The One with All the Kissing | February 23, 2025

Kind of getting

that, uh, warm

churchy feeling.

Alright.

Hey, we had an amazing

time last week on

Marriage Retreat.

Big thank you

to everybody who

helped hold down

the fort and do some

awesome things here.

Uh, but I missed

the opportunity to

talk to all you guys

about Valentine's

Day, right?

Some of you're just

now remembering it

was Valentine's Day

and the big oops

on your face, Kyle.

I can see that.

No big deal, man.

You got next year.

Don't stress it.

Just kidding.

I think.

Just kidding.

Maybe, maybe

not, not just.

Okay.

Wow.

Okay.

Counseling session

this afternoon.

That'll be fun,

Tory, Kyle.

I'll make that happen.

So Valentine's Day

is still in the month

of February, even

though technically

it was last week.

So I was really on

the fence about this.

I was like, you know,

I have some stuff I

want to talk about.

I'm kind of excited

to talk about, but

maybe, Lord, you got

something different.

It's cool.

So I had this stuff

all kind of in my head

I wanted to share.

And then I walked into

my office yesterday

and it was confirmed

because after the

Gallant Times's Day

party, a bunch of

ladies threw some

balloons in my office.

And the good news is

a Renee signed her

name on the board,

which is just not

how you roll, right?

But she must have

known we had cameras

and all that stuff.

So the truth is,

uh, it was the

confirmation I needed.

And anybody who

wants to come help

me clean up my

office after church,

that'd be great.

Uh, super fun.

Spend a little gallant

times's day weekend

for the ladies.

Three events

yesterday and.

All that good stuff.

We had a great retreat

time with couples

and just some really

good stuff that

God's at work doing.

So Valentine's

Day is something I

don't wanna miss the

moment to talk about.

Well, a topic that I

was kind of looking

back and, uh, I'm

gonna do a sermon

that I have never

done on a topic I've

really never talked

about, like ever.

Um, which is

crazy to me.

I mean, maybe, you

know, kind of like

from the edges

I've touched on it.

But like today, guys,

you are in for the

first ever White

Rock kissing sermon.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm gonna talk

about kissing today.

Right?

Right.

Some of you super

excited, some of you

super disappointed.

Some of you like, I

don't even remember

how to do that.

That's okay.

Hang in there.

It starts like

riding a bike.

No big deal.

So let me clarify

a couple things as

we get into this

kissing sermon.

I just want to say

this is not one of

those sneaky tricks

that I'm pulling

where it's like, keep

it simple, stupid.

That's a great way

to live, right?

Just follow Jesus

and do what he said.

Keep it

simple, stupid.

Great principle.

This is not a

KISS principle.

Nope.

We're talking kissing.

And for those of you

who are thinking, ah,

I think I know the

angle, this is not a

result of a recent,

um, unpublished

survey I did amongst

White Rock guys

in high school.

97.6% of high school

guys wanna hear more

sermons about kissing.

I did not reference

this as my motivation

to share this

message this morning.

But high school

guys don't feel

awkward because on

an unofficial poll

on marriage retreat,

99.7% of men would

like to do more

workshops on kissing.

So just so you know,

it's a thing, right?

That we're all kind

of, uh, kind of

into a little bit.

So I plan on going

home and lemme

just say, guys, if

you've not taken

notes before in a

message, this might

be the one, right?

This just might, this

might be the one.

So lemme clarify too.

I don't wanna get

this in way any

weird, we're not gonna

talk technique, uh,

we're not gonna talk

about like French

kissing per se.

Um, I may do one

little touch on

a Spanish kissing

situation, but you'll

understand and it'll

make some sense.

So, you guys ready?

You buckled up.

Can I just say, I've

never had as many

young people focused,

locked in laser beam,

ready to roll, right?

And I finally

have some husbands

off their phones

during church.

This is great guys.

This is great.

I'm gonna make this

a regular routine.

Well, as we think

about kissing,

let's, uh.

Let's get to the

scripture, right?

'cause you don't

need my opinion.

Uh, if you're Jamie,

you don't want my

opinion, right?

It's not a big deal.

But let's see what

the scriptures say

about this kissing

thing so we can

learn a little bit.

Here we go.

One Corinthians

chapter 16 verses

19 through 20.

Paul is signing off to

the church in Corinth.

He's talked about

some pretty heavy

stuff, right?

And engaged in some

pretty serious,

I mean, just read

first Corinthians.

You'll get a, a pretty

good sense of the

magnitude of stuff.

And as he's signing

off, he says, the

church in the province

of Asia sends you

greetings, Aquila

and Priscilla greet

you warmly in the

Lord, and so does

the church that

meets at their house.

And if you pay

attention to what

this looks like.

The early church was a

relational experience.

I tell people all the

time that you couldn't

be a disciple of Jesus

Christ and not live in

Christian community.

It was so intertwined.

That's part of

the deal, right?

Family and church

ought to be synonyms,

not something kind

of funky and kind of

out in left field.

I had some fun talks

this week with some

different people.

It happens like

every week.

People who come

to White Rock are

like, uh, what's

wrong with you guys?

And then we have

really good talks

about what's wrong

with us, right?

Like that.

We have a value for

being authentic, au

authentic and genuine.

. This fits so well.

Uh, I have this

conversation all

the time about

presentation

and polish and

choreography.

Which do you remember?

Bob Lane from

Inquest Ministries?

He came to a White

Rock service years

ago, and he watched

as we broke guitar

strings and told

stories about the

beach and wandered

around, and he

was marveling

at it because.

He coaches churches

to bring a little

more authenticity

into their service.

And it wasn't until

the end of the service

that he realized, oh,

you guys literally

just screwed stuff

up and ad-libbed you

were just being you.

Okay, that wasn't

choreographed, right?

So I just wanna put

to rest, those of

you who thought I

dumped a communion

cup to try to set

a mood, Nope, nope.

That was legit

dropage of communion.

Go.

And it's not the only

thing you'll see that

goes wrong at a church

service, because

for me, I wanna be

the real church of

Jesus Christ, really

doing life together.

Give you guys a

microphone and let

you share some truth,

share some hurt,

some pain, some joys

without polishing

rehearsal, because

the church, the, the

world doesn't need

to see fancy looking

Christians who look

the part, they need

to see real people

trying to follow

Jesus and walk it

out in relationship

that matters so much.

And I love that

about you guys.

In fact, when I walked

into my church, my

church, in my office

at the church, my

first words, when I

saw all those balloons

in a mess, I actually

said out loud.

I love White Rock.

It is so great, man.

So great.

And I knew it

was Renee right

off the bat.

Like it wasn't even

a question, right?

Because people do

stuff around here

and get noticed.

So Paul is helping

us get a little

snapshot here into

the relational

element of the church

of Jesus Christ.

These people are

friends, they

family, their

connected, they're

meeting at their

houses, they're in

relationship together.

And then he says

in verse 20, all

the brothers and

sisters here send

you greetings.

And then he drops this

haymaker and he says,

greet one another

with a holy kiss.

Now, I want you to

know, as a pastor's

kid, I knew my Bible

and I don't know how

many times I tried

to get girls to do

Bible studies with

me on one Corinthians

chapter 16, verse

20, you know, like

we really need to

dive into this and

explore what is God

saying to us in this?

You know, not a lot

of bites not gonna

lie, but I promised

you a Spanish story.

Um, in 1992, I think

it was, they had

the dream team going

to the Olympics

in Barcelona.

Is that what you

were watching

the other day?

Yeah.

So.

I got to be at that,

uh, in Barcelona at

the Olympics and in

the area there in

the city doing some

ministry when I was,

just before my junior

year in high school.

And I got to go with

World Gospel Mission

and we got, you know,

to go to all these

little venues all

around the city and

put on basketball

clinics, right?

Like sophomore

in high school,

basketball guy.

Uh, I was pretty

impressive, but

not enough that

anybody should have

come and watched.

But at any rate,

we did all these

things for families

and children and

passed out gospel

tracks and talked to

'em about the Lord.

And it was a really

neat experience.

And in fact, one of

our group watched

Larry Bird's kids

during the Dream

team matchup.

It was kind of

crazy small world

in Barcelona, but I

really connected well

with this missionary

young lady, not over

this verse, but who

was there on site.

And one evening,

uh, she and I went

to this kind of

courtyard festival

that was going on.

She wanted to me

to meet some of her

friends and we went

on this walk and, uh.

We're, we're kind of

walking around the

edge of this crowd

and different people

are kind of, you know,

bumping into each

other and whatnot.

And she brings me

around this corner and

right before my eyes

is the prototypical

high school European

girl who needs to

know about Jesus

and we need to

have a talk right

about this verse.

She walks up to

her friend and she

gives her a big hug.

And I'm standing right

there as a sophomore

in high school.

Like, I would really

like to meet this

girl and maybe be

her friend for the

rest of my life.

I don't know, right?

Like this is a

big moment in

this high school

vibe in my world.

And so I kind of

like do the thing

that awkwardly I

do and just sort of

like kind of lean

down a little bit.

'cause she was kinda

shorter and I was

getting ready to

stick out my hand.

And as I did that,

this little European

gal starts to stand

up on her tippy

toes and leans

right into my space.

Right?

And lemme just

tell you guys.

As a sophomore in

high school, I had

been afraid this

was gonna happen.

My charm would be too

much for the European

ladies and they were

gonna come in and

I'd be like pushing

'em away and like,

how do I maintain

purity over here in

this foreign country?

I mean, it was a, it

was a moment, right?

And it was a moment

that probably lasted

like half a second,

but I think it was

about 20, 30 years.

I sat there in this

moment watching

this young lady who

I'd never even seen

before in my life,

who obviously was

having a really hard

time maintaining

her attraction, you

know, and keeping her

boundaries with me.

And she gets closer

and closer and

closer and there was

confusion, there was

excitement, there was

a lot of confusion.

And then right before

our noses touch,

I probably started

to close my eyes

and puck her up.

I dunno what

I did right?

And I was like, this

is gonna be, wow.

Don't tell mom

about this.

Um, so right at

the last second.

She dive bombs

to this cheek and

gives me a kiss and

to this cheek and

gives me a kiss and

leans back and says

something in Spanish

to which I assume

was, we're not gonna

make it very much

further young man.

Right?

, this isn't what

you think this is.

Um, I'm sure there

was a serious amount

of rejection and

disappointment as

the, as the blood

drained from my

face, realizing

all of my hopes

and dreams in this

moment were really

nothing more than a

nice greeting from

someone who thought I

was important enough

relationally to value

because I was a friend

of someone's friend.

It was just a

stupid greeting.

And to this day, I

hate this greeting

'cause it takes

me back to my

sophomore year of

rejection, right?

Uh, now not so much.

But if you go to

other culture, has

anybody ever been

kissed by somebody

in another culture?

Tim, do you wanna talk

about it in front of

your wife right now?

Not, not right now.

Another time.

Another time.

It'd be good, right?

It is a weird deal.

It's just a

weird deal.

And I, and I'm really

glad we don't do that.

Um.

I'm glad Jamie's

not out there

kissing guys.

Welcome 'em

to White Rock.

You know what I mean?

That would just not

feel right to me.

In fact, in the 13th

century, the church

got away from this

tradition, but this

was a normal practice

in the early church

to greet one another

with a holy kiss.

Right?

Still in the Eastern

Orthodox Church

during the Easter

time, they have a,

they have a really

weird poem about

the bearded faces

kissing one another

and you're just like,

Ugh, what's going on?

Right.

It's just, just

not maybe what we

do, but this idea

of the kiss of

greeting is actually

pretty significant.

And I know it feels

like a little bait

and switch, right?

Like, wait a second.

We were gonna talk

about how to make

out with somebody.

What is this

all about?

What's going well?

Hang with me.

I don't think

we'll get there,

but hang with me.

Um, let me just

take a quick little

detour into this

area of love.

I shared this this

week with my students

a little bit at

the school, but the

word love is such a

complicated thing, and

in America we rock.

All love as romantic

stuff, right?

But in the New

Testament, the

word that gets used

is actually four

different words to

help paint the picture

of what love is.

Words like aeros,

Ophelia, storge, and

agape are all words

used to describe love

in the New Testament

church and in the New

Testament language,

storge is this love

of family, right?

Brothers, sisters,

moms, dads, cousins.

Like there's a,

there's a bond

there of family.

Eros is where we

get the word erotic.

It's a romantic

kind of love, right?

It's what Jamie feels

towards me right now.

Um, Felia is, uh, I'm

be in trouble anyhow,

guys, after today.

So I might as well get

my money's worth, you

know what I'm saying?

So Felia.

You might know

this from the

city of Brotherly

Love Philadelphia.

Felia is friendship.

Love a connection

of friendship.

No idea why

Philadelphia is the

reflection of that

in America, but at

any rate, and then

Agape love is this

unconditional love

of God, this crazy

awesome love that

chases us to the

very gates of hell.

And we see in God's

love a reflection

of all these, right?

Like storge, we're

invited into family

and relationship.

Sons and daughters

adopted into the

family of God,

joint heirs with

Jesus, right?

We see in this aeros,

not so much romantic

love, but covenant

relationship, love

that God has for us.

The same.

That should be between

a husband and a wife.

And we see

Felia love, man.

We're called

friends of God

in the scripture

relationship.

Joint airs with

Jesus, but friends

with Jesus, and

then agape love.

Kinda incorporates

all of that in an

unconditional way.

So when Paul talks

about this idea of

the kiss, much to

the disappointment

of some of you, he

does not mean to

greet one another

with an erotic kiss.

He doesn't mean kiss

your sister, though.

That's not a

bad approach to

thinking of romantic

relationships

like we ought to

honor other women.

Like scripture says,

treating them like

sisters and brothers

until we move into

romantic relationship

of covenant marriage,

might affect how we

treat people and see

their worth and value.

And he is not

talking agape love.

Lemme give you

the Greek word.

It's pronounced

phileo.

And I don't know how

good your matching

skills are from Sesame

Street, but when

you look up there,

it looks a lot like

Ophelia Love Ophelia.

You know what

I'm saying?

So this idea of

greeting one another

with a holy kiss.

It's about the

bond of friendship,

intimate connection,

relationship.

And it was a practice

in the early church.

And if you allow me,

my brain does these

kind of things, why?

Right?

Just why.

What was the

motivation?

What was the reason?

What's behind this?

And I love to ask this

question, why is this

even in scripture?

Right?

And lemme tell you,

it's not just here

in Corinthians, it's

in multiple places

in the New Testament

where they were to

greet one another

with a holy kiss,

greet one another

with a holy kiss.

Well, why?

Well, I wanna throw

three things at

you real quick this

morning that I think

we better not lose

when we laugh off the

idea of the holy kiss

between brothers and

sisters in Christ.

So lemme explore

these with you

for just a moment.

I think one of the key

things that's really

important about a

kiss and specifically

a greeting of a

holy kiss between

brothers and sisters

in Christ is this

picture right here,

intimacy, intimacy.

A kiss is a really

intimate thing, right?

It's part of why

when whoever she was

was getting really

close, man, I was

like, whoa, this

is, this is awkward

and uncomfortable

and I don't think we

should be doing this.

And we don't know

each other that well.

Right?

Like it's intimate

to be kissed by

somebody or to kiss

somebody, right?

And it has these

couple of, uh,

concepts to it.

The idea of connection

in intimacy and the

idea of closeness.

And as followers of

Jesus Christ, we are

connected in store.

Gay love as family

literally, and also

in feel your love

as friendship and

comradery, right?

There is a bond

for those of us

who are in Christ

and in this family.

We're in this

thing together.

There should be a

measure of intimacy

with the people that

you do church with.

If you don't, if

everybody you know

is a stranger, you're

missing a huge piece

of what the church

is supposed to be.

We're supposed to

be connected to each

other, invested in

each other, caring

about each other.

Right.

And the idea of

closeness has this

element of, of

even affection.

Like I know sometimes

it's hard, right?

But we're supposed

to kinda like each

other and work at

liking each other so

that maybe we could

even love each other.

Right?

And listen, not

everybody gets

my sense of humor

or appreciates

hanging out with me.

I can totally

get that.

No, no offense taken.

But that doesn't

diminish the closeness

and the connection

that we have through

Jesus Christ.

We're in this

thing together.

On our retreat time,

we had couples sharing

some of their story in

our worship service.

We let people share

with one another.

We had an incredible

time on our men's

group last, last

week just sharing

and talking together.

There's a bond

and a closeness

and a connection

that we share in

our relationship

in Jesus Christ.

That's reflected in

how the church was

to greet one another,

almost like a visual

reminder that we are

intimately connected.

I lean in and I

give you a kiss of

greeting because

we're connected and

because you matter

to me and we're in

this thing together.

We don't look from a

distance and wave or

just try to ignore

each other, but

we engage and this

kiss of intimacy,

not erotic love,

but friendship

and family love is

really important

to think about.

This other word

I wanna throw at

you is this word

vulnerability.

Now those of you,

lemme say this

real quick about

kissing real fast.

Um, big fan, big fan.

Uh, but the more you

save kissing for a

covenant relationship,

the better you're

experiencing kissing

and the better your

life is gonna be.

I talk to people

all the time who are

like, well, I probably

need to have sex with

somebody so I know if

I'm any good at it.

So when I get married,

no, you don't.

You'll figure it out.

Kind of the same

deal with kissing

too, right?

Like, what if

I'm a bad kisser?

If somebody loves you,

they're gonna figure

out how to s slob it

all over your face.

Fine.

It doesn't

matter, right?

You're not gonna

need to perfect

the technique.

You're gonna be fine.

Kissing is an

expression of

vulnerability

and intimacy and

connection, right?

We diminish those

things and we make 'em

like, just do whatever

you want, but we kind

of diminish something

special about it.

A kiss is kind

of risky, right?

It's kind of risky.

You're putting

yourself out there.

I mean.

I don't know what it's

like to be rejected,

but I can imagine

other people, right?

, right?

We've probably mostly

been there, right?

Like yesterday when I

was like, Hey, Jamie,

and she's like, get

away from me, right?

We, it still goes

on in marriage, just

trust me, right?

Like, there is

rejection that we

experience because of

vulnerability, right?

But you can't

connect in a deep,

intimate way without

being vulnerable.

There's a risk to it.

And in relationship

with Jesus Christ,

and together at his,

his church and his

body, you know, when

you make yourself

vulnerable, sometimes

it's a little risky.

It is.

But there's no

reward without

the risk, right?

There's no deeper

level of intimacy

without the risk.

And, you know, uh,

it's maybe a little

unsafe, right?

You put yourself

out there and, and

you're unguarded,

you're vulnerable.

That's the picture of

what vulnerability is.

You're not safe.

You're, you're

at risk.

This.

Definition is awesome.

It says, exposed

to the possibility

of being easily

hurt or attacked.

And that's where

we live a lot

of times, right?

As guarded people,

we don't wanna put

ourselves out there

because now we're

exposed to the

possibility that

somebody might hurt

us or that somebody

might do something.

And listen, , we talk

about at our couples

street law, you can't

move to deeper levels

of intimacy until

you work through

conflict with people.

We do this all

the time, right?

We butt heads in

conflict, and then

we turn and walk

away on each other.

That's stupid, right?

We go like, well,

somebody hurt

my feelings.

Somebody said

something.

And so I'm breaking

and severing

relationship.

But the key thing

that we need to

do is work through

those conflicts with

communication and

some appropriate

ways of remembering

how to submit to one

another in love and

talk through things.

Because when we do

that, we get to deeper

levels of intimacy

so that the next time

there's a conflict,

we don't just bail.

We know, Hey, we've

been here before I, we

got each other's back.

We're for each other.

We're gonna find a

way through this.

So many marriages

hit conflict and

quit on each other.

So many relationships

within the church just

quit on each other

is, is garbage man.

There's depth and

there's joy when

you work through

conflict and you don't

quit on each other,

but you can't get

there unless you're

willing to be exposed

and be vulnerable.

It's one of my

greatest values

about our church

is just being

genuine and real.

Can you get

hurt by that?

Yes, of course.

And listen, if

somebody in here has

hurt your feelings

or said something,

man, we need to work

towards communication

and reconciliation

there because

that's just what the

devil wants, man.

He plants seeds a

division, and he

tries to stir stuff

up and he tries to

get us seeing things

and looking at things

and feeling things

from angles that

he can manipulate.

And man, when we just

walk in the truth

and we're genuine

and honest and open

and transparent

with one another

and vulnerable, it

doesn't, I mean, when

somebody comes to

you in vulnerability,

that's oftentimes met.

Whew.

Embraced vulnerability

from your

perspective, right?

There's something

beautiful when two

vulnerable people

come together.

Quite honestly, if

you wanna go back

to the kissing idea,

it's part of the

magic of a kiss.

When two people put

everything at risk

and they lean out

into that space and

they're met with

somebody else, putting

everything at risk

and meeting out in

that space, there's

some magic there.

And don't miss

the significance

of a relationship

in the church

of Jesus Christ.

We don't wanna

get hurt, we don't

wanna feel pain, but

man, if we don't,

we miss so much.

And lemme just

remind you of

this simple little

truth right here.

Jesus didn't call us

to a life of safety.

He told us to put

ourselves at risk.

And in this life we're

gonna have trouble.

But he's overcome

the world.

Go to the highways,

the byways, go into

all the world and

make disciples.

That is not a

call to safety

and guarding and

protection and looking

out for my own.

We're supposed

to be exposed and

vulnerable and open

and willing to engage

with a world that's

a mess and hurting.

And we just wanna

protect and rally on

our little fortress

and not engage.

And I think we miss

something powerful

when we're willing

to be vulnerable with

the people around

us, especially in

our church family.

And let that build.

And you bring more

and more people into

that space, and more

and more people learn

what it looks like to

walk in vulnerability

together.

It's a beautiful

picture of what the

early church walked

and experienced.

And then just this

last one I wanna

throw at you is

this word, humility.

Humility.

You can get

some serious

rejection, right?

If you humble

yourself, you can.

They don't like

me, they don't

wanna be around me.

Uh, I got rebuffed.

Sure, sure.

But you can't

experience intimacy

without a measure

of humility.

I like this image

here of lowering

myself, right?

And I was thinking

about greetings and

how in other places

in the world, people

do different stuff.

And over in Asia, you

know, it's kind of

customary, uh, to kind

of maybe do a bow,

which some historians

would tell us that

there's something

there visually about

lowering myself

to acknowledge

the presence of

someone else.

There's humility

in that engaged

connection

of greeting.

And, you know, , I was

thinking about this

with our young guys.

You know,

what do we do?

We're like just

out a, a, a, right?

We're trying to

get taller than

the other person.

We're trying to

look bigger than

the other person

instead of bringing

ourselves low.

To acknowledge the

value in the other

person around us.

And there's an element

of humility that comes

with the greeting

of a holy kiss.

We humble ourselves

to greet one another

as a reminder

to be intimate.

To be vulnerable,

but also to think

of others more

highly of our than

ourselves, right?

To submit to one

another out of love

and to treat other

people with the

same value that we

treat everyone so

that there's equal

footing and equal

love and acceptance

for everyone.

Greet one another

with a holy kiss.

I was thinking about

this because in

the 13th century,

like I said, this

kind of died out.

It got maybe a little

abused and manipulated

or whatever.

And I just wanna

say this, I don't

want to reinstate

this practice.

I don't think it's

something, um, there's

a lot of facial hair

in here and I'm just

not looking forward to

a good kiss on Rusty's

lips or what not.

Lips, maybe cheek.

Okay.

Sorry.

Just making sure.

Just making sure.

Um.

But I was wondering

about this.

Has the hug replaced

the holy kiss?

And I was thinking

about it from

this context.

Church hug a lot.

Maybe you're like,

don't touch me,

and maybe that's

worth exploring.

Why don't touch me.

But you know, when

you think about

this question,

who do you hug?

Who do you hug?

You hug your family.

Probably maybe some

of you reluctantly.

All right,

grandma, right?

Whatever.

Uh, you might hug

your friends, right?

We'll fill your love.

Um, do you hug a

total stranger?

Some of you have

issues and you do.

You're like,

Hey, gimme a hug.

It's so great to

have coffee in

this line with you.

Super great, right?

Um, and maybe

that's cool.

Maybe that's cool.

But the truth is we

don't get intimate

with total strangers,

and that's not what

Paul's calling us

to do here, right?

He's not saying,

you know, you

should go out there

and be intimate.

Everybody, right?

This idea of intimacy

and vulnerability

and humility,

it's for those who

are followers of

Jesus Christ in

relationship together

and walking out what

it looks like to be

the family of God.

And maybe I'll

stick that in there.

I don't think

that's biblical,

per se, but maybe

the vulnerability

of hugging somebody

is a thing, right?

Hugging somebody for

some of us is kind of,

well, it's a little

bit in my bubble and

in my space that's

intimate, right?

It's vulnerable

and awkward, right?

You might put yourself

out there and get

like the weird half

corner hug with the

chest, you know, thump

from the shoulder

blade from the other

guy or gal, and it's

just like that was

the worst hug in

the world, right?

It kind of

happens, right?

And there's a humility

of like, I don't wanna

touch everybody, but

all right, all right.

Right.

I'll give you a hug.

I'm not saying

we need to

reinstitute the hug.

I'm not saying that we

should reinstitute the

holy kiss, but what

I am saying is the

way that early church

greeted one another.

Was a reminder of the

status they shared

together as family

and as friends.

And if we get away

from that and we just

become spectators

at church or become

concert attendees,

we miss the heartbeat

of what the church is

supposed to be about.

At its core, it's

relationship.

It's a relationship

with God.

It's a relationship

with each other.

God himself is

relational, right?

God the Father, God

the Son, God the

Holy Spirit, he's in

triune relationship.

We want to come to

church, sterilize

the experience, and

I get the whole covid

fist bump thing and

the elbow stuff, and

the cheesy things.

We tried to figure

out how to touch

but not touch.

But I would challenge

you to find a way

to engage and to

greet members of this

eternal family that

you hang out with in a

way that reminds them

and reminds you that

you are intimately

connected and

there is closeness.

You're willing

to not be guarded

against them, right?

And that you don't

think of yourself to

be above superior to

them, but that they

have equal value

and they matter.

And they have

equal worth.

That's the picture

of what it means to

greet one another

with a holy kiss.

And Josh, if you

decide to turn this

into a Bible study

tonight with the

guys and the gals,

I understand man.

Explore the whole

kissing thing.

Get where you need

to get to with

the youth group.

But alright,

let's pray.

Lord Jesus, thank

you so much for some

of the practical

truth from your word.

Uh, sometimes,

Lord, we blow right

through this little

statement that's

littered throughout

all the letters

to the churches in

the New Testament,

most of them.

And instead, we

just do our thing

based on a cultural

experience of church.

God, I pray you'd

help us to engage

in love intimately.

Vulnerable and humble

in our approach to

one another that we

might experience all

the beauty and joy

and encouragement

that exists for

those of us who are

part of your family.

Thank you for your

word and your truth.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Hey, speaking of

connection, I was

gonna bring my

beautiful wife up

here to help me do

these announcements

real quick because,

uh, I might be in

the dog house and if

she's like, you know

what, I wanna practice

this kissing thing,

I will definitely

be open to that.

And so, anyways, yeah.

Alright.

As we wrap up this

morning, just a

quick, uh, heads

up on a couple key

things and we'll

get you outta here.

Yes.

Not gonna tell

you what I'm gonna

preach about next

week, but all right.

So

awkward.

It won't be

the first time.

It won't be

the first time.

That's true.

Hey, tell us what's

going on tonight.

Jam.

All right.

Youth group and

young adult college

kids at our house,

but youth group here

from six to seven 30.

Super cool.

And then on Tuesday,

financial peace,

financial piece.

Six 30, Saturday,

9:00 AM rock.

And rolling.

Tim, people could

still get in right

if they want to take

a shot at this one.

So please catch

Tim in the back if

you're interested.

We have some cool

free stuff for you

to get and it's

pretty awesome.

Yeah, uh, some

subscription stuff

that the church is

covering for anybody

who wants to be in it.

So if you have

any interest,

please catch Tim.

Super big deal.

What's going on

on Wednesday?

Women's group Girls.

We were canceled out

two weeks ago from

the weather, so this

weather looks amazing.

And did you want me to

throw in Monday night

is the hike, Tara

will be sending that.

Did you want me

to throw that in?

Yes.

Yes.

Monday night.

Um, we are doing a

hike for February.

Tara will send out

the details at pot.

5 30, 30

Potter's Bridge.

So guys, it'd be a

really bad time to

be like, Hey, why

don't you take a

hike tonight, woman.

Not a way to say it.

Right.

Would you like

to go on a hike?

Definitely.

Now leading to

kissing more.

Oh, good point.

Good point.

Small groups

are underway.

Dax is up here

in the front.

You can catch

him if you have

any questions.

Um, some of your

parents have been

clamoring with

excitement about this.

Yay.

See Tom and Shannon.

It's very exciting.

Very exciting.

I, yes.

I don't have

littles anymore to

be like, woo-hoo.

Oh, we can't take

our teenagers over

there and drop 'em off

with Tom and Shannon.

My bad.

I misunderstood

this whole slide.

Just kidding.

Hey, parents,

night out.

Make sure you

get signed up.

I think there's a

signed up next door.

Don't miss it first

come, first serve.

I'm just kidding.

I think it's

a big opening.

So, lots of fun stuff.

And as Verla pointed

out, we're still

collecting soups this

week or this, well, I

guess this week, uh,

as we wrap up February

to find ways that we

can love and encourage

people with some food

and, uh, super cool at

the Wix building, what

they're doing there.

That's just, that's

just super neat.

White Rock.

Love you so much.

So good to

be together.

Why don't you, uh,

greet one another

with a holy hug

and have an awesome

week in the Lord?

Love you guys.