WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:03.439 So we are in Colossians 3 this morning. 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:10.400 We're studying our way through the book of Colossians, and we're asking, how do we live and grow with Jesus? 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:12.800 That's what Colossians is presenting to us. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:14.800 How do we live and grow with Jesus? 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:17.600 Now today we see a shift in the book of Colossians. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:19.440 We're going from chapter 2 to chapter 3. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.399 Chapters 1 and 2 are about one thing, and then we shift in chapters 3 and 4. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:35.679 Chapters 1 and 2, we get the indicatives, just lavishing on us God's promises, what's indicated to us, everything that we have in Jesus. 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.240 So that's what we've been doing the last few weeks. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.920 And then the shift occurs in three and heading into four. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.840 And we get the imperatives. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:48.880 Because of those promises, how should we live? 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:56.479 So Paul is actually teaching us, not just verse by verse, but also the structure of the book teaches us something. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:02.560 We live the imperatives, chapters three and four, through the indicatives, chapters one and two. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:09.120 Meaning how we should live is fueled by what is already true about us. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:15.680 So we could say it this way: who we are in Jesus fuels how we live for Jesus. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:25.760 Now it's easy to move on from the promises, one and two, and just live in three and four, what we should do, how we should be living as Christians. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:35.120 And without planning on it, we sort of just stop resting in the lavish promises we have in Jesus, and we just get and put ourselves to work. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:37.599 And we become exhausted. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:42.719 Chapters three and four without chapters one and two will exhaust you. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:45.760 And some of us have lived the Christian life like that. 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:46.560 I have. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:48.879 And some of you have lived the Christian life like that. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:52.400 And it gets you wondering what's the point of this? 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.040 Why is this not, why is it not working? 00:01:55.599 --> 00:02:02.239 But Paul's teaching about a relationship with Jesus before living for Jesus. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:05.359 So let's look at Colossians 3, 1 and 2. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:15.919 Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated, seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:24.319 So point number one is this we pursue Jesus because Jesus has already pursued and is pursuing us. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:30.719 So we could say it this way: our pursuit of Jesus rests in his pursuit of us. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.439 My wife, Christy, she works for a family company and she drives a company car. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:44.080 So for 20 years, she has driven this company car, an amazing perk, a provided car and provided gas. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.599 So we have never hesitated to fill up. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:49.599 We're like, hey, let's fill up again, right? 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.360 Like, like it is provided. 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:53.520 It's been given to us. 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:55.120 The fuel's free. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.719 So let's just let's fill up. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:59.280 Like, why we're not going to hesitate on this. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:01.039 We need the fuel. 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.159 The truck will not run without the fuel. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:15.599 And yet, many of us as Christians, we become a Christian and we get like our free faith F-150, and then we try to drive the truck without the proper fuel. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:29.840 See, when we move on from a relationship with Jesus just to serve Jesus or just to live for Jesus, but it's not rooted in relationship and the lavish promises we have in Jesus. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:39.759 That we're fully forgiven in Jesus alone, that we're fully righteous in Jesus alone, that we have a worth immeasurable in Jesus alone. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.360 That's the fuel that we put in the truck. 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:53.599 Without that, without that, whether you're living in the world or you're living in religion, without the relationship with Jesus, it's like trying to push a truck. 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.840 It's just gonna exhaust you. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.080 And it's eventually gonna condemn you. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.319 But Paul teaches a different way of faith. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.000 Look at it in verses one and two. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.280 Where is the imperative in one and two? 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:07.840 Oh, we see it in one B and two. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:12.000 The imperative, set your hearts on things above, set your minds on things above. 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:14.080 This is what you should do. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.240 Unbelievable, fantastic, right? 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.680 I mean, this is a good, this is a good word for us. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.759 Imagine how much freer you would be. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:27.120 Imagine how much healthier you would be if you could only set your hearts and your minds on things above. 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:30.720 But is anybody doing this perfectly? 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:35.920 I mean, am I the only one this week that was a little too dialed into the news? 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:41.199 I mean, like, how how much is the news on in your in your house, right? 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:42.959 Like you don't even want to say it out loud. 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:44.079 You're like, I'm not gonna do that. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.480 Like, how or like the interest rates drop? 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.879 Was anybody a little too dialed into that? 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.800 And then the stock market, what it did, and then you're gonna, well, like, what's gonna happen in the future? 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:53.600 Like, is anybody too? 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:59.519 I bought a new shacket for the fall, and I've been pumped about, I can't wait for the weather to cool. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:00.560 I'm gonna put that shacket on. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:01.680 It's gonna change everything. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.120 Like, my look's gonna be different. 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:07.279 Like, are we did we just get so dialed into what is temporary? 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.360 And Paul's saying, uh, set your hearts and minds on things above. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:19.279 So, how can we how can we do this really good but impossible task? 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:24.160 Well, 1B and 2 give us the imperative, what we what we should do. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.000 1A gives us the indicative, the fuel. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.920 Since then you have been raised with Christ. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:39.040 We don't just go on to do the stuff we should do as Christians without resting and remembering and what we have in Jesus. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:45.439 The commentary says it this way in union and fellowship with this Lord. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:56.959 In union and fellowship, the Christian is set free from the tyranny of the elemental spirits and for the perennial enjoyment of God's presence. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:01.839 Now, nothing can hold the Christian to the unsatisfying shadows of religion. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.920 So, in relationship with Jesus, we are free. 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:11.360 We pursue Jesus because he pursued us and he is pursuing us. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:15.920 We live out our Christian lives by resting all the more in Jesus. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:17.839 Verses three and four. 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:22.240 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:27.120 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:34.639 So point number two is this our lives are enveloped in Jesus' life and greatness. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:41.600 And enveloped is the proper way to pronounce it, but I like to say enveloped because it gives the image. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:42.480 You know what I'm saying? 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:44.079 Like, don't you get a better image? 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.000 Your life is enveloped. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.319 Like because you you picture an envelope, don't you? 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:50.399 And like you're inside and it's sealed up. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:56.000 Like that's such a good image of what we are in Jesus that we are immersed. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:01.199 He doesn't turn away when we're weak or broken or don't have our acts together. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:04.319 He draws near to us because we're hidden in him. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:09.600 So fall planting season's coming up for perennials, perennial people, you know it's coming up. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:10.879 It's a couple weeks away. 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:13.759 We're gonna plant our hostas, we're gonna split our hostas. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:30.319 And if you go out in your yard to split and replant a hosta in another part of your yard, and you're out there and you're planting, you're splitting, you're moving some ferns, you're moving some hostas, you're doing your hydrangeas, and you're out there, you come back in the house and you wash your hands, it's been four or five hours, and your ring is gone. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:43.120 I mean, just at some point, your hands are down in that dirt, and you're mixing the planting soil and the soil and the hosta, and at some point the garden took over. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:49.759 At some point that ring is buried, it's enveloped. 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.560 And the ring is still there. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.959 The ring still exists, it's just hidden. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:58.879 It's hidden by the garden. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:03.920 And the point is, is that like you and I, we're the priceless ring. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:08.079 And we are hidden in the garden of Jesus. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:15.759 Hidden in Christ, which means that we're perfectly loved, perfectly held, even while our life is a mess. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:22.399 In verse 3, there's a finishness to this language, this you died, your life is hidden in Jesus. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.480 Like there's it's done, it's finished. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.680 When you give your life to Christ, it's finished, it's hidden, it's finished. 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:35.200 And then Paul says, So let's use that. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.480 Let's use that new heart, let's use that new mind. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.399 So study Jesus, read about Jesus, commune with Jesus. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.360 There should be something different about us because our source is different. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:49.519 Verse 4 completes our story. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:54.480 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:00.720 So, as Christians, our gaze is through the world and beyond the world. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:08.080 Even when our story is over on this earth, our story is not over because we have a home in heaven. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:10.799 Verses 5 and 6. 00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:21.519 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry, because of these the wrath of God is coming. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:27.360 So sexual immorality most likely refers at the time which was quite common, sex with harlots. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:33.440 And then Paul goes further, he says, Oh, but also impurity and lust, which just sort of covers everything else. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:38.720 And we would say, at least Redeemer would say, like, sex is wonderful. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.080 I mean, anybody else? 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:41.279 Amen. 00:09:41.679 --> 00:09:43.440 Like, sex is wonderful. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:47.679 It is good, but it is it's limited. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:48.399 Right? 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:51.679 It is limited to marriage. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:59.440 Outside of that, it's like a it's a fire that's broken free from the fireplace, and it will burn the house down. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:04.320 And then verse 5 says, Greed is like the fire also. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:07.440 Money's great. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.919 I hope you have enough money. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.200 I hope, I hope you make lots of money. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:15.039 I hope you make a ton of money. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:16.559 Like, have at it. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:17.360 Right? 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:20.639 And I maybe you can afford a Porsche. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:22.639 Maybe you could afford the 10 Porsche. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.519 But even if you can afford the 10 Porsche, you can only drive one at a time. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:30.240 And you can't take any of it with you. 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:37.600 So we have to learn not to put our heart on this stuff and this money. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:39.440 We have to learn to be generous. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.519 We have to learn to focus on Jesus, not money or sex. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.799 And we have to learn to keep money and sex in the fireplace and not burn down the house. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.039 Verses 7 through 10. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.080 In these you two once walked. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:01.519 When you were living in them, but now you must put them all away. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:03.759 Here's everything we should be putting to death. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:08.480 We should be turning from anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:13.120 So much of our heart's condition, what comes out of our mouths toward other people. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:23.279 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:29.679 Point number three is this in Jesus we have a new self with new values and a new ways of living. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.440 When we surrender Christ, a new self is born. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:42.879 So now inside of us, there's this old self that used the ways of the world, very self-oriented, selfish-based. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:47.679 There's that old self, the flesh, the Bible calls it, the sinful self. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.600 But then God creates in us a new self. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:53.519 This is born of the Spirit. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:58.559 And now there's two parts of you inside: there's a new self and there's an old self. 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:04.559 And Paul's saying, hey, the old self, that's not really, that's not really you anymore. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:07.360 Let's not live out of that self. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.240 Let's put that self away. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:16.159 So this is my 10-year-old Patagonia pullover. 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:17.679 It doesn't come out of the house much. 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:19.039 You know, you have that sweatshirt. 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.559 It started coming out of the house. 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:24.000 You go to dinner and then slowly it's kind of, it's just become a house shirt, right? 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:30.639 And I love it, I can't wait during the wintertime and fall to get home and take off the collared shirt. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:33.840 It's a little stiff, not like super comfortable in it. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.000 And I love to put on this pull. 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:37.200 This is my comfy. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:38.399 I know you have a comfy. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:48.159 Like you have you have a pair of pajama pants, and uh, they should have been thrown away a long time ago because they're from college and you've been out of college too long. 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:50.559 Like, I know you have a comfy, right? 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:51.679 This is my comfy. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:52.080 Right? 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:58.799 When I put this on, it it knows me, it fits me, it fits me perfectly. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:06.159 And this is what our belovedness in Jesus is like, that it knows me fully and it envelops me. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:14.080 I'm immersed in it, I'm fully known, I'm hidden in it, I'm accepted, and I have full security in it. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:24.399 And Paul says, therefore, because that's true and you have that, therefore, don't walk in the old self, pretending and performing. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:26.960 Walk in the new self. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.840 Our hearts are longing for acceptance. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:35.919 That's what that old self is generating, trying to find acceptance, earn it, suck it from other people. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:40.399 And the new self can be at rest because you already have it in Jesus. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.240 But we're all looking for acceptance. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:44.799 The boss, Bruce Springsteen, he knew it. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:47.039 Everybody needs a place to rest. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:49.440 Everybody wants to have a home. 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.919 Don't make no difference what nobody says. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.159 Ain't nobody like to be alone. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:58.159 And then we all remember the Course: everybody's got a hungry heart. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:00.559 Lay down your money and play your part. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:02.159 Everybody's got a hungry heart. 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:05.279 Then Paul says, Hey, I know the answer for you. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.320 Here's a summary of Colossians 3. 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:19.279 As we increasingly live in the promises we have in Jesus, we increasingly put to death destructive forms of finding love, joy, and peace. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:23.279 So you see how chapters 1 and 2 lead into 3 and 4. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:32.799 Also, as we increasingly live in the promises we have in Jesus, chapters 1 and 2, the indicatives, we can increasingly live in godly forms of love, joy, and peace. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:35.600 Chapters 3 and 4, the imperatives. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.360 Verse 11. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:48.080 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:56.799 Point number four is this in Jesus we have freedom that transcends race, personal righteousness, and status. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:05.519 Our truer selves are richer and deeper than so much of what we try to build our identities on in this world. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:11.600 Colossians 3 came to life for me 25 years ago as a college student. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:19.120 I went with 20 people from my church to a mission trip to Ghana, Africa to help plant churches in remote villages. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:25.919 So the first day I was there, I went with another person from our church, a translator, and a pastor from this one town. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:31.840 We drove an hour out further into the remote, and we went to this village. 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:39.039 And this village had no Christian church, and a white person had not been in this village in years. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:41.519 And then here comes this is a lot of white. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:42.320 You know? 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.200 You're very aware of how white this is white. 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:48.080 Like I am white when I'm walking around. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:54.240 And they're looking at me, so just a hundred kids, about probably a hundred kids just followed, just followed me around. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.399 They had never seen a white person. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:59.919 I mean, can you imagine if a purple person just showed up? 00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:01.679 We would follow him and like, can I touch? 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:02.320 Can I touch? 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.360 We're like, what? 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:09.519 And so all day, just these children following around. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.039 And they would come up close and they would look and they would want to touch. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:16.399 There's one little girl, and I noticed her several times throughout the day. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:17.600 She was so cute. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:19.120 She was just darling. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:25.440 And every time I looked at her and made eye contact, I would smile, and she would take off. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:26.480 Just take. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:32.320 It's like, oh, this is the ministry that I'm here to minister to the Ghanans. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:34.639 And the children are running away. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.919 And so it happened like two or three times. 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:45.440 And then toward the end of the day, I was I was sitting down and I think we were setting up for something, and there were two benches in front of me. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:51.519 And this little girl, she walks up and she wiggles her way into the spot right in front of me. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:52.720 Here's a picture of it. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.200 25 years ago, this little girl on the right. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.600 Now, all day she had had on rags. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:02.960 Every time I looked at her, she had on rags. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.559 And then she shows up and she has this dress on. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:14.240 She had ran home, she had taken off the rags, and she had put on new clothes. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:16.240 Better clothes. 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:21.599 See, your creator says, hey, you got some old clothes on. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.720 They're not good for you anymore. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.279 Like they're not really who you are. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:32.079 Like there's a new self, new ways and new values. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:37.119 And it's not to earn God's love or earn God's favor or make him smile upon you. 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:39.119 That's already been handled in Jesus. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.680 But there is a new self with better clothes. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:48.640 What's beautiful is that God fully loves us in our rags, and even when we put our rags back on, he still loves us. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:55.279 But he does have a way of life for us that is good and wholesome and godly. 00:17:56.079 --> 00:17:57.519 And he will go with you. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.759 And he will help you take off the rags, he will help you put on the better clothes. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:08.880 As we rest all the more in chapters one and two, the goodness, the lavishness of Jesus for us. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:12.160 Full forgiveness, full righteousness, full value. 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:15.279 We have the fuel to live three and four. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:19.759 I close with my favorite quote, Brendan Manning quote from Abbas Child. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:22.160 You've heard it before, we can't hear it enough. 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:27.519 Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:29.839 This is the true self. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:33.680 Every other identity is illusion. 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:35.680 Let's pray together. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.799 Heavenly Father, thank you for all that we have in Jesus. 00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:48.559 Thank you that you just didn't put on us everything we should do and how we should be and what we should be doing and how we should live and how we should serve and how we should love and where our focus should be. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:50.799 But first you rescue us. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:19:00.079 And that Jesus is enough for our forgiveness, that the cross takes our sin and gives to us your righteousness. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:05.599 And that the cross is enough for all the forgiveness we need and all the righteousness we need. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:10.240 Thank you for the lavish promises in Jesus we have in chapters one and two. 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:15.200 Thank you for the fuel that empowers us to live the Christian life. 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:22.319 And thank you that while we're not perfect and we still put back on the rags that you are patient and loving. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:25.599 Help us, Jesus. 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.640 Help us to rest all the more in you. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.319 Help us to receive you and trust you more. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.440 In Jesus' name. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:34.319 Amen.