WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.200 One of the most precious and beautiful parts of life is the relationships that we have with 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:14.200 other people. 00:00:14.200 --> 00:00:18.800 If you think about your life so often, the happiest memories we have are moments that 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:21.039 we share with others. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.039 And of course, that's one of the reasons why the past year has been so hard, because these 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:30.799 kind of moments have been restricted or maybe even taken away. 00:00:30.799 --> 00:00:35.719 It's such a beautiful thing to be close to someone, to be with them in their company, 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.119 enjoying their presence. 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:43.239 It's amazing when we have things in common with other people, the same interests, the 00:00:43.239 --> 00:00:46.879 same thoughts, the same dreams. 00:00:46.879 --> 00:00:52.000 And it's such a privilege to be involved with somebody else's life, to participate in things 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:59.920 together, to achieve things together, to walk side by side, to stand shoulder to shoulder. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:03.640 And it's a huge blessing when we can share our lives with other people. 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:09.439 So talking, laughing, crying, sticking together through it all. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:14.359 These connections that we have with other people are so precious. 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:21.799 In fact, in many ways, these are the best bits of life. 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:26.719 And I think that's one of the reasons why social media is such a massive phenomenon today, 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:31.920 because we all crave that social connection with other people. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:38.359 There's no big multinational websites for isolated media, where we just post stuff up 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:47.319 that no one else can see, because everybody longs for a connection to other people. 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:55.159 That need for a connection is one of our deepest human needs. 00:01:55.159 --> 00:02:00.119 And that connection, that involvement, that relationship, that sharing with other people, 00:02:00.119 --> 00:02:06.119 there's a word that captures all of those things. 00:02:06.119 --> 00:02:09.560 It's the word communion. 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:15.120 It's a wee bit of an old fashioned word, but it's a brilliant word, because it conveys 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.200 the idea of a union and connection with one another, of having things in common with other 00:02:20.200 --> 00:02:27.719 people, of being part of a community together, and of enjoying that amazing blessing of having 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:31.360 other people in our lives. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:39.759 I'm sure that if you were to think of the best stuff that happened in the last week 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:46.479 of your lives, I would be pretty confident that many, if not all of them, would be examples 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.639 of communion with others. 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:54.799 So a good laugh with a friend, an encouraging comment from your boss, a successful task 00:02:54.799 --> 00:03:01.159 with your colleagues, a gentle kiss from your wife, a big hug from your child. 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:09.739 And if you didn't have any of these things, I'm pretty sure you probably wish you had. 00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:18.000 Communion with others is a massive part of life, and it's a beautiful thing. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:24.000 But for the next four Sunday evenings, we're going to be looking at something even more 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.520 amazing, something even more beautiful. 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:31.920 We're going to be looking at the fact that if you are a Christian, or if you become a 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:42.839 Christian, you can have communion with God. 00:03:42.839 --> 00:03:48.279 This week, we're going to be looking at communion with God the Father. 00:03:48.279 --> 00:03:53.039 Next week, God the Son, then God the Spirit, and then the last sermon in the series at 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.479 the end of June will be God as One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:02.659 And there's loads of places in the Bible we could go to look at this, but we're going 00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:07.519 to pick one place to focus on, and that's the chapter that William read. 00:04:07.519 --> 00:04:11.439 For all four of our sermons, we're going to go to Ephesians chapter one. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.439 So tonight, our focus is on communion with God the Father. 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:23.000 Let me read again from Ephesians chapter one, verses three to five. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:28.279 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who's blessed us in Christ with 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:33.639 every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:37.759 of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:42.519 In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:47.599 purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed 00:04:47.599 --> 00:04:49.839 us in the beloved. 00:04:49.839 --> 00:04:53.759 Now, Ephesians one is one of the richest chapters in the New Testament. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.759 It's kind of like the Niagara Falls of awesome theology. 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:00.519 And even though we're going to spend four weeks in it, we really will be only dipping 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:02.959 our toes in. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:05.800 I want to start tonight with a quick survey. 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:07.519 So I'm going to put four questions up on the screen. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:11.560 You don't have to answer it loud, but I want you to answer them in your own heads. 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:15.360 For each of the questions, you're going to answer them on the scale of one to 10. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:16.360 Okay. 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:20.439 So I want you to, as you do that, as you answer the four questions that will come up, I want 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:22.560 you to think of other people in your life. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:28.519 So maybe family or friends or colleagues and think about these four questions. 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.040 So here they are. 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:33.199 How significant are you in their plans? 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:39.000 So scale of one to 10, one, not very 10, immensely significant. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:42.240 How wanted are you in their eyes? 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.600 How much do you belong in their company? 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:50.519 How indispensable are you to them? 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.199 For each of them, I want you to give a score, one to 10, thinking of a person. 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:58.719 And depending on who you're thinking of, your answers will be different. 00:05:58.719 --> 00:06:06.120 So if you had thought of a close family member, then your numbers would probably, I hope, 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:08.680 be higher. 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:16.479 But if you thought about your boss or your friends at school or the girl or guy that 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:25.400 you secretly have a crush on, your numbers might have been lower. 00:06:25.400 --> 00:06:28.840 Now I want you to do it again. 00:06:28.840 --> 00:06:36.360 But this time, I want you to think about God. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:40.160 How significant are you in God's plans? 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:43.600 One to 10. 00:06:43.600 --> 00:06:49.040 How wanted are you in his eyes? 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:54.640 How much do you belong in his company? 00:06:54.640 --> 00:07:04.640 How indispensable are you to him? 00:07:04.640 --> 00:07:10.879 I don't know what you gave yourself, but I'm pretty sure you would be inclined to give 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:15.639 yourself fairly low numbers. 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:19.519 And the reason I think that is because that's how I think. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:24.759 I instinctively feel that my numbers would be kind of on the low side. 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:30.240 I think of all the stuff that God is doing in the universe. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.680 I don't see myself as a particularly significant part of that. 00:07:34.680 --> 00:07:38.480 I think of all the stupid mistakes that I've made in my life. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:45.240 And I see them all as reasons for God to not really want me. 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:50.120 I don't feel that I deserve to be near to God, and I can think of dozens of people who 00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:54.920 belong in his company a lot more than I do. 00:07:54.920 --> 00:08:00.200 And I think God could do fine without me. 00:08:00.200 --> 00:08:06.439 That's really, you know, I'm not that big a deal. 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:14.600 But with you, how do you feel? 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:25.279 As Christians, these feelings can really discourage us and cripple us as we want and try to live 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:30.240 our lives following Jesus. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:36.159 But this is where we need to remember that it's often the case that our feelings are 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:43.519 like bad politicians, very powerful, totally unreliable. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:54.799 And we need to replace, to try and replace our feelings with theological facts. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:09:01.519 And in this chapter, Paul is giving us key theological facts that answer all of these 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:03.839 questions for us. 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:09.879 And to show that, I want to just pick out four key words or phrases that will help us 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:15.360 find the real answer to these four questions on the screen. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:19.200 So how significant are you in God's plans? 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:23.920 The answer is 10. 00:09:23.920 --> 00:09:33.800 And the word that tells you that is in verse five, in love, he predestined us. 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:42.799 You are saved as a Christian because God has predestined you to be part of his family. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:47.159 Now that's our word and a concept that people can easily struggle with. 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:53.279 So sometimes we come to those, sometimes it could be one of the words that's in the Bible 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:57.439 that we kind of just try to pretend is not there and we just play it down and we think, 00:09:57.439 --> 00:10:00.159 well, I'm not really going to think about that because I can't really get my head round 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:01.159 it. 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.319 I can't really get my head round it and I can't play down that whole idea of what predestined 00:10:04.319 --> 00:10:05.959 is referring to. 00:10:05.959 --> 00:10:11.799 Others actually use it, rather than playing it down, they actually make it the biggest 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:13.919 problem of all. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.759 And they use it as the kind of big reason for not becoming a Christian. 00:10:18.759 --> 00:10:24.639 So people, when they're called to follow Jesus, will say, well, well, I don't know if I'm 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:28.439 predestined, so I'm not going to do anything. 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:32.680 I can't respond to God's call. 00:10:32.680 --> 00:10:34.200 It's easy to think like that. 00:10:34.200 --> 00:10:42.480 If anybody here thinks like that, I just want to point out and say that that way of thinking 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:44.960 is a little bit ridiculous. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:57.400 It's actually very ridiculous because if you are being consistent, if you really believe 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:04.480 that you need to confirm that you know that you're predestined before you do something 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:13.799 important, what happens if you apply that to breathing? 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:18.679 So if I ask, are you predestined to breathe for the next minute of your life? 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:24.720 Do you stop breathing and not do anything until you have the answer? 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:33.440 Or do you just do the thing that you need to do to prevent death? 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:38.480 When you are called to follow Jesus, pausing to establish your predestined status is a 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.639 ridiculous thing to do. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:49.160 Stop asking the wrong question and just do the thing you need to do to prevent death. 00:11:49.160 --> 00:11:51.120 Put your faith in Christ. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.159 And of course, the whole reason it's the wrong question is because the word predestined 00:11:55.159 --> 00:12:02.080 is not written there to explain the metaphysics of how time interacts with eternity or how 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.519 God's sovereignty interfaces with human responsibility. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:06.759 It's not there to explain that. 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:08.360 It's there to tell you something else. 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:19.159 It's there to tell you that your salvation is absolutely crucial in God's plans. 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:21.080 So how significant are you in God's plans? 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.320 The answer is 10. 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:29.600 Your salvation, your place in God's family is not some afterthought for God. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.600 It's a key part of God's eternal plan of salvation. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:41.040 That means that you are sitting here before God tonight as someone who really, really 00:12:41.040 --> 00:12:43.280 matters. 00:12:43.280 --> 00:12:49.200 And when you became a Christian or if you become one, which I hope you will, I hope you 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.480 even will tonight. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:53.800 If that happens, God doesn't say, oh, wow, splendid. 00:12:53.800 --> 00:12:57.159 That's a bonus. 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:05.600 He says, yes, this is exactly what I have been working everything towards. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:14.680 And as he says that, the whole of heaven roars with joy. 00:13:14.680 --> 00:13:20.440 Our second question is how wanted are you? 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:25.600 In his eyes, how wanted are you in God's eyes? 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.080 The answer is 10. 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:34.080 And there's two key words that show that one in verse four, one in verse five chose and 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:35.080 will. 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.280 Now, these two words go together. 00:13:39.280 --> 00:13:42.880 They're highlighting God's choice and God's will. 00:13:42.880 --> 00:13:48.640 And these are crucial concepts for understanding how God's salvation works. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:53.919 When we speak about how much God wants you, it's actually easy to make God look a wee 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:58.720 bit pathetic as though he kind of needs you and he's like begging you to follow him or 00:13:58.720 --> 00:13:59.720 notice him. 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.799 That is not true. 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:09.240 God is God almighty, a consuming fire, creator of all. 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:16.480 And he does not need you in any sense of kind of dependantness or neediness, but the incredible 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:25.720 truth is that he wants you. 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:32.519 And these two words, choice and will, are telling you that all that God the Father has 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:38.560 planned and implemented and accomplished for your salvation is because he wants you. 00:14:38.560 --> 00:14:42.800 He actually wants you. 00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:44.759 How wanted are you in God's eyes? 00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:50.799 The answer is 10, not nine, not nine and a half, 10. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.360 You think of God's great plan of salvation to bring you into his family. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:00.720 Think of how it's planned from all eternity, worked out across history, revealed throughout 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:05.120 Scripture, accomplished by Jesus, applied by the Holy Spirit. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.639 Why does all that awesome stuff happen? 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:14.159 It's because God wants it. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:18.240 It's what he's chosen to do. 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:24.480 It is his will. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:28.039 Third question, how much do you belong in his company? 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:31.839 I think you know what I'm going to say. 00:15:31.839 --> 00:15:37.240 But this is maybe the hardest one to believe of all because surely our brokenness, our 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:43.919 sin, our mistakes, surely that makes us unsuitable to be in God's presence. 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:51.000 But again, Ephesians one is telling us that the answer is 10. 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:59.199 Verse four reveals that he says that God chose us so that we would be holy and blameless 00:15:59.199 --> 00:16:02.319 before him. 00:16:02.319 --> 00:16:05.240 This is God's goal. 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:11.360 His great plan of salvation is in order for us, for you to be holy and blameless before 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:12.360 him. 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:16.320 It's only possible through what Jesus has done. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:21.840 Paul explains that in verse seven, where he speaks about our redemption through Jesus' 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:26.159 blood and the forgiveness of sin that that brings. 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:33.000 This is getting us to the very heart of what the Gospel achieves. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:39.920 Our sin and our brokenness and everything that's mucked up with us, that does make us 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:43.000 unworthy of God. 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.639 That does make us unable to approach him. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.120 There's that what we call alienation and separation between us and God. 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:53.279 And that of course is because he is holy and perfect. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:56.479 We are unholy and we are to blame for that. 00:16:56.479 --> 00:17:00.959 But the whole reason Jesus came is to fix that. 00:17:00.959 --> 00:17:06.039 He came to cleanse us from our sin, to restore us into our relationship with God, to set 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:14.279 us apart as holy, and the fact that he took all the burden of our sin means that we are 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:24.639 now blameless before God if we put our faith in Jesus. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:37.040 So if you are a Christian, where is the place that you most belong? 00:17:37.040 --> 00:17:42.400 The answer is that it's in God the Father's presence. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:47.480 In fact, it is in God the Father's arms. 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:53.920 And that of course is why we want to turn away from sin, because sin is trying to pull 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:05.360 us into places and circumstances and activities where we do not belong. 00:18:05.360 --> 00:18:08.880 Fourth question, how indispensable are you to God? 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:09.880 You know the answer. 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.920 It's 10. 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:19.240 And we know it's 10 because of this word, the word adoption. 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:27.440 The great goal of God's saving plan is that you would be adopted into God's family. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:35.200 That means that if you are a Christian or if you become one, you are now God's child. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:38.799 And he is your Father. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:44.279 And every parent in here, let me ask you, are your children dispensable? 00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:47.359 Never. 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:49.359 And that is true of us. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:53.039 How much more is it true of God? 00:18:53.039 --> 00:19:01.159 God's saving work through his son, Jesus Christ, has brought you into God's family. 00:19:01.159 --> 00:19:08.839 That means that you're utterly secure, indescribably precious, and God is totally, eternally, and 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:19.519 irrevocably committed to being your Father, and he will never let you go. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:24.480 The answer to all four of our questions is 10. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.039 The 10 is supposed to be above the arrow. 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:30.519 Forgive me for the technical glitch, but imagine that the 10 is at the end. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:32.639 It's supposed to be there. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:41.000 If you're a Christian or if you become one, all of these are at 10. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:49.400 Now, if you doubt that, or if you struggle to think that, or if you think, yes, every 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:56.600 other Christian in here is at 10, but I'm not, if you feel less than 10, then you have 00:19:56.599 --> 00:20:05.719 majorly underestimated the power of the cross. 00:20:05.719 --> 00:20:14.799 The whole reason the cross happened is because God has an eternal plan to save you. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:22.639 The massive cost of the cross was paid because of how much God wants you. 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:28.960 The effect of the cross is big enough to present you holy and blameless before God. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:36.240 The security of the cross makes you safe in God, the Father's family, forever. 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:42.080 The cross is mind-blowingly powerful, and that's why Paul can say that in Christ we've 00:20:42.080 --> 00:20:47.400 been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:52.240 Jesus has done so much on the cross. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:59.519 And it's all to make a massive difference to you. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:04.599 So what does all of that mean for our communion with God, the Father? 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:13.160 Well, what I really hope that all of that is going to help us see is that we, all of 00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:24.400 us, I think, probably need to change the way we think about what God the Father thinks. 00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:26.840 I know I do. 00:21:26.840 --> 00:21:31.600 We need to change the way we think about what God the Father thinks, because we can so easily 00:21:31.600 --> 00:21:34.519 think that we're not significant to Him. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:38.360 We're not particularly wanted by Him, that we don't belong with Him, and that we are 00:21:38.360 --> 00:21:40.120 pretty dispensable. 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:45.239 And the reason that we can think that that's how God thinks is because so often that is 00:21:45.239 --> 00:21:52.000 the way the world and the culture around us makes us feel. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:57.479 So often in life, we're only important to people as long as we're useful to them, not 00:21:57.479 --> 00:21:58.799 always but very often. 00:21:58.799 --> 00:22:07.759 So we can get picked up and put down in relationships, at work, in friendships, we're easily overlooked, 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.000 quickly forgotten. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:15.079 And that's why so many people are trying so hard to be noticed, whether that's in the 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:18.640 workplace or on a night out or in social media. 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:24.160 People put in a huge amount of effort to be noticed or to be seen as significant. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:29.599 Very often to have communion with people, we need to impress them. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:35.079 Often we're wanted as long as we conform to certain expectations. 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:38.920 So if we look good enough, or if we're smart enough, or if we can bring in enough money, 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:44.120 or if we say or believe the right things. 00:22:44.120 --> 00:22:50.480 All too often, people will want us, but only if we do what they are actually wanting or 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:52.640 expecting us to do, to have communion with people. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:59.080 Very often we've got to tick all of these boxes. 00:22:59.080 --> 00:23:03.440 Very often we can feel like we don't belong, or that if we're going to belong, we need 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:11.320 to change either a personality transplant or a major physical makeover or whatever. 00:23:11.320 --> 00:23:18.360 I can remember in high school, being really, like early years of high school, being really 00:23:18.360 --> 00:23:24.120 embarrassed at the thought of anybody finding out what kind of duvet cover I had at home. 00:23:24.120 --> 00:23:28.279 Because I was embarrassed by it, but I actually loved it, and I didn't want to change it, 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:33.879 but I did not want anybody to know about it. 00:23:33.879 --> 00:23:36.399 It was Thomas the Tank Engine. 00:23:36.399 --> 00:23:41.039 Don't judge, Jesus said, don't judge you. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:42.039 But isn't that true? 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:45.480 How many of us have got stuff like we don't want anybody to know, especially in high school, 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:49.200 there's just all that ridiculous pressure from people around us. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.119 And we think, well, you know, I'm only going to be accepted if I fit in, and if I change, 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:56.160 and if I don't let people see all the stuff that's going on. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.720 So often we can feel rejected and judged. 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.160 One day everyone likes us, the next day we don't. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:05.320 One year work is going well, the next year it isn't. 00:24:05.320 --> 00:24:13.279 We have communion with people for a while, but all too often life or people or circumstances 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:21.480 can move on, and we are left feeling a little bit disposable. 00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:25.759 And that leaves us in a really difficult situation, because as we've said, we long to be close 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:31.839 to people, because every human craves communion with others. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:37.599 But all too often we're left feeling overlooked, awkward, like we don't fit, or that we're 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:38.599 unwanted. 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:42.400 And the result is often we can push people away, because we don't want to expose ourselves 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:48.519 to those kind of bruises, because we think people just look at us and think of us in 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:52.119 these ways. 00:24:52.119 --> 00:25:00.679 If you are a Christian, or if you become a Christian, Ephesians 1 is telling you that 00:25:00.679 --> 00:25:10.199 God will never think of you like that. 00:25:10.199 --> 00:25:13.279 God does not think the way our culture thinks. 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:19.799 God will not treat you the way people might treat you, because when God the Father looks 00:25:19.799 --> 00:25:28.079 at you, what does He actually think? 00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:32.839 What does He see? 00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:47.039 He sees someone so, so important, because you are part of His predestined plan. 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:50.399 He sees someone that He wants so much. 00:25:50.399 --> 00:25:53.879 In fact, you are His choice. 00:25:53.879 --> 00:25:58.159 Communion with you is actually His will. 00:25:58.159 --> 00:26:05.079 He sees someone so suitable for Him, someone who's been made holy and blameless through 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:10.599 the cross, so that when you come into God's arms, you come to the place where you just 00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:15.159 belong so perfectly. 00:26:15.160 --> 00:26:19.519 And when God sees you approach Him, He's not looking at a stranger or a customer or even 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:21.720 a servant. 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:29.880 He's looking at His child, a child who He is going to love forever. 00:26:29.880 --> 00:26:39.400 And that means that when you say, Father to God, whether that's as you worship Him just 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:46.640 now, as you pray tomorrow morning, as you ask for help at work, as you cry out to Him 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:50.040 in trouble, as you lie awake in the middle of the night, or as you flop at the end of 00:26:50.040 --> 00:26:57.000 a hard day, when you say, Father to God, whether that's the first time you said, or the thousandth 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:04.960 or hundredth thousandth time to say it, when you say, Father to God, He never sighs or rolls 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:12.039 His eyes or gets exasperated like people often do. 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:21.480 Instead, God responds with a fully satisfied, totally delighted, never-endingly patient 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:22.480 smile. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:30.960 And He says, Yes, my dear child, I am here. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:43.120 As we conclude, there's three things I'd like you to remember and I'd like you to think 00:27:43.120 --> 00:27:45.799 a little bit more about. 00:27:45.799 --> 00:27:51.519 One, communion with others is a wonderful thing. 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.720 It's one of our deepest human needs. 00:27:53.720 --> 00:28:00.839 And for me, just personally, looking back over the past three years, the best part of 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:06.279 being in Edinburgh has been the times of communion we've enjoyed with you all in so many different 00:28:06.279 --> 00:28:07.680 ways. 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:10.279 Communion with others is a wonderful, wonderful thing. 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:18.000 But please don't look for it in the wrong place. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:23.920 And I'm going to just lay into social media for a moment. 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.559 Now, there's a lot that's really good about social media. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:31.240 There's a great example this morning, the painting I got given, which is so cool. 00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:34.079 We found out about that through social media, through Instagram. 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:38.880 So that's an example of how social media can be so amazing that an artist in America 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:41.839 painted this awesome picture of St. Columbus and I got given it. 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:42.839 That's so cool. 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:48.199 That's a wonderful example of what's good about social media. 00:28:48.199 --> 00:28:53.199 But please don't make that the place where you go for real communion. 00:28:53.199 --> 00:28:58.839 Don't make it the cornerstone of your identity or your security or the place where you feel 00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:01.599 most wanted. 00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:03.879 And the same goes for superficial relationships. 00:29:03.879 --> 00:29:07.000 It's the wrong place to go and it's the wrong kind of communion. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:12.159 Please don't go looking for significance or belonging or specialness in the latest fads 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:14.320 or nonsense in the culture around us. 00:29:14.320 --> 00:29:24.000 You don't need to because God is offering you something far better. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:29.480 God is saying, you can have communion with me. 00:29:29.480 --> 00:29:35.600 And in fact, when we have closer communion with God, that can really help us use things 00:29:35.600 --> 00:29:38.640 like social media in a much healthier way. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:43.480 So please don't look for communion in the wrong places. 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:47.840 Second thing I want you to think about is that, and we sort of touched on this at the 00:29:47.840 --> 00:29:52.800 start, communion with God the Father does not rest on feelings. 00:29:52.800 --> 00:29:58.560 It is grounded on theological facts. 00:29:58.560 --> 00:30:05.440 So if you are praying tonight or tomorrow and if you feel rubbish about yourself and 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:09.720 rubbish about your prayers, please remember the words that we've been looking at. 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:12.759 You might feel like a terrible Christian. 00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:20.519 The theological fact is that you're predestined in God's perfect plan to be His. 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.000 You might feel totally unlovable. 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:29.440 The theological fact is that you're chosen by God. 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:34.279 You might feel like the last person God would want near Him. 00:30:34.279 --> 00:30:43.720 But the theological fact is that Jesus has made you holy and blameless before God. 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:47.519 You might feel like an outcast. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:56.839 The theological fact is that you are God's precious, beloved child. 00:30:56.839 --> 00:31:05.119 And all of these facts mean that you can go straight into your Father's arms. 00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:12.439 And what I am pretty sure you'll find is that the more we do that and the more we let these 00:31:12.439 --> 00:31:22.480 theological facts shape our thinking, the more all these rubbish feelings will go away. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:26.880 Communion with God the Father doesn't rest on feelings, it's grounded on awesome theological 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:27.880 facts. 00:31:27.880 --> 00:31:31.720 And then the last thing I want you to think about is this. 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:40.799 Communion with God the Father is totally free, but it came at a monumental price. 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:49.839 God's purpose, desire and commitment to have you in His arms came at the cost of giving 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.360 up His own Son. 00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:55.679 That means it costs God the Father everything. 00:31:55.679 --> 00:32:00.159 It costs you nothing. 00:32:00.159 --> 00:32:11.240 It's all a gift, as Paul says, it's all of His glorious grace. 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:20.119 And that grace, that free gift is reminding us of the fact that all of God's salvation 00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:22.879 is being freely offered to us all. 00:32:22.879 --> 00:32:28.439 And that's why if you are not yet a Christian this evening here in the building or if you're 00:32:28.439 --> 00:32:34.839 watching at home, if you're not yet a Christian, you are not being excluded from this. 00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:38.839 You are being invited into it. 00:32:38.839 --> 00:32:44.319 All of this is what God wants for you too. 00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:47.039 And I don't know where you are in your own minds. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:51.279 And I know that maybe some of you have been thinking about Christianity for a long, long 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:52.279 time. 00:32:52.279 --> 00:32:54.720 I am only here with you for one more week. 00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:59.799 So please listen to the three most important words you'll ever hear from my mouth. 00:32:59.799 --> 00:33:04.039 Go for it. 00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:06.599 Go for it. 00:33:06.599 --> 00:33:09.720 Amen. 00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:13.440 Let's pray. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:26.600 Father, we thank you so much that we are more important to you than we've probably ever 00:33:26.600 --> 00:33:29.600 realized. 00:33:29.600 --> 00:33:36.039 We thank you that you want us more than we'll ever really be able to understand. 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:43.960 We thank you that through Jesus we belong with you more than anywhere else. 00:33:43.960 --> 00:33:50.759 And we thank you that your commitment to us as our Father is so great that you'll never 00:33:50.759 --> 00:33:53.920 let us go. 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:58.480 You are an absolutely amazing Father. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:01.720 And we love you so much. 00:34:01.720 --> 00:34:10.320 And we pray that every person here and everyone watching at home would come to know that amazing 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:16.559 love, that amazing communion that we can have with you. 00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:33.599 Amen.