SPEAKER_00 0:07

Thank you, Cambria, for sharing. Uh I've only known Cambria for a little bit a year or so, a little bit more around there, and I must say uh she impresses me. Uh her faith in the Lord, her love for people, and that's what I want to talk about today. But I think um I I do want to recognize people uh who maybe have come for the first time. I know Janet is here from Santa Barbara. Uh Janet, do you wanna do you wanna say anything? Um as a president of KCM at Santa Barbara.

unknown 0:45

Hello, my name is Janet. I'm uh I'm coming to your uh and I'm a KC.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Welcome. And I think someone next to Caitlin is someone I have not seen before. Would you like to introduce yourself if you feel comfortable?

unknown 1:06

Yeah, sure. Um hi everyone. My name is Venus. Um Caitlin.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Welcome. Everybody else is a familiar face. Okay. Well, if if the Lord does something in your heart, I want Saturdays once a month to be a time where you can feel free to share, like like Cambria did. You don't have to have a mission trip or something of that magnitude. If you just feel God has uh blessed you, and um uh please uh let me know before next month and and we'll try to squeeze you in. Uh please turn with me to Colossians 1. Colossians 1, verse 3 to 6. Colossians 1, 3 to 6. We are gonna try, since it's only once a month, uh I am gonna try to cover all of Colossians, but I'm gonna try to keep it as short as possible. Colossians 1, 3 to 6. We always thank God, the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of this, of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel. Okay, let's pray. Father, we pray that you would help us to unpack the gospel message uh in a simple way. We pray that you would uh bring revelation and insight of what is the mystery of this message of good news for people of all generations. Thank you, Lord. We availed our time, this time to you. We pray that you would speak, give us ears to hear. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name.

unknown 3:02

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

So, faith and love. How can we become like this? If we can be known for two things, may it be faith and love. Our faith in Jesus, our trust in Jesus, and our the love that we have for the saints and for people in general. You've heard the gospel, and if you read in verse 5, it says that this gospel is indeed spreading throughout the world and is bearing fruit. And I think sometimes we we truncate the gospel that Jesus died for our sins and he was buried, he rose again three days later, and because of that he conquered sin and death, and and we think that is only what the gospel message is. Uh and it's great if your church preaches the gospel. Uh but I think you'll see from the from the letter of the uh Book of Colossians, this letter, that the gospel is much deeper, much wider than that. It's almost like we we took Jesus' last few moments and we made that the sum of his life, and we act like that was something 2,000 years ago, and we forget that he's still alive, seated at the right hand of God, and this gospel of this risen Jesus is much more than he paid for my sins. And so I pray that the Lord will bring more revelation of this. How does this gospel message bear fruit and is increasing through the world? It says in Colossians 1, verse 9 and 10. And so from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully, pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. I forgot to mention the title for today is The Mystery and the Rhythm of the Christian Life. The mystery and the rhythm of the Christian life. And because I only preach once a week, I have time to think of deeper titles. So it is once a month. I only preach once a month, so I have a little bit more time to think through. And the reason why I'm trying quickly to cover this book in one shot is because that's how it was delivered in the first place. That these letters were written, and it's not like, okay, this week we're only gonna cover five verses. Come back next week, I'll read the rest of the letter. No, in one shot. You're getting all four chapters in one letter. And I am gonna try to give you a framework and I encourage you to go back this week, reread this book, and see if what I'm saying makes sense to you and it becomes personal to you. The mystery and the rhythm of the Christian life. And then it says in verse 15, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And there's something much fuller that Paul is trying to get at here. The gospel is, sure, he died for your sins, he died on a cross, the blood was shed, the penalty of sin was paid for, but this gospel message cannot just apply to just the few moments at the end of his life. This gospel message is the whole of his life. And then the fact that he's resurrected means we continue to fellowship with Christ. Some people theologically say this is union with Christ. You're united with Christ, and now you're growing in him. This is much more fuller explanation. And these verses just try to increase our appetite and our hunger for Jesus. He is far more than we think. And you need him far more than you and I realize. That he is preeminent, meaning every time you gather, his name is above all names. And this message of the gospel, this good news that is bearing fruit, is something that you don't just tack on at the end of a message when there's an altar call. This message is Jesus Christ in all of his fullness. The fullness of God was made evident, and we catch a glimpse of him in Scripture. But this same Jesus who was fully God, fully man, now sits at the right hand of God. And we get to fellowship. We're actually united with him and this fullness. It says in verse 27, let me give you another taste, verse 27. To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you. The hope of glory. So the title, The Mystery and the Rhythm of Christian Life. What is the mystery? It's not rhetorical. What is this mystery? Christ in us. Christ in us. Not Jesus 2,000 years ago dying for you, and we just remember what he did. The gospel message is Jesus is alive. He's seated at the right hand of God, and this, and there's a deposit through this Holy Spirit, Christ, his Spirit, and all believers. This gospel message is good news. It is way bigger than what he did by dying on a cross for sin. It says in verse 28 and 29 of chapter 1. Him we proclaim. Warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. A true apostle, a true pastor, a true Christian leader has this heart. Not just happy that you showed up to church, but wanting Christ to be formed in you. This fullness that we're talking about, that now it's coming, it's overflowing out of you. It's transforming you. And when there's imperfections, when there's sin, when there's things that are just not right, the minister of the gospel agonizing in prayer over you. That is what it means to love somebody. Not always that you do nice things for them or you spend time with them, but you have this type of heart in prayer, this deficiency I see in them. Maybe I'm not going to talk to them right away, but I'm agonizing. I want Christ to be formed in them. This fullness, this mystery to be revealed to them so that it comes out more and more. This is the heart of a Christian minister. We're not just happy gathering a crowd. We want every one of us to be the fullness of God in Christ. That there's no self, there's no pride, there's no, there's a genuine love, there's genuine humility, considering others more important than ourselves. That is a gathering of saints when we meet like this. And then it says in chapter 2, verse 3. Sorry, I should have written all these verses. My eyes are starting to fade me. Chapter 2, verse 3. In whom are hidden all the treasures. Let me read verse 2, which is Christ. In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I think as Christians, we we grew up hearing about Jesus, and at some point we kind of get bored. And so we want to talk about other topics that are more glamorous, like community and serving and missions and just other topics and how to have a good marriage with Christ at the center. And these are all good things that we do need to get to. But did you know that all the wisdom and treasures are in Christ? Not just what he did by dying on a cross, but just who he is. Did you know just getting to know him, you're gaining wisdom for life? It's not because somebody taught you that, but you're directly getting revelation because you are seeking him as your treasure. And he is depositing truth to your heart. And you cannot get this anywhere else except directly if you are seeking treasure in Christ. You have to value him that much. And when you value him that much, he will deposit things that nobody else knows. And it comes directly from Jesus. In chapter 3, verse 1, it says, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. And I love that last verse. When Christ, who is your life, Jesus is my life, Jesus is your life. Now we're getting to the fullness of who Christ is and what he means to a believer. Jesus is my life. In other words, another way to say it is, I live for Jesus. He is my treasure, he is my master, he is my Lord. I've forsaken things of this world. I'm not seeking earthly things. My mind is set on things above. This is the fullness of this good news that we're receiving in Christ. Jesus is my life. And so just something to think through as you listen to the remainder of this message is how do you fill in this blank? I live for a blank. Is it Jesus? I live for Jesus. He is a treasure. He is my Lord. I live for him. Whatever he says goes. I forsake everything in this world. Doesn't matter what my parents say, doesn't matter what society says, I only listen for him. That is somebody who understands the gospel. The fullness of Jesus is literally my life. I give my life for Jesus. I live for Jesus. How do you fill in the blank? I live for what he's living for. And with this as the context, he warns us in chapter 2, verse 4. It says, chapter 2 is actually a chapter of warning. It says in chapter 2, verse 4. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. There are many things that you hear on a Sunday or a Saturday or a Friday Bible study. It's plausible. It's a good argument. But it's not spiritual. It's just a man-made clever saying. It's not Jesus words. It's not what Jesus says. And you might, if you don't know Jesus and you don't know Scripture, you might get deceived by that and get latched onto that and pursue that plausible idea and lose 20 years of your life. But the more you know Jesus, you're not deceived. You know that's plausible, but that's not biblical. That's not from the Lord. That's just this person spinning it. He has some agenda, she has some agenda. I can dismiss it. And then he says in verse 8 of the same chapter. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. Another way that we get deceived is just human tradition. This is how we do things. It's always been done this way. And it's just somebody's culture, it's just somebody's whatever, their preference. But somehow it got elevated, this tradition, this way of doing things, got elevated. That Koreans act this way, and I'm older than you, so you better listen to me. That's just culture. That's not biblical. I can be, I can be, I can listen to a younger brother in Christ if he speaks truth. I can listen to him. It doesn't have nothing to do with age. Don't be deceived by human tradition, culture, plausible arguments. It's not from Jesus. It's not from Jesus. So we have to be people who hear the shepherd's voice and gotta know his word, and then at the right time the word will come alive. And you know, okay, now Jesus is speaking to me now. I better pay attention. And then verse 16 to 23, chapter 2, further warnings. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you. Ah, there it is. Verse 16. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival, or a new moon, or a Sabbath. These are the shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by a sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. If with Christ you die to the elemental spirits of the world, why why as if you were still alive in the world do you submit to regulations? Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, referring to things that all persist perish as as they are used according to human precepts and teachings. They have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. So here there are two extremes. One is you have the legalism, the religious tradition, do not do this. This is how you need to act, and boiling down Christian life to precepts, do's and don'ts. That's one deception. The other deception is well, I had a dream, I had a vision, and now it's it's it's it's it's something that the Lord is, it's not even in Scripture, but I'm gonna add to Scripture because I'm so confident in this dream, and now I'm gonna form my own cult, my own religion, because this revelation is new, and now I have a whole follow people following me based on this sensuous mind that's getting fed and this ego that's being built up. And all of this is deception. And if there's some things in scripture, here's a great, you just keep coming back to this chapter. The substance is in Christ. So this regulation that you read about in the Old Testament, you say, okay, do I literally have to follow this Old Testament? No, it's just a pointer. The fulfillment is in Christ. It's everything is teaching you about Jesus, everything in Scripture from cover to cover is about Jesus. And you're learning something about him. So don't get stuck on the rule, the regulation. That is a pointer, the substance is in Christ. So whenever you hear a YouTube preacher, make sure it's in the Bible what they're saying. Make sure it's in the Bible. Make sure it's not just their own puffed up whatever. That they are they just want to be famous. Make sure everything, everything that I'm saying, make sure that it you can find it in Scripture. And so those are the warnings. And then now let's get into the mystery. Again, the mystery is Christ in us. Christ in us. And I'm gonna unpack now for the rest of this message. What does it mean to be united to Christ? Christ in us, union with Christ. What does that look like? How do we How does that practically work out in a believer's life? That's the remainder of this message. And the second part, which unpacks the first, is the rhythm of the Christian life. Just do this exercise with me. Let's breathe in together. Let's breathe out together. Breathe in. Breathe out. Christian life, this rhythm is like breathing. There's something we breathe in, there's something we breathe out. Another way to say it is you put off and you put on. Another thing, another way to say the same thing is you repent and you turn to Jesus in faith. Breathing, putting off, putting on, repenting, turning to Jesus in faith. This is the rhythm of the Christian life. And let me show you. It's all in chapter 3. It says in verse 5, put away certain things. Verse 8, put away certain things, put to death certain things. Verse 9, put off certain things. This is repentance. I used to live this way. I used to do these things. I'm putting them away. I'm putting them to death. And then you, that's repentance. And then in faith, you breathe in. You turn in faith to Jesus. And Jesus is exactly opposite of your sins. And you breathe in his character as you are united with him. That is the rhythm of Christian life. Let's look at verse 10. It says, put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. And then in verse 12, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. So you and I all have a list of sins. If you are a Christian and you have Christ in you and the Holy Spirit is in you, then as you look back on your day, I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you of your sins often. And if you don't know what sins to repent of, I will show you a list toward the end. But just this list of sins, this repentance is something, it's just like breathing. You've got to be doing it all the time. You've got to be doing it all the time. And even Paul, as a godly saint, the closer he got to a holy God, he just saw more of his sin. Before it was sinful actions. Okay, he overcame those things early on. But now it's even the motives and the thoughts of the heart, the deeper things, as he gets closer and closer to a holy God and more and more this image of God in Christ, more like Jesus. He's repenting more and more. Not because he's sinning blatantly more and more, but because he's being made pure. As our Heavenly Father is holy. So putting on this new self first is the reason why I say repentance and faith. Repentance is putting off. Putting on is faith, running to Jesus. It says, verse 10, put on the new self which is being renewed, and the knowledge after the image of his creator. And so repentance and faith always have to go together. If you just repent and you just feel bad, you're never going to change. You're never going to change. If you just keep saying sorry, I keep messing up, I keep messing up, and you just keep saying sorry over and over, you're never going to change. If you're impatient and you say, Lord, I blew it again. I just lost my temper. Forgive me. You're going to keep on being impatient. Until in faith you put on something else. You go to Jesus in faith. You went to him to, he's your savior. And so you go to him to get cleansing from your sins, to get washed through his blood. But that's only part one. He's my savior. The gospel truncated to just save me from my sin. No, the rest of the Christian life is union with Christ. You're united with Christ. Christ is now in you. And you turn to him in faith and say, I want to know you. And then you say, I put on, not these just general divine qualities, but you see it in the person of Jesus. And you say, Jesus, that thing that I lack that I see in you, please put it in my heart. That's how we change. I'm impatient. You go to Jesus, you repent. That's just like breathing. Put away that impatience, that anger, the rage, the temper. But you go to Jesus and say, I want your patience. It's a divine exchange. It's like Matthew 11, 28 to 30, that you're reliving over and over, not just through our burdens, but also your sins. You bring it to Him and say, I sinned in these ways, and I see that you're different. Can you put that nature in me? Can you exchange my fallen nature for your perfect nature? That is a more fuller gospel of someone who understands being united with Christ. That's why it says in verse 12, chapter 3, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Remember the fullness of God that is that dwelt in Christ. Now this Jesus by His Spirit is in you. And you turn to Jesus and you say, you exchange your fallen nature for his perfect nature. And that is what we put on. And it says in verse 15, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful. Verse 16 and 17, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. This word, this gospel, this good news, is much more than he died for my sins. It is, I can be transformed as I learn to breathe. This rhythm of Christian life, this mystery that Paul is just scratching at the surface, trying to describe the fullness in Christ, his preeminence, his supremacy. And he lives in you. And you can get to know him, and by knowing him you will change. Not just forgiveness of sins, but adopting his nature. So if you're wondering, what kinds of sins do I need to repent of? This letter ends with a practical look at some things that we can look at together. So, chapter 3, verse 18, and I'm going to read to the first verse of chapter 4, and we'll end. It says, Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged. Bondservants, obey in everything. Those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Chapter 4, verse 1. Masters treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven. And so what are some things that we need to repent of? If you're alone on an island, you might think, I don't have to repent of anything. I'm very godly, I'm a saint. But if you're in community with people and you're trying to make friends and you're trying to invest in relationships and you're close to your family, then there's plenty here for us to repent of. Starting with wives and husbands. It may seem out of place or offensive to even talk about this in California with many educated people here, that there is leadership and there is submission in a marriage context. And so when a wife hears something from her husband and she just doesn't want to do it. And actually shouts it back at the husband and says, You're wrong, I'm not listening to you. Then as a Christian wife, she needs to wrestle with this verse. How come I'm the kind of person that nobody can tell me what to do? I know better than my husband. He's not spiritual. Husbands. Love your wives. Don't be harsh. Doesn't say anything about the wife and their tone. But a husband, your tone matters. Even if your wife is nagging you and you're just fed up, you just cannot be harsh. You just can't be harsh. But there's this thing in you, you just can't hold it in. It's just you've always just just when you're bothered, you just, you either just are harsh or you shut down. These are things, okay. Shutting down is not loving. Running to you to your buddies is not loving. Driving away to the golf range is not loving. Being harsh is not loving. I can speak a lot more about men. Husbands, I'm a man. There's many non-godly ways, ungodly ways to be a husband. And this thing that rises up in you saying, well, I'm not going to love her. She's not lovable. I'm going to be harsh with her because she deserves it. That is something the husband has to repent of. Not everybody here is married. But most of us, actually, all, no, that's not true. All of us, all of us have had parents. Maybe they were not in your life, but at some point you had a parent. And your parent, I bet, told you things over the years that you just didn't want to hear. And so that reaction of disobedience, that defiance, which can grow as you become a teenager and you start rebelling and saying, I know better than my parents. I can say that because I felt that way as a teenager too. My dad is always lecturing me, he's a professor, so when he lectures, it's at least an hour. Just monologuing. He's a professor. That's his training. He's just gonna talk. I do the same thing to my boy. So I'm not saying that's bad, but I just monologuing for an hour because as a father, I think I know better than my sons. And I remember as a son feeling so just just writhing anger. Like, how come he just never thinks he's wrong, always thinks he's right. And he wants me to obey him, and okay, I'm gonna obey him, but not right away. I'm gonna be slow in obeying, or I'm just gonna ignore, I'm gonna obey parts of it. He told me to clean right now, I'm gonna clean 10 minutes from now to show to show him that I'm in control. I'm the boss. So, this this thing in children, do you think you grow out of it after you leave your parents' household? That thing, if it's not dealt with, it's gonna come out again. Nobody can tell me what to do. This friend just said something, I don't like it. I'm not gonna be that person's friend. You just cut that person off. I don't feel comfortable anymore. I'm gonna find people that make me feel good about myself. Maybe you can get away with it. But at some point, if you're married, now you're stuck. Now this thing that you're trying, you've been running your whole life, now you've been you're married to another sinner. Good luck. If your whole life, you just cut people off, you didn't deal with things, you're passive, you're quiet, at some point it's gonna catch up with you. So these things are universal. Whether you're married or not, we've all had parents, we all had people speaking things to us, we thought we knew better. This rebelliousness. And then fathers, it says. If you're a good father, you try to help your children. You try to discipline them, whether they want it or not, you try. But the warning here, just the same way that husbands don't be harsh, fathers don't exasperate. And that's a fine line. I don't know if I've gotten that right. To discipline without crossing over to provoking and exasperating my sons. These are things we wrestle with, our sins. And we say, Jesus, you're not like this. Imagine Jesus. A sinless boy who never committed any sin. And he has parents that are sinful. Joseph and Mary. Jesus probably knew better than Joseph and Mary. And yet, for Jesus to say this, that means he himself obeyed sinful parents. And there's no clause here. It says, obey your parents in everything. Maybe only speaking of minors under your parents' roof. There are house rules, you've got to respect the house rules. Hopefully, after you leave the parents' house, your relationship with your children changes and it's no longer parent-child, but it's more like, okay, we're in this together. But growing up, it is obey children in everything. Fathers doesn't single out the mothers, fathers. Because the tendency of the fathers is for us to lose our patience. In the same way that comes out in harshness with toward our wives, it comes out in crossing the line into provocation with our children. And these are things, just regularly pray to the Lord. Why is this thing in me? That just cuts people off, that just thinks I know better, and this pride and this anger and this just walls I put up and this. All of this is opposite of why Paul is praising this group of believers at the Colisei, the Colossian church. They are famous for faith and love for all the saints. We want to grow into becoming a people who trust Jesus, who have faith in Jesus, and who have love for the saints. Not selectively, but just generally. We're just loving, embracing all the saints with all of our flaws. You know, most times if you don't like a church, someone at a church, you just leave the church. But I've been on the other side. I'm a pastor of a church. I can't leave myself. I'm stuck with whoever God brings, for better or for worse. It's almost like marriage. You're stuck with that person for better or for worse. It's like parents or children. You're stuck with that parent, that child for better or for worse. It's how God sanctifies. To be in covenant with one person until death do you part, to be in covenant with your parents and children to a lesser extent. To be in covenant with other believers. That you're working things out. And unless you're your own boss or an entrepreneur, all of us have bosses. And maybe you have a good boss. I've had good bosses and many, many bad bosses. And I disagreed with a lot of things. Now I'm my own boss. But it is a training from the Lord to be under a difficult boss. And you're not serving your boss, you're serving unto the Lord. And you're working wholeheartedly, not because of the boss, but because you have a boss. And then if you ever become a boss or a manager, that you will treat people under you in your department a certain way because you have a boss above you. See, all of this is about relationships. And so you have to look in the context of the relationship that God has placed in your life right now. How are you doing as a child to your parents? How are you doing as a parent to a child? How are you doing with a husband to a wife, a wife to a husband? How are you doing as an employee to your employer? How do you react when somebody calls you out, says something that is very true? Or it's just the way they want things run. Do you react with this anger, this this, I'm just, I'm just biting my lip, I just gotta get through this. Or is there a deeper work that in the context of these relationships, God wants to work on our hearts? I pray that it gives us plenty of homework. This gospel of good news. We have plenty to repent and to ask Jesus in faith for a deposit of his character. Okay, let's pray. First, let's put off or put away or put to death in sinful ways. And we're not doing this in isolation. We're turning to our Savior who paid for that sin. And we tell him we're sorry, and we don't want to sin like that again. And if you don't know what sins to repent of, examine all of your relationships that God has put in your life, in your family, in your living situation, in your church context, local church context. I think if you're honest, there's a lot of room to grow in terms of faith and love. A love that is like the Lord. He's not selective in his love. He has loved all of us while we were still sinners. He's not careful and restrictive in his love. Let us repent of all the ways that these relationships that God has a place in our lives show us the condition of our hearts. That is just not right. This heart is not right. This becoming harsh and saying things is just not right. This cutting people off, it's not right. This this lovelessness is not right. Thinking I know better. Thinking this person just doesn't know what he's saying. He should or she says. It's not right, this heart, the judgmental heart, this loveless heart. Let's just spend a moment just breathing out repentance. And just tell Jesus you're sorry and ask him to forgive you. Let's pray. Please forgive me for all the ways I fall short as a father provoking the boys. Exasperation, Lord. I don't want them to be discouraged. Forgive me, Lord. For cutting people off in my heart. To be apathetic, loveless. It's like murdering in my heart to just not want to deal with certain people. Forgive me, Lord. That is not your heart for such people. Tell me to forgive everyone as you forgive me. Tell me, Lord, we put off all these sins. We put off all these sins. These relationships highlight many sins of the heart. I didn't know we're there. Forgive us, Lord. Forgive us, Lord. I'm so sorry, I don't want to be like this. So sorry, Lord. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. The final part of prayer is now we breathe out our faith. And we turn to Jesus. In all the ways that you just confessed that you fell short. It's time for a divine exchange. Ask Jesus for his patience, his humility, his love, his joy, the fruit of his spirit. Let's ask for a divine exchange, exchanging our sins for his perfection. So let's let's just pray, breathing out repentance, breathing out faith. The mystery and the rhythm of the Christian life. Okay, let's pray.