WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.480 Well, we are in our second week of a series that 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:05.379 we're just calling James because it is based 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:09.400 out of the book of James in your Bible. And this 00:00:09.400 --> 00:00:11.060 summer, we're going to have a handful of other 00:00:11.060 --> 00:00:15.199 people that will be preaching. And so Gary Ellis 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:17.059 is going to be coming up to the front. Gary is 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.620 a longtime pastor, has actually founded and begun 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:23.440 many ministries here in the Quad Cities as well 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.059 as doing international missions. And so I've 00:00:27.059 --> 00:00:30.059 been so blessed. to get to know him over this 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:32.600 last year and a half. And I'm excited to hear, 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:35.100 he has not preached in a year and a half, because 00:00:35.100 --> 00:00:40.299 that's when he retired. So he's, I guarantee 00:00:40.299 --> 00:00:45.880 you, no rust. He's that good. So will you please 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:50.179 give a warm welcome to Mr. Gary Ellis as he continues 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:58.299 to our series. Thank you. Thank you. I get to 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:03.740 be a big shot on a real nice stool here. Yeah, 00:01:03.780 --> 00:01:06.920 about a year and a half. Time flies, doesn't 00:01:06.920 --> 00:01:09.540 it? Because we've been here about a year and 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:13.700 a half. And it's hard to believe that it's been 00:01:13.700 --> 00:01:15.799 that time goes so fast. Of course, I don't understand 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:19.260 it. Maybe you understand it, that the older you 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:26.030 get, the faster time flies. And so anyway. We've 00:01:26.030 --> 00:01:28.370 been here for a year and a half, and the reason 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:31.790 that we are here is that we found a home at the 00:01:31.790 --> 00:01:40.030 house. We love Pastor Greg and Pastor Jen. We 00:01:40.030 --> 00:01:45.730 love and are on such a same page with the practical 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:49.170 theology of it, of the inclusion, of the way 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:52.129 that they seek and see the scriptures and how 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:56.359 they relate the scriptures. Love the people. 00:01:57.019 --> 00:02:01.459 Love all you. All you youngins. By youngins, 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:06.200 I mean anybody 60 and under. And I'm not going 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:07.900 to leave out the middle -agers. Those are 60 00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:12.139 to 80. And then once you reach 80, like myself, 00:02:12.300 --> 00:02:13.919 although I'm not sure if there's anybody else 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.919 in the house except my wife that's 80 years old, 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:20.780 you enter the golden age of senior weirdness. 00:02:24.490 --> 00:02:27.810 That you know like stuff like you develop a special 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:32.469 relationship with a guy named Arthur last name 00:02:32.469 --> 00:02:39.009 itis and I've forgotten a lot of stuff and don't 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:41.129 know what I don't even know what to remember 00:02:41.129 --> 00:02:45.810 and why I've forgotten it but a Couple of the 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:47.449 things just recently and then we'll get into 00:02:47.449 --> 00:02:49.810 today's lesson too But just letting you know 00:02:49.810 --> 00:02:52.490 a little bit about myself and my senior weirdness 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.120 Forgotten a lot of stuff. Don't know why I forgot 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.659 it, what I even forgot. The other day, though, 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.680 I remembered that I was looking for my glasses. 00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:06.340 Couldn't find them anywhere. Where in the world 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:08.759 did they go? Now, if you're jumping ahead of 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:10.740 me, you think, oh yeah, they're up on your head. 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:14.919 Nope. That's not where they were. They were on 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:22.020 my face. I also lost my phone the other day. 00:03:23.240 --> 00:03:26.280 I couldn't go into all the rooms, you know, even 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:28.740 in the bathroom, down in the basement. Where 00:03:28.740 --> 00:03:32.360 is my phone? So I finally said, honey, would 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:36.639 you call me so that I can find my phone? And 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.520 she said, sure. A few seconds later, my pocket 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:46.159 buzzed. So I forget things. The scripture passage 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.639 that we're talking about today out of James 1 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:53.360 is James 1, 13 to 27. And so we have a tradition 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:58.659 here at the house, our home, our home. We have 00:03:58.659 --> 00:04:01.740 a tradition that we give honor to the word of 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:03.919 God by standing during the reading of the word 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:06.699 of God. And you can either follow, try to follow 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:11.099 along, or you can just simply listen. But if 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:13.479 you could do that, if you are able to stand, 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:21.860 if not, that's fine too. James 1, 13 to 27. It 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:25.079 says, no one when tempted should say, I am being 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:28.579 tempted by God. For God cannot be tempted by 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:32.160 evil, and he himself tempts no one. But one is 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:35.779 tempted by one's own desire, being lured and 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:39.939 enticed by it. Then, when that desire is conceived, 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:43.560 it gives birth to sin. And that sin, when it's 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.879 fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:51.300 deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. Every 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:54.819 generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:58.139 is from above, coming down from the Father of 00:04:58.139 --> 00:05:01.699 lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow 00:05:01.699 --> 00:05:05.500 due to change. In fulfillment of his purpose, 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.699 he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that 00:05:08.699 --> 00:05:11.480 we would become a kind of first fruits of his 00:05:11.480 --> 00:05:15.930 creatures. You must understand this. My beloved 00:05:15.930 --> 00:05:18.209 brothers and sisters. And I like the way he's 00:05:18.209 --> 00:05:20.490 saying that. Gives you an idea of what the tone 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:23.269 is here. He's not shaking his finger, and he's 00:05:23.269 --> 00:05:26.410 not bringing out a whip. He's talking to brothers 00:05:26.410 --> 00:05:29.149 and, beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:33.170 be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. 00:05:33.370 --> 00:05:37.230 For human anger does not prove God, prove God's, 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:41.449 or produce God's righteousness. Therefore, rid 00:05:41.449 --> 00:05:44.089 yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth 00:05:44.089 --> 00:05:46.839 of wickedness. And welcome with humility the 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.459 implanted word that has the power to save your 00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:52.420 souls. But be doers of the word and not merely 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:56.399 hearers who deceive themselves. For if any hears 00:05:56.399 --> 00:05:59.600 of the word and are not doers, they're like those 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.259 who look at themselves in a mirror. They look 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:04.660 at themselves and on the way going out, they 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:08.519 immediately forget what they were like. But those 00:06:08.519 --> 00:06:10.759 who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:14.269 and persevere. Being not hearers who forget, 00:06:14.430 --> 00:06:18.230 but doers who act, they will be blessed in their 00:06:18.230 --> 00:06:21.029 doing. If any think they are religious and do 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:23.550 not brighten their tongues, but deceive their 00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:27.550 own hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:31.430 is pure and undefiled before God the Father. 00:06:31.629 --> 00:06:34.930 And it's this, to care for the orphans and widows 00:06:34.930 --> 00:06:38.110 in their distress and to keep oneself unstained 00:06:38.110 --> 00:06:43.540 by the world. Heavenly Father. We thank you today. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:48.319 We praise you for the precision of your word, 00:06:48.379 --> 00:06:52.060 the inspiration that corrects without condemning. 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:56.240 Spirit of God, we ask you today to open our eyes 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:01.399 and open our ears that we might see and we might 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:04.319 hear what you have to say to each of us individually 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:10.360 today. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:17.680 Well, the title, as you might guess from the 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.720 two minutes for one question, is What Have I 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:27.680 Forgotten? What Have I Forgotten? The subtitle 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:32.779 might be What Difference Does It Make? See, this 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:34.899 is the difference it makes. What you remember 00:07:34.899 --> 00:07:39.079 has a tremendous impact on how you are able to 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:43.560 cope with life. What you remember... We're not 00:07:43.560 --> 00:07:45.800 talking about remember that you're rot -gut sinners 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:49.519 that don't have anything good about you. Religion 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:54.339 tells us that, but it's not true. Religion tells 00:07:54.339 --> 00:07:57.500 us that, yeah, you're saved by grace, you're 00:07:57.500 --> 00:08:00.899 forgiven, but you're still guilty. You're just 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:04.259 not charged with guiltiness. You know, so much 00:08:04.259 --> 00:08:07.459 of the time, we point back to the sin focus. 00:08:08.579 --> 00:08:12.529 Religious Christianity focuses on sin. Rather 00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:15.930 than the power and gift of the cross of Christ. 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:20.089 And what we need to do is remember what we have 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:26.389 in Christ. And we need to start, I'm not downplaying 00:08:26.389 --> 00:08:30.029 that sin is not a good thing. It takes us off 00:08:30.029 --> 00:08:33.289 track. But it takes us away from who we really 00:08:33.289 --> 00:08:37.350 are in Christ. Because it's remembering who we 00:08:37.350 --> 00:08:41.389 really are in Christ forms how we think. And 00:08:41.389 --> 00:08:45.330 how we think is ultimately how we act. And so 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:50.389 what we think about is how we will respond. It's 00:08:50.389 --> 00:08:53.429 like, sister there has the t -shirt, be the change. 00:08:54.330 --> 00:08:58.330 We can become the change as we begin to think 00:08:58.330 --> 00:09:03.169 right. We are thinking right, righteous, as we 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:06.730 are thinking like Christ. That we are thinking 00:09:06.730 --> 00:09:10.230 like Christ. has given us the victory through 00:09:10.230 --> 00:09:14.629 him that he is indwelling us. It reminds me of 00:09:14.629 --> 00:09:19.789 James. James reminds me of Nehemiah 8. Now, Nehemiah 00:09:19.789 --> 00:09:23.870 8 is a story where the people had been dispersed, 00:09:23.970 --> 00:09:26.409 just like in James. They had been dispersed and 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:29.809 scattered about. They hadn't been in their own 00:09:29.809 --> 00:09:33.190 country for a while. It says that they sat by 00:09:33.190 --> 00:09:36.909 the side of the river and cried because they 00:09:36.909 --> 00:09:39.940 lost their... their own land. The land was really 00:09:39.940 --> 00:09:43.879 important to them. It was their identity. And 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:46.539 so they were kicked out of, separated from their 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:50.320 identity. And so now they were beginning to rebuild, 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:54.960 but they had forgotten a lot. And they had been 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:58.559 reprogrammed by a lot. And the same thing had 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:02.019 happened to the dispersion or the scattering 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:05.940 of the Jews in the book of James. They had forgotten. 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:11.779 who they were. They had begun to develop a lifestyle 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:15.740 and a thinking pattern of the world around them. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.559 Because, you know, that's the way it is. We are 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:21.879 formed by that which is around us. We are formed 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:25.179 by that which we allow ourselves to focus upon. 00:10:26.320 --> 00:10:29.840 And so James is really talking about what are 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:33.299 you focusing on? See, this is what you've been 00:10:33.299 --> 00:10:36.039 focusing on. You've been focusing on the old 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.159 ways of thinking. James is not saying you're 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:42.139 still sinners by nature. Well, you have what, 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:47.019 Gary? Jeremiah 9 -7 tells me that I'm a worthless 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:52.220 sinner. There's no good in me. Yeah, well, Paul 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:58.000 said, I'm a new creation. And when he uses the 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:05.759 word new, it's not renovated. It's new, never 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:11.679 before existed. So that means if what was existing 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:16.899 before was a sinner that was nothing but deception 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:20.679 in their own hearts, if you're brand new, then 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.480 that's not who you are. So then why do I still 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.919 do this? Well, Paul said the same thing, didn't 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:30.100 he, in Romans 7. He said, I want to do what I 00:11:30.100 --> 00:11:32.500 want to do. I don't do what I don't want to do. 00:11:32.539 --> 00:11:38.080 I do. do. I'm frustrated by it. But in the eighth 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.779 chapter, he says, but I found the answer. It's 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:46.080 discovering who I am in Christ. Discovering who 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:52.299 I am in Christ has given me the power to do what 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.779 the life of Christ is all about. In other words, 00:11:55.899 --> 00:12:00.000 his will on earth as it is in heaven. Sometimes 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:02.320 we're looking forward to, once I get out of this 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.539 dumpster fire, then I will be able to live like 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:10.759 Christ. You realize that Christ, when it says 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:12.480 you're going to have tribulation in the world, 00:12:12.620 --> 00:12:17.940 but be of good cheer, because I have overcome 00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:21.120 the world, he didn't have to overcome for himself. 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:29.149 He overcame, Andy, for you. You are already an 00:12:29.149 --> 00:12:34.289 overcomer. It may not feel like it. But our security 00:12:34.289 --> 00:12:38.250 is found not on our performance or our lack of 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:41.570 performance, but who we are already in Christ. 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:45.870 And it's believing, 2 Corinthians 5 .17, that 00:12:45.870 --> 00:12:50.809 I am a new creature. What I used to be, I am 00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:54.590 no longer. It may look like it because I need 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:59.519 to re -remember. who I really am. But as I remember 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:04.259 who I really am, you realize that we act like 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.379 who we think we are. Interesting story. It's 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:12.340 a parable. It's about a eagle that was raised 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:19.779 by chickens. And this eagle lived in the barnyard 00:13:19.779 --> 00:13:22.220 with the chickens. And occasionally, it would 00:13:22.220 --> 00:13:26.720 see the eagle fly over above. And it kind of 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.500 looked like him. But he wished, I wish I could 00:13:31.500 --> 00:13:37.799 fly. But I can't fly because I'm a chicken. Why 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:39.740 did he think he was a chicken? Because that's 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:44.000 all he saw around him. That's all he saw around 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.139 him. And we are very much, our lives are formed 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:49.980 by who we think we are. We get caught in this 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:53.100 trap so easily. Lord, I want to follow you, but 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:56.299 you know I'm just a failure at it. I feel so 00:13:56.299 --> 00:13:59.399 bad. Did you know that when God convicts us of 00:13:59.399 --> 00:14:03.940 our sin, he is not convicting us to make us feel 00:14:03.940 --> 00:14:10.500 bad. He is convicting us and convincing us, which 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:14.720 is what convicting means. He is working to convince 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:19.700 us who we really are. Because as we begin to 00:14:19.700 --> 00:14:25.480 believe who we really are, then that... Comes 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:31.379 with the power that changes things in a major 00:14:31.379 --> 00:14:35.159 way within us. Not instantaneously, but as a 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.960 process. So what happened? Jumping back just 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:45.240 a moment to Nehemiah chapter. They stood and 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.620 listened like we just did. But they started to 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:53.419 weep because they saw everywhere where they were 00:14:53.419 --> 00:14:58.480 sinners. Isn't that sometimes the way we respond 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:06.179 to verses like James 1, 13 to 27? We focus on 00:15:06.179 --> 00:15:12.179 what we're not and think that's who we are. Say 00:15:12.179 --> 00:15:15.720 that with me. I focus on what I'm not instead 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:22.820 of who I am. But God wants me to focus on who 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:28.179 I am. On who I'm not, not on who I am. You see, 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:31.980 are you still with me? Say, I'm still with you, 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:38.580 Gary. Okay. They were crying, and they were weeping, 00:15:38.580 --> 00:15:41.679 and God said something very weird through the 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:45.240 prophet Nehemiah. It's something I didn't realize. 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:48.279 I couldn't put my head around it for a long time. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.059 In fact, if you can get your head around something, 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:56.309 it may be not enough God. Because he is far beyond 00:15:56.309 --> 00:15:58.769 our understanding in so many ways. He's very, 00:15:58.830 --> 00:16:00.929 very practical, but he doesn't think totally 00:16:00.929 --> 00:16:03.850 like we think all the time. He is training us 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:07.190 to think more and more like him. But what he 00:16:07.190 --> 00:16:12.129 said was something like what Jesus said when 00:16:12.129 --> 00:16:15.049 he said, consider it all joy. He said, today 00:16:15.049 --> 00:16:21.289 is holy, therefore stop crying. But I thought 00:16:21.289 --> 00:16:24.600 holiness... was being somber about how bad I 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:31.580 am. Marissa? Right? But being holy is not being 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:35.100 somber. There's a place for somberness. There 00:16:35.100 --> 00:16:39.519 is a somber assembly. That's true. For specific 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:44.399 occasions. But not the sweeping, I'm just a sinner. 00:16:44.539 --> 00:16:47.399 Oh, I'm saved by grace, but I'm still just a 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:52.539 sinner. Because as we think that way, then that's 00:16:52.539 --> 00:16:56.720 how we act. We have no power to overcome. We're 00:16:56.720 --> 00:17:01.539 asked to remember over and over and over again 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:05.220 in the scriptures. Why? Because we've forgotten. 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:12.119 Because we've forgotten. There is a power in 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:17.259 remembering. There is a power in re -realizing 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:21.779 who we are in Christ. But once again, it is a 00:17:21.779 --> 00:17:27.559 process. And what he says is, consider today 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:31.359 holy, because this didn't make sense to me. Throw 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:36.420 a party. Because the joy of the Lord is your 00:17:36.420 --> 00:17:41.839 strength. They heard all the little things that 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:44.700 they were missing, and he tells them to stop 00:17:44.700 --> 00:17:48.980 crying, throw a party. Because it is the joy 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:51.579 of the Lord that is your strength. And how do 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:55.180 we get the joy of the Lord? By remembering who 00:17:55.180 --> 00:18:01.420 we are. We're constantly told to remember. One 00:18:01.420 --> 00:18:03.579 of the last things he said to us was to remember 00:18:03.579 --> 00:18:07.619 who he was. What was he saying to the people? 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:11.259 He was asking them to remember. There's several 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:13.920 things he was saying. But he was also saying, 00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:20.220 remember. I am the bread of life. And as I am 00:18:20.220 --> 00:18:24.359 giving part of this to you, I am giving my life 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:29.700 to you. The bread is the basics of life. I am 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:34.160 redeeming you from the pit of destruction. And 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:39.559 I am giving you myself, which is the bread of 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:43.480 life, so that you can have the life in every 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:48.410 practical area of your life. to be an overcomer, 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.910 rather than be pressed down by the sins of the 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:55.950 way of thinking that this world has trained you 00:18:55.950 --> 00:18:59.170 to think. Not because by nature you're a sinner, 00:18:59.309 --> 00:19:02.589 but because you've been retrained to think that 00:19:02.589 --> 00:19:07.869 way. Take a $10 bill. Fold it up. Get a little 00:19:07.869 --> 00:19:13.130 dirt on it. What's it worth? $10. It didn't lose 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:17.180 its value. And you haven't lost your value to 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:21.980 God. Say that with me. I have not lost my value 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:30.019 to God. No matter what. So, when he says in James 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:34.880 to consider it all joy, he's not saying, go hug 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.359 a cactus and be happy about it. Or, stub your 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.099 toe on the table in the dark and say, whoa, I 00:19:42.099 --> 00:19:48.170 needed that. Or he's also not saying, pull a 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.829 rusted nail out of your tire and sing how sweet 00:19:50.829 --> 00:19:54.950 it is. That's not what he's saying. He's not 00:19:54.950 --> 00:19:59.069 saying, go down the grocery store aisle and sing, 00:19:59.210 --> 00:20:04.990 while the prices are rising, hallelujah. He's 00:20:04.990 --> 00:20:09.269 not saying that. He's saying, change your focus 00:20:09.269 --> 00:20:14.579 from how you're not acting like Christ. how you're 00:20:14.579 --> 00:20:19.400 not the imago Dei, the imago Dei, how you're 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.299 not acting like the new creation in Christ, and 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.440 realize what I realized, Paul said, when I discovered 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:30.559 it's through Christ that I am a victor over all 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:35.599 of this stuff. Now, because we have become used 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.920 to the old way of thinking, and that has formed 00:20:40.920 --> 00:20:44.450 neurological paths in our thinking, looking at 00:20:44.450 --> 00:20:48.670 it scientifically. They used to think that your 00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:53.670 heads were like granite. Well, maybe some still 00:20:53.670 --> 00:20:57.789 are. They used to think that the brain was like 00:20:57.789 --> 00:21:01.730 cement. Once you got to be so old, everything's 00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:07.109 set. Then back several years ago, they began 00:21:07.109 --> 00:21:11.130 to discover something called neuroplasticity. 00:21:14.639 --> 00:21:18.299 Neuroplasticity simply means your brain can be 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:24.180 reprogrammed. And yet it's reprogrammed by what 00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:30.140 you listen to and what you say to yourself. Both 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:34.200 silently inside. You know, once I began to realize 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:38.940 that, Denise, I stopped saying, what's wrong 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:42.359 with you? I remember one time. You've heard this 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:45.740 story before, Denise. I remember one time when 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:50.019 I was, I can't even remember what it was anymore, 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:54.420 but I had done something again. You know, something, 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:57.799 put your old label in there. I had done something 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:02.019 again. And I went, and I threw, I can still see 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:05.240 it. I threw myself on the bed, and I said, God, 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:09.599 what is the matter with me? You know, he spoke 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:13.380 immediately. It was immediate, Marissa. That 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:17.660 voice, that perception of his words, it could 00:22:17.660 --> 00:22:20.460 have been out loud, said, I don't want to talk 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:23.079 to you about that. I want to talk to you about 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:28.819 what's right with you. A lot of you have been 00:22:28.819 --> 00:22:32.500 saying, how stupid could you be in calling yourself 00:22:32.500 --> 00:22:36.980 names? You need to stop it. It's not getting 00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:43.359 you any further ahead. You need to start letting 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:48.539 your brain be rewired because it can be. It changes 00:22:48.539 --> 00:22:52.079 even up to the personality changes in a certain 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:56.160 degree. What you were before, you are no longer. 00:22:56.259 --> 00:22:58.759 What you were just an angry person now becomes 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:02.680 a happy person. It's all about the power of how 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:06.220 we think. Wherever our focus goes, our energy 00:23:06.220 --> 00:23:10.690 flows, somebody said. So it counted all joy. 00:23:11.730 --> 00:23:19.150 Practical theology. Help us make this practical 00:23:19.150 --> 00:23:24.849 by rewriting this as if James lived in our culture 00:23:24.849 --> 00:23:28.190 in the first 2025. Because a lot of times we 00:23:28.190 --> 00:23:31.990 listen to scripture in terms of how it was written 00:23:31.990 --> 00:23:35.349 to the ancients. But what would it have been 00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:38.759 like if James had been alive today? And written 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:42.140 to us in 2025. What it might have sounded like. 00:23:44.299 --> 00:23:47.180 You might have said something like this. So let's 00:23:47.180 --> 00:23:50.460 clear this up right now. God didn't send the 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:55.079 storm to test you. God isn't the one setting 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:58.779 you up to fail. Then sitting back with arms folded 00:23:58.779 --> 00:24:02.400 to see how long you're going to last. To let 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:05.960 you know how disappointed he is in you. That 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:09.049 voice. isn't the voice of your heavenly father. 00:24:09.890 --> 00:24:14.630 That's the echo of fear, shame, and bad religion 00:24:14.630 --> 00:24:19.509 still lodged in your bones. Temptation doesn't 00:24:19.509 --> 00:24:22.730 come from God. It comes from the ache inside 00:24:22.730 --> 00:24:26.369 of you, the desire to be loved. See, we've been 00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:29.710 told it comes from we have an evil nature. That 00:24:29.710 --> 00:24:34.349 is not true. Not according to Paul. Not according 00:24:34.349 --> 00:24:37.900 to the scripture. Not even according to Nehemiah. 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:41.319 I mean, it's so ridiculous. Is it through a party? 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:49.059 Temptation doesn't come from God. It comes from 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:53.019 the ache inside, the desire to be loved, seen, 00:24:53.339 --> 00:24:57.220 wanted. But when we don't believe we're already 00:24:57.220 --> 00:25:00.759 loved, we start grabbing at shadows. And shadows 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:05.119 never satisfy. It starts small. It starts subtle. 00:25:05.710 --> 00:25:10.329 Just a tiny compromise to feel safe. The desire 00:25:10.329 --> 00:25:14.650 then turns to distraction. Now this is James 00:25:14.650 --> 00:25:17.589 writing to a 21st century audience. Or I mean 00:25:17.589 --> 00:25:23.549 the year 2025. Distraction grows into disconnection. 00:25:23.609 --> 00:25:26.069 And before you know it, your soul is starving 00:25:26.069 --> 00:25:29.890 in a room full of noise. And here's the dangerous 00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:35.150 part. We start calling the ache. God's will, 00:25:35.170 --> 00:25:41.930 our old nature. But it's not. It's just a soul 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:47.089 fretting and forgetting who he and she is. So 00:25:47.089 --> 00:25:50.089 don't be fooled, beloved. God is not chaotic 00:25:50.089 --> 00:25:54.289 like the algorithms. He doesn't shift with the 00:25:54.289 --> 00:25:57.690 stock market, political cycles, or trending hashtags. 00:25:58.589 --> 00:26:01.789 Every good thing, the kind that heals you instead 00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:06.809 of hooks you, comes from him. He's not the flicker. 00:26:07.150 --> 00:26:12.670 He's the father full of full light. And here's 00:26:12.670 --> 00:26:17.109 where it gets real. We weren't saved just to 00:26:17.109 --> 00:26:21.250 be safe. We were born again to become whole. 00:26:22.329 --> 00:26:28.210 You carry his DNA now. Say that with me. I carry 00:26:28.210 --> 00:26:34.960 his DNA now. So act like it. well, how am I going 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:37.720 to act like it? Because I'm learning to think 00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:42.240 like it. Not because you're learning, trying 00:26:42.240 --> 00:26:45.500 to earn something, but because your new nature 00:26:45.500 --> 00:26:50.619 is rising like spring transitioning from winter. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:58.359 Don't just binge sermons and scroll verses. Let 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:02.750 the word undo you. Let it get into your bones 00:27:02.750 --> 00:27:06.289 and rearrange the parts of you that forgot how 00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:10.650 to hope. God's not looking for hearers. He's 00:27:10.650 --> 00:27:13.549 looking for mirrors, people who reflect what 00:27:13.549 --> 00:27:17.150 they've received. Not perfectly, but honestly. 00:27:17.690 --> 00:27:22.529 When it's messy, faithfully, daily. Because here's 00:27:22.529 --> 00:27:26.329 the danger in 2025. We've gotten so good at curating 00:27:26.329 --> 00:27:29.150 a persona, we forgot how to cultivate a soul. 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:32.839 We've gotten so good at looking spiritual online 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:36.759 that we forget to look strangers in the eye with 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:40.420 compassion. And remember this, real faith shows 00:27:40.420 --> 00:27:45.599 up in the small unseen places. Like caring for 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.220 the overlooked and keeping your heart soft in 00:27:48.220 --> 00:27:52.539 a world built on performance and pretense. Refuse 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:54.960 to let the world's chaos become your compass. 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:58.279 Not because you're focused on falling apart. 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:01.819 It's because you're intimately known and know 00:28:01.819 --> 00:28:05.920 the one who holds you together. True religion 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:09.180 is this. Care for the people the world overlooks. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:12.839 Widows, orphans, people with no platform, no 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:16.539 protection, no voice. It's showing up when no 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:19.500 one's watching. Loving the forgotten, feeding 00:28:19.500 --> 00:28:23.059 the hungry, visiting the isolated, and keeping 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:27.339 your soul clean in a dirty world. Not by escaping 00:28:27.339 --> 00:28:31.799 it. but by staying rooted in the better way who 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:35.720 you are in Christ. So the title of the sermon, 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:39.920 What Have I Forgotten? Yes, what have I forgotten? 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.900 I've forgotten who I am in Christ. And when the 00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:49.119 old ways of thinking start creeping in and we 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.299 start becoming fearful and angry, ask yourself 00:28:52.299 --> 00:28:55.579 this question. And when you wake up in the morning 00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:58.759 worried about the day ahead is going to be, Ask 00:28:58.759 --> 00:29:01.859 yourself this question. Wait a minute. What have 00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:07.559 I forgotten? What have I forgotten? I am carrying 00:29:07.559 --> 00:29:13.579 his DNA. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:18.420 This old stuff is gone. I don't have to act like 00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:22.319 it. And then you begin. This neuroplasticity 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.960 starts changing the way you think. And the way 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:29.769 you think. Little by little starts changing the 00:29:29.769 --> 00:29:32.309 way you act. Jonathan Martin, and I'm getting 00:29:32.309 --> 00:29:34.250 ready to have the plane come in for a landing. 00:29:35.849 --> 00:29:38.529 Jonathan Martin, who's a pastor and author and 00:29:38.529 --> 00:29:43.109 a practical theologian, said this. When you know 00:29:43.109 --> 00:29:50.329 your beloved, the lies lose their grip. When 00:29:50.329 --> 00:29:56.109 you know your beloved, the lies... lose their 00:29:56.109 --> 00:30:00.849 grip. Here's another one that he said. The power 00:30:00.849 --> 00:30:04.809 to overcome doesn't come from trying harder. 00:30:05.089 --> 00:30:15.869 It comes from remembering who you are. Let me 00:30:15.869 --> 00:30:25.619 finish with this. It's about the joy that comes 00:30:25.619 --> 00:30:28.319 from waking up more and more to what it really 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:30.839 means to be a new creation, even while everything 00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:36.440 around you feels like a dumpster fire. How many 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:40.119 of you would remember the song that's been out 00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:43.799 a few years by Lauren Daigle called You Say? 00:30:46.039 --> 00:30:50.700 That's what I'd like to end with today. I keep 00:30:50.700 --> 00:30:55.039 finding voices in my mind. that say I'm not enough. 00:30:56.119 --> 00:31:03.240 You're enough. You are enough. I keep fighting 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:07.259 voices in my mind that say I'm not enough. Every 00:31:07.259 --> 00:31:10.680 single lie that tells me I will never measure 00:31:10.680 --> 00:31:15.920 up. Am I more than just the sum of every high 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:19.460 and every low? Remind me once again just who 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:24.359 I am because I need to know. You say I'm loved 00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:29.059 when I can't feel a thing. You say I am strong 00:31:29.059 --> 00:31:33.980 when I think that I am weak. And you say I am 00:31:33.980 --> 00:31:38.720 held when I'm falling apart. And when I don't 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:44.759 belong, oh, you say I am yours. And I believe. 00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:52.519 I believe. I am enough. I do measure up. I am 00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:57.900 relearning who I am in Christ. And as James reminds 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:01.079 me what the old thinking looks like, I remember 00:32:01.079 --> 00:32:05.700 that, wait a minute, I'm not that anymore. I'm 00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:10.319 a new creation. In the era of politics, where 00:32:10.319 --> 00:32:12.940 everything feels cracked, politics, churches, 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:16.940 friendships, even your own faith, James is still 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:21.099 whispering, don't give up. Remember who you are. 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:27.759 Pray with me. Lord, we commit these words to 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:32.619 the work of your spirit to produce your harvest 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:38.500 of life, your bread of life within us that we 00:32:38.500 --> 00:32:44.880 then can become the bread of life in this world. 00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:50.180 Help us to learn how to... nourish ourselves 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:53.640 from the living bread that is part of who we 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:55.720 are. Through Christ we pray.