WEBVTT 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.720 podcast, Ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone Church 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:12.400 in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan Merrick, 00:00:12.419 --> 00:00:14.560 and it's our prayer that this message strengthens 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.539 your faith and draws you closer to Christ. Let's 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:23.539 dive in. All right. Good to see everybody. I 00:00:23.539 --> 00:00:27.300 will tell you that my wife was very upset when 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:32.640 I printed out my notes today. Our printer even 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.539 decided to pitch a fit about it. But I only have 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:40.479 two points, but I have to unpack the Trinity, 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:43.320 which is probably one of the hardest doctrines 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:47.579 in all of Christianity. So. Your prayers are 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:51.820 appreciated, but we're going to dive in. We've 00:00:51.820 --> 00:00:55.439 been we started last week with the Book of Mark, 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:59.439 so if you would turn to the New Testament to 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.299 the Book of Mark, we're going to be just in. 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:06.379 verses nine through 11 in chapter one. As you're 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:08.060 turning there, if you don't have a Bible, it'll 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:10.120 be one up here. We'd love for you to take one. 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:12.379 If you don't have a Bible, we've got those in 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:14.959 the back there. But we're glad. I'm glad that 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:17.099 you're here. My name is Logan. If you're just 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:21.760 visiting, glad to have you here. All right. Last 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:27.219 week, what did we talk about? What was the what 00:01:27.219 --> 00:01:29.239 was some of the things that we unpacked for those 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:32.049 that were not here? so that we got a good idea 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:33.989 of the context of what we're saying and what 00:01:33.989 --> 00:01:40.590 we're talking about. What do we remember? Don't 00:01:40.590 --> 00:01:43.709 be shy. Come on. I know that there's note takers 00:01:43.709 --> 00:01:50.790 in this place. Yes, Mark, his entire theme of 00:01:50.790 --> 00:01:54.170 his whole book is to present Jesus as the servant 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:59.819 king because his audience was who? The Romans 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:08.719 That a boy Ted So they care about kingship and 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:14.080 so he's trying to show the Gentiles hey Jesus 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:17.580 is the one true king and so we talked about John 00:02:17.580 --> 00:02:20.979 the Baptist and who John the Baptist was and 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:26.830 what he meant and now we now move into the baptism 00:02:26.830 --> 00:02:33.310 of Jesus. The Trinity is something that we may 00:02:33.310 --> 00:02:37.270 feel like is not important to our faith as a 00:02:37.270 --> 00:02:39.669 doctrine, but it's actually very crucial, and 00:02:39.669 --> 00:02:43.590 I'm gonna unpack why that is. It's also important 00:02:43.590 --> 00:02:48.409 that you know what the Trinity is and is not. 00:02:48.750 --> 00:02:55.819 Now, there is a denomination that believes essentially 00:02:55.819 --> 00:02:58.080 heresy in regards to the Trinity, and their whole 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.039 thing is that the word Trinity is not in the 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:05.719 Bible, so therefore it is not a biblical doctrine. 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:09.900 Just because the word Trinity is not in there 00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:12.060 doesn't mean that the doctrine of the Trinity 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:16.319 isn't in there. The word Trinity is a newer word, 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.060 and so it's not a word that would have been put 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:21.560 into the Scriptures. It's just a word that allows 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.090 us to have something to put into it as a doctrine 00:03:25.090 --> 00:03:28.129 and a theology. But I'm going to dive in this 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:31.150 morning to why it's important and what it means 00:03:31.150 --> 00:03:35.530 to us as believers. Is that cool? I promise I'm 00:03:35.530 --> 00:03:37.569 not. This isn't going to be a seminary class. 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:40.150 Your eyes aren't going to glaze over, hopefully. 00:03:41.330 --> 00:03:44.889 And so I promise to try to make this as simple 00:03:44.889 --> 00:03:48.849 as possible. But because it is a very difficult 00:03:48.849 --> 00:03:51.659 doctrine to understand. I'm going to kind of 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.800 speak in kind of a 30 ,000 foot view. And we're 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.560 not going to I'm not going to look for theological 00:03:57.560 --> 00:03:59.900 papers to be turned in at the end of service. 00:04:00.099 --> 00:04:03.360 OK. And so the title of my sermon is diving into 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.080 the divine, the dance of reality in Jesus's baptism. 00:04:07.699 --> 00:04:09.759 And the big idea that I've got that we're going 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:12.139 to try to drill down on is the reality of the 00:04:12.139 --> 00:04:15.659 Trinity revealed in Jesus's baptism. And it encourages 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:19.060 us to embrace our identity as God's beloved children. 00:04:19.890 --> 00:04:22.949 transforming our relationships with Him and each 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:26.310 other to reflect divine love and unity. So if 00:04:26.310 --> 00:04:29.810 you would, let's go ahead and read verses nine 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:34.550 through 11 together. In those days, Jesus came 00:04:34.550 --> 00:04:37.610 from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by 00:04:37.610 --> 00:04:40.670 John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:42.949 the water immediately, there's that word I told 00:04:42.949 --> 00:04:45.480 you we'll see a whole lot in this book. He saw 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:48.620 the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:51.939 on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven. 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:56.000 You are my beloved son with you. I am well pleased. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:02.240 Now, this is one of the moments where heaven 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.399 meets earth in the scriptures, where we see heavenly 00:05:07.399 --> 00:05:12.120 beings and we see the. natural beings interacting 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:14.620 together. This isn't something that only Jesus 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:16.839 saw. He wasn't the only one hearing the Father's 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:19.319 voice. He wasn't the only one seeing the Spirit 00:05:19.319 --> 00:05:22.240 descend on him like a dove. Everyone that was 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:25.819 there who was being baptized saw it. John the 00:05:25.819 --> 00:05:29.060 Baptist saw it and they heard it. And so this 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:31.899 is one of those moments where we see heaven being 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:35.839 torn open, as it says, and then we see this really 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.790 heavenly moment that is really cool. between 00:05:39.790 --> 00:05:42.290 the Trinity members. And what I mean by the Trinity 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:45.850 is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are 00:05:45.850 --> 00:05:49.910 all together in one moment. And so this is one 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:52.170 of the clearest revelations of the Trinity in 00:05:52.170 --> 00:05:54.709 all of scripture. The Father, the Son, and the 00:05:54.709 --> 00:05:57.230 Holy Spirit moving together in perfect unity 00:05:57.230 --> 00:06:00.790 and love. But before we rush too quickly to the 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:02.850 glory of the moment, Mark wants us to notice 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:05.329 something that's very important. He tells us 00:06:05.329 --> 00:06:09.579 very casually, In those days, Jesus came from 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:13.060 Nazareth of Galilee. And this detail matters. 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:15.720 Why? Why does that matter? Why would he put that 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:24.620 there? Well, Galilee was actually a place of 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:30.120 obscurity. Nazareth was a nothing town. It wasn't 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.420 known for scholarship and it wasn't known for 00:06:32.420 --> 00:06:35.040 holiness. It wasn't known for spiritual leadership. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:38.300 In fact, Galilee was looked down upon by the 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:42.199 Jews in Jerusalem. It was religiously suspect, 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:45.379 culturally compromised and surrounded by Gentile 00:06:45.379 --> 00:06:48.459 influence. And so to the religious elite, Galilee 00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:50.959 was backwards and pure and embarrassing. Here's 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.879 what I mean by that. So the Assyrians, they come 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:58.379 in and they actually, they come into Northern 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:01.959 Israel and they take captive the Israelites in 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:05.300 that moment and they... exile them out, and then 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:08.180 Assyrians essentially move in, and they take 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:11.319 over that portion of Israel. So then when Israel 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:15.839 then comes back into power and they get the Assyrians 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.860 out, there's a lot of Assyrians and other Gentiles 00:07:19.860 --> 00:07:23.540 that stayed, and there's only a minuscule amount 00:07:23.540 --> 00:07:27.459 of Jews that stayed within that. And so... True 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:30.800 Jews in Jerusalem felt like Jews lived in Jerusalem. 00:07:30.860 --> 00:07:32.779 They worshiped in Jerusalem and they did everything 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:36.100 in Jerusalem. And those who lived outside specifically 00:07:36.100 --> 00:07:38.620 in Nazareth and Galilee, they looked down upon 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:43.920 as not real Jews. So when we see Jesus coming 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:48.560 from Nazareth of Galilee, this is God's way of 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.959 going, yeah, he doesn't belong to an elitist 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.839 group. He is humble. He is mine. and he's coming 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:58.959 from a place of obscurity, just like when he 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:02.740 was born. He was born in a place of obscurity, 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:07.959 right? So Mark deliberately tells us this is 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:10.600 where Jesus comes from, not the halls of Jerusalem 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.180 synagogues, not the courts of the temple and 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:16.319 not the schools of rabbis, but from the overlooked 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:19.360 streets of a despised region, from obscurity, 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:22.680 from humility and from the margins. And before 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.819 the heavens open, Jesus first steps out of hiddenness. 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:29.480 The King enters quietly. The Son of God comes 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.759 not through religious prestige, but through humble 00:08:32.759 --> 00:08:36.220 obscurity. From the very beginning, Mark is showing 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.100 us the Messiah does not operate by the values 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:42.419 of this world. And when Jesus arrives at the 00:08:42.419 --> 00:08:45.779 Jordan, he is met by John the Baptist. And we 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:47.639 already talked about what he's preaching. What 00:08:47.639 --> 00:08:51.899 is John preaching? Repentance and why is baptism 00:08:51.899 --> 00:08:57.519 unique to this situation? What do we say? You 00:08:57.519 --> 00:09:01.139 guys remember? Baptism was only meant for Gentiles 00:09:01.139 --> 00:09:04.480 that were converting into Judaism. It was not 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.440 meant for Jews. And so when John is preaching 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.779 a baptism repentance, this is different for Jews. 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:15.100 This is unique for Jews. And so we've got to 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:19.679 wrestle ourselves with if Baptism means repentance. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:22.759 It's a sign of repentance. Why would Jesus need 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.440 baptism? I'm gonna unpack that in just a second. 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:29.139 But here's something that's really interesting. 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.200 Mark doesn't actually tell us this detail, but 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:35.139 the book of Matthew does. Matthew tells us that 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:41.419 John actually objects to baptizing Jesus. Why 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:48.639 would John object to baptizing Jesus? What's 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:53.559 that? That's right. And what did he know about 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:59.080 the Messiah? What did he know? What did I just 00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:03.299 say of why he wouldn't need baptism? Yeah, nothing 00:10:03.299 --> 00:10:08.159 to repent of. He was completely pure. And John's 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.120 like, no, no, no, no, no. Like this, this is 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.320 backwards. And Jesus goes, no, no, no, no. Like, 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.470 no, you need to be the one. And so here's something 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:20.169 else that I found really interesting. John MacArthur 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:24.070 points this out in his commentary. He says, John 00:10:24.070 --> 00:10:27.490 recognizes Jesus, but I have always thought in 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:29.690 my mind, well, of course he recognizes Jesus. 00:10:30.129 --> 00:10:33.129 They grew up together, right? They're cousins. 00:10:34.529 --> 00:10:37.289 But John MacArthur points out, they didn't know 00:10:37.289 --> 00:10:44.700 each other. And this is why. Because, Many scholars 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.200 believe, despite their miraculous connection 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.720 in the womb, when John leapt at Mary's greeting, 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:54.179 John and Jesus likely had no personal relationship 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:57.220 growing up. John was raised in the wilderness 00:10:57.220 --> 00:11:01.720 and Jesus was raised in Galilee. And so they 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.240 were from different worlds and different paths. 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:08.360 And yet, that same spirit that stirred John in 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:12.480 the womb now opens his eyes at the river. and 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.779 he sees the Messiah coming. And so here's 30 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:21.840 years later, he recognizes the Messiah again 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.279 and it unsettles him because John is preaching 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.360 repentance and he is baptizing sinners and he 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:29.879 is calling broken people to turn back to God 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:32.059 and standing before him is now the one who is 00:11:32.059 --> 00:11:35.059 sinless. The one who needs no repentance and 00:11:35.059 --> 00:11:38.139 the one who already declares, he's already been 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:42.450 declared righteous. So John hesitates. And we 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:46.110 should also feel that tension. Why would Jesus 00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.830 step into the waters that were meant for confession? 00:11:49.909 --> 00:11:52.990 And so there's two reasons for this. The one 00:11:52.990 --> 00:11:56.350 who was the spotless son of God is standing in 00:11:56.350 --> 00:12:00.429 line with sinners. And so before we move into 00:12:00.429 --> 00:12:03.370 the two points that I have about the divine dance, 00:12:03.669 --> 00:12:05.649 we've got to answer this question. Why was Jesus 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:08.710 baptized? And so here are, I'll have them right 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:13.419 up here. Here are two. reasons why Jesus must 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:17.440 had to be baptized. First is this, Jesus was 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:21.860 baptized to fulfill all righteousness. This is 00:12:21.860 --> 00:12:24.019 not about personal repentance. This is about 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:27.460 covenant obedience. Jesus is stepping fully into 00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:30.639 the role of the faithful son doing everything 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:34.720 the father requires. He is retracing Israel's 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.370 story, but doing it perfectly. Where Israel failed, 00:12:38.389 --> 00:12:41.970 Jesus obeys. Where Adam fell, Jesus stands. And 00:12:41.970 --> 00:12:44.149 he fulfills righteousness not only for himself, 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:47.250 but for us. And then here's the second reason. 00:12:47.929 --> 00:12:50.809 Jesus is baptized to divinely authenticate his 00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:54.049 ministry, because as we're going to see next 00:12:54.049 --> 00:12:58.629 week, it's now at the baptism moment that Jesus 00:12:58.629 --> 00:13:03.070 begins his ministry. And so this is his commissioning. 00:13:03.590 --> 00:13:06.580 This is the public launch of his mission. Heaven 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:09.299 opens, the Spirit descends, and the Father speaks, 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:12.019 and this is God placing his visible stamp of 00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:15.279 approval upon his Son. And so before Jesus preaches 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.100 and before Jesus heals, before he casts out demons 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:20.519 and before he carries the cross, the Father declares, 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:24.480 a lot of delight in his Son. You are my beloved 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:29.200 Son, in whom I'm well pleased. And so, identity 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:33.940 before activity, belonging before behavior, and 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:38.389 love before labor. So in that moment, waist deep 00:13:38.389 --> 00:13:40.850 in the Jordan, Jesus not only reveals who God 00:13:40.850 --> 00:13:43.769 is, is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:46.750 in perfect communion. He is also shows us what 00:13:46.750 --> 00:13:49.149 relationship looks like. And that's what I want 00:13:49.149 --> 00:13:51.149 to drill into because the Trinity is not merely 00:13:51.149 --> 00:13:54.149 a doctrine to explain, but it's a reality for 00:13:54.149 --> 00:13:57.210 us to enter. And that's why I say the doctrine 00:13:57.210 --> 00:14:00.250 of the Trinity is very important. We think of 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:03.529 it as just kind of this. Yes, God in three persons, 00:14:03.690 --> 00:14:07.690 one essence, but It's much deeper for us at when 00:14:07.690 --> 00:14:11.009 it comes to relationship with God and with others. 00:14:11.710 --> 00:14:15.690 And so as we get into our text today, my first 00:14:15.690 --> 00:14:21.070 point is this. The divine dance. And so Mark 00:14:21.070 --> 00:14:25.610 tells us at the baptism of Jesus, the entire 00:14:25.610 --> 00:14:29.110 Trinity is present. How do we see the entire 00:14:29.110 --> 00:14:31.850 turn to be present? And so we know that everybody's 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:37.139 on the same page. How do we see this? Okay, Jesus 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:40.419 is there, right? Where do we, what else do we 00:14:40.419 --> 00:14:48.679 see? The Holy Spirit's a dove, right? In God's 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.820 voice, yes. So the Spirit descends from heaven 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:55.399 and the Father speaks. Now, this is not a subtle 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:58.269 moment. It's actually a cosmic unveiling. So 00:14:58.269 --> 00:15:00.830 heaven is torn open. And for a brief moment, 00:15:01.149 --> 00:15:04.470 the inner life of God is placed on display. We 00:15:04.470 --> 00:15:09.230 see them together interacting. And so the whole 00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:12.649 thing of the spirit descending like a dove, why 00:15:12.649 --> 00:15:16.970 does that matter? Why does Mark use that terminology? 00:15:17.429 --> 00:15:22.240 Because is the spirit of God a dove? No, so why 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:24.220 would he use that terminology because there's 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:27.059 no other place except for one other place where 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:34.960 we see It is kind of referred to as a dove where 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:41.039 we see it You guys know the answer I think you're 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:47.500 overthinking it No Genesis the very beginning 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:50.080 and creation. What does it say? It says that 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:54.379 the spirit hovered above the waters. And so many 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.659 translators say, duh, he hovered like a dove. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.039 But the actual Hebrew there, it says the word 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.740 that the Hebrews use is flutter. And so for us, 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:09.799 we get it translated in English that he was fluttering 00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:14.419 like a dove. But this is important that you understand 00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:18.279 why Mark uses this, okay? He wants us to refer 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:22.480 back to creation into Genesis one. So this is 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:24.980 Mark being intentional to point us backwards 00:16:24.980 --> 00:16:27.679 at the creation of the world. And here's why 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:34.240 he says. There's this breathtaking moment where 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.559 the Trinity is present at the creation of the 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:42.299 world. And now it's present at the redeeming 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:45.639 of it. So you can write that down. That's a note. 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:49.480 The same Trinity that stood together at the creation 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:51.940 of the world now stands together at the redemption 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:56.200 of it. And so the Father who spoke light into 00:16:56.200 --> 00:16:58.799 existence and the Spirit who hovered over the 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.659 deep, the Son through whom all things were made 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:05.000 are now reunited again, not to create, but to 00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.279 rescue. And the Trinity is not reacting to human 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:13.220 failure. They're now executing an eternal plan. 00:17:15.130 --> 00:17:17.809 The God who put the world into motion is now 00:17:17.809 --> 00:17:21.130 stepping in directly to redeem it. And it's not 00:17:21.130 --> 00:17:23.230 random and it's not accidental and it's not plan 00:17:23.230 --> 00:17:27.170 B. This is the triune God moving together in 00:17:27.170 --> 00:17:30.329 perfect unity to restore what was broken. And 00:17:30.329 --> 00:17:32.569 this brings us to one of the deepest truths in 00:17:32.569 --> 00:17:34.769 all of Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity. 00:17:35.690 --> 00:17:40.569 So here's what you need to write this down. Before 00:17:40.569 --> 00:17:42.849 we talk about what the Trinity is, we have to 00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:46.650 talk about what the Trinity is not. So the Trinity 00:17:46.650 --> 00:17:52.210 is not tritheism. Tritheism is three separate 00:17:52.210 --> 00:17:58.069 gods, okay? They're not three separate gods working 00:17:58.069 --> 00:18:04.210 in cooperation together. And nor is it unipersonalism, 00:18:04.210 --> 00:18:08.809 also known as modalism. So what that means is, 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:13.559 is it's not one god in different modes. He's 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:17.380 not wearing different mask that he puts on. I've 00:18:17.380 --> 00:18:19.440 heard people try to say, well, the Trinity is 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:26.200 like, I'm a father. I'm a husband. I'm also an 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:32.140 uncle. I'm a son. That's modalism. It's not one 00:18:32.140 --> 00:18:33.920 person in three different modes. That's not how 00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:40.339 this goes. OK, so he's not an actor in a costume 00:18:40.339 --> 00:18:44.250 and it's not three different gods. Okay. It is 00:18:44.250 --> 00:18:48.970 three persons. This is crucial. It's three persons. 00:18:49.190 --> 00:18:50.650 This is, you can write this down because I think 00:18:50.650 --> 00:18:53.609 I have it up here. Do I? Yep. Man, you're way, 00:18:53.869 --> 00:18:58.309 way ahead of me in a good way, Weston. It's three 00:18:58.309 --> 00:19:02.190 persons who share one divine essence, three persons 00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:08.230 who know and love one another perfectly. So. 00:19:09.450 --> 00:19:12.390 God is not more fundamentally one than he is 00:19:12.390 --> 00:19:15.329 three. And he is not more fundamentally three 00:19:15.329 --> 00:19:19.809 than he is one. So that's a crucial definition, 00:19:19.829 --> 00:19:23.769 by the way. So this is a mystery, but it's not 00:19:23.769 --> 00:19:27.089 a contradiction. But one of my most favorite 00:19:27.089 --> 00:19:31.509 descriptions comes from C .S. Lewis in Mere Christianity 00:19:31.509 --> 00:19:35.910 where he calls the Trinity a divine dance. We 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:38.730 got any dancers in here? Anybody like to dance? 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.380 Oh, he wanted to raise his hand. So C .S. Lewis 00:19:44.380 --> 00:19:48.019 says this, in Christianity, God is not a static 00:19:48.019 --> 00:19:52.380 thing, but a dynamic pulsating activity, a life, 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.759 almost a kind of drama, almost, if you will not 00:19:56.759 --> 00:20:01.559 think me irreverent, a kind of dance. He calls 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:06.720 the Trinity a dance, but why? And it's honestly, 00:20:07.710 --> 00:20:11.390 beautiful when you really, really break it down, 00:20:11.410 --> 00:20:15.410 which is what we're gonna do. I didn't mean to 00:20:15.410 --> 00:20:18.410 be punny on that, but break it down, Dan, come 00:20:18.410 --> 00:20:22.190 on. So it's a movement, it's a relationship, 00:20:22.349 --> 00:20:25.890 it's joy and it's unity. Each person fully God, 00:20:26.289 --> 00:20:30.109 each person fully giving, and each person eternally 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:32.690 delighting in the other. That's the important 00:20:32.690 --> 00:20:36.609 part of what you must see When you see the Trinity 00:20:36.609 --> 00:20:39.230 at work, they're always reflecting the other. 00:20:40.029 --> 00:20:43.089 They're never trying to accept glory for themselves. 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:52.089 And so. One thing I've been learning is. A dance. 00:20:53.390 --> 00:20:55.950 So I've been I've been learning this idea of 00:20:55.950 --> 00:20:58.069 a dance in a very real way, because my daughter 00:20:58.069 --> 00:21:04.250 Aria. Is obsessed with line dancing, swing dancing, 00:21:04.289 --> 00:21:08.359 sorry. not line dancing, swing dancing. She begs 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:11.960 me and her brothers daily to swing dance with 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:17.900 her. I promise, come on, you should come on up 00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:20.259 here and show us what you got, sis, you and Eli, 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:24.519 no? She tried to throw my back out yesterday 00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:26.339 by trying to get me to flipper and all this stuff, 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:27.900 and I just told her I'm too old for this stuff. 00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:30.859 But have you ever tried to swing dance before? 00:21:31.789 --> 00:21:35.190 Dude, it's hard your arms get twisted all a up 00:21:35.190 --> 00:21:40.369 up like a pretzel and Dipping and flipping and 00:21:40.369 --> 00:21:43.809 scatting whatever But it's it's pretty difficult, 00:21:43.809 --> 00:21:49.289 man But swing dancing is a perfect example of 00:21:49.289 --> 00:21:52.970 the Trinity and here's why It requires awareness 00:21:52.970 --> 00:21:57.690 of your partner Everybody in here is danced right 00:21:57.690 --> 00:22:00.369 like we're not we're not all like dancing is 00:22:00.369 --> 00:22:02.730 evil, right? Like you've danced at some point 00:22:02.730 --> 00:22:08.150 with your spouse, right? Vicki, you looked at 00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:15.809 Keith like, we didn't dance, right? But if you 00:22:15.809 --> 00:22:18.569 slow danced with your spouse or slow danced at 00:22:18.569 --> 00:22:22.250 all, it's not exactly a good idea for both partners 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:25.750 to be trying to take the lead, right? Like there's 00:22:25.750 --> 00:22:27.759 got to be somebody that's kind of... but you're 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.859 you're kind of moving together as one. Right. 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:32.700 You can't just all everybody be doing their own 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:35.000 thing. Am I right? You guys understand what I'm 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.859 saying? OK. And so it's about timing. It's about 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.359 movement. It's about coordination and dips and 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:45.460 spins and all the good stuff. But you can't just 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:50.180 do whatever you want. And if you do when, especially 00:22:50.180 --> 00:22:52.079 when it comes to line dancing, you look absolutely 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:56.259 ridiculous, as I've discovered, try to. swing 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:59.420 dance with my daughter. Because dancing only 00:22:59.420 --> 00:23:02.079 works when both partners are moving with each 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.019 other. And that's exactly what we see inside 00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:08.160 the Trinity. The Father glorifies the Son and 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.440 the Son submits to the Father and the Spirit 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:14.940 empowers the Son and magnifies the Father. Each 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:18.819 person lives in perfect self -giving love toward 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:23.069 the other. No one grasp for control. No one demands 00:23:23.069 --> 00:23:26.490 the spotlight and no one insists on being the 00:23:26.490 --> 00:23:29.930 center Instead each person circles the other 00:23:29.930 --> 00:23:33.910 in perfect harmony Can you see? Just me saying 00:23:33.910 --> 00:23:36.710 that why that's important for us to understand 00:23:36.710 --> 00:23:40.089 about the Trinity and what that means for us 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:49.509 Can you This is why The scripture constantly 00:23:49.509 --> 00:23:52.910 shows us their mutual devotion. The Father declares 00:23:52.910 --> 00:23:56.289 His delight in the Son. The Spirit rests upon 00:23:56.289 --> 00:23:59.109 Jesus in power. And Jesus says, I can do nothing 00:23:59.109 --> 00:24:02.430 apart from the Father. This is the divine dance, 00:24:02.589 --> 00:24:06.069 an eternal movement of love, humility, service, 00:24:06.210 --> 00:24:10.170 and unity. And so why does this matter for us? 00:24:10.250 --> 00:24:13.069 If you haven't been picking up what I'm laying 00:24:13.069 --> 00:24:16.859 down, I haven't said it in a while, kids. When 00:24:16.859 --> 00:24:20.339 we say, I'll serve as long as I benefit, that's 00:24:20.339 --> 00:24:24.619 not service, that's self -interest. And so that's 00:24:24.619 --> 00:24:27.059 not circling someone in love, that's demanding 00:24:27.059 --> 00:24:30.380 they orbit around you. This will be right up 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:32.140 here if you wanna write this down. A self -centered 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:35.019 life is a stationary life. It's static, it's 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:38.920 rigid, and it's lonely. Self -centered people 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:41.440 want to be the gravitational center of everything, 00:24:41.500 --> 00:24:45.119 but God is not like that. At the very heart of 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:48.539 reality is the self -giving love. Instead of 00:24:48.539 --> 00:24:50.500 self -centeredness, the Father, the Son, and 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:53.200 the Holy Spirit are characterized by mutual giving. 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:57.779 Each voluntarily moves toward the other. Each 00:24:57.779 --> 00:25:03.519 joyfully serves the other. Neither person in 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:06.460 the Trinity demands orbit. Each one chooses humility. 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:10.460 And this is the dance Jesus invites us into. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:13.380 not one of power, but of surrender, not one of 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:16.039 dominance, but of service and not of self glory, 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.579 but of love. And so the baptism of Jesus shows 00:25:19.579 --> 00:25:22.900 us that reality itself is shaped not by control, 00:25:23.420 --> 00:25:26.819 but by communion. And when we step into the dance, 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:30.680 we learn to give and to serve and to submit and 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:34.980 to love, and we are not losing ourselves. We 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:37.839 are finally becoming who we were created to be. 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:45.700 Here's point number two. the divine love. And 00:25:45.700 --> 00:25:49.140 so in verse 11, we see Jesus, or we see the Father 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:53.759 dote on Jesus. So if this is a world made by 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:57.000 a triune God, then relationships of love are 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.200 not secondary to reality. They're the very heart 00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:04.960 of it. Love is not something God does. Love is 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:11.839 something that God is. But we all know that statement. 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:15.059 Like everyone loves to quote this statement, 00:26:15.660 --> 00:26:21.680 God is love, right? Everyone says it. You even 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:23.480 have people who aren't believers that will say, 00:26:23.579 --> 00:26:25.700 well, stop being judgmental because God doesn't 00:26:25.700 --> 00:26:30.940 judge me and God is love, right? Right? But here's 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:33.460 the problem. Here's the problem with that statement. 00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:37.500 And C .S. Lewis says this in mere Christianity. 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:41.059 I'm gonna read this to you. All sorts of people 00:26:41.059 --> 00:26:43.140 are fond of repeating the Christian statement 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:46.960 that God is love. But they seem not to notice 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.940 that the words God is love have no real meaning 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:54.279 unless God contains at least two persons. Love 00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:56.640 is something that one person has for another. 00:26:57.279 --> 00:27:00.579 And so if God was a single person, then before 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:04.539 the world was made, he was not love. That is 00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:07.849 something that blew my mind when I read it. God 00:27:07.849 --> 00:27:13.349 cannot be love if there is no Trinity because 00:27:13.349 --> 00:27:17.349 love requires others. Christians believe that 00:27:17.349 --> 00:27:19.829 the living dynamic activity of love has been 00:27:19.829 --> 00:27:23.690 going on in God forever and has created everything 00:27:23.690 --> 00:27:26.529 else. What they really mean when they say God 00:27:26.529 --> 00:27:33.950 is love is actually love is God. I mash the two 00:27:33.950 --> 00:27:36.920 point or the two or the quote together. Sorry. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:40.319 When it comes to what people say God is love, 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.519 and he's like, what they don't actually understand 00:27:42.519 --> 00:27:45.980 when they say that is that love is actually God, 00:27:46.500 --> 00:27:49.279 not God is love, which I think is a great point. 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:52.759 In other words, love did not come into existence 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:56.480 when God made the world. Love already existed 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.259 eternally between the Father, the Son, and the 00:27:59.259 --> 00:28:02.869 Holy Spirit. Creation flows out of love. and 00:28:02.869 --> 00:28:05.930 redemption flows out of love and reality itself 00:28:05.930 --> 00:28:10.390 is shaped by love. And this matters because what 00:28:10.390 --> 00:28:12.930 you believe about God shapes what you believe 00:28:12.930 --> 00:28:16.609 about love. Here's where I need you to really 00:28:16.609 --> 00:28:21.529 hone in and listen because what you believe about 00:28:21.529 --> 00:28:24.910 love, as I said, shapes how you see the world 00:28:24.910 --> 00:28:29.029 and how you live life. So if you don't hear anything 00:28:29.029 --> 00:28:30.750 else in the sermon, this is what you most need 00:28:30.750 --> 00:28:36.829 to hear. If love is merely just chemical reactions 00:28:36.829 --> 00:28:41.609 in the brain, if love is just evolutionary survival 00:28:41.609 --> 00:28:45.789 instincts, if love is merely stardust bumping 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:49.289 into stardust, you guys get what I mean by that? 00:28:51.529 --> 00:28:53.690 Atheists will say, you know, we come from evolution, 00:28:54.029 --> 00:28:58.130 right? It is stardust mixed into a primordial 00:28:58.130 --> 00:29:01.210 soup. And we ultimately came from that. So they'll 00:29:01.210 --> 00:29:03.529 say it's just stardust bumping into stardust. 00:29:04.470 --> 00:29:07.430 Then love is not is not something that is sacred. 00:29:08.349 --> 00:29:12.210 If you believe these things about love, then 00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:15.930 love is not sacred and love is not holy and love 00:29:15.930 --> 00:29:19.390 is something that is not eternal. It's simply 00:29:19.390 --> 00:29:22.509 a tool, a biological mechanism designed to get 00:29:22.509 --> 00:29:25.809 what I want. Here's what I mean by that. When 00:29:25.809 --> 00:29:30.740 love becomes a tool, people become objects. This 00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:33.200 is why the world's definition of love is ultimately 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:36.700 self -serving. Love becomes, what can you give 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:40.200 me? How do you make me feel? And what do I get 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:43.339 out of this? And tragically, this mindset hasn't 00:29:43.339 --> 00:29:46.140 just stayed in the secular world. Many Christians 00:29:46.140 --> 00:29:53.059 live by this as well. We use love to orbit ourselves. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:56.839 We serve as long as we benefit. We commit as 00:29:56.839 --> 00:30:00.049 long as it's comfortable. and we forgive as long 00:30:00.049 --> 00:30:04.109 as it doesn't cost us too much. But that's not 00:30:04.109 --> 00:30:06.069 love. That's not what we see in the Trinity. 00:30:09.029 --> 00:30:11.549 What that is, that what I just described is actually 00:30:11.549 --> 00:30:15.089 sanctified selfishness. You can write this down. 00:30:15.170 --> 00:30:18.410 It'll be right up here. True love flows out of 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:20.910 the Trinity and the Trinity shows us that love 00:30:20.910 --> 00:30:26.210 is self -giving, not self -protecting. The Father 00:30:26.210 --> 00:30:29.230 pours Himself out for the Son, the Son empties 00:30:29.230 --> 00:30:32.509 Himself for the Father and for us, and the Spirit 00:30:32.509 --> 00:30:35.450 glorifies the Son and draws us toward the Father. 00:30:36.750 --> 00:30:41.369 This is love that gives. It's a love that serves 00:30:41.369 --> 00:30:45.309 and sacrifices. And if we want to experience 00:30:45.309 --> 00:30:48.109 this kind of love, real love, then we must enter 00:30:48.109 --> 00:30:52.160 the divine dance. You don't... become God, but 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.440 you step into his movement. What I mean by that 00:30:54.440 --> 00:31:00.880 is this. If you want to experience love and give 00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:04.759 love, then you actually have to enter into community 00:31:04.759 --> 00:31:08.319 and relationship with the one who is love and 00:31:08.319 --> 00:31:12.700 is amongst itself full of joy and full of love. 00:31:13.200 --> 00:31:18.259 If you want, if you're cold. OK, if you're cold 00:31:18.259 --> 00:31:21.119 and there's a fire raging. What would you tell 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:23.640 me to do, Sue? If I'm standing there cold and 00:31:23.640 --> 00:31:25.160 there's a fire over there, what would you say? 00:31:27.180 --> 00:31:30.440 Get closer to the fire. Man, that's a lot of 00:31:30.440 --> 00:31:37.180 wisdom. If I wanted to swim, Ryan, but there's 00:31:37.180 --> 00:31:39.220 a pool over there and I'm in my bathing suit 00:31:39.220 --> 00:31:41.799 and I'm like, I really want to get wet. What 00:31:41.799 --> 00:31:46.880 would you say? Jump in. If you want to get wet, 00:31:47.140 --> 00:31:49.359 there's the water. If you want to get... warm, 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:53.140 there's a fire. If you want to do these things, 00:31:53.140 --> 00:31:55.500 you have to actually get closer to it. So if 00:31:55.500 --> 00:31:59.539 you want to experience love, joy, peace, all 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:02.140 of these things, then you actually have to enter 00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:06.839 the dance. You actually have to draw closer to 00:32:06.839 --> 00:32:10.140 the one who is these things in and of himself. 00:32:11.140 --> 00:32:14.140 So we must draw closer and nearer to the Godhead. 00:32:15.400 --> 00:32:19.190 You must step into the life of God. Because God 00:32:19.190 --> 00:32:21.349 did not create us to get love. That's what you, 00:32:21.890 --> 00:32:23.450 write this down. I don't have it up here, sorry. 00:32:24.869 --> 00:32:27.910 God is not this thing that created us in order 00:32:27.910 --> 00:32:34.930 to get something from us. He already is infinite 00:32:34.930 --> 00:32:37.890 love within himself. He already is infinite joy 00:32:37.890 --> 00:32:42.190 within himself. He created us to give love and 00:32:42.190 --> 00:32:46.539 joy in these things. to participate in his eternal 00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:50.359 rhythm of self -giving joy. This is why a self 00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:54.099 -centered life always feels empty. We are not 00:32:54.099 --> 00:32:56.740 made to orbit ourselves. We are made to orbit 00:32:56.740 --> 00:33:00.160 God and in doing so, to circle one another in 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:03.420 love. But instead, many of us stand at the edge 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:07.960 of the dance floor, watching with our arms crossed, 00:33:08.420 --> 00:33:11.240 like a couple of wall flowers, swearing we're 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:14.009 having a great time. while everybody else is 00:33:14.009 --> 00:33:17.130 out on the dance floor going, come on in, let's 00:33:17.130 --> 00:33:18.890 do this thing. And you're like, no, I'm having 00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:23.089 a great time over here drinking water, right? 00:33:24.230 --> 00:33:26.529 Nobody looks at the wallflower over at the side 00:33:26.529 --> 00:33:28.529 and goes, that person's having a great time at 00:33:28.529 --> 00:33:32.430 the wedding. If you want to see somebody have 00:33:32.430 --> 00:33:34.829 a ton of fun, go watch Noah on the dance floor 00:33:34.829 --> 00:33:37.869 at a wedding. My son Noah, you get to see him 00:33:37.869 --> 00:33:41.920 really come out. He's got to move you guys. He 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:46.019 has a move where he goes through, he's so embarrassed 00:33:46.019 --> 00:33:50.180 right now, where he's twisting light bulbs all 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:53.160 across the dance floor, baby. And everybody's 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:55.480 like, wow, look at that kid. And he's like, yeah. 00:33:56.440 --> 00:33:59.420 If you want to see pure joy, just see Noah on 00:33:59.420 --> 00:34:01.220 a dance floor. It's the best thing ever. But 00:34:01.220 --> 00:34:03.180 Noah's having a great time and he's out there 00:34:03.180 --> 00:34:08.750 and he's doing his thing. And I love it. Like 00:34:08.750 --> 00:34:10.690 wall flowers at a wedding, we tell ourselves 00:34:10.690 --> 00:34:12.889 that we're enjoying the music while everyone 00:34:12.889 --> 00:34:16.170 else is stepping into the joy. But God is inviting 00:34:16.170 --> 00:34:18.809 us off the wall. He's inviting us into communion, 00:34:18.949 --> 00:34:23.550 into surrender, into love and into life. It's 00:34:23.550 --> 00:34:26.710 not a static existence, but a dynamic one. Not 00:34:26.710 --> 00:34:29.849 a lonely one, but a relational one. It's not 00:34:29.849 --> 00:34:31.809 a self -centered one, but a Christ -centered 00:34:31.809 --> 00:34:35.550 one. Because the deepest truth of the universe 00:34:35.550 --> 00:34:39.699 is not power, it is love. and that love is calling 00:34:39.699 --> 00:34:42.760 your name. And so I'm gonna close with this. 00:34:42.980 --> 00:34:48.079 In 1994, there was a Rwandan genocide. I don't 00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:52.820 know if you guys remember that, but it's an awful 00:34:52.820 --> 00:34:54.960 thing. There's actually a genocide going on right 00:34:54.960 --> 00:35:00.940 now in Nigeria. So we pray for our brothers and 00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:04.760 sisters there. But in 1994, during the Rwandan 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:07.360 genocide, a pastor named Andre was sheltering 00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:11.239 people in his church. And one day a group of 00:35:11.239 --> 00:35:14.659 armed men stormed in. They were hunting for the 00:35:14.659 --> 00:35:18.820 Tutsis. Andre stood in front of his congregation, 00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.619 families, mothers, children, and elderly men, 00:35:23.260 --> 00:35:27.219 people he had baptized, people that he had prayed 00:35:27.219 --> 00:35:31.420 with, and people that he loved. And the soldiers 00:35:31.420 --> 00:35:35.099 demanded that Andre step aside. They told him, 00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:39.559 they said, move and you will live. All Andre 00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:44.639 had to do was step aside. But instead, he stepped 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:48.699 forward. He opened his arms and he said, if you're 00:35:48.699 --> 00:35:50.820 going to kill them, you have to kill me first. 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:54.960 So they did. They shot him right where he stood. 00:35:56.519 --> 00:36:00.110 And now that story can feel and seem unbearable 00:36:00.110 --> 00:36:03.369 to hear, but it reveals something we desperately 00:36:03.369 --> 00:36:10.969 need to understand. That moment for Andre wasn't 00:36:10.969 --> 00:36:15.710 a moment of adrenaline. It wasn't a moment of 00:36:15.710 --> 00:36:21.570 impulse. It wasn't a moment of instinct. It was 00:36:21.570 --> 00:36:23.949 a man who had stepped so deeply into the divine 00:36:23.949 --> 00:36:26.489 dance that self -preservation no longer ruled 00:36:26.489 --> 00:36:31.809 his life. And so when you truly enter the life 00:36:31.809 --> 00:36:37.409 of God and into the divine dance, love ceases 00:36:37.409 --> 00:36:41.630 to be something we use because someone you give 00:36:41.630 --> 00:36:44.889 and because someone you give yourself away for 00:36:44.889 --> 00:36:46.469 and becomes something you give yourself away 00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:52.030 for. Jesus stepped into the Jordan. Jesus stepped 00:36:52.030 --> 00:36:55.710 into our sin and he stepped into our death so 00:36:55.710 --> 00:37:00.559 that we could step in to his life. And now he 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:05.780 stands before all of us and he says, follow me. 00:37:07.159 --> 00:37:09.179 Following him does not mean comfort. It doesn't 00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:11.840 mean safety. And it definitely means you're not 00:37:11.840 --> 00:37:15.340 in control, but it does mean you are in communion 00:37:15.340 --> 00:37:20.039 with him. It does mean surrender and it does 00:37:20.039 --> 00:37:24.500 mean love. And so some of us are exhausted because 00:37:24.500 --> 00:37:27.239 we've spent our entire lives orbiting ourselves. 00:37:28.460 --> 00:37:31.699 We've been protecting ourselves promoting ourselves 00:37:31.699 --> 00:37:34.820 or preserving ourselves in some way and it's 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:38.179 killing our joy When all you can think about 00:37:38.179 --> 00:37:42.539 is yourself it kills your joy Because we were 00:37:42.539 --> 00:37:44.739 never made to live in a way that is to stare 00:37:44.739 --> 00:37:48.179 at our belly buttons We were made for the dance. 00:37:48.179 --> 00:37:50.920 We were made for relationship. We were made for 00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:55.190 love and we were made for God and today The Trinity 00:37:55.190 --> 00:37:57.570 still stands with arms wide open, the Father 00:37:57.570 --> 00:38:00.969 still speaks your identity, the Spirit still 00:38:00.969 --> 00:38:04.949 empowers your obedience, and the Son still invites 00:38:04.949 --> 00:38:08.610 your surrender. So the only question left is 00:38:08.610 --> 00:38:13.510 this, will you stand on the wall or will you 00:38:13.510 --> 00:38:17.110 step onto the dance floor? Because the divine 00:38:17.110 --> 00:38:21.269 dance has already begun. Brothers and sisters, 00:38:21.349 --> 00:38:23.679 there's room for all of us. Let's pray.