WEBVTT 00:00:02.930 --> 00:00:05.490 Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode 00:00:05.490 --> 00:00:08.089 of Trinity Talks. My name is Kyla. I'm Britton. 00:00:08.449 --> 00:00:12.849 I'm still Bill. And we are here to wrap up our 00:00:12.849 --> 00:00:16.969 Advent conversation. Christmas is coming, folks. 00:00:17.250 --> 00:00:20.510 Oh, no. Yeah. I don't know if we feel ready for 00:00:20.510 --> 00:00:23.109 that or not. Theoretically, we've had four weeks 00:00:23.109 --> 00:00:26.079 to get ready. but I don't know. Spiritually. 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:29.300 Spiritually. Yes. Yes. And that is a very different 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:31.960 thing than logistically. Yes. Yes. Or commercially. 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:35.579 Or commercially. Yes. Yes. Yes. But we have lit 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:39.000 four Advent candles and all that is left on our 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:40.859 wreath is the Christ candle, which of course 00:00:40.859 --> 00:00:44.280 doesn't get lit until Christmas Eve. And the 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:48.259 fourth candle in our Advent candles in the Advent 00:00:48.259 --> 00:00:52.299 wreath is the candle of love, which is very nice, 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:56.899 I think. Yeah. Yeah. And it's also, I guess, 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.020 traditionally the Sunday where like one of the 00:01:00.020 --> 00:01:04.000 readings would be Mary's Magnificat. Yeah. And 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.200 so like, I don't know. I feel like those things 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:08.640 go well together in my mind because Mary's like 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.989 talking about. like she's so mary the mother 00:01:11.989 --> 00:01:13.829 of jesus and like obviously there's a lot of 00:01:13.829 --> 00:01:15.709 love there between mother and child but then 00:01:15.709 --> 00:01:18.810 mary's magnificat this like song about the coming 00:01:18.810 --> 00:01:21.349 of jesus is all about like god's love coming 00:01:21.349 --> 00:01:24.549 and like yeah changing things i think so that's 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:26.469 pretty cool receiving god's love responding to 00:01:26.469 --> 00:01:29.890 god's love yeah yeah it's pretty cool stuff um 00:01:29.890 --> 00:01:35.489 yeah so when you think about love um first before 00:01:35.489 --> 00:01:38.170 we get into like what that is like I don't know. 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:40.569 What's like, do you have like a memory or like 00:01:40.569 --> 00:01:42.650 a feeling or like a thing that comes to mind 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:45.370 when you're like, ah, that's love? Peppermint 00:01:45.370 --> 00:01:50.510 heart candies. Okay. So it's a very specific 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:53.530 flavor. Yeah, I eat a lot of that during Valentine's 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:56.629 Day. And if I can get my hands on it outside 00:01:56.629 --> 00:01:59.829 of that, then yeah. But that's like my visual 00:01:59.829 --> 00:02:02.310 representation of love is peppermint heart candies. 00:02:02.629 --> 00:02:05.950 Okay. But different from Valentine's Day love, 00:02:06.010 --> 00:02:08.979 which would be cinnamon. flavored oh no sorry 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:10.900 it's cinnamon oh my goodness you're correcting 00:02:10.900 --> 00:02:16.259 me yeah my flavors are so off That's wild. That's 00:02:16.259 --> 00:02:18.280 disrespectful to the candy brand. Hopefully they're 00:02:18.280 --> 00:02:22.939 not sponsoring it. I like peppermint. Peppermint 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:26.979 love candies. It's cinnamon. The little red hearts 00:02:26.979 --> 00:02:30.539 you're talking about. Those are cinnamon. Not 00:02:30.539 --> 00:02:34.520 peppermint. Maybe they exist. If they were peppermint, 00:02:34.539 --> 00:02:36.500 I would like them better. I'm not a big fan of 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:39.360 cinnamon hearts. Oh, okay. Wow. Okay. Peppermint 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:41.919 hearts on the fourth Sunday of Advent next year. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:44.490 Okay. Great. Love that. We're putting it out 00:02:44.490 --> 00:02:47.370 there. Yes. Yeah. Okay. What about you, Bill? 00:02:47.449 --> 00:02:49.229 Is there like a visceral like thing that's like, 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:52.389 this is love? Yeah. I think when I think of love, 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:55.069 I think of, I just think of moments of family 00:02:55.069 --> 00:02:59.590 and not even great moments. Just like all four 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:01.990 of us driving in the car, you know, be driving, 00:03:02.189 --> 00:03:03.530 we're going somewhere, we're going somewhere 00:03:03.530 --> 00:03:06.949 as a family or I'm driving around dropping everyone 00:03:06.949 --> 00:03:08.550 off different places or something. It's just 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:11.270 like family in action, family in motion, just 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:14.979 all together, safe. Yeah, you know that. I mean, 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:18.960 yeah, that's that's that's the deep, visceral 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.639 kind of feeling of just, you know, wanting to 00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:26.680 take care of people and see people getting where 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:29.080 they're going, not only on the day of the drive, 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:33.199 but through life. Sure. And yeah, so that's that 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:38.930 sense of. A family when the the recognition of 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:42.689 it existing is a great thing. And the understanding 00:03:42.689 --> 00:03:45.750 of its absence and its effects is the negative 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:48.969 thing. Sure. So if it's there, amazing. If it's 00:03:48.969 --> 00:03:51.729 not, then we miss it. Yeah, it's traumatic. Yeah, 00:03:51.810 --> 00:03:54.590 sure. Yeah. I think when I think about love sort 00:03:54.590 --> 00:03:56.930 of similar, there's no like, ah, this big moment. 00:03:56.969 --> 00:03:59.349 It's like, oh, no, like the little like cozy 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:02.090 moments, you know, and just like being with the 00:04:02.090 --> 00:04:04.659 right people, like drinking a cup of tea. like 00:04:04.659 --> 00:04:06.860 last night like sitting on the sofa with my partner 00:04:06.860 --> 00:04:09.599 just like watching tv like just like chill you 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.719 know this is love yeah and it sounds lovely we 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.160 had an experience yesterday where um a friend 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:20.199 of mine uh their two senior uh folks were in 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:23.279 the area in my neighborhood so they came to to 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.740 my house and they just sat with my wife and i 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.500 and we just talked for like hours in trinidad 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:30.540 they call it a lime when you're just hanging 00:04:30.540 --> 00:04:33.550 out there's no end time or anything it turned 00:04:33.550 --> 00:04:37.029 into like a stop, turned into dinner. Uh, and 00:04:37.029 --> 00:04:39.930 I made this meal that is like very Trinidadian 00:04:39.930 --> 00:04:41.910 that I never made before. And I was able to give 00:04:41.910 --> 00:04:44.670 it to them and they had it. And, and that when, 00:04:44.709 --> 00:04:48.990 when they left, uh, I was just so overjoyed. 00:04:48.990 --> 00:04:52.189 Maybe joyous candle I'm referencing, but like 00:04:52.189 --> 00:04:55.290 there was this. like this feeling of kinship 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:59.329 that I had with them. And it was, yeah, there 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:01.370 was some, we couldn't pinpoint it. We were trying 00:05:01.370 --> 00:05:03.430 to figure out why is it this house feels more 00:05:03.430 --> 00:05:06.629 bubbly since they left. And I think it was just 00:05:06.629 --> 00:05:09.930 that sharing together that time, which is over 00:05:09.930 --> 00:05:12.410 Christmas, we do, right? We spend so much time 00:05:12.410 --> 00:05:14.889 with family and friends and just getting a bit 00:05:14.889 --> 00:05:18.920 of that in our home was. was joyous for people 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:22.319 that acts of service is a, is a, is an expression 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:25.060 of love. So it's, yeah, it's no surprise that 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:27.660 when you're had the opportunity to, to show your 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.240 love to your friends and family, that it felt 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:34.100 good. It felt beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:37.939 think like love. It naturally sort of sort of 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:40.199 comes hand in hand with Christmas, at least for 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:42.560 for a lot of folks, not for everybody, for sure. 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:46.019 But, yeah, there is as we think about getting 00:05:46.019 --> 00:05:47.819 closer to this Christmas season, as we think 00:05:47.819 --> 00:05:49.480 about getting together with friends and family 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:52.259 and that like relaxed time. Like, yeah, love 00:05:52.259 --> 00:05:57.560 is is what comes to mind there. So then we think 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.060 about these different aspects of love is when 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:02.779 we think about love in like a biblical sense, 00:06:02.920 --> 00:06:06.509 is it? sort of the same as some of these things 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.069 that we've just been describing? Are there some 00:06:08.069 --> 00:06:11.189 differences between like how we are talking about 00:06:11.189 --> 00:06:12.990 love and the way that the Bible talks about love? 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:17.769 Yeah, I think like if I come back to my example, 00:06:18.350 --> 00:06:21.750 like something about that felt like there was 00:06:21.750 --> 00:06:25.930 this bubbliness. It's like a feeling. I'm confident 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.730 as the evening wore on, it probably faded a little 00:06:28.730 --> 00:06:30.870 bit and I got tired and went to sleep and I forgot 00:06:30.870 --> 00:06:35.480 about it. But I think love in the Bible is like 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:38.709 agape. And agape love is like a principled love. 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:43.889 It doesn't sway with the seasons or with emotion, 00:06:44.149 --> 00:06:47.910 but it's there. It's steady. It's consistent. 00:06:49.129 --> 00:06:51.990 And I think that's the kind of love that God's 00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:54.350 calling us into, not necessarily one that moves 00:06:54.350 --> 00:06:58.509 with our emotions. Those things are a part of 00:06:58.509 --> 00:07:02.129 our life, but it's something consistent and solid 00:07:02.129 --> 00:07:06.660 and principled. Yeah. So it's like, I think it 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:08.800 can be like some of those feelings sometimes 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:12.040 do accompany like a biblical love, but it's also, 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:13.360 you're right. Like something that's a little 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:17.100 more sort of solid. Yeah. I guess. Yeah. I think 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:22.079 our expression of love, uh, is a facet of, of 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:26.939 God's love. Um, the, uh, it's, uh, like Brett 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:30.079 was saying, it's not as, uh, you know, it may 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:33.120 not be as, as permanent or as consistent or as, 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:38.399 you know um uh always um uh they are accessible 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:43.139 as as human love but it is uh it is our It's 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:44.980 our expression. It's God's love flowing through 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:49.819 us. So God's love is the perfect love. And in 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:54.480 the Advent season where that love is God sending 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.740 Jesus as the gift to the world at Christmas, 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:05.160 there's no greater love than that. God for so 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:07.500 loved the world that He gave His only begotten 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:12.680 Son, right? That is the kind of... full and perfect 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:16.399 love that, um, um, that God makes available to 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:19.439 us. Uh, and then there's the, and then there's 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.300 our expression of that, that love, which is, 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.660 which is, you know, our, it's our human love, 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:28.100 but it's, but it's a, it's a divine love that 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:30.180 flows through us. And I think that's different. 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:33.740 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like the, the source of that 00:08:33.740 --> 00:08:39.000 love is God first, not us first. Yeah. And there's 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.179 a, there's a trans transformative element to 00:08:41.179 --> 00:08:44.139 that too, that, uh, that we're God's love flowing 00:08:44.139 --> 00:08:48.039 through us. Uh, it, it, uh, changes, uh, what 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:52.100 we do and how we act. Um, and, uh, and, and also, 00:08:52.220 --> 00:08:55.460 you know, changes us from the inside out. Yeah. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:59.779 Or at least it can't. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:02.580 sure. yeah i think the other thing that i think 00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:06.840 about like god's love and then like ideally our 00:09:06.840 --> 00:09:11.440 love is that like god's love just doesn't have 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.960 a limit um and it doesn't have a limit on any 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:16.960 one person it's not like okay if you do this 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:18.980 this this and be like god will stop loving you 00:09:18.980 --> 00:09:20.840 or like after this amount of time god will stop 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.100 loving you but also God's love doesn't have a 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:27.379 limit on like, it's like width on like how many 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:30.419 people it sort of extends to. And so then if 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:33.799 our job is like followers of Christ, it's like 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.500 live that kind of love. Then like our love doesn't 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:40.700 get to have limits either, which is hard and 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:45.070 scary. Hard? Yeah. I think that's why it's principled, 00:09:45.070 --> 00:09:47.730 right? So like the two greatest commandments 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:51.929 is to love God and to love your neighbor. And 00:09:51.929 --> 00:09:55.809 I think what... what God is what's what's happening 00:09:55.809 --> 00:09:57.629 there is like you know sometimes your neighbors 00:09:57.629 --> 00:10:02.590 are not great yeah or there may be people you 00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:06.649 like have uh like problems with there could be 00:10:06.649 --> 00:10:10.570 deep conflict that is happening there and what 00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:13.450 God is asking you to extend in loving your neighbor 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:15.529 is not something that's moving with emotion because 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:18.460 emotion can move if I'm in conflict like when 00:10:18.460 --> 00:10:19.960 I was a kid and I was in conflict with my siblings, 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:22.480 like, oh my gosh, like we didn't, I don't want 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:27.980 to talk to this person. But love for what that 00:10:27.980 --> 00:10:30.600 means for me to love them is to know like, even 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:32.970 in. I'm not loving you because of what you've 00:10:32.970 --> 00:10:35.669 done. Right. Just as God is not loving us because 00:10:35.669 --> 00:10:38.250 of anything that we've done. Sure. God is loving 00:10:38.250 --> 00:10:42.690 us because God is love. And for us, it's to remember 00:10:42.690 --> 00:10:45.789 that, to remember that when we as humans were 00:10:45.789 --> 00:10:49.210 not lovable, God loved us in the same way we 00:10:49.210 --> 00:10:51.309 are supposed to love others. Right. With that 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:54.809 same type of expression. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:57.309 I was going to say something similar to that 00:10:57.309 --> 00:11:00.740 by saying, you know, that. Advent love is God 00:11:00.740 --> 00:11:06.600 sending Christ to us. And it transforms us. And 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:10.399 then the next part of that is acts of service. 00:11:10.500 --> 00:11:15.419 Like Britt was alluding to. It can't just be 00:11:15.419 --> 00:11:18.899 a feeling. It can't just be that love inside 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:24.580 us. It needs to flow out of us. And I was thinking 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:30.279 of an analogy for this. The perfect vessel versus 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.340 the broken vessel in terms of containing God's 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:39.100 love in us. And I think we as humans are broken 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:43.019 people. And I think a lot of us, in order to 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:45.899 feel comfortable receiving love, feel like we 00:11:45.899 --> 00:11:48.320 need to be the perfect vessel that will hold 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:52.379 God's love and contain it. And I don't think 00:11:52.379 --> 00:11:54.500 that's how God's love works. I think God's love 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:56.460 is supposed to flow through us. I think it's 00:11:56.460 --> 00:11:58.980 almost like the design is as a broken vessel, 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:01.500 as God's love is being poured into us, is seeping, 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:04.379 is pouring out in the cracks all over the place, 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:07.840 all over everything else. And as opposed to the 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:10.820 perfect vessel that we think we're supposed to 00:12:10.820 --> 00:12:12.639 be, where we go, okay, God, I got enough love. 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:16.139 I'm full. You can go away now. I'm great. Just 00:12:16.139 --> 00:12:18.500 saw me all by myself. I'm like, I'm content. 00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:21.679 There you go. And the, but it's, but it's, but 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:23.899 in the broken vessel, you know, God is pouring 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:26.519 his love and it's, and it just pours out onto 00:12:26.519 --> 00:12:28.480 all the other people around you, which I think 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:30.860 that's the point. Sure. And then you're just 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:32.700 going, you know, keep pouring God. It's coming. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:36.080 It's spilling everywhere. I'm not, I'm not full 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:38.620 yet. Keep going. Keep pouring. Right. And we're 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:41.379 part of that flowing of God's love into the world. 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:46.159 So the call to action. was a super a huge part 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.860 of the advent love and god's gift and yeah and 00:12:49.860 --> 00:12:52.919 and what we're meant to do with with the with 00:12:52.919 --> 00:12:55.000 that love and that sacrifice that christ has 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:59.080 done for us yeah the other thing like i sometimes 00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.320 think about like the order that the candles are 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:02.879 placed in i'm wondering you know who decided 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.919 this and why and whatever but like love seems 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:11.879 like a really good place to end it not not that 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:14.419 like it's over but like to sort of put in this 00:13:14.419 --> 00:13:16.759 part of the sequence because to me i think about 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:19.440 like okay hope is where we sort of started like 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.519 yeah we need that first and like christmas is 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.259 still a long way off so we need some time for 00:13:23.259 --> 00:13:26.220 hope and then like okay peace is like yeah like 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:27.980 peace is the thing we're all hoping for and then 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:30.100 joy it's just like you know a little levity in 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:33.600 the middle and love as like i think of love as 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:37.529 like the primary reason for Jesus coming, right? 00:13:37.610 --> 00:13:39.889 Like all of the other reasons that Jesus has 00:13:39.889 --> 00:13:43.830 come kind of fit under the like category of love. 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:49.269 Um, and sometimes I think that we think of like, 00:13:49.350 --> 00:13:53.610 Jesus came to like die on the cross and this 00:13:53.610 --> 00:13:57.110 is true, but I don't think it's the only reason 00:13:57.110 --> 00:13:59.570 Jesus came. Right. And like that moment on the 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:04.509 cross summarizes love, but like love, is present 00:14:04.509 --> 00:14:07.669 in like all of jesus's life i think right like 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:09.690 in the way that he interacts with other people 00:14:09.690 --> 00:14:14.129 in the fact that like the son of god was like 00:14:14.129 --> 00:14:18.090 i'm gonna become a person now who like has limits 00:14:18.090 --> 00:14:22.649 and like will be hungry and like experience life 00:14:22.649 --> 00:14:26.769 like that i think of as a kind of act of love 00:14:26.769 --> 00:14:31.450 like yeah just like all of jesus Yeah. Well, 00:14:31.529 --> 00:14:33.889 I mean, certainly you've got hope. Yeah. You've 00:14:33.889 --> 00:14:37.309 got joy. You've got peace. Yeah. But I've heard 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:39.590 from a very reliable source that all you need 00:14:39.590 --> 00:14:46.389 is love. Yes. This is true. The Beatles, the 00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:53.789 Beatles Bible. Yes. All you need is love. Yeah. 00:14:53.970 --> 00:14:56.690 So then, okay. When you guys think about like 00:14:56.690 --> 00:14:59.809 the life of Jesus and this idea of love, like, 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:02.460 How did like, just like reflect on that? Like 00:15:02.460 --> 00:15:05.120 what is, how does Jesus's life like reveal God's 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:12.559 love to us? Hmm. Are there ways that, yeah. Like, 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.299 so like I said, I think the first thing that 00:15:14.299 --> 00:15:16.159 I think of is like Jesus's interactions with 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.279 other people. Yeah. Just like first and foremost, 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:21.799 they're like always based in a spirit of like 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:25.740 love. Yeah. Yeah. I definitely see like the way 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:30.100 that I think from the moment. Christ was born 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:35.480 to the moment he died and was resurrected. The 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:39.840 people he was surrounded by give us a picture 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:43.899 of what salvation will look like and what the 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:47.399 body looks like. I think that he was. He was 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:50.279 there with his parents, but he was in a stable 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:54.940 with a bunch of animals. Very humble, but also 00:15:54.940 --> 00:15:58.480 was visited by the wealthy and by the poorest 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:02.360 of the poor, by those who were wise and by those 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:06.799 who society would consider simple or unintelligent. 00:16:08.350 --> 00:16:10.649 everyone was in that mix. And I think that narrative 00:16:10.649 --> 00:16:14.610 continues or continued, uh, and it continues 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:18.769 and it's, uh, and so, yeah, I think that's, I 00:16:18.769 --> 00:16:21.570 think that's one way. Um, cause I think what 00:16:21.570 --> 00:16:26.269 love pushes us to do is for us to one, um, be 00:16:26.269 --> 00:16:30.090 humble. Uh, two, I think for many of us be uncomfortable. 00:16:30.470 --> 00:16:32.789 Uh, sometimes it's cause it could be hard to 00:16:32.789 --> 00:16:35.789 love. Um, I've, I've worked in some conditions 00:16:35.789 --> 00:16:38.419 where, you know, there's people who are, who 00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:41.360 I don't want to love because they've, they've 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:45.399 said mean things to me or, uh, they have a prejudice 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.779 or discriminatory views of me. And, but I love 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:52.000 them anyway. Um, because I know that that's what, 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:55.470 that's what Christ has done. not just as an example, 00:16:55.549 --> 00:16:58.950 but has done to me. Um, so yeah, I think I can 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:01.009 go on and on and on and on and on, but yeah, 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:03.309 I think the people that God surrounded him, that 00:17:03.309 --> 00:17:06.170 Jesus surrounded himself with, uh, were a true 00:17:06.170 --> 00:17:09.029 example of what that love looks like in action. 00:17:09.609 --> 00:17:13.049 Yeah. Yeah. I think there, ultimately it's the, 00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:18.019 um, the sacrificial. uh, redemptive love of Christ 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:21.400 on the cross. I mean, that's the, that is, um, 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:24.319 uh, you know, everything, Jesus' life and ministry 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:28.000 builds up to that. Uh, and so that is the, that 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:31.140 is the ultimate expression of, uh, of God's love 00:17:31.140 --> 00:17:34.299 for us. Um, but I think, uh, I think like Britt 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:36.940 has said is that, you know, the, we, um, uh, 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.319 we experience, uh, or know, uh, love in a lot 00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:46.279 of the, day -to -day examples of Jesus' life 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:49.380 and ministry, of caring for others, of looking, 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:53.559 of, you know, recognize and lifting up the least 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:58.000 of these, you know, healing their sins as opposed 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:03.119 to their physical ailments, recognizing that 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:05.640 it was, you know, their spirit and their heart 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:09.640 that needed healing first, and then the bodily 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:13.359 healing came second, right? So just demonstrating 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:22.599 or experiencing that love on a day -to -day basis 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.019 with his closest friends and with people that 00:18:25.019 --> 00:18:29.279 he ministered to. They're all great examples. 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:35.240 Yeah. And I think that loving... The people who 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:38.440 are hard to love is like, that also shows up 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:41.400 in Jesus's life. Like he, he loves the outsiders, 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:46.039 but he also in like one of the stories that I 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.559 think about is when there's this rich young ruler 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.279 who like comes to Jesus and he's like, Jesus, 00:18:50.339 --> 00:18:52.380 I really want to follow you. And Jesus is like, 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:54.480 okay, so sell everything you have, give it to 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:56.460 the poor and then come follow me. And the young 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:59.319 man is like, I can't do that. And he walks away. 00:19:00.569 --> 00:19:03.309 what the gospels then say is like jesus looked 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:07.109 at him and loved him and like even though this 00:19:07.109 --> 00:19:10.089 man couldn't make that hard choice even though 00:19:10.089 --> 00:19:12.789 he didn't ultimately turn around and follow jesus 00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:16.710 jesus looked at him and loved him right and yeah 00:19:16.710 --> 00:19:19.390 so it's like not about the choices that we make 00:19:19.390 --> 00:19:23.210 or don't make it's god just loves yeah it just 00:19:23.210 --> 00:19:26.829 is yeah yeah yeah and loving and like the understanding 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:29.940 like while i know the person I'm in relationship 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:33.839 with might not be in the place that I, or I believe 00:19:33.839 --> 00:19:36.200 that God wants them to go. Sure. I love them 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:39.779 anyway. Yeah. And pray for them and love them 00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:43.339 into what God is calling them into knowing that 00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:46.039 God is doing a good work and that God can, we 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:47.460 don't know the end of the story for the rich 00:19:47.460 --> 00:19:50.299 young ruler. Right. Yeah. But God loved him anyway. 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:54.539 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like, so then as 00:19:54.539 --> 00:19:58.819 we think about that, like it's, it's, one thing 00:19:58.819 --> 00:20:00.319 to sort of look at, okay, what did this look 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.339 like in Jesus's life? But like, what does it 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.380 look like for us to love the people who are hard 00:20:05.380 --> 00:20:10.880 to love? Um, and like, especially, I think it's 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:13.000 one thing to sort of like love the people who 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:15.920 are hard to love that. Like we don't need to 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:18.779 interact with regularly and be like, ah, I love 00:20:18.779 --> 00:20:20.420 you. I'm going to like show compassion, like 00:20:20.420 --> 00:20:23.720 think the best towards you. And then, okay. So 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:25.440 that's like one type of person. And then there's 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:28.380 the other type of person who's like, I, interact 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:31.279 with you on a regular basis and this is clearly 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:34.839 a hostile relationship right like how do i love 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:38.500 that person like what does that look like interesting 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:41.980 well i think uh first and foremost by necessity 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:44.599 i think we need to uh figure out how to love 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:46.799 our friends and family of course we're around 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.880 them all the time yes and the um and that might 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:53.400 sound strange to say but i but i think i mean 00:20:54.349 --> 00:20:56.789 But when love is not just a feeling, but it's 00:20:56.789 --> 00:21:01.490 a discipline, right? It is like some of the other 00:21:01.490 --> 00:21:05.569 themes of Advent. We're saying that it is a gift 00:21:05.569 --> 00:21:07.910 of God, but it's also something that we can grow 00:21:07.910 --> 00:21:11.980 and develop in ourselves. And so sometimes, sometimes 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:16.559 we need help to love the closest ones around 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.779 us. And I think there's, there's another layer 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:23.400 of relationships that a circle that goes out 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:25.700 beyond there, which might be coworkers and, and, 00:21:25.700 --> 00:21:27.980 you know, people in the community and things 00:21:27.980 --> 00:21:31.220 like that, that some, some we like, some we don't 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:34.259 like, but we're called to, we're called to love. 00:21:34.359 --> 00:21:36.960 So what does it look like to, to love them? So 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:38.720 we kind of figured that out. And then I think 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:42.900 there's I think there is another group of people 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:46.160 that we might not necessarily associate with 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.279 on a day -to -day basis unless we're involved 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.119 in community programs and stuff, and that's the 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:55.970 homeless and the hungry. And as the Bible says, 00:21:56.029 --> 00:22:01.369 the poor and the naked and the sick. And so I 00:22:01.369 --> 00:22:07.589 think that is also a group of people in our community, 00:22:07.769 --> 00:22:10.690 in our society, that we need to think about, 00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:14.200 oh, how do we show? How do we express our love? 00:22:14.940 --> 00:22:17.960 How do we express God's love through us to that 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:21.039 particular people group? Is that about making 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.240 a donation? Is that about showing up? Is that 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:27.539 about helping as a group? Is that about helping 00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:30.579 as an individual, like volunteering with a group 00:22:30.579 --> 00:22:32.640 of people or volunteering on your own someplace? 00:22:35.450 --> 00:22:38.609 What does that look like? I think we're called, 00:22:38.750 --> 00:22:42.789 I think God calls us all to express love for 00:22:42.789 --> 00:22:45.730 the least of these among us. So our question 00:22:45.730 --> 00:22:49.569 is, what does that look like for us? What does 00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:52.309 that look like for me to do that? That answer 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:53.750 is going to be different for different people. 00:22:54.309 --> 00:22:58.930 But I think it needs to have... our the our expression 00:22:58.930 --> 00:23:01.369 of god's love needs to have an element of that 00:23:01.369 --> 00:23:06.089 sure or it's not god's love in its fullness it's 00:23:06.089 --> 00:23:08.569 yeah it's something that's both like very practical 00:23:08.569 --> 00:23:12.730 and yeah extends to each of these circles as 00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:14.970 you were just saying it's a it's a selfless love 00:23:14.970 --> 00:23:18.390 it's a practical love and it responds to uh the 00:23:18.390 --> 00:23:20.890 needs of others in the community yeah yeah for 00:23:20.890 --> 00:23:26.460 sure for sure yeah yeah I won't be too critical, 00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:29.019 but like, not critical of you, but I'm just thinking 00:23:29.019 --> 00:23:30.680 about love and I'm thinking about like, it's 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:35.799 very easy for us to. say, within our local communities 00:23:35.799 --> 00:23:38.259 that we're loving. But most of the people within 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.799 our circles are people that are like us. We tend 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.279 to be attracted to people that are, you know, 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.259 like similar things, probably have similar cultural 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:50.339 backgrounds and similar socioeconomic backgrounds. 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:52.079 Like those are the things that like usually tie 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.490 us together. Sure. So I often ask myself. uh 00:23:56.490 --> 00:23:59.809 when I look around and I think about like who 00:23:59.809 --> 00:24:04.829 who am I loving who who do I care for if I'm 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:07.809 just caring for folks that are just like me um 00:24:07.809 --> 00:24:09.950 and there's we can have a whole conversation 00:24:09.950 --> 00:24:12.109 on demographics and how people like find themselves 00:24:12.109 --> 00:24:13.690 in physical spaces and all that because that 00:24:13.690 --> 00:24:16.390 plays a role in it but I think there's lots of 00:24:16.390 --> 00:24:18.970 opportunities where we intentionally leave out 00:24:18.970 --> 00:24:22.130 or find convenient ways to not love people that 00:24:22.130 --> 00:24:27.529 are not like us in various ways. And it's easy 00:24:27.529 --> 00:24:30.230 to do that. It's easy for us to like, you know, 00:24:30.230 --> 00:24:34.029 take the go transit. And as we make our way through 00:24:34.029 --> 00:24:37.410 the lines, just like ignore the people that are 00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:40.809 sitting there on the side. It's probably also 00:24:40.809 --> 00:24:43.230 easy for us to ignore people that have different 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:48.789 like political views or ideologies and not extend 00:24:48.789 --> 00:24:51.069 love to them. I think the question for us truly 00:24:51.069 --> 00:24:54.609 is like, what is if love is not just this like 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:59.430 cute feeling? um, or a convenient habit, then 00:24:59.430 --> 00:25:02.269 like, what does that principle love look like? 00:25:02.289 --> 00:25:04.230 What does it mean for me to show up and love 00:25:04.230 --> 00:25:09.170 people who I might deem hard to love? Um, or 00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:12.789 yeah, what does that look like? And I think that's 00:25:12.789 --> 00:25:15.829 a, it's an exercise that we're, as God reveals 00:25:15.829 --> 00:25:19.309 himself to us, we will learn more about that 00:25:19.309 --> 00:25:23.519 looks like. Um, yeah. So I, yeah, I don't have 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.359 like an exact, like an exact answer to like what 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:27.839 it, what it can look like, but I know what it, 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:31.819 I know what's challenging. Um, but I know what 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:34.940 it does for me when I start feeling like I just 00:25:34.940 --> 00:25:37.240 want to like throw people away and I don't want 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:39.880 to extend love to them. Then I come back and 00:25:39.880 --> 00:25:43.240 I'm like, okay, well, I remember when I was. 00:25:44.410 --> 00:25:48.170 worse off than I am now or more challenging in 00:25:48.170 --> 00:25:52.170 in my or critical of of individuals of myself 00:25:52.170 --> 00:25:54.809 and all these things and God loved me anyway 00:25:54.809 --> 00:25:59.369 and God used people to like those broken vessel 00:25:59.369 --> 00:26:03.130 pieces use those broken parts to flow love through 00:26:03.130 --> 00:26:06.509 me to me um so I think that's like as we remember 00:26:06.509 --> 00:26:09.410 where we were and where we are I think that can 00:26:09.410 --> 00:26:13.690 help us in just being just open to to loving 00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:17.049 people in a principled way. Yeah. Like as I reflect 00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:19.049 on like what both of you have sort of been saying, 00:26:19.109 --> 00:26:22.650 like, I think about there's like, maybe not one 00:26:22.650 --> 00:26:25.289 thing that we can say, okay, this is what love 00:26:25.289 --> 00:26:27.609 looks like. But I think there's a series of questions 00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:30.250 that we can ask ourselves, right? There's a like, 00:26:30.369 --> 00:26:34.410 okay, so like, who are we loving? And like, who 00:26:34.410 --> 00:26:36.970 are we maybe leaving out of that love? And we 00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:40.269 can ask ourselves, okay, like, how am I loving 00:26:40.269 --> 00:26:43.890 them? And am I loving them? in ways and at times 00:26:43.890 --> 00:26:46.170 where it just like feels convenient and easy, 00:26:46.269 --> 00:26:48.910 or am I still showing up when it feels hard or 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:52.369 when it feels costly? Right. And like, I think 00:26:52.369 --> 00:26:53.950 the other thing is you were like thinking about 00:26:53.950 --> 00:26:55.769 these circles of people and like starting with 00:26:55.769 --> 00:26:58.829 friends and family. The thing that I reflected 00:26:58.829 --> 00:27:03.650 on was like, sometimes we can think we are loving 00:27:03.650 --> 00:27:05.630 our friends and family well, but they don't necessarily 00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:11.029 feel well loved. And I can see that. And so, 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:15.740 maybe it's worth asking your close friends and 00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:17.960 family, like the people that you live with, Hey, 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:21.380 do you feel loved? And like, I don't know, maybe 00:27:21.380 --> 00:27:23.400 that's a weird question to ask just like that 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:25.759 out of the blue, but like find some way to like 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.079 bring that about and be like, Hey, like what 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:31.740 do I do that? Or what do I not do that? Like 00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:35.440 makes you feel cared for that makes you feel 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:37.880 like you belong, whatever, however you want to 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:39.799 sort of word that. Right. Well, that's that's 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:41.519 why I think. Yeah. And that's why I think love 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:43.519 is both a gift and a discipline. Right. Yeah. 00:27:43.579 --> 00:27:46.500 I think I think we are we are gifted. We are 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:52.019 made to to love. And the but I but I think it 00:27:52.019 --> 00:27:55.579 also takes it also takes work. So I think I like 00:27:55.579 --> 00:27:58.680 you're saying you have you have your friends 00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.720 in your family and you express love to them. 00:28:01.779 --> 00:28:04.779 And I think that is that is. That is part of 00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:08.359 what's needed, but it's a very basic level of 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:12.900 expression of love. I think as you grow in your 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:17.279 understanding of faith and what love is and different 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:19.640 kinds of love, then you grow and you develop 00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:22.430 to the point where you can not just... express 00:28:22.430 --> 00:28:27.789 generic love but you can but you you then uh 00:28:27.789 --> 00:28:30.950 understand that people receive love in different 00:28:30.950 --> 00:28:33.750 ways right and that it's not just the that one 00:28:33.750 --> 00:28:36.630 love that kind of love that that kind of makes 00:28:36.630 --> 00:28:39.210 that works for everybody and and so you begin 00:28:39.210 --> 00:28:43.069 again that's that's the work of of love in a 00:28:43.069 --> 00:28:46.410 relationship is right is understanding how they 00:28:46.410 --> 00:28:49.769 receive love and learning to show love in a way 00:28:49.769 --> 00:28:52.210 that that they receive even understand it yeah 00:28:52.210 --> 00:28:56.450 yeah yeah for sure for sure yeah yeah love is 00:28:56.450 --> 00:29:00.490 something like i feel like we like talk about 00:29:00.490 --> 00:29:02.490 it and we think i know what that is i know what 00:29:02.490 --> 00:29:04.849 that feels like but like it's complicated yeah 00:29:04.849 --> 00:29:11.009 and it's yeah yeah it's like it's something that 00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:14.480 you said bill where it was like um In Christ 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:18.900 healing people, he healed their spiritual needs, 00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:24.160 their spiritual, their sins, and then also their 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:28.019 physical needs. And I'm trying to connect how 00:29:28.019 --> 00:29:30.400 I got this, but the thought that's coming to 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.579 me is like there's... God shows up in a particular 00:29:33.579 --> 00:29:36.640 way that meets our moment and meets our specific 00:29:36.640 --> 00:29:38.900 needs. So I'm not going to do the same thing 00:29:38.900 --> 00:29:44.539 for every single person. I'm going to do what's 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:48.460 needed for that person in that time. And I think 00:29:48.460 --> 00:29:50.619 Christ was the greatest example of that, right? 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:54.180 What we needed was a savior and we needed someone 00:29:54.180 --> 00:29:58.339 to be our substitute. Uh, Christ could have just 00:29:58.339 --> 00:30:01.039 said, well, I'm just going to sit back and I 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:03.119 know what they need, but I'm not going to do 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:06.480 it. But what he did was he came as a baby and, 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:10.779 and lived as a man and died on the cross to, 00:30:10.920 --> 00:30:14.180 to pay for our sins. Um, so yeah, I think like 00:30:14.180 --> 00:30:16.640 what, what love really looks like is it's one, 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:18.980 you have to be in relationship with people to 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:20.839 know what their needs are, to know what their 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:23.099 specific needs are and then, and then be that, 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:27.089 um, in that way. my caution though is like don't 00:30:27.089 --> 00:30:29.869 like there's healthy ways to do that sure and 00:30:29.869 --> 00:30:31.829 there's unhealthy ways to do that don't lose 00:30:31.829 --> 00:30:34.349 yourself yeah so how can I show up in the way 00:30:34.349 --> 00:30:37.589 that I am uh that meets your need in that unique 00:30:37.589 --> 00:30:42.109 way um yeah yeah and I think like in the like 00:30:42.109 --> 00:30:43.650 thinking about healthy ways and unhealthy ways 00:30:43.650 --> 00:30:46.349 of doing that like sometimes the healthiest way 00:30:46.349 --> 00:30:48.670 that like I can show you love is actually to 00:30:48.670 --> 00:30:51.240 say Hey, Britain, I understand you have a need 00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:53.240 right now. Here's somebody who can like actually 00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:56.059 help you. Right. Like I don't have to be like 00:30:56.059 --> 00:30:59.480 the fix it person. Right. I can be like, OK, 00:30:59.579 --> 00:31:02.859 you need food. That doesn't mean I need to cook 00:31:02.859 --> 00:31:05.099 for you. Sometimes it does. But it could mean, 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:07.500 hey, I'm going to help you get to the services 00:31:07.500 --> 00:31:09.740 that will give you the food that you need. Right. 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:11.819 Or I'm going to volunteer at the services that 00:31:11.819 --> 00:31:14.259 help you get the food that you need. Right. Like 00:31:14.259 --> 00:31:16.559 it's yeah, it's all about balance and like finding. 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:19.440 each person's sort of role in that. I think. 00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:24.460 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's love. Love. It's pretty, 00:31:24.519 --> 00:31:27.339 pretty cool thing. What's, what's love got to 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:32.460 do with it? Everything. It's the whole candle, 00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:34.680 the whole point of Christmas. We're wrapping 00:31:34.680 --> 00:31:40.400 it all up in love. Um, yeah, but not just like 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:44.079 a fluffy love. No. A love that like gets its 00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:47.339 hands dirty. I think, I think that's, I think 00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:49.980 that's a crux of maybe this whole thing is that 00:31:49.980 --> 00:31:52.059 we're, is that the love that we're talking about, 00:31:52.099 --> 00:31:53.960 and we didn't even joke about the fluffy love 00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:56.460 at the beginning and get down to like the serious 00:31:56.460 --> 00:31:59.500 love of God. But the, I think there is a, there 00:31:59.500 --> 00:32:03.609 is a difference between that kind of. you know, 00:32:03.609 --> 00:32:08.970 whatever else fluffy or the, the, or romantic 00:32:08.970 --> 00:32:12.170 love or the, you know, whatever. And the, and, 00:32:12.430 --> 00:32:15.990 and the kind of, of love that from God that we 00:32:15.990 --> 00:32:18.650 have, or that we're meant to have for, for each 00:32:18.650 --> 00:32:24.319 other, which. which I think translates into acts 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:28.519 of service and is an essential part of our faith 00:32:28.519 --> 00:32:32.539 development, is receiving God's love and expressing 00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:35.759 God's love in others in ways that are meaningful 00:32:35.759 --> 00:32:39.779 to them and respond to their needs. Like we've 00:32:39.779 --> 00:32:41.900 been talking about this whole time. Yeah. Yeah. 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:45.289 Love that shows up. Love that does the hard things. 00:32:45.470 --> 00:32:47.369 That's right. It can't just be a feeling. It 00:32:47.369 --> 00:32:49.910 needs to be present. It needs to be, it needs 00:32:49.910 --> 00:32:54.269 to show up. There needs to be action, thoughtful, 00:32:55.250 --> 00:32:58.930 caring, compassionate. Yeah. Yeah. I'll say the 00:32:58.930 --> 00:33:01.630 first step then is you need to recognize that, 00:33:01.650 --> 00:33:04.269 or we need to recognize that we, we must love 00:33:04.269 --> 00:33:09.869 everyone. And I think that. If I can, like there's, 00:33:09.869 --> 00:33:11.869 where was I? I was somewhere and someone told 00:33:11.869 --> 00:33:13.730 me they loved me. And I like look back, I'm like, 00:33:13.829 --> 00:33:17.049 I don't know if I would say that to you. Do I 00:33:17.049 --> 00:33:21.490 say it back? I'm not sure. But, and reflecting 00:33:21.490 --> 00:33:25.490 afterwards, like, no, I have, I don't have romantic 00:33:25.490 --> 00:33:29.769 love for this person. We barely know each other, 00:33:29.910 --> 00:33:32.789 but there is a love that I have for this individual. 00:33:33.369 --> 00:33:36.460 And it's the love of Christ. And I think if we 00:33:36.460 --> 00:33:41.059 can start seeing like everyone that we see. Yeah. 00:33:41.140 --> 00:33:43.799 I love you. Yeah. I don't love I don't love you 00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:46.680 because of what you did. Right. Or even who you 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:48.740 are. Well, actually, yeah, because you're a child 00:33:48.740 --> 00:33:52.079 of God. Sure. But I love you because Christ loves 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:56.160 you. Right. And yeah, I think that's if I like 00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:59.019 the shifting of our thoughts, like to say, like, 00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:01.799 I love you. I love you. And it's not because 00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:04.339 we spend all this time together because you got 00:34:04.339 --> 00:34:07.279 me really great Christmas gifts. I like Nikes. 00:34:08.179 --> 00:34:12.539 I like fruitcake. Okay. Okay. Good to know. Good 00:34:12.539 --> 00:34:14.360 to know. My mom makes a really good fruitcake. 00:34:14.420 --> 00:34:16.059 Oh, and you're going home. And I'm going home. 00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.280 And you're coming back. I see fruitcake in my 00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:23.599 future. But it's not because of all those things. 00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:27.380 No, not at all. No. I love you anyway. Thank 00:34:27.380 --> 00:34:30.360 you. It fluffs it up. It fluffs it up. Behind 00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:34.940 that fluff. Love's still there. Yes. Yes. Love 00:34:34.940 --> 00:34:38.119 and fruitcake. Yes. Yes. That's why Jesus came, 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:42.690 right? That's right. Yes. So as we come to the 00:34:42.690 --> 00:34:44.690 end of this Advent journey, like I said, we started 00:34:44.690 --> 00:34:46.929 with hope. This like we need a thing to look 00:34:46.929 --> 00:34:49.349 forward to. And that thing is coming in Christ, 00:34:49.369 --> 00:34:52.369 has come in Christ, is coming again. We hope 00:34:52.369 --> 00:34:55.590 for peace. We get this like sense of like things 00:34:55.590 --> 00:34:59.210 will be well. We have this gift of joy. Like 00:34:59.210 --> 00:35:02.070 we get some delight in the midst of all of the 00:35:02.070 --> 00:35:05.510 craziness of life. And then we focus in on love. 00:35:05.530 --> 00:35:08.590 But like there is this moment of Christ coming 00:35:08.590 --> 00:35:12.449 that. meets us in our deepest, darkest places 00:35:12.449 --> 00:35:16.650 and says, love is there with you. And then calls 00:35:16.650 --> 00:35:18.889 us out of those deep, dark places to extend that 00:35:18.889 --> 00:35:21.429 love into the rest of the darkness. And like, 00:35:21.510 --> 00:35:25.369 that's Christmas, folks. It's pretty, pretty 00:35:25.369 --> 00:35:32.050 cool season. Love it. Yeah. Well, thank you for 00:35:32.050 --> 00:35:35.230 tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity Talks. 00:35:35.230 --> 00:35:37.889 Yeah, I pray that your Christmas season is a 00:35:37.889 --> 00:35:40.849 season filled with love. whatever that looks 00:35:40.849 --> 00:35:43.789 like for you, and that you are able to experience 00:35:43.789 --> 00:35:48.030 that deep sense of hope, peace, joy, and love 00:35:48.030 --> 00:35:51.650 that sits with us now and throughout the rest 00:35:51.650 --> 00:35:53.769 of our lives. We'll see you again next week.