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Transcript

Advent 2024: Love · The Father's Business Podcast

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: I'm Elizabeth Gunter Powell.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: And I am Kimberly Roddy.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: We are so glad that you've joined us.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: We're excited to tell you about our Ruach Journey Conference.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: That's coming soon.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: It will be March 5th through 7th at Sandy Cove Conference Center in Maryland in 2025.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: And for the first, time, we're going to be offering two tracks at the same time.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: You can either come and be a part of the beginner track, which is for people that are new to the idea of Ruach Journey, or be a part of the advanced track for those of you that have either attended a conference before or have done the Ruach Journey study.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: That's available on our website.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: So if you want to come be a part of that beginner track, we're going to give you the foundation for the teachings of the Ruach Journey.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: We'll be talking about the biblical foundation for blessing your spirit, how to live from your position and identity in Christ, understanding your unique design.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: This will give you a rich introduction to this framework.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: If you want to go deeper in this advanced track, then we will dive even deeper into these topics.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: We will explore new connections between the spirit, soul and body.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: We will learn about blessing the land and the impact that land can have on us.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: We will also talk about how to heal the wounded spirit.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: This advanced track will be an opportunity to focus on building what you've already learned.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: So we hope that you will join us for one of these tracks.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: And if you're looking for that perfect Christmas gift to give to someone, now's your time, because between now and the end of the year, we are offering this conference at an early bird discount rate of 299, which will be a huge discount off of the full price of the conference.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: So go to our website, thefathersbusinesscom, click on events to learn more and register today.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Well.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Merry Christmas everyone.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us today as we finish up our Advent series.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Today is Christmas.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: It's the day to finish the Advent series.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: We've already talked about hope and peace and joy, and today we're diving into the heart of it all, which is love.
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: And if there's one theme that encapsulates the entire Christmas story, it's love.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: And I think a key verse when we think about love is John 3, 16.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: And this verse reminds us of the depth and the magnitude of God's love.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: It's a love that moved him to give his only son for us.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: What a sacrifice, like an incredible sacrifice, and that's what we're celebrating.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: That's what we've been celebrating during Advent and that's what we celebrate today on Christmas.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: It's the ultimate gift of love that was given to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's so easy to take the words of John 3.16 for granted because they are so much a part of just even popular culture, but when you think about it it really can be overwhelming that it's not based on anything that we did.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: God loved the world before we were even on it.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: He loved us and was willing to send his son to die on our behalf so that we could have relationship with him again, to die on our behalf so that we could have relationship with him again.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And I mean, you look at what we've done in this relationship versus what God has done in this relationship and it feels a little one-sided.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: You know, we're the ones who rejected him and fell into sin, and yet he continued to come pursue us and love us and bring us back into relationship with him so that his love could heal us and restore us and redeem us and adopt us as his own children and make us a part of his family.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: And I think that's why this Christmas season is so special it's a time to remember and celebrate that love came down to dwell among us.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: It's hard for me to wrap my mind around that the God that created the universe decided to spend nine months inside the womb of one of his creations, like how did that even?
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: What did that feel like for him?
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: How did that even work for him?
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: And then being born as an infant and you know, an infant their brain's not fully developed, they don't have language skills, and so can you imagine being the God of the universe on the inside, but you can't communicate because your human form hasn't developed yet.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: And it's just really the level of sacrifice and the humbling that he went through to live as a human, and then the amount of sacrifice that it was for Him to die on the cross for us as well, and Jesus feeling forsaken by His Father.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: There's so many parts of this story where Jesus has made incredible sacrifices on our behalf to show us the depths of God's love for us.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: And I think that's what's amazing too, elizabeth is that his love isn't conditional, like it's not based on what we've done or how well we perform.
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: It's a gift.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: He loves us at our worst and he sees us at our worst and he loves us still, right, Right, we think about what you were just saying of God giving us his son, and what a sacrifice that he would live in the womb of one of God's creations.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: Right, just that fact.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: And I think about Romans 5, 8, and it says but God demonstrates his own love for us in this.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: While we were still sinners, christ died for us, so we not only look at his birth, but then we look at his death and his resurrection, and that also, all of that, that entire piece, was a demonstration of God's love for us in the midst of us being at our worst.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Right, yeah, and I and I part of me would then think I mean being being me and my personality it's like, okay, I've done all of this for you, so here's what I expect out of you, and, like you know, you better act a certain way because I've done so much for you, right?
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: And that's not what you hear through scripture.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: What you hear is John 59, where it says as the father has loved me, so have I loved you.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Now remain in my love.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: And so what Jesus is asking of us is to abide with him, have relationship with him, be intimate with him, find our identity in him, let who he is shape who I believe I am, live in that place of security, stay connected to him, be loved by Him.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know that if I had sacrificed that much for a person that I would think that was enough.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: I would need them to prove to me how much they're grateful for what I've done for them, and so, even in that, it reflects for me just the beautiful love that God has for us.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: And I often wonder about this question, kimberly, and I'd love to hear your response to it what would it look like in yourself and in your relationships with the people you live with, you work with, if you truly abide in God's love and your identity and your security, and all of that was 100% defined by the love of God.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: What would that look like?
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: I think it's such a picture and an essence of peace and hope and joy that we've talked about, Like it's to think about that, living and abiding in that, living that way.
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: There's such a sense of peace and hope that overwhelms me and a sense of joy, right, and a sense of knowing God's love is so deep for me and that I get to remain in that love.
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: I don't have to step in and out of that love.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: I can remain in that love.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: It's the kind of love that heals, it, restores, it, rede love.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Like I can remain in that love, Like it's.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: It's the kind of love that that heals, it restores, it redeems.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: And I think like that's, if I'm remaining in that love and I'm actually abiding in that and living that way, then I also am being his agent of reconciliation which heals and restores and redeems.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I don't redeem, but you know.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: No, but it, it, it.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: But it helps heal the hurts in other people when you show up abiding in the love of God.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's such power in that.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: I think you mentioned in our podcast last week that we you and I both have this personality that really likes to see change, that really likes to bring about change, and so often I feel like I want to see that happen.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: But the power that I hold to have that happen because of Christ living in loved, then man, I would truly be a world changer.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: We would truly be that, because it is the essence of what he's called us to and it's the essence of what we at the Father's Business are passionate about.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: It is knowing the character of God and living out of that identity.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: It's pretty powerful Business are passionate about.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: It is knowing the character of God and living out of that identity.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: It's pretty powerful to just think about.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think it would transform all of our relationships.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: If I'm living in the fullness of knowing that I am completely loved by God and abiding that love and my loved ones are doing the same thing.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: When we come together, we just get to enjoy each other and appreciate each other and see each other through the love of God, rather than looking to another person to fill parts of me that they were never meant to fill.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: When we read 1 Peter 4, 8, it says, above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, think about, if I'm living that way and the people around me are living that way, then we're loving each other deeply, naturally.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Out of that, again, that overflow, right, and love is covering a multitude of sins.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: So I'm not walking around demanding that you ask forgiveness for your sins or living under the shame that I haven't asked for forgiveness of my sins relationally back and forth.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: You know pretty powerful, right.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: And everything you're talking about, you know, talking about how living in the love of Jesus that impacts the world around you, reminds me of John 13, 34 and 35, where it says a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another, and that I long for that and that also grieves my heart so much about the current state of a lot of Christians and Christianity and organized religion is people don't look at us as the body of Christ and go, wow, they really love each other and wow, there's something different about them.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: And I just I so, and I mean start with me.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: It's my heart first, but I so long for the Christian community to be this light in a very dark world and for them to look at us and go there's some.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: I don't fully get it, but there's something different about those people over there and the way they treat each other with kindness, that they speak words of encouragement, they are present with each other, they are caring to the people around them and whatever it is they have, I want it and I don't see a whole lot of that in our culture right now.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Yes, and the day we're releasing this conversation is Christmas Day, and you're going to get an opportunity today to live this out.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: If you're listening to this this morning, this afternoon, on a drive to be with family or friends, you're going to get an opportunity to live this out.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: You're going to get an opportunity over the next week to live this out.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Over the next week we're going to be entering into New Year's and that's when we start thinking about it's a new year, a new moment, a turn of the page, an opportunity.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: Here's what I would love to see us do individually, because it's got to start individually as believers.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Live this out, Turn the page and say I am going to live out Jesus's prayer for us, for unity in the body of Christ as believers.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Put it on a post-it note, paint it on your walls.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Whatever A new command I give you love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: If you love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: By this, Everyone will know that you are my disciples If you love one another.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: Our American culture and lots of other countries are in tumultuous times.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: There's no question about it.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: It is an opportunity I was going to say like never before, but I think these opportunities have been around for a long time.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: It is another opportunity for us as the church and when I say the church I mean for us as believers the capital C church to truly show in our individual atmospheres and circles what it looks like to love as Jesus loved.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: So if we can start this individually and commit to it individually, then we can start making a difference, as believers in the past have done.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: There have been believers who have lived this way.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I think we have an opportunity to turn that culturally, whether it will happen or not, but I can't be concerned about the end result, because I often am concerned about the end result and I get frustrated.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: I think we have to focus on.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: For me, I need to focus on, I need to live this out and I need to encourage others in my worlds to live this out Because that's all I can be responsible for and pray like mad that the church will begin to do this as we enter into 2025 her into 2025.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, kimberly, my heart just sings when you say that, because I so want that.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I have had so many conversations with people over this year that are talking about they've walked away from the church or they just don't know if they believe in that God stuff anymore.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: And when you have those conversations with those people, if they'll really be honest with you, there's some story somewhere of either a church organization or an individual Christian that treated them in such a way that was hurtful and hard, and they don't want to be a part of anything that's like that, like that.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: And more than once I've been able to have that conversation this year with people about don't take this and make that your definition of who Jesus is.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Jesus is different than what your experience has been, and that's a hard one to cross.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: But what if we could be a part of the culture where people around us are seeing a much more loving, a much more kind, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger type culture coming from our Christianity?
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: And the thing is, when I hear all this, at the same time I also get a little heavy laden because that feels like a lot to do that.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: But I love that.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: We can't.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Let's just free everyone up.
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: As much as we say we need to be intentional to do this, we can't do it on our own.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be done in our strength.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Loving others, as Jesus has loved us, is a high calling, and the good news is is that he's going to empower us to do it.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: It is Jesus in us.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: It is his love, his joy, his peace all the things that we've talked about throughout this Advent series.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: His spirit aligns our spirit, souls and body with his and enables us to be an instrument of his love.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: And you and I both had those experiences in life, when you're in a conversation with someone and things come flowing out of your mouth that you're even amazed that you're saying it that way and you're like, wow, this is really impactful, this is really good.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: And it's in those moments where you realize that's God speaking through you, that's not something that you mustered up on your own, and so it is about tending our own heart.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: It's about keeping our own heart abiding with Him, that intertwining that's talked about in John 15.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: And out of that it'll naturally begin to overflow.
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: When we think about love with regard to Advent.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: We're ending Advent as we celebrate Christmas today, but we don't end these thoughts, we don't end these reflections and these moments of learning.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Advent is a season of anticipation.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: It's remembering Christ's first coming as a baby and looking forward to His return, his second coming and looking forward to Him making all things new.
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: So, how does God's love sustain us in this time of waiting?
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Well, I think it's about holding on to the promise of who God is.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: You know, romans 8, 39 reminds us that neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and so it doesn't matter what we're going through.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: As we've talked about at the beginning of this series, some of us are having the best times of our lives right now, and it's a great time of family and career and other things, and it is truly a joyful time.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: And there's others that are in a season of sorrow, where this feels more like a season of Lent than it does of Advent.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: And then there's others of us that are just uncertain and scared because we don't know what's going to happen next, or we've just lost a job.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: So all of us are in different places in this month that we call Advent, but God's love is constant and it's unshakable, and it gives us hope for the future because we know he's going to be faithful, and so, again and again, we keep coming back to this Advent series.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: It's so much about who he is and centering ourselves on who he is and who we are in Him, and learning to live as that covenant daughter or son of God Most High.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: Speaking of living that way, elizabeth, this is going to be our last official podcast of 2024.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: We have a devotional that we'll release next week.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: We hope you will enjoy it.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: It'll be from our new book, strength to Equal your Days.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: But as we wrap up 2024, talking about love, what a great topic to talk about and a reminder of the characteristic of God when we think about living out of the fullness of who God is and love being a part of that, and we think about what we were talking about a few minutes ago, of how we can make a difference by doing that in the world and how people see Christians and believers.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I just keep thinking about the Aruak Journey Conference that we have coming in March and I'm not trying to plug an advertisement here, although I think that's great, because our price will go up after the end of this year, so I do want to remind people of that.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: If you want to sign up, sign up now, while the price is $2.99.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: But here's what I think.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: I think the power of us coming together for these conferences in the past has been phenomenal, and the stories that we have of the things that people have learned and the ways that that has changed their life, has been really meaningful and impactful to people.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: So we have an opportunity in March to come together and to really really learn how to do what you just said, how to understand who God is, the character of who God is, and to really learn to live from the overflow of who he is and how that impacts our daily existence.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: So, as we have said a million times before, knowing who God is and living out of the identity that we have in Christ is our goal and our mission in this ministry to really help people understand the transformation and the power of that.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: And so, as we're talking about love and I'm listening to you, I just keep thinking.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: The power of the community of Christ coming together is always powerful For those that follow the Father's business, that have been.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: A power of the community of Christ coming together is always powerful For those that follow the Father's business, that have been a part of the Ruach journey in the past, that want to introduce others to the Ruach journey study.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: We have an opportunity in March to come together and to live this out together and that spurring one another on that learning it together, that practicing it together, that praying for one another together, that learning it together, that practicing it together, that praying for one another together.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: There is such power in that and I just want to encourage everyone, as we're having this conversation, to sign up for that, to invite your friends to that.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Elizabeth and I will be there, of course we'll be there.
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: We're going to be the ones helping you learn this stuff.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: But as we help you learn it, we're learning it.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: We're having to live it and practice it every day with you, and there is such a difference when we actually think about the power of God's love and how that changes us and the way that we can live out of that.
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: It is amazing and it will make a difference in your life and in the community of the life that you live in.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: So I just want to encourage others.
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: We've talked a lot about practical ways to cultivate hope and peace and joy during this Advent season.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I think a practical way to really cultivate all of these things that we've talked about in Advent season the hope, the love, the joy, the peace and more is to be a part of something like a Ruach Journey Conference where we can come and we can practice these things, where we soak ourselves together in His Word and we proclaim His name and His praise together.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: There is a power in that that shapes us and changes us to go and live this out in the day-to-day, and we need that.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: We absolutely need that.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: So come and join us in that and let that be an encouragement and a reminder, as you are wrapping up this year, to commit to that, because it will make such a difference in the way that you live out what God desires for you to know and live out.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: Kimberly, I 100% agree with everything you're talking about, and, as you were talking about how we're leading it, god speaks to us too.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Every single time we lead one of these things, god says something fresh and new to me, even though we may be teaching the same material that we've taught before.
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: And that's what I love about our rock journeys is it's like a spiritual spa.
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: It is three days away from your normal life that is concentrated on saturating you in the truth of who God is, how much he loves you, who you are in Him, and there are friendships and relationships that are built through these conferences that will be lifelong friendships.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: I have several of those that have been birthed out of people who have attended our conferences, and so it is a way of enjoying God and enjoying others and just a very sweet community, and so I can't wait to see what God's up to.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: This one's going to be different than anything we've ever done before, and I can't wait to see what happens.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: So, as we close this podcast on this Christmas day, I just want to say a short blessing over us, based on love, since that is the theme of the fourth week of Advent, so let's just end with this blessing Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of your love poured out through Jesus Christ.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: May we abide in your love this Christmas season, letting it guide our thoughts and actions and relationships, fill us with your spirit so that your love flows through us, touching the lives of those around us.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: And as we wait in anticipation for Christ's return, may we rest in the assurance that nothing can separate us from your unshakable love, that you are the same for us, that your love isn't just for the past or the future.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: It is for right now.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: In the midst of our waiting, you are present, you are holding us, you are guiding us and you are giving us strength, and we pray all this in your beautiful name, jesus, amen.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: We hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: I want to thank you for listening to the Father's Business Podcast.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: The Father's Business Podcast.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: This podcast is made possible through donations by people like you.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: To donate, go to wwwTheFathersBusinesscom.
• 25:06
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