The Most Important Thing About You

Again, such a delight to have all of you with us.

It's my pleasure to introduce our preacher this evening.

Kevin Antlitz is his name.

He and his wife Susan are visiting.

They came to the latter half of our retreat out in Middleburg,

and they spent the night last night out there getting to know some people in our parishes,

and now they're here with us today, and we invited them to preach tonight.

And then we'll be spending some time together tomorrow

and just getting to know them a little better and letting them get to know us and our church a little better.

For those of you who don't know, they're here as candidates.

They're discerning.

We're prayerfully discerning who the Lord might call to serve as an associate pastor here at Church of the Advent,

and so we're very excited to have them with us.

And they hail from Princeton, if anybody is from there.

I know we have some Princeton folk here where they've been doing campus ministry for the last five years.

And, Kevin, I'd love to invite you up to preach the word to us.

Thanks.

Good evening, everyone.

It's great to be here with you.

I see some faces that I saw at the retreat.

I'm very impressed that you all have a Sunday service after a retreat.

It's very hardcore.

I like that about you.

It's awesome.

Well, it really is a privilege for my wife Susan and I to be here with you.

It was great to be at the retreat to get to meet so many of you that are here and loads of people who I'm sure couldn't make it out tonight

because they're all tuckered out because we had quite a good time.

And it's really a great privilege for me to be up here to preach from God's word to you this evening.

My sermon is called The Most Important Thing About You.

And it's worth considering for a moment how you would answer the question, who am I?

Think about how you self-identify when meeting somebody new.

I thought a lot about this last night as I've met a lot of people for the first time.

What are the sorts of things you say when you meet someone for the first time?

What sorts of things are the most important for people to know about you?

Or how about when you see yourself in the mirror?

What do you notice?

What do you see?

Or think about when you're left to the quietness of your own heart and your own mind.

How do you imagine yourself?

What do you think about yourself?

What would you say is the most important thing about you?

Well, A.W. Tozer, he was a theologian in the 20th century.

He famously said this.

You've probably heard it before.

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about you.

I'm sure that's been in probably one out of every ten sermons you've heard.

It's a very famous passage, but I think it's wrong.

And it's probably a hot take to say that he's wrong about it.

But I'm going to appeal to C.S. Lewis to make my case for why I think he's wrong.

I don't think what we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The most important thing about us is what God thinks about us.

C.S. Lewis says this in his sermon, The Weight of Glory.

He said, and I think he's referring to Tozer.

He said, C.S. Lewis said this,

I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God.

By God himself, it is not.

How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important.

Indeed, how we think of him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how he thinks of us.

And I think that's true.

And so tonight I want to talk about the most important thing about you, which is what God thinks about you.

So objectively, the most important thing about you is what God thinks of you.

And subjectively, the most important thing about you is how you perceive God thinks about you.

And my goal is for this sermon is to bring the objective, what God really thinks about you,

what I'm going to tell you in a minute, and how you perceive he thinks about you in alignment.

So that's the plan.

And I'll let the cat out of the bag.

This is what God thinks about you.

If you know Jesus, if you love Jesus, if you trust Jesus, the most important thing about you is that you're a beloved son or daughter of God the Father.

This is your central identity.

It's the most important, most profound, and most consequential thing about you.

And this identity, this belovedness, should regulate and govern every single aspect of your life.

You're going out and you're coming in.

And I realize that might not be new news to some of you.

You've probably heard before that God loves you, that you're his beloved son or daughter.

And as I was praying for the church and thinking about what I might say,

and as the Lord brought this to mind to tell you that God loves you,

that's what my sermon is essentially going to be about,

I kept thinking about a scene from one of my favorite movies, Good Will Hunting.

Some of you have probably seen it before.

And this is sort of the iconic scene of the movie.

Robin Williams, his name is Sean in the movie.

He's talking to Matt Damon, who is Will, Will Hunting.

And Will had a very traumatic childhood.

He was abused.

Lots of really terrible things happened to him.

And Sean is his counselor, his shrink.

And it's near the end of the movie, and you probably have seen it.

Sean says to Will,

Will, it's not your fault.

And Will says, yeah, I know, I know, I know.

And he says, no, it's not your fault.

And Will says, he looks at him, he's like, you just said this.

I know it's not my fault.

And then he says it again, it's not your fault.

And then Will just sort of breaks down and cries.

I'm not hoping or expecting you to break down and cry by virtue of this sermon.

But I do hope that even if you know cognitively that God loves you

and that you're his beloved son and daughter,

that through some of the things that we look at tonight in his scripture,

that the Holy Spirit just impresses upon you that he really does love you

and that it will change your life and how you live in it.

So I'm going to reread our passage, 1 John 3, 1 through 3,

and then I'll pray for us, and then we will dive in.

Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us

that we should be called children of God,

and that is what we are.

On account of this, the world does not know us

because it did not know him.

Beloved, we are already God's children,

although what we will be has not yet been fully revealed.

We know that when he is fully and finally revealed,

we will be like him because we will see him as he is.

And everyone who has this hope in him

consistently purifies himself just as he is pure.

Let's pray.

Our Father, we are reminded of the privilege it is

to be able to call you Father.

So I pray for these, my brothers and sisters here,

that you would, by your Spirit,

reveal to them just how much you love them.

I pray that you would do that.

In Jesus' name, amen.

So here's my plan for the evening.

I'm going to look at this passage, 1 John 3, 1 through 3,

in three moves.

First, I'm going to unpack the biblical doctrine of adoption

because this is what this passage is talking about.

So I'm going to unpack adoption and why it's important.

Secondly, I want to talk about what adoption means for us.

And third and finally, I want to talk about

what adoption requires of us.

So first, unpacking the biblical doctrine of adoption.

Why is this important?

Well, J.I. Packer, in a really wonderful book

called Knowing God, he has a whole chapter.

And so if this sermon sort of piques your interest,

I think it's chapter 19 in Knowing God, go there.

It's amazing.

He says this in this chapter,

if you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity,

find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child

and having God as his father.

And I love this line.

Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better

than our grasp of adoption.

Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better

than our grasp of adoption.

So I want to help us grasp that a little bit more tonight.

So picking up again in verse 1,

behold what manner of love the Father has given to us,

that we should be called children of God,

and that is what we are.

You see, verse 1 tells us to look at,

to contemplate, to reflect on God's love,

and it lifts adoption up as the object of wonder

in terms of God's love.

Look at how much God loves us.

We can tell how much he loves us

because he has called us his children.

He's adopted us,

and we are his children.

You see, after the cross,

adoption is the greatest display of God's love for us.

And it's the greatest display of God's love for us

for two reasons.

First, because of the relationship that it creates.

It creates a new relationship with God.

And secondly, because it embodies the essence of grace.

So first, we'll look at the relationship that it creates.

And I want to argue and help convince you

to elevate adoption as the most precious Christian doctrine

that we have in the faith.

And so first, we're going to look at it

in terms of the relationship that it creates.

I think it might be helpful to juxtapose

adoption with justification.

And I'm not saying justification isn't important.

I'm not saying they're at odds with each other

or anything like that.

But it's helpful to juxtapose.

Martin Luther famously said

that justification is the doctrine

upon which the church stands or falls.

And in large part,

because Luther's shadow looms large

and much of that for good reason,

I think churches rooted in the Protestant Reformation,

great solid churches,

have tended to, if I can say,

overemphasize justification

sometimes at the expense of adoption.

And so what I want to say is

it's not justification,

but it's adoption that is the most precious

Christian doctrine.

And I love justification.

Justification is the primary blessing

in terms of, it's the first blessing.

It's sort of what gets us into the door

because it meets our primary spiritual need.

Our primary spiritual need is being made right with God

because apart from the atoning work of Jesus on the cross,

we stand under the just condemnation of God.

And justification meets that need for us.

Because of what Jesus did,

it declares us not guilty.

But adoption is the highest blessing.

If justification is the primary,

adoption is the highest

because of the richer relationship that it offers.

The main way we are to imagine our relationship with God

is not God as judge,

but God as father.

And so I'm not pitting justification against adoption.

I'm saying we have to progress from one to the other.

We progress from justification to adoption.

Salvation is an amazing thing.

It's so amazing that the New Testament

has to use multiple metaphors

to try to describe how amazing it is.

Justification is a legal metaphor.

And so it deals with these forensic categories.

And the people involved are a judge

and a defendant in the space of a courtroom.

Whereas with adoption,

it's a familial metaphor.

The people involved are a parent and a child.

And it's not the courtroom,

but it's the kitchen table.

It's the home.

And so I think as we consider adoption

as the most precious doctrine,

I want us to move from the courtroom

to the kitchen table is one way of putting it.

And if you think about,

I think Jesus knows this.

He modeled this for us.

When he teaches us to pray,

he doesn't say our judge.

He says, pray like this, our father.

And as I was thinking about it,

so my sister is adopted.

She's from South Korea.

We got her when she was a very little baby.

And I was thinking about,

what is it that makes my sister my sister?

And in some sense,

a judge somewhere signed a piece of paper

that legally made Yoon Joo Wong,

that was her Korean name,

Kristen Annalise Antlitz.

So in some way,

a judge made her my sister,

made her my parents' daughter.

But really,

the judge just kind of made her a legal guardian.

What really made her my sister

in a much fuller sense

was my parents' love and affection

and investment of time

and resources into her.

So I think we should think about adoption

as the highest blessing,

the most precious doctrine

of the Christian faith

because of the relationship.

And secondly,

I think the reason why

we should esteem it very highly

is because it embodies

the essence of grace.

I'm going to say something

very obvious here.

To be an adopted child

means that you're not

a biological child, right?

Very straightforward.

We know this.

To be adopted means to be chosen,

which is a beautiful,

powerful thing.

To be adopted means

you're not a biological child.

That means that nobody's born a Christian.

Nobody is a biological son

or daughter of God.

We read that in our passage

in the gospel.

It is only those who received him

to those who believed in his name

he gave the right

to become children of God.

Children born not of natural descent

nor of human decision

or a husband's will,

but born of God.

To become a child of God

you have to be born again.

It's a supernatural birth.

And so we only become children of God

through adoption.

So what does this tell us about grace?

Well, it tells us that God chose us.

And he chose us only out of his free grace.

And I want to highlight

just how amazing this is

and how amazing the gospel

that we read would have been

to the original hearers

by juxtaposing God's adoption for us

to the standard practices of adoption

in the Greco-Roman era.

So how did people

back in Jesus' day adopt?

So people needed to adopt.

They were either infertile

or because of high infant

or child mortality rates.

They just didn't have kids.

And they needed a male heir

to pass on all of their property,

their land.

And so this is how they would do it.

They would only adopt young men

because men were the only ones

who could own property.

And they would choose people, right?

They, whenever you adopt, you choose.

And they would choose people

based on their past track record of success.

They would choose somebody

who was of sound mind

and sound body,

who embodied the principles

and the characteristics

that would faithfully carry on

the family name.

So they would choose somebody

based on their past performance.

Is this person fit

to receive the inheritance

that I want to pass on?

I want to make sure

this is a safe bet.

That's how they would adopt children.

But God adopts us

in a completely opposite way.

He does it completely out of free grace.

It has nothing to do

with our past performance.

It has nothing to do

with our character.

It has nothing to do

with our future potential.

J.I. Packer says this,

we are not fit

for a place in God's family.

The idea of his loving

and exalting us sinners

as he loves

and has exalted the Lord Jesus

sounds ludicrous and wild.

Yet that and nothing less than that

is what adoption means.

Adoption embodies free grace.

It reminds me of Deuteronomy 7

when God is telling the Israelites

why he chose them as a nation.

He says,

I didn't choose you

because you're a great number

or because you were this

massive imperial force.

I love you

because I love you.

It doesn't make sense.

It doesn't have to make sense.

God just loves us

because he loves us.

It's out of his free grace.

It's pure grace.

And his adopting us

as his children

embodies the essence

of this grace.

It reminds me of Romans 5.

For while we were still weak

at the right time,

Christ died for the ungodly.

For one will scarcely die

for a righteous person,

though perhaps for a good person

one would dare even to die.

But God chose his love for us

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

He adopted us

when we were the unlovable children

and it embodies grace.

So I think because of that,

I wanted to unpack adoption

a little bit

to show that it's

the greatest expression

of his love

because of the relationship

that it creates

and that it embodies God's grace.

The next move I want to talk about

is what adoption means

for us as God's children.

And very simply,

what adoption means for us

is that what is true about Jesus

is true about us in Jesus.

As God's children,

our Father intends for our lives

to be a reflection

and reproduction

of Jesus' relationship

with the Father.

We see that in the second half

of verse one.

And this is true

in a negative sense.

It says,

on account of this,

on account of being God's children,

the world does not know us

because it didn't know him.

So we can expect,

as God's children,

Christians can expect

the same struggles,

the same rejection

that Jesus faced.

And much more could be said on this,

but I want to focus our attention

on verse two.

The positive aspects

of what was true about Jesus

are true about us.

So verse two,

I'll read it again for us.

Beloved,

we are already God's children,

although what we will be

has not yet been fully revealed.

We know that when he is fully

and finally revealed,

we will be like him

because we will see him

as he is.

And I want to say a couple things

about this verse.

This is a really helpful verse

for unpacking

just a really useful

theological category.

Theologians call it

inaugurated eschatology.

Shorthand is called

the already but not yet.

And that's just throughout

this entire verse.

And the already but not yet

is essentially this,

that God's promises

are already being fulfilled.

They're already a reality

in our lives.

They're just not completely

a reality in our lives.

They're not yet fully

and finally realized.

But we trust

and have confidence

that God will finally

make good on his promise.

And this is what Christians

call hope.

And this will figure prominently

in verse three.

We have a foretaste

of the things now,

but the best is yet to be.

So I want to point that out

in this verse

and we'll see how it plays out.

The other thing I want to point out

are the blessings.

The blessings that are true

of Jesus' life

are also true of our lives

because we have faith in Jesus.

And the three things

I want to highlight here

are the blessing

and the promise of resurrection.

And because of resurrection,

the intimacy and access

that Jesus had to the Father,

we also enjoy

as well as an inheritance.

So first,

the promise of resurrection.

This is maybe

the understatement

of the world.

The resurrection

is just a really big deal.

And verse two

is all about the resurrection.

It's basically saying

that when Jesus comes back,

we are going to be raised

to new life with Jesus.

And all the things

that he promised to us

will come true.

And the reason why

resurrection is a really big deal

as it relates to our sonship

is because it was a really big deal

as it related to Jesus' sonship.

So if without the resurrection,

Jesus was just another

false messiah or criminal

who died a terrible death

at the hands of the Romans.

The resurrection

was the vindication of Jesus

that all the things

he said about himself

and all the things

he said about the Father

were true.

If he wasn't resurrected,

Jesus was either

a crazy person

or he was a liar.

He wasn't the Lord.

And if he wasn't resurrected,

we're still in our sins

is what Paul says

in 1 Corinthians 15.

So the resurrection

figures very prominently

in establishing

and solidifying

Jesus' identity

as the Son of God.

This is what it says

in Romans 4.

Jesus was declared

to be the Son of God

in power

according to the spirit

of holiness

by his resurrection

from the dead,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

And so because we are convinced

that Jesus was raised

from the dead,

we know that even if

we go through

the same struggles

and hardships

that Jesus went through,

we are confident

that just in the same way

he was raised from the dead

and ascended into heaven,

he'll come back.

And when he comes back,

that's the language

of fully and finally revealed,

when he comes back

the second advent,

we'll be like him.

We'll see him

just as he is.

We'll see him

face to face.

It won't be by faith

any longer.

We'll be like him.

And baked into this,

two other amazing blessings

that we have

by virtue of being in Christ.

Our intimacy

with and inheritance

from the Father.

We get to enjoy

the same intimacy

and access

with the Father

that Jesus had

with the Father

because of what he did

for us.

This is what Jesus says

in John 16.

He says this to his disciples,

I have said these things

to you in figures of speech.

The hour is coming

when I will no longer

speak to you

in figures of speech,

but will tell you

plainly about the Father.

In that day,

you will ask

in my name

and I do not say

to you

that I will ask

the Father

on your behalf

for the Father himself

loves you

because you have loved me

and have believed me

that I came from the Father.

So in the same way,

the same sweet intimacy

that Jesus had

with the Father,

we have with the Father

because of Christ.

And then Hebrews 4, 16 says,

Let us then confess,

let us then with confidence

draw near to the throne of grace

that we may receive mercy

and find grace

to help in time of need.

I think sometimes

as Christians,

we take this sort of intimacy

for granted.

In the Old Testament times,

not everyone had this sort of access

to the Father.

There was one person,

the great high priest,

who could go into

the presence of God

and that but once a year.

And if he did it wrongly,

there was a rope tied

around his waist

because he would be struck dead

and they'd have to pull him out.

And because of what Jesus did for us,

we can go into God's presence

freely with confidence

to receive mercy

and to find grace

in our time of need.

In addition to intimacy

and access,

we also have this great inheritance.

We share the inheritance of Christ.

This is an interesting thing

in the book of Hebrews.

I don't always imagine Jesus

as my big brother,

but that's how he's described to us.

If Jesus is the eternally begotten

Son of God

and we're also God's children,

you connect the dots.

Jesus is our brother.

He's our older brother.

He is inheriting the entire kingdom

and by virtue of being

brothers with Christ,

children of God,

we inherit the same inheritance

of Jesus.

Paul says this in Galatians.

But when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his Son,

born of woman,

born under the law,

to redeem those

who were under the law

so that we might receive

adoption as sons.

And because you are sons,

God has sent the Spirit

of his Son into our hearts,

crying,

Abba,

Father,

the same thing that Jesus

prayed to the Father,

we now pray by the Spirit.

So you are no longer a slave,

but a son,

and if a son,

then an heir through God.

We inherit eternal life,

an unmediated relationship

with Jesus,

dwelling with God forever

in the world to come.

So we're about to move

onto the third move,

but just in summary,

we've unpacked adoption,

why it's the most precious

Christian doctrine,

and what it means for us.

It means that the blessings

of Christ

are also ours.

And so I want to move on

to our final point.

What does adoption

require of us?

This is what John says

in verse 3.

Before that,

this is essentially

we're going to be talking about

how then shall we live?

What are we called to do?

What is expected of us

as God's beloved children?

I'm going to read

our whole passage for us

just to give us context.

Beloved,

what manner,

behold what manner of love

the Father has given to us

that we should be called

children of God,

and that is what we are.

On account of this,

the world does not know us

because it did not know him.

Beloved,

we are already God's children,

although what we will be

has not yet been fully revealed.

We know that when he is fully

and finally revealed,

we will be like him

because we will see him

as he is.

And this is verse 3.

And everyone who has this hope

in him

consistently purifies himself

just as he is pure.

So if you trust in Jesus Christ,

you're a beloved child of God.

You're a beloved son or daughter.

And everything that is true

about Jesus

is already but not fully yet

true about you.

We did nothing to earn it.

It's all grace.

But that doesn't mean

we don't have to do anything

in response.

As a child of God,

there are certain expectations

as to how you'll carry yourself.

There are certain expectations

when you're a part

of the family of God.

And this is true

of every family

that I've ever known.

Think about your own family.

Maybe it was

having to do certain chores.

Maybe it was

having to perform

a certain way in school

or to play a certain instrument

or cheer for a certain sports team.

I don't know what it was for you.

But for all of us,

there were certain things

that it meant to be

whatever your last name is.

An illustration in our life

when we were having our first son,

my version of nesting

was to create a family crest.

I was becoming a father

for the first time

and I was thinking,

okay, what is it going to mean

to be in antlets?

So as Susan was doing

the really important things

of getting our house ready

so that our kid

wouldn't just die immediately

when he walked into our house,

I was thinking through

the various virtues

and the obligatory Latin phrases

that would be on my crest.

And one of them,

this is one of the things

that it means to be in antlets.

They have to love beauty.

And if my children

don't love beauty,

they're just not my children.

And so we're starting to cultivate

a love for beauty in music

and going to museums

and these sorts of things.

So what does it mean

to be in antlets?

One of the things that it means

is that you love beautiful things.

You appreciate beautiful things.

And I think what we see in verse three

is something like

the family expectations

for being part of the family of God.

As a child of God,

this is what your loving father

expects of you.

This is what it means

to act like a Christian.

And as I was reflecting

on this verse a little bit more

and praying about it,

it's actually,

it was kind of surprising.

It's not just an expectation.

As verse three tells us,

this is not just what God expects

from his children.

This is actually what characterizes

his children.

A loving relationship with our father

does not lead to spiritual complacency,

but the opposite.

It leads to faithful action.

We want to please

and honor our father.

And so if we're children of God,

we purify ourselves.

Everyone who has this hope,

everyone who is hoping

for the resurrection,

that all the things

that are true about Jesus

will become true about us,

consistently purifies himself

just as he is pure.

And I don't know about you,

when I see purity language

in the Bible,

I get a little bit spooked

because it's sacrificial language

from the Old Testament.

And purity language

implies holiness.

It implies being unblemished.

It implies being without defect

or impurity.

So what does this purity language

mean for us in this passage?

Does God expect us to be sinless?

The answer to that is by no means.

Earlier in 1 John,

this is what he writes.

If we say we have no sin,

and this is one of my most favorite verses.

I love this verse.

It's deeply encouraging to me.

If we say we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves,

and the truth is not in us.

But if we confess our sins,

he is faithful and just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us

from all unrighteousness.

If we say we have not sinned,

we make him a liar,

and his word is not in us.

Note that it doesn't say,

in verse 3,

that everyone who has this hope

is pure,

as he is pure,

but purifies himself.

And it's important to point out

that this is not

a once and for all action,

meaning you purify yourself

when you became a Christian,

you purified yourself

as he is pure.

This is an ongoing,

every day,

every week kind of action.

We're to consistently

purify ourselves.

And it's interesting

that this is what he chooses.

This is the one thing

that he says,

if you have this hope in yourself,

you are going to be

consistently purifying yourself

as he is pure.

So why this one thing?

Why is he highlighting this?

Well, I think he's highlighting

one essential aspect

of the Christian life.

In many ways,

this is what it means

to be a Christian.

What is the Christian life?

What does it mean

to be a faithful son

or daughter?

It means to live

a faithful life

of repentance,

a life of ongoing repentance.

We keep short accounts

with God.

We have regular rhythm

of repentance

that's part of our lives.

That's why we pray

the prayer of confession

every day,

every Sunday.

We're to live a life

of ongoing purification.

And I want to tell you,

as I'm wrapping up,

I want to give you

a spiritual practice,

a spiritual discipline

for how you can embody this,

how you can put this verse

into action.

Susan's grandfather,

he passed away

about a year ago.

He was a great man of God.

He was a missionary

in West Africa

for decades

and then in Western Europe

for a long time.

And this practice

I learned from him,

it's called spiritual breathing.

And he was very funny about it.

The first time I met him,

he talked about spiritual breathing.

Anytime I saw him thereafter,

he talked about spiritual breathing.

He had these little cards,

business cards,

that said spiritual breathing

and they had how to do

spiritual breathing.

So in many ways,

what it means to be

in Susan's family

is to practice

spiritual breathing.

And it's just such a great,

it's a bit cheesy probably,

but it's such a helpful analogy,

spiritual breathing

for the spiritual life.

The analogy is,

it's very obvious,

very clear.

To be alive physically,

you have to breathe, right?

You have to exhale

and get rid of the carbon dioxide,

the toxins,

and inhale oxygen.

And so what it means

to be alive,

first and foremost,

is to keep breathing.

And spiritual breathing,

the spiritual discipline,

is basically the same thing,

but with a spiritual analog.

So this is basically what it is.

This is sort of verbatim

from Susan's grandfather's card.

This is how you do

spiritual breathing.

First, you exhale.

You get rid of the toxins.

You confess your sins.

To confess your sins,

you're just agreeing with God

about your wrong attitude

or your wrong action,

and you repent.

You change your wrong attitude,

your sinful attitude or action.

You get rid of the junk

that's preventing you

from living a spirit-filled life.

You breathe out.

You confess.

You repent.

And then after that,

what do we do when we breathe?

We inhale.

We surrender ourselves

to the Lord again.

We remember God's love

and our true identity

as God's beloved children.

And we receive

God's abundant forgiveness

and a fresh filling

of God's spirit.

spirit.

I think that's what it means

to consistently purify ourselves,

to do spiritual breathing.

It's a bit cheesy,

but I think it'll be something

that'll be easy to remember.

And it's just so helpful

in my Christian life.

This is a thing

that I do every day.

And it's in many ways

just like breathing.

I don't think about breathing.

It's become this automatic process.

It's just part and parcel

of the Christian life.

And I think

that's what he's encouraging us to do,

to purify ourselves

as he is pure.

That's how we can do it.

And to wrap up,

I want to read a quote

from Mr. Rogers,

Fred Rogers.

I don't know if anyone

has had the opportunity

to see the recent documentary,

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

I saw it twice

in movie theaters,

and I cried my way

through it both times.

And I've learned a lot

from Fred Rogers recently

about what it means

to be a child of God.

And my boy Fred says this.

It's this really powerful line

near the beginning

of the movie.

He says,

Love is at the root

of everything.

All learning,

all relationships,

and then just this haunting

end of the line.

Love or the lack of it.

Love is the root

of everything.

All learning,

all relationships,

love,

or the lack of it.

You see,

to be human

is to be made

for love,

for receiving love,

and for giving love.

And the only love

that can truly satisfy

the human heart

is the love from God,

our Father.

And so,

may God,

our Father,

remind you

of just how much

He loves you,

that you're His beloved

son or daughter.

May He remind you

of the most important

thing about you.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.