WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.679 Well, this is the diligent crew who remembered to turn their clocks forward last night. 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:17.240 I had a panic as I went to bed thinking I just hope that my Australian phone obeys the local kind of impulses 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:20.839 and kicks over the hour as I need to have a kick over. 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:21.160 Did it? 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:25.620 It did. Both my iPad and my phone behave themselves. 00:00:25.620 --> 00:00:36.200 Friends, thanks for joining us again for this, our second part in Adult Sunday School on what is worship. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:43.700 I thought we'd start today by a recap and then we'd pursue the picture, the big idea, 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:50.219 that worship is not just a compass that we looked at last week, but that worship is also a party. 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:56.460 So let me pray for us and then I'll ask you for some of your thoughts and reflections from last week. 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:04.579 Our dear God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we thank you so much for this opportunity to be together. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.920 We're safer when we're together than when we're apart. 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:16.900 We praise you that we can this morning talk and listen, learn and teach. 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:21.840 And we do it in your name for your glory. 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:27.219 And this we pray in Christ's strong name. Amen. 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:31.780 So, brothers and sisters, a recap. 00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:36.140 What do you recall from last week's episode? 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:39.540 Nothing over here. 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:39.980 Yes. 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:45.020 Well, I wasn't here. 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:46.760 You were in the kitchen. 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:47.620 You were listening in. 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:48.460 I wasn't here, but I was listening. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.000 Sure, I got that. 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:51.719 And worship is a compass. 00:01:52.380 --> 00:01:56.300 It brings us back to where we need to be. 00:01:56.520 --> 00:01:57.460 It brings us back to where we need to be. 00:01:57.460 --> 00:02:01.840 So, if worship's a compass, then it's a recalibration every week. 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:03.880 It's reminding us where our true north is. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:04.580 Yep, yep. 00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:09.780 I really love the idea that we're practicing to be a creature. 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:11.680 Practicing our future. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:12.520 Yes, thank you. 00:02:12.859 --> 00:02:14.639 In relation to God as a priest. 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:21.620 Yeah, so the point was you don't have to do anything else in church other than learn again that you're a creature and not the creator, 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:23.240 which is kind of liberating. 00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:27.520 We spend so much of our life pretending that we actually run the world. 00:02:28.700 --> 00:02:36.879 And then to occasionally recognize, perhaps even just once a week recognizing, that we're the creature and not the creator can actually be good for our soul. 00:02:37.140 --> 00:02:37.260 Yeah. 00:02:38.420 --> 00:02:38.900 Father. 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:44.480 I just happen to be doing the prayer of confession today. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:52.859 And so a special temptation that I feel and other leaders in worship might feel is, ah, it really does depend on us today. 00:02:52.859 --> 00:02:53.219 Yes. 00:02:55.780 --> 00:02:57.620 But I'm just a creature. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:02:58.979 That's right. 00:02:59.299 --> 00:03:00.739 It doesn't really depend on me. 00:03:00.859 --> 00:03:02.000 Yeah, exactly right. 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:08.799 And the fact that we turn up at church at all is because God first called out. 00:03:09.699 --> 00:03:12.899 We're not here by the strength of our own initiative. 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:14.760 We're here because God has taken initiative. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:16.280 His voice has gone out. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.060 We've heard it individually. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:22.540 And in hearing individually, we come together to its source. 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:24.120 So it's built on revelation. 00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:27.939 It's built on God's revelation, on his word of promise. 00:03:28.040 --> 00:03:28.819 That's correct. 00:03:28.819 --> 00:03:42.739 Well, if last week we thought of the question, what is worship? 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:44.000 Worship is a compass. 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:52.699 Then today I want to help us to think about what it might mean and why I say that worship is a party. 00:03:52.699 --> 00:04:02.239 You tell me, what do you think the greatest threat to the church in America is, or in the West, or in Australia? 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:04.179 It doesn't much matter at this point. 00:04:04.659 --> 00:04:06.339 Buying into a secular worldview. 00:04:06.979 --> 00:04:10.519 I think there's something deeper than that, but that's at least part of the problem. 00:04:10.519 --> 00:04:10.579 Thank you. 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:40.560 Thank you. 00:04:40.579 --> 00:04:43.259 That means we're transactionalists. 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:46.500 We think that we offer something and we get something back. 00:04:47.599 --> 00:04:53.240 And that actually makes it really hard for us to pray as well, because we don't think we've got anything to give to God. 00:04:54.699 --> 00:05:02.240 And so the whole relationship that prayer represents is kind of out of whack from the outset. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:03.240 What's the question? 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:08.500 What's the threat to the church? 00:05:09.220 --> 00:05:09.460 Yeah. 00:05:09.459 --> 00:05:15.019 I would say that the threat comes from within. 00:05:15.019 --> 00:05:25.060 The threat is that we preach that joy is to be found in God, but then do we have joy? 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:30.920 We teach that peace, but then we have peace. 00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:41.520 And I think the greatest threat is that we are not what we say we have. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:42.379 Yeah, that's right. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:44.620 There is a disjunction. 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:49.379 Our outside life and our inside life, there's often a gap between them. 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:59.800 And I listen to public radio here or at home, and the thing that never is the answer to our problems is something spiritual. 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:09.900 The answer is always economic, political, social, ideological, but never is it a spiritual solution. 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:18.620 It's not that the other solutions aren't necessary or important, but one kind of solution is ignored. 00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:21.280 Well, let me put it like this. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:30.599 When I attend conferences on theology or on church here or in Australia, this is what people say to me. 00:06:30.679 --> 00:06:40.159 The great threat to the church in America or the church in Australia is our loss of the doctrine of the Trinity. 00:06:42.039 --> 00:06:47.159 Now, I have to say this kind of carefully and advisedly. 00:06:47.160 --> 00:07:04.000 This is the point that's being made, that the next wave of theological liberalism in the United States is not going to come from the mainline churches because they're defunct or all but defunct. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:21.279 The great threat is going to come from mega churches that have so simplified the message to get people in, they've done it by reducing their picture of God to someone who is no longer Father, Son and Spirit. 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:40.379 So the argument runs quite frequently that the next wave of liberalism, the next wave of acidic theology to attack the church will come out of what we actually presently know as evangelical churches because they've given up on the doctrine of the Trinity. 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:45.500 Now, as we shared a few minutes ago, there was nothing that was said that was wrong. 00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:54.839 So secularism is a great threat and the inside-outside gap is a great threat or the kind of consumerist mentality is a great threat. 00:07:54.839 --> 00:08:10.100 But lying behind them is a very deep theological threat and going along with that a very deep worship threat, threat to our worship lives. 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.779 When you say that, are you saying that we think that God is too small? 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:20.439 Well, we want him to be small because it's easier to explain. 00:08:21.339 --> 00:08:29.980 We figure that the problem with people coming to church is that it's too philosophical or theological or complicated, so we dumb down. 00:08:31.459 --> 00:08:38.200 And we effectively take out the doctrine of the Trinity from our church services. 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:46.320 Now, there's a couple of implications that we'll go on to explore in the course of the morning. 00:08:46.560 --> 00:08:52.280 Now, I want to assume that the doctrine of the Trinity is the great jewel in our crown. 00:08:52.680 --> 00:08:57.840 We should be glorying in God, Father, Son and Spirit and enjoying Father, Son and Spirit. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:08.480 And actually, when we do, we'll discover the church is a party because we've been invited into the fellowship of Father, Son and Spirit and we just want to celebrate. 00:09:10.040 --> 00:09:16.780 Now, listen to this paragraph from Matthew chapter 3 and the outline, of course, is on your sheet. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.800 This is Matthew 3 verse 13. 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:43.199 Then he consented. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:10:13.180 Now, this relatively first thing, the beloved, that is, is that John consented. 00:10:13.179 --> 00:10:25.519 This familiar paragraph is just a bonanza when we come to think about what worship is or how we might build our worship on the Trinity. 00:10:25.819 --> 00:10:28.139 Because this passage does two things. 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:31.479 This passage tells the story of Israel. 00:10:31.979 --> 00:10:42.819 Remember, Israel had left Egypt, had passed through the waters, both the waters of the Red Sea and the waters of the Jordan to enter the Promised Land. 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:48.419 Though in the Promised Land, the people of God didn't obey as they were supposed to. 00:10:49.319 --> 00:10:59.139 And when Jesus comes to be baptised in water, baptised in the Jordan, he is re-enacting the story of Israel. 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:02.939 He's pretending that he's like Israel. 00:11:03.099 --> 00:11:04.620 This time, he's going to obey. 00:11:04.739 --> 00:11:05.620 He's going to do it right. 00:11:05.620 --> 00:11:08.759 Last time, Israel didn't obey. 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:11.600 They were cursed for it. 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:21.100 But this time, the new Israel, the people of God who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, will have an obedient head. 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:29.580 But secondly, when Jesus, in being baptised, tells the story of Israel again, 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:39.720 we notice that as the Son is immersed, so the Spirit comes down and the Father speaks. 00:11:39.720 --> 00:11:47.540 And the Father says, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. 00:11:49.040 --> 00:11:55.879 At this, in this very brief paragraph, we learn the story of Israel, or at least a little bit of it. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:04.840 If you want more of the story of Israel re-enacted in the life of Jesus, you look at Matthew 2, and Matthew 3, and Matthew 4, and 5. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:09.840 Because all those chapters together are trying to tell the story of Israel through Jesus. 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:17.720 We learn here the story of Israel and the story of the Trinity. 00:12:18.920 --> 00:12:24.360 The Father speaks, the Spirit empowers, the Son obeys. 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:37.120 So when I speak of our Sunday worship, and worship being a party, what it really is doing is saying, 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:45.759 we need to think about our place in God's story, our place in Israel's story. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:50.779 Because the big story of the Bible is something that we've been called into. 00:12:50.779 --> 00:12:56.220 The Father, Son, and Spirit are kind of a party. 00:12:58.100 --> 00:13:10.759 And in this baptismal moment, God, Father, Son, and Spirit is showing how the story of Israel is really his story as well. 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:20.759 Now, I have a whole sermon on this paragraph, which I'm not going to kind of hop into this morning. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:30.439 But I do want to say that our worship services on Sundays should be telling the story of God, 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:37.120 Father, Son, and Spirit, and should be telling the story of Israel and the Church. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:50.980 So if I had to sharpen things just a little bit, I'd say the reason why we come to church, the reason why we worship, 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.519 is to celebrate deep connections. 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:06.299 We celebrate our deep connection with each other, and we celebrate our deep connection with the Lord. 00:14:07.120 --> 00:14:09.120 We celebrate our deep connection with each other, and we celebrate our deep connection with each other. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:11.399 You and I come from different places. 00:14:12.620 --> 00:14:14.720 Some people think I speak a different language. 00:14:16.460 --> 00:14:18.700 We have different kinds of family backgrounds. 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:25.419 But there's something deep that we can all celebrate this morning, something deep that we all share. 00:14:25.419 --> 00:14:35.839 And in fact, God, Father, Son, and Spirit, shares his own life with us as he invites us in. 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:38.339 We're unified with Christ. 00:14:38.519 --> 00:14:40.299 We're filled with the Spirit. 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:48.099 Now, the way that that might express itself varies from place to place. 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:58.700 But if our goal in Sunday worship is to celebrate our deep connections with each other, 00:14:59.500 --> 00:15:03.860 and with the Lord, then of course it's a party. 00:15:05.300 --> 00:15:07.100 We're enjoying being together. 00:15:07.259 --> 00:15:08.759 We're enjoying being his people. 00:15:09.139 --> 00:15:11.680 We're enjoying his dwelling in our midst. 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:27.000 So from John 15, these words are also familiar, but they pick up something of what I've been trying to say. 00:15:30.699 --> 00:15:31.859 Jesus speaks. 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:37.879 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:42.580 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:47.700 Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:51.940 You've already been cleansed by the word that I've spoken to you. 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:56.899 Abide in me as I abide in you. 00:15:57.060 --> 00:15:59.019 That's the translation I'm using. 00:15:59.019 --> 00:16:01.139 Yours might say something slightly different. 00:16:01.860 --> 00:16:09.460 But abiding language is enjoying the deep connection we have. 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:17.279 Abide in me as I abide in you, as Jesus lives in us. 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:19.399 It's a restful word. 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:20.419 Yeah, it is. 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:21.960 And it's not one we use much anymore. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:25.399 What are other translations that your Bible might have? 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:27.440 Do they all use abide? 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:28.560 I've got abide. 00:16:28.860 --> 00:16:29.879 This is King James. 00:16:29.879 --> 00:16:30.399 Yeah, right. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:31.840 So that's where it's from. 00:16:31.860 --> 00:16:33.159 Some of them say remain. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:34.480 Remain in me. 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:35.120 That's right. 00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:36.259 As I remain in you. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:36.620 Correct. 00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:37.419 Yeah, yeah. 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:46.000 Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:48.399 I am the vine. 00:16:48.500 --> 00:16:49.200 You are the branches. 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:51.740 Those who abide in me and I in them. 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:52.740 You see the mutuality. 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:53.000 You see the mutuality. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:56.919 We're abiding in Christ and Christ is abiding in us. 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:03.340 Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing. 00:17:04.620 --> 00:17:07.880 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers. 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:10.840 Such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 00:17:10.840 --> 00:17:18.260 If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish and it will be done for you. 00:17:19.260 --> 00:17:23.680 My Father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:27.380 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:28.980 Abide in my love. 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:32.299 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:36.320 Just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:42.799 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.759 Reading John is often like walking up a spiral staircase. 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:52.759 He says the same thing three or four times, but every time it's from a slightly different perspective. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:59.840 And you see the big point here is that the deep connection the Father has with the Son 00:17:59.840 --> 00:18:06.860 has some expression in the deep connection we have with the Son and with the Father. 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:12.400 And of course, if we read on in John 15, the Spirit would get a look in as well. 00:18:14.140 --> 00:18:21.220 Or to put it in more sharp theological language in Ephesians 2, 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:25.360 Ephesians 2.18. 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:28.279 I'll read from 17. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:31.920 He came to proclaim peace to you who are far off and peace to those who are near. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:43.539 For through him, that means through Christ, both of us, Jews and Gentiles, have access in one spirit to the Father. 00:18:44.100 --> 00:18:53.440 Through Christ, in the Spirit, we have access, Jews and Gentiles, to the Father. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:19:01.580 Can you see there's both a horizontal dimension that God has made Jews and Gentiles one people? 00:19:02.580 --> 00:19:10.539 And together, that deep connection that all human beings share is expressed through our vertical relationship 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:14.960 to the Father in the Son and by the Spirit. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:16.140 It's Isaiah 19. 00:19:16.140 --> 00:19:18.460 Oh, tell me how it's Isaiah 19. 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:25.340 Where God was saying that the Assyrians and Egyptians and the Jews would be one people. 00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:27.520 Yep, sure. 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:34.720 And there's plenty of Old Testament pointers, aren't there, to God's plans being not just for the Jewish race, 00:19:34.840 --> 00:19:39.220 but for the Jewish race so that blessings will spill over to others as well. 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:39.839 They're all together. 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:41.740 They must have freaked the Jews out, though. 00:19:41.740 --> 00:19:42.600 Yeah, yeah. 00:19:42.600 --> 00:19:42.900 Yeah. 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:49.240 So can you see my basic theological point? 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:51.960 Though we'll unpack this now a little bit more practically. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:20:01.779 My basic theological point is that the great threat to the church in the West is that we lose the doctrine of the Trinity, 00:20:01.940 --> 00:20:04.259 which is the great jewel in our crown. 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:07.720 We do it perhaps for good reasons. 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:14.220 We want to simplify things because we're aware of the importance of evangelism in church services. 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:17.980 But we can throw the baby out with the bathwater. 00:20:18.879 --> 00:20:25.940 You can so invite non-Christians into church that you lose the thing that you want to offer them in the first place, right? 00:20:25.940 --> 00:20:32.420 And if we do believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:40.740 that means that our lives are all about a story, the story of Israel and the church and the story of God. 00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:50.220 And indeed, our Sunday meetings celebrate the deep connections we have with each other and with the Lord, 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:52.980 that worship is a party. 00:20:52.980 --> 00:20:56.400 So this is what I want to ask you now. 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:07.220 How do we, in our Sunday worship, speak about or allude to, point to the doctrine of the Trinity? 00:21:09.220 --> 00:21:11.779 How might we do it differently or better? 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:13.779 How do we do it differently or better? 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:19.599 And I'm not just talking about the actual words we use, 00:21:20.139 --> 00:21:26.480 but the implications for the structure of the service as well. 00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:30.639 Okay, this is heavy lifting for a Sunday morning, right? 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:34.119 The doctrine of the Trinity expressed in church services, but we can do it. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.539 In fact, in a few weeks' time, this is going to be the time of our church service, right? 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:41.779 Nine o'clock won't be the warm-up moment anymore. 00:21:41.779 --> 00:21:41.960 Thank you. 00:21:53.960 --> 00:21:58.539 Well, you mentioned a little bit of a prayer profession. 00:21:59.460 --> 00:22:04.700 And then how can we approach the Father and ask for the name of it? 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:06.299 Correct. Yep. Wonderful. 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:10.819 That's lovely. That's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, Susan, 00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:16.700 that there'll be certain prayers where we almost can't help ourselves. 00:22:17.659 --> 00:22:23.700 Though, I go to church services in Melbourne where, in praying, 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:26.559 there's very little mention of Father, Son and Spirit. 00:22:26.659 --> 00:22:29.680 So it's, Dear God, thank you, Amen. 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:34.019 So even in our prayers, it doesn't happen at Trinity, thankfully, 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:41.140 but even in our prayers, it could happen that we lose Trinitarian references. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:48.039 I can see you have a hymn for a moment. 00:22:48.180 --> 00:22:50.759 Many of our hymns are dealing with Trinitarian. 00:22:50.860 --> 00:22:51.060 Yeah. 00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:54.660 It sort of goes through Father, Son, and Spirit. 00:22:54.660 --> 00:23:00.100 Yep. So I think that probably happened more in the past than today, 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:00.680 but you're right. 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:06.300 In the songs we sing at Trinity, there might be a verse that tells something about the Father, 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:09.720 a verse that reflects on the life of the Son, 00:23:09.800 --> 00:23:12.720 a verse that speaks of the power of the Spirit, 00:23:12.800 --> 00:23:14.980 and that's wonderful, and that's a great way of doing it. 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:19.320 Though I was sitting in church a couple of years ago at home. 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:22.580 I go to an Anglican church, but it meets in a cinema. 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:26.079 It's pretty unlike an Anglican church that you might be familiar with. 00:23:26.939 --> 00:23:30.039 And the guy was sitting next to me, and I didn't know him. 00:23:30.099 --> 00:23:30.939 I spoke to him afterwards, and he said, 00:23:30.980 --> 00:23:32.019 I'm a Christadelphian. 00:23:33.539 --> 00:23:36.559 Christadelphians, of course, don't believe that the Son is divine. 00:23:36.699 --> 00:23:37.899 And I said, oh, why did he come here? 00:23:37.919 --> 00:23:40.639 He said, I love it here because I can sing all the songs. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:43.779 And then I thought, okay, 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:47.420 I'm going to count up how many songs we sing 00:23:47.420 --> 00:23:52.440 that actually speak of the divinity of the Son, 00:23:52.579 --> 00:23:53.799 the majesty of the Son. 00:23:53.899 --> 00:23:54.299 And you know what? 00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:57.259 We had eight songs in a row over two weeks 00:23:57.259 --> 00:23:59.019 that never mentioned Christ. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:03.139 Now, they were good songs. 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:06.279 They were all basically Psalms, right? 00:24:06.359 --> 00:24:08.339 And Psalms won't mention Christ explicitly. 00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:12.740 So they were scripturally based songs. 00:24:14.419 --> 00:24:16.579 They were perhaps a bit repetitive for my liking, 00:24:16.679 --> 00:24:17.639 but that's another story. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:20.259 But it was interesting, wasn't it, 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:22.500 that he, in an evangelical church, 00:24:22.919 --> 00:24:24.259 quite a large one in Melbourne, 00:24:24.699 --> 00:24:28.720 that he had come along because we weren't singing about the Son, 00:24:28.980 --> 00:24:30.619 which absolutely horrified me, right? 00:24:30.659 --> 00:24:33.279 And I passed quickly the message on to the pastors. 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:37.420 Find an old hymn that kind of has verse by verse, 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:39.200 Father, Son, and Spirit described. 00:24:40.379 --> 00:24:43.899 But that's, but the Christ is not mentioned, 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:46.559 but he's assumed through all scripture. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:47.000 Sure. 00:24:47.139 --> 00:24:49.859 So we have to then choose songs 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:53.019 that have one of the ones that's based on a psalm 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:55.359 and then the next one that's based on 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:59.639 Abide With Me, whatever, on John 15, right? 00:24:59.639 --> 00:25:01.819 So we have to choose songs carefully 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:03.079 so that we have a balance. 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:05.680 Or, I mean, that would be the, 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:07.799 I don't want to throw out those wonderful songs 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:08.819 based on psalms, right? 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:14.460 Yeah, we went to an RP church in Cambridge, 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:16.940 which was the Psalter a cappella. 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:20.319 No instruments, not like here or anything like that. 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.099 And it was a Trinitarian church. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.180 I mean, we didn't lose any of our theology. 00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:25.639 Sure. 00:25:25.639 --> 00:25:29.839 So, but what happens in those kind of congregations 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:35.259 is that the pastors know how to make sure in other ways 00:25:35.259 --> 00:25:37.679 that the doctrine of the Trinity is being owned 00:25:37.679 --> 00:25:39.019 and celebrated and so on. 00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:40.359 So they might have said, you know, 00:25:40.379 --> 00:25:42.799 the Athanasian Creed or something from time to time, 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.720 which is quite challenging these days, 00:25:45.799 --> 00:25:46.939 but it's one way of doing it, right? 00:25:46.940 --> 00:25:47.440 Yeah. 00:25:48.820 --> 00:25:49.220 Brother. 00:25:49.220 --> 00:25:50.539 I have a question, though. 00:25:50.620 --> 00:25:53.480 I mean, it's evident that Jesus said that 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.500 a few times ask the Father, nothing in my name. 00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:57.820 And now I'm asking my name. 00:25:58.039 --> 00:25:59.759 So we know how we ought to pray. 00:25:59.940 --> 00:26:00.140 Yep. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.539 And to Him we ought to pray. 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:02.120 Yep. 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:05.719 He also accepted worship, did this? 00:26:06.059 --> 00:26:07.179 My Lord and my God. 00:26:07.439 --> 00:26:07.659 Yep. 00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:08.899 Did not correct Him. 00:26:09.979 --> 00:26:10.759 He accepted that. 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:11.459 Sure, sure. 00:26:14.459 --> 00:26:18.919 There is, the fact that God is a Trinity is obvious 00:26:18.919 --> 00:26:19.799 because He is love. 00:26:19.899 --> 00:26:22.119 In order to be love, He had to have someone to love 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:26.819 and they had a union prior to the existence of man and age. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:28.839 Otherwise, it would be love. 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:32.259 So we know that that's true, that the Trinity exists, 00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:33.879 simply for that fact alone. 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:38.179 Yeah, so I'm not doubting that we shouldn't believe in the Trinity. 00:26:38.339 --> 00:26:41.740 I'm just saying, despite that, there are some churches that give it up. 00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:42.699 Yeah. 00:26:42.859 --> 00:26:46.839 My whole thing is, so, I mean, where am I called to worship the Trinity? 00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:48.459 That would be speaking. 00:26:48.699 --> 00:26:49.359 Yep, yep, sure. 00:26:49.439 --> 00:26:49.779 That's good. 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:51.019 Yep, yep. 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:58.279 So, so far we've named prayers or the way we address or end our prayers. 00:26:58.839 --> 00:26:59.480 Songs. 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:01.500 Hymns. 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:07.319 Brother. 00:27:08.259 --> 00:27:11.839 Hey, so you mentioned about verses praying in the Spirit, 00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:12.779 the power of the Spirit. 00:27:13.099 --> 00:27:14.039 Where can I find that? 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:17.599 Well, at the end of Ephesians 6, 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.819 after Paul has prayed, putting on the armour of God, 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:23.779 praying in the Spirit at all times. 00:27:23.779 --> 00:27:24.099 Amen. 00:27:24.099 --> 00:27:24.179 Amen. 00:27:24.179 --> 00:27:24.279 Amen. 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:24.299 Amen. 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:24.699 Amen. 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:31.519 This is one of the things that Anglicans do, 00:27:31.639 --> 00:27:34.039 which I think is quite useful. 00:27:34.779 --> 00:27:37.839 Or, before Anglicans, Calvin actually suggested it. 00:27:38.339 --> 00:27:41.480 That the first third of a church service 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:44.579 should be focused on the Father, 00:27:45.659 --> 00:27:48.319 and the middle third of a church service 00:27:48.319 --> 00:27:50.019 should be focused on the Son, 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:54.700 and the last third of a church service focused on the Spirit. 00:27:55.980 --> 00:27:57.599 So, you begin your worship, 00:27:57.759 --> 00:27:59.339 and we praise God the Creator, 00:27:59.779 --> 00:28:02.559 we praise the Father from whom all mercies flow. 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:05.379 Then we have a scripture reading, 00:28:05.420 --> 00:28:06.319 or scripture readings, 00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.799 and the sermon will then speak of Christ, 00:28:10.660 --> 00:28:12.059 whom we meet in all the scriptures. 00:28:12.059 --> 00:28:14.359 And then, at the end of the service, 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:18.240 as we prepare for our life outside of our meeting, 00:28:18.419 --> 00:28:21.720 we are reminded that we need to go out in the power of the Spirit, 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:24.819 that the Spirit animates our mission, 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:26.379 and empowers our living. 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:27.519 So, that's one way as well. 00:28:27.899 --> 00:28:31.799 You might never see it in kind of tight phrases, 00:28:32.799 --> 00:28:37.740 but you can also think of the whole package of a church service 00:28:37.740 --> 00:28:40.519 as kind of the Father part, 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:41.680 and the Son part, 00:28:41.859 --> 00:28:43.579 and the Spirit part. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:47.259 Or, in some churches, 00:28:47.420 --> 00:28:48.599 you might say, 00:28:49.019 --> 00:28:50.640 the Ten Commandments, 00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:51.980 to begin the service. 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:53.920 And then you say, 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:55.420 a creed, 00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:57.819 or you have a Bible reading from the Gospel 00:28:57.819 --> 00:28:59.140 in the middle of the service. 00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:00.680 Take the communion 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:03.460 before you're sent out into the world 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:05.299 to serve God in the power of the Spirit. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:07.380 So, there are different ways of doing it, 00:29:07.380 --> 00:29:09.540 and that's kind of a bit more subtle, right? 00:29:10.600 --> 00:29:12.480 But, those patterns, 00:29:12.860 --> 00:29:15.880 even if they're not in tight words, 00:29:16.300 --> 00:29:18.960 those patterns can educate us 00:29:18.960 --> 00:29:20.900 and train us as well, right? 00:29:24.660 --> 00:29:28.460 Are there any other thoughts about how we use, 00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:31.300 or how we think of the doctrine of the Trinity 00:29:31.300 --> 00:29:34.960 as expressed in a worship service? 00:29:37.380 --> 00:29:39.540 The sacraments. 00:29:40.040 --> 00:29:40.480 Yeah. 00:29:40.540 --> 00:29:41.920 It's very obvious. 00:29:42.200 --> 00:29:42.440 Yeah. 00:29:43.360 --> 00:29:45.200 Baptism, blatantly obvious. 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:45.840 Yeah, yeah. 00:29:46.220 --> 00:29:47.180 That's wonderful, isn't it? 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:47.700 Yeah, sure. 00:29:48.120 --> 00:29:48.680 And, actually, 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:50.400 it's been wonderful in the last few months 00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:51.480 since I've been back at Trinity 00:29:51.480 --> 00:29:52.020 how many, 00:29:52.340 --> 00:29:54.860 both baptisms and testimonies, 00:29:55.060 --> 00:29:56.340 we've enjoyed, 00:29:57.020 --> 00:29:59.040 as more people have come into membership. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:00.180 And often, 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.340 the testimonies, 00:30:02.080 --> 00:30:03.400 perhaps unintentionally, 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:07.080 but the testimonies might speak about meeting Christ 00:30:07.080 --> 00:30:12.060 or being empowered for living by the Spirit. 00:30:13.000 --> 00:30:13.640 But, of course, 00:30:14.240 --> 00:30:14.440 Karen, 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:15.560 you're right that 00:30:15.560 --> 00:30:16.400 baptism, 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:21.180 if you're drawing down from Romans chapter 6 00:30:21.180 --> 00:30:23.259 to understand what baptism's about, 00:30:23.360 --> 00:30:25.740 it's being baptised into Christ. 00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:28.839 It's being raised in the power of the Spirit. 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:34.099 That the Lord's Supper is a sacrament 00:30:34.099 --> 00:30:37.039 in which we understand Christ's sacrifice 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:39.900 and his present empowerment as well. 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:42.799 At my church, 00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:44.180 I'm giving away all the secrets. 00:30:46.099 --> 00:30:49.599 I don't think we prepare people very well for baptism. 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:50.839 Let me tell you a story. 00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:51.799 A guy gets up, 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:53.079 he has to be baptised, 00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:54.960 and the guy who's interviewing him, 00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:57.379 it wasn't so much a monologue testimony, 00:30:57.519 --> 00:30:59.679 it was kind of an interview before his baptism. 00:31:00.299 --> 00:31:01.720 The guy who was interviewing him said, 00:31:02.079 --> 00:31:04.079 so tell me why you want to be baptised. 00:31:04.139 --> 00:31:04.480 And he said, 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:04.679 oh, 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:08.839 my life is a lot like the life of our pastor. 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:11.379 I did drugs, 00:31:11.460 --> 00:31:12.480 I did girls at school, 00:31:12.879 --> 00:31:15.539 I went away from the Lord in the teenage years, 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:17.240 I've come back in my mid-twenties, 00:31:17.460 --> 00:31:20.740 and I know that's the life story of our pastor as well. 00:31:21.299 --> 00:31:22.619 So the guy who's doing the interview 00:31:22.619 --> 00:31:24.919 kind of is panicking on the inside, 00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:25.139 right? 00:31:26.159 --> 00:31:26.539 And says, 00:31:26.699 --> 00:31:30.159 so tell me why else you want to be baptised. 00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:33.839 And he could not name Christ. 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:36.459 Now, 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:40.159 I don't begrudge him a close relationship with the pastor 00:31:40.159 --> 00:31:42.419 or having felt encouraged that his story 00:31:42.419 --> 00:31:45.639 paralleled to some degree the story of our pastor. 00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:47.099 But come on, 00:31:47.419 --> 00:31:48.199 baptism in the end is, 00:31:48.299 --> 00:31:50.000 you're not being baptised into the pastor, 00:31:50.619 --> 00:31:52.079 you're being baptised into Christ. 00:31:52.619 --> 00:31:55.579 It disappointed me greatly. 00:31:58.199 --> 00:31:58.599 Well, 00:31:58.899 --> 00:32:00.739 I've printed out two hymns for you. 00:32:00.779 --> 00:32:01.039 One, 00:32:01.459 --> 00:32:02.599 the Isaac Watts hymn, 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:04.699 When I Survey. 00:32:05.639 --> 00:32:06.719 And the second one, 00:32:07.159 --> 00:32:08.339 the hymn of St. Patrick. 00:32:08.419 --> 00:32:09.579 And given that today, 00:32:09.779 --> 00:32:11.339 New Haven is celebrating St. Patrick's Day, 00:32:11.379 --> 00:32:12.639 I thought it was entirely appropriate 00:32:12.639 --> 00:32:14.299 that we have a look at this hymn. 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:19.139 The first is probably more familiar than the second, 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.819 though some of us might have sung the second from time to time 00:32:21.819 --> 00:32:23.659 or at least a verse or at least a part of it. 00:32:24.859 --> 00:32:29.259 What do you notice in that wonderful song by Isaac Watts 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:35.119 about how he describes or explains the Trinity 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:44.000 or how he describes our relationship to the Trinity? 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:44.799 Well, 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:58.279 he's very clear about the divinity of Christ. 00:32:58.460 --> 00:32:58.599 Yeah, 00:32:58.680 --> 00:32:59.099 that is true. 00:32:59.539 --> 00:33:01.599 There's no doubt about the divinity of Christ here, 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:01.759 right? 00:33:01.819 --> 00:33:02.259 Christ my God, 00:33:02.400 --> 00:33:03.079 that's glory. 00:33:03.500 --> 00:33:05.940 And saving the death of Christ my God. 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:06.140 Yep, 00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:06.380 yep. 00:33:06.380 --> 00:33:10.160 So we're not doubting his Trinitarian credentials. 00:33:15.420 --> 00:33:15.900 Although, 00:33:16.340 --> 00:33:21.400 I don't know that the Father's named or the Spirit's named, 00:33:21.520 --> 00:33:22.200 but that's okay. 00:33:22.320 --> 00:33:24.080 I can manage that. 00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:27.680 My biggest concern with this hymn 00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:31.960 is that Christ is over there, 00:33:32.320 --> 00:33:33.720 a long way away from me, 00:33:34.060 --> 00:33:35.580 and I have to survey him. 00:33:35.579 --> 00:33:39.839 I have to kind of squint and see him on the hill dying for me. 00:33:40.859 --> 00:33:45.899 There's not much sense here that I'm dying with Christ 00:33:45.899 --> 00:33:49.659 or that I'm connected to him in his death. 00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:50.899 For when he died, 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:52.240 I died. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.500 The danger with this hymn 00:33:56.500 --> 00:34:00.799 is that it appears that Christ is a long way away from us. 00:34:02.679 --> 00:34:03.599 That's okay. 00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:05.059 I love singing this hymn. 00:34:05.579 --> 00:34:06.539 I love Isaac Watts, 00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:07.919 but we just have to remember then 00:34:07.919 --> 00:34:10.119 that if we choose this hymn in a service, 00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:12.099 we choose another hymn 00:34:12.099 --> 00:34:15.460 that will not speak of Christ being far away, 00:34:16.179 --> 00:34:20.119 but deeply connected to me now. 00:34:20.119 --> 00:34:24.880 which is the advantage of the other hymn. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:25.779 On the other side, 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:31.519 I'm not going to sing it because it's way too difficult, 00:34:32.460 --> 00:34:34.299 but I will say it. 00:34:35.460 --> 00:34:43.619 Notice the way that our connection to Christ is presented. 00:34:43.619 --> 00:34:47.219 I bind this day to me forever by power of faith, 00:34:47.719 --> 00:34:48.839 Christ's incarnation, 00:34:49.139 --> 00:34:50.679 his baptism in the Jordan River, 00:34:51.359 --> 00:34:53.159 his death on the cross for my salvation, 00:34:53.799 --> 00:34:55.900 his bursting from the spice of tomb, 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.539 his writing up the heavenly way, 00:34:58.039 --> 00:34:59.380 his coming at the day of doom, 00:34:59.380 --> 00:35:01.720 I bind unto myself today. 00:35:01.720 --> 00:35:03.519 I bind unto myself today 00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:05.440 the power of God to hold and to lead, 00:35:05.900 --> 00:35:06.579 his eye to watch, 00:35:06.640 --> 00:35:07.440 his might to stay, 00:35:07.539 --> 00:35:09.099 his ear to hearken to my need, 00:35:09.559 --> 00:35:11.280 the wisdom of my God to teach, 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:12.059 his hand to guide, 00:35:12.160 --> 00:35:13.059 his shield to ward, 00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:15.180 the word of God to give me speech, 00:35:15.260 --> 00:35:17.200 his heavenly host to be my guard. 00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:19.000 Christ be with me, 00:35:19.099 --> 00:35:20.000 Christ within me, 00:35:20.099 --> 00:35:21.119 Christ behind me, 00:35:21.240 --> 00:35:22.220 Christ before me, 00:35:22.780 --> 00:35:23.760 Christ beside me, 00:35:23.860 --> 00:35:24.780 Christ to win me, 00:35:25.300 --> 00:35:27.680 Christ to comfort and restore me, 00:35:28.260 --> 00:35:29.280 Christ beneath me, 00:35:29.380 --> 00:35:30.340 Christ above me, 00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:31.340 Christ in quiet, 00:35:31.700 --> 00:35:32.600 Christ in danger, 00:35:33.220 --> 00:35:34.780 Christ in hearts of all that love me, 00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.140 Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. 00:35:38.440 --> 00:35:40.100 I bind unto myself the name, 00:35:40.180 --> 00:35:41.460 the strong name of the Trinity, 00:35:42.160 --> 00:35:43.840 by invocation of the same, 00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:45.800 the three in one and one in three, 00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:47.700 of whom all nature has creation. 00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:49.160 Eternal Father, 00:35:49.300 --> 00:35:49.920 Spirit Word, 00:35:50.540 --> 00:35:52.220 praise the Lord of my salvation. 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:54.720 Salvation is of Christ the Lord. 00:35:55.560 --> 00:35:56.300 I heard everyone. 00:35:56.860 --> 00:35:57.100 Sorry? 00:35:57.200 --> 00:35:58.040 Has Father, 00:35:58.100 --> 00:35:58.160 Spirit Word. 00:35:58.160 --> 00:35:58.400 Yeah, 00:35:58.500 --> 00:35:58.780 sure. 00:35:58.980 --> 00:35:59.940 It actually says Father, 00:36:00.060 --> 00:36:00.320 Spirit, 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:00.680 Word. 00:36:00.780 --> 00:36:01.060 Often, 00:36:02.220 --> 00:36:04.580 in contemporary songs as well, 00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:06.680 it's not Father, 00:36:06.780 --> 00:36:06.880 Son, 00:36:06.940 --> 00:36:07.120 Spirit, 00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:07.620 but Father, 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:08.019 Spirit, 00:36:08.200 --> 00:36:08.500 Son, 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:12.620 because more words rhyme with Son than with Spirit, 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:15.660 so it often happens. 00:36:15.960 --> 00:36:19.340 So those same two weeks when the Christ of Delphine was singing X-Million Church, 00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:23.960 we did break the eight-song cycle without mentioning Christ, 00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:26.019 with the song that has in the chorus, 00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:26.860 Father, 00:36:27.980 --> 00:36:28.440 Spirit, 00:36:28.659 --> 00:36:28.980 Son, 00:36:29.460 --> 00:36:30.280 make us one, 00:36:30.500 --> 00:36:30.720 one, 00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:31.079 Father, 00:36:31.240 --> 00:36:31.460 Spirit, 00:36:31.619 --> 00:36:31.860 Son. 00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:33.740 So we did get the Trinity in there, 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:37.440 but I think in the end it was basically to give us something to rhyme with, 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:38.179 make us one, 00:36:38.280 --> 00:36:38.940 make us one. 00:36:38.940 --> 00:36:41.320 and I'll take it anyway. 00:36:42.119 --> 00:36:49.700 What do you notice about this hymn of St. Patrick in terms of the deep connections we might share? 00:36:49.699 --> 00:36:56.500 That word, 00:36:56.859 --> 00:36:58.819 the word bind, 00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:03.000 that's a connection. 00:37:03.299 --> 00:37:03.460 Yeah, 00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:04.579 of course. 00:37:04.819 --> 00:37:07.099 It's almost like a connection that you can't unbreak, 00:37:07.359 --> 00:37:08.839 isn't it? 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:09.159 Yeah, 00:37:09.159 --> 00:37:09.559 yeah. 00:37:18.759 --> 00:37:20.019 For good or for bad, 00:37:20.119 --> 00:37:22.619 there might be some downsides to this song as well, 00:37:22.619 --> 00:37:23.359 I think there are. 00:37:34.099 --> 00:37:35.420 On an upside, 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:35.820 Yes, 00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:36.099 please. 00:37:36.240 --> 00:37:37.240 I think it, 00:37:37.940 --> 00:37:38.320 you know, 00:37:38.500 --> 00:37:47.840 sets the expectation for encountering Christ and experiencing God's Spirit in our life. 00:37:49.260 --> 00:37:51.220 So you think of this in church on Sunday, 00:37:51.420 --> 00:37:54.360 but of course if you bound him to yourself on Sunday, 00:37:54.619 --> 00:37:57.340 he'll still be bound to you on Monday. 00:37:58.119 --> 00:38:00.800 It's kind of like a permanent connection. 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:01.680 I should say, 00:38:01.940 --> 00:38:03.320 I don't... 00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:06.160 I was thinking of the third verse where he seems in a scapegoat, 00:38:06.380 --> 00:38:07.260 you know, 00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:08.160 in a good sense. 00:38:08.260 --> 00:38:08.460 Yeah, 00:38:08.539 --> 00:38:08.720 sure, 00:38:08.840 --> 00:38:09.060 sure, 00:38:09.140 --> 00:38:09.260 yeah, 00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:09.740 that's right. 00:38:11.000 --> 00:38:11.260 Yeah. 00:38:13.180 --> 00:38:14.100 There are lots of people, 00:38:14.240 --> 00:38:14.539 of course, 00:38:14.580 --> 00:38:18.080 who believe that you go to church to charge your battery, 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:20.380 and by next Sunday, 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:23.560 you'll be down to zero charge, 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:26.060 and then you come to church again because you need to, 00:38:26.160 --> 00:38:27.840 it's basically a recharge station, 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:28.120 right? 00:38:28.119 --> 00:38:32.219 As if in the week you cease being connected to Father, 00:38:32.339 --> 00:38:32.480 Son, 00:38:32.519 --> 00:38:32.900 and Spirit, 00:38:33.299 --> 00:38:35.880 and you go in on Sundays to plug in. 00:38:36.940 --> 00:38:38.980 I just think that's an awful kind of spirituality, 00:38:39.279 --> 00:38:46.500 where your connection only happens because you're feeling run down. 00:38:47.659 --> 00:38:47.839 No, 00:38:47.980 --> 00:38:50.599 there's never a moment in our lives where we're not connected to Father, 00:38:50.739 --> 00:38:50.859 Son, 00:38:50.900 --> 00:38:51.239 and Spirit, 00:38:51.319 --> 00:38:51.539 right? 00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:52.599 That's the deal. 00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:53.519 That's why we're a Christian, 00:38:53.619 --> 00:38:55.539 because we're united with Christ forever. 00:38:55.880 --> 00:38:57.819 We're indwelled by the Spirit forever, 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:01.240 but that recharge happens continually, 00:39:01.640 --> 00:39:03.200 not just on Sundays. 00:39:03.199 --> 00:39:05.779 I think, 00:39:05.960 --> 00:39:06.099 too, 00:39:06.179 --> 00:39:07.699 in that third verse, 00:39:08.519 --> 00:39:09.739 when he says, 00:39:09.799 --> 00:39:11.379 Christ in the hearts of all that love me, 00:39:11.439 --> 00:39:13.460 Christ in the mouth of a friend and a stranger, 00:39:13.939 --> 00:39:15.099 then as you go forth, 00:39:15.679 --> 00:39:16.879 if you're looking for that, 00:39:17.179 --> 00:39:19.919 if you're aware that Christ is, 00:39:20.619 --> 00:39:22.939 he may speak through this person, 00:39:23.299 --> 00:39:25.939 he may be present in this person, 00:39:26.339 --> 00:39:28.419 that if you're aware of that, 00:39:28.759 --> 00:39:30.039 you're more likely to see it? 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:30.480 Yes, 00:39:30.539 --> 00:39:31.440 he's sensitised to it, 00:39:31.480 --> 00:39:31.619 right? 00:39:31.699 --> 00:39:31.820 Yeah, 00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:32.279 that's right. 00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:32.480 Yep, 00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:32.840 yep. 00:39:33.500 --> 00:39:37.400 And in terms of the prepositions he uses in that third verse, 00:39:37.500 --> 00:39:39.619 I don't think there's one that he hasn't used. 00:39:40.699 --> 00:39:41.619 It's pretty thorough. 00:39:41.800 --> 00:39:42.360 It's almost, 00:39:42.360 --> 00:39:44.179 it's almost too thorough, 00:39:44.259 --> 00:39:44.460 right? 00:39:44.519 --> 00:39:45.099 It's kind of going, 00:39:45.420 --> 00:39:48.039 I'm not sure that I can sing this every week in church, 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:48.440 at least. 00:39:48.440 --> 00:39:51.200 I think one of the great advantages, 00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:51.980 as we've said, 00:39:52.079 --> 00:39:53.639 is that it celebrates deep connection. 00:39:54.360 --> 00:39:54.980 One of the disadvantages, 00:39:55.119 --> 00:39:55.340 I think, 00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:57.039 is that it's a little bit individualistic. 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:59.740 There's not much reference to community, 00:39:59.820 --> 00:40:02.720 though that was the case as well in the Isaac Watts hymn. 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:04.539 It always seems a bit funny to me 00:40:04.539 --> 00:40:06.220 that we come to church and sing about I, 00:40:07.059 --> 00:40:08.639 even though we're here all together, 00:40:08.760 --> 00:40:09.619 deliberately so. 00:40:10.780 --> 00:40:13.019 That's another thing to watch in our choice of songs, 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:13.400 I think, 00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:17.940 that we have a selection of me songs and we songs. 00:40:18.940 --> 00:40:22.220 And I think the we songs are best at the beginning 00:40:22.220 --> 00:40:23.420 and the end of the service, 00:40:23.980 --> 00:40:27.980 and the me songs are best in the middle of the service. 00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:29.400 It seems to be a bit pointless. 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:30.320 We gather together, 00:40:30.420 --> 00:40:32.139 and the first thing we do is think about me. 00:40:33.059 --> 00:40:35.300 Why don't we just for a moment think about us, 00:40:35.920 --> 00:40:38.400 given that we've all just arrived in the room at the same time. 00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:42.619 And then perhaps we can think about me in five minutes' time. 00:40:42.619 --> 00:40:43.639 Well, because out there, 00:40:43.940 --> 00:40:44.619 it's the me generation. 00:40:45.339 --> 00:40:45.859 Yeah, of course. 00:40:45.940 --> 00:40:46.699 And we bring it in. 00:40:46.779 --> 00:40:51.739 And we need to learn how to think of worship as a party, 00:40:51.920 --> 00:40:53.839 where we are in it together. 00:40:53.839 --> 00:40:56.900 We are celebrating deep connections. 00:40:57.699 --> 00:41:02.839 We recognize our eternal destiny in the Lord Jesus. 00:41:04.199 --> 00:41:05.500 Well, on that note, 00:41:05.759 --> 00:41:12.440 what do we lose if we fail to see worship as a party or celebration? 00:41:12.440 --> 00:41:13.480 What's the cost? 00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:17.039 Okay, we might lose the doctrine of the Trinity 00:41:17.039 --> 00:41:20.480 in kind of operational ways, 00:41:21.059 --> 00:41:24.400 but how does that then in turn impact 00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:28.179 our experience of worship on the Sunday? 00:41:28.220 --> 00:41:29.220 It'll be doldrums. 00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:35.260 It'll be more a sense of duty. 00:41:35.260 --> 00:41:40.380 Not a loss of hope. 00:41:42.220 --> 00:41:44.840 But I think the duty thing is pretty important. 00:41:47.380 --> 00:41:52.740 We end up thinking of church as our plug-in time. 00:41:53.700 --> 00:41:56.040 The only reason you go, right, is just to plug in. 00:41:56.100 --> 00:41:58.520 That's a pretty kind of desperate, 00:41:58.519 --> 00:42:01.659 mechanical reason for being here. 00:42:02.840 --> 00:42:02.920 Yeah. 00:42:03.179 --> 00:42:07.099 I think you can also quickly see it as optional. 00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:09.019 Interesting. 00:42:09.019 --> 00:42:11.259 If you are, 00:42:11.259 --> 00:42:16.460 if you're not coming to be part of a community, 00:42:16.719 --> 00:42:17.980 part of the party, 00:42:18.159 --> 00:42:23.559 then most of what we do at church 00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:26.980 can be done by listening to a podcast 00:42:26.980 --> 00:42:29.079 or, you know, video. 00:42:29.579 --> 00:42:30.400 That's right. 00:42:31.119 --> 00:42:33.360 Do people at the back of the room hear that? 00:42:33.559 --> 00:42:33.800 No. 00:42:33.800 --> 00:42:36.180 So it becomes, 00:42:36.380 --> 00:42:37.820 then Sunday worship becomes optional 00:42:37.820 --> 00:42:39.480 because if you just see it about me, 00:42:40.160 --> 00:42:42.580 most of the elements of a service 00:42:42.580 --> 00:42:44.780 you could probably do somewhere else, 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:46.019 somehow else. 00:42:46.220 --> 00:42:48.120 You could probably listen to music at home 00:42:48.120 --> 00:42:49.600 or read the Bible at home 00:42:49.600 --> 00:42:51.120 or listen to a podcast at home 00:42:51.120 --> 00:42:52.500 or say your prayers at home. 00:42:54.260 --> 00:42:54.920 It's, it's, 00:42:55.060 --> 00:42:56.180 I think we've, 00:42:56.340 --> 00:42:58.519 we lose very easily 00:42:58.519 --> 00:43:00.760 the nature of worship as corporate. 00:43:01.740 --> 00:43:02.460 And I think it was, Jeff, 00:43:02.460 --> 00:43:04.099 your question last week, 00:43:04.440 --> 00:43:05.300 what do you lose 00:43:05.300 --> 00:43:08.559 if you don't think of worship 00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:11.519 in terms of a kind of a corporate recalibration? 00:43:11.860 --> 00:43:13.639 And I suggest it was maturity. 00:43:14.579 --> 00:43:16.900 You can't be mature alone. 00:43:19.539 --> 00:43:22.360 That's the way God has set up his people. 00:43:22.659 --> 00:43:23.360 We're mature. 00:43:23.780 --> 00:43:27.760 We, we achieve maturity together. 00:43:29.579 --> 00:43:30.880 You might not like it, right? 00:43:30.940 --> 00:43:31.380 That's okay. 00:43:31.380 --> 00:43:32.140 That's not my problem. 00:43:32.240 --> 00:43:32.960 Take it to the Lord. 00:43:34.240 --> 00:43:34.820 But that, 00:43:34.820 --> 00:43:35.180 that, 00:43:35.180 --> 00:43:35.840 that's just the, 00:43:35.840 --> 00:43:38.220 the way he's organized 00:43:38.220 --> 00:43:40.760 for our benefit. 00:43:40.760 --> 00:43:44.280 And we, 00:44:00.280 --> 00:44:01.820 I don't think so much 00:44:01.820 --> 00:44:03.020 as what you lose, 00:44:03.560 --> 00:44:08.480 but what sixty-five 00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:09.699 suffer, the first place. 00:44:10.340 --> 00:44:10.639 Yes. 00:44:10.840 --> 00:44:11.360 See what I'm saying? 00:44:11.539 --> 00:44:11.980 Yeah, sure. 00:44:11.980 --> 00:44:17.059 I don't have that relationship thing with first the Father, the Sunderland Holy Spirit, 00:44:17.219 --> 00:44:19.119 and then with the rest of the presence. 00:44:19.800 --> 00:44:22.960 And how could I know what it is that I'm worshiping? 00:44:23.000 --> 00:44:25.559 How could I experience that or want to do that? 00:44:25.880 --> 00:44:26.760 Where is my drive? 00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:28.340 I haven't even experienced this. 00:44:28.699 --> 00:44:30.079 I don't have to be part of the body. 00:44:30.219 --> 00:44:35.679 I don't get losing it by failing to see worship as part of it. 00:44:35.679 --> 00:44:36.699 I just failed to see it. 00:44:36.699 --> 00:44:45.859 I failed to see worship as part because I haven't experienced the relationship part yet. 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.379 Yeah, so it's kind of a chicken and egg argument, isn't it? 00:44:48.419 --> 00:44:52.699 You might not turn up because you don't see what you're missing or you haven't understood 00:44:52.699 --> 00:44:56.819 theologically what God wants to offer you or how he wants to reshape you. 00:44:56.819 --> 00:44:57.460 Yeah, yeah. 00:45:01.199 --> 00:45:05.980 It's interesting that we don't usually celebrate all alone. 00:45:06.699 --> 00:45:07.059 Yes. 00:45:07.539 --> 00:45:13.339 So if you don't see worship coming together as an occasion of joy in the presence of God 00:45:13.339 --> 00:45:16.000 and celebrating the relationship we have with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:18.599 you're not going to do that better on your own. 00:45:18.659 --> 00:45:19.759 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:45:20.899 --> 00:45:22.439 Joy is something you want to share, right? 00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:25.379 And so we're just going to miss out on that as a gift. 00:45:25.500 --> 00:45:26.899 It's a gift that God wants to give us. 00:45:26.900 --> 00:45:27.500 Yeah, yeah. 00:45:27.740 --> 00:45:30.380 The joy of celebrating together. 00:45:30.539 --> 00:45:30.760 Yeah. 00:45:30.760 --> 00:45:37.400 I actually think that lots of people don't actually believe that at church they're meeting 00:45:37.400 --> 00:45:38.000 with the Lord. 00:45:38.820 --> 00:45:45.300 I think they believe that they'll get something from the Lord, kind of like at arm's length, 00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:47.620 but that you're actually meeting with... 00:45:47.620 --> 00:45:52.220 When I say to people, I go to church to meet with the Lord, people look at me like I'm strange. 00:45:53.340 --> 00:45:54.380 What do you mean meeting with the Lord? 00:45:54.380 --> 00:45:55.320 You can meet with the Lord anywhere. 00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:58.300 You can meet with the Lord on a mountaintop or by yourself. 00:45:58.480 --> 00:45:58.820 Yes. 00:45:59.440 --> 00:46:02.519 Why then can't I also meet with the Lord in church? 00:46:03.600 --> 00:46:10.080 And secondly, isn't it better if I meet with the Lord and you're there at the start of the service as well? 00:46:10.740 --> 00:46:14.800 And I can learn from my brothers and sisters how to worship and why to worship. 00:46:16.280 --> 00:46:16.559 Yes. 00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:18.640 And I'm with Christians. 00:46:19.120 --> 00:46:19.420 Yes. 00:46:20.180 --> 00:46:22.120 Spurring each other on to love and good deeds, right? 00:46:22.220 --> 00:46:22.740 We're all with... 00:46:22.740 --> 00:46:23.059 I learn from them. 00:46:23.120 --> 00:46:24.440 I learn from people that are married. 00:46:24.440 --> 00:46:26.240 I look at them and how they interact. 00:46:26.420 --> 00:46:27.800 I see kids, everything. 00:46:27.980 --> 00:46:29.559 How do pastors interact? 00:46:30.240 --> 00:46:32.940 I learn everything in church on how to be a Christian. 00:46:33.220 --> 00:46:38.079 From his word, from the preaching, from talking to brothers and sisters, from seeking advice. 00:46:38.360 --> 00:46:38.519 Yes. 00:46:38.760 --> 00:46:40.260 You know, confessing my sins. 00:46:40.340 --> 00:46:42.940 We need each other. 00:46:43.200 --> 00:46:43.420 Yes. 00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:47.059 And the world is only going to get more tough for Christians. 00:46:47.200 --> 00:46:48.980 And so we don't need each other less. 00:46:49.059 --> 00:46:50.119 We need each other more. 00:46:50.460 --> 00:46:50.740 Yes. 00:46:50.739 --> 00:46:58.500 And we need to take seriously, I think, our Sunday experience of worship and not be kind 00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:00.500 of slack and negligent about it. 00:47:00.500 --> 00:47:03.559 It's very important. 00:47:06.440 --> 00:47:12.260 I know every Saturday or even Sunday morning, we always say it. 00:47:12.300 --> 00:47:13.519 And it's not just to say it. 00:47:13.579 --> 00:47:15.239 It's just, I can't wait to go to worship. 00:47:15.739 --> 00:47:16.420 Oh, how wonderful. 00:47:16.659 --> 00:47:17.599 We can't wait. 00:47:17.940 --> 00:47:18.159 Yeah. 00:47:18.159 --> 00:47:22.860 And when we miss a Lord's Day, it's like, oh, we just can't stand it. 00:47:22.960 --> 00:47:23.639 Yeah, right. 00:47:23.960 --> 00:47:24.199 Right. 00:47:24.199 --> 00:47:26.500 I think you might be in the minority there, brother. 00:47:27.559 --> 00:47:31.379 I think there are lots of people who yawn a bit and think, I don't know why I'm doing 00:47:31.379 --> 00:47:31.879 this again. 00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:33.519 And I'm with you. 00:47:34.719 --> 00:47:38.819 Sometimes I'm scared that if I stopped being a Christian, I'd probably keep going to church 00:47:38.819 --> 00:47:40.299 anyway because I like it so much. 00:47:41.359 --> 00:47:46.379 Which is also a bit worrying for another reason, but I'm probably prone to hypocrisy. 00:47:48.019 --> 00:47:49.639 Friends, our time is out. 00:47:49.759 --> 00:47:51.559 So thank you so much for being with us. 00:47:51.559 --> 00:47:58.559 I'm going to say a prayer and you can get ready not only for worship as a company or 00:47:58.559 --> 00:48:02.000 as a party, but in anticipation of next week as a classroom. 00:48:02.239 --> 00:48:02.900 So let me pray. 00:48:03.980 --> 00:48:07.139 Please, our Heavenly Father, give to us as we don't deserve this morning. 00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:10.500 Please bless us so that we might bless others. 00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:18.480 Thank you so much for these hours together at Sunday school that we might learn how to 00:48:18.480 --> 00:48:26.059 understand theologically our deep connections, that we might know better how to invite people 00:48:26.059 --> 00:48:34.260 to church, how to expect things of you in church, how to prepare for church, how to receive 00:48:34.260 --> 00:48:35.519 all the gifts you want to give. 00:48:36.019 --> 00:48:37.199 Please do that this morning. 00:48:37.280 --> 00:48:38.440 We ask for Christ's sake. 00:48:38.440 --> 00:48:39.639 Amen. 00:48:39.639 --> 00:48:39.679 Amen.