Well, welcome everyone to Church of the Advent.
Welcome to our worship gathering here.
For those of you who are coming back, glad to see you.
And anybody that I don't know yet, I'd love to meet you after the service.
We're going to have a reception out in the courtyard since the weather is so nice.
Immediately following this worship gathering, so please stick around.
Would love to shake your hand if I haven't met you already.
My name's Tommy. I'm one of the pastors here.
And we're starting a series this week looking at one of Paul's letters that you find in the New Testament.
It's the letter that we call Philippians.
And we're going to be doing a study through this entire book.
And we're going to be tracing one of the central themes in this book.
The series is called The Joyful Life.
The Joyful Life.
One of the main themes in Paul's letter to the Philippians is the theme of joy.
And it's a unique kind of joy because it's a joy that is able to exist regardless of circumstance.
It's a joy that exists regardless of circumstance.
You know, Paul wrote this letter roughly ten years after he helped to plant the church in Philippi.
We looked at that last week.
So this is roughly 60 to 62 A.D.
And he's in prison.
And yet he's writing this letter to the people that he hasn't seen in years from prison.
And yet he makes some 15 references to joy and to rejoicing.
Even many of these are his own joy and his own rejoicing.
And you look at his circumstances and you look at the joy and it doesn't make sense.
So that's what this series is going to explore.
Where does that kind of joy come from?
And, you know, some of us are here and we're Christians.
And it's good to be reminded as we look at our own lives that, as the late John Stott once wrote in one of his commentaries,
it seems clear that the main mark of justified believers is joy.
In other words, he's saying if there's one thing that Christians should be known for, it's this inexplicable joy.
And if you're here and you're not a follower of Christ or you're not sure what you believe,
if it is possible to have a life that is full of joy regardless of your life circumstances,
might it not be worth at least exploring whether or not there is some truth to this claim?
So this is why we're exploring it.
I think it's probably relevant to everybody.
And as we get started, we're just going to look at the first eight verses.
This is Philippians 1 verses 1 through 8.
And the first thing that we see out of the gate is that this book that is about joy begins by talking about identity.
In other words, Paul's saying if you want to understand where this joy comes from,
you have to start with your own identity.
In other words, what constitutes our identity as Christians for those of us who are?
And there's a word that Paul uses that sums up what the Christian identity is all about,
and that is the word saint.
So tonight we're just going to look at that word.
Because saint speaks to our identity.
You know, before the word Christian was even coined,
before it even existed,
followers of Jesus referred to one another as saints.
So this is what you see all throughout scripture.
And the word saint speaks to two things.
To who we are,
and to who we are becoming.
So that's how we're going to look at this this evening.
Let's pray for the Lord to lead us.
Our God, our Heavenly Father,
we pray and we ask,
and even as we ask,
we know that you will speak to us.
Lord, through your word,
not through what I have to say,
but through your word.
We pray that somehow,
as we look together at your written word,
that we would encounter your living word,
Jesus Christ,
that we would come face to face
with a reality of who he is,
and that that would profoundly transform us.
Lord, for your glory,
and for our good,
in your son's name.
Amen.
So as we're looking at this letter,
as I said,
Paul is writing this from prison.
He begins,
as we look at verse one,
with a standard greeting.
He's saying,
Paul and Timothy,
servants of Jesus Christ.
So that's his way of saying,
this letter is from Paul and Timothy,
and he says that they are servants of Christ Jesus.
We're going to come back to that
in subsequent weeks.
Here's the interesting part, though.
He doesn't just say,
to the people in Philippi,
like you would normally do.
He makes a point right away of saying,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus,
who are at Philippi,
with the overseers and deacons,
grace to you and peace from God our Father,
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the first thing Paul does,
after introducing himself,
is to remind the Philippians of their primary identity.
He reminds them of their primary identity.
And he addresses every single person in the church as a saint.
You know, if you're familiar with the Catholic Church,
you know that they canonize certain people
and set them apart and say,
well, here's all of the Christians,
but these people are saints.
But that's not what Paul's doing here.
Every single person in the church is a saint.
If you're a Christian,
you're a saint.
And Paul is saying,
this is your primary identity.
This is how I think of you.
Now, in our culture,
we think a lot about identity.
We talk a lot about identity.
It's a very hot topic,
debated topic.
And most of that centers around
our freedom and our desire
to be able to choose our identity,
to define ourselves for ourselves,
to get rid of social,
religious,
traditional,
institutional constraints,
and to be able to have the freedom
to define ourselves for ourselves,
the freedom to choose who we are.
We have kids.
We watch a lot of kids' movies.
A couple of days ago,
we saw a newer kids' movie
that's come out called
The Good Dinosaur.
I don't know if you've seen it.
It's pretty good.
76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's kind of like one of those borderline,
is it worth our two hours?
But the kids loved it.
And as I was watching this movie,
sort of my mind began to wander
and I began to think about other movies
in this kind of genre.
And I began to realize,
you know,
a lot of these movies
basically tell the same story.
It's just with different packaging.
You know,
like here it's a dinosaur
or a cave person
and here it's like a fairy
or like an Irish warrior.
But it all tells the same story
just with different sort of,
you know,
packaging.
And so if you think about these movies,
maybe you've seen them.
Shrek,
Frozen,
Shrek 2,
Shrek 3,
Tangled,
Brave,
Mulan,
Little Mermaid,
Kung Fu Panda,
Kung Fu Panda 2,
How to Train Your Dragon,
Fantastic Mr. Fox,
Book of Life,
Maya the Bee,
I could go on and on.
They all tell a very similar story.
And what's that story?
It is be true to yourself.
Right?
Get rid of what your parents expect of you.
Get rid of what the culture expects of you.
Get rid of all of the things that are,
get rid of these expectations that are on you.
Get rid of all of that.
Figure out who you are
and express that to the world.
Be true to yourself.
I mean,
listen to our music.
Eminem's beautiful.
Casey Musgrave's Follow Your Arrow.
Meghan Trainor's all about that bass.
Lady Gaga sings it perfectly.
She sings,
Don't hide yourself in regret.
Just love yourself and you're set.
Right?
That's a powerful claim.
All you have to do is love yourself
and you're set.
We might think of this
as a kind of secular gospel of our age.
Maybe the gospel of our age.
In other words,
the good news for the world.
This is the key to happiness
and joy and fulfillment.
Be true to yourself.
Get rid of all constraints.
Choose your own identity.
Express that to the world.
Love yourself and you're set.
And you know,
I have to admit,
there's something very compelling
about this as an idea.
You know,
there's this kind of a documentary,
sort of a series of vignettes
with different celebrities and such
called Human.
If you've not seen this,
it's really, really worth your time.
Well,
and it's good,
I was going to say,
it's good for understanding culture.
If you really want to understand culture,
watch kids' movies.
Honestly,
it's one of the best ways
to understand where our culture is
and where we're going.
Watch kids' movies.
It'll tell you right away.
But,
you should also watch Human.
It's really fantastic.
And there's,
Cameron Diaz gets on there
and she starts talking about fame
and how you shouldn't build your life on fame.
That doesn't lead to happiness.
And as a preacher,
I'm thinking,
preach it.
This will preach, Cameron.
And she says,
this is,
you're going to,
life is going to be empty.
And, you know,
we agree with that, right?
And if she was saying,
don't build your life on wealth,
don't build your life on success,
don't build your life on notoriety,
don't build your life on,
you know,
this, that, or the other,
we would,
even if we're doing it,
we would agree,
Cameron, you're right.
Even though I'm doing that,
I shouldn't be doing that
because that's empty.
But then she goes on
and she says,
the way to be happy
is to be true to yourself.
See,
and then you hear that
and you think,
oh, that's a good message.
You know,
I want to do that,
I want my kids to do that,
we should,
I want to be true to myself.
It's compelling.
But the only problem is,
it doesn't actually work
in real life.
It's a really great idea,
but it doesn't actually work.
There's a,
there's a couple of problems with it.
The first problem
with this gospel
of being true to ourselves
is,
is actually illustrated
in another kid's movie
called The Incredibles.
And the bad guy
in The Incredibles
is a guy named Syndrome.
And Syndrome has,
has his former mentor,
he's kind of taking him
as a prisoner.
And he's yelling,
he's kind of like sounding off
at his former mentor
who,
he is now his arch enemy.
And he's saying
to Mr. Incredible,
you always tell me
to be true to myself.
But you never tell me
which part to be true to.
true.
It's so insightful,
right?
Because I have,
I have,
I have a lot of parts
of self in me,
right?
I have one part
that could,
that is completely devoted
to the,
to living a long
and healthy life.
I want to see my kids grow up.
I want to hopefully
know my grandkids.
I want to live
as long as I can.
I want to be healthy.
I want to have energy.
I want to,
you know,
I want to,
I want that kind of life.
And then there's
another part of me
that could literally
live off cheeseburgers
and whiskey.
I could literally
eat nothing
but cheeseburgers
and whiskey
and I would be
completely happy
for like two weeks.
And then I would have
to go to the hospital.
But,
but I could literally
live off that stuff,
right?
And then there's
the part of me
that's ashamed
that I'm admitting this
from up front.
You know,
now they're all
going to know
as if you didn't before
but now they're
definitely all going to know.
And,
and then there's
the other part of me
that will justify it
and say,
no,
I have a stressful job
and I deserve it
and I'm going to five guys.
Right?
And so you've got
all these parts competing,
right?
Which is the real self?
Which is the thing
that needs to be,
to which do I be true
and to,
and what needs
to be extinguished?
You know,
you've got the person
who makes the,
the,
the committed
lifelong vow
to another person.
I'm committing to you
for better,
for worse,
for richer,
for poorer,
sickness and health,
till death us do part,
I'm yours.
Looking in the eyes,
meaning it,
friends,
family,
parents,
all there,
everybody looking,
music,
I'm looking at your eyes,
I mean this
from the bottom of my heart.
Right?
Years down the road
that same person
really,
really wants to sleep
with their co-worker
with whom they have found
a special connection.
Right?
A connection
that they really
haven't experienced
in their marriage.
Two,
two parts.
Which is you
and which needs
to be extinguished?
See,
a lot of people
in our culture
would say,
you know,
that's the part
that you should be true to.
Get,
get out of that marriage.
That is inhibiting
the true you.
Be true to yourself.
Which is the true self?
Right?
So,
so we aren't actually,
if you,
if I just had one
integrated whole self
and here,
it would be great
for me to be true to that.
Right?
But what about
all the little parts
of self
that I,
that I really have?
What do I do with that?
But there's another reason
that this doesn't work
and I think
an even deeper reason.
And that's this.
And I'm not going to tell you
how you feel
or what you think.
You,
you,
maybe you're different.
But I was thinking about this
in my own life this week
and I,
I just have to be honest.
Being true to myself
and loving myself
as,
as Lady Gaga
would,
would tell me to do,
it's not enough.
It doesn't cut it
with me.
You know,
loving myself,
it's just not enough.
I mean,
if we're honest,
I think deep down
we actually crave
a love that comes
from outside of ourselves.
A love,
a love that comes
from someone else
who's not me,
whose opinion matters.
That's actually
what I want.
You know,
I,
I want somebody
out there
to say,
I love you.
Right?
So another way
of saying it
is this.
Below our desire
to be able
to choose
who we are,
I think there's
a deeper desire
to be chosen
as we are.
You know,
we want the lover
who says,
out of all of the people
in the world,
I choose you.
I want you.
I want you
to belong to me.
I want to commit
to you.
I want,
I want only you
for the rest of my life.
I just want you.
That's what I want.
That's a thousand
times better
than whatever love
I can muster
for myself.
Yeah,
okay,
decent self-confidence,
working on that,
therapist is helping
out with it
and all that,
but it's nothing
compared to this person
whose opinion matters
saying,
I choose you.
That lifts me
up to the heavens,
right?
I want the parent
who says,
I'm so delighted
that you're my child.
I want you to belong to me
and I will love you
for the rest of your life.
That's what I want.
And yet,
you know,
even the best lovers,
even the best,
most well-intentioned spouses,
even the best parents
love imperfectly.
We don't always love
people like that,
right?
I mean,
even in the best marriages,
sometimes your love
is conditional.
Even in the best
parent-child relationship,
sometimes that love
is conditional.
You do your best,
but it falls short.
And we're always,
my desire for that kind of love
always outstrips
what the people
in my life can provide.
My wife can't love me
that way.
She's an amazing person.
She just can't do it.
I can't love her that way.
I can't love my kids that way.
My parents didn't love me
that way.
They got close sometimes.
But it's not enough.
And that's because
we were made to find this love
not in a human being,
but in God.
It's no coincidence
that the two primary images
that God uses
to describe his relationship
with us
are what?
Marriage and adoption.
Right?
What do those two relationships
have in common?
Marriage and adoption.
They're both situations
where somebody says to you,
if you're the one being married
or you're the one being adopted,
there is somebody saying to you,
I choose you.
Not them, not them, you.
I want you.
So this brings us
to the true meaning
of the word saint.
See, when we hear
the word saint,
we tend to think of the people
who are super virtuous,
super moral, super good.
They're doing all kinds
of amazing things.
Like I said,
the Catholic Church
has canonized a number
of such people,
and we should pay attention
to these people
and learn about them,
and there are great examples
to follow, most of them.
Amazing lives,
very inspiring.
But that's not
what Paul's talking about.
It's funny,
the way we misunderstand
the word saint,
I think betrays us.
It betrays our wiring.
We are so wired,
so wired to think
that God's love
depends on our merit.
We're so wired
to think that His love
depends on our merit
rather than being something
that exists
regardless of merit.
When Paul uses
the word saint,
it's a word that means
holy or set apart.
And in the simplest terms,
a saint is someone
to whom God says,
I choose you.
Not someone who does
something or says something
or feels a certain thing
or thinks a certain thing
or acts in a certain way.
No, no, no.
We're not the subject of that.
We're the object.
A saint is someone
to whom God says,
I choose you.
So everybody
who comes to Jesus Christ,
everybody who admits
their sin,
everybody who is reconciled
through His death
and resurrection,
everybody who is baptized
and becomes
a part of the church,
then those are people
to whom God says,
you.
And how do you know
if that's you?
It's because you've
come to faith.
So if you're a saint,
it's not because of anything
you've done for God.
You haven't earned it.
It's because God
has done something
for you in Jesus Christ
through His life
and death and resurrection.
And that's why Paul says
we're saints in Christ,
in all that He's done.
So what does this mean?
It means that you can,
listen,
you can be a,
just the smarmiest,
you know,
investment banker
you can imagine.
You can just be the,
you know,
just that kind of,
you know,
I'm not going to get
into detail,
but you can kind of imagine,
you know,
you can be this kind of like,
you know,
big shot with your,
you know,
and you can,
you can have a major
wake-up call
and you can sell
all your stuff
and sell all your cars
and sell your,
your,
your Manhattan condo
and sell all of that
and you can move
to the,
to the poorest
third world country
you can,
you can find
and you can spend
the rest of your life
caring for lepers
and building orphanages
for kids
and God's not going
to love you
one ounce more.
That's not how it works.
It's not how it works.
Not for saints.
And it could be
that God actually
wired you for banking
and not orphanage building.
You know,
God wants just as many
Christians in the banking world
as he does
building orphanages.
We're supposed to be everywhere.
You can also come out of,
come out of this room
and have a major public
moral failing.
You know,
it all comes out.
You've been dishonest.
You've been lying
to all kinds of people.
It all comes out.
God's not going to love you
one ounce less.
God hates the sin
but he's not going to love you
one ounce less.
You can't affect it
because he has chosen
to put his love on you.
You didn't even ask for it.
It just happened.
This is the thing
I think that we can't get.
But the entire Christian life
is really about us
becoming more and more
grounded in this identity.
That God loves us
as we are in Christ
regardless of anything
we felt or said or done.
And then here's the paradox
is that the more
we're grounded in this identity
that God has chosen us
in Christ
set us apart
to belong
said I want you to belong
to me and be mine
the more I'm grounded
in that identity
the more it paradoxically
creates a desire in me
to become what God
has made me to be.
Isn't that weird?
Because you say
well if he accepts me
as I am
why should I want to change?
Well the weird thing is
the more you realize
that his love
is a gift
the more that fills you
with a desire
to allow him
to be the one
to define you
rather than you.
And that may not make sense
but this is why
being a saint
isn't just about who we are
but it's about
who we're becoming.
This might help
clarify it a little bit.
You know Dan Bielman
first sermon
at Advent
used an illustration
from Ben-Hur
and I'm just going to
shamelessly borrow it
because I think
it's a great image.
If you've never seen
the movie Ben-Hur
Judah Ben-Hur
at this
I won't tell you
the whole story
but at this point
that I'm talking about
he has become a slave
and there's a Roman
he's a Jew
and there's a Roman
named Quintus Arius
who's a Roman consul
and he's actually
come to love
Judah Ben-Hur
like a son
and so he petitions
for Judah Ben-Hur
to be freed
set free
and then he throws
a party
and he calls
everyone's attention
at this party
and he announces
that he's done
all the legal
formalities necessary
to adopt Ben-Hur
as his own son
and he says
young Arius
he doesn't call him
Judah Ben-Hur
he names him
gives him his own name
young Arius
is now the legal
bearer of my name
and the heir
to my property
and then he gives him
this priceless ring
off of his own finger
and he says
this ring of my ancestors
would have gone
to my son
so now it's yours
and then Ben-Hur's response
is what I want to focus on
because he responds
by saying
he takes the ring
he puts it on his finger
and he says
I shall always try
to wear this ring
as a son of Arius
should
with gratitude
affection
and with honor
so you have
this amazing
image
of exactly
what we're talking about
right
Arius
of his own free will
loves Ben-Hur
adopts Ben-Hur
gives him what
his name
he promises him
an inheritance
and he gives him a ring
as a seal of his adoption
and then Ben-Hur's response
is to say
I want to live
like your son
I want to be
like your son
and I want to do that
because of why
not fear
not guilt
not obligation
but out of
gratitude
and out of affection
and this is exactly
what happens with us
through the gospel
right
God comes and says
I love you
and I sent my son
to die for you
and he says
I want you to belong to me
in Christ
and he says
to those who come to him
and accept this forgiveness
he gives us what
he gives us his name
you're in Christ
right
he gives us
an eternal inheritance
he gives us
a seal
not a ring
but the Holy Spirit
this is a seal
that guarantees
and proves
that you belong to me
and what does this do
it engenders in us
a desire
right
it kindles in us
in a desire
we say
I want to be
in other words
I want to let go
of my sense
of who I am
and I prefer
God's sense
of who I am
that's who I want to be
I want to be the way
you see me God
that's how I want to live
because of gratitude
because of affection
and Paul goes on to say
you know
as this happens
God actually works
in us
to make that happen
to make us more
like his son
he says
in verses
three through six
I thank my God
and all my remembrance
of you
always in every prayer
of mine
for you
all making my prayer
with joy
because of your
partnership in the gospel
from the first day
until now
and I'm sure of this
here it is
that he who began
a good work in you
will bring it to completion
at the day of Jesus Christ
so all those partial selves
all those partial parts
of us
that are kind of
at war with each other
and he's saying
that God begins
to bring all of that
together
this is why C.S. Lewis
talks about
the more we give
ourselves away
the more we actually
become fully
who we were meant to be
we actually recover
ourselves
by giving ourselves
to God
because he's the one
who can make us
whole
now there are a lot
of themes
in here
that we're going
to explore
through the coming weeks
this is setting up
stuff that we're going
to come back to
again and again
and again
so tonight
I just want to pause
and I want to think
about this idea
of being a saint
as Paul talks about it
and I want to think
about some implications
as we think about
what this says
about who we are
now
and who we're becoming
and I want to just
look at three
really quickly
three implications
of our sainthood
first implication
is this
in our relationships
with one another
in this community
and in our friends
and family
and all that
one of the best ways
that we can love
one another
is by reminding
one another
that we are
in fact
saints
by reminding
one another
of that
we all need
to be reminded
that we're utterly
secure
in the love
of God
right
most of the time
we either
we either remind
one another
that we're sinners
or we just
take the easy road
out and just
don't bring it up
at all
right
what I need
is to be reminded
that
that my identity
doesn't hinge
on my performance
up here
I need to know
that my identity
doesn't hinge
in how good
the church is doing
I need to
be reminded
that my identity
doesn't hinge
in how good
a dad I am
or how good
a husband I am
or how good
a friend I am
that it doesn't
matter
if people like me
or hate me
it doesn't matter
if people agree
with me
or disagree
with me
or criticize me
I need to be
reminded that my
identity isn't
based in any of that
it is based
squarely
completely
and utterly
in the undeserved
love of God
I need you
to remind me
of that
we need to be
reminded of that
one of the most
amazing things
that Paul
does every time
is every time
he writes a letter
to confront
sin
he starts
with
sainthood
right
so before he
gets to the sin
he says
the first thing
I want to do
is to remind you
you're a saint
you have the love
of God
it's yours
which opens
the door
to talk about sin
right
so this is the first
thing we should do
we should be reminded
again and again
and again
that we are
saints
you know the reason
that we sin
at least if you're
anything like me
I don't
most mornings
I don't wake up
and say I'm going to
sin
my brains out
today
I don't
you know
I don't do that
if you
maybe
probably
some one person
in here does
most of us don't
I mean if you do
we'll talk about it
but I don't think
you do
most of us
don't do that
most of us
don't sin
because we wake up
saying I want to
sin
we sin
because we forget
that we're saints
we sin
because we
we start looking
to other
sources
for love
and affirmation
and fulfillment
and meaning
rather than God
and so we forget
what we have
and we begin
to look elsewhere
that's why we sin
we need to be reminded
that we're saints
in Christ
the second implication
is this
is that it's connected
to the first
that I think
that we should
always strive
to remember
that God
is at work
in the lives
of people around us
that when you look
to your right
and your left
your friends
your family
your roommates
that you need
to remember
that if they're
in Christ
that God
is at work
in them
right
so the way
we tend
to remember
people
is in
snapshot form
right
you form
some impressions
of what a person
is like
and you may
know them
for 10 years
but a lot
of your image
of that person
is like a snapshot
it's that picture
that was taken
10 years ago
you know
you meet somebody
in high school
who's
you know
you knew this person
in high school
they're kind of
unpopular
and no confidence
and always quiet
and then you meet
them at your
15 year reunion
and all of a sudden
they're confident
and they're grown up
and they're mature
and they're successful
and you're like
whoa what a surprise
well why is it a surprise
it's been 15 years
a lot can happen
in 15 years
right
but it's
you're looking
at the snapshot
and you're looking
at the person
and you're like
well there's a
different
you're different
of course you're
different
it's been 15 years
why is that a surprise
think about how
this plays out
spiritually
right
if God is at work
in the people
around us
we need to expect
that
people aren't
snapshots
they're dynamic
they change
they grow
right
so I guess
my question
is this
are you giving
people in your life
room to surprise you
right
I mean so
you know
your husband
is always
you know
he's always
impatient
she's always
critical
you know
he's always
you know
he's always
she's always
late
you know
he
I don't know
he always does
and says
embarrassing things
in public
you know
I mean whatever
your gripe is
you know
my friend
she only ever
talks about
herself
you know
she's a horrible
listener
right
it goes on
and on
we have all
these absolute
statements
that's like
looking at the
snapshot
if your friend
or your husband
or your wife
if they had
that moment
where maybe
most of the time
they're impatient
but they have
this moment
of profound
patience
would you
notice
or are you
so fixated
on the snapshot
that you don't
see that
stuff is changing
here
right
so if we're
changing
and we're
growing
and we're
maturing
and this
says
you absolutely
are
are we
noticing
this
in the
lives
of the
people
around us
and the
third thing
is related
I think
that we
should always
encourage
the growth
that we
do see
in people's
lives
we should
always
fan that
flame
one of the
great things
about this
section of
scripture
is that
Paul
notices
and points
out
evidence
that the
Philippians
are growing
you notice
he first
brings up
their
generosity
and says
every time
I pray
and every time
I think
about you
guys
it fills
me with
joy
because of
your
generosity
because of
your
partnership
in the
gospel
and then
it's no
wonder
he then
goes on
to say
and I
am
confident
that God
is bringing
to completion
the work
he began
in you
it's because
he's saying
this is
evidence
God is at
work in
your heart
in the
ten years
since I
met you
you know
last week
Lydia the
businesswoman
a former
slave girl
a civil
servant
in the
ten years
since I
met you
you've
become
so much
more
generous
look at
the
generosity
here
Christ
is at
work
praise
God
this is the
first thing
he says
I think
that we
should do
all that
we can
to notice
the evidence
of God's
work
and affirm
it
and recognize
it
for what
it is
you know
instead of
constantly
harping
on your
kids
or constantly
harping
on your
spouse
or constantly
harping
or harboring
grudges
or resenting
your roommates
or your
friends
shift it
around
and to say
rather than
focusing on
how they're
always late
notice that
one time
they're on
time
and say
that's great
you're on
time
I know
this is hard
for you
but you're
on time
this time
that means
a lot
to me
praise
God
I'm
serious
but you
have to do
it in a
non-passive
aggressive
way
because that
could be
really
passive
aggressive
so
I'll
leave it
to your
discretion
but we
should
notice
these
things
thank you
last night
I knew
I know
you were
really angry
but you
didn't lose
your temper
and the
way you
responded
was really
gentle
and loving
thank you
Jesus is
working in
you
right
I just
want you
to know
that Jesus
is working
in you
if we
believe
that Christ
is at
work
bringing
his work
to
completion
we should
try to
notice
and encourage
that work
so for
all who
come to
Jesus
for all
who ask
forgiveness
for all
who are
baptized
in his
name
you become
saints
that's what
it means
to be
a follower
of Jesus
and being
a saint
means one
that what
God has
chosen you
he set
you apart
he said
I choose
you
I want
you to
belong
to me
he's
given
you
his love
not because
of anything
you said
or did
or felt
but purely
because that
is the
kind of
God
he is
and second
God is at
work in
you now
God is
bringing to
completion
the work
he began
in you
when Christ
set you
apart
making you
more and
more like
him
so what this
means is that
every saint
can say what
the great
John Newton
who's the author
of the hymn
Amazing Grace
once said
he said this
I'm not what I
ought to be
I'm not what I
want to be
I'm not what I
hope to be
in another world
but still I'm not
what I once
used to be
and by the
grace of
God
I am
what I
am
let's pray
our father
in heaven
we thank you
and praise you
for your word
and we
as we hear
this we pray
that whatever
is of you
would
remain
in a little
while we'll
share in
your supper
in the Lord's
supper
and we pray
that as we
hear this
proclamation
of your love
that as we
receive the
bread and wine
a bit later
that we
would
actually
taste it
and that in
these two
ways you
would drive
these truths
home
into our
hearts
that we
are loved
because you've
chosen to love
us
and that we
find our
identity and
meaning and
acceptance and
fulfillment there
and we pray
then that we
would trust
that you
who set us
apart are
forming in
us everything
for which you've
purposed us
we thank you
and praise you
for this Lord
in your son's
holy name
amen
m I
M valuable
is
what I
can
I
can
afford
this
might
what I
mean
is
if I
put that
my
ESP
is
I
doesn't
that
but I
I
don't
b
I
can
what I
can
say
there