WEBVTT

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We are so excited for Small Group Sunday. It's

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a couple weeks from now, September 14th. And

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I actually had the privilege, I was the person

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that got to sit down and do these interviews

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that you've seen the last couple weeks and will

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continue to see for a couple weeks. And it's

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incredible to see and to hear what God, all the

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different ways that God is working in our church,

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but specifically the way he's working through

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our small groups. I hope that... In a couple

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weeks, when we have all the small groups and

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Sunday schools kind of out and about, and you

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can ask about them and sign up and see what they're

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about, I'd encourage you to participate in that.

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For those of you that don't know me, my name's

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Tom Barton, and I get the privilege of being

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the student pastor here. So I work with the 6th

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through 12th graders. And before we get rolling

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in the message, I just want to say a quick thank

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you to you guys as our congregation. There's

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envelopes on these chairs in front of you that

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have Fusion's logo on it or something about students

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on trips. And those envelopes, the money that's

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put into it, allows students to go on trips,

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either for free or for much cheaper than it would

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cost us to send them. And you guys donate so

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generously and it allows so many students to

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go on trips. And just this summer, we saw seven

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baptisms across three different camps. We saw

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multiple students that committed their lives

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to full -time ministry. And so I just wanted

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to say thank you for your guys' generosity for

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following that call and allowing students. Something

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a spiritual mentor told me before and is so true

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about students going to camp is that when they

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get to experience a change of pace, and a change

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of place, it allows them to have a change in

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perspective. And that is so true. They see God

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in such a new way on these trips. And so I just

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wanted to say thank you for that. But with that,

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let's go ahead and pray. God, we're so thankful

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that we get to come to worship you today, that

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we get to come and hear a little bit about you.

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And God, I just pray over this message that it

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would be edifying to this congregation, that

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it would glorify you, and that we would honor

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you in our words. I just pray over all these

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folks that this week they would be a light for

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you, that they would share the good news in both

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their words and their deeds. We're so thankful

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for all that you have done, all that you are

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doing, and all that we know you will continue

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to do. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen. So a

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couple weeks ago, I was assigned the wonderful,

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I guess we'll use the word privilege, of getting

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to do a message covering the Trinity. And for

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those of you who may not know what the Trinity

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is, the Trinity is the Christian belief that

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God is one God, but is also three persons. God

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the Father, that's kind of who we think of when

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we think of like the old man with the beard,

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like that's who we kind of think of. God the

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Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy

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Spirit. They're all three individual persons

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of God. They're all themselves, but they're also

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all one God. We only have one God. And this is

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one of those truths that is too much for us.

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It's too majestic. We can't understand it fully.

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Our language, our metaphors, our visuals, our

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brains, we are simply not capable of understanding

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the Trinity to its fullest extent. And so I'm

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sure I'm going to accidentally commit a few heresies

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today up here as I try to explain the Trinity,

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but I'm just going to go ahead and ask for forgiveness

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up front. It's impossible to describe the Trinity

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and not accidentally describe it wrong. And so

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as I was preparing, I read this book pretty much

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cover to cover to prepare. It's incredible. It's

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called Delighting in the Trinity by this guy,

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Michael Reeves. And it basically walks through

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like, these are all the different things we believe

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as Christians. These are how we act. This is

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how we act as Christians. This is how we're to

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engage with one another as Christ followers.

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And this book goes through all these different

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things and it breaks down why does it matter

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that God is triune, why the Trinity matters and

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all of these different aspects. So I'd encourage

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you to read it. I'm a bit of a nerd, so I would

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say it was a really fun read. Your mileage may

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vary on that, but I would encourage you to check

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it out. So Tony asked me to talk about the Trinity.

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And so I sat down and I was thinking, how? Do

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I share about the Trinity in a way that is the

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good news, the gospel, and maybe more than just

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a Sunday school classroom lecture? And as I was

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saying, I'm a student pastor, and so because

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of that, I'm, of course, incredibly creative.

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The creative juices just are flowing and oozing

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from me. I can't express enough how creative

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I am. And so to discuss this triune nature of

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God, I can't express how creative this is. I

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decided I'm going to do it by sharing three truths

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that come from the very fact our God is three

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and one. Hold for applause. These truths, they're

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actually going to coincide with these three words

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that we tell our Fusion students every week.

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So for those of you out there that are students,

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this will hopefully be some familiar territory

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for you. So as we jump right into it, we're going

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to start with God the Father, the first person

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of the Trinity revealed in Scripture. This is

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the person of the Trinity we're probably the

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most familiar with. He's the one we're probably

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thinking of when we say God. This is the one

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the Old Testament Hebrews would have been most

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familiar with. And to do this, we're actually

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going to start not at creation, but we're going

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to go back and start before creation. So to do

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that, we're going to jump into John 17, verse

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24, and we're going to hear Jesus' words. Jesus

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says, Father, I want these who you have given

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me to be with, me where I am. Then they can see

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all the glory you gave me because you loved me

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even before the world began. Even before the

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world began. The first word that we tell our

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Fusion students every week, and the first word

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I'm going to tell you today, is that they and

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you are loved. And this is a truth that we can

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begin to see from that last little line, the

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last piece of that scripture. Even before the

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world began. You see, God is not just our creator,

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he's the creator. In fact, in Genesis 1 -1, the

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very first verse of the Bible, it begins by saying

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this. In the beginning, God created the heavens

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and the earth. And yet we know, if you were here

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last week, you heard Tony's message about Jesus

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being God. He's the way, the truth, the life.

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And he can only be that if he is God. So Jesus

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exists eternally before creation with no start.

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He can't be God if he came into existence at

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some point. If God created him, then he's not

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God. So God the Father, God the Son, and God

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the Spirit are existing before creation. So hang

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with me for just a second. If creation starts

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here, if creation is something that at one point

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didn't exist, then before creation, God being

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creator can't be part of his eternal identity.

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God being ruler over his creation can't be part

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of his eternal identity. Because before creation,

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those wouldn't have been true about him. How

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can he be the creator if there's nothing created?

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How can he be the ruler of creation if there's

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nothing to rule? And that's true about God the

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Father, who's in relationship with God the Son.

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So God's eternal identity, one that exists before

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creation, after creation, during creation, God's

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eternal identity is relational, as father and

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son. There never has been, there never will be,

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a time when loving father is not part of God's

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identity. So why does that matter? You see, God

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being fatherly is not something he does part

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-time. Being father is who God is. So all that

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he does, create, rule, everything he does is

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as a father. And if you have or had a not -so

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-great dad, or even if you have a great dad,

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they can only be a shadow, an imitation of the

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goodness of God as Father. So please don't bring

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that to the table. But if that is who God is,

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at his core, as Father, then creation is not

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an act God did to end loneliness. It's not an

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act God did to create servants or slaves. No.

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Creation is an overflow of love. We read about

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that in 1 John 4, where it says this. Dear friends,

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let us continue to love one another, for love

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comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of

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God and knows God. But anyone who does not love

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God does not know God, for God is love. So you

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see, if we take this in one hand, that God is

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triune, the Father, Son, and Spirit, and if we

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see right here in this verse that God is love,

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if we take those together, it takes on a different

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meaning. Eternally, no start, no end, God the

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Father is loving the Son through the Spirit.

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You see, if God wasn't triune, he couldn't be

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love, because at some point before creation,

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he wouldn't have anything to love. But because

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God is triune, because he's in relationship eternally,

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is loving eternally, love is not something that

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God happened upon once he created us. He didn't

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create us and find out, you know what, I do love

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these people. You see, if that were the case,

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if God's love could start, then at some point

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it could end. But if God is love and is love

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eternal, loving us is not some new thing. So

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when I tell our students that they're loved,

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and when I tell you that God loves you, there's

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genuinely nothing you can do to change that.

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Because God doesn't choose to love. He doesn't

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love as a reaction to our existence. God's very

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identity as an eternal father means that he is

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loved eternally. So hear me today when I tell

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you, you are loved. The second word we tell our

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students, going out of order on the shirt, it

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was a little too expensive to get it rush shipped

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for this weekend. The second word we're going

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to talk about today is that you are worthy. And

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this one's actually a bit of a trick, because

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we're humans, so we're sinful. And so technically,

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we're not worthy of being in relationship with

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God. He is perfect, he is holy, he's set apart

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from sin. And yet, the Son being God and not

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just a perfect creation, that's the foundation,

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that's the bedrock for the idea that you are

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made worthy. So a couple minutes ago, we read

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1 John chapter 4, verses 7 through 8. And that

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last verse read, whoever does not love does not

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know God, for God is love. And if we keep reading

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in verses 9 through 10, John says this. God showed

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how much he loved us by sending his one and only

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son, God the Son, into the world so that we might

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have eternal life through him. This is real love.

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Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and

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sent his son as a sacrifice. to take away our

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sins. So when I say that your life has worth,

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it's because the relationship of the father and

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the son, the relationship and the fact that God

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loves you so much because he is love eternal,

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the relationship to say that you are worth so

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much to him that he would send his son, his eternally

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loved son, as a sacrifice for our sins so that

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we can be eternally in relationship with him.

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So God says, despite our unworthiness, that he

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chooses to give your life worth. He says, you

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are worthy because you are mine. Ephesians chapter

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one, it says it this way. Even before he made

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the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ

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to be holy. and without fault in his eyes. God

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decided in advance to adopt us into his own family

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by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

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This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him

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great pleasure. God is love. God as father, God

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as son, we've been talking about this. And that

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overflows, that love, that relationship, that

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overflows into wanting us to be part of God's

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family. You are God's sons. You are God's daughters.

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If you've accepted the gospel, the mercy of Jesus

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Christ, that is true about you. That changes

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you from being unworthy to being worthy, to being

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loved. to be holy, and to be without fault in

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his eyes. You see, you are royalty. You're a

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prince or a princess to the king of the universe,

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to the creator, the emperor of all that there

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is. So hear me when I tell you that you are worthy.

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And that brings us to our last word, valued.

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And what does value mean? It kind of boils down

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to this idea, this question, how useful is something?

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If something or someone brings a lot of value,

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that means they contribute to a goal, a project,

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whatever it may be. So when it comes to you adding

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value to God's creation, adding value to God's

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design, what in the world does that have to do

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with a triune God? So we've covered pretty in

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depth the person of God the Father and God the

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Son. And I'd say for most, if not all of us,

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those are the two that we would be most comfortable

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with, that we would know the most about. Maybe

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we're most aware of God the Father and God the

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Son. And yet, the Holy Spirit, God the Spirit,

00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:38.669
is that third member of the Trinity revealed

00:15:38.669 --> 00:15:41.830
to us, but not third most important. In fact,

00:15:41.830 --> 00:15:43.970
Jesus, as he's going away from his disciples

00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.509
who have walked side by side everywhere with

00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:49.690
him for years, this is what Jesus says about

00:15:49.690 --> 00:15:54.950
the Holy Spirit. The advocate, the Holy Spirit,

00:15:55.090 --> 00:15:58.110
whom the Father, God the Father will send in

00:15:58.110 --> 00:16:01.429
my name, God the Son, will teach you all things

00:16:01.429 --> 00:16:05.250
and will remind you of everything I have said

00:16:05.250 --> 00:16:11.029
to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give

00:16:11.029 --> 00:16:14.809
you. I do not give to you as the world gives.

00:16:15.649 --> 00:16:19.070
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not

00:16:19.070 --> 00:16:24.470
be afraid. The Holy Spirit sent by the Father

00:16:24.470 --> 00:16:28.909
in Jesus' name. You see, the Holy Spirit, the

00:16:28.909 --> 00:16:31.809
Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, we are a

00:16:31.809 --> 00:16:35.309
temple that houses the Holy Spirit of God. That

00:16:35.309 --> 00:16:37.610
Holy Spirit lives inside of us so we can enjoy

00:16:37.610 --> 00:16:41.210
and relate and commune with God the Father and

00:16:41.210 --> 00:16:45.529
God the Son in a way that just doesn't really

00:16:45.529 --> 00:16:48.470
make sense, that's not fair to us, but is a merciful

00:16:48.470 --> 00:16:54.129
gift. So if you've been baptized, you have received

00:16:54.129 --> 00:16:56.629
the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Holy

00:16:56.629 --> 00:16:58.549
Spirit lives inside of you if you've been baptized.

00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.870
You've been born again. Worship team, if you

00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:05.079
guys wanna make your... Way on up here, that'd

00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.099
be fantastic. And Jesus says a little bit about

00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:11.420
being born again in John chapter three. He's

00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:15.220
talking to Nicodemus and he says this, I assure

00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:19.440
you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without

00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:22.980
being born of water and the spirit. Humans cannot

00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.539
reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit

00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:30.940
gives birth to spiritual life. So don't be surprised

00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:37.150
when I say you must. Be born again. And in the

00:17:37.150 --> 00:17:39.650
Bible, born again is another way of saying created

00:17:39.650 --> 00:17:44.049
anew. In Ephesians chapter two, it talks about

00:17:44.049 --> 00:17:47.950
being created anew. Here's what it says. For

00:17:47.950 --> 00:17:51.730
we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew

00:17:51.730 --> 00:17:55.529
in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things

00:17:55.529 --> 00:18:00.450
he planned for us long ago. So you have purpose.

00:18:01.309 --> 00:18:04.230
Your purpose is to bring value to the world around

00:18:04.230 --> 00:18:08.910
you as a new creation. And the primary agent

00:18:08.910 --> 00:18:12.210
of this value working through you is the Holy

00:18:12.210 --> 00:18:15.390
Spirit, who lives inside you as that new creation.

00:18:16.950 --> 00:18:20.029
And the Holy Spirit, he leads us to new fruit.

00:18:21.230 --> 00:18:23.690
Galatians talks about the fruit before the Holy

00:18:23.690 --> 00:18:26.670
Spirit, and he says that we follow our sinful

00:18:26.670 --> 00:18:31.799
desires, sexual immorality, impurity, Lustful

00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:37.079
pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling,

00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:40.900
jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition,

00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:46.119
dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild

00:18:46.119 --> 00:18:49.240
parties, and other sins like these. That is the

00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:52.900
old you. And if you're a Christ follower, the

00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:56.640
fruit of our lives is no longer these things.

00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:00.569
The fruit of our lives is the fruit of the Holy

00:19:00.569 --> 00:19:04.650
Spirit working through us, adding value to the

00:19:04.650 --> 00:19:07.569
world in order to glorify God. The fruits of

00:19:07.569 --> 00:19:12.829
the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:17.829
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self

00:19:17.829 --> 00:19:21.809
-control. There is no law against these things.

00:19:23.329 --> 00:19:26.720
You see, this is the life that God... not only

00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:31.740
calls us to, but equips us to. You see, the life

00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:35.759
that God the Father, God the Son, and God the

00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:42.079
Spirit call and equip us to. So usually, I love

00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.339
to finish a message with some kind of preacher

00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:47.480
action step to do. Go do this this week so that

00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:49.859
you can come closer to Christ, so that you can

00:19:49.859 --> 00:19:51.900
experience this transformation in your life.

00:19:52.039 --> 00:19:57.640
But today, I don't really have that. If you have

00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.700
not accepted the free gift of salvation through

00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:02.819
Jesus Christ, if you've not been baptized and

00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:07.059
received that Holy Spirit, I encourage you not

00:20:07.059 --> 00:20:09.119
to wait. In a few minutes, we're gonna be doing

00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:10.619
a worship song and I would encourage you to find

00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:13.660
myself or find somebody and just let's talk,

00:20:13.759 --> 00:20:16.680
let's figure out what does it mean to give your

00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:21.220
life to Christ, to being baptized, to being died

00:20:21.220 --> 00:20:23.880
for so that you can live eternally in God's family.

00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.359
And quite honestly, for those of you that are

00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.900
already Christ followers, you've already been

00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.259
baptized, you already follow Jesus, I don't have

00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:39.019
an action for you to take. So maybe today can

00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:43.160
just be a reminder, something to remember, a

00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:46.039
reminder next time either the enemy Satan or

00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:48.759
the enemy yourself is working in your head, giving

00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:50.839
you thoughts, giving you beliefs about yourself,

00:20:50.980 --> 00:20:55.289
telling you that you aren't loved. That something

00:20:55.289 --> 00:20:57.609
you've done in your past or are doing now means

00:20:57.609 --> 00:21:01.710
that God couldn't love you. Maybe you're thinking

00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:04.230
to yourself, I don't know if my life has any

00:21:04.230 --> 00:21:06.410
worth. I don't know if it's even worth continuing

00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:11.289
on. Or if you're questioning, do I bring value

00:21:11.289 --> 00:21:14.049
to this world? Do I add anything to God's creation?

00:21:15.289 --> 00:21:18.650
I want to remind you very clearly that God the

00:21:18.650 --> 00:21:21.650
Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit couldn't

00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:25.900
disagree with those thoughts anymore. I want

00:21:25.900 --> 00:21:28.519
to remind you that God is eternally love, and

00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:30.880
he loves you from before creation began because

00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:33.660
God is love, that God and Father, Son, and Spirit

00:21:33.660 --> 00:21:39.240
love you no matter what. You couldn't change

00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.220
it if you tried. And I want to remind you that

00:21:42.220 --> 00:21:45.960
God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit died for

00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:48.779
you because he wanted you to be part of his family,

00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:51.779
to be adopted into sons and daughters of the

00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:56.059
emperor of all of creation. Maybe this is just

00:21:56.059 --> 00:21:59.440
a reminder, something to remember, that God doesn't

00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:01.380
just call you to bring value to those around

00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:05.460
you, but through the fruit of the Spirit, that

00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:09.539
very same God lives directly inside you, producing

00:22:09.539 --> 00:22:15.519
those very fruits. So if you hear nothing else

00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:19.079
today, I would just ask that you remember that

00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:23.579
you are loved, you are worthy, and you are valued.