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[2070.90 --> 2071.56] with our futures
[2071.56 --> 2073.08] and we ask that you
[2073.08 --> 2073.84] would give us hearts
[2073.84 --> 2074.98] that submit to the goodness
[2074.98 --> 2076.38] of your design
[2076.38 --> 2077.60] it is in the name
[2077.60 --> 2078.42] of your son jesus
[2078.42 --> 2078.96] we pray
[2078.96 --> 2079.66] amen
[2079.66 --> 2093.22] and again
• The importance of living out Christianity in contrast to the world, as Jesus commanded
• Arsenius the Great, a fourth-century desert father who lived in peace and influence, despite societal pressures
• The dangers of distraction and noise in modern society, which can lead to spiritual stagnation and emptiness
• The proliferation of information vs. meaning in today's world
• The impact of social media on mental health and relationships
• The dangers of anger and how it can lead to judgment
• Jesus' teachings on the importance of being slow to speak, slow to become angry, and quick to listen
• The difference between righteous anger and self-serving anger
• The concept that words have power and can lead to danger if used carelessly
• The idea that fear is a natural emotion but sin can turn it into a master rather than a servant, leading to anxiety and sabotaging deep desires
• The concept that people often cling to hate because they are afraid of dealing with the underlying pain.
• Fear and love are opposites, with perfect love driving out fear
• Childhood experiences and upbringing can shape a person's relationship with fear
• Living in fear can lead to unhealthy behaviors and relationships
• Overcoming fear requires facing it head-on and learning to live without its influence
• Scripture often emphasizes the importance of not fearing
• Jesus' presence brings peace, which is different from the absence of trouble
• The church should be a community of peace in a culture of fear and outrage
• The practice of silence is more than just listening and speaking less, but about creating space to hear God speak into one's life
• Jesus' example in Luke 5:15-16 shows that even with a successful ministry, he withdrew to lonely places to pray and receive guidance
• Silence and solitude are essential for hearing God, revealing areas of need for healing and repentance, and communing with Him on deep matters
• A "quiet time" can be anywhere, such as home or office, and is about abiding in God and making one's home in Him
• Peace comes not when circumstances are settled, but when God is present in the midst of challenges and difficulties
• Silence involves relinquishing control to God and letting go of the need to maintain control over one's existence
• This radical posture is counter-cultural in a society that emphasizes personal autonomy and self-control.
• Desert fathers' go-to texts
• Jesus' wilderness temptation in Luke 4 and 5
• The concept of silence and solitude
• Satan's presence in silence
• Encounter with God and realities of life
• Solitude as a place of conversion, transformation, and death to the old self
• False selves and encountering loving God
• Freedom from attachments and expectations
• The need to be transformed and freed from pain, anger, and fear
• The path of transformation: learning to be with pain and letting God be present
• Meeting God in all things, even in difficult circumstances
• The importance of starting the day with prayer and calm presence rather than distractions like news or social media
• Recognizing self-will as a core spiritual problem and the need to surrender to God's plan
• The journey of surrender is an ongoing process
• Contemplation of Christ shapes our character and likeness to him
• Focusing on God's presence transforms us into his likeness, enabling us to love like him
• Surrendering to God allows us to be fed in the midst of brokenness and chaos
• Prayer, solitude, rest, and scripture are essential for contemplating Christ and surrendering to God.
[0.00 --> 12.72] the holy spirit amen
[14.24 --> 14.72] good morning
[19.04 --> 25.36] it's uh wonderful to be with you again this morning as we continue our our series
[25.36 --> 35.04] on contrast community where we're contrasting those who live by christ versus those who live
[35.04 --> 41.52] in their own strength and by values that they created on their own that we might call
[42.24 --> 51.12] the world and we ought to see a difference jesus said it this way in john 13 when you see it up on
[51.12 --> 57.36] the screen here a new commandment i give you love one another and then how do you love well as i have
[57.36 --> 64.08] loved you so you must love one another by this everyone will know you're my disciples so by that
[64.08 --> 69.20] if you love one another and i guess the question might be are we showing the difference
[70.88 --> 74.88] are we showing the difference that christ makes in the way we live
[74.88 --> 85.52] i don't know if about you but it seems to me that people um around us all around us they seem angry
[86.24 --> 94.16] upset we see it on the news all over social media sometimes at our family gatherings
[95.28 --> 101.04] right and and and i i think it behind all this vitriol and behind all this hate are people living
[101.04 --> 107.84] in fear jesus vision of the church is one of a community of peace but we we might want to ask
[107.84 --> 114.48] ourselves well what does that look like i'm going to start off with a historical example of one group's
[114.48 --> 122.08] reaction uh there's this guy in history named arsenius the great there he is good looking guy
[123.52 --> 128.00] anyways arsenius great lived in the fourth century he was the fourth century desert father
[128.00 --> 133.28] and uh for those of you have never heard that term before you're going to hear a little bit more about
[133.28 --> 144.40] it now he was born around 350 a.d his dad was a roman senator he had wealth he had position in fact he
[144.40 --> 152.88] even educated caesar himself and then he became a follower of jesus he gave away all his wealth his
[152.88 --> 161.36] position his home in the palace and he moved to the deserts of north africa imagine that eventually
[161.36 --> 170.08] this became a community of tens of thousands of people a community seriously attempting to live out
[170.08 --> 176.48] what it means to follow jesus and some debate oh well did they escape or did they you know create a new
[176.48 --> 183.92] community we won't debate that now but they did this to be a contrast to the way things were
[183.92 --> 190.56] under emperor constantine you've probably heard his name before who also had become a christian and in
[190.56 --> 196.88] fact made christianity far more popular than it was under under constantine there were lots of people
[196.88 --> 203.36] who suddenly became christians because it was the thing to do some genuinely but some maybe not so
[203.36 --> 210.32] and christianity moved from a persecuted minority to a political majority
[212.80 --> 221.36] and this caused all sorts of problems for the integrity of the church imagine that it became enmeshed
[221.36 --> 224.96] with the empire that sound familiar
[227.52 --> 233.28] and arsinius and hundreds of thousands of others fled the empire for the desert
[233.36 --> 240.24] later as a very elderly man he had become famous because people came to see what he was all about
[240.24 --> 246.72] he'd become famous for his wisdom his warmth his compassion so notice they didn't simply just escape
[246.72 --> 251.92] they lived with a sense of influence as well and he had a sense of what was called stabilitos
[252.64 --> 255.68] which really means nothing can move you
[255.68 --> 264.00] stabilitos nothing can move you when asked why he did all that he had done because he didn't have to
[264.00 --> 271.92] do all that to be a follower of jesus he said that one day as he was praying he prayed lord lead me in the
[271.92 --> 278.40] way of salvation right not just let it be an act of conversion but an ongoing conversion a way of salvation and
[278.40 --> 289.68] then he felt god saying arsenius flee be silent pray always for these are the sources of sinlessness
[293.76 --> 302.56] what does that look like we live in a world of always being distracted we live in a world of lots of noise
[302.56 --> 307.76] a guy named robert sarah had something to say about that it's a pretty long quote but i thought it was
[307.76 --> 312.32] important so you'll see it up on the screen so you can read it too i was talking to somebody after the
[312.32 --> 317.76] first service and they said yeah it'd be nice to be able to look at these quotes for a while so if
[317.76 --> 323.20] anybody wants it maybe i can send it to you or whatever but anyways um here's this what robert sarah
[323.20 --> 329.68] had to say about this modern society can no longer do without the dictatorship of noise
[330.56 --> 338.08] it allows us in an illusion of cheap democracy while snatching our freedom away with the subtle
[338.08 --> 346.48] violence of the devil the father of lies without noise postmodern man falls into a dull insistent