WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.780 Hello, this is Friday 15th of May and this is the weekly Pastel update from St Columbus 00:00:07.780 --> 00:00:13.080 Free Church. My name is Thomas and it's great to have this opportunity to be with you and 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:18.839 hopefully to give you a few words of encouragement. Last time I did this was three weeks ago and 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:23.400 we learned some new words in Gaelic. This week we're going to learn a new word as well 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:30.119 but it's not Gaelic this time. This week we're going to have a go at a Greek word. Now I should 00:00:30.119 --> 00:00:35.200 probably say before I start that I am not really an expert in Greek. Do you know I'm not really an 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:39.039 expert in English either but I'm definitely not an expert in Greek but I know a few words and 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:43.799 one of the words that I know is one of my favorite words which is what I want us to think about 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:52.079 together today. The word is this macrothymia. Now Greek is a bit funny because it's got 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:58.280 different letters to what we have. This kind of U shaped thing with a long tail that's an M sound. 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:07.799 That's a which is easy enough. This thing that looks like a P is actually an R. I don't know why 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:16.120 but that's it. Or same as or. This one here looks like an egg with a line through it. That's a sound. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:22.640 So we would have TH two letters. Greek you only need one. Then U and then we've got the M again. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:31.080 E and A at the end. So macrothymia. And it's a brilliant word and I want us to think about what 00:01:31.080 --> 00:01:39.920 it means. It's in two parts macro and thymia. Macro is the word for long and we still use that in 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:48.960 English. We think of micro and macro. So that word means long. Thymia is a word that's kind of to 00:01:48.960 --> 00:02:00.560 do with your thinking, your mind, your temperament. So macrothymia very, very literally means long 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:09.319 thinking or long minded. Now when we translate that word into English we don't say long minded 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:20.319 or long thinkingness. The word we use is patience. Macrothymia is the Greek word for patience. And I 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:27.799 think patience is a really important word for us just now. I don't know how many weeks we are 00:02:27.799 --> 00:02:31.680 in the lockdown I've actually lost count but we're a long way into it and there's probably still a 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:39.599 wee while left to go and even though some things are maybe gradually been loosened up and it is 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:44.520 becoming clearer that it's going to take maybe longer than we first thought or first hoped for 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:52.439 life to return to normal and that can sometimes be discouraging. But what I hope that the word 00:02:52.439 --> 00:03:00.600 macrothymia is reminding us is that it's really wise and really worthwhile just to be ready to think 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:07.280 long term and to be patient in that context. Sometimes in life we want things to happen 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:14.799 straight away and we can get very frustrated when they don't but long thinking and patience can be 00:03:14.799 --> 00:03:22.079 really helpful at a time like this. So if you're feeling locked down long and please don't be 00:03:22.079 --> 00:03:29.000 discouraged, please remember that it will come to an end and we will get there and every week is a 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:33.919 step closer and as we've always said if we can provide you with any help or any support please 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:41.319 please always let us know. But the other thing I want to say about macrothymia and patience is 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:48.680 that it's not just about how we need to think. This word is actually teaching us about how God 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:57.199 thinks because the Bible tells us that God is a patient God. He is full of macrothymia and that 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:07.199 means that when God thinks of you his thinking is long term. And so you're not just a kind of brief 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:12.799 thought in the mind of God. It's not like you pop into God's mind every so often and he's like, 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:18.439 oh yeah, yeah, I forgot about them. It's not that God pays attention to you for a short period and 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:27.039 then moves on and forgets about you, not at all. God's mindset towards you is a mindset of long 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:36.200 thinking of macrothymia. God is patient with you and is absolutely committed to you. And that's an 00:04:36.200 --> 00:04:45.160 amazing promise. The fact that God's mindset towards you, his thinking towards you is so long, 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:52.879 it will last forever. God's patience with you will never run out. His commitment towards you is 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:59.560 forever. So we might feel like lockdown is a bit long and we probably are really looking forward 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:04.879 to it being finished. But it's a good test in patience for us. But it's also an amazing reminder 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:13.000 of God's commitment to us. And I want you to take that away today if you can. That God's thinking 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:22.879 for you towards you is long. It'll never ever end. Thank you.