1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,280 Thank you for listening to this message from LifeHouse Church. 2 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:19,040 Well good morning LifeHouse. Oh this is a full house this morning you're gonna have to do better 3 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:23,920 than that. Good morning. Yeah there it is. There it is nice and loud this morning. Well good morning. 4 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,320 It's great to see you in the house this morning whether you're here at Carlisle or you're up with 5 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:32,800 our family at East Shore it's great to see you up there as well or if you're joining us online 6 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:38,640 welcome it's great to have you with us here this morning. This morning you may have noticed Pastor 7 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:44,560 Kipp and Dixie are not here they're on some much needed vacation some well-deserved R&R 8 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:50,080 and they'll be back with us next Sunday. But this morning I know Pastor Kipp mentioned it last week 9 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,800 I wanted to mention it to you again we talked about it in the announcements baptism opportunity 10 00:00:54,800 --> 00:01:00,480 opportunity coming up for you if you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior the next step for 11 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:06,880 you in your walk as a Christian is water baptism right Acts 2 38 says and then Peter said to them 12 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:12,320 repent that's come to Christ that's salvation and let every one of you be baptized in the name of 13 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:16,880 Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit 14 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:23,760 for the promise is to you and to your children and to all those who are afar off as many as the Lord 15 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,600 our God will call that process goes like this it's salvation right that's repentance that's 16 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:36,080 turning away from a life of sin and turning towards God and then water baptism that is a outward 17 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:40,640 expression of the change that Jesus has made in you right and then receiving the Holy Spirit 18 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:46,000 whenever you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you receive the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you 19 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:52,080 at that moment and then also the baptism of the Holy Spirit that is a secondary event that comes 20 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:57,200 after that after having received Jesus after being baptized in water but maybe you were baptized as a 21 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,840 child maybe you walked away from your faith and you're coming back to it now and you want to be 22 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:07,920 rebaptized we do rebaptisms as well that is available for you Sunday June 9th we wanted to 23 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,320 make sure that everybody in the house knew that that was available for you there's a short 24 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:17,680 informational meeting just explaining the process making sure you understand what baptism is that's 25 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:26,160 next Sunday June 2nd well this morning before we get into the message this morning I wanted to 26 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:32,240 take a look at where we're headed here I know there are multiple sports out there right now 27 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:38,640 high school college and professional alike that are in the playoffs who's keeping track of the 28 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:44,800 nhl playoffs anybody watching nhl playoffs three three of us okay all right well basketball 29 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:49,760 playoffs oh my goodness all right well the playoffs are on right now right the playoffs 30 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:55,440 well we keep track right of wins and losses and we mark down the scores and we make the roster 31 00:02:55,440 --> 00:03:00,240 right and we tell who's in first place by looking at the top of the list 32 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,760 whoever's at the top of the list right is in first place 33 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:12,480 but my question is is how does this work in the kingdom of God who is in first place in the 34 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,480 kingdom we've been talking about the kingdom of God here at life house for weeks a couple weeks 35 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,760 here pastor kipp and I preached a series on it we've been talking about it last week about who 36 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:27,040 what where how does the kingdom of God work and this morning I'm going to ask us I'm going to ask 37 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:35,360 you not just who is first in the kingdom of God but who is first in our life who or what is running 38 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,720 our life who or what is in that top position because church whether we realize it or not 39 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,760 we are designed to worship something 40 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:51,120 whatever we put first in our life we're going to worship it's our nature whether that's our 41 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:57,600 money our possessions our stuff or could even be our families or our spouses right whatever we 42 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,400 put first in that position in our life is what we're going to follow after it's what we're going 43 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:08,240 to worship it what's it's what we're going to make the main thing in our life but as believers as 44 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:16,880 followers of Jesus we are called to put Jesus first and then everything else in the kingdom of 45 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:23,040 God it goes like this it goes Jesus number one spot and then everything else well this morning 46 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:28,400 I want to look at a passage of scripture that talks about a man who knew what it was like to 47 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:34,240 live like this to live like Jesus first and then everything else and that man is none other than 48 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:40,480 John the Baptist John the Baptist was a teacher he was a rabbi but not in a conventional sense he 49 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,920 didn't teach in the synagogues or in the temple John taught out in the wilderness in the wild right 50 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:52,320 we also know that John was a wild man right he says the Bible says that he ate locusts and 51 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,080 wild honey for his food and that his clothing was made out of camel's hair 52 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:02,880 we also know that John was related to Jesus that John's mother Elizabeth and Jesus's mother Mary 53 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,960 were cousins right and there's this really cool encounter in Luke 1 if you've never read it go 54 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:13,040 check it out where where Elizabeth and Mary meet and John inside of Elizabeth leaps for joy when 55 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:20,400 encountering Jesus for the first time we also know that John was sent by God to prepare the way 56 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:25,680 for the for Jesus his arrival on the scene he says that he was prophesied that he would be 57 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:33,120 the voice in the wilderness crying out we know that John baptized Jesus as well in humility he 58 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,920 answered that call in humility how humble would you have to be for Jesus to come to you and say 59 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:43,360 hey would you baptize me and John answers that call in humility and baptizes Jesus we also know 60 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:48,400 that John speaks out against evil he spoke out against the evil and wicked rule of the world 61 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:53,680 he spoke out against the evil and wicked ruler of Herod Antipas and ultimately that was his downfall 62 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:59,440 but the main passage of scripture that I will look at this morning is in John 3 the words will be on 63 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,120 the screen here the pastor will be on the screen if you got your physical bibles or your phones or 64 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:08,480 whatever turn there we're gonna be in John 3 starting in verse 26 but a little background 65 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:14,480 on this passage a little context having no context is important right amen this context on this 66 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:19,280 passage John and Jesus have already met they've already they've already been acquainted with each 67 00:06:19,280 --> 00:06:25,520 other they know who each other is and Jesus's ministry is just getting ready to begin and some 68 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:30,080 of John's disciples John had disciples that followed him like Jesus did and some of John's 69 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:35,440 disciples come up to John and say hey what's going on who's this guy and John sets him straight 70 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:44,720 because he recognizes who Jesus is when others don't let's pick up in John 3 verse 26 71 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:50,480 said so John's disciples came to him and said Rabbi the man you met on the other side of the 72 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:57,040 Jordan river the one you identified as the Messiah that's Jesus is also baptizing people 73 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:04,400 and everybody is going to him instead of coming to us John replied saying no one can receive 74 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:10,320 anything unless God gives it from heaven you yourselves know how plainly I told you I am not 75 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:16,800 the Messiah I am only here to prepare the way for him it's the bridegroom who marries the bride 76 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:22,960 and the bridegroom's friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows therefore I 77 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:28,400 am filled with joy at his success and this is the key this is the key verse for this morning 78 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:36,320 he must become greater and greater and I must become less and less John knew what it looked 79 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:42,640 like to prioritize Jesus he devoted his whole life his whole ministry was preparing the way 80 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:49,040 for Jesus to come and do ministry on this earth John knew it was Jesus first and then everything 81 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:55,520 else he knew how to accomplish that in his life right he knew how to put Jesus first and foremost 82 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:00,400 he knew that Jesus must become greater and church that holds true for our lives today 83 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:10,240 Jesus must become greater in our life not just greater but the greatest Jesus must become 84 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:17,040 our top priority the most important the only thing in our life that is worthy of worship 85 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:25,360 of worship is Jesus Christ see John knew this and John recognized this as Jesus as that he was the 86 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:32,320 Messiah the sent one from God and he gets questioned on this and he points they asked John hey are you 87 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,800 the Messiah are you the one that God sent because he was preaching and teaching and baptizing people 88 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,880 and they said hey are you the Messiah are you a prophet are you this guy and he's like no no no 89 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:48,320 that's Jesus he points to Jesus whenever he gets these accolades and he even publicly declares 90 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:54,640 that Jesus is the Messiah before anyone else does in the scripture right before any other human 91 00:08:54,640 --> 00:09:00,160 being declares that Jesus is the Son of God that he is the Messiah John does that and we see that 92 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:09,120 in John 1 29 and it says the next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and he said behold the 93 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:18,480 lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world John sees Jesus and says that's it he's the guy 94 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:26,640 John knew the importance of Jesus he knew that his ministry on earth that Jesus's ministry on earth 95 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:34,400 will be the foundation to bring all people right with God and he knew that John knew that his very 96 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:43,760 existence was to make the path for Jesus to come when pushed on the matter by the religious leaders 97 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:48,320 John replies by quoting the words of the prophet Isaiah they're asking John they're saying who are 98 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:53,120 you are you are you Jesus are you are you the Messiah are you the sent one of God are you the 99 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,800 prophet are you Elijah and he replies to them with the words of the prophet Isaiah he says 100 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:03,680 in John 1 23 he said I am the voice of the one crying in the wilderness make straight the way 101 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:08,800 of the Lord as the prophet Isaiah said now those who were sent from the Pharisees those are religious 102 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:13,920 leaders of the day the the Israel the religious leaders in that area they asked him saying that 103 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:20,960 why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet and John answered them 104 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:28,240 and saying I baptize with water but there stands one among you whom you do not know it is he who 105 00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:36,400 is coming after me is preferred before me whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose 106 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:46,000 in verse 27 there it says preferred before me that literally means ranks higher than me that is a 107 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:53,440 term of rank like a military term he's saying Jesus and then me and then everything else John 108 00:10:53,440 --> 00:11:01,280 knew what it meant to live with this purpose see John's father Zechariah was a a priest in the 109 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:07,520 temple in the in the synagogue right he John grew up knowing what this devotion and sacrifice to 110 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:14,080 ministry looked like John knew that his ministry was solely about preparing the way for Jesus to 111 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:20,240 come and when he encounters Jesus he's like that's it that's the guy this is the Messiah this is who 112 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:26,800 we have been waiting for because in the nation of Israel they were God was silent for 400 years they 113 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,440 didn't hear anything from God there was no more prophets no more teachers there was no direct 114 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:36,000 revelation from God happening they were relying on the teaching and then the word but there was 115 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:42,400 no current revelation for 400 years and then Jesus comes on the scene John said that's it this is the 116 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:50,800 guy John had his priorities right he knew that Jesus must become greater he knew that it was 117 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:57,840 Jesus first and then everything else as he church God has a set order for our life as well and it is 118 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:05,840 for our benefit God wants best for us he wants to bless us and provide a better life for us 119 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:12,960 Jesus becoming greater in our lives means putting him first means putting him as the top priority 120 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:18,880 in our life the number one seed if you will the first place the top ranking official literally 121 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:24,080 when we call Jesus our Lord and Savior Lord is literally a position of title it is a position 122 00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:30,880 of rank it means putting him up here and we answer his lordship in fact the Old Testament 123 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:38,160 God while giving Moses the Ten Commandments says this in Exodus 20 and verse 2 he said I am the 124 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:43,760 Lord your God who rescued you from the land of Egypt the place of your slavery you must not have 125 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:50,560 any other gods but me you must not make for yourself any idol of any kind or an image of 126 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:59,680 anything in the heavens or on earth or in the sea church God is jealous for us God is jealous for 127 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:08,800 us God wants us to worship him and him alone you might be saying all right pastor Andrew that's 128 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,960 all fine and good like I don't worship any other gods I don't worship anything else I'm not bowing 129 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:18,800 down to any idols what are you talking about church the convicting part of this message for 130 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:27,520 all of us is anything we place above Jesus in our life becomes an idol is a false God we can't say 131 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:32,880 Jesus is the greatest thing in our life and put things before him we can't say Jesus is our Lord 132 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:40,560 and Savior and not put him first they don't go together they don't go like that we worship what 133 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:46,640 we prioritize in our life what we put on that top position is what we are going to worship whether 134 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:51,280 we realize it or not and that might be your job your work requirements your career 135 00:13:51,280 --> 00:14:01,920 could be your spouse right I've seen people worship their spouse yes your spouse is a gift 136 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:11,440 from God but they are not meant to be above God maybe you worship your kids ouch right Jesus 137 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:19,760 deserves to be first in our life he requires it we must make Jesus greater in our life and we do 138 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:27,040 this when we prioritize Jesus over everything else maybe this looks like getting up early in 139 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:32,000 the morning when you have a busy day and you know you want them five minutes of sleep but maybe it 140 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,240 looks like getting up early and reading your Bible spending time in the Word maybe it looks like 141 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:41,600 setting time aside in your schedule to pray and just spend time with God maybe it looks like 142 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:46,960 prioritizing church in your life spending time together with other believers in your life group 143 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:55,600 discipleship with each other it also looks like putting Jesus first in every aspect of our life 144 00:14:55,600 --> 00:15:01,440 putting Jesus first in your home putting Jesus first in your family your work and even your 145 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:09,280 finances putting Jesus first and then everything else looks like giving him complete control over 146 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:17,200 our life but in order for us to give Jesus a greater position some things are going to have 147 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:22,880 to change in our life we can't just say we want that we can't just stay the way that we are we 148 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:29,120 have to make changes we must take action and John the Baptist said it best in John 3 30 we must 149 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:36,800 he must become Jesus must become greater and greater and I must become less and less in order 150 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:41,520 in order for Jesus to become greater and greater in our life whatever the biggest thing in the way 151 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:48,000 is whatever's there he has to dethrone that he has to be has to upset that right and sometimes 152 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:56,480 that biggest thing in the way is us we get in the way of that sometimes our selfishness what we want 153 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,920 our desires I promise you if you spend any time around children you know you do not have to teach 154 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:10,320 kids to be selfish they get it right from the get-go our way of living our way of doing things we 155 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:16,160 prioritize that above Jesus sometimes our desires that don't align with God that's our sinful nature 156 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:21,440 that's our flesh that's what we struggle with sometimes that's what we prioritize above Jesus 157 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:27,280 but whenever we become Jesus followers we must realize that we aren't the most important in our 158 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:34,240 life anymore for Jesus to become greater we must become less 159 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:43,600 hear me out when I say this I am not saying we aren't important to God I'm not saying we don't 160 00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:50,160 matter because we do matter Jesus wouldn't have came to this earth if we didn't matter right God 161 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:56,080 loved us so much that's why he spent sent Jesus in the first place no I'm saying we need to become 162 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:04,240 less important than Jesus in our own life when we accept Jesus he becomes the main character of our 163 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:14,960 story and not us we must seek to become humble as Jesus was humble us becoming less is about humility 164 00:17:15,360 --> 00:17:21,040 it's about recognizing that we are no longer calling the shots that we're not in charge anymore 165 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:27,680 and following Jesus in that humility I love this quote by C.S. Lewis says humility is not thinking 166 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:36,960 less of yourself it is thinking of yourself less and the word of God calls us to humility calls us 167 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,920 back to humility and against pride time and time again this morning I'm going to give you a couple 168 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:47,920 rapid fire scriptures you ready so you're ready if you're ready with me all right great Colossians 169 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:54,320 312 says since God shows you to be a holy people he loves you must clothe yourselves with tender 170 00:17:54,320 --> 00:18:03,520 heart and mercies kindness and humility gentleness and patience Ephesians 4 2 always be humble and 171 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:10,080 gentle be patient with each other making allowances for each other's faults because of your love 172 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:18,560 James 4 10 humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up in honor Luke 14 11 for those 173 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:24,480 who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted so we can all 174 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:31,520 agree right humility is important to God yes of course it is of course it is John the Baptist knew 175 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:36,560 a thing or two about humility too right I mentioned it earlier briefly but Mark 1 6 records that his 176 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:42,720 clothes were woven of course camel hair and he wore a leather belt around his waist and for food he 177 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:48,800 ate locusts and wild honey who wants to go home locusts and wild honey for lunch today no thanks 178 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:55,120 I'm good wild honey maybe locusts not so much John we get this misconception about John the Baptist 179 00:18:55,120 --> 00:18:58,720 if you grew up in church and you learn these stories about John the Baptist we get this 180 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:06,720 notion that John wanted to live like this that he that he had to live like this but he didn't live 181 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:12,720 like this because he had to John was in the priestly line with his father being a priest in 182 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:19,200 the nation of Israel John could have lived a rather lavish and cushy lifestyle but he knew his calling 183 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:25,280 he knew that his calling was to be out in the wilderness preparing the way baptizing people for 184 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:32,400 Jesus to come and I believe that the greatest example of humility in the Bible is Jesus 185 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:39,440 because Jesus came to this earth Jesus came to this earth he put on a human body he became 100% 186 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:47,040 human and 100% God Jesus is the only 200 percenter that ever lived he served others wherever he went 187 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:54,480 whether it was convenient or not that's humility and Jesus broke tradition he broke time and time 188 00:19:54,480 --> 00:20:00,480 and time again tradition and the most drastic concession of that of that breaking of that 189 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:07,600 tradition is whenever he washed the disciples feet he was their rabbi their teacher it wasn't his job 190 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:13,920 to do that it was the job of the servant or the lowest in the household but Jesus sees this as an 191 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:24,720 opportunity to walk in humility and does so if you turn with me to John 13 one we'll find that account 192 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:31,680 John 13 one says before the Passover celebration Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this 193 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:38,640 world and to return to his father he had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth and now he 194 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:44,720 loved them to the very end it was time for supper and the devil had already prompted Judas son of 195 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:50,160 Simon Iscariot to betray Jesus Jesus knew that the father had given him authority over everything and 196 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:55,680 that he had come from God and would return to God he got up from the table so he got up from the 197 00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:02,000 table took off his robe and wrapped a towel around his waist and poured water into a basin and then 198 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:07,680 he began to wash the disciples feet and drying them with the towel he had around him jumped down 199 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:13,440 to verse 12 it says after washing their feet he put on his robe again and sat down and asked do 200 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:19,280 you understand what I was doing you call me teacher and lord positions of authority over you 201 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:24,000 and you're right because that's what I am and since I am your lord and teacher have washed your 202 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:32,080 feet you ought to also wash each other's feet I have given you an example to follow do as I have 203 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:37,360 done to you I tell you the truth slaves are not greater than their master nor is the messenger 204 00:21:37,360 --> 00:21:42,560 more important than the one who sends the message now that you know these things God will bless you 205 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:49,040 for doing them Jesus gives us and his disciples in this past is the ultimate example of what 206 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:55,840 humility looks like Jesus having coming to realization and knowing what he is about to do 207 00:21:55,840 --> 00:22:01,600 this is very soon before Jesus goes to the cross Jesus sees what's coming he knows what's coming 208 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:08,160 and how does he respond by washing the disciples feet he responds in humility he responds in putting 209 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:14,480 himself less I love how Jesus ends this passage of scripture he says I've done this for you 210 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:20,480 now go show this humility to other people he says I've showed you how to do it now go and do it 211 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:34,720 and do it that the worship team would come in closing this morning we have a choice as well 212 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:40,400 of how we are going to respond to Jesus's call for humility will we exalt ourselves and make 213 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:46,560 ourselves more important than we ought to be or we answer with humility and put Jesus first 214 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:52,400 because without humility without us becoming less Jesus can't become more 215 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:03,440 I'm gonna ask this question this morning what does it look like for us to become less 216 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:12,400 what does it look like for us to become less and I really like how Jesus puts it in Matthew 6 33 217 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:18,240 is to seek the kingdom of God above all else that's Jesus first everything else and live 218 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:25,120 righteously and he will give you everything you need us becoming less looks like Jesus 219 00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:31,120 becoming greater when we focus on Jesus and whenever we put him first everything else falls 220 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:37,760 into place we will naturally become less whenever we make Jesus greater in our life 221 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:43,440 the level of humility that Jesus had will come more naturally as we begin to exalt Jesus as the 222 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:50,480 only one worthy of worship in our life if you'd stand with me this morning as I get ready to close 223 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,800 joining us at East Shore Jen is coming to close up there if you're online with us this morning 224 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:04,880 find someplace quiet this morning so you can pray that you can spend time with the Lord 225 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,600 so you can pray that you can spend time with the Lord 226 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:12,160 in a moment I'm going to pray 227 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,720 but I'm going to challenge you this morning for those of you who are in the house 228 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,840 who believe who know Jesus and you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior 229 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:28,080 I'm going to challenge you this morning is Jesus first in your life are you actually living like 230 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:35,040 Jesus first and then everything else are you living like Jesus is Lord of your life 231 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,040 or maybe you're here this morning and you don't know this Jesus I'm talking about 232 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:46,000 you don't know what he's done for you and you want to put him first this morning you want to say 233 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:51,200 I want to take my hands off my life I cannot do this anymore on my own I need some help 234 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:56,800 well church Jesus is here for you this morning and I want to give you the opportunity to do that as 235 00:24:56,800 --> 00:25:02,720 well if you bow your heads with me as I pray heavenly father 236 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:11,520 Lord I thank you for sending Jesus God this message is convicting as I'll get out 237 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:20,240 God that you would help us to every day realize to wake up and put Jesus first that we would 238 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:25,600 recognize that we need to put Jesus first and that we need to become less that Jesus has to become 239 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:35,200 greater and we have to become less God I pray for those in the house and under the sound of my voice 240 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,840 that may not know you Lord God I pray that you would wrap them in your loving arms this morning 241 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:45,600 that they would help that you would help them to know that all they have to do 242 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,560 is to believe in you to believe in you Jesus that you died on the cross for their sins 243 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:56,480 to turn from their sins to repent and to accept you 244 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:04,160 and that they would confess you as Lord first place in their life 245 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:14,560 God I pray blessings over all those in the house this morning God that you would be with us in 246 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:19,280 this place God that you would help us to remember what you've done for us going into memorial day 247 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:27,600 remember what Jesus has done for us we got to thank you for your word that it is sharper than 248 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:32,560 any two-edged sword that it cuts between joint and marrow and heart and soul Lord that you would just 249 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,120 move in a mighty way here in our hearts and lives this morning God we pray these things in your 250 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:44,480 precious and holy name amen and amen church God bless you if you need prayer for anything specific 251 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,560 the prayer team is going to make their way to the back they would love to pray with you I would love 252 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:55,040 to pray with you but God bless you see you next Sunday thank you for tuning in to this message 253 00:26:55,040 --> 00:27:01,280 from Lifehouse church we pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message if you have 254 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:07,040 been personally affected by our ministry and you would like to partner with us as we love God love 255 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:20,800 people every day visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com