Gentleness is often mistaken for weakness—but what if it's actually strength under control?

In Part 8 of the Life on the Vine series, Martin Chairez explores the fruit of the Spirit known as gentleness and shows how Jesus demonstrated incredible strength through humility, compassion, and self-control. Discover how God's kingdom calls us beyond aggression and passivity into a life that restores others and reflects the heart of Christ.

Key Scriptures: Galatians 5:22–23 • Matthew 11:29 • Matthew 21 • Matthew 8 • Matthew 12 • Matthew 26

00:00 Welcome and Worship

00:21 Pentecost and Languages

02:23 Fruit of the Spirit

06:06 Aggression vs Passivity

07:11 Defining Gentleness

12:48 Gentleness in Matthew

21:22 Postures and Church Formation

23:30 Moving Beyond Extremes

32:14 Jesus Authority in Action

34:29 Healing the Outcast

38:29 Faith of the Centurion

42:21 Restoring the Marginalized

44:05 Isaiah Fulfilled Today

46:09 Communion Reflection and Prayer

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OC Church of Christ

Morning.

2

Good morning, OC Church.

3

Good morning.

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Uh, let's give a hand here to

our Spanish ministry worship team

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for because we're up there, and

every now and then we catch the

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Holy Spirit and get a little louder.

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Um, but no, it's been great to be here.

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Speaking of the Holy Spirit, in

Acts chapter two, as the Holy Spirit

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descends on the young congregation

and Peter is empowered, uh, to preach

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to people who were from other lands

visiting Jerusalem at the time.

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There are these amazing signs,

sounds, and sights, uh, that pull

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the people to come towards Peter to

hear the Gospel for the first time.

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And it's interesting that the people

in response to all the miraculous

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things they are seeing, if you go

back to Acts chapter two, what they

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say is, "We hear you declaring the

wonders of God in our native language."

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Wow.

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Signaling to us that even though those

people were not from Jerusalem, they

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spoke their own native language, it

was important to the Holy Spirit.

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It was a priority to the Holy Spirit to

deliver the message of the resurrected

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Lord in people's native language.

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Amen.

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The Spirit did not call them to

assimilate to one dominant language,

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but the Spirit embraced and spoke to

everyone in their native language.

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And that's a little bit of what God

is up to in the OC Church, as we

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are one church with three languages.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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Our Korean ministry is at, upstairs having

their own service, and maybe one day

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we'll have a trilingual worship service.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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Only if there's food after.

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Can I get an amen?

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Amen.

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Amen to that.

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As we continue our study here in this,

of the Holy Spirit life on the vine-

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Let's read this passage once again.

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In Galatians chapter 6 verse 22

it reads, "But the fruits of…

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But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace, forbearance,

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kindness, goodness, faithfulness."

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And you've done those studies,

and today we will do gentleness

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In a few weeks, we'll conclude with

self-control, and Paul goes on to say,

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"Against such thing there is no law."

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Let's keep reading a little bit.

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"Those who belong to Christ have crucified

the flesh with its passions and desires.

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Since we live by the Spirit, let

us keep in step with the Spirit.

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Let us not become conceited,

provoking and envying each other."

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That's a no no.

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And Paul continues and says, "Brothers

and sisters, if someone is caught

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in a sin, you who live by the

Spirit should restore that person

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gently."

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But watch yourselves or

you may also be tempted.

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And we can summarize that that possible

temptation is whatever you've witnessed

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that person do and you don't wanna…

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Once you hear it, you may be tempted.

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I guess there's room for that.

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But in the context of gentleness,

isn't it interesting that after the

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description of these nine fruits,

and the eighth one, gentleness, right

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after that, he includes gentle again?

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He says, "You should restore that

person gently, but watch yourselves

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or you also may be tempted."

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And he continues to say, "Carry each

other's burdens, and in this way

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you will fulfill the law of Christ."

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You ever been restored in

your faith after a mistake?

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You ever been corrected when you were

off and you look back and you can say,

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"Man, so grateful for that conversation.

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It changed me.

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Someone said it to me in a

way that I needed to hear it."

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Is that not true?

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Yeah, that's in our past.

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There's also other experiences

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Where we may still carry a hurt or a

wound because of the way that things

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were done or expressed that didn't

include the fruit of gentleness.

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As a result of those experiences, we

then end up picking different types of

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habits as to how we encounter one another

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And we'll either ignore because

we don't wanna go there or we

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don't wanna sound harsh, right?

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Or we're just kind of sitting

in seats of judgment looking for

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what mistakes people are making.

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Those are two extremes

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I'm gonna need some help today.

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So can I get you guys to pass me these,

uh, uh, stools right here, please?

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I wanna introduce you my, uh,

co-partners in this lesson

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Church, meet aggression.

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Everybody say, "Hi, aggression."

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Hi, aggression.

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Let's be nice to aggression

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And church, please meet passivity.

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Everybody say, "Hi, passivity."

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Hi, passivity.

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Passivity's like, "Eh."

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Aggression and passivity, two extremes.

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Both make assumptions about what

gentleness is, but they miss it.

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Yeah.

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But we're gonna help really see in

scripture today what gentleness is.

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Please turn your Bibles to Matthew 7:29.

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We'll get there soon, but first a little

bit more dialogue in preparation for that.

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One of the definitions in scripture

about gentleness is gentleness

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is a strength under God's reign.

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Gentleness is not a weakness.

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Gentleness is a strength that

submits itself under God's reign.

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And here's the kicker.

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It is exercised with humility

for the good of others.

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So gentleness is a strength

submitted under God's reign that

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is exercised for the good of others

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The way aggression understands

gentleness is correcting others

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because I feel worried for you.

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So the protagonist for aggression

in the correcting one another, in

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the restoring one another, is the

fears and concerns of aggression.

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That's not gentleness.

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Are you with me right here?

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The filter of passivity of gentleness is,

"Pff, you know, everybody's got free will.

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Whatever you wanna do.

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No judgment here."

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And that is standing in

contrast to aggression.

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These two are rivals.

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They don't get along.

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They don't like each other

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Can I, can you just nod?

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Can you, can you, can we engage here?

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Like, don't leave me alone here

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And so it is important for us

to not miss what gentleness is.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Because all of us lean towards

aggression or passivity.

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It could be a default.

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Sometimes it depends on the context.

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In certain spaces, there's a

leaning towards aggression.

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In other spaces, we're here

again leaning towards passivity.

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But what the Spirit is forming in

the Christian community is a fruit,

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these eight, these nine, but including

gentleness, that we would be able

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to restore one another gently, not

with the posture of aggression and

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that filter- Yeah … and not with

the distance withdrawal of passivity

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I'll just pray for you.

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Sometimes it's, that's applicable,

sometimes not, but the point is the

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Spirit wants to form gentleness in us.

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In our modern-day imagination or

association of gentleness, uh, it's

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definitely not viewed as a strength.

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It could be viewed as a weakness,

as someone is just a nice person.

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And we'll s- use, uh,

sentiments of charity of s-

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there was such a gentle soul.

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There, there's not necessarily

something wrong with that, but what

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I'm trying to recover is sometimes we

can associate gentleness and remove

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the strength that comes from gentleness

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Amen?

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So that's where we're at.

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In the book, Life on the Line,

this chapter is titled Cultivating

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Gentleness in the Midst of Aggression.

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And the author goes on to critique

our modern-day culture, I would say

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our modern-day cultures, 'cause there

isn't one culture, there's multiple

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cultures, and the glorification of these

cultures of violence, all the way from

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entertainment to our word usage, to

our, you know, how we interact with one

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another, how we wanna solve problems.

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And so the author pins, uh, or

describes this permanent tension

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between gentleness, what the Spirit is

trying to form in God's community and

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God's people, and aggression, what the

modern-day cultures are forming in us.

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There is no violence in the Kingdom of God

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There is no manipulation

in the kingdom of God.

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Amen.

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There's no passivity that's

embraced in the kingdom of God.

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Amen.

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So we need gentleness.

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Now gentleness is not a halfway

between aggression and passivity.

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Gentleness is something

completely different.

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Wonderful.

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It's the way of the kingdom.

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Amen.

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So Paul has described the fruit of

the spirit, which includes gentleness.

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Matthew…

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And why Matthew?

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Because in the Spanish ministry

we've been studying out Matthew,

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so that's the world that we're in.

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Matthew uses gentleness as

well, and it's the same word.

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And so Jesus, in the Sermon of the Mount,

He says, "Blessed are the meek," or

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another word, humble, or another word,

gentle, "for they will inherit the earth."

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The filter of aggression hears that,

"Meek people inheriting the earth?

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What a waste

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What's it gonna produce

with a bunch of meek people?

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What a waste of creation.

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Because aggressiveness, aggression

does not understand gentleness.

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Passivity, I'm gonna

get my steps in today,

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here's that passage and says, "Great.

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We don't have to do anything.

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We're just gonna receive it,"

'cause they assume they are gentle.

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But gentle is not passivity.

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Remember Paul?

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Paul says, "Restore one another gently."

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You can't engage with someone

else's struggle in passivity.

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So passivity sees itself as

a recipient of the blessing.

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Aggression sees itself as

what a waste of that blessing.

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But if we come back to Jesus,

His intent in His kingdom is to

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form a people that are gentle.

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And th- that's just one of the

Beatitudes, and He goes on, uh, uh, in

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the Sermon on the Mount a- about other,

uh, qualities that describe kingdom.

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One of the things that we discovered

in studying the Sermon of the Mount

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was that everything that Jesus is

teaching in the Sermon of the Mount

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equals to two things: one, who He is.

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Everything He teaches in the Sermon on the

Mount is a description of who Jesus is.

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Amen.

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He is humble.

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He mourns.

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He is salt and light.

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He doesn't judge.

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He doesn't cr- create, d- do miracles

and announce it to be praised.

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He does everything for

the glory of the Father.

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So everything Jesus is teaching,

He's also describing who He is.

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Amen.

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You with me?

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Yeah.

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He also, in the Sermon of the

Mount, is describing everything

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His ministry is going to be about.

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So everything He teaches in the Sermon

of the Mount, He then embodies it in His

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ministry through the rest of Matthew.

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So the Sermon of the Mount is a

lot of things, but two of those is

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the description of God's self and

a description of God's ministry.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And one of His formations is gentle.

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Later in Matthew in chapter 11, guess

how Jesus is gonna describe himself?

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And if you've been around

James Willis, he'll quote this

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scripture every three days.

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Jesus is gentle at heart.

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Of all the things that God's self,

that Jesus could have described

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himself as, he says, "I am gentle."

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So if you lean towards aggression,

you may wanna reconsider

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the strength of gentleness

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And if you lean towards passivity,

you may wanna reconsider that you

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may not be embodying gentleness

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In that same passage, what is Jesus doing?

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"Come, carry burdens with me.

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I'll carry them with you.

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I am gentle at heart.

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Let's do this together."

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Aggression depends on self.

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I gotta be the hero.

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I gotta go make it happen.

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I gotta do this.

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That's the filter how aggression

sees itself and others and

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filters God and scripture.

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Very dangerous

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Passivity does the same thing.

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It misses.

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It just wants to be carried.

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Let others do it.

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It doesn't participate

faithfully in the mission, in

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the life of the kingdom of God.

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Are you with me right here?

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Yes.

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And later in Matthew chapter 21-

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A prophet is quoted as

Jesus enters Jerusalem.

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And of all the descriptions

of this prophetic entry

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Matthew chooses to describe

Jesus as a gentle king.

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Your king comes to you

gentle, riding on a donkey.

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During that time of Passover,

people are, you know, in the city.

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There's all, crowds all over.

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You need more police.

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You need more armed forces.

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You, you need more of your Roman army.

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And so on one side, here's Jesus riding

gently on a donkey into the city,

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and on the other side of the city,

you have the Roman soldiers marching

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in on foot, horses with weapons.

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The contrast between kingdom

and empire coming into the city

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So gentleness is a strength.

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Gentleness is who God is.

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Amen.

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And gentleness does not

get along with aggression.

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And gentleness interrupts

deeply the posture of passivity.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And so let's go back here one slide.

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I wrote this, it's God's way of

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exercising authority.

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Amen.

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The Spirit forms us to

reflect Christ's likeness.

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Is that not what the Spirit's up to?

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And so in Jesus, we witness

authority exercise without

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aggression and without passivity-

Right … always for the Father's

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glory and the restoration of others.

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Amen.

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Therefore, the Spirit forms a

community marked by gentleness- Amen

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that guides, welcomes, restores,

and bears one another's burdens

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rather than seeking self-protection.

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What was the sermon about today?

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This is the summary of my study

of gentleness, the chapter on

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Li- the book Life on the Vine,

and the content for today.

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So let's talk about our postures

before we read Matthew chapter 7

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Which one do you lean

towards the most, and why?

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And how did you get there?

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I'm going to assume that you're

like me, which means I spend more

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time in the posture of aggression

and passivity than gentleness

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But it's what the Spirit is trying to

form in me, in you, in our homes, in our

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family, in our fellowship, in our church.

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I'm going to venture to say

that in this new era of the OC

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Church, that we are being led and

ushered by God into something new.

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Those could be just words, but I'm

gonna choose to trust that God is

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living, present, and active in forming

the OC Church into one faithful

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community, three languages, and

restoring our relationships with God,

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with ourselves, and with one another.

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I'm gonna choose to believe that

when I stepped into the space of

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the OC Church and I interacted, the

Spirit is already present and at

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work forming us and forming the fruit

of the Spirit, all nine dynamics.

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And these are, these, the, these nine,

uh, fruits, let's say, they're not

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this checklist of self-help, you know,

things that we need to do more of.

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Rather, one, if it's the fruit

of the Spirit, that's who God is.

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Those are characteristics of God.

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As we have already noted, gentleness

is a characteristic of Jesus.

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He embodies the true, full

embodiment of gentleness.

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Amen?

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Amen.

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And two, that He's creating, God's

creating a new culture of how we

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interact with one another, that we can

get back to restoring one another gent-

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The challenge for that is not

gonna be God, it's going to be

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our assumptions, our hurts, right?

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And our dominant filters

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Something about passivity

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passivity

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has chosen passivity because it's safe

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Um, ch- passivity has

chosen to disengage because

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I used to be aggression

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And I don't wanna be aggression anymore.

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Because when I was aggression

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I heard a lot of people

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I use scripture

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that judged people and I regret it

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And I was so tired of just being

this hero, hero, and ugh, and just

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who's in, who's out, and all this,

ah, that I got so burned out that

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I chose a safe space, passivity

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challenges with passivity is

that now I miss being spiritual

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I actually feel alone a lot

'cause I don't have true genuine

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friends 'cause I'm guarded.

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Often, I actually don't even know

what's happening, and that bothers me.

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And I wanna blame people,

but, eh, whatever.

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So I'm just withdrawing.

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When I hear aggression, I just

get triggered, and I-- and it

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reassures me passivity is better.

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I don't wanna do that again

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aggression

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The dominant feeling

for aggression is fear

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Fear of passivity.

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Fear that you, me, all of

us will become passive.

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So I gotta be full of aggression.

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We need to go back

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I don't wanna be that.

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That bothers me.

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They need to change.

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For aggression, the

priority is you, not God

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It's your feeling is what leads.

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In fairness to aggression,

it's very well-intended.

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It wants the passive group

to be faithful to God.

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And they're active,

they're serving, right?

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You're caring, you're doing,

and you're really frustrated.

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Are you even a Christian?

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And passivity hears those tones and reads

between the lines, and hears some of us,

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and, "Ugh, here we go again."

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And they're fighting off one another

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And once passivity says, "You know what?

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I gotta get out of passivity," the misstep

is, "I gotta go back to aggression."

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And once aggression is burned

out, they're gonna go to passivity

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Oh, how the tables have turned, or

to quote the great Michael Scott,

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"Oh, how the turntables have turned."

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We gotta get a Office reference

there before he dies out.

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Amen.

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Can we make an assumption that

most of us have been in this

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Chair movement arrangement

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Can we consider how dangerous

it is when you read scripture

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from a posture of aggression?

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You're full of enemies

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Everything concerns you.

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It's a fear.

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You're gonna treat people that way.

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It's hard to pray 'cause you, the way you

treat others is how you treat yourself.

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You're just projecting

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That's not a gentle…

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That's not what the

Spirit is trying to form

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and passivity

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is also very dangerous

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'cause it lacks so much love

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The opposite of love is indifference

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In passivity, you see your

friends hurting, but you already

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said nothing for so long.

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And then what it starts

producing is a, just insecurity.

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You cease to learn how to discern because

all you do is, "Ah, I don't wanna, I

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don't wanna be harsh," so I say nothing

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But thanks be to God for God-

Amen … that we have a king, that we

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have a God who wants to move us out of

aggression and out of passivity, and

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not switch tables or chairs again, but

to embody, to be formed, to be gentle.

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Yes.

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To have a strength that's not self-reliant

or critical and safe, but a strength

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that submits to the living, present God

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That the motivation of gentleness is

not fear, but it's genuine, and it's

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not indifference, but it's genuine

love for the sake of the other

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I carry this.

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I carry your burden.

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I approach you.

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I initiate this conversations, not

because of my fear or concern, not because

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I, I, this is the right thing to do.

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No, it's because God calls me and

you to be, to love one another

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Because God is forming us to

be gentle, to be meek, to have

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that strength under God's reign

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And if you have a role of leadership, of

servitude, first and foremost, thank you.

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But could you please consider and

be attentive in the next 24 hours

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How aggression comes out

in the way you view others.

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And then when you notice it, pray.

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Identify.

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Write it down.

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What's the root issue?

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Talk to someone.

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Move into gentleness with the God

who's leading you and inviting you.

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And again, if you are in this role of

servitude or leadership, thank you.

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Pay attention to the next 24 hours, and

if you notice passivity, withdrawal,

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distance, indifference, cynicism, could

you be attentive that the Spirit just

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provoked you, interrupted you to wake

up, oh sleeper, and come to gentleness?

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Not go back to aggression, but

to engage in a God-centered way.

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Amen.

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All for the glory of God

and the benefit of others

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Now to close, let's read how

Jesus comes down the mountain

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after the Sermon of the Mount

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And it's very symbolic that He went

up to the mountain like Moses, but

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not Moses, because Jesus is God.

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And so instead of Moses receives the

law, 'cause he's human, Jesus sits

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there and reinterprets, gives the true

meaning of the law because He is God.

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Are you with me right here?

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And now there isn't a, a, a Moses that

comes down the mountain, but now it's

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God Himself, Jesus, that comes down.

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And Matthew is very intentional

to show us the first actions

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of Jesus after His sermon.

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And so in verse, chapter 8, verse…

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Or we're in 7:28.

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7:28.

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When Jesus had finished saying

these things, the crowds were

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amazed at His teaching because

He taught as one who had what?

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Authority, not as the teachers of the law.

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Again, the filter of

authority for aggression

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I'm the boss

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We need a boss.

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We need a king

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The filter of authority for passivity.

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Nobody wants none of that.

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They're all terrible.

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I'm gonna do whatever I want

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But the authority should not be condemned.

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We should move away from aggression,

filter of authority, or the definition of

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passivity, but what is God's authority?

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So very intentional, Matthew

draws this question, "Okay, what

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kind of authority does he have?"

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And now he's gonna show us Jesus is

gonna embody what this authority,

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what this gentleness is like.

448

Amen?

449

Amen.

450

Chapter 8, "When Jesus came down the

mountainside, large crowds follow him."

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Here's number one, "A man with

leprosy came and knelt before

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him and said, 'Lord, if you are

willing, you can make me clean.'

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Jesus reached out his

hand and touched the man."

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I know you've read this before probably,

but do you understand what's happening?

455

God comes down the mountain, and

the first thing he does is what?

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Touches who?

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The leper.

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God comes down the mountain,

and what does he do?

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He touches a man, a human being who is

in need, who is isolated, who has likely

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made some major mistakes in his life.

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And because of this disease that he has,

he's been isolated from his community.

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So we see the authority of

gentleness, the authority of

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Jesus that says, "I am willing."

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Aggression would interrogate the motives.

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Passivity would be like, "I

don't know if I'm the one.

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Can you get some help from someone else?"

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It's not that bad

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Gentleness says, "I am

willing," touches the man.

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Jesus is embodying what Paul

wrote before Matthew was written.

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Yes, Galatians was written before Matthew

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That Jesus is restoring

this person gently.

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And then he said, "Be clean."

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Immediately he was

cleansed from his leprosy.

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Then Jesus said to him, "See that you do

not tell anyone, but go, show yourself

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to the priest and offer the gift Moses

commanded as a testimony to them."

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Mark is gonna take us

somewhere else with the story.

477

Matthew just leaves it like this to show

us Jesus just preached, "I didn't come t-

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to abolish the law, but to fulfill it."

479

So He heals this man,

and what does He say?

480

"Hey, go fulfill the law."

481

And if this man were to go to the priest

after being cleansed, the priest would

482

examine him so that he's no longer a

danger for himself, he's no longer a

483

danger for the community, and the priest

would come out and shout and declare in

484

front of the community, "Clean, clean!"

485

And now everybody can welcome and

feel safe around that person, and

486

that person's no longer in isolation.

487

That person is now back and

restored into their community

488

Because that's what the

authority of gentleness does.

489

Again, what if aggression

were to meet this man?

490

Or what if passivity

were to meet this man?

491

Guess what?

492

You and I are this man.

493

And if we're sitting in passivity and

I recognize it, I hope you embody the

494

humility of this person who goes to

God and says, "If you're willing, you

495

can help me be freed from passivity."

496

If your filter and dominant instinct

is aggression, 'cause you think you're

497

in some kind of war and you're the

main warrior, I hope you have the

498

humility to go to the true gentle King-

499

And be, and ask for help because

you know you don't wanna be passive,

500

and you're right about that.

501

But you can't stay here

502

And you can be cleansed as well.

503

Jesus continues.

504

Verse eight, "Then the centurion replied,

'Lord, I do not deserve to have you…'"

505

Oh, sorry.

506

Uh, where am I?

507

Um, verse five, "When Jesus entered

Capernaum, a centurion, a Roman

508

soldier, came to him asking for help.

509

'Lord,' he said, 'my servant lies at

home paralyzed, suffering ter- terribly.'

510

Jesus said to him, 'I

shall come and heal him.'"

511

Say what?

512

What did Jesus say?

513

As a Jewish rabbi, I am willing to

go into the home of a Gentile family.

514

Not only that, the home of a servant

of one of the military leaders that's

515

hindering and hurting my people.

516

Mm.

517

Didn't Jesus not just

preach love your enemies?

518

And so he's embodying

everything that he just taught.

519

Gentleness is willing to go

520

Passivity says, "I'll get around to it.

521

I know, I know, I know I can do better.

522

I know

523

And three days later you're mad at

something, disappointed and bored

524

'cause you've not engaged spiritually

525

waiting for the answer to come,

for the program to be created,

526

for someone to carry you

527

Aggression, I don't even know if

aggression would approach Jesus, 'cause

528

aggression tends to have all the answers,

and it's usually someone else's fault

529

that they have to fix and repair.

530

But we see the embodiment of

gentleness right here, the Jesus

531

that's willing to go, and then surprise

532

The centurion replied, "Lord, I

do not deserve to have you come

533

under my roof, but just say the

word and my servant will be healed.

534

For I myself am a man under

authority with soldiers un- under me.

535

I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes,

and that one, 'Come,' and he comes.

536

And when I say to my servant,

'Do this,' he does it."

537

When Jesus heard this, He was amazed

and said to those following Him,

538

"Truly I tell you, I have not found

anyone in Israel with such great faith.

539

I say to you that many will come from the

east and from the west and will take their

540

places at the feast of Abraham, Isaac, and

Jacob in the, in the kingdom of heaven.

541

But the subjects of the kingdom

will be thrown outside into the

542

darkness where there will be

weeping and gnashing of the teeth."

543

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go!

544

Let it be done to you as

you have believed it would."

545

And the servant was healed at that moment.

546

Aggression would've seen

547

This foreigner, centurion, who's profiting

under the hardship of his people as

548

the problem that needs to be solved.

549

And yet Jesus sees the faith

and the humility to the point he

550

says, "I have not even seen this

kind of faith in all of Israel."

551

Again, passivity would have just

let the paralyzed servant die

552

It's just a consequence of the system

553

Gentleness is different.

554

Are you with me?

555

You guys need a little more energy here?

556

Are we- Yeah.

557

We're almost done.

558

Okay?

559

You're good?

560

Verse 14, "When Jesus came to Peter's

house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law

561

lying in bed with a fever.

562

He touched her and he, and the

fever left her, and she got

563

up and began to wait on him."

564

So now it's a woman, an elderly woman.

565

And when you read this, that she's

healed, it doesn't mean, okay, now,

566

you know, cook us some food, lady.

567

That's not what it means.

568

But it means when God helps

us, we start serving God.

569

So in recap of these three very

intentionally placed miracles as God

570

descends from the mountain is a Jewish

man isolated from his community now

571

guided to be connected to his community

572

Two, Gentiles or foreigners that are what?

573

That are welcomed into the Kingdom of God

and their faith is honored as they are.

574

They don't have to become a

Jewish faith to have faith.

575

They can be Gentiles and have

faith as Gentiles, and we see the

576

welcome of the foreigner by Jesus.

577

And the third most marginalized group in

this society was elderly women, widows,

578

that are now restored into life-giving

into their homes where they can faithfully

579

participate in the Kingdom of God

580

Let's close.

581

When evening came, many who were

demon-possessed were brought to

582

him, and he drove the spirits

with a word and healed the sick.

583

And this is where we're gonna land.

584

This was to fulfill what was

spoken through the prophet Isaiah.

585

He took up our infirmities

and he bore our diseases.

586

In other Gospels, this quotation

of Isaiah 53 is mainly associated

587

with Jesus on the cross.

588

You with me?

589

Yeah.

590

But not so for Matthew.

591

For Matthew, He took up our infirmities

and He bore our sins is not associated

592

with Jesus on the cross only, but mainly

it's associated with the ministry of Jesus

593

Is Jesus on the cross right now?

594

No.

595

Is Jesus present, living

and active in his ministry?

596

Yes.

597

Yes.

598

In fact, that's one of the main

themes of Matthew, God with us.

599

So what is God up to right now among us?

600

He's taking up our infirmities

and he's bearing our disease.

601

What is he doing?

602

He's leading us gently.

603

Yes.

604

Amen.

605

So aggression.

606

Don't wait for the big sign.

607

He comes to you in a gentle whisper

608

Passivity.

609

Life is short.

610

Time is short Yeah.

611

Remember the lo- the

love God has for you Mm.

612

And the love deep down you have for God

613

You don't need to go back to aggression.

614

You can embody gentleness for the

glory of the Father and for the

615

sake and restoration of others

616

We're gonna say a prayer

to take communion.

617

Here I have three questions for you to

just think about as you take communion.

618

I'm gonna pray, the questions will be

up there, we'll play some reflection

619

music, you can take communion.

620

After that, we'll have, uh, our offering.

621

Gentleness is one of the fruits

the Spirit is forming in us.

622

Gentleness is different from

both aggression and passivity.

623

As you reflect on today's

message, can you really think

624

about what interrupted you today?

625

Not from the speaker, but from

the scriptures, from the message.

626

Two, where do you notice your own

tendencies towards aggression or passivity

627

in contrast to God's way of gentleness?

628

Can you do some inventory?

629

And im- very important second question

to this one is, what impact has that

630

contrast had on your relationships?

631

You lean towards aggression, what

impact has it had on your relationship?

632

You lean towards passivity, same.

633

And finally, the Spirit is

cultivating the fruit of

634

gentleness in our church community.

635

How might the Spirit be inviting you

to participate in that formation?

636

Choose one of these questions, or like

we like to say in the Spanish ministry,

637

which of these questions has chosen you?

638

Let's pray, let's meditate, and take

communion as you finish your reflection.

639

God, we're so grateful that you are

living, present, and active in our

640

lives, that you do not abandon us in our

postures of aggression, that you do not

641

judge us or ignore us in our postures

of passivity, but that you come to us,

642

and you call us, and you summon us, and

you invite us to carry the burden with

643

you, to participate in this formation.

644

God, as we see the examples of the

embodiment of gentleness in Jesus,

645

help us to see what true leadership

is like in Scripture and how you call

646

us to restore one another gently.

647

As you have chosen maybe one of these

questions for us, help us to take to

648

heart what you are saying, to be attentive

to your interruptions in the next 24

649

hours, and to make decisions, God.

650

Thank you for the OC Church.

651

Bless this ongoing new era.

652

May we leave behind domination of

passivity or the domination of aggression.

653

May we embody the courage and

the strength of gentleness.

654

We love you, God.

655

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

656

Amen.