14:04.629
community is kind of like an accessory
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:08.389
to that. A collectivist society is very
00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:10.230
different. They think of the community
00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.230
first and understand the individual in
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:14.790
light of that. So another example of
00:14:14.800 --> 00:14:16.710
that is you know people say today be
00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.230
true to yourself, be true to yourself
00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.790
all the time. You hear that? I'm again
00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:22.790
if you go to the Messiah tribe in Kenya
00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:24.230
and say be true to yourself, they would
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:26.790
say why wouldn't I be true to my tribe?
00:14:26.800 --> 00:14:28.150
Like why wouldn't I be true to my
00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:30.710
parents or my siblings first? Why
00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.829
wouldn't I be true to my ancestors or or
00:14:33.839 --> 00:14:35.750
who's coming after me? like that would
00:14:35.760 --> 00:14:38.230
seem very strange to them because we
00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:41.189
live in such an individualistic society.
00:14:41.199 --> 00:14:44.150
And so we see any kind of group, any
00:14:44.160 --> 00:14:46.870
kind of a community as something that we
00:14:46.880 --> 00:14:49.990
kind of tailor to um to our own
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.629
individual preferences. So we think of
00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.030
schools that way. I'm I'm going to this
00:14:55.040 --> 00:14:57.590
school so I can use it for my individual
00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.750
trajectory. We look at churches that way
00:14:59.760 --> 00:15:01.430
as another consumer good that I can
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.069
employ for my spiritual life. We even
00:15:04.079 --> 00:15:05.750
think of family that way. Oftentimes
00:15:05.760 --> 00:15:07.910
it's a safety net, a support system for
00:15:07.920 --> 00:15:10.470
what I want to do with my life. But in
00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:11.750
the first century, it wasn't like this
00:15:11.760 --> 00:15:15.110
at all. Family was everything. The
00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:18.069
disciples were in a in a in a society
00:15:18.079 --> 00:15:19.509
where family was everything. And
00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.670
families would work together. It wasn't
00:15:21.680 --> 00:15:24.710
like mom or dad goes off to work. The
00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:27.590
whole family would work together. They
00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.990
lived together. multiple multiple
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.470
generations uh that are all living in
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:35.350
the same household together. They cared
00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.990
for one another as they grew old. Um
00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:39.670
their honor and their status was
00:15:39.680 --> 00:15:41.590
inevitably bound up with their family
00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:43.990
and their reputation. The bond of family
00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:46.790
was unbreakable in this society. And
00:15:46.800 --> 00:15:50.550
Jesus is saying the church is family.
00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:54.629
The church is like that. And you know,
00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.790
this talks about being in the family of
00:15:56.800 --> 00:15:58.629
God, but it doesn't necessarily talk
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:00.389
about how we get into the family of God.
00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.550
So, let me talk about that for a minute.
00:16:02.560 --> 00:16:04.230
Jesus says, "My mother and my brother."
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:05.990
He's describing how you function in the
00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:07.910
family, not how you get into it. So,
00:16:07.920 --> 00:16:10.230
here's the thing. We are not born into
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:12.949
the family of God. God has no
00:16:12.959 --> 00:16:14.790
grandchildren.
00:16:14.800 --> 00:16:18.389
We are born into sin and we have to be
00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:20.710
adopted into the family of God. That's
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.269
how we get into the family of God
00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.030
through adoption. Scripture says that
00:16:25.040 --> 00:16:26.790
apart from God, we are orphans. We're
00:16:26.800 --> 00:16:29.030
like kids who rejected the love of
00:16:29.040 --> 00:16:31.829
parents and ran off on our own valition.
00:16:31.839 --> 00:16:33.509
And then we find ourselves alone and
00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.629
broken and without hope. And yet God
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:40.310
looks on us with compassion and mercy.
00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:43.590
He sets his affection and love on us to
00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.749
the point that he adopts us into his
00:16:45.759 --> 00:16:48.150
family. Ephesians 1 says that we are
00:16:48.160 --> 00:16:51.269
adopted by the blood of Christ into the
00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.150
family of God. That's why that we have a
00:16:54.160 --> 00:16:57.269
bond that's stronger than DNA because
00:16:57.279 --> 00:16:59.590
it's the blood of Christ that binds us
00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:01.990
together. And so that means that through
00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:03.829
the cross, all our guilt and shame is
00:17:03.839 --> 00:17:05.750
dealt with. And not only are we made
00:17:05.760 --> 00:17:07.829
right with God, we are adopted into his
00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.549
family, the church. So there are
00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.590
vertical and horizontal aspects of our
00:17:13.600 --> 00:17:15.110
reconciliation and those are
00:17:15.120 --> 00:17:16.870
inseparable.
00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.909
By the cross we're reconciled to God and
00:17:19.919 --> 00:17:22.710
we're reconciled to one another into a
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.429
family. And so it's not as if God saves
00:17:25.439 --> 00:17:27.829
a bunch of individuals and then later
00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.430
thinks, you know, I should have them get
00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.909
together on Sundays. That would be nice.
00:17:31.919 --> 00:17:33.270
That would help their individual
00:17:33.280 --> 00:17:34.789
spirituality.
00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:36.789
No. The good news is that we are made
00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.750
right with God. and at the same time
00:17:39.760 --> 00:17:43.190
adopted into his family.
00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.390
And so that's why in this passage, Jesus
00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.870
actually prioritizes his spiritual
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.310
family over his biological family
00:17:52.320 --> 00:17:54.310
because it's eternal. Because we have a
00:17:54.320 --> 00:17:56.870
bond that's stronger than DNA. And that
00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.710
should be true for us. Biological family
00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.710
is amazing. It's a gift from God. I'm
00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:02.710
not saying anything negative about
00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:04.470
biological family. It's amazing. our
00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.070
parents, our our siblings, kids. Praise
00:18:08.080 --> 00:18:10.549
God for all of that.
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:11.990
But what we're seeing here is that the
00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:15.669
church is our ultimate family.
00:18:15.679 --> 00:18:17.909
And so, how does this play out
00:18:17.919 --> 00:18:19.909
practically for us? Well, let me go back
00:18:19.919 --> 00:18:22.470
to what I said about my mom's family,
00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.350
that it's messy. And and I've seen that
00:18:25.360 --> 00:18:27.350
in my mom's family, but on honestly,
00:18:27.360 --> 00:18:29.190
I've seen I've seen that in my dad's
00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.990
family. I see it in my family. Family's
00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.070
hard because it's it's made up of people
00:18:34.080 --> 00:18:35.830
who are sinners, who are broken, who
00:18:35.840 --> 00:18:38.310
make mistakes, who hurt the very people
00:18:38.320 --> 00:18:40.950
that we love the most in our lives.
00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:44.549
Family is messy, and yet family sticks
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.430
together. And so, listen, church is
00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:49.750
going to be messy.
00:18:49.760 --> 00:18:52.549
And and when when people have this kind
00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:55.110
of when they idealize the church, I need
00:18:55.120 --> 00:18:57.190
to find a perfect church. And I tell
00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:58.789
people, if you find a perfect church,
00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:00.150
don't go there because you will mess it
00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:01.110
up.
00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:04.630
Okay, you will mess it up and we're all
00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:07.270
broken. So, the church isn't a group of
00:19:07.280 --> 00:19:09.669
people who we've got it all together and
00:19:09.679 --> 00:19:11.270
you better get your act together to be
00:19:11.280 --> 00:19:13.430
able to join us. No, the church is
00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.029
people who are messed up, who are
00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.950
broken, but who are being put back
00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.430
together by Jesus and who are committing
00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:21.909
to him together. We're not the answer.
00:19:21.919 --> 00:19:24.390
He is. We're just beggars who have found
00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:25.990
bread and want to tell the world about
00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.150
it. And so we need to be able to
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:30.630
recognize that church is messy. It's
00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:34.070
hard. And and idealism, I would say, is
00:19:34.080 --> 00:19:37.430
the enemy of authentic community.
00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:39.590
When you think uh when you have this
00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:42.710
idealistic view of community, like I
00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.110
just need to find a church where people
00:19:45.120 --> 00:19:48.230
get me and people are like me and they
00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.070
and they understand all the things I do
00:19:50.080 --> 00:19:51.990
and they like the same things that I do.
00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.029
And then you like show up to church or
00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.990
even even with like a campus ministry,
00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:00.870
you show up to um challenge and and it's
00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.870
like ah I that kind of that kind of
00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:06.390
person is weird or that person's
00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.230
personality kind of rubs me the wrong
00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.070
way or like I disagree politically with
00:20:12.080 --> 00:20:15.590
this person or I don't I'm not sure if I
00:20:15.600 --> 00:20:17.590
want to be in the same group as that
00:20:17.600 --> 00:20:19.909
person or somebody says something that
00:20:19.919 --> 00:20:24.310
offends you. What do you do in that? And
00:20:24.320 --> 00:20:26.630
and here's the thing. When when
00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.430
community gets hard, you have two
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:33.190
options. To bail and either isolate or
00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:34.870
go find another community. I'm just
00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:35.830
going to go to the church down the
00:20:35.840 --> 00:20:36.789
street. I'm going to go to the other
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:40.310
campus ministry. You can either bail or
00:20:40.320 --> 00:20:43.190
you can stick with it and learn how to
00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:46.630
mature both personally and in community
00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:48.789
to be able to say, "Okay, this person
00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:50.390
rubs me the wrong way." What does it
00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.390
look like for me to love that person and
00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.310
to recognize I probably rub some people
00:20:54.320 --> 00:20:57.190
the wrong way myself when this person
00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:59.669
hurt me? Rather than saying, "I'm out of
00:20:59.679 --> 00:21:01.350
here and I'm going to go find a group
00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:03.510
where nobody ever hurts me," that I say,
00:21:03.520 --> 00:21:04.710
"I'm going to acknowledge that and I'm
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:05.990
going to seek reconciliation the way
00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.830
that the Bible talks about it.
00:21:07.840 --> 00:21:10.230
right? Um or somebody says something you
00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.310
think that's not in line with scripture
00:21:12.320 --> 00:21:14.070
and rather than just criticizing that
00:21:14.080 --> 00:21:16.710
person and leaving you think, well maybe
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:18.310
I'm going to figure out how to talk with
00:21:18.320 --> 00:21:19.830
that person and and try and give them
00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:21.350
the benefit of the doubt and ask them a
00:21:21.360 --> 00:21:24.390
question so that I can commit to it. So
00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.630
family is messy but sticks together.
00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.430
Christian community is going to be messy
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.110
but we learn we have to learn how to
00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:32.710
commit, how to work through difficult
00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.029
things together because we're family. So
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.710
that's the first truth from this passage
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.590
that the church is family. The second is
00:21:39.600 --> 00:21:42.710
that our family table is open to anyone
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.870
and we're not an exclusive club. When
00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.029
Jesus, this is what Jesus says for
00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:49.590
whoever does the will of God, he is my
00:21:49.600 --> 00:21:51.590
brother and sister and mother. He's
00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:54.549
opening the door to anyone. And I
00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.710
actually think that community is one of
00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:58.710
the greatest opportunities to reach
00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:01.110
non-Christians right now. I mean, people
00:22:01.120 --> 00:22:03.669
are hungry for spirituality. They're
00:22:03.679 --> 00:22:06.390
hungry for God, but they're also hungry
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.870
for relationships and embodied
00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.789
spirituality.
00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:12.870
And so, I think being able to invite
00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.590
people into community is one of the best
00:22:15.600 --> 00:22:17.990
ways that we can show off the good news
00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.549
of the gospel. I mean, people are
00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:23.909
longing for for spaces to connect with
00:22:23.919 --> 00:22:25.750
other people. And this is what we do as
00:22:25.760 --> 00:22:29.110
the church. And it shouldn't surprise us
00:22:29.120 --> 00:22:31.110
if people are attracted to the community
00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:33.830
that Christianity provides. Jesus said
00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:35.350
that they will know that we are
00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:38.070
Christians by our love for one another.
00:22:38.080 --> 00:22:39.990
Did you ever notice that? Of course,
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.750
we're supposed to love non-Christians.
00:22:41.760 --> 00:22:43.909
We're supposed to love our enemies. But
00:22:43.919 --> 00:22:45.669
he says they will know you're Christians
00:22:45.679 --> 00:22:48.710
by the way that you love one another.
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.430
So if people see like, man, these
00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.310
followers of Jesus like they care for
00:22:54.320 --> 00:22:57.430
each other. They love each other. They
00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:58.950
unite even though they come from
00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:00.549
different cultural backgrounds and have
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.950
different political approaches and yet
00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.110
they they care for one another. That's
00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:06.549
going to draw other people into that. I
00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.270
want a community like that. And Jesus
00:23:09.280 --> 00:23:11.029
says that when the world sees the unity
00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.789
of the church that they will be drawn to
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:16.470
Christ and and so our table is open to
00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:18.149
anyone. It's not just that our table is
00:23:18.159 --> 00:23:19.510
open and we're waiting for anyone to
00:23:19.520 --> 00:23:21.750
show up. We want to go to the lonely and
00:23:21.760 --> 00:23:24.149
the isolated believing what Psalm 68
00:23:24.159 --> 00:23:28.789
says that God sets the lonely in family.
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.270
We believe that. So, we want to go after
00:23:31.280 --> 00:23:34.710
people and bring them in. I think about
00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:36.789
I was having a conversation at the Hope
00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:38.310
Center. Hope Center is um our church
00:23:38.320 --> 00:23:40.149
building where we serve meals to the
00:23:40.159 --> 00:23:42.390
homeless um breakfast and dinner Monday
00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:44.710
through Friday. And I was talking with
00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:46.710
this woman. She's from Guatemala,
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.110
doesn't speak any English. and I'm
00:23:49.120 --> 00:23:51.190
trying to learn Spanish. And so I was I
00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.990
was uh having a conversation with her as
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.390
as well as I could and she told me that
00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:58.230
she's from Guatemala. And I asked her if
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:00.310
she if her family was still in Guatemala
00:24:00.320 --> 00:24:03.830
or if they're in the States with her and
00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:05.510
we'd been having a conversation looking
00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:07.510
at each other. And when I asked her that
00:24:07.520 --> 00:24:09.350
she looked down she said no tango
00:24:09.360 --> 00:24:13.430
familia meaning I don't have family.
00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:15.750
And the way that I could just see her
00:24:15.760 --> 00:24:19.669
soul crushed even acknowledging that no
00:24:19.679 --> 00:24:21.669
tango familia
00:24:21.679 --> 00:24:24.630
was so heartbreaking for me to see. Like
00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:26.149
this was a woman who not only needs
00:24:26.159 --> 00:24:29.350
Jesus in her life but who needs people
00:24:29.360 --> 00:24:31.909
who care for her and will pray for her
00:24:31.919 --> 00:24:34.390
and walk with her and support her and
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:36.789
help her. And that's what God has given
00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:39.909
us in the church. She's called us to
00:24:39.919 --> 00:24:42.149
love one another in this way that the
00:24:42.159 --> 00:24:44.310
church is a family. There's a seat at
00:24:44.320 --> 00:24:47.110
the table. And so we we want to go and
00:24:47.120 --> 00:24:50.710
invite people into that. So here's a
00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:52.070
third truth then. The church is a
00:24:52.080 --> 00:24:53.990
family. There's a seat at the table for
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.269
everyone. And then third, we're not just
00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.510
sons and daughters. Here's what I mean
00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:02.149
by that. Because of the gospel, we are
00:25:02.159 --> 00:25:03.990
sons and daughters of the king. This is
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.750
glorious. that your identity is not in
00:25:07.760 --> 00:25:09.669
what you do for God. It's in what he's
00:25:09.679 --> 00:25:12.310
done for you. You are defined not by
00:25:12.320 --> 00:25:15.350
your past, not by your future. You are
00:25:15.360 --> 00:25:17.990
defined by Jesus Christ and his love for
00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:20.310
you. Your identity is that you are a
00:25:20.320 --> 00:25:22.870
beloved child of God. That's beautiful.
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.909
But we can't stop there because in God's
00:25:25.919 --> 00:25:28.950
family, we're sons and daughters, but
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:32.070
we're also brothers and sisters. And
00:25:32.080 --> 00:25:34.149
Jesus teaches this. That's what he's
00:25:34.159 --> 00:25:37.350
saying here. He points at his disciples
00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:39.909
and he said, "These are my brothers and
00:25:39.919 --> 00:25:41.669
my sisters." He's saying, "You are
00:25:41.679 --> 00:25:44.310
brothers and sisters to one another."
00:25:44.320 --> 00:25:46.149
And the Apostle Paul teaches this as
00:25:46.159 --> 00:25:49.029
well in 1 Timothy 5:1. He says, "Do not
00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:50.710
rebuke an older man, but encourage him
00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:52.470
as you would a father, younger men as
00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:54.230
brothers, older women as mothers,
00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:55.669
younger women as sisters, in all
00:25:55.679 --> 00:25:57.750
purity." So the church is a family.
00:25:57.760 --> 00:25:59.669
We're sons and daughters. We're brothers
00:25:59.679 --> 00:26:02.310
and sisters and we aim to grow into
00:26:02.320 --> 00:26:05.669
being spiritual fathers and mothers.
00:26:05.679 --> 00:26:09.269
And so there's a calling here to be
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:11.269
brothers and sisters to one another that
00:26:11.279 --> 00:26:14.390
we really need to listen to. And I don't
00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.990
think that you feel the weight of Jesus
00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.310
saying that we are brothers and sisters
00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:22.950
to one another. And to help you feel the
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:24.390
weight, I want to read a quote to you
00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:26.710
from a New Testament scholar. This guy's
00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:28.789
legit, okay? He teaches at Biola
00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:31.029
University. Joseph Helerman. He wrote a
00:26:31.039 --> 00:26:32.630
book called When the Church Was Family.
00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:34.710
And here's what he says. In the New
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.669
Testament world, the closest family
00:26:37.679 --> 00:26:39.909
bond, okay, pause right there. What do
00:26:39.919 --> 00:26:42.710
you think is the closest, most intimate
00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.029
bond in the world today? I know what you
00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:46.310
think it is. You think it's a romantic
00:26:46.320 --> 00:26:47.990
relationship. You think it's marriage.
00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:50.070
Listen to what Joseph Helerman says. In
00:26:50.080 --> 00:26:52.310
the New Testament world, the closest
00:26:52.320 --> 00:26:54.390
family bond was not the bond of
00:26:54.400 --> 00:26:57.110
marriage. It was the bond between
00:26:57.120 --> 00:26:58.870
siblings.
00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:00.789
Did you catch that? I'll tell you this.
00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:02.470
When I first read that sentence, I
00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:05.029
didn't believe him. No way. No way.
00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:07.029
Okay. New Testament scholar trying to
00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.789
say something new to get, you know, be
00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:10.470
prestigious or something like that.
00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.830
Like, no way. He literally said the
00:27:13.840 --> 00:27:17.190
closest family bond in the ancient world
00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:19.990
was not husband and wife, brother and
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:22.070
brother, brother and sister, sister and
00:27:22.080 --> 00:27:24.470
sister. the sibling relationship was the
00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.149
closest family bond. I didn't believe
00:27:26.159 --> 00:27:29.029
him, but he stacks up all this evidence.
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:30.870
So, first of all, they thought of
00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:32.950
marriage very different then than we
00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.269
think of it now. So, they had arranged
00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.870
marriages. Um, and the the goal of of
00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:40.870
marriage for them was not intimacy,
00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:42.789
people falling in falling in love
00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.950
together. Honestly, it was a legal
00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:47.269
social contract between two families
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.350
that would ensure the status and the
00:27:49.360 --> 00:27:52.149
continuation of those families. So you
00:27:52.159 --> 00:27:54.149
take two people, they get married and
00:27:54.159 --> 00:27:56.230
they learn to love each other. Uh they
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:57.510
actually stayed married a lot longer
00:27:57.520 --> 00:27:58.950
than people in our society. That's a
00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:01.029
whole another conversation. But they
00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:04.149
didn't think about marriage in that way.
00:28:04.159 --> 00:28:06.870
And so so marriage wasn't they didn't
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:09.269
necessarily view it that way as as the
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:11.269
most intimate relationship to begin
00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:13.510
with. But then brothers and sisters
00:28:13.520 --> 00:28:16.230
unlike husband and wife actually share
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:19.590
the same blood. you actually do share
00:28:19.600 --> 00:28:22.630
the same DNA as brothers and sisters.
00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:24.549
And then Helerman shows there's all
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:26.710
these examples from the ancient world
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:29.350
where when forced to choose, people
00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:31.350
would choose their loyalty to their
00:28:31.360 --> 00:28:34.549
sibling over loyalty to their spouse.
00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:35.990
Now, I'm not saying that that's what you
00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:37.510
should do today. I'm just saying that's
00:28:37.520 --> 00:28:39.190
how they thought of things then. And
00:28:39.200 --> 00:28:40.630
then there's other practical things like
00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:42.310
in the ancient world that when people
00:28:42.320 --> 00:28:44.070
would go on vacations, they would often
00:28:44.080 --> 00:28:46.470
go with their siblings, not with their
00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.070
spouses.
00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:52.149
So his point was his point is that in
00:28:52.159 --> 00:28:55.029
the ancient world sibling bond was the
00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.750
was the um strongest relational bond.
00:28:59.760 --> 00:29:01.909
And so he says it was not the bond of
00:29:01.919 --> 00:29:03.190
marriage. It was the bond between
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:06.149
siblings. Now I share all that so that
00:29:06.159 --> 00:29:08.389
you can understand the background and
00:29:08.399 --> 00:29:10.549
hear the weight of Jesus's statement
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:12.549
when he says you are my brothers and
00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:14.149
sisters
00:29:14.159 --> 00:29:16.710
and you are brothers and sisters to one
00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.230
another
00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.630
he's not talking about ah you're kind of
00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:22.230
close you can ditch each other if you
00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:24.630
want like what like he's saying you are
00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:28.789
bound together by blood for life it's a
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.110
powerful thing to be brothers and
00:29:31.120 --> 00:29:34.070
sisters and so I want to challenge you I
00:29:34.080 --> 00:29:36.230
want to challenge you to take seriously
00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:39.990
community to take seriously um your not
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:43.029
only your invitation but your obligation
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.909
to brothers and sisters in Christ. You
00:29:45.919 --> 00:29:48.549
cannot follow Jesus alone. You are meant
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:51.110
to do so in the context of Christian
00:29:51.120 --> 00:29:53.190
family. You need to be doing the one
00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:56.149
anothers with other people. confessing
00:29:56.159 --> 00:29:58.310
your sins to one another, encouraging
00:29:58.320 --> 00:30:00.630
one another, rejoicing with one another,
00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:02.630
grieving with one another, praying with
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:05.110
one another. We can't do these things by
00:30:05.120 --> 00:30:07.510
oursel. You can't do these things with
00:30:07.520 --> 00:30:10.710
AI. You need each other. We have been
00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:14.070
adopted into a family. And so, that's my
00:30:14.080 --> 00:30:16.870
hope for us is that we follow Christ,
00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:19.669
but we do it recognizing that we've been
00:30:19.679 --> 00:30:21.669
reconciled to God and we've been
00:30:21.679 --> 00:30:25.669
reconciled into a community.
00:30:25.679 --> 00:30:27.909
I w to I want to shift gears now and and
00:30:27.919 --> 00:30:31.590
and uh start to close. Can I say that as
00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:33.350
a preacher? Okay, I'm not closing, but
00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:37.269
I'm like I'm turning there. Okay. Um I
00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:39.269
want to shift gears and talk about
00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:41.350
another family. Uh you know, I started
00:30:41.360 --> 00:30:42.870
off telling you about my mom's family,
00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:45.190
but I want to tell you about a family
00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:48.230
from a story that Jesus tells in the
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.710
Gospel of Luke. And it's a story of
00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:53.830
father of a father and two sons.
00:30:53.840 --> 00:30:57.510
And what happens in this story is that
00:30:57.520 --> 00:31:00.310
the younger son comes to the father and
00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:01.510
says,"I want you to give me my
00:31:01.520 --> 00:31:04.230
inheritance now." Which is just the most
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:06.310
insulting thing you could possibly
00:31:06.320 --> 00:31:08.310
imagine. Like everybody knows you get
00:31:08.320 --> 00:31:10.549
the inheritance when your father dies or
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:12.549
when your parents die. And he comes and
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:13.510
says, "Hey, will you give me my
00:31:13.520 --> 00:31:15.269
inheritance now? I'm over it." He
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.590
basically says, "I I just want you to
00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:20.389
die. Like I don't want you. I just want
00:31:20.399 --> 00:31:22.549
what you can give me." And so the father
00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:25.830
gives him the money and and what he does
00:31:25.840 --> 00:31:28.710
is he he wanders off and he squanders
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.710
it. He does what the world tells us to
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.029
do. He follows his desire. If it tastes
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.470
good, eat it. If you want to drink, if
00:31:34.480 --> 00:31:35.750
it's drinking is going to make you feel
00:31:35.760 --> 00:31:38.070
good, drink it. If you're if you're if
00:31:38.080 --> 00:31:40.470
it looks pleasurable, go follow your
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:42.549
desires. He does all of that. And where
00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:44.789
does it lead him? It leads him into the
00:31:44.799 --> 00:31:47.430
pits of life. And literally into the
00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:49.830
pits where he's feeding pigs. He's run
00:31:49.840 --> 00:31:52.950
out of money. He has no food left and he
00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.630
longs to even eat the pig's food. And at
00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:59.590
his lowest of low, he thinks, "Man, if I
00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:01.269
could just be a servant back in my
00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.750
father's house. If I could just be a
00:32:03.760 --> 00:32:06.310
servant and go back to that." And so he
00:32:06.320 --> 00:32:10.070
gets up and he he starts walking back. I
00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:13.029
mean, just it's a walk of shame like
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.509
he's rejected his father. He thought he
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:17.190
could go off and run things on his own
00:32:17.200 --> 00:32:19.590
way and do it and it's completely ruined
00:32:19.600 --> 00:32:21.750
his life. And so he's walking back. I
00:32:21.760 --> 00:32:23.590
imagine him walking back with his head
00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:27.190
hanging low, just covered in shame. And
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:29.909
finally he looks up and what does he
00:32:29.919 --> 00:32:32.870
see? His father. And not only is his
00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:35.350
father coming towards him, it's not that
00:32:35.360 --> 00:32:37.509
the father's just waiting for him to
00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:40.950
crawl on his knees and beg to to earn
00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:43.190
back his approval. He looks and he sees
00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:45.430
his father not just coming towards him
00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:48.310
but running towards him which would be
00:32:48.320 --> 00:32:51.190
shocking for uh such a dignified person
00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:53.830
in their society to be running and he's
00:32:53.840 --> 00:32:56.389
running towards the son and he goes
00:32:56.399 --> 00:32:59.750
towards the the son and he embraces him
00:32:59.760 --> 00:33:02.470
and the son says to him I don't even
00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:05.350
deserve to be your son
00:33:05.360 --> 00:33:08.310
says let me just be a servant and you
00:33:08.320 --> 00:33:10.470
know what the father does he brings him
00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:11.750
in he brings him back to the house he
00:33:11.760 --> 00:33:13.830
gathers everyone around. He says, "Hey,
00:33:13.840 --> 00:33:16.149
kill the fattened calf. Strike up the
00:33:16.159 --> 00:33:18.070
band. Get the best food and the drinks
00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:20.630
out. We're having a party." Why? Because
00:33:20.640 --> 00:33:24.950
my son has come home. He not only says
00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.990
his identity to his son, he declares it
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:30.630
before everyone because he comes home to
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:32.950
the father. Now, that's not the end of
00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:34.789
the story, though. That's the younger
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:37.269
brother. This story is actually about
00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:38.870
two different ways to reject God,
00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:41.590
though. There's also the older brother.
00:33:41.600 --> 00:33:43.909
And the older brother, when he hears
00:33:43.919 --> 00:33:47.190
about the younger brother coming back,
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:49.190
he's far off. All of a sudden, he hears
00:33:49.200 --> 00:33:51.669
the noise of the party. He hears that
00:33:51.679 --> 00:33:54.389
his his younger brother has come back
00:33:54.399 --> 00:33:56.789
and and and he doesn't like it. He's
00:33:56.799 --> 00:33:59.269
I've been here all along. I do this, I
00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.269
do that, I do everything here. I don't
00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:03.509
get a party for me. And you know what it
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:05.430
says next? This is the part that most
00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:08.230
people miss in the story. The father
00:34:08.240 --> 00:34:11.430
comes out to the older brother. He
00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:13.109
doesn't wait. He does the same thing
00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:15.510
that he did to the younger brother who
00:34:15.520 --> 00:34:17.430
wandered off and squandered everything.
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:19.990
The father goes out and he pursues the
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.550
older brother and he says, "You're my
00:34:22.560 --> 00:34:25.430
son. You have everything that belongs to
00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:28.230
me. It's yours."
00:34:28.240 --> 00:34:30.230
And what we learn from this story is
00:34:30.240 --> 00:34:33.109
that there's actually two ways to reject
00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:36.069
Christ. Most of us know that you can
00:34:36.079 --> 00:34:38.950
reject Christ through reckless rebellion
00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:40.790
by doing what the younger brother did,
00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:43.190
following your desires, having fun,
00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:46.149
doing things your way, kind of defining
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:48.389
right and wrong on your own. That's what
00:34:48.399 --> 00:34:49.909
a lot of people on your campuses are
00:34:49.919 --> 00:34:51.750
doing. They're just following their
00:34:51.760 --> 00:34:53.510
desire. You know that you can reject
00:34:53.520 --> 00:34:55.270
Christ through reckless rebellion. But
00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:56.950
what we learned from the older brother
00:34:56.960 --> 00:34:58.630
is that you can also reject Christ
00:34:58.640 --> 00:35:01.109
through self-righteous religion. Look
00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:04.870
what I've done. Look how good I am. Look
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:07.349
at look at all that I deserve. I'm
00:35:07.359 --> 00:35:09.750
entitled to this because of who I am and
00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:13.670
what I've done. And yet what we see is
00:35:13.680 --> 00:35:17.910
the father pursuing them both in grace.
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:20.310
And that's what we see in the scriptures
00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:23.430
of the father that our heavenly father
00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:26.790
who looks on us in our sin whether it's
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:29.190
running from God in reckless rebellion
00:35:29.200 --> 00:35:32.230
or whether it's it's using God in
00:35:32.240 --> 00:35:34.790
self-righteous religion
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:38.870
and God pursues us with love and mercy
00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:41.910
and says come home. You're my sons and
00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:44.230
my daughters. I've brought you into my
00:35:44.240 --> 00:35:47.670
family. There's a place at the table for
00:35:47.680 --> 00:35:50.790
you. And that's the invitation for you
00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:53.270
tonight is to come home to the Lord.
00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:57.030
Come home to God. I want to tell you a
00:35:57.040 --> 00:35:59.190
story. Um
00:35:59.200 --> 00:36:01.510
this this took place there. Um there's a
00:36:01.520 --> 00:36:04.150
mother and a daughter living outside of
00:36:04.160 --> 00:36:06.790
a village um living in a village just
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:10.069
outside of Rio di Janeiro in Brazil. And
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:11.990
this young girl, her name is Cristiana.
00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:14.390
She's 17 years old. Her mother's name is
00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:17.910
Maria. And Cristiana had had enough of
00:36:17.920 --> 00:36:20.870
this small village and she ran away. She
00:36:20.880 --> 00:36:22.390
ran away from home. She went into the
00:36:22.400 --> 00:36:26.710
big city, Rio, uh to chart her own path.
00:36:26.720 --> 00:36:30.069
And um the mother thought she'll be
00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:32.550
back. But then after a couple days, she
00:36:32.560 --> 00:36:34.790
didn't come back. After a week, she
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:37.270
didn't come back. After a few weeks, she
00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:41.109
didn't come back. And so Maria, the
00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:45.270
mother, um she she knew what what uh
00:36:45.280 --> 00:36:47.190
eventually young girls would have to
00:36:47.200 --> 00:36:49.109
start doing for money when they ran out
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:51.510
of money in the city. And so she went
00:36:51.520 --> 00:36:55.430
into Rio with a stack of pictures of her
00:36:55.440 --> 00:36:59.270
daughter Cristiana and a pen and she
00:36:59.280 --> 00:37:01.190
went all over the city to the shady
00:37:01.200 --> 00:37:05.349
parts of towns to bars to hotels
00:37:05.359 --> 00:37:09.349
uh to dark alleys and put up pictures of
00:37:09.359 --> 00:37:11.910
her daughter all over looking for her
00:37:11.920 --> 00:37:13.190
daughter but then hoping that people
00:37:13.200 --> 00:37:16.390
would see them and be able to reach out.
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:18.470
She put up pictures everywhere and then
00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:20.069
she didn't see her. She went back to her
00:37:20.079 --> 00:37:21.589
village.
00:37:21.599 --> 00:37:25.030
And one day there's Cristiana, the
00:37:25.040 --> 00:37:27.670
17-year-old girl, and she's ascending
00:37:27.680 --> 00:37:31.510
the stairs of a shady hotel in the red
00:37:31.520 --> 00:37:34.950
light district of Rio de Janeiro. And
00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:37.670
she looks on the wall and sees a picture
00:37:37.680 --> 00:37:39.589
of herself.
00:37:39.599 --> 00:37:41.270
And she looks at that picture and she
00:37:41.280 --> 00:37:43.589
pulls it off of the wall. And on the
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:44.950
back of the picture, it says this
00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:47.829
written in marker. Whatever you've done,
00:37:47.839 --> 00:37:50.950
whatever you've become, all is forgiven.
00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:54.310
I love you. Come home.
00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:57.990
And she did. She comes home. And I want
00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:00.550
you to hear that same message from the
00:38:00.560 --> 00:38:03.109
Lord tonight. However you've run from
00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:05.030
God, whether it's running into rebellion
00:38:05.040 --> 00:38:07.270
or running into self-righteousness and
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:09.270
thinking you're better than all these
00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:10.710
people and God's lucky to have you on
00:38:10.720 --> 00:38:13.670
his team, God's message to you is
00:38:13.680 --> 00:38:15.750
whatever you've done, whatever you've
00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:18.950
become, all is forgiven. I love you.
00:38:18.960 --> 00:38:22.470
Come home. It's his message of grace to
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:25.589
you. And I want to call you to response
00:38:25.599 --> 00:38:28.710
tonight, especially with this being our
00:38:28.720 --> 00:38:29.990
last night here. here. I mean, we have
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:31.589
we'll have a session tomorrow morning
00:38:31.599 --> 00:38:33.910
where we start looking down the mountain
00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:35.510
and thinking about life, but I want to
00:38:35.520 --> 00:38:39.510
call you tonight to respond
00:38:39.520 --> 00:38:41.990
to the good news of the kingdom of God
00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:44.069
and what he's done for you in Christ.
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:45.990
And I want to call I want to call you to
00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:48.950
respond in two ways. The first is that
00:38:48.960 --> 00:38:51.910
if you are here this weekend and you are
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:54.150
not a Christian,
00:38:54.160 --> 00:38:55.829
my hope for you is that you would trust
00:38:55.839 --> 00:38:57.750
in Christ and become a follower of
00:38:57.760 --> 00:39:00.870
Jesus. And I just want to lay out really
00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:04.069
simply how you do that. Okay? I I like
00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:06.150
to call this just to be simple and so
00:39:06.160 --> 00:39:08.069
you can remember this. I like to call
00:39:08.079 --> 00:39:10.310
this just the ABCs of becoming a
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:13.349
Christian. It's really simple. A
00:39:13.359 --> 00:39:15.910
acknowledge your sin. Acknowledge that
00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:18.150
you fall short of the glory of God. That
00:39:18.160 --> 00:39:19.589
you've tried to take the reigns of your
00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:22.150
own life and you've messed it up and
00:39:22.160 --> 00:39:25.270
that you need God. So acknowledge your
00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:28.390
sin. That's the A. B. believe that
00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:31.990
Christ died and rose for you. So it
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.230
doesn't mean just to believe that Jesus
00:39:34.240 --> 00:39:36.150
was a figure who died and rose from the
00:39:36.160 --> 00:39:40.150
grave 2,000 years ago. Um I mean even
00:39:40.160 --> 00:39:43.190
the demons believe that God exists. Even
00:39:43.200 --> 00:39:45.589
historians believe I mean pretty much
00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:47.910
every historian believes that Jesus
00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:51.190
lived and died on the cross.
00:39:51.200 --> 00:39:54.470
I'm saying believe that he died and rose
00:39:54.480 --> 00:39:58.470
for you. that his death is what was
00:39:58.480 --> 00:40:00.710
necessary for the forgiveness of your
00:40:00.720 --> 00:40:03.670
sins. That his resurrection, walking out
00:40:03.680 --> 00:40:06.390
of that tomb means that you can have
00:40:06.400 --> 00:40:09.270
resurrection life. And I talked to a lot
00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:11.190
of people who think, "Yeah, I believe
00:40:11.200 --> 00:40:13.270
that Jesus is the son of God. I believe
00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:15.510
that he died and that he rose, but it
00:40:15.520 --> 00:40:17.589
can't deal with my sins. I understand
00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:19.190
how that can deal with other people's
00:40:19.200 --> 00:40:21.589
sins. But listen, there's nothing that
00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:24.550
you've done that the blood of Christ
00:40:24.560 --> 00:40:27.190
can't wash clean. You may be a great
00:40:27.200 --> 00:40:29.910
sinner, but Jesus is an even greater
00:40:29.920 --> 00:40:33.270
savior. And so, acknowledge your sin,
00:40:33.280 --> 00:40:36.790
believe that he died and rose for you,
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:38.550
and then confess that Jesus is Lord.
00:40:38.560 --> 00:40:40.950
That's the C. Confess that Jesus is
00:40:40.960 --> 00:40:43.030
Lord. Romans 10 says that if you confess
00:40:43.040 --> 00:40:45.109
that Jesus is Lord with your mouth and
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:46.470
believe in your heart that he rose from
00:40:46.480 --> 00:40:49.910
the dead, you will be saved. You're and
00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:52.550
and I want to tell you it is not a light
00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:55.910
thing to say Jesus is Lord. To say Jesus
00:40:55.920 --> 00:40:57.990
is Lord is a major thing. I want you to
00:40:58.000 --> 00:40:59.589
count the cost to understand that you
00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:03.430
are saying he is master and I am not. He
00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:06.230
is king and I am his servant. It's his
00:41:06.240 --> 00:41:09.030
way not my way. You are saying I am
00:41:09.040 --> 00:41:11.750
committing to follow Jesus in every
00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:15.030
aspect of life for all of my life.
00:41:15.040 --> 00:41:17.190
That's what it means to confess that
00:41:17.200 --> 00:41:19.349
Jesus is Lord. And the Bible says that
00:41:19.359 --> 00:41:20.710
if you do that, if you acknowledge your
00:41:20.720 --> 00:41:22.470
sin, if you believe that he died and
00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:24.470
rose for you, and you confess that Jesus
00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:26.790
is Lord of your life, that you will be a
00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:29.270
new creation, that he will take out your
00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:30.950
heart of stone and put a heart of flesh
00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:33.510
in you. You will be filled with the Holy
00:41:33.520 --> 00:41:36.069
Spirit. You will be adopted into the
00:41:36.079 --> 00:41:38.950
family of God. You are a new person with
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:42.230
a new family on a new mission. And so if
00:41:42.240 --> 00:41:43.990
that's you tonight, my encouragement for
00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:47.270
you would be to tell that to God. You
00:41:47.280 --> 00:41:49.670
can just walk through those ABCs and
00:41:49.680 --> 00:41:51.430
talk to God about it. God, I acknowledge
00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:54.230
my sin. I believe that Jesus died for my
00:41:54.240 --> 00:41:55.910
sin and rose from the grave and I
00:41:55.920 --> 00:41:58.150
confess that Jesus is Lord of my life.
00:41:58.160 --> 00:41:59.589
And then my encouragement to you would
00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.430
be talk to one of the leaders that you
00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:03.349
came here with. If that's you tonight
00:42:03.359 --> 00:42:05.190
and you're saying, I want to put a stake
00:42:05.200 --> 00:42:07.109
in the ground and I want to follow
00:42:07.119 --> 00:42:08.870
Jesus. I want to commit my life to
00:42:08.880 --> 00:42:10.950
seeking first the kingdom of God. talk
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:12.230
to the one of the leaders that you came
00:42:12.240 --> 00:42:14.069
with tonight and tell them say tonight I
00:42:14.079 --> 00:42:16.470
prayed or tonight I want to pray and I
00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:18.230
want to become a Christian. That's the
00:42:18.240 --> 00:42:20.470
first way to respond. The second is for
00:42:20.480 --> 00:42:22.470
those of you who are Christians, you've
00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:24.790
done that. You've you've committed your
00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:27.109
life to Jesus. You've expressed his
00:42:27.119 --> 00:42:29.349
lordship over your life and received his
00:42:29.359 --> 00:42:32.870
grace. I want to charge you to seek
00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:35.670
first the kingdom, to stop playing
00:42:35.680 --> 00:42:37.349
around by trying to build your own
00:42:37.359 --> 00:42:40.069
empire and live for the kingdom of God.
00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:42.309
And I want to charge you to not just be
00:42:42.319 --> 00:42:44.550
a believer who believes certain things
00:42:44.560 --> 00:42:46.309
but doesn't do anything with your life.
00:42:46.319 --> 00:42:49.109
I want to call you to be a disciple that
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:50.950
you are with Jesus. You're learning from
00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:52.790
Jesus. You're you're becoming like
00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:55.510
Jesus. You're you're submitting every
00:42:55.520 --> 00:42:57.670
aspect of your life to him. And then I
00:42:57.680 --> 00:42:59.750
want to call you to not only commit to
00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:01.430
Christ, but commit to the community of
00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:05.109
Christ to where you recognize I need my
00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:08.150
brothers and sisters and they need me.
00:43:08.160 --> 00:43:10.390
And so when I'm struggling, man, do I do
00:43:10.400 --> 00:43:12.470
I go on Thursday night or do I go on
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:14.150
Sunday morning that you're it's not just
00:43:14.160 --> 00:43:16.069
will I get something out of it. There's
00:43:16.079 --> 00:43:18.150
people there that need you. You need to
00:43:18.160 --> 00:43:20.230
show up to encourage them. You need to
00:43:20.240 --> 00:43:22.230
sing loud because maybe they can't sing.
00:43:22.240 --> 00:43:23.430
They they can't even get the words out
00:43:23.440 --> 00:43:26.550
of their mouth that night. So, we need I
00:43:26.560 --> 00:43:29.109
I want to I want to call you to live
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:31.990
this out and to begin looking down the
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:33.270
mountain and thinking, what does it look
00:43:33.280 --> 00:43:36.710
like to build my life around the kingdom
00:43:36.720 --> 00:43:40.230
of God? So, what I'd like to do is I
00:43:40.240 --> 00:43:41.910
just want to give a moment of silence
00:43:41.920 --> 00:43:46.309
for everyone to pray quietly or silently
00:43:46.319 --> 00:43:50.230
and just to talk to God. The the gospel
00:43:50.240 --> 00:43:54.069
evokes a response. God has spoken to us
00:43:54.079 --> 00:43:56.630
through his word. He has said that he
00:43:56.640 --> 00:43:59.270
loves you, that he sent his son for you.
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:01.030
And then I want us to be able to respond
00:44:01.040 --> 00:44:03.430
to God in prayer. Whether that is for
00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:06.069
you accepting Jesus as king, as savior
00:44:06.079 --> 00:44:07.910
of your life and committing to following
00:44:07.920 --> 00:44:11.190
him or or recommitting your life or just
00:44:11.200 --> 00:44:13.190
um pouring out your heart to him. Let's
00:44:13.200 --> 00:44:15.510
just take um a minute of silence to be
00:44:15.520 --> 00:44:18.390
able to pray and then I'll wrap us up
00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:20.230
with a word of prayer after that. Let's
00:44:20.240 --> 00:44:22.790
just take a a moment of quiet to be able
00:44:22.800 --> 00:45:26.390
to pray to the Lord individually.
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:30.550
God, we thank you so much that you have
00:45:30.560 --> 00:45:33.430
done everything that's necessary
00:45:33.440 --> 00:45:35.750
in sending your son
00:45:35.760 --> 00:45:39.109
for our sins to be completely forgiven
00:45:39.119 --> 00:45:40.630
for us to be able to wake up every
00:45:40.640 --> 00:45:42.470
morning and know that we're accepted and
00:45:42.480 --> 00:45:44.309
we're loved and we have purpose to live
00:45:44.319 --> 00:45:46.069
for.
00:45:46.079 --> 00:45:48.390
And God, I pray that tonight would be
00:45:48.400 --> 00:45:50.470
like a stake in the ground kind of
00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:53.510
moment for us where we would just commit
00:45:53.520 --> 00:45:56.230
to you because we recognize that you
00:45:56.240 --> 00:45:59.109
have committed to us.
00:45:59.119 --> 00:46:00.630
And God, I just thank you for the way
00:46:00.640 --> 00:46:02.550
that you've loved us so well. You've
00:46:02.560 --> 00:46:05.589
been so patient, so kind, so persistent,
00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:07.349
and relentless with your love towards
00:46:07.359 --> 00:46:10.470
us. And we thank you, God, that while we
00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:12.230
received judgment, that you've given us
00:46:12.240 --> 00:46:15.750
mercy. that you give us new life. And I
00:46:15.760 --> 00:46:19.190
pray for every person here that we would
00:46:19.200 --> 00:46:21.030
know at the core of our being how loved
00:46:21.040 --> 00:46:23.589
we are by you and that we would be able
00:46:23.599 --> 00:46:25.910
to walk
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:27.510
living in the reality of what you've
00:46:27.520 --> 00:46:30.230
done for us in your son Jesus Christ.
00:46:30.240 --> 00:46:32.390
And God, I thank you that you haven't
00:46:32.400 --> 00:46:33.910
called us to that alone, but you've
00:46:33.920 --> 00:46:37.190
given us family. And so Lord, help us to
00:46:37.200 --> 00:46:38.870
lean on one another, to love one
00:46:38.880 --> 00:46:43.030
another, to support one another,
00:46:43.040 --> 00:46:44.950
so that we really can be a people that
00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:47.349
are set apart, that can show this world
00:46:47.359 --> 00:46:50.470
that there's a different way to live
00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:51.990
because we have such a great and
00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:54.390
powerful and gracious king. And we give
00:46:54.400 --> 00:46:56.710
you all the glory. We pray this in Jesus
00:46:56.720 --> 00:47:00.240
name. Amen.