Sermon
Marriage? Isn’t All we need “Love”… and Massive Sex
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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We are the Yee family. I'm Bernard. I'm Angeline. I'm Abby. I'm Isaac. And I'm Elizabeth.
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This is the first Sunday of Advent. The word Advent means coming.
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And today we are prepared for the coming of Christmas, God's gift of Jesus to the world.
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Each week we prepare by lighting a candle and focus on different themes of Christ's coming.
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This week we light the candle of hope.
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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.
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In the midst of this despair, God whispered hope, one who was coming to rescue his people.
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Then, one night in a manger, the most unlikely of places, in the town of Bethlehem,
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before a crowd of sheep and cows, a poor peasant girl gave birth to a son.
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And on that night, hope was born.
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That same hope that humbly came across as a child is ours today.
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In a world so full of despair and hopelessness, Christ is our undeserved hope.
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He is the hope for our friends and neighbors.
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He is the hope for Hong Kong.
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He is the hope for the nations.
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Please join us in reading from Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6 to 7, which you'll find on the screens.
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For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
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and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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Of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end.
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On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, with justice and with righteousness,
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from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
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Let us bow our heads and pray.
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Restore us, O Lord, we pray.
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Bring us back to that place where we once met,
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as shepherd to the stable after hearing angels sing.
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Bring us back to that place when our love was fresh.
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Not embarrassed to express itself in praise to our heavenly King.
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Restore us, O Lord, we pray.
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Good morning, Watermark.
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This morning, Tobin continues on with his guerrilla sermon series.
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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,
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but we were a little afraid to ask them.
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And so we've taken those questions and we've been putting them into specific buckets,
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and we've been addressing those.
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So last week we talked about money and finance and stewardship.
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And today we talk about marriage and relationships and, to use a Tobinism, massive sex.
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So we've had the children and students go to their classes today,
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and if your kids have chosen to stay back,
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we just wanted to let you know that it may be a little bit more of an adult conversation,
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but if you have those conversations with your children,
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you're welcome to stay with us as well.
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So we've been giving these letters,
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and one of the letters that we got is probably from one of our university students.
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It says,
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Pastor Tobin,
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I was told in my uni that marriage as an institution is something from the Middle Ages
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and that it's not really relevant to our day and age.
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Living together is a much better option.
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What are Watermark's thoughts on this?
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Please take a listen to a few more letters.
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Pastor,
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I'm pretty confident that my spouse is having other affairs
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as he travels to different countries for business.
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What should I do?
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Do I have him followed?
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Should I ask him about this and risk everything falling apart,
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or should I just shut up and live my comfortable life in Hong Kong?
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I'm desperate for your thoughts,
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as my friends all say it is common,
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and I should just swallow shame and live with it.
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Pastor T,
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as a single person,
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I really struggle with this idea of being single.
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Or should I say,
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sometimes I struggle,
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and other times I say,
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who cares?
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And that married people are just not that happy anyway.
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Actually,
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I have not found that right person to complete me yet.
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I'm still looking for a person who can fulfill my emotional,
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sexual,
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and spiritual needs without asking too much from me.
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A person who can fit into my lifestyle
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without slowing me down
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and making me distracted from my goals.
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I guess my question is,
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should I be bothered by this?
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Should this concern me?
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Pastor,
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how often should a couple have sex each month?
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And no,
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I'm not a man asking this.
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I just want to have it more often than my husband.
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My husband is always so tired,
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distracted,
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or busy with his work.
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Would God make me with this desire for my husband
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that cannot be fulfilled by him?
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Help.
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Help.
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As a wife,
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I'm really struggling with being married in Hong Kong.
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I feel like I've lost my best friend,
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my husband.
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Because of his work,
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he is often gone,
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and I have to celebrate major events
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in our family's lives without him.
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I feel like we don't connect anymore
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on a heart level,
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and that often I go to bed
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with a person
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who no longer knows me
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or cares to know me.
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I mean,
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we've changed so much as people
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since being married,
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and each stage of life
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brings us further apart.
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During the week,
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I manage the house
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and the family,
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and we have our own schedule
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that works.
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But when he returns,
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he wants us to drop everything
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and to try and fit him back
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into our lives.
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I'm trying to do this,
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but it's getting harder and harder
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to fit the stranger we call dad
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back into our family.
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My friends at the club tell me
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to just make sure
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I get enough resources
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before I leave him
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to start over.
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I do not want to do this,
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but he is no longer the person
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I married,
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and I worry for our children.
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So,
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what hope does Watermark and Jesus
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bring to me
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in this situation?
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Good morning.
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The scripture reading today
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comes from Genesis
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and the book
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to the Ephesians.
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Please follow along
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in your bulletins.
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Then God said,
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Let us make man
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in our image
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according to our likeness,
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and let them rule
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over the fish of the sea
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and over the birds of the sky
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and over the cattle
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and over all of the earth
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and over every creeping thing
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that creeps on the earth.
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God created man
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in his own image.
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In the image of God
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he created him.
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Male and female
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he created them.
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God blessed them,
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and God said to them,
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Be fruitful and multiply
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and fill the earth
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and subdue it
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and rule over the fish
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of the sea
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and over the birds
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of the sky
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and over every living thing
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that moves on the earth.
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For I know the plans
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that I have for you,
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declares the Lord,
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plans for welfare
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and not for calamity,
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to give you a future
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and a hope.
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Therefore be careful
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how you walk,
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not as unwise men,
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but as wise,
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making the most of your time,
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because the days are evil.
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So then,
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do not be foolish,
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but understand
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what the will
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of the Lord is.
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And do not get drunk
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with wine,
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for that is dissipation,
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but be filled
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with the Spirit,
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speaking to one another
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in psalms and hymns
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and spiritual songs.
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Singing and making melody
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with your heart
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to the Lord,
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always giving thanks
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for all things
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in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
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to God,
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even the Father,
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and be subject to one another
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in the fear of Christ.
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Wives,
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be subject to your own husbands
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as to the Lord,
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for the husband
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is the head of the wife
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as Christ
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is also the head of the church,
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he himself
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being the Savior
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of the body.
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But as the church
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is subject to Christ,
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so also the wives
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ought to be
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to their husbands
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in everything.
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Husbands,
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love your wives,
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just as Christ
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also loved the church
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and gave himself up for her,
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so that he might
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sanctify her,
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having cleansed her
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by the washing of water
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with the word,
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that he might present
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to himself the church
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in all her glory,
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having no spot
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or wrinkle
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or any such thing,
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but that she would be
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holy and blameless.
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So husbands
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ought also
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to love their own wives
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as their own bodies.
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He who loves
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his own wife
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loves himself,
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for no one ever
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hated his own flesh,
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but nourishes
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and cherishes it,
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just as Christ
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also does the church,
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because we are members
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of his body.
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For this reason
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a man shall leave
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his father and mother
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and shall be joined
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to his wife,
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and the two
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shall become one flesh.
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This mystery is great,
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but I am speaking
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with reference
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to Christ and the church.
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Nevertheless,
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each individual
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among you
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is to love
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his own wife
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even as himself.
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And the wife
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must see to it
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that she respects
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her husband.
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This is God's word.
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Thanks guys.
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Great music today.
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Worshiping.
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How you guys doing?
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Wow.
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That's pretty good,
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good, great.
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Better than normal.
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Hey, we are,
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as I get all my
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stuff organized up here,
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we are doing
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a sermon series.
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Actually,
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this is the last one
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for a while
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as we enter into Advent,
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and we are going to
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have people text
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messaging us.
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I think the thing
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is still open
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if you want to try
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later on.
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And we are looking
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at questions
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that people want to ask,
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but they are afraid
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to ask,
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because they are afraid
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if they ask it,
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it is going to start
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this huge fight
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or argument.
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I called them
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guerrilla Christians
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in my family
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growing up,
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because there are things
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that you know
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you shouldn't go there,
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but if you go there,
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just prepare to get
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your arms ripped off
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by the person
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you are talking to,
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in that conversation.
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And so last week,
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we talked about stewardship,
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money, finances,
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how much we should give,
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and we looked at the passage
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in Luke 16,
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and at the end,
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we said,
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hopefully,
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you heard me say,
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that the whole story
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of the steward
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only worked
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as long as the master
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was good.
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The story of stewardship
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that we read,
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the story of the guy
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trying to cheat
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and trying to fix
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and focus on his future
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only was going to work
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if the master
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was good
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and gracious
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and kind.
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Because no matter
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how clever he was
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in trying to figure out
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his future
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and what was important
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in his future,
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if the master
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called him on it,
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he would be lost.
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So today,
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and I think that's a theme
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we need to carry
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through all of our talks,
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today we want to look at
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questions that you've heard
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talked about.
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We want to look at the idea
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of marriage,
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love,
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sex,
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maybe a little dating.
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We'll probably do another one
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for dating,
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for singles.
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And I think this is probably
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a topic that is,
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I've actually never heard this
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in church before,
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hardly ever growing up.
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I mean,
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I never heard a topic
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on marriage
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or a sermon series
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on marriage.
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I've never heard
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a sermon series
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on relationships,
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guys and girls,
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roles.
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I've never heard
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a topic for sure
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or a sermon on sex.
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But I think that,
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and you can say that word
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in church,
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sex,
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okay?
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So some of you
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are going to,
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we'll edit it out
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when people listen on it,
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but that's okay
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because God created that.
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But I think that was
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one of those things
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that I'd never imagined
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that we could talk about
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in the church
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and yet the church
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needed to talk about it
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so much.
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It seemed like the church
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throughout the ages
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was quiet
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when it needed
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to speak up.
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And it seems like it,
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when it spoke up,
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it didn't necessarily
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say the right things.
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It said things
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that kind of got changed
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as cultures and time
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and was not good
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and basically ended up
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putting people
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in bondage
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and legalism
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as opposed to grace
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and mercy
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and love.
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My family
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never talked
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about these things.
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I can remember
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when it came time
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to talk about sex,
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my dad gave me
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this book.
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And the book
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had two people
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walking their dogs.
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And it said,
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look,
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the masters
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are walking the dog.
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There's a daddy dog
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and there's a girl dog.
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Oh, next page.
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The daddy dog
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and the girl dog,
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they fall in love.
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Isn't marriage great?
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Next page.
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Daddy dog
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and the girl dog
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go into a room.
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The door shuts.
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Next page.
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The door opens,
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daddy dog
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and the girl dog
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walk out
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and there's a whole bunch
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of little puppies
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behind them.
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Isn't sex wonderful?
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And a week later
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my dad came back
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to me and he said,
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are there any questions
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you have
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on marriage,
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love,
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or sex?
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And I was like,
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there's no way
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I'm going to ask
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a question to my parents
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on this topic.
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And I just think
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it was just,
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I just remember that.
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And even to this day
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as siblings
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when we talk about kids
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and growing up
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and a sex question
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comes up,
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we say,
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okay,
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you better bring out
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the puppy book
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and let's open up
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the puppy book
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and see what the puppy book says.
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But I think that,
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you know,
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you can learn a lot
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about,
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hey Charles,
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can I ask you
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a quick favor?
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Could you shut that door
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so we can,
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for the outside
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for the kids?
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I think you can learn
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a lot about
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how a culture
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talks about marriage,
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love,
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and sex.
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And you can look
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at our culture
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and look at how
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it's portrayed
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on movies
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and on videos
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and songs
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and you can learn
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a lot about
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the values
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and things
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that we put in that.
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In the Old Testament,
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whenever you talked
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about relationships
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and marriage
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and sex,
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the word that always
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came out
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was this word
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yada.
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Yada.
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Y-A-W-D-A-H.
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Can you say it with me?
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Yada.
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Yada.
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And sometimes
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you hear people say
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yada, yada, yada.
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But that is the word
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that was primarily
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used in the Hebrew culture
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when it started talking
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about sex,
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marriage,
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and relationships.
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It's used over 500 times
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in the Old Testament.
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And when you look
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at its usage,
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some guys have done
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extensive studies
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on yada,
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you see that it means
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to know,
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to observe,
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to study closely,
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to be a servant of,
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to have a relationship with,
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to have marriage,
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to have sexual relationships.
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It's not just
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this abstract idea,
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yada,
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oh, I know that person
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over there.
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But when you say yada,
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it means intimacy.
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It means coming together.
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It means knowing
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that person
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very, very well.
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It means being a student
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of that person.
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It means knowing
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what that person
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is thinking
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before they say it.
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in a relationship,
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as you walk
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into a relationship
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with a man
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and a woman,
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it's this yada,
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it's this intimacy
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that happens.
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Now,
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sometimes you see
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somebody and you say,
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I see my wife over there
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and I go,
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yada, yada, yada,
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which has other meanings
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to that.
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It means beyond,
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I just want to know her,
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but I want to
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spend time with her
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in the puppy room,
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right?
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So that's what that means.
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But we're going to talk
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about that today
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and it's important
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to remember that
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when the Bible talks
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about marriage
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and sex
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and love,
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that it's always done
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in this aspect
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of caring.
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It's always done
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in the aspect
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of commitment.
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It's always done
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with this understanding
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of a personal knowing.
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It's always done
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with this idea
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of sacrifice.
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there's always
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the word covenant
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that is after it.
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And we're going to talk
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about what that covenant
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means because
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there is a huge meaning
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behind the idea
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of covenant
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and what it means
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when a man
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and a woman
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covenant together.
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And so we're going
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to talk about
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what does it mean
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to be sacred.
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We're going to talk
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about yada.
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In 60 AD,
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the passage that you have
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here right now,
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Paul was in prison.
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Well, he wasn't really
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in prison.
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He was in chains.
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He was in chains
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between these Roman soldiers
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and they kept him
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in his house
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because he paid
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for his house.
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So he's paying
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for his house,
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paying for his prison.
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He's been chained up
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and he hears this news
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and the news is
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that this young church
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that he started
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in Ephesus
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was having trouble
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and he became
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very concerned
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about it.
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And this church
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was very interesting.
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He planted it
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about two years before
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and this church
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was planted
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in a culture
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that was surrounded
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by at least
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three other cultures.
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It was surrounded
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by the Roman culture
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and it was Roman
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by the Greek culture
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and it was Roman
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by the Hebrew culture
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and Jewish culture
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and all of these cultures
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came in
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and started to influence
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God's people
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in a very,
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very negative
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and harsh way.
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And so,
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as Paul started
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to see this church
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start to fall apart
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and struggle with
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what does it mean
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to yada?
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What does it mean
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to have relationships?
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What does it mean
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to be married?
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What does it mean
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to know people?
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What does it mean
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to serve people?
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He penned this passage
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in this book of Ephesians
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and I think when we read this
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for me personally
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it is something
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that we just kind of read
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and we forget about
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how powerful
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and meaningful it is
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because when Paul
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wrote this passage
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things were very different
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than it was today.
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In Paul's day and age
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in Roman,
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Greek,
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in Hebrew society
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a woman meant nothing.
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A woman was property.
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She had no rights
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whatsoever.
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She could not divorce
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her husband
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no matter how bad
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he treated her
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and if he disappeared
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for 20 years
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there is no way
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that she could get rid
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of him.
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But in these cultures
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the man
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could divorce a woman
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in an instant.
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I was reading
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some old text
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and it said
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basically this guy
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divorced his wife
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because she made
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the food
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too salty.
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and that's the culture
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that Paul was writing to
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and this is the culture
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that the people
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were struggling with.
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Men in this day
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they were gods.
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They were rulers.
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They were the king.
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They were under
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no obligation.
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They had no responsibility
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to their wife
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or to their family.
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They didn't have to care.
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The passage says
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as you read history
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that most men
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had four to five
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to six mistresses,
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concubines,
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and other wives.
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The only reason
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they had a wife
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was to take care
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of the children
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while they were
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out traveling.
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But when it came
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to ideas of love
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and relationship,
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Aristotle,
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Plato,
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Plutarch,
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the play writers
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in Greek
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and Roman history,
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none of them
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would ever say
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that that happened
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within the family.
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None of them
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would ever say
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that it happened
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between husband and wife.
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They would always say
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that it happened
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outside of the marriage thing.
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Love was seen
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purely as an emotion
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there was no commitment
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behind it
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and most of the time
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love was lived
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outside of marriage.
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You would never say
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that you loved your wife.
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You would say
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you loved your concubines.
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You loved your mistresses.
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But you never
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loved your wife.
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Sex was either seen
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as something
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that you needed to do
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like breathe
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or eat
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or it was seen
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as something dirty
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and terrible.
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And marriage
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was merely
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a social transaction.
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The women and men
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would go down
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to the forum
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after work at night.
-
They would have
-
a couple drinks.
-
They would look
-
at the guys
-
who walked in
-
and they would see
-
who was the most handsome,
-
who was the most in shape,
-
who wore the best togas,
-
who drove
-
the fastest chariots,
-
and they would say
-
that's the guy
-
I want to hook
-
my trailer to.
-
And that's what
-
marriage was all about.
-
Marriage was seen
-
only as a contractual agreement
-
to elevate one family
-
to a higher position socially.
-
So you never saw
-
people marrying
-
for love
-
because the women
-
couldn't do that.
-
The dad would always
-
marry the women off
-
to benefit their family
-
and to make
-
a better thing happen.
-
So this is the world
-
that Paul is living in.
-
This is the world
-
that Paul is writing
-
this book of Ephesians to
-
and that's why
-
when you read it,
-
you have to say,
-
wow,
-
he's making
-
some amazing changes.
-
Because for thousands
-
of years,
-
this is how people
-
saw men.
-
For thousands of years,
-
this is how people
-
saw women.
-
For thousands of years,
-
this is how people
-
saw marriage.
-
For thousands of years,
-
this is how people
-
saw love and sex
-
and they saw it
-
very different
-
than the way
-
Paul taught,
-
the way the Scripture
-
points to,
-
the way that Jesus
-
talked to.
-
In the book of Ephesians
-
for the first time,
-
as we see,
-
Paul writes
-
and he pens out there
-
that women,
-
they're no longer
-
just material items.
-
But they have
-
equal value
-
and worth
-
within God's family
-
and kingdom.
-
To be single
-
was looked at
-
as something terrible
-
in the ancient world.
-
No one would ever
-
want to be single.
-
It was terrible.
-
You should never do that
-
because everyone knew
-
that your worth
-
was dependent upon
-
the children
-
that you passed down
-
from generation to generation.
-
But for the first time
-
in the church,
-
singleness was elevated
-
to this high place
-
and this high standard.
-
Paul didn't take a wife.
-
Jesus didn't take a wife.
-
Some of the greatest leaders
-
in the church
-
said it's okay
-
because you're elevated
-
and you're pushed off
-
maybe not by your
-
physical children
-
but by your spiritual children.
-
And the people
-
who would have been
-
disturbed the most
-
by the passage today
-
would be the men.
-
Because when the men
-
heard words like
-
love your wives
-
and it was commanded
-
to them
-
to love their wives
-
it was about
-
an action.
-
And in that day
-
and age
-
no one ever
-
loved their wives.
-
The idea of loving
-
your wives unconditionally
-
to be a servant
-
to sacrifice
-
to give of yourself
-
to seek the highest
-
good for your wife
-
to be unconditional
-
to be selfless
-
to be sacrificial
-
to not live
-
for yourself
-
to be a servant
-
leader.
-
This is the first time
-
this was ever said
-
in the history
-
of the world.
-
And so when the church
-
heard this
-
and they were being
-
influenced by the Greeks
-
and the Romans
-
and the Jewish culture
-
it was
-
outstanding
-
and amazing
-
and hard
-
and difficult
-
because of where
-
they came from.
-
Marriage
-
was lifted up
-
and was shown
-
to be a mystery
-
and it was shown
-
to be this idea
-
of God's
-
redempting story
-
being played out
-
throughout the world.
-
So now instead of
-
just being a contractual
-
agreement
-
it was something
-
that God
-
blessed
-
he ordained
-
and he showed
-
that I'm going to
-
show the world
-
what it's like
-
to have a relationship
-
with Christ
-
as they look at you
-
and your wife
-
and live out
-
this story
-
of two sinful people
-
coming together
-
and working together.
-
Love is a commitment
-
it's not a feeling
-
and all of these
-
things God
-
tells us
-
Paul tells us
-
is based on
-
God's relationship
-
with himself.
-
All of these
-
things are based
-
on Jesus
-
and how he lived
-
in the world
-
because we know
-
from eternity past
-
that God
-
created and
-
existed in three
-
people
-
God the Father
-
God the Son
-
and God the Holy Spirit
-
and there was never
-
a time that there
-
wasn't a Trinity
-
and there was never
-
a time that these
-
three people
-
didn't defer
-
didn't care for
-
didn't think more
-
of
-
didn't serve
-
didn't selflessly
-
give to the other
-
person
-
and Paul is saying
-
in the midst of
-
all of these things
-
as we look at
-
Jesus
-
as we look at
-
how God is
-
that is how
-
we are also
-
to be
-
now when everybody
-
heard this
-
again it would have
-
been counter
-
cultural
-
because Paul
-
is saying
-
that even
-
within the
-
character of
-
Jesus
-
there's always
-
an other
-
orientation
-
that Jesus
-
was always
-
thinking about
-
other people
-
that Jesus
-
was always
-
serving other
-
people
-
that the Godhead
-
was always
-
deferring to each
-
other and they
-
were serving
-
and giving
-
to each other
-
and he basically
-
encourages the
-
church in Ephesus
-
he encourages us
-
that we're to do
-
the same
-
that we're to do
-
the same
-
Paul's basically
-
telling the church
-
here
-
that the basis
-
of their problems
-
is self-centeredness
-
the basis of their
-
problems is an
-
unwillingness to
-
serve
-
and he's telling
-
them that as we
-
go on this journey
-
with God
-
that every day
-
each one of us
-
have a choice
-
of how this
-
story is going
-
to play out
-
we can play it
-
out according to
-
what God has
-
said in his
-
word
-
and we can
-
trust him to
-
be good
-
and trust him
-
to be in
-
control
-
and trust him
-
to be holy
-
and gentle
-
and gracious
-
and forgiving
-
or we can
-
play it out
-
according to
-
what the world
-
says
-
this is how
-
you should
-
live
-
this is what
-
you should
-
do
-
and in the
-
midst of all
-
of these
-
themes
-
that we can
-
play out
-
as we live
-
out our lives
-
the scripture
-
is really
-
clear
-
that in the
-
midst of it
-
you and
-
I are
-
radically
-
self-centered
-
you and I
-
are radically
-
self-centered
-
and we need
-
a hero
-
to come into
-
our lives
-
and to change
-
us
-
I want to
-
look at the
-
questions that
-
were brought
-
in today
-
my wife said
-
I can't do
-
it alone
-
and so
-
I wanted
-
to ask
-
Christina
-
to come
-
up
-
and we're
-
going to
-
kind of
-
talk about
-
these really
-
quickly
-
and we want
-
to look at
-
some of
-
these things
-
and if we
-
have enough
-
time
-
we will
-
take some
-
other questions
-
but again
-
we feel like
-
this is just
-
a foundation
-
we're building
-
on this
-
foundation
-
of marriage
-
and relationships
-
and sex
-
as we live
-
our life
-
as a family
-
and a church
-
we believe
-
that God
-
has put us
-
here to be
-
a part of
-
the community
-
and to be
-
with each
-
other
-
and to be
-
as open
-
as possible
-
so my
-
prayer is
-
that there's
-
never a time
-
you don't feel
-
like you can't
-
ask us a
-
question
-
and there's
-
never a time
-
as a community
-
that we're not
-
dialoguing
-
and talking
-
about all
-
of these
-
things
-
and so
-
we're going
-
to cut
-
the video
-
off now
-
because we
-
don't want
-
to record
-
this
-
I'm going
-
to close
-
this up
-
right now
-
there's a
-
couple things
-
I want to
-
share with
-
you really
-
quickly
-
there's a
-
book sale
-
out there
-
all the
-
books are
-
we're selling
-
at a loss
-
some of them
-
20%
-
but there's
-
some books
-
here that I
-
think are
-
great on
-
marriage
-
actually
-
they're the
-
best books
-
I've ever
-
read
-
and Christina
-
and I
-
have made
-
a career
-
of reading
-
marriage books
-
there's three
-
of two of them
-
first one is
-
The Meaning of
-
Marriage by
-
Tim Keller
-
it's one of the
-
best books
-
I've ever read
-
on marriage
-
this is a
-
great book
-
for single
-
people
-
if you're
-
single
-
I would
-
I challenge
-
you to read
-
this
-
if you don't
-
like it
-
give it back
-
to me
-
I'll give
-
you the
-
money back
-
and the other
-
book is Sacred
-
Marriage
-
it's by Gary
-
Thomas
-
it's one of the
-
best books on
-
marriage and
-
relationships
-
do we have
-
sacred influence
-
I'm not sure
-
but they're all
-
out there at the
-
book table
-
and then
-
there's this
-
devotion
-
it just came
-
out
-
Christina and I
-
started reading
-
it
-
it's 365 day
-
devotion
-
it's one of the
-
best devotions
-
I've ever seen
-
and so I just
-
went ahead and
-
order
-
if I were
-
independently wealthy
-
which you know
-
by my salary
-
I'm not
-
I would buy
-
everybody in
-
the church
-
one of these
-
books and give
-
it to you as a
-
gift for Christmas
-
because I think
-
they are significant
-
and so they're on
-
the book sale out
-
there at the table
-
so please check
-
the books on the
-
way out
-
for you
-
also we talked
-
about being a
-
successful steward
-
last Sunday
-
was using our
-
money to give
-
people an
-
opportunity to
-
hear about Jesus
-
that's what
-
stewardship is
-
in scripture
-
and so we have
-
several neat
-
opportunities and
-
this one right
-
here is December
-
15th
-
we're having
-
Michael Ramson
-
come in for
-
training in the
-
morning and
-
then at night
-
we are giving
-
out tickets
-
we're having
-
four turkeys
-
a Christmas
-
meal and an
-
outreach at the
-
community center
-
and so these
-
tickets are available
-
right now outside
-
so if you can't
-
come for the
-
dinner that night
-
unless you bring
-
a friend who
-
is asking
-
questions about
-
Christianity
-
and this will be
-
the ticket to
-
get you in
-
so we want to
-
encourage you to
-
pray about who
-
you're going to
-
bring
-
it's going to
-
be a great
-
night
-
Michael's going
-
to do a
-
20 minute
-
presentation
-
on Christmas
-
and its meaning
-
we're going to
-
have a Q&A
-
time afterwards
-
a lot of food
-
and fun and
-
fellowship so
-
grab a ticket
-
right there
-
and also on
-
your way out
-
you can grab
-
some of these
-
these are
-
we're sending
-
out 19,000
-
of these
-
this year
-
to every
-
English speaking
-
household in
-
this area
-
this part of
-
Hong Kong
-
Island
-
it's basically
-
an invitation
-
to the Christmas
-
celebration that
-
we're going to
-
do on December
-
25th
-
so we want
-
to encourage
-
you to grab
-
some of these
-
and hand them
-
out to your
-
friends and
-
people in your
-
workplace
-
and just use
-
them to use
-
your money wisely
-
to invite people
-
to hear and have
-
opportunities about
-
hearing about Jesus
-
we didn't take an
-
offering this Sunday
-
we don't ever take
-
offerings but you
-
know that all the
-
offering from the
-
bulletins and the
-
books they all go
-
to outreach
-
and so as you
-
consider what Christ
-
has done in your
-
life we would just
-
ask for you to
-
tithe in that
-
manner like we
-
talked about last
-
Sunday and with
-
that
-
you want to
-
pray I'll pray
-
let me pray
-
by the way
-
thank you please
-
stand up yeah
-
we'll just
-
by the way thank
-
you for this day
-
thank you for your
-
grace even as we
-
bumbled through these
-
questions but I
-
pray as a church
-
that we just cannot
-
afford not to talk
-
about these things
-
so just give us
-
grace and wisdom
-
and how to move
-
forward in
-
relationships and
-
in dating I
-
pray for people who
-
are here
-
Lord that if they
-
want to talk to
-
somebody immediately
-
afterwards there'll
-
be people up here
-
to pray there's a
-
men's fellowship that
-
started up they can
-
grab a hold of that
-
there's a women's
-
fellowship that started
-
up and what I pray
-
that we would not
-
leave here without
-
finding ways to
-
connect and allow
-
you to to change
-
us what I pray for
-
our church family
-
here I know that
-
we're all at
-
different stages of
-
life we're all
-
struggling with
-
different things and
-
above all of these
-
things we need your
-
grace and mercy and
-
so we become before
-
you and we realize
-
that you have to be
-
the hero of our
-
story you have to be
-
the person who who
-
leads it and if you're
-
not then we're we're
-
in trouble and so we
-
come before you this
-
beginning of the
-
Christmas season and
-
we just worship you
-
we thank you for your
-
amazingness as God
-
that you sent your son
-
for us and we come
-
and we just we just
-
worship in that sense
-
pray that we would be
-
different we pray that
-
Hong Kong would be
-
different because of
-
what you've done in us
-
today so Lord we come
-
and we worship you and
-
we love you in Jesus
-
name amen God bless you
-
next week next week we're
-
back here there's
-
donations wait one
-
second there's already a
-
Christmas present
-
underneath this tree
-
oh man what's it say
-
it says to uncle millen
-
happy birthday from the
-
miller kids millen you
-
want to come get this
-
millen is not on staff
-
millen serves he serves
-
he does an amazing job
-
and my kids knew that
-
your birthday was
-
Thursday and you're 22
-
I am 21 21 and so they
-
wanted to get you a
-
present so this is from
-
the miller family right
-
here so bring your food
-
in there's some business
-
cards for the men's
-
ministry happy birthday
-
millen
-
gather together with a man
-
and we'll see you back
-
here next Sunday love you
-
guys
-
have a good week
-
hey I forgot to announce
-
also there's the
-
foundations class that we've
-
been doing this morning and
-
this evening so if you want
-
to join that it's for one
-
hour it's right out the
-
door following Chris and
-
there's a choir rehearsal
-
right here in the back so
-
foundation class for one
-
hour we want everybody in
-
the church to be a part of
-
that it'll be next week
-
also and then a choir right
-
here thank you
-
few O'neil
-
meeting
-
to
-
AAA
-
you