WEBVTT 00:00.171 --> 00:07.279 [SPEAKER_00]: In our all-week, our world tells us who we are, but what we do when we gather together is really important. 00:07.419 --> 00:22.475 [SPEAKER_00]: It reminds us that we are not what we earn, we are not what we look like, we are not our achievements, we are not what others say about us, we are what God says about us. 00:28.254 --> 00:31.218 [SPEAKER_00]: And now, our house this week, we had a milestone. 00:32.058 --> 00:36.584 [SPEAKER_00]: One of our boys finished his last year, 12 exam. 00:39.217 --> 00:41.618 [SPEAKER_00]: And I know we're not the only ones in the room. 00:41.718 --> 00:51.564 [SPEAKER_00]: I can tell there's a few very relieved and tired and run out looking parents in the room and some very relieved and smiling young people as well. 00:51.644 --> 00:56.687 [SPEAKER_00]: If that is you and your family this week or if it will be this week, congratulations to you. 00:56.847 --> 00:58.648 [SPEAKER_00]: I know what you have been through. 00:59.448 --> 01:04.210 [SPEAKER_00]: I can actually remember walking out of my last year 12 exam. 01:04.791 --> 01:09.693 [SPEAKER_00]: It was back in 1989 and it was a politics exam. 01:09.713 --> 01:11.554 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't even know if they call it that anymore. 01:12.274 --> 01:18.377 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember that feeling of relief as something was lifted from my shoulder. 01:18.417 --> 01:24.600 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember the feeling of excitement as I looked forward into the future, this next season of life. 01:25.720 --> 01:30.883 [SPEAKER_00]: and I remember the nerves as I wondered how I went and wondered what course I might get into. 01:32.544 --> 01:34.165 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'll also remember the next morning. 01:34.766 --> 01:41.550 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember the next week or so because it actually took me a while to get out of the rhythm of school. 01:42.600 --> 01:53.233 [SPEAKER_00]: For 13 years, my whole life had run on this rhythm of school, wearing the same clothes every day, bells ringing to tell me where to be. 01:53.574 --> 01:55.917 [SPEAKER_00]: Teachers telling me what to focus upon. 01:57.032 --> 02:01.014 [SPEAKER_00]: Meeting friends at certain places at certain times to do certain things. 02:01.774 --> 02:02.995 [SPEAKER_00]: And then it all finished. 02:03.455 --> 02:10.158 [SPEAKER_00]: And it took me a remarkably long time to realize I wasn't a high school student anymore. 02:10.838 --> 02:15.300 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember for the week or so after waking up at 7 a.m. 02:16.240 --> 02:19.122 [SPEAKER_00]: Even though my exam was not that my alarm was not set. 02:19.948 --> 02:28.914 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember every morning I would look across into the corner of my room where my school uniform was normally, well, Monday was hung the rest of the week it would be on the floor. 02:30.315 --> 02:31.515 [SPEAKER_00]: And it wasn't there anymore. 02:32.516 --> 02:40.561 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember looking to my bedside table where I kept my time table to tell me what my day would look like and it wasn't there anymore. 02:41.962 --> 02:46.205 [SPEAKER_00]: I had to catch up with the fact that I wasn't a high school student anymore. 02:47.623 --> 02:49.386 [SPEAKER_00]: and it took me some time to do that. 02:49.486 --> 02:59.483 [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if you know that feeling, whether it be the end of school or a changing of a job or the moving of house and you keep driving back to the old one accidentally. 03:00.729 --> 03:05.713 [SPEAKER_00]: Or perhaps it's retirement, or perhaps it's kids moving out of your home. 03:06.573 --> 03:08.815 [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe it's the losing of a loved one. 03:09.115 --> 03:17.981 [SPEAKER_00]: The season of life changes, and yet we find ourselves in a rhythm of life from a previous lifetime. 03:18.882 --> 03:25.285 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's the exact feeling that Paul is writing into in Colossians 3. 03:26.066 --> 03:31.669 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is writing to a group of Christians who have left an old life behind. 03:31.729 --> 03:40.073 [SPEAKER_00]: They were pagans and now they are Christians and it seems reading between the lines that they're having a hard time adjusting. 03:40.674 --> 03:44.095 [SPEAKER_00]: They seem to be going back to their old ways. 03:45.176 --> 03:50.863 [SPEAKER_00]: They're living in this strange time between lives and they're finding it difficult. 03:52.485 --> 04:00.154 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this is a really relevant passage for us because these are the things that we find ourselves doing too or at least I do. 04:01.589 --> 04:11.477 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, Colossian Streas, the third week in our series, and we've been talking in theological terms until this point, but in this chapter, Paul gets a little bit more practical. 04:12.138 --> 04:18.283 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like he's putting his arm around this church and saying, come on, friends, that old life is gone. 04:19.384 --> 04:20.725 [SPEAKER_00]: You're not like that anymore. 04:21.586 --> 04:23.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Live into the new one that you've got. 04:24.972 --> 04:28.893 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, before we dig into the passage itself, I want to say a couple of things about it. 04:29.513 --> 04:32.273 [SPEAKER_00]: Firstly, this is a letter written to Christians. 04:32.393 --> 04:34.774 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a letter written to followers of Jesus. 04:35.514 --> 04:51.237 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you are here this morning and you are exploring faith, but not perhaps at that stage, this letter is actually not written with you in mind, but I actually think it's a perfect letter for you to listen in on because it actually reveals 04:55.338 --> 05:02.181 [SPEAKER_00]: And the second thing I'll say about this particular passage is that is way too long and deep for the next 35 minutes. 05:03.361 --> 05:04.802 [SPEAKER_00]: There's so much in it. 05:04.842 --> 05:06.242 [SPEAKER_00]: This is very poor. 05:06.302 --> 05:09.323 [SPEAKER_00]: We could do a whole series on just this passage. 05:09.383 --> 05:13.745 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I will say right up front, I'm going to skip bits and we won't get to the end. 05:14.345 --> 05:15.885 [SPEAKER_00]: But let's see how far we do get. 05:17.546 --> 05:20.487 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to start by looking at versus one to four. 05:20.827 --> 05:22.448 [SPEAKER_00]: And we may not even get past these. 05:23.706 --> 05:25.914 [SPEAKER_00]: Since then you have been raised with Christ. 05:26.195 --> 05:29.627 [SPEAKER_00]: Set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated. 05:30.889 --> 05:33.430 [SPEAKER_00]: where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 05:33.950 --> 05:37.272 [SPEAKER_00]: Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. 05:37.972 --> 05:41.474 [SPEAKER_00]: For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 05:42.254 --> 05:47.696 [SPEAKER_00]: When Christ is your life appears, then you will appear with Him in glory. 05:48.697 --> 05:51.338 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a lot going on in just these verses. 05:51.858 --> 05:54.179 [SPEAKER_00]: It's very Paul in the way that it's written. 05:54.879 --> 05:58.941 [SPEAKER_00]: But there's really two main things I think that Paul is trying to get across here. 06:00.130 --> 06:09.237 [SPEAKER_00]: He's trying to remind the Colossians of who they are and how to live because of who they are. 06:09.697 --> 06:11.778 [SPEAKER_00]: This is who you are, so live like that. 06:12.639 --> 06:16.162 [SPEAKER_00]: And notice the order here, Paul doesn't start with instructions. 06:16.202 --> 06:19.964 [SPEAKER_00]: He starts with who they are, with a fact of who they are. 06:20.625 --> 06:25.769 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's in the past tense, since you have been raised with Christ. 06:26.950 --> 06:36.553 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've always assumed that Christianity was being good enough for God, then this is where Paul turns that upside down and starts with something that has been done for you. 06:37.073 --> 06:40.414 [SPEAKER_00]: You have been raised with Christ. 06:41.395 --> 06:46.817 [SPEAKER_00]: Now a couple of weeks ago, Linda made a little bit of fun of me about obsessing over little words in passages. 06:48.137 --> 06:50.698 [SPEAKER_00]: And right now I'm going to prove her completely right. 06:52.797 --> 07:11.430 [SPEAKER_00]: because there's a little word in these four verses that is repeated and it's doing a lot of work and the word is with, there's a chain of whiffs in this passage but also it goes back into chapter two which Jesse talked about last week. 07:11.590 --> 07:17.855 [SPEAKER_00]: Back in two verse 20 we see you died with Christ. 07:19.071 --> 07:24.755 [SPEAKER_00]: We go back further into chapter 2, verse 12, we see that we were buried with him. 07:25.555 --> 07:39.965 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse 13, you were made alive with Christ, and then in this passage you have been raised with Christ, your life is hidden with Christ, and you will appear with him. 07:40.325 --> 07:42.307 [SPEAKER_00]: So we have this chain of whiths. 07:43.647 --> 07:46.149 [SPEAKER_00]: And it really is describing the gospel message. 07:46.309 --> 07:48.311 [SPEAKER_00]: It's describing what happened to Jesus. 07:48.371 --> 07:55.618 [SPEAKER_00]: His death, his burial, his resurrection, where he is now seated beside the Father and his return. 07:56.038 --> 08:03.165 [SPEAKER_00]: And at every step on the way, Paul puts you and me as followers of Christ with him. 08:04.117 --> 08:10.765 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not just a with like we're in proximity to him, Paul could have used a Greek word to say that. 08:11.166 --> 08:17.974 [SPEAKER_00]: No, he uses a Greek word that means we experience the same thing as him. 08:18.014 --> 08:18.915 [SPEAKER_00]: We are caught up. 08:20.076 --> 08:21.918 [SPEAKER_00]: in these things that he went through. 08:22.519 --> 08:23.920 [SPEAKER_00]: Tim Keller puts it like this. 08:23.940 --> 08:30.827 [SPEAKER_00]: He says everything that's actually true of Christ is legally true of you. 08:31.888 --> 08:34.871 [SPEAKER_00]: Christians call this union with Christ. 08:36.112 --> 08:39.516 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's as simple and as mysterious as it sounds. 08:40.457 --> 08:41.438 [SPEAKER_00]: We are with him. 08:41.518 --> 08:44.922 [SPEAKER_00]: We have been through these things with him. 08:45.282 --> 08:51.649 [SPEAKER_00]: He died, and so the old you, the part of you that tries to earn its place, it is dead. 08:52.610 --> 08:53.231 [SPEAKER_00]: It's gone. 08:54.132 --> 08:57.655 [SPEAKER_00]: He was raised so that you too may be raised. 08:58.356 --> 09:09.947 [SPEAKER_00]: He's safe at the Father's right hand, so your life is safe there too, and he's coming back in glory, that future is yours as well. 09:11.088 --> 09:20.998 [SPEAKER_00]: And then he says, this beautiful phrase there in verse 3, your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 09:21.708 --> 09:23.349 [SPEAKER_00]: It's such a beautiful phrase. 09:24.409 --> 09:28.872 [SPEAKER_00]: Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 09:29.652 --> 09:34.295 [SPEAKER_00]: It's in the tense that means your life is hidden and it stays hidden. 09:35.255 --> 09:36.736 [SPEAKER_00]: It will continue to be hidden. 09:36.896 --> 09:38.997 [SPEAKER_00]: It is done and it is still true. 09:40.098 --> 09:43.020 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's a couple of layers to that word hidden. 09:43.380 --> 09:44.981 [SPEAKER_00]: Firstly, it means you are safe. 09:45.917 --> 09:54.422 [SPEAKER_00]: The New Testament scholar, FF Bruce, says your life is laid up in safekeeping with him, securely hidden in God. 09:54.982 --> 10:05.428 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no safer place that your life could be than in God himself, and hidden also means it's not yet seen. 10:06.609 --> 10:08.330 [SPEAKER_00]: When something is hidden, you can't see it. 10:09.150 --> 10:16.396 [SPEAKER_00]: The reality is that your witness with Christ is not something that we can physically see. 10:17.977 --> 10:21.360 [SPEAKER_00]: Your workmates don't physically see that you are with Christ. 10:21.940 --> 10:27.385 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we're asked with ourselves, there are days where we don't even see our hiddenness with Christ. 10:27.825 --> 10:33.570 [SPEAKER_00]: There are days where we forget and we act as if we are not connected to Him. 10:34.959 --> 10:39.840 [SPEAKER_00]: Which is exactly why I think Paul is saying these words to the Colossians. 10:39.920 --> 10:46.642 [SPEAKER_00]: What he's doing here is reminding the Colossians and reminding you and me of who they are. 10:47.882 --> 10:50.583 [SPEAKER_00]: Is saying you are with Christ. 10:50.643 --> 10:54.364 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to be reminded of this again and again and again. 10:57.180 --> 11:01.264 [SPEAKER_00]: And the beautiful thing in verse 4 there is the contrast with the hiddenness. 11:01.445 --> 11:08.152 [SPEAKER_00]: One day it won't be hidden anymore, because Christ will appear, and we will appear with Him. 11:08.332 --> 11:10.954 [SPEAKER_00]: And we won't need to be reminded anymore. 11:11.655 --> 11:18.022 [SPEAKER_00]: It will be so clear to us that we won't have to keep reaching for the uniform on the floor. 11:20.589 --> 11:27.795 [SPEAKER_00]: And then Paul goes a little further in verse four and he says, not just are you with Christ, but he is your life. 11:28.456 --> 11:30.077 [SPEAKER_00]: Christ is your life. 11:31.358 --> 11:33.740 [SPEAKER_00]: Our world tells us all the time what our life is. 11:33.820 --> 11:39.885 [SPEAKER_00]: It's our career, it's our family, it's our reputation, it's all of these things, our bank balance. 11:40.626 --> 11:42.988 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul says, no, none of those things are your life. 11:43.088 --> 11:44.809 [SPEAKER_00]: Christ is your life. 11:49.698 --> 11:52.480 [SPEAKER_00]: where Paul is talking about who we are. 11:52.820 --> 11:56.103 [SPEAKER_00]: He is not describing things that we should be trying to be. 11:56.123 --> 12:01.026 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not saying, I want you to strive to be hidden in Christ. 12:01.747 --> 12:06.190 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want you to have a goal of becoming this. 12:06.330 --> 12:07.871 [SPEAKER_00]: He's saying, this is who you are. 12:07.911 --> 12:08.832 [SPEAKER_00]: This is settled. 12:08.932 --> 12:10.533 [SPEAKER_00]: This is done and dusted. 12:11.434 --> 12:15.437 [SPEAKER_00]: Even the part that hasn't happened yet that we will appear with him in glory. 12:15.577 --> 12:17.818 [SPEAKER_00]: It's as certain as if it was done. 12:18.679 --> 12:22.980 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul is not saying to the Colossians, become someone new. 12:23.000 --> 12:26.961 [SPEAKER_00]: It's saying you are someone new. 12:26.981 --> 12:28.242 [SPEAKER_00]: So, leave like it. 12:29.102 --> 12:35.564 [SPEAKER_00]: You died, you were buried, you were made alive, you have been raised, your life is hidden, and you will appear with him. 12:35.784 --> 12:41.065 [SPEAKER_00]: So, set your hearts on things above. 12:41.085 --> 12:43.346 [SPEAKER_00]: So, set your minds on things above. 12:43.846 --> 12:47.987 [SPEAKER_00]: Now we get to the instructions, but it only comes based on who we are. 12:48.977 --> 12:50.658 [SPEAKER_00]: the instructions flow out of it. 12:51.459 --> 12:59.645 [SPEAKER_00]: Because we are united with Christ, focus your hearts and minds where Christ is on things above. 13:01.086 --> 13:13.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, when we talk about hearts and minds, we might think of feelings and thoughts and Paul is probably saying something along those lines, but he's also saying something bigger than that. 13:14.076 --> 13:16.397 [SPEAKER_00]: When we look at the Greek of set your heart, 13:17.853 --> 13:29.879 [SPEAKER_00]: It's talking about what we seek, is talking about what you pursue, what you go after, where your time and energy and resource is spent. 13:30.940 --> 13:32.801 [SPEAKER_00]: If you want to know where your heart is set, 13:33.719 --> 13:39.161 [SPEAKER_00]: Look at where you spend your time, where you spend your resource, and where you spend your energy. 13:39.781 --> 13:45.962 [SPEAKER_00]: And that will reveal to you where your heart is set to confronting thing, to think about. 13:46.042 --> 13:54.125 [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul is saying, don't set your heart, don't pursue the earthly things, pursue, set your heart upon God. 13:55.065 --> 14:02.507 [SPEAKER_00]: And when he says, set your minds, it's about mindset, not just what you think, but how you see what you dwell on. 14:03.615 --> 14:06.117 [SPEAKER_00]: You want to know where your mind is set. 14:06.778 --> 14:10.802 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about what goes on in your mind and where it dwells. 14:11.723 --> 14:16.928 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, confronting to do, Paul says, set your mind on things above. 14:16.948 --> 14:17.028 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 14:17.669 --> 14:21.453 [SPEAKER_00]: Because that's where Christ is who you are united with. 14:22.213 --> 14:26.037 [SPEAKER_00]: He's basically saying, point your whole self on things above. 14:27.198 --> 14:35.909 [SPEAKER_00]: And in the Greek, these words are keep doing words, keep seeking, keep setting. 14:37.118 --> 14:45.566 [SPEAKER_00]: Hall is saying to reset your mind and continually to reset your mind because hearts and minds don't say stay set by themselves. 14:46.046 --> 14:47.007 [SPEAKER_00]: At least mind doesn't. 14:47.107 --> 14:49.489 [SPEAKER_00]: My mind, my heart seems to drift. 14:50.370 --> 14:57.597 [SPEAKER_00]: And unless I'm intentional, it drifts back to the patterns of my old life, the things that I've always done. 14:58.985 --> 15:02.007 [SPEAKER_00]: And it drifts to the things that everyone else around me is doing. 15:02.667 --> 15:10.231 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we're not careful and if we're not resetting our minds on a daily, it may be even hourly basis, we will drift. 15:12.347 --> 15:16.290 [SPEAKER_00]: And then Paul says, don't set your mind and hearts on earthly things. 15:16.931 --> 15:22.456 [SPEAKER_00]: Not because the earth is bad, but because we are not citizens of the earth. 15:22.536 --> 15:25.178 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul says in Philippians, we are citizens of heaven. 15:25.979 --> 15:31.464 [SPEAKER_00]: So we need to set the direction of our life based on where we are citizens of. 15:33.397 --> 15:50.880 [SPEAKER_00]: So, so far, Paul, we've only got to verse four, sorry, but so far, Paul has been talking in a very positive way about where to set our minds on, and in verses 5 to 11, we actually see that he actually says, starts talking about the other side of it, where not to set our minds on. 15:52.054 --> 16:03.680 [SPEAKER_00]: And we find in verse five, he gives us the first of two lists, two lists of five things, which describe our earthly nature and what belongs to it. 16:04.541 --> 16:16.487 [SPEAKER_00]: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. 16:18.878 --> 16:23.303 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, notice the little word again, therefore. 16:24.365 --> 16:28.129 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul has just told us in verse 3 that we have died. 16:28.970 --> 16:33.255 [SPEAKER_00]: And now he is saying therefore, put to death these things. 16:33.336 --> 16:35.558 [SPEAKER_00]: So again, it comes out of who we are. 16:36.279 --> 16:40.401 [SPEAKER_00]: We have died, so put to death these things. 16:41.141 --> 16:44.002 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's an interesting choice of word that he uses. 16:44.122 --> 16:45.443 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, put to death. 16:46.003 --> 16:47.604 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a half-hearted thing. 16:48.204 --> 16:51.985 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a very decisive confronting word. 16:52.826 --> 16:56.567 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul does not tell us to manage our earthly nature. 16:57.327 --> 16:59.808 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not saying cut back on these things. 16:59.868 --> 17:01.009 [SPEAKER_00]: He's saying kill them off. 17:02.544 --> 17:03.844 [SPEAKER_00]: So what do we to put to death? 17:04.004 --> 17:06.705 [SPEAKER_00]: We get these two lists of earthly things. 17:07.305 --> 17:09.466 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think these are exhaustive lists. 17:09.566 --> 17:13.267 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul actually says, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. 17:13.627 --> 17:16.268 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that indicates there's probably more things. 17:16.328 --> 17:20.509 [SPEAKER_00]: But these are 10 things that he comes up for this community. 17:21.229 --> 17:27.031 [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, these are things that he thinks are relevant for their community and their context. 17:27.151 --> 17:30.932 [SPEAKER_00]: But I do think they're pretty relevant for our time in place too. 17:31.852 --> 17:34.335 [SPEAKER_00]: The first of these lists is about desire. 17:35.095 --> 17:42.423 [SPEAKER_00]: These five things are the things that we desire, that the things that we desire to have or do. 17:42.883 --> 17:46.867 [SPEAKER_00]: They move from the outside in, from what we do to what we want. 17:47.868 --> 17:50.030 [SPEAKER_00]: Sexual immorality, Paul starts here. 17:50.090 --> 17:51.512 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks, Tim, for this passage. 17:53.614 --> 17:54.335 [SPEAKER_00]: It's important. 17:54.936 --> 17:57.198 [SPEAKER_00]: Tim will actually explain it next week for me. 17:59.201 --> 18:01.163 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it's worth saying. 18:01.223 --> 18:04.907 [SPEAKER_00]: It means sex outside of a faithful covenant marriage. 18:04.947 --> 18:12.536 [SPEAKER_00]: And in Colisei, this is something that was really relevant for that context, but it was very normal, particularly for men. 18:13.917 --> 18:19.600 [SPEAKER_00]: to be immoral in these ways, and I think it's such a relevant thing for us to talk about, too. 18:20.220 --> 18:21.381 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all around us. 18:21.741 --> 18:22.741 [SPEAKER_00]: It's so normal. 18:23.562 --> 18:25.162 [SPEAKER_00]: It's in front of us all the time. 18:25.843 --> 18:30.305 [SPEAKER_00]: It's part of the rhythms of our world that we're called to resist. 18:31.735 --> 18:36.817 [SPEAKER_00]: Second word, impurity, which is kind of connected to the first, but it's wider than that. 18:36.957 --> 18:40.898 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what we let our minds and our lives settle into. 18:41.118 --> 18:47.441 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what we watch, it's what we laugh at in jokes, it's what we say, it's what we think about. 18:47.921 --> 18:50.662 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what we do that we'd rather nobody saw. 18:52.161 --> 19:03.427 [SPEAKER_00]: Number three, lust, again, seems to be on a similar kind of direction here, but it really means passion, desire that has taken over. 19:04.267 --> 19:09.250 [SPEAKER_00]: It's very normal to have desire that this is speaking about a desire that has you. 19:11.067 --> 19:15.109 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes that sex, but it can very easily be many other things. 19:15.169 --> 19:16.330 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be our phones. 19:16.910 --> 19:19.511 [SPEAKER_00]: It could be what we eat and drink. 19:20.192 --> 19:23.774 [SPEAKER_00]: It can be what we do gambling. 19:23.834 --> 19:24.954 [SPEAKER_00]: It can be shopping. 19:25.915 --> 19:32.218 [SPEAKER_00]: Anything that we desire that is taken us over, that is determining how we live. 19:33.491 --> 19:36.915 [SPEAKER_00]: and then evil desires, it's the craving underneath it all. 19:37.635 --> 19:43.382 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not just craving bad things, it's Tim Kellis has it can be over desire for good things. 19:44.898 --> 19:50.604 [SPEAKER_00]: And then lastly, Paul says, there's greed, which he calls idolatry. 19:51.745 --> 19:55.869 [SPEAKER_00]: This greed word means simply always wanting more. 19:56.629 --> 20:03.897 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this one is the one that I've been thinking a lot about this week because our world is telling us that this is normal. 20:05.138 --> 20:06.739 [SPEAKER_00]: You should want more, shouldn't you? 20:07.652 --> 20:13.494 [SPEAKER_00]: It's in every ad we see, it's in all of our feeds, every upgrade offer that we receive. 20:14.235 --> 20:17.336 [SPEAKER_00]: You will be happier if you just have a little bit more. 20:18.396 --> 20:20.937 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't call it greed, we call it ambition. 20:21.838 --> 20:25.299 [SPEAKER_00]: We call it upgrading, we call it getting ahead. 20:26.760 --> 20:32.722 [SPEAKER_00]: DePaul greed isn't bad manners, it's worship pointed in the wrong direction. 20:34.038 --> 20:37.741 [SPEAKER_00]: It's taking a good thing and making it the ultimate thing. 20:39.023 --> 20:46.750 [SPEAKER_00]: A good career, a nice home, an education, a healthy bank balance, an Instagram, real full of well-curated life. 20:47.250 --> 20:49.512 [SPEAKER_00]: It's being respected, it's having influence. 20:49.612 --> 20:59.722 [SPEAKER_00]: All of these things can be good things, but they can also become the main thing, the thing that we point our whole life towards, the thing that we worship, the thing we can't live without. 21:01.930 --> 21:05.380 [SPEAKER_00]: to each of the five things that Paul lists here have to do with desire. 21:06.323 --> 21:07.346 [SPEAKER_00]: And Paul says, kill him. 21:08.551 --> 21:18.258 [SPEAKER_00]: said work to kill them, and then he gives us the second list, and the second list starts in verse A, and this one's not so much about desires, more about how we treat one another. 21:18.978 --> 21:31.547 [SPEAKER_00]: But now you must also read yourself of all such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from your lips, and then he gives us a bonus sixth one, and do not lie to one another. 21:32.247 --> 21:34.609 [SPEAKER_00]: This is about how we treat one another. 21:34.669 --> 21:40.673 [SPEAKER_00]: And it starts with what's going on inside of us, and then it goes to what comes out of us. 21:41.613 --> 21:47.978 [SPEAKER_00]: Anger that smoulders, rage that explodes, melous that wants to hurt others. 21:48.158 --> 21:55.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Slander that tears others down, filthy language and abuse towards other that tears strips off them. 21:56.504 --> 21:58.985 [SPEAKER_00]: In the same instruction about these five things, 22:04.383 --> 22:07.144 [SPEAKER_00]: So what are we to do with these lists? 22:07.464 --> 22:10.785 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot here, perhaps, a sermon series at some point. 22:11.606 --> 22:14.327 [SPEAKER_00]: But I just want to make a few brief comments about them. 22:15.127 --> 22:19.009 [SPEAKER_00]: Firstly, Paul gives both of these lists the same white. 22:20.209 --> 22:21.670 [SPEAKER_00]: The church hasn't always done that. 22:22.710 --> 22:27.152 [SPEAKER_00]: We tend to be very loud about some of these things, but not others. 22:27.852 --> 22:29.753 [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't think Paul would let us do that. 22:33.598 --> 22:48.987 [SPEAKER_00]: The second thing I want to encourage us to do, as we reflect on these lists, is to pay attention to what happens inside of us when we think about these things, to pay attention to the reaction in you. 22:50.268 --> 22:55.331 [SPEAKER_00]: The temptation when we hear these types of things is to think about other people's problems. 22:56.012 --> 22:57.773 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, they have an issue with that. 22:58.596 --> 23:03.220 [SPEAKER_00]: What is going on inside you as we talk about these things? 23:03.320 --> 23:08.964 [SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps the Holy Spirit this morning has already put his finger on one of these things. 23:09.704 --> 23:12.847 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he wants to do a work in you. 23:13.988 --> 23:19.011 [SPEAKER_00]: I suspect that most of us see ourselves at least once in these lists. 23:19.912 --> 23:22.535 [SPEAKER_00]: And as I said earlier, these are not exhaustive lists. 23:22.635 --> 23:25.978 [SPEAKER_00]: There are other things that can belong to our earthly nature too. 23:27.039 --> 23:34.026 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to encourage you this week to put some time aside to reflect on what the Holy Spirit might be saying to you. 23:34.046 --> 23:43.676 [SPEAKER_00]: The next thing I say is that we need to remember that this is a ladder written to a church, not an individual. 23:45.154 --> 23:55.157 [SPEAKER_00]: Whilst these things may actually surface something in me or in you, these are all things that can become marks of communities too. 23:56.538 --> 24:02.840 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we need to reflect on our community and do we see ourselves in this list some way as well. 24:03.460 --> 24:10.803 [SPEAKER_00]: And the other part of this is that community is probably the best place for us to deal with and address these things in our lives. 24:12.421 --> 24:25.856 [SPEAKER_00]: If you are struggling with one of the things that we've mentioned this morning, in my experience the best way to deal with it is to ask a fellow brother or sister in Christ to pray with you about it. 24:26.691 --> 24:30.915 [SPEAKER_00]: to actually be you funerable about what you are dealing with. 24:32.176 --> 24:37.802 [SPEAKER_00]: I think Satan actually wants us to keep these things private to make us think that we are the only ones. 24:38.342 --> 24:41.505 [SPEAKER_00]: And when we do that, these things get a bigger hold on us. 24:41.746 --> 24:50.234 [SPEAKER_00]: But when we talk about them, when we share them, when we're vulnerable with one another and care with one another, we're more able to take these things off. 24:53.464 --> 24:55.285 [SPEAKER_00]: and we go to verse 12. 24:55.545 --> 24:57.546 [SPEAKER_00]: And we get to something a little bit more positive. 24:58.307 --> 24:59.087 [SPEAKER_00]: I love this. 24:59.127 --> 25:02.829 [SPEAKER_00]: This is one of the more recited memorized parts of Scripture. 25:02.869 --> 25:14.376 [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, close yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 25:15.177 --> 25:17.158 [SPEAKER_00]: We get enough there for here. 25:17.838 --> 25:20.079 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, the facts come first. 25:21.180 --> 25:24.221 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, Paul reminds us who we are. 25:25.102 --> 25:27.523 [SPEAKER_00]: You are God's chosen people. 25:28.003 --> 25:29.044 [SPEAKER_00]: You are holy. 25:30.044 --> 25:31.345 [SPEAKER_00]: You are dearly loved. 25:32.651 --> 25:38.653 [SPEAKER_00]: Interestingly, this list of three names actually comes from Judoronomy 7. 25:39.134 --> 25:42.275 [SPEAKER_00]: God gave Israel these names. 25:43.455 --> 25:46.497 [SPEAKER_00]: You are chosen, holy, and dearly love. 25:46.557 --> 25:49.158 [SPEAKER_00]: They're now Paul speaks them over this church. 25:50.258 --> 25:54.523 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, Paul is reminding us who we are, again and again. 25:54.543 --> 25:58.248 [SPEAKER_00]: If you read through all of Paul's letters, you see he does this a lot. 25:58.768 --> 26:02.633 [SPEAKER_00]: Before he gives instructions, he tells people who they are. 26:03.934 --> 26:07.038 [SPEAKER_00]: It flows out of who we are that the instructions come. 26:08.940 --> 26:09.401 [SPEAKER_00]: You are holy. 26:11.808 --> 26:15.429 [SPEAKER_00]: You are dearly loved, you are chosen. 26:16.649 --> 26:22.890 [SPEAKER_00]: So put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 26:24.230 --> 26:28.831 [SPEAKER_00]: What shall we make of this list while we could again do another sermon series on these ones? 26:29.391 --> 26:31.572 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a beautiful list of clothes, isn't it? 26:32.112 --> 26:33.692 [SPEAKER_00]: There's a beautiful quality. 26:33.812 --> 26:35.192 [SPEAKER_00]: And they look a lot like God. 26:36.133 --> 26:37.573 [SPEAKER_00]: They look a lot like Jesus. 26:38.555 --> 26:40.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm sure that's Paul's intention. 26:40.465 --> 26:42.355 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the clothes that God wears. 26:44.053 --> 26:46.814 [SPEAKER_00]: But they're not just God's clothes. 26:46.994 --> 26:49.334 [SPEAKER_00]: We actually see these things in our culture too. 26:49.474 --> 26:54.515 [SPEAKER_00]: I was at our school assembly the other day and the school principle got up to speak about the school's values. 26:55.175 --> 26:56.135 [SPEAKER_00]: And guess what they were? 26:56.776 --> 26:58.956 [SPEAKER_00]: They're pretty much married in these five things. 26:59.616 --> 27:02.277 [SPEAKER_00]: We teach our kids to be kind. 27:02.677 --> 27:07.978 [SPEAKER_00]: We teach our kids to be compassionate, to be humble and gentle and patient. 27:08.878 --> 27:11.822 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think Christians have an monopoly on these things. 27:12.503 --> 27:15.587 [SPEAKER_00]: Our world values them, at least to some degree. 27:16.748 --> 27:20.834 [SPEAKER_00]: The problem is our world rewards the opposite of these things too. 27:22.137 --> 27:31.481 [SPEAKER_00]: You look at what is modeled by our leaders, by those who are famous, those who are influential, these clothes often get ignored. 27:32.361 --> 27:34.902 [SPEAKER_00]: And if we're honest, we ignore them too. 27:36.063 --> 27:41.065 [SPEAKER_00]: As much as we might admire these clothes, they're actually not that fashionable to wear. 27:42.208 --> 27:44.749 [SPEAKER_00]: They weren't in Paul's day and they aren't in ours. 27:45.709 --> 27:46.429 [SPEAKER_00]: Compassion. 27:46.930 --> 27:54.652 [SPEAKER_00]: The word literally means bells of mercy, feeling someone else's pain and suffering in your guts. 27:55.813 --> 28:00.434 [SPEAKER_00]: And in Paul's day, Stoic philosophers said that this is weakness. 28:01.695 --> 28:06.316 [SPEAKER_00]: Now we'd never say that out loud, but I think sometimes we act this way. 28:06.356 --> 28:08.917 [SPEAKER_00]: We see a lot of suffering and pain in our world. 28:11.227 --> 28:19.828 [SPEAKER_00]: It's somewhere between the rest of P and the football schools in our fades, and it's so easy to scroll by, compassion doesn't scroll. 28:21.071 --> 28:21.672 [SPEAKER_00]: kindness. 28:21.952 --> 28:24.775 [SPEAKER_00]: In Paul's world, kindness was often transactional. 28:25.295 --> 28:28.318 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm kind to you, I'll be good to you, but now you only. 28:28.858 --> 28:32.282 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think we operate in that same way, so often. 28:33.443 --> 28:35.465 [SPEAKER_00]: Real kindness doesn't keep score. 28:36.105 --> 28:42.592 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility in the Greek, this is a word for the lowly, for the slave, for the servant, and nobody wants that. 28:44.513 --> 28:51.936 [SPEAKER_00]: And in Australia, we kind of don't like pride, but we also reward people who shout out their good qualities. 28:52.897 --> 28:55.058 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility is happy not to be noticed. 28:56.238 --> 29:00.000 [SPEAKER_00]: Genturnus really it means strength under control. 29:00.460 --> 29:03.082 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like a wild horse that's been tamed. 29:04.242 --> 29:10.528 [SPEAKER_00]: Rome, back in those days, admired power you could see, and our world actually does too. 29:10.788 --> 29:17.014 [SPEAKER_00]: Our world rewards those who shout the loudest, those who push their way into things. 29:18.715 --> 29:29.105 [SPEAKER_00]: Patience, it means long, tempered, slow to the boil, and it's a word in the Old Testament that's used of God being slow to anger. 29:30.194 --> 29:31.895 [SPEAKER_00]: In our world, we're not slow anymore. 29:31.955 --> 29:35.957 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't have the patience to even see a page load on our phone. 29:36.598 --> 29:39.119 [SPEAKER_00]: And the quickest sharpest reply usually wins. 29:39.199 --> 29:43.942 [SPEAKER_00]: Patience, I don't know that we embody that too much either. 29:45.351 --> 29:48.112 [SPEAKER_00]: So Paul says we need to put these things on. 29:48.292 --> 29:52.515 [SPEAKER_00]: And I actually think that what is saying here is that we need to be intentional. 29:53.015 --> 29:55.456 [SPEAKER_00]: Clothes just don't put themselves on us. 29:56.116 --> 29:58.678 [SPEAKER_00]: I actually thought this morning about what I wore. 29:58.698 --> 30:01.519 [SPEAKER_00]: I actually talked to my boys about it and they gave me advice. 30:02.639 --> 30:03.280 [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't take it. 30:05.963 --> 30:09.725 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to think about what we wear, and we need to think about these things. 30:09.785 --> 30:12.487 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the intentional language. 30:13.708 --> 30:18.291 [SPEAKER_00]: And the beautiful thing is that we don't actually have to put these clothes on by ourselves. 30:19.231 --> 30:28.897 [SPEAKER_00]: If we are followers of Jesus, we are united to one who wears these clothes, and who enter the crosshair that we can put them on. 30:33.348 --> 30:34.296 [SPEAKER_00]: three minutes to go. 30:35.425 --> 30:36.090 [SPEAKER_00]: Well halfway. 30:40.995 --> 30:50.243 [SPEAKER_00]: verse 13 and this is where I kind of think Paul, you are kind of introducing things right at the end which is so big. 30:51.183 --> 31:06.736 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, bear with one another and forgive one another as if any of you has a grievance against someone else, forgive as the Lord forgave you and over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity and let 31:10.679 --> 31:13.582 [SPEAKER_00]: since as members of one body you are called to peace. 31:15.324 --> 31:19.167 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to skip over forgiveness, peace and love, the big three. 31:20.008 --> 31:21.189 [SPEAKER_00]: They're so important. 31:21.409 --> 31:25.533 [SPEAKER_00]: And I all I would say at this point is notice the pattern again. 31:25.653 --> 31:27.155 [SPEAKER_00]: You have been forgiven. 31:27.175 --> 31:30.658 [SPEAKER_00]: This is who you are, so forgive. 31:31.158 --> 31:32.980 [SPEAKER_00]: You have been called to peace. 31:34.421 --> 31:35.482 [SPEAKER_00]: So let it rule. 31:36.143 --> 31:38.426 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the same kind of thing the whole way through. 31:38.486 --> 31:39.607 [SPEAKER_00]: This is who you are. 31:39.667 --> 31:41.189 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what you've experienced. 31:41.349 --> 31:43.151 [SPEAKER_00]: So live this way. 31:44.052 --> 31:47.495 [SPEAKER_00]: And again, remember these are things that Christ embodies. 31:47.635 --> 31:53.301 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we are united with the one who knows how to put these things on in our lives. 31:54.624 --> 31:56.785 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to finish by going to verse 15. 31:56.945 --> 32:01.387 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is where I think Paul gets really practical and I love that he does. 32:01.427 --> 32:06.449 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not just going to leave us in the realm of theory. 32:06.729 --> 32:12.732 [SPEAKER_00]: He gives us some very practical things that we can build into our lives and build into our community. 32:13.192 --> 32:14.133 [SPEAKER_00]: And be thankful. 32:14.853 --> 32:27.663 [SPEAKER_00]: Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through Psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, sing to God with a gratitude in your hearts. 32:28.343 --> 32:37.510 [SPEAKER_00]: And whatever you do, whether in Word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the God the Father through Him. 32:38.887 --> 32:45.716 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember back in verse 9, Paul told us to take off our old cells with its practices. 32:47.098 --> 32:55.550 [SPEAKER_00]: The Greek word that he used there is praxis, and it means not just what we do, but the patterns, the rhythms in our life. 32:56.888 --> 33:17.204 [SPEAKER_00]: Our old self comes with rhythms, that it become very familiar, and it's the rhythms that actually run deep within us, the school uniform on the floor that we just keep going back to by default, and the world around us has rhythms of its own as well, and it's so easy to fall into them. 33:18.263 --> 33:22.066 [SPEAKER_00]: I love here that Paul seems to be giving us some new practices. 33:22.946 --> 33:26.909 [SPEAKER_00]: Some things that can become a mark of our community and our lives. 33:27.889 --> 33:29.771 [SPEAKER_00]: Firstly, he says give thanks. 33:30.131 --> 33:33.273 [SPEAKER_00]: He actually pretty much says it three times in these verses. 33:33.353 --> 33:35.955 [SPEAKER_00]: Give thanks, have gratitude in your life. 33:37.255 --> 33:45.443 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanksgiving is such an important practice for us as individuals, but also as a community. 33:46.024 --> 33:54.273 [SPEAKER_00]: I actually think it's the thing that actually fights against greed the most, greed which is part of our old self. 33:54.853 --> 34:00.319 [SPEAKER_00]: Greed looks at what you haven't got, Thanksgiving looks at what you do have. 34:01.794 --> 34:04.635 [SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to be greedy and thankful at the same time. 34:05.356 --> 34:07.837 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's practice Thanksgiving. 34:08.497 --> 34:11.459 [SPEAKER_00]: And he's talking here about what we should be doing together. 34:12.399 --> 34:16.241 [SPEAKER_00]: So let your conversations after church today be about thanks. 34:16.941 --> 34:18.222 [SPEAKER_00]: Say thank you to someone. 34:20.583 --> 34:24.625 [SPEAKER_00]: The second thing he says here is to let the word move in. 34:24.685 --> 34:25.725 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, do well. 34:25.805 --> 34:29.547 [SPEAKER_00]: Let the message of Christ dwell among you. 34:30.883 --> 34:34.972 [SPEAKER_00]: This is such an important practice and something we value as a church. 34:35.032 --> 34:39.802 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what we're doing right now, opening God's Word and letting it to well among us. 34:41.113 --> 34:44.916 [SPEAKER_00]: There's something different than just hearing God's Word though here. 34:45.516 --> 34:48.358 [SPEAKER_00]: Let it live within you. 34:48.859 --> 34:50.760 [SPEAKER_00]: Let it live amongst us. 34:51.981 --> 34:56.484 [SPEAKER_00]: We need to be a community that lets the message of Christ dwell among us. 34:56.565 --> 35:00.527 [SPEAKER_00]: It's why we preach and open God's Word when we gather on a Sunday. 35:00.548 --> 35:03.850 [SPEAKER_00]: It's why we do small groups that open up God's Word. 35:03.870 --> 35:08.033 [SPEAKER_00]: It's why we're launching deep discipleship a whole year in God's Word. 35:09.871 --> 35:13.313 [SPEAKER_00]: practice the opening and dwelling in God's Word. 35:14.194 --> 35:28.303 [SPEAKER_00]: The third thing that He reminds us to do here is to remind each other, really, it's to teach in a Monish one and another, and it's interesting that He actually says that we can teach in a Monish one and other through Psalms, hymns, and songs. 35:29.024 --> 35:34.888 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, often we think of singing in church as worship, but do you know that when we sing, 35:35.648 --> 35:36.929 [SPEAKER_00]: And we've done it this morning. 35:36.989 --> 35:39.150 [SPEAKER_00]: We actually preach to one another. 35:39.631 --> 35:41.412 [SPEAKER_00]: We teach one another. 35:41.912 --> 35:46.695 [SPEAKER_00]: What we did this morning in the songs, we pretty much sung the gospel this morning. 35:47.495 --> 35:49.857 [SPEAKER_00]: We reminded each other of who we are. 35:51.012 --> 35:52.812 [SPEAKER_00]: and who God is. 35:53.713 --> 35:59.054 [SPEAKER_00]: And so this morning, as we finish our service, we're gonna sing another song, and it's got the gospel in it. 35:59.614 --> 36:11.497 [SPEAKER_00]: I wanna encourage you this morning to sing at his worship to God, yes, but sing it to remind yourself and the person sitting next to you, of who God is and who you are. 36:13.738 --> 36:21.564 [SPEAKER_00]: What Paul is describing here is the rhythms of a church, and the rhythms of a life of a follower of Jesus as well. 36:21.744 --> 36:28.830 [SPEAKER_00]: When we gather together, we open God's word, we sing, we pray, we give thanks, we confess, we forgive, 36:30.007 --> 36:37.110 [SPEAKER_00]: In our all week, our world tells us who we are, but what we do when we gather together is really important. 36:37.230 --> 36:41.472 [SPEAKER_00]: It reminds us that we are not what we earn. 36:42.313 --> 36:44.454 [SPEAKER_00]: We are not what we look like. 36:45.174 --> 36:47.095 [SPEAKER_00]: We are not our achievements. 36:47.695 --> 36:49.716 [SPEAKER_00]: We are not what others say about us. 36:49.997 --> 36:52.278 [SPEAKER_00]: We are what God says about us. 36:53.430 --> 36:59.992 [SPEAKER_00]: These rhythms are not just nice little extras, platitudes that we do when we get together. 37:00.592 --> 37:08.315 [SPEAKER_00]: I think what we do together in these rhythms is actually what makes possible letting go our old life. 37:08.335 --> 37:14.657 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to finish today with this, and I'm going to ask the band to come up. 37:17.817 --> 37:30.063 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember this morning, I said that in the week after my last exam, I would look across the room for my uniform that wasn't mine to wear anymore. 37:31.624 --> 37:38.067 [SPEAKER_00]: This week, I know I'm going to reach for my own life. 37:39.448 --> 37:43.150 [SPEAKER_00]: There's going to be moments this week where I will find myself. 37:44.803 --> 37:46.224 [SPEAKER_00]: reaching for old paths. 37:47.425 --> 37:49.546 [SPEAKER_00]: And I suspect this week you will too. 37:50.867 --> 37:52.608 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to encourage you this week. 37:52.648 --> 38:01.393 [SPEAKER_00]: When you do, to remember who you are, you have been raised with Christ. 38:01.653 --> 38:06.075 [SPEAKER_00]: Your life is hidden in Him with Him in God. 38:07.076 --> 38:08.317 [SPEAKER_00]: Christ is your life. 38:10.298 --> 38:11.178 [SPEAKER_00]: You are chosen. 38:15.338 --> 38:19.419 [SPEAKER_00]: You are dearly loved, you are not who you used to be. 38:21.059 --> 38:22.320 [SPEAKER_00]: So don't dress like it. 38:24.120 --> 38:38.483 [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, put on the clothes that he wears and that he offers you step into compassion and kindness this week, step into patience and gentleness. 38:43.671 --> 38:49.035 [SPEAKER_00]: He's not to live like you used to, but to step into who you are. 38:49.776 --> 39:01.124 [SPEAKER_00]: And this morning, if you are here exploring faith and you are not yet a follower of Jesus, the invitation is for you to step into what Paul is describing. 39:02.996 --> 39:16.844 [SPEAKER_00]: The offer is to be united with Jesus, to be raised into a new life with Him, to be safe and held and hidden with Him in God. 39:18.244 --> 39:22.387 [SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to respond to that invitation this morning, you can do it right now. 39:22.907 --> 39:25.989 [SPEAKER_00]: By simply saying to Jesus, I want to be united to you. 39:27.810 --> 39:30.051 [SPEAKER_00]: As we sing, open yourself to Him. 39:31.572 --> 39:35.693 [SPEAKER_00]: And I encourage you after the service to come and speak with one of our prayer teams. 39:36.413 --> 39:41.535 [SPEAKER_00]: They'd love to talk to you and pray for you about how you can actually step into that. 39:43.355 --> 39:44.355 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray together. 39:47.456 --> 39:54.878 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord Jesus, we thank you that we belong to you, that our lives are safe in your hands. 39:57.148 --> 40:06.834 [SPEAKER_00]: You know the old habits we keep reaching for, this week where you help us to let them go, to kill them, to put them to death. 40:09.436 --> 40:22.044 [SPEAKER_00]: And as we go into this week, we pray that you would help us to put on kindness and patience and humility and a readiness to forgive, make us like you. 40:24.966 --> 40:26.887 [SPEAKER_00]: Help us to remember who we are, 40:28.839 --> 40:35.425 [SPEAKER_00]: chosen, holy, and dearly loved, I mean.