Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] She's just a mom.
[00:00:03] I was standing around with a group of baseball coaches. We were trying to decide that evening if we were going to play a game. We were looking at the field, it had been raining. We're trying to make a decision if the field could be playable. And one of the mothers of a player walked up to one of the other coaches that was standing there. And she had small kids with her, several small kids, as I remember.
[00:00:32] And she walked up to this coach because one of her older sons played on the team.
[00:00:37] And she wanted to know what the plan was going to be. Are we going to play this game tonight? You know, I'm sitting over here in my car. I've got errands to run. What are we going to do?
[00:00:49] And I could tell that the coach was very irritated by that question because he didn't know what we were going to do. We were trying to make that decision.
[00:00:59] But she kind of kept on just kind of asking the question, what are we going to do? I've got all these things to do. And eventually the conversation between this coach and mom got very heated.
[00:01:12] And she walked off very frustrated.
[00:01:15] And as she walked off, this guy turned to us and said, she's one of those stay at home moms.
[00:01:24] I think she's got like six kids.
[00:01:28] I mean, what does she have to do anyway?
[00:01:32] She's just a mom all day Now, I noticed at that moment all of the coaches there who knew me and knew my family.
[00:01:44] And there was an immediate uneasiness as we stood there because at that very moment, my wife was at home with six kids.
[00:01:56] And everyone looked at me and they braced for my response. And this was some time ago, so I was a little less sanctified in that moment.
[00:02:05] And I seriously considered disqualifying myself for ministry in that moment.
[00:02:12] And if I knew 100% I could have taken this guy, I probably would have.
[00:02:17] But he was a little bigger than me, had longer arms, had some reach on me. So I didn't think it was worth it in that moment.
[00:02:26] But eventually, as everyone just kind of stared and was silent and he just kind of kept yammering on, he realized what had happened and he turned and he looked at me and he said, now what does your wife do?
[00:02:40] And I looked and I said, nothing, absolutely nothing. And I grabbed a rake and walked onto the field and started trying to get the field ready to play the game.
[00:02:50] Now, later, me and this guy, we became pretty good friends.
[00:02:54] And I don't believe he meant what he said in that moment about this mom, that she was just a mom. He was frustrated. He was irritated.
[00:03:05] I don't believe that anyone really believes that there is just a mom, that a mom is just a mom.
[00:03:14] And the Bible teaches something very different from the very beginning with Eve.
[00:03:20] Mothers are life givers. Eve is called the mother of all living.
[00:03:27] And mothers are designed by God to give life and then to nurture life.
[00:03:33] Fathers are designed with authority to establish our identity in the world, who we are, what we do. Moms keep us alive.
[00:03:44] And both are needed for a child to be loved and cared for. Both are good and glorious in the design of God.
[00:03:54] And what Paul does in this section of Scripture is he teaches us that both of those roles, kind of the tone and tenor of a mother and a father, both are necessary for gospel witness. We need the authoritative declaration of the word of God, as we'll see. But we also need sacrificial gentleness when it comes to gospel ministry missions, witnessing the Gospel. Paul calls us to, yes, be authoritative, be truthful, but to also be gentle, like a mother.
[00:04:34] Remember the context of First Thessalonians. In Acts chapter 17, we see that Paul and his missionary partners, they come to Thessalonica and they spend three Sabbaths in the synagogue reasoning that Jesus is the Messiah. And if you are a Jew and you are a Gentile or a Gentile, you, you must believe in Jesus as your Lord and King. And many believe the Gospel. Many in the city begin to believe the Gospel. And Jewish leaders and Gentile teachers, they are threatened by this new movement in their city and persecution breaks out.
[00:05:16] Leaders of Bible studies are drug out into the street and humiliated so that officials can stop this movement of the kingdom, this preaching of the Gospel, this formation of a church in their city.
[00:05:33] And it gets to a point where Paul has to leave Thessalonica. He has to get out of the city because of the violence.
[00:05:43] And after he leaves, those who are in opposition to his ministry, they want to discredit his ministry.
[00:05:52] And so they begin these false accusations against Paul.
[00:05:56] You know why he left?
[00:05:58] You know why he got scared and left our city when the going got tough, is because he's fake.
[00:06:06] And this message that you believed is fake. He's just like every other teacher. He just wants money, he wants prestige, he wants a resume, he wants recognition.
[00:06:19] He's just like every other teacher. He's a snake oil salesman just like all the rest, and that's why he left.
[00:06:28] And Paul gets on the witness stand and he begins to defend his ministry. He begins to tell the. Thessalonians you know this isn't true.
[00:06:41] You know these accusations are false. And first of all, you know, because we suffered. And if you want to be a good gospel witness, you're going to have to suffer.
[00:06:54] Gospel ministry involves suffering. Notice verse one. He says, you yourself know. And five times in the section, we're going to look at this phrase, you know. And the word know is experiential. You experienced something other than. Than what these opponents, those who hate me, are telling you. You know better. You yourselves know, brother, that brothers that are coming to you was not in vain. It wasn't empty, it wasn't fake like they're saying. It wasn't artificial. It was real. How do you know it was real? Notice verse 2. We had already suffered and we had been shamefully treated in Philippi.
[00:07:40] You know our ministry was real because we had marks on our body to prove it.
[00:07:47] You could see the imprint on our wrist and ankles from the chains that we had in Philippi. We had been flogged, we had been arrested, we had been beaten. And you could see it and notice, shamefully treated Paul, a Roman citizen. This wasn't to happen to him.
[00:08:07] We had already been humiliated for this message. It wasn't fake.
[00:08:13] It was full of notice, boldness again, as you know, you know something different. We had boldness. This is unwavering confidence in the gospel to declare to you this gospel of God. Paul said we were willing to suffer for it. That's how you know it was real, this message that the kingdom of God is at hand in Jesus, that in his flesh and blood, God's presence, God's power and God's authority rested.
[00:08:49] And we saw it.
[00:08:51] We saw the power of God as the effects of sin and death were reversed. When he spoke, we saw the power and authority of God as he died for sin. And we know he died for sin because we saw the power and authority of God when he was raised from the dead and God accepted the payment. This is the gospel of God that we proclaim to you. And we believed it. We had confidence in it. Notice, he says, in much conflict, the word here is used of athletic competition. There was striving, there was. There was agony to get this message to you. It wasn't fake.
[00:09:33] And so Paul would say, you're right.
[00:09:37] Insincerity is proven in suffering.
[00:09:40] If you are fake, when you suffer, you will leave the faith.
[00:09:47] It will prove that it's all fake. But that's not what was going on with us. You know, we suffered.
[00:09:53] And for us here today, I would ask that question, what are you willing to suffer that others may know? Jesus, how real is this gospel to you?
[00:10:06] What are you willing to give up for it?
[00:10:09] What are you willing to sacrifice for it? What are you willing to leave behind for it?
[00:10:15] Suffering proves our witness real. And if we're going to have a gospel witness, we better get ready to suffer, because that's God's design.
[00:10:24] It proves the realness of our faith. But notice next, Paul said, we suffered. We also told the truth. And if you want to be an effective gospel witness, you will have to tell the truth. Notice verse 3. Our appeal does not spring from error. This means to go astray or wander from what is true or impurity. This word means defilement or filth. And during this time, many teachers would accept sexual favors for their teaching loyalty to their ministry. This is the way it happened. And Paul says, that wasn't us.
[00:11:03] That's not our motive. And he says it doesn't come from any attempt to trick or deceive. Paul says, we were doctrinally true.
[00:11:13] We were true to the teachings of scripture and the authority of Christ and the apostles.
[00:11:20] Paul says we were morally pure and our presentation was sincere. There was no ulterior motive.
[00:11:29] And so if you want to be an effective gospel witness, I do want to say this to you. You better be committed to truth.
[00:11:38] There's a lot of different versions of Jesus out there.
[00:11:41] There's a lot of imposter Jesuses that will not save you from your sin because they don't come from the scriptures. We go to the Bible, we open up the scripture, we see Jesus's story. It is the word of God that has our authority. We preach the right Jesus when we are latched to the scripture. And so we want to be doctrinally true, but we also want to have pure motives, which Paul says here in context is the gospel and glory of Christ.
[00:12:13] We align our hearts with what God wants in our ministry.
[00:12:18] And Paul says, you don't have to have gimmicks.
[00:12:22] You don't have to be clever.
[00:12:24] A lot of us, we have friends and loved ones and relationships, and we're looking for the perfect opportunity to talk to them about Jesus.
[00:12:32] And we think it's got to be the right moment.
[00:12:36] I got to look for the right time in the conversation where I can kind of get. Get the gospel in.
[00:12:43] And that's not the way it works. You don't have to be clever, you don't have to be gimmicky. What Paul says is, we were real, we weren't artificial and we just told you the truth and some of us that's where we got to get to in those relationships is I'm just going to tell you the truth because I love you and it's just going to be real talk.
[00:13:04] Yeah, life is really, really hard.
[00:13:08] Life is difficult.
[00:13:10] But Jesus is good and I know Jesus and with Bible in hand as best you can. I didn't mean to rhyme. Don't quote, don't put that on Facebook as the quote for the day as best you can. You are just direct and honest and truthful about Jesus and God uses that Notice Next they sought to honor God first. They suffered. They told the truth and they sought to honor God first. Notice just as we have been approved by God, just as we have been set apart by God and entrusted given this responsibility and stewardship with the gospel.
[00:13:52] So we speak now. Notice we speak and that involves words. We witness. We declare the Gospel. The no one can be saved without hearing and believing the gospel. But notice how they spoke not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. God knows our motive because he called us into this ministry. Paul. We think about Acts chapter nine and this Damascus road experience as he is headed to kill Christians and Jesus blinds him and calls him into ministry.
[00:14:29] He's commissioned by the risen Lord to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul understands how this happened in his life. God called me. Jesus personally commissioned me and so my goal is to please Jesus.
[00:14:44] Paul was called out by the Spirit. And then in Acts chapter 13 we see the church in Antioch set him and his missionary partners apart to take the Gospel. The local church recognized his calling and from that point on Paul, who is this former blasphemer again.
[00:15:08] People were throwing their robes at the feet of Saul at the time to honor him as Christians had their heads bashed in with rocks.
[00:15:21] Saul, we're doing this for you.
[00:15:24] And he would say, there was no greater opponent to the church and the gospel than me and God saved me and God set me apart to this ministry. So my motive is to please God first and foremost, not you Thessalonians and not my opponents in Thessalonica.
[00:15:44] How do we know that he sought to please God first and foremost? Notice verse 5. We never came with words of flattery.
[00:15:51] We weren't trying to please you. We were just direct with the Gospel. We didn't come with empty words as you know, nor a pretext for greed. A cover up ministry wasn't a cover up for us to get rich.
[00:16:07] We weren't There preaching the gospel, trying to obtain resources from you to become these wealthy, healthy, prosperity preachers.
[00:16:18] No, we were just direct. And he says, God is witness. And I'm always amazed by this in Scripture when the Holy Spirit of God will call someone to write something like that. It is the Spirit of God who's testifying through Paul about Paul. God is witness.
[00:16:37] Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or for others. We didn't want praise, we didn't want accolades, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. What Paul says here is we had authority.
[00:16:50] When Jesus called me into ministry, he gave me his authority. He gave me the keys to the kingdom as I preached the gospel, the authority and power of God in preaching the gospel. And so I could have stood up in Thessalonica and said, I'm an apostle of Jesus.
[00:17:09] Listen to me, I'm an apostle of Jesus. I come with his authority. Do whatever I say.
[00:17:16] And Paul says, that's not what we did. We sacrificed that.
[00:17:22] And why did we do that?
[00:17:25] Because God was the one we were seeking to honor, not man.
[00:17:30] Paul says, we suffered, we told the truth and we sacrificed our rights because we were seeking to please God first and foremost.
[00:17:39] John Stott, who I think has the best commentary on first and second Thessalonians, if you want to get that as we move through this book together. John Stott says this.
[00:17:51] To be accountable to God is to be delivered from the tyranny of human criticism.
[00:17:59] If God has called you, if you have the message of God, the authority of Christ, why would you care what man says?
[00:18:09] It is to be free from the tyranny of human criticism. And so we have to learn that when we're presenting the Gospel, our motive must first be to love, obey and honor God. What is your motive in talking about Jesus? That's what's going to carry you through. That's what's going to give you boldness when you face opposition. That's what's going to free you from trying to please man, is that you love, obey and honor God first.
[00:18:41] And so you're in the conversation and you realize things are getting tense and it's awkward. This is one of those weird, kooky Christians. I always knew you were a Christian and now you're trying to bring that up in our conversation and it gets awkward.
[00:18:57] And in that moment you are tempted to make this situation less awkward and maybe the content of what you're saying more palatable, or even to be silent and just stop talking about Jesus. Oh, it's Getting uncomfortable.
[00:19:15] I may lose this friendship.
[00:19:18] We may not be able to have play dates with our kids again.
[00:19:23] I may not get the promotion if I. If I keep pressing forward.
[00:19:27] In that moment, consider who you are serving, God or man.
[00:19:35] Do you love God more than yourself? In that moment, do you love God even more than you love this person?
[00:19:42] You must be motivated by love for God first. Why?
[00:19:48] God loved you.
[00:19:50] You love God because He loved you first.
[00:19:53] And so you're overwhelmed with his commitment to your good that has been displayed on the cross. And so you want nothing more than to love Him. And out of love for him, you declare his love to others.
[00:20:04] You want to obey God who has saved you and set you apart in this risen King Jesus. And he has authority in your life. And if he tells you to witness the gospel and make disciples, you want to obey him. And so in that moment, you want to obey God and you want to honor God.
[00:20:25] Jesus deserves worship from every human created in his image. He deserves their allegiance.
[00:20:35] It is Jesus who deserves worship in that moment, not maybe your friend who deserves a more palatable message.
[00:20:46] And so you declare the gospel in truth and reality so that Jesus might be worshiped and they may turn and follow Jesus and believe in Him. And in doing that, Jesus gets glory. And you want to worship Jesus through your witness, through your declaration of the gospel. You want to exalt the justice of God on the cross, that yes, God is holy and he is righteous, and. And we deserve judgment for that. But in Christ, who endured God's justice for your sin, God's justice and mercy have kissed on the cross. And what a glorious message. Of all the things that you could talk about, of all the things that would honor God in that moment, would it not be the gospel? And so you have to turn your heart and your eyes and your mind on God in those moments and seek to worship him in your declaration of the gospel.
[00:21:42] But notice next, they were sacrificially gentle.
[00:21:49] They told the truth.
[00:21:50] They, they suffered.
[00:21:53] They sought to please God first.
[00:21:56] And then it kind of culminates in this sacrificial gentleness in this section. The imagery here is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. Actually, parts of it are really hard to translate because the wording and imagery is so rare.
[00:22:13] But notice verse seven.
[00:22:16] But we were gentle. The word actually means careful.
[00:22:20] We were soft to the touch is what the word means.
[00:22:25] We were soft among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.
[00:22:32] And so Paul says we were authoritative, we suffered, we told the truth.
[00:22:38] But it came in the context of gentleness.
[00:22:41] And the sort of gentleness he describes here is that of a nursing mother who is very careful and soft with her child.
[00:22:54] What a picture. What an imagery of. Of gospel witness. And notice it continues, Verse 8.
[00:23:01] Being so affectionately desirous of you.
[00:23:05] There is this description of a strong love full of emotional desire.
[00:23:13] Paul is being extreme here in describing this love. And it is the love of a mother. The only type of love that can be explained this way is the love of a mother. She has such an emotional desire and love for her children, but it comes in gentleness.
[00:23:34] Notice what this gentleness looks like, though.
[00:23:37] We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our own selves, our lives, our souls.
[00:23:44] So notice.
[00:23:46] We came with gentleness and there was an emotion, a love with that gentleness. But notice how it was displayed.
[00:23:54] We were willing to sacrifice everything for you.
[00:23:58] Gentleness is not some sort of codily passive, tepid nothingness.
[00:24:07] No, gentleness is life giving sacrifice.
[00:24:12] How do we know? We see it in moms. That's what gentleness really is.
[00:24:18] It's displayed in motherhood.
[00:24:20] The type of life giving sacrifice. Notice, he says, we gave our whole selves to you because you have become dear to us. We loved you this much.
[00:24:30] And the extent of our love can only be described as that of a mom willing to give her life for her kids, willing to nurture and care for them. In this way, Paul says, we birthed you in the preaching of the gospel. And then through discipleship, we gave our life.
[00:24:49] You got to understand that when you think about gospel ministry, we're not just throwing out this message, hoping anyone, anywhere will believe.
[00:25:00] We want everyone to believe who hears it.
[00:25:03] But when you preach the gospel, there is innately, in essence, a commitment to give yourself over to it.
[00:25:12] As we've seen because of the suffering, but also the sacrifice.
[00:25:16] Discipleship is what he's talking about here. We're not just preaching the gospel, we're making disciples. And to make disciples, you've got to give your life over to folks. And Paul says, they saw the God in the way that we lived. They saw the gospel and it was driven by this sacrificial gentleness which we got in the trenches. We gave the message, but we also gave our life. Notice the extent they gave their lives. Verse 9 For you remember again, you know, you know, you saw this, you saw our lives because we gave them over to youo notice, brothers, our labor and toil, we work night and day that we may not be a burden to youo while we proclaim the gospel. It seems as though when Paul was in Thessalonica, him and his partners were also tent makers. They did not take a dime from anyone because they didn't want their motives to be skewed. They gave their lives over to that. They worked day and night physical labor to make their own money. In Second Thessalonians, he says, we did not eat anyone's bread.
[00:26:22] We paid for our own meals while we were there. And that was the extent of our mission sacrifice. Willing to preach the gospel and give our lives. But notice as they gave their lives, what they saw in them, they saw holiness.
[00:26:41] So we suffer. We tell the truth. We seek to please God first and foremost.
[00:26:46] We give our lives over in this sacrificial gentleness. And then we are Holy. Notice verse 10. You are witnesses. Again, you would tell the truth. Again, you know, you know, you remember you are witnesses. You saw up close and personal what gospel ministry looks like. You know it wasn't fake.
[00:27:05] And God also. Again, God is witness. Men and God. Notice how holy, righteous and blameless we were. We were set apart.
[00:27:16] Our conduct was right.
[00:27:18] There was no accusation against us.
[00:27:21] This is how we live toward those who believe in this decadent culture. We stood out as a distinct witness. We did not compromise our message and we did not compromise our lives.
[00:27:34] Understand, hypocrisy is always a deterrent and distraction of the gospel. We are to live out the message that we proclaim. And Paul says how they did it here. It wasn't just like a mother in this sacrificial gentleness, but it was also in the directness of a father. Notice verse 11. For you know how like a father with his children, we exhort it. The word exhort could be to correct. And each one of you, we encouraged. We came alongside and we coached you. We didn't. We didn't just share the gospel. Okay, we've got another notch for the kingdom. We got more people in this city who believe. No, we want it to stay.
[00:28:17] And we walked alongside you and we showed you how to live out this gospel of the kingdom, what it meant, how to order your family, how to order your life, how to work, how to raise your kids. We gave our life over to that as we worked and labored physically.
[00:28:34] Notice we charged you who are called to walk worthy in a manner that of the kingdom. Into this kingdom God has called you. This glory that God has called you. This is what we gave our life over to.
[00:28:52] Paul says, to be a part of this kingdom, there is a gravity to it. And this word worthy here always carries the imagery of scales.
[00:29:03] And you imagine scales before you and you think about the kingdom, you think about the glory of Christ and you think about what you are a part of as a Christian. Paul says we all must live lives that equal that gravity, that the kingdom is full of gravity. And our lives should match the gravity. That means we must live holy, pure, blameless lives before others. And Paul says that's the life we were calling you into. Like a father.
[00:29:36] I said in the beginning, fathers establish identity. That's what he did with his ministry. Here you have a new identity in Christ. And Paul said, we came alongside you and we called you to repentance, we called you to turn from idols, we called you to turn to Christ so that your confession would match the kingdom that you are a part of.
[00:29:57] And so we see we're to live holy lives, but we also should not be scared as we're proclaiming the gospel, ministering the gospel, and discipling others to call them to holiness. Us gospel ministry does mean to some extent that you meet people where they are, but the goal isn't to leave them there, it's to call them away from those things to Christ.
[00:30:23] And if we're just going to become like the world around us, what, what use is the gospel?
[00:30:30] What difference does it make? No, our lives give credibility to what we're calling people to.
[00:30:37] It changes us. It makes us different. We are to be real. That's not what I'm not saying. Don't hear what I'm not saying.
[00:30:45] You have sin, struggle and you have weakness and you should be honest with people about that. But you should also be clearly different because you have Jesus. Yeah, I have the same struggles in my family. I have the same struggles with my kids. I have the same struggle with my in laws. I have the same struggles at school. You? Yeah, I have those sort of weaknesses in my life too. But let me tell you something. I also have Jesus and he's what makes things different.
[00:31:15] And Paul says we're calling people to this sort of holy different life.
[00:31:20] But I want to go back because it's Mother's Day for just a moment.
[00:31:26] And if we took the section about a motherly ministry here out, the gentle sacrifice, I would say that this whole section wouldn't make sense.
[00:31:39] If we took verses seven through nine out, it would be incomplete because the sacrificial gentleness, like a mom, is what gave his ministry life.
[00:31:56] He was declaring the gospel, they heard the gospel. But through sacrificial Gentleness. They felt the gospel and the gospel came to life. And so I want you to think this week as you think about your gospel witness. You think about suffering, you think about telling the truth. You think about pleasing God first and foremost. You think about a holy life and calling others to repentance.
[00:32:21] I want you to think also about your mom.
[00:32:26] What would really change this person's life?
[00:32:30] How would they, how could we get to a point where they really hear the gospel?
[00:32:35] Well, think about your mom.
[00:32:37] Think about that motherly influence in your life.
[00:32:41] That person who gave notice, he says, gave their life over to them. That person who gave their life over to you so that you might live your mom.
[00:32:55] We suffer, we tell the truth, we honor God, we're holy, we're direct.
[00:33:00] But then, like mom, we are sacrificially gentle.
[00:33:06] That means when you think about your gospel witness and the folks that you love and you want them to believe Jesus, you got to get in your mind, there's no limit to my love here.
[00:33:17] I don't compartmentalize my ministry to them.
[00:33:22] Moms can't compartmentalize their life.
[00:33:26] It's their whole life, all the time. In every single way.
[00:33:31] They set their life aside so that others might be nurtured and live their physical body.
[00:33:40] They have to give over to the cause of motherhood, their time, they have to give over their sleep, their health, their money, their ambitions, their friends, and all of their prayers.
[00:33:57] Moms, every prayer just kind of drifts toward the kids, right?
[00:34:05] They give all to their kids.
[00:34:08] There is this deep commitment, their soul, that you would know and experience love every day.
[00:34:19] When you think about your kids, moms, is that not how it works?
[00:34:24] There is that strong affection here. I want them to feel love. They're going through this. I want them to feel love. I want them to know love. And you're willing to give yourself over to it. And Paul says that's what characterized our gospel ministry.
[00:34:39] We wanted them to know the love of God. We wanted them to experience it. So we gave our life over like a mom.
[00:34:46] And so think about the people you want to believe the gospel. Stop thinking about them as projects, stop thinking about them as encounters.
[00:34:55] They are people who need sacrificial gentleness. And God has put them in your life so that they would receive that and see that from you. What that means, it's not cutesy coddling.
[00:35:10] It is blood stained sacrifice day in and day out. Meaning your life is completely open. Your home is open, your food is there for them, your time is there. You invite them into your life. And sometimes you have to invade their life, but you give yourself over to it all. You know, I'm just going to tell you what I know about the Bible. I'll tell you everything I know about it.
[00:35:39] You're willing to clean their house, you're willing to celebrate, you're willing to grieve with them. It's one of the beautiful things about our church is we have so many people here, men and women, who love with this sacrificial gentleness.
[00:35:54] I show up at a lot of life events for church members.
[00:35:59] Birth, death.
[00:36:02] And I'm often found looking around the room at the family, the fleshly family, their family.
[00:36:11] And they look at all of us like we're some kind of strange.
[00:36:15] What are these people doing here?
[00:36:18] Why do you have this many people at a little T that I just thought are fan they are overwhelming you. Do they not get on your nerves, your church family? They won't. They. They're here all the time and they're at everything and they're kind of taken back by it, kind of weirded out by it.
[00:36:39] And it's because we are given over to this sacrificial gentleness for the sake of the gospel. And if you want to see life in a church, be like, mom, give yourself over to sacrificial gentleness. And another thing moms do is, is they tell the truth and they don't forsake their kids.
[00:36:58] How many moms said to you today, you need to be at church.
[00:37:03] That ain't good for you.
[00:37:05] Stop doing that.
[00:37:07] I'm praying that you would not do that any longer. And then turn around and say, you need something to eat.
[00:37:14] You, me keep your kids for you.
[00:37:17] That's how gospel ministry works, right?
[00:37:20] Some of you think, how do I tell my friend, this is sin. Just like your mom tells you it's sin.
[00:37:25] Hey, stop doing that. That's wrong. Sin is bad for you. Hell is real.
[00:37:31] And then you don't go anywhere.
[00:37:33] You just keep loving. You just keep serving like a mom.
[00:37:37] You don't alienate and you don't give up. Because what a mom does is she. She is so committed to give a love to her children that they experience love every day.
[00:37:49] There's something within them that they desire that their kids would experience her love in a way that it would overwhelm all the loves that they have in the world that continue to disappoint.
[00:38:01] And she gives herself over to that end. The same way we should give ourself over to gospel ministry. I'm going to love you into the kingdom in this gritty way and I'm not giving up Because I want you to know Sin doesn't satisfy and there's a savior that saves just a mom yeah, just like Jesus who gave his life so others might live.
