WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.320 Hey everyone, and welcome to the brand new Burnec Church podcast. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.119 My name is Tim, and I'm your host and the pastor of Brennan Church. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:26.800 Today's podcast is the audio from part one of our series called Reactions to Speak Louder, in which we start to unpack how our reactions affect the world around us and also say something about our relationship to ourselves and to Jesus as well. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:28.800 We hope you enjoy the episode. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.320 This morning we're going to continue our conversation about the fruits of the Spirit. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:44.880 Galatians chapter 5, verse 22 says, the fruit of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit of Jesus working itself out in people should look like this love. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.560 Love is the overarching theme of all of these things. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:57.039 Joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, self-control. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.119 I didn't get those all in the right order, that's okay. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:00.719 I'm pretty sure I got every one of them. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:02.479 This is week eight, week nine is next week. 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:06.319 We're gonna talk about self-control, and that'll be the end of the conversation. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:11.760 I wanna tell you a quick story as we get going, and we're thinking about gentleness today, okay? 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.959 Here's a moment when I got caught. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:23.439 When I was 15 years old on my summer break, I went to McDonald's with one of my friends. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:33.680 Now, for the OGs in the room, the old school people, okay, you might remember that lots of uh fast food restaurants in the 80s and 90s had atriums on the front of it. 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:34.640 Do you remember this? 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.879 You have big glass rooms that overheated because there was no air conditioning, of course. 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.519 And would cook you alive when you went in there. 00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.239 You know, but it was uh it was a it was it was a thing, it was a deal. 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:54.319 And one summer, my friend and I, you know, while we were on our vacation, took our bikes, and because you know, our parents didn't drive kids anywhere in the 80s and 90s, uh, we just had to get there ourselves. 00:01:54.400 --> 00:02:02.319 So we jumped on our bike in the searing heat, and we went, I don't know why we were in the atrium, but we went in the atrium because it was really hot in there, and we had our lunch together. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.879 And as 15-year-old boys, we were um experimenting with the English language. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:10.400 Do you know what I mean? 00:02:11.599 --> 00:02:20.479 Using words that my parents hadn't taught me, but my education had, speaking of two different sets of values. 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:22.879 So we were there and it was innocuous. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.319 We were having a conversation between ourselves. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:29.840 I don't know if you remember, most of the atriums were sort of like blocked off from the rest of the restaurant by a big set of planters, right? 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.879 So you couldn't see what was going on, and nobody could see what was going on in the atrium. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:33.439 Do you remember this? 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:33.680 Okay. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:39.039 So we're sitting down in the atrium, having this experimental conversation. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:43.520 And I finished my lunch and left the restaurant and went home. 00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:45.199 Didn't think twice about it. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:49.680 Until I got home and my mom was sitting in our living room. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:55.520 And she was sitting in such a way that told me something was wrong. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:56.879 Ever had that experience? 00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:58.560 She didn't even have to say a word. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.879 She's just sitting in a posture that makes me realize, uh-oh. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.439 Uh-oh, something happened. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:08.879 She invites me into the living room, which was bad. 00:03:09.039 --> 00:03:10.960 She used my full name, Timothy. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:11.759 Would you join me in here? 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:13.039 That's even worse. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:15.280 This is not gonna go well. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:18.240 And I was, frankly, flabbergasted. 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.319 What could she want to talk to me about? 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:21.759 I had no idea. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:26.000 And she said, I got a phone call from Donna Mariah. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:30.639 Donna Mariayan was a sweet older lady who attended church with us. 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.159 Donna Mariayan was having lunch at McDonald's, Tim. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:41.919 On the other side of the atrium wall, from the experimental conversation I was having with my friend. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:47.360 And she heard me experimenting with the English language in ways she knew my mother wouldn't approve of. 00:03:48.319 --> 00:03:58.719 And so she, unlike me, left the restaurant, went directly home, picked up the phone, and called my mother and said, You should have heard the words that were coming out of his mouth. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:05.680 And she proceeded to, in one way or another, let my mom know exactly what words I was using that I wasn't supposed to use. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.439 It was the one and only time I've ever had soap in my mouth. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.520 That doesn't mean it fixed my swearing problem. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.720 It just means that I never got caught again. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:27.199 Isn't there something about those gotcha moments that we kind of love? 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.120 Just a little bit, like everybody's laughing at my expense. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:32.240 Right? 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:37.439 We are in a culture that loves gotcha moments, right? 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.519 When somebody messes up. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:46.639 One of my favorite comedians has a bit where he's like, I don't really do impressions, but let me do one for you. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:49.920 And I'm not gonna try and do it because I'm not nearly as funny as he is. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:57.519 But the basic premise of the impression is he does an impression of the audience and says, This is what it sounds like to me. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:00.560 You guys are ready for me to mess up. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:11.360 And anytime I mess up, doesn't matter when, doesn't matter how, doesn't matter if I did it 20 years ago, if I find out about it, we're gonna get you and we're gonna ruin your life. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:16.560 He said, that's what it feels like to try to entertain this culture. 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:28.720 If you think back, you can probably think of an athlete, a celebrity, a politician, a pastor who's had a gotcha moment. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:29.839 Right? 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.920 And suddenly everybody's a commentator, right? 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:40.240 We post, we share, we speculate, we laugh at them, we expose them. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:47.279 We don't just notice failure anymore, we consume it. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.279 Reality TV has built an industry on it. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:58.240 Social media has accelerated it, and cancel culture has weaponized it. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:05.839 And so our feeds are full of exposures and opportunities to spill the tea. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:18.319 Our society seems to love catching people, and sometimes it feels like the church loves catching people too. 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.680 I don't know if you've ever seen this or had this experience. 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:23.199 I certainly have. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:32.879 Where somebody gets caught doing something they're not supposed to do, it's probably worse than being caught swearing at McDonald's. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:40.319 And sometimes, sometimes what happens is people aren't wounded because they got caught. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.560 They get wounded by us by the way we catch people. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.560 How we go about catching people. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:54.720 Today, out of Galatians chapter 5, we want to talk about gentleness. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:04.959 And I want to talk about how gentleness needs to inform the way we go about doing our catching when catching comes along. 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:10.000 But before we get into it too deeply, I want to say one thing that's really important. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:15.839 If you're here and you hear gentleness and all of a sudden, you know, it's it's it's it's weakness. 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:18.800 Can I try to get you to flip that around this morning? 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:20.720 Because here's what I think gentleness is. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:24.800 I think gentleness is how strength behaves when it matures. 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:30.879 Gentleness is how strength behaves when it's under control. 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.560 With that in mind, I want to look at a couple of stories in scripture. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:42.560 One of them I'm not gonna unpack entirely this morning because Ryan Guerra did this for you a few weeks ago. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:46.160 It's the woman caught in adultery. 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:52.480 And the first thing that always strikes me about this story when I read it in the Bible is like, where the heck is the dude? 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:03.199 Because how I understand adultery, that would take two to tango if you caught them in it. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:05.439 So where's the other person? 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.360 That's a nice speculation for us to think about. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:14.000 Might give some perspective on where the culture was at the time. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:19.839 What I want to focus on, though, is Jesus' response when he catches it. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.920 So if you're not familiar with the story, I'll tell it to you really briefly. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:38.000 The religious elite of Jesus' day bring this woman in front of the community because they've caught her cheating on her husband. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.799 And in their culture, the punishment for this is death by stoning. 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:43.360 Okay? 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:51.360 So they bring her, and at this time, now we're we're we're several, you know, sort of months slash years into Jesus' ministry. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:52.639 So Jesus is on the scene. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:09:00.879 What they're trying to do is catch Jesus being unfaithful to their laws. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:01.360 Right? 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.759 They're trying to set Jesus up as the bad guy, ironically. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:12.559 And so they bring her out in front and they show her to Jesus and they go, look, we found this woman caught in adultery. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:14.960 May we stone her teacher? 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.120 What a question. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.120 Jesus, I mean, it's so brilliant. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:25.600 This is the story where Jesus bends down and he starts writing on the ground, but we're not told what he's writing. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:26.799 And everybody loves to speculate. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:27.919 What did Jesus write on the ground? 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:29.840 Did he write their secret sins on the ground? 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:30.960 What happened? 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:38.559 What we know is that Jesus' answer to them was this is what the law says. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:44.720 If any of you are without sin, go ahead and throw the first stone. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:46.159 I'll wait. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.320 And one by one, they get the message and they walk away. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:10:04.480 And when nobody is left, Jesus is there, right, embodying everything you and I need to know about God. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:05.039 Right? 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:14.960 If you want to know how God would respond to somebody caught, go and read this story in John chapter 8 for yourself again. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:15.600 Okay? 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:26.080 Because what happens is Jesus standing there says, I could throw this stone, but I'm not going to. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.679 I choose not to. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.240 Now go and leave your life of sin. 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:42.559 In this moment, Jesus affirms so many of the things that he's been teaching his followers. 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:43.600 Right? 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:45.200 Don't judge. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.360 Be full of grace and truth at the same time. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:54.399 Because notice, Jesus doesn't relabel what's going on. 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.360 He's very clear about what happened. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:59.600 You're sinning, right? 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.480 Talk about that a little bit in a second. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:04.960 Go and leave that life. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:10.799 And yet, while he is being perfectly truthful, he chooses to be full of grace at the same time. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.480 Show mercy. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.440 Jesus has the high ground here. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.720 Not just because he's God, but because he knows the law. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:30.879 And in that moment, Jesus chooses to be the stronger person through his gentleness. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:40.000 He is mature, controlled, and he leverages his strength for somebody else. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.360 That's what gentleness looks like. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.360 And this isn't the only time that we see Jesus do it in scripture, right? 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:51.919 We could think about Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, right? 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.600 Where he is full of grace and truth and he is gentle towards her. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:12:10.320 When he meets Zacchaeus and is very clear about the things that Zacchaeus has done wrong, and yet chooses to go to Zacchaeus's home to eat with him instead of going to eat with those who feel like they deserve his presence. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:24.320 And it was obvious, obvious to those who came after Jesus, that gentleness was a fruit of the Spirit of God working itself out through humanity. 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:37.919 And that's why we find Paul, as he continues Galatians, calling us, the church, to behave the same way. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:41.840 Here's what he says: Galatians chapter 6, verse 1. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:49.519 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in sin, and every time I read that, I go, Paul's being very kind here. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:56.879 If someone's caught in sin, when someone is caught in sin, because it's going to happen. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:01.360 Now, I just want to take a quick second here because I feel like this is necessary. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:07.279 Sin is one of those words that like we hear it and we wint every time because like it's been weaponized against people. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:11.360 All we mean when we say this, all we mean, you know, it's like the word just. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.399 Never use the word just. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:13.279 Nothing is ever just. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:14.000 Do you notice that? 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:18.240 Once something is, you know, it's just this, it's not just that, it's something else. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:30.399 Sin, the problem that God has with sin, the reason sin matters, is because God loves so deeply that he can't stand to see someone else hurt him. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:38.080 And you will not find anything referenced in the scriptures as sin that doesn't boil down to somebody getting hurt. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:46.000 Either we're hurting ourselves, we're hurting our relationship with God, we're hurting each other, or we're hurting the world around us. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.279 Something is getting hurt. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:48.399 That's why sin matters. 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:53.600 Sin grieves God so deeply because God loves so deeply. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:14:06.799 So if someone is caught doing something that hurts another person and because it hurts another person, offends God, but not if, when, when that happens. 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:15.039 Everyone, everyone knows the feeling of being caught doing something you're not supposed to be doing. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:22.480 Sometimes we know the feeling that we should have been caught, but we haven't been caught yet. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:23.440 Right? 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.039 Maybe it was a relationship compromise. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:32.799 Maybe it's debt that you've accumulated and your partner doesn't know anything about it. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:37.759 Maybe, maybe it's a secret that you haven't told anyone yet. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:44.559 Maybe it's an online life that you're not ready to talk about or haven't. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.720 Maybe it's an addiction. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:56.399 Maybe it's a double standard, maybe it's anger, maybe it's an affair, maybe it's just plain old dishonesty. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:03.120 You know, the interesting thing is that none of those things happen in a moment. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:04.480 Right? 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:08.559 We don't wake up one morning and decide I'm gonna destroy my life today. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.519 People don't do that, right? 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.639 What it starts with is something small. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:19.759 A heart affection given to somebody it doesn't belong to. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.120 A lie that you can get away with. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:26.000 Moving money from here to there. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:33.759 And then it's repeated, and then it's normalized, and suddenly it snowballs out of control. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.240 And that's the moment when we're either caught or afraid to be caught. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:49.519 I want to tell you a story that I hope, I hope will come across the right way. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.799 It's a little bit vulnerable on my part, so bear with me. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.120 When I was a teenager, um, I I had I had a struggle with pornography. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:04.559 It started small. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:09.519 It started with my 11-year-old friend getting a magazine from his dad. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.000 And they lived in a home where it wasn't a big deal. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.000 He was becoming a young man, so you might as well see this at some point. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:20.960 And he shared it with me, and things snowballed from there. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:21.840 You know? 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.480 So when I was in my early 20s, I was still struggling with it. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:31.919 The problem with that was that in my early 20s, I met this girl who I really liked. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:34.960 And I and I think she really liked me. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:43.840 In fact, I know that they must have liked me somewhat because her family built me a room in their basement when I lost my job so that I could stay with them. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.919 This is Melissa's family, by the way. 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:47.200 Right? 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.720 If that didn't become super clear, right? 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:58.879 So one evening, uh, but at the time, Melissa was the only one who had a computer in the house. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:12.160 So one night, as Melissa was in bed, I had been playing a game online, and then she fell asleep, and then one thing led to another, and my addiction kicked in, and I moved into that world. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:17.599 But then Melissa woke up and she caught me. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:24.799 And in that moment, she had every right to drop me like a dirty shirt. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:26.079 Right? 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:31.920 She displayed so much gentleness towards me in that moment. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.799 Now I want to be really clear, she wasn't weak or whimsical. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.640 She was mad at me, and she had every right to be mad at me. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:48.559 But what she did was say, instead of I'm I'm out, I'm done, I'm moving on, how can I help? 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:50.000 What do you need? 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:58.400 How can I lend my strength to you so that you can overcome this thing that you've been caught in? 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:14.720 I'm sure many of you have stories that are like that, maybe not with the same issue, but something that you've been doing in your private life that you haven't been proud of and you got caught. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:17.839 It's not if, it's when. 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:20.960 Guys, if we do life together, right? 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:27.440 That's what we say our church wants to be, that our lives together would tell a story of God's love that the world wants to hear. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:33.200 So if we're gonna do life together, some point, someone's gonna get caught. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.160 It's the unfortunate reality of the human condition. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:40.079 We all kind of have this tendency to move in a direction we shouldn't move in. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:44.960 So, if someone gets caught in sin, what do you do? 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:54.480 You who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.519 That's the instruction that we're given. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:18:59.599 That's the world we're trying to create. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:04.559 That's why the fruit of the Spirit working itself out in us matters. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:09.119 There's a choice between condemnation and restoration, right? 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.039 There's a choice every time. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:18.079 We think that Paul should say, you know, if you catch someone in sin, expose that person publicly. 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:26.559 Or rebuke that person quickly, or condemn that person harshly. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:34.160 That feels more in line with what we're inclined to do, but Paul says restore them gently. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.799 I think about it like this. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:49.680 In the neighborhood around the corner, just around the corner from my house, there is there is a house that looks like it has been there for a very long time and looks like it has been uncared for for a very long time. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:58.160 It's the kind of house you drive by and assume that if somebody pulls up outside of it, they're probably there to take delivery of some sort of narcotic that they're not supposed to have. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:19:58.799 Okay? 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.759 It sat like that for two years as we've lived in the house that we live in currently. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:09.200 Recently, though, I've noticed that there's some work going on at that house. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:15.200 It's a very interesting thing because to me, my inclination, and you've seen this time and time again in Maple Ridge, right? 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.440 The old houses in town get bulldozed so we can put up something big and modern, right? 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:20.400 Happens all the time. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:23.680 You walk by, it's like, wow, that house is really out of place in this neighborhood. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.359 Doesn't look like anything else is built here. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:29.279 But somebody came along and bought the property because the property is actually more valuable than the building on it. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:35.200 Bulldozed it over and said, I'm gonna build my dream home on this plot of land because I love Maple Ridge so much. 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:35.759 Right? 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:39.680 And to be honest, that's probably that's probably my inclination as well. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:50.559 Bulldoze the thing over, start from scratch, build something new, then I won't have to think about it for you know at least five seconds after it's built, depending on who builds it and how well they do. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:56.480 What's actually happening to this house is that somebody has a vision for restoration for that house. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:59.119 Which is really interesting because it's a it's it's a unique house. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:04.240 It's got this you know cool uh big peak roof and and big peak uh on the front. 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:11.279 It almost looks like something that like belongs in a Hansel and Gretel uh storybook, you know, something something from a fairy tale. 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:12.960 It's a unique house. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:14.319 Somebody has got a vision. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:26.640 What they're doing instead of bulldozing it over, they're doing lots of things in the yard, they're trying to regrow the grass, they're doing all kinds of things, but they're also reshingling the roof, repainting the house, redoing the concrete. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:31.440 They are restoring instead of condemning. 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.359 Condemnation is quick and easy. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:55.599 Restoration requires us to have a vision that even though this is going to be probably more difficult and much, much more messy, I can see the potential of what's on the other side, and I value the uniqueness that's there. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.680 Restoration, it is absolutely wonderful. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.640 100% crucial and critical that we remember that restoration is God's ultimate goal. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.680 God's ultimate goal with all things, right? 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:18.319 Like if you read the scriptures all the way through and you see where this is all headed, it's a new heaven and a new earth. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:20.400 It isn't the removal of us. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:23.759 And those two things are supposed to be together. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:28.000 So I don't believe it's the removal of us from this world permanently. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:37.519 I believe that it's it's us inhabiting it with Jesus as our king in the perfection that he imagined when he made it in the first place. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:39.599 It's all moving back in that direction. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.759 It's all moving towards restoration. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:47.279 And if restoration is God's goal, then restoration is Jesus' goal, and if it's his goal, it should be our goal. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.079 Amen? 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:49.359 Right. 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.240 Sometimes we forget this. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:23:02.720 Sometimes we wish people came to us already restored, fully, perfectly restored. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.519 Right? 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:08.000 We get frustrated when people have their things that they're working through. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.640 Why isn't that fixed in your life yet? 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:17.680 It is the definition of taking the plank out of our own eye while examining the speck in somebody else's eye, but we do it all the time, don't we? 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:26.720 We forget about the things that God is being merciful and gentle towards us in and we forget to apply it to the world around us. 00:23:28.559 --> 00:23:29.200 Right? 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.319 There are no perfect people here. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:39.599 In fact, it's it's often what we say the only kind of people that aren't welcomed at Burnett Church are perfect people. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:40.799 Right? 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:42.559 No perfect people allowed here. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:47.039 Because the minute any one of us, myself included, got involved in this thing, it became imperfect. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:50.400 So if you think you're perfect, the rest of us aren't. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:53.119 And this probably isn't the community for you. 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:54.720 Right? 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:05.359 Because, and we say that and we're coy about it and we joke about it a little bit, but that perspective is necessary from the church. 00:24:05.759 --> 00:24:22.000 It's necessary that we carry a sense that God is being kind and gentle towards us because we are being called to be kind and gentle towards the world in Jesus' name. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:30.480 So it's important that we understand that there's two ways, two ways you can catch something. 00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:33.359 Two ways something can be caught, right? 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:44.079 You can catch something in a net, and what happens when you do that is it's a mechanism that tires out and wears out what you've caught, right? 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:51.039 You think about a fish, the last thing you do is you put it in the net and you let it wriggle around in there and still stop wriggling around, and then you can pick it up. 00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:53.440 Then you have caught it. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:54.400 Right? 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:00.880 It's a device for entrapment, entanglement, and exhaustion. 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:05.440 Or sometimes we can be caught by a net. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:15.359 One of my favorite guys on social media right now is this guy who does a uh a moment uh that he calls he's he's Jamaican, so excuse my accent. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.759 He he he calls it me na do this. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:18.720 Okay? 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.319 Translated, I won't do that. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:22.960 Okay? 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:29.519 And he shows these absolutely ridiculous activities that people take on and try to do. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:36.079 Like uh, you know, when Red Bull paid the guy to free climb the um the building in Dubai. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.200 Did anybody see this? 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:40.799 And he has no safety net. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:43.200 What are you doing? 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:45.119 What are you doing? 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:53.440 At the very least, sometimes when we do these extreme activities, we just need somebody to have a net in case we fall. 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.640 Caught by the net. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:05.680 In that case, your net, the thing that you're using to catch, provides protection, a soft landing, and safety. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:12.720 The world has enough people attempting to catch others in a net. 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:21.359 What our world needs now is a church that catches people with their net. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.680 We use our nets to provide protection, soft landings, and safety. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.880 People who have restoration in mind. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:37.119 And that's what I dream for us to be as a community of people. 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:39.920 When we say come as you are, that's what we mean. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:49.279 There are enough people in the world who have been caught in a net and brought shame by their relationship with the church. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:59.279 What if people knew in our community that when they're in their worst moments, there is a soft landing place at Burnett Church? 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:06.960 What if people could be certain that we were for their restoration, not for their condemnation? 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:18.880 Imagine people in our community saying, I don't know what I believe, but if my life fell apart, I think those people would help. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:22.400 I've seen it. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.799 You know, there are moments when we have that reputation. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:33.519 Layla had a friend last year who lost their mom tragically. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:34.079 Right? 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.200 A friend that she built playing soccer. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:39.920 Their family's the same age as ours. 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:46.480 Mom was in her mid-40s and passed away suddenly, tragically. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:56.559 And I was so proud that when that little girl said, we need help, she texted Layla. 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:06.079 Because her experience with people in our church were that we were safe. 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:08.400 We could be trusted. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:10.480 We would help them. 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:41.680 I remember talking to somebody who who, you know, as sometimes happens, we have moments in in our lives when we're, you know, heavily involved in church and moments in our lives when maybe we're not as heavily involved, and in one of those less heavily involved moments, that person's mother passed away, and they immediately called us, started attending regularly, came back here because they knew in their worst moment you would help them. 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:43.839 You would catch them. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:47.920 With your net, not in your net. 00:28:50.160 --> 00:29:05.119 We can and must lead a movement that is changing hearts in our community as it relates to the kingdom of Jesus, as it relates to the reputation of the church. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:07.279 We must do this. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:19.519 This is go back to, you know, Pastor Tim's on a bit of a mission right now to think through all the ways that we can help build up our next generation. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.160 We need to do this. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:26.720 We need to get this right. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:32.640 We need to catch with, not in. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:40.480 And if you find yourself in a place where you have a practical opportunity to do that, right, go back to what Paul says. 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:47.839 When you catch someone in a sin, what do you do? 00:29:49.680 --> 00:29:53.440 There are two questions I think you need to ask yourself if you find yourself in that moment. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:59.839 The first thing, before you say a word, ask yourself, what if it was me? 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:03.119 What if it was me? 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:14.559 Because in that moment, you will have self-awareness to realize, there but by the grace of God, go I. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:18.799 We are all, we talked about this a week or two ago. 00:30:19.039 --> 00:30:27.599 We are all one or two, or maybe three, if you're super lucky, bad decisions away from being the person who got caught. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:29.279 So what if it was me? 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:30.799 I'm capable of it. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:32.319 What if it was me? 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:33.200 Right? 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:48.799 And and and what Paul says in verse two of chapter six, I know we've spent a lot of time just talking about this one thing, like when you catch somebody, Paul says, be careful that you that you're not tempted when you catch somebody. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:49.200 Okay? 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:51.440 So there are two things that he could mean by that. 00:30:51.680 --> 00:31:07.680 He could either mean don't get sucked in, but I think if we I think if we look at it on a more deep level, if we look at it under the surface, maybe what Paul is saying is, if you're not careful, it might be you next. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:10.319 What if it was me? 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:13.759 And then the second question, what is my goal? 00:31:13.920 --> 00:31:16.720 If I'm going to approach somebody who's been caught, what's my goal? 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:19.440 Am I condemning or am I restoring? 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:23.279 Be incredibly clear about it, because your approach will be entirely different. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:30.160 It will make all the difference to the person that you need to talk to. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:39.680 What if, what if we were the people that our society knew isn't interested in gotcha? 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:46.880 What if we were the people that everybody knew? 00:31:47.920 --> 00:31:49.119 I've got you. 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:50.960 I've got you. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:55.519 Let me let me help you through this moment. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:00.400 Let's pray together. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:12.559 Jesus, we're all gonna wield the net at some point. 00:32:15.039 --> 00:32:18.880 And probably at some point we're all gonna be in the net. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:30.079 Fill us with a vision for how you would deploy that net. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:41.839 Help us to see that our goal is not to catch each other in it, but to catch each other with it. 00:32:44.480 --> 00:32:47.599 Help us to be more concerned about restoration. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:33:00.960 Have the heart that you have for personal global restoration that Jesus so often displayed. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:03.519 It's clear. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:12.480 Even Jesus said, I didn't come to condemn the world, I came to save it. 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:20.400 And if we are followers of His, God, what we want is for you to fill us with His Spirit. 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:28.319 So that when we're in a moment of strength, we'll have the strength to be gentle. 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:42.480 And when we're in a moment of weakness, somebody else will lend their strength to us through gentleness. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:47.359 We ask you to do all this in Jesus' name. 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:49.759 For his sake. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:50.799 Amen.