WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.160 So we're in Hebrews 13. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:06.719 We've been journeying through Hebrews for a while, for a few months. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:12.960 Last week Sam Rapp taught on Hebrews 12, which we're gonna have to remember some of that coming into 13. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:14.960 If you weren't here, I'll fill you in. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:19.679 But we'll jump into verses 1 through 6 of chapter 13, and then we'll set the context. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.160 Let brotherly love continue. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:28.800 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:36.479 Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:44.240 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:49.679 Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:53.840 For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:58.640 So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:00.719 What can man do to me? 00:01:01.759 --> 00:01:04.640 Let's pray real quick as we think about these persons. 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:09.439 God, we come before you, we pray that you would open our hearts to what you have for us. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:20.159 Not just in these passages, but in this book of Hebrews that lead us to this passage and most ultimately where this passage even leads us, that you are our judge, but you are our helper. 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:25.120 What good news that you are not just our judge, but you are a helper. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.200 And we rest in that this morning. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:28.239 In Jesus' name. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:29.040 Amen. 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:32.959 So my grandfather on my mother's side, his name was Ed Russell. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:33.920 Here's a picture of him. 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.159 This is me and him as I was a little guy there, and uh my biceps are the same size now as they were then. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:44.000 Uh, thought of that this week and realized that was a good uh moment for me. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:46.159 His name is Ed Russell, so I'm named after him. 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:50.000 My name is Russell, and his name Ed Russell, so I'm named after him. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:02:01.760 He passed away when I was in the ninth grade, and I think about him and I talk about him a good bit because all my memories of Grants are just kindness and loving regard to me. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.599 I don't have I don't have any other I don't have any other memories except kindness and loving regard to me. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.159 He was smart, he was incredibly kind, he was well traveled, he loved the square dance. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.080 In his retirement, he studied a lot. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.159 He would study in the mornings and do investments. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.319 He made a lot of money in his retirement because he studied so much and invested so well. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.360 And he would show up into our lives and into my life, and he would teach me stuff. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:34.000 Like he would tell me how I needed to study hard and work ethic and persistence, and he would teach me about investing because he loved investing so much. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.800 And he and he opened my first mutual fund. 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:52.560 I learned about a mutual fund when I was in middle school, and he opened up an Investgo mutual fund for me, and he funded it, and he taught me how to take a little bit of my grass-cut money and put it in there, and then he would come over and have a little sheet of paper and how my you know$300 had turned into$330. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:53.919 And I thought that was amazing. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:56.400 You know, like you could make money not doing anything. 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:59.919 Like, what an amazing idea we should all get behind. 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:05.439 And so he was bringing these like teachings to me, like ways I should live. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.919 But it was all in the context of a love that was already secure. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:18.639 Meaning I didn't study hard and I didn't save a little bit of my grass-cut money in order to be loved by him, right? 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:27.199 Like that love was already secure, and actually the teaching to be that way or to live that way was inside of his love for me. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.000 And this is what Hebrews 13 gives us. 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.479 It's a laundry list of what we should do and how we should live. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:47.360 But it comes after Hebrews 12, and it comes after Hebrews 1 through 12, which is just encouragement and argument, encouragement and argument, one after the other, of saying Jesus is sufficient for you. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:51.039 It is not what you do for him, it is what he has already done for you. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:53.439 And your belovedness is secure. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.840 And because of that, here are some ways you should live. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:05.599 So the context of Hebrews 13 is built upon all of these, what we would say, indicatives of who we are as the beloved. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:21.439 And what we love to say in our church of how we understand the scriptures and how we should live as Christians is that the imperatives of what we should do in our lives and how we should live as Christians are inside of the indicatives of who we are, what's been indicated to us. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.439 And so the indicatives fuel the imperatives. 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:40.000 And that's what we have here in Hebrews, another structure, again, just like so much in the Bible, of what we've been promised as the beloved fuels, holds us as we try as best we can to live out a Christian life. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:41.040 And so here's what we get. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:41.920 Verse one. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:52.160 So point number one is this because we are perfectly loved by God, we are called to love each other with brotherly and sisterly love. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:53.360 That's what the word means. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:55.759 Brotherly love is the word Philadelphia, right? 00:04:56.079 --> 00:05:02.000 We get the city of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, which actually means brotherly or sisterly love. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:14.000 So our relationship to each other is not kind of like a consumer or user, consumer or performer, and then you applaud for me. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:21.839 Like the relationship is not based in like me using you for me to have worth or you using me for you to have worth. 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:22.639 No, no, no. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:26.240 The basis, the primary basis is the brotherly and sisterly love. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:32.000 When we think about each other, that's how we should think about it, as the best of brother and sister. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:36.399 I follow author online, I follow author Bob Goff. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:38.399 He's one of my favorite people to follow. 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:39.439 I don't follow a lot of people. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.879 I follow like bears and national parks and fly fishing and stuff like that. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:47.519 Bob Goff's wasn't only up, probably because most of the pictures he has is like have so much nature in them. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.439 And his message is the same thing over and over again. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.639 If you follow him and read his books, it's like, God is love, you're called to love. 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:54.000 God is love, you're called to love. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:55.920 It just says it in different words over and over again, right? 00:05:56.079 --> 00:05:57.759 God is love, you are called to love. 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:04.959 I I went back and looked through a few of his posts just over the past few weeks as I was thinking about him and thinking about this call to love. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.519 And here's a couple ways that he words it. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:09.759 Here's the first quote that I pulled from his post. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:12.079 Again, like this is where he lives, okay? 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.639 You're like, I love Kennesaw Mountain, right? 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:18.480 But you know, this that's a little different, the coast of San Diego there. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:19.680 And it's beautiful. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:24.879 Jesus doesn't turn people into Christians, He turns them into love. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:40.639 Now, obviously, we could get in the nuts and bolts of that and probably disagree a little bit, but the point that he's saying in a very whimsical way is to say Jesus is not calling us into some stereotype that the culture kind of puts on us of some rules-oriented or some list of rules. 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:41.600 No, no, no, no. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:47.519 Like ultimately, what Jesus is calling us to for us to be is people of love, to be love. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:52.639 The second one that I found just in the last few weeks, make love your plan. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:55.759 There's less to write down that way. 00:06:55.920 --> 00:06:58.000 And I need that, I'd love to make a list. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:02.079 Like, I want to write down a whole bunch of stuff I need to do and I want to do and I want to accomplish. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:06.240 Like, I will write down like get mail, just so I can check it off and feel like I did something that day. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:06.879 You ever done that? 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:13.759 You write a few things in that list you know you can accomplish, and you're like, well, I know I can get these three done, and you check it off, you feel so good. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:28.000 Like, I love a list, but the list for the Christian life is the reason why the first thing here is love each other, brotherly and sisterly love, because the root of anything else that we do is to love each other. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.959 It's the beginning point, it's the foundation. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:33.040 Now, that's been a long journey for me. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:33.920 That is a long journey. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:35.199 That's hard for me. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:36.560 Because I want to show up. 00:07:36.639 --> 00:07:40.720 My default is I want to show up in front of people and in front of you to prove myself. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:41.279 Right? 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.800 I want to be seen as capable, even with like a boot on. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:46.319 I'm like, no, I'm gonna get up on that stage. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:48.560 Like, you don't worry, like I will get on that stage on Sunday. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:52.079 Like, I'm gonna I want to be seen as capable and smart and right. 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:53.519 Usually I want to be right. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:54.959 Like, that's how I want to show up. 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:56.959 I want to use you to justify myself. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:58.000 That's my default. 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.600 That's strong in me, that flesh, to want to be that way. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.680 But the calling is not to be like that with each other. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.399 The calling is to love each other, brotherly and sisterly love. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:16.639 Verse 2 do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:21.040 For thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.600 Point number two is this as a people of love, we are called to love the outsider. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.600 My first reaction to the word hospitality is to think of my friend Linda Gray. 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:40.960 Linda is a generation ahead of Christy and myself, and we became friends with her and her husband and family when we lived in Atlanta. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:46.559 I was starting a college ministry Bible study, and we needed a place to have this Bible study. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:56.159 And so I talked around the church with somebody who might have a house who could host us, somewhere that would be willing to have, we could have dinner and Bible study every single week, all year long. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:57.919 And Linda said, Oh, come check out our house. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:08:58.720 We're just renovating it. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:08:59.840 I think it'll be great for you. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.120 And she hosted us for three years every single week. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:06.480 Dinner every week. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:10.320 Like you think it's hard to go to like a small group at somebody else's house every other week. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:19.519 Like she was hosting in her home 30 to 40 college students, dinner and Bible study on Wednesday evening every single week. 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:23.679 She hosted our girls' birthday parties at times. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:25.519 She hosted Christmas parties. 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.600 And for a while I thought we were special. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.840 And then you slowly realize, like, no, we're not special. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.159 Like, she was doing that for like a whole bunch of people. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.279 Like, that's who she was. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:34.720 She was hospitality. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:42.960 There was never a time, never a time that I knew her in Atlanta that there was not somebody living in their house that was not a part of their family. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:49.039 Just like a friend of a friend or a friend who needed a place to stay, or a friend's having a hard time and they needed somewhere to stay. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:50.559 Always somebody in there. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:55.600 Now, I see Linda and I say, I can't do that. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:57.679 Like, like probably none of you have been to my home. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.039 Like two of you have been to my home because it's like my fortress of solitude, right? 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:05.200 Like, like my home is like close the door and let me go in and like recuperate. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.000 Like, I think of Linda, that is so far from me. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.799 Now, some of you go like, as soon as I say that, you're like, hey, me too. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:12.399 Like, I have a fortress of solitude. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:14.320 My home is my fortress of solitude. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:21.600 Now, this call of hospitality is certainly for those of us that are like the door is wide open, but it's also for those of us that the door is shut. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.320 Certainly, we need to grow in having people in our homes. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:25.919 I can be the first one on that list. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:27.039 I need to grow in that. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:31.360 But this term is bigger than this, which I'm so thankful for. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:36.639 Because I don't know if I'm ever going to be like the doors are all wide open in my home type of person. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:44.000 The term itself, hospitality, it literally means showing kindness to or entertaining strangers. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:46.080 So that certainly includes your home. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.480 Without a doubt, that includes your home. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:49.840 But it's bigger than that. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:57.679 Like it's being the kind of person in our world that shows kindness to people who are different than you, and they're from different places. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:02.960 The context here is an ancient society where people were traveling around and they needed places to stay. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:04.080 There's no Hampton Inn. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.279 You can't pull up and cruise into a holiday in an express. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.559 You needed people to open their homes to you. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:16.480 And so Christians were being called to be the type of person that would say, like, yeah, you're from a different place. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.919 You probably have different opinions because you're from a different place. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:23.600 You probably don't think the same about everything as I do, but yeah, you can come into my home. 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:25.679 I will welcome you in. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:30.480 So this bridges me, at least for me, this week, into two contemplative questions. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:40.000 How do I, how do we, how do you welcome and love people who are from different places, background, and opinions? 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:41.039 Right? 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.600 So often the first thing to do is to set up a dualistic relationship, right? 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:53.679 I am A, therefore they are anti-A, and if that is true, then there's always gonna be a limit on this relationship. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:54.559 Right? 00:11:54.720 --> 00:12:00.480 I'm red, they're not red, I'm blue, they're not blue, therefore there's a limit on this relationship. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:02.879 But the calling is to love each other. 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.919 The calling is not to like live in the differences, the calling is to love in spite of the differences. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:16.559 Number two, and what ways do you and we need to grow in opening yourself to others so they feel the welcoming love of God? 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:20.159 That would be a good, that'd be a good journal for this week. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:22.799 God, what are the ways I need to grow in that? 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.639 To be a more welcoming, loving person to people who are different than me. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:40.320 And my prayer for us as a church, and you as individuals and families, is that we can love people who are from different places and different backgrounds and dress differently, make different amounts of money, have different opinions on different things, a range of things. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:43.360 I mean, life has a lot of a range of opinions for us. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:50.960 And our differences wouldn't be primarily just putting us straight into defense, but that we could look for places. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.279 How do we love in spite of differences? 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:57.440 In spite that this person's a stranger and different. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:01.600 We don't have to hold all the same opinions to live in peace as a community. 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:12.159 If all we do, this is where this hit me this week, if all I do is love people who are like me, I don't really love people, I love me, right? 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:16.159 Like if all I do is love people who are like me, I don't really love people, I love me. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:30.720 It's like the Seinfeld episode where he falls in love with, I think her name was, was it Jenny or Janine or something, and then he he realizes like he'd been looking for himself his whole life, and then he says, like he says, Oh, I figured it out, I was just looking for myself. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.080 I'm in love with myself. 00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:41.759 Like, if all you do is love people that are like you, you love you, you love you, but the calling's not to love you, the calling is to love other people, the calling is to love other people. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:51.120 Verse three, remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:56.799 Point number three is this as people of love, we are called to remember and care for the mistreated. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:06.639 So being in prison in this context in the ancient society didn't have ping pong table, like there's you know, there's no uh there's no Netflix, there probably weren't even meals. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:13.679 Like they were dependent upon a community and people who would love the mistreated to show up and provide for them. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:18.159 So for us, what that means is this invades our culture of progress. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:26.320 Like how quickly we want to forget the mistreated or forget those who are disenfranchised and move on and progress and move ahead. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:39.759 But really, we're called to be the first ones to show up to somebody or into an issue or a person or a people who are mistreated or disenfranchised to show love to them, for them to have provision. 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:44.879 So this is a calling for us to go into pain and into mess, not just to move ahead. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:46.879 And this is how we're called to be loved. 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:50.960 People of love in this world, because we're already loved and God has come into our mess. 00:14:51.120 --> 00:15:01.360 Verse 4 Let marriage be held in honor among them, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:08.879 Now, as soon as you feel condemned by this verse, this verse is saying, God is judge. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.440 We can rightfully proclaim that. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:16.320 And we also have the rescue at the end of this passage that the Lord is our helper. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:22.639 So God is judge, but because of Jesus' work for us and God's grace to us, he is our helper. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:26.960 So he will judge us, but because of Jesus, the judgment upon us is compassion. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:33.120 And that's such good news for so many of us that have made mistakes in this area of marriage and in sex. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:39.919 And the point here, the basis here for this verse is that as people of love, we're called to great marriages and great sex. 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:41.440 That's the point. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.360 Like that he wants this for us, that he would want great marriages and great sex. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:45.759 Amen. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:46.399 I mean, amen. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:50.240 Anybody just wants, yes, like that's so good for us. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:53.759 Author and counselor Dan Allender, he says this about sex. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:01.519 The most crucial theological truth about sexuality is that God loves sex and evil hates it. 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:06.879 God made us sexual and he glories in his plan for our union and joy. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:14.320 Evil hates what God loves, and it has found that more harm can be done through sex than perhaps any other means. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:19.200 Often the chief battleground for the human soul is the terrain of sexuality. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:27.039 So this verse assumes neither that the relationship of marriage or sex inside of marriage will be easy. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:27.679 Right? 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:39.120 It assumes, and there's a presumption that God is for you having a great marriage and for you having great sex, but it does not presume, it actually presumes that it will be difficult to have that, and it's gonna take some intentionality. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:51.279 Like great marriages and great sex inside of marriage, they're marked by secure individuals, Hebrews 1 through 12, so secure in the belovedness of Jesus' love for you, you don't have to use the other person. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:55.200 You can come in with honesty and vulnerability and service. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:58.159 I mean, I'm so thankful. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:02.559 We have a faith and a Bible that does not shame sex. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:06.000 Like maybe we come from a background that shames sex. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:10.559 Maybe we're in a place or a church that shames sex, but the Bible and our faith does not shame sex. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:16.319 It actually esteems it to be so great and so powerful that it should be held within marriage. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:23.440 It is that powerful, not that it's that shameful it should be held within marriage, it's that wonderful it should be held within marriage. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:27.519 It's that powerful it should be held within marriage. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.160 And the Bible's not prude. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:34.559 I mean, do you remember when you discovered the Song of Solomon and you were 14 years old? 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:36.480 I mean, do you remember that day? 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:41.200 I mean, I can remember when a friend showed me that sensual poetry. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.279 I mean, that was a quiet timer, too, right? 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:43.920 I mean, that was woo. 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.039 I mean, that was more brigarton than fireproof, to be honest. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:50.079 I mean, it was, that's some stuff in there, right? 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:51.119 You read that. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:53.519 I mean, that's the rated R part of the Bible. 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.799 I mean, we don't teach it in the sixth grade, but it's so sensual. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:00.319 But man, it's in there and it's a part of our faith. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:02.400 That the Bible's not prude. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:15.920 I mean, the Bible is so for, and God is so for great marriages and great sex and not shame upon it, but it is so powerful, and it should be used for our good inside of that right relationship. 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.160 Verses five and six. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:20.960 Keep your life free from the love of money. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:22.640 So he goes straight from sex to money. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.640 So he's really hitting the big ones here. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:29.440 Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:33.039 For he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:37.039 So we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.079 I will not fear what can man do to me. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:49.599 So point number five is this as people of love, God desires us to steward money as to grow in a peace-filled, content heart. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:51.519 I mean, isn't that what we want, anyways? 00:18:51.680 --> 00:19:02.319 Like, on the on the topic of money, whether you're like a spender and a researcher and a dreamer and a spender, or whether you're like the saver and the hoarder and you're kind of overconsumed with how much, how much, how much can I keep. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:09.519 Like, either way, aren't you really just wanting a content, peace-filled existence in this world? 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.839 And that's what God wants for you, anyways. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:20.480 And what He knows is it won't come by an overuse or overconsumption or idolatry of money. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:26.799 It will come with money being properly stewarded in its proper place of usage, but not love. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720 I mean, it's what we really want, anyways. 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:34.880 I mean, if I really chase down why this week, as I'm on the couch and I have watched enough Caribbean life, right? 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.599 Like I've seen a lot of Caribbean life and Hawaii life. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:42.240 I know what people are purchasing and the prices of condos and houses in these two locations. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.680 And they're all about the same, by the way, to fill you in if you watch enough of those. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:46.400 I know that. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:53.119 I also know that Kenny Chesney owns an 86-foot uh gunmetal gray Riva yacht. 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:55.119 Okay, and you say, well, that's impressive that Russell. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:58.160 I also know there's one for sale in Italy for$3.7 million. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.799 Like, that's how far I will go into this. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:02.160 And I also know this. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:08.640 I do truly believe just a day on that yacht, and I could be a very happy, peace-filled, content person. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:12.480 Like I truly believe that, and it's not true, right? 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:16.559 Like I'd get on the yacht and I'd get seasick or get a headache, and you know, I mean, whatever, right? 00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:18.000 It'd be hotter than I want it to be. 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:19.759 Like, it's just what happens, right? 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:29.200 But like we make that illusion, but like on the other side or underneath, or deeper than like the gunmetal gray 80 six-foot yacht is, or whatever yours is. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:31.359 It's just like a new sweater or lamp or whatever. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.599 Like, underneath that is like, I just want to be at peace. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:37.440 I mean, that's what we're after. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:42.160 And what God is saying is like, it won't come by sex, and it won't come by money. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:44.319 Like, it won't even come by control and power. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.039 It won't come by just loving yourself over and over again. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:53.279 Like, it's about being loved, and it's about loving others, and it's about being content in Him. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:54.720 That's the point. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:58.480 I mean, all of this, it brings me back to you. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:05.359 Remember how they would get a donkey to like keep moving ahead, and they'd hold a stick with a carrot out in front of the donkey's face. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:06.880 Have you ever seen images of that? 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:09.119 Like a carrot on a stick out in front of the donkey. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.680 We're the donkey, by the way, in this illustration. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:20.079 Uh, and the donkey will just keep walking forever, exhausting itself, trying to get to the carrot, but never get the carrot. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:27.920 Like, that's what this stuff, these these idols, and these idols are at the intersection of our sin and woundedness, so there's a lot going on, but they are the carrot. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:29.680 That you'll never get to it. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:35.519 Like, you'll never really gonna get the contentment of the carrot because it's always gonna be just a few steps away. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:38.400 And so we just keep walking. 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:46.160 And what this passage is taking us to is to understand that these idols, these idols, we're never gonna find contentment in them. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:47.920 We're never gonna find peace in them. 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:55.119 So this passage just takes us into like the fact that we want contentment, but that comes through these promises. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.359 For he has said, verse five, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.799 So we He can confidently say, verse six, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:06.240 What can man do to me? 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:06.799 Right? 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:08.799 Oh, what kind of freedom is that? 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:10.240 And peace is that? 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:19.440 To be free of what man could do to me or say about me or the opinions that people could have upon me because I have the Lord's presence in my life. 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:21.839 Point six, last point, lots of points this morning. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:30.400 Point six is this Knowing God's presence is to be enveloped by God's welcoming, fear-removing embrace. 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:40.319 Just to be surrounded by God's sufficiency, Jesus' sufficiency, and his love for you. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:42.799 That is fear-removing, right? 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:43.759 That's what the pastor said. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:46.720 The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:57.039 So as we're growing and becoming more and more aware of God's presence in our life, we're also growing aware of our fears, and also that we don't have to be afraid of those things. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:22:58.559 That's our transformation. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:12.480 So either we're going to live by fear, fear of not having enough, fear of not having enough money, or not being loved enough, or important enough, or beautiful enough, fear of being hurt or lost or not in control, fear of getting sick, or fear of somebody else getting sick. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:18.960 Or we live by the great rescue that this passage takes us, it re-anchors us into, as Hebrews 1 through 12 has. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.000 That is, the Lord is our helper. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:24.559 That can sound a little churchy. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:30.400 For me, it sounds like our Heavenly Father desires such a relationship with us. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:33.119 He wants to be your companion. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.440 And it's not to be a condemner. 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:40.319 It's not to belittle us or police us, it's to help us. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.799 Which is so good when we think about this laundry list of Christian living that we just went through. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.559 Things that are really good for us that we need to live and honor the Lord with. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:52.880 But God doesn't send us out and say, like, pull up your bootstraps, off you go. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:59.599 God says, no, like I fully welcome you, embrace you, and accept you in Jesus, and I walk with you. 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:00.799 I'm your helper. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.359 So I had this foot surgery on Tuesday. 00:24:03.519 --> 00:24:14.880 So I was laid up Tuesday afternoon, like on the couch all day, Tuesday, Wednesday after work, some on the couch, you know, that has about a four-hour time span before you go nuts, and then it's more Caribbean life for the rest of the day. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:16.400 And Christy was my helper. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.319 I could barely walk on Tuesday, and Wednesday just was the foot was so sore. 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:30.079 And so it was more like crawl to the bathroom, or Christy would kind of carry me to the bathroom, and she would bring me food and drinks, and I got into that. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.039 I'll just be honest. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:35.039 Like I got into like, hey, I need this and I want this, and hey, I need that. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:37.759 And I mean, I was getting into the whole helper thing. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:40.160 But her role was helper. 00:24:40.240 --> 00:24:41.920 Like, that's what she was doing. 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:50.720 And because that's what she was willing to do and willing to be without condemnation or complaint. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.960 I was allowed to be weak. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:53.680 Right? 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.799 Like I was just allowed to be sick for a couple days. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.839 I was allowed to be not feel great for a couple days. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:03.200 Because she was willing to be helper. 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.119 I didn't have to be afraid. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:06.079 I was going to offend her. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:08.319 I didn't have to be afraid that she was going to get fed up with me, right? 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:08.960 Like, no, no, no. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:14.160 Like she said, I'm all in for a couple days, all in, whatever you need. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.440 That's what we have here in Hebrews 13. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.480 I mean, look, think of the context of this book. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:24.880 Hebrews 1 through 12, such foundation of Jesus' sufficiency. 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:27.200 Our belovedness is secure. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:35.039 Hebrews 12, last week, Sam Rat preached and just unpackaged for us and served us the buffet of the goodness of the new covenant. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:38.160 That we don't have to live by law, but we get to live under grace. 00:25:38.240 --> 00:25:42.160 And then out of that comes how do you live as a Christian? 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:46.720 And we get this list of great Christian principles for us. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:56.079 And at the end of that list, just when you think, I'm not going to be able to do all that, like, oh, the judgment's going to come down, yet another reminder. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.279 Like the Lord is your helper, He is with you. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:07.599 Some stuff is going to stop, and some stuff is going to start as He's your helper, and there's conviction and comfort and equipping and transformation. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.480 But you are people who are loved. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:13.039 You're the beloved, and you are called to love. 00:26:13.279 --> 00:26:14.559 Let's pray together. 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:17.279 God, thank you for your grace to us. 00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:21.440 That as you call, you equip. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:25.519 As you call, you have already called us, beloved. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:35.440 And that all the ways that you have asked for us to live in this world, it is inside of your love for us. 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.079 We are so thankful that we live in that sort of freedom. 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:50.880 And while we know the freedom we have in Jesus, even now, right here in this moment, we know there is freedom we do not even know of because we do not trust in you in greater ways. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:55.200 We have not sought out your presence in greater ways. 00:26:55.519 --> 00:26:57.440 And we have not honored you. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:27:01.519 And yet, in all those shortcomings, you're not just a judge. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:03.200 You're a helper. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:05.920 You are our rescuer. 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:14.880 May we live in the great indicatives and promises of the Scripture that we might live in these imperatives of what you have called us to be. 00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:16.319 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:16.960 Amen.