1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Lord God, even as we know that abiding in You, You are the one to lead us into the light. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,120 We know that light comes with love for one another, rather than the strife that we often 3 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:14,120 times struggle with. 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:20,440 Lord, we thank You that Your Spirit is what guides us even at the times when we struggle 5 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,480 and we ask that You continue to do so now and always. 6 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:24,480 In Christ Jesus. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:25,480 Amen. 8 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:26,480 Howdy. 9 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:32,280 And I have to point this out. 10 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,920 I hope everybody does realize that saying howdy is really just more of a Texas thing, 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,440 not even really so much an Aggie thing. 12 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,560 Everybody's allowed to say howdy. 13 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,000 Okay, I'm just making sure everybody realizes this. 14 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,400 Longhorns are allowed to say howdy. 15 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:48,400 Okay? 16 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,720 Cougars are allowed to say howdy. 17 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,000 Red Raiders need to leave before we realize you've gotten into building. 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,560 I mean, they're allowed to say howdy as well. 19 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,720 And I wanted to point out a little bit about what's going to be going on over the course 20 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:04,200 of these few weeks. 21 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,520 This is part two of Six Sermons on 1 John. 22 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,360 We're going to then be on Pentecost having Reverend Karim Badawi coming here. 23 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,360 He does a lot of work with refugees, especially acknowledging that many of them never heard 24 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:20,880 the Gospel. 25 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,960 So he'll be here to preach on Pentecost. 26 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:28,520 And then after Holy Trinity Sunday, then we'll be having a different sermon format for the 27 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,200 summer. 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:35,720 But I also wanted to let you all know, I know that sometimes it's easy to struggle in the 29 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:37,360 middle of like a sermon. 30 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:43,800 So if there are any things that can be helpful, whether I've printed off some of the slides, 31 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,620 once we get the updates to our sanctuary, there will be screens that you can see the 32 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:51,160 slides in front of you. 33 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:56,400 But we do hold those printed out if that helps you to be able to just track where we're at, 34 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,160 or if you want to take notes. 35 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:03,000 And of course, always feel free to grab some water and feel free to look me in the eye. 36 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,120 So that always helps out as well. 37 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,880 I like y'all. 38 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:08,880 Most of you? 39 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:10,680 No, no, no, no. 40 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:15,400 Just recognizing that one of my confermans was giving me some good eye to eye contact 41 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,400 and I really appreciate it. 42 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:26,000 John in our context is speaking to the church and had lost the church had lost sight of 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,720 the true gospel. 44 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,880 So John has to reset them. 45 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:35,720 And he has to show them what church really is meant to be. 46 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,800 Last week, we talked about how we are not meant to hide in the darkness. 47 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:48,040 You see, anything that God sees in the light has already been forgiven. 48 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:53,080 And it's only by drawing to the light can you be with God. 49 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:58,880 And God changes us in the light, not by hiding everything. 50 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:04,080 So coming to God and being open and honest is truly the place where God can actually 51 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:05,960 change us. 52 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:13,800 Now I do have to in explaining the context for today, tell you a little bit about Friday. 53 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:21,960 I drove up to Cyprus because my sister's family and my parents wanted to do big family photos. 54 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:27,400 And so we got there and we were taking these photos, but the photographer was someone who 55 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,400 didn't really know us and didn't really know our names. 56 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,960 So she was kind of trying to like make up stuff in order to try to figure out what to 57 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:36,840 cause and how to refer to us. 58 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,760 Now my mom and my dad, they don't go by grandma and grandpa. 59 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:46,280 Okay, they go by Mr. Abel and Ms. Sybil with my niece. 60 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:51,160 And the thing is, is that every time the photographer kept saying grandma and grandpa, and we're 61 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,560 looking over like, who's grandma? 62 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:54,880 We have no idea. 63 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,120 Did somebody like grandma and grandpa already passed away? 64 00:03:58,120 --> 00:03:59,920 Wait, these two? 65 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:01,120 Wait, them? 66 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:07,760 And then even at times, my dad's name is Abel and he likes to say, yes, I'm able to leap 67 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:13,680 tall buildings in a single bound and it was like, okay, 40 something years later, still 68 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,160 not funny, but it's okay. 69 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,480 But instead in his mind, like any good dad with good dad jokes is that he's already told 70 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,040 the joke in his mind. 71 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,200 So he tells her that he goes by Superman and the rest of us are like, you've never gone 72 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,480 by Superman ever in your life. 73 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:29,480 And what does she do? 74 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,480 She ends up calling him Superman the rest of the time there. 75 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:38,760 And she says, okay, everybody look to your grandfather and have admiration in your eyes 76 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,720 as you look to him. 77 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:42,040 I'm sorry. 78 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,360 That is not the way that we interact with each other. 79 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:51,520 When we want serious conversations, it's either on a long drive somewhere or by text. 80 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,960 It is not something where we're sitting there being serious with each other. 81 00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:01,000 When we're with each other, it is terrible jokes and bad, bad ribbing with each other. 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,200 So I look at him and within two seconds, I'm just rolling laughing. 83 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,600 I can't help it. 84 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:11,520 And my dad's laughing too, because the thing is, is that that's family. 85 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:18,040 You got your quirks, you got your oddities, but also you have your struggles. 86 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:22,560 And to be honest is that those struggles, I don't know if they're more or less than 87 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:28,400 what your family has gone through, but you have to go through the struggles in order to 88 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,960 actually have the closeness. 89 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:37,720 Is that you cannot just have nice, easy family. 90 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:43,840 Family has to be something that you struggle with, but also the joy on the other side of 91 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:47,400 what that means in relationship. 92 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,800 That's what makes it all worth it. 93 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,840 In our passage, it says, nothing new in this commandment. 94 00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:59,840 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 95 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:06,880 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light and in him, there is no cause for stumbling, 96 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:11,240 but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know 97 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:15,640 where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 98 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,120 Now, let's be honest. 99 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:25,080 There are so many times where we get frustrated with those that are closest to us. 100 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,080 We disagree. 101 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:27,560 We see things differently. 102 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,760 We may struggle with that tension that's there. 103 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:37,640 And it's not just with our physical earthly family, but also with our brothers and sisters 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,000 in Christ. 105 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,200 We disagree. 106 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,480 But then also to be able to pause and remember something. 107 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:53,920 Once you think about when was the last time that somebody that you knew who is a believer 108 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,880 wants you to pause and say, when was the last time you thought about how you disagreed 109 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:04,120 with them so vehemently and you were trying to figure out how to even listen to anything 110 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,240 they had to say. 111 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,840 And now I want you to interject this in there. 112 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:20,240 What if you remember that this is already somebody that God's spirit is speaking to and through 113 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:25,200 because what if it's possible that as much as you may be frustrated with them, what if 114 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:31,120 even just some small percentage of what it is that they're communicating is something 115 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:35,280 that God wants you to hear. 116 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:42,080 And more than that is that when we say do not hate your brother is that this is not about 117 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:49,000 trying to avoid issues and not just well, it's Thanksgiving and everyone's trying to make 118 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,240 sure that they don't throw mashed potatoes at each other. 119 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:59,920 But rather is we cannot spend a vote spend forever trying to avoid things just to keep 120 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:02,120 peace. 121 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:08,680 But rather is to be able to do so in ways where we see the love and respect from one 122 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:13,040 another and for one another. 123 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:20,680 And to be fair and honest, that also oftentimes connects with what I do as a pastor. 124 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:27,960 See, if I'm saying things that are clearly unscriptural and against who God is and what 125 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,080 he has said, then you need to pull me out of the pulpit now. 126 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:33,080 Frankly. 127 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,400 Okay, nobody's coming up to pull me out of the pulpit. 128 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,920 Okay, so far I'm okay. 129 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:48,440 But if I am indeed the pastor and the words that I'm saying are correct, then maybe it's 130 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:54,440 time to listen to me and to do something about it. 131 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:59,440 Starting with the question, what does God need me to see about myself and my own life 132 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,040 right now? 133 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,680 And what does God want me to do about it? 134 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,800 Because let's be honest, it's been about four something years. 135 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:14,840 You've seen a lot of different interesting sermon directions and where they've gone. 136 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,840 And as somebody who recently started listening to the sermon said, yeah, Pastor Jason, you're 137 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:25,920 pretty quirky understatement of the century. 138 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,920 And yet so what? 139 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:34,000 And that's the thing with this is instead of getting so wrapped up and trying to figure 140 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:39,000 out what it is that we're trying to see the flaws in one another, instead as to pause and 141 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:46,360 ask, but is the word of God speaking at this moment? 142 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:54,360 And frankly, we oftentimes struggle myself included with the false sense of righteousness. 143 00:09:54,360 --> 00:10:00,160 It is so easy to think that we're supposed to see ourselves as perfect and that whenever 144 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,960 God is calling to us, well, God is speaking to us and yet what is the first thing that 145 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,920 we oftentimes think that God is trying to say? 146 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,680 Oh, well, I need you to go point out this person's flaw. 147 00:10:11,680 --> 00:10:13,760 Oh, God is speaking. 148 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:19,680 God needs you to hear how that person has it has it wrong. 149 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:28,000 And yet we see so often in the people in Scripture and in our own lives that when God speaks, 150 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:38,120 the first place is for us to stop and to adjust the focus on ourselves first. 151 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:45,560 But this is not because now we need to just sit here and dwell on that. 152 00:10:45,560 --> 00:10:50,920 But rather is to say your sins are forgiven. 153 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:55,880 Notice how John goes through these particular parts of what he's saying to everybody that 154 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:57,880 he's addressing. 155 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:05,000 These three things that keep coming up is that first and foremost, your sins are forgiven. 156 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,640 So why are you spending so long worrying about everybody else? 157 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:13,200 Why not pause and be honest about yourself? 158 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:20,080 Because if you are, if you actually slow down enough to stop and say, you know what? 159 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,440 Maybe I am part of the problem. 160 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:26,240 It won't condemn you. 161 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,200 It won't destroy you. 162 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,000 It can't. 163 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:37,080 Jesus gave his life for you and everything you do and have done. 164 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:43,080 But the second thing is that you have overcome evil. 165 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:49,920 The thing is, is that the more that we end up ignoring the struggles that we are facing, 166 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:56,520 turns out the more power that they actually have over us. 167 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:05,680 The more times that we try to ignore it, the more easily it can control us. 168 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:09,880 But the third thing that he ends up saying in that series of verses as he's addressing 169 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:17,920 people directly is where are we actually going to learn and grow God's word? 170 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:27,800 The thing is, is that we are in the middle of redirecting our rudder at Christ's memorial. 171 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:33,040 Because there are so many things that we do because we think about, well, is this something 172 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:41,760 that I find to be fun or do I happen to have some time for it that I can set aside? 173 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:49,680 But rather is how much of who we are and what we do is that we bring each other back into 174 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:55,880 studying the word of God and learning and growing together. 175 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:57,680 Do we? 176 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,600 Or have we oftentimes lost sight of our grounding there? 177 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:10,120 And that's the thing with this is that the only way that we can end up staying on track 178 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:14,800 with this is by doing it together. 179 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:20,560 See that's the thing is that I know that there are many people here who are connected in 180 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,800 Scripture outside of Christ's memorial. 181 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:31,360 And there are some who do connect with the word in Christ's memorial. 182 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:34,280 But is that our culture? 183 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:42,600 Is it so, has it flowed so much in everything that we say and do that everything that who 184 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:47,080 we are pours forth out of God's word? 185 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:52,880 And that's the thing about hating your brother is that if we allow the things that drive 186 00:13:52,880 --> 00:14:01,400 a wedge between us to stay there, then we have just lost the best allies that we have 187 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:07,040 to be strengthened in God by his spirit for his mission. 188 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:11,040 And it doesn't mean that there's not a reason for you to disagree or for you to bring up 189 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:12,040 something. 190 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:13,560 Hey, I think that this could be done differently. 191 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:16,520 I think this could be better. 192 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:17,800 Absolutely. 193 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:25,800 But rather is to say, is that drawing our focus away from what it is that God is trying 194 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,080 to do right here and right now? 195 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:36,400 See our relationship with one another is meant to bring us closer to Christ in John's epistle 196 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:46,000 as he speaks of the Antichrist and he's talking directly about how people had tried to detract 197 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,160 from what Christ had taught them about who he was. 198 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:56,480 But what you'll also see on there is that it's not just about the words, not just the 199 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:04,560 teachings, but the spirit of Antichrist is also about the spirit. 200 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:11,080 Because what you also see there is that instead of growing together in God's word, what did 201 00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,840 the people end up letting happen? 202 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:18,360 They let those divisions pull them apart. 203 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:23,940 And that's the thing about this is that to avoid the spirit of Antichrist is not just 204 00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:29,840 making sure that you had all the teachings right, but is to also pause and ask, is the 205 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:38,000 spirit that you're sharing with one another also from God? 206 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:45,320 So maybe let's take some time to pause and to see what we've been about. 207 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:53,920 When we think about discipleship, are we actually spending time drawing closer to God? 208 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:58,480 And hey, I'm one of the grown men here. 209 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:02,720 I know that we sometimes struggle with being more focused on the beer than we do on the 210 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,080 word. 211 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,360 Doesn't mean that that's a bad thing to have the beer. 212 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:11,640 But have we sometimes made that the goal? 213 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:19,960 If we say something is to care for one another, is it actually something that's drawing us 214 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,960 closer together? 215 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:28,920 Is it something where we could actually have difficult conversations about the things that 216 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:34,960 we know we're struggling with and actually find resolution? 217 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:40,920 When we say that something is outreach, is it something that's genuinely developing relationships 218 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,080 in our community through which the gospel can be shared? 219 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,400 Or do we sometimes just do something that's a good thing? 220 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:50,560 And we say, man, all right, got that task done. 221 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:51,800 We're really glad. 222 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,200 And then we were done. 223 00:16:54,200 --> 00:17:01,360 And did we miss out on being open to gospel conversations afterward? 224 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:08,920 Are we living out being disciples who care for one another and reach out into the world? 225 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:13,320 And that's where it is that we need to focus as a community. 226 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:19,480 Is that we need to stop looking at all the reasons that we have to be upset with or bothered 227 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:25,280 by our fellow human beings, our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and instead is to pause 228 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:31,600 and say, how is it that this life, this mission is meant to be encouraged together? 229 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:37,720 But that's also for you, because maybe others have done that to you at times. 230 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,360 Maybe there have been times when they've spoken ill of you. 231 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:48,720 And instead to slow down and to know that wherever you may be, you are forgiven. 232 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,960 They are forgiven. 233 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:58,360 And now we need to draw together because the mission of God is too big. 234 00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:00,080 There's too much. 235 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,960 We cannot do it by ourselves. 236 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:10,160 So my hope and prayer as we go forward is that as we abide in Christ, may we grow together 237 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:18,680 as that community, not ignoring the struggles, but dealing with them together as family. 238 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:28,680 And loving each other enough to see Christ and to show it to one another. 239 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:49,680 Thanks be to God.