WEBVTT 00:00:07.910 --> 00:00:09.929 Greg said I wasn't allowed to rant all morning, 00:00:09.970 --> 00:00:16.969 so I'm going to set a timer. So when I was a 00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:21.149 kid, I was frequently confused by figures of 00:00:21.149 --> 00:00:25.670 speech. So one time, Mom, I'm going to call you 00:00:25.670 --> 00:00:28.910 out. She stopped my mom and said, I spent like 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:31.850 an hour wondering, like, wait, people could live 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:34.109 in a barn? Oh, that would be cool to live in 00:00:34.109 --> 00:00:35.810 a barn. Are we going to move? Are we going to 00:00:35.810 --> 00:00:38.899 move and go live in a barn? But what does all 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:41.140 this have to do with me trying to go to school 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:47.939 without combing my hair? Because I tried to go 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:49.960 to school without combing my hair, and mom said, 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:52.520 people are going to think you were raised in 00:00:52.520 --> 00:01:02.880 a barn. So then I asked her about it, and she 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.909 explained, no, no. I think I do literally again, 00:01:08.010 --> 00:01:13.230 Jake. Obviously, if you've heard that figure 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:16.189 of speech before, what she was getting at was 00:01:16.189 --> 00:01:22.230 my behavior was going to reflect on me, my upbringing 00:01:22.230 --> 00:01:25.230 by extension, her, so she wanted me to go comb 00:01:25.230 --> 00:01:29.790 my hair. Way simpler than I was making it. Thank 00:01:29.790 --> 00:01:39.140 you. We have lots of ideas. It's something we 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:41.640 kind of naturally intuit, that the way you act 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:46.939 reflects on deeper values. It's a little judgmental, 00:01:46.939 --> 00:01:49.500 but I'm sure we've all been there. Every so often 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:52.079 somebody makes the news for a particularly heinous 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.260 crime, and they're saying, but I'm a good person. 00:01:55.859 --> 00:01:58.840 Like, maybe a little judgmental, but sometimes 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:03.340 we kind of, like, really? Or the opposite happens. 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.640 You know, somebody is known for all the great 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:09.139 things they did to help society. And then, you 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:11.139 know, somebody will put out a video about like, 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:15.080 but really deep down inside. You know, and that 00:02:15.080 --> 00:02:17.180 kind of tickles the side of our brain that wants 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:21.699 to hear all the drama. But like, they need a 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:25.819 strong case to convince us of that. Now, a person's 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:32.460 value isn't determined by what they do. But we 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:37.419 just have this natural intuition that the things 00:02:37.419 --> 00:02:43.020 we do come out of things deeper. What we feel, 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:48.919 what we believe. Common saying that we say all 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.280 the time about this, actions speak louder than 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.099 words. And we normally mean this in terms of 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:59.500 relationships. If you really love someone, you'll 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:03.840 act like it. You won't just... say it uh similar 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:08.460 with moral values if you really believe in some 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:11.840 big moral value you'll do something about it 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:16.139 you won't just preach about it but i think this 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:22.479 applies to other internal qualities as well so 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:26.439 please open with me to the book of james chapter 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:32.800 three um in your bible on your app Or there should 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:36.840 also be Bibles on every table. So now, we've 00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:40.539 been in James for a few weeks. But in case you 00:03:40.539 --> 00:03:44.020 weren't here, it's in the New Testament, pretty 00:03:44.020 --> 00:03:47.620 near the back. So it comes right after Hebrews. 00:03:48.219 --> 00:03:50.939 But then if you start hitting other names like 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:57.139 Peter, John, Jude, you've gone too far. I'll 00:03:57.139 --> 00:04:00.650 be reading out of the NIV. It's our tradition 00:04:00.650 --> 00:04:02.509 here at the house to give the reading of scripture 00:04:02.509 --> 00:04:06.310 our full attention. So if you desire and are 00:04:06.310 --> 00:04:09.490 able, one way we can do that is to stand as we 00:04:09.490 --> 00:04:21.589 read. James 3, 13 through 18. Who is wise and 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:24.370 understanding among you? Let them show it by 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:27.350 their good life, by deeds done in the humility 00:04:27.350 --> 00:04:30.569 that comes with it. from wisdom. But if you harbor 00:04:30.569 --> 00:04:33.350 bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, 00:04:33.490 --> 00:04:37.970 do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:41.050 wisdom does not come down from heaven, but is 00:04:41.050 --> 00:04:46.629 earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you 00:04:46.629 --> 00:04:49.829 have envy and selfish ambition, there you find 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:55.209 disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom 00:04:55.209 --> 00:04:57.050 that comes from heaven is first of all pure, 00:04:57.959 --> 00:05:00.879 then peace -loving, considerate, submissive, 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:04.779 full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:10.500 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:25.509 righteousness. Oh, yes, please be seated. So 00:05:25.509 --> 00:05:27.050 I promise I'm not going to rant about Greek the 00:05:27.050 --> 00:05:30.470 whole time. But there's an interesting word here. 00:05:32.029 --> 00:05:34.829 Probably translated good behavior, might be translated 00:05:34.829 --> 00:05:37.629 good deeds in some versions that you're reading. 00:05:38.329 --> 00:05:43.149 In the Greek, that's anastrophes. Literally means 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:48.870 to turn up. It refers to the way people act in 00:05:48.870 --> 00:05:53.709 society, the way they treat other people. what 00:05:53.709 --> 00:05:57.490 they do in public, that sort of thing. But it 00:05:57.490 --> 00:06:03.009 has connotations of coming from inside. We talk 00:06:03.009 --> 00:06:09.230 about our values being inside and our actions 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:12.350 being outside. In Greek, it's more our values 00:06:12.350 --> 00:06:20.430 come up into our actions. So that's kind of a 00:06:20.430 --> 00:06:23.779 clue that... is confirmed as he goes on to talk 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:27.480 about what wisdom is and isn't, that James here 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:30.879 isn't talking about wisdom as this big abstract 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.660 concept. He's not getting as philosophical as, 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.980 like a couple months ago we had a series on wisdom 00:06:38.980 --> 00:06:44.500 literature. He's getting even more down to brass 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:51.370 tacks than that did. He's not... talking about 00:06:51.370 --> 00:06:55.050 the kind of wisdom we mean that somebody needs 00:06:55.050 --> 00:06:57.610 in order to write a philosophical treatise that 00:06:57.610 --> 00:06:59.990 you need multiple advanced degrees to understand. 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:04.069 That's not what James is messing with. Much like 00:07:04.069 --> 00:07:06.329 a couple weeks ago when Greg was talking about 00:07:06.329 --> 00:07:09.910 James talking about salvation. He wasn't into 00:07:09.910 --> 00:07:15.550 the whole theological what causes salvation to 00:07:15.550 --> 00:07:18.370 happen, how is it conferred, all of these complicated 00:07:18.370 --> 00:07:20.839 things. He was like, no. You have your salvation, 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:25.060 now go live it out. That is James' focus consistently. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:31.300 And we see it here as well. He starts out talking 00:07:31.300 --> 00:07:39.899 about what wisdom isn't. It's not bitter jealousy. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:43.879 Obviously, how wise can you be if you're just 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:54.509 sitting around? It's not self -interest. This 00:07:54.509 --> 00:08:02.730 phrase translated as self -interest, it's another 00:08:02.730 --> 00:08:05.949 interesting one. It shows up in other places 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:11.389 throughout the Bible talking about similar... 00:08:11.389 --> 00:08:19.040 Sorry, blanked out for a second. In similar context, 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.620 talking about social behavior, either your behavior 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:26.379 like out in society or sometimes social interactions 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:31.579 within the church. But before the Bible in Greek, 00:08:31.819 --> 00:08:38.220 it was mostly used to talk about politics. You 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:40.299 know, if you look it up in a fancy Greek lexicon, 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.820 you'll probably see this word factiousness, which 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:46.779 isn't very helpful, but it's fun to say. Kind 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:49.659 of means like party spirit. We want our team 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:53.460 to win. Has very negative connotations. It's 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:57.179 like, okay, we're going to do this really sneaky 00:08:57.179 --> 00:09:01.220 underhanded thing. But then our team will win. 00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:06.019 We'll get our way. Our guy will be voted in. 00:09:06.440 --> 00:09:12.269 Whatever. It reminds me of the thing that I saw. 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:14.830 I used to be part of an organization that had 00:09:14.830 --> 00:09:18.809 a serious ongoing issue. People would leave, 00:09:18.870 --> 00:09:21.230 either they moved away, or they would just be 00:09:21.230 --> 00:09:23.370 going to a different group for the same function, 00:09:23.529 --> 00:09:26.009 and they wouldn't be participating anymore. They 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:27.830 wouldn't be part of our community. They wouldn't 00:09:27.830 --> 00:09:30.950 be doing anything with our events. But they would 00:09:30.950 --> 00:09:34.090 show up every six months on the dot, so that 00:09:34.090 --> 00:09:38.309 they were technically still active members. So 00:09:38.309 --> 00:09:40.730 that when it was time for us to vote on something, 00:09:40.950 --> 00:09:43.350 they could show up and still have a vote to make 00:09:43.350 --> 00:09:45.389 sure their friends and family who were still 00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:51.830 here could get their way. Not exactly above board. 00:09:52.570 --> 00:09:57.730 Technically allowed by the bylaws, though. In 00:09:57.730 --> 00:10:02.210 a kind of less severe way, it reminds me of... 00:10:02.210 --> 00:10:06.269 So I'm sure we've all seen... Everybody likes 00:10:06.269 --> 00:10:08.210 posting videos of their kids doing something 00:10:08.210 --> 00:10:11.710 cute, right? The kids doing something clever. 00:10:12.350 --> 00:10:14.269 And I like watching those videos, because kids 00:10:14.269 --> 00:10:18.950 are pretty cool. But every so often, it'll be 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:23.929 a video of mom or dad saying, look how smart 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:28.110 my child is, and it's their kid just parroting 00:10:28.110 --> 00:10:31.149 something that they hear mom and dad say a lot. 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:35.929 Now, nothing wrong with the kid. The kid wants 00:10:35.929 --> 00:10:38.409 to be on mom and dad's team. That's good. That's 00:10:38.409 --> 00:10:40.850 right. That's appropriate. Nothing wrong with 00:10:40.850 --> 00:10:43.090 mom and dad. Mom and dad are trying to confer 00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:45.549 their values on their children. That's good. 00:10:45.590 --> 00:10:50.549 That's right. That's appropriate. But a child 00:10:50.549 --> 00:10:53.350 parenting something that they hear frequently 00:10:53.350 --> 00:10:58.690 in the home but that they don't really understand 00:10:58.690 --> 00:11:03.929 isn't what James would call wisdom. That's not... 00:11:07.789 --> 00:11:10.769 harmful. But it's not wisdom. Give them a few 00:11:10.769 --> 00:11:13.269 years to grow up and really understand it. Start 00:11:13.269 --> 00:11:17.809 expressing their own opinions. Then we can talk 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:21.250 about that. But we see this all over the place 00:11:21.250 --> 00:11:27.789 in modern life. Very often we want to make sure 00:11:27.789 --> 00:11:35.500 that our team wins. We want to do what it takes 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:39.539 to make sure that our side, what we think would 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:45.039 be best, what would be best for us, is what happens. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:52.100 We see this in the workplace, in the community, 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:58.700 in the home, out in society in bigger ways. Very 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:03.860 often, what we're trying to do is this self -interest, 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.960 this team spirit, this, okay, we gotta win attitude. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:15.679 And what James is saying here is that that is 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:20.399 not wisdom. Doesn't mean that you can't ever 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.539 want things that will benefit you, but just that 00:12:24.539 --> 00:12:29.120 investment in your team winning isn't the wisdom 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:33.940 that James is talking about here. So, if all 00:12:33.940 --> 00:12:39.860 of that is what wisdom is not, what is wisdom? 00:12:42.679 --> 00:12:47.059 Notice, he gives special attention to it being 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:50.940 pure, or some translations might say holy. First 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:56.220 of all, it is pure, then these other things. 00:12:57.740 --> 00:13:00.240 That suggests a place of importance, a place 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:05.460 of primacy. wisdom is going to also be all of 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:08.720 these other things, but it must, it has to be 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:15.340 pure. You could also say unadulterated, clean, 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:23.240 not mixed up with anything else. We could see 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:27.440 from the context that this likely includes that 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:32.690 earthly, unspiritual, false wisdom above. bitter 00:13:32.690 --> 00:13:36.850 jealousy and self -interest. If our supposed 00:13:36.850 --> 00:13:40.690 wisdom is mixed up with those things, then it 00:13:40.690 --> 00:13:43.529 is not pure. It is not the wisdom James is talking 00:13:43.529 --> 00:13:49.889 about here. I would argue that it would also 00:13:49.889 --> 00:13:53.210 include other distortions, other deviations from 00:13:53.210 --> 00:13:58.710 the wisdom that James is telling us about. One 00:13:58.710 --> 00:14:03.590 example that we see a lot today is kind of the 00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:08.269 ends justify the means thinking. If we compromise 00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:11.190 our values just a little bit, just this once, 00:14:11.289 --> 00:14:14.789 just for a little while, then we can fix everything. 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:18.590 If we compromise our values just this one time, 00:14:18.769 --> 00:14:22.230 then we'll make everything better. If we compromise 00:14:22.230 --> 00:14:26.169 our values then, maybe, our team will win and 00:14:26.169 --> 00:14:30.090 then everything will be great. We see that in 00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:35.029 lots of ways. We see that economically. Like, 00:14:35.049 --> 00:14:37.730 well, you know, I just need this one thing to 00:14:37.730 --> 00:14:41.950 happen so then that way I can get ahead. We see 00:14:41.950 --> 00:14:43.690 that with politics. Well, we need to do this 00:14:43.690 --> 00:14:46.809 so that this party or that party will win this 00:14:46.809 --> 00:14:49.169 position and then they'll fix all the things. 00:14:50.470 --> 00:14:52.529 We see that just out in the community. Well, 00:14:52.590 --> 00:14:54.649 I just need to get my way on this one thing and 00:14:54.649 --> 00:14:56.850 then everything will be okay. So it's okay that 00:14:56.850 --> 00:15:02.940 I'm a little underhanded just this once. But 00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:07.299 though that would be not purity in our wisdom. 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.940 That would be mixing it up with other things. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.899 That would make it not the wisdom James is talking 00:15:14.899 --> 00:15:26.679 about here. But then he goes on to explain what 00:15:26.679 --> 00:15:33.600 other things this wisdom from heaven is. This 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:39.240 wisdom is peace -loving. This wisdom is considerate. 00:15:40.759 --> 00:15:46.460 This wisdom is submissive, or that word in the 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:49.019 Greek could also be translated reasonable, not 00:15:49.019 --> 00:15:51.179 being pushy about having your own way all the 00:15:51.179 --> 00:15:57.919 time. This wisdom is full of mercy, full of good 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:11.789 fruit, impartial. sincere. This list is very 00:16:11.789 --> 00:16:14.610 reminiscent of other lists we see in the New 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:18.269 Testament. It's not a one -to -one copy, but 00:16:18.269 --> 00:16:23.750 there's overlap and similarity. It reminds me 00:16:23.750 --> 00:16:26.370 of the fruits of the Spirit we see in Galatians 00:16:26.370 --> 00:16:29.889 5 .22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:34.539 peace, patience, kindness. goodness, faithfulness, 00:16:34.659 --> 00:16:39.399 and self -control. It also reminds me of the 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:42.299 definition of love given in 1 Corinthians 13, 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:49.279 4 -8. Love is patient. Love is kind. It does 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.899 not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. 00:16:53.139 --> 00:16:56.940 It does not dishonor others. It is not self -seeking. 00:16:57.100 --> 00:17:01.159 It is not easily angered. It keeps no record 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:05.339 of wrong. Love does not delight in evil, but 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:09.059 rejoices with the truth. It always protects, 00:17:09.339 --> 00:17:15.119 always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:22.140 Now, these lists, notice they're not complicated, 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:31.519 difficult to understand rules. There are some 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:36.079 rules. that are lists. A notoriously complicated 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:41.440 example is the tax code. The tax code is essentially 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.299 long lists of what is and isn't taxed, when and 00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:48.700 why, and you have to cross -reference it. There's 00:17:48.700 --> 00:17:53.740 a particularly notorious case, Nix versus Hedden, 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:57.759 often called the tomato case. Has anyone heard 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:02.529 of it? It's fun. So it's way back in 1893. So 00:18:02.529 --> 00:18:06.269 it was referencing a tax law that, you know, 00:18:06.269 --> 00:18:08.910 they've changed it so often it's not really relevant 00:18:08.910 --> 00:18:13.109 anymore, but it's still funny. A few years before, 00:18:13.269 --> 00:18:20.710 they had passed a law on taxing imports that 00:18:20.710 --> 00:18:24.109 was meant to put a certain tax on fruits and 00:18:24.109 --> 00:18:28.650 vegetables. But the way it was phrased, because 00:18:28.650 --> 00:18:31.509 of a straight comma, a bunch of people were arguing, 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.420 Well, technically, according to the way it's 00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:38.920 written, it's only taxing vegetables, not fruit. 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.279 Like, technically. Like, yes, they intended to 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.619 tax them both, but technically. And so this guy, 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:50.480 who made a lot of money importing tomatoes, guess 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.420 we weren't growing a lot of tomatoes in the U 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:57.980 .S. in the 1890s, so he had to import them, argued 00:18:57.980 --> 00:19:00.039 that, well, since technically there isn't a tax 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:02.609 on fruit, Technically, you know, tomatoes are 00:19:02.609 --> 00:19:06.309 a fruit. We eat them like a vegetable, but botanically 00:19:06.309 --> 00:19:08.490 speaking, tomatoes are a fruit. So you shouldn't 00:19:08.490 --> 00:19:10.410 be taxing my tomatoes, because technically there's 00:19:10.410 --> 00:19:12.490 no tax on fruit, and technically tomatoes are 00:19:12.490 --> 00:19:14.150 a fruit, but technically you shouldn't be charging 00:19:14.150 --> 00:19:20.210 me a tax. They had to argue in the court's days 00:19:20.210 --> 00:19:23.049 about this. He wound up winning. So legally, 00:19:23.109 --> 00:19:28.569 tomatoes are a fruit. Technically. That's not 00:19:28.569 --> 00:19:31.839 the sort of thing we're dealing with here. We're 00:19:31.839 --> 00:19:33.599 not dealing with, well, technically you should 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.400 do this in this situation, but not in that situation. 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:40.640 And technically, no. James is way more grounded 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:46.980 and practical than all of that. These are broad 00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:53.240 values that are easy to understand, that I believe 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:56.759 are best understood if we don't try to overthink 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:04.589 it too much. I think most of us here know what 00:20:04.589 --> 00:20:08.289 it means to love peace, what it means to be sincere, 00:20:08.730 --> 00:20:16.569 what it means to be considerate. These aren't 00:20:16.569 --> 00:20:21.430 complicated technicalities. What's hard isn't 00:20:21.430 --> 00:20:27.170 understanding what these traits of wisdom are. 00:20:27.269 --> 00:20:31.799 What's hard is Actually living it out. Actually 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:35.319 going out into our community and consistently 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:40.059 doing all of these things. Acting in a way that 00:20:40.059 --> 00:20:43.660 reflects all of these inward virtues every day. 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:56.960 James concludes, peacemakers who sow in peace. 00:20:58.089 --> 00:21:03.410 a harvest of righteousness. Now, this is largely 00:21:03.410 --> 00:21:06.710 a transition to what we'll be reading about next 00:21:06.710 --> 00:21:11.490 week, but it also serves as a conclusion to the 00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:17.869 wisdom here. It suggests the end result of this 00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:22.630 wisdom. If we were to all go out and behave in 00:21:22.630 --> 00:21:26.670 a way that reflects this wisdom, we would be 00:21:26.670 --> 00:21:30.849 peacemakers. we would sow peace and we would 00:21:30.849 --> 00:21:33.990 reap righteousness in our whole community. We 00:21:33.990 --> 00:21:42.549 would see righteousness. So that brings us to 00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:50.950 the hard part. How can you love peace in your 00:21:50.950 --> 00:21:56.769 community today? How can you be considerate in 00:21:56.769 --> 00:22:04.220 your community? How can you be reasonable in 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:10.539 your community today? How can you be full of 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:17.099 mercy? How can you be full of good fruit? How 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:22.519 can you be impartial? And how can you be sincere? 00:22:30.569 --> 00:22:43.230 Please join me in prayer. Dear Lord, we thank 00:22:43.230 --> 00:22:45.450 you for bringing us here together this morning. 00:22:48.069 --> 00:22:50.910 We thank you for our neighbors, for our communities, 00:22:50.990 --> 00:22:56.910 for our friends and loved ones. We ask that you 00:22:56.910 --> 00:23:00.220 would guide us. Live out.