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Transcript

Instant Atmosphere Shift · The Holy Pause

• 0:00
  [music]
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: A reading from Scripture, Colossians 3, verses 12-17.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Put on then,
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: as God's chosen ones,
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: holy and beloved,
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: compassionate hearts,
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: kindness,
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: humility,
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: meekness,
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: and patience,
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: bearing with one another,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: As the Lord has forgiven you So you also must forgive.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: And let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, to which indeed you were called in one body.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: And be thankful.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom,
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your heart to God.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And whatever you do,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: in word or deed,
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: When I was a camp counselor,
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: One of my tasks was to take the campers on a canoe trip down,
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: up really,
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: since it flows north, the new river from a drop-off point to the dock at camp.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was mostly flat water along Bluestone Lake,
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  SPEAKER_01: but we still had to do an extensive safety check and training.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: They all had to pass a swamp test,
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: which was the ability to get back into the canoe should it flip over in the middle
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: of the lake.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: We tested them in the deep end of the pool.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: The most important part of this safety training and swamp test was the fitting of
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: the life jacket.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Humans, and children specifically,
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: are really terrible at figuring out how big they are in relationship
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: to their clothing.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: You can see this truth in almost every parking lot.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: So inevitably we spent twice as long getting life jackets on as necessary
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: because they always, always picked the wrong size.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Putting on the life jackets were the most important part of the trip,
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: but I guess they kept our campers alive,
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: even if they took four hours to canoe two miles on a flat river.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's interesting to me how the Apostle Paul uses the language to put on
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: in this passage,
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: and then lists a whole bunch of positive,
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: others-focused traits we wouldn't normally wear if it weren't for good.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: We confuse the idea that all people are created inherently good,
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: that is with value and worth,
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: With the truism that most of us are self-focused and self-interested
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: before anything else.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's that sin problem.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: We wear it like skin.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: From birth we are essentially self-interested and limited in our vision.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: If only because we only know what we experience and then assume everyone else has
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: that experience too.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Sin is just there.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: Always pushing us towards selfishness and self-interest.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: The Spirit helps to cover it with robes and life jackets of compassion,
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: kindness, humility, and meekness, which don't actually come naturally to us.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: We have to be taught to focus outwardly.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's a process, encouraged and inflamed by the Spirit's constant work on our heart.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: We keep putting on clothes which are too small.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: The Spirit comes along and gently takes off the ill-fitting jacket,
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: To replace it with the more comfortable sweatpants of love.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: What kind of clothes are you wearing?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: Consider today what your default birthday suit attitude is towards the others and
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: the strangers in your life.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now ask the Holy Spirit to help you put on the one attitude change which would make
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: a concrete difference in your life today.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Then go out in the world and practice.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Join me in prayer.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Help me be an asset in every environment you place me in.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Let my words, attitude, character and actions leave people better than I found them.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: May my life point others to you.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast was written and recorded by Reverend Elizabeth Troyer
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: with audio engineering and editing assistance from Jermaine Taylor.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: These podcasts will always be free,
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: but if you would like to support our online ministry,
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: you can donate using the link in the bio or at wakeforestpres.org.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Music.