1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,160 Before we get to the final sermon in our sermon series, 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:06,680 I did forget to show that part of our baptisms, 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,360 we also give our baptism families the rose, 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,440 signifying new life in Christ, 5 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:13,640 and also the onesies that we give out, 6 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:15,980 which is newly baptized at Munster Church, 7 00:00:15,980 --> 00:00:18,560 the Legacy Project Next Generation, 8 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:21,540 along with their baptism certificate. 9 00:00:21,540 --> 00:00:24,220 We continue and we close our sermon series. 10 00:00:24,220 --> 00:00:26,180 It's always interesting to close 11 00:00:26,180 --> 00:00:28,520 because sometimes I'm tempted to just say, 12 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,320 hey, I'm gonna ask you what you learned, 13 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:31,600 what you liked, what you didn't like, 14 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,160 and let that be the sermon, but the elder said I can't. 15 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:36,080 So I actually have to preach. 16 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,720 So, which is exciting because the way Hebrews 13 is written, 17 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,720 it really is a great encapsulation 18 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,040 of what the writer was trying to bring up. 19 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,840 We see it in Paul's writings, it's written differently, 20 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,120 this is why Hebrews isn't attributed to Paul, 21 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,840 it's not known as a Pauline epistle, 22 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:56,740 we don't really know who the writer is though, 23 00:00:56,740 --> 00:00:59,680 there are some theologians that have guesses, 24 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,120 it's okay to not know, it's okay to read it 25 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,300 and to learn what God has for us in it. 26 00:01:05,300 --> 00:01:10,080 But the way that this individual kind of finishes the book, 27 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,360 actually to me, goes hand in hand with baptism, 28 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,560 and Mike can attest, we don't plan these things out, right? 29 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:18,080 We did not plan for when the skewering goes, 30 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,400 we're gonna have a baby, that would be weird if we did, 31 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,440 and understanding that we had sacraments, 32 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,260 this was great and a great way to kind of 33 00:01:26,260 --> 00:01:29,440 really the biggest sermon illustration I have 34 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,440 is Ridge Kenneth, so Ridge, way to go, 35 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:36,280 that baptism is really where the, 36 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,360 kind of how the book of Hebrew ends, 37 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:43,360 it's a reminder of the promises of baptism. 38 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,360 Because we go through things in life, 39 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:48,400 and I'll hear this verbiage used, 40 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,320 that I am a practicing blank, right? 41 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,880 You hear that with potential other world religions 42 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,040 or other denominations, right? 43 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:57,560 You hear people go, I'm a non, 44 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,560 I have family members that say I'm a non-practicing Catholic. 45 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,640 I still don't know fully what that means. 46 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:04,000 If you are Catholic here this morning, 47 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,080 you could let me know, I have some ideas, 48 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,160 but they're probably wrong, but you also have, 49 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:13,160 I'm a practicing Muslim, or I'm a practicing vegan, 50 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,420 which I don't get, but we can do, 51 00:02:16,420 --> 00:02:19,080 we can throw that in there, which I always think 52 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:22,680 is a really weird and a really odd clarifier. 53 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,320 Because one of the things that you learn 54 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,120 in preaching school is show, don't tell. 55 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,040 Show how the scripture makes a difference. 56 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,800 Show kind of the narrative of the book. 57 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,720 Don't always tell that all of you have 58 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,320 a varying amounts and levels of imagination. 59 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,200 Yes, even you, the ones that think that you don't, you do. 60 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,560 That this book, God's Word, is supposed to be experienced 61 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,120 in a way that God has set for you. 62 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,900 That the understanding of these words 63 00:02:52,900 --> 00:02:57,260 are set for your heart, and your heart is not the same 64 00:02:57,260 --> 00:02:59,560 as the person next to you, the person in front of you, 65 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,880 even though created by mom and dad, 66 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,600 Ridge has a different heart than mom and dad. 67 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,120 And so understanding that, I always find it funny 68 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,600 to say I am a practicing blank, 69 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,120 because in some ways we should show people that, 70 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,320 not necessarily tell people, 71 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,580 because I think the worst is if, you know, 72 00:03:18,580 --> 00:03:22,880 someone says I am a practicing vegetarian, 73 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:26,180 and you see them at Rosebud eating a steak. 74 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,960 It makes absolutely no sense, right? 75 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,280 Or if you have kids that say I am a practicing 76 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,380 non-doer of chores, and you make them do chores, 77 00:03:38,380 --> 00:03:40,480 you know, I just can hear my oldest say 78 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,240 that goes against my beliefs. 79 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,800 And then I say you're grounded. 80 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:50,200 And understanding that we should really be walking it out, 81 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,080 not always just talking it out, 82 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,960 because we learn in society that talk is cheap, right? 83 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,440 And understanding that for the life of a believer, 84 00:04:03,100 --> 00:04:04,800 and this is a challenge I give myself, 85 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,000 I was gonna end with it, but I'm gonna start with it instead. 86 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,600 I hope nobody that is a member of Munster Church, 87 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:13,960 so if you're not a member of Munster Church, 88 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:15,680 you can be exempt. 89 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,280 Even though I hope you don't. 90 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:19,900 I don't ever wanna hear any of you say 91 00:04:19,900 --> 00:04:21,520 I'm a practicing Christian. 92 00:04:22,900 --> 00:04:26,960 Because at that point, something probably is wrong. 93 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,280 There's probably something you're convicted on, 94 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,880 there's probably something that you're not doing, 95 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,640 because as we tend to be, idol worshipers, 96 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:37,560 we just talked about that a couple minutes ago, 97 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,920 that if we have to say it, 98 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,440 my guess is we're not walking it out. 99 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,240 That I want the world to be able to see your walk, 100 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:46,560 to see the way you live your life, 101 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:47,940 to see the way you run your business, 102 00:04:47,940 --> 00:04:49,160 to see the way you love your wife, 103 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:51,600 to see the way you raise your kids, all of those things. 104 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,940 And people go, oh, they believe in Jesus, 105 00:04:53,940 --> 00:04:55,180 they are Christians. 106 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:58,280 In the next couple weeks, 107 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:00,560 we're all gonna get Christmas cards, right? 108 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,700 And I absolutely love that. 109 00:05:03,700 --> 00:05:06,800 And I love seeing all the updates and all of those things, 110 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,200 but rarely do I hear about all the bad things 111 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,080 going on in life, right? 112 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,840 That when we write these cards, these Christmas cards, 113 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:16,200 that's the time people give 114 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,140 kind of their family updates for the year, 115 00:05:18,140 --> 00:05:21,200 it's the highlight reel, it's not the not top 10, 116 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,880 like Sports Center does, right? 117 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,340 You wanna give people the top 10 things. 118 00:05:27,500 --> 00:05:30,160 But rarely do I hear people say, 119 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,280 are Christian walks going well? 120 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:33,940 Me and Jesus, we're okay. 121 00:05:34,860 --> 00:05:36,640 You don't hear that, 122 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:38,600 because you don't either wanna talk about it, 123 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,720 or there might be something else going on. 124 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,200 I want you to always be living it out. 125 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,840 And so the way the writer wrote chapter 13 126 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:51,040 shows a wonderful kind of breakdown 127 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,500 of how we practice being a Christian. 128 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,720 Again, something I hope you never say in life, 129 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:59,320 I'm a practicing Christian, 130 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,720 because being a Christian is kind of redundant. 131 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,160 I don't know, if someone would say to me, 132 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,760 I'm a non-practicing Christian, 133 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:09,340 that would be a head scratcher. 134 00:06:09,340 --> 00:06:12,180 I would definitely have to sit down for a beverage with them 135 00:06:12,180 --> 00:06:13,800 and go break that out for me, 136 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,400 because I have no idea what you're talking about. 137 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,100 Because the call of a believer means something. 138 00:06:19,100 --> 00:06:19,940 How do we know? 139 00:06:19,940 --> 00:06:22,320 We just did it in Preparation Sunday. 140 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:24,160 That's a way of life. 141 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,920 And so we're reminded from question and answer 70 142 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:30,600 of our Heart of Bokatechism, of our baptismal promises. 143 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,800 Because really in the baptism and everything 144 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,360 that Kenny and Daryl spoke on behalf of Ridge, 145 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,260 everything you guys agreed to has to do 146 00:06:41,260 --> 00:06:44,120 with living the Christian life. 147 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:45,200 Question and answer 70, 148 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,600 what does it mean to be washed in Christ's blood 149 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,360 and the Spirit answer? 150 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:53,960 To be washed with Christ's blood means that God, by grace, 151 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,680 has forgiven our sins because of Christ's blood 152 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:01,080 poured out for us in his sacrifice on the cross. 153 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,000 To be washed with Christ's Spirit means 154 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,560 that the Holy Spirit has renewed and sanctified us 155 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,160 to be members of Christ, 156 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,200 so that more and more we become dead to sin 157 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:16,160 and live holy and blameless lives. 158 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:17,080 Right there. 159 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,220 What does it mean to be a practicing Christian 160 00:07:22,220 --> 00:07:24,760 is to become more and more dead to sin 161 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,080 and to live holy and blameless lives. 162 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,960 So, initial question, how's your Christianity going? 163 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:34,200 For those of you that have been in it 164 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,800 for years and years and years, how's it going? 165 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,760 For those that may be brand new to it, 166 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:40,000 how's it going? 167 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,600 It's a great question to ask, 168 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,520 maybe week in and week out, right? 169 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,560 Especially as we get ready to come to the table, 170 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:48,200 because more times than not, 171 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,160 what we're going to kind of get brought to our mind 172 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,520 are the times that we're not living holy and blameless lives, 173 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,260 but we're becoming alive to sin. 174 00:07:59,260 --> 00:08:01,080 That's kind of the if-so-fact-so, right? 175 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,640 So, if we're growing in Christ, 176 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:04,920 we're dying more to sin, 177 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:06,480 we're picking up our cross daily, 178 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,280 we're living lives of justice, mercy, and humility, 179 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:11,740 like Micah tells us to, 180 00:08:11,740 --> 00:08:14,480 that we're trying our best to live holy and blameless lives, 181 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,760 knowing that perfection is not attainable 182 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,160 when sin is rampant, right? 183 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:21,960 We will get there in heaven. 184 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:25,520 So, these practices, we're gonna break through, 185 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,280 we're gonna kind of go somewhat verse by verse 186 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:29,560 in the beginning of Hebrews chapter 13. 187 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,280 What are the practices of a believer? 188 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,360 We're gonna keep it real simple, 189 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:36,260 though some of them are really deep. 190 00:08:36,260 --> 00:08:40,240 The first is to practice real love. 191 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:46,040 Let brotherly love continue, Hebrews 1.13 says. 192 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,360 Let brotherly love continue. 193 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:49,680 How do we know what love is? 194 00:08:49,680 --> 00:08:52,880 Look to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith. 195 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:54,520 We talked about that two weeks ago. 196 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:57,480 If Jesus is the one authoring the definition 197 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,160 of love in your life, go back to him. 198 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:01,800 Go back to how he loved. 199 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:03,880 He loved in a very real way. 200 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:05,580 He loved in a very intentional way. 201 00:09:05,580 --> 00:09:06,560 We'll get to that in a second. 202 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,260 He loved in a way that not only was seen and felt, 203 00:09:10,260 --> 00:09:13,200 but a love that was continued in the community. 204 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:18,760 Let brotherly, sisterly love continue. 205 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,440 This is the start of the last chapter. 206 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:25,480 So, we really should be holding on to 207 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:27,960 let brotherly love continue, 208 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:32,640 because understanding that truly loving others 209 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:37,400 is the way Christianity is continued in the culture. 210 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:39,320 Now, we can look at our world today and go, 211 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,960 ugh, we might not be doing the best job. 212 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,280 You look throughout history and you go, ugh, 213 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,640 we might not be doing the best job. 214 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,880 Now, loving other people doesn't mean you allow 215 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:52,200 for just sin to run rampant. 216 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,580 No, that loving people means sitting down with them 217 00:09:55,580 --> 00:09:59,720 and walking through what love is, 218 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,200 how life is supposed to be lived. 219 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:04,720 And I've used this before. 220 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:06,720 I remember I was teaching high school catechism 221 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,640 at Crown Point CRC, and I won't mention his name, 222 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,720 because some of you are related to him, 223 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,920 that he was a sophomore at the time, 224 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:15,260 and we were talking about evangelism 225 00:10:15,260 --> 00:10:19,080 and how we all agree relational evangelism 226 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:21,000 is better than drive-by evangelism, 227 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:22,200 where you just have a bullhorn and say, 228 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:23,920 you're a sinner, and you run away, 229 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,760 because that's really not going to accomplish much. 230 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,960 And I said, so, as sophomores and juniors and seniors 231 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:32,400 and freshmen, how would you evangelize? 232 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:34,520 What would be your go-to? 233 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:35,540 And he stands up. 234 00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:37,120 I didn't ask him to stand, but he stood up. 235 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:38,160 He puffed out his chest. 236 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,140 He goes, I would start with the canons of Dort. 237 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:45,620 Said no one ever, right? 238 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:48,080 I go, how would that go? 239 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,520 Dan, our resident catechism teacher, 240 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,320 canons of Dort starts with what? 241 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:56,720 Thank you, yes, but what is the T 242 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:57,560 in Tulip? 243 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:00,440 Total depravity, right? 244 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,600 Or if you go to Jim Osterhaus's, 245 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,640 you go to Fallen Humanity, that we are all fallen. 246 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,480 Or you go to the one, there's an acronym, 247 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:12,020 bacon, bad people. 248 00:11:12,020 --> 00:11:13,700 And so, understanding, I said, 249 00:11:13,700 --> 00:11:17,720 so how would you start evangelism with total depravity? 250 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,400 That seems like you're taking a couple steps forward, 251 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,560 or a couple steps backwards, not forwards. 252 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:24,600 He goes, I would start by telling the person 253 00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:26,800 how bad they are. 254 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:27,920 Really? 255 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:30,040 How do you think that would go? 256 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,800 He goes, oh, it'd probably take time to get through it. 257 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:34,120 Yeah, it would, yeah, 258 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:36,420 because I think they would stop listening. 259 00:11:38,460 --> 00:11:41,760 Because I look at it, and if someone had the greatest gift 260 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:44,440 ever, and the gift of salvation, right? 261 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:46,520 So if I have this greatest gift, 262 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,800 I'm gonna sit down with Kenny, who I know he is a believer, 263 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,120 but for the sake of the illustration, 264 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:52,400 let's say he's not, right? 265 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,000 You're not a believer, and I sit down with you 266 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:55,840 for a cup of coffee or beer, and I go, 267 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,720 hey, I wanna tell you about Jesus, 268 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,200 and he wants me to remind you, you're an evil human being. 269 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,720 You are terrible, and we call that depraved. 270 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,360 So there's a new word for you, you're depraved. 271 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:10,560 Can I get you another? 272 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:13,880 Like, I mean, how are you engaging that? 273 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:16,940 I'm shutting down, right? 274 00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:18,760 That drink's probably all over my face, 275 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,200 because he's flung it, right? 276 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:21,200 And he's left. 277 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:22,780 Do you think you'd, if I ask you again, 278 00:12:22,780 --> 00:12:24,400 hey, do you wanna go out for another cup of coffee? 279 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,260 Do you say yes to that? 280 00:12:26,260 --> 00:12:28,300 No, no, probably not. 281 00:12:28,300 --> 00:12:31,400 And so understanding that part of our life, 282 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,920 again, that doesn't minimize truth. 283 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:38,860 Loving people does not mean minimizing truth, 284 00:12:38,860 --> 00:12:40,960 but you have two opportunities. 285 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,740 You can try to beat someone into loving Jesus, 286 00:12:44,740 --> 00:12:46,740 and for all of those that are maybe more, 287 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:50,800 like me, more, maybe higher authoritative 288 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,920 and more discipline-oriented with your kids, 289 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:55,900 how does that go than sitting down 290 00:12:55,900 --> 00:12:58,240 and talking to them through a problem? 291 00:12:58,240 --> 00:12:59,940 You get very different results. 292 00:12:59,940 --> 00:13:02,360 The same thing goes with loving others. 293 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,320 Friends, you have every opportunity 294 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:07,200 to bludgeon people with the Scriptures. 295 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:08,020 You do. 296 00:13:08,020 --> 00:13:10,800 You can take this as more of a battle ax, 297 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,140 and you can go up to someone and whack them, 298 00:13:13,140 --> 00:13:15,120 and say, come to Jesus. 299 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:20,120 Or you can sit down and say, I am a sinner. 300 00:13:20,620 --> 00:13:22,860 The Bible shows me that, 301 00:13:22,860 --> 00:13:25,300 but it also shows me something better. 302 00:13:26,260 --> 00:13:31,260 That I'm worth more than that sin or this sin. 303 00:13:31,260 --> 00:13:33,060 That there is a purpose in my life 304 00:13:33,060 --> 00:13:36,700 and someone who's guiding me to truth, 305 00:13:36,700 --> 00:13:38,700 and that is the person of Jesus. 306 00:13:38,700 --> 00:13:40,700 Now, if I go that way, 307 00:13:40,700 --> 00:13:42,700 is there a chance I have another opportunity 308 00:13:42,700 --> 00:13:44,700 where I can go to another person 309 00:13:44,700 --> 00:13:45,980 and have another opportunity with you? 310 00:13:45,980 --> 00:13:47,380 Absolutely. 311 00:13:47,380 --> 00:13:48,780 Whack them with the Bible? 312 00:13:48,780 --> 00:13:49,700 Probably not. 313 00:13:49,700 --> 00:13:53,140 Let brotherly love continue. 314 00:13:53,140 --> 00:13:54,940 And then the writer of Hebrew goes, 315 00:13:54,940 --> 00:13:56,020 how do you do that? 316 00:13:56,020 --> 00:13:57,740 And does it very, very well. 317 00:13:57,740 --> 00:13:59,660 Do not, verses two and three, 318 00:13:59,660 --> 00:14:03,720 do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, 319 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,720 for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. 320 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,860 Remember those who are in prison, 321 00:14:09,860 --> 00:14:13,580 as though in prison with them, 322 00:14:13,580 --> 00:14:15,060 and those who are mistreated, 323 00:14:15,060 --> 00:14:17,500 since you are also in the body. 324 00:14:18,900 --> 00:14:23,900 Show brotherly love, be hospitable. 325 00:14:23,940 --> 00:14:26,300 One of the greatest gifts that he can give the church, 326 00:14:26,300 --> 00:14:27,740 and give individuals in the church, 327 00:14:27,740 --> 00:14:29,980 is being hospitable. 328 00:14:31,380 --> 00:14:33,740 But we can do that the wrong way as well. 329 00:14:34,660 --> 00:14:36,040 Now, I can go on a list, 330 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:38,820 I can use examples of hospitality, 331 00:14:38,820 --> 00:14:40,280 and maybe you had one of those, 332 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:41,300 we talked about it a couple, 333 00:14:41,300 --> 00:14:42,540 how many people had a relative 334 00:14:42,540 --> 00:14:45,380 who had that one room that you were not allowed to go in. 335 00:14:46,700 --> 00:14:48,140 Everything, at least in my family, 336 00:14:48,140 --> 00:14:49,060 it was white leather, 337 00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:50,720 everything had plastic over it. 338 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:52,900 I thought we were in the mob, 339 00:14:52,900 --> 00:14:55,060 because of how it looked. 340 00:14:55,060 --> 00:14:57,340 You were not, you couldn't even look at it. 341 00:14:57,340 --> 00:14:58,220 You couldn't go in there. 342 00:14:58,220 --> 00:15:00,060 What if you brought someone to your house, 343 00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:01,220 Tony, I'm gonna use you, 344 00:15:01,220 --> 00:15:04,600 you can't touch anything. 345 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,540 You sit in this one chair, that's it. 346 00:15:07,540 --> 00:15:08,820 You can't, can I go to the bathroom? 347 00:15:08,820 --> 00:15:10,260 No, you should have gone already. 348 00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:11,380 Are we gonna have anything to eat? 349 00:15:11,380 --> 00:15:13,020 No, I'm not cooking today. 350 00:15:13,020 --> 00:15:15,060 How are you feeling in that moment? 351 00:15:16,540 --> 00:15:17,900 Exactly, he's speechless. 352 00:15:17,900 --> 00:15:19,260 He has no idea what to do. 353 00:15:19,260 --> 00:15:22,360 He's gonna fake an emergency to try to get out of there. 354 00:15:23,820 --> 00:15:26,580 But what would it look like if our genuine love 355 00:15:26,580 --> 00:15:29,860 and our hospitality, even with those 356 00:15:30,940 --> 00:15:32,820 that you disagree with, 357 00:15:33,780 --> 00:15:38,780 sitting down and talking about the truths of the Bible. 358 00:15:38,780 --> 00:15:42,140 Now, we can do the bait and switch, right? 359 00:15:42,140 --> 00:15:43,980 Ken, you're just right here, so it's easy. 360 00:15:43,980 --> 00:15:46,860 I'm gonna say, Ken, why don't you come over, right? 361 00:15:46,860 --> 00:15:48,900 I got my first deer last weekend, 362 00:15:48,900 --> 00:15:50,220 I know you haven't gotten one yet, 363 00:15:50,220 --> 00:15:53,180 but understand, you can have some of the venison. 364 00:15:53,180 --> 00:15:55,900 We just got it yesterday, it's super good. 365 00:15:55,900 --> 00:15:57,900 I'm gonna sit down and we start eating our deer, 366 00:15:57,900 --> 00:15:58,900 we're talking about hunting, 367 00:15:58,900 --> 00:16:01,660 and I go, and then I just turn and go, 368 00:16:01,660 --> 00:16:04,060 if you die today, would you go to heaven or hell? 369 00:16:04,060 --> 00:16:08,060 Yet, there was a time, that was a Bible track, 370 00:16:08,060 --> 00:16:11,060 that you could, and I worked at Family Christian, 371 00:16:11,060 --> 00:16:14,060 so there were ones that looked like a million dollar bill. 372 00:16:15,060 --> 00:16:18,460 A, you think humanity's dumb because there's no such bill, 373 00:16:18,460 --> 00:16:21,060 right, it would have to be a bunch of 20s, 374 00:16:21,060 --> 00:16:24,340 but it looked like that, and then someone might be excited, 375 00:16:24,340 --> 00:16:27,460 I found money, and you flip it over and then ask the question, 376 00:16:27,460 --> 00:16:29,860 if you die today, would you go to heaven or hell? 377 00:16:29,860 --> 00:16:34,860 What are we doing? Church, why do we think that's effective? 378 00:16:35,260 --> 00:16:40,260 Or, you have churches that put on, excuse me, 379 00:16:41,460 --> 00:16:45,460 you have churches that put on kind of a haunted house, 380 00:16:45,460 --> 00:16:48,260 but it's their version of hell, 381 00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:51,460 and all ages can come in, and you go in, 382 00:16:51,460 --> 00:16:53,660 and you see all the torment, you see the fire, 383 00:16:53,660 --> 00:16:57,060 the brimstone, you see Satan with his pitchfork, 384 00:16:57,060 --> 00:17:00,260 running around, and then at the end, 385 00:17:00,260 --> 00:17:02,260 they want to scare you into Jesus. 386 00:17:03,260 --> 00:17:04,460 Charlotte, you know what I'm talking about, 387 00:17:04,460 --> 00:17:06,460 you grew up in the deep south, right, those Baptists, 388 00:17:06,460 --> 00:17:08,660 you gotta be careful, right, but that's true, 389 00:17:08,660 --> 00:17:10,060 that there are churches that think, 390 00:17:10,060 --> 00:17:13,660 I can scare you into salvation, 391 00:17:13,660 --> 00:17:15,860 because one of the next thing you have is you have an altar, 392 00:17:15,860 --> 00:17:18,260 you probably have an angel, you're gonna say a prayer, 393 00:17:18,260 --> 00:17:21,860 because you don't want that, do this. 394 00:17:21,860 --> 00:17:24,860 You don't want that, do this. 395 00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:29,460 Well, we already learned there are such things 396 00:17:29,460 --> 00:17:32,260 as false conversions, there are such things 397 00:17:32,260 --> 00:17:35,160 as people that don't fully understand, 398 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:36,660 that want to come to know Jesus 399 00:17:36,660 --> 00:17:38,660 because of many different ways, 400 00:17:38,660 --> 00:17:40,860 scaring someone into Christ 401 00:17:40,860 --> 00:17:42,860 is probably not the best way to go. 402 00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:46,460 That's kind of going with starting with total depravity, 403 00:17:46,460 --> 00:17:48,860 and so understanding that our hospitality 404 00:17:48,860 --> 00:17:51,060 can be a make or break. 405 00:17:51,860 --> 00:17:54,060 Opening our homes to people, 406 00:17:54,060 --> 00:17:56,460 allowing not just hospitality in your homes, 407 00:17:56,460 --> 00:17:59,060 but do you have a hospitable spirit? 408 00:18:00,060 --> 00:18:02,860 That's a key piece to this, do we understand 409 00:18:02,860 --> 00:18:05,060 that we are called to be peacemakers, 410 00:18:05,060 --> 00:18:08,460 we're called to be gentle, we're called to be loving, 411 00:18:08,460 --> 00:18:10,860 right, I mean, you don't want to overdo it, 412 00:18:10,860 --> 00:18:12,860 right, and invite someone over to their house and go, 413 00:18:12,860 --> 00:18:14,860 let's hold hands and pray. 414 00:18:14,860 --> 00:18:17,260 No, that's going way the other way, right, 415 00:18:17,260 --> 00:18:20,460 that's now going creepy, so don't be conflictual, 416 00:18:20,460 --> 00:18:23,860 don't be creepy, let's find a way forward in the middle. 417 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:28,460 That radical hospitality, that radical piece 418 00:18:28,460 --> 00:18:31,460 means are you hospitable with those that you disagree with? 419 00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:35,060 Or is everybody in your life, 420 00:18:35,060 --> 00:18:37,860 look, smell, talk, act the same way? 421 00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:40,660 To me, there's no variety in there, 422 00:18:40,660 --> 00:18:42,460 variety to me is the spice of life, 423 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:46,060 are you engaging others that are different than you? 424 00:18:46,060 --> 00:18:47,460 Are you sitting down with them, 425 00:18:47,460 --> 00:18:50,860 are you having real relationships with them, 426 00:18:50,860 --> 00:18:52,660 so they get to know the real you, 427 00:18:52,660 --> 00:18:57,660 of who you were before Jesus and who you are now after Jesus, 428 00:18:57,660 --> 00:19:00,460 because that's the greatest thing in your life. 429 00:19:00,460 --> 00:19:04,260 I challenged Ileana this past Wednesday at chapel, 430 00:19:04,260 --> 00:19:06,260 they were only half listening because they had a half day, 431 00:19:06,260 --> 00:19:10,260 but for those that were, we talked about jobs, 432 00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:12,460 right, that we have occupations, 433 00:19:12,460 --> 00:19:14,060 but that's not the job of a believer, 434 00:19:14,060 --> 00:19:17,060 your occupation isn't your initial job as a believer, 435 00:19:17,060 --> 00:19:19,660 the job of a believer is Matthew 25, right, 436 00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:21,660 to give food to the poor, to give drink to the thirsty, 437 00:19:21,660 --> 00:19:24,260 to clothe the naked, to visit those that are in prison, 438 00:19:24,260 --> 00:19:26,260 when we've done to the least of these, 439 00:19:26,260 --> 00:19:29,660 Jesus says we have done to him. 440 00:19:29,660 --> 00:19:33,260 That is the job of every believer as these are, 441 00:19:33,260 --> 00:19:38,260 practice real love, practice real radical hospitality, 442 00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:41,860 verse four, let marriage be held in honor among all, 443 00:19:41,860 --> 00:19:46,860 and let the marriage bed be undefiled, 444 00:19:46,860 --> 00:19:51,260 for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. 445 00:19:51,260 --> 00:19:54,260 Now, you can use that obviously in the context of marriage, 446 00:19:54,260 --> 00:19:55,860 because the Hebrews says that, 447 00:19:55,860 --> 00:19:57,260 but what we can pull from this, 448 00:19:57,260 --> 00:20:01,060 especially for those of us that might not be married, 449 00:20:01,060 --> 00:20:03,660 right, those of us that might have gone through divorce, 450 00:20:03,660 --> 00:20:06,060 all of those things, right, this, you don't, 451 00:20:06,060 --> 00:20:08,860 you're not exempt from this, 452 00:20:08,860 --> 00:20:13,860 that we are called to practice relational fidelity. 453 00:20:13,860 --> 00:20:16,260 We are called to practice relationships 454 00:20:16,260 --> 00:20:17,460 that mean something, 455 00:20:17,460 --> 00:20:21,460 we are called to be trustworthy in relationships. 456 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:24,460 If someone shares something in confidence with you, 457 00:20:24,460 --> 00:20:27,060 and the next minute you're blabbing to everybody, 458 00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:29,860 you have broken a covenant relationship, 459 00:20:29,860 --> 00:20:32,060 you've broken an understanding with your friends. 460 00:20:32,060 --> 00:20:35,260 Now, obviously if there's mandated reporting, 461 00:20:35,260 --> 00:20:36,460 that whole side of things, 462 00:20:36,460 --> 00:20:38,860 if you know people that are wanting 463 00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:40,060 or designed to hurt themselves, 464 00:20:40,060 --> 00:20:43,060 we are morally obligated to intervene 465 00:20:43,060 --> 00:20:46,060 and try to get them help, 466 00:20:46,060 --> 00:20:47,060 but if someone comes to you and says, 467 00:20:47,060 --> 00:20:48,660 you know, I'm really struggling with this, that, 468 00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:50,460 and the other thing, 469 00:20:50,460 --> 00:20:52,460 and this happens in special reform churches, 470 00:20:52,460 --> 00:20:55,860 and then that person goes and talks to an elder, 471 00:20:55,860 --> 00:20:57,060 because, you know, elders are there 472 00:20:57,060 --> 00:20:58,860 to help you work through things in life, 473 00:20:58,860 --> 00:21:00,660 and then that elder finds that other person 474 00:21:00,660 --> 00:21:02,660 on a Sunday morning, 475 00:21:02,660 --> 00:21:05,660 and goes, hey, I heard you were struggling with this, 476 00:21:05,660 --> 00:21:08,660 how does that relationship go? 477 00:21:08,660 --> 00:21:10,260 How does that guy know? 478 00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:12,660 I didn't tell him, I only told him, 479 00:21:12,660 --> 00:21:15,260 and now all of a sudden you have conflict. 480 00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:16,260 That as believers, 481 00:21:16,260 --> 00:21:21,260 we are called to practice relational fidelity. 482 00:21:21,260 --> 00:21:25,860 We know what that means in the confines of marriage, 483 00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:27,260 and I know that that verse, 484 00:21:27,260 --> 00:21:28,860 that set of verses, 485 00:21:28,860 --> 00:21:31,460 that one may hurt, 486 00:21:31,460 --> 00:21:34,060 because some of your past might be defined by that, 487 00:21:34,060 --> 00:21:36,660 both as the one who broke, 488 00:21:36,660 --> 00:21:40,260 or the one that had it broken to you. 489 00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:42,460 But the one thing we also learn in service today 490 00:21:42,460 --> 00:21:43,860 is that God restores, 491 00:21:43,860 --> 00:21:46,460 God brings all things new, 492 00:21:46,460 --> 00:21:51,060 and his desire is just that, reconciliation. 493 00:21:51,060 --> 00:21:53,660 But as believers, 494 00:21:53,660 --> 00:21:58,060 it's one of the worst hypocrisies, if you will, 495 00:21:58,060 --> 00:21:59,860 of the Christian faith, 496 00:21:59,860 --> 00:22:02,460 is for people that, 497 00:22:02,460 --> 00:22:04,660 oh, they have a great Christian marriage, 498 00:22:04,660 --> 00:22:07,860 oh, they have a great Christian family, 499 00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:13,260 yet you know that him or her have something else on the side. 500 00:22:13,260 --> 00:22:15,860 You see how confused the world gets? 501 00:22:15,860 --> 00:22:20,060 If they go, wait, but that person's an elder, 502 00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:22,460 but they're doing that? 503 00:22:22,460 --> 00:22:23,860 The church will judge that person. 504 00:22:23,860 --> 00:22:25,860 The church has mechanisms of discipline 505 00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:28,460 that we've already talked about. 506 00:22:28,460 --> 00:22:34,460 But this is about practicing Christianity in the world. 507 00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:37,060 If our testimony walked out, 508 00:22:37,060 --> 00:22:42,060 shows that Christianity in the world looked exactly the same, 509 00:22:42,060 --> 00:22:45,460 friends, I love you, we've done it wrong. 510 00:22:45,460 --> 00:22:48,660 It's not supposed to be the same. 511 00:22:48,660 --> 00:22:50,860 This is supposed to be called to something different, 512 00:22:50,860 --> 00:22:53,460 because we are held by a different standard. 513 00:22:53,460 --> 00:22:55,260 We are called to be holy, 514 00:22:55,260 --> 00:23:00,860 as Christ is holy, as our baptism promises signify. 515 00:23:00,860 --> 00:23:02,460 Continuing on, as believers, 516 00:23:02,460 --> 00:23:06,060 we are called to practice reciprocity and resolve, 517 00:23:06,060 --> 00:23:07,660 verses five and six. 518 00:23:07,660 --> 00:23:09,460 Keep your life free from the love of money 519 00:23:09,460 --> 00:23:11,460 and be content with what you have, 520 00:23:11,460 --> 00:23:12,460 for he has said, 521 00:23:12,460 --> 00:23:15,460 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 522 00:23:15,460 --> 00:23:17,060 So we can confidently say, 523 00:23:17,060 --> 00:23:18,260 the Lord is my helper, 524 00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:21,260 I will not fear what can man do to me. 525 00:23:21,260 --> 00:23:24,060 I find this so interesting, and it's one I give. 526 00:23:24,060 --> 00:23:25,260 Some of you have received it, 527 00:23:25,260 --> 00:23:26,660 when you've gone through a hardship, 528 00:23:26,660 --> 00:23:28,660 cancer battle, getting ready for surgery. 529 00:23:28,660 --> 00:23:31,860 One of my go-tos is Isaiah 43, right? 530 00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:33,460 Where Jesus says, I am the Lord your God, 531 00:23:33,460 --> 00:23:35,660 the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. 532 00:23:35,660 --> 00:23:38,060 When you walk through the waters, I will be with you. 533 00:23:38,060 --> 00:23:39,460 The waves will not overtake you. 534 00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:41,460 When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. 535 00:23:41,460 --> 00:23:43,860 The flames will not consume you. 536 00:23:43,860 --> 00:23:48,860 And in the time of that, hopefully comfort's given. 537 00:23:48,860 --> 00:23:51,460 But what this says is I should also give that, 538 00:23:51,460 --> 00:23:55,260 when people are freaking out about their checkbook. 539 00:23:55,260 --> 00:23:59,660 When all of a sudden, the things they have in their life 540 00:23:59,660 --> 00:24:01,060 aren't what they want anymore. 541 00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:02,460 They desire something more. 542 00:24:02,460 --> 00:24:03,260 Idle worship. 543 00:24:03,260 --> 00:24:06,260 Right? We've already talked about that. 544 00:24:06,260 --> 00:24:09,660 I think it's amazing that the writer P. Bruce 545 00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:13,660 reminds us even in things like money and contentment, 546 00:24:13,660 --> 00:24:18,460 the contempt, contentment, not contempt-ment, 547 00:24:18,460 --> 00:24:22,460 that I will never leave you nor forsake you. 548 00:24:22,460 --> 00:24:25,060 So you have that overdue invoice. 549 00:24:25,060 --> 00:24:27,660 That mortgage hasn't, or those taxes haven't been paid 550 00:24:27,660 --> 00:24:30,060 for months. 551 00:24:30,060 --> 00:24:32,460 The same promise holds true. 552 00:24:32,460 --> 00:24:37,260 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 553 00:24:37,260 --> 00:24:40,660 And that's when the test of faith really comes. 554 00:24:40,660 --> 00:24:42,260 We talked about it last week. 555 00:24:42,260 --> 00:24:45,260 When life's going great, praise the Lord. 556 00:24:45,260 --> 00:24:47,860 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 557 00:24:47,860 --> 00:24:52,060 When life doesn't, praise the Lord. 558 00:24:52,060 --> 00:24:54,860 Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 559 00:24:54,860 --> 00:24:57,260 Because that is instant perspective. 560 00:24:57,260 --> 00:25:00,060 And it's not about this. 561 00:25:00,060 --> 00:25:01,660 It's about heaven. 562 00:25:01,660 --> 00:25:04,060 It's about eternity. 563 00:25:04,060 --> 00:25:06,860 Yet we still practice and we still walk. 564 00:25:06,860 --> 00:25:11,260 Or seven through ten, practice remembering as believers. 565 00:25:11,260 --> 00:25:14,460 Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. 566 00:25:14,460 --> 00:25:20,060 Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 567 00:25:20,060 --> 00:25:24,260 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 568 00:25:24,260 --> 00:25:27,260 Do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings. 569 00:25:27,260 --> 00:25:30,460 For it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, 570 00:25:30,460 --> 00:25:37,260 not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 571 00:25:37,260 --> 00:25:40,660 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent 572 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:43,060 have no right to eat. 573 00:25:43,060 --> 00:25:47,260 Understanding that we are called to remember. 574 00:25:47,260 --> 00:25:49,060 You're going to hear it next week when we come to the table 575 00:25:49,060 --> 00:25:50,660 on the night in which he's betrayed. 576 00:25:50,660 --> 00:25:52,460 We remember these things. 577 00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:55,660 We remember not only the way of Christ, the way of the disciples, 578 00:25:55,660 --> 00:25:58,660 the way of Paul, but all of those spiritual leaders 579 00:25:58,660 --> 00:26:00,660 that have gone before you. 580 00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:03,660 I know for a lot of you it's a 70-year-old couple 581 00:26:03,660 --> 00:26:05,460 called the Basins. 582 00:26:05,460 --> 00:26:08,660 They're still around, but a lot of you bring them up. 583 00:26:08,660 --> 00:26:10,860 I don't get offended, don't worry about it. 584 00:26:10,860 --> 00:26:13,660 I'm taller than he is. 585 00:26:13,660 --> 00:26:19,260 But understand that, and he's done that for me, 586 00:26:19,260 --> 00:26:24,260 that the Basins have spoken greatly into my life, 587 00:26:24,260 --> 00:26:27,260 that we remember those that have gone before us. 588 00:26:27,260 --> 00:26:30,060 For some of you that have been in this church for years 589 00:26:30,060 --> 00:26:33,860 and years and years, you remember, here's the thing, 590 00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:35,660 you remember the good ones. 591 00:26:35,660 --> 00:26:40,060 You also remember the bad ones, and every church has both. 592 00:26:40,060 --> 00:26:43,460 You remember those leaders, those that have grown you 593 00:26:43,460 --> 00:26:48,260 in the faith and those who have hurt you and have cut you deep. 594 00:26:48,260 --> 00:26:51,660 That part of remembering is being good stewards of the past, 595 00:26:51,660 --> 00:26:54,660 but looking to the faith of those that have helped build you up. 596 00:26:54,660 --> 00:26:58,660 That is the practice of a believer. 597 00:26:58,660 --> 00:27:02,660 Because if we don't, we run the risk of making it all about us 598 00:27:02,660 --> 00:27:07,260 or thinking we are, it's Jesus, then me. 599 00:27:07,260 --> 00:27:09,260 No, never. 600 00:27:09,260 --> 00:27:11,660 If that's how you feel about yourself, please, 601 00:27:11,660 --> 00:27:13,060 let's have a conversation. 602 00:27:13,060 --> 00:27:17,060 That bubble needs to get popped yesterday. 603 00:27:17,060 --> 00:27:19,260 Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly. 604 00:27:19,260 --> 00:27:22,460 Yeah, that humility piece, it's big. 605 00:27:22,460 --> 00:27:27,260 The next one, chapter, verse 17, practice respecting. 606 00:27:27,260 --> 00:27:29,260 Obey your leaders and submit to them, 607 00:27:29,260 --> 00:27:32,260 for they are keeping watch over your souls 608 00:27:32,260 --> 00:27:35,060 as those who have to give an account. 609 00:27:35,060 --> 00:27:39,260 Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, 610 00:27:39,260 --> 00:27:41,860 for that would be of no advantage to you. 611 00:27:41,860 --> 00:27:46,060 I would love, I would love to use that verse 612 00:27:46,060 --> 00:27:49,260 when we install elders and deacons. 613 00:27:49,260 --> 00:27:52,260 But week one, they're not gonna feel that. 614 00:27:52,260 --> 00:27:53,860 Because it happens in church. 615 00:27:53,860 --> 00:27:55,660 We get messy, we get in each other's way, 616 00:27:55,660 --> 00:27:57,860 we have our opinions and it's great. 617 00:27:57,860 --> 00:28:02,260 But understand that we have been given leaders over us. 618 00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:03,260 Sorry, not over us. 619 00:28:03,260 --> 00:28:06,260 We have been given leaders to look out for us. 620 00:28:06,260 --> 00:28:09,460 They are called overseers in our church order, 621 00:28:09,460 --> 00:28:12,260 but what they are there for is to hold you accountable 622 00:28:12,260 --> 00:28:13,460 of faith and life. 623 00:28:13,460 --> 00:28:15,460 That is our elders. 624 00:28:15,460 --> 00:28:19,260 And that is a weight for every elder that has ever signed 625 00:28:19,260 --> 00:28:21,060 the form of subscription. 626 00:28:21,060 --> 00:28:25,260 They will be judged differently than those that have not. 627 00:28:25,260 --> 00:28:28,860 Because they have had the faith of individuals in their hands. 628 00:28:28,860 --> 00:28:33,060 And that is the weight of every office bearer. 629 00:28:33,060 --> 00:28:36,060 Those seasoned office bearers, they have the scars, 630 00:28:36,060 --> 00:28:39,660 they have the celebrations, but they also have the scars. 631 00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:44,260 That as believers, we are to respect those. 632 00:28:44,260 --> 00:28:50,460 Now, the last one is practice restoring, verse 18. 633 00:28:50,460 --> 00:28:53,660 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience 634 00:28:53,660 --> 00:28:59,260 desiring to act honorably in all things. 635 00:28:59,260 --> 00:29:01,660 That the final mark of a believer, 636 00:29:01,660 --> 00:29:03,660 of the idea of being a practicing Christian, 637 00:29:03,660 --> 00:29:07,460 which again, I don't ever want any of you to say, 638 00:29:07,460 --> 00:29:12,460 we need to show that we are playing the long game. 639 00:29:12,460 --> 00:29:16,660 In a hardship, in a conflict, everything is not always 640 00:29:16,660 --> 00:29:20,660 going to be resolved just like that. 641 00:29:20,660 --> 00:29:25,660 That God is in the process and is in the desire to restore 642 00:29:25,660 --> 00:29:31,660 all things, because one day all things will be new. 643 00:29:31,660 --> 00:29:36,060 And new is better than anything we can define. 644 00:29:36,060 --> 00:29:40,860 Because they will be perfected, they will be Jesused, if you will. 645 00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:42,860 Right now it's sin, we don't get it. 646 00:29:42,860 --> 00:29:46,660 It is lit dimly in a mirror, as Paul says in Corinthians, 647 00:29:46,660 --> 00:29:50,460 one day we will see face to face. 648 00:29:50,460 --> 00:29:55,260 So as we walk this out, as individuals, myself included, 649 00:29:55,260 --> 00:29:59,660 as a church, the same holds true. 650 00:29:59,660 --> 00:30:04,460 That as a church, we ought to practice real love, 651 00:30:04,460 --> 00:30:10,260 practice radical hospitality, practice relational fidelity. 652 00:30:10,260 --> 00:30:15,260 For a church, that's the gospel, the ways of Jesus. 653 00:30:15,260 --> 00:30:18,660 That as a church, we practice reciprocity and resolve. 654 00:30:18,660 --> 00:30:23,060 As a church, we remember the past, good, bad, and ugly. 655 00:30:23,060 --> 00:30:27,260 We try not to repeat the bad or the ugly, but we grow on the good. 656 00:30:27,260 --> 00:30:32,860 We practice respecting others and the community. 657 00:30:32,860 --> 00:30:38,860 And we practice and look to the restoration of the things to come. 658 00:30:38,860 --> 00:30:41,260 Now Mike's going to put this out on a post next week, 659 00:30:41,260 --> 00:30:43,660 we may even put it in the email, these practices. 660 00:30:43,660 --> 00:30:45,860 You may want to print them out. 661 00:30:45,860 --> 00:30:49,060 You may need to remind yourself of these things. 662 00:30:49,060 --> 00:30:51,460 And that's the first thing I'm going to do, 663 00:30:51,460 --> 00:30:57,660 is I'm going to put this right, it's going to be right next to a picture of a candle. 664 00:30:57,660 --> 00:31:00,060 Because unfortunately there have been three times in this last quarter, 665 00:31:00,060 --> 00:31:04,260 Daniel has seen that I have left the office with a candle still on. 666 00:31:04,260 --> 00:31:06,860 So I have a reminder not to do that. 667 00:31:06,860 --> 00:31:09,460 He's going above and beyond. 668 00:31:09,460 --> 00:31:11,460 He reminds me this church has already had one fire, 669 00:31:11,460 --> 00:31:14,260 it doesn't need another one. Thank you, Daniel. 670 00:31:14,260 --> 00:31:17,460 But understand that we need these reminders daily, 671 00:31:17,460 --> 00:31:24,060 because there's a force out there that wants you to do the exact opposite of these, 672 00:31:24,060 --> 00:31:29,260 which will ultimately lead to death and a life without God. 673 00:31:29,260 --> 00:31:35,660 So as individuals in a church, let us practice what we believe, 674 00:31:35,660 --> 00:31:48,260 let us practice what we preach with our mouth, our thoughts and our actions.