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Gospel Community | Romans 12 | Gabe Roloff · The Salt Company Denver

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Hey, worship team, thank you guys so much.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: We're so thankful for y'all.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Can we give it for a worship team once a good name?
0:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're so thankful for them, guys.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, my name's Gabe.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Uh good to see y'all.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing tonight?
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Somebody to sing.
0:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh JT's too short.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna stay like that, I guess.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: Um, guys, my name's Gabe.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: Gabe Roloff.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Um uh man, I've been at Storyline for almost two years now, which is crazy.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh went to Color Rider Christian, we're all more cougars at it.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Come on, a little representation.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: Um man, it's a joy to be with you guys tonight.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh these opportunities for me to teach in front of you guys don't come around too often, but whenever they do, I'm just honestly just overjoyed.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, just grateful to just stand in front of y'all and um deliver the Lord's word.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And I hope that uh what tonight is is about is not me.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: I really do hope that uh as you guys leave, uh as you guys think about this teaching in a week, that I'm forgotten and then the word of the Lord is remembered.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Um but a lot of you guys probably noticed that uh it's just me, Ben and Ashton here tonight, the OG crew, um, because a lot of our staff are actually um up in Breckenridge for our storyline staff retreat.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: We have the opportunity every year um to just get away from uh the work, get away from all of the organizational things we need to do to run a ministry and just uh be with God and be with one another.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And so that's where they're at.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Um and so they're gone.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: They you know they looked down to the end of the bench and um to the water boy and they asked me to put a jersey on.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: So we're in the game, baby.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: It's an inspirational story.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Um no, but seriously, guys, man, I'm so thankful to be here with you guys tonight.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're continuing our series, Gospel Community in Romans 12.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: So if you have a Bible, I would love for you guys to open up to uh Romans 12.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be starting uh in verse 9.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have a Bible, there's one in front of you in the seat in front of you.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: And I want you guys to just open the word tonight and see what the word has to say to you.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: I don't want you guys to hear my words.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: I want you to open up the scriptures and read it for yourself.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't have a Bible, man, we'd love to give that to you as a gift.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: Um you can take that home.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: Um a lot of you guys know this, but some of you guys don't.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I actually have been playing soccer for a lot uh of years in my life.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: Where are my soccer players in here?
2:22
SPEAKER_00: We got a few.
2:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there they are.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I've been playing soccer since I was three years old.
2:29
SPEAKER_00: Um honestly, when I was my first soccer game, I was wearing diapers still.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Um it was the Mbappe project.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: And um yeah, when you're a soccer player, you own a lot of soccer cleats.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: Um it's just kind of the the thing that happens is you get soccer shoes every year, you get maybe one pair, two pair.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Um and I've owned a lot of soccer cleats throughout my life, so you know I've been playing soccer for 20 years, uh, and that means I go through a lot of shoes.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: And you know, I've had all the soccer cleats.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: Um I've had expensive pairs, had not so expensive pairs, uh, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Puma.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh you name the brand, and I probably had the soccer cleat of it.
3:10
SPEAKER_00: And um I've learned that there's good ones and bad ones, but I have a particular story.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: I was in sixth grade.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh, so I just got into middle school.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: I was feeling pretty tough.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: And uh there was this girl that liked me.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: Praise God, you know.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: Next next week we're talking about relationships, so come back if if you want that to be you.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, not in sixth grader.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: But that's not a thing, that's not a thing.
3:39
SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm saying.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: And anyway, so actually, she was in eighth grade, and I was in sixth grade.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: That's not the point.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: She she liked me, and my birthday my birthday was coming up, and uh she wanted to give me a birthday present, and so you know, she came up to me and she's like, Hey, what do you want for your birthday?
4:05
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, I'm a soccer player, I love soccer cleats.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, my parents uh didn't buy me the really nice ones, and I wanted the really nice ones.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: And so I found these super sick Nike cleats.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you're a soccer player, you know it's the old hyper venoms, the ones that came up to the ankle, they were black with orange and red on them.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: They were part of$300.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Well, test this out.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: We'll see how much she really likes me.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I just I go on Google Images and I I copy paste it and I I send her the link, and I said, I want these bad boys.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, you know, I'm like not expecting these to really show up, but it's worth a try.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: Um you know, a few weeks later, a few weeks later, uh a few weeks go by, and um sure enough, she comes up to me, she hands me this box, and it has the Nike cleats in it.
4:51
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh shoot.
4:58
SPEAKER_00: You really like me.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, no.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: Uh but I was not expecting to get these really expensive cleats, and so uh, you know, I take my other box, I'm like, oh, these look great, and um I got soccer practice coming up.
5:09
SPEAKER_00: So, and you know, I put the soccer cleats on, and you know, they don't feel like super great, but new cleats don't always feel that good, so I was like, maybe I just gotta break them in.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: And I start running around, start kicking the soccer ball around, and I like start to feel like them cracking underneath my feet.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, this is not good.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh you know, I'm running around, it's been 30 minutes, 40 minutes, and I start to see like the skin of the cleat falling off the shoe.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: And this is where this is where I'm starting to get a little concerned.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: Um, and and just throughout the practice, they're deteriorating, they're falling off, and I, you know, I shoot it, the Nike sign goes flying.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: I think I hit a kid in the eye.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the practice, I mean they're pretty much just like tatters at my feet.
5:52
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, what in the world did she buy me?
5:56
SPEAKER_00: These cleats suck.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just like, what the heck are these things?
6:03
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, these cleats look great when I trick them out of the box.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Like, what is going on?
6:08
SPEAKER_00: And they looked real, but as soon as I started playing in them, they started to fall apart.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: They were actually a cheap alternative from a Chinese website, it was probably Timu or something, and they were not actually Nike.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: I was pissed.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: I got over it though.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: They were cheap alternatives to the real Nikes.
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And here's my fearsol company.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: I think that we've actually been sold a cheap alternative of love.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: If you look at verse 9, the first thing that Paul says is, let love be genuine.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: And I think we've been sold a cheap alternative of love, like I've been sold a cheap alternative of Nikes.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: A love that looks really great on the outside, but as soon as real life happens, it crumbles underneath pressure.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Friends, I actually think we've been sold by the world a cheap love, a fake love.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: So look again at verse 9.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: How does Paul start this chapter?
7:06
SPEAKER_00: He says, Let love be without hypocrisy.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: The ESV version says, Let love be genuine, real.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know, uh Paul's writing to the Church in Rome, it's kind of the entire series we've been talking about in the last few weeks.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: And the Church of Rome is actually really interesting.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: It's a hodgepodge of different people from different places with different titles and different reputations and different social statuses.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: There are male and female Roman citizens, there are Jews, government officials, soldiers and workers.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: And if there are officials there, there are most definitely slaves and workers there as well.
7:47
SPEAKER_00: And so, as I'm listing, you know, this short list of different types of people, I'm sure you guys are beginning to notice these unique relational lines that are being drawn through these particular types of people.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Romans and Jews, I don't know if you've read much of history or even the Bible, but not a good combo.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Slaves and government officials, not a great combo.
8:12
SPEAKER_00: Men and women, not a great combo.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: It's like CCU and minds come together, not a good combo.
8:20
SPEAKER_00: And there's definitely some tension in the Church of Rome.
8:24
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people that should not be going together, being together, and they're now united under the family of Christ.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: This is what the last two weeks has looked like.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Paul is saying, Man, we're one body.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Forget your social status, forget your title, forget your wealth.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: You are now united under Christ.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: So they share one thing in common.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: They share Christ, a new family.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: And Paul, right above in this section in chapter 12, in the verses right above last week, Colin is talking about having gifts that God has given unique gifts to each individual person.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: But what's the purpose of those gifts?
9:03
SPEAKER_00: The purpose is not for the individual, it's to edify the body.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: It's to glorify God in the context of the group of believers, the body of Christ.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: And this is really what this whole series has been about: different people with different personalities and different gifts, but in the same family.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: One family.
9:24
SPEAKER_00: So we find ourselves here in verse 9.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Let love be without hypocrisy.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Detest what is evil, cling to what is good.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, Well, now that you're a family, you have to love your family.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a pretty simple command.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: Now that you're a family, you gotta love your family.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: And we're all like, Yeah, I mean, of course.
9:47
SPEAKER_00: We love our family.
9:48
SPEAKER_00: We love our own personal families.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, we know we're supposed to love people.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us to love people.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Scriptures tell us to love people.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: And ideally, yes, we we love everyone, but I think anyone with uh family would know this isn't exactly always how it works, right?
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Who in here has siblings?
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Y'all know that's not how it works, right?
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's like, yeah, they're family, but have you met my brother?
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Have you met my sister?
10:18
SPEAKER_00: They're difficult, we're difficult people, aren't we?
10:21
SPEAKER_00: And so just because we're family doesn't mean it's always easy to love.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul tells this Roman church, this messy, diverse, complicated family, let love be genuine.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: Let love be genuine.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: And so that that first word for love that Paul uses in verse 9, if you look down in the Greek, it's the word agape.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: He uses a couple different words for love in this section.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: The first one he uses is agape.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: And this word is used to describe the covenantal love that God has for us.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: Not a conditional love, not a love that when we do something good for God, they think God loves us.
10:54
SPEAKER_00: Agape is used for a covenantal love.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: It's a love that no matter what's happening moves towards the good of another.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: It's a self-giving love.
11:01
SPEAKER_00: That's the first word that Paul uses.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: And then in verse 10, if you look at verse 10, it gets really interesting.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: He combines the word for friendship and family affection together.
11:10
SPEAKER_00: He uses this word philo storgos, a combination of philia, which is friendship, and storia, which is family affection.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: Family affection and friendship, he combines them.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: So he says, love each other with the affection of families, is what we've been talking about.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: We're now one family united.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: Love each other like your mother loves you, like you love your mother.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: The love that a father has for a son, love one another like that.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: And then he pairs it with another word.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Philadelphia.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: We have any Eagles fans in here?
11:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: Sure, alright.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys heard of Philadelphia before?
11:48
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay.
11:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's the city of brotherly love.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: That's what that stands for.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: The city of brotherly love.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul uses this other word, Philadelphia, brotherly love.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: So he says, love like friends, love like family, or you could say love like family.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: That's a little word I invented.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: Love like family, friendship, and family affection.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: That's how Paul wants us to love one another.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: But so it's all coming.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: This is what I really want you to see tonight.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: This is what I want you to see tonight.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Paul isn't primarily telling us how to feel about people, he's actually telling us how to treat people.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's calling us to genuine love for our family.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: How countercultural is this?
12:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about the culture we live in that says love is a feeling, love is an emotion, love is a uh an intangible force that I have with someone, and it's either there or it's not.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: That's what our culture tells us.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: What Paul says is real Christian love is not just something we feel, it's something we practice, especially when it's difficult.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: In other words, genuine love is not a feeling, it's a practice.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: That's what we're talking about tonight.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is not a feeling, it's a practice.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Alright, we get it, Gabe, we get it.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: Paul wants us to love one another.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: We're a family, we gotta love one another, sure.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to love each other with genuine affection, not fake love, not surface-level love, a real love.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: But the question is not should we do it, it's how do we do it?
13:30
SPEAKER_00: Because we all kind of know like we should love each other as Christians.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: We should do that.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: So the question is, how do we do it?
13:37
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is extremely practical in this section, and I just want to read it for you guys tonight.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: So take a look at verse 9, we'll be starting verse nine.
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, Let love be without hypocrisy, detest evil, cling to what is good, love one another deeply as brothers and sisters, outdo one another in showing honor, do not lack diligence and zeal, be fervent in the spirit and serve the Lord.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: Share with the saints in their needs, pursue hospitality.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Live in harmony with one another.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Do not be proud, instead associate with the humble.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Do not be wise in your own estimation, do not repay anyone evil for evil.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: Give careful thought to do what is honorable in the eyes of everyone.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: If any if possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Friends, do not avenge yourselves.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Instead, leave room for God's wrath.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: Because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me, and I will repay, says the Lord.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: It's really practical, isn't it?
14:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he just lists, he basically just gives a list of things you should do.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: And so I want to be really practical tonight.
14:47
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't want to uh say something the Bible's not saying, so I want to give you guys five ways I think Romans 12 is telling us how to love one another and how love treats people.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: First one, genuine love honors others.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: First one, genuine love honors.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh, there's verse 10 says, take the lead in honoring one another.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: Take the lead in honoring another.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Paul doesn't say wait to feel respected and then give your respect to others.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: He says, take the lead in honoring others.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: Man, Christians should be the first ones to step out and honor one another's.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: In ancient Greek, in the ancient Greek world world, this word for honor referred to the price or value placed on an object, as well as the respect or status given to a person.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: To honor someone means treating someone as valuable and precious and not treating them as ordinary or dismissible.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Treating someone as valuable and precious and not treating someone as ordinary and dismissible.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: So Paul says, honor one another, take the lead in treating others as valuable and precious.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Man, we all want to feel valued, don't we?
15:59
SPEAKER_00: And we all want to feel like we're respected in somebody else's eyes.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: We're seen.
16:05
SPEAKER_00: Man, what would it look like if we took the lead in treating other people as valuable and precious rather than treating them as ordinary and dismissible?
16:16
SPEAKER_00: Man, in a world that is so transactional, you know, in a world, in a culture that tells us, man, only give to someone if they're gonna give back.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, take the lead in honoring one another.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Be counter-cultural.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: What if we led in treating other people as valuable?
16:33
SPEAKER_00: I want to see how, I want you guys to see how radical this command was to the church in Rome.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Like a government official in Rome is in church with a slave sitting next to them, and Paul says, you need to honor him.
16:47
SPEAKER_00: You need to respect him, you need to see him as valuable, though he has nothing to offer you.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: He's not gonna increase your social status, he's not gonna make your reputation better.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, honor him.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Honor those that are lower, honor those that are higher than you.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Show others honor.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: It means you start the culture of honor here at Salt Company.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: Not waiting to see what you'll get from a relationship, but to go first and say, I value you because you've been created in the image of God.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: That's a radical command.
17:21
SPEAKER_00: Man, what if what if every week at Salt Company you decided, I'm gonna find one new person and I'm gonna encourage and honor them tonight?
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Would Salt Company look a little different?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Man, if you committed one person, I'm gonna I'm gonna encourage and I'm gonna honor this person.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love honors others.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Number two, genuine love is eager.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: Verse 11, do not lack diligence and zeal, be fervent in the spirit, serve the Lord.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: In other words, work hard for the Lord.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Work hard to love others.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we're more eager or excited to see our friends at Salt Company than we are to meet lost people and help them get connected.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: I think we're maybe more excited to see the people we know, catch up with them, than we are to actually see the mission of God go forward.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: And trust me, I love that you guys have friends here.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: That's what this is for.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: This is a place to build friendships.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: You should have that.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: But are you coming to Salt Company ready to hang out with your best friends the whole time, or are you coming to Salt Company hoping to make the outsider feel welcomed?
18:28
SPEAKER_00: Man, Paul says be eager, do not lack diligence and zeal.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: Serve the Lord, work hard, expect him to move.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: And that means being eager to see the Lord move, to be a part of what God is doing here at Salt Company.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: And so that's not a condemnation.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: It really isn't.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: It's not, are you doing this?
18:48
SPEAKER_00: Are you not doing this?
18:49
SPEAKER_00: I just want to paint a little picture.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: Man, what if we what if before we got to Salt Company, in our cars with our people, we said, hey, hey, before we go in, let's just sit here and for 30 seconds, let's just pray.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Let's just pray that the Lord is gonna move tonight.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: Man, let's just spend 30 seconds praying that we'll encounter lost people and help them get connected and find Jesus tonight.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: That changes things, I think.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: That's genuine love.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Seeking the Lord and saying, I want to be a part of what you're doing here at Salt Company.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: God, would you make me excited to see lost people be saved?
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Imagine how that would transform how we love people and create a sense of eagerness to truly see people saved here by the Lord.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is eager.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love works hard for the Lord.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: And third, genuine love is resilient.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is resilient.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: I think at this point is maybe the most important one tonight.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: I think we live in a culture, uh we live in a cancel culture, we live in a culture that uh doesn't give second chances.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: We live in a culture that says if you've wronged me, then you're dead to me.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: And what does Paul say?
20:08
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, genuine love is resilience.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Verses 12 to 13, rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, be persistent in prayer.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: Share with the saints and their needs and pursue hospitality.
20:22
SPEAKER_00: Hypocritical love or fake love says, as long as you keep up your end of the deal, I'll keep up mine.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love says, I'll rejoice with you in your celebrations, and I will walk with you in your hardships, and I will not give up on you.
20:38
SPEAKER_00: Man, this one is so important, isn't it, friends?
20:40
SPEAKER_00: This one is so important.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Because we like, like we talked about at the beginning, loving people is really hard.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: Like we all feel this, we know.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: Like friendships are hard, relationships are hard, family is hard, people are messy.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: I suck.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: We all kind of suck, right?
21:00
SPEAKER_00: We all are like uh people will disappoint you, people will misunderstand you, people will hurt you, and people will be difficult.
21:13
SPEAKER_00: And Paul's answer isn't find a new family.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: Paul doesn't say find a new family, he says, be patient.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: Keep praying, keep hoping, keep showing up.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys ever like seen a video um of yourself maybe like in elementary school or middle school, or maybe like last year, and you're like, that was embarrassing.
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys ever had one of those moments?
21:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna tell a story because I have like a million of them.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: But there's so many times where like I see like a family home video, and I'm like, oh, I'm so annoying.
21:50
SPEAKER_00: Or like someone will send me like a Snapchat video from like freshman year of high school, and you're like, wow, my voice is so high, and I'm so annoying.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, right, we've all had these.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Moments where you're like, I was the worst.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: Or like, why did I?
22:05
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: You post that on Instagram, a lot of things.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: Or why did I have that opinion?
22:12
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, man, thank God my parents knew that wasn't who I was gonna be.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: Right?
22:16
SPEAKER_00: We're like, thank goodness they didn't give up on me.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: Because I was the worst and they still loved me.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: And like they saw me grow up into like a more mature person.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: And I think we like feel that and we like have had that experience, but when it comes to other people who disappoint us, we're like, you're dead to me.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: You're done.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm giving up on you.
22:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, what if we had that same like resilience that our parents had for us when we were so little and annoying to people that really frustrate us?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: And we said, that's not who they're gonna be.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: Like the Lord's gonna work in their life.
22:47
SPEAKER_00: I trust God.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, be patient.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: Be patient.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: Man, growing up takes time.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: Sanctification takes time.
23:01
SPEAKER_00: Killing sin takes time.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Be patient.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, be patient with one another.
23:07
SPEAKER_00: How many times has your mom said, Gabe, be patient with him?
23:11
SPEAKER_00: How many times has your mom said, be patient with your brother?
23:14
SPEAKER_00: He's just, you know, like Paul's like pleading with him the same way, be patient with one another.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: He he understands, he knows these people aren't easy.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: Saying, be patient, keep praying, keep hoping.
23:27
SPEAKER_00: And uh this word be be persistent, the definition is to continuing to exist, last or repeat for a long time without stopping.
23:38
SPEAKER_00: And and Paul's key to resilience isn't actually uh more discipline or just like, oh, I'm just gonna wait for this person.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: It's not trying harder.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: What's uh Paul's answer to uh being persist uh to resilience?
23:54
SPEAKER_00: Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, but be persistent in prayer.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: Paul's magic key to resilience is not power but prayer.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: When someone frustrates you, when someone annoys you, when someone says something really hurtful to you, is your first response to say, I'm done with them, or is your first response to prayer?
24:17
SPEAKER_00: To say, Lord, please give me strength.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Please.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: God, would would you work in their life?
24:25
SPEAKER_00: Would you work in my heart?
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Would you give me patience for this person?
24:28
SPEAKER_00: I just don't have it right now.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, be persistent in prayer.
24:34
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love keeps showing up for people even when it's hard.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is resilient.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: Number four, genuine love pursues peace.
24:43
SPEAKER_00: Verse 17 through 18, do not repay anyone for evil, evil for evil.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: Give careful thought to do what's honorable in everyone's eyes.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: I love that verse.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: I love the realism from Paul here.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I know these people are hard, like I really do.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: So as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: He isn't pretending that like relationships aren't hard.
25:13
SPEAKER_00: He he isn't pretending that relationships are always actually in our control.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: But he is challenging us to give our best effort.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: Because here's the thing, Sol Company, you you can't force someone to forgive you.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: You can't force someone to accept your apology.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: You can't control how that person will respond.
25:32
SPEAKER_00: And you can't make someone understand you.
25:37
SPEAKER_00: You can't control every relationship, but you can control how you respond.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: If you forgive, if you give a word of encouragement, if you're patient, if you pray for that person.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: So Paul says, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes loving someone means taking the first step towards someone who has offended you.
26:00
SPEAKER_00: Just like Paul is saying, take the lead in honoring one another.
26:02
SPEAKER_00: He's challenging the church in Rome, take the lead.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: Take the lead in pursuing peace.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it means having a hard conversation with a roommate who's frustrating you.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it means apologizing when you don't think that they deserve it.
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it means refusing to keep score even when you're winning.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, pursue peace as far as you can control, control how you respond.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: Number five, genuine love is humble.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Verse 16, live in harmony with one another.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: Do not be proud.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Instead, associate with the humble.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Do not be wise in your own estimation.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Paul's basically saying, guys, there's no one you're too good for at the end of the day.
26:50
SPEAKER_00: You aren't better than anyone else here.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Remember those relationships that I was talking about?
26:55
SPEAKER_00: The official and the slave, the Jew and the Greek, the man and the woman?
26:58
SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of social divide in that day.
27:00
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of social divide in our day.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying, guess what, guys?
27:04
SPEAKER_00: You aren't better than anyone.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: Do not be proud.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love isn't prideful.
27:12
SPEAKER_00: Athletes, you aren't better than non-athletes.
27:17
SPEAKER_00: Engineers, you aren't better than education majors.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: You aren't better than me.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul says.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: People from Texas aren't better than people from anywhere else.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an Amen?
27:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: Texas people.
27:38
SPEAKER_00: Y'all need to chill.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: It sounds funny, like it does.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, but like we all do this subconsciously, don't we?
27:52
SPEAKER_00: Like it's funny to laugh about certain things, but like we all do this in our heart.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: Like we create these social divides based on culture and wealth and preference and experience.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, nope.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: Paul tells the church in Rome, absolutely not.
28:12
SPEAKER_00: He says, don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: And don't think you know it all.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: He just added that at the end.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Don't be wise in your own estimation.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: You don't know it all.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is humble.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: How do we live this out?
28:31
SPEAKER_00: Talk to me.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: How do we live this out?
28:33
SPEAKER_00: We strive to meet people who are different from us.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: Just like honoring one another, man.
28:37
SPEAKER_00: We strive to meet people that are different from us.
28:39
SPEAKER_00: We engage in disagreements with a humble heart.
28:43
SPEAKER_00: We don't act like we have all the answers.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: We can get into disagreements.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Paul's not saying you can't do that.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: You can disagree about things.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: It's about having a humble heart.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love, man, they they seek others.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: They're humble.
28:59
SPEAKER_00: We look for the alienated and make them our friend.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: We don't assume that everyone who disagrees agrees with us is an idiot.
29:06
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love is humble.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: Guys, I love watching college football.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: I love the college football season.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to our mind football team.
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, come on.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: I love watching you guys, but I have to be honest.
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh my loyalty actually lies with the Michigan Wolverines.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: Gablu.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my season's over.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: If there are any butt guys in the room, I'm praying that God reveals himself to you in a special way.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: And Michigan has the most colored triple wins of any program ever.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna say.
29:46
SPEAKER_00: JJ McCarthy, the goat.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: And if you if you know anything about color triple, you know, like, man, when the when the Wolverines are winning, I'm like, I'm a diehard Wolverine fan, baby.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm defending the players, I'm defending the coaches, I'm telling everybody why Michigan is is actually the best football team to ever exist.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: I'll watch a guy have an incredible game and think, man, this dude is unbelievable.
30:10
SPEAKER_00: But this season has been tough.
30:13
SPEAKER_00: They have a bad game, they lose to the Minnesota Gophers.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a guy throws a couple interceptions or misses a huge play.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: And suddenly I'm like, oh, he sucks.
30:29
SPEAKER_00: Like 48 hours ago, I was like, this is the best guy, the best quarterback to ever exist.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm like, they need to bench him.
30:37
SPEAKER_00: This team is embarrassing, and it's funny because nothing about the person or the team has really changed.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: The same guy I was defending last week is the guy I'm slandering this week, and the same team I was proudly supporting is suddenly an embarrassment to me.
30:51
SPEAKER_00: And what changed?
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Hardship, disappointment.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: As long as things were going well, it was really easy for me to love them.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: But the moment they disappointed me, I was incredibly quick to turn on them.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Man, I think we do this with people all the time.
31:07
SPEAKER_00: Not just with football players, with our friends, with our roommates, with our family, even with our brothers and sisters in Christ in this room.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: As long as they're meeting our expectations, it's easy to love them, but when they disappoint us, when they hurt us, when they disagree with us, they don't show up the way we wanted them to, and suddenly the person we were defending becomes the person we're criticizing.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: The person we love becomes the person we're talking about behind their back.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: The person we called a friend becomes someone we're treating like an enemy.
31:41
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's exactly why Paul says what he says next.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: Because genuine love isn't just love when people are lovable.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: Genuine love actually keeps loving people when they disappoint us.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: It's resilient.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: And Paul takes it even further than just love your brothers and sisters.
32:00
SPEAKER_00: He actually says, bless those that persecute you.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Bless and do not curse.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: He also says, if your enemy is hungry, then feed him.
32:08
SPEAKER_00: Paul isn't describing a love that disappears when relationships get hard.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: He's describing a love that remains even when the other person has given you reasons to walk away.
32:17
SPEAKER_00: And Paul absolutely means our actual enemies.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Paul, he means people that oppose us, people who hurt us, people who even oppose openly Christ.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: But I don't think we should stop there.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the enemy Paul is talking about is the person who used to be your friend.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: The person who's sitting next to you.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: The roommate you can't stand anymore, or the friend who hurt you, the person in your small group who just gets under your skin.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: And Salt Co.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: My fear is that we've gotten really good at turning brothers and sisters into enemies.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: And once we've made that person an enemy in our hearts, we are really good at convincing ourselves that they don't deserve our love.
32:59
SPEAKER_00: I wonder if this sounds familiar.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: They just don't understand.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: They'll never agree with me.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: They don't act right.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: They don't try as hard as I do.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: They don't deserve my love.
33:12
SPEAKER_00: Man, I just can't with them anymore.
33:14
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to recognize an enemy when they're obviously against us.
33:18
SPEAKER_00: It's much harder to recognize when someone we love has slowly become an enemy in our hearts.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: Because we've all done it.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: We've all given up on that person, labeled them a lost cause, and searched for any reason to not love them.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: But what does Paul say, bless those who persecute you?
33:34
SPEAKER_00: Bless and do not curse.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: It literally means to speak good things or pronounce benefit on someone.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: To praise them and to pray that God will grant them grace and good.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: Does that sound like you?
33:47
SPEAKER_00: Does that sound like us?
33:49
SPEAKER_00: And I think if we're being honest, we'd say, Yeah, I know what I'm supposed to do.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I even know how I'm supposed to do it.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: But I just don't really want to.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: You don't understand like that person, like you don't understand.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: And you're right.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Man, I think I've been so convicted.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh just this last uh few days up in Breckenridge, our speaker was talking about the power of the Holy Spirit.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing, guys, you just don't have the power to love people.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: You just don't have the power.
34:22
SPEAKER_00: Only the Holy Spirit can grant you a transformed heart that will love others and move towards others when they give nothing to you.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Only Jesus Christ, by his spirit, can do that in you.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: That's why at the beginning of Romans 12 that we saw just a few weeks ago, Paul says, Let our minds be transformed by Christ.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: Do not conform to the pattern of this world.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
34:45
SPEAKER_00: Your heart must be transformed to love others like this.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's fair.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: So basically, what I meant spiritual warfare.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Now you're good, brother.
35:06
SPEAKER_00: Uh man, our flesh wants us to not do this.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: Look at verses 9 through 16.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: This is what our flesh wants.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: It says, pursue fake love, support and do what is evil, show no affection, do not honor others, be lazy, be cold and apathetic to the things of God, serve ourselves, not the Lord.
35:26
SPEAKER_00: Get frustrated in trials and get angry.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: Turn toward ourselves in self-pity.
35:30
SPEAKER_00: Do not rejoice, do not pray, be greedy and inhospitable, retaliate when persecuted, ignore the hurting, get jealous when others succeed, live in disharmony with brothers and sisters complaining, criticizing, gossiping, and creating division, and be arrogant towards others.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: That's what our flesh wants.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus has shown us another way.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: In 1 John 4.10, it says this this is love.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: This is love.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: Romans 5, it says, But God proves his own love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: This is our power to love others.
36:09
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, in his greatest act of love ever, he lived perfectly and died on your behalf and sacrificed himself for you so that you could be free.
36:19
SPEAKER_00: So how can you love people that are sinners?
36:21
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ loved you when you were a sinner.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: Real Christian love is not just something we feel, it is something we practice, especially when it's difficult.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus' love shows us the opposite of that list I just gave you.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: It says this Jesus loved us with genuine love, with words and actions and not religious pretense.
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Jesus hates what is evil and loves what is good.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Jesus loved the brothers and sisters with brotherly affection.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was dishonored so that we may be honored.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was a man of zeal.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus rejoiced in hope.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: He endured tribulation and was constant in prayer.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus was generous, even with himself, pouring himself out on the cross for your behalf.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: Jesus loved his enemies.
37:04
SPEAKER_00: Jesus unites people in harmony from every tongue, tribe, and nation, like it says in Revelation 7, everyone will come together to praise the Lord one day.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus associates with the lowly, and he even took a repentant thief to paradise with him, and he's associated with us.
37:19
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of love Paul is calling us to.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Real Christian love is not just something we feel, it's something we practice even when it's difficult.
37:29
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did it for you.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did the most difficult thing.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: He died on your behalf, so we can love others the same way.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: You have been loved when you didn't deserve it.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: So Salt Company, before we wrap up tonight, who do you need to love when it's difficult?
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Who's that that face that just flashed in your mind when I said when they're difficult, when it's difficult?
37:53
SPEAKER_00: Who do you need to love?
37:56
SPEAKER_00: The roommate, the friend, the family member, the teammate in this room, the person you haven't talked to in months?
38:01
SPEAKER_00: Who do you need to love, even though it's difficult?
38:04
SPEAKER_00: Because Paul tells us that real Christian love is not just something we feel, something we practice when it's difficult.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: Will you pray with me?
38:17
SPEAKER_00: Father, we are just so weak.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: We just don't have the strength.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: A love like this feels impossible.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: It feels unattainable, it feels unrealistic.
38:29
SPEAKER_00: How could you call us to something like this?
38:31
SPEAKER_00: And so we just open our hands, Lord.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, we just give it up to you.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: We know that we can't do it.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: Would you give us strength?
38:40
SPEAKER_00: In moments of trial and tribulation, in moments where it feels like we've been hurt too badly, beyond repair, when they've said something that's too far, God, would you give us strength?
38:53
SPEAKER_00: God, would you give us the power to overcome by your spirit, Lord?
38:58
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: So company, let's stand together and sing praises to