WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.179 that we have such technology that enables us in a time like this to be able to gather together 00:00:06.179 --> 00:00:12.320 virtually and pray and worship. Although I have to say, as amazing as this technology is, 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:18.140 I never thought that we would be using it. So this is an entirely new experience for me and 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:24.519 for many of us. We've joked that this pandemic is dragging Church of the Advent, kicking and 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:31.699 screaming into the 21st century. And so here we are. This has been a time, I think, where lots of 00:00:31.699 --> 00:00:38.500 things are happening that we didn't expect. Everybody is having to adjust. And we all, I think, 00:00:38.820 --> 00:00:43.700 feel off, not just in our country, but in the world. Everything feels off. A lot of things are 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:48.820 being put on hold. I know that there are lots of opinions out there. Some of you may think that 00:00:48.820 --> 00:00:55.299 all of this is overblown and crazy overreaction. I know others of you are feeling quite anxious and 00:00:55.299 --> 00:01:01.840 quite fearful. And so there's a whole range of feelings about this. I want to encourage you to 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:10.060 do what Laura and I have been trying to do. And that is to allow God, rather than the 24-hour news cycle, 00:01:10.060 --> 00:01:17.740 to shape how we think and feel and act in response to this crisis. I'm not saying don't watch the news. 00:01:17.739 --> 00:01:23.839 I'm not saying don't stay tuned. But we do have a choice in what influences we allow ourselves to 00:01:23.839 --> 00:01:28.699 come under in how we think and feel and act in response to the things that are happening. 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:34.219 And so we've really been trying to seek the Lord. And we've been trying to ask God what He may be 00:01:34.219 --> 00:01:39.579 trying to teach us through these trials. Because God is always present and He's always active and He's 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:46.399 always calling us to Himself in one way or another. And so I've been feeling that this is a really good 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:54.420 time for us together as a community to take stock of our lives, to ask ourselves what really matters, 00:01:54.940 --> 00:02:02.000 to reevaluate where we're investing, and to really figure out are we focusing on the things that we 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.860 need to be focusing on. And so because of that, I've been reading passages like the ones that we've read 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:16.400 today together out of Leviticus and Luke chapter 16, both difficult passages to understand. Luke 16, 00:02:16.539 --> 00:02:20.740 1 through 13, in particular, I think is probably the most difficult parable in all of Luke. 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:28.979 And yet it's worth the effort because it is a treasure trove of teaching and wisdom about what life is, 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:34.740 what matters, and what our priorities should be. So it's been a very rich study for me. And so I'm 00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:39.100 excited to share some of that with you. I just want you to listen to what Jesus says at the end 00:02:39.100 --> 00:02:41.340 of the passage in verse 13. He says, 00:02:41.700 --> 00:02:46.879 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:52.620 or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 00:02:53.920 --> 00:02:59.120 Now this is a fascinating statement that Jesus makes. In other words, everybody has a master. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:07.640 Everybody has something that takes top priority in their lives. Now we may not know it. But this is 00:03:07.640 --> 00:03:12.140 true for Christians and non-Christians alike, regardless of whether you consider yourself to be 00:03:12.140 --> 00:03:19.439 religious or completely irreligious. Everyone has a master. And that master is either God, 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:28.400 or it is someone or something that God has created. It's either God or the stuff of the created world. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:33.939 That's essentially what mammon means. It means the stuff of the world, our wealth, our possessions, 00:03:34.140 --> 00:03:41.939 the things that clutter our lives. And here's the rub. We may think that we serve one master. 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:49.319 But when you look at our priorities and our daily lives, those are the things that reveal our true 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:54.420 master. So what I want to do is to spend just a few minutes looking at this parable. I want to explain 00:03:54.419 --> 00:03:59.299 it and unpack it a little bit because there's some things that are hard to understand. And then we're 00:03:59.299 --> 00:04:05.959 going to consider briefly three questions that I would commend to you that are for self-reflection, 00:04:05.959 --> 00:04:12.459 to help you discern where your priorities are and what master you're serving. So if you have a Bible, 00:04:12.579 --> 00:04:18.500 open it to Luke chapter 16 verses 1 through 13. Follow along at home. And let's dive in. 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:24.860 First, I want to give a little context to this parable. Jesus is having dinner with his disciples 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:31.339 along with some tax collectors. And there are some Pharisees listening in as well. And the Pharisees, 00:04:31.839 --> 00:04:36.819 we know from reading earlier in Luke's gospel, are grumbling that Jesus would associate so closely 00:04:36.819 --> 00:04:42.220 with people like these tax collectors. And so Jesus begins to share a parable that would have been 00:04:42.220 --> 00:04:48.880 particularly relevant to the tax collectors who are really good at manipulating money and people. 00:04:49.380 --> 00:04:54.100 And it also would have been very relevant to the Pharisees as we will see. But this parable that Jesus 00:04:54.100 --> 00:05:00.440 shares is all about a steward. He's a money manager. And his job is that he's been entrusted with another 00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:05.460 man's property to manage. But as we know, he has been wasteful. Maybe he's been a little too liberal 00:05:05.460 --> 00:05:10.660 with his expense account. The rich man catches him, calls him in and says, I want you to get your books 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:16.840 and accounts in order and bring them here. You're fired. Now, being fired is no fun. Some of you 00:05:16.840 --> 00:05:22.340 know that. And this man has no prospects. He looks around and he realizes he can't bring himself to 00:05:22.340 --> 00:05:28.900 leave the cush white collar lifestyle and do manual labor. He is too proud to beg on a street corner. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:35.480 And so he needs a plan. So he calls up everyone who owes his master any kind of debt. And most of 00:05:35.480 --> 00:05:40.200 these debts are actually pretty large debts. And he brings these people in one at a time. 00:05:40.660 --> 00:05:44.939 And he starts reducing all of their debts. And if we had time to get into the amounts, 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:52.000 these are massive debts, eight to 10 years salary worth of debts. He starts reducing these debts down. 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:56.800 Now, it's possible we're not sure exactly what he's reducing. It's very possible that he's cutting 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:01.040 out the interest that is owed on the debts and only requiring these people to pay the principal. 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:06.720 But what we do know is that he is very likely cutting out his own commission in the process. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:11.200 So here's a guy who's about to be out on the street, who is cutting his own commission out 00:06:11.200 --> 00:06:15.180 of these debts that are owed to his master. And so it begs the question, why in the world would 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:21.460 he be doing this? And there are two things going on here. Number one, even though this man is 00:06:21.460 --> 00:06:26.700 sacrificing his commission now, in a little while when he's out on the street, he's going to have a 00:06:26.700 --> 00:06:32.580 whole town full of people who owe him favors. And that is worth its weight in gold, way more than 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:36.680 whatever commission he might have made. He'll have plenty of people who want to hire him because 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:43.199 they owe him a favor. Number two, everyone is going to assume that he's acting on the wishes of 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.919 the rich man, of his boss. And so that puts his boss in a very interesting predicament. Either his boss 00:06:49.919 --> 00:06:56.099 says, yes, this was my idea, and lets word spread that he's a gracious and merciful man who's willing 00:06:56.100 --> 00:07:02.500 to forgive debt and interest. Or he has to be the guy who says, no, no, no, no, this was my steward's 00:07:02.500 --> 00:07:07.240 idea. I'm actually going to need that money. In which case, people aren't going to like him very much. 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:12.800 So for this reason, we look at what this steward has done, and in one fell swoop, he has secured 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:19.520 for himself a future full of people who like him and owe him favors. And he has allowed his master to look 00:07:19.520 --> 00:07:24.640 so kind and generous in the eyes of the public that there's no way he will possibly recall these debts. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:29.439 So it's a pretty brilliant maneuver. Now here's where it gets interesting, because you can imagine 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:33.259 at this point, all of the tax collectors sitting there would be laughing, looking at one another 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:37.060 and saying, that's a pretty good move. I'm going to write that down and remember that in case I need 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:41.219 to use it. And all the Pharisees probably would have been grumbling and saying, I can't believe Jesus 00:07:41.219 --> 00:07:46.399 is telling this story about this dishonest worldly man. All right, so here's where it gets really 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:52.979 interesting. Jesus then says in verse 8, the master commended the dishonest manager for his 00:07:52.980 --> 00:08:00.040 shrewdness. That means his street smarts. For the sons of this world, Jesus says, are more shrewd 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:06.460 in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Now that's fascinating, because it sounds 00:08:06.460 --> 00:08:13.180 like Jesus is saying, I wish my followers would be more like this dishonest steward, which would have 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:19.100 been very bizarre to hear in any generation, especially Jesus' generation. But notice what he's commending 00:08:19.100 --> 00:08:25.540 here. He's not commending the dishonesty. He's commending the shrewdness. He's saying, this guy 00:08:25.540 --> 00:08:32.220 is way more street smart than my followers. And this is an example of Jesus teaching by contrast. 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:40.200 He's essentially saying this, even though this manager is, what he says, a son of this world, 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:47.220 meaning he is someone who is only concerned about self-preservation, he's corrupt, he cares nothing 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:54.160 about the ways of God, he's entirely self-focused, even though he's a son of this world. He has his 00:08:54.160 --> 00:09:01.300 priorities in order. He knows what matters, and he's pursuing it. So Jesus is saying, if a guy like 00:09:01.300 --> 00:09:08.680 that can have his priorities in order, how much more should you, the people of the light, my followers, 00:09:08.860 --> 00:09:14.160 people who belong to me, how much more should you have your priorities in order? It's teaching by 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:20.059 contrast. And there are three questions that rise up out of this passage as we think about our own 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:24.980 lives and whether or not we do, in fact, have our priorities in order. So I want to walk through 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:34.139 those questions very briefly. So question number one, do you live like an owner or like a steward? 00:09:35.219 --> 00:09:40.779 Do you live like an owner or like a steward? See, an owner mentality looks at all of the things in 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:47.339 one's life and says, this is all mine, because I've earned it. And therefore, I have a right to do 00:09:47.339 --> 00:09:55.000 whatever I want with it, whether it's my money, or my time, or even my body. It's mine. And so only I 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:01.699 get a say in how it is used, right? That's an owner mentality. And an owner mentality gives rise to 00:10:01.699 --> 00:10:09.639 feelings of entitlement. I deserve this. This says something about me as a person. It gives me worth. 00:10:09.639 --> 00:10:16.819 And yet Jesus shows us that just as the manager in this parable has been entrusted with the rich 00:10:16.819 --> 00:10:24.779 man's possessions for a while, so each one of us has been entrusted with things for a while. But all 00:10:24.779 --> 00:10:32.659 of those things ultimately belong to God. Our time, our money, all of our possessions, even our bodies, 00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:39.399 they all actually belong to God. And they've been entrusted to us for a brief while, a very brief while, 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:44.899 when compared with eternity. And what Jesus is saying through this parable first is that we are 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:50.759 not owners as much as we would like to think that we are. We're stewards. One of the best ways of 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:57.319 understanding the meaning of the word sin is that it is living in this world like it's ours, 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:04.500 living in it while ignoring the God who made it and the God to whom it belongs. But Jesus is saying, 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:09.279 we are not owners, we're stewards. And what you will see is the more you begin to think of yourself 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:13.440 like a steward and the more that you begin to look at the things in your life as things that have been 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:21.059 given to you, entrusted to you by God, it will lead to the sense of entitlement in your life evaporating. 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:27.460 And that will be replaced by a deep sense of gratitude. You'll give thanks that God has given you 00:11:27.460 --> 00:11:32.360 and entrusted you the things that you have. And as we think about what it means to be a steward, 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:38.300 a good steward has two primary characteristics. Number one, a good steward is somebody who never 00:11:38.300 --> 00:11:44.560 uses the things that have been entrusted to them to advance their own interests. They use those things 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:51.440 to advance the interests of the owner. So in this case, that would be God. So that's the first thing to think 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:56.139 about. And then the second characteristic of a good steward is that a good steward knows that one day, 00:11:56.139 --> 00:12:03.720 just like this manager, one day God is going to say to us, get your accounts and your books in order 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:11.159 and come to me, your time is done. And that's a sobering thought. But the hard truth is, coronavirus 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:19.259 or not, one day all of us will die a premature death. And as hard as that is to contemplate and 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:24.620 as upsetting as that might be for some of us, we're also told that that will not be the end. 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:30.139 And that we will come before the Lord and we will be asked to give an account of all of the ways that 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:35.820 we've used his possessions while we were stewards over them. So that's the first question. Do we live 00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:44.779 like owners or like stewards? Number two, the second question, are you investing only in temporal things 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:52.100 or are you investing in eternal things? Do you invest in the temporal or also the eternal? Jesus says in 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:56.899 verse nine, and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so 00:12:56.899 --> 00:13:02.480 that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Unrighteous wealth simply means 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:08.860 worldly wealth, but the economy that we live in now that one day will be no more and will become 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:15.540 irrelevant. This is a way of saying all of the resources and the opportunities that you have 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:22.419 right now, none of that is going to last. So use them to invest in things that will last for eternity. 00:13:22.819 --> 00:13:29.539 Use things that won't last to invest in things that will last, which means people. It means 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:36.719 relationships. It means loving and serving those people we will spend eternity with. That's what Jesus 00:13:36.719 --> 00:13:43.659 is talking about. And, uh, you know, this coronavirus scare is very big and very prominent. It's on everybody's 00:13:43.659 --> 00:13:49.879 mind right now, but you know, this is going to pass and life is going to go on and there will be other 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:56.039 things that crowd in for our attention and other things that demand a response. But while this scare 00:13:56.039 --> 00:14:03.360 is here, we actually have an opportunity to reach out and care for our neighbors. Never have we had a 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:08.919 better excuse to get to know the people who live right around us and to check in on them and to make 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:15.139 sure they're okay. Um, it's in particular an opportunity to check in, uh, and to care for the 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:21.139 elderly. Um, if you have people who are elderly, who you know might be living alone, um, in your 00:14:21.139 --> 00:14:26.139 apartment building or down the street, this is a great opportunity for you just to check in and see if 00:14:26.139 --> 00:14:32.139 they have everything that they need. There are people all throughout the city who are lonely, who because of 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:37.139 the social distancing measures that are now in place, they are more isolated than ever before. There are children that have 00:14:37.139 --> 00:14:43.519 a result of the public schools not meeting may not get the food that they need. And so there are lots of 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:49.699 opportunities for us to focus on and invest in the things that will last for eternity. So we should be 00:14:49.699 --> 00:14:56.500 asking ourselves during this time, where am I investing my time and my energy and my talents and my treasures, 00:14:56.500 --> 00:15:02.460 as they say, am I investing in things that are going to fade away? Or am I investing in things that are going to last for 00:15:02.460 --> 00:15:08.320 eternity? Uh, I know just yesterday, some people from the Advent community joined together and you 00:15:08.320 --> 00:15:15.160 helped to pack 550 bags of canned food and other non-perishables to give to the elderly who may be 00:15:15.160 --> 00:15:20.000 at risk because of this crisis. And I want to say that's the kind of investment that lasts. That's the 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.680 kind of investment that matters because you're investing in the lives of people. So that's the 00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:30.920 second question. Am I only investing in temporal things or am I also investing in things that are 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:35.899 eternal? Uh, the third and final question that, that I would like to encourage you to think about 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:41.360 as we think about priorities, do you follow Jesus? For those of you who follow Jesus, do you follow 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:48.219 Jesus in a compartmentalized or in an integrated way? Are you compartmentalized in your faith or are you 00:15:48.219 --> 00:15:52.899 integrated? Now let me explain what I mean by that. A compartmentalized faith means that there is a 00:15:52.899 --> 00:16:00.559 disconnect. You may have learned how to talk or act in Christian ways when you're around Christian 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:04.539 people. Maybe when you're at church or you're at a small group, if you're a part of something like a 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:09.219 small group, you've learned how to talk the talk. You've learned how to say and do the right things. 00:16:09.219 --> 00:16:14.799 And yet your faith has no bearing on the way you approach or think about your job or on the way you 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:18.879 relate to other people, maybe friends from college. Your faith has no bearing in how you think about 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:24.000 what you do on the weekends or how you spend your money or where you're spending your time. 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:29.259 And so your faith is sort of compartmentalized. When Jesus says this very curious thing in verse 10, 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:36.919 he says, one who's faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:44.759 a very little is also dishonest in much. In other words, true character is what runs all the way 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:50.600 through you. True character is what runs all the way through you. I love the illustration that comes 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:57.740 from Tom Wright, who compares character to Brighton Rock Candy. Brighton Rock Candy is a kind of long stick 00:16:57.740 --> 00:17:05.740 of hard candy. And it famously has the word Brighton written on it. And wherever you break 00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:10.200 into that piece of candy, wherever you cut into it, you will see the word Brighton because it runs all 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:14.400 the way through the piece of candy. And he says character is a lot like that. He says your true 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:20.779 character is a pattern of thinking and acting that runs all the way through you. So no matter what time 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:25.680 of day, no matter what situation or context you're in, whether there are people around or you're all 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:31.740 by yourself, your character is that thing that is always at the center of your thinking and your acting. 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:40.259 And so the point is, a person who is unfaithful in the small everyday details of life will probably 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:46.259 be unfaithful in the big defining moments as well. I know that I can very easily think that this little 00:17:46.259 --> 00:17:50.500 thing over here, that little expense over there, that doesn't really matter. But if push comes to 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:54.859 shove, if I really need to take a stand for my faith, surely I'll step up. And Jesus is saying, 00:17:54.940 --> 00:18:01.359 don't be too quick to assume that. In fact, it is those small, seemingly insignificant daily patterns 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:07.299 that determine the likelihood of how we will think and act in those big defining moments of life. 00:18:07.879 --> 00:18:13.059 And that's what Jesus is wanting us to know. So the question that I want us to consider is, 00:18:13.059 --> 00:18:20.639 does my faith and does my desire to follow Jesus run through my entire being? Or is it compartmentalized? 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:26.299 Do I have a Christian mode that I can switch on and off depending on who I'm around? 00:18:27.419 --> 00:18:31.879 How do we know? How do we know whether this is something that runs all the way through us? Well, 00:18:32.259 --> 00:18:38.659 look at your small everyday moments. Ask yourself, am I faithful in the small everyday moments of my 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:43.820 life? The brief exchange that I have with my kids, the way that I respond to them when I'm angry, 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.840 the brief exchanges that we have with people at work, the little ways that we spend money that 00:18:49.840 --> 00:18:54.840 doesn't seem like a whole lot, but can really add up. This is going to tell you a lot about what really 00:18:54.840 --> 00:18:59.460 defines you. You may have heard it said that if you want to know somebody's priorities, if you want 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:03.480 to know what really matters to them, look at their day planner and look at their bank statement. 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:09.420 Those are going to tell you what that person's priorities really are. So I want to bring all 00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:15.140 of this together. Essentially, I want to say this, this is a tough moment for a lot of people. A lot 00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:20.579 of us are shut up at home and not quite sure what the future holds over these next few weeks. But I 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:26.960 want to commend you to seize this moment and to recognize the opportunities that exist within it. 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:33.360 Not only is this a great opportunity for us as Christians to pray for our neighborhoods and our city, 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:37.779 and our world, which we should be doing every day, not only is a great opportunity for us to join 00:19:37.779 --> 00:19:43.720 together in prayer, especially for all of those who suffer or are vulnerable, but we really have 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:49.980 an opportunity right now because everything is on hold to take stock of our lives and to reevaluate 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:57.019 and to ask ourselves what really matters? What am I really here to do? And so we need to ask ourselves 00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:05.079 these questions. Am I living like an owner or like a steward? Am I investing only in temporal things or am I 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:10.579 also investing in things that are going to last for eternity? Am I following Jesus in a compartmentalized 00:20:10.579 --> 00:20:15.480 way or is my relationship with Jesus something that runs all the way through my heart and soul 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:21.539 from the smallest, most insignificant interactions to the biggest, most defining moments of my life? 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:26.639 Do I have my priorities in order? This is a question that I want us to think about this week. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:31.619 You know, even for us as a church right now, many of you know, we are in the middle of the home 00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:37.279 campaign. This is a big push and this is in the middle of the public phase of that push. And the 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:43.379 hope is that every single person who's a part of the Advent family and extended family, that we would all 00:20:43.379 --> 00:20:51.519 commit to financially supporting our goal to secure a permanent long-term home in the heart of the city. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:57.359 For, for, for, for, to, to serve for generations. And so you don't have to be an expert to know that 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:02.700 right in the middle of a public phase of a campaign like this, it's generally not a good idea to stop 00:21:02.700 --> 00:21:08.500 having public meetings. Generally, you want the opposite to happen, but what's going on? Well, 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:14.599 the entire reason that we want a home is because of our commitment to love the city long-term. 00:21:14.599 --> 00:21:22.339 And it turns out that right now, loving the city means not having public gatherings. And so this 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:26.339 has been a great opportunity for us as a church to make sure that our priorities are in order. 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:32.279 Our ultimate, ultimate priority is to love the city in the name of Jesus Christ. And if loving the 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:37.379 city means not meeting, then that's what we need to do. And at the end of the day, if we lose sight of 00:21:37.380 --> 00:21:42.880 that priority, then why in the world will we need to build it? And so for now we are here, but, but I 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:49.700 want to encourage you to continue praying for this campaign and to continue praying for this vision 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:54.200 that we all share to commit ourselves to loving the city long-term, not just for the next year or two, 00:21:54.420 --> 00:21:58.560 but for generations to come. And of course, our greatest hope is this, 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:05.539 that even though many of us, myself included, most of the time find that our priorities are all out of 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:15.960 work. Our greatest hope is that Jesus Christ never wavered. His entire ministry, he was exclusively 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:22.980 focused on doing the will of his father, even though that led straight to the cross. But when we look at 00:22:22.980 --> 00:22:28.579 the cross, and when we contemplate the meaning of Jesus's death and the hope of his resurrection, 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:36.740 what we realize is that even when we reject him, even when we deny him, we are always Jesus's top 00:22:36.740 --> 00:22:42.860 priority. And when you realize that, and when you realize that that was true, even on the cross, 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:50.759 it shows you that when it comes to our time, when it comes to our, the things that we're investing in, 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:56.839 there's only one who is worthy to be our top priority, and that's Jesus Christ. Because even 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:02.200 when we didn't love him, even when we rejected him, he never stopped loving us, because he loves 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:09.819 relentlessly. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. And as we continue in prayer, I just, 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:15.660 I pray specifically for everyone who is at home right now, especially for those who might be alone. 00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:23.759 I pray that they would be encouraged. I pray that they would know and feel the love of Jesus Christ 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:29.640 with them right now where they are. I pray that Jesus, you would make your presence known, 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:35.460 Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit. And I ask this in your son's name. Amen. 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:38.500 So now we're going to respond to... 00:23:38.500 --> 00:23:39.500 Amen.