WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.040 Well, good morning. 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.680 So we're continuing our way through the book of Galatians. 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:09.759 We're in chapter five now as we head through Galatians, have a few more weeks in this book. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:14.000 So back in the fall, Christy and I, and our two oldest girls, we went to a UGA game. 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:20.640 I found four lower level tickets on Stub Hub, took out a loan from the bank, bought the ticket. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:24.239 My girls won't be going to college, but they did go to a college football game. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.559 So that was a big accomplishment for our household. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.600 So we got the tickets, we get there, we park, we walk around, we eat. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:35.600 It was one of those like beautiful college football fall days, and it was sunny, it was wonderful. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:39.039 And so we get to our seats and we sit down. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:43.759 It takes Christy about three seconds to make friends with the lady next to her. 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:50.320 Um, this lady who's about 60 years old, and she immediately says, Oh, you bought the Johnson seats. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.280 And Christy's like, Oh, yeah, okay, we bought the Johnson seats. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:56.320 We've been knowing the Johnsons for 30 years. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:11.680 We've been sitting together, and she tells Christy about the Johnson's kids and where they're at, and they're from Thomasville, and then the grandkids and the husbands and the train sets, you know, like she's getting the whole story about the Johnsons. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:16.000 So it's very apparent for this lady, she's decked out in red and black, by the way. 00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.079 She's also watching the game, so she has a lot of stuff going on, this lady. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:26.480 And what's clear for us looking at this lady is this lady knows these people's lives, the Johnsons. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.319 We don't know these people's lives, but this lady also knows some other people around her. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:38.480 And so she's not only there to attend this game and watch this event and receive this, you know, this fun day, but she's also there knowing these people. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:44.640 So while there's one thing going on, there's also something much deeper going on. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.599 This lady has all of that plus the deeper meaning of community and care. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:55.680 And there's a point here for us because college football and church have a lot going on that are very, very, very similar. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:04.319 And so it's easy to come into church, right, and just attend it and receive it and be like, oh, I'm coming and I'm gonna watch the show. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:12.879 Like he's gonna get up there, he's gonna tell me a great story about he bought tickets of Stub Hub, I'm just gonna laugh to that, and then he's gonna read some Bible verses, and I'm gonna be great, and I'm gonna go home. 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:17.439 Like, it's easy to come in and attend and receive, and we want that for you. 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:19.120 Like, we really want it for you. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:21.840 We want you to be able to do that, feel free to do that. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:23.520 That's a wonderful thing. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:34.159 But then there's also this deeper thing that needs to be going on, and that is going on, and that has to do with community, it has to do with care and caring for other people. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:38.000 So, sure, you attend and you receive. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:39.680 We love that for you. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:48.240 But then there's a deeper something, and that has to do with people, not with buildings or services, but with people. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.000 Maybe you remember that conversation in Matthew 16. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.879 Uh, Jesus is with his disciples up in Caesarea Philippi. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:00.159 So this was up near what is now uh modern-day Syria, northern Israel. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:01.120 He's up there. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:06.080 Jesus stops, he looks at his 12 disciples, and he says, Who do you say that I am? 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.479 And Peter says, You're the Christ, you're the son of the living God. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:22.800 And Jesus says a statement, you've heard this statement probably before, if you've been around church, he says, You are right, and on this rock I will build my church, and not even the gates of hell can stop it. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.400 So there's that one little word in the middle of that statement, church. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.879 And the word is ecclesia, and it means gathering. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:35.680 But it's not like I attend the 1030 gathering at Redeemer, right? 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:37.199 Like it's not like a service. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:42.560 It means gathering like uh a gathering of people, a congregation. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:44.719 It's a people. 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:51.759 So it's not a one-hour worship service that's super efficient and they keep it one hour, and that's so respectful, right? 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.800 It's not a cool warehousey building. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.639 Oh, I love that building, right? 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:57.599 Like it's not that. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:05.199 It's not, it's also not like a church, like that old cathedral that I love walking into, and they have the liturgical service. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.919 It's also not the mega church that's cutting edge. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.280 It's not all that's fine, all that's those are expressions. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:14.960 This is church, like people. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:16.879 Jesus predicts a people. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:21.040 He doesn't predict buildings, he predicts a people. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:24.639 Ultimately, buildings are not churches. 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:26.800 People are churches. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.600 And this is where Paul's taking us because he turns this conversation in Galatians. 00:04:31.680 --> 00:04:36.720 He's been hammering away for four chapters, and we hammered away for four chapters. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.839 That you are perfectly loved in Jesus. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:49.040 And all of your sin and all that guilt and all that you sort of want to work your way out of by being moral enough, all that was taken care of on the cross, and his righteousness is given to you. 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:56.480 So you are perfectly loved, you're perfectly righteous, you are beloved, it's all secure, you don't have to add a single thing to that. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:05:00.319 You don't have to get on any religious performance track here. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:02.319 It's all settled, it's all done. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:03.759 There's nothing for you to add. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:11.519 And then he turns it there, going into chapter five, and he says, Because of all of that, here's what your life should look like. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:16.959 So point number one is this pretty basic, kind of leads you through with a few points here. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:25.759 Because you are cared for by God, because you are cared for by God, you can begin to care for others. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:32.720 Maybe you start dating someone, maybe that's been a while, or maybe you just have to imagine with me, uh, work with me here. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:38.720 And this guy, he doesn't take you to Chili's, he takes you to Longhorns, he's going all out. 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:41.040 This guy is wonderful. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:48.160 The sky is bluer, chocolate is sweeter, and not only that, he actually loves you. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.079 He really does love you. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:53.279 And that does something to you. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:00.000 You are a little hard, you're a little closed off, and all of a sudden you start to soften up a little bit. 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:09.519 His love changes you, and you thought you were gonna move to London next year for that job or that internship, but all of a sudden you're going, I don't know if I'm gonna, I don't know if I'm gonna move. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:22.560 And you used to think about your day and your work and your workout and your list, and that shirt that you needed to buy today to make yourself feel fulfilled for this day, right? 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:39.600 How we do that, and all of a sudden, like all that started to change because you start thinking about this other person and like the thing they had going on that day, and that conversation they were gonna have to have, that thing at work that they had, and that you need to stop by CVS to buy them the asporin, right? 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:46.800 Like it's all of that, but all of a sudden you start having all this other stuff in your life for this other person, and then that other person starts doing that for you, right? 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:49.519 Like you are caring for them, and they are caring for you. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:56.560 Maybe you know that in romance, maybe you don't know that in romance, maybe you know that in friendship, maybe you know it in family. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:05.600 And what this is, is this is this great truth that there is a blessing and a calling in love. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:06.639 Right? 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:14.079 There's a blessing in love, and the blessing is that there's this other person who will help you carry your burden. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:19.360 And that is such a blessing when that comes along, whether it be a family member or a friend or in romance. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:20.959 That's an incredible thing. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:25.920 And the calling is that you get to do that to that other person. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:32.240 You get to help carry their burden, and you care for them so much, this is where we're gonna get to into this passage. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:39.680 You care for them so much that when they go off the rails, you will tell them they're off the rails. 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.720 So listen to this passage, Galatians 1 and 2. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.319 Listen, listen how this is done. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:58.079 Brothers, and we said, brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.240 Keep watch on yourself lest you be tempted. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:07.519 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:12.879 So, point number two is this because you care, you will carry. 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:14.959 Because you care, you will carry. 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:18.399 Author and Pastor Tim Keller explains it this way this great little Bible study book. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.040 Everybody should read it. 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:19.759 You should go buy it this week. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:20.879 It's called Gospel in Life. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:22.399 It's a little Bible study workbook. 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.319 And here's what he says on page 65. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:30.079 Picture how you help a person who is trying to carry a load that is too heavy. 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:38.000 To help with a burden, you must first come very close to the burdened person, standing virtually in their shoes. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:44.240 Next, you must put your own strength under the burden so its weight is distributed on both of you. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:48.080 Thus lightening the load for the original bearer. 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:57.039 To carry the burden means to come under it and let some of its weight, responsibility, and pain come to you. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:03.519 So you're not at a distance, like sitting in judgment without knowing this person or the whole story. 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:04.480 You're close. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:13.440 You know the whole story, you know the person before you enter into that relationship of carrying the burden, restoring the person. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:17.039 Paul continues to help us understand how to how to do this, how to work this out. 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:23.440 If any verse three, if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:30.000 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:32.480 For each will have to bear his own load. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:38.399 Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:44.080 Do not be deceived, God's not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he will also reap. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:54.399 For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap the flesh, reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit from the spirit reap eternal life. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.440 So there's a strong warning here, isn't there? 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:05.759 The warning here is that you if you live by the flesh, you're gonna save yourself and be all about yourself, your life will be doomed. 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:09.440 You won't really have life with God. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.080 Eternal life will be pretty much in question. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.399 But life by the Spirit, eternal life is not in question. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.000 It's secure because you're beloved in Jesus. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:27.759 There's nothing to question, there's nothing to scorecard, to figure out, to wonder. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:30.399 You will reap what you sow. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:37.519 And not only that, if your life is all about you, if your life is all about you, you'll be lonely. 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:40.399 You'll reap what you sow. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:49.279 The passage also shows us that any approach of caring for another person is only done after you realize you ain't that great. 00:10:49.440 --> 00:10:49.679 Right? 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.679 Like it may be God, I'm not quite sure. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:54.399 Just ask your neighbor, ask your friend, ask a family member. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:56.639 They will be happy to tell you. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.759 The other night I was tucking my six-year-old into bed, and I'm being super dad. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.480 I'm speaking love into her heart. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:06.399 How's your heart, babe? 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:07.759 You know, is there any bird? 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:10.399 I mean, I am I've had 10 and a half years of practice of this. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:12.480 Like I can I can nail a bedtime. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:17.519 I'm so impressed with myself during this little bedtime 10 minutes. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.200 I can nail it, and I'm I'm working it super dad style. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:25.919 And then she looks at me and she says, I don't like when you tuck me in. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.120 Because you have bad breath. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.720 Just brought me back down. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:38.639 Just a guy, just a guy. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:40.240 Bad breath. 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.759 The great English pastor, Charles Spurgeon. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.159 There's this great story about him, and he's eating lunch with a friend, or maybe dinner, I forget the exact story. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:51.200 But they're eating. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:12:00.639 Uh a drunkard walks by, and his friend says, looks at him, and his friend says, There, but by the grace of God go I. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:02.639 The story could almost stop there. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:05.360 We'd all go, oh, how wonderful, what a wonderful statement. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:09.200 Spurgeon looks back at his friend and goes, There go I. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:12.080 Right, what's Spurgeon saying? 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:15.600 Well, Spurgeon's saying, I actually am that man. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:19.200 Like, I know that I'm that man. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:23.440 Like, maybe my addiction is not outwardly in a behavior of drunkenness. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:28.960 Maybe it's something in my heart, maybe it's some addiction in the heart, maybe it's my self-righteousness upon that man. 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:31.360 But we are that man. 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:41.679 This is what Paul's trying to get us to understand before we have any approach to anybody about carrying a burden or we have a word for them, right? 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:44.000 We're that man. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:47.440 We're that person before we even go to speak to them. 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:51.759 Point number three is this as you carry, you carry with compassion. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:55.759 As you carry someone's burdens, you carry that with compassion. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:04.399 It's much harder to offend somebody when you're the kind of person that understands you have your own issues. 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.360 Two weeks ago, I called my friend Kurt. 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:15.360 Kurt and I have been friends for a long time, and he's pastor of another church, and so I called him to complain about a lot of stuff because I like to complain. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:15.919 I just do. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.879 I like to complain, and he's a safe person to complain to. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:22.320 So I called him and I'm just complaining about stuff. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:30.480 You know, this is really hard, and I'm that, and you know, I'm just going at it, and he's listening, and and he's going, yeah, he's like, yeah, that is hard. 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:34.159 I oh, I remember, yeah, I remember when I was going through something like that. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:34.960 I remember that. 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:36.559 Yeah, man, that is hard. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:41.120 And he says this, he said, uh Russ, that's really hard. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.519 And there's probably something in there you need to repent of. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.480 And we can just keep talking about that. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.440 All right, so let's just review what happened here. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.879 I called my friend to complain. 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:58.240 He then told me, I need to repent. 00:13:58.720 --> 00:13:59.039 Okay? 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:03.440 And I was not offended at all. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:05.679 I never even got defensive. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:08.720 I just I totally received it. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.000 I left the phone call going to God, I do need to repent of a few things. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:19.759 And it was because there was never a moment of self-righteous judgment from him to me. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:21.279 That's why. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:28.639 The idea of this passage is not that we bulldoze people with our holiness agenda for them. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:33.519 The idea of this passage is that we are gentle restorers. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.919 So the image here, the image here is actually of my sister when she was little, we were little, she's climbing a fence. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:41.759 This actual story, I'm not making this up. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.399 She's climbing a fence, she trips at the top of the fence, she falls down, she hits the ground, she breaks her arm. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.080 Her arm looked like a V. 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.960 She runs home, dad puts her in the car, they go to the hospital. 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:57.039 Doctor medicates her up, waits till a little bit of that pain medicine's in there. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:15:08.080 The doctor takes the arm, pulls it just as gently as he could, just pulls it apart, pushes the bone back in before he can cast it. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.120 And that's the that's actually the image here. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.120 A gentle restoration of something that is broken. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.799 It doesn't mean there won't be pain. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:33.519 It doesn't mean it won't be difficult, but it means we as people who want to walk with other people and we're close to them and we love them and we care for them, and we're gonna walk with them in gentleness and compassion, and because you love them so much, you will tell them the truth. 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.960 You'll say, Yeah, you need to repent of that. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:38.639 That's not healthy. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:40.080 That's headed down the wrong way. 00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:41.279 You're not thinking straight. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.240 That's messed up. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:43.519 You need to stop that. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.600 Verses 9 and 10. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:55.279 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:03.519 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.159 So this progression's amazing here, right? 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.440 Galatians 1 through 4, you are loved, you're secured as a child of God and Jesus alone. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:14.080 That work is entirely over and secured. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:15.919 We are beloved, it's done, it's over. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.159 No religious performance for us. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.759 So, how should we live? 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.879 Galatians 5, 14, love your neighbor. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.320 One command, one expression of Christian faith, love. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.000 Love God, love your neighbor. 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:28.879 Okay, that's great. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:29.759 What does that look like? 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:33.200 Later in Galatians 5, walk by the Spirit, okay? 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:34.480 What does that look like? 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:38.000 Galatians 5, 22 and 23, fruit of the Spirit. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.279 All right, a whole bunch of good adjectives there about love. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:44.159 All right, what does that mean practically? 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:46.320 Help me out practically at this point. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:48.639 Care for people. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:17:04.000 Carry the burdens, restore them, walk with them, be so close with them in non-judgmental presence that you could speak truth into them and they will accept it. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.119 Last point, last point, we need this last point as well. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:15.200 While you love imperfectly, because we will, while you love imperfectly, you can keep loving because you are loved perfectly. 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:22.720 While you will love people imperfectly, you can keep loving people because you are loved perfectly by God. 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:26.559 Your performance in loving people has nothing to do with your acceptance of God. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.960 And that's the very reason why you can keep loving people. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:31.920 We'll wrestle with when to say something to someone. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:35.359 When should you say something and when should you let it ride? 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.559 When should you be gracious or when should you just be like raw, hard, truthful? 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.079 I don't know. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:42.880 Right? 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:49.359 That's the hard part of walking in the spirit and discerning, but I do know you need to be close enough and gentle enough to be able to speak it. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:51.759 When should you help? 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:53.920 When should you withhold help? 00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:55.759 I don't know. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.519 And you won't always know. 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.000 And there'll be times that you'll help and you shouldn't have. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:02.720 You there'll be times when you speak, you shouldn't have. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.279 And there'll be the other times you you should have held your tongue and you went for it. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:11.680 And you know what? 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:16.960 This is what is so great about love is one of the most powerful tools in love is apology. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.440 And you get to apologize. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:22.880 I'm so sorry, I should have said that. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.480 I should have backed off. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.880 I'm so sorry, I I saw something and I didn't say something. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.759 I should have I should have spoken to you a while back. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:40.079 And we apologize, and we keep walking together and caring for each other as the church. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:46.319 And we get to do this because your earning of the acceptance of God is over. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:48.480 It's settled with Jesus. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:58.880 And that brings great relief and healing to our hearts, and because our hearts are free and healed, and as we rest in that, we can begin to start to see and love other people. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:02.000 My brothers and sisters, you have been loved perfectly. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:07.279 So go in a non-judgmental, loving presence to others, love others. 00:19:07.519 --> 00:19:08.799 Let's pray together. 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:15.680 God, thank you for this great truth that because we are so loved, we get to love others. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:36.799 Would you help us in this unbelievable call to walk with people so closely and so in touch with our own humanity and sinfulness that when we go to restore someone to speak something that is healthy and truthful for their well-being, that they would never receive it as judgment. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:43.119 Would you help us be those kinds of people that are infatuated with the gospel? 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:49.759 That while we are broken and sinful, you perfectly loved us in Jesus, and would this produce great humility and great love. 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:51.599 In Jesus' name, amen.