WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.219 Well, hey, good morning, everybody. My name's 00:00:01.219 --> 00:00:05.940 Gregg, and I am one of the pastors here at the 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:11.160 house. If you've never been here before, you 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:13.359 had no idea that I was just gone for three months 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.019 on a sabbatical, but I am really, really happy 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:20.300 to be back from that sabbatical. It's been a 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:24.019 minute since I have preached or led worship. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:26.480 I didn't preach or lead worship in any environment 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:30.460 for the entire time. Visited a lot of places 00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:32.140 and experienced a lot of worship, but I didn't 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:36.100 lead any of that. So forgive me if I am a little 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:40.219 rusty. We'll see how it goes. In those three 00:00:40.219 --> 00:00:43.200 months, I did a bunch of little projects around 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:46.219 the house. Like yesterday, I just decided, oh, 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:49.159 I need a new downspout for the gutter that's 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:53.240 been broken for years on our garage. And I did 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:58.939 that. I visited 12 different churches. It was 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:01.520 nice to go and see some of my pastor friends 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.239 and their environments. It's kind of like when 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.140 you go to Starbucks and you have the same barista 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:09.540 all the time, and you're like, well, I come and 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:11.260 visit you at your work all the time. Why don't 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:14.219 you ever come visit me at my work? And it was 00:01:14.219 --> 00:01:16.579 nice to be able to go see some of my pastor friends 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:20.140 at the place that they work because we all work 00:01:20.140 --> 00:01:23.310 at the same time on the same day. I wrote one 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:26.569 new song that we'll do next week. We'll sing 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:30.629 together. And I finished almost 50 ,000 words 00:01:30.629 --> 00:01:33.769 of a book that I'm working on. So I still have 00:01:33.769 --> 00:01:36.030 a ways to go. And I'm sure there'll be a lot 00:01:36.030 --> 00:01:38.189 of edits that need to be done. I traveled almost 00:01:38.189 --> 00:01:42.030 3 ,500 miles going back and forth to Chicago 00:01:42.030 --> 00:01:44.489 a bunch of times, up to Kalamazoo, Zeeland, Allegan, 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:46.709 Michigan. Got friends up there. Worked at a camp 00:01:46.709 --> 00:01:49.650 up there years ago. So I went and spent some 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:52.480 time writing there. I also went to Omaha, Nebraska, 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.239 and Ames, Iowa, where I will be again in just 00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:01.739 a handful of weeks as our second son, Liam, moves 00:02:01.739 --> 00:02:05.079 to Ames for Iowa State University for his first 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:11.520 year of college, so that's exciting. One of the 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:13.520 reasons that this sabbatical was so well -timed 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.500 is that all four of our kids are at these transition 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:19.979 points in their lives. Brennan is 21 and has 00:02:19.979 --> 00:02:22.680 been going to Augie, but has lived at home so 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:24.759 that there isn't that added expense. But for 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:27.419 his senior year, Brennan is moving out, going 00:02:27.419 --> 00:02:30.759 to live with some of the guys from his fraternity. 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:33.659 And that's happening here in a couple weeks, 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:37.060 beginning of August, I think. And Liam is obviously 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.419 off to Iowa State, and Wallace is starting Rocky. 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:43.240 He's going to be a high schooler in Adley. He's 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:45.180 starting Washington. He's going to be a junior 00:02:45.180 --> 00:02:49.500 high student. So most of my travel was actually 00:02:49.500 --> 00:02:52.580 with my kids, creating memories at these transition 00:02:52.580 --> 00:02:56.439 moments like Brooke mentioned. I specifically 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:59.020 wanted to make sure that we had these moments 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:02.000 together. I took Brennan and Liam to see Hamilton 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:05.759 in Chicago. Walsh and I went to Omaha for a couple 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:07.960 days and saw a band that we really love called 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:11.560 Josiah in the Bonnevilles. We also happened to 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:15.120 go to, apparently it's the best zoo in America. 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.620 We had no idea. It is phenomenal. Like, if you 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:22.979 can handle the four -something -hour drive, it 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:32.199 is worth it. In Omaha, yeah, yeah, Omaha. Yeah, 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:36.099 yeah. I mean, you can walk for, yeah. I think 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.759 we spent four hours there, and we only saw, like, 00:03:38.780 --> 00:03:43.729 70 % of what they had. Adley and I went to Chicago. 00:03:43.849 --> 00:03:46.990 We visited a couple museums and the zoo and the 00:03:46.990 --> 00:03:50.169 aquarium. And then Liam and I went again to Chicago. 00:03:50.250 --> 00:03:52.430 We saw a Cubs game one day. The next day we saw 00:03:52.430 --> 00:03:56.490 a White Sox game. Why? Because a few years ago, 00:03:56.629 --> 00:04:06.490 the students, well... A few years ago... Oh, 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:19.339 they cheated first, too. A few years ago... A 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:21.560 few years ago, the Shed took all the students 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:23.899 to Chicago, and one of the things they did was 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:27.579 they went to a White Sox game. And ever since 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:31.139 then, Liam has been a White Sox fan. And so it 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:33.860 was nice to see my team one day and his team 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:36.680 the next day. My team lost, his team won. So 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:40.839 he had the best time. And then this past May, 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:43.759 Cindy and I also went to Chicago for a day celebrating 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:47.860 24 years of marriage and 25 years together. So 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:52.339 that was pretty awesome. And then there's just 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:55.399 the moment that we're in right now. Right now 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:59.040 is when we were moving back to the Quad Cities 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:04.060 13 years ago. We felt this sense that we needed 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:05.860 to come back to Rock Island, be part of starting 00:05:05.860 --> 00:05:08.379 a new church here that would call prodigals home 00:05:08.379 --> 00:05:11.339 and be a place for the spiritually homeless. 00:05:11.660 --> 00:05:15.920 And so Cindy and I, we just passed 13 years of 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.160 pastoring and leading this church and this community. 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:20.560 Even though Sunday mornings didn't start till 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:24.000 January, this is when it started. And so more 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.240 than half of my 25 years of full -time ministry 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:31.040 has been in this church. So that's, yeah, that's 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:34.620 special. And I want to make sure that you all 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:38.720 know that you are an anomaly. You are an anomaly. 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:42.439 This church is an anomaly, especially if we're 00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:44.199 talking about rest, because most pastors never 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:49.339 get a single sabbatical, let alone a regularly 00:05:49.339 --> 00:05:55.720 scheduled sabbatical. So thank you. Thank you 00:05:55.720 --> 00:05:59.879 to everyone that served. Thank you for creating 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:03.819 space for rest. Thank you for trusting the process, 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.699 for believing that God is at work in this place, 00:06:07.779 --> 00:06:12.000 even if one or all the pastors happen to be out 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:14.579 of town. Because I know there were a couple Sundays 00:06:14.579 --> 00:06:16.620 where I was like, wait, Jen's not here either? 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:20.839 I want to say thank you to the elders. Thank 00:06:20.839 --> 00:06:25.040 you for your continued... care for this congregation 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.220 because it's not just me it's not just jen it's 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.319 not just marissa it's the elders that continue 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:32.180 to pray for you and to support you spiritually 00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:36.680 and then in particular you know just thank you 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.199 marissa and thank you jen to the pastors that 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:43.399 continue to carry the responsibilities yeah and 00:06:43.399 --> 00:06:44.839 the next thing my note was will you thank them 00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:51.910 with me yeah it's a special thing i mean Marissa 00:06:51.910 --> 00:06:54.290 is probably going on five or six years, and I'll 00:06:54.290 --> 00:06:57.569 lose track. But Jen was the first text message 00:06:57.569 --> 00:07:01.829 that we made in January of 2013 when we prayed 00:07:01.829 --> 00:07:04.470 and felt like we were meant to do this. We texted, 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:08.189 hey, so would you want to be a part of this? 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:11.290 So she's been a part of it ever since. I consider 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:15.850 her a founding pastor of this church. About three 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:18.939 weeks ago, I was... Pretty ready to be back. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.300 I actually met up with Andy and I was like, I 00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:23.220 think I might ask Jen if I can come back a week 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:27.019 early. I'm ready. So I started thinking about 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:31.079 the sermon and what I should preach. And so I 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:32.720 don't normally name my sermons, but this one 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.240 I'm going to call the three believes. Not beliefs. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:40.600 The three believes. Most of you probably already 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.339 know that our son Liam, he's 18 and he recently 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:47.750 had. back surgery and the doctor said that it 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:51.370 went as well as it could have it went very well 00:07:51.370 --> 00:07:54.790 we stayed in the hospital for eight days and 00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:57.829 it's hard to think you know with him moving soon 00:07:57.829 --> 00:07:59.870 and with being in the hospital again it's hard 00:07:59.870 --> 00:08:03.189 not to reflect back on the experiences we had 00:08:03.189 --> 00:08:05.569 uh when he was in the hospital for the first 00:08:05.569 --> 00:08:07.970 time and so i was just thinking about it reflecting 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.230 on getting to be his dad it's transition time 00:08:10.230 --> 00:08:12.670 in his life and i found something that i had 00:08:12.670 --> 00:08:23.930 written to him Gosh, dang. When he was 11. And 00:08:23.930 --> 00:08:26.569 with his permission, I'm going to share it with 00:08:26.569 --> 00:08:32.909 you. It says this. Hey, Liam, this week is the 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:40.580 five -year marker of when you got sick. I have 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:42.860 always told you that I don't know exactly what 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:44.840 will happen, but I do believe that you will have 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:50.820 an amazing life. I wonder what you will do as 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:56.519 an adult. Brooke, you're right. I practiced. 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:03.320 I wonder if you'll get married and who you'll 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.080 fall in love with. I wonder if you'll have kids. 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:08.779 I wonder where you'll live and if you'll change 00:09:08.779 --> 00:09:11.950 the world. With all your ideas and intelligence. 00:09:14.669 --> 00:09:16.909 I don't know the answers to any of those questions, 00:09:17.009 --> 00:09:20.210 but I believe you will have a very good life. 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:23.169 And I believe an amazing life is connected to 00:09:23.169 --> 00:09:29.850 a couple of things. One, believing God wants 00:09:29.850 --> 00:09:33.309 the best for you and is always guiding you towards 00:09:33.309 --> 00:09:36.370 his greatest hope for your life. This doesn't 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:38.570 mean you'll always know the right thing to do. 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:41.559 But it means that God cares about you and is 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:43.919 working in your life to show you how to love 00:09:43.919 --> 00:09:49.460 and be loved and live life well. Two, believing 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:52.860 the best about others. We can be hard on ourselves 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:55.919 or about ourselves. Believe the best about yourself. 00:09:56.659 --> 00:09:59.940 We can be hard on ourselves. If we make mistakes 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:02.059 or if our bodies don't work the way we want, 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:05.600 we can be mean to ourselves. But we have to believe 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.909 the best about ourselves as well. We are God's 00:10:08.909 --> 00:10:12.789 creation, and we are amazing creations. Three, 00:10:12.970 --> 00:10:17.769 believe the best about others. Other people will 00:10:17.769 --> 00:10:20.129 make mistakes, and at times we may need to end 00:10:20.129 --> 00:10:23.009 a friendship or limit how much time we spend 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:24.909 with a certain person based on their actions. 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.889 But first, we have to learn to give them the 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:31.809 benefit of the doubt, to believe the best about 00:10:31.809 --> 00:10:34.769 them until we know their intentions and can make 00:10:34.769 --> 00:10:38.139 good decisions for ourselves. Never feel bad 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:40.340 for making good decisions for yourself and your 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:43.240 health, but also never rush to cut someone out 00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:45.799 of your life unless they are hurting you on purpose. 00:10:47.059 --> 00:10:50.080 Grace and forgiveness are important. God will 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.519 guide you in these as well, and I'm always here 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:56.860 to talk to you. I love you, boy, dad. Let's pray. 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:05.480 God of every tribe, every tongue, every color. 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:11.080 and every nation. Thank you for this church, 00:11:11.139 --> 00:11:15.720 for family, for what you have done in the past, 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.879 what you are doing now in the present, and what 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:23.220 you will continue to do in the future. Amen. 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:28.600 The first, believe. Believe God wants the best 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.259 for you and is always guiding you towards the 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:34.889 greatest hope for your life. There's this idea 00:11:34.889 --> 00:11:36.789 out there that for God to be good, he has to 00:11:36.789 --> 00:11:38.590 give us all the good things we need, regardless 00:11:38.590 --> 00:11:41.289 of the free will in us or of those around us. 00:11:45.110 --> 00:11:48.009 That idea might expand to, if we're missing something 00:11:48.009 --> 00:11:50.850 that we need, it's because God just chose not 00:11:50.850 --> 00:11:55.769 to help. Or worse, that God planned for us to 00:11:55.769 --> 00:12:02.110 fail. Jeremiah 29, 11. It says, for I know the 00:12:02.110 --> 00:12:05.250 plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:08.470 to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to 00:12:08.470 --> 00:12:14.029 give you a hope and a future. Now this verse 00:12:14.029 --> 00:12:15.830 can be taken out of context and exaggerated. 00:12:15.970 --> 00:12:18.929 It can get used by wealth and prosperity preachers 00:12:18.929 --> 00:12:20.570 to say that God wants you to be rich. And if 00:12:20.570 --> 00:12:22.570 you're not rich, then you must be rebelling and 00:12:22.570 --> 00:12:24.889 doing something wrong. That's just silliness. 00:12:25.450 --> 00:12:27.490 If you have less than your neighbor, it's not 00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:29.570 because you're rebelling against God or because 00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:31.950 you didn't tithe 10%. The verse has nothing to 00:12:31.950 --> 00:12:33.730 do with your financial wealth. It's about the 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:38.669 heart of God for you. It's about the nature of 00:12:38.669 --> 00:12:43.750 God. God has no plans to harm you. God wants 00:12:43.750 --> 00:12:48.610 to give you hope. God wants to give you a future. 00:12:48.830 --> 00:12:53.110 And so God is always working to guide you to... 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:58.450 His greatest hope for you. The trouble in the 00:12:58.450 --> 00:13:01.129 equation isn't God. It's usually us, humans. 00:13:02.549 --> 00:13:05.549 Not because we're bad. God says that we are very 00:13:05.549 --> 00:13:08.529 good. He looked at his creation and said, this 00:13:08.529 --> 00:13:12.269 is very good. We bear the image of God, but we 00:13:12.269 --> 00:13:19.370 are fallible. We do make mistakes. Think about 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:22.330 it like this. My wife and kids can be standing 00:13:22.330 --> 00:13:24.490 right next to me and say something and I can 00:13:24.490 --> 00:13:27.429 still mishear or misunderstand what they said. 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:32.429 They can attest, right? If I can be standing 00:13:32.429 --> 00:13:34.470 right next to someone and misunderstand them, 00:13:34.830 --> 00:13:37.389 what are the odds that I'm always going to hear 00:13:37.389 --> 00:13:43.090 and understand what God has said? Even if we 00:13:43.090 --> 00:13:47.450 do understand, even if we do hear clearly, we 00:13:47.450 --> 00:13:53.500 may not always choose. God's way because we're 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:59.179 not perfect. It's why so many of the Proverbs 00:13:59.179 --> 00:14:05.460 remind us how to follow God. Trust in the Lord 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:09.080 with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:14.399 In all your ways acknowledge him and he will 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:19.419 make your paths straight. There is a role that 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:23.120 we play in moving into the greatest hope that 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:27.240 God has for us. That is hearing, not leaning 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:31.899 on our own way, trusting him and walking in whatever 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:36.340 path he has made straight. We may misunderstand 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:40.580 or ignore, but that does not change that God 00:14:40.580 --> 00:14:45.919 will always be trying to lead you to his greatest 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:51.090 hope. for your life. All right, so first, believe 00:14:51.090 --> 00:14:54.070 God wants what is best for you. Second, believe 00:14:54.070 --> 00:14:56.289 the best about yourself. Don't raise your hand, 00:14:56.389 --> 00:14:59.090 but how many of us have had negative thoughts 00:14:59.090 --> 00:15:01.490 about ourselves just this morning? Don't raise 00:15:01.490 --> 00:15:04.950 your hand. Just since you woke up this morning, 00:15:05.090 --> 00:15:10.129 had a negative thought about yourself. How many 00:15:10.129 --> 00:15:11.730 of us have had negative thoughts about ourselves 00:15:11.730 --> 00:15:16.000 just during this sermon? I'm supposed to believe 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.879 the best about God, that God wants the best for 00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:19.419 me. What's wrong with me? Why can't I believe 00:15:19.419 --> 00:15:24.000 that? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Why are 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:29.080 we so mean to ourselves? Jesus told us to love 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:34.360 our neighbor as we love ourselves because he 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:39.500 wants us to love ourselves well. The better we 00:15:39.500 --> 00:15:41.559 love ourselves and understand ourselves in the 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:43.539 light of God, the better we might love someone 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:48.679 else. Now, I'm honestly not talking about pride. 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:51.639 I'm not saying, like, let's be prideful. Humility 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.200 matters. Jesus taught that the last will be first, 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:57.200 the first will be last. But that doesn't mean 00:15:57.200 --> 00:16:03.539 that we're meant to treat ourselves badly. So 00:16:03.539 --> 00:16:06.759 let's see what another scripture says. Romans 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.279 12 .3 says, Do not think of yourself more highly 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:12.460 than you ought, but rather think of yourself 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.610 with sober judgment. In accordance with the faith 00:16:15.610 --> 00:16:18.409 God has distributed to each of us. There's a 00:16:18.409 --> 00:16:20.250 lot of big words in there. A lot of words maybe 00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:25.929 we don't use often. Sober judgment. Let me read 00:16:25.929 --> 00:16:27.809 to you the way that Eugene Peterson translated 00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:33.889 that in the message. Eugene wrote, the only accurate 00:16:33.889 --> 00:16:36.950 way to understand ourselves is by what God is. 00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:43.110 And by what he has done for us, not by what we 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:48.649 are. or what we do for him. And I want to take 00:16:48.649 --> 00:16:50.809 a moment here. I'm going to ask you to do me 00:16:50.809 --> 00:16:53.669 a favor. I'm going to ask you to just center 00:16:53.669 --> 00:16:57.450 yourself for a second, to close your eyes, and 00:16:57.450 --> 00:17:02.490 to just hear, to just practice listening to the 00:17:02.490 --> 00:17:05.329 word of God as translated in the message. I'll 00:17:05.329 --> 00:17:11.289 read it again. The only accurate way to understand 00:17:11.289 --> 00:17:18.369 ourselves. is by what God is and by what he does 00:17:18.369 --> 00:17:24.789 for us, not by what we are and what we do for 00:17:24.789 --> 00:17:32.289 him. Just let that settle. The only accurate 00:17:32.289 --> 00:17:37.410 way to understand ourselves is by what God is. 00:17:39.309 --> 00:17:41.269 Okay, so if that's how we're supposed to understand, 00:17:41.369 --> 00:17:48.029 what is God? 1 John 4 tells us that we rely on 00:17:48.029 --> 00:17:50.829 the love of God, the love that God has for us, 00:17:50.849 --> 00:17:57.829 because God is love. Thomas Merton put it like 00:17:57.829 --> 00:18:01.930 this. To say that I am made in the image of God 00:18:01.930 --> 00:18:05.750 is to say that love is the reason for my existence, 00:18:05.950 --> 00:18:12.430 for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness 00:18:12.430 --> 00:18:16.130 is my true self. Love is my character. Love is 00:18:16.130 --> 00:18:23.049 my name. God is love. And so you are loved. Love 00:18:23.049 --> 00:18:27.089 is your character and name. You can be kind to 00:18:27.089 --> 00:18:33.230 yourself. You can love yourself because God loves 00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:40.200 you more than you know. Part of the hope in the 00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:42.220 future that he has for you is for you to find 00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:44.380 your way into the path that leads directly into 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:50.900 knowing that you are loved. And if we're meant 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:54.880 to understand ourselves by what God has done, 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:58.400 then here's just a few things that God has done. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:03.440 Ephesians 1, in him we have redemption through 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:07.589 his blood. 2 Timothy 1, God saved us and called 00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:10.869 us with a holy calling. Colossians 1, He has 00:19:10.869 --> 00:19:14.009 rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred 00:19:14.009 --> 00:19:18.349 us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. All three 00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:20.549 of those things are at the very beginning of 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:25.789 a letter to somebody. Because at the very beginning, 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:28.789 the author, Paul, wanted to remind the person 00:19:28.789 --> 00:19:31.490 he was writing to who they were and what God 00:19:31.490 --> 00:19:35.690 has done for them. You are loved, and this is 00:19:35.690 --> 00:19:39.849 what God has done for you. And in the words of 00:19:39.849 --> 00:19:45.109 Jesus in John 8, if the Son makes you free, you 00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:52.289 will be free indeed. Any and all of your wrongness 00:19:52.289 --> 00:20:02.140 has been covered by love. We are free. It's our 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:05.119 old thinking that tells us that we are worthless. 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:07.779 Oh, everyone's going to notice that mistake. 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:12.220 How will I ever live that down? But it is good 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:14.599 and right to believe the best about yourself. 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:20.319 You are reconciled to God through Jesus, and 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.859 you are loved by the God that is love. Believe 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:28.400 God wants what is best for you. Believe the best 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:31.519 about yourself. because of who God is and what 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.680 he's done. And now maybe this is the really hard 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:39.440 one for some of us, believing the best about 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:44.000 others. I'm not talking about giving space to 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:49.180 abusers. I know it, that abusers will use the 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:51.619 concept of forgiveness to hold proximity to the 00:20:51.619 --> 00:20:54.240 pain that they've created. That's not what I'm 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:57.200 talking about. Forgiveness and believing the 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.180 best doesn't mean that we lose all sense of boundaries 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:04.740 and health. What I am saying is this. If God 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:08.980 wants the best for me, then God wants the best 00:21:08.980 --> 00:21:15.319 for everyone. Everything that I already said 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.980 about God wanting the best for us, for me, believing 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:23.299 the best about ourselves, that is all just as 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:28.509 true. for the person that we don't like. That 00:21:28.509 --> 00:21:32.150 is all just as true for our perceived enemy, 00:21:32.390 --> 00:21:35.269 for our real enemy, for our political opponent, 00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:37.890 for the guy that cut us off on the road, for 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:40.390 the person that hurt our feelings, the person 00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:44.890 that keeps hurting our feelings. If I'm supposed 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:50.569 to view myself in light of what God is, what 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:55.710 God has done. then I am meant to view everyone 00:21:55.710 --> 00:22:03.269 in the light of who God is and what God has done. 00:22:05.230 --> 00:22:21.329 And that's hard. I know. I know. I know. The 00:22:21.329 --> 00:22:26.289 good news... is that we are not alone in the 00:22:26.289 --> 00:22:34.410 three beliefs. We have each other. We are filled 00:22:34.410 --> 00:22:40.970 with the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus has made his 00:22:40.970 --> 00:22:47.710 home in our hearts. And the Father loves us. 00:22:49.650 --> 00:22:55.119 Today I hope that... You start to believe just 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.339 a little bit more that God wants what is best 00:22:58.339 --> 00:23:03.119 for you. God is always leading you toward his 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:09.180 best hope for you in your life. And I hope that 00:23:09.180 --> 00:23:11.279 you believe even better things about yourself 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.740 than you have before. And I hope that we can 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:21.279 all look to Jesus and see the people around us. 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:27.220 The way that they are. Loved by the God that 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:41.720 is love. Amen? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:45.059 thank you for all the scriptures that we read. 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:51.920 Thank you for all the ways that your spirit was 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:57.700 guiding us to see your hope for us. Thank you 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:01.299 for this congregation. I pray they will lean 00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:05.140 on each other, that they will be with each other 00:24:05.140 --> 00:24:08.099 in the three beliefs that when one of us struggles 00:24:08.099 --> 00:24:10.279 to believe the best about someone, someone else 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:14.000 shows us how to do it. When one of us struggles 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.960 to believe the best about ourselves, someone 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:19.980 else will show us how to do it. And when anyone 00:24:19.980 --> 00:24:23.759 struggles to believe the best about you, that 00:24:23.759 --> 00:24:28.960 we will show them how to do it. Amen.