1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,060 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:27,300 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead 4 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:32,440 pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth 5 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:41,240 for the life we're searching for. So glad that you're with us today as we close out 6 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:47,440 our series called Dear God, tough questions that we have to be able to answer for ourselves 7 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,660 and for those around us. If you have your Bibles this morning, take them to Colossians 8 00:00:50,660 --> 00:00:56,120 chapter 2 today. Today I'm going to talk to you about biblical Christianity and culture 9 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:04,220 conflict. Biblical Christianity and culture conflict. Let me ask you just a kind of a 10 00:01:04,220 --> 00:01:09,640 quick survey today. How many of you see the conflict in culture today? Would you just 11 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:15,160 raise your hand if you can see it? And I think most of us can see the extreme conflict in 12 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:21,160 culture today and we can see the clash with biblical Christianity and where culture is 13 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:27,000 headed today. Now this series has been a great series. We've walked through questions like 14 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:34,440 does hell exist or how can a good God allow suffering to take place in people's lives? 15 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:39,580 We actually asked the question, how can God bless any nation but how can it bless America? 16 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:44,820 We asked that question back in early July. We dealt with the issue of transgenderism. 17 00:01:44,820 --> 00:01:49,420 What is transgenderism? How does the Christian interact with those that are walking through 18 00:01:49,420 --> 00:01:54,540 that transgender movement? How do we respond to that? And one of the most frequently asked 19 00:01:54,540 --> 00:01:59,840 questions was a question that deals with culture that we have today. Like one of the questions 20 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:06,400 I got from the survey was, so what do we do with all the woke ideology? How do we face 21 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:13,040 intersectionality? How do we deal with CRT and some of the race ideologies that we have 22 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,780 today? How do we think through that, make decisions about that? Where do we stand in 23 00:02:17,780 --> 00:02:24,480 regard to all those things that are swirling around us in modern day America that maybe 24 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:29,900 we haven't ever seen or ever dealt with before? And instead of trying to answer every one 25 00:02:29,900 --> 00:02:34,440 of those questions, I'm going to give you one answer for all of them today. How do you 26 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:40,840 look at the world through a biblical lens and deal with all the things we're dealing 27 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:41,840 with? 28 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,440 Custodians chapter 2, 6 is where we'll begin today. If you have your Bibles and you're 29 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,440 ready, let's stand together if you would. I'm going to read God's word today from chapter 30 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:56,640 2, verse 6 and finally. 31 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:00,360 The Paul is writing to the church of Colossae, dealing with the same kinds of things that 32 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:06,080 we're talking about today in our world. He says, therefore, as you have received Christ, 33 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:12,240 Jesus the Lord, so walk in him. Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him, 34 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:17,200 and established in your faith just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 35 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:22,240 So he begins by saying, look, in the same way you accepted Christ by faith, that's how 36 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:27,520 your faith walk is going to take place, by faith. And then he goes on and says something 37 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:33,840 in a negative sense here. He says in verse 8, see to it that no one takes you captive. 38 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:38,920 Now those are actually battle words. These are words about warfare that's happening. 39 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:44,440 He says, see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according 40 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:49,640 to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather 41 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,780 than according to Christ. And then he comes back around and talks about the sufficiency 42 00:03:53,780 --> 00:03:58,560 of what it means to be in Christ. And here's what he says, for in him all the fullness 43 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:05,040 of deity dwells in bodily form. If you can't get excited about that verse, you are not 44 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:08,280 alive today. 45 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:14,360 In Jesus Christ, in him all the fullness of the Godhead, all the fullness of the Father, 46 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:20,120 the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwell in bodily form in Jesus Christ. And in him you have 47 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:26,760 been made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority. So much more, but 48 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:31,360 we'll stop there. What a passage that we can look at today. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray 49 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,560 that you will illuminate this text for us today because we need to know what it means 50 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:43,400 to stand on the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in life. And Father, help us to know how we 51 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:50,800 view what's going on around us from the perspective of the sufficiency of Jesus. Father, my prayer 52 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:56,640 today is that you will help us see like we haven't seen before. Help us understand like 53 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:01,640 we haven't understood before, and only you can accomplish that in any of our lives. So 54 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,680 we ask you to do that, and we thank you for it. We ask all this in Jesus' name, and I 55 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:13,000 believe what God's people said. Amen. Please be seated if you would. So what about all 56 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,280 these ideologies? You know, I saw something the other day that you probably have seen. 57 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:23,280 It's been on social media. And it says something like this, if Paul saw the church in America, 58 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:29,960 we'd be getting a letter. And I think that's a good line. But the letter we might be getting 59 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:38,000 is this one. The letter to the church at Colossae. And the reason that we'd be getting that kind 60 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,240 of letter is because of what was going on in the church at Colossae. It's the same thing 61 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:49,880 that's going on in our world today. Paul was writing to address false understandings, heresies 62 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:57,400 about Jesus Christ himself that mirrors modern day thinking. Greek culture accepted Jesus 63 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:04,000 as a good teacher, as a moral agent, as a moral influence, but not as God. There were so many 64 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:10,120 other gods that they worshiped, so many other philosophies they embraced, but they did not 65 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:16,760 embrace Jesus Christ as God. And if they didn't embrace him as God, then the next thing that 66 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:23,760 they concluded was everything he did and affirmed was optional and not absolute. And I'll tell 67 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,080 you this today, if you don't embrace Jesus as God in the flesh, then everything he says 68 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:34,920 is optional. You can take it or leave it. But if everything he said, if he is God, everything 69 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:41,080 he said is absolute and not optional. It's truth. And what Paul is writing to the church 70 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:47,040 of Colossians about is this idea of who Jesus is and the fact that he needs to be taken 71 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:52,800 not just seriously, but for who he really is. I'm going to summarize chapter one real 72 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:59,680 quick. Paul says to that church, Christ is not only God, but he's creator, he's center 73 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:07,400 of the universe and reconciler of mankind. Think about that. Christ is not just some 74 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:15,440 moral teacher. He is creator. And Colossians 1 talks about that. He is the center of the 75 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:22,440 universe. He holds all things together and he's the reconciler of mankind to God. If 76 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,520 you jump back to chapter one, you'll see it all in Colossians chapter one, verse 15. He 77 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:33,320 is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were 78 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,900 created both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or 79 00:07:37,900 --> 00:07:43,160 dominions or rulers or authority. And notice this next line, all things have been created 80 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:49,840 through him and for him. And then it concludes that section by saying he is before all things 81 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:57,120 and in him, all things hold together. All things means all, all things hold together. 82 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:03,760 So if Christ is God, he determines how biblical Christians are to live and believe no matter 83 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:10,280 what culture says. He helps frame the biblical worldview through which we view what's going 84 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:17,520 on around us, Christ and the scripture. And that helps us be placed in the scope of where 85 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:22,660 things are and how things work. That's really important for us to understand the two key 86 00:08:22,660 --> 00:08:26,560 things going on in this passage. And then I'm going to spend some time after talking about 87 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,720 the second thing that he gives us in this text. And I'm going to kind of break it down 88 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,860 in terms of how to apply the culture today and how it frames our worldview of how we 89 00:08:35,860 --> 00:08:41,060 view things. This will be an important time for us together today because I hope when 90 00:08:41,060 --> 00:08:45,840 you leave this room today, you'll view things out there differently maybe than you viewed 91 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:51,120 it before. So let's notice the first two keys that he gives us. First of all, it's embrace 92 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:56,360 the person and truth of Jesus by faith. Just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, 93 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:03,440 so walk in him. I love that's where this starts. Everything about your stability, everything 94 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,600 about the balance in your life, everything about the way you view everything around you 95 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:14,640 is based on a relationship with Jesus Christ. And how did we begin that relationship with 96 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:21,640 Jesus Christ? By faith. By faith. Jesus often talked about having the faith like a child, 97 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,640 child like faith. When you and I came to faith in Jesus, it wasn't through the complexity 98 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:32,040 of religion, was it? When we came to faith in Jesus, it wasn't because we read all the 99 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:37,300 books of the Bible and accumulated the whole theological doctrine in our minds or learned 100 00:09:37,300 --> 00:09:41,800 the terminology and the semantics of doctrine and theology. It's not how we came to faith 101 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:46,120 in Christ. We came to faith in Christ knowing that he died on the cross for us, paid for 102 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,440 our sins, and we knew we needed forgiveness and salvation. So with childlike faith, we 103 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:56,800 placed our trust in faith and confidence in Jesus Christ. Thank God it's that simple because 104 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:03,200 that's the only way we can come. But in the same way that you have received Christ Jesus 105 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:09,360 the Lord, Paul now says, walk in him with that same simple childlike faith that says, 106 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:14,320 I may not understand everything that's going on around me, but I know who built this universe 107 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:21,820 and I know who it's for and I know who holds all things together and it's Jesus. So first 108 00:10:21,820 --> 00:10:27,880 of all he says, embrace the person of Christ. It's a really, really huge thing. He goes 109 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:33,760 on and he says, having been firmly rooted, now being built up in him and established 110 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,680 in your faith just as you were instructed. In other words, grow your roots down deep 111 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:43,560 and let those roots nourish you and build you up strong in the faith that's in Jesus 112 00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:48,240 Christ. Roots are important to be built up, right? You've got to have those roots going 113 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:53,600 down deep. You know that if you ever tried to take a tree out of your front yard the 114 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:59,920 way I did a few years ago. My wife one day walked outside the front porch where we live 115 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:06,600 and she looked over to the left and there was this growth of bushes and shrubs and crepe 116 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:11,600 myrtle trees and she said, you know we need to get rid of these and build a porch. Let's 117 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:16,000 pour a concrete porch out here. So we thought it was a great idea and I called some concrete 118 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,000 contractors and said, hey we need to build a porch out here, a poor porch. And they came 119 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,120 out and gave us an estimate. It was reasonable and they said, but the first thing you have 120 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,200 to do is you have to remove all those trees and all those shrubs and all those bushes. 121 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:31,720 And I thought, that's a job for a guy like me. I like to destroy things. I'm going to 122 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:38,720 destroy this thing. So I got started. I think it's going to take me a day. I got the shrubs 123 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:42,960 out in a day. I got the bushes out in a day, but the crepe myrtle tree does not want to 124 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:48,200 go. And I'm cutting most of the limbs off of it and now I'm just dealing with the roots 125 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:52,920 and I do everything including back my truck up and hook up the chain to the bumper and 126 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,640 try to pull it out and nearly strip out my transmission trying to get those roots out 127 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:02,040 of there. They would not come out. I used axes and chainsaws and shovels and I got down 128 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,400 deep and I cut down everything I could around the tree and I got it to wobble a little bit, 129 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,100 but later on concluded that there was a root that went straight down that I couldn't see 130 00:12:10,100 --> 00:12:17,100 and I couldn't get it out. Finally I got about a 10 foot iron bar pole, about 10 foot long, 131 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:22,320 weighed about 150 pounds and I started prying, chopping and prying and chopping and prying 132 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,120 and I'm not kidding you, but at one point I literally thought I was going to die in 133 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:32,120 that front yard trying to get that root out. And I told my wife if I die it will be in 134 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:38,640 the front yard right here, it will be because you wanted that tree gone. Finally it came 135 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:45,640 out and it was gone and we could move forward. Now I tell that story because I want you to 136 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:52,640 know it ought to be at least that hard to carry you away from the sufficiency of Christ. 137 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,240 You roots ought to be at least that deep and they ought to be going down so deep that you 138 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:02,680 will be built up so strong that it won't be an easy task to move you away from the truth 139 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:07,480 and the faith that you have in Jesus Christ. You need to be rooted down deep and you need 140 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:13,440 to be built up with great strength. That tree spent years doing that in Texas summers and 141 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:18,720 it made it strong and you and I have to do that in life. Let me just give you some pointers 142 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:24,720 here, I think some thoughts about being rooted down. Your faith grows over time day by day. 143 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,720 It's not just one experience, it's not just going to a series of services, it's not reading 144 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,720 one book, it's day by day, moment by moment. Your roots go down deep like that. Secondly 145 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:41,160 your roots grow as you are exposed to prayer and the Word of God. The more you expose yourself 146 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:46,480 to prayer and the Word of God, the more God works in your life growing those roots deeper. 147 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:51,160 You talk to Him, you build your faith and what you are asking of Him and what He is 148 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:56,200 asking of you. You read God's Word and it shapes your understanding of who He is and 149 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,480 how He works and what He is doing in your life. I promise you your roots won't keep 150 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,760 growing if you don't keep exposing yourself to the nutrients that I am talking about of 151 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:08,920 prayer and the Word of God. Then thirdly your faith grows by knowing Christ's character 152 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:15,920 and trusting His commands. You grow by faith by walking by faith. God asks us to do things 153 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:22,240 that we wouldn't ordinarily do but He does that so we can learn to depend on His sufficiency. 154 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:28,800 We are complete in Him. He has all authority and all the power, we can trust Him. But you 155 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:33,400 grow in your faith when you exercise your faith in trusting in Him. Here's what you 156 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:40,400 want to be. You want to be Psalm 11. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the castle 157 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,440 of the wicked nor stand in the path of the sinner nor sit in the seat of the scoffer 158 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:50,280 but his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law he meditates day and night. 159 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:55,960 Lots of insights here. He will be like a tree firmly planted by the streams of water which 160 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:01,360 yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does he 161 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:08,360 prospers. Isn't that a great Psalm? It's a great way to start the whole book of Psalms. 162 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,720 Be planted by that river. Let your roots go deep. Be built up and established in your 163 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:20,040 faith. Do it day by day. Make it the priority of your life because only when you are able 164 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,600 to stand on that kind of foundation and only when you build on those kinds of roots are 165 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:31,080 you able to withstand the tsunami waves and the whirlwinds of different ideas in our world 166 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:37,280 today. And that brings Paul to his second point and that is embrace or rather resist 167 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:42,360 the principles of the world by faith. You embrace the person of Jesus Christ. You resist 168 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:47,000 the principles of the world by faith. And again I come back to that battle phrase. Verse 169 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:54,000 eight begins with the phrase. See to it that no one takes you captive. You know what that 170 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:59,600 phrase means. Invading armies would come in and if they captivated the city they carried 171 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:06,600 away people to be their slaves, to be their workers, to be their family members sometimes. 172 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,040 And they just dragged them away. They took them away from what they were familiar with. 173 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,920 They removed them from their homes and their families and their cities. They took them 174 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:21,920 captive. It's a battle term. So Paul adds to this embrace Jesus idea this other idea 175 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,600 and the other idea is you can be captivated by all these different things if you are not 176 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:34,600 deeply rooted in Christ. If you are not clear on what you believe about Jesus and then he 177 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,440 gives these different ideas. See to it that no one takes you captive through and look 178 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:43,720 at the text itself the word philosophy. We'll talk about that in a moment. And then there's 179 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:50,720 empty deception. And according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles 180 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:57,720 of the world, here's the big deal, and not according to Christ. You're going to hear 181 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:04,960 a variety of ideas from a variety of voices but Paul says don't be taken captive by any 182 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:12,080 of those voices especially because they contradict Christ and not according to Christ. That really 183 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:19,360 puts a blanket kind of an umbrella over all of them. So we embrace Christ but we do not 184 00:17:19,360 --> 00:17:24,440 embrace deceptive thinking. The spiritually healthy person will grow deep in truth and 185 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:31,440 they will resist the deception of worldly thinking. Both are important to your spiritual 186 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:36,720 growth. It's a massive warning about whatever ideas that come along about whatever subjects 187 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:42,160 you have to be able to resist because you've already got your answer and that answer is 188 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:49,160 found in Christ. These terms mean something that was not only applicable in that day and 189 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:56,760 time but that hasn't changed much. For example, philosophy is the current wisdom of the age 190 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:02,880 and specifically a philosophy that's contrary to biblical truth. The idea of empty deception 191 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:08,440 means a fruitless and unproven speculation, a promise that will solve things, a promise 192 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:13,080 that says hey this is the solution to what we see going on around us but it's empty. 193 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:18,600 It doesn't build fruit and it's not based on absolute truth. The tradition of man is 194 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:25,600 a pretty clear idea. The idea is an idea or practice or theory that is man-made and not 195 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:32,160 finding its origins in divine truth. And I've got to tell you today even though you know 196 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:37,440 this, your life is not a laboratory where you experiment with man-made ideas about how 197 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:43,320 to live life. This world is not a laboratory where you experiment with worldly ideas about 198 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,960 what makes things happen in a good way or a bad way. We know what the Bible says, we 199 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:53,480 know what it teaches us. It's interesting that in the Bible the contrast between divine 200 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:58,600 wisdom and human wisdom is very, very stark, very stark. For example, in James chapter 201 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,520 three verse 15 he's talking about the wisdom that comes from above and then the wisdom 202 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,880 that doesn't come from above. And James of course is a straight shooter and he says this 203 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:12,960 really, really clearly. He says this in contrasting the two kinds of wisdom. This wisdom is not 204 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:19,960 that which comes down from above but is earthly and natural and demonic. I don't think you 205 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:26,840 can get further apart on the two ends of the spectrum. James in talking about godly or 206 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,920 spiritual wisdom, biblical wisdom we would say as well, is contrasting all the other 207 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:38,920 kinds of wisdom as earthly, as natural, and as demonic. Natural usually has a pretty good 208 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:46,440 connotation. We like natural things but natural wisdom is sinful wisdom. It's birthed in the 209 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:52,000 sinfulness of mankind, the selfishness of mankind and not in the perfect character of 210 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,440 Jesus Christ. So I know that at times we look at these different ideas swirling around and 211 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:01,400 we ask the question is no wisdom helpful to us? Is no human wisdom any good for us? Is 212 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,360 it not worthwhile at all? And my answer is always going to be not if that kind of wisdom 213 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:13,360 contradicts biblical truth. You can weigh everything else that you hear, read about, 214 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:22,040 but if it contradicts biblical truth, absolute truth that we find in scriptures, then it's 215 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:29,040 not divine, it's human and it originates with a fallen premise from the beginning. It will 216 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:36,040 not work in your life the way God's principles will. That brings me to really the big application 217 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:41,840 of all that I've said so far today. How does the believer think through the challenges? 218 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,280 How do they think through the challenges of life and culture? How do we think about things 219 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:51,240 spiritually? How do we think about them socially? How do we think about these different ideologies 220 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:56,440 that we hear about relationally? How about culture solutions to the problems that we're 221 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:01,960 facing today? What about our community? What about our nation? How do we evaluate ideas 222 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:06,640 and movements? How do we know if we're on the right track or not? So hopefully I can 223 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:11,200 answer all those questions with one answer. You need to pray for me if that's what you 224 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:17,120 think I'm trying to do here. The greatest lens a person can view the world through is 225 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:23,440 through a biblical worldview. The greatest way to evaluate and discern all these things 226 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:27,440 that you'll hear about and you'll hear about these for the rest of your life and they're 227 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:32,320 increasing. Just wait until artificial intelligence gets a hold of it folks. They're going to 228 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:38,520 give you all kinds of ideas that are not only not man-made, neither are they divinely given. 229 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,280 All kinds of things are going to come across our paths. We need a biblical worldview. We 230 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:47,840 need to be able to see with the lens that helps us see clearly. How many of you in the 231 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,200 room use corrective lenses on your eyes? You know, glasses, contact lens, something like 232 00:21:52,200 --> 00:22:00,640 that. I need my contacts. When I was about 12 or 13 I realized that I needed some help. 233 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:04,640 I couldn't see things very well. My parents figured it out and I remember getting some 234 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:10,720 glasses and then later on contacts and I depend on them heavily. I depend on them in a big 235 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,200 way. I mean I can look at this room today and not even recognize one face in this room 236 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,360 without my contact lens. I'm sure you're all great looking. You're better looking without 237 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:27,040 my contact lens. Because when I've got the right lens on I can see everything really 238 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:36,080 clearly. Really clearly. That's how lenses work. World views are like that. Looking at 239 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:42,320 something from a biblical worldview puts a lens that you can look through and discern 240 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:49,360 whether something is this or that, divine or demonic. You can see whether it's just helpful 241 00:22:49,360 --> 00:22:53,800 insight someone's trying to provide or something that God has actually given us as a principle 242 00:22:53,800 --> 00:23:02,680 to live by. Only a biblical worldview will let you do that. So what kind of a view is 243 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:09,120 a biblical worldview? Now before I dive into a diagram that I'm going to spend the next 244 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:14,640 few moments of my message in, I want to refer you back to the message I preached last week. 245 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:20,360 Last week I preached a message about how can we know that the Bible is divine and not human 246 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,780 in origin. And I gave you four reasons why. We know beyond doubt that the Bible is divine 247 00:23:25,780 --> 00:23:32,080 rather than human in origin. We found that in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 16 through 21 248 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,280 and we walked through that text and spent a lot of time on a statement that really helped 249 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:42,960 us embrace the Bible as the word of God. And basically I framed it in one sentence and 250 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:47,840 that is it's a collection of historical documents confirmed by eyewitnesses. That's the first 251 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:54,320 part of that. Everything we have in the Bible was actually seen not only by the eyewitnesses 252 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:59,180 that ultimately wrote about it but seen by other eyewitnesses who read those accounts. 253 00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:05,280 It's a book that details supernatural life change in a way that can only be divine and 254 00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:11,480 only be done by God. It also is filled with prophecies made and fulfilled that can only 255 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:17,200 be done with a supernatural element to them, most of them in the life of Jesus Christ. 256 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:23,200 And because of those and other evidence, archeologically we can have confidence it's divine and not 257 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,660 human in origin. When people say to me, how can you believe the Bible because it's just 258 00:24:27,660 --> 00:24:32,720 a book written by man, I have that answer for them. Men can't make prophecy come to 259 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:38,280 pass. Men can't have eyewitness accounts that they just create out of nothing. Men can't 260 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,880 bring supernatural change in people's lives. Only God can do all that. And all those things 261 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,520 make me have confidence in the Bible, the word of God that I hold in my hands and that 262 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:53,080 you have in your hands. So I reference back to that as I walk into this worldview conversation 263 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,440 for just a few moments. And the question I want to ask you today is the most important 264 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:04,280 question and that is who determines truth and how do we respond to it in modern life? 265 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,080 So I want you to look at the screen for just a few moments and I'm going to ask the question 266 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:13,560 that's going to be a big question today. Did God create and did God communicate? Did God 267 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:19,160 create and did God communicate? You know we have a healthy home emphasis and in that healthy 268 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:24,200 home emphasis we emphasize five questions as the five questions that are life changing 269 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:29,480 for everybody at any time in history until Christ comes back and the first one is who 270 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:34,360 is God and what is truth? Who is God and what is truth? You answer that question, you're 271 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:43,000 well on your way to having a good understanding of truth and how God is at work if you answer 272 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:47,320 that question correctly. So here's my question for you today. Did God create and did God 273 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,440 communicate? There we have a God in heaven who created the heavens and the earth just 274 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:57,160 like we read in Colossians chapter one and did he give us the Bible as the word of God? 275 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:02,920 Now that's the first question. You know that 20% of America believe that. 20% in a recent 276 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:10,200 poll believe that the Bible is God's perfect word to us. It's not only accurate but it 277 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:17,600 is absolute and that's the first result of answering correctly with a yes. Did God create 278 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,840 and did God communicate? You're going to conclude that the Bible is accurate and is absolute. 279 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:30,720 Now I told you last week that 10 years ago 30% in America by the same poll believed that's 280 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:36,440 true but now only 20% believe that's true and I'm going to tell you the implications 281 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:40,200 of that in just a few moments. If you believe that the Bible is accurate and absolute there's 282 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:45,440 another understanding that you're going to build on and to agree on and that is that 283 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:52,480 the Bible addresses individual responsibility and accountability. While God speaks to the 284 00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:58,440 world and while he speaks to the nations he primarily speaks to the individual doesn't 285 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:05,240 he? Jesus didn't die on the cross for the whole world but for the whole world individually. 286 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:09,720 He died on the cross for you. When God speaks to the world he does address nations but he 287 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:14,480 addresses you as an individual and you and I will stand before the judgment seat of Christ 288 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:19,520 one by one. It won't be cross city church on a Sunday morning standing before God. You're 289 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:24,520 going to stand before him one on one. There's individual responsibility and accountability 290 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:30,080 that comes before God because of what God has said. The scripture is accurate, it's 291 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:35,520 absolute so it's binding in our lives. And if you believe that then you'll also believe 292 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:43,600 that the gospel loves, convicts, and changes individuals. I love this fact about the gospel 293 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,720 that Jesus did die for all and that meant you and you and you and you and you and you 294 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,920 and you and I can go all throughout this room. Jesus died on the cross for every single individual. 295 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,760 We often say something like he had you on his mind when he died on that cross and you 296 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:03,040 and I can't understand that humanly speaking but divinely speaking God could know and did 297 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:08,960 know each of us as he died on the cross. It's all personal. He loves you and his word convicts 298 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:15,320 you and he will change your life as an individual. And if you believe that then you'll also believe 299 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:24,400 that changed individuals influence society. Now this becomes very important to us because 300 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:30,960 if changed individuals influence society and God works through individuals we really need 301 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:36,000 to know what it means to become salt and light, how to share the gospel, how to live in a 302 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:42,440 way that's like Jesus called us to live. The biblical worldview says those are the avenues 303 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:47,880 through which God works. And if there are ideas that he works in radically different 304 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:52,680 ways we have to come back and test the biblical worldview that I've laid out for you. Now 305 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:59,680 I'm going to give you this concession. This is extremely simple. It is extremely general. 306 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:05,920 But it categorizes in large categories what God has revealed to us. You say well what 307 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,960 about that other 30% you talked to us about? You know 20% believe the Bible is the word 308 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:14,040 of God. What about the other side of that spectrum? The other side of that spectrum 309 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:21,240 is the 30% of people in America that answer no to the question did God create and communicate? 310 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:29,120 30%. Now that's grown in the last 10 years from 20% on this end to 30%. In other words 311 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,280 there's a increasing number of people that do not believe that God created, that do not 312 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:38,640 believe in the existence of God, and that do not believe that God spoke. And so what 313 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:43,160 are their conclusions? How do they see things? Well first of all if you're in that category 314 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:49,440 you believe that society determines truth and solutions. In other words it's society 315 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:55,200 as a whole, culture as a whole. Whatever we can agree on as a culture becomes our truth 316 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:00,520 and when we have enough to agree upon our truth then that becomes the defining truth 317 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:05,640 of a culture or of a society. If you don't think that that's accurate look at your world 318 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:10,680 today at what is right and wrong in the eyes of culture. It's radically different from 319 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:17,400 what the Bible says. And if you believe that society defines truth and offers solutions 320 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:25,440 then you'll also believe that the responsibility or the focus ought to be to hold society responsible. 321 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,520 We're not going to try to hold individuals responsible because we don't know what's 322 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:32,320 going on in individual life but we're going to hold society responsible. In other words 323 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:36,480 if a large enough group of people do something that seems to be harmful we're going to try 324 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:45,640 to hold all that society responsible for whatever that might be without individual consideration. 325 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:51,240 It becomes a very common conversation today when people want things to change in the world 326 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:56,160 as a whole but are really unwilling to do anything about that problem that they perceive 327 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:02,840 individually. They want everybody else to change because that's the philosophy of not 328 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:08,000 having a God and not having individual responsibility. Thirdly if you believe that then society affirms 329 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,760 or condemns. Now let me ask you today can you think of who is being condemned by society 330 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:17,280 today more than any other group of people? If you answer the word Christian you'd be 331 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:24,440 correct. Why are Christians found in such poor esteem in the world today? It's because 332 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:29,760 the values have changed because a greater number of people have no love for the word 333 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:37,760 of God and they know that they have the power to affirm or condemn groups of people. I'm 334 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,640 not only a Christian I'm an old white man so that really puts me in the spectrum of 335 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:47,960 that lens of that target. Old white men by the way are often condemned as well. And I'm 336 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:52,180 not really trying to get into political realms I'm getting into cultural conversations by 337 00:31:52,180 --> 00:31:57,360 talking about that. These are the way people believe and think. And if you agree with that 338 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:03,360 then you'll also agree that the only way to change the world is through cultural or social 339 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:10,960 revolution. We have to turn this thing upside down to get our desired outcomes. We have 340 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:16,600 to shut down other voices and make things radically different. You know those four things 341 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:22,160 that I'm describing on that side of the picture are products of postmodernism and secular 342 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,040 ism and even at the bottom Marxism if you will because that's the only way to really 343 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:31,320 get things to change. So you look at these and then you say well there's a big gap in 344 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:36,840 the middle there isn't there? And there is a big gap in the middle and it's the 50% gap. 345 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:43,160 The 50% gap are those that do not believe that the Bible is accurate and absolute but 346 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:48,480 they also don't believe that there is no God and they don't believe that society defines 347 00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:55,120 everything. They're in the maybe category and 50% of people are in that category. It's 348 00:32:55,120 --> 00:33:00,760 really interesting that the movement is as you look at the screen from left to right 349 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:04,560 and if you're in that maybe category you're saying things like this where the Bible is 350 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:10,280 helpful but it's not absolute. In other words it's kind of inspirational. I like to read 351 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,880 the Psalms. I like to read Proverbs. I like to read some of the stories in the Bible but 352 00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:22,560 if it's speaking about my sin or my shortcomings or things I want to do that I don't want to 353 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:28,600 hear that I shouldn't do, no it's not absolute then. That's the largest percentage of people 354 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:36,000 in America today and it's growing rapidly. Sometimes from the 20 percentile the Bible 355 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:41,480 is accurate and absolute. They're moving over to say the Bible is helpful but not absolute. 356 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:45,800 You know it's not a very long distance from that block to the one on the far right that 357 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:53,600 says society defines truth and offers solutions. If the Bible is not absolute then if it's 358 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:58,220 an old archaic book, if it's not really divinely inspired, if it's not really God who knows 359 00:33:58,220 --> 00:34:01,920 anything about this world today, if it's not that then before long you're going to be over 360 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:09,720 there saying well it's culture that tells us what to do. And in the maybe category if 361 00:34:09,720 --> 00:34:14,480 you believe the Bible is helpful but not absolute your focus will be on society and not individual 362 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:20,720 sin. If the Bible is not absolute then we don't have to handle the uncomfortable text. 363 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:25,040 We don't have to deal with the uncomfortable principles. So we'll focus on society. It's 364 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:30,320 so much easier to condemn a society than it is to deal with the conviction of the heart. 365 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:35,200 So much easier. And if you believe that then ultimately you're going to say the gospel 366 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:43,360 only loves it doesn't convict. And basically removes the power of the gospel. I love that 367 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:47,680 Jesus died on the cross but Jesus did not die on the cross to change my life. He just 368 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:52,680 died on the cross to affirm me to love me. And you'd be only half right. He died on the 369 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:58,160 cross to love you. He did not die on the cross to affirm whatever life you have. He died 370 00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:05,160 on the cross to give you a new life, his life. But if you're in that middle category where 371 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:09,280 the Bible is just a maybe for you, the gospel only loves it doesn't convict. And there's 372 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:15,160 only one conclusion and here's the conclusion. The church merges with society and it's not 373 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:29,860 different in any sense of the word. That is a pretty convicting picture. That has implications 374 00:35:29,860 --> 00:35:37,040 as to why we need to embrace truth with our whole heart. The same things that Paul said 375 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:44,860 in Colossians 2. Embrace the person of Jesus Christ by faith. Resist the pull of all these 376 00:35:44,860 --> 00:35:52,440 man-made principles and ideologies. Look at things through the lens of a biblical world 377 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:53,440 view. 378 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:59,280 So let me give you some principles that we'll end with today. How do we deal with cultural 379 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:04,720 conflict? First of all, we've got to cling tightly to the scripture for absolute truth 380 00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:12,280 about life. Cling tightly to the scripture. If you don't have enough information to fully 381 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:17,800 anchor yourself in the Bible as the word of God that's absolute and accurate, spend more 382 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:23,380 time in there. Make sure you study it thoroughly. Make sure you dig deep archaeologically and 383 00:36:23,380 --> 00:36:27,560 historically and in terms of prophecy and everything else until you can rest on that 384 00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:33,360 spot and say by faith, this book is accurate, it's absolute, I'm going to build my life 385 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:42,000 on it. Otherwise you have no anchor in a tsunami wave of culture. No anchor. I don't know if 386 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,680 you've ever looked into the anchoring systems of big cruise ships. Did you know some of 387 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:52,960 those anchors are 40 tons as big as a house? They drop those anchors down when the storm 388 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:58,040 blows because it's the only way they can protect themselves from the wind and the waves and 389 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,480 everything that's going to happen in a storm. I'm telling you the word of God is your anchor 390 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:07,280 in life. I'm telling you the sufficiency of Jesus is the only thing that will anchor you 391 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:13,120 in the worst of the storms of life and you haven't seen the worst yet but they're coming. 392 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:21,180 So cling tightly to the scripture for absolute truth about life. Scripture is your anchor. 393 00:37:21,180 --> 00:37:29,800 Remember verse 10 of Colossians chapter 2, in him you are complete. You're not complete 394 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:34,360 in some new idea that comes along and that's what the Greeks and the people of Colossi 395 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,440 were dealing with. They were looking for some great new idea. That's not what will complete 396 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,800 you. Your creator will complete you. He'll complete you through the gospel and through 397 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:50,200 his presence. Number two, trust the power of the gospel to change lives and societies. 398 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:55,960 You want your world to change? The gospel is your ship by which change takes place. 399 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:02,520 One of the greatest stories of gospel change is the man John Newton. It's a fascinating 400 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:08,000 story. He was raised by a sailor. He grew up to be a sailor and later on a ship captain, 401 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:13,880 later on owner of a ship and became a slave trader back in the days of slavery in England 402 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:19,200 in the previous century. He was guilty of transporting slaves to England. This man was 403 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:26,560 wicked to the core. I mean he was doing everything as wicked and with as much evil as possible 404 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:31,500 with no sensitivity, no awareness of what he was doing at all. But one day during a 405 00:38:31,500 --> 00:38:37,960 storm on the sea, he feared for his life, fell to his knees, repented of his sins, put 406 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:43,920 his faith and trust in Jesus Christ and according to John Newton his view of the slave trade 407 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:50,480 changed immediately. How he stopped doing what he was doing and he joined forces with 408 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:57,360 a man named William Wilberforce and in England they overturned and made illegal slavery in 409 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:01,400 England during that period of time. And I share his story to remind you that the gospel 410 00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:07,520 loves and convicts and changes individuals who in turn influences culture. That's the 411 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:15,160 way it works. One man, one man did that by the power of the gospel. So trust the power 412 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:19,080 of the gospel and when we talk about sharing the gospel, when we talk about inviting people 413 00:39:19,080 --> 00:39:23,720 to hear the gospel or having conversations about the gospel, you're changing the world. 414 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:33,720 You're changing the world by changing their life first. And thirdly, remember your importance 415 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:40,440 in the very dark world of shining light and preserving culture. Remember your importance 416 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:45,960 as believers in Jesus Christ in shining light and preserving culture. Some will say, you 417 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:49,920 know it's so discouraging to live in a world that doesn't believe like what I believe in 418 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:54,880 and I know that's true. It's a dark world. It's a world where people don't understand 419 00:39:54,880 --> 00:40:00,360 some of the things that you understand but it's a great, great place to shine light. 420 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:06,760 It's a great place to shine light. And I think our view ought to be, Lord, you have placed 421 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:14,960 us in this nation and this community for such a time as this. I need to shine brightly, 422 00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:20,280 as brightly as I can. What was it Jesus said? You are the salt of the earth. You are the 423 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:25,520 light of the world. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good 424 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:33,040 work and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Go back and read that Matthew 5 passage. It's 425 00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:39,780 just incredible in its power and its simplicity as to what we're called to do. In the case 426 00:40:39,780 --> 00:40:45,840 it's not obvious, modern culture is self-destructive. It's always going to move towards destruction. 427 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:51,240 It's never going to be able to ride itself in any case. And you may not be able to ride 428 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:56,640 it either but you can shine light and you can preserve life through being salt and light 429 00:40:56,640 --> 00:41:01,640 in the world that you're in. Your presence alone preserves and convects. And just like 430 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:07,600 salt keeps food from growing inedible, so Christianity preserves the culture as much 431 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:14,080 as it can, slows down the breakdown of society so we can help people come to faith in Jesus 432 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,680 Christ. You say, well, doesn't that kind of defeat? Aren't we supposed to try to preserve 433 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:22,960 society and save society and save culture and make it all right so that everybody lives 434 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:27,200 happily ever after? That's not earth where everybody lives happily ever after. That's 435 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:32,160 the coming kingdom that Jesus is going to bring himself. This world will not be here 436 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:41,080 forever and neither will you, thank God. You'll be with him. Our goal is not to preserve culture. 437 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:49,160 Our goal is to preserve truth and make sure we live the light and the salt that we be 438 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:56,400 called to live by. Boy, we have a challenge in front of us, don't we? But remember what 439 00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:03,520 he said in Colossians chapter 2 verse 10, in him you're complete. You've got all you 440 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:12,080 need to face that challenge. That the workplace and the family and society by growing deep 441 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:19,800 roots and embracing Christ, I've been built up and resisting all of the waves of ideology 442 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:25,920 and standing firm on what God's called us to do. I'm confident because I've seen it 443 00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:31,840 happen over and over in history. It's even happening now. God works through the remnant, 444 00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:37,360 He works through the few and He works through you. In just a few moments I'm going to give 445 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:41,760 you an invitation and that invitation is going to be threefold. We have decision stations 446 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:46,800 at the back of our building and I invite you to stop there. You know, we've talked about 447 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:51,240 a lot of different things today but the most important thing you need to remember walking 448 00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:56,600 out of here is the idea that you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ through what 449 00:42:56,600 --> 00:43:02,240 He's done on the cross. He absolutely offers that to you. God so loved the world that He 450 00:43:02,240 --> 00:43:06,400 gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting 451 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:10,240 life and we're here to talk to you about that at our decision stations in just a moment. 452 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:15,480 I'll dismiss us and as you walk out stop and talk to us. Secondly, I invite you to guest 453 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,680 reception room. It's just outside the center exit doors across the hallway. If you're a 454 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:23,680 guest today, if you're visiting, I would love to talk with you, meet you personally and 455 00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:28,400 just share a few things with you about our church that I think will be helpful. And then 456 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:33,720 thirdly, I invite you to come back next week, a very special week, open house, food trucks 457 00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:37,080 for those of you that love food trucks. I love food trucks and so come back and you 458 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:41,120 can eat here on the ground, bring someone with you but I start a new message series 459 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:45,520 next week and it's called Out of the Shadow. We're really going to be talking about what 460 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:51,080 it means to have deeper relationships based on the great commandment, love the Lord, do 461 00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,880 God with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength 462 00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:59,080 and love your neighbor as yourself. It's based on those relationships and we're extremely 463 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:04,680 deficient in relationships in our world today. You and I ought to know more about relationships 464 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:08,760 than anybody else on the planet because of what God has done for us and we're going to 465 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:14,280 talk about what it means to go deep with relationships. Would you stand with me as I close this in 466 00:44:14,280 --> 00:44:21,040 prayer today? Father, I want to thank you today that we have had this privilege of walking 467 00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:26,760 through a text but also looking at a grid of where the world is today that we live in. 468 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:33,920 Father, my prayer is that you will strengthen our dedication to your word, to your absolute 469 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:39,600 truth. They will understand what's at stake. They will make our decisions to anchor our 470 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:45,620 lives on you. I pray for those in the room today that have never taken the step of placing 471 00:44:45,620 --> 00:44:51,680 their trust and faith in you with childlike faith. And they've never done that and trusted 472 00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:56,640 Jesus to give them eternal life, to forgive them of sin, but today they can do that. And 473 00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:02,600 I pray that you will lead them, convict them, help them make that decision. And then today 474 00:45:02,600 --> 00:45:08,440 as we leave this place, I pray that God as we look around us, we can look at the world 475 00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:14,200 through the lens of a biblical worldview. Help us know what that means, how that works. 476 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:20,080 Thank you Father for giving us all we need to weather all the storms of life. Thank you 477 00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:48,080 Father, we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.