WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.800 Having me back. 00:00:00.959 --> 00:00:03.839 Last time I came, I filled in when you had food poisoning, eh? 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:11.199 And uh I did a sermon with too much blood in it, so I just promised no references to blood today, okay? 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:20.960 So um, hey, I I had a a father ring me during the week, it was about Wednesday. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:24.399 He said, My kids asking a lot of questions about God. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:31.199 And um he's six, and I can't answer them. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:33.439 And this guy isn't a Christian. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:36.880 He's uh I discovered today he's a cop. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:55.200 And he so this he brought his he came along to church this morning and he uh brought his his little boy who's about there on me and he's looking at me and he's holding his kids' Bible, children's Bible, and his first question is why do they call Jesus the Son of God? 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:09.120 And his follow-up questions were really good too, and I was like, oh my goodness, this kid is reading this book, and he is wired into it, and his dad's just going, I don't know. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:17.439 He said, I guess we'll be here next week because he wants to learn about God, and um, I thought that was a really complicated question. 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:22.719 I don't know if an adult asked me, why is Jesus the Son of God? 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:36.799 You know, so um I what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about God today because whether you like it or not, it's kind of the the business we're in. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:59.920 And secondly, whether we like it or not, we're in a world of conflicting stories, and when you say God, people don't know what the heck you're talking about, because what we believe about God is completely different to everybody else, and so I'm gonna talk about God and hopefully it'll be useful. 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:06.560 And I I really didn't um so I'll actually I'll do a diagram first just to kick off, okay? 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:18.159 And um, you know, if uh anyone's got any questions and you want to wave, this this is a this is a little bit theological today, but I hope you'll find it fun, okay? 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:27.759 So when you think about, I'll call this the pyramid of glory, and at the top is the most glorious being you've all got. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:29.840 Okay, you with me so far? 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:42.159 Now the next step below that is kind of I'll call it the seraphim, cherubim, and other complicated beings that we don't know anything about. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:43.439 Okay? 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:50.000 They are more glorious than the next level down, which is the angels. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.400 Anyone had an encounter with an angel? 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:55.520 Yeah, yeah, I thought there would be. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:00.479 Then there's a little lower than the angels is us. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:08.479 Below that we've got conscious life like animals, and the next thing below that we've got the cockroaches. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:10.879 Okay? 00:03:12.879 --> 00:03:25.360 So, if you look at that, us getting a handle on God, we've got to move through various levels of spiritual realities. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:29.919 Okay, we're much closer to the cockroaches. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:41.840 And I would say that a cockroach has got a good chance of understanding your psychological profile as we have of getting God. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:43.439 Okay? 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:44.159 C. 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:46.159 Lewis says this really interesting thing. 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:50.080 He says the higher being is always a mystery to the lower being. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:51.199 Guess what? 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.360 You're the lower being. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:04.479 And I'm just amazed at how arrogantly people talk about God like they know him personally, and they've really nailed what he thinks about salvation, the universe, and everything. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.080 Because we don't know much at all. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:17.199 So when we talk about God, it shouldn't be with arrogance, I know what's wrong with your life, and this is the way to fix it. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:19.439 And I'm very certain about this. 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:25.279 We should have a humility because we're closer to the cockroaches than God. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:27.519 Okay? 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:29.199 Everyone with me so far? 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:35.360 Okay, so the higher being is mysterious. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:39.279 So when we were in Palmy before we moved, we had a cat called Sebastian. 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.360 He didn't give a damn about me. 00:04:41.759 --> 00:04:43.600 He really didn't give a damn about me. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.399 Like, I I went through a depression, he didn't notice. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.720 He just slept, he slept through it all. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.240 He slept in eight, he he did eat, do he was good at eating. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:05:00.240 Like, he came in and out of our house, no empathy, no understanding. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.800 That's how you are in the house of God. 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:05.519 But worse. 00:05:06.079 --> 00:05:13.600 Because the reality of God is far further from us than Sebastian is from me. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.199 Sebastian's here. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:16.399 Okay? 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:25.199 So if you're not getting God and you know everyone else seems like they know everything, and you think, I'm not really sure about this, you're you're getting close. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:31.360 It's really great to carry humility about something we know zippo about. 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:36.399 Now, when I did study the theology of God for the first time, it was a bit of a shock to me. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.000 I was I was in my late 30s. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:44.480 I thought I knew everything because I was a I was a proper Pentecostal who who just knew these things. 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:50.639 And uh we knew better than all those other guys because they hadn't really met God like we'd met God. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:54.639 And I remember that we were uh and I'm gonna talk about the Trinity today. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:07.040 It came to the doctrine of the Trinity, and they said some people believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and they kind of believe in three gods, and that's called tritheism, and that's heresy. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:09.920 And I think, oh my goodness, I'm a heretic, I'm a heretic. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:30.079 I had no idea that what I believed was I'd experienced Jesus, and then I experienced the Holy Spirit, got filled with the Holy Spirit, which was a life-changing moment for me, and then I started to wrestle with God the Father, but I never thought about them that they were one. 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:36.959 That I'd experienced them one at a time, and so they were just three dudes. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:44.560 And I was a tritheist because I'd never thought about God being one. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:46.160 Anyone else like that? 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:48.560 You're thinking, actually, oh, I'm guilty of that. 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:56.639 And because we do theology out of experience, we experience Jesus and we think I believe in Jesus. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:02.639 And uh the Holy Spirit, but then we talk about God, so who are we talking about? 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:13.360 Okay, in fact, the we're in the New Testament the God language is very specific, it only ever refers to who. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:18.399 There you go. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:25.920 It's always the Father, and that's why it always says the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:32.720 God is the Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:38.160 Now, in the in the Old Testament, these two titles for God are used all the time: God and Lord. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:44.480 God is Elohim, and Lord is Yahweh, or I am. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:45.680 Okay? 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:55.600 And in the New Testament, they become to mean some very specific things, and we don't notice because we don't think about it because we're just used to these words. 00:07:55.839 --> 00:08:04.079 So we we've got the we've got God, the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we've got the Holy Spirit, and this is the Trinity. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:17.920 And I want to just talk you through take through a little bit of Bible on this, because what we do, we tend to do theology out of experience, but then once we've had an experience, we have to delve into the word and get our heads around it. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:32.320 Because the the Bible is the filterer, the filter for us to end up in God in a healthy way rather than in a weird way, and uh end up a heretic like I was. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.480 I like to think I'm not anymore. 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:38.480 But anyway, time will tell whether you think that at the end of the sermon or not. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:49.200 Okay, I want to read from um Genesis chapter 1, verse 1 and 2, and then uh chapter verses 26 to 27. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:56.000 And I love it when people have Bibles in front of them, but you can use your phone to. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:08.399 Okay, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:23.120 And then verse 26, then God said, Let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over cattle, wild animals, every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.240 So God created humankind in his image. 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:31.600 In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.840 What did you notice that it said about God in those verses? 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:40.639 God created? 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:41.120 Yep. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.240 What else? 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:47.840 Did you notice that God sounded just a little bit complicated there? 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:50.399 What made him complicated? 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:54.399 Power? 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:57.759 In our image. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.039 Well spotted, let us let us make humankind in our image. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:05.759 We got a plurality going on here. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:13.360 So it says, in the beginning, God, it sounds singular, but then it's let us create in our image. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:16.960 There's a community doing this. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:18.399 Okay? 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:26.720 And it says God created, and then it says the spirit moved over the face of the deep. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:34.399 Automatically, we're sensing that God is a little bit more complicated than just a dude. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:36.559 He's not a singularity. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:41.759 There's something of a we here, even in the very start of the Old Testament. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:48.320 And then the big statement that Israel makes about God is in Deuteronomy chapter 6. 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:59.679 And Moses is laying down the law quite literally, and then in verse 4 it says, Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one God. 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:03.919 Those two words again, Lord and God, are being used in one phrase. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:06.159 The Lord our God is one God. 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:08.720 Now here's the thing. 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.000 Those words are complicated. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:14.960 The Lord is I am. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:16.559 It's singular. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:18.000 Okay? 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:23.200 There's a lot of blankness in the room, but humor me. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.440 So Lord I am. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:26.559 Who are you, God? 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:30.159 Moses says, I am who I am, Yahweh. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:30.720 Okay? 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:33.279 And then it says the Lord our God. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.360 Now that word is Elohim, and it's actually plural. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:45.039 So it's actually saying the Lord singular, our God's, is one. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:47.679 One God. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:50.399 Okay? 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:52.320 Confused? 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:53.519 You should be. 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:02.799 Now, you might remember that in the garden, we'll go back to Genesis 1. 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:10.639 God created, said, Let us create humankind in our image, male and female, he created them. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:20.480 And then in Genesis 2, he brings the woman to the man and he says, Whoa, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.519 Very clear thinking for a man looking at a naked woman. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:24.080 Okay? 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:27.279 And then he says, Let them be one. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:29.360 Okay? 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:32.000 That's the image of marriage. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:33.120 Oneness is marriage. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:37.600 God created male and female in the image of God. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:44.879 So God created a duality, male and female, to image the divine community. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:49.279 So men in church leadership, dodgy. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:55.840 Because male and female together image God. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:08.639 In fact, that's why you know family is so important and why family is so under threat, because actually, male and female image God together. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:18.000 And the complexity and breaking down of identity is a threat to what God wants to model. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:19.919 Oneness. 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:21.919 God is after oneness. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.639 Male and female image the community of God together. 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:27.200 Okay? 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.639 I'm not trying to be judgmental or anything. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:33.600 What I'm trying to say is what the Bible is saying here. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:42.000 That male and female have value, equal value together, because without the two of them together, we don't image God. 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:46.799 And the separation of gender is just a disaster in our community. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:47.200 Okay? 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:50.799 Even at a Christian barbecue, the men go one place, women go the other. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.159 It's just weirdness, isn't it? 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.320 Okay, but we can do this together, people. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.200 We can do male and female imaging God together. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:02.000 And that's why any team, any whatever, we got to do this together. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.000 Anyway, going back to it. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.679 So God, the Lord our God is one God. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:14.000 So this we, this us who create, is a oneness. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:22.320 So here's the thing I want you to remember: at the center of the universe is a relationship. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:31.200 At the center of the universe is a relationship, it's a loving relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:36.240 And by the way, the Spirit in the Old and New Testament is always a feminine word. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:38.159 Okay? 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:42.000 Now I'm not saying Father, Son, or Spirit have gender. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:46.480 What I'm saying is there is a balance, which is really interesting. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:47.120 Okay? 00:14:48.080 --> 00:15:02.320 And in the the center of the universe is a relationship, and there's this overflow of love, and out of this overflow of love of father, son, and spirit together, they decide to create. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:11.759 Let us make male and female, and let's give them the run of the earth and let them have everything. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:20.799 Because it's a relationship of love, though, and they want us to live in the life of freedom, joy that they have. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:34.000 So, I mean, you know how it ends, it all goes bad, you know, the fall, all the crap that goes down is humanity turns its back on God and decides it doesn't want to be in that community of love. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:51.120 And um so God goes back to the drawing board, but it was always in the plan that one day the Trinity would enter human life in the form of Jesus. 00:15:53.200 --> 00:16:04.000 Isn't that mind-blowing that the God who is so up here enters, it says he emptied himself. 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:13.759 We call it the incarnation, where Jesus, the Son of God, took on human flesh and lived among us. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:20.559 I mean that that should blow our brains out that we believe God did that insane thing. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:31.360 Okay, and so God enters human life, the Trinity, the divine community enters human experience. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:39.360 So the gap between God, when we look at the, you know, God, what us down here, go out way up there. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:40.960 Well, God's just messed it up. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:50.960 He's come in, he's come into our world in our way with our vulnerability, with our weakness, and our ability to die. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:53.679 He's taken on all of that. 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:00.879 The Trinity enters life on earth. 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:03.120 Isn't that mind-blowing? 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.359 I mean, God is profoundly interesting. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:12.880 And if you go to board and well, we need something new to here because it's really dull in here. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:15.200 You know, think on that for a while. 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:22.880 That the the the the life that created the universe, the life that created the universe. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.279 Here's an image, okay? 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:32.079 If you can imagine a giant big enough to hold the Milky Way in the palm of his hand. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:33.200 Okay. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:44.799 So imagine a giant that big and he starts walking to the next galaxy, holding the Milky Way in his hand, because it's just like a frisbee. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:48.160 It'll take three months for him to get there. 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:50.319 Walking his giant steps. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:53.119 That's how far the next galaxy is away. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:00.240 I mean, we're talking about galaxies of 200 billion sons. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.559 The God who made that enters this. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:19.759 And you know how the story ends, it goes all the way to the cross where the Son of God dies. 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:30.160 Enters, not only incarnates himself to the living, then he goes and incarnates himself to the dead. 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:32.160 That's what's going on. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:34.799 He is hanging out with the dead. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:41.759 It says he went and evangelized the dead in 1 Peter 4. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:50.720 There's something to get your head around that Jesus not only came to be the Lord of the living, but also the Lord of the dead. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:53.519 God's up for it all. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:57.920 And I don't know how that works, but it's very interesting. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:18:59.839 Okay? 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:03.200 And then he rises from the dead. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:21.279 But if you can imagine this community of love where the Trinity life has entered human existence in the person of God, and we kill him, and for the first time, God the Father experiences separation from the Son. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:32.559 If you think about what happens on the cross, the sky darkens, there's an earthquake, and the curtain is torn from top to bottom. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:36.000 That's what happens when someone is in grief over someone who's died. 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:38.319 They tore their garment from top to bottom. 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.640 This is an expression of the grief of God that his son has died. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:47.200 Jesus said in John 17, the Father and I are one. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:50.559 And now they're not. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.519 I don't know how this works. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:57.279 Theological bedrock is that God never changes. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:02.880 But when Jesus becomes human, and when Jesus dies, something happens. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:08.240 God is not unaffected, he is in grief over his son. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:09.519 Okay? 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:12.559 And then he raises him. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:15.279 God knew how it was going to end. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:18.480 We all know how it's going to end. 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:22.720 We all know we're going to end up together, but we still grieve over death, don't we? 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:37.839 And that, and if you have a relationship of unlimited, utter love, I think grief God would grieve deeper than you or me because we only have a very finite love, don't we? 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:48.480 I I think God went through unimaginable pain for us to be included in the Trinitarian life of God. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.839 So I I quite like this about God. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:13.200 That God becomes this God who reaches, the Trinity reaches into human life, taking on human form, taking on the cost of our separation from God, and then sends his Holy Spirit. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:21.839 Not only does he put his son into human life, now he puts the Holy Spirit, and on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit becomes our life. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:27.279 We have entered into the river of God, the life of God, the Trinitarian life of God. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:29.279 We are invited in. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:31.440 You're invited in. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:38.799 I used to think of God as kind of this very austere management kind of committee type. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.720 You know, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are thinking, what the hell are we going to do about Nigel? 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:44.400 He is really a problem. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:47.599 You know, disappointing, he's disappointing. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:55.759 You know, three serious religious types having committee meetings because that's the way we imagine life that God is. 00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.599 I I I th I think it's wild up there, and I think there. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:05.920 This, like when when Jesus comes, he says he came that we might have life. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.720 And in fact, John 1's really interesting. 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:18.319 John 1 is just the most amazing chapter, but there's this phrase that I missed for a long time. 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:30.640 Talking about Jesus, you know, the beginning was the word, and it says, What has come into being in him was life, and that life was the light of all people. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:34.640 You see, Jesus brought life back into the world. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:50.720 The life of the Father, Son, and the Spirit, this community and overflowing love and light, he brought that, rose again after his death, and he sent the Spirit so that you could be in the life of God. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:54.799 And so if you're a boring prat, it's because you're not in Trinitarian life. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:57.680 Like God longs for you to be. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:23.839 It says God in three persons. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.160 That's bedrock theology. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:27.759 God in three persons. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:31.279 One God, three persons. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:37.680 Personhood is an amazing thing. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.400 It takes quite a while to become a person, doesn't it? 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:43.200 When you're a kid, you just have your nappies changed. 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:45.759 That's as high as your life can be. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:56.400 But slowly your kids start to show a personality, and then they start to reveal values and beliefs as they are formed. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:03.599 And at some point they're not just a human being, they are a person revealing personality. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:04.559 Okay? 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:10.720 And we become persons in community. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:14.240 If we didn't have a community, we'd just be human beings. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.240 We'd just be animals without a community. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.960 Because personhood is formed in community. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:24.319 God in three persons. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:28.960 God is person because they're a we rather than a me. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:37.519 Your personhood is carved out in community because that's the way God's personhood works as well. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:41.680 And so I really encourage you to get in deep with people. 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:54.640 Don't get isolated because your personhood is formed in relationship, in family, in in the in, and you can't be a person without all these other annoying people in your life. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:56.319 Isn't that great? 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:00.799 So the the Trinity values personhood. 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:04.640 And I'm pretty much done. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:12.960 The invitation is for you to enter the life of God. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:19.759 You know, the Father wants you to be his family. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:29.359 The Son welcomes you to be part of his body, and the Spirit invites you to be his temple. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:32.480 That's the way God is. 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:17.920 Learn to live in God in the best way you can. 00:26:18.160 --> 00:26:21.279 Because this is meant to be fun, it's meant to be joyous. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:24.559 It's meant to be like listening to Van Morrison all day. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:26.240 That's how good it's meant to be. 00:26:26.400 --> 00:26:28.160 You know, it's hard to believe, isn't it? 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:31.519 Gotta listen to his latest album, Remembering Now. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:35.200 Great album, but you heard the advertisement here first. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:40.000 Okay, get in the river, the river of God, the community of God. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:44.559 And this this church thing isn't just a nice thing to do. 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:47.359 Actually, it's an annoying thing to do some of the time, isn't it? 00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:50.240 I sense it because all of you were late. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.880 Just milking it. 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:06.160 So even though it's an annoying thing, it's the only thing that God offers us because to be the church is to enter the life of God, and it's a we, not a me. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:08.160 It's us together. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:14.240 Get in the river, have fun, follow God, listen to the whispers of the Spirit. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:16.240 You might just like your life. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:18.079 Let's pray. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:28.640 Lord, we we acknowledge that we've um we're actually good at thinking of you in religious terms because you're so far up the pyramid. 00:27:29.359 --> 00:27:33.279 We often think you as uh of you and just feel guilt. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:41.200 We feel unworthy, we feel so many things that are not the feelings that you want us to feel. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:49.279 But thank you that you love us with an everlasting love and you invite us into your community. 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:50.559 You want to adopt us. 00:27:50.640 --> 00:27:51.839 That's what salvation is. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:54.319 It's adoption into the family of God. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:00.960 Thank you that you've brought the Trinitarian life to earth and you welcome us into your heavenly life. 00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:03.200 Don't know why you're so nice to us. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:14.559 We know we don't deserve it, but thank you that we are loved and we become persons together because you're the God in three persons. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:16.640 Amen.