September 22, 2025 • 33 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hi, my name is Samuel Beckwith.
I go to Benicia Middle Schooland I'm in sixth grade.
I'm reading from 1 John, 3, 19through 24.
This is how we know that webelong to the truth and how we
set our hearts at rest in hispresence.
If our hearts condemn us, weknow that God is greater than
our hearts and he knowseverything.
(00:26):
Dear friends, if our hearts donot condemn us, we have
confidence before God andreceive from him anything we ask
, because we keep his commandsand do what pleases him.
And this is his command tobelieve in the name of his son,
jesus Christ, and to love oneanother, as he commanded us.
(00:48):
The one who keeps God'scommands lies in him and he in
them.
And this is how we know that helives in us.
We know it because the spirithe gave us this is the word of
the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Thanks be to God.
Thank you, samuel, appreciatethat.
My name is Lawrence, glad youguys are here.
I'm the lead pastor.
Before we hop in, just twoannouncements that I think are
important and things that arecoming up.
One is next week we're going tobe doing a walk for water.
It's on Saturday.
A lot of you guys have signedup.
Yeah, clapping means you'regiving to it.
It's awesome.
Good job, clap again.
(01:21):
No, we're going to be doingthat and we've got 28 people, I
think, signed up right now onTeam Northgate.
You can go out there and stillsign up, but we haven't had that
much money that was raised yet.
And again, I'm not asking foryour money, I'm asking you to
ask your friends for the moneyfor these wells.
We've already done 88 in ourhistory of doing that stuff.
(01:42):
It'd be really cool to see ifwe can get towards 100.
And just as a reminder, we havesome matching gifts, so there's
free money to be had to do more.
And that's what happens when wecollectively come together.
Even if you can't walk, you'rejust participating.
Collectively coming together,we can really do some cool
things.
So that's on Saturday.
Again, way more information outthere on the table as you guys
(02:04):
leave today, the so that's onSaturday.
Again, way more information outthere on the table as you guys
leave today.
The second one is somethingcoming up in October, on October
11th this is a Saturday as well, but we're having a huge event
up here and we want everyone toparticipate.
It's called the Fall FamilyFlannel Fest.
It's a whole bunch of Fs sorry,it's just that's what it's
called.
It's what our children'sdirector came up with and I'm
all for it.
We're following it.
(02:24):
But I'll tell you, the mostexciting thing about it is
there's going to be a pumpkincatapult so we can have a
competition, but it's got foodtrucks, bounce houses, music,
pumpkin painting, the catapultthing, a petting zoo.
I think there's a bunch ofother stuff, so we'll give you
more information about that, buthere's actually the deal.
(02:46):
I want you to know why we'redoing this.
This is a free, safe familyevent and it's not right at
Halloween, it's beforehand.
Think of it sans like trunk ortreat.
If you've ever been a part ofthat years ago.
This is an opportunity forpeople to come up here and you
to show off a little bit of ourspace.
So let's say in the future, youtell your friend, your family,
you want them to come to aChristmas Eve service.
(03:07):
You know, and I know this too,for those of you who invite
friends and family or coworkershere, it can feel a little bit
like meeting the parents, likeit just feels like a lot to do a
Sunday right off the bat.
So it's easier to be like, hey,come to this fun event before
you come inside the building,right?
Instead of going on your firstdate and be like we're going to
stop by my parents' house on theway home.
Some people are like whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a lot, right.
(03:30):
So this is like, think of itlike that, this is like dating,
so that they come here and checkthis out, you can participate,
have a good time.
They see where the bathroom'sat, you invite them back and
they're like do you want to comein the building?
It'll be awesome, right, andthey come to that, and then it
just gives an opportunity.
So really it is a great toolfor you.
(03:51):
Think of it like steppingstones and it's going to be a
lot of fun.
So October 11th fall, familyflannel fest and wear flannel,
if that's you.
So you do you.
What about today?
So today we are finishing upchapter three.
We've been in the letters ofJohn, not the big book of John.
That's considered a gospel thatyou find at the very beginning
(04:13):
of the New Testament If you're aBible person.
If you're not, this is at theend of the New Testament, in
these three little letters thatthe gospel writer of John writes
as he's an old guy saying hey.
Letters that the gospel writerJohn writes as he's an old guy
saying hey, we've establishedwho Jesus is, what he came and
what he did.
Now let's remind him what thatlooks like and how we live.
And so we've been going throughthat.
I'm going to wrap up chapterthree today.
(04:34):
Next week Courtney Beer isgoing to be here.
He's pushing into chapter four.
So go ahead and open up yourscreens or your Bible.
You can get into that.
But first I need to start with aconfession.
This is one of thoseinteresting things.
As a pastor, you know to standup here and confess to you guys
about something.
But my phone has a talent formaking me feel really judged.
(04:56):
Every Sunday morning it pops upwith this weekly screen time
report like a tiny prophetcalling me to repentance, and
it's never encouraging.
It's always like your screentime was up 18% and I'm like
from what?
And it's like from too much,and I'm like whoa, whoa.
(05:16):
Then my phone offers a limit,right, and I'm like thank you,
rectangle of shame, like geezlouise.
But here's the truth, right, weall have like thank you
rectangle of shame, like geezlouise.
But here's the truth, right.
We all have dashboards thatmeasure us Grades, followers,
bank accounts, unread emails,that one friend's highlight reel
(05:37):
that looks like a Marveltrailer, like epic music,
slow-mo stuff, zero content,like this messy behind the
scenes stuff.
And then we have John here, thelast of the living apostles, and
he's writing to a full a churchfull of real people with real
dashboards.
They love Jesus.
And then what happens is theirhearts get really loud.
(05:58):
And in 1 John, chapter 3, 19through 24, he says that God
gives us something better than adashboard.
He gives us this word assurance.
He shows us what to do when ourconscience actually starts
dragging us into the group chatat 2 am with the like we need to
talk energy.
He tells us why our prayers canbe bold instead of timid and he
(06:21):
reduces the whole Christianlife to this one command with
two parts believe in Jesus andlove one another.
Here's the big idea.
If you want to take a pictureof it.
We're going to go through fortoday.
On the screen it's that God isgreater than your
self-condemning heart.
So live, then, in the freedomof believing in Jesus, loving
(06:41):
one another in Jesus, loving oneanother, praying boldly and
abiding by the Spirit Got it.
So let's dive in.
Keep your Bible open.
So first, john actually talksabout our hearts in verses 19
through 20.
It says this "by this we shallknow that we are of the truth
and reassure our hearts".
(07:02):
Before him, for whenever ourheart condemns us, god is
greater than our heart and heknows everything.
So think about this phrase righthere whenever our hearts
condemn us, your heart in theBible isn't just like your
feelings, it's the controlcenter of life, thoughts,
desires, conscience, andsometimes that control center
(07:25):
suddenly goes like red alert onus.
The heart becomes like thatfriend who runs this true crime
podcast that suddenly goesinvestigative on you, right?
Have you ever had your heartlike, hold a press conference
about your worst moments when,like you're brushing your teeth
right and like a normal human inyour brain suddenly flashes to
(07:48):
that one comment you made in2019 and still haunts you to
this day, and you're like why amI thinking about that, right.
Or you finally sit down to prayand your inner voice goes like,
wow, wow, you ignore God allweek and now you're just asking
for stuff.
Right, our hearts can accuse usso hard that God's voice starts
(08:09):
to sound like this inner criticthat's on like bass boost.
Right, it's exhausting.
And John doesn't say ignoreyour heart, he says reassure it.
In the Greek, this word, righthere, reassures has this idea of
persuading.
Persuading it or setting atrest that you don't win by
out-arguing your conscience withthese motivational quotes.
(08:32):
You actually get to soothe itwith the truth of the gospel,
which is what God is greaterthan your heart and he knows
everything.
And that's not a threat,friends.
That's actually comfort.
God's omniscience I'm messingup this word right now
omniscience is not a securitycamera that's trying to catch
(08:56):
you in the midst of something.
It's that the Father'sknowledge.
It includes more than that,like why you did it, the fear
under that thing, and then thetears that nobody saw.
He knows everything, and thisis, I think, one of the best
parts.
He knows everything, includingabout the things that you don't
know about yourself.
So because of that, I think it'sactually really important for
(09:17):
us to talk about the differencebetween these two words,
condemnation and conviction,because a lot of us I think a
lot of us think that thosethings, or get caught up that
they sound really similar.
They're similar in our heads.
Let me give you some back andforth here.
So condemnation tends to bethis foghorn of shame that says
you're a failure, permanently,period right.
(09:40):
But conviction it tends to bethis laser pointer that says,
hey, this right here, turn fromit and you actually get to live.
Condemnation is vague.
Oftentimes it's really heavyand it's constant.
Where conviction is specific,it's hopeful and what it does is
(10:04):
it tends to lead to action.
Condemnation like leaves yourhead spiraling.
Conviction what it does is itspurpose is to send you towards
Jesus, and John says that God'svirgin in Christ outranks your
heart's verdict.
Picture a courtroom, if youwill, where your heart is the
prosecutor.
(10:24):
It's got files, it presentsscreenshots, it plays audio from
that fight that you had withyour person over dishes that you
just doubled down to make sureyou won.
And then what happens is God,the judge, stands up.
And he stands up before you andsays paid for Not no big deal,
not just like boys will be boysand not just do better.
But he says no atonement,covered, covered for you by the
(10:50):
blood of my son.
And so if that's the ruling,then who is your heart to file
an appeal?
In fact, the apostle Paulwrites in Romans, chapter eight,
verse one.
He says and you've maybe haveheard this there therefore is
now no condemnation for those inChrist, and John's saying you
need to apply that to yourTuesday.
(11:11):
Quick story, real quick.
A friend of mine once sent arisky text to the wrong group
chat.
It was meant for one person.
You want to know what it was,don't you?
It was asking for forgivenessabout something, and it went to
this whole group.
Like you could feel the cringeover wifi.
(11:31):
And it turns out that thisgroup actually responded with
grace, like a handful of peoplestarted raising their hand and
being like it's okay, dude, likeme too.
They prayed and what heexpected to be a courtroom
became a confessional and theneventually became this
celebration.
And that's what it's like tobring your accusing heart before
God.
You think he's going to roastyou with this perfect memory of
(11:55):
everything you've done.
That didn't add up, but hemeets you with mercy.
Now, what happens when yourheart is at rest?
Well, john says in verse 21,beloved, if your heart doesn't
condemn us.
We have confidence before God.
Now, this word confidence righthere, as it's said in the Greek
(12:18):
, is patasia.
You want to try that onePatasia?
Look to your friend and saypatasia, right Confidence.
You get to use that this weekLike, hey, you got to have some
patasia.
That's your confidence, whichliterally means like freedom of
speech, like courageous, candidspeech, like I got some potosia
right here, speaking truthwithout fear, right Concealment.
And you know that feeling whenyou like text your best friend,
(12:41):
that you don't have to likedraft it 12 times.
Why?
Why do you get to do that?
Because you just say.
You say it because you feelsafe.
You feel safe in that momentand that's the vibe that God
wants in prayer, when your heartgets settled in the gospel.
You stop then negotiating withGod like a reluctant landlord
and start talking to him like afather who actually finds
(13:02):
delight in your voice and inthat moment then you can ask for
big things and you can justtalk about honest things and
request them, put them in frontof him.
John keeps going in verse 22.
He says whatever we ask, wereceive from him, because we
keep his commandments and dowhat pleases him.
Now just to pause real quick.
(13:22):
This is not a vending machineverse, so don't take this out of
context.
Like, oh, this is pretty good.
Like we ask, we receive it.
What this is is an alignmentverse.
If you've ever had to chargeyour phone with a cable that
barely fits, you know the painof this.
Where you like, plug it in andit says it's charging, but the
percentage isn't moving, and soyou're always like right, have
you ever experienced that Prayeris like the cable that snaps
(13:46):
into place?
And when your life is orientedtowards God, when you keep his
commandments and do what pleaseshim, he's not manipulated by
our performance.
He's forming our desires towant what he already loves.
Think about what pleases himthe way that you think about
(14:06):
like hanging out with somebodythat you actually love.
If your friend is training fora half marathon, you don't
surprise them with tickets tothe all-you-can-eat hot wing
festival the night before, right, what do you do?
You show up with likeelectrolytes and you're there at
like mile 12 and then you'redriving in your own car to mile
18 to cheer them on, right.
(14:28):
In the same way, praying inalignment sounds different.
It sounds like Father, make mequick to forgive Father, help me
tell the truth at work, evenwhen it costs me.
Father, provide what we needand help me become a generous
person.
And those request friendsaren't boring, but they're bold
because what they do is they aimyour life at God's will.
And here's the surprise whenyou pray like that, you will
(14:51):
also find the courage to ask fordaily bread, for healing, for
jobs and apartments andbreakthroughs, because you trust
the giver more than you trustthe gifts.
And then this leads John to thisbreathtaking summary of the
Christian life, verse 23,.
(15:11):
He says and this is thecommandment that we believe in
the name of the son, jesusChrist, and love one another,
just as he has commanded us.
So this is one command, tworails.
So this is one command, tworails Believe and love, trust
Jesus and then treat people theway that he did right.
(15:31):
And if you try to just run onone rail, you derail.
It's like this all belief and nolove turns into smug theology
that smells like old bad coffee.
All love and no belief turnsinto this vague niceness with no
cross, no resurrection and nopower to actually change.
(15:51):
So real quick, let's justdouble click on believe in the
name of his son, jesus Christ.
So to believe in his name isn'tlike believing in his brand
because the logo is cute.
Name here is really powerful.
It means nature, authority,identity, and so to believe in
Jesus's name means that you gotstake on this right, like you
(16:17):
stake your life on who heactually is.
The son of God, like that, hetook on flesh, he lived a
sinless life, he diedsacrificially and rose bodily.
It means that when the culturalwinds actually push you and
blow and say, hey, why don't youjust adopt a Jesus who never
disagrees with you, you gentlysay, I think I want the real one
(16:38):
.
And faith isn't like playingdodgeball theologically, it's
living loyalty, it's living thislife.
That's like loyal enough thatbegins to binge your mind, binge
your schedule and even bingeyour wallet towards the kingdom
of God and what he's doing.
Then love one another.
(16:59):
We've heard this one beforeJohn's writing to a real church.
Friends with real conflict,awkwardness, diversity,
preferences.
That one guy who singsharmonies way too loud, sitting
right over there right Lovingone another, is not this
motivational poster in thismoment.
It's a Tuesday night whenyou're tired and your friend
(17:20):
needs a ride.
It's a Saturday morning whenyou help someone move, even
though their couch feels likeit's from medieval times and it
smells like a cat.
Right.
It's forgiving before beingasked.
It's confessing envy andcelebrating someone else's win.
It's refusing to subtweetanother believer.
(17:43):
It's ordinary faithfulness in aworld addicted to novelty.
What keeps us from that kind oflove?
Often I think it's an accusingheart.
And when you live undercondemnation, what happens is
(18:03):
you hoard energy and affection,and shame then turns inward like
a turtle.
But when your heart is settled,when you actually believe God
is greater than your heart, youhave emotional margin than to
love others and what happens isassurance actually fuels that.
Forgiven people then forgivepeople.
(18:25):
Loved people, love people.
And then John finishes withverse 24.
He says whoever keeps hiscommandments abides in God and
God in him.
And by this we know that heabides in us by the spirit whom
he has given, and we've talked alot about this.
He uses abide a lot.
Abide means to make your hometo remain.
(18:46):
Christianity isn't just, youknow, trying to try hard for
Jesus.
What it is is.
It's actually living a lifethat's supposed to be attached
to Jesus.
He's not like this weekendAirbnb.
He's saying no, no, no, I'myour permanent address.
He's not like this weekendAirbnb.
He's saying no, no, no, I'myour permanent address and he
doesn't just wanna invite youinto his house.
This is the beautiful part.
He wants to move in to yoursand the spirit then sets up
(19:09):
residence and starts rearrangingyour furniture and the spirit's
presence is both felt and thenit becomes fruitful in your life
.
Sometimes you sense his comfortin worship or this nudge to
apologize.
Sometimes you get to look backover the last six months and
realize, man, I'm not who I usedto be.
I actually love people who Iused to avoid.
(19:30):
I'm able to tell the truth alittle faster, like I'm more
patient in traffic, unlesssomeone's going 15 miles under
the speed limit in the fast lane, which is okay, because I'm
just a person in process.
Right, it's good.
And the Spirit's witness isn'tjust always fireworks for us.
Just understand that Often it'sthis steady glow of change that
(19:54):
only God can produce.
Have you ever noticed that yourconscience is like the worst GPS
?
Like it's got one phraserecalculating.
That's what it does all thetime to us.
Like you make a plan to readyour bible, you miss two days
and it's like recalculating.
I'll try again.
Right, the diet always startson monday, you understand?
Right?
You promise not to like doomscroll after 10 pm and you end
(20:16):
up learning about medievalbeekeeping at 1 am and and
you're just like, oh dang itrecalculating.
But beekeeping's awesome, right?
The gospel doesn't break theGPS, friends.
It updates the map, it saysyeah, yeah, yeah, wrong turn,
but here's the route home.
And God's mercy isn't aloophole for us.
We need to understand it'sactually a road back, because he
(20:39):
knows everything and he stillinvites you home.
Okay, here's an illustrationthat's gonna help you this week,
when your phone's at like 8%,abiding is the difference
between living near an outletand carrying one of those
portable chargers in your pocket, like your life with God.
(21:01):
If it's just a once a weekplugin, you will always be at
12% by Thursday, like justspiritually rationing kindness,
like it's your last Capri Sun.
Some of you been there, I getit.
Abiding means that the spiritis this charger in your pocket
and it's just constantly toppingyou off.
So how do you know that you'reabiding?
(21:23):
Well, it's not by goosebumps,but by power available for love
in ordinary moments.
Let me show what this lookslike with a case study.
So Taylor, she's 23, works a jobwhere Slack never sleeps.
She lives with three roommateswho share one bathroom and they
(21:44):
have six different opinionsabout soap.
You know what I'm talking about.
Taylor loves Jesus, but low keydeals with a condemning heart.
And every time Taylor scrollsshe sees how everyone's just
further along they're married,they're traveling, they're
launching, they're glowing andprayer feels like this
performance review with God,where it just feels like he's
(22:05):
always like needs improvement.
Well, one week Taylor comes hereand she hears this teach Hears
that God is greater than yourheart.
And so Taylor decides to do anexperiment for seven days, and
each morning, before checkingher phone, taylor puts her feet
on the floor and says out loudFather, you know everything and
(22:29):
you love me in Jesus.
My heart is noisy, but you aregreater.
That's it.
10 seconds.
Then Taylor opens up John'swords and prays one request in
alignment with his will Make mesomeone who believes and loves
today.
Well, that week Taylor ends upbuying coffee for a coworker
(22:51):
who's been struggling.
She apologizes quickly after asarcastic comment that she made.
She texts encouragement insteadof slightly competing, and by
Saturday Taylor's heart stillhas opinions.
It whispers you messed up, youdidn't do that right, you
skipped your reading.
You're a mess.
But now Taylor has a scriptHeart.
(23:11):
Thank you for the concern.
God is greater.
He knows everything, includingthe fact that Jesus took my mess
to the cross and actually leftit in the tomb and I'm going to
keep on believing and loving.
And that, friends, is whatassurance looks like, not
(23:31):
arrogance, but it's anchored infreedom.
Next, I want to address a commonquestion.
If God already knows everythingand loves me, then why does he
care whether or not I keep hiscommandments right?
Well, here's the real quick,short answer, because love is
relational.
If you told your best friendand maybe you guys have done
(23:54):
this like, oh, you know, I loveyou, right, you've had that
conversation Like no, no, youknow I love you.
And then constantly ghostedthem, used them, ignored their
boundaries, what would happen?
You start to question theirlove.
It doesn't matter how manytimes they said to you like but
you know, I love you, right?
Obedience isn't not paying rentto stay in God's house.
It's actually how loveexpresses itself when you
(24:17):
actually live in that space.
Remember verse 22, where Johnsays do what pleases him.
You guys remember this oneright here.
Whatever we ask, we receivethis do what pleases him.
This is relationship language.
It's not insecurity on God'spart, it's actually intimacy on
(24:40):
ours to do what pleases him.
Another question that posesitself in this verse is does
whatever we ask, we receive?
What does that mean?
Like, some of you guys are likethis is sweet, so if I ask for
a Tesla in a lake house, likeGod's on the hook, this is gonna
be legit, like I can just thinkof it.
It's the secret, right?
You guys have all read thatbook, right?
(25:00):
This, though, friends, is wherebelief and love actually begin
to shape our prayers.
Like when you believe Jesus isLord and you love people, your
requests are just soundsdifferent.
They begin to sound like Father, forgive them.
Father, send workers to theharvest.
Father, will you provide fordaily bread?
Father, heal to the harvest.
Father, will you provide fordaily bread?
(25:20):
Father, heal, restore, save.
Which poses the question doesGod actually care about your
rent, your internship, yourfamily's health, when you can
retire, your desire to get intograd school?
Absolutely, he's a father, andthat's the best part.
You can ask him for anythingand trust him with everything.
(25:44):
So, landing this, let's talkabout community for just a
second.
We have a lot of groups andclasses that are kicking off
right now that I really want toencourage you to be a part of
why Assurance grows in circles,not in rows.
It's really important.
You and I need at least onefriend that can say whoa, whoa,
whoa.
That going on right now, that'scondemnation, not conviction.
(26:04):
Let's help point you to Jesus.
And the problem is, honestly,if I just want to, yeah, care
for you right now, I just wantto say some of you are trying to
do faith like a solo projectand it's no good.
But community is where wepractice the command to actually
love one another.
It's where we learn to receivelove when we actually are the
(26:29):
ones that feel unlovable.
It's where we discover thatthat person that we've avoided
is a gift, or that person whoannoyed us becomes a teacher in
patience, and that person thatwe're jealous of becomes someone
that we celebrate.
I want to circle back to prayer,just real quick, in confidence,
praying in confidence.
Some of you, you pray likeyou're calling the customer
(26:52):
service line, expecting holdmusic, a bot like a note that's
saying your call is veryimportant but everyone's busy,
right?
Remember?
John says you have parousiaconfidence.
You have confidence and freedomin your speech.
Essentially, what that means isyou have the relational green
light to talk to your fatheranytime, anywhere, about
(27:14):
anything, and you don't have torehearse it and you don't have
to pretend, you don't have toopen like dear sir or like any
of that.
You just get to pray in yourcar, pray in the shower, pray a
whisper in the hallway beforethat interview, pray like you
belong, because, friends inChrist, you do.
(27:35):
And when you actually start tolive this passage out, you'll
notice three specific shifts.
First, you're going to noticethat your inner monologue
becomes kinder and truer, notsoft on sin, clear on grace.
Second, your prayer life getsbolder and simpler, less theater
(27:55):
, more honesty.
And third, your relationshipsget warmer and braver.
You'll both serve more and saythe hard things sooner, because
love does both.
And these aren't personalityupgrades, these are spirit
upgrades.
Now maybe, just maybe, some ofyou are asking but what if my
(28:16):
heart feels quiet because I justfeel like I've gone numb and I
just wanna say I feel you, I seeyou.
That's a real question.
Sometimes the heart can stopaccusing because it's not at
rest in grace, because it'sasleep in apathy.
And the antidote is the sameJust bring your real self to the
(28:37):
real Jesus and then let thespirit poke you and then start
loving someone on purpose.
And then what happens is youbegin to watch the numbness
begin to thaw.
Obedience is like a spiritualsmelling salt, like it wakes you
up.
And I don't know your week orwhat you're coming in here with,
but maybe you're carrying rightnow a breakup that keeps
(28:59):
replaying like a bad TikTok.
Maybe your lab went wrong thisweek.
Maybe your job hunt is stilljust a string of politely worded
no's.
Maybe your family is in a messychapter with a plot twist you
didn't approve of, or you brokeyour leg and you didn't expect
that right.
Your heart will have lots tosay about these things, will
have lots to say about thesethings.
(29:20):
Some of it will be true.
You did mess up.
You are limited and you don'tcontrol outcomes.
But the truest thing over yourlife, if you belong to Jesus, is
this God is greater than yourheart and he knows everything.
And get this, he still lovesyou.
(29:43):
You will have weeks where yourscreen time report is up 40% and
your patience is down 60.
And God's mercy, friends willnot budge.
So keep returning, keepbelieving, keep loving.
Before we pray, just one finalimage.
You know, at the airport theyhave those walkways where you
(30:03):
can like feel like you'rewalking super fast, right, but
you can stand there and you canstand still and still move
forward because something'sunder your feet, literally
carrying you.
Think of it like this.
Assurance is like that yourprogress in love isn't just you
doing more cardio, it's thespirit actually carrying you as
you take small, real steps.
(30:24):
You step, he moves you furtherthan your step should have taken
you.
You apologize.
He restores more than yourwords could have fixed.
You ask, he answers with morewisdom than you knew to request
in the first place.
That's what abiding is.
When you fail which, by the way, you will remember, friends
that the judge has already ruledin your favor because his son
(30:49):
stood in your place and God isgreater than your heart and he
knows everything.
And that's not just theology,friends.
Please receive that as oxygen.
Let me pray this over you.
Would you bow your heads,father?
We bring you our noisy hearts.
Thank you that your knowledgeof us is not a weapon, it's a
(31:11):
haven.
Thank you, jesus, whose crosssilences condemnation and whose
resurrection fills us withliving hope.
Holy Spirit, would you makeyour home in us today.
Teach us to abide, give usfreedom of speech and prayer and
power to love in the ordinary.
In this week's, let our heartsrest.
(31:35):
Our prayers rise and our lovebe practical.
In the holy name of JesusChrist, we pray this Amen.
Would you stand as we respondin worship?
Hi, my name is Samuel Beckwith.
I go to Benicia Middle Schooland I'm in sixth grade.
I'm reading from 1 John, 3, 19through 24.
This is how we know that webelong to the truth and how we
set our hearts at rest in hispresence.
If our hearts condemn us, weknow that God is greater than
our hearts and he knowseverything.
(00:26):
Dear friends, if our hearts donot condemn us, we have
confidence before God andreceive from him anything we ask
, because we keep his commandsand do what pleases him.
And this is his command tobelieve in the name of his son,
jesus Christ, and to love oneanother, as he commanded us.
(00:48):
The one who keeps God'scommands lies in him and he in
them.
And this is how we know that helives in us.
We know it because the spirithe gave us this is the word of
the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Thanks be to God.
Thank you, samuel, appreciatethat.
My name is Lawrence, glad youguys are here.
I'm the lead pastor.
Before we hop in, just twoannouncements that I think are
important and things that arecoming up.
One is next week we're going tobe doing a walk for water.
It's on Saturday.
A lot of you guys have signedup.
Yeah, clapping means you'regiving to it.
It's awesome.
Good job, clap again.
(01:21):
No, we're going to be doingthat and we've got 28 people, I
think, signed up right now onTeam Northgate.
You can go out there and stillsign up, but we haven't had that
much money that was raised yet.
And again, I'm not asking foryour money, I'm asking you to
ask your friends for the moneyfor these wells.
We've already done 88 in ourhistory of doing that stuff.
(01:42):
It'd be really cool to see ifwe can get towards 100.
And just as a reminder, we havesome matching gifts, so there's
free money to be had to do more.
And that's what happens when wecollectively come together.
Even if you can't walk, you'rejust participating.
Collectively coming together,we can really do some cool
things.
So that's on Saturday.
Again, way more information outthere on the table as you guys
(02:04):
leave today, the so that's onSaturday.
Again, way more information outthere on the table as you guys
leave today.
The second one is somethingcoming up in October, on October
11th this is a Saturday as well, but we're having a huge event
up here and we want everyone toparticipate.
It's called the Fall FamilyFlannel Fest.
It's a whole bunch of Fs sorry,it's just that's what it's
called.
It's what our children'sdirector came up with and I'm
all for it.
We're following it.
(02:24):
But I'll tell you, the mostexciting thing about it is
there's going to be a pumpkincatapult so we can have a
competition, but it's got foodtrucks, bounce houses, music,
pumpkin painting, the catapultthing, a petting zoo.
I think there's a bunch ofother stuff, so we'll give you
more information about that, buthere's actually the deal.
(02:46):
I want you to know why we'redoing this.
This is a free, safe familyevent and it's not right at
Halloween, it's beforehand.
Think of it sans like trunk ortreat.
If you've ever been a part ofthat years ago.
This is an opportunity forpeople to come up here and you
to show off a little bit of ourspace.
So let's say in the future, youtell your friend, your family,
you want them to come to aChristmas Eve service.
(03:07):
You know, and I know this too,for those of you who invite
friends and family or coworkershere, it can feel a little bit
like meeting the parents, likeit just feels like a lot to do a
Sunday right off the bat.
So it's easier to be like, hey,come to this fun event before
you come inside the building,right?
Instead of going on your firstdate and be like we're going to
stop by my parents' house on theway home.
Some people are like whoa, whoa, whoa, that's a lot, right.
(03:30):
So this is like, think of itlike that, this is like dating,
so that they come here and checkthis out, you can participate,
have a good time.
They see where the bathroom'sat, you invite them back and
they're like do you want to comein the building?
It'll be awesome, right, andthey come to that, and then it
just gives an opportunity.
So really it is a great toolfor you.
(03:51):
Think of it like steppingstones and it's going to be a
lot of fun.
So October 11th fall, familyflannel fest and wear flannel,
if that's you.
So you do you.
What about today?
So today we are finishing upchapter three.
We've been in the letters ofJohn, not the big book of John.
That's considered a gospel thatyou find at the very beginning
(04:13):
of the New Testament If you're aBible person.
If you're not, this is at theend of the New Testament, in
these three little letters thatthe gospel writer of John writes
as he's an old guy saying hey.
Letters that the gospel writerJohn writes as he's an old guy
saying hey, we've establishedwho Jesus is, what he came and
what he did.
Now let's remind him what thatlooks like and how we live.
And so we've been going throughthat.
I'm going to wrap up chapterthree today.
(04:34):
Next week Courtney Beer isgoing to be here.
He's pushing into chapter four.
So go ahead and open up yourscreens or your Bible.
You can get into that.
But first I need to start with aconfession.
This is one of thoseinteresting things.
As a pastor, you know to standup here and confess to you guys
about something.
But my phone has a talent formaking me feel really judged.
(04:56):
Every Sunday morning it pops upwith this weekly screen time
report like a tiny prophetcalling me to repentance, and
it's never encouraging.
It's always like your screentime was up 18% and I'm like
from what?
And it's like from too much,and I'm like whoa, whoa.
(05:16):
Then my phone offers a limit,right, and I'm like thank you,
rectangle of shame, like geezlouise.
But here's the truth, right, weall have like thank you
rectangle of shame, like geezlouise.
But here's the truth, right.
We all have dashboards thatmeasure us Grades, followers,
bank accounts, unread emails,that one friend's highlight reel
(05:37):
that looks like a Marveltrailer, like epic music,
slow-mo stuff, zero content,like this messy behind the
scenes stuff.
And then we have John here, thelast of the living apostles, and
he's writing to a full a churchfull of real people with real
dashboards.
They love Jesus.
And then what happens is theirhearts get really loud.
(05:58):
And in 1 John, chapter 3, 19through 24, he says that God
gives us something better than adashboard.
He gives us this word assurance.
He shows us what to do when ourconscience actually starts
dragging us into the group chatat 2 am with the like we need to
talk energy.
He tells us why our prayers canbe bold instead of timid and he
(06:21):
reduces the whole Christianlife to this one command with
two parts believe in Jesus andlove one another.
Here's the big idea.
If you want to take a pictureof it.
We're going to go through fortoday.
On the screen it's that God isgreater than your
self-condemning heart.
So live, then, in the freedomof believing in Jesus, loving
(06:41):
one another in Jesus, loving oneanother, praying boldly and
abiding by the Spirit Got it.
So let's dive in.
Keep your Bible open.
So first, john actually talksabout our hearts in verses 19
through 20.
It says this "by this we shallknow that we are of the truth
and reassure our hearts".
(07:02):
Before him, for whenever ourheart condemns us, god is
greater than our heart and heknows everything.
So think about this phrase righthere whenever our hearts
condemn us, your heart in theBible isn't just like your
feelings, it's the controlcenter of life, thoughts,
desires, conscience, andsometimes that control center
(07:25):
suddenly goes like red alert onus.
The heart becomes like thatfriend who runs this true crime
podcast that suddenly goesinvestigative on you, right?
Have you ever had your heartlike, hold a press conference
about your worst moments when,like you're brushing your teeth
right and like a normal human inyour brain suddenly flashes to
(07:48):
that one comment you made in2019 and still haunts you to
this day, and you're like why amI thinking about that, right.
Or you finally sit down to prayand your inner voice goes like,
wow, wow, you ignore God allweek and now you're just asking
for stuff.
Right, our hearts can accuse usso hard that God's voice starts
(08:09):
to sound like this inner criticthat's on like bass boost.
Right, it's exhausting.
And John doesn't say ignoreyour heart, he says reassure it.
In the Greek, this word, righthere, reassures has this idea of
persuading.
Persuading it or setting atrest that you don't win by
out-arguing your conscience withthese motivational quotes.
(08:32):
You actually get to soothe itwith the truth of the gospel,
which is what God is greaterthan your heart and he knows
everything.
And that's not a threat,friends.
That's actually comfort.
God's omniscience I'm messingup this word right now
omniscience is not a securitycamera that's trying to catch
(08:56):
you in the midst of something.
It's that the Father'sknowledge.
It includes more than that,like why you did it, the fear
under that thing, and then thetears that nobody saw.
He knows everything, and thisis, I think, one of the best
parts.
He knows everything, includingabout the things that you don't
know about yourself.
So because of that, I think it'sactually really important for
(09:17):
us to talk about the differencebetween these two words,
condemnation and conviction,because a lot of us I think a
lot of us think that thosethings, or get caught up that
they sound really similar.
They're similar in our heads.
Let me give you some back andforth here.
So condemnation tends to bethis foghorn of shame that says
you're a failure, permanently,period right.
(09:40):
But conviction it tends to bethis laser pointer that says,
hey, this right here, turn fromit and you actually get to live.
Condemnation is vague.
Oftentimes it's really heavyand it's constant.
Where conviction is specific,it's hopeful and what it does is
(10:04):
it tends to lead to action.
Condemnation like leaves yourhead spiraling.
Conviction what it does is itspurpose is to send you towards
Jesus, and John says that God'svirgin in Christ outranks your
heart's verdict.
Picture a courtroom, if youwill, where your heart is the
prosecutor.
(10:24):
It's got files, it presentsscreenshots, it plays audio from
that fight that you had withyour person over dishes that you
just doubled down to make sureyou won.
And then what happens is God,the judge, stands up.
And he stands up before you andsays paid for Not no big deal,
not just like boys will be boysand not just do better.
But he says no atonement,covered, covered for you by the
(10:50):
blood of my son.
And so if that's the ruling,then who is your heart to file
an appeal?
In fact, the apostle Paulwrites in Romans, chapter eight,
verse one.
He says and you've maybe haveheard this there therefore is
now no condemnation for those inChrist, and John's saying you
need to apply that to yourTuesday.
(11:11):
Quick story, real quick.
A friend of mine once sent arisky text to the wrong group
chat.
It was meant for one person.
You want to know what it was,don't you?
It was asking for forgivenessabout something, and it went to
this whole group.
Like you could feel the cringeover wifi.
(11:31):
And it turns out that thisgroup actually responded with
grace, like a handful of peoplestarted raising their hand and
being like it's okay, dude, likeme too.
They prayed and what heexpected to be a courtroom
became a confessional and theneventually became this
celebration.
And that's what it's like tobring your accusing heart before
God.
You think he's going to roastyou with this perfect memory of
(11:55):
everything you've done.
That didn't add up, but hemeets you with mercy.
Now, what happens when yourheart is at rest?
Well, john says in verse 21,beloved, if your heart doesn't
condemn us.
We have confidence before God.
Now, this word confidence righthere, as it's said in the Greek
(12:18):
, is patasia.
You want to try that onePatasia?
Look to your friend and saypatasia, right Confidence.
You get to use that this weekLike, hey, you got to have some
patasia.
That's your confidence, whichliterally means like freedom of
speech, like courageous, candidspeech, like I got some potosia
right here, speaking truthwithout fear, right Concealment.
And you know that feeling whenyou like text your best friend,
(12:41):
that you don't have to likedraft it 12 times.
Why?
Why do you get to do that?
Because you just say.
You say it because you feelsafe.
You feel safe in that momentand that's the vibe that God
wants in prayer, when your heartgets settled in the gospel.
You stop then negotiating withGod like a reluctant landlord
and start talking to him like afather who actually finds
(13:02):
delight in your voice and inthat moment then you can ask for
big things and you can justtalk about honest things and
request them, put them in frontof him.
John keeps going in verse 22.
He says whatever we ask, wereceive from him, because we
keep his commandments and dowhat pleases him.
Now just to pause real quick.
(13:22):
This is not a vending machineverse, so don't take this out of
context.
Like, oh, this is pretty good.
Like we ask, we receive it.
What this is is an alignmentverse.
If you've ever had to chargeyour phone with a cable that
barely fits, you know the painof this.
Where you like, plug it in andit says it's charging, but the
percentage isn't moving, and soyou're always like right, have
you ever experienced that Prayeris like the cable that snaps
(13:46):
into place?
And when your life is orientedtowards God, when you keep his
commandments and do what pleaseshim, he's not manipulated by
our performance.
He's forming our desires towant what he already loves.
Think about what pleases himthe way that you think about
(14:06):
like hanging out with somebodythat you actually love.
If your friend is training fora half marathon, you don't
surprise them with tickets tothe all-you-can-eat hot wing
festival the night before, right, what do you do?
You show up with likeelectrolytes and you're there at
like mile 12 and then you'redriving in your own car to mile
18 to cheer them on, right.
(14:28):
In the same way, praying inalignment sounds different.
It sounds like Father, make mequick to forgive Father, help me
tell the truth at work, evenwhen it costs me.
Father, provide what we needand help me become a generous
person.
And those request friendsaren't boring, but they're bold
because what they do is they aimyour life at God's will.
And here's the surprise whenyou pray like that, you will
(14:51):
also find the courage to ask fordaily bread, for healing, for
jobs and apartments andbreakthroughs, because you trust
the giver more than you trustthe gifts.
And then this leads John to thisbreathtaking summary of the
Christian life, verse 23,.
(15:11):
He says and this is thecommandment that we believe in
the name of the son, jesusChrist, and love one another,
just as he has commanded us.
So this is one command, tworails.
So this is one command, tworails Believe and love, trust
Jesus and then treat people theway that he did right.
(15:31):
And if you try to just run onone rail, you derail.
It's like this all belief and nolove turns into smug theology
that smells like old bad coffee.
All love and no belief turnsinto this vague niceness with no
cross, no resurrection and nopower to actually change.
(15:51):
So real quick, let's justdouble click on believe in the
name of his son, jesus Christ.
So to believe in his name isn'tlike believing in his brand
because the logo is cute.
Name here is really powerful.
It means nature, authority,identity, and so to believe in
Jesus's name means that you gotstake on this right, like you
(16:17):
stake your life on who heactually is.
The son of God, like that, hetook on flesh, he lived a
sinless life, he diedsacrificially and rose bodily.
It means that when the culturalwinds actually push you and
blow and say, hey, why don't youjust adopt a Jesus who never
disagrees with you, you gentlysay, I think I want the real one
(16:38):
.
And faith isn't like playingdodgeball theologically, it's
living loyalty, it's living thislife.
That's like loyal enough thatbegins to binge your mind, binge
your schedule and even bingeyour wallet towards the kingdom
of God and what he's doing.
Then love one another.
(16:59):
We've heard this one beforeJohn's writing to a real church.
Friends with real conflict,awkwardness, diversity,
preferences.
That one guy who singsharmonies way too loud, sitting
right over there right Lovingone another, is not this
motivational poster in thismoment.
It's a Tuesday night whenyou're tired and your friend
(17:20):
needs a ride.
It's a Saturday morning whenyou help someone move, even
though their couch feels likeit's from medieval times and it
smells like a cat.
Right.
It's forgiving before beingasked.
It's confessing envy andcelebrating someone else's win.
It's refusing to subtweetanother believer.
(17:43):
It's ordinary faithfulness in aworld addicted to novelty.
What keeps us from that kind oflove?
Often I think it's an accusingheart.
And when you live undercondemnation, what happens is
(18:03):
you hoard energy and affection,and shame then turns inward like
a turtle.
But when your heart is settled,when you actually believe God
is greater than your heart, youhave emotional margin than to
love others and what happens isassurance actually fuels that.
Forgiven people then forgivepeople.
(18:25):
Loved people, love people.
And then John finishes withverse 24.
He says whoever keeps hiscommandments abides in God and
God in him.
And by this we know that heabides in us by the spirit whom
he has given, and we've talked alot about this.
He uses abide a lot.
Abide means to make your hometo remain.
(18:46):
Christianity isn't just, youknow, trying to try hard for
Jesus.
What it is is.
It's actually living a lifethat's supposed to be attached
to Jesus.
He's not like this weekendAirbnb.
He's saying no, no, no, I'myour permanent address.
He's not like this weekendAirbnb.
He's saying no, no, no, I'myour permanent address and he
doesn't just wanna invite youinto his house.
This is the beautiful part.
He wants to move in to yoursand the spirit then sets up
(19:09):
residence and starts rearrangingyour furniture and the spirit's
presence is both felt and thenit becomes fruitful in your life
.
Sometimes you sense his comfortin worship or this nudge to
apologize.
Sometimes you get to look backover the last six months and
realize, man, I'm not who I usedto be.
I actually love people who Iused to avoid.
(19:30):
I'm able to tell the truth alittle faster, like I'm more
patient in traffic, unlesssomeone's going 15 miles under
the speed limit in the fast lane, which is okay, because I'm
just a person in process.
Right, it's good.
And the Spirit's witness isn'tjust always fireworks for us.
Just understand that Often it'sthis steady glow of change that
(19:54):
only God can produce.
Have you ever noticed that yourconscience is like the worst GPS
?
Like it's got one phraserecalculating.
That's what it does all thetime to us.
Like you make a plan to readyour bible, you miss two days
and it's like recalculating.
I'll try again.
Right, the diet always startson monday, you understand?
Right?
You promise not to like doomscroll after 10 pm and you end
(20:16):
up learning about medievalbeekeeping at 1 am and and
you're just like, oh dang itrecalculating.
But beekeeping's awesome, right?
The gospel doesn't break theGPS, friends.
It updates the map, it saysyeah, yeah, yeah, wrong turn,
but here's the route home.
And God's mercy isn't aloophole for us.
We need to understand it'sactually a road back, because he
(20:39):
knows everything and he stillinvites you home.
Okay, here's an illustrationthat's gonna help you this week,
when your phone's at like 8%,abiding is the difference
between living near an outletand carrying one of those
portable chargers in your pocket, like your life with God.
(21:01):
If it's just a once a weekplugin, you will always be at
12% by Thursday, like justspiritually rationing kindness,
like it's your last Capri Sun.
Some of you been there, I getit.
Abiding means that the spiritis this charger in your pocket
and it's just constantly toppingyou off.
So how do you know that you'reabiding?
(21:23):
Well, it's not by goosebumps,but by power available for love
in ordinary moments.
Let me show what this lookslike with a case study.
So Taylor, she's 23, works a jobwhere Slack never sleeps.
She lives with three roommateswho share one bathroom and they
(21:44):
have six different opinionsabout soap.
You know what I'm talking about.
Taylor loves Jesus, but low keydeals with a condemning heart.
And every time Taylor scrollsshe sees how everyone's just
further along they're married,they're traveling, they're
launching, they're glowing andprayer feels like this
performance review with God,where it just feels like he's
(22:05):
always like needs improvement.
Well, one week Taylor comes hereand she hears this teach Hears
that God is greater than yourheart.
And so Taylor decides to do anexperiment for seven days, and
each morning, before checkingher phone, taylor puts her feet
on the floor and says out loudFather, you know everything and
(22:29):
you love me in Jesus.
My heart is noisy, but you aregreater.
That's it.
10 seconds.
Then Taylor opens up John'swords and prays one request in
alignment with his will Make mesomeone who believes and loves
today.
Well, that week Taylor ends upbuying coffee for a coworker
(22:51):
who's been struggling.
She apologizes quickly after asarcastic comment that she made.
She texts encouragement insteadof slightly competing, and by
Saturday Taylor's heart stillhas opinions.
It whispers you messed up, youdidn't do that right, you
skipped your reading.
You're a mess.
But now Taylor has a scriptHeart.
(23:11):
Thank you for the concern.
God is greater.
He knows everything, includingthe fact that Jesus took my mess
to the cross and actually leftit in the tomb and I'm going to
keep on believing and loving.
And that, friends, is whatassurance looks like, not
(23:31):
arrogance, but it's anchored infreedom.
Next, I want to address a commonquestion.
If God already knows everythingand loves me, then why does he
care whether or not I keep hiscommandments right?
Well, here's the real quick,short answer, because love is
relational.
If you told your best friendand maybe you guys have done
(23:54):
this like, oh, you know, I loveyou, right, you've had that
conversation Like no, no, youknow I love you.
And then constantly ghostedthem, used them, ignored their
boundaries, what would happen?
You start to question theirlove.
It doesn't matter how manytimes they said to you like but
you know, I love you, right?
Obedience isn't not paying rentto stay in God's house.
It's actually how loveexpresses itself when you
(24:17):
actually live in that space.
Remember verse 22, where Johnsays do what pleases him.
You guys remember this oneright here.
Whatever we ask, we receivethis do what pleases him.
This is relationship language.
It's not insecurity on God'spart, it's actually intimacy on
(24:40):
ours to do what pleases him.
Another question that posesitself in this verse is does
whatever we ask, we receive?
What does that mean?
Like, some of you guys are likethis is sweet, so if I ask for
a Tesla in a lake house, likeGod's on the hook, this is gonna
be legit, like I can just thinkof it.
It's the secret, right?
You guys have all read thatbook, right?
(25:00):
This, though, friends, is wherebelief and love actually begin
to shape our prayers.
Like when you believe Jesus isLord and you love people, your
requests are just soundsdifferent.
They begin to sound like Father, forgive them.
Father, send workers to theharvest.
Father, will you provide fordaily bread?
Father, heal to the harvest.
Father, will you provide fordaily bread?
(25:20):
Father, heal, restore, save.
Which poses the question doesGod actually care about your
rent, your internship, yourfamily's health, when you can
retire, your desire to get intograd school?
Absolutely, he's a father, andthat's the best part.
You can ask him for anythingand trust him with everything.
(25:44):
So, landing this, let's talkabout community for just a
second.
We have a lot of groups andclasses that are kicking off
right now that I really want toencourage you to be a part of
why Assurance grows in circles,not in rows.
It's really important.
You and I need at least onefriend that can say whoa, whoa,
whoa.
That going on right now, that'scondemnation, not conviction.
(26:04):
Let's help point you to Jesus.
And the problem is, honestly,if I just want to, yeah, care
for you right now, I just wantto say some of you are trying to
do faith like a solo projectand it's no good.
But community is where wepractice the command to actually
love one another.
It's where we learn to receivelove when we actually are the
(26:29):
ones that feel unlovable.
It's where we discover thatthat person that we've avoided
is a gift, or that person whoannoyed us becomes a teacher in
patience, and that person thatwe're jealous of becomes someone
that we celebrate.
I want to circle back to prayer,just real quick, in confidence,
praying in confidence.
Some of you, you pray likeyou're calling the customer
(26:52):
service line, expecting holdmusic, a bot like a note that's
saying your call is veryimportant but everyone's busy,
right?
Remember?
John says you have parousiaconfidence.
You have confidence and freedomin your speech.
Essentially, what that means isyou have the relational green
light to talk to your fatheranytime, anywhere, about
(27:14):
anything, and you don't have torehearse it and you don't have
to pretend, you don't have toopen like dear sir or like any
of that.
You just get to pray in yourcar, pray in the shower, pray a
whisper in the hallway beforethat interview, pray like you
belong, because, friends inChrist, you do.
(27:35):
And when you actually start tolive this passage out, you'll
notice three specific shifts.
First, you're going to noticethat your inner monologue
becomes kinder and truer, notsoft on sin, clear on grace.
Second, your prayer life getsbolder and simpler, less theater
(27:55):
, more honesty.
And third, your relationshipsget warmer and braver.
You'll both serve more and saythe hard things sooner, because
love does both.
And these aren't personalityupgrades, these are spirit
upgrades.
Now maybe, just maybe, some ofyou are asking but what if my
(28:16):
heart feels quiet because I justfeel like I've gone numb and I
just wanna say I feel you, I seeyou.
That's a real question.
Sometimes the heart can stopaccusing because it's not at
rest in grace, because it'sasleep in apathy.
And the antidote is the sameJust bring your real self to the
(28:37):
real Jesus and then let thespirit poke you and then start
loving someone on purpose.
And then what happens is youbegin to watch the numbness
begin to thaw.
Obedience is like a spiritualsmelling salt, like it wakes you
up.
And I don't know your week orwhat you're coming in here with,
but maybe you're carrying rightnow a breakup that keeps
(28:59):
replaying like a bad TikTok.
Maybe your lab went wrong thisweek.
Maybe your job hunt is stilljust a string of politely worded
no's.
Maybe your family is in a messychapter with a plot twist you
didn't approve of, or you brokeyour leg and you didn't expect
that right.
Your heart will have lots tosay about these things, will
have lots to say about thesethings.
(29:20):
Some of it will be true.
You did mess up.
You are limited and you don'tcontrol outcomes.
But the truest thing over yourlife, if you belong to Jesus, is
this God is greater than yourheart and he knows everything.
And get this, he still lovesyou.
(29:43):
You will have weeks where yourscreen time report is up 40% and
your patience is down 60.
And God's mercy, friends willnot budge.
So keep returning, keepbelieving, keep loving.
Before we pray, just one finalimage.
You know, at the airport theyhave those walkways where you
(30:03):
can like feel like you'rewalking super fast, right, but
you can stand there and you canstand still and still move
forward because something'sunder your feet, literally
carrying you.
Think of it like this.
Assurance is like that yourprogress in love isn't just you
doing more cardio, it's thespirit actually carrying you as
you take small, real steps.
(30:24):
You step, he moves you furtherthan your step should have taken
you.
You apologize.
He restores more than yourwords could have fixed.
You ask, he answers with morewisdom than you knew to request
in the first place.
That's what abiding is.
When you fail which, by the way, you will remember, friends
that the judge has already ruledin your favor because his son
(30:49):
stood in your place and God isgreater than your heart and he
knows everything.
And that's not just theology,friends.
Please receive that as oxygen.
Let me pray this over you.
Would you bow your heads,father?
We bring you our noisy hearts.
Thank you that your knowledgeof us is not a weapon, it's a
(31:11):
haven.
Thank you, jesus, whose crosssilences condemnation and whose
resurrection fills us withliving hope.
Holy Spirit, would you makeyour home in us today.
Teach us to abide, give usfreedom of speech and prayer and
power to love in the ordinary.
In this week's, let our heartsrest.
(31:35):
Our prayers rise and our lovebe practical.
In the holy name of JesusChrist, we pray this Amen.
Would you stand as we respondin worship?
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