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It is funny to hear some of the kids as they leave the sanctuary in the morning because

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in their words I can hear their parents.

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Good morning.

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Awesome.

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On behalf of Pastor Daniel and his entire staff, we thank you for being here this morning.

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We are thankful that you are here this morning.

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And I thank him for the opportunity to spend a few moments speaking with you.

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This morning we're going to continue our series on our core beliefs and values with

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our statement on Christian conduct.

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I'd like to invite Ella to come up and read this morning.

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So if you're going to please stand, turn to Matthew 5.48.

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We're going to be reading from Matthew 5.48.

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And stand as we hear God's word.

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Matthew 5.48.

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Do you hear?

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Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Awesome.

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All right, Lord God, we give you thanks and praise for your word.

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We give you thanks and praise for Ella and her desire to read from your word, Lord.

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And I pray as she continues to grow and mature in her life, you will continue to grow her

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and mature her in you, Lord.

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And may you give her parents.

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Enable them to teach her, to train her, to lead her, to love her that she may come to

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know you.

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Deeply and honestly, Lord.

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We thank you for your word.

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We thank you for Ella.

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We ask you to bless her for her obedience.

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And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

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Amen.

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You are awesome.

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All right, as a side note, as we begin this morning, as Pastor Daniel has the day off,

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Sina, Adelie, Asher, River and Riker also have the morning off in that none of their

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failures or foibles will be used as sermon illustrations today.

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So let's get started and take a look at this.

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The Bible.

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Understand as we start here this morning, as we discuss truth this morning, understand

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that this is not a divine behavior manual.

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Again, this is not a divine behavior manual.

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This is a story.

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It's the story of God.

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It's the story of His kingdom and our place in it.

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It details not just how we are to be, but who we are to be.

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Now if any of you should doubt that this library of scrolls is a story, I should take a moment

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and turn to Genesis 1.

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How does this begin?

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In the beginning.

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Then take a moment to turn to Revelation 22.5.

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How does it end?

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And forever and ever.

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In the beginning and forever and ever.

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That sure sounds like a narrative.

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Sure sounds like a story to me.

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And it is.

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It is the story.

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It's the greatest story ever told.

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It's the story that underlies every other story that ever is or ever will be.

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It speaks of God's grandeur and His greatness.

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It details His mercy and His grace and found in chapter after chapter after chapter evidence

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of His love, His steadfast, sacrificial, life-giving, life-changing love.

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But that's not all.

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Because this story is also our story.

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For I can't understand who I am without knowing who He is.

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This story, this story that is written is my story.

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It is the story of my redemption.

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It's the story of my future.

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It is a story of hope.

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That's why last Sunday at the baptism, first it was so encouraging to see so many of us

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there.

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It was awesome.

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It was absolutely awesome.

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But that's why it was so encouraging to hear so many, so many of the people speak about

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their recent desire and commitment to read the Bible, to learn the story.

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Because for to read and study the story, one can come to know and understand the story teller.

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No, it's not a mere behavior manual.

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It's not merely a call to do.

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No understand in the context of the story, the Bible is also a call to be.

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Now with that this morning, we're going to explore what this story says about our conduct

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as Christians.

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Our children, all now adults like so many other children, played sports while growing

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up.

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T-ball, soccer, football, you name it, one or more of them played it.

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But before we sent them out, we gave them a few simple rules to follow.

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Rules that our children were expected to abide by if they were going to become a part of

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a sports team.

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These rules eventually became known simply as the NAS rules.

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As a matter of fact, we quizzed one of our children last night and some 20 years later,

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he still remembers the NAS rules.

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Rule number one, if you get knocked down, you must get back up.

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Rule number two, there is no walking on the grass.

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And number three, if your coach asks you what position you want to play, you must answer

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wherever you need me, coach.

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Now these rules, of course, were meant to teach and train our kids how they as members

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or family were supposed to behave.

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And they were important because until then our children had never played sports, so they

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had no idea what it meant to be part of a team.

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So these rules or commandments set forth how our children were to conduct themselves.

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But of course, there was so much more to the rules than simply telling them what they should

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do.

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For these rules were based on principles that are foundational to our family, foundational

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to our beliefs, principles that were meant to shape who they were to become.

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The rule, if you get knocked down, you must get back up.

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The principle, success in life is not about never failing.

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It's about never quitting.

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At some point in life, we will all fail or fall.

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And in that moment, we all have a choice.

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We can either stay down and be defined by our failure or we can get back up and be defined

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by our response to it.

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The rule, no walking on the grass.

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The principle, when taking your position on the field or moving between stations at practice,

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you must always run or jog.

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For although talent is God given, hard work and hustle is a choice.

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And it is in making this choice that we show our gratitude to God for the opportunity to

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play.

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The rule, if your coach asks you what position you want to play, you must answer, wherever

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you need me coach.

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The principle, servant leadership is the only true leadership.

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For a meaningful life is found only in a life that is devoted in service to others.

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And if you ever want to be in a position to exercise authority over another, you must

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first place learn to place yourself under the authority of others.

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These are simple rules.

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Three simple rules of conduct that are based on foundational principles that are an expression

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of who we are as a family, who we are as a people.

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They are rules that were meant to shape both what our children did and who they are to

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become the NAS rules.

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So it's with that this morning we're going to pick up God's story in the book of Exodus.

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The Israelites have just been released from bondage at the hands of the Egyptians.

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They have lived 400 years as slaves.

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They're now a free people.

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God's chosen people headed for the promised land.

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God reestablishing his kingdom on earth.

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They are God's chosen people.

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But who were they?

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Who were they?

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How were they to be?

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After 10 or more generations living under the boot of the Pharaoh, what did it exactly mean

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to be an Israelite?

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What did it mean to be part of God's family?

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Well, it's at this point in the story, this point in the story of God that we find Moses

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ascending Mount Sinai and receiving from God the first 10 of what would be 613 commandments,

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613 detailed instructions as to how they should live.

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Instructions concerning the organization of civil society, ceremonial worship, and of

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course moral truth.

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613 instructions that eventually became known simply as the law.

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A law based on the character of God, instructing people made in the image of God, how they

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should live under the authority of God.

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The law defined in very specific terms the covenantal relationship between God and his

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people.

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It defined how Israel was to behave in relation to God and in relation to one another.

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To live according to the law was to live in a right relationship or to be righteous, failing

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to uphold the law, failing or missing the mark.

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That was to sin.

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Now it's the law that to this day defines the identity, the very character of the Jewish

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people for the law is both a call to do as a well as a call to be.

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So now let's fast forward.

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To the first century, some 1400 years removed from the giving of the law and there is by

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now broad disagreement.

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There is broad disagreement among rabbis over its interpretation and application and even

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worse, even worse perhaps is that for some it was the law rather than the law giver

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that had become the centerpiece of the religion.

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Rabbis became so focused on the law, so obsessed with keeping others from violating the law

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that they began to add to the law.

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They began keeping up additional restrictions, placing onerous burdens on the people far

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above what the law required.

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Restrictions and burdens that led not to holiness but to guilt, frustration and dissatisfaction.

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Now the complete body of teaching for any given rabbi, his understanding and interpretation

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of the law is known as his yoke.

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A rabbi's understanding and interpretation of the law is known as his yoke.

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So in this, students or disciples of the rabbi were called to take up their rabbis yoke,

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yokes that were difficult if not impossible to bear.

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This is the setting in which Jesus, a first century rabbi with 12 devoted disciples began

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his ministry.

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It's into this setting that Jesus presents his understanding and interpretation of the

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law.

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It is into this setting that Jesus speaks these words that are recorded in the book of Matthew

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that I believe we've all heard before.

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Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

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So what is Jesus's yoke?

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What did Jesus teach?

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How are we as his followers today, as his disciples to behave?

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Are we like the Jews bound by the law?

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And if not, how are we supposed to conduct ourselves?

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Those are the questions.

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Unfortunately, Jesus addressed each one of them directly.

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First, concerning the law, the Gospel of Matthew records these words of Jesus.

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Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

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I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

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The moral law based on the unchanging character of an eternal God will forever be the standard

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for righteous behavior.

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Jesus most certainly did not abolish it.

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So then what does he mean by fulfilling it?

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Well first, Jesus fulfills the law in that he fulfills the story, this story, the story

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that began in the Old Testament.

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It is he that this entire story points to.

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It is he that is foreshadowed in it and predicted by it.

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Jesus is the story's next chapter.

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He fulfills it.

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Second, Jesus fulfills the requirements of the law.

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He fulfills the requirements of the law for all who would come to believe in him.

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In this, the law no longer has power over those of us that are in Christ.

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As Paul writes, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

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For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin

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and death.

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In Christ, we are heirs to a new covenant.

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No longer bound by the Old Covenant.

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That's what we celebrate each month at Communion.

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And lastly, so also does Jesus fill the law full.

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That is, the law and expression of God's perfect character has found its fulfillment in the

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Son of God, the person of Jesus Christ.

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If you want to see the mercy of God, you look to Jesus.

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If you want to know the goodness of God, look to Jesus.

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If you want to taste the grace of God, look to Jesus.

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And if you want to experience the love of God, look to Jesus.

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For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

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So, if the law has been fulfilled and we are no longer subject to its provisions, if in

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Christ we have been set free, then what should we do?

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How should we live?

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How should we behave?

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What is the key to conducting ourselves as Christians?

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Do we follow all of the commandments?

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Do we follow some of the commandments?

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If so, are some of the commandments more important than other commandments?

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What is Jesus' yoke?

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Well, that exact question was asked of Jesus some 2,000 years ago.

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Again from the book of Matthew.

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Jesus was asked, teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the law?

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This drawing from truth found in both Deuteronomy and Leviticus replied, Love the Lord your God

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with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

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This is the first and greatest commandment.

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And the second is like it.

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Love your neighbor as yourself.

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All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.

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In response to the question, rather than selecting one commandment, Jesus responded by sharing

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the principles which underlie all of the commandments.

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We don't have to know the 613 if we just simply live according to the two.

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As a follower of Jesus, how then shall I live?

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Love God and love one another.

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I mean, look at the first 10 commandments, the original big 10.

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The first four.

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No other gods, no idols.

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We use the Lord's God in vain and keep the Sabbath.

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They're all expressions of loving God.

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Then look at the next six.

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They're all expressions of loving one another.

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Love God and love one another.

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It is a call that is completely contrary to my nature because it's a call that seeks

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to put, I want to put self on the throne of my life.

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I want to put self at the center of my life.

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This call is completely contrary to that.

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Love God and love one another.

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As Pastor Scott recently explained in his sermon on the spirit-filled life, loving God

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and loving one another is possible only in and through the power and the presence of the

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Holy Spirit.

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God living in us, making possible that which would otherwise be impossible.

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God giving us a new heart, replacing our heart of stone with a heart of flesh, allowing us

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to live in a new way in which we dethrone self and love God and love one another.

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No matter the circumstance, no matter the situation, we are called to filter every action, every

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thought, every idea by considering, in this am I loving God and am I loving others?

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But if it's not our works, but in and through Christ and Christ alone that we're saved,

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why does our conduct even matter?

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Why does it matter?

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Well, first I would suggest it matters to others.

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I would suggest that the American church has unwittingly created a self-centered gospel.

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We preach a gospel centered on our personal salvation.

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We focus on what Jesus did for me.

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We focus on Jesus dying for my sins.

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We sing teaching our children, Jesus loves me.

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This I know for the Bible tells me so.

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And sadly, I believe this has caused many in the church to turn inward, asking only what

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the church can do for me, how it can meet my needs.

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And we end up with a church in which people spend more time complaining than serving.

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We have a church often that is full of people who are quick to accuse and slow to repent.

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Now I don't mean to offend.

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But if anyone in here has ever left church on a Sunday morning, mad about the music,

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mad about the sermon, mad about the carpet, and thought to yourself, I didn't get anything

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out of worship today.

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I say this.

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I don't care because we didn't come to worship you.

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Some churches have strayed from Jesus' yoke, his call to love God and love one another,

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and they've cultivated a culture of self, that same self-focused, soul-crushing, anxiety-producing,

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transactional world in which everyone does what is right in his own eyes.

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And if in here is no different than out there, if our values and beliefs simply mirror their

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values and beliefs, what do we have to offer that Starbucks doesn't?

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Why come here to be alienated when I can so easily find that out there?

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Again, remember the words of Jesus.

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We're called to love God and love one another.

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So I ask, in your neighborhood, at your workplace, are you known more for what you're for or

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what you're against?

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Are you known as the one who complains and criticizes or the one who loves and encourages?

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Do you love God enough to follow His commands?

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Do you love God enough that you see service not as a sacrifice but as an act of love?

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There is quite literally nothing more counter-cultural in the world today than a community that honors

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God and puts the needs of others above its own.

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As such, I would suggest that there is nothing more attractive to an unbelieving world, a

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world trapped in the misery of self than a community in which we all do nothing from

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selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, count others more significant to their selves,

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looking out for the interests of others or being a community in which we show ourselves

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in all respects to be a model of good works, teaching integrity, dignity, sound speech,

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or that we find ourselves as a community that conducts itself in all humility and gentleness

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and patience, bearing with one another, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the

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bond of peace.

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And I would suggest when we are such a community, our light will shine before others that they

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will see our good works and give glory to God in heaven.

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You see, when we live out our God-created identity, when we live generously and graciously

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towards others, living the way God does towards us, God is both glorified and amplified.

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So I ask, what exactly are we as His church telling others about God?

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What are we telling them about who He is, about what He's like?

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Do we individually and collectively love God and love one another?

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Do we do so in a manner that sets us apart from an unbelieving world?

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Do we live in such a way that will cause people who know nothing about Jesus to come to know

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Jesus just because they know us?

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Or asked another way?

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Take a moment to look around at each other.

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Seriously, look around at one another.

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All right?

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If we were the first disciples right here, if we were the early church, would the book

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of Acts happen?

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Are we that recklessly obedient to the will of God?

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Do we love God and love others the way that they loved God and loved others?

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The second reason our conduct matters is because it matters to us.

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They matter to us.

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The NAS rules instructed our children as to how to conduct themselves, but the principles

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beneath them shaped who they were to become.

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And I would suggest that the same is true for God and His precepts.

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Yes, they instruct us how to conduct ourselves, but perhaps even more importantly, the principles

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beneath them shape who we are becoming.

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Now I may not know much, and those of you that know me know that might be the truest

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thing I say this morning.

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I may not know much, but of this I am certain.

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God is far more concerned with heart transformation than He is with behavior modification.

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That's a great reminder for those of us that are parents.

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Now have you ever wondered why in the law, in God's law, telling the truth is good and

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lying is bad?

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Why isn't it the other way?

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Or why faithfulness is good and infidelity is bad?

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Is it like when God created the universe, He flipped some cosmic coin and said, heads

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truth is good and tails lying is good?

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Of course not.

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You see, because the law of God, based on the principles of God, is founded on the character

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of God.

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Lying is bad and truth is good is because God is truth.

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Faithfulness is good and infidelity is bad is because God is faithful and on and on and

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on.

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He is that measure of the mark.

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If the law is an expression of God's character, a character that I am created to conform to,

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the law is less an expression of what I am supposed to do and more a statement of who

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I am to become.

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That's why when I violate it, when I violate the principles upon which it's based, I'm

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working directly against who I'm becoming.

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Jenny Gold Medal athlete from the Paris Games.

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In striving to be who she desired to be, what do you think she filled her life with?

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What do you think she filled her body with?

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Twinkies and Mountain Dew?

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No, because to do so would be to work against who she was becoming.

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So also is it with us?

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Sin are the Twinkies and Mountain Dew of our souls.

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But when we conduct ourselves according to God's precepts, according to the principles

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of loving God and loving others, we grow.

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We grow in Christ-like character, enabling ourselves to become who we were created to

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be.

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You see, as believers, our identity is our destiny.

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This is what Paul is speaking of in his letter to the Galatians when he writes, it is for

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Christ, it is excuse me, for freedom that Christ has set us free.

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Free from the law of sin and death most certainly, but there is so much more for in Christ's

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life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in and through the power and the presence

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of the Spirit we have been set free to become who we've been created to be.

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Now we began this morning with the words of Jesus that were recorded in the book of Matthew.

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You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

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Now first understand that in the original Greek the word translated as perfect is telios.

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And telios means like brought to its end, lacking nothing, being whole, being complete.

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So this verse could be translated as be complete as your heavenly Father is complete.

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It's profound.

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It represents the very heart of the law.

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It represents the key to our conduct as Christians.

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You see, his law is not merely a call to do, it is a call to be, to be complete.

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Jesus giving this instruction to his disciples, giving this instruction to us is not expecting

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us to live a life without error.

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Rather, it is a reminder that in genuinely seeking to love God and to love others we

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can become who we are created to be.

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The law is much more than a call to do, it is a call to be, to be complete.

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And just how am I brought to completion by loving God and loving others just like Jesus

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did?

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I'd like to end this morning by asking one final question.

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A question that I believe whose answer makes all the difference in living out our life

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in Christ.

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And that is this.

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What is the most important thing about you?

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What you do or who you are?

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What is the most important thing about you?

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What you do or who you are?

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Yes, it's an important question to consider with your children.

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What is the most important thing about them?

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What they do or who they are becoming?

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There were times at my training, during my training at Quantico, the truth be told I

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struggled.

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I was less effective than I should have been.

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Times that I missed the mark.

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I failed.

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And it seems like failure does nothing but breed more failure.

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And it's not that I didn't know what to do.

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I mean the FBI trained me well, very, very, very, very well.

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Now looking back, it is clear that my failure was not a failure to do, it was a failure

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to be.

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Now the FBI Academy is home to what I think is the coolest video game that's ever been

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invented.

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It's called the firearms training simulator or FATS machine.

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And a new agent stands alone in a room armed with a pistol that shoots like a light burst

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or a laser at a screen, a screen that covers the whole wall, the entire room.

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And then instructors play out a live action video of a common law enforcement situation.

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The video plays out in response to the actions and the commands of the trainee, kind of like

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a movie with multiple endings that depends on the reaction or interaction of the audience.

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And early on I failed almost every scenario.

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Failure that resulted in my death or the death of a civilian or the escape of the bad guy.

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And it was so frustrating because I knew what I was supposed to do.

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But if so, why was failure such a consistent friend?

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Well an instructor sensing my frustration after one such failure gave me advice that

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changed the course of my career, advice that I think is applicable here this morning.

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He said, you're never going to be able to successfully carry out your duties as an

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agent until you begin to see yourself as an agent.

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You can't carry out your responsibilities or wield your authority and tell you first

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brace your new identity.

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You are no longer who you were.

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You are now an FBI agent.

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You are failing to do because you don't know who you are.

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And once I began to see myself as an agent, I began to function as an agent.

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As followers of Jesus, we have been called to love God and love others.

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Love God and love others as Christ loves God and loves others.

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This is a tall task.

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It is impossible apart from the saving grace of God.

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So as you leave here this morning, if you ever find yourself struggling to live out

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the life that Jesus calls us to, loving God and loving others, may I take just one moment

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to remind you of who you are in Christ, to remind you of your identity.

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Remind you of the power and the authority that you have in Christ because in Christ we are

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redeemed, reconciled, rescued and remembered in Christ.

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We are justified, sealed, saved and forgiven in Christ.

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We are blessed, adopted, chosen and made alive in Christ.

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We are transformed and treasured.

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We are a new creation co-heirs with Christ, seated with Him in the heavenly places and

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in Christ.

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Nothing nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor to come nor powers nor height nor depth

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nor anything else in all creation will separate us from the love of God.

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In Christ that is who we are.

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This is our identity.

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And it is only in and through Christ.

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It is only because of who I am in Him that I can do what I've been called to do by Him.

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Love God and love one another.

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Let's pray.

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Lord God, we give you thanks and praise for this morning.

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We thank you for your presence here.

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Your power in our worship.

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Your presence in these people.

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We thank you for the miracle that is the salvation of each and every man and woman that is saved

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in this room.

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Lord God, we pray that we will live according to your spirit enabling us to love you and

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love one another.

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Then it enables us to dethrone self and place you at the center of our lives.

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Lord, we pray for the power and the presence of your spirit that will enable us to know

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you and in knowing you who come to understand and know ourselves to be like you.

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And Lord, we pray that because of Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension and

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because of the power and the presence of the spirit in our lives that we be made complete

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just as you are complete Lord.

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We thank you.

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And it's in Jesus' mighty and powerful name that we pray.

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Amen.

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Thank you.