1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,680 He's glorious. Behold the one who has come to us. 2 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,600 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected or to give online, 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:25,520 you can go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church. If at any time during this message 4 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:33,040 you feel called to make a change in your life, text changeme to 970-00. 5 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:35,040 Thank you and enjoy the message. 6 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:43,120 The way of love. If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy, 7 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:50,000 but don't have love, I'm nothing but a creaking of a rusty gate. 8 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:57,520 If I speak God's word with power, revealing all mysteries and making everything plain as day, 9 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:03,520 and if I have the faith that says to a mountain jump and the mountain jumps, 10 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:11,760 but I don't have love, I'm nothing. If I give everything that I own to the poor 11 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:17,600 and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, 12 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:28,320 I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe and what I do, I am bankrupt without love. 13 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:36,080 Love never gives up. It cares more for others than for self. 14 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:42,400 It doesn't want what it doesn't have. It doesn't strut around. 15 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:48,160 It doesn't have a swollen head. It doesn't force itself on others. 16 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:56,480 It isn't always me first, please. It doesn't fly off at the handle. 17 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:01,040 It doesn't keep score of the sins of others. It doesn't revel when others grovel. 18 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,880 It takes pleasure in the flowering of the truth. 19 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:14,640 It takes pleasure in the flowering of the truth. Puts up with anything. 20 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:26,080 Trusts God always. Always looks for the best. Never looks back. 21 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,880 But keeps going to the very end. 22 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:38,400 That's 1 Corinthians 13, 1 through 7 in the message. That's Eugene Peterson's version 23 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:44,560 of the beautiful scripture we mostly hear at weddings, right? And I wanted to start off today 24 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:50,240 with prefacing this series love letters, this sermon I'm going to do with defining what love is. 25 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,400 Let's pray. Holy Spirit, 26 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:04,800 may we always be open to your love. We need your power and understanding to truly love, 27 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:14,320 to saturate this present world with your perfect and divine love. In Jesus' name, amen. 28 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,880 Good morning, church family. Welcome to the Hubsanity Vineyard. I'm Jess, and I have the 29 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,200 pleasure of sharing with you this morning. And if you're welcoming us into your home or your other 30 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:31,760 creative spaces, we are so glad you have joined us today. I will be concluding the series love 31 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:39,200 letters. And for the last three weeks, my amazing husband, and I don't say amazing, because I'm 32 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:44,240 fluffing you up or trying to puff up his head because gosh knows he doesn't need that, right? 33 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:50,560 No, but I am just so honored to be able to share with you because he is amazing because he serves 34 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:57,920 people with his whole heart. He serves me and my family and this community of faith 35 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:05,120 and our community in general with his whole heart. And he does it to the very essence of 36 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:12,240 the love letter. And I'm so grateful for that. And I'm so grateful for the love letter. And I'm 37 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:17,600 so grateful for the love letter. And he does it to the very essence of his being. So he's very 38 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:23,680 exhausted a lot, but very fulfilled. And so today he gets the day off, which he gets to run around 39 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,880 with the kids and the kids wing. So I don't know if it's a day off because he loves, he loves being 40 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:34,240 with you guys. He loves sharing you. You are his heart. And he's so proud of you. So I am so 41 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,600 honored that I get to fill this role today. But so the last three weeks he's been talking about, 42 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:47,200 first John in the first week, he talked about light and truth and how Jesus is the truth apart 43 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:53,200 from Jesus. There is no truth. And the second week he discussed our identity as children of God. 44 00:04:54,320 --> 00:05:01,040 You are a child of God. If you receive Jesus into your heart. And last week he talked to us, 45 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:08,480 talked to us about the confidence we have knowing that God is love, the confidence assurance that 46 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:15,040 God is love and that he lives in us and that we can love because God is with us. And so, 47 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:24,720 and I would argue, cause I like to argue that first Corinthians 13 can only be achieved through 48 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:32,880 God and the power of the Holy spirit because God is love. So what I share with you earlier can only 49 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:41,760 be achieved by Jesus and God's presence. So this week I was tasked with discussing second John, 50 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:47,360 which only happens to be one chapter. So, and if you guys think it's going to be a short sermon, 51 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:54,960 I am so sorry because me with me, the help of my friends, my colleagues, and everybody I've 52 00:05:54,960 --> 00:06:00,240 discussed love with this week, I think we've managed to stretch one chapter into a whole 53 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:06,080 theoretical discussion that you have the pleasure of hearing right now. So I am so grateful to be 54 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:13,600 able to join with you guys this morning and share together with you. So, so love letters, 55 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:18,000 love letters are always great to receive. Do you guys like receiving love letters? 56 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:22,720 And as I was preparing for this message, I was like, Oh, I just, I usually take everything in 57 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,560 the universe and say, God, what do you want to say? And I search all these things. And I said, 58 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:32,800 I can start with a Shakespeare sonnet about love. That's what I should start with. And then I tried 59 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:38,320 to read it like three times and you guys, I would have butchered the heck out of it. So I was like, 60 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:43,840 that is not going to happen. And Rudy at Hagerstown healthcare shared that with our, the residents 61 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,360 there with our community of faith there at Hagerstown healthcare. And I said, Rudy, I'm 62 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:52,160 stealing that from you. And he's like, Jessica, you're more than welcome. So, so this, like I 63 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:57,280 said, this sermon is a menagerie of all these people are coming together and we're going to 64 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:04,560 talk about love today. So I didn't do William Shakespeare for you, but however, I did receive 65 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:11,840 a love letter this Friday. And so I want to tell you about this love letter, the intricate details 66 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:19,200 of it. So I got a card when I picked up Phoenix from, from daycare this week, our from grow, 67 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:25,360 and it was shaped like a pizza. So I have to let you know it was shaped like a pizza. And I lost 68 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,840 the card. That's how important it was to me. No, I'm just kidding. You know, if you're a mom, you know, 69 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,840 like you're going from like daycare, you've got all this stuff. And then I started the marriage 70 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:38,640 course. So, and I had all the monster trucks. So I was given all the monster. So I, but I read the 71 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:43,040 card. So, okay, I'm going to share with you cause I remember it. It was so ironic. So anyway, 72 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:48,800 there's no guilt and shame. Okay. I don't have the card anymore. So it says on a pizza, 73 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:54,720 shaped card, it says, or Phoenix wrote, or his teacher wrote, I adore you. 74 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:03,840 I adore you because you're sweet and you're one of a kind. And they were on pepperonis. So that's 75 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:09,440 cool too. Cause pizza is amazing. So this morning, if you hear nothing else from me, 76 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:15,920 know that I adore you. You're sweet, you're one of a kind. And, and that's my love letter to you. 77 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:21,680 That's all I have anyway. So let's just jump right into the text as John writes this letter 78 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:27,920 of encouragement. Second John one, one through three says, this letter is from John the elder. 79 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:33,040 I am writing the chosen lady and her children whom I love and truth as it does everyone else 80 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:39,280 who knows the truth because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, 81 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,840 and peace, which come from God, the father and from Jesus Christ, the son of the father will 82 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:51,360 continue to be with us who live in truth and love. John identifies himself here as the apostle 83 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:58,160 because they, they say basically he was the only living apostle left. Right. And John also writes 84 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:02,160 this letter of encouragement and he says the chosen lady at the beginning of the letter. 85 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,960 Now different scholars agree different things. Sometimes women would have house churches in 86 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:12,000 their church and they would lead congregations of churches. And so he wrote to the chosen lady and 87 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:17,600 her children. Other people believe that he was writing to the church in general, but because I 88 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,360 am up here today, I'm going to choose to think he wrote it to a lady who was leading a church 89 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:28,400 because that's cool. Anyway, so, so John writes this letter and the first point of his letter is 90 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:39,040 to live in truth, live in truth. And the truth that John is referring to here is Jesus. So let's go 91 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:45,520 back to the beginning of that passage. My teacher and me is coming out here. So if we replace truth 92 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:50,160 in that first part of the passage passage with the word Jesus, it says, I am writing to the 93 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:57,760 chosen lady and her children whom I love in Jesus as does everyone else who knows Jesus 94 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:05,680 because Jesus lives in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, peace, which come from God, 95 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:11,440 the father and from Jesus Christ, the son of the father will continue to be with us who live in 96 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:19,920 Jesus and love. So if you replace Jesus there, that the truth, Jesus is the word truth, because 97 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:28,560 Jesus even tells us himself, John 14 six, Jesus told them, I am the way, the truth and the life. 98 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:38,080 No man comes to the father, but by me. So we cannot have truth without Jesus. Right? And so I just, 99 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:45,520 I just love this passage because I get so, I'm as sad that people think that becoming a Christian is 100 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:52,320 so inclusive, right? Because Jesus doesn't define who he loves. He loves everybody. It doesn't 101 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:57,280 matter if you've murdered somebody, if you killed somebody, if you have a different color of hair, 102 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,680 if you're tight, you know, if you have a different color of skin, we talk about in the kids wing, 103 00:11:01,680 --> 00:11:07,360 welcoming everybody, even if you have stinky feet. And usually I'm the one I say that to the kids, 104 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:12,880 I define it. Even if you have a stinky feet, Jesus loves you. Jesus is this huge funnel. And he's 105 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:18,160 saying, come, no other religion in the world says that come to me. All you are weary and heavy burden 106 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:23,120 and I will give you rest. Take and learn from me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Jesus 107 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:28,160 is the truth here, people. And he knocks at the door of everyone's heart and he says, I have a way. 108 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,520 I have a better way. I have a better way than this world has just let me in because he's a gentleman 109 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:38,800 and he doesn't exclude anyone. And he says, come on. And that big funnel, he's just saying, there's 110 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:44,400 room for everybody. There's room for everybody here. Right? And he's saying, just accept my truth. 111 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:51,200 John 8 31 through 32, Jesus said to the people who believed in him, you are truly my disciples. 112 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:57,840 If you remain faithful to my teachings and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. 113 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:04,880 When we live in Jesus, when we live in his truth, we are free to be the person he created. We are 114 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:12,720 free from the world standards of perfection and performance of the world. And we are free to be 115 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:19,200 perfection and performing. We are free just to love on him and him to love on us. A divine 116 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:25,840 experience. Jesus came for life and life abundantly. And God came because God brought Jesus to earth 117 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,880 because he wants a relationship with you. He wants, he is in love with you. He's madly in love with 118 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:36,880 you. And he sacrifices his son's life so that he could come and be with you, regardless of your 119 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:41,520 sins, regardless of your choices. He wants relationship with you. And that's the truth. 120 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,800 That's the truth that we can live in. And that's the truth that sets us free. 121 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:51,920 So the second reason that John writes this letter is teaching us how to grow in love. 122 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:58,160 It's about truth, Jesus, and it's about love, which is God, right? 123 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:05,760 Second, John one five says, I'm writing to you. I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we 124 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:11,600 should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one you have heard from the beginning. 125 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:19,920 Love means doing what God has commanded us. And he has commanded us to love one another just as 126 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:24,240 you heard from the beginning. You know, and this year as our community of faith, we've been 127 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:31,120 challenged to go deeper, right? And I believe we cannot grow, go deeper or grow deeper without 128 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:39,120 growing in love. We can never, never, never, never get away from love. That is the very essence of 129 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:45,040 God. That is the very heart of God. God is love and Jesus is truth, right? And so if we're going to 130 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:49,680 grow in love, remember the scripture from last week, first John four, seven and eight, it says, 131 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:55,600 dear friends, let us continue to love one another for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a 132 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:03,760 child of God and knows God, but anyone who does not love does not know God for God is love. Right? 133 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:11,040 And their book, Spiritual Formation is how to grow in Jesus with passion and confidence. 134 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:17,360 Rod Dempsey and Dave Early say that spiritual growth happens in three directions. And so I'm 135 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:22,240 going to talk about the three directions when it comes to love. The first is we want to love God, 136 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:28,000 right? Well, if we want to grow in love, we've got to love God first. Remember we are the vineyard, 137 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:34,640 right? The guest wifi is John 15 five. Does anybody know what that scripture is? It says, 138 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:42,240 I am the vine. You are the branches. Abide in me and me and you. And apart from me, you can do 139 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:48,000 nothing. Right? We believe we are caught a vineyard, not because we're a bunch of grapes, 140 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:54,800 but that we know that the love that we have for each other only comes when we abide in the vine 141 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:02,000 and the vine is God. That's the true love of God. Right? And so if we don't grow in that love 142 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:09,360 with our heavenly father, how are we able to love the world? Right? So we have to grow upward. 143 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:15,920 Loving God is growing upward. Matthew 22 37 says, Jesus replied, you must love the Lord your God 144 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:20,240 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and greatest 145 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:25,360 commandment. And a second is equally important. Love your neighbor as yourself. 146 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:34,160 So the second way to grow in love is to serve others. It's the outward expression of growing, 147 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,440 right? We have the horizontal and the vertical, right? Did I do that right? Okay, perfect. All 148 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:46,560 right. Yes. Um, yeah, I get confused in directions sometimes. So outward, Jesus is our ultimate 149 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:52,160 example of serving others. John 13 one says, before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his 150 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:58,480 hour had come to leave this world and return to his father. He had loved his disciples during his 151 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:05,840 ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. Jesus knew his mission here on earth was 152 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:12,160 to love and to share God's love. So even though he knew at that moment, Judas had betrayed him, 153 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,400 even though he knew what was going to happen, he swallowed his pride if he had any, probably not, 154 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:23,440 but he got down on his knees. He got the basin out and he washed his disciples feet. 155 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:30,480 He washed the people that were hurting him and betraying him, and he chose love over fear, 156 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:37,920 over hate. He chose to love us. The last thing he said on the cross as he died, father, forgive them, 157 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:45,200 for they know not what they do. We need to have the heart of Jesus when it comes to growing 158 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,080 in our love for our neighbor. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. 159 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:54,240 We need to have the heart of Jesus when it comes to growing in our love for our neighbor. 160 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:01,280 Mark 10, 43 through 45 says, but among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among 161 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:07,360 you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to everyone else. 162 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:15,040 For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and give up his life as a 163 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:25,760 slave. I believe Nelson Mandela puts it this way. Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for 164 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:32,720 the freedom of the people. Nelson Mandela was a South African black nationalist who spent 27 years 165 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:41,920 in prison fighting for a cause that he believed in. There was an unjust discriminatory policy in 166 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:49,520 called apartheid. Blacks and whites were torn apart, completely different society, and he 167 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:56,800 helped bring an end to this racially cruel system. He ushered in a peaceful transition to include all 168 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:02,880 of the people of South Africa. The whites, the blacks, the mixed, every single race. Because we 169 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:08,640 were all South Africans, he said. So many people wanted him to put down the white people and take 170 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:18,720 over and be hostile. And he said, no, no, we've got to love each other, right? He said, for to be free 171 00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:26,800 is not merely to cast off one chains, one's chains. That respects and enhance, but to live in a way 172 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:32,000 that it respects and enhances the freedom of others. Let me say that again. For to be free is not 173 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:39,440 merely to get your own chains taken off, right? But to live in a way that respects and enhances 174 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:45,120 the freedom of others, even those who put you in slavery, even those who put you in bondage. 175 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:52,240 Galatians 5 13 says, for you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters, 176 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:58,000 but don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one 177 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:09,200 another in love. So the third point is to forgive others. I don't believe we can love and grow in 178 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:16,560 love if we don't learn how to forgive. Right? And forgive is inward. Like we in this community of 179 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,040 faith, we've got to learn how to get along with each other before we can love the world. Right? 180 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:27,280 When they come in, they've got to know, they know you're my disciples because you love each other. 181 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,720 Right? And when we love each other, it's a mess sometimes. Right? I remember one time, I mean, 182 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,280 my house is a mess. My kids are a mess. My car is a mess. I don't even know I'm a mess. I 183 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:43,040 picked the wrong color hair dye or something, but just a mess. Right? But God said, Jessica, 184 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,760 he showed me this pump. He showed me this vision of like, you guys, everybody, anybody ever been 185 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,760 camping before and they have those pumps of water. Yeah. Right. So he showed me this vision of just 186 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,960 this pump of water and you know how the water comes out and there's mud everywhere. I think 187 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,520 they've had greats now or something. I don't know. They've upgraded, whatever, but there's a mess. 188 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,720 And he said, Jessica, you cannot have life without the mess. You could have a neat house. You could 189 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,800 have everything go right. You could have perfect relationships if you didn't have any relationships. 190 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:16,000 Right? Life is about mess, relationships, community, us all gathered here today. We're a mess, 191 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,720 but that's okay because we're God's mess. Right? And we've got to learn how to get along and be 192 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:25,120 together so that we can do amazing things for the kingdom of God because we need each other, 193 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:32,560 but we have to forgive our brothers and sisters. Matthew seven, two through four says, for you will 194 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:37,600 be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is a standard by which you will be 195 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:44,080 judged. And why would you worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own 196 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:51,040 eye? Right? We are always so quick to point out and judge other people. What are they wearing? Oh 197 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:56,480 my goodness. Did you know? No. Did you know that happened to their? I wonder why she's doing that. 198 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:01,440 I wonder what's happening. You don't know. You don't know if you don't know. Right? How about 199 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:08,160 going to that person in love? So Peter asks Jesus, how many times must I forgive Jesus? And Jesus 200 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:18,640 says 70 times seven, 70 times seven, Peter, 70 times said seven Peter, forgiveness is essential 201 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:24,400 to living life in relationships. I had a friend who was getting married several years ago and I, 202 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,880 we had to write those letters. You know, you go to the showers and they're like, 203 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:33,520 write an encouraging note, you know, and I was like, okay. Um, but I was like forgiveness, 204 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:39,440 forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. You can't get by forgiveness. If you're living in 205 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:45,360 a relationship, if you are a couple, if you are in a family, forgiveness is essential to living 206 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:52,640 life in relationships, forgiveness and grace. And what is grace? Love. Forgiveness is love. Right? 207 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:59,040 Martin Luther King Jr. Puts it this way. Forgiveness is not an occasional act, 208 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:06,960 but a permanent attitude. Our permanent attitude is I will forgive. I will forgive. 209 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:12,160 I will forgive. Does it mean it didn't hurt? No, I'm not negating your hurt or your pain, 210 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:16,640 but you can process forgiveness with God because guess what? God knows what it's like 211 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:25,600 to be betrayed, to be hurt, to be broken. Right? Process it with him first and ask him how you 212 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:31,040 should forgive. Right? Our middle school students this week had the opportunity to hear a section of 213 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:36,000 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speech. Where do we go from here? And that's, I think the question I'm 214 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:43,920 asking you guys today, where do we go from here? Right? And Nolan, and how powerful of a tool do 215 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:48,880 we have is love, right? We've got this tool in our pocket called love and we can pick it out anytime 216 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:54,080 we want to, we can choose to use it whenever we do, we can, but we don't use the tool of love. 217 00:22:54,080 --> 00:23:04,160 Why not? Is it our pride? King communicates that the only way forward is to choose community and 218 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:12,000 fight against chaos by loving our neighbor. One of the speeches I listened to, the sermons I listened 219 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:18,720 to him this week, he talks about the Good Samaritan. Having a heart like the Good Samaritan 220 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:24,400 is the only way that we can come together and choose community over the chaos that was 221 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:30,960 getting ready to erupt in the nation. Okay? And so I'm going to teach you a word like Chris does, 222 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,240 because I'm going to, you know, I'm going to use a big word because I'm probably going to use a bunch 223 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:40,160 of little ones later. Altruism. So you guys want to say the word altruism? Are you ready to walk in 224 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,800 altruism? You guys don't know what it is, so you're good, you're smart, you're not going to say it. 225 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:54,000 So it's putting the needs of others before oneself. Being selfless rather than selfish, right? 226 00:23:54,960 --> 00:24:03,120 Altruism is not like, oh, oh girl, it looks bad down there. I'm sorry that's happening to you. 227 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:06,560 You know, I'll be praying for you, God bless and walking on the other side of the road, right? 228 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:13,600 Altruism is empathy. It's getting down in that pit with your friend who's struggling with it. 229 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,680 With your friend who's struggling with depression, with your friend whose car's broken down, with your 230 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:23,840 friend who just lost their mother and saying, let's sit for a while. Let's be together in this. 231 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:29,040 How can I help you? How can I support you? How can I love you? Because you're not going to stay here. 232 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:34,560 We're going to go out of this together, right? But I understand you're hurting now. That's empathy. 233 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:39,040 That's altruism. And that's what we need to do. That's how we grow in love for our neighbor. 234 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:45,200 As a society, we tend to bring religious opinions or judgmental things upon others. 235 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:52,640 And King has this awesome quote that I wanted to use today. It says, how often do we find ourselves 236 00:24:52,640 --> 00:25:02,000 categorized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds? How often do we find 237 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,960 ourselves with high blood pressure of creeds, what it should be like, how you should be living, 238 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,760 how you should be dressing, how you should be talking, right? Our creeds, and we're projecting 239 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:20,560 them on others, and we are anemic, low in blood when it comes to our deeds, low in action, right? 240 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:26,640 A high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds, right? And I want to challenge you to this 241 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:30,800 morning church is to be plugged into the source. The only way we can grow in love is to be 242 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:36,960 getting our love from God, right? Know where you're plugging into, right? Know what's feeding your 243 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:43,120 feeding your spirit, body, mind, and soul, right? Don't buy into the world's standards. Don't buy 244 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:51,440 into them, right? God's got a better way. He's got a way where you're free, right? Matthew 18, 15 245 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:56,320 through 16 says, if another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. 246 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:02,000 If another person listens and confesses, you have won that brother or sister back. But if you are 247 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:08,560 unsuccessful, take another person with you and try again. And then it can be confirmed in two or three 248 00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:14,640 witnesses, right? So we don't give up, right? And if you're knowing that you need to go to somebody 249 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:19,760 and ask for forgiveness or go to forgiveness, go to them first. I usually, what I do is if I've been 250 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:26,080 hurt by somebody, I go to God first. I say, God, ooh, that kind of sung. What I'm saying is, 251 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:31,040 I wonder what that was about, right? And I process it with him first. I said, God, am I being 252 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:36,480 offendable? Did that hurt my pride? What's going on here? And then, or, you know, you could, so, 253 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,240 and then God kind of tells me, okay, you can go to him. And I just ask God for a divine appointment, 254 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:45,600 a divine time. Now, should I go to Chris? Should I go to everybody in the office staff? Should I go 255 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,520 and get on my phone and text my mom and say, oh, you do not even know what this lady did to me, a 256 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:55,200 group today, right? No, but that's what we do as people because we try to justify why we are right 257 00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,760 and they are wrong. We try to make an argument for why we are right and they are wrong, and that's 258 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:08,240 not love. It's not love because when we're both, when we're right or wrong, two people lose, 259 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:14,720 right? Two people lose. That's fighting love with hate. That's not fighting love or hate with love, 260 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:22,320 right? And that's what God wants us to do. So, choose love today, people. You'll never regret it. 261 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:26,880 And I think sometimes we forget, you know, we're growing in love together. And so, there's, these 262 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:30,480 conversations are happening here at Hub City Vineyard, right? There's people that are like, 263 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,720 huh, I wonder why they did this and they're getting counsel. But we have to think of, 264 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,480 what are we doing together? Because you know what? I don't dress like Stephen. I don't talk like 265 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,640 Stephen. I don't act like Stephen, but I need Stephen here to change the kingdom of God because 266 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:50,080 he has got a call and a plan and a purpose for him, right? I'm not like John. I'm not dressed like a 267 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:55,600 pirate back there today. I'm kind of dressed as an army person. I have no idea why I wear this outfit. 268 00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:02,000 Lily goes, oh, that looks good. I'm like, really, Camo? Because I had nothing else. And she's like, 269 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,480 what are you talking about today? I said love. And I said, oh, maybe it means you have to fight for 270 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:12,880 love, right? We have to fight for love, right? But plus I just wanted to be like, we got to fight, 271 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,120 right? So, we do have to fight for love. So, I'm justifying my outfit now to you guys, sorry. 272 00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:23,920 It was Holy Spirit. It was Holy Spirit, right? So, focus on what we're doing together, just like 273 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:29,600 the military, right? They're all in it together for a purpose, right? They're all doing something 274 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:33,840 for a purpose, and that's what we're here. We're the kingdom of God, and we're doing life together 275 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:39,200 for a purpose, to love one another, to bring each other up, to grow each other down in God's love, 276 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:44,000 and to take on the world and the evil that's out there, right? So, we've got to walk in diligence. 277 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,320 So, we've got to walk in diligence. That's what John talks again. He says, 278 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:55,520 diligence is careful or persistent work or effort. So, the ways we can walk in diligence is we need 279 00:28:55,520 --> 00:29:01,840 to teach our children. Second John 1, 4 says, how happy I was to meet some of your children and 280 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:09,280 find them living according to the truth, just as the father commanded, right? Deuteronomy 6, 6 says, 281 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,800 and you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commandments that I'm giving you today. 282 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:22,320 Repeat them again and again and again and again and again to your children, right? Because 283 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:28,480 children learn by repetition. We learn by repetition. We need to pour into our children, 284 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:35,920 and the reason I'm standing here today and the reason Rhett is here today and Carl and Lauren 285 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:42,720 and Rudy and Matt Poehner who does our stuff, the reason we are serving today is because we grew up 286 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:48,240 in a community of faith that poured into us. We are children 287 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:56,800 that were poured into by churches, and we appreciate the love that was shared into us. 288 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:02,000 We had altruistic people pouring into our hearts every week, it's in our minds, 289 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,600 it's in our minds. And we would not be here today, I know I would not be here today without the love 290 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:13,200 that I felt when I lived at church, when I loved church as a child. I felt accepted and free, 291 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:18,160 and I was able to be myself at church, right? And so the reason we are here today is because of that. 292 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:23,680 Now churches aren't perfect, you know, we have, some of us walked away and we came back, right? 293 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:29,440 But, but those things that were poured into our hearts as young children have stayed, 294 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,400 not just because of our parents, which was a blessing too, but because of the church, right? 295 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,000 And I want to encourage you guys, we are doing a great job here at Hub City Vineyard. 296 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:46,160 I am just so excited about what God's doing in our youth and our kids. The youth took a trip 297 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,800 last weekend as you guys saw on the five minute countdown, you know, and the reason they were able 298 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,960 to go on that trip is we had a team of youth leaders that were willing to say, I'm going to 299 00:30:54,960 --> 00:31:00,960 sacrifice my weekend, I'm going to sacrifice my time off, and I'm going to drive a big van in the 300 00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:06,640 middle of Pennsylvania in a snowstorm so that I can let these kids experience the love of God, 301 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,200 experience community. And I think they got stuck, I think Lance had mud up to here, like they got, 302 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,080 both vans got stuck at some point off the side of the road, it was crazy, but they have lots of 303 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:22,160 good memories, you know? So lots of good memories and lots of people with that altruistic heart. 304 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,080 We have so many people in this community of faith and I'm so proud of you guys. And our kids team 305 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:31,360 back there, we have John dressed up as a pirate today, you know, it's kids were, it's February, 306 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,840 I can't say it right, February, and we're pirates and we're learning about the parables. So if you 307 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:40,480 want to have a lot of fun, go back and work in the kids, then you can walk the plank and you can have 308 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,080 fun with kids. So if you just want to be bored, you can stay in here with Chris. I'm just saying, 309 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:50,240 I've got, you know. No, we all need to grow. There's a time to sit and learn and there's also 310 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:55,360 a time for action, right? We need to be plugged in the vine. But yeah, so just thank those people 311 00:31:55,360 --> 00:32:04,000 that took the youth and thank you guys. Yeah, and thank you guys because there were, we had 312 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,800 generous donations that let the youth go there. People that gave financially, that is a gift. 313 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:12,080 That is such a gift that you were able to give financially and let our youth go on that trip. 314 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,160 So I am so grateful for that because two of my kids went for the weekend and I had a quiet 315 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:21,120 weekend. I'm just kidding. No, I love the fact they went and they grew. You know, they were 316 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,120 connected into God. They went through struggles. They went through things, but they felt connected 317 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:30,640 into God. They were all crying on Sunday night about, you know, learning about mental health 318 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:36,240 and mental illness and how to get freedom from that. So it was a good time. It was a good trip. 319 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:42,880 Also, we have some people back there in the kids wing that don't really get acknowledged, 320 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:48,080 our safety team. Now we have a team of people just working to keep the kids safe. They go to the 321 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:54,480 potty about a hundred times a day. Potty break, potty break, potty break room 14, potty break room 322 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,080 12. They're walking down the halls, making sure your kids get to the bathroom and get back to the 323 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:02,720 room safe. And I'm just so grateful for their hearts because they're a bunch of servants. And 324 00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:12,000 so just thank you guys for self. Yeah, thank you. And because of all the love you guys have, 325 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,360 kids are learning and growing. You know, our community of faith is learning and growing. 326 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:20,640 We're able to touch people outside of here. But what John says, the next part of the verse book, 327 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:28,000 he says, be aware of, be aware of lies. Second John one seven through eight says, I say this 328 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:32,880 because many deceivers have gone out into this world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real 329 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:38,400 body. Such a person is a deceiver and anti-Christ. Watch out that you not lose what we have worked 330 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:44,240 so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. So there are lies out there. 331 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,400 We do have an enemy. So when we're doing good, you guess what? There's things that are coming 332 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:52,000 against us, but we have a whole prayer team. We have people that are on a prayer team praying 333 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:56,240 and interceding for you guys every week. We're praying for your needs. And I tell people, 334 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,360 as soon as you volunteer for the kids wing, as soon as you say, I'm going to be a small group 335 00:33:59,920 --> 00:34:04,720 leader, as soon as you say, I'm going to join this, something's going to happen. Right. And 336 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:09,120 something's going to say, oh, my car broke down or my kids sick or this happened. But that's because 337 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:14,400 the enemy doesn't want us to walk in the freedom that God has for us. And we can only achieve that 338 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:19,760 freedom. I'm not saying that the only way you can live out the Christian life is in community. We 339 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:25,200 can't do it by yourself. We can't love neighbors if we have no neighbors. Right. Right. Right. So we 340 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:29,840 have to be connected into other people because that's how we learn and grow. Right. And so, 341 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:34,960 but we need to know that there is an enemy out there and he wants to bring what the kingdom of 342 00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:39,520 light is doing and the kingdom of darkness are two forces against each other. Right. And we're 343 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,760 bringing light into a dark world. So we're going to get attacked. You know, I always think about 344 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:48,880 those great movies where you have, you know, I can't ever think of it like the king, whatever, 345 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:53,040 they're running down the hill and they're bringing all the light into the dark areas. And that's what 346 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,920 we're doing here in Hagerstown and the surrounding community. We're bringing light into those dark 347 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:02,400 areas. So we're going to be under attack. So if you have a heart to pray, we need more people 348 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:07,520 to pray and to intercede for all that God's doing in our community of faith. Ephesians five, 349 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:13,920 15 through 17 says, so be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are 350 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:19,600 wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand 351 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:26,240 what the Lord wants you to do. God has a role for every single one of you here. So second John 352 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:34,160 states, we should live in truth, grow in love and walk in diligence. So I'm sure you're asking, 353 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:40,800 how can I become love to my community in the world? And so these are our action steps. And so the 354 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:48,240 short answer is you can't, you can't become love. You can't on your own, on your own. Okay. 355 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:55,200 Our only hope, accomplishing life change is by laying down our life, by laying down our rights, 356 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,600 just like Jesus is our example, by asking God to change our life. 357 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:08,080 I need, you need, we all need a new life. We can't, you know, I remember we need to be born again. 358 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:15,280 Right? So, so the first action step is choose, this is a choice, choose to be born again. 359 00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:22,000 John three, three says, Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot 360 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,840 see the kingdom of God. What do you mean? Nicodemus explained, how can an old man go into back into 361 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:35,120 his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus replied, I assure you, no one can enter the kingdom of God 362 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:44,320 without being born of water and spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit 363 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:50,000 gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised when I say you must be born again. 364 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:55,280 The wind blows wherever it wants, just as you can, you can hear the wind, but you can't tell 365 00:36:55,280 --> 00:37:00,400 where it comes from or where it's going. You can't explain how people are born of the spirit. 366 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:06,800 We need to be born again. We need to take our lives and lay them down and say, not me, 367 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:13,360 not my will, not Jessica's will, but your will be done, God. Right? Because in my own strength, 368 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:19,200 I'm not enough. I can never be loved, but in God's strength, I'm more than enough. I'm more than 369 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:24,880 loved. I'm more than loved. Right? And so the second point is not only to be born again, 370 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:32,080 but to be filled with the spirit. You guys just heard it there. I am John 14, 25 through 26 says, 371 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:35,760 I am telling you these things now while I'm still with you. These are Jesus's words. 372 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:40,560 But when the father sends an advocate as my representative, that is the Holy Spirit. He 373 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:47,360 will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you. John 16, 8 and 13 374 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:52,880 through 15. When he comes, he will convict the world of his sins and of God's righteousness 375 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:57,920 and of the coming judgment. When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. 376 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:03,360 He will not speak on his own, but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the 377 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:09,280 future. He will bring glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the father 378 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:13,760 is mine. And this is why I said the spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me. 379 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:19,920 The Holy Spirit's job, people, is to do three things, right? Convicts us of our sin, right? 380 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:25,040 And it's not a condemning conviction. I want to say that there's no shame or there's no guilt 381 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,720 when it comes from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit just quickens in your spirit. Oh, that was 382 00:38:28,720 --> 00:38:34,000 a bad choice. Oh, that wasn't too good, right? He convicts us of sin because we don't know 383 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:39,360 how to live apart from sin except through the spirit. So when we invite the spirit in, 384 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:44,480 he convicts us of areas in our life that we need to change, not in a condemning way, but in a loving, 385 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:50,560 kind way, because God is love, right? And so when he convicts us, he gives us the wisdom of how to 386 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:56,080 change and what to do. The other job of the Holy Spirit is to guide us, is to give us wisdom. When 387 00:38:56,080 --> 00:39:01,520 you're praying and you don't know what to pray and you're going through a rough time, you pray what 388 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:05,440 the spirit tells you and he guides you. He gives you wisdom. He gives you discernment of how to 389 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:10,240 walk out of that addiction, how to walk out of that situation, how to change what you were doing 390 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:15,680 before into what he's called you to do. So that's the second job of the Holy Spirit. Convicts you. 391 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:21,600 He gives you wisdom. And then his third job is to comfort you. He doesn't say, I'm going to leave 392 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:26,400 you alone or orphan. He comforts you in the midst of your pain, in the midst of your struggle, 393 00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:30,800 in the midst of what you're doing. The Holy Spirit just comes and wraps his arms around you and says, 394 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:36,080 you're mine, you're worth it. It's going to be okay. You know, God keeps every single tear that 395 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:41,520 we shed in a bottle. He says, I am with you and God is with you because he's with you through the 396 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:51,440 Holy Spirit. So we have to choose the Holy Spirit. And then the third way I believe that we can walk 397 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:59,120 in what John's telling us is to choose to have conversations face to face. Right? John two, 398 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,600 one 12 says, I have much more to say to you, but I don't want to do it with paper and ink. 399 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:09,200 Love letters only go so far. Right? You can't really truly experience the love of somebody 400 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:14,320 through a love letter. Right? For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. 401 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:21,680 Then our joy will be complete. Face to face conversations. People are so critical. Right? 402 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:26,320 They're so critical. I even just Googled it this morning because I needed an example here. And I 403 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:31,760 found from the Grossman's group, six benefits of face to face communication. It demonstrates 404 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:36,320 importance for people. You're important to me. Let's meet face to face. I hear you're struggling 405 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:41,040 with something. Let's get together. Let's have coffee. It interprets when you meet somebody 406 00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:45,280 face to face, you know what they're feeling and their thoughts because communication is nonverbal 407 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:51,600 too. Right? It enhances credibility and trust. If I'm willing to take time with you, if I'm willing 408 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,160 to sit down with you in a group and pray over you and listen to you, I'm willing to be there for you 409 00:40:56,160 --> 00:41:01,440 and listen to you, you've got, you're able to trust me more. Right? Builds relationships. You're able 410 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:06,240 to gather feedback from the other person. You can learn and grow from each other. Right? And it 411 00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:12,960 addresses sensitive issues and shows you care. Face to face conversations. You know, groups are 412 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:17,120 so important. Getting together with somebody, having a friend that you can discuss these things 413 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,760 with. You know, during our marriage course on Friday evening, the discussion was centered 414 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:30,640 around the art of communication and the key thing was listen, listen, listen, listen, like 415 00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:36,480 forgiveness, forgiveness, listen. Right? How many times do we not listen to what the other person 416 00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:43,360 is saying? Right? Their feelings are valid. We use feelings not to stay stuck in our feelings, but to 417 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,920 identify what's going on in our hearts and our spirits and how we can get healed and move forward. 418 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:54,400 Right? What's going on in your spirit? How are you feeling? Let's listen to the person and then be 419 00:41:54,400 --> 00:42:02,640 able to walk them through it. Right? One key to doing this, according to Lexi, who is in my women's 420 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:07,200 group, is having unoffendable hearts. Right? When we were doing our women's group, we were setting up 421 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:11,360 the boundaries that we all wanted to have. And she said, we just need to have unoffendable hearts. 422 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:17,120 And how easy is that to say, but how hard is that to live out? What is an unoffendable heart? 423 00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:22,720 Like giving the person the benefit of the doubt. Right? Choosing to trust rather than to judge. 424 00:42:22,720 --> 00:42:28,880 Right? I mean, in this group, the only reason this group started, because Caitlin had a baby. 425 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:34,800 Caitlin is my other group leader. She had a baby and she experienced really hard things after being 426 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:39,920 a mom. You know, she wanted to have this baby, but she experienced a lot of hard things. And she 427 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:45,120 wanted to be able to support other moms who experience hard things after they have babies. 428 00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:49,520 Right? There's a lot of things that happen to us as women. There's a lot of things that happen to 429 00:42:49,520 --> 00:42:53,200 us. And we need support from other moms. And Caitlin's like, okay, we can do this. We can 430 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:58,080 clean their dishes. We can do this. And I'm like, Caitlin, let's just start by getting together face 431 00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:03,520 to face and truly knowing each other and loving and supporting each other. So that's why our 432 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:09,040 group started is just so we can get together with other moms, whatever stage of life you are in as 433 00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:14,080 a mom and support and encourage one another. And then out of that, we'd love to birth supporting 434 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:18,240 other moms practically too, but we got to know each other. We got to meet face to face. We need 435 00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:24,720 to have a relationship, right? Referring back to 1 Corinthians that I read at the beginning of our 436 00:43:24,720 --> 00:43:32,400 time here today, 1 Corinthians 12, 11 through 12 says, when I was a child, I spoke as a child. 437 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:38,000 I thought as a child and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 438 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:45,200 Now we see imperfectly like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with 439 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:52,480 perfect clarity. All that we know is now partial and incomplete, but then we will know everything 440 00:43:52,480 --> 00:44:00,240 completely just as God now knows me completely. We don't know what we don't know people. And we've 441 00:44:00,240 --> 00:44:04,000 got to trust that God's got it all together, right? I don't know how my life's going to be 442 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:10,640 tomorrow or next week, but I know the creator of the universe loves me, right? Clarity comes at the 443 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:17,200 end of time, at the end of faithfulness, baby steps, one step at a time. When I did grief share, 444 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:23,440 I talk about the new normal. They say just take one step at a time, just do the next thing, right? 445 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:30,000 And you know, I needed, I needed everybody this week, right? I needed everybody this week. I need 446 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,920 a grief share this week. I need the Hagerstown Healthcare this week. I needed my mom's care this 447 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:39,040 week. I needed the marriage, people at marriage course this week because I didn't have it to give, 448 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:44,320 right? I didn't have this message to give, but they had it. I took a little bit from everybody 449 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:51,840 and that's what a community is about, right? Point four is remember that love lives through eternity. 450 00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:57,040 And one of the things that John Lennon got right, who Dan's going to play for me right, 451 00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:01,520 is all we need is love, right? Might have gotten a lot of other things right, 452 00:45:01,520 --> 00:45:07,040 wrong, but we do. All we need is love and I don't think we can ever walk away from that truth that 453 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:15,200 we need to be rooted and grounded and grow in love because guess what? Love lasts for eternity. 454 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:23,680 Love kills hate. Love kills violence. Love births new things, right? And so we can never, never, 455 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:28,480 never, never walk away from that truth that if we are to grow deeper within our relationship with 456 00:45:28,480 --> 00:45:35,760 God that we need to be rooted and grounded in love, right? First Corinthians 12, 13 says three 457 00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:46,080 things will last forever, faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. John 13, 458 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:53,120 35 says by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. 459 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:57,520 The world doesn't want to go into, the world doesn't need any more clubs. The world doesn't 460 00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:02,800 need any perfect people. The world needs people that love each other. They see the love that we 461 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:07,520 have for each other and they want to be part of it. I think it's fun to be in this community of 462 00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:14,080 faith because I love being with all of you. I love being with everybody because I get so much life 463 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:20,880 from you guys, right? So much love from you guys. We just had freedom night a couple weeks ago. Did 464 00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:25,600 anybody go to the freedom night? It was an amazing time of worship, amazing time of giving up things. 465 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:30,480 And so I'm going to, but so I didn't know what I was going to give up for freedom night. I'm like, 466 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:36,400 ah, I got it together. I don't need to give up anything. I gave up this, I gave it this for 21 467 00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:40,160 days. I'm good. I'm like, God, what am I going to give up? Well, actually I kept asking and God 468 00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:46,000 didn't tell me, so I didn't think that. So I went to the bathroom, I went pee, so I had to teach you, 469 00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:51,040 I have to be calm and since I told you altruism, so yeah, I went pee and the last times when I pee, 470 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:56,080 I think a lot. So I'm like, oh, I got an idea. So ever I'm in a meeting, I'm like, I got to pee. 471 00:46:56,080 --> 00:47:04,000 I go to it and go out. I come back with an idea. And so anyway, so how to keep it real. Okay. I'm 472 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:10,960 wearing camo. Anyway, so I didn't pee outside. I peed inside too. So I said, God, what do you want 473 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:14,320 me to give up? You still haven't told me. And he said, I want you to give up pride and 474 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:23,680 perfection. All right. I don't really have either one of those, but I'll lay them down at your altar. 475 00:47:23,680 --> 00:47:31,520 Right? Well, obviously God knew what he was doing because since that time I am completely 476 00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:35,920 and utterly lost people. Like I went into staff meeting, they're like, you're supposed to have 477 00:47:35,920 --> 00:47:40,800 devotion. I'm like, and I would normally in my pride be like, oh, I got it. I can just pull out 478 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,800 the scripture of the day. I was like, I don't have it. And I went into another meeting and somebody 479 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:49,920 says, oh, Jessica, you're supposed to do this. I was like, I can't, I need your help. And I went 480 00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:54,880 somewhere else and I'm like, I just really am feeling insecure about this and I, I need your 481 00:47:54,880 --> 00:48:02,080 help. And so it's amazing thing when you give up pride, you give up your pride and doing it on your 482 00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:10,160 own, you're able to connect to community because I needed Lisa, I needed Rudy, I needed Chris, I needed 483 00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:16,160 Steven, I needed John this week. I needed everybody to get this message together because I didn't have 484 00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:21,840 it in myself. I didn't even have it connecting to God. I needed to connect to people. Right? So when 485 00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:28,960 you give up pride, and then giving up perfect, right? What is perfect? I mean, you wouldn't, 486 00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:32,320 if you would have told me, oh, you struggle with perfection. I don't know. I just always want to 487 00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:37,520 do my best. I just always want to get the best thing done. Right? Right. But what are we measuring 488 00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:44,880 our standards against? Like we have freedom in Christ to be who we are all the time. Right? And 489 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:49,920 perfection puts a straight jacket on us and says, you've got to be this way. Cause people are looking 490 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:55,520 at you. Who cares what people think about you? Love them, but they're, you don't define by other 491 00:48:55,520 --> 00:49:00,160 people. You're defined by God and God created all your bodies. Beautiful. He created all of 492 00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:05,440 you. Beautiful. You know, you created you all perfect and unique and wonderfully. You're fearfully 493 00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:09,520 and wonderfully made, you know, and I was struggling. I was like, oh gosh, how am I going to do this? 494 00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:13,440 And I was like, oh, this is so often God's like, no, it's not. You are my masterpiece 495 00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:19,920 created in Christ Jesus. We, if we know the truth of what God says about us, we don't have to worry 496 00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:23,920 about being perfect. We don't have to worry about being full of pride. We can let those go because 497 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:30,480 we have a heavenly father who's divinely interceding for us and we have the freedom to just be. Right? 498 00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,640 This week I was doing like in my workouts, I was just having fun with my workouts. I like 499 00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:38,800 did like gorilla lifts. Like, I don't know, I did all these primal movements and I was just 500 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:43,520 laughing at myself, like lifting 30 pound weights and like a gorilla form. I'm not going to demonstrate 501 00:49:44,080 --> 00:49:48,080 people in the office thought it, you know, and I love to run, but I was just like, hey, 502 00:49:48,080 --> 00:49:53,280 I'm free to run. Right? I'm, we get to do this. We get to move our bodies. We get to honor God 503 00:49:53,280 --> 00:50:00,000 with our bodies. I'm free to eat. God gave me food. I'm free. Right? And if I'm loving God and I'm 504 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:04,640 loving others, he's got the plan. Right? He'll show you. Right? 505 00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:18,720 The opposite of perfectionism is acceptance. Acceptance says, this is who I am and I'm willing 506 00:50:18,720 --> 00:50:25,120 to be vulnerable with you. Right? If I'm not willing to be vulnerable with you, how can you 507 00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:30,640 be vulnerable with me? Vulnerability only happens when we give up perfection and we just say, hey, 508 00:50:30,640 --> 00:50:40,000 this is who I am. Take it or leave it. Right? All right. So right now, as Dan's playing, 509 00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:46,000 we're just going to pray. If you guys would want to join me in praying, praying, I just feel like 510 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:51,520 we need to be born again. And you guys might say, Jessica, well, I did that 20 years ago, or I did 511 00:50:51,520 --> 00:50:57,680 that, you know, when I was five or whatever, but, but there's nothing wrong with reconnecting into 512 00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:04,000 the heart of God, the heart of God for love, for life and for truth. And so if you're willing today, 513 00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:09,280 I would just like you to pray with me this simple prayer that will help you be born again and then 514 00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:18,240 be filled with the spirit. All right. So if you want to repeat after me, Jesus, I choose 515 00:51:18,240 --> 00:51:28,960 to be born again. I choose your life. Forgive me for my pride and my selfish ways. 516 00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:41,200 I lay down my rights before your throne and I choose you. I choose my identity in you. 517 00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:54,080 I choose your love for my life.