1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,360 All right, my name is Greg. 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:06,800 If you've never met me before, hi. 3 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:11,440 Would love to have coffee with you, maybe, lunch, something like that. 4 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:12,440 Anything that you would like. 5 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:17,560 I would love to get to know you and talk about Jesus. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,260 I did want to make a really quick announcement here. 7 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:23,720 Next week, Thanksgiving weekend, I know that it's like, oh, it's Thanksgiving weekend, 8 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,120 maybe you've ate a little too much, maybe you're thinking you're going to sleep in. 9 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:32,480 But next week, the Reverend Mason Parks is going to be with us bringing the message from 10 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:34,520 New Journey AME. 11 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,240 He was one of the pastors that we did the service together with in Schwieber Park this 12 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:40,240 summer. 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,040 And so please come join me. 14 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:46,760 I'll be leading worship and he'll be bringing the word and I'm really excited to have him 15 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:47,760 with us. 16 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:52,600 But today is the last week of our series that's called A Church Called Tov. 17 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,440 Tov is a Hebrew word. 18 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:55,600 We've gone over this a bunch of times. 19 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,560 It's a Hebrew word that means good. 20 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:02,240 It's found all throughout the First Testament or what's called the Old Testament because 21 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,040 that is written in Hebrew. 22 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:09,840 And it's the first word that God uses to describe us as human beings. 23 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,080 Matter of fact, very tov, he says. 24 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,960 You are very good. 25 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:23,040 Now last week was the last chapter of the book that this series is based off of. 26 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:27,160 And so I know that some people would be like, okay, well if that was the last chapter, why 27 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:28,500 isn't the series over? 28 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:30,080 Can we please move on? 29 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:31,800 This is week 10, I think. 30 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,480 Come on, Greg. 31 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,100 And I'll tell you why. 32 00:01:35,100 --> 00:01:38,760 Because I imagine that some of you have a book that you've read and you got done with 33 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,360 it and you were like, there's just like, there was a chapter that I would have written. 34 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,000 There's a chapter that I would have added. 35 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,880 There was a little something that I felt like needed a little bit more emphasis or you read 36 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,840 it as a whole and it gave you an idea that were like, okay, well it makes sense that 37 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,840 really all of that is this. 38 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:01,720 And that's the way I feel about a church called tov is that this theme is in the book. 39 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:07,400 It is throughout the book, but there isn't a chapter that is just about this. 40 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:15,560 And to me, a church that is tov, a church that has a goodness culture will have this. 41 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,600 And so that's why we are doing another week, because I said so. 42 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:25,680 I'm going to read a bunch of scriptures, of passages, and I'm going to, a bunch. 43 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:28,560 I'm not going to ask you to stand with me because I'm going to read a bunch. 44 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,040 Probably more passages than I've ever read in a single sermon. 45 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,400 But the point, you're going to get the point. 46 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:38,560 And after I read all of them, I'm going to ask you to tell me what the theme is that 47 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,680 I would like to have as part of a tov culture. 48 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:44,680 Ready? 49 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,440 We're starting pretty close to the beginning. 50 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,600 Deuteronomy 7 verse 9 says this. 51 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,800 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast 52 00:02:55,800 --> 00:03:01,200 love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. 53 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,520 That's 40,000 years, by the way. 54 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,260 Psalm 100, for the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness 55 00:03:08,260 --> 00:03:10,040 to all generations. 56 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,680 Proverbs 3, let love and faithfulness never leave you. 57 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:14,940 Bind them around your neck. 58 00:03:14,940 --> 00:03:17,280 Write them on the tablets of your heart. 59 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,120 Then you will win favor and good name in the sight of God and man. 60 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:24,840 Mark 12, the most important one is this. 61 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:27,600 Hero Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. 62 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,060 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind 63 00:03:32,060 --> 00:03:33,120 and with all your strength. 64 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,320 The second is this. 65 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:36,960 Love your neighbor as yourself. 66 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,440 There is no commandment greater than these. 67 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,000 Luke 6, but to you who are listening, I say love your enemies. 68 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,740 Do good to those who hate you. 69 00:03:44,740 --> 00:03:46,000 Bless those who curse you. 70 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,240 Pray for those who mistreat you. 71 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,480 John 15, my command is this. 72 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,600 Love each other as I have loved you. 73 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:57,880 Greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friends. 74 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:03,800 Romans 13, let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. 75 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,780 Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law, 1 Corinthians. 76 00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:14,320 If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding 77 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:16,560 gong or clanging cymbal. 78 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,060 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I 79 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:25,900 have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 80 00:04:25,900 --> 00:04:31,120 If I give all I possess to the poor, give over my body to hardship that I may boast, 81 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,600 but do not have love, I gain nothing. 82 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:34,720 Love is patient. 83 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:35,720 Love is kind. 84 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:36,760 It does not envy. 85 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:38,080 It does not boast. 86 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:39,380 It is not proud. 87 00:04:39,380 --> 00:04:40,960 It does not dishonor others. 88 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:42,440 It is not self-seeking. 89 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,120 It is not easily angered. 90 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:45,740 It keeps no record of wrongs. 91 00:04:45,740 --> 00:04:50,080 Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. 92 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:55,280 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 93 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:56,280 Love never fails. 94 00:04:56,280 --> 00:05:00,660 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. 95 00:05:00,660 --> 00:05:02,560 But the greatest of these is love. 96 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:07,600 2 Corinthians, for the love of Christ controls us. 97 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:13,220 Ephesians 2, God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even 98 00:05:13,220 --> 00:05:17,640 when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 99 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:19,400 By grace you have been saved. 100 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,740 Colossians 3, put up with one another. 101 00:05:22,740 --> 00:05:25,560 Forgive one another if you are holding something against someone. 102 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,580 Forgive just as the Lord forgave you in all and over all these good things. 103 00:05:30,580 --> 00:05:32,240 Put on love. 104 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:38,120 Love holds them all together perfectly as if they were one. 105 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:44,760 1 Peter, above all, keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of 106 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:45,760 sins. 107 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,680 1 John 4, dear friends, let us love one another because love comes from God. 108 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,760 Everyone who loves has become a child of God and knows God. 109 00:05:55,760 --> 00:06:02,600 Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. 110 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:03,600 Let us pray. 111 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:09,800 God, we thank you for the scriptures that have existed and persisted throughout the 112 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:13,800 millennia and we thank you that you've given them to us that we can still read, that we 113 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:18,080 can still learn, can still consider and I pray that whatever you have for us to learn 114 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:24,440 today, whatever this mystery theme may be, I pray that it would stick, that it would 115 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:30,440 become a part of the framework of our faith, that our faith would become stronger as we 116 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:32,760 become more like your son Jesus. 117 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:33,760 Amen? 118 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:34,760 Amen. 119 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:39,680 I just read you 13 passages. 120 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:44,080 I started with 30 and I pared it down. 121 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:49,720 It was eight minutes to read, all eight without any inflection, without being dramatic in 122 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:51,320 any way. 123 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:59,080 13 passages from at least eight different authors across a thousand years and they all 124 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:01,280 have a simple theme. 125 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:02,280 What is it? 126 00:07:02,280 --> 00:07:03,280 Love. 127 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:04,280 Love. 128 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:05,280 Love. 129 00:07:05,280 --> 00:07:06,280 Exactly. 130 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:07,280 Love. 131 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:15,800 A tov church, a good church, knows that love is what holds us together. 132 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,440 C.S. Lewis has a book called The Four Loves. 133 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:25,080 It talks about the four main Greek words for love throughout the New Testament. 134 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,840 They are storge, philo, eros and agape. 135 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:34,760 Storge is the kind of love that you have for family because you're family. 136 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,360 You didn't choose these people, but because you grew up with them, because they are your 137 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:44,360 family, you just innately have a love for them. 138 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,880 Philo is friendship love. 139 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:53,200 Lewis actually emphasizes this as one of the greatest loves that you can have because these 140 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:57,520 are the people that you actively choose to love. 141 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:58,800 These are your people. 142 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:04,480 That's my family that I was born into, but these are the ones that I chose. 143 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:10,040 I think back to 20 plus years ago, moving back to the Quad Cities, getting involved at 144 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,960 Heritage Wesleyan Church and meeting Robin. 145 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:20,300 Robin, who is our treehouse director right now, meeting Jen, who is our associate pastor 146 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:26,400 right now, meeting my wife, Cindy, who is my wife right now. 147 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:27,960 These are philo. 148 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,360 These are the friendships that I've chosen, that we have chosen. 149 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:33,920 I feel bad for them sometimes. 150 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:40,240 They're stuck with me, but I am so grateful that I get to choose them. 151 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:46,600 It's different than the love that we have for family, that love that you have for friendship. 152 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:48,340 Then eros. 153 00:08:48,340 --> 00:08:52,380 He talks about this as a romantic love, but it's not just lustful. 154 00:08:52,380 --> 00:08:54,440 It goes deeper than that. 155 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,160 It's not the desire for anything erotic. 156 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:03,080 It is a desire for a relationship with someone specific and then agape. 157 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,040 This he puts at the pinnacle. 158 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:09,120 It is selfless. 159 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:20,340 I'm no C.S. Lewis, but I want to spend a little time narrowing in, narrowing love down to 160 00:09:20,340 --> 00:09:26,000 a single descriptive word. 161 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:31,400 One of the verses that I read was 2 Corinthians 5 14. 162 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:38,520 It says, the agape of Jesus, Senechai's us. 163 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,720 The agape of Jesus, Senechai's us. 164 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:48,280 The love of Jesus, the selfless love of Jesus is Senechai. 165 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:59,120 That word, Senechai, only gets used one single time in all of the New Testament. 166 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,440 By virtue of the New Testament being in Greek and the Old Testament, not only one time in 167 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,760 the whole Bible. 168 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:14,720 Anytime that a word only gets used once, that can become problematic for Bible translators 169 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:22,640 because maybe they don't have all the context for how to translate that specific word. 170 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,800 What you find is that in different versions or translations of the Bible that you read 171 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:32,640 when a word is only used a single time or only a couple of times, you're going to actually 172 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,800 see in different versions what seem to be pretty different words get used because of 173 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,440 the translator's understanding of how they should use it. 174 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:46,080 This word, Senechai, gets translated as rules. 175 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,040 Now fill in the blank. 176 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,000 The agape love of Jesus blanks us. 177 00:10:51,000 --> 00:11:00,080 Rules, presses, impels, constrains, over masters, but the two most common translations are these 178 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,880 words, compels or controls. 179 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:09,520 I don't know about you, but those two words sound very different to me. 180 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:11,120 Am I wrong? 181 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,800 Well, control, depending on your background, maybe those sound exactly the same to you. 182 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:22,800 The agape, selfless love of Jesus compels us. 183 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:30,080 The selfless agape love of Jesus controls us. 184 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:37,520 You might be surprised which one of those is more meaningful to me. 185 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:43,280 I grew up reading the KJV, King James Version. 186 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:51,160 King James Version says, constraineth, for the love of Christ constraineth us. 187 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,880 Then getting into junior high, high school, you got to remember when I was a kid, I'm 188 00:11:56,880 --> 00:11:57,880 old, right? 189 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,420 The NIV came out in 1978. 190 00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:04,240 So when I'm in the 80s, no one was reading the NIV. 191 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,960 That was a brand new, that's not even a real Bible. 192 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,120 It's only been around for five years. 193 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,560 No one was reading the NIV in the 80s. 194 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,320 Getting in the 90s, all right, now I'm a junior high school, high school student, now I'm 195 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:17,320 reading the NIV. 196 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:26,960 NIV says, for the love of Christ compels us. 197 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,480 I grew up in a strict home. 198 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:34,120 My dad can attest to it. 199 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,000 In a lot of ways, my mom had to be strict. 200 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:41,960 My dad worked a lot, and I was a little unruly. 201 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,760 I went to a church with a really strict theology. 202 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,000 I went to a Christian school through sixth grade with strict rules. 203 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:59,640 I got spanked by my principal with a paddle that had holes in it for aerodynamic flow. 204 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:04,320 I went to a Bible college that had a lot of rules. 205 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:11,560 Most of my life, I was constantly surrounded by rules and controlling systems. 206 00:13:11,560 --> 00:13:21,840 By the time I got to my senior year in college without really understanding why, I had resisted 207 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:28,840 and rejected just about every boundary that they were trying to put on me. 208 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,320 I didn't like feeling controlled. 209 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:39,360 If you know me beyond just seeing me in front of this table, if we are friends, you know 210 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,360 I still don't like feeling controlled. 211 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,480 My senior year, I was dating a young lady. 212 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:47,920 She lived off campus. 213 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,600 She went to a different school. 214 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:56,520 She wasn't supposed to get phone calls after 10 o'clock because she lived with her parents. 215 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,240 I'd been at her house after 10 tons of times just hanging out with her, hanging out with 216 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:01,240 her family. 217 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,840 It was after 10, so I knew I couldn't call. 218 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:08,240 I drove out and I just let myself in and we were hanging out. 219 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,440 Her dad had a problem with that because he didn't know I was there. 220 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:14,600 I was like, all right, see you. 221 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:23,720 The next day, he gives me a call and he says, Greg, listen, if my daughter hadn't told me 222 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:28,840 that you had let yourself in, if she had let you in without my knowledge, this would be 223 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:33,800 a much more major issue than it is, but you still need to understand that you have a problem 224 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:36,680 with boundaries. 225 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:42,600 Any healthy young man, my response was, all right, hung up, called his daughter, said, 226 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:50,920 hey, I think we should break up because I wasn't going to be controlled. 227 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,600 I lived on campus at a Christian school. 228 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,560 There's some rules. 229 00:14:55,560 --> 00:15:01,440 I was working at a steakhouse making friends off campus, friends that didn't go to that 230 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:02,440 school. 231 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,280 So I moved off campus, started living with them. 232 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:06,280 I didn't drink a lot. 233 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:12,120 I didn't sleep around, but now if I wanted to, I could because I lived out on my own. 234 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,560 I was living off campus. 235 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:21,220 I didn't have to follow the rules of the Christian school. 236 00:15:21,220 --> 00:15:32,120 As I careened toward my college graduation, I felt myself, my feet, my faith getting more 237 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:36,180 and more slippery. 238 00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:48,280 Back then I described it like I was the undertow of a tide that would never come back in. 239 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:53,720 It felt like every part of my life was receding. 240 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,520 I wanted to be solid. 241 00:15:55,520 --> 00:16:00,560 I didn't want to feel slippery. 242 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:07,480 I'd always heard that if you were wanting to jumpstart your spirituality, just go buy 243 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:10,600 a new Bible. 244 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,400 The theory goes that if you buy a new Bible, especially if you spend a lot of money on 245 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,960 it, you're going to feel invested and you're going to read it. 246 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:19,960 And so I did. 247 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,400 I actually, hold on. 248 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:25,520 I think I have it here somewhere. 249 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:26,920 Hold on. 250 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:27,920 Hold that thought. 251 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,920 Hold on, guys. 252 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:36,240 No, not that one. 253 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:37,240 This one, right here. 254 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,240 All right, you still there? 255 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:41,240 Yeah. 256 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:42,300 All right. 257 00:16:42,300 --> 00:16:46,560 This Bible. 258 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,000 This Bible. 259 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,040 Someone want this piece of it? 260 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:57,400 And if you pick up this Bible, you'll see there's stuff written all over it. 261 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,480 Passages are underlined multiple times. 262 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:09,240 There's no pages missing, but there's phone numbers from random people that I met. 263 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:15,080 There's my number in it in case I lost it, someone could give it back to me. 264 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:20,160 This is a new American Standard Bible with what's called Thompson Chain Reference. 265 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:21,160 Sounds cool, doesn't it? 266 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,440 I didn't really know what that meant, but I thought it sounded really important and 267 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,480 it was really fancy. 268 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,340 It was shiny, burgundy, leather. 269 00:17:30,340 --> 00:17:32,320 It had gold, gilding. 270 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:38,080 I remember the moment that I dropped it in the Midwest snow and the gold just disappeared. 271 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,120 And I was like, wow, okay. 272 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:48,360 25 years ago, this Bible probably cost 65 bucks. 273 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:53,400 And I didn't know a lot about translations back then. 274 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:59,680 All I knew was that I was buying an expensive, fancy Bible that would compel me to read it. 275 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:06,280 And then I was reading 2 Corinthians 5, 14. 276 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,200 See if I can find it in here. 277 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:14,240 I know I can, but just take me a second. 278 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:15,240 5, 14. 279 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:16,760 Right there. 280 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:21,120 Numbers circled, underlined in two different colors of ink. 281 00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:28,280 When I was reading it, something grabbed me because I had very literally read this passage 282 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:35,840 5, 7, 10 times, partially because it's the beginning of one of my favorite passages. 283 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:40,440 This passage is the one that includes, for if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. 284 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:45,400 The old has gone, the new has come. 285 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:50,440 And so this was a passage that I had camped out a bit in. 286 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:54,840 So on this particular occasion, I was reading it and I came across the word that, no, that's 287 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:58,260 wrong. 288 00:18:58,260 --> 00:18:59,260 That's the wrong word. 289 00:18:59,260 --> 00:19:02,840 For the love of Christ controls us. 290 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:05,660 That's not right. 291 00:19:05,660 --> 00:19:10,320 What happened was, I'm this wave that keeps getting pulled back out and never gets to 292 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:15,240 come up on the shore. 293 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:19,520 Everything in me feels slippery. 294 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:26,600 And something deep and spontaneous started happening inside of me because of the difference 295 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,160 of one word. 296 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:34,240 I knew that I needed that word. 297 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:45,580 That selfless love of Jesus, the agape love of Jesus that would control me because I was 298 00:19:45,580 --> 00:19:53,040 out of control. 299 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,040 Maybe control still feels like a bad word to you. 300 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:57,040 I get it. 301 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,040 I get it. 302 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,640 No one wants to go to a church that's controlling. 303 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:07,880 The Regs had a good church, it's a church that nurtures control. 304 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:08,880 Don't tweet that. 305 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:09,880 All right? 306 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:16,220 It's not exactly what we're talking about. 307 00:20:16,220 --> 00:20:22,120 We're talking about a church that is filled with individuals, pastors, people that are 308 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:29,480 individually controlled by the agape of Jesus, by the selfless love of Jesus and what that 309 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,880 culture would look like. 310 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:40,080 For those of us that aren't quite sold on the word control just yet, let me go back 311 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:45,160 to the Greek word for control, synechai, because I intentionally left something out. 312 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:50,280 And I intentionally left something out because I didn't want everyone to just easily and 313 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:55,800 right away accept such a difficult word because it is a problematic word. 314 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:57,280 Agreed? 315 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:58,280 It can be. 316 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:04,640 In the Greek, synechai might only get used once, but that's really just because it's 317 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:12,760 a version of synecho, and synecho gets used in at least 12 different ways, which means 318 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,760 that the translators actually have a lot of examples to tell them what this word really 319 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:21,000 means. 320 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:26,820 And I wanted to make sure that I wasn't stretching, that I wasn't making something up, so I messaged 321 00:21:26,820 --> 00:21:30,680 my friends that are experts in biblical languages. 322 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,960 They work for Wycliffe Bible translators. 323 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:35,680 They are Mike and Rachel Aubrey. 324 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:37,200 Hey guys. 325 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:42,600 And they're probably watching right now because they consider us one of their home churches. 326 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:47,520 And they are off on mission translating the Bible. 327 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,360 We as a church actually support them financially every month. 328 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:57,920 And they assured me that what I'm about to tell you, I am not making up. 329 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:06,000 Synechai is translated in its context as control because its root word is synecho, which means 330 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:16,040 to hold together lest it fall apart. 331 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:26,640 Almost 25 years ago, I felt so slippery. 332 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:29,640 I still have times when I feel slippery. 333 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,000 Truth is that I've been coming in and out a lot of it lately. 334 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,640 I don't know if it's because coming up on 10 years as a church, that it's been 10 years 335 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:46,760 since we moved back this last summer, sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing. 336 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,620 And I still need to know that the love of Jesus has some kind of a controlling influence 337 00:22:50,620 --> 00:23:02,840 in me, that I'm not just doing whatever I want, that I'm not making this up. 338 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:09,760 I don't need, none of us need control like the world offers, but the kind of control 339 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:17,160 that will hold us together lest we fall to pieces. 340 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,720 Maybe you feel like you're falling apart. 341 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,120 Maybe you were in a church where everything fell apart. 342 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:33,540 Maybe you were in a church that broke you to pieces. 343 00:23:33,540 --> 00:23:40,920 Maybe it's just the weight of the world and the weight of life, but hear me, a Tove church 344 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:51,760 will nurture a culture of love that holds us together lest we fall apart as individuals 345 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:58,680 and as a community so that when people walk through our doors, if they feel any kind of 346 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:05,000 control it will only be that love is holding this together. 347 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:14,760 And maybe they will feel like they have found a place where it is safe to fall apart because 348 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:26,240 love will hold all of their pieces. 349 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:40,940 I wake up most days praying some version of the prayer, God help me feel loved today. 350 00:24:40,940 --> 00:24:51,200 And as I knew I wanted to preach on this, I just felt like there was a song there. 351 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:58,040 So what I want to do is I want to play you a song that I wrote this week. 352 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:02,200 Words will be up if as it goes along, if you feel like you want to sing these words, feel 353 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,480 free, but just let it wash over you. 354 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:13,480 Just hear it. 355 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:43,480 Your love holds all the peace. 356 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:55,480 When my heart is hard, your love is comfort and healing. 357 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:07,480 When the world is dark, your love is hope in the shadows. 358 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:19,480 When I am giving up, your love is telling me I am loved. 359 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:29,480 I am loved by the one who was and is to come, Jesus Christ the risen one. 360 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:45,480 I am loved, I am loved by the Holy Spirit, Father overflow my cup with love. 361 00:27:45,480 --> 00:28:01,480 I am loved by you. 362 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:15,480 When I am far from home, your love will come out and find me. 363 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:29,480 When I feel so alone, your love will always remind me that I am not alone. 364 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:37,480 Your love still holds me with kindness. 365 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:49,480 When I doubt what I know, your love is telling me I am loved. 366 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:59,480 I am loved by the one who was and is to come, Jesus Christ the risen one. 367 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:13,480 I am loved by the Holy Spirit, Father overflow my cup with love. 368 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:23,480 I am loved by the one who was and is to come, Jesus Christ the risen one. 369 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:39,480 I am loved, I am loved by the Holy Spirit, Father overflow my cup with love. 370 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:57,480 I am loved by you.