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Behold His Humanity
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John 1:14
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Transcript
Personal Story of Lost and Found
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You ever lost one of your kids in a crowded place?
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Even if it's just for a second? It's scary, ain't it It's terrifying. I know I've told you this before, but when my second oldest daughter, when she was young, she was five or six, she was the active child in our group, if I can just put it that way.
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I hope she's not watching online today.
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We were in the middle of a crowded department store. She decided to hide in a display rack. One minute she's there, next minute she's not.
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If you've ever been there, you know that feeling. Matter of fact, I don't even have to go any further. You know exactly where I'm going with this. It's this pit in your stomach and that slowly starts to churn. and So you start panicking.
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You start looking around the aisles
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bumping into people. Hey, have you seen this girl? She's about this high. Then you're remembering in your head, what did I have her dressed like? Was she in jeans? Was she in shorts? Over and over and over my mind, where'd this child go?
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And then all of a sudden, out she jumps from her secret hiding place like nothing's wrong. No idea that she was lost.
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Just a big old grin.
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I vividly remember this day because I ran to her and I got right down on her level and I scooped her up.
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And I gave her one of the biggest hugs because I thought she was lost.
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Brothers sisters, this is exactly what God has done for us. We were lost and we didn't even know it.
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Wrapped up, hidden, and our sin and shame,
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and all the while he's searching for us, seeking us out.
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Brothers and he came down from heaven in order to draw you and I near to him.
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So just want to start this morning with two truths that I know for a fact. If you've ever lost a child, you know what that feels like. And second, if you've ever been saved by God, you know what that feels like.
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Now, if you're studious and you picked up your outline today, I know what you're thinking to yourself. Pastor, there's only one verse on there. And Pastor, I sure hope you have a Kleenex.
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Who in the world cries at the first introduction in the sermon? That's what I want to say. What's wrong with me? Holy Spirit, thank you for that.
00:02:56
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Why are we only covering one verse? Well, it's just that important. It's vital. It's crucial. We've got to get this one right. Are you ready?
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If you're ready, to say amen.
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How in the world is he going to make one verse last one hour and ten minutes?
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Surely he wouldn't do that to us on a Sunday when there's already a baptism.
Exploration of John 1:1
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And my lovely wife says, it's already ten after and they're still singing. You haven't even gotten up there to give a sermon. Brothers and sisters, last week, if you were here, John 1, 1.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He's eternal, He's personal, and He's divine.
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Our verses that Brother Michael read for us today, He was not created, He has always existed from eternity past. He was with God. Literally, that word with means He was face to face with God from eternity past.
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God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all wrapped up in our nice doctrine of the Trinity. He was God. Even in the Greek it says God was the
Biblical Misconceptions and Teachings
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Word. That's really the way it's structured.
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Conveys this idea that the Word is divine, and we said that's Jesus, the Logos, which, by the way, those of you who know me know I'm pretty peculiar on some things. If you say Revelation with a plural, the book of Revelations, I will correct you.
00:04:25
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because it is not the book of Revelation, it is Revelations, it is the book of Revelation singular. Small things like that bother me, because why do I make a big deal of that? Because you will evidently at some time go to some other group of believers and you will tell them, oh my goodness, we're in the book of Revelations.
00:04:43
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My pastor has been teaching us all in the book of Revelations. And they'll think to themselves, wow, your pastor's not really teaching you that much. Revelation singular. Lagos is how we pronounce this word, Lagos. Law, like I'm gonna practice law.
00:04:59
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And gos, like the town right over here. Lagos. Jesus, divine, personal, eternal. And then we get to today's single verse, John 1, 14.
Understanding Jesus' Incarnation
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In the word, the Lagos, Jesus, the Messiah, was made flesh.
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I said last week, Aleister Beck gives this great idea, this wrapping up of human flesh, like putting on a jacket. God stepping out of heaven, putting on flesh, and dwells among us.
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Then we, John referring to himself and the other apostles, and other believers in Christ, they beheld his glory, and what a glory it was. The glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.
00:05:52
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Since we only have one verse and I asked my loving wife, how did your Bible study go yesterday with your ladies? She said, well, we looked at every single word. I go, that's great. There's not many there in that one verse.
00:06:03
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We're gonna look at it. Look with me. The word became flesh. The word eternal, divine, personal became human.
00:06:16
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Not that he stopped being God, but that he added humanity. It's big distinction here I want to point out. Oftentimes you'll hear people say he was fully God and fully man.
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There's nothing wrong with that statement. I had a pastor tell me one time, I'd like to tweak that a little bit so that it's more accurate. He's fully God and perfect humanity or perfect man.
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Means that much like us, he's wrapped in flesh. He walked around just like you and I, but the main difference, the big distinction between us and him is that he never sinned the entire time.
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Fully God, perfect man, theological word for this term is hypostatic union. For those of you taking notes, hypo, H-Y-P-O, static, S-T-A-T-I-C, union.
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Fully God, fully man, the Word was made flesh. He took on our nature. He did not stop being God. Nor did He become some type of superman, some type of superhero.
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That's not what He became. One of the attributes of God is that He is immutable, meaning He does not change. He cannot change. He is eternal. He is immutable. At no time did Jesus ever stop becoming God.
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It wasn't as if He left heaven. became man, went back to heaven, gave up his humanity, took back on his deity. That's not what happened. He stepped into our world. He stepped down into our weakness.
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He stepped down into our pain. And think about it, brothers and sisters. He had human emotions just like you and I.
00:08:04
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It's funny now that I think to myself, I'm up here crying at the introduction of this story. My emotions are pouring forth. Can you imagine Jesus and how he feels for the lost?
Jesus' Human Experience and Empathy
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He felt pain. He understands suffering.
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You know, one thing to hear about somebody else's struggle. I'm going to use Erin Evans as an example today. She doesn't even know it. I should have asked her ahead of time. But because she and I have this bond, I'm going use her as an example today.
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It's one thing to know somebody's struggle. Erin had hurt her back. It's one thing to receive your text from the church, please pray for Erin. Her back is hurt. But brothers sisters, until you hurt your back, and I have hurt my back just like Aaron has.
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Both of us lifting massive amounts of weight at the gym hurt our backs. No. Those of you who ever really hurt your back know it's doing something silly, like bending over and tying your shoes or getting out of bed.
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It's one thing to hear about somebody's struggle. It's another thing to actually step into it yourselves.
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It's where we get that saying, walk a mile in somebody else's shoes. Jesus didn't just come to earth and stay at a distance, brothers sisters. No, he stepped down into the human experience in the person of Jesus.
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Why is this so important? Why do I linger on this? Well, because when you're tired, Jesus experienced being tired before. When your body ached, Jesus' body ached.
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When your heart feels heavy, his heart aches. Feels heavy. When you're troubled, he's troubled. So when you're praying to him, you're not praying to some God who's in a far off distant world.
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He's not up in the clouds. Brothers and sisters, he's personal. He's intimate. He knows what you're going through. Right this exact same moment. He came down out of heaven in order that he might draw you and I near.
00:10:02
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And the beauty of it, he didn't just come for a moment. he stayed. This word dwelt. I was kind of probing Kim when I was asking her, hey, how'd your Bible study go? Oh, we we went through these words. We talked about dwelt. I was thinking, I just want to know what they were talking about.
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But I refrained dwelt. This word, interesting word.
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It means tabernacled, if I can use that, which is a more common word, right, that we use all the time. Hey, come on over my house on Friday night. We're going to tabernacle.
00:10:39
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It's a picture of pitching a tent. Hey, I'm gonna come in and pitch a tent and stay a while.
00:10:46
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It's interesting, this whole concept of the tents and the tabernacle, kind of what John is getting at. I don't have time to read 2 Corinthians chapter five, but I put it down for you as a note for homework this week.
00:10:59
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Write down if you're taking notes. 2 Corinthians chapter five, it's not that long. The whole section talks about our bodies being like tents. Now one day we're going to leave these tents and going get these new bodies, these heavenly bodies, these eternal bodies, ones not made of human hands.
00:11:21
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Tents, tabernacles is what John's getting at as he's talking about Jesus coming here and dwelling among you and I. You'll remember in the Old Testament when we were talking about Exodus.
00:11:33
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Remember when we were going through that book? The Jews had the tabernacle, the tent, with them, right? The holies of holies were there. Behind there was the presence of God, the Shekinah glory, over top of the mercy seat, behind the veil.
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That all represented the presence of God, that tabernacle did. So John's trying to tell us something right here. that now, unlike the Old Testament where God came and dwelt in that type of tabernacle, now he's coming among us in the person of Jesus who is dwelling with us.
00:12:10
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He's taken on human flesh, he's pitched his tent, and he's staying a while. That's what I put in my notes. How great is that? He didn't just visit, he moved in. You know
God's Initiative to Reach Humanity
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the difference when somebody just stops by to say hi and somebody moves in?
00:12:25
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One is temporary. The other is aggravating. No, the other is personal. Kim and I have a long-standing agreement when guests come. Three days. Three days, you're still friends with those people after three days, and you still love them, and you send them on their way. Any longer than that, I don't care how great of friends you are, you've overstayed your welcome.
00:12:46
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Brothers and sisters, Jesus didn't just come for a little bit. He didn't just pass through. He lived among his people. He walked among them. He shared tables with them. He shared meals with them.
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He loved them. And I put in parentheses here, that's messy. Do you realize that when Jesus walked with his disciples and the people that he met? I think we have this false sense of who he was sometimes.
00:13:10
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He just walked around and was like touching people. You're healed, you're healed. Like he's Oprah, right? You got a gift, you got a gift, you're a winner. It's not what Jesus did. He sat at tables with sinners.
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People that the religious elite wouldn't have anything to do with.
00:13:27
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And he got to know them and it was messy. And there were high moments and obviously there were low moments. Why do I say all that? Well, because I think too often times we can have this misconception of of us trying to reach out and better ourselves to somehow get to God.
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I'm going to tell you, you'll never accomplish that. Why? Because he's already came. He's already came to you and I. He's already seeked you out. Matter of fact, Ephesians chapter 2 is real clear on this.
00:13:56
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We're so fallen, we're so lost, we don't seek him out. There's nothing good in us that wants to seek out God. Matter of fact, we're rebellious to him. It's God that does the seeking for you and I. It's not the other way around.
00:14:09
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So not only does he come and put on flesh, he dwells, sits around, he hangs out, he lives life, the messy life that you're in, that I'm in, he's there with us. And now John says, and behold.
00:14:21
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Now this word behold, another word we don't use very often. It's to study intently. It's really to stare at intently.
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It's where we get our word theater from, those are you acting people out there. Our word theater comes from this beholding or staring at intently. it's It's the picture of looking at something up close, examining it up close.
00:14:46
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says, we beheld his glory full of grace and truth. Think about for a second, brothers and sisters. did this exercise this week. I put myself in the place of the apostles, and I thought, for three years, these guys are walking closely with Jesus.
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They're eating with him. They're drinking with him.
00:15:04
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They're at a wedding at some point, and in a couple of weeks, we're gonna see he turns water into wine.
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The controversial Baptist sermon that I'm going to give in a couple weeks. Hope you come back for it. The point is, brothers sisters, he he walked real life with people.
00:15:24
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Can you imagine if you're an apostle and you're and you're looking at Jesus as he's doing these miracles? You have to be thinking to yourself, what kind of kind of guy is this? you imagine when they're on the Sea a Galilee and the wind's blowing and the waves are going? Have you ever been on a boat where it's it's been chaotic like that? I've been on a boat like that.
00:15:41
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It's terrifying. And then it says he speaks to the wind and and it calms. They had to be thinking to themselves, what kind of man is this? They can speak to the wind and and it calms itself. they They were beside themselves.
00:15:54
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I put to myself as an illustration, have you ever gone in and looked at your kids when they're asleep at night? Boy, is that not the best time in the world.
00:16:06
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It's the glorious experience I've ever had. Sweet children, deep asleep, almost like a glow amongst themselves. I'd go in at night with my kids. Guys are deep asleep, thank the Lord for them, pray over them, just look at them and say, they're just so angelic like that.
Beholding Jesus' Glory
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Why aren't they like that when they're awake?
00:16:28
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Now, scriptures are saying this, so I just want to be real clear. I'm going insert just a ah thought in your mind today. Can you imagine the apostles, three years living, walking with Jesus, had to at some point just look at him while he was sleeping and think, what kind of man is this? says John says, and we beheld his glory.
00:16:53
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Remember, John is one of the three, James, John, and Peter, right? That inner circle. who went up on the mountain and saw Jesus in the transfiguration.
00:17:04
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Maybe John's alluding to that here when we talk about the glory that that that they see. Jesus pulled back the veil his humanity allowed his deity to shine through. They saw the majesty, they saw the glory on that mountain. It says, and the glory is of the one and only begotten of the Father.
00:17:21
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right Full of this picture, full of grace and truth is really ah the picture here is a cup that's just overflowing. It can't contain what's in it. Jesus is overflowing with grace and truth. The eternal word is personal, he's divine, and he becomes incarnate.
00:17:39
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John says not only behold his deity that we saw last week, but today he says behold his humanity, his incarnation. That word incarnate in the Latin means to put on flesh, to become fleshly.
00:17:54
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All right, second thing I want you to write down for homework this week. You're saying, come on, pastor. This is what you get when I'm only preaching on one verse. You get two homeworks. 1 Timothy 3.16. 1 Timothy 3.16.
00:18:06
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first timothy three sixteen Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. There's this direct statement here about the incarnation of Jesus. The infinite became the finite. The invisible became the visible. And it's a very important doctrine that you and I need to to get.
00:18:24
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Who is Jesus? He is the visible representation of the invisible God.
00:18:31
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What does that mean for you and I today? Well, that means if you want to see God, you just need to look at Jesus.
Reflecting Jesus in Relationships
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What did Jesus look like? Well, he was compassionate. He was full of grace. he was full of mercy. He was holy.
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He was self-sacrificial.
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He didn't have small portions, I put in my note, of these things. He wasn't a little bit gracious on Monday. Really gracious on Tuesday. Full, overflowing mercy and grace all the time.
00:19:00
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And we're called to reflect Him. If you are a Christ follower today, brothers sisters, that means you're following Him. You're following what He did. You're becoming more Christ-like each and every week. That is the goal.
00:19:12
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How do we reflect Him? This is where we're goingnna land today. If we're called to be full of grace and full of truth because that's what Jesus looks like, what does that look like in our closest relationships?
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Because let's be honest, it's the hardest to live this out in the people that we know the closest.
00:19:29
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How do we reflect grace and truth in our relationships today? First, grace. What does grace mean? Getting what you don't deserve. Remember, we always talk about that.
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mark Grace is getting, that's how I remember the two G's, grace, getting what you don't deserve. Mercy is not getting what you do deserve. Just how I flip that around.
00:19:53
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Grace. How do we show grace to somebody in a relationship that you have right now? Well, I just simply said, love them where they are.
00:20:02
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What does that mean? Well, it means you don't treat people only based on what they've done wrong. means you treat them with patience. You treat them with kindness. You treat them with compassion.
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Even when they don't deserve it.
00:20:20
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Brothers and sisters, it's easy to love somebody who deserves it. It's easy to show grace and mercy to somebody who deserves it. But how about that family member that you have that keeps making that mistake?
00:20:31
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That same mistake over and over and over. You don't explode in frustration. Rather, you respond in patience. How about that friend that disappoints you?
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Well, you don't cut them off. You stay present in their lives. Grace says, I'm not giving up on you. you're taking notes, you might want to write that down. Grace says, I'm not giving up on you, even when we want to, even when we think we should.
00:21:06
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Second, we stand in truth. That means speaking what is right in love. This is tough. I'm just going to tell you that right now for for many of you. It's tough for me.
00:21:17
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Truth means that you care enough to say what needs to be said when it needs to be said. Not harshly, not self-righteously, but honestly.
00:21:29
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What does this look like in your life and my life? Well, it looks like when that grown child of yours is is walking a sinful life, you don't just simply stay quiet just to keep the peace.
00:21:45
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You speak with humility and love into that situation, but you have to stand in truth. You have to call it out for what it is. When a friend is drifting far from God, you don't ignore it.
00:21:56
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You don't think to yourself, I'm just gonna pray about it and I sure hope God brings that person back. No, brothers and sisters, you go out and you grab that person. Gently remind them, hey, you're drifting the wrong direction.
00:22:08
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Truth says I love you too much to stay silent. You might wanna write that down too. Truth says, I love you too much to say so to stay silent.
00:22:19
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Now, as I close here today, it's easy to do one and not the other. So I'll put our third thing is to hold these two together real close. This is the tension where you and I live every day.
00:22:33
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See, there's many of you who are grace-filled. I know you because I know the congregation. You never want to confront. You never want to correct. You're the good parent, I put in parentheses.
00:22:47
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There's other of you who are real heavy on the truth. That means you're quick to speak and you're slow to love. This is the way it is, black and white.
00:22:58
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There's no gray area. that's I'm speaking to somebody today who needs to hear that. Jesus, brothers and sisters, did both equally, fully. He was both compassionate and grace-filled and he also spoke truth.
00:23:13
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You know, I know this, the woman that he caught sinning, remember? He didn't just condemn her, right? He showed her grace. But then he also spoke truth and said, go and sin no more.
00:23:26
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Both equal. So this week, here's what I want you to do i want you to think of one person in your life, one person that you have a relationship. Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a family member, maybe it's a co-worker, and I want to ask two questions of you.
00:23:39
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Where do I need to show more grace?
00:23:43
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Where do I need to speak truth and love?
00:23:47
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And I put this as an intentional thing. This is not something you write down on your notes and think, i'm going to pray about that this week. This is intentional. I want you to have that conversation. I want you to send that message. I want you to offer that encouragement, not to win an argument, but to reflect Jesus.
00:24:04
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Because when you live that way day in and day out, when you have those tough conversations, when you love the people who aren't easy to love, when you show them grace when they don't deserve to be shown grace, you reflect the one who came down out of heaven in order to draw us near.