Sermon

Marriage? Isn’t All we need “Love”… and Massive Sex

Watermark Community Church Sermons

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  1. We are the Yee family. I'm Bernard. I'm Angeline. I'm Abby. I'm Isaac. And I'm Elizabeth.

  2. This is the first Sunday of Advent. The word Advent means coming.

  3. And today we are prepared for the coming of Christmas, God's gift of Jesus to the world.

  4. Each week we prepare by lighting a candle and focus on different themes of Christ's coming.

  5. This week we light the candle of hope.

  6. From the beginning of its history as a nation, Israel, God's chosen people, has experienced great trials, slavery, oppression, war, famine, exile, and despair.

  7. In the midst of this despair, God whispered hope, one who was coming to rescue his people.

  8. Then, one night in a manger, the most unlikely of places, in the town of Bethlehem,

  9. before a crowd of sheep and cows, a poor peasant girl gave birth to a son.

  10. And on that night, hope was born.

  11. That same hope that humbly came across as a child is ours today.

  12. In a world so full of despair and hopelessness, Christ is our undeserved hope.

  13. He is the hope for our friends and neighbors.

  14. He is the hope for Hong Kong.

  15. He is the hope for the nations.

  16. Please join us in reading from Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 to 7, which you'll find on the screens.

    Isaiah 9:6–7

  17. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

  18. and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

  19. Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.

  20. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, with justice and with righteousness,

  21. from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

  22. Let us bow our heads and pray.

  23. Restore us, O Lord, we pray.

  24. Bring us back to that place where we once met,

  25. as shepherd to the stable after hearing angels sing.

  26. Bring us back to that place when our love was fresh.

  27. Not embarrassed to express itself in praise to our heavenly King.

  28. Restore us, O Lord, we pray.

  29. Good morning, Watermark.

  30. This morning, Tobin continues on with his guerrilla sermon series.

  31. If you recall, the last couple of weeks we've had a chance to SMS questions that we may have always wanted to ask in church,

  32. but we were a little afraid to ask them.

  33. And so we've taken those questions and we've been putting them into specific buckets,

  34. and we've been addressing those.

  35. So last week we talked about money and finance and stewardship.

  36. And today we talk about marriage and relationships and, to use a Tobinism, massive sex.

  37. So we've had the children and students go to their classes today,

  38. and if your kids have chosen to stay back,

  39. we just wanted to let you know that it may be a little bit more of an adult conversation,

  40. but if you have those conversations with your children,

  41. you're welcome to stay with us as well.

  42. So we've been giving these letters,

  43. and one of the letters that we got is probably from one of our university students.

  44. It says,

  45. Pastor Tobin,

  46. I was told in my uni that marriage as an institution is something from the Middle Ages

  47. and that it's not really relevant to our day and age.

  48. Living together is a much better option.

  49. What are Watermark's thoughts on this?

  50. Please take a listen to a few more letters.

  51. Pastor,

  52. I'm pretty confident that my spouse is having other affairs

  53. as he travels to different countries for business.

  54. What should I do?

  55. Do I have him followed?

  56. Should I ask him about this and risk everything falling apart,

  57. or should I just shut up and live my comfortable life in Hong Kong?

  58. I'm desperate for your thoughts,

  59. as my friends all say it is common,

  60. and I should just swallow shame and live with it.

  61. Pastor T,

  62. as a single person,

  63. I really struggle with this idea of being single.

  64. Or should I say,

  65. sometimes I struggle,

  66. and other times I say,

  67. who cares?

  68. And that married people are just not that happy anyway.

  69. Actually,

  70. I have not found that right person to complete me yet.

  71. I'm still looking for a person who can fulfill my emotional,

  72. sexual,

  73. and spiritual needs without asking too much from me.

  74. A person who can fit into my lifestyle

  75. without slowing me down

  76. and making me distracted from my goals.

  77. I guess my question is,

  78. should I be bothered by this?

  79. Should this concern me?

  80. Pastor,

  81. how often should a couple have sex each month?

  82. And no,

  83. I'm not a man asking this.

  84. I just want to have it more often than my husband.

  85. My husband is always so tired,

  86. distracted,

  87. or busy with his work.

  88. Would God make me with this desire for my husband

  89. that cannot be fulfilled by him?

  90. Help.

  91. Help.

  92. As a wife,

  93. I'm really struggling with being married in Hong Kong.

  94. I feel like I've lost my best friend,

  95. my husband.

  96. Because of his work,

  97. he is often gone,

  98. and I have to celebrate major events

  99. in our family's lives without him.

  100. I feel like we don't connect anymore

  101. on a heart level,

  102. and that often I go to bed

  103. with a person

  104. who no longer knows me

  105. or cares to know me.

  106. I mean,

  107. we've changed so much as people

  108. since being married,

  109. and each stage of life

  110. brings us further apart.

  111. During the week,

  112. I manage the house

  113. and the family,

  114. and we have our own schedule

  115. that works.

  116. But when he returns,

  117. he wants us to drop everything

  118. and to try and fit him back

  119. into our lives.

  120. I'm trying to do this,

  121. but it's getting harder and harder

  122. to fit the stranger we call dad

  123. back into our family.

  124. My friends at the club tell me

  125. to just make sure

  126. I get enough resources

  127. before I leave him

  128. to start over.

  129. I do not want to do this,

  130. but he is no longer the person

  131. I married,

  132. and I worry for our children.

  133. So,

  134. what hope does Watermark and Jesus

  135. bring to me

  136. in this situation?

  137. Good morning.

  138. The scripture reading today

  139. comes from Genesis

  140. and the book

  141. to the Ephesians.

  142. Please follow along

  143. in your bulletins.

  144. Then God said,

  145. Let us make man

  146. in our image

  147. according to our likeness,

  148. and let them rule

  149. over the fish of the sea

  150. and over the birds of the sky

  151. and over the cattle

  152. and over all of the earth

  153. and over every creeping thing

  154. that creeps on the earth.

  155. God created man

  156. in his own image.

  157. In the image of God

  158. he created him.

  159. Male and female

  160. he created them.

  161. God blessed them,

  162. and God said to them,

  163. Be fruitful and multiply

  164. and fill the earth

  165. and subdue it

  166. and rule over the fish

  167. of the sea

  168. and over the birds

  169. of the sky

  170. and over every living thing

  171. that moves on the earth.

  172. For I know the plans

  173. that I have for you,

  174. declares the Lord,

  175. plans for welfare

  176. and not for calamity,

  177. to give you a future

  178. and a hope.

  179. Therefore be careful

  180. how you walk,

  181. not as unwise men,

  182. but as wise,

  183. making the most of your time,

  184. because the days are evil.

  185. So then,

  186. do not be foolish,

  187. but understand

  188. what the will

  189. of the Lord is.

  190. And do not get drunk

  191. with wine,

  192. for that is dissipation,

  193. but be filled

  194. with the Spirit,

  195. speaking to one another

  196. in psalms and hymns

  197. and spiritual songs.

  198. Singing and making melody

  199. with your heart

  200. to the Lord,

  201. always giving thanks

  202. for all things

  203. in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

  204. to God,

  205. even the Father,

  206. and be subject to one another

  207. in the fear of Christ.

  208. Wives,

  209. be subject to your own husbands

  210. as to the Lord,

  211. for the husband

  212. is the head of the wife

  213. as Christ

  214. is also the head of the church,

  215. he himself

  216. being the Savior

  217. of the body.

  218. But as the church

  219. is subject to Christ,

  220. so also the wives

  221. ought to be

  222. to their husbands

  223. in everything.

  224. Husbands,

  225. love your wives,

  226. just as Christ

  227. also loved the church

  228. and gave himself up for her,

  229. so that he might

  230. sanctify her,

  231. having cleansed her

  232. by the washing of water

  233. with the word,

  234. that he might present

  235. to himself the church

  236. in all her glory,

  237. having no spot

  238. or wrinkle

  239. or any such thing,

  240. but that she would be

  241. holy and blameless.

  242. So husbands

  243. ought also

  244. to love their own wives

  245. as their own bodies.

  246. He who loves

  247. his own wife

  248. loves himself,

  249. for no one ever

  250. hated his own flesh,

  251. but nourishes

  252. and cherishes it,

  253. just as Christ

  254. also does the church,

  255. because we are members

  256. of his body.

  257. For this reason

  258. a man shall leave

  259. his father and mother

  260. and shall be joined

  261. to his wife,

  262. and the two

  263. shall become one flesh.

  264. This mystery is great,

  265. but I am speaking

  266. with reference

  267. to Christ and the church.

  268. Nevertheless,

  269. each individual

  270. among you

  271. is to love

  272. his own wife

  273. even as himself.

  274. And the wife

  275. must see to it

  276. that she respects

  277. her husband.

  278. This is God's word.

  279. Thanks guys.

  280. Great music today.

  281. Worshiping.

  282. How you guys doing?

  283. Wow.

  284. That's pretty good,

  285. good, great.

  286. Better than normal.

  287. Hey, we are,

  288. as I get all my

  289. stuff organized up here,

  290. we are doing

  291. a sermon series.

  292. Actually,

  293. this is the last one

  294. for a while

  295. as we enter into Advent,

  296. and we are going to

  297. have people text

  298. messaging us.

  299. I think the thing

  300. is still open

  301. if you want to try

  302. later on.

  303. And we are looking

  304. at questions

  305. that people want to ask,

  306. but they are afraid

  307. to ask,

  308. because they are afraid

  309. if they ask it,

  310. it is going to start

  311. this huge fight

  312. or argument.

  313. I called them

  314. guerrilla Christians

  315. in my family

  316. growing up,

  317. because there are things

  318. that you know

  319. you shouldn't go there,

  320. but if you go there,

  321. just prepare to get

  322. your arms ripped off

  323. by the person

  324. you are talking to,

  325. in that conversation.

  326. And so last week,

  327. we talked about stewardship,

  328. money, finances,

  329. how much we should give,

  330. and we looked at the passage

  331. in Luke 16,

  332. and at the end,

  333. we said,

  334. hopefully,

  335. you heard me say,

  336. that the whole story

  337. of the steward

  338. only worked

  339. as long as the master

  340. was good.

  341. The story of stewardship

  342. that we read,

  343. the story of the guy

  344. trying to cheat

  345. and trying to fix

  346. and focus on his future

  347. only was going to work

  348. if the master

  349. was good

  350. and gracious

  351. and kind.

  352. Because no matter

  353. how clever he was

  354. in trying to figure out

  355. his future

  356. and what was important

  357. in his future,

  358. if the master

  359. called him on it,

  360. he would be lost.

  361. So today,

  362. and I think that's a theme

  363. we need to carry

  364. through all of our talks,

  365. today we want to look at

  366. questions that you've heard

  367. talked about.

  368. We want to look at the idea

  369. of marriage,

  370. love,

  371. sex,

  372. maybe a little dating.

  373. We'll probably do another one

  374. for dating,

  375. for singles.

  376. And I think this is probably

  377. a topic that is,

  378. I've actually never heard this

  379. in church before,

  380. hardly ever growing up.

  381. I mean,

  382. I never heard a topic

  383. on marriage

  384. or a sermon series

  385. on marriage.

  386. I've never heard

  387. a sermon series

  388. on relationships,

  389. guys and girls,

  390. roles.

  391. I've never heard

  392. a topic for sure

  393. or a sermon on sex.

  394. But I think that,

  395. and you can say that word

  396. in church,

  397. sex,

  398. okay?

  399. So some of you

  400. are going to,

  401. we'll edit it out

  402. when people listen on it,

  403. but that's okay

  404. because God created that.

  405. But I think that was

  406. one of those things

  407. that I'd never imagined

  408. that we could talk about

  409. in the church

  410. and yet the church

  411. needed to talk about it

  412. so much.

  413. It seemed like the church

  414. throughout the ages

  415. was quiet

  416. when it needed

  417. to speak up.

  418. And it seems like it,

  419. when it spoke up,

  420. it didn't necessarily

  421. say the right things.

  422. It said things

  423. that kind of got changed

  424. as cultures and time

  425. and was not good

  426. and basically ended up

  427. putting people

  428. in bondage

  429. and legalism

  430. as opposed to grace

  431. and mercy

  432. and love.

  433. My family

  434. never talked

  435. about these things.

  436. I can remember

  437. when it came time

  438. to talk about sex,

  439. my dad gave me

  440. this book.

  441. And the book

  442. had two people

  443. walking their dogs.

  444. And it said,

  445. look,

  446. the masters

  447. are walking the dog.

  448. There's a daddy dog

  449. and there's a girl dog.

  450. Oh, next page.

  451. The daddy dog

  452. and the girl dog,

  453. they fall in love.

  454. Isn't marriage great?

  455. Next page.

  456. Daddy dog

  457. and the girl dog

  458. go into a room.

  459. The door shuts.

  460. Next page.

  461. The door opens,

  462. daddy dog

  463. and the girl dog

  464. walk out

  465. and there's a whole bunch

  466. of little puppies

  467. behind them.

  468. Isn't sex wonderful?

  469. And a week later

  470. my dad came back

  471. to me and he said,

  472. are there any questions

  473. you have

  474. on marriage,

  475. love,

  476. or sex?

  477. And I was like,

  478. there's no way

  479. I'm going to ask

  480. a question to my parents

  481. on this topic.

  482. And I just think

  483. it was just,

  484. I just remember that.

  485. And even to this day

  486. as siblings

  487. when we talk about kids

  488. and growing up

  489. and a sex question

  490. comes up,

  491. we say,

  492. okay,

  493. you better bring out

  494. the puppy book

  495. and let's open up

  496. the puppy book

  497. and see what the puppy book says.

  498. But I think that,

  499. you know,

  500. you can learn a lot

  501. about,

  502. hey Charles,

  503. can I ask you

  504. a quick favor?

  505. Could you shut that door

  506. so we can,

  507. for the outside

  508. for the kids?

  509. I think you can learn

  510. a lot about

  511. how a culture

  512. talks about marriage,

  513. love,

  514. and sex.

  515. And you can look

  516. at our culture

  517. and look at how

  518. it's portrayed

  519. on movies

  520. and on videos

  521. and songs

  522. and you can learn

  523. a lot about

  524. the values

  525. and things

  526. that we put in that.

  527. In the Old Testament,

  528. whenever you talked

  529. about relationships

  530. and marriage

  531. and sex,

  532. the word that always

  533. came out

  534. was this word

  535. yada.

  536. Yada.

  537. Y-A-W-D-A-H.

  538. Can you say it with me?

  539. Yada.

  540. Yada.

  541. And sometimes

  542. you hear people say

  543. yada, yada, yada.

  544. But that is the word

  545. that was primarily

  546. used in the Hebrew culture

  547. when it started talking

  548. about sex,

  549. marriage,

  550. and relationships.

  551. It's used over 500 times

  552. in the Old Testament.

  553. And when you look

  554. at its usage,

  555. some guys have done

  556. extensive studies

  557. on yada,

  558. you see that it means

  559. to know,

  560. to observe,

  561. to study closely,

  562. to be a servant of,

  563. to have a relationship with,

  564. to have marriage,

  565. to have sexual relationships.

  566. It's not just

  567. this abstract idea,

  568. yada,

  569. oh, I know that person

  570. over there.

  571. But when you say yada,

  572. it means intimacy.

  573. It means coming together.

  574. It means knowing

  575. that person

  576. very, very well.

  577. It means being a student

  578. of that person.

  579. It means knowing

  580. what that person

  581. is thinking

  582. before they say it.

  583. in a relationship,

  584. as you walk

  585. into a relationship

  586. with a man

  587. and a woman,

  588. it's this yada,

  589. it's this intimacy

  590. that happens.

  591. Now,

  592. sometimes you see

  593. somebody and you say,

  594. I see my wife over there

  595. and I go,

  596. yada, yada, yada,

  597. which has other meanings

  598. to that.

  599. It means beyond,

  600. I just want to know her,

  601. but I want to

  602. spend time with her

  603. in the puppy room,

  604. right?

  605. So that's what that means.

  606. But we're going to talk

  607. about that today

  608. and it's important

  609. to remember that

  610. when the Bible talks

  611. about marriage

  612. and sex

  613. and love,

  614. that it's always done

  615. in this aspect

  616. of caring.

  617. It's always done

  618. in the aspect

  619. of commitment.

  620. It's always done

  621. with this understanding

  622. of a personal knowing.

  623. It's always done

  624. with this idea

  625. of sacrifice.

  626. there's always

  627. the word covenant

  628. that is after it.

  629. And we're going to talk

  630. about what that covenant

  631. means because

  632. there is a huge meaning

  633. behind the idea

  634. of covenant

  635. and what it means

  636. when a man

  637. and a woman

  638. covenant together.

  639. And so we're going

  640. to talk about

  641. what does it mean

  642. to be sacred.

  643. We're going to talk

  644. about yada.

  645. In 60 AD,

  646. the passage that you have

  647. here right now,

  648. Paul was in prison.

  649. Well, he wasn't really

  650. in prison.

  651. He was in chains.

  652. He was in chains

  653. between these Roman soldiers

  654. and they kept him

  655. in his house

  656. because he paid

  657. for his house.

  658. So he's paying

  659. for his house,

  660. paying for his prison.

  661. He's been chained up

  662. and he hears this news

  663. and the news is

  664. that this young church

  665. that he started

  666. in Ephesus

  667. was having trouble

  668. and he became

  669. very concerned

  670. about it.

  671. And this church

  672. was very interesting.

  673. He planted it

  674. about two years before

  675. and this church

  676. was planted

  677. in a culture

  678. that was surrounded

  679. by at least

  680. three other cultures.

  681. It was surrounded

  682. by the Roman culture

  683. and it was Roman

  684. by the Greek culture

  685. and it was Roman

  686. by the Hebrew culture

  687. and Jewish culture

  688. and all of these cultures

  689. came in

  690. and started to influence

  691. God's people

  692. in a very,

  693. very negative

  694. and harsh way.

  695. And so,

  696. as Paul started

  697. to see this church

  698. start to fall apart

  699. and struggle with

  700. what does it mean

  701. to yada?

  702. What does it mean

  703. to have relationships?

  704. What does it mean

  705. to be married?

  706. What does it mean

  707. to know people?

  708. What does it mean

  709. to serve people?

  710. He penned this passage

  711. in this book of Ephesians

  712. and I think when we read this

  713. for me personally

  714. it is something

  715. that we just kind of read

  716. and we forget about

  717. how powerful

  718. and meaningful it is

  719. because when Paul

  720. wrote this passage

  721. things were very different

  722. than it was today.

  723. In Paul's day and age

  724. in Roman,

  725. Greek,

  726. in Hebrew society

  727. a woman meant nothing.

  728. A woman was property.

  729. She had no rights

  730. whatsoever.

  731. She could not divorce

  732. her husband

  733. no matter how bad

  734. he treated her

  735. and if he disappeared

  736. for 20 years

  737. there is no way

  738. that she could get rid

  739. of him.

  740. But in these cultures

  741. the man

  742. could divorce a woman

  743. in an instant.

  744. I was reading

  745. some old text

  746. and it said

  747. basically this guy

  748. divorced his wife

  749. because she made

  750. the food

  751. too salty.

  752. and that's the culture

  753. that Paul was writing to

  754. and this is the culture

  755. that the people

  756. were struggling with.

  757. Men in this day

  758. they were gods.

  759. They were rulers.

  760. They were the king.

  761. They were under

  762. no obligation.

  763. They had no responsibility

  764. to their wife

  765. or to their family.

  766. They didn't have to care.

  767. The passage says

  768. as you read history

  769. that most men

  770. had four to five

  771. to six mistresses,

  772. concubines,

  773. and other wives.

  774. The only reason

  775. they had a wife

  776. was to take care

  777. of the children

  778. while they were

  779. out traveling.

  780. But when it came

  781. to ideas of love

  782. and relationship,

  783. Aristotle,

  784. Plato,

  785. Plutarch,

  786. the play writers

  787. in Greek

  788. and Roman history,

  789. none of them

  790. would ever say

  791. that that happened

  792. within the family.

  793. None of them

  794. would ever say

  795. that it happened

  796. between husband and wife.

  797. They would always say

  798. that it happened

  799. outside of the marriage thing.

  800. Love was seen

  801. purely as an emotion

  802. there was no commitment

  803. behind it

  804. and most of the time

  805. love was lived

  806. outside of marriage.

  807. You would never say

  808. that you loved your wife.

  809. You would say

  810. you loved your concubines.

  811. You loved your mistresses.

  812. But you never

  813. loved your wife.

  814. Sex was either seen

  815. as something

  816. that you needed to do

  817. like breathe

  818. or eat

  819. or it was seen

  820. as something dirty

  821. and terrible.

  822. And marriage

  823. was merely

  824. a social transaction.

  825. The women and men

  826. would go down

  827. to the forum

  828. after work at night.

  829. They would have

  830. a couple drinks.

  831. They would look

  832. at the guys

  833. who walked in

  834. and they would see

  835. who was the most handsome,

  836. who was the most in shape,

  837. who wore the best togas,

  838. who drove

  839. the fastest chariots,

  840. and they would say

  841. that's the guy

  842. I want to hook

  843. my trailer to.

  844. And that's what

  845. marriage was all about.

  846. Marriage was seen

  847. only as a contractual agreement

  848. to elevate one family

  849. to a higher position socially.

  850. So you never saw

  851. people marrying

  852. for love

  853. because the women

  854. couldn't do that.

  855. The dad would always

  856. marry the women off

  857. to benefit their family

  858. and to make

  859. a better thing happen.

  860. So this is the world

  861. that Paul is living in.

  862. This is the world

  863. that Paul is writing

  864. this book of Ephesians to

  865. and that's why

  866. when you read it,

  867. you have to say,

  868. wow,

  869. he's making

  870. some amazing changes.

  871. Because for thousands

  872. of years,

  873. this is how people

  874. saw men.

  875. For thousands of years,

  876. this is how people

  877. saw women.

  878. For thousands of years,

  879. this is how people

  880. saw marriage.

  881. For thousands of years,

  882. this is how people

  883. saw love and sex

  884. and they saw it

  885. very different

  886. than the way

  887. Paul taught,

  888. the way the Scripture

  889. points to,

  890. the way that Jesus

  891. talked to.

  892. In the book of Ephesians

  893. for the first time,

  894. as we see,

  895. Paul writes

  896. and he pens out there

  897. that women,

  898. they're no longer

  899. just material items.

  900. But they have

  901. equal value

  902. and worth

  903. within God's family

  904. and kingdom.

  905. To be single

  906. was looked at

  907. as something terrible

  908. in the ancient world.

  909. No one would ever

  910. want to be single.

  911. It was terrible.

  912. You should never do that

  913. because everyone knew

  914. that your worth

  915. was dependent upon

  916. the children

  917. that you passed down

  918. from generation to generation.

  919. But for the first time

  920. in the church,

  921. singleness was elevated

  922. to this high place

  923. and this high standard.

  924. Paul didn't take a wife.

  925. Jesus didn't take a wife.

  926. Some of the greatest leaders

  927. in the church

  928. said it's okay

  929. because you're elevated

  930. and you're pushed off

  931. maybe not by your

  932. physical children

  933. but by your spiritual children.

  934. And the people

  935. who would have been

  936. disturbed the most

  937. by the passage today

  938. would be the men.

  939. Because when the men

  940. heard words like

  941. love your wives

  942. and it was commanded

  943. to them

  944. to love their wives

  945. it was about

  946. an action.

  947. And in that day

  948. and age

  949. no one ever

  950. loved their wives.

  951. The idea of loving

  952. your wives unconditionally

  953. to be a servant

  954. to sacrifice

  955. to give of yourself

  956. to seek the highest

  957. good for your wife

  958. to be unconditional

  959. to be selfless

  960. to be sacrificial

  961. to not live

  962. for yourself

  963. to be a servant

  964. leader.

  965. This is the first time

  966. this was ever said

  967. in the history

  968. of the world.

  969. And so when the church

  970. heard this

  971. and they were being

  972. influenced by the Greeks

  973. and the Romans

  974. and the Jewish culture

  975. it was

  976. outstanding

  977. and amazing

  978. and hard

  979. and difficult

  980. because of where

  981. they came from.

  982. Marriage

  983. was lifted up

  984. and was shown

  985. to be a mystery

  986. and it was shown

  987. to be this idea

  988. of God's

  989. redempting story

  990. being played out

  991. throughout the world.

  992. So now instead of

  993. just being a contractual

  994. agreement

  995. it was something

  996. that God

  997. blessed

  998. he ordained

  999. and he showed

  1000. that I'm going to

  1001. show the world

  1002. what it's like

  1003. to have a relationship

  1004. with Christ

  1005. as they look at you

  1006. and your wife

  1007. and live out

  1008. this story

  1009. of two sinful people

  1010. coming together

  1011. and working together.

  1012. Love is a commitment

  1013. it's not a feeling

  1014. and all of these

  1015. things God

  1016. tells us

  1017. Paul tells us

  1018. is based on

  1019. God's relationship

  1020. with himself.

  1021. All of these

  1022. things are based

  1023. on Jesus

  1024. and how he lived

  1025. in the world

  1026. because we know

  1027. from eternity past

  1028. that God

  1029. created and

  1030. existed in three

  1031. people

  1032. God the Father

  1033. God the Son

  1034. and God the Holy Spirit

  1035. and there was never

  1036. a time that there

  1037. wasn't a Trinity

  1038. and there was never

  1039. a time that these

  1040. three people

  1041. didn't defer

  1042. didn't care for

  1043. didn't think more

  1044. of

  1045. didn't serve

  1046. didn't selflessly

  1047. give to the other

  1048. person

  1049. and Paul is saying

  1050. in the midst of

  1051. all of these things

  1052. as we look at

  1053. Jesus

  1054. as we look at

  1055. how God is

  1056. that is how

  1057. we are also

  1058. to be

  1059. now when everybody

  1060. heard this

  1061. again it would have

  1062. been counter

  1063. cultural

  1064. because Paul

  1065. is saying

  1066. that even

  1067. within the

  1068. character of

  1069. Jesus

  1070. there's always

  1071. an other

  1072. orientation

  1073. that Jesus

  1074. was always

  1075. thinking about

  1076. other people

  1077. that Jesus

  1078. was always

  1079. serving other

  1080. people

  1081. that the Godhead

  1082. was always

  1083. deferring to each

  1084. other and they

  1085. were serving

  1086. and giving

  1087. to each other

  1088. and he basically

  1089. encourages the

  1090. church in Ephesus

  1091. he encourages us

  1092. that we're to do

  1093. the same

  1094. that we're to do

  1095. the same

  1096. Paul's basically

  1097. telling the church

  1098. here

  1099. that the basis

  1100. of their problems

  1101. is self-centeredness

  1102. the basis of their

  1103. problems is an

  1104. unwillingness to

  1105. serve

  1106. and he's telling

  1107. them that as we

  1108. go on this journey

  1109. with God

  1110. that every day

  1111. each one of us

  1112. have a choice

  1113. of how this

  1114. story is going

  1115. to play out

  1116. we can play it

  1117. out according to

  1118. what God has

  1119. said in his

  1120. word

  1121. and we can

  1122. trust him to

  1123. be good

  1124. and trust him

  1125. to be in

  1126. control

  1127. and trust him

  1128. to be holy

  1129. and gentle

  1130. and gracious

  1131. and forgiving

  1132. or we can

  1133. play it out

  1134. according to

  1135. what the world

  1136. says

  1137. this is how

  1138. you should

  1139. live

  1140. this is what

  1141. you should

  1142. do

  1143. and in the

  1144. midst of all

  1145. of these

  1146. themes

  1147. that we can

  1148. play out

  1149. as we live

  1150. out our lives

  1151. the scripture

  1152. is really

  1153. clear

  1154. that in the

  1155. midst of it

  1156. you and

  1157. I are

  1158. radically

  1159. self-centered

  1160. you and I

  1161. are radically

  1162. self-centered

  1163. and we need

  1164. a hero

  1165. to come into

  1166. our lives

  1167. and to change

  1168. us

  1169. I want to

  1170. look at the

  1171. questions that

  1172. were brought

  1173. in today

  1174. my wife said

  1175. I can't do

  1176. it alone

  1177. and so

  1178. I wanted

  1179. to ask

  1180. Christina

  1181. to come

  1182. up

  1183. and we're

  1184. going to

  1185. kind of

  1186. talk about

  1187. these really

  1188. quickly

  1189. and we want

  1190. to look at

  1191. some of

  1192. these things

  1193. and if we

  1194. have enough

  1195. time

  1196. we will

  1197. take some

  1198. other questions

  1199. but again

  1200. we feel like

  1201. this is just

  1202. a foundation

  1203. we're building

  1204. on this

  1205. foundation

  1206. of marriage

  1207. and relationships

  1208. and sex

  1209. as we live

  1210. our life

  1211. as a family

  1212. and a church

  1213. we believe

  1214. that God

  1215. has put us

  1216. here to be

  1217. a part of

  1218. the community

  1219. and to be

  1220. with each

  1221. other

  1222. and to be

  1223. as open

  1224. as possible

  1225. so my

  1226. prayer is

  1227. that there's

  1228. never a time

  1229. you don't feel

  1230. like you can't

  1231. ask us a

  1232. question

  1233. and there's

  1234. never a time

  1235. as a community

  1236. that we're not

  1237. dialoguing

  1238. and talking

  1239. about all

  1240. of these

  1241. things

  1242. and so

  1243. we're going

  1244. to cut

  1245. the video

  1246. off now

  1247. because we

  1248. don't want

  1249. to record

  1250. this

  1251. I'm going

  1252. to close

  1253. this up

  1254. right now

  1255. there's a

  1256. couple things

  1257. I want to

  1258. share with

  1259. you really

  1260. quickly

  1261. there's a

  1262. book sale

  1263. out there

  1264. all the

  1265. books are

  1266. we're selling

  1267. at a loss

  1268. some of them

  1269. 20%

  1270. but there's

  1271. some books

  1272. here that I

  1273. think are

  1274. great on

  1275. marriage

  1276. actually

  1277. they're the

  1278. best books

  1279. I've ever

  1280. read

  1281. and Christina

  1282. and I

  1283. have made

  1284. a career

  1285. of reading

  1286. marriage books

  1287. there's three

  1288. of two of them

  1289. first one is

  1290. The Meaning of

  1291. Marriage by

  1292. Tim Keller

  1293. it's one of the

  1294. best books

  1295. I've ever read

  1296. on marriage

  1297. this is a

  1298. great book

  1299. for single

  1300. people

  1301. if you're

  1302. single

  1303. I would

  1304. I challenge

  1305. you to read

  1306. this

  1307. if you don't

  1308. like it

  1309. give it back

  1310. to me

  1311. I'll give

  1312. you the

  1313. money back

  1314. and the other

  1315. book is Sacred

  1316. Marriage

  1317. it's by Gary

  1318. Thomas

  1319. it's one of the

  1320. best books on

  1321. marriage and

  1322. relationships

  1323. do we have

  1324. sacred influence

  1325. I'm not sure

  1326. but they're all

  1327. out there at the

  1328. book table

  1329. and then

  1330. there's this

  1331. devotion

  1332. it just came

  1333. out

  1334. Christina and I

  1335. started reading

  1336. it

  1337. it's 365 day

  1338. devotion

  1339. it's one of the

  1340. best devotions

  1341. I've ever seen

  1342. and so I just

  1343. went ahead and

  1344. order

  1345. if I were

  1346. independently wealthy

  1347. which you know

  1348. by my salary

  1349. I'm not

  1350. I would buy

  1351. everybody in

  1352. the church

  1353. one of these

  1354. books and give

  1355. it to you as a

  1356. gift for Christmas

  1357. because I think

  1358. they are significant

  1359. and so they're on

  1360. the book sale out

  1361. there at the table

  1362. so please check

  1363. the books on the

  1364. way out

  1365. for you

  1366. also we talked

  1367. about being a

  1368. successful steward

  1369. last Sunday

  1370. was using our

  1371. money to give

  1372. people an

  1373. opportunity to

  1374. hear about Jesus

  1375. that's what

  1376. stewardship is

  1377. in scripture

  1378. and so we have

  1379. several neat

  1380. opportunities and

  1381. this one right

  1382. here is December

  1383. 15th

  1384. we're having

  1385. Michael Ramson

  1386. come in for

  1387. training in the

  1388. morning and

  1389. then at night

  1390. we are giving

  1391. out tickets

  1392. we're having

  1393. four turkeys

  1394. a Christmas

  1395. meal and an

  1396. outreach at the

  1397. community center

  1398. and so these

  1399. tickets are available

  1400. right now outside

  1401. so if you can't

  1402. come for the

  1403. dinner that night

  1404. unless you bring

  1405. a friend who

  1406. is asking

  1407. questions about

  1408. Christianity

  1409. and this will be

  1410. the ticket to

  1411. get you in

  1412. so we want to

  1413. encourage you to

  1414. pray about who

  1415. you're going to

  1416. bring

  1417. it's going to

  1418. be a great

  1419. night

  1420. Michael's going

  1421. to do a

  1422. 20 minute

  1423. presentation

  1424. on Christmas

  1425. and its meaning

  1426. we're going to

  1427. have a Q&A

  1428. time afterwards

  1429. a lot of food

  1430. and fun and

  1431. fellowship so

  1432. grab a ticket

  1433. right there

  1434. and also on

  1435. your way out

  1436. you can grab

  1437. some of these

  1438. these are

  1439. we're sending

  1440. out 19,000

  1441. of these

  1442. this year

  1443. to every

  1444. English speaking

  1445. household in

  1446. this area

  1447. this part of

  1448. Hong Kong

  1449. Island

  1450. it's basically

  1451. an invitation

  1452. to the Christmas

  1453. celebration that

  1454. we're going to

  1455. do on December

  1456. 25th

  1457. so we want

  1458. to encourage

  1459. you to grab

  1460. some of these

  1461. and hand them

  1462. out to your

  1463. friends and

  1464. people in your

  1465. workplace

  1466. and just use

  1467. them to use

  1468. your money wisely

  1469. to invite people

  1470. to hear and have

  1471. opportunities about

  1472. hearing about Jesus

  1473. we didn't take an

  1474. offering this Sunday

  1475. we don't ever take

  1476. offerings but you

  1477. know that all the

  1478. offering from the

  1479. bulletins and the

  1480. books they all go

  1481. to outreach

  1482. and so as you

  1483. consider what Christ

  1484. has done in your

  1485. life we would just

  1486. ask for you to

  1487. tithe in that

  1488. manner like we

  1489. talked about last

  1490. Sunday and with

  1491. that

  1492. you want to

  1493. pray I'll pray

  1494. let me pray

  1495. by the way

  1496. thank you please

  1497. stand up yeah

  1498. we'll just

  1499. by the way thank

  1500. you for this day

  1501. thank you for your

  1502. grace even as we

  1503. bumbled through these

  1504. questions but I

  1505. pray as a church

  1506. that we just cannot

  1507. afford not to talk

  1508. about these things

  1509. so just give us

  1510. grace and wisdom

  1511. and how to move

  1512. forward in

  1513. relationships and

  1514. in dating I

  1515. pray for people who

  1516. are here

  1517. Lord that if they

  1518. want to talk to

  1519. somebody immediately

  1520. afterwards there'll

  1521. be people up here

  1522. to pray there's a

  1523. men's fellowship that

  1524. started up they can

  1525. grab a hold of that

  1526. there's a women's

  1527. fellowship that started

  1528. up and what I pray

  1529. that we would not

  1530. leave here without

  1531. finding ways to

  1532. connect and allow

  1533. you to to change

  1534. us what I pray for

  1535. our church family

  1536. here I know that

  1537. we're all at

  1538. different stages of

  1539. life we're all

  1540. struggling with

  1541. different things and

  1542. above all of these

  1543. things we need your

  1544. grace and mercy and

  1545. so we become before

  1546. you and we realize

  1547. that you have to be

  1548. the hero of our

  1549. story you have to be

  1550. the person who who

  1551. leads it and if you're

  1552. not then we're we're

  1553. in trouble and so we

  1554. come before you this

  1555. beginning of the

  1556. Christmas season and

  1557. we just worship you

  1558. we thank you for your

  1559. amazingness as God

  1560. that you sent your son

  1561. for us and we come

  1562. and we just we just

  1563. worship in that sense

  1564. pray that we would be

  1565. different we pray that

  1566. Hong Kong would be

  1567. different because of

  1568. what you've done in us

  1569. today so Lord we come

  1570. and we worship you and

  1571. we love you in Jesus

  1572. name amen God bless you

  1573. next week next week we're

  1574. back here there's

  1575. donations wait one

  1576. second there's already a

  1577. Christmas present

  1578. underneath this tree

  1579. oh man what's it say

  1580. it says to uncle millen

  1581. happy birthday from the

  1582. miller kids millen you

  1583. want to come get this

  1584. millen is not on staff

  1585. millen serves he serves

  1586. he does an amazing job

  1587. and my kids knew that

  1588. your birthday was

  1589. Thursday and you're 22

  1590. I am 21 21 and so they

  1591. wanted to get you a

  1592. present so this is from

  1593. the miller family right

  1594. here so bring your food

  1595. in there's some business

  1596. cards for the men's

  1597. ministry happy birthday

  1598. millen

  1599. gather together with a man

  1600. and we'll see you back

  1601. here next Sunday love you

  1602. guys

  1603. have a good week

  1604. hey I forgot to announce

  1605. also there's the

  1606. foundations class that we've

  1607. been doing this morning and

  1608. this evening so if you want

  1609. to join that it's for one

  1610. hour it's right out the

  1611. door following Chris and

  1612. there's a choir rehearsal

  1613. right here in the back so

  1614. foundation class for one

  1615. hour we want everybody in

  1616. the church to be a part of

  1617. that it'll be next week

  1618. also and then a choir right

  1619. here thank you

  1620. few O'neil

  1621. meeting

  1622. to

  1623. AAA

  1624. you