WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.460 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:49.240 If y'all have got your Bibles, go ahead and open them up with me this morning. 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:53.800 We're going to be in 1 John chapter 4. 00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:56.920 In just a moment, we'll start in verse 17. 00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:00.840 For our first-time guests, I just want to echo what Pastor Dave said. 00:01:01.180 --> 00:01:02.800 We're so glad that you're here. 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:05.720 We're so glad that you've decided to be with us today. 00:01:06.100 --> 00:01:08.500 Now, there is a football game today. 00:01:08.860 --> 00:01:09.940 It's the Super Bowl. 00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:15.500 I typically don't talk about football a whole lot, even though I love football, but I am 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:15.900 curious. 00:01:16.140 --> 00:01:21.340 I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm a Kansas City Chief, if I'm pulling for them, or am 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:22.840 I pulling for the Philadelphia Eagles? 00:01:22.840 --> 00:01:25.920 And so I just want to say that I don't care. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:32.380 You know, my Green Bay Packers watch their season go out the window with the defeat by 00:01:32.380 --> 00:01:36.440 the Detroit Lions, which is just a terrible place to be, but that's where we are. 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:37.480 So here's what I'd like to do. 00:01:37.540 --> 00:01:38.640 Here's what I've decided. 00:01:38.740 --> 00:01:42.800 I've been inspired by Patrick Tatushinsky to ask this question and see. 00:01:43.080 --> 00:01:48.780 So here's what I'd like, not if you are pulling for one of the teams, but if you are a fan 00:01:48.780 --> 00:01:49.920 of either one of the teams. 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:53.960 If you're a fan, like this means this is who you pulled for all year. 00:01:54.100 --> 00:01:58.540 Not that you just like Patrick Mahomes, not that you just like Jalen Hurts, but you're 00:01:58.540 --> 00:01:58.800 a fan. 00:01:58.880 --> 00:02:01.800 So raise your hand if you are a Kansas City Chiefs fan. 00:02:02.800 --> 00:02:03.480 One, two. 00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:05.040 We've got the Morgan family. 00:02:05.240 --> 00:02:05.980 Is that about it? 00:02:06.460 --> 00:02:07.340 Is that about it? 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:08.800 There we go. 00:02:09.040 --> 00:02:09.420 All right. 00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:09.760 All right. 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:10.020 All right. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:23.400 So Morgans, I'm sorry, but I'm going to go with the Philadelphia Eagles tonight, right? 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:27.700 I just got swatted at by Mike, which is not a good feeling, but I love your brother. 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:27.980 All right. 00:02:28.200 --> 00:02:29.300 So that's what we're going to do. 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:29.860 We'll go. 00:02:30.100 --> 00:02:31.020 What did you say, Shane? 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:32.560 Go Birds. 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:32.900 All right. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:38.820 So I'll be chanting Go Birds tonight at the Bradbury House with watching the Super Bowl. 00:02:39.400 --> 00:02:43.080 But excited to be here with you guys this morning, excited to dive into this. 00:02:43.160 --> 00:02:49.320 It is a cold and nasty and wet morning today, but it is good to be in God's house and it 00:02:49.320 --> 00:02:51.360 is good to open up his word. 00:02:52.220 --> 00:02:56.000 Have you ever felt like you're living in a problem? 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.680 You know, like you just can't fix it. 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:03.040 You just can't get out of it. 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:05.900 You just can't get out of your way. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:13.760 It seems like everywhere you go, the greater the problem becomes and it's always before you. 00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:22.800 I feel like when John is writing this letter, he's writing it in a mindset that there's this 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.340 group of people who are largely living in this problem. 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:36.180 And the problem, and we're going to look at this, is that come judgment day, John wants them to face 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:38.760 it with fearless confidence. 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:45.780 But that what he's dealing with is a group of people who either don't have faith in Christ, 00:03:46.720 --> 00:03:54.040 but think they do, or they do have faith in Christ, but their faith in Christ is at such a level 00:03:54.040 --> 00:04:02.520 of immaturity that they can't live in the confidence of who they are in Christ and in return of the Lord. 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:11.920 And so what John is pleading with them continually over and over and over again is that he desires 00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:23.780 this church, he desires us to live in this confidence, this fearless confidence at the return of Christ. 00:04:25.020 --> 00:04:28.700 Now this morning I pulled Berger aside, I was like, hey, can we do this? 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:30.000 Can we make this work for this week? 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:31.620 And he said, absolutely. 00:04:32.260 --> 00:04:54.140 So what we're supposed to do this morning is start in chapter 4, verse 17, and 19, but then, 00:04:54.260 --> 00:04:59.500 because I want us to continue on in our series, and Pastor Dave is going to be preaching next week, 00:04:59.500 --> 00:05:04.420 starting in verse 13, and so what I'm going to do is later this week, and we'll send it out through email, 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:09.140 we'll send it out through social media, is I'm just going to do a little video of teaching through 00:05:09.140 --> 00:05:10.660 the remainder of these verses. 00:05:11.020 --> 00:05:19.480 But I really want us to land in and to focus in on chapter 4, verses 17 through 19 of 1 John, 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:23.780 because I feel like everything that we've been pressing toward, 00:05:23.780 --> 00:05:31.740 that what John does in these three verses is he sums it up with this high level of authority 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:37.400 from God to say, here's what I've been talking about, here's what I'm impressing on, 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:45.480 here's what it means that we can stand in confidence in who we are in Christ at the return of the Lord. 00:05:46.260 --> 00:05:53.500 Here's everything from chapter 1 until now, wrapped up in these three verses. 00:05:53.640 --> 00:05:57.680 So we're going to take our time and just focus in on these this morning. 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:01.760 So let's look, I'm going to read 1 John chapter 4, verses 17 through 19. 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:03.920 And John writes and says this, 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:14.100 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. 00:06:15.320 --> 00:06:20.220 Because as he is, so also are we in this world. 00:06:21.280 --> 00:06:26.620 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 00:06:27.260 --> 00:06:34.680 For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:41.600 We love because he first loved us. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:49.700 And so this morning we're going to look at four words or four phrases that are embodied in these three verses. 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:54.480 The first that we're going to look at is perfected in verse 17. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.340 Then we're going to look at confidence in verse 17. 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:01.820 And then at the end of verse 17, as he is, so also are we. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.680 And then we're going to jump down to 19 and see that he first loved. 00:07:06.780 --> 00:07:13.340 And that in these phrases, what we can draw from this is the confidence that we stand in Christ. 00:07:14.420 --> 00:07:22.020 And the first one is this, the biblical truth of what John is pressing us toward in love perfected. 00:07:22.520 --> 00:07:28.400 He says this, by this is love perfected with us. 00:07:29.100 --> 00:07:31.540 Now, perfect is a hard word for us to grasp. 00:07:32.580 --> 00:07:35.440 Because I'm going to ask you, like, what do you know that is truly perfect? 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.280 Very little, if not anything. 00:07:40.100 --> 00:07:46.580 But here in Scripture, you know, we have a, this wasn't originally written in English. 00:07:46.580 --> 00:07:51.840 And so sometimes there's these translation struggles that we have to work through. 00:07:52.040 --> 00:08:02.020 And the, and the best definition of a word isn't oftentimes found in just one word, but in order to, to, for it to make sense and flow, we, it's been done that way. 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:08.220 So I want us to understand, what is John saying when he says love perfected? 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:10.440 What does he mean by perfected? 00:08:10.440 --> 00:08:17.120 Well, it's this, John doesn't mean flawless, the way we would think of something that is perfected. 00:08:17.760 --> 00:08:27.400 And the word John uses here is a word that other places in Scripture means finished, completed, or accomplished. 00:08:28.260 --> 00:08:40.980 And so when we look at this and we see, by this love perfected with us, what we see is, by this love perfectedly completed with us. 00:08:41.900 --> 00:08:44.160 Now, you're like, Bo, I'm a work in progress. 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:46.780 Well, yes and amen, so am I. 00:08:47.180 --> 00:08:54.400 So I want to paint a silly, but maybe accurate picture of what I mean by this. 00:08:55.500 --> 00:09:02.340 Have any of you ever taken on a project around your house that you are not qualified or capable of doing, but you decide you're going to do it anyways? 00:09:02.500 --> 00:09:03.460 Anybody else ever done that? 00:09:04.420 --> 00:09:06.700 I did that yesterday, all right? 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:11.220 So let me walk you through the journey of my, really starting Thursday. 00:09:12.260 --> 00:09:16.000 Thursday, Erin comes up to me and she says, hey, did you move clothes into the dryer? 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.520 And I said, yes, I did. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:23.940 And she said, well, you forgot to press start because they're in the dryer and they're still wet. 00:09:24.060 --> 00:09:26.600 Now, that's not an uncommon thing for me to do, right? 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:28.420 I oftentimes forget to do that. 00:09:28.520 --> 00:09:30.080 So I said, well, I'm sorry. 00:09:30.140 --> 00:09:32.640 So she went in and she restarted them. 00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:35.320 And after some time, the dryer goes off. 00:09:35.560 --> 00:09:40.500 We go up and we open the door and we reach in to grab our wet clothes still. 00:09:41.040 --> 00:09:43.740 So she came to me and she said, the dryer's not working. 00:09:44.300 --> 00:09:48.880 And I said, well, sounds like the heating element is out. 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:51.580 Now, here's what I've done one time in my entire life. 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.200 I've replaced a heating element. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:10:01.760 And in that, I was very, very, very confident that I can replace the heating element. 00:10:02.260 --> 00:10:05.480 I can impress my wife and feel like more of a man this weekend, right? 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.400 So Saturday, don't laugh at me too hard, Brandon. 00:10:12.900 --> 00:10:15.700 Saturday, we woke up, we went to Grayson's track meet. 00:10:16.180 --> 00:10:18.340 And I'm riding back from Grayson's track meet. 00:10:18.780 --> 00:10:26.500 And Aaron says to me, how long do you think it'll take for you to replace this heating element? 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:29.100 Now, I have to make a decision at this point. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.340 What do I land on? 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:35.700 And I said, I can do it in an hour. 00:10:38.300 --> 00:10:39.540 That hurts, by the way. 00:10:39.860 --> 00:10:43.020 Like, that response just hurts. 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:52.220 Well, my wife, not in sarcasm, but in wisdom, says to me, well, I'm going to add two to three hours to that. 00:10:52.680 --> 00:11:00.580 Because I know that sometimes it causes you think something's going to take a certain amount of time and it takes longer. 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:04.220 My feelings were hurt, right? 00:11:05.040 --> 00:11:06.660 My pride is starting to work. 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:09.860 Like, sin is happening in this moment in me, right? 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:15.060 And so I go home and I get all the tools ready for everything I need. 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:17.880 And I take my phone out. 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:20.300 And I turn on the timer. 00:11:21.280 --> 00:11:22.400 And I press start. 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:29.340 And I am in a mad dash to get this fixed. 00:11:30.020 --> 00:11:32.220 So I start taking this dryer apart. 00:11:32.300 --> 00:11:33.220 Now, here's what I found out. 00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:34.800 This dryer is only about two years old. 00:11:35.640 --> 00:11:36.880 And I didn't know this. 00:11:37.060 --> 00:11:39.520 Because we got a dryer and I just plugged it into the wall. 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.800 Like, this dryer can talk to your phone. 00:11:45.300 --> 00:11:50.180 And I took off the back panel and immediately hit panic. 00:11:52.060 --> 00:11:53.940 As it looks like a computer. 00:11:55.220 --> 00:11:58.620 So I grab my phone and I start taking pictures. 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:04.140 As I unscrew things, as I unplug things, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture, picture. 00:12:04.380 --> 00:12:09.600 Because what I know is, let me tell you the truth of where I've had to process through in almost 44 years of life. 00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:12.600 Whatever I take apart, I have to put back together again. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:14.580 And I'm not good at that, right? 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:17.620 So picture, picture, picture, picture, picture. 00:12:18.040 --> 00:12:20.920 So I get the whole dryer taken apart. 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:24.960 Unplug, unplug, unplug, unplug this wire, this wire, this wire, this wire. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:28.520 And there's one last wire that needs to be unplugged. 00:12:28.880 --> 00:12:31.140 It's the last wire that is connected to the heating element. 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:32.460 It's a purple wire. 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:36.080 And I reach back to unplug that purple wire. 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:38.580 And it falls apart. 00:12:39.520 --> 00:12:40.220 It's burned. 00:12:41.280 --> 00:12:42.420 Now I've got a problem. 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.240 I know how to replace a heating element. 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:49.220 I don't know how to replace a burned up wire, all right? 00:12:49.640 --> 00:12:52.820 So I did what most of us at Willow Ridge Church do at that point. 00:12:52.900 --> 00:12:54.520 I called Brent Hawkins, all right? 00:12:56.200 --> 00:13:00.160 Brent's not in here today, so in just a moment, we're going to throw his cell phone number up on the screen. 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:03.500 If you're ever in need of electrical help, call Brent. 00:13:03.680 --> 00:13:05.820 He especially likes calls late at night, right? 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:12.460 So I called Brent, and my call for Brent was, man, I hope he can come over. 00:13:13.300 --> 00:13:18.020 And when Brent answered, Brent knew the Spirit spoke to him. 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:23.680 And he answered his phone by saying, I'm halfway to North Carolina right now. 00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:30.040 Which tells me what Brent is saying is, whatever problem you've gotten yourself into, I cannot come over to fix. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:32.920 So I tell Brent about the problem. 00:13:33.040 --> 00:13:34.900 He says, I think your heating element is fine. 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:36.960 I just think you need to replace this wire. 00:13:37.260 --> 00:13:38.500 Do you have these tools? 00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:40.540 No, I don't have these tools, Brent. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:42.720 Well, then you need to go to Lowe's. 00:13:42.760 --> 00:13:43.560 You need to fix it. 00:13:43.560 --> 00:13:50.100 And Brent, like, made a statement like, don't worry, anybody can do this, which, again, kind of hurts, you know? 00:13:50.780 --> 00:13:51.740 It's okay, Bo. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:53.120 Even you can do it. 00:13:53.140 --> 00:13:54.380 Anybody can do this. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:55.500 So I go to Lowe's. 00:13:55.540 --> 00:13:56.000 I get the stuff. 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:56.780 I come back. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:58.140 I put it together. 00:13:58.260 --> 00:14:00.200 I promise this is connecting, right? 00:14:01.040 --> 00:14:02.540 Put it all back together. 00:14:02.680 --> 00:14:03.860 Get everything going. 00:14:04.380 --> 00:14:07.620 The wire is good, I think. 00:14:08.300 --> 00:14:09.960 And I start putting the dryer back together. 00:14:11.060 --> 00:14:14.800 And one of the things that became kind of difficult was getting the dryer belt on the drum. 00:14:15.420 --> 00:14:16.660 Couldn't quite see what I was doing. 00:14:17.280 --> 00:14:24.780 So in a combination of flashlight with phone at the bottom of the dryer, I can kind of look at my phone and see and got it back together. 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:26.660 Put the dryer back together. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.340 One last thing to do. 00:14:28.880 --> 00:14:29.960 But I can't quite see. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:32.700 So I go to Reach to grab my flashlight. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:36.020 What are you laughing at? 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:38.980 I can't find my flashlight. 00:14:42.380 --> 00:14:45.240 Y'all know now what I didn't know then. 00:14:45.920 --> 00:14:47.680 I search everywhere for the flashlight. 00:14:48.540 --> 00:14:49.900 Where do you think the flashlight was? 00:14:50.660 --> 00:14:51.760 It was in the dryer. 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:53.300 Yep, yep, yep. 00:14:53.560 --> 00:14:54.980 So I take it all apart again. 00:14:56.180 --> 00:14:56.960 Every bit of it. 00:14:57.580 --> 00:14:58.900 Every bit of the dryer came apart. 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:02.540 Scattered all parts of this are now in my daughter's bedroom. 00:15:04.280 --> 00:15:05.060 Found the flashlight. 00:15:05.180 --> 00:15:05.960 Get the flashlight out. 00:15:06.020 --> 00:15:07.540 Start the process of putting it all back together again. 00:15:08.220 --> 00:15:10.260 This time I get the dryer completely put back together. 00:15:11.380 --> 00:15:13.060 And I'm getting ready to clean up my mess. 00:15:14.180 --> 00:15:14.960 And I look. 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:19.560 And there's this metal plate about this big. 00:15:20.260 --> 00:15:22.200 And it's obvious that it came from the dryer. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.060 But the dryer's now put together. 00:15:25.640 --> 00:15:27.840 And this metal plate is sitting on top of the washer. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.820 Which I'm pretty confident is not where it goes. 00:15:33.060 --> 00:15:34.580 So I start looking through my pictures. 00:15:35.680 --> 00:15:36.500 There's no plate. 00:15:36.760 --> 00:15:37.480 There's no plate. 00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:38.420 There's no plate. 00:15:38.640 --> 00:15:39.280 There's no plate. 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:42.700 So guess what I did? 00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:45.220 I took the dryer all the way apart again. 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:50.320 Because I was confident that in the bottom is where this goes. 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:50.840 And it's not. 00:15:51.880 --> 00:15:52.900 So now I panic. 00:15:53.820 --> 00:15:58.360 And I start looking through Google images of my dryer. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:00.600 Here's what I found out. 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:05.420 The very last thing you do in putting your dryer back together, 00:16:05.540 --> 00:16:06.840 which was where I was, 00:16:07.640 --> 00:16:09.600 is put this plate on the very back 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:12.900 where there's this one little small hole about this big. 00:16:12.900 --> 00:16:14.460 But for whatever reason, 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.080 Samsung gives you a plate this big to cover it up. 00:16:18.040 --> 00:16:20.220 So I put the whole dryer back together again. 00:16:20.880 --> 00:16:22.280 I put the plate on. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:24.520 I take a step back. 00:16:26.400 --> 00:16:26.800 Finished. 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:28.380 Finished. 00:16:29.060 --> 00:16:30.080 So what do you think I did? 00:16:30.780 --> 00:16:31.980 I went and stopped my timer. 00:16:32.140 --> 00:16:32.480 That's right. 00:16:32.520 --> 00:16:33.240 I checked my time. 00:16:34.660 --> 00:16:35.580 Let me pull this up. 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:40.320 Four hours. 00:16:41.640 --> 00:16:42.400 Thank you, Michelle. 00:16:45.680 --> 00:16:48.300 Five hours, two minutes, and 11 seconds later. 00:16:50.300 --> 00:16:52.240 Bradbury's dried towels last night. 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:56.720 Now, Erin comes upstairs. 00:16:56.920 --> 00:16:57.580 Everything's clean. 00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:59.140 And she says this question. 00:16:59.560 --> 00:17:00.460 Is it working? 00:17:02.040 --> 00:17:03.940 And I said, it's working, but here's the deal. 00:17:04.540 --> 00:17:05.280 Here's new rules. 00:17:05.940 --> 00:17:08.960 Number one, we cannot dry clothes while we are asleep. 00:17:09.540 --> 00:17:12.820 Number two, we cannot dry clothes when just the kids are at home. 00:17:13.040 --> 00:17:17.180 And we cannot dry clothes when you and I aren't going to be here 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:18.260 and no one's here at the house. 00:17:18.380 --> 00:17:19.340 And she said, why? 00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:21.420 And I said, because I put this back together, 00:17:21.540 --> 00:17:25.960 and I'm deathly afraid that our house is going to catch on fire 00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:27.900 over some dish towels, right? 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:31.260 But here's the thing. 00:17:33.120 --> 00:17:33.960 It's done. 00:17:34.920 --> 00:17:35.900 It's completed. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:40.140 And I will receive your affirmations after service of telling me 00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:42.420 that if this whole thing falls apart, 00:17:42.520 --> 00:17:46.380 I can go work for an appliance repair specializing in the purple wire 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:48.680 at the bottom of the Samsung dryer, right? 00:17:48.760 --> 00:17:49.600 Like, I got that. 00:17:49.660 --> 00:17:50.280 I got that. 00:17:50.780 --> 00:17:54.680 So here's the whole point of this, all right? 00:17:56.060 --> 00:18:00.360 When I walk through the process that took me five hours and two minutes, 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:03.980 is my dryer perfect? 00:18:04.260 --> 00:18:04.680 No. 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:06.120 No. 00:18:07.020 --> 00:18:12.540 Part I left out, there's five screws that are still sitting in my toolbox 00:18:12.540 --> 00:18:14.960 that came off of the dryer, 00:18:15.220 --> 00:18:17.140 but I don't know where they go on the dryer, 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:18.980 but we're just going to roll with it, right? 00:18:19.560 --> 00:18:20.420 Is it perfected? 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:20.780 No. 00:18:21.600 --> 00:18:25.800 There's way more electrical tape than I should probably use 00:18:25.800 --> 00:18:29.100 on different spots of the dryer, but it's okay. 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:29.760 Why? 00:18:30.540 --> 00:18:31.060 Why? 00:18:31.620 --> 00:18:32.980 Because it's done. 00:18:33.700 --> 00:18:34.620 It's done. 00:18:35.660 --> 00:18:37.240 Can adjustments be made? 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:38.480 Yes. 00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:40.780 But is it finished? 00:18:41.500 --> 00:18:42.020 Yes. 00:18:42.900 --> 00:18:45.600 And so, all the way back to this, right? 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:47.320 When John says, 00:18:47.520 --> 00:18:51.920 by this, love is perfected with us. 00:18:52.360 --> 00:18:54.300 Here's what this means. 00:18:55.260 --> 00:18:57.880 Are there adjustments that you and I need to make? 00:18:58.500 --> 00:18:59.020 Absolutely. 00:19:00.020 --> 00:19:01.760 Are we a finished product? 00:19:03.120 --> 00:19:06.900 Completely done with where we want to be in our walk in Christ? 00:19:07.560 --> 00:19:07.940 No. 00:19:07.940 --> 00:19:15.860 But have we been completed in love of God for us? 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:17.060 Absolutely. 00:19:18.060 --> 00:19:20.460 The second half of 1 John 4.12 says this, 00:19:21.020 --> 00:19:32.880 if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 00:19:33.820 --> 00:19:44.340 God loves us and saves us, and now we know God's love and experienced it for ourselves. 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:54.020 God's love doesn't stop with us experiencing it, but is perfected, is accomplished through our love. 00:19:54.020 --> 00:20:02.640 That God's love moves us to actions of love, and in this, love is perfected. 00:20:04.020 --> 00:20:12.620 I read a pastor this week, and he says this, perfect love is when you don't talk about the need to share Christ, you do it. 00:20:13.560 --> 00:20:17.020 It's when you don't talk about the hungry, you feed them. 00:20:17.540 --> 00:20:24.060 It's when you don't talk about floundering new believers and their faith, but instead you disciple them. 00:20:24.860 --> 00:20:28.220 This is the picture of perfected love. 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:30.040 Do we still have room to grow? 00:20:30.600 --> 00:20:31.080 Absolutely. 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:39.760 But is God's love perfected in us when it calls us and manifests itself in love for others? 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.880 Yes, which is what John is pushing us toward. 00:20:43.820 --> 00:20:48.580 And so the next part that I want us to look at is to see, is this confidently active. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:55.160 He says so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:58.680 We may have confidence on the day of judgment. 00:20:58.860 --> 00:21:01.520 So we've said over and over and over again. 00:21:01.520 --> 00:21:08.340 I think we looked at 13 different instances last week where John presses us toward that. 00:21:08.560 --> 00:21:15.340 That that is his goal, that we are confident on the day of judgment, that we're confident in the return of the Lord. 00:21:15.520 --> 00:21:21.380 But as we go through this, one of the things that hinders us in this that I hope we can take away is a truth. 00:21:22.060 --> 00:21:28.960 What we talked about on week one in 1 John 1.8 is the fact that we aren't perfect. 00:21:29.800 --> 00:21:31.120 We still sin. 00:21:32.220 --> 00:21:33.340 Every one of us. 00:21:33.560 --> 00:21:46.280 1 John 1.8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:48.460 We sin. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:50.520 I sin. 00:21:51.540 --> 00:21:52.360 You sin. 00:21:54.440 --> 00:21:57.940 Anyone on this earth that you think like, no, no, no, not them. 00:21:58.060 --> 00:21:59.260 No, no, no, they do. 00:22:00.460 --> 00:22:08.020 And if anyone says they don't sin, they don't know the Lord. 00:22:09.540 --> 00:22:10.680 They don't know the Lord. 00:22:11.780 --> 00:22:15.980 So let's look, though, and try to understand our sin. 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:23.040 Because how can we still sin, but yet stand in confidence before Christ? 00:22:23.860 --> 00:22:25.840 So let's understand this in our lives. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:29.960 So before Christ, before we were saved, here's what happened. 00:22:30.220 --> 00:22:33.800 Here's the condition of our soul, the condition of our heart. 00:22:34.100 --> 00:22:37.040 Is we sinned, and here's the truth, we loved it. 00:22:37.900 --> 00:22:39.340 We loved every part of it. 00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:46.460 There may be these pieces in our moral compass as defined by society, that when we do stuff 00:22:46.460 --> 00:22:50.860 that affected others, that we knew we shouldn't do it, but yet the pursuit of our hearts were 00:22:50.860 --> 00:22:51.300 sinful. 00:22:52.020 --> 00:22:53.020 And this is who we were. 00:22:54.060 --> 00:23:00.380 And the Bible teaches us that in this, that we were dead in our trespasses and sin. 00:23:01.320 --> 00:23:04.600 This is who we were before Christ. 00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:15.120 And then whether it was at 6 or 66 or anywhere between or anywhere after, when Jesus saves us, 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:22.740 what we understand is that he had paid the price of our sin with his death on the cross. 00:23:23.560 --> 00:23:31.780 And in that, his perfect life is imparted to us, and we are saved. 00:23:32.620 --> 00:23:41.340 So I now no longer stand in my condemnation, but I stand in his holiness and his righteousness. 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:47.780 It's not just that he took our sin, which yes, amen, praise the Lord that he did, 00:23:47.780 --> 00:23:55.820 but he in turn gave us his perfection, his standing, and we are saved. 00:23:56.180 --> 00:24:03.580 And so now where we find ourselves in Christ is we still sin, and Jesus still saves us. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:12.760 But our approach, our view, our determination of where we are with our sin is different. 00:24:12.760 --> 00:24:18.520 And so now as believers in Christ, bought and redeemed and purchased, instead of loving our sin, 00:24:18.800 --> 00:24:25.600 we hate our sin, we attack our sin, we fight against our sin, we bring others into a relationship with us 00:24:25.600 --> 00:24:29.860 so that we confess our sin and we repent our sin before him. 00:24:30.340 --> 00:24:34.580 Yes, we still sin, but we've changed. 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:36.220 We're different. 00:24:36.940 --> 00:24:38.740 And it's not who we are anymore. 00:24:39.340 --> 00:24:45.200 And so Jesus has saved us from our sin past, our sin present, our sin future, 00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:52.000 and now what dwells within us is this desire to no longer live sinfully, 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.040 but we desire to live without sin in glorifying him. 00:24:56.040 --> 00:24:58.560 And when we do, we find his grace and his mercy. 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:04.540 And it's the sweet spot of who we are in our walk with Christ. 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:15.380 And so we have our confidence in our standing because we are confidently active in our faith. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:24.700 This is what it means to be confident, is that our faith is what we are confidently active in. 00:25:25.840 --> 00:25:27.660 I read this week, an author said, 00:25:27.780 --> 00:25:31.320 we don't gain confidence by being sinlessly perfect. 00:25:32.280 --> 00:25:36.120 We gain confidence by putting our money where our mouth is. 00:25:37.060 --> 00:25:40.740 We think back to 1 John 3, 18, when John says, 00:25:40.840 --> 00:25:48.740 little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. 00:25:49.300 --> 00:25:51.740 That's what John is saying here. 00:25:52.540 --> 00:25:58.860 Let us not love in just the things that we say and those catchphrases that we've clung to, 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:03.880 but let us love in deed and truth. 00:26:04.260 --> 00:26:09.060 It's not only what we say, but it's who we are, and then therefore it's what we do. 00:26:10.380 --> 00:26:12.460 So how do we gain confidence? 00:26:13.800 --> 00:26:19.280 If you're here this morning, and you're like, but there's this fear at the return of the Lord, 00:26:20.260 --> 00:26:22.220 here's what I would plead to you. 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:26.780 Stop talking about your faith and live it out. 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:32.840 Stop talking about the things that need to be done, and instead do them. 00:26:33.840 --> 00:26:41.800 Ask yourself the question, am I an observer on the sideline, or I'm in the game doing it? 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.160 A few years ago, I'll never forget this conversation. 00:26:45.260 --> 00:26:46.060 I was on a mission trip. 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:52.100 And I'm sitting there, and it's been a long, hard day of work. 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:57.080 And there was somebody on the mission trip who made a statement that stood out to me 00:26:57.080 --> 00:27:01.000 that caused me to ask them a follow-up question. 00:27:01.980 --> 00:27:05.700 And as we're sitting there, and we're relaxing after a long, hard day of work, 00:27:05.840 --> 00:27:07.020 they made this statement. 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:12.960 The statement was, I've never felt closer to God than I do right now. 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:15.180 I've heard that statement before. 00:27:15.980 --> 00:27:18.320 I probably said that statement before myself. 00:27:19.220 --> 00:27:21.100 And I just asked them the question. 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:23.560 Well, what do you mean by that? 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:29.680 Help me understand, like, what's going on right now in the events of this day 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:36.500 to cause you to say, I've never felt closer to God than I do right now. 00:27:37.620 --> 00:27:39.420 And I'll never forget this conversation. 00:27:39.540 --> 00:27:41.900 It was much longer than these two sentences, 00:27:42.100 --> 00:27:45.380 but I hope this kind of encompasses what they were getting to. 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:52.020 They said, you know, on this trip, I just serve others and focus on Jesus. 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:57.780 And all the other distractions of my life are gone. 00:28:00.280 --> 00:28:06.620 And basically what they're saying is, I can just love God, and I can just love others. 00:28:07.540 --> 00:28:13.380 And all of the other things have gone away. 00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:20.520 And I've never felt more closer to God than I do right now. 00:28:21.700 --> 00:28:28.040 I think what this individual was sharing with me is the truth of 1 John 3, 18. 00:28:29.300 --> 00:28:36.820 Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth. 00:28:37.860 --> 00:28:40.520 So many times we know the things that need to be done. 00:28:40.660 --> 00:28:42.620 We know the things that we need to do. 00:28:42.800 --> 00:28:44.980 We know the people that we need to share with. 00:28:45.100 --> 00:28:47.040 We know the hope that we need to bring. 00:28:47.180 --> 00:28:49.500 We know the actions that need to be done. 00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:52.860 We know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know, we know. 00:28:54.460 --> 00:28:56.800 But we choose something else. 00:28:58.380 --> 00:29:06.800 And in that, we try to love and word and talk, but not in deed and truth. 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:09.720 I want to ask you this. 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:15.680 In your faith, is your money where your mouth is? 00:29:16.740 --> 00:29:23.700 Is it truly not just the things that we say, but are they truly the things that we are acting out? 00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:26.240 I asked you the question this morning. 00:29:27.040 --> 00:29:28.080 Who are you serving? 00:29:29.540 --> 00:29:30.940 How are you living on mission? 00:29:32.380 --> 00:29:33.580 Who are you praying for? 00:29:34.780 --> 00:29:40.120 Who are you actively seeking to share the hope and joy of Jesus Christ with? 00:29:40.900 --> 00:29:45.420 We would all agree, I hope, that that needs to be done. 00:29:46.280 --> 00:29:53.460 But the question is, for all of us who call upon the name of the Lord, are we doing it? 00:29:54.420 --> 00:29:56.600 Are we doing it in our congregation? 00:29:58.040 --> 00:29:59.400 Are we doing it with our kids? 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:00.220 Are we doing it with our students? 00:30:00.340 --> 00:30:01.220 Are we doing it with adults? 00:30:01.300 --> 00:30:03.680 Are we doing it in every ministry that we have? 00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:10.440 Are we doing it when we go to our homes and to our neighborhoods and to our work? 00:30:11.020 --> 00:30:13.780 Do we know that the people that we encounter need Jesus? 00:30:14.840 --> 00:30:15.080 Yeah. 00:30:16.120 --> 00:30:20.480 Well, what are we doing so that they may know him? 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:27.120 How are we intentional with our faith? 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:34.700 The next thing that John points us to is looking like Jesus. 00:30:35.360 --> 00:30:36.440 Looking like Jesus. 00:30:37.100 --> 00:30:40.360 He says, as he continues in verse 17, 00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:45.360 As he is, so also are we. 00:30:47.320 --> 00:30:49.220 Here's what we know at Judgment Day. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:54.980 God will not condemn those who are like his son. 00:30:56.320 --> 00:31:00.940 God will not condemn those whose identity is found in him. 00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:06.180 God will not condemn those whose lives have been bought and redeemed by the blood of the land, 00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:10.920 who were found in Christ, saved from their sin and who they are. 00:31:11.880 --> 00:31:14.160 But here's the tension with us. 00:31:15.320 --> 00:31:21.320 We can't live at odds with the character of Jesus, 00:31:21.840 --> 00:31:25.660 but claim to have salvation in the person of Christ. 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:32.900 We can't claim to be recipients of his grace, 00:31:34.080 --> 00:31:37.440 but not begin to reflect who he is. 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:43.720 In 1 John, 16 different times, 00:31:44.180 --> 00:31:46.220 he has said, 00:31:46.820 --> 00:31:49.060 Abide in him. 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:53.460 In 2 John, he will say it two more times in him. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:31:55.680 To abide in him. 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:58.120 And when we abide in him, 00:31:58.260 --> 00:31:59.820 we remain in him, 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:02.080 we continue in him, 00:32:02.200 --> 00:32:04.560 and we live like him. 00:32:05.280 --> 00:32:06.940 And as we are in him, 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:08.140 we become like him. 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:10.600 And I want to ask you this question. 00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:14.860 As you see yourself, 00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:17.040 do you see Jesus? 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:19.220 Do you see Jesus? 00:32:20.740 --> 00:32:23.380 Maybe it's an easier question to ask others. 00:32:24.220 --> 00:32:25.740 As we put on a facade, 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:28.560 as we fake some good works and some good deeds. 00:32:28.620 --> 00:32:29.720 Not saying that others can't, 00:32:29.760 --> 00:32:31.820 they do speak truth in our lives. 00:32:32.320 --> 00:32:37.740 But when we stand before who we are and see as the spirit draws us, 00:32:37.860 --> 00:32:39.040 when we see ourself, 00:32:39.100 --> 00:32:39.800 do we see Jesus? 00:32:40.900 --> 00:32:48.000 Are we the reflection and the embodiment of the work of the spirit that we claim lives in us as followers of Christ? 00:32:48.360 --> 00:32:52.280 Do we let the fruit of the spirit sing in us? 00:32:52.280 --> 00:32:54.980 As Paul writes about in Galatians 5, 00:32:55.340 --> 00:33:02.620 was what is seen in us the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control of the Lord? 00:33:03.420 --> 00:33:05.000 What do you see in your life? 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:07.240 What do you see? 00:33:08.580 --> 00:33:09.620 And do you see Jesus? 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:13.260 Are we abiding in him? 00:33:14.480 --> 00:33:16.580 1 John 3, 2 through 3. 00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:17.800 We read this a couple weeks ago. 00:33:18.540 --> 00:33:19.160 It's beloved. 00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:23.640 We are God's children now. 00:33:24.760 --> 00:33:28.260 And what we will be has not yet appeared. 00:33:29.580 --> 00:33:32.280 But we know that when he appears, 00:33:32.960 --> 00:33:34.840 we shall be like him, 00:33:35.280 --> 00:33:38.280 because we shall see him as he is. 00:33:38.800 --> 00:33:45.660 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:48.580 Look at the confidence that John writes in. 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:53.480 We will be like him when he returns. 00:33:54.080 --> 00:33:56.500 When he appears, 00:33:57.300 --> 00:34:00.460 we shall be like him. 00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:02.520 He is our standard. 00:34:03.480 --> 00:34:04.460 He is our hope. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:07.980 He is what we cling to. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:11.360 But there's this fear. 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:15.960 There's this fear that comes over some of us 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:19.920 in the thought of the returning of Christ. 00:34:20.020 --> 00:34:21.520 Look back at 1 John 4, 18, 00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:23.560 the one of the passages we read this morning. 00:34:25.280 --> 00:34:26.220 John writes, he says, 00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:28.720 there is no fear in love, 00:34:29.580 --> 00:34:32.580 but perfect love casts out fear. 00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:36.080 For fear has to do with punishment. 00:34:37.020 --> 00:34:42.180 And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 00:34:42.700 --> 00:34:45.940 If there is confidence in perfected love, 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:47.720 as John has just said, 00:34:47.980 --> 00:34:51.760 then there is fear where there is not love. 00:34:52.560 --> 00:34:55.800 Complete love removes fear. 00:34:56.460 --> 00:34:59.480 This is what the fruit of the confidence that we have, 00:34:59.760 --> 00:35:01.480 is that we're not afraid. 00:35:02.120 --> 00:35:03.780 Fear has to do with punishment, 00:35:03.940 --> 00:35:04.960 not reward. 00:35:05.240 --> 00:35:07.000 And in the return of Christ, 00:35:07.140 --> 00:35:10.560 is the return of the groom taking his bride. 00:35:10.740 --> 00:35:12.500 And it's the reward of him. 00:35:14.020 --> 00:35:15.820 And it's the reward that we long for. 00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:18.240 And the reward that gives us hope. 00:35:19.540 --> 00:35:21.580 And so when you see your life, 00:35:22.460 --> 00:35:23.560 what do you see? 00:35:24.720 --> 00:35:26.620 Do you see, as we talked about last week, 00:35:26.640 --> 00:35:30.180 a true confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? 00:35:30.720 --> 00:35:32.440 Not just words that we say, 00:35:32.680 --> 00:35:34.460 not just a box that we check, 00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:36.100 but what we find in ourselves 00:35:36.100 --> 00:35:38.760 is the contrite brokenness of the heart 00:35:38.760 --> 00:35:40.500 of our sinful condition 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:42.680 and the desperate need to be saved. 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:45.720 The realization that in spite of all that we try, 00:35:45.980 --> 00:35:48.140 that we cannot save ourselves, 00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:49.740 and we need Jesus 00:35:49.740 --> 00:35:52.480 and Jesus alone to save us. 00:35:53.980 --> 00:35:55.100 And then that's confidence. 00:35:56.820 --> 00:35:58.240 And then from this love, 00:35:59.740 --> 00:36:00.860 do you love others? 00:36:02.440 --> 00:36:04.020 And that's a tricky question. 00:36:05.520 --> 00:36:06.700 Do you love others? 00:36:08.380 --> 00:36:09.960 And it's hard to define 00:36:09.960 --> 00:36:14.560 exactly how we do that. 00:36:15.560 --> 00:36:20.600 That separates the love that we know 00:36:20.600 --> 00:36:25.000 from the love that is experienced in our world 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:26.280 through a lot of different means. 00:36:27.580 --> 00:36:31.880 But do we love from the love that God has shown us? 00:36:32.940 --> 00:36:34.520 Not out of obligation. 00:36:36.720 --> 00:36:38.300 Not because we're forced to. 00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:42.320 Not out of feeling 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:46.120 because of how it will benefit me 00:36:46.120 --> 00:36:48.440 and make me feel about myself. 00:36:50.100 --> 00:36:54.340 Not loving out of a social construct of society 00:36:54.340 --> 00:36:57.580 that determines this is what we must do 00:36:57.580 --> 00:36:59.320 in order to be good people. 00:37:00.540 --> 00:37:05.620 But do we love from the love of God? 00:37:06.620 --> 00:37:09.560 From the overflow of who He is. 00:37:10.660 --> 00:37:12.020 And if that's the case, 00:37:13.020 --> 00:37:13.920 then what we experience 00:37:14.540 --> 00:37:16.620 is that fear is gone. 00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:18.800 Is that fear is gone. 00:37:20.080 --> 00:37:20.780 And lastly, 00:37:20.860 --> 00:37:23.320 I want us to look at verse 19. 00:37:25.060 --> 00:37:25.680 It says, 00:37:25.780 --> 00:37:27.860 that gives us a proper perspective 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:28.740 to look at this. 00:37:30.140 --> 00:37:30.800 It says this, 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:31.780 John says very simply, 00:37:33.240 --> 00:37:39.740 we love because He first loved us. 00:37:42.740 --> 00:37:44.400 Our acts of love 00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:48.700 never cause God to love us more. 00:37:50.600 --> 00:37:52.500 Our acts of love 00:37:52.500 --> 00:37:55.380 never determine God to say, 00:37:55.740 --> 00:37:56.300 oh, oh, oh, 00:37:56.360 --> 00:37:57.820 didn't see that in them, 00:37:58.020 --> 00:37:58.940 but now I do. 00:37:59.300 --> 00:38:01.600 Now I love them. 00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:05.900 He first loved us. 00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:08.280 Last night, 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:10.880 after the dryer debacle, 00:38:11.960 --> 00:38:13.400 my wife and I went out to dinner. 00:38:14.020 --> 00:38:14.980 Had a wonderful, 00:38:15.260 --> 00:38:16.360 wonderful time together. 00:38:16.720 --> 00:38:17.440 Went to a restaurant 00:38:17.440 --> 00:38:18.480 we'd never been to. 00:38:19.040 --> 00:38:20.460 Ate a food that we hadn't had 00:38:20.460 --> 00:38:21.740 in like five years. 00:38:21.880 --> 00:38:22.960 Just a great time. 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:24.160 Great conversation. 00:38:26.520 --> 00:38:28.460 Our early Valentine's Day. 00:38:29.380 --> 00:38:29.820 Guys, 00:38:30.880 --> 00:38:33.800 it's coming, right? 00:38:34.500 --> 00:38:35.820 Be prepared, right? 00:38:36.640 --> 00:38:37.800 Early Valentine's Day. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:39.840 And I got to thinking 00:38:39.840 --> 00:38:42.600 this morning on my drive here. 00:38:44.300 --> 00:38:44.660 Man, 00:38:44.720 --> 00:38:45.900 all this could have gone south 00:38:45.900 --> 00:38:46.500 years ago. 00:38:47.420 --> 00:38:48.220 Let me share with you, 00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:49.240 and I've shared this before, 00:38:49.380 --> 00:38:50.300 but it's been a long time 00:38:50.300 --> 00:38:51.320 since I've shared this before, 00:38:51.560 --> 00:38:53.160 about how my wife and I 00:38:53.160 --> 00:38:53.960 came to be a couple. 00:38:55.180 --> 00:38:56.620 A friend of mine said, 00:38:57.880 --> 00:38:59.000 hey, I've got a girl 00:38:59.000 --> 00:38:59.700 that I know 00:38:59.700 --> 00:39:00.860 that I would like to 00:39:00.860 --> 00:39:02.180 set you up 00:39:02.180 --> 00:39:03.280 on a blind date with. 00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:05.740 And I was single at the time. 00:39:07.060 --> 00:39:07.420 Sure. 00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:08.740 Well, 00:39:08.860 --> 00:39:10.780 if you're younger than me, 00:39:11.060 --> 00:39:11.780 let me explain 00:39:11.780 --> 00:39:12.520 about a time 00:39:12.520 --> 00:39:13.600 when social media 00:39:13.600 --> 00:39:14.360 didn't exist. 00:39:15.600 --> 00:39:16.280 And here's what 00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:17.400 a blind date meant. 00:39:19.020 --> 00:39:20.540 You didn't know, right? 00:39:20.820 --> 00:39:21.620 Because now, 00:39:21.740 --> 00:39:22.500 if there is such a thing 00:39:22.500 --> 00:39:23.060 as a blind date, 00:39:23.100 --> 00:39:23.540 you're going to jump 00:39:23.540 --> 00:39:24.140 on social media. 00:39:24.200 --> 00:39:24.640 You're going to find out 00:39:24.640 --> 00:39:25.360 what they look like, 00:39:25.600 --> 00:39:26.280 what they're into, 00:39:26.380 --> 00:39:27.340 all of these things. 00:39:28.600 --> 00:39:29.460 I didn't know. 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:33.500 So it's truly a risk 00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:35.520 going out on a blind date. 00:39:36.460 --> 00:39:37.820 He said she was pretty. 00:39:38.780 --> 00:39:40.720 Sure, we'll go out on a date. 00:39:42.660 --> 00:39:43.760 Well, I've never claimed 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:44.720 to be the smartest man 00:39:44.720 --> 00:39:45.200 in the world. 00:39:46.060 --> 00:39:46.520 So let me tell you 00:39:46.520 --> 00:39:46.960 what I did. 00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:50.900 The day of our first date, 00:39:51.860 --> 00:39:52.960 I had an opportunity 00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:54.000 to do something 00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:55.800 that I wanted to do. 00:39:57.800 --> 00:40:03.480 So I stood her up. 00:40:04.980 --> 00:40:05.680 I know. 00:40:07.680 --> 00:40:08.480 I know. 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:09.760 I felt the, 00:40:10.220 --> 00:40:11.320 yep, that's what I did. 00:40:11.900 --> 00:40:12.680 That's what I did. 00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:16.460 Not only did I stand her up, 00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:20.060 I had someone else call her 00:40:20.060 --> 00:40:21.820 and tell her. 00:40:22.080 --> 00:40:23.380 Now, the look on my daughter's face, 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:24.260 I can't look over there 00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:24.680 right now 00:40:24.680 --> 00:40:25.440 because it is just, 00:40:25.560 --> 00:40:26.900 it is filled with judgment 00:40:26.900 --> 00:40:27.520 right now. 00:40:28.220 --> 00:40:29.300 It is filled with it. 00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:31.780 And I stood her up. 00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:33.900 Went and hung out with friends. 00:40:35.600 --> 00:40:36.560 And like a week later, 00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:38.260 two weeks later, 00:40:38.860 --> 00:40:40.220 talking to my friend, 00:40:41.440 --> 00:40:41.780 I said, 00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:42.420 hey, you remember that girl 00:40:42.420 --> 00:40:43.360 you tried to set me up with? 00:40:44.320 --> 00:40:44.940 You think you could 00:40:44.940 --> 00:40:45.640 set me up with her? 00:40:46.500 --> 00:40:47.640 And like the look on his face 00:40:47.640 --> 00:40:48.140 was like, 00:40:49.260 --> 00:40:50.100 you serious? 00:40:50.760 --> 00:40:51.080 Like, 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:52.500 you know what happened, right? 00:40:53.540 --> 00:40:54.340 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:40:54.560 --> 00:40:55.520 Why don't you see? 00:40:56.860 --> 00:40:58.340 So he went and said something to her. 00:40:59.340 --> 00:40:59.820 She said, 00:41:00.240 --> 00:41:01.320 absolutely not. 00:41:01.900 --> 00:41:02.300 No. 00:41:02.720 --> 00:41:03.320 Uh-uh, uh-uh. 00:41:03.740 --> 00:41:04.800 So she went home. 00:41:05.460 --> 00:41:05.860 And to this, 00:41:05.940 --> 00:41:06.940 I love my mother-in-law. 00:41:07.280 --> 00:41:08.340 I love my mother-in-law. 00:41:08.620 --> 00:41:09.340 And to this day, 00:41:09.560 --> 00:41:09.900 this is, 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:11.640 this is the number one reason 00:41:11.640 --> 00:41:13.200 why I love my mother-in-law. 00:41:13.420 --> 00:41:14.540 My wife came home 00:41:14.540 --> 00:41:17.020 and she said to her mom, 00:41:18.020 --> 00:41:18.500 she said, 00:41:19.280 --> 00:41:20.680 can you believe 00:41:20.680 --> 00:41:22.120 that this guy 00:41:22.120 --> 00:41:23.460 who stood me up 00:41:23.460 --> 00:41:25.800 now is asking 00:41:25.800 --> 00:41:27.160 if we can go out on a date? 00:41:28.640 --> 00:41:29.660 And my mother-in-law, 00:41:29.740 --> 00:41:30.840 and I can hear it 00:41:30.840 --> 00:41:31.980 in her voice, 00:41:32.860 --> 00:41:33.320 said, 00:41:34.080 --> 00:41:34.760 well, Aaron, 00:41:35.440 --> 00:41:37.240 maybe you should give him a try. 00:41:37.240 --> 00:41:43.360 And she did. 00:41:44.860 --> 00:41:45.500 And she did. 00:41:46.540 --> 00:41:48.640 We met on December 15th 00:41:48.640 --> 00:41:51.500 of one of the least romantic places 00:41:51.500 --> 00:41:52.860 you could meet, 00:41:53.340 --> 00:41:55.200 but just wonderful 00:41:55.200 --> 00:41:56.700 with my parents 00:41:56.700 --> 00:41:57.940 watching my sister 00:41:57.940 --> 00:41:58.980 in a Christmas cantata 00:41:58.980 --> 00:42:00.460 at First Baptist North Augusta, right? 00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:03.580 And when I saw her 00:42:03.580 --> 00:42:04.740 for the first time, 00:42:05.240 --> 00:42:07.400 there was a spark 00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:09.320 in my heart 00:42:09.320 --> 00:42:10.860 that was rooted 00:42:10.860 --> 00:42:13.420 that that's who God had for me. 00:42:15.880 --> 00:42:16.880 And then, 00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:18.700 it hit me 00:42:18.700 --> 00:42:20.180 how much work 00:42:20.180 --> 00:42:21.700 I had to do 00:42:21.700 --> 00:42:23.860 in order 00:42:23.860 --> 00:42:25.100 to redeem 00:42:25.100 --> 00:42:26.520 what I had done. 00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:30.880 That's how 00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:33.680 so many of us 00:42:33.680 --> 00:42:35.460 approach the Lord. 00:42:37.440 --> 00:42:38.600 God, my past. 00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:41.440 There's no way 00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:43.960 that God could love me. 00:42:45.180 --> 00:42:46.680 There's no way 00:42:46.680 --> 00:42:49.160 that God could forgive me. 00:42:50.200 --> 00:42:51.680 There's no way 00:42:51.680 --> 00:42:54.780 that Jesus would die for me. 00:42:55.140 --> 00:42:56.460 I'm so unworthy. 00:42:57.900 --> 00:42:59.220 And what I need to do now 00:42:59.220 --> 00:43:01.240 is somehow 00:43:01.240 --> 00:43:02.080 prove 00:43:02.080 --> 00:43:03.920 that I'm worth it. 00:43:04.980 --> 00:43:06.400 What I need to do 00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:07.840 is somehow 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:09.180 earn 00:43:09.180 --> 00:43:11.160 His love. 00:43:11.520 --> 00:43:13.460 What I need to do 00:43:13.460 --> 00:43:14.440 is put 00:43:14.440 --> 00:43:15.380 my love 00:43:15.380 --> 00:43:16.160 for Him 00:43:16.160 --> 00:43:17.120 first 00:43:17.120 --> 00:43:18.900 and in the hope 00:43:18.900 --> 00:43:20.700 that He will love me. 00:43:22.760 --> 00:43:23.740 John says, 00:43:25.120 --> 00:43:26.440 we love 00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:26.440 we love 00:43:26.440 --> 00:43:29.080 we love 00:43:29.080 --> 00:43:31.540 because He first 00:43:31.540 --> 00:43:32.200 loved us. 00:43:33.540 --> 00:43:35.280 He loved us 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:38.060 so that we could love Him. 00:43:39.520 --> 00:43:40.780 He loved us first. 00:43:42.160 --> 00:43:43.920 He loved us 00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:46.340 so that we could love 00:43:46.340 --> 00:43:47.320 others. 00:43:48.000 --> 00:43:49.600 He first loved us. 00:43:51.020 --> 00:43:51.800 love 00:43:51.800 --> 00:43:52.980 that God 00:43:52.980 --> 00:43:54.300 has called us to 00:43:54.300 --> 00:43:55.960 originates 00:43:55.960 --> 00:43:57.060 in Him 00:43:57.060 --> 00:43:59.080 and then He 00:43:59.080 --> 00:44:00.360 first 00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:01.460 loves 00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:02.520 us. 00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:05.120 And then we know 00:44:05.120 --> 00:44:07.360 and we believe 00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:08.980 the love He has 00:44:08.980 --> 00:44:09.520 for us. 00:44:10.560 --> 00:44:11.940 We trust 00:44:11.940 --> 00:44:13.880 and find our hope 00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:15.140 in the love 00:44:15.140 --> 00:44:16.840 that He has for us 00:44:16.840 --> 00:44:17.760 in Christ. 00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:19.700 He abides 00:44:19.700 --> 00:44:20.540 in us 00:44:20.540 --> 00:44:21.740 so that we 00:44:21.740 --> 00:44:22.840 can abide 00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:23.560 in Him 00:44:23.560 --> 00:44:25.460 and His love 00:44:25.460 --> 00:44:26.700 overflows 00:44:26.700 --> 00:44:28.040 from us 00:44:28.040 --> 00:44:29.120 and this 00:44:29.120 --> 00:44:30.160 is how 00:44:30.160 --> 00:44:31.680 we love. 00:44:32.900 --> 00:44:34.280 Our confidence 00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:37.120 as we stand 00:44:37.120 --> 00:44:37.880 before Him 00:44:37.880 --> 00:44:40.560 is not found 00:44:40.560 --> 00:44:42.880 in who we are 00:44:42.880 --> 00:44:44.780 but our 00:44:44.780 --> 00:44:45.460 confidence 00:44:45.460 --> 00:44:47.540 is in Jesus. 00:44:49.080 --> 00:44:49.720 Would you pray 00:44:49.720 --> 00:44:50.080 with me? 00:44:58.000 --> 00:44:58.440 God, 00:44:58.520 --> 00:44:59.500 thank You so much 00:44:59.500 --> 00:45:04.780 of Your love 00:45:04.780 --> 00:45:07.120 for Your 00:45:07.120 --> 00:45:08.060 children. 00:45:10.160 --> 00:45:10.600 God, 00:45:10.660 --> 00:45:11.160 I thank You 00:45:11.160 --> 00:45:11.540 that while 00:45:11.540 --> 00:45:12.040 we were 00:45:12.040 --> 00:45:12.880 sinners, 00:45:13.600 --> 00:45:15.880 You loved 00:45:15.880 --> 00:45:16.300 us. 00:45:18.240 --> 00:45:18.720 And that, 00:45:18.800 --> 00:45:18.900 God, 00:45:18.940 --> 00:45:19.760 there's nothing 00:45:19.760 --> 00:45:21.080 that we did 00:45:21.080 --> 00:45:22.160 or nothing 00:45:22.160 --> 00:45:23.200 that we could 00:45:23.200 --> 00:45:24.220 do to earn 00:45:24.220 --> 00:45:24.740 Your love. 00:45:26.260 --> 00:45:26.500 But, 00:45:27.820 --> 00:45:28.300 Father, 00:45:28.420 --> 00:45:29.300 You sent 00:45:29.300 --> 00:45:30.300 love 00:45:30.300 --> 00:45:32.520 in Christ, 00:45:32.660 --> 00:45:33.200 the Son 00:45:33.200 --> 00:45:36.620 so that 00:45:36.620 --> 00:45:36.960 we could 00:45:36.960 --> 00:45:37.520 see 00:45:37.520 --> 00:45:39.000 love 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:40.920 and that 00:45:40.920 --> 00:45:41.160 we could 00:45:41.160 --> 00:45:42.220 be saved 00:45:42.220 --> 00:45:43.540 by Him. 00:45:45.760 --> 00:45:46.100 God, 00:45:46.140 --> 00:45:46.860 I pray 00:45:46.860 --> 00:45:49.080 that within 00:45:49.080 --> 00:45:49.780 us, 00:45:50.820 --> 00:45:51.200 Lord, 00:45:51.260 --> 00:45:51.660 there's the 00:45:51.660 --> 00:45:52.320 search 00:45:52.320 --> 00:45:53.700 that, 00:45:53.800 --> 00:45:53.860 Lord, 00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:54.680 Your Spirit 00:45:54.680 --> 00:45:55.420 is speaking 00:45:55.420 --> 00:45:56.040 to us, 00:45:57.060 --> 00:45:57.560 revealing 00:45:57.560 --> 00:45:58.460 to us 00:45:58.460 --> 00:45:59.660 who we 00:45:59.660 --> 00:46:00.260 are in 00:46:00.260 --> 00:46:00.760 Christ. 00:46:02.920 --> 00:46:03.620 That we 00:46:03.620 --> 00:46:04.460 are found 00:46:04.460 --> 00:46:06.540 and perfected 00:46:06.540 --> 00:46:07.980 and completed 00:46:07.980 --> 00:46:09.200 in You 00:46:09.200 --> 00:46:09.920 and in You 00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:10.380 alone. 00:46:11.840 --> 00:46:12.840 And that this 00:46:12.840 --> 00:46:13.820 love that we've 00:46:13.820 --> 00:46:14.860 experienced 00:46:14.860 --> 00:46:17.920 overflows 00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:18.860 from us, 00:46:19.140 --> 00:46:20.120 is active, 00:46:20.860 --> 00:46:21.880 is working, 00:46:22.640 --> 00:46:23.540 is moving, 00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:24.360 and it 00:46:24.360 --> 00:46:25.060 gives us, 00:46:25.240 --> 00:46:25.260 Lord, 00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:25.920 confidence 00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:26.860 that we 00:46:26.860 --> 00:46:27.480 see 00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:28.460 and know 00:46:28.460 --> 00:46:29.940 that we 00:46:29.940 --> 00:46:30.720 are Yours 00:46:30.720 --> 00:46:31.380 and You 00:46:31.380 --> 00:46:32.500 are ours. 00:46:35.620 --> 00:46:36.500 And that, 00:46:36.600 --> 00:46:36.680 God, 00:46:36.720 --> 00:46:37.220 we give all 00:46:37.220 --> 00:46:37.840 the praise 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:39.360 and honor 00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:40.880 and glory 00:46:40.880 --> 00:46:42.140 to You 00:46:42.140 --> 00:46:44.140 and You 00:46:44.140 --> 00:46:44.500 alone. 00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:47.120 Because 00:46:47.120 --> 00:46:49.340 we love 00:46:49.340 --> 00:46:51.520 because You 00:46:51.520 --> 00:46:52.100 first 00:46:52.100 --> 00:46:53.760 loved us. 00:46:53.960 --> 00:46:55.840 God, 00:46:55.880 --> 00:46:56.200 I pray 00:46:56.200 --> 00:46:56.480 this 00:46:56.480 --> 00:46:56.860 morning, 00:46:58.580 --> 00:46:59.900 I pray 00:46:59.900 --> 00:47:00.460 for anyone 00:47:00.460 --> 00:47:01.180 in this 00:47:01.180 --> 00:47:01.620 room 00:47:01.620 --> 00:47:04.260 whose heart 00:47:04.260 --> 00:47:06.080 is captured 00:47:06.080 --> 00:47:06.780 by fear. 00:47:11.040 --> 00:47:11.640 Lord, 00:47:11.680 --> 00:47:12.260 I pray 00:47:12.260 --> 00:47:14.440 that what 00:47:14.440 --> 00:47:14.940 they would 00:47:14.940 --> 00:47:17.100 surrender 00:47:17.100 --> 00:47:17.440 to, 00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:19.600 I pray 00:47:19.600 --> 00:47:19.940 where would 00:47:19.940 --> 00:47:20.280 they come 00:47:20.280 --> 00:47:20.520 to the 00:47:20.520 --> 00:47:21.200 realization 00:47:21.200 --> 00:47:21.780 of 00:47:21.780 --> 00:47:23.600 fear. 00:47:23.600 --> 00:47:24.400 Lord, 00:47:24.400 --> 00:47:24.800 is there 00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:25.500 fear? 00:47:27.240 --> 00:47:27.600 What they 00:47:27.600 --> 00:47:28.180 anticipate 00:47:28.180 --> 00:47:29.860 is judgment. 00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:32.940 What they 00:47:32.940 --> 00:47:33.480 anticipate 00:47:33.480 --> 00:47:35.600 is wrath. 00:47:36.680 --> 00:47:37.320 What they 00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:37.880 anticipate 00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:39.240 is punishment. 00:47:40.700 --> 00:47:41.360 But that's 00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:42.080 not found 00:47:42.080 --> 00:47:43.940 for those 00:47:43.940 --> 00:47:44.420 who are in 00:47:44.420 --> 00:47:44.560 You. 00:47:45.960 --> 00:47:46.840 and today, 00:47:47.040 --> 00:47:47.280 Lord, 00:47:48.360 --> 00:47:48.560 may 00:47:48.560 --> 00:47:48.860 through the 00:47:48.860 --> 00:47:49.580 drawing of 00:47:49.580 --> 00:47:50.360 Your Spirit, 00:47:51.920 --> 00:47:52.520 the drawing 00:47:52.520 --> 00:47:52.860 of their 00:47:52.860 --> 00:47:53.320 heart, 00:47:54.440 --> 00:47:55.060 be found 00:47:55.060 --> 00:47:55.880 in Christ 00:47:55.880 --> 00:47:57.300 and in 00:47:57.300 --> 00:47:57.940 Christ alone. 00:47:59.100 --> 00:47:59.600 And it's in 00:47:59.600 --> 00:48:00.120 Jesus' name 00:48:00.120 --> 00:48:00.500 we pray. 00:48:01.500 --> 00:48:01.740 Amen. 00:48:01.740 --> 00:48:16.100 thanks again 00:48:16.100 --> 00:48:16.600 for listening 00:48:16.600 --> 00:48:16.960 to the 00:48:16.960 --> 00:48:17.400 Willow Ridge 00:48:17.400 --> 00:48:18.100 Church weekly 00:48:18.100 --> 00:48:18.720 podcast. 00:48:19.040 --> 00:48:19.460 We hope 00:48:19.460 --> 00:48:19.720 that you 00:48:19.720 --> 00:48:20.040 enjoyed 00:48:20.040 --> 00:48:20.560 listening to 00:48:20.560 --> 00:48:21.000 this week's 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:21.340 message. 00:48:21.960 --> 00:48:22.240 If you'd 00:48:22.240 --> 00:48:22.520 like to 00:48:22.520 --> 00:48:22.900 learn more 00:48:22.900 --> 00:48:23.340 about who 00:48:23.340 --> 00:48:23.740 we are 00:48:23.740 --> 00:48:24.400 or explore 00:48:24.400 --> 00:48:24.820 additional 00:48:24.820 --> 00:48:25.360 resources, 00:48:25.940 --> 00:48:26.360 visit us 00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:27.140 online at 00:48:27.140 --> 00:48:30.400 www.willowridgechurch.com 00:48:30.400 --> 00:48:31.620 or by searching 00:48:31.620 --> 00:48:32.280 for Willow Ridge 00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:32.900 Church on 00:48:32.900 --> 00:48:33.580 Facebook and 00:48:33.580 --> 00:48:33.960 Instagram.