Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rev. Benjamin Kandt (00:06):
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to the sermonaudio from New City, orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's prayer
.
For more resources, visit ourwebsite at newcityorlando.
com
Sarah Bruner (00:22):
Good morning.
Please join me in the prayer ofillumination as we ask the Holy
Spirit to open our hearts.
Heavenly Father, we wish to seeJesus.
By your Spirit's power, give useyes to see his glory.
Through Christ, we pray, amen.
Today's scripture reading comesfrom 1 John 4, verses 7 through
(00:43):
13.
Reading comes from 1 John 4,verses 7 through 13.
Beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this, the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only son into the worldso that we might live through
(01:04):
him In this love.
Not that we have loved God, butthis is God in us.
By this we know that we abidein him and he in us, because he
(01:25):
has given us of his spirit.
This is God's word.
Pastor Jason Dunn (01:31):
Well, good morning.
There you go.
That's pretty good.
My name is Jason, I'm one ofthe pastors here at New City and
, as Ben has already said, weare in a series in August we do
our vision series.
We are in a series in August.
We do our vision series both inAugust but also in January, and
we did something similar wepreached through communion,
community and commission inJanuary and we're doing that
(01:59):
again this August, and so that'swhere we're headed today, and
I'm going to be talking aboutcommunity, as Ben already said,
and Josh does such a good jobtalking about how we want to be
known and loved in thiscommunity.
Now, before I was a pastor, Iwas an engineer, so that's why I
get to talk about pivot tablesand different things up here,
and my daughter recently askedshe had a math problem and she's
like, hey, hold on.
I got to go talk to mom aboutthis she's the one who can teach
(02:21):
me about this math problem andthen I had to just inform her
that, as an engineer, I tooklots and lots and lots of math
in high school but also incollege, and that I do a thing
or two about math, and she triedto give me an opportunity to do
that.
Well, one of the things thatI've learned in mathematics is
that you have to always defineyour terms.
(02:45):
You can't make sense of theformula unless you define the
terms in it.
That's gonna help youunderstand the work that you
need to do.
And so the formula for New Cityis our vision and it's our
mission, and we just heard itright with the kids up here.
Our vision is what Is to seethe Father answer the Lord's
(03:05):
prayer, and how are we going toaccomplish that vision?
We're going to accomplish thatvision by calling, forming and
sending disciple makers.
So in this series here in themonth of August, we are trying
to define the term of what adisciple is, and we're trying I
mean, we've defined it this wayand I think there's a slide for
(03:27):
this Disciples are those who areunited to Jesus, in communion
with God, community with oneanother and commission for the
world.
So this is our definition.
We're defining the terms ofwhat a disciple is, and so
that's where we're at here inthe series, and I'm jumping into
that middle part community withone another.
(03:48):
So that's where we're at, andlet me just jump in Now.
I thought about starting thissermon in two different ways to
talk about community.
I could tell you about all thestats of loneliness that we've
experienced.
30% of you in the room probablyexperienced significant
loneliness even in this lastweek.
I could talk about that.
(04:08):
I could talk about the pandemicof isolation that we find
ourselves in, and I coulddescribe the fact that we have
lost connection with thosearound us, that we don't truly
know our neighbors or feel lovedby those around us.
So that's one way I thought Icould start the sermon and I
kind of just did.
But I thought the better way,the better way to start the
(04:30):
sermon would be with somethingpositive, something to draw you
in, something like honey.
I say this sometimes to Ben, Isaid we need to use honey and
not vinegar when we're leadingour people.
We want to draw people into amission together, into community
together, and so what's thehoney today?
It is the beauty of our triuneGod, and so, kind of on that
(04:57):
theme of beauty, I want you guysto think about something.
Think about what's been trulybeautiful, what has captured
your heart, what captures youremotions, your desires, what has
struck you in this awestruckkind of form of beauty?
Well, since I was preachingthis Sunday and that we had our
all-staff retreat this last week, a 24-hour retreat.
(05:20):
We weren't gone the whole week.
I asked the question, I pulledthe staff, I said, hey, where
have you experienced beauty?
And they answered it in liketwo different categories.
One category, the firstcategory, was an area of
creation, and we all know thistype of beauty right, if you
have traveled in the UnitedStates or have traveled the
(05:40):
world, like places like Yosemiteor the Rocky Mountains, there's
just awestruck beauty of God'screation.
We also talked about sunrisesand sunsets, because we're on
the beach.
The other category that kind ofcame up was the one of beauty
in relationships, and you guysknow this type of beauty too.
It's when the child is firstcoming into the world and they
(06:03):
breathe their first breath.
There is something majesticabout that, there is something
beautiful about that.
It's your bride dressed in allwhite on your wedding day.
And for me, as I reflected onthat question of where I've
experienced beauty, it's whereI've experienced beauty is in
the love of a father for theirchild.
(06:27):
Simone Bay, a French philosopherat the turn of the century, she
says this there are only twothings that pierce the human
heart.
One is beauty and the other isaffliction.
And so what I want to revealfrom our scripture today, reveal
from God's word, is the beautyof our triune God Father, son
(06:48):
and Holy Spirit, that ourpursuit of community is in light
of the beauty of the triune God, who experiences community
together as the Father, son andHoly Spirit.
And those are our two pointsthe beauty of the Trinity and
the beauty of our trying thebeauty of community, excuse me,
(07:12):
so look with me if you have aBible or device.
Starting in verse 7 of 1 John,chapter 4.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born ofGod and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
(07:33):
love.
So we see here there's twotruths, really simple truths, in
two short verses.
The first truth is that love isfrom God, god is the source of
all love.
And the second truth is thatGod is love.
God and his substance and hisbeing and his character is love.
(07:57):
Now let's pause for a moment onthat second truth, because
that's going to help you connect, or help me connect, truth to
the beauty of who God is as thetriune God.
God is love.
It doesn't say that God haslove.
It doesn't say that God issometimes loving, but it says
(08:18):
that God is love.
It's in his very being, it'sactually in his nature, in his
ontology, it's who he is.
God is love.
So if he is love, theneverything hinges on what type
of God we worship.
In Michael Reed's little book,delighting in the Trinity, he
(08:45):
subtitles this and I forgot.
I was going to bring it as abook giveaway but I have it in
the car.
So if you guys are desperate ofa book about Trinity, come find
me in the parking lot afterwardand I'll give it to you.
But Michael Reed he saysDelighting in the Trinity.
He subtitles it An Introductionto the Christian Faith.
He belabors the point that theChristian God we worship is God
the Father, god the Son and Godthe Holy Spirit.
(09:05):
This is actually integral toour Christian faith.
It's just not an add-on thatsomeone created.
But the Christian God is theGod who is three in one, one in
three.
For 1,700 years Christians havebeen given voice to the mystery
of the Trinity and we've beendoing that every Sunday as we
confess our faith together here.
In a little bit we're going toconfess through the Nicene Creed
(09:26):
.
So that's kind of why we'vebeen doing that because we want
you all to have a deep, richtheology that is Trinitarian in
its nature and it's theanniversary of this year, so
it's a big, big deal.
But let me connect now thattruth that God is love to beauty
.
It is only when you grasp thatGod is Trinity, three in one and
(09:47):
one in three, that you reallysee the beauty of who our God is
.
Karl Barth says that thetriunity of God, the Trinity, is
actually the secret of hisbeauty.
And we can also say from thatfirst truth that the triunity of
God is the source of all beauty.
And we know this just throughmusic.
(10:08):
I'm not going to talk aboutmusic up here because I'm not a
musician, but when you play achord, right, it's three
different notes but they'rebrought in together and it makes
a beautiful sound.
Or when your children or yousee beautiful art in the Louvre
or in the Orlando Museum of Art,there are multiple different
colors that come together in abeautiful painting.
(10:30):
So there is diversity and inthat diversity there is unity
and there is this beauty that isformed.
There is unity and there isthis beauty that is formed the
three in one.
So why is this important for us.
The three in one existed beforeall creation in relationship,
and out of that relationshipbetween the Father, son and the
Holy Spirit, they're overflowinglove for one another.
(10:52):
They're overflowing kindnesstoward each other.
It has given to thisself-communing expression of
creation in the world.
They didn't create because theyneeded something from us, but
they created as an overflow, asa fountain of their love towards
the world.
And Dr Reeves he does anexcellent job describing the
pitfalls of a singular and nottriune God by asking this simple
(11:16):
question, and Josh alluded tothis earlier.
He says how can a solitary Godbe eternal and essentially
loving when love involves lovinganother?
So the beauty that we have isthat our God is three in one and
they have always existed andthey love one another.
The Trinity is the bright lane,it's the path that leads us
(11:41):
into the beauty of God.
It's not this abstract idea,this abstract force, but the
loving communion of the threepersons Father, son and Holy
Spirit is perfect in fellowship.
That loving communion has neverbeen self-serving but has
always existed to be self-giving.
So let me ask you this questionDoes the beauty of our triune
(12:04):
God, does that, move you, notjust in theory but personally?
Is your heart pierced by thebeauty of the triune God.
The reality is that we cannotlove.
We only choose to love thethings that we find beautiful,
the things that are desirable tous.
(12:26):
In CS Lewis, in his little essaycalled the Way to Glory, he
reminds us that we are all toofar easily pleased with mud pies
when infinite joy and beauty isoffered to us as a holiday at
the sea.
And that's what I'm saying here, is the infinite joy and beauty
of our to us as a holiday atthe sea.
And that's what I'm saying hereIs the infinite joy and beauty
of our God is the triune God.
This is why King David askedfor that beauty in Psalm 27.4.
(12:47):
And I quote King David says Onething have I asked of the Lord
that I will seek after, that Imay dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life.
To do what?
To gaze upon the beauty of theLord.
So where do we gaze upon thebeauty of the Trinity?
(13:10):
Well, look down with me atverse 9.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us, that God
sent his only Son into theworld so that we might live
through him.
How do we gaze upon the beautyof the Trinity.
(13:31):
We gaze upon the beauty of theTrinity by gazing upon Jesus
Christ, who was sent into theworld by the Father so that we
may live through him.
Now, at the beginning, in termsof the different categories of
beauty, I mentioned two.
I mentioned the beauty ofcreation and I mentioned the
beauty of relationship.
(13:51):
But there's a third category ofbeauty that I want to talk
about.
It's called moral beauty, and aUC Berkeley report says that
the greatest kind of beauty isin fact, this thing called moral
beauty.
It defines moral beauty as thisexceptional virtue, character
and ability marked by a purityand goodness of intention and
(14:13):
action.
The report goes on to say that,in fact, moral beauty is what
actually transforms people'slives.
And we see that if you keepreading in verse 10 here in our
passage in this is love, notthat we have loved god, but that
he loved us and sent his son tobe the propitiation, the
(14:36):
satisfaction of god's judgmentfor our sins.
And if you skip down with meactually to verse 13, because
I'm trying to pull out the ideathat Trinitarian theology is
right here in this text, verse13 says by this we know that we
abide in him and he in usbecause he has given us his
spirit.
So the question is I think weall resonate with the idea of
(15:00):
moral beauty as the greatesttype of beauty.
Let me tell you a story.
A pastor has told this storybefore.
There's two brothers kind ofyounger brothers who go out
after lunch.
They go out to the river andthis is a big river that ebbs
and flows and it creates thesebig sandbanks and so, as any
young boy would do, you got toclimb to the top of the hill and
(15:23):
unfortunately, as they climbedto the top of the hill, their
weight actually caused that sanddune to cave in and they were
stuck.
So they never made it back homeand somebody good parents were
like hey, where are the kids?
They sent people to go searchfor the boys and what they found
was the younger boy who was upto his head in sand.
(15:45):
He was unconscious, so theystarted moving the sand away and
then he awoke at some pointwhen they got enough sand away
where he could start breathingbetter, and they said, hey, they
couldn't find the older brother.
They said where is your olderbrother?
And the child responded andsaid I am standing on his
shoulders With the sacrifice ofhis own life.
(16:06):
The older brother lifted up theyounger one to safety.
This is the tangible andsacrificial love of the older
brother.
He literally served as afoundation for the younger
brother.
Now, don't you understand that?
That is the moral beauty we allseek for, the moral beauty that
we want?
And our text tells us thatJesus is the propitiation for
(16:28):
our sins.
That means that Jesus is theone who satisfies God's loving
judgment for our sins.
We stand on the shoulders ofJesus so that we don't longer
have to be in the pit.
We don't create love, but weactually receive and rest upon
the one who is sent in love.
(16:48):
This is the moral beauty thatis for you.
This is the moral beauty thatis for me.
Let that triunity of the Father, son and Holy Spirit be your
source of love.
Let them be the one who securesyou in love.
So how do we gaze upon thebeauty of the triune God and let
that pierce our hearts?
(17:09):
Well, here at New City, we dothat in numerous different ways,
but one of the ways is we haveeight different practices.
We practice together as acommunity, four daily and four
weekly practices, and it's up onthe website.
It's probably not behind me,but there's a great, a lot of
good information that we haveabout how we do common practices
together to build our love upfor God and for our neighbor.
(17:34):
And one of the practices thathas been so impactful to me and
Ben did not pay me to say thishas been prayer, and
particularly praying the Psalmsevery Wednesday from noon to two
.
And it's just opened my worldup to who God is, the triune God
, the beauty of the Trinity.
It's opened up my world to knowGod as a father, because that's
(17:57):
who he is.
He's this self-giving, lovingFather who gives to the Son.
It's opened my world up to seewho God the Son is.
Jesus Christ is the beautifulone.
He's the propitiation for oursins.
Prayer has opened up my eyes tosee God, the Holy Spirit, as
the one who has been given to meto comfort me, to strengthen me
(18:17):
, to support me so that I mightabide in the triune God Beloved,
let their beauty, father, sonand Holy Spirit, captivate your
soul, captivate your heart, andlet their community, father, son
and Holy Spirit, be the patternfor our community, a community
(18:37):
that is self-giving, overflowingtowards others in love.
And that brings me to oursecond point.
Turn with me to verse 11 and 12.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
That's a command there.
As we receive God's love, wethen in return and respond to
(19:02):
loving one another.
Verse 12, no one has ever seenGod.
If we love one another, godabides in us and his love is
perfected in us.
God abides in us and his loveis perfected in us.
So the beauty of the communitythat we all have established
here as Christ's body is meantto reflect the beauty of the
(19:24):
Trinity.
It's meant to reflect a lovethat goes out, a love that does
not separate but goes to war.
Teresa of Avalos states thisChrist has no body on earth.
But yours, no hands.
But yours, no feet.
But yours, yours, are the eyesthrough which the compassion of
(19:48):
Christ must look out on theworld.
So yes, jesus still does have abody.
We believe that it's ascendedinto heaven and he's seated at
the right hand of God, theFather.
But on earth his body is thechurch.
Now look with me.
At the beginning of verse 12again, it says no eye has seen
God.
What is John doing here?
(20:09):
It's kind of an odd sequitur.
You could read those verses 11through 12, like this Beloved,
if God so loved us, we alsoought to love one another.
Skip that part.
If we love one another, see, itflows perfectly.
God abides in us and his loveis perfected in us.
But John puts it here for areason.
He puts that phrase no one hasever seen God because he
(20:31):
actually intends the beauty ofour community.
The love that we extend outwardtowards other people is where
the invisible God actuallybecomes visible.
God's love it says in verse 12,is perfected in us.
Or better understood, god'slove in us is matured as we are
(20:51):
able to love others.
The goal of God's love in us isto move outward toward our
neighbors.
Now let me tell you a story, atrue one.
This is another true story thatI read recently and it was
printed in a newspaper a whileback.
There was an older woman wholived in a neighborhood and she
was surrounded by neighbors whoyou could say were not cruel
(21:14):
neighborhood.
And she was surrounded byneighbors who you could say were
not cruel, but neighbors whowere very responsible, like many
of you all in here.
Now, when the old woman's, thisolder elderly woman, when her
grass got too high, they sent aboy over to mow her lawn, and
when her water pipes broke, theysent somebody to turn off her
water and fix those things, andwhen her mail on her front porch
got a little bit too high, theyfinally called the police.
(21:36):
They did everything exceptcheck on whether or not she was
alive, and she wasn't.
When the police finally enteredher home, they found her
remains just bones, buried underfive feet of trash.
She had been likely dead forfour years.
Buried under five feet of trash, she had been likely dead for
four years.
One of her neighbors, a womanwho used to be close to her,
(21:57):
said this she was alone and sheneeded someone to talk to.
But I was working two jobs andI was sick of her coming over at
odd hours.
Eventually I just stoppedanswering the door.
Friends, this is a tragicpicture of what a community is,
not a community.
This community is not abeautiful community when
(22:20):
neighbors do everything excepttruly know and love one another.
Our text says when we are lovedby God, we have to move out
towards loving one another, notfrom a distance, not just
responsibly, not just, butinstead personally,
(22:41):
sacrificially, attentively.
Love is not a task, it's not abox to check.
Love is an overflow of the lovethat we have received from God.
So this is not just a sad storybut it's a mirror.
It shows us what happens whenwe believe community is
responsibility withoutrelationship, when we settle for
(23:04):
proximity without presence.
This actually tarnishes thebeauty of community.
Here are some diagnosticquestions to ask yourselves if
you have or are you giving thistype of of community?
Here are some diagnosticquestions to ask yourselves if
you have or are you giving thistype of beautiful community?
Here they are.
Do you deliberately enter intoanother's joy or pain each week
(23:25):
through personal connection?
Do you seek ways to give loveto others, your family, your
neighbors?
Jesus calls us in the Sermon onthe Mount to your enemies on a
daily and weekly rhythm.
Do you have at least twofriends who know the current
season of your soul and you knowtheirs?
(23:46):
So there's the diagnosticquestions, and I don't know
where you guys find yourselvesin that, but we really, if
you're in deficit which I don'tknow where you guys find
yourselves in that but we really, if you're in deficit which I'm
sometimes in deficit, if youlong to be more known and more
loved and also to extend thatoutwards in a beautiful
community, we encourage you all.
Find a community here at NewCity.
(24:08):
You can open up the app.
It's really easy to do that.
You can go out these doors and,on the left, you can speak to
someone at the connect table.
But we long for all of you allto be in fellowship, to be in
relationship with people whotruly know and love you, and
that you do that for them.
Drew Holcomb has this song.
He says you've got to find yourpeople.
(24:31):
That will call your bluff, whowill ride along when the road is
rough.
You've so the song.
I really love it.
We sing it together as a familymy family and I.
(24:52):
But the point is that, yes, youhave to find your people, but
you can't just find your people.
It actually takes work to buildcommunity.
Now I'm going to close with this.
I'm going to summarize wherewe're heading back to.
So Ben talked about communionand I'm talking about community,
and next week we're going to docommission.
If we could put up that slideof the very last bullet, or not
(25:16):
the bullet, but the picture ofour defined disciple.
There it is.
So for those of you who weren'there last week, I'm sorry, but
for those of you here this week,I'm going to summarize this
real quickly.
But, ben, already we talkedabout this.
(25:38):
Our union with Christ is thecenterpiece for our faith as a
Christian.
That union with Christ actuallygets us into communion with the
triune God Father, son and HolySpirit.
And as we commune with God, I'mtrying to make the case that
beautiful community is actuallythe community that leads us to
loving, knowing and loving oneanother here in this community,
and then we are sent out, called, formed, sent as disciple
makers, as those who, in ourwork and our witness, are
(26:02):
bringing the name of Jesus andGod's kingdom here on earth as
it is in heaven.
And so one way that Ben talkedabout this was in relation to
fruitfulness.
We desire that all of you hereat New City grow in your
communion with God, the triuneGod, where you would receive and
respond to that type of lovethat he's given you.
We also want you to grow inyour depth of community, where
(26:25):
you are known and loved, and wewant you to be sent out and
commissioned to the worldthrough your work and through
your witness.
The other way that we talkedabout that's a qualitative depth
that we want all of us toexperience here at New City is
on the top, is kind of morequalitative, it's the numeric.
We want to see people who arenot yet disciples become
(26:46):
disciples and then take onresponsibility of sharing this
type of community with oneanother.
Ben is going to talk about thisagain next week and probably
clarify a lot of what I justsaid.
So, beloved, I want to kind ofclose with this.
I want you, if anything, toremember from this sermon, I
want you to behold the beauty ofthe triune God.
(27:08):
God who is the loving Father,who sent his only Son to be a
Savior for us, to be thepropitiation for our sins, so we
can have verse 13, theempowering, life-giving Spirit.
The beauty of the Trinity isnot only that God is love, but
(27:31):
that we are loved and we arewelcomed in to that communion
with God.
So let us pray to the beautifultriune God.
Pray with me, father, we aregrateful for your love for us in
this that you sent your son,jesus, to ransom a people, to be
(27:51):
a propitiation for our sins.
Jesus, you are the faithful,promised one.
You are the one who brought usto the triune God.
Father, son and Spirit andSpirit.
We ask that you would fill usup, that you would help us to
love and encourage those aroundus.
We give you the glory, Amen.
Hello everyone.
This is Pastor Benjamin.
You're listening to the sermonaudio from New City, orlando.
At New City, we long to see ourFather answer the Lord's prayer
.
For more resources, visit ourwebsite at newcityorlando.
com
Sarah Bruner (00:22):
Good morning.
Please join me in the prayer ofillumination as we ask the Holy
Spirit to open our hearts.
Heavenly Father, we wish to seeJesus.
By your Spirit's power, give useyes to see his glory.
Through Christ, we pray, amen.
Today's scripture reading comesfrom 1 John 4, verses 7 through
(00:43):
13.
Reading comes from 1 John 4,verses 7 through 13.
Beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is from God,
and whoever loves has been bornof God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
love.
In this, the love of God wasmade manifest among us that God
sent his only son into the worldso that we might live through
(01:04):
him In this love.
Not that we have loved God, butthis is God in us.
By this we know that we abidein him and he in us, because he
(01:25):
has given us of his spirit.
This is God's word.
Pastor Jason Dunn (01:31):
Well, good morning.
There you go.
That's pretty good.
My name is Jason, I'm one ofthe pastors here at New City and
, as Ben has already said, weare in a series in August we do
our vision series.
We are in a series in August.
We do our vision series both inAugust but also in January, and
we did something similar wepreached through communion,
community and commission inJanuary and we're doing that
(01:59):
again this August, and so that'swhere we're headed today, and
I'm going to be talking aboutcommunity, as Ben already said,
and Josh does such a good jobtalking about how we want to be
known and loved in thiscommunity.
Now, before I was a pastor, Iwas an engineer, so that's why I
get to talk about pivot tablesand different things up here,
and my daughter recently askedshe had a math problem and she's
like, hey, hold on.
I got to go talk to mom aboutthis she's the one who can teach
(02:21):
me about this math problem andthen I had to just inform her
that, as an engineer, I tooklots and lots and lots of math
in high school but also incollege, and that I do a thing
or two about math, and she triedto give me an opportunity to do
that.
Well, one of the things thatI've learned in mathematics is
that you have to always defineyour terms.
(02:45):
You can't make sense of theformula unless you define the
terms in it.
That's gonna help youunderstand the work that you
need to do.
And so the formula for New Cityis our vision and it's our
mission, and we just heard itright with the kids up here.
Our vision is what Is to seethe Father answer the Lord's
(03:05):
prayer, and how are we going toaccomplish that vision?
We're going to accomplish thatvision by calling, forming and
sending disciple makers.
So in this series here in themonth of August, we are trying
to define the term of what adisciple is, and we're trying I
mean, we've defined it this wayand I think there's a slide for
(03:27):
this Disciples are those who areunited to Jesus, in communion
with God, community with oneanother and commission for the
world.
So this is our definition.
We're defining the terms ofwhat a disciple is, and so
that's where we're at here inthe series, and I'm jumping into
that middle part community withone another.
(03:48):
So that's where we're at, andlet me just jump in Now.
I thought about starting thissermon in two different ways to
talk about community.
I could tell you about all thestats of loneliness that we've
experienced.
30% of you in the room probablyexperienced significant
loneliness even in this lastweek.
I could talk about that.
(04:08):
I could talk about the pandemicof isolation that we find
ourselves in, and I coulddescribe the fact that we have
lost connection with thosearound us, that we don't truly
know our neighbors or feel lovedby those around us.
So that's one way I thought Icould start the sermon and I
kind of just did.
But I thought the better way,the better way to start the
(04:30):
sermon would be with somethingpositive, something to draw you
in, something like honey.
I say this sometimes to Ben, Isaid we need to use honey and
not vinegar when we're leadingour people.
We want to draw people into amission together, into community
together, and so what's thehoney today?
It is the beauty of our triuneGod, and so, kind of on that
(04:57):
theme of beauty, I want you guysto think about something.
Think about what's been trulybeautiful, what has captured
your heart, what captures youremotions, your desires, what has
struck you in this awestruckkind of form of beauty?
Well, since I was preachingthis Sunday and that we had our
all-staff retreat this last week, a 24-hour retreat.
(05:20):
We weren't gone the whole week.
I asked the question, I pulledthe staff, I said, hey, where
have you experienced beauty?
And they answered it in liketwo different categories.
One category, the firstcategory, was an area of
creation, and we all know thistype of beauty right, if you
have traveled in the UnitedStates or have traveled the
(05:40):
world, like places like Yosemiteor the Rocky Mountains, there's
just awestruck beauty of God'screation.
We also talked about sunrisesand sunsets, because we're on
the beach.
The other category that kind ofcame up was the one of beauty
in relationships, and you guysknow this type of beauty too.
It's when the child is firstcoming into the world and they
(06:03):
breathe their first breath.
There is something majesticabout that, there is something
beautiful about that.
It's your bride dressed in allwhite on your wedding day.
And for me, as I reflected onthat question of where I've
experienced beauty, it's whereI've experienced beauty is in
the love of a father for theirchild.
(06:27):
Simone Bay, a French philosopherat the turn of the century, she
says this there are only twothings that pierce the human
heart.
One is beauty and the other isaffliction.
And so what I want to revealfrom our scripture today, reveal
from God's word, is the beautyof our triune God Father, son
(06:48):
and Holy Spirit, that ourpursuit of community is in light
of the beauty of the triune God, who experiences community
together as the Father, son andHoly Spirit.
And those are our two pointsthe beauty of the Trinity and
the beauty of our trying thebeauty of community, excuse me,
(07:12):
so look with me if you have aBible or device.
Starting in verse 7 of 1 John,chapter 4.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and
whoever loves has been born ofGod and knows God.
Anyone who does not love doesnot know God, because God is
(07:33):
love.
So we see here there's twotruths, really simple truths, in
two short verses.
The first truth is that love isfrom God, god is the source of
all love.
And the second truth is thatGod is love.
God and his substance and hisbeing and his character is love.
(07:57):
Now let's pause for a moment onthat second truth, because
that's going to help you connect, or help me connect, truth to
the beauty of who God is as thetriune God.
God is love.
It doesn't say that God haslove.
It doesn't say that God issometimes loving, but it says
(08:18):
that God is love.
It's in his very being, it'sactually in his nature, in his
ontology, it's who he is.
God is love.
So if he is love, theneverything hinges on what type
of God we worship.
In Michael Reed's little book,delighting in the Trinity, he
(08:45):
subtitles this and I forgot.
I was going to bring it as abook giveaway but I have it in
the car.
So if you guys are desperate ofa book about Trinity, come find
me in the parking lot afterwardand I'll give it to you.
But Michael Reed he saysDelighting in the Trinity.
He subtitles it An Introductionto the Christian Faith.
He belabors the point that theChristian God we worship is God
the Father, god the Son and Godthe Holy Spirit.
(09:05):
This is actually integral toour Christian faith.
It's just not an add-on thatsomeone created.
But the Christian God is theGod who is three in one, one in
three.
For 1,700 years Christians havebeen given voice to the mystery
of the Trinity and we've beendoing that every Sunday as we
confess our faith together here.
In a little bit we're going toconfess through the Nicene Creed
(09:26):
.
So that's kind of why we'vebeen doing that because we want
you all to have a deep, richtheology that is Trinitarian in
its nature and it's theanniversary of this year, so
it's a big, big deal.
But let me connect now thattruth that God is love to beauty
.
It is only when you grasp thatGod is Trinity, three in one and
(09:47):
one in three, that you reallysee the beauty of who our God is
.
Karl Barth says that thetriunity of God, the Trinity, is
actually the secret of hisbeauty.
And we can also say from thatfirst truth that the triunity of
God is the source of all beauty.
And we know this just throughmusic.
(10:08):
I'm not going to talk aboutmusic up here because I'm not a
musician, but when you play achord, right, it's three
different notes but they'rebrought in together and it makes
a beautiful sound.
Or when your children or yousee beautiful art in the Louvre
or in the Orlando Museum of Art,there are multiple different
colors that come together in abeautiful painting.
(10:30):
So there is diversity and inthat diversity there is unity
and there is this beauty that isformed.
There is unity and there isthis beauty that is formed the
three in one.
So why is this important for us.
The three in one existed beforeall creation in relationship,
and out of that relationshipbetween the Father, son and the
Holy Spirit, they're overflowinglove for one another.
(10:52):
They're overflowing kindnesstoward each other.
It has given to thisself-communing expression of
creation in the world.
They didn't create because theyneeded something from us, but
they created as an overflow, asa fountain of their love towards
the world.
And Dr Reeves he does anexcellent job describing the
pitfalls of a singular and nottriune God by asking this simple
(11:16):
question, and Josh alluded tothis earlier.
He says how can a solitary Godbe eternal and essentially
loving when love involves lovinganother?
So the beauty that we have isthat our God is three in one and
they have always existed andthey love one another.
The Trinity is the bright lane,it's the path that leads us
(11:41):
into the beauty of God.
It's not this abstract idea,this abstract force, but the
loving communion of the threepersons Father, son and Holy
Spirit is perfect in fellowship.
That loving communion has neverbeen self-serving but has
always existed to be self-giving.
So let me ask you this questionDoes the beauty of our triune
(12:04):
God, does that, move you, notjust in theory but personally?
Is your heart pierced by thebeauty of the triune God.
The reality is that we cannotlove.
We only choose to love thethings that we find beautiful,
the things that are desirable tous.
(12:26):
In CS Lewis, in his little essaycalled the Way to Glory, he
reminds us that we are all toofar easily pleased with mud pies
when infinite joy and beauty isoffered to us as a holiday at
the sea.
And that's what I'm saying here, is the infinite joy and beauty
of our to us as a holiday atthe sea.
And that's what I'm saying hereIs the infinite joy and beauty
of our God is the triune God.
This is why King David askedfor that beauty in Psalm 27.4.
(12:47):
And I quote King David says Onething have I asked of the Lord
that I will seek after, that Imay dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life.
To do what?
To gaze upon the beauty of theLord.
So where do we gaze upon thebeauty of the Trinity?
(13:10):
Well, look down with me atverse 9.
In this the love of God wasmade manifest among us, that God
sent his only Son into theworld so that we might live
through him.
How do we gaze upon the beautyof the Trinity.
(13:31):
We gaze upon the beauty of theTrinity by gazing upon Jesus
Christ, who was sent into theworld by the Father so that we
may live through him.
Now, at the beginning, in termsof the different categories of
beauty, I mentioned two.
I mentioned the beauty ofcreation and I mentioned the
beauty of relationship.
(13:51):
But there's a third category ofbeauty that I want to talk
about.
It's called moral beauty, and aUC Berkeley report says that
the greatest kind of beauty isin fact, this thing called moral
beauty.
It defines moral beauty as thisexceptional virtue, character
and ability marked by a purityand goodness of intention and
(14:13):
action.
The report goes on to say that,in fact, moral beauty is what
actually transforms people'slives.
And we see that if you keepreading in verse 10 here in our
passage in this is love, notthat we have loved god, but that
he loved us and sent his son tobe the propitiation, the
(14:36):
satisfaction of god's judgmentfor our sins.
And if you skip down with meactually to verse 13, because
I'm trying to pull out the ideathat Trinitarian theology is
right here in this text, verse13 says by this we know that we
abide in him and he in usbecause he has given us his
spirit.
So the question is I think weall resonate with the idea of
(15:00):
moral beauty as the greatesttype of beauty.
Let me tell you a story.
A pastor has told this storybefore.
There's two brothers kind ofyounger brothers who go out
after lunch.
They go out to the river andthis is a big river that ebbs
and flows and it creates thesebig sandbanks and so, as any
young boy would do, you got toclimb to the top of the hill and
(15:23):
unfortunately, as they climbedto the top of the hill, their
weight actually caused that sanddune to cave in and they were
stuck.
So they never made it back homeand somebody good parents were
like hey, where are the kids?
They sent people to go searchfor the boys and what they found
was the younger boy who was upto his head in sand.
(15:45):
He was unconscious, so theystarted moving the sand away and
then he awoke at some pointwhen they got enough sand away
where he could start breathingbetter, and they said, hey, they
couldn't find the older brother.
They said where is your olderbrother?
And the child responded andsaid I am standing on his
shoulders With the sacrifice ofhis own life.
(16:06):
The older brother lifted up theyounger one to safety.
This is the tangible andsacrificial love of the older
brother.
He literally served as afoundation for the younger
brother.
Now, don't you understand that?
That is the moral beauty we allseek for, the moral beauty that
we want?
And our text tells us thatJesus is the propitiation for
(16:28):
our sins.
That means that Jesus is theone who satisfies God's loving
judgment for our sins.
We stand on the shoulders ofJesus so that we don't longer
have to be in the pit.
We don't create love, but weactually receive and rest upon
the one who is sent in love.
(16:48):
This is the moral beauty thatis for you.
This is the moral beauty thatis for me.
Let that triunity of the Father, son and Holy Spirit be your
source of love.
Let them be the one who securesyou in love.
So how do we gaze upon thebeauty of the triune God and let
that pierce our hearts?
(17:09):
Well, here at New City, we dothat in numerous different ways,
but one of the ways is we haveeight different practices.
We practice together as acommunity, four daily and four
weekly practices, and it's up onthe website.
It's probably not behind me,but there's a great, a lot of
good information that we haveabout how we do common practices
together to build our love upfor God and for our neighbor.
(17:34):
And one of the practices thathas been so impactful to me and
Ben did not pay me to say thishas been prayer, and
particularly praying the Psalmsevery Wednesday from noon to two
.
And it's just opened my worldup to who God is, the triune God
, the beauty of the Trinity.
It's opened up my world to knowGod as a father, because that's
(17:57):
who he is.
He's this self-giving, lovingFather who gives to the Son.
It's opened my world up to seewho God the Son is.
Jesus Christ is the beautifulone.
He's the propitiation for oursins.
Prayer has opened up my eyes tosee God, the Holy Spirit, as
the one who has been given to meto comfort me, to strengthen me
(18:17):
, to support me so that I mightabide in the triune God Beloved,
let their beauty, father, sonand Holy Spirit, captivate your
soul, captivate your heart, andlet their community, father, son
and Holy Spirit, be the patternfor our community, a community
(18:37):
that is self-giving, overflowingtowards others in love.
And that brings me to oursecond point.
Turn with me to verse 11 and 12.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
That's a command there.
As we receive God's love, wethen in return and respond to
(19:02):
loving one another.
Verse 12, no one has ever seenGod.
If we love one another, godabides in us and his love is
perfected in us.
God abides in us and his loveis perfected in us.
So the beauty of the communitythat we all have established
here as Christ's body is meantto reflect the beauty of the
(19:24):
Trinity.
It's meant to reflect a lovethat goes out, a love that does
not separate but goes to war.
Teresa of Avalos states thisChrist has no body on earth.
But yours, no hands.
But yours, no feet.
But yours, yours, are the eyesthrough which the compassion of
(19:48):
Christ must look out on theworld.
So yes, jesus still does have abody.
We believe that it's ascendedinto heaven and he's seated at
the right hand of God, theFather.
But on earth his body is thechurch.
Now look with me.
At the beginning of verse 12again, it says no eye has seen
God.
What is John doing here?
(20:09):
It's kind of an odd sequitur.
You could read those verses 11through 12, like this Beloved,
if God so loved us, we alsoought to love one another.
Skip that part.
If we love one another, see, itflows perfectly.
God abides in us and his loveis perfected in us.
But John puts it here for areason.
He puts that phrase no one hasever seen God because he
(20:31):
actually intends the beauty ofour community.
The love that we extend outwardtowards other people is where
the invisible God actuallybecomes visible.
God's love it says in verse 12,is perfected in us.
Or better understood, god'slove in us is matured as we are
(20:51):
able to love others.
The goal of God's love in us isto move outward toward our
neighbors.
Now let me tell you a story, atrue one.
This is another true story thatI read recently and it was
printed in a newspaper a whileback.
There was an older woman wholived in a neighborhood and she
was surrounded by neighbors whoyou could say were not cruel
(21:14):
neighborhood.
And she was surrounded byneighbors who you could say were
not cruel, but neighbors whowere very responsible, like many
of you all in here.
Now, when the old woman's, thisolder elderly woman, when her
grass got too high, they sent aboy over to mow her lawn, and
when her water pipes broke, theysent somebody to turn off her
water and fix those things, andwhen her mail on her front porch
got a little bit too high, theyfinally called the police.
(21:36):
They did everything exceptcheck on whether or not she was
alive, and she wasn't.
When the police finally enteredher home, they found her
remains just bones, buried underfive feet of trash.
She had been likely dead forfour years.
Buried under five feet of trash, she had been likely dead for
four years.
One of her neighbors, a womanwho used to be close to her,
(21:57):
said this she was alone and sheneeded someone to talk to.
But I was working two jobs andI was sick of her coming over at
odd hours.
Eventually I just stoppedanswering the door.
Friends, this is a tragicpicture of what a community is,
not a community.
This community is not abeautiful community when
(22:20):
neighbors do everything excepttruly know and love one another.
Our text says when we are lovedby God, we have to move out
towards loving one another, notfrom a distance, not just
responsibly, not just, butinstead personally,
(22:41):
sacrificially, attentively.
Love is not a task, it's not abox to check.
Love is an overflow of the lovethat we have received from God.
So this is not just a sad storybut it's a mirror.
It shows us what happens whenwe believe community is
responsibility withoutrelationship, when we settle for
(23:04):
proximity without presence.
This actually tarnishes thebeauty of community.
Here are some diagnosticquestions to ask yourselves if
you have or are you giving thistype of of community?
Here are some diagnosticquestions to ask yourselves if
you have or are you giving thistype of beautiful community?
Here they are.
Do you deliberately enter intoanother's joy or pain each week
(23:25):
through personal connection?
Do you seek ways to give loveto others, your family, your
neighbors?
Jesus calls us in the Sermon onthe Mount to your enemies on a
daily and weekly rhythm.
Do you have at least twofriends who know the current
season of your soul and you knowtheirs?
(23:46):
So there's the diagnosticquestions, and I don't know
where you guys find yourselvesin that, but we really, if
you're in deficit which I don'tknow where you guys find
yourselves in that but we really, if you're in deficit which I'm
sometimes in deficit, if youlong to be more known and more
loved and also to extend thatoutwards in a beautiful
community, we encourage you all.
Find a community here at NewCity.
(24:08):
You can open up the app.
It's really easy to do that.
You can go out these doors and,on the left, you can speak to
someone at the connect table.
But we long for all of you allto be in fellowship, to be in
relationship with people whotruly know and love you, and
that you do that for them.
Drew Holcomb has this song.
He says you've got to find yourpeople.
(24:31):
That will call your bluff, whowill ride along when the road is
rough.
You've so the song.
I really love it.
We sing it together as a familymy family and I.
(24:52):
But the point is that, yes, youhave to find your people, but
you can't just find your people.
It actually takes work to buildcommunity.
Now I'm going to close with this.
I'm going to summarize wherewe're heading back to.
So Ben talked about communionand I'm talking about community,
and next week we're going to docommission.
If we could put up that slideof the very last bullet, or not
(25:16):
the bullet, but the picture ofour defined disciple.
There it is.
So for those of you who weren'there last week, I'm sorry, but
for those of you here this week,I'm going to summarize this
real quickly.
But, ben, already we talkedabout this.
(25:38):
Our union with Christ is thecenterpiece for our faith as a
Christian.
That union with Christ actuallygets us into communion with the
triune God Father, son and HolySpirit.
And as we commune with God, I'mtrying to make the case that
beautiful community is actuallythe community that leads us to
loving, knowing and loving oneanother here in this community,
and then we are sent out, called, formed, sent as disciple
makers, as those who, in ourwork and our witness, are
(26:02):
bringing the name of Jesus andGod's kingdom here on earth as
it is in heaven.
And so one way that Ben talkedabout this was in relation to
fruitfulness.
We desire that all of you hereat New City grow in your
communion with God, the triuneGod, where you would receive and
respond to that type of lovethat he's given you.
We also want you to grow inyour depth of community, where
(26:25):
you are known and loved, and wewant you to be sent out and
commissioned to the worldthrough your work and through
your witness.
The other way that we talkedabout that's a qualitative depth
that we want all of us toexperience here at New City is
on the top, is kind of morequalitative, it's the numeric.
We want to see people who arenot yet disciples become
(26:46):
disciples and then take onresponsibility of sharing this
type of community with oneanother.
Ben is going to talk about thisagain next week and probably
clarify a lot of what I justsaid.
So, beloved, I want to kind ofclose with this.
I want you, if anything, toremember from this sermon, I
want you to behold the beauty ofthe triune God.
(27:08):
God who is the loving Father,who sent his only Son to be a
Savior for us, to be thepropitiation for our sins, so we
can have verse 13, theempowering, life-giving Spirit.
The beauty of the Trinity isnot only that God is love, but
(27:31):
that we are loved and we arewelcomed in to that communion
with God.
So let us pray to the beautifultriune God.
Pray with me, father, we aregrateful for your love for us in
this that you sent your son,jesus, to ransom a people, to be
(27:51):
a propitiation for our sins.
Jesus, you are the faithful,promised one.
You are the one who brought usto the triune God.
Father, son and Spirit andSpirit.
We ask that you would fill usup, that you would help us to
love and encourage those aroundus.
We give you the glory, Amen.
Popular Podcasts
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!