The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
John 13:21-38main passage read aloud and discussed throughout the sermon
21 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
22 The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.
23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus’ breast.
24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom he speaks.”
25 He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus’ breast, asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
26 Jesus therefore answered, “It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27 After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
28 Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.
29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, “Buy what things we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor.
30 Therefore having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.
33 Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come,’ so now I tell you.
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you can’t follow now, but you will follow afterwards.”
37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.
read at length to illustrate what God's love looks like tangibly
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message, from John 13:21-38, centered on the kind of love Jesus commanded his disciples to have for one another, a self-giving, others-focused love that would prove to the world they belonged to him. Pastor Kyle walked through the final scene of the last supper, where betrayal, denial, and abandonment were all already in motion, and showed that Jesus gave his new command to love in the middle of all of it.
What was said
The sermon opened with a question about what Jesus actually meant by the word love. Because English uses the same word for very different things, Pastor Kyle pointed to the Greek word agape, and noted that the earliest followers of Jesus did not define it by looking it up in a dictionary. They looked at how Jesus lived, and let his life redefine the word for them.
From there the teaching moved into John 13:21-38, where Judas has already left to carry out his betrayal and Jesus turns to his remaining disciples with a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you. The standard Jesus sets is not a general feeling of goodwill. It is the same love he had just demonstrated by washing their feet, a love that serves without condition and without waiting to be treated well first.
What struck Pastor Kyle most was the timing. Jesus gave this command knowing in that very moment that Judas was betraying him, that Peter would deny him before morning, and that all the rest would flee when the guards arrived. He washed their feet anyway. He loved them anyway. That is the standard.
The conversation opened up to the group, and Blake noted that when Ray had preached through 1 Corinthians, he changed every occurrence of the word "love" in that famous passage to "Jesus," and that reframing lands here too, because Jesus is not asking his disciples to do something he invented as a rule. He is asking them to imitate what he himself is and does. Gary added that Romans shows God shaping believers into the image of his Son, which means growing into that love is a process. Carl picked that up with a reference to Luke 6:40, that a student who has been fully trained will be like his teacher, and the group held onto the hope in that, that we are students still learning, not expected to have arrived.
The discussion also touched on Judas. The point was made that Peter and Judas are both relatable at different levels, because the disciples all had moments of betraying Jesus, and so do we. Judas's story is dark and tragic, but even his role fits inside the larger redemption story, which is its own strange and sobering mystery.
Pastor Kyle closed by reading from 1 Corinthians 13, and was clear that it is not just a passage for weddings. Read alongside Jesus' command in John 13, it becomes a concrete picture of what agape actually looks like in practice: patient, not keeping a record of wrongs, not irritable, never giving up. Not a feeling, but a choice made through the power of the Holy Spirit, and a choice the congregation was encouraged to keep making, imperfectly, as people still being shaped.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Kyle talked about Jesus giving the command to love one another at the very moment Judas was betraying him. When has it been hardest for you to keep loving someone who was actively hurting or wronging you?
The sermon described love as something that 'embraces God's will, chooses his choices, and carries it out through his power.' How does thinking of love as a choice exercised through God's power, rather than a feeling, change the way you approach a difficult relationship?
He's playing hooky. Know. I know. I know. Let's see what Blake's.
Let me instead. Look if he's if he is a brain.
You wanna take Hey. Greetings, everybody. How are you? Good. Good to see everybody.
It's really good to see you. Hey. Real quick. Can we give can we give Leah Gibson a hand? Leah, thank you so much.
So here's the story. She fed a bunch of Wahwanians because that's what you call them, Wahwanians. And then there there was like then she went back to the grocery store and got more food, and we're just thankful. And you had a child on the on the hip the whole time.
I did. That's that's normal for me, though. That's okay.
Well, we appreciate it.
To make for next time.
And thank you so much.
Alright. Came hungry.
Let's go. Let's see. Any announcements that are happening?
December 12.
December 12. Keep this one in mind. December 12, the chili cook off and caroling from 04:30. Thirty
And six.
And 06:00. First caroling and then come back for a chili cookout. It's a blast, but you'll see more details about it later. But I just wanted to put on your radar December 12. It's almost December already.
What is that? It's getting warmer. December 12.
Yeah. Getting Getting warmer warmer this this week. Week. But
what do you say we stand? We'll we'll worship in song, and then we'll get to the gospel conversation. But I'd love to to sing together. How many of you love Christmas songs this time of year? Yes.
You're really excited about it?
Guys.
Say that again, Laura.
I said it's still active.
Yes. Yeah. I know. I know. I just I feel like
I'm sorry. I was
not sure. No. It's okay. I feel like have to, but I also I want to, but just a little bit at a time. Just a little at a time.
But this one's not a Christmas song.
I'm looking forward to it.
But it is about the glory of God, and I'm really excited to get to that part in scripture tonight from John 13. So keep it in mind, and I would love to hear your thoughts too on John 13 tonight. So think about it. Think about it as we're reading it. But before we get there, let's sing.
God, truly. We sing it, but I also wanna say it to God. You are holy. You are great.
You are
mighty. Holy other. God, there is none like you, and there will never be because you are God. You are our creator and our sustainer, our help in time of need, and we're grateful to be able to sing to you because you deserve every bit of our praise. God, would your Holy Spirit truly make make your way into our hearts and our minds this evening that we would that we'd we'd want to join together with you.
In Jesus' name, amen. You can have a seat here for a moment.
You probably know about one of his famous teachings called the golden rule. Do to others what you would want them to do to you. And this actually is a restatement of something else that Jesus said, that the meaning of life is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Now that's really beautiful, but what does he mean exactly by the word love? It's an unclear word in English because you could love your mom and you could love pizza.
And if the word love means the same thing in both of those cases, your mom's gonna feel real bad. So what did Jesus mean in his language? Well, first of all, this love your neighbor phrase is a quotation from the Hebrew However, the language Jesus spoke and taught in today was a cousin language of Hebrew that is Aramaic in which the word for love is. But then as Jesus' followers spread his teachings around the world, they translated them into Greek using the word Agape. But here's what's fascinating.
The earliest followers of Jesus who wrote the books of the New Testament in Greek, they didn't learn the meaning of Agape by looking it up in ancient dictionaries. Rather, they look to the teachings of Jesus and the story of his life to redefine their very concept of love. So one time, Jesus was asked about the most important command in the Jewish scriptures. And he first quoted from the ancient prayer in the Torah called the Shema. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart.
So love for God is the most important thing. But then Jesus quickly followed up by saying another command from the Torah was also the most important, to love your neighbor as yourself. So which is the most important? Loving God or loving your neighbor? Jesus' answer is yes.
To ask the question means you don't get his point. For Jesus, they are two sides of the same coin. Your love for God will be expressed by your love for people and vice versa, they're inseparable. And so this makes it clear that for Jesus, is is is we're doing
we're
yourself. Jesus also went on to teach that genuine love for God and others means seeking people's well-being without expecting anything in return, especially from people who are in difficult situations who can't repay you even if they wanted to. According to Jesus, this kind of generous love reflects the very heartbeat of God. And he took this even further. Jesus said that the ultimate standard of authentic love is how well you treat the person that you can't stand.
Or in his words, you shall love your enemy and do good to them expecting nothing in return. For Jesus, this kind of enemy embracing love imitates the very character of God himself. Now we wouldn't be talking about Jesus still today if he had only said things like love your enemy. This is how he actually lived. Jesus was constantly helping and serving the people around him in very practical and tangible ways.
And he consistently moved towards poor and hurting people who couldn't benefit him in return. He showed love for the forgotten ones, the people who usually fall through the cracks. And when Jesus eventually marched into Jerusalem, he made himself an enemy of the leaders of his people by accusing them of hypocrisy and corruption. But then instead of attacking his enemies to overthrow them, he allowed them to kill him. Jesus died for the selfishness and corruption of his enemies because he loved them.
After Easter morning, Jesus and then his followers claimed that it was power of God's love for the world that was revealed in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. As the apostle Paul put it, God demonstrated his own agape for us in this, while we were still sinners, the Messiah died for us. God. Of about
so,
show be love the for one another. So Christian we faith involves trusting that at the center of the universe is a being overflowing with love for his world, which means that the purpose of human existence is to receive this love that has come to us in Jesus and then to give it back out to others, creating an ecosystem of others focused self giving love. And that's the New Testament meaning of Agape love.
I think it's really well said. Tonight, we're up to chapter 13 in John. So if you got a app on your on your phone or just wanna look it up, it's also on the the screen too. But I wanna cover verses 21 to 38. It's the rest of chapter 13 where Jesus and his disciples share the last supper.
And couple key verses here and and the one being, I'm giving you a new command. He says, love each other. Just as I've loved you, you should love each other. For your love for one another will prove to the world that you're my disciples. It's that self giving others focused love that we just saw in that that video mentioned.
It's the kind of love that I I like this definition from from last week. It embraces God's will, chooses his choices, and carries it out through his power. That's the kind of love that we're talking about here. And that's how the world will know that we're his disciples. That's the kind of the love that Jesus showed in the beginning of this chapter when he washed his disciples' feet.
It's a love that serves one another. I I summed it up yes last week in just five words I thought. How can I sum up the servant? And it was to love is to serve because it is. To love is to serve one another.
So in fourteen and fifteen, Jesus says, since I, your lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I've given you an example to follow. Do as I've done for you. And it's hard, isn't it, friends? Like, this is a this is a hard teaching.
And I really we will run out of steam fast if we try it on our own. But to embrace his will, to choose his choices, and to obey it through his power, we can do this. We really can. And Jesus says this right here. He he says this knowing that his disciples, the ones who were following him, the closest ones to him, right, would abandon him and betray him and even deny him.
But they're his plan a for taking God's love and forgiveness to the world. Church, we are God's plan a for taking God's love and forgiveness to the world. You ever think sometimes, Lord, why would you put me in charge of that? I do. I think, boy, you picked the wrong person because today, I'm not your man.
Weir's plan a for taking his love and forgiveness to the world, to show that kind of love. But to do that, it means serving one another in love. It really does. To to love is to serve. So that being said, let's let's go ahead and take a look at the text.
Jesus says this a whole lot better than I can. It's John thirteen twenty one to 38. It'll be here on the screen. And let's let's take it in. It says this, now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, I tell you the truth, one of you will betray you or betray me.
So they're they're having the last supper together. Verse 22, the disciples looked at each other. They're wondering, who could he mean? The disciple Jesus loved was sitting next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned him to ask, who's he talking about?
So that disciple leaned over to Jesus and asked, who is it, Lord? Jesus responded, it is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl. And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, hurry and do what you're going to do.
None of the others at the table knew what Jesus meant. Since Jesus was the treasurer, some thought that Jesus was just telling them to go and pay for food or give money to the poor. So Judas left at once going into the night. As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, the time has come for the son of man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. And since God receives glory because of the son, he will give his own glory to the son, and he will do so at once.
Verse 33. Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. As I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can't come where I'm going. So now I'm giving you a new commandment. Key verse here.
Love each other. Just as I've loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. Simon Peter asked, Lord, where are you coming? And Jesus replied, you can't go with me now, but you will follow me later.
But why can't I come now? Lord, he asked. I'm ready to die for you. Jesus answered, die for me. I tell you the truth, Peter.
Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me. That ends chapter 13. I'd love to just pray first, and then I'll share some thoughts, and I'd love to hear yours too. God, I'm just in awe of your self giving others focused love. Absolutely in awe that you would love us this way.
To think that you said, love one another as I've loved you, knowing that at that very moment, one of your own was betraying you, but it didn't stop you from loving because you don't put conditions under love. You still love them. You still loved us. God, help us to understand this love that you love us with. And and also, God, would you work in us so that we can love one another the way that you love us.
In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So I don't know. This text really grabbed a hold of me this week.
A couple of things that that stood out for me, and it might have been different for you. And if so, I I wanna hear. I wanna hear what you got what what jumped out and grabbed you. But the
thing
that stood out to me, the words glory and glorified are are repeated over over and over again in this passage. The time has come for the son of man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. And since God receives glory because of the son, he'll give his own glory to the son. And we we've we sing about the glory of God in the first two songs. Glory to God in the highest.
Peace on earth could will torment. You know, we talk about the glory of God. What is what really is the glory of God? And in verse 32, it means this, to render or esteem glorious. It means to value him for who he really is, to personally acknowledge his true character.
I like that. I like that a lot. The Gospel Coalition wrote a little article about God's glory. It says, God's glory is the magnificence, worth, loveliness, and grandeur of his many perfections. And I just I I just wanna pause right there and say, amen to that.
Amen to that. God is magnificent. Amen. He is worthy. He is lovely.
He is grand. And I just I want to encourage us to sing it and to say it even more. When we talk about the glory of God, let's ascribe to him his magnificence and worth when we sing those words because God truly is glorious. To value him for who he is, to acknowledge his true character. Amen.
Alright. Another observation that that stood out to me in this one was this commandment in verse 34, love each other just as I loved you. You should love one another. And we got a glimpse. I mean, we didn't get just a glimpse.
We we've seen it since the beginning. But chapter 13 is this real active way of Jesus showing his love by washing his disciples' feet. He shows us. He gives us the model first so that we would do the same. It's that self giving, others focused love that that video mentioned.
That kind of love that, again, I just this keeps popping out at me to embrace God's will, to choose his choices, and then we obey it through his power. Amen. That's how we can love. But what impressed me most about this love is that Jesus gave this command while Judas was betraying him that very moment. And not right there for me, my friends.
It just I thought, how on earth? How on earth have you ever been wronged or betrayed or, you know, you knew somebody was actively hurting you and he said this while someone was actively betraying him. Guys, I'm not even worried about that right now. Love one another. Love one another with that self giving others focused love.
A love that embraces God's will and chooses his choices and obeys them through his power. It's just mind blowing that he knew that Judas would betray him. He knew that Peter would deny him just a few hours later. He knew the disciples would flee when the guards came to arrest Jesus. All of this was about to happen.
Jesus knew every bit of it, and he's still washing their feet and he's still loving them. My friends, do we love people that much? Do we show people when they're actively wronging us or hurting us? Do do we show them that kind of love? I mean, I can say, no.
I I I do this so imperfectly, Like, so absolutely imperfectly. Because I think that our love often comes with conditions, doesn't it? Mhmm. Well, I will love you if you love me back. I'll love you if you're nice to me.
If you're nice to me, it'll be easy to love you. But what happens if if you're a jerk? Or what happens if I'm a jerk that day? This love thing gets a little bit harder and harder, isn't it? This kind of love right here is not really advertised.
You know? Jesus doesn't put conditions on his love. He just loves. Period. And that's what amazes me about God, that he can love us that way even though we're the ones who deny him and betray him in other ways all the time.
I know that we struggle to love one another like that. We do it very, very imperfectly. But here's what we can take comfort in. Jesus has gone before us to show away. He shows though he does not ask us to do anything that he hasn't first done himself.
That in verse 35 is how the world will know that we are his disciples, that we love one another with that kind of self giving others focused love. It's a very, very different love than than what's advertised, isn't it? I wanna end here with first Corinthians. This always stands out to me, and it's not just for weddings. It's not just for weddings at all.
I think we would do well to be reminding ourselves of this every day. Paul says, here's what God's love looks like. What's what's it tangibly look like to love to love God and love one another? If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels but didn't love others, I'd only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy and understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, was the smartest person in the world.
And if I had such faith that I could move mountains but didn't love others, I would be nothing. Wow. If I gave everything I had to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it. But if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. And here we get to the love is patient.
Love is kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude, it does not demand its own way. Wow. It's not irritable and it keeps no record of being wrong. It doesn't keep track of being wronged.
How many would go, I've got a list. I got a running list right now. Verse six. It does not rejoice about injustice, but it rejoices when the truth wins out. Love never gives up and it never loses faith.
It's always hopeful and it endures through every circumstance. Amen. So that's what I've got tonight. The rest of John 13 on the subject of love. If there was anything from that scripture that just grabbed a hold of you, maybe something I didn't even mention at all, I'd love to hear it.
These the gospel conversations have been so good. Last week, I felt like I thought, oh, wow. There were some things that were brought out in the conversation. They didn't even really they weren't on my radar, and then they were. And I'm glad that they were.
So would anybody we'd be willing to share first from John 13? Was there anything that that stood out that you'd like to to share?
I remember when Ray went through first Corinthians and was preaching it on Sundays, and it's that love love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful. In his slides, he changed every word. Instead of love, it said Jesus. Jesus is patient and kind.
Jesus is not jealous or. Jesus or proud or rude. But and and I really like that because in the verses that you were going over tonight, and I think it was verse 34. Yes. The new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, that Jesus' love is our standard.
Like, that's the standard that we're going for. Yeah. And kind of or Peter, pardon me, just worries about where where he's going instead of that main takeaway of of this is how you love. This is your standard. And so that's that's my take away.
And, again, it's not to pick on Peter. It's more to show that we're all gonna fall short of Jesus' standard of Christ's love. Yep. And Peter is a great example for us, and he's not only forgiven
Yeah. Yeah. Good point. Thank you for sharing that. And as you said and as you mentioned that, Blake, I thought too so, yes, Jesus is the standard.
But then through Jesus, we can even insert our names in there, which seems oh, wow. But with Jesus as the the standard, then you can add Blake is patient. Blake is kind. Blake is not envious. Blake is not boastful.
Through Christ, through Christ being the keyword, embracing his will, choosing his choices, obeying him through Christ's power, we could even put our names in that first Corinthian text. Isn't that amazing?
And,
you know, in in Romans, as God is molding and shaping me in the image of his son, he's equipping me to live that out better and better each day. But I do look back and say, I can look better today than I did yesterday. Yep. Yep. And that's and that would be my hope because that's you look at that and say, boy, I failed that so many times.
You know? My pride or whatever gets in the way of really living that out. But as we embrace
Yeah. How do we? By embracing his will and choosing his choices and then obeying them through his power. But we we fall short of that list, don't we, Gary? You know, we do these things imperfectly, but what we see right here is a work in progress, don't we?
We are a work in progress, and and we're until we're glorified and with Christ, we're not going to do these things perfectly. But with Christ, we're gonna do them a whole lot better.
Amen. So it dovetails with yesterday's message, yesterday's passage. Yes. The Luke six forty where it says, a student is not above his teacher. If Jesus is our teacher, that the student is not above the teacher.
Knowing him and knowing he's the teacher and knowing we're the student, it says right after that, that everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. Mhmm. And so it does say it's a process. We're working on it. We're students.
We're learning. One of the definitions you see for disciples is people who aren't, afraid to say stupid things. Mhmm. Because they constantly are doing that in the new in the New Testament, but that is the way you learn. Mhmm.
You keep on you know, you you step over a line, and then you have to you know? Should we call down fire from heaven? Like, no. Calm down. Back off of that.
You know? But I I like that there's hope in that verse that says after we've been fully trained, we will be like our teacher Mhmm. If we let him be the teacher and we stay in position as student.
I used to like as an as an apprentice electrician, I used to like working with the the journeyman that would say, Carl, there are no stupid questions. Ask whatever you want. And they would answer them honestly. And and and I would get to learn from each one of them in in their each their individual way. And but we're striving to look more and more like Jesus.
We're not there yet. We're not there yet, but we are working he's carving us into his image like that Romans passage that you mentioned, Gary. That's good, good stuff. And it you know what? It's it leaves me with feeling hopeful because I know that I'm falling short of this every single day.
But it leaves me hopeful because Jesus is saying, come on. I'll show you. I'll show you the way.
Kyle, you know what really stands out in all this is like the
today's the world's definition of love being a feeling Mhmm. Versus this love is about serving. You know? So love today is a new car or something. And, you know, this is a totally different
world. Different. Yep. It's it's a whole lot more action, isn't it? Yeah.
And there are times we act and we do not want to serve and we do not want to love.
I was telling someone the other day, I was like, I feel like it's just every day I wake up the choice to either choose to believe choose to believe Jesus or or choose to believe Satan. Mhmm. And there are days where I just don't wanna choose to believe Jesus because sometimes it's just really hard. It's it feels so good to wallow in that selfishness and sin nature. And so I do love the fact that I'm learning that it's a like, love is like that video was talking about love.
It really is a choice Mhmm. Through the power of the Holy Spirit. But when we choose that, the Lord is faithful to follow through.
Yep. Yep. Yeah.
And I think sometimes the feelings follow. The feelings follow the action too. Any other any other comments from from John 13? I love what you've what you've shared so far.
Judas kinda stands out to me a little bit. Kind of different different, I guess, turn or kind of vibe, I guess. Just and and to to a degree also Peter, and then I I feel like Peter and Judas are both relatable and and varying degrees, like because Judas betrayed Jesus, but in that you know, Peter had they all they all had moments betraying Jesus. Yep. That's right.
And I think that
And so we, don't we?
Yeah. Exactly. I mean Yeah. You know? And feel like we're all you know, because we're sin sinful nature, we're all I'll skip myself.
You know? I you know, just a couple decisions away from Yeah. You know, trap tragedy. You know? And and,
you know, the story
of Juice is pretty tragic and dark. And I think you get really deep into it, like, you start to it starts to really get down to, like, you know, pretty dark and evil stuff. Like, you know, the the whole idea of, like, the devil entering him and, like, you know, it kinda reminds me also this kinda reminds me, you know, the conversations you have when we talk about the book of Job, like, conversations that God has with the devil. Like, there's some pretty maybe some pretty dark conversation or, like, heavy conversations that can be had.
But, like, now if you wanna go
to that, it's like it what does stand up is just Peter's story is the story of redemption. But even trash tragically, but Judah Judah just he plays a role in the redemption story of the world. And I think it just kinda speaks to the the mystery of God that he would allow that to happen through this man. And I don't know. It's just it's kinda scary, but also kinda beautiful, tragic, but little lovely at the same time.
I agree. I absolutely agree with you. And it is part of the redemption story. Yeah. And we are part of that story too.
Yeah. I've got one more song to end with if the band would like to come up too, but it's I feel like it's it's kinda fitting for for this passage, and it's, Lord, I need you. Should we stand and sing? God, we truly do need you and we need your righteousness because it's really not about ours. And, God, let that be our story.
And may the world know it. Know that we are fallible, that we do make mistakes every day, but we're leaning on you and your grace, not to take advantage of that grace, God, but to have received that grace and then give that grace. God, may we be grace givers, extending favor toward others because you've extended favor toward us, extending love toward others because you've extended love toward us. God, we need you in this truly to do it well so that the world would know that we are your disciples, so that the world would know you, God, that we would humbly come before you each and every single day, confessing our need to you, receiving your forgiveness, but then also giving it. Help us.
We need you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I've given you new command.
Jesus says, love each other just as I've loved you. You should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you're my disciples. Amen. Amen.
