1 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:10,400 Good morning church. It is 2 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,320 a great day to be in the house of the Lord. 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,880 And if you are joining us on Livestream, we wish you were 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,760 here. But we're glad that you're joining us as well. 5 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,440 So many of you are on social media of some 6 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:31,240 sort and if you are connected to 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:34,900 me on social, you may have seen a post that I put on 8 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:38,300 social media from last week's message 9 00:00:38,540 --> 00:00:42,380 about this week's message. And it seems to be there's 10 00:00:42,380 --> 00:00:46,140 a zebra on the loose and did they 11 00:00:46,140 --> 00:00:49,980 get caught? Did they caught. Okay, they caught the zebra. Well, last night 12 00:00:49,980 --> 00:00:53,700 I was sleeping and you know, my daughter wants to make sure I keep my 13 00:00:53,700 --> 00:00:56,940 word. And so last night I was sleeping and about 14 00:00:56,940 --> 00:01:00,540 midnight I hear, hey dad. And I just jolted 15 00:01:00,540 --> 00:01:03,270 up because 16 00:01:04,790 --> 00:01:06,070 this was in my face. 17 00:01:08,710 --> 00:01:12,070 She had stayed up late making this 18 00:01:12,230 --> 00:01:15,630 and she said now you have a zebra to be a part of the 19 00:01:15,630 --> 00:01:18,310 message. And so there you go. 20 00:01:19,510 --> 00:01:22,470 I keep gonna keep my word. 21 00:01:25,110 --> 00:01:28,630 A couple of things before we get get up and cranking. 22 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,920 Well, we're already cranking because God's here. And can we just show 23 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,480 our appreciation for the worship team and loft 24 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,880 people for leading us. 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,760 Just a reminder that our midweek gatherings will resume in 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,960 August. And so there are no midweek gatherings. But I do encourage you to look 27 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,720 at the app and get connected to the various ministries. If 28 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,600 you don't know how to get connected to the app, one of our leaders will 29 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,390 be happy to show you how to do that. And then 30 00:01:58,990 --> 00:02:02,830 I think that's all the announcements I'm going to make if you're following 31 00:02:02,830 --> 00:02:06,590 with us. Last week we talked about Samuel and 32 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:10,510 his anointing of David to become king. And if you 33 00:02:10,510 --> 00:02:14,270 know scripture and you follow along in the story, naturally today we would talk about 34 00:02:14,430 --> 00:02:18,270 David and Goliath cause that's the next story. But we've got a 35 00:02:18,270 --> 00:02:21,670 little scheduling change that happened and so we're gonna talk about David and 36 00:02:21,670 --> 00:02:25,430 Goliath next week. But today I 37 00:02:25,430 --> 00:02:29,210 get the privilege and the honor to about my 38 00:02:29,210 --> 00:02:32,930 favorite character in all of scripture. So if you're ever wondering who 39 00:02:32,930 --> 00:02:36,770 is Kevin's favorite character in all of scripture, we're going to talk about a man 40 00:02:36,770 --> 00:02:40,250 named Jonathan. We're going to know about David and Jonathan's special 41 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:44,209 friendship. And so it spans over three chapters in First Samuel. 42 00:02:44,209 --> 00:02:46,570 And we are not going to read all three chapters this morning. 43 00:02:48,010 --> 00:02:51,810 Waiting for a hallelujah on that. But if you'll stand with me, we 44 00:02:51,810 --> 00:02:55,360 are going to read two shorts passages of scripture. 45 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:00,160 Let's read together. After David had 46 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,960 finished talking with Saul Jonathan became one 47 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,480 in spirit with David and he loved him as 48 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,200 himself. And one more greater love has 49 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,880 no one than this to lay down for 50 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,720 one's friends. Father, I thank you for your transformative truth this 51 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,360 morning. I thank you Lord, that you want to change us from the 52 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,980 inside out. Thank you for the gift of friendship. And Lord, I pray that 53 00:03:25,980 --> 00:03:29,340 you would speak to us tonight or today in Jesus name. 54 00:03:29,660 --> 00:03:31,020 Amen. You may be seated. 55 00:03:34,540 --> 00:03:38,300 My wife and I often like to host gatherings at our house. 56 00:03:39,100 --> 00:03:42,860 And usually when we host gatherings at our house, we will invite 57 00:03:42,860 --> 00:03:46,460 people to bring their favorite dishes. Sometimes it's a side dish, 58 00:03:46,700 --> 00:03:50,220 sometimes it's a dessert. But usually 59 00:03:50,300 --> 00:03:54,040 if we have a gathering at our house, food is gonna 60 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,560 be a part of that gathering. Well, several 61 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,360 Thanksgivings ago we had a gathering at our house and we were excited 62 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,160 about getting together with some friends and some 63 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,639 family. And we were inviting people to bring their favorite 64 00:04:08,639 --> 00:04:12,440 dessert over to the house. And I really like to eat dessert at Thanksgiving. 65 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:16,120 Well, I like to eat dessert anytime, but I like to eat dessert at 66 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,920 Thanksgiving. And so I was excited about the desserts that were going to 67 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,680 arrive at our special gathering. And so people would come into 68 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,340 the house and typically, typically Sherry or myself, we would greet at the door and 69 00:04:27,420 --> 00:04:30,460 we would grab whatever it is that they have prepared. 70 00:04:31,740 --> 00:04:35,340 Especially for our group together in this particular 71 00:04:35,500 --> 00:04:39,180 year. We invited a gentleman to come and be a 72 00:04:39,180 --> 00:04:42,860 part of our gathering, a friend of ours. And this friend brought 73 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:46,220 something that looked like this to the dinner. 74 00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:50,180 And so I took the pie and I kind of glanced at 75 00:04:50,180 --> 00:04:53,490 it and I was a little stunned. It didn't have any covering, it looked 76 00:04:53,490 --> 00:04:57,170 exactly like this. And so I just kind of looked back up 77 00:04:57,170 --> 00:05:00,690 and smiled and walked around and there was no real explanation. This is what they 78 00:05:00,690 --> 00:05:04,370 had brought to the Thanksgiving dinner. And so I walked and people were walking and 79 00:05:04,370 --> 00:05:07,850 watching me as I was carrying this half eaten dish 80 00:05:07,930 --> 00:05:11,610 to the counter with the rest of the desserts. And I laid it there and 81 00:05:11,770 --> 00:05:15,530 kind of moved on. Well, the evening progressed and we 82 00:05:15,530 --> 00:05:19,170 had a great Thanksgiving together. Lots of laughter, lots of fun, 83 00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:22,730 lots of food and people went through and we ate up that turkey, 84 00:05:23,030 --> 00:05:26,630 dressing and sides and all of the desserts. But 85 00:05:26,710 --> 00:05:30,350 at the end of the night, as we were cleaning dishes, what we realized 86 00:05:30,350 --> 00:05:34,030 was, didn't nobody touch this dish. It would look just like 87 00:05:34,030 --> 00:05:37,830 that when it sat down and it looked like that at the end 88 00:05:38,470 --> 00:05:41,790 of the night. And here's the point. This is the reason why I'm telling you 89 00:05:41,790 --> 00:05:44,630 this story. Love can't flourish on fragments. 90 00:05:46,470 --> 00:05:50,230 Love can't Flourish on fragments. But so often, 91 00:05:50,870 --> 00:05:53,990 whenever we go into being in a relationship with 92 00:05:54,070 --> 00:05:57,670 anybody, we often bring fragments to the 93 00:05:57,670 --> 00:06:00,990 table. We often bring fragments to the table. And 94 00:06:00,990 --> 00:06:04,550 oftentimes with those fragments, we tie expectations 95 00:06:04,710 --> 00:06:08,230 on others to fill the remaining holes that are left 96 00:06:08,390 --> 00:06:12,150 in the dish. Can I tell you that God desires for 97 00:06:12,150 --> 00:06:15,670 us to approach all relationships from a 98 00:06:15,670 --> 00:06:18,620 whole posture? From a whole 99 00:06:19,340 --> 00:06:22,860 posture. Today we're going to talk a little bit about 100 00:06:23,180 --> 00:06:27,020 covenant friendships, and we're going to look at a story in 101 00:06:27,020 --> 00:06:30,740 scripture of a man named David and Jonathan. We talked a 102 00:06:30,740 --> 00:06:34,580 little bit about David. We haven't talked much about Jonathan yet this year. 103 00:06:34,580 --> 00:06:37,900 And like I said, and hopefully at the end you'll realize why Jonathan 104 00:06:38,300 --> 00:06:41,980 is my favorite character in scripture. 105 00:06:41,980 --> 00:06:45,180 Let's work off of a definition of what covenant means. Covenant, 106 00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:49,320 in terms of our usage today is going to mean this. A covenant is a 107 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,080 promise or an agreement fueled by relationship. I'm going to 108 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,560 say that once more. A covenant is a promise or an 109 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,000 agreement fueled by 110 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:03,160 relationship. Now, many of us are in some type 111 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,440 of covenant relationship with somebody else. 112 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,280 If you are married, you are in a covenant relationship 113 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:14,440 with your spouse. But your marriage does not have to be your 114 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,960 only covenant relationship. In fact, the most important covenant 115 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,810 relationship you have is the one with Jesus Christ. The most important covenant 116 00:07:21,810 --> 00:07:25,530 relationship you have is the one with Jesus. With Jesus Christ. And so 117 00:07:26,650 --> 00:07:29,930 David. Let's set up the story here. David had just killed 118 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:33,930 Goliath, and he was the victor, and he 119 00:07:33,930 --> 00:07:37,250 fought on behalf of Israel. And like I said, next week we're going to unpackage 120 00:07:37,250 --> 00:07:41,050 that story. And he stood there still smelling like sheep because he 121 00:07:41,050 --> 00:07:44,850 had come in from shepherding sheep, bringing in food to his 122 00:07:44,850 --> 00:07:48,620 brothers. And he was there as a victor, and people 123 00:07:48,620 --> 00:07:52,220 were praising him. But there was a man there named Jonathan. Now, 124 00:07:52,220 --> 00:07:55,980 Jonathan was King Saul's son. And Jonathan saw 125 00:07:55,980 --> 00:07:59,540 this victor, David, but saw him through a 126 00:07:59,540 --> 00:08:02,740 spiritual lens. He saw David. 127 00:08:03,220 --> 00:08:06,940 He saw David really as the Lord saw David. 128 00:08:06,940 --> 00:08:10,380 Oh, that we would have people in our lives that would have 129 00:08:10,380 --> 00:08:14,020 spiritual eyes to see us the way that God sees us. 130 00:08:14,890 --> 00:08:18,730 Oh, that we would respond to people and our actions in 131 00:08:18,730 --> 00:08:22,010 our words in a way that says, I see you 132 00:08:22,330 --> 00:08:25,810 the way God sees you. Because let me tell you, in my 133 00:08:25,810 --> 00:08:29,530 natural eyes, I see a lot of things. And it ain't 134 00:08:29,530 --> 00:08:33,290 always the way God sees it. And I'm sure when people 135 00:08:33,290 --> 00:08:36,890 look at me, they could see the same thing. In a moment of 136 00:08:36,890 --> 00:08:40,010 spiritual recognition, Jonathan responds. 137 00:08:40,830 --> 00:08:44,350 And he doesn't respond like the crowd. The crowd was 138 00:08:44,350 --> 00:08:47,790 cheering David on. They were. This is the Victor, 139 00:08:48,110 --> 00:08:51,550 Israel has won. But David responds 140 00:08:51,790 --> 00:08:55,630 as the son of the king. And what we would expect the son 141 00:08:55,630 --> 00:08:58,750 of the king to respond would be with jealousy, 142 00:09:00,030 --> 00:09:03,870 with a little bit of, that should have been me. Why are they praising David? 143 00:09:03,870 --> 00:09:07,650 But it was not met with jealousy or with competition. It was met 144 00:09:07,650 --> 00:09:11,330 with surrender. He took off his robe, 145 00:09:11,330 --> 00:09:15,130 the robe of royalty, and placed it on David. And then his sword and his 146 00:09:15,130 --> 00:09:18,850 bow and his belt. And this was not just Jonathan being 147 00:09:18,850 --> 00:09:22,690 generous to David because he slew the giants. No, 148 00:09:22,930 --> 00:09:26,490 this was because Jonathan saw as God 149 00:09:26,490 --> 00:09:30,130 saw. And Jonathan saw something in 150 00:09:30,130 --> 00:09:33,330 David that God had anointed him. 151 00:09:34,270 --> 00:09:38,030 He had anointed him as king. You know, it strikes me 152 00:09:38,030 --> 00:09:41,710 very interesting that just a few verses prior 153 00:09:41,710 --> 00:09:45,390 to the opening of First Samuel, chapter 18 154 00:09:46,110 --> 00:09:49,230 is we see Saul trying to render his 155 00:09:49,709 --> 00:09:53,230 armor to David. Do you remember that portion of Scripture 156 00:09:53,310 --> 00:09:57,150 where Saul is saying, put on my armor and go out and fight this 157 00:09:57,150 --> 00:10:00,750 giant? To which David responds, after putting it on, this 158 00:10:00,750 --> 00:10:04,590 doesn't fit. This doesn't feel right. I 159 00:10:04,590 --> 00:10:08,430 cannot go out and fight in your armor. Well, lo and behold, 160 00:10:08,830 --> 00:10:12,430 verses later, the son Jonathan renders off his 161 00:10:12,430 --> 00:10:16,229 robe, his sword, his shield, and it 162 00:10:16,229 --> 00:10:20,030 fits. And it fits. Here's the 163 00:10:20,030 --> 00:10:23,830 thing. Saul's armor was about performance. Jonathan's 164 00:10:23,830 --> 00:10:27,160 armor was about identity. The armor of 165 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,880 expectation will always weigh you down, but the 166 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,520 robe of covenant will always lift 167 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,480 you up. This was not contractual. 168 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:42,160 It wasn't conditional. It wasn't, I'll do 169 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,880 this for you if you do something for me. It was relational. 170 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,520 It was selfless. It was a covenant. 171 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,470 It was a covenant. Here's the thing. We are 172 00:10:54,470 --> 00:10:58,230 empowered to make extraordinary selfless choices when 173 00:10:58,230 --> 00:11:01,870 our vertical relationship supersedes our horizontal 174 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:05,590 circumstances. We are empowered to 175 00:11:05,590 --> 00:11:09,310 make extraordinary selfless choices 176 00:11:09,470 --> 00:11:12,830 when our relationship and our posture is a 177 00:11:12,830 --> 00:11:16,430 vertical posture. How many times have 178 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:20,110 you been in some type of relationship, friendship with someone, 179 00:11:20,340 --> 00:11:23,940 someone. And they do something that angers you, 180 00:11:24,180 --> 00:11:27,900 hurts you, they don't meet an expectation that you have, and 181 00:11:27,900 --> 00:11:31,700 it leaves you feeling a little bit gross. Anybody in 182 00:11:31,700 --> 00:11:35,220 the house ever have that happen to you? Here's the thing. 183 00:11:35,620 --> 00:11:39,460 We have the extraordinary. Excuse me, the 184 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:43,060 extraordinary ability to respond in selfless 185 00:11:43,140 --> 00:11:46,820 ways when we have a vertical posture 186 00:11:46,900 --> 00:11:50,440 and horizontal circumstances. And 187 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,240 Jonathan here has got a horizontal circumstance in 188 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,360 front of him. This is David. And 189 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,080 Jonathan is the rightful heir to the throne after 190 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,480 Saul. And Jonathan, willingly 191 00:12:04,879 --> 00:12:08,560 noting what God has said, understanding of 192 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:12,000 the anointing that God has placed on David says, I'm going to 193 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,410 render my position, my 194 00:12:15,410 --> 00:12:19,010 authority, everything I have. What type of 195 00:12:19,010 --> 00:12:22,810 selfless love is that? It's certainly 196 00:12:22,810 --> 00:12:26,610 not a love that I come to easily. And some of you would say 197 00:12:26,610 --> 00:12:30,410 the same thing, that we would be so selfless to render up a position 198 00:12:30,569 --> 00:12:34,410 that is rightfully ours and not just render 199 00:12:34,410 --> 00:12:38,210 it because somebody has told us to, but render it just from the 200 00:12:38,210 --> 00:12:41,210 fact that I love you and I want nothing in return. 201 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:44,560 I want nothing in return. 202 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,320 Jonathan's ability to give freely to David didn't come from 203 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,120 personality, it came from priority. He put God first, and 204 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,120 that vertical alignment freed him to love without 205 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:01,520 fear. Jonathan chose to obey. And when we 206 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,560 obey the Lord, the Lord becomes our source. 207 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:09,010 And in that, he was freed from. Here's the thing. When people 208 00:13:09,010 --> 00:13:11,570 become your source, love becomes a strategy. 209 00:13:12,850 --> 00:13:16,530 When people become your source, love becomes a strategy. So many 210 00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:19,930 times we bring to friendships and relationships, we bring a 211 00:13:19,930 --> 00:13:23,369 fragmented life. And here's the thing. Instead of going to 212 00:13:23,369 --> 00:13:26,650 Jesus to fill all of the gaps, we try to pull that out of the 213 00:13:26,650 --> 00:13:30,370 people that we're connected to. We say, I want something out of you 214 00:13:30,530 --> 00:13:33,850 to fill this need. But can I tell you, here's the thing. This is the 215 00:13:33,850 --> 00:13:37,530 steps of Christian maturity right here. The first thing is to recognize that you have 216 00:13:37,530 --> 00:13:40,870 fragmented pieces. Can I tell you, this morning, every one of you woke up this 217 00:13:40,870 --> 00:13:44,470 morning fragmented and broken. The second step of 218 00:13:44,470 --> 00:13:48,190 maturity is to understand I need something more than another 219 00:13:48,270 --> 00:13:51,630 human to fill up all of the gaps that are in my life. 220 00:13:51,870 --> 00:13:54,830 I've got to have something supernatural. I've got to have something 221 00:13:55,550 --> 00:13:59,270 external to fill up those gaps in my life. But here is the ultimate 222 00:13:59,270 --> 00:14:02,670 achievement of a believer in terms of maturity. When it comes to 223 00:14:02,670 --> 00:14:06,470 relationships, it's understanding that it's not about filling up the 224 00:14:06,470 --> 00:14:09,990 gaps. Jesus says, bring me your fragments and I'm going to give you my 225 00:14:09,990 --> 00:14:13,770 perfection. Bring me your brokenness and your fragments, and I'm 226 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:17,610 going to give you my wholeness. And so every morning 227 00:14:17,930 --> 00:14:21,610 we get up as we die to ourselves, and we ask the Lord 228 00:14:22,410 --> 00:14:25,610 to make me whole. But see, here's what we tend to do. Robert 229 00:14:25,770 --> 00:14:28,650 Cole, Michael this is what we tend to do. Kurt 230 00:14:29,530 --> 00:14:33,370 I spend time with the Lord on Tuesday morning, and I'm whole. 231 00:14:33,770 --> 00:14:37,130 But I bring Tuesday's leftovers into Saturday morning's 232 00:14:37,130 --> 00:14:40,790 altercation because I didn't wake up on Saturday morning and spent any 233 00:14:40,790 --> 00:14:44,030 time with the Lord. You see, here's the thing. It is a daily 234 00:14:44,110 --> 00:14:47,470 renewal. You wake up every day 235 00:14:47,630 --> 00:14:51,030 broken and fragmented. You remember the story of the 236 00:14:51,030 --> 00:14:54,750 Israelites when they are in the wilderness and God gives them manna for 237 00:14:54,750 --> 00:14:58,510 the day. People were out there because they thought they were Going to 238 00:14:58,510 --> 00:15:02,230 be smart. And they said, I'm going to have a basket or two 239 00:15:02,230 --> 00:15:05,990 extra and I'm going to bring it into the next day. What happened to that 240 00:15:05,990 --> 00:15:09,710 bread? It went bad. God gives you just 241 00:15:09,710 --> 00:15:12,950 what you need for this day. He gives you a 242 00:15:12,950 --> 00:15:16,590 dispensation of grace for today. He gives you everything you 243 00:15:16,590 --> 00:15:20,190 need to be whole for today. And if you will lean on him and you 244 00:15:20,190 --> 00:15:23,790 will surrender the fragmented, broken pieces you bring to the 245 00:15:23,790 --> 00:15:27,430 table, he will meet you right where you are. And you can encounter every 246 00:15:27,430 --> 00:15:31,130 relationship, respond to every situation and a whole state. 247 00:15:31,610 --> 00:15:35,010 Because of Jesus. Because of Jesus. If 248 00:15:35,010 --> 00:15:38,170 Jonathan had needed David to feel him, 249 00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:42,330 to affirm him or promote him, his love 250 00:15:42,330 --> 00:15:45,290 would have been strategic. But he didn't 251 00:15:45,930 --> 00:15:49,290 because God was already enough. He wasn't using 252 00:15:49,370 --> 00:15:53,050 David to feel secure. He loved David out of security 253 00:15:53,530 --> 00:15:57,210 in the one true God. Here's the thing. When you try to get 254 00:15:57,210 --> 00:16:01,010 wholeness from others, you end up manipulating love instead of giving it. 255 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,880 Manipulation is taking a situation and 256 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,680 intentionally infusing thoughts, ideas, words or 257 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,280 actions to get your way. 258 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,760 And broken, fragmented people will encounter a 259 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,560 relationship and they will manipulate the situation to 260 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:25,400 drain other people to get what they need. 261 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,020 And at the end of the day, both people end up empty. 262 00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:35,380 Jesus is the only one who can fill us, folks. Jesus is the only 263 00:16:35,380 --> 00:16:38,900 one who can make us whole. Jesus does not manipulate. 264 00:16:38,980 --> 00:16:42,380 He does not manipulate. The tragedy in many 265 00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:45,860 relationships is that we come into them with deep needs 266 00:16:45,940 --> 00:16:49,540 and subtle agendas. And when people fail 267 00:16:49,540 --> 00:16:53,060 to meet those unspoken needs, we withdraw, we 268 00:16:53,060 --> 00:16:56,200 manipulate, we resent. But Jonathan, listen. 269 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:00,040 Jonathan was already whole because he 270 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,320 knew his God, so he could give himself without 271 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:07,160 needing something in return. Has anybody ever gone snowboarding before? 272 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,280 Raise your hand if you've gone snowboarding. Okay. Well, praise the 273 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:16,080 Lord. Let me tell you a little story. I went snowboarding a 274 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,160 long, long time ago. I have not been back since and 275 00:17:20,770 --> 00:17:24,330 went with a buddy of mine snowboarding to a mountain called Mount 276 00:17:24,330 --> 00:17:28,010 Hood. It's out on the West Coast. And two 277 00:17:28,010 --> 00:17:31,730 weeks prior to us going, this is around Christmas time. Two weeks prior to us 278 00:17:31,730 --> 00:17:35,450 going, the ski resort had closed down because some people had died on the 279 00:17:35,450 --> 00:17:39,170 mountain. My buddy felt it was good to let me know this information 280 00:17:39,410 --> 00:17:43,210 prior to going, which was real wonderful foundation to start this 281 00:17:43,210 --> 00:17:46,690 trip and journey on. And so we go to this Mount Hood. And 282 00:17:46,930 --> 00:17:50,210 the guy I went with, he was an avid. I mean, that's probably a picture. 283 00:17:50,210 --> 00:17:52,270 It's not really a picture of him. That could be a picture of me. He's 284 00:17:52,270 --> 00:17:55,910 an avid snowboarder. He knows what he's doing. And so we go to Mount 285 00:17:55,910 --> 00:17:59,670 Hood on this beautiful day, this cold, bitterly 286 00:17:59,670 --> 00:18:02,910 cold day where the snow was actually not snow, it was ice. 287 00:18:03,230 --> 00:18:06,910 But everybody was going because it was a clear, beautiful 288 00:18:06,910 --> 00:18:10,350 day. And so we get there and he's got all of his gear, he's brought 289 00:18:10,350 --> 00:18:13,950 everything with him because he's an avid snowboarder, but I'm not. And so I have 290 00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:17,390 to go through these little stations to get all of the gear that I'm renting 291 00:18:17,390 --> 00:18:20,950 so that I can go snowboarding. So we go through and they put on all 292 00:18:20,950 --> 00:18:24,070 of the jackets and all of the things, gloves, all of that. And I get 293 00:18:24,070 --> 00:18:27,310 to the place where I have to put on a snowboard and they ask this 294 00:18:27,310 --> 00:18:31,030 very simple question. They say, kurt, are you regular or goofy 295 00:18:31,030 --> 00:18:34,789 footed? Well, knowing myself, I had no idea what that meant, but I definitely 296 00:18:34,789 --> 00:18:37,990 had to be goofy footed because that just goes suit with how I walk and 297 00:18:37,990 --> 00:18:41,550 all those things. I said I'm goofy footed for sure. I'm sure I am. I 298 00:18:41,550 --> 00:18:45,350 was trying to expedite the process because my friend was waiting on me. It took 299 00:18:45,350 --> 00:18:48,830 two and a half, three hours before I could get everything on and we could 300 00:18:48,830 --> 00:18:52,480 get going. Well, I get out there and I've got the snowboard and there's these 301 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,320 little slopes. So these little things, I think they call them bunny slopes over 302 00:18:56,320 --> 00:19:00,080 here to the right. And I'm looking over there and I'm seeing people, I'm 303 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,520 seeing them fall, I'm seeing them try. I'm thinking, oh, what a wonderful place to 304 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:07,200 practice. And my buddy says, you don't need to go over there. I'm going 305 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,640 to take you up on the ski lift and I'll tell you what to do 306 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,440 on the way up. Well, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm 307 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,870 thinking, okay, I can trust this fellow. So we go up in the ski lift 308 00:19:16,870 --> 00:19:20,390 and my friend is a musician and we get talking about music 309 00:19:20,470 --> 00:19:24,190 and stuff and some interest of his. And we just get into this conversation as 310 00:19:24,190 --> 00:19:26,630 we're waiting in line and getting on the ski lift. Well, we get on the 311 00:19:26,630 --> 00:19:30,350 ski lift and we go up. And as we go up the 312 00:19:30,350 --> 00:19:34,030 ski lift, there are these moments where the ski lift goes 313 00:19:34,030 --> 00:19:37,710 slower and it goes straight and it's a flat piece of land with snow on 314 00:19:37,710 --> 00:19:41,230 it. A little log cabin. And then where people are starting to take off down 315 00:19:41,230 --> 00:19:44,900 the mountain, right? Well, we pass 1, 316 00:19:45,111 --> 00:19:48,068 2, 3, 4, 317 00:19:48,279 --> 00:19:51,990 5. We continue to pass these little places 318 00:19:51,990 --> 00:19:54,750 where you get off. But we're having a great conversation about music. 319 00:19:55,550 --> 00:19:59,270 Well, all Of a sudden, we passed this thick layer of clouds to where I 320 00:19:59,270 --> 00:20:02,830 couldn't see anything beneath me except for the clouds. And it dawned on 321 00:20:02,830 --> 00:20:06,670 me. I think we're supposed to be getting off this ski lift real soon. 322 00:20:06,670 --> 00:20:09,850 And so I grab his arm and say, hey, when do we get off of 323 00:20:09,850 --> 00:20:13,650 this thing? And then he says, oh, no. Oh, no was not a good 324 00:20:13,650 --> 00:20:17,410 thing for him to tell me at that moment. So 325 00:20:17,410 --> 00:20:21,250 he said, I need you to listen to me quit. See, we 326 00:20:21,250 --> 00:20:24,890 had passed all these signs that said, if you're not going to the black diamond, 327 00:20:24,890 --> 00:20:28,170 go ahead and get off. Now, I didn't know what a black diamond was at 328 00:20:28,170 --> 00:20:31,730 the time. I do now. We were headed up to a black 329 00:20:31,730 --> 00:20:35,410 diamond portion of the thing. And the way 330 00:20:35,410 --> 00:20:39,250 that this particular ski lift worked is there were 331 00:20:39,250 --> 00:20:42,950 no more time, there were no more chances for us to get off on 332 00:20:42,950 --> 00:20:46,510 that flat land with the thing. This part of the thing 333 00:20:47,310 --> 00:20:50,830 shot you off, and you had to be ready to go skiing down the 334 00:20:50,830 --> 00:20:54,550 mountain from the lift. I'd never been skiing before in my 335 00:20:54,550 --> 00:20:58,310 life, snowboarding. So he tells me to put the board on 336 00:20:58,310 --> 00:21:01,110 my feet. So I'm kind of like this. He's telling me about going back and 337 00:21:01,110 --> 00:21:04,790 forth, all of this stuff. I don't remember what he said. So 338 00:21:04,790 --> 00:21:08,600 we're there, and the ski thing goes like this. And I 339 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,320 jump out like Superman. I went face 340 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,040 first down that mountain. Three minutes, three, four minutes. I hit 341 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,760 every tree. I hit every snow bank. My 342 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:23,280 whole body was busted up against the ice multiple times. I 343 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:26,840 rolled, I skid. I hit people. I hit things. I hit 344 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,680 rocks. There were so many hits in that moment that I literally 345 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,330 went limp and said, jesus, take my life. 346 00:21:35,010 --> 00:21:38,730 It was the worst experience of my life. Four or five minutes down 347 00:21:38,730 --> 00:21:41,490 the mountain when I finally got to slaughter. See, when you're at the top of 348 00:21:41,490 --> 00:21:45,170 the mountain, it doesn't look like this. It looks like this. And I was going 349 00:21:45,170 --> 00:21:48,890 like Superman, like this. Around the trees, evergreens, all 350 00:21:48,890 --> 00:21:52,490 these things. Well, the paramedics and all those people come up the mountain to get 351 00:21:52,490 --> 00:21:55,890 me, put me on the thing, drive me down, get me down into the 352 00:21:56,690 --> 00:22:00,290 medical place, and I'm there, and I am busted up. Thankfully. 353 00:22:00,450 --> 00:22:03,450 I don't know how. I didn't break a thing. I didn't break a thing. Very 354 00:22:03,450 --> 00:22:07,170 bruised up. Well, it's hours later, hours later. 355 00:22:07,250 --> 00:22:10,530 And my friend who took me up in the first place, he had gone up 356 00:22:10,530 --> 00:22:14,130 and down the mountain multiple times, and he came to the thing. He said, man, 357 00:22:14,130 --> 00:22:17,970 Kevin, what are you doing? Where you been? I never wanted to punch somebody 358 00:22:17,970 --> 00:22:21,730 more in my life than in that moment. But I could barely 359 00:22:21,730 --> 00:22:25,330 talk and I could barely move, and so I didn't hit him. 360 00:22:26,130 --> 00:22:29,410 Here's the thing. Jonathan was not that type of friend. 361 00:22:30,780 --> 00:22:34,020 Jonathan, in the midst of adversity between his 362 00:22:34,020 --> 00:22:36,780 relationship with Saul and David, 363 00:22:38,300 --> 00:22:41,740 he stood in a strong foundation. And he did not leave 364 00:22:41,820 --> 00:22:45,420 David's side. Here's the 365 00:22:45,420 --> 00:22:48,700 story. David kills Goliath. 366 00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:52,460 Jonathan renders his clothes. The word tells 367 00:22:52,460 --> 00:22:55,750 us that they were knit together in soul and spirit. They were knit together 368 00:22:56,140 --> 00:22:59,980 together. They made a covenant with one another. Saul starts to 369 00:22:59,980 --> 00:23:03,700 get jealous of David. And Saul decides that he wants to 370 00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:07,460 kill David. And he makes some attempts to do so and they fail. So 371 00:23:07,460 --> 00:23:11,020 finally he brings Jonathan around. He says, jonathan, I want you to go kill 372 00:23:11,180 --> 00:23:15,020 David. Have you ever had a friend come to you and say, I want you 373 00:23:15,020 --> 00:23:18,820 to do this to somebody else? Now, it may not throw a dagger at 374 00:23:18,820 --> 00:23:21,620 them, but it might be, I want you to talk bad about this person. Person. 375 00:23:22,900 --> 00:23:26,460 I'm going to send you on assignment to do something to manipulate a 376 00:23:26,460 --> 00:23:30,300 situation. So Saul goes to Jonathan, says, I 377 00:23:30,300 --> 00:23:34,100 want you to kill David. And instead of being loyal to his father, 378 00:23:34,100 --> 00:23:37,300 at that moment, he runs to David and gives David a heads up and says, 379 00:23:37,460 --> 00:23:41,220 you've got to flee because my dad's after you. Let me try to convince 380 00:23:41,220 --> 00:23:44,860 him not to kill you. So David flees and goes and hides, and 381 00:23:44,860 --> 00:23:48,020 Jonathan gets with Saul and says, listen, David is a great guy. 382 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:52,320 He's my friend. Don't kill him. And Saul, he was so 383 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,840 convinced not to kill him, the word says that Saul said, before the 384 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,640 Lord, I will not kill David. And so 385 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,320 Jonathan meets up with David and says, the coast is clear, 386 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,960 you can come back. David goes back to the kingdom, to the palace, and 387 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,640 starts to play the harp, plays music for the king. While Saul is 388 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:14,480 being tormented by demons, he's being tormented by what's going 389 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,800 on in his life. Remember, the anointing has left him, but the king is sitting 390 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,260 right there playing the instrument before him. And Saul 391 00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:25,060 says, I am so jealous of this David. And he begins to want 392 00:24:25,060 --> 00:24:28,380 to kill him again. So he puts a secret army together to go after David 393 00:24:28,380 --> 00:24:31,980 and to kill him. But he doesn't tell Jonathan about it because Jonathan would have 394 00:24:31,980 --> 00:24:35,820 told David. Now, Saul didn't know he would tell him, but he didn't tell Jonathan. 395 00:24:35,820 --> 00:24:39,500 It was a secret plan. And at every attempt he missed. 396 00:24:39,900 --> 00:24:43,740 And the Lord protected David. So David flees again. So Jonathan, 397 00:24:43,740 --> 00:24:47,140 where's David? They send word together, they meet up. And David comes before 398 00:24:47,140 --> 00:24:50,860 Jonathan and says, listen, If I have done something wrong in your 399 00:24:50,860 --> 00:24:54,360 sight, kill me right now. Please. Your father is after 400 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:58,120 me. And Jonathan and David, in that moment they made, they 401 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:01,920 renewed their covenant. How many know that sometimes in relationships you 402 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,560 need to renew your covenant? You need to be reminded of the 403 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,200 promise that you have made. And so in that moment, they renew their 404 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,920 covenant. And they decide, we're not going to touch each other. Our 405 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,600 children's children are going to be protected. And so they renew their covenant. 406 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:20,380 And Jonathan goes back to the kingdom. There's a dinner that they're 407 00:25:20,380 --> 00:25:23,940 at. Saul's there. And David is supposed to be at that dinner and doesn't show 408 00:25:23,940 --> 00:25:27,740 up. He asks Jonathan and says, jonathan, where is David? He's supposed to be here. 409 00:25:27,740 --> 00:25:31,580 And Jonathan says, david is out sacrificing with his family. Saul gets 410 00:25:31,580 --> 00:25:35,340 real upset about this, and he gets angered. And then he turns against his 411 00:25:35,340 --> 00:25:39,140 own son, Jonathan. Jealousy can 412 00:25:39,140 --> 00:25:42,740 really do some crazy stuff. Jealousy can 413 00:25:42,740 --> 00:25:45,420 really cause you to do some 414 00:25:45,900 --> 00:25:49,180 crazy things. So he turns against his son Jonathan. 415 00:25:49,580 --> 00:25:53,420 And at that, Jonathan knew that Saul's aim was to kill 416 00:25:53,420 --> 00:25:57,100 David. And so, giving a signal to David through 417 00:25:57,100 --> 00:26:00,899 a way that they had worked out with arrows, Jonathan 418 00:26:00,899 --> 00:26:04,460 had to communicate to David that he wasn't welcome back to the kingdom because 419 00:26:04,460 --> 00:26:08,180 Saul was going to kill him. And there they meet in the middle of 420 00:26:08,180 --> 00:26:11,870 a field, and probably the most tender place that we find 421 00:26:11,870 --> 00:26:15,510 in Scripture that conveys the emotional connection 422 00:26:15,510 --> 00:26:19,190 between these two men where they weep together, knowing 423 00:26:19,190 --> 00:26:22,710 it's going to be the last time they see each other. And the scripture tells 424 00:26:22,710 --> 00:26:26,230 us, and we'll talk about this more in a moment, that David wept 425 00:26:26,709 --> 00:26:29,910 the most. David wept the most 426 00:26:31,190 --> 00:26:34,990 because his love for David wasn't based on what David could do for him, 427 00:26:34,990 --> 00:26:38,370 but on what God was doing in David. He didn't treat their 428 00:26:38,370 --> 00:26:42,090 relationship as a transaction. He didn't need David to 429 00:26:42,090 --> 00:26:45,770 validate him, because Jonathan was always already living from 430 00:26:45,770 --> 00:26:48,770 a place of surrender. Listen. Most people enter 431 00:26:48,770 --> 00:26:52,130 relationships asking, what can I get from this? 432 00:26:53,330 --> 00:26:56,690 But Jonathan didn't come looking to get. He came ready to give. 433 00:26:56,930 --> 00:27:00,370 Why? Because his soul already belonged 434 00:27:00,690 --> 00:27:04,250 to somebody else. He didn't need David to fill his 435 00:27:04,250 --> 00:27:07,760 gaps. He already handed those over to God. Listen. 436 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,120 Jesus meets us in fragmentation and 437 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,560 offers us an invitation daily. He says this. 438 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,320 Give me your broken pieces, and I will give you my peace. 439 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,560 Jesus says, hand me your expectations and I will give 440 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,440 you my identity. And he says, 441 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,480 surrender your striving and I will fill you with rest. 442 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,330 Is there anybody in the house that could use peace, know your 443 00:27:33,330 --> 00:27:37,010 identity, or go into a place of rest this morning. See, I 444 00:27:37,010 --> 00:27:39,890 venture to say that there are people that are listening under the sound of my 445 00:27:39,890 --> 00:27:42,890 voice this morning, that you have come in and you are alone. 446 00:27:43,450 --> 00:27:47,250 You have felt alone. I read a statistic this week. I 447 00:27:47,250 --> 00:27:50,970 know statistics are bogus at times, but I read a statistic this week that 448 00:27:50,970 --> 00:27:54,010 said 72% of Christians 449 00:27:54,970 --> 00:27:58,570 would ascribe to themselves that I am lonely most of the time, 450 00:27:59,530 --> 00:28:03,290 72% of believers saying I'm lonely 451 00:28:03,530 --> 00:28:06,890 most of the time. Can I tell you something? If there's any 452 00:28:06,890 --> 00:28:10,650 demographic on the face of the earth that should know how to do covenant, 453 00:28:10,650 --> 00:28:14,330 relationship and friendship, it should be believers. If there's 454 00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:17,850 anybody that should know how to do relationship, well, 455 00:28:18,170 --> 00:28:21,210 it should be believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. 456 00:28:21,930 --> 00:28:25,770 So why is it that so many believers walk in and out of this 457 00:28:25,770 --> 00:28:29,280 place, walk in and out of life, still feeling a sense of loneliness? 458 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,840 Could it be because our priorities and our identity 459 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:37,040 is placed in other things than the Lord Jesus Christ? 460 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,720 Because when we wake up each day whole before the 461 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,280 Lord, then we don't have to worry about what people say, what 462 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:49,000 people do, the words and the name assignments that people ascribe 463 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,760 to us. We can trust the Lord. He has incredible things to say 464 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,390 about you. He has wonderful plans for your life. He did not make a 465 00:28:56,390 --> 00:28:59,070 mistake. Can you look at your neighbor and say, you are not a mistake, 466 00:29:00,190 --> 00:29:03,990 you're not a mistake this morning. God has a plan and a purpose 467 00:29:03,990 --> 00:29:07,470 for your life. And if you are sitting there and you are lonely this 468 00:29:07,470 --> 00:29:11,270 morning, I beseech you this morning to open your 469 00:29:11,270 --> 00:29:14,870 spiritual antennas this morning. Confess and surrender 470 00:29:14,870 --> 00:29:18,630 the posture of loneliness this morning and invite the Holy Spirit to come 471 00:29:18,630 --> 00:29:22,240 in and do some heart surgery in your life. Invite the Holy 472 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,880 Spirit to do some heart surgery in your life. This is the heart of Jonathan's 473 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,280 posture, and it is the way of Christ. Jonathan didn't 474 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,880 disappear when things got difficult. He didn't 475 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,520 equip David and then leave him to figure it out. He stood 476 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:40,200 beside him in the tension between Saul and David, between 477 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,320 authority and anointing, between loyalty and truth. 478 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,440 So here's the deal. You cannot be a bridge for someone else 479 00:29:48,890 --> 00:29:51,370 when you are crumbling inside yourself. 480 00:29:52,330 --> 00:29:56,050 Jonathan stood between Saul and David. And 481 00:29:56,050 --> 00:29:59,850 had Jonathan been wrestling with insecurity and needing 482 00:29:59,850 --> 00:30:03,610 his identity affirmed by any of these men, he could have not stood in 483 00:30:03,610 --> 00:30:07,450 the gap. Have you ever been between a relationship? Have you ever been 484 00:30:07,450 --> 00:30:10,810 the person in the middle, between this person and this person who are 485 00:30:10,970 --> 00:30:14,770 at odds with one another? Can I tell you what the best thing 486 00:30:14,770 --> 00:30:17,920 to do in that position is point both of them to Jesus Christ. 487 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,240 Don't point them to each other. Don't listen with the ear to say, oh, you're 488 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,840 right. Oh, you're wrong. I wouldn't even use the words, you're right and wrong. I 489 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:29,480 would say, what does the Lord say about you? Point 490 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,800 them back to Jesus. Here's the thing. When I go to the Lord about somebody, 491 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,920 listen, when Vonda gets on my nerves, I don't go to the Lord about Vonda. 492 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,880 Because when I go to the Lord about Vonda, he says, kevin, let's look at 493 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,570 you, okay? Fonda doesn't get on my 494 00:30:42,570 --> 00:30:45,650 nerves. I get on hers. But, you know, you get the. You get the. You 495 00:30:45,650 --> 00:30:48,890 get the gist. Most of the time when I go to the Lord and I'm 496 00:30:48,890 --> 00:30:51,490 like, lord, you need to change that person. He says, well, let's pull up a 497 00:30:51,490 --> 00:30:52,170 mirror first. 498 00:30:55,210 --> 00:30:59,010 And then he says, if I never allow them to change their 499 00:30:59,010 --> 00:31:02,690 behavior, how are you going to 500 00:31:02,690 --> 00:31:06,370 choose to respond in the relationship? Because 501 00:31:06,370 --> 00:31:08,570 my propensity is to withdraw, 502 00:31:10,290 --> 00:31:13,850 to reject. But God says, I want you to 503 00:31:13,850 --> 00:31:16,050 embrace and I want you to love. 504 00:31:17,890 --> 00:31:21,010 That's difficult, Lord. Well, yes, it is, because I don't want you to do it 505 00:31:21,010 --> 00:31:21,570 on your own. 506 00:31:24,290 --> 00:31:28,130 Jonathan was able to stand in that painful, high pressure place 507 00:31:28,130 --> 00:31:31,770 because his foundation was strong. He wasn't trying 508 00:31:31,770 --> 00:31:35,140 to please everyone. He 509 00:31:35,140 --> 00:31:38,980 wasn't trying to please everyone. Can I tell you 510 00:31:38,980 --> 00:31:41,980 that your calling on life is not to make everybody happy. 511 00:31:42,940 --> 00:31:46,780 The calling on your life is to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. 512 00:31:48,140 --> 00:31:51,500 And sometimes that's meaning somebody's going to be upset with you. 513 00:31:51,900 --> 00:31:54,580 They're not going to like what you say. They're not going to like what you 514 00:31:54,580 --> 00:31:54,860 do. 515 00:31:58,540 --> 00:32:02,150 Jonathan stood in the gap. How you treat 516 00:32:02,150 --> 00:32:05,510 others, let's be reminded, friends, is a reflection of your 517 00:32:05,510 --> 00:32:09,110 relationship with the Lord. I 518 00:32:09,110 --> 00:32:12,710 cannot stand when people parade around, I love Jesus, 519 00:32:12,790 --> 00:32:16,510 but I don't love people. The actions and the 520 00:32:16,510 --> 00:32:20,310 words do not match the description. I don't know how you can say 521 00:32:20,310 --> 00:32:23,750 I love Jesus and not love people. Because 522 00:32:23,990 --> 00:32:27,120 we're his people. He loves you. 523 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,520 He loves us, and he calls us to love 524 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:36,040 one another. How you treat others is 525 00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:39,560 a reflection of your relationship with the Lord. Jonathan 526 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:43,360 honored Saul even when Saul was wrong. He protected David even 527 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:47,000 when he put him in danger. Why? Because his love wasn't 528 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,640 based on their behavior. It was based on his devotion to God. 529 00:32:51,210 --> 00:32:54,730 The fruit of your relationship often reveals the root of your spiritual life. 530 00:32:55,530 --> 00:32:58,970 As Saul's rage grows, Jonathan realizes David 531 00:32:59,290 --> 00:33:03,090 truly is in danger. The two friends Develop a secret signal. As 532 00:33:03,090 --> 00:33:06,770 we talked about, Jonathan shoots the arrow in the field. And where the arrows 533 00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:09,530 land, it lets David know whether he's safe and he's not. 534 00:33:10,650 --> 00:33:14,290 So after the servant leaves from collecting the arrows, they meet once again. They 535 00:33:14,290 --> 00:33:18,050 embrace, they weep. And they know everything has changed. And 536 00:33:18,050 --> 00:33:21,690 the Bible says this David wept the 537 00:33:21,690 --> 00:33:25,290 most. Oh, that we would be a 538 00:33:25,290 --> 00:33:28,650 people that we love so deep 539 00:33:29,370 --> 00:33:33,210 that we weep the most, that we weep 540 00:33:33,609 --> 00:33:36,730 the most. This tender moment 541 00:33:37,210 --> 00:33:40,890 calls on the vulnerability of 542 00:33:40,890 --> 00:33:44,370 people. Here's the thing. David and Jonathan get a bad 543 00:33:44,370 --> 00:33:48,070 rap in today's culture as being soft. Can I tell 544 00:33:48,070 --> 00:33:51,670 you, they were anything but soft. They were warriors. They killed 545 00:33:51,670 --> 00:33:54,350 people. David and Jonathan were not soft. 546 00:33:55,070 --> 00:33:58,830 David and Jonathan were whole. They 547 00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:02,590 were whole. And let me tell you, especially guys 548 00:34:02,590 --> 00:34:06,430 in the room who act as if or perceive as if you 549 00:34:06,430 --> 00:34:10,270 can't be sensitive or compassionate or kind. 550 00:34:10,590 --> 00:34:14,430 Can I tell you, the wholeness of Jesus Christ in your life will 551 00:34:14,430 --> 00:34:16,430 render you able to do those things, 552 00:34:18,720 --> 00:34:21,920 the things of the world. The way the world 553 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:25,800 executes, intimacy and friendship is never going to 554 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:29,400 look like the kingdom. A few weeks back, I made a 555 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:33,080 very strong declaration that I thought some of you were going to gasp 556 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,640 at, and Connie sure did. It was this. 557 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:41,040 Jesus was weird. He was weird. 558 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,910 And guess what? But we're also called to be weird. 559 00:34:46,670 --> 00:34:50,150 And if you love the way Christ loves, you're going to look weird to the 560 00:34:50,150 --> 00:34:53,590 world. But if your identity and your 561 00:34:53,590 --> 00:34:57,430 wholeness come from him, doesn't matter one bit what they say or they 562 00:34:57,430 --> 00:35:01,270 do about it. And here's the thing, those people who 563 00:35:01,270 --> 00:35:05,070 are throwing daggers words at you, loving the way Christ 564 00:35:05,150 --> 00:35:08,710 tells you to love, it's only because they have got an empty hole. And they 565 00:35:08,710 --> 00:35:12,370 want the same thing in their life. They want the same thing 566 00:35:12,370 --> 00:35:15,650 in their life. You don't have to be lonely. 567 00:35:16,530 --> 00:35:18,930 You don't have to be alone. 568 00:35:20,770 --> 00:35:24,490 And here's the thing, instead of us going into relationships, trying to 569 00:35:24,490 --> 00:35:28,330 pick at people and change them, especially when we have eyes, when we come in, 570 00:35:28,330 --> 00:35:32,050 we're like, well, this message is for you. This is for you. Here's. Let's remember 571 00:35:32,130 --> 00:35:34,530 the Holy Spirit changes people, not you. 572 00:35:36,060 --> 00:35:39,740 The Holy Spirit is the one that will change people. So many times 573 00:35:39,740 --> 00:35:42,900 I go before the Lord and I said this earlier, but man's like, holy Spirit, 574 00:35:42,900 --> 00:35:46,740 would you change this about them? And he's like, well, I'll 575 00:35:46,740 --> 00:35:49,900 work on them, but let's look at the mirror and get some things 576 00:35:50,940 --> 00:35:54,660 going on in your life. This is my buddy, Tim Hooper. Many of 577 00:35:54,660 --> 00:35:58,500 you know him because he's Spoken here a time or two. And I've got 578 00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:01,980 a number of Jonathan's in my life. This is one of my 579 00:36:01,980 --> 00:36:05,620 Jonathan's. And our friendship started with me 580 00:36:05,620 --> 00:36:09,440 seeing that he went to my old Baptist church, church on Facebook. And 581 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,280 I saw that he was there, and he was running, doing races and running to 582 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,760 raise money, and he was involved with politics, and he was becoming 583 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:21,440 notable in the community. And I saw it on social media. And because of 584 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,919 our connection in the old church, I thought, you know, I need to kind of 585 00:36:23,919 --> 00:36:27,240 connect with this guy and see and just kind of see if we cross paths 586 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:30,960 at the other church and that type of thing. And so I 587 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,800 reached out to him and I said, hey, would you like to get together for 588 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,560 a cup of coffee? And he said, absolutely, that would be great. And so we 589 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:41,240 set up a date and time, and I arrived to coffee and I waited and 590 00:36:41,240 --> 00:36:44,720 I waited and I waited, and Tim didn't show up. 591 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,200 Now, I could have just kicked and screamed and been upset and said, well, whatever, 592 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,880 you know, I reached out to him and I said, hey. And he just totally 593 00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,600 forgot, which for Tim in that moment was totally the Lord, because the Lord was 594 00:36:57,600 --> 00:36:59,840 already working on chipping up Tim's pride 595 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,840 and those types of things. And I didn't know that until later, but he said, 596 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:08,220 I am so sorry. Can we please get. Can we please, please still get together? 597 00:37:08,220 --> 00:37:11,860 And so we end up going to Toots and we have lunch together, and he 598 00:37:11,860 --> 00:37:14,620 spends an hour and a half telling me all about 599 00:37:15,900 --> 00:37:19,620 accolades and things he's doing, things he's involved with, just the 600 00:37:19,620 --> 00:37:23,420 kindest person. And we got to the end of that lunch, and I 601 00:37:23,420 --> 00:37:27,180 learned a whole lot about what he was doing. And the tab was paid. 602 00:37:27,260 --> 00:37:30,780 And I said, let's get together again. I think he was a little bit surprised 603 00:37:30,780 --> 00:37:33,980 that I invited him back out. I said, let's get together again. He said, okay. 604 00:37:33,980 --> 00:37:36,790 And I said, but next time we get together, I'd like to meet Tim Hooper. 605 00:37:40,540 --> 00:37:44,220 And that statement changed the trajectory of our friendship, 606 00:37:46,780 --> 00:37:50,500 because I wanted to know beyond the surface. I wanted to 607 00:37:50,500 --> 00:37:54,300 know more than what everybody else got to see, because I could go on 608 00:37:54,300 --> 00:37:57,900 Facebook to find that out. I wanted to know his heart. 609 00:37:59,180 --> 00:38:02,740 And because we were intentional with each other, we now have, 15 610 00:38:02,740 --> 00:38:05,460 years later, a bond that I could call him and ask him to get on 611 00:38:05,460 --> 00:38:09,180 a plane tomorrow and he'd be here in three seconds. Seconds. And vice versa. 612 00:38:09,660 --> 00:38:13,100 He has walked alongside me and been a confidant on things that 613 00:38:13,420 --> 00:38:17,260 on so many different church. I say, church matters, life 614 00:38:17,260 --> 00:38:21,100 matters, business matters, school Matters, 615 00:38:21,100 --> 00:38:24,820 all of the things, and vice versa. We play pivotal roles in 616 00:38:24,820 --> 00:38:28,380 our lives and we have talked intentionally 617 00:38:28,860 --> 00:38:31,740 and verbally about being covenant friends. 618 00:38:33,990 --> 00:38:36,790 That's a weird relationship in the earth and the world, 619 00:38:37,910 --> 00:38:40,870 but it's exactly what we're called to be in the kingdom. 620 00:38:41,990 --> 00:38:45,670 And it works because he and I both bring our fragments to the Lord. 621 00:38:46,150 --> 00:38:49,950 He makes us whole and then we come together and we grow in 622 00:38:49,950 --> 00:38:53,590 him. Jonathan did not try to control 623 00:38:53,590 --> 00:38:56,950 David's next step. He didn't say, don't forget me because you're King. 624 00:38:57,190 --> 00:39:01,030 He didn't give instructions, warnings or ultimatums. He released 625 00:39:01,030 --> 00:39:04,430 David because he trusted God more than he clung to the 626 00:39:04,430 --> 00:39:07,950 relationship. Many of us live with a burden that God 627 00:39:07,950 --> 00:39:11,150 never asked us to carry. We're trying to fix people, manage 628 00:39:11,230 --> 00:39:14,870 outcomes, protect futures. But your job isn't to 629 00:39:14,870 --> 00:39:18,070 change anyone. Your job is to be faithful and let the Holy Spirit do the 630 00:39:18,070 --> 00:39:21,790 transforming. Jonathan died in battle. 631 00:39:22,030 --> 00:39:25,830 Listen to this. He dies in battle next to his 632 00:39:25,830 --> 00:39:29,650 father, being loyal and allegiant to 633 00:39:29,650 --> 00:39:32,170 the king, the one who was going to kill his best friend. 634 00:39:33,530 --> 00:39:37,130 He never sat next to David on the throne. He never reaped the 635 00:39:37,130 --> 00:39:40,250 benefit of the love that he rendered to David. 636 00:39:40,970 --> 00:39:44,410 He never saw the fulfillment of his sacrifice. But David 637 00:39:44,570 --> 00:39:48,370 never forgot him. And when the 638 00:39:48,370 --> 00:39:51,530 news reached David, he wept and he wrote a lament. And he said this. 639 00:39:53,620 --> 00:39:57,420 I grieve for you, Jonathan, my brother. You were very dear to 640 00:39:57,420 --> 00:40:01,260 me. Your love for me was wonderful. More 641 00:40:01,260 --> 00:40:03,780 wonderful than that of a woman. 642 00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:09,580 He didn't write that romantically, he wrote 643 00:40:09,580 --> 00:40:13,380 that covenantially. He wrote that from a 644 00:40:13,380 --> 00:40:17,220 deep place that so many shallow people will never reach 645 00:40:17,720 --> 00:40:21,280 when they don't allow the power, the transformative work of Jesus 646 00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:23,480 Christ to do its work in their life. 647 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,200 There is deep connection available for everyone 648 00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:31,240 in this place. If you want it. 649 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,640 Many of you would raise your hand and say, I want a Jonathan in 650 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:40,400 my life. I want a Jonathan in my life. If you weren't 651 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,660 prideful enough, some of you would raise your hand and say, I want a Jonathan 652 00:40:43,730 --> 00:40:46,050 Jonathan in my life. Here's the thing. 653 00:40:48,530 --> 00:40:52,210 I can't guarantee that there will be a Jonathan in your life. 654 00:40:52,210 --> 00:40:55,450 But if you want a Jonathan in your life, let me give you the first 655 00:40:55,450 --> 00:40:58,690 step. Start being a Jonathan to somebody else. 656 00:40:59,810 --> 00:41:03,530 Start exuding the selfless love of Jesus on 657 00:41:03,530 --> 00:41:06,850 someone else. And all of a sudden you will find yourself in 658 00:41:06,850 --> 00:41:10,620 extraordinary relationships that you never thought possible. Life 659 00:41:10,780 --> 00:41:14,300 changing relationships and friendships that you never thought 660 00:41:14,380 --> 00:41:17,100 possible. Because when the Holy Spirit gets involved, 661 00:41:17,820 --> 00:41:20,540 fullness abounds. Fullness 662 00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:23,820 abounds. And Guys, 663 00:41:24,620 --> 00:41:28,180 God desires for you to be whole. God 664 00:41:28,180 --> 00:41:31,860 desires for you to be whole. Worship team, you can come back. We 665 00:41:31,860 --> 00:41:35,420 live in a fractured world, a world of partial 666 00:41:35,420 --> 00:41:39,260 presence, conditional love and self protection disguised as wisdom. 667 00:41:40,770 --> 00:41:44,570 We crave deep relationships, but we're afraid of giving too much of 668 00:41:44,570 --> 00:41:48,290 ourselves. So we just offer enough to be included, but not enough to 669 00:41:48,290 --> 00:41:52,090 be changed. Yet in the scriptures, we see a 670 00:41:52,090 --> 00:41:55,650 different way, a better way. The story 671 00:41:55,650 --> 00:41:59,250 of David and Jonathan offers us a glimpse of 672 00:41:59,250 --> 00:42:01,810 selflessness, covenant 673 00:42:02,930 --> 00:42:06,780 and friendship. It's not perfect, people relating 674 00:42:06,780 --> 00:42:08,940 to one another. It's wholeness, 675 00:42:10,380 --> 00:42:14,140 loving with everything you've got. I don't believe 676 00:42:14,140 --> 00:42:17,980 that Jonathan's story is just a story of friendship. It's 677 00:42:17,980 --> 00:42:21,500 a blueprint for wholeness in relationship, selfless covenant, 678 00:42:21,900 --> 00:42:25,180 vertical strength. And it empowers us 679 00:42:25,500 --> 00:42:28,860 on the horizontal to sacrifice our will. 680 00:42:29,500 --> 00:42:33,250 What we see, how we want to receive, respond. Jonathan 681 00:42:33,410 --> 00:42:37,250 lived whole and you can too. 682 00:42:38,370 --> 00:42:41,890 He loved whole, he died whole. God 683 00:42:41,890 --> 00:42:45,250 desires that for you not to operate out of wounds or fear, 684 00:42:45,650 --> 00:42:49,290 but out of a full place with him. To love from the 685 00:42:49,290 --> 00:42:50,930 overflow, not the deficit. 686 00:42:52,850 --> 00:42:55,730 And so this begs the question, 687 00:42:58,140 --> 00:42:59,180 what if they never change? 688 00:43:02,220 --> 00:43:04,460 What if they never change? 689 00:43:06,620 --> 00:43:10,220 Have you spent years of your life trying 690 00:43:10,220 --> 00:43:14,020 and working so hard to get them to do or be 691 00:43:14,020 --> 00:43:17,780 or say something that they're not going to do? What if they 692 00:43:17,780 --> 00:43:21,340 never change? The litmus test of your wholeness is 693 00:43:21,340 --> 00:43:24,890 will you still choose to love them despite the fact that they're not 694 00:43:24,890 --> 00:43:25,450 changing? 695 00:43:28,650 --> 00:43:31,050 Because your security does not come from them. 696 00:43:32,890 --> 00:43:36,610 What you need does not come from that place. What 697 00:43:36,610 --> 00:43:40,010 you need comes from the source, from the God who 698 00:43:40,010 --> 00:43:43,770 breathes stars. David didn't love 699 00:43:43,770 --> 00:43:47,490 Jonathan because David earned it. He didn't remain 700 00:43:47,490 --> 00:43:51,300 loyal to Saul because Saul deserved it. It. He 701 00:43:51,300 --> 00:43:54,860 loved because he was faithful. He loved because it was 702 00:43:54,860 --> 00:43:58,700 right. He loved because his relationship with God empowered him to do so. 703 00:43:59,420 --> 00:44:02,380 Guys, we often withhold love until we see improvement. 704 00:44:03,100 --> 00:44:06,220 But Jonathan reminds us, true love is not reactive, 705 00:44:06,620 --> 00:44:10,060 it's proactive. It moves first. Love 706 00:44:10,540 --> 00:44:11,740 moves first. 707 00:44:14,060 --> 00:44:17,810 Love moves first. It's not a 50, 50 708 00:44:17,890 --> 00:44:21,370 thing. It's not a I'm going to wait until you meet me right here in 709 00:44:21,370 --> 00:44:24,530 the middle. Love says, I'm going to do the whole hundred yard sprint. 710 00:44:25,090 --> 00:44:28,450 And if you don't respond to me, it doesn't matter because your 711 00:44:28,450 --> 00:44:31,010 actions are not a prerequisite to my love. 712 00:44:32,930 --> 00:44:36,650 And this is exactly how Jesus treated us. Who do 713 00:44:36,650 --> 00:44:40,130 we see that looks like Jonathan's looking like in scripture? 714 00:44:40,130 --> 00:44:43,940 It's Jesus Christ. He gave up everything, 715 00:44:44,500 --> 00:44:48,260 every position, every status. He gives it up for 716 00:44:48,260 --> 00:44:51,780 you and me. And he says, I'm going to love you with a 717 00:44:51,780 --> 00:44:55,460 selfless type of love. I'm going to see you 718 00:44:55,940 --> 00:44:59,740 even when you don't see me. I'm going to be a part 719 00:44:59,740 --> 00:45:03,500 of your life, says Jesus Christ. Even if you don't give me 720 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:07,260 anything back, I'm here. Oh, that 721 00:45:07,260 --> 00:45:10,140 we would be a people that would love in this way. 722 00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:13,900 I want Jonathan's in my life. 723 00:45:16,060 --> 00:45:19,580 I want to love in a weird way that the world looks at and says, 724 00:45:19,580 --> 00:45:22,140 what's that about? And they have two choices. They can talk about it, or they 725 00:45:22,140 --> 00:45:25,980 can come and receive what they need. I want to exemplify 726 00:45:26,140 --> 00:45:29,700 Jesus through being compassionate and 727 00:45:29,700 --> 00:45:33,300 sensitive and kind, but also be able to rise up as a 728 00:45:33,300 --> 00:45:37,070 warrior in the time when I need to draw sword. I want 729 00:45:37,070 --> 00:45:40,510 somebody who will have my back in the midst of battle. 730 00:45:41,630 --> 00:45:45,110 I want somebody who will weep with me when I need to 731 00:45:45,110 --> 00:45:48,830 cry. I want somebody in my 732 00:45:48,830 --> 00:45:52,590 life who will lift my arms up when it seems like everybody else has 733 00:45:52,590 --> 00:45:53,470 turned their back. 734 00:45:56,990 --> 00:46:00,350 And I'm so grateful to the Lord that I've got a couple 735 00:46:00,350 --> 00:46:03,280 individuals in my life that serve in that way. 736 00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:09,280 But it takes me waking up every morning, laying 737 00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:13,000 down my fragmented, broken life and choosing to love like 738 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:14,480 Jesus loves. 739 00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:20,320 Won't you do the same? Won't you love 740 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:24,160 like Jonathan? Won't you love like Jesus? 741 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:26,000 Would you stand with me today? 742 00:46:30,010 --> 00:46:32,410 Some of you have come into this place. If you're going to pray with people, 743 00:46:32,410 --> 00:46:34,330 come on forward. Some of you come in this place and 744 00:46:37,530 --> 00:46:41,130 maybe this message resonated with you because. Excuse me, 745 00:46:41,130 --> 00:46:44,090 because you're lonely 746 00:46:45,530 --> 00:46:49,210 and you're like, Kevin, you're right. I long for deep 747 00:46:49,210 --> 00:46:52,890 connection and friendship. And I'm trying and I'm trying 748 00:46:52,890 --> 00:46:55,320 and I'm trying. Or maybe you're in a place you say, I've just thrown in 749 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,060 the the towel. Well, 750 00:46:59,780 --> 00:47:03,180 it is not a coincidence that you're here this morning. The Holy Spirit of 751 00:47:03,180 --> 00:47:06,700 God is here this morning to help remind 752 00:47:06,700 --> 00:47:10,380 you that he can fill every crevice and 753 00:47:10,380 --> 00:47:14,180 hole that you've got in your life. That pain, that 754 00:47:14,180 --> 00:47:17,980 wound, that hurt. He sees it. He sees the scars and 755 00:47:17,980 --> 00:47:20,660 the holes that other people placed in your life. 756 00:47:25,310 --> 00:47:28,510 Some of you need the Holy Spirit to open up your tear ducts and allow 757 00:47:28,510 --> 00:47:31,750 some tears to be released, because that's going to be the only way that you 758 00:47:31,750 --> 00:47:33,230 achieve the healing that you're after. 759 00:47:35,390 --> 00:47:39,150 Can I tell you there's some Jonathan's in this room that will literally hold you 760 00:47:39,150 --> 00:47:42,430 as you weep. I know 761 00:47:42,750 --> 00:47:44,510 because I've been held by some of them. 762 00:47:46,590 --> 00:47:49,720 So this morning. Now, you can be hard, 763 00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,240 just whatever, or you can say, 764 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:57,880 jesus, I need you to lavish your love on me so that I can lavish 765 00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:01,720 it on others. And I'd be remiss to think that there aren't other 766 00:48:01,720 --> 00:48:05,080 needs in this place. Medical issues, sicknesses. 767 00:48:05,960 --> 00:48:09,480 Guys, the God that breathes stars is here this morning and will meet with 768 00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:13,120 you. You don't have to leave the same way you came. Let's 769 00:48:13,120 --> 00:48:13,640 worship.