1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,600 Welcome to Trinity Sermons. Thanks for joining us today here at Trinity Church 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:12,200 Streetsville as we journey together to love Jesus, live like Jesus and lead 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:18,040 others to Jesus. This is episode 3 of our sermon series, Renovation of the Heart, 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:23,160 and we're excited to have Rob Hirkmans back with us today. In our message today, 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:27,320 Rob is going to be talking about the need for the transformation of our minds, 6 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:32,360 or in other words, the importance of changing the way we think if we want to 7 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,720 transform our lives spiritually. Definitely a relevant and relatable talk 8 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,880 today that you don't want to miss. Just before we get started, please make sure 9 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,480 to follow our podcast so we can better reach even more people with the good news. 10 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:45,960 God bless. 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:57,280 Our reading from Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 to 3. 12 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:21,240 Copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a 13 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:26,600 new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will 14 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:32,520 for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and 15 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,880 authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning. Don't think you are 16 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:43,320 better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring 17 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:47,480 yourselves by the faith God has given us. The word of the Lord. 18 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:49,120 Amen. 19 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:55,520 So when it comes to home renovations, I am definitely no Scott. I've done a 20 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,760 little bit of plumbing, maybe done some flooring or something like that. 21 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:04,320 But definitely when it comes to wiring and electricity, I steer clear of that 100%. 22 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,240 In fact, even the other day I went and I got a new shirt at the store and I came 23 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,320 home and I found it was picking up a whole lot of static electricity. 24 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,920 And so I took it back and they gave me a new one, free of charge. 25 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:24,200 Oh yeah. No, no. Electricity is no laughing matter. In fact, when our kids 26 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,600 were growing up, if they were playing with electricity, you know what we would 27 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:35,160 do? We would ground them. Oh gosh. Okay, enough, enough. You know, when it comes 28 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,720 to electricity, I mean, it is kind of mysterious. It is kind of dangerous. You 29 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,520 know, I look at this and I don't even know what, I mean, what do these wires mean? 30 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,680 There's a red wire, there's a black wire, there's a white wire. 31 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,000 I actually don't even think electricians know what these wires mean. 32 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,800 They just kind of like stick them around and plug them in places and they hope for 33 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,320 the best, right? But today we're not here to talk about renovating your house. 34 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:59,120 We're here to talk about the work that God can do in renovating our hearts. 35 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,360 We're in the middle of a teaching series called Fixer Upper. 36 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:08,960 And the idea of this is, is how do we renovate our spiritual lives, renovate our 37 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,080 hearts? You see, a lot of us, we walk around and we look at our spiritual life 38 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,960 and it feels a bit like this. It feels run down and worn out. 39 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,560 And we've kind of gotten used to that. Like, we don't have a lot of joy, 40 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,240 we don't have a lot of satisfaction or peace in our life. But we kind of say, 41 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,440 that's just my life, that's just the way it is, that's just the way I'm going to 42 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:30,160 have to get used to things. But that's actually not true because there is this, 43 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,640 this spiritual process called spiritual formation that we can intentionally 44 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:40,440 embark upon, which allows us to change our worn out spiritual home into something 45 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:45,200 far more beautiful where we can actually experience the peace and the joy and the 46 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,880 contentment and the delight that God had in store for us. 47 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Now, it takes work and it takes time and it takes the power of the Holy Spirit. 48 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,040 But wouldn't you rather live in this house than the other house? 49 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,280 So that's what we're talking about here at church these days, 50 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,600 a spiritual renovation. Now, you might say, well, this sounds great, Rob. 51 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,400 I love to do a spiritual renovation like that in my life. Where do I start? 52 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,360 Should I start by trying to change my behaviors and actions? 53 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,280 Is that where I should start? No. We're going to talk about that in a few weeks. 54 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:19,360 Maybe you say, oh, maybe I should start by changing some of my feelings, 55 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,320 some of those feelings I've got deep down inside of me. No, we're going to talk 56 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,640 about that actually next week. Or what about the relationships in my life? 57 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,560 Because some of those relationships have a lot to do with how I'm doing 58 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,120 spiritually. And we're going to get to that as well. 59 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,400 But that is not the place that you start. 60 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:40,040 A spiritual renovation of your heart always begins with a rewiring, 61 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,760 a rewiring of your thoughts. Or as the apostle Paul would say, 62 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:48,280 he'd say, don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, 63 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:53,760 but be transformed through the renewing of your mind. 64 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:56,320 Or the more contemporary version that we read this morning said, 65 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,800 don't be conformed to the pattern of this world, 66 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:04,200 but be transformed by changing the way that you think. 67 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,120 So that's right. When you begin a spiritual renovation in your life, 68 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,960 it begins with rewiring your thoughts and rewiring your mind. 69 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,080 Some people, I think when they come to church, they come and they want God 70 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:21,120 to start the work on the outside already. They want God to change their circumstances. 71 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,680 They want God to change their situation or maybe some of the problems 72 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:30,000 that they're facing in life. But God actually always has to address 73 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:35,520 what's happening inside of you. And I would argue to a great extent, 74 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:42,200 no real change will happen in your life until change has taken place 75 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,880 in your thoughts. Why is that? Why does God begin this renovation 76 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:50,960 in our lives by beginning with our thoughts? Well, there's a few reasons. 77 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,600 First of all, your thoughts control your life, right? 78 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,040 Every single action that you do begins with a thought. 79 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,000 If you don't think it, then chances are you don't do it. 80 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,480 Good thoughts or bad thoughts. Good thoughts lead to good actions. 81 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,160 Bad thoughts lead to bad actions. As the writer of Proverbs says, 82 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:16,400 be careful how you think because your life is shaped by your thoughts. 83 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:19,760 If your thoughts tell you you are ugly and you are no good 84 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:24,680 and you'll never amount to anything, those thoughts will shape your life. 85 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:30,040 But if your thoughts tell you you are a child of God, you are so valuable 86 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:35,040 to God and you have been gifted by God, those thoughts will also shape 87 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:38,360 and change your life. So that's one of the reasons why we got to start 88 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:41,840 by talking about our renovation with our thoughts because our thoughts 89 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:45,880 are the things that control our life. But secondly, it's also true that 90 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,520 in our minds, there is a major conflict going on. Our minds are a battleground. 91 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:56,360 Everybody wants control of your mind. The world wants control of your mind. 92 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:01,600 Advertisers want control of your mind. Politicians want control of your mind. 93 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:06,520 Culture does. Social media does. Influencers does. God wants control 94 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:12,160 of your mind. And the evil one, Satan, also wants to get control of your mind. 95 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,320 And you might not even be aware that this battle is going on for your mind, 96 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:20,880 but they all are aware that whoever gets your mind, whoever gets your attention 97 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:25,080 gets you. So as Paul writes in Romans 7, he says, 98 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:29,920 there is this power within me that is at war with my mind. 99 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:34,840 This is warfare language. There is a battle going on for your mind 100 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,400 and for your attention. And then the third reason why we got to start 101 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,080 this renovation by talking about our thoughts and our minds is because 102 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,560 your mind is the place of true contentment and happiness. 103 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,680 Your happiness depends to a large extent upon your thoughts. 104 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:54,760 The way you think will make a difference whether you're a person who is tense 105 00:07:54,760 --> 00:08:00,440 or tranquil or whether you're chaotic or confident, whether you have 106 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,880 a pressured approach to life or a peaceful approach to life, 107 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,800 that a renovated mind has a peace of mind to it. 108 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:12,160 So again, as Paul writes, if your sinful nature controls your mind, 109 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,720 there's death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, 110 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:22,440 then there is life and peace. So we have to talk about our minds. 111 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,640 Our minds is the place where we experience control. 112 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,800 It's a place that's a highly conflicted space, and it's also the source of our 113 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:34,400 contentment. And if you can, therefore, renovate your mind according to the way 114 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,040 that God intends and with the Holy Spirit's help, you'll live a life of 115 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,640 self-control and peace and contentment. But if you don't, you know what? 116 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,120 You'll live a life that feels out of control and conflicted and very unhappy. 117 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,280 So I don't know which you would prefer. I know which I would prefer. 118 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:49,440 Now, a lot of people, though, will immediately object and they'll say, 119 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:51,920 well, Rob, that sounds very good, but my mind doesn't work that way. 120 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:57,320 I can't change my thinking. I've tried. You know, my mind can't be changed. 121 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,240 You know, like for example, don't think of a pink elephant. 122 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,360 Oh, see? Now I'm thinking of a pink elephant. 123 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,960 See, I can't tell my mind what to do. My mind keeps going back to kind of old 124 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,600 thoughts and negative memories. And the more I try to steer my mind away from 125 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,920 those things, the more that's where it goes. And so that's why we come up with 126 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:19,800 expressions like, oh, you can't teach an old dog new tricks or I'm just stuck in 127 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:25,920 my ways. But this is simply untrue. And we have to debunk this this morning 128 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,520 because not only does God say that you can change your thinking, but science 129 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:35,400 today tells us that you can change your thinking. For decades, you see, 130 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,960 scientists thought that the human brain was pretty much set in its way, 131 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,920 like you developed in childhood and then it solidified like concrete and there was 132 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:50,480 virtually no changing it. But that's just not true because neuroplasticity is a 133 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:56,680 scientific fact. Your brain can restructure itself. Old neural pathways 134 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:02,920 can wither and die. New neural pathways can be formed. And that means that old 135 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:08,040 thoughts and old habits and old addictions and old hurts in your life, in 136 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,160 your mind, in your thoughts can be replaced and renovated into something 137 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,520 new. It was like a hundred years ago that one of the first neuroscientists said 138 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:24,160 this, any man could, if he were so inclined, be a sculptor of his own brain. 139 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:31,160 Because now we know that where attention goes, neural connection grows. That is 140 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,380 all to say that science and faith are lined up on this one to say that you can 141 00:10:35,380 --> 00:10:38,800 change your thinking, you can change your mind, you can change your thoughts, or as 142 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,160 the Bible puts it, you could be transformed through the renewing of your 143 00:10:43,160 --> 00:10:47,200 minds. So how do we do it? How do we do this? Well, we do it the exact same way 144 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:52,160 that Scott was doing in the video that we saw there. We rip out and replace, rip 145 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:57,160 out and replace. We're gonna rip out the old wiring that kind of makes up our 146 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,720 minds and our thoughts and replace it with something new. And actually, 147 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,600 coincidentally, I want to talk today about three specific wires that we need 148 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,640 to rip out and replace from our thinking. First, we have to rip out and replace the 149 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:15,520 old ideas, replace them with new ideas, rip out our old, the images that occupy 150 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:19,280 our minds and replace them with new images. And thirdly, finally, we've got to 151 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:24,640 rip out some of that misinformation and that just the wrong stuff that 152 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,520 we're believing these days and replace it with God's truth, real information 153 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,240 instead. So that's all we're going to talk about this morning is how do we 154 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,280 rewire our ideas, our images, and that information in our minds. Let's start 155 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:41,320 with ideas. Ideas are so essential to how you approach life. You don't even, we 156 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:47,640 aren't even aware of the ideas that are so deeply embedded in our minds. When I 157 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:53,040 say things like freedom, an idea of what that is just comes to your mind. When I 158 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:59,480 say things like politics or truth or if I say happiness or justice, these ideas 159 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:03,120 just fly to your mind, right? They're in there. They're just deeply 160 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:07,880 embedded in there. If I say things like Christianity or God or Jesus, you have 161 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:13,000 ideas, each and every one of you have a deeply held idea of what those things 162 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,960 mean. And maybe you got those ideas from culture, maybe you got those ideas from 163 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:22,520 your teacher or from media. I don't know where it came from, but we hold on to our 164 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:27,360 ideas very, very, very, very tightly. We have ideas about everything. Ideas about 165 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,920 ethics, ideas about politics, ideas about life and death. They're not just opinions. 166 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:39,080 I'm not talking about opinions. I'm talking about ideas. And trying to 167 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:46,440 change someone's ideas is so hard. It is like ripping out wiring from a wall with 168 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:51,880 all your strength. That's why changing your mind when you've got your mind made 169 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:56,240 up about something, it is so incredibly painful. You've got an idea about 170 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,520 something and another idea comes along. You are gonna reject that other idea 171 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,360 because the prospect of changing your mind, the prospect of actually thinking 172 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,720 of a different idea is just so painful and so taxing that you would just rather 173 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:13,560 not do it. I was trying to think of an example of people who have, you know, very 174 00:13:13,560 --> 00:13:17,720 very tightly held ideas. You know, there are some people out there these days who 175 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:24,040 really do believe that the earth is flat, right? And this is an idea that has 176 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:28,640 gotten into their mind and is a very, very, very deeply held idea and it's very 177 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,800 hard to convince them otherwise because it's right in there. I should say that 178 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:40,760 actually for four years I too thought the earth was flat, but then I turned five. 179 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:47,640 So, but changing your mind is a very, very painful, painful process. 180 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,960 That's actually why when people come to Christianity, I mean we just heard Nicole 181 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:56,240 give her story about coming to Christianity. It sounded like a 182 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,760 beautiful experience for her. That's not the case for everyone. Sometimes when 183 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:03,760 people come to Christianity it's absolutely wrenching. It's like a 184 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,720 mental breakdown is happening. It's a revolution in your mind. Why is that? 185 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,800 Because you're having to rip out all the old ideas of who you thought you were 186 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,240 and who you thought God was and what you thought life was all about. Those all 187 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:21,000 got to be ripped out and put new wiring in its place, but it's absolutely 188 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,840 essential to the process of spiritual transformation, changing these ideas 189 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:29,280 around. Dallas Willard, he said, we need to replace in ourselves those idea 190 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:34,880 systems of evil with idea systems that Jesus Christ embodied and taught. Not all 191 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,560 ideas are created equally, my friends. Let me give you an example of how a bad 192 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:45,600 idea can lead to destruction, how a good idea can lead to life. You've all 193 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:49,300 probably heard the story of Adam and Eve in the in the book of Genesis. You know 194 00:14:49,300 --> 00:14:53,800 that Adam and Eve ultimately they ate the forbidden fruit. They turned their 195 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,520 back on God and it was just a catastrophic falling away and rebellion 196 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,520 from God. But what we don't realize is it all started with a very tricky, sneaky, 197 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:09,760 pernicious idea. When Satan wanted to draw Eve away from God, he didn't hit her 198 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:16,520 with a stick, he hit her with an idea. The idea was this, hey, did God really 199 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:22,280 say that you shouldn't eat from these this tree over here? Oh, you know, God, he 200 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:28,840 is actually hiding something from you. And just in that moment, Satan planted an 201 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:34,000 idea, the idea that God couldn't be trusted, an idea that God's keeping 202 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,960 something from you. God doesn't have your best interests in mind. You're gonna 203 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:42,520 have to look out for yourself. God isn't who you think God is. And the idea took 204 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:47,320 root in Eve's mind and and just like that she said, oh yeah, you know, I think 205 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,800 you're right. I think God is hiding something from us. I don't think he 206 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:56,480 really does care for us. You know, many people still have that idea in their 207 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,220 minds today. They still believe deep in their minds God can't be trusted. God is 208 00:16:01,220 --> 00:16:05,320 somehow depriving you of something or God is up to something and he's keeping 209 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:10,200 secrets from you or and we have to take matters into our own hands. That is a bad 210 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:14,720 idea. Those are bad ideas, wrong ideas. We need to rip those out. Let me give you an 211 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:20,960 example of a good, a great, a life-giving idea. And that was, Jesus had this great 212 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:25,360 idea called the Kingdom of God. He said, it was a crazy idea, he said, in God's 213 00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:30,280 kingdom, what if, what if the first were last and the last were first? What if the 214 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,760 greatest were least and the least were greatest? What if those who really were 215 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,560 seeking to save their life, they're the ones who lose their life, but those who 216 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:42,240 lose their life, for my sake, are the ones who truly find what life is all about. 217 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:47,440 It was such an upside-down idea. It was a mind-blowing, beautiful idea. Needless to 218 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:53,200 say, most people couldn't handle it and they killed him, right, because it 219 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,000 conflicted with their idea of how the world should be, their idea of how power 220 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,160 should be brokered. Even today, I have to tell you, Christians around the world, 221 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:05,880 they are persecuted and they are killed. Why? Because their ideas are coming into 222 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:12,040 conflict with the ideas, systems, and the people and the powers of the world. Those 223 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:16,280 who can't change their minds can't change anything. So let me ask you this, when was 224 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:22,720 the last time you changed your mind? Whose idea, whose ideas are you believing 225 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,320 these days? Have you embraced the idea of Jesus Christ? Have you kind of really 226 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:32,680 rewired your thinking with his idea of the kingdom of God? Or do you still 227 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:37,000 have the bad wiring, the outdated wiring of Adam and Eve in there? I'm telling you, 228 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,840 that stuff is older than knob and tube. It is going to blow up and burn 229 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:47,320 down your whole soul, right? It's gonna kill you. So we've got to rip out our old 230 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:52,360 ideas and put in God's new ideas. That is the first wire that needs to be replaced. 231 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:56,240 Let's talk about the second one though. It's not only that our ideas need to be 232 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:01,240 replaced, but also our images. The images that we have in our mind need to be 233 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,560 ripped out and replaced. Those images that I'm talking about are like, you know, 234 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:11,160 so for example, if I were to say to you the word cool or lame or beautiful or 235 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:15,680 successful or ugly, it isn't just an idea that would come to your mind, it's an 236 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:20,120 image that would come to your mind. What does cool look like? What does ugly look 237 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:26,480 like? What does lame look like? And these images we use not just to...they 238 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,560 don't just kind of come this way, we actually use images as well to 239 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,200 communicate things to others. The way we dress is an image. How long our hair is, 240 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:38,200 the color of our hair, the flags that we fly, the cars that we drive, these are 241 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:44,320 all images that we are using to communicate ideas to the world around us. 242 00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:49,920 Even in church, even in church images are pretty powerful. Casual dress versus 243 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:56,480 robes, that's a powerful image, right? Drums versus pipe organs, right? Incense 244 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:03,160 versus smoke machines and laser beams, right? These are all powerful and often 245 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:08,960 conflicting images about how we see the world and what we see as important. Why 246 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,700 are images so important? I'll tell you why images, because images appeal to our 247 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:19,180 emotions. They claim our attention without uttering a word. They can 248 00:19:19,180 --> 00:19:24,440 persuade and repel and charm us and this is what I love. They could be so absorbed, 249 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:30,080 instantly absorbed by anyone and all you got to do is see. No one's got to argue 250 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:35,160 with you about this. You just see the image and all of a sudden it's doing its 251 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:39,840 work on you. And we live in an image saturated world. There are images 252 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:46,200 absolutely everywhere, but when we take in the wrong images in our minds or 253 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:51,720 the distorted image, it really, it hurts our soul. There are two images in 254 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:58,400 particular we got to get right and that is our image of ourself and our image of 255 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:03,320 God. Here's what I mean. If you got the wrong image of yourself, it will destroy 256 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:10,040 your spiritual life. You may have a greatly inflated image of who you are, 257 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,840 but also you may have a greatly diminished image. Maybe you grew up in a 258 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,440 household where you're constantly being rejected or abused and told you were no 259 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:19,320 good and you would never amount to anything and you started to believe 260 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:25,920 those voices and that changed your self-image, right? And now that's still 261 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,940 how you feel today. That's how you see yourself today. Or how about social media? 262 00:20:29,940 --> 00:20:35,600 Social media is another huge culprit in the distortion of our own self-image. 263 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:40,000 Time magazine 2021 had this headline, Instagram makes teen girls hate 264 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:45,960 themselves. Because why? Because Instagram is so based on images. It causes teenagers 265 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,600 to feel really, really bad about their bodies because they can't achieve the 266 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,360 images that they're seeing out there even though they're all doctored, that 267 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:56,560 they feel awkward and they feel ugly and they feel unlovable. It's a distorted 268 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,720 image. You get a distorted image of who you are and those images, all of them, they 269 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:06,240 need to be ripped out of our minds and they need to be replaced with the true 270 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:11,120 image of who we are. And what is the true image of who we are? That we are created 271 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:16,880 in God's image, the image of God. And because we are all created in the image 272 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,800 of God, we have beauty and we have dignity and we have a worth that no one 273 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:27,280 can take away. If you pull that thought through your mind in place of those old 274 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:32,480 images, if you can run that wire through your mind that I am made in the image of 275 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:38,760 God, that will renovate your soul. You're a child of God. You are a new creation 276 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:45,400 made in His image. But the second image that we got to get right is not just 277 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,560 our self-image. We got to get right our image of God and we've got a whole bunch 278 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:53,000 of messed up, incorrect images of God that are floating around in our mind. I 279 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,040 wanted to just name a few of them for you this morning. How about this one? The 280 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,680 divine traffic cop image of God. That image is like, oh God is just hiding out 281 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:05,640 there behind a cloud waiting to pull us over for the things we've done wrong. You 282 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:09,800 got to rip that one out of your mind, right? Or how about this? God as the 283 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:14,640 non-judgmental drinking buddy, right? God doesn't really care how we act. He'll 284 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,960 just support us no matter what, right? You got to rip that image out of your mind. 285 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,800 That is not the right image of God. Or how about God as the cosmic vending 286 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,920 machine? As long as you put in enough prayers, as long as you put in enough 287 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:30,480 Bible reading, as long as you do what God wants, then He will give you whatever you 288 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:36,240 want. Rip it out. Rip it out. That is a false image of who God is. Or how about 289 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:40,280 God the puppet master? God is the one who causes all these things to happen. 290 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:45,040 Natural disasters, that's Him. Cancer, that's Him. Letting kids die, that's God. 291 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,200 You got to rip that image out of your mind. That is not the image of God. Or 292 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:53,400 how about this one, last one? God the party pooper God. He is just there to 293 00:22:53,400 --> 00:23:00,120 make your life miserable, right? Rip it out. Rip it out. All these images of God 294 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:03,360 are just bad wiring. And I don't know whether you got them from grandma or 295 00:23:03,360 --> 00:23:07,920 from some priest back from when you were just a kid, but it needs to be ripped out 296 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:12,080 and replaced by the true image of God. And you say, well Rob, that'd be really 297 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:16,440 easy if we actually had a true image of what God was like. Who can say what God 298 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:26,200 is really, really like? Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the 299 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:34,240 exact imprint of His nature. He, Jesus Christ, is the visible image of the 300 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,480 invisible God. Whatever image of God you have in your mind, in your head, if it 301 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,440 does not line up with what you can see Jesus doing or what you read Jesus 302 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:49,360 saying or what you experience about Jesus, then rip it out and throw it away 303 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:54,760 and replace it with Jesus. Jesus is the image of God. He's the exact imprint of 304 00:23:54,760 --> 00:24:01,120 God. So we're rewiring our thoughts. We're rewiring our ideas. We're rewiring 305 00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:05,320 our images, our images of ourself and our image of God. And finally we need to 306 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:10,560 rewire the information that we have in our hearts and minds. We got to rip that 307 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:17,360 out and replace it too. Here's the thing. Without good information there can be 308 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:24,040 no spiritual transformation and no soul renovation. If you don't have the right 309 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,360 information to work with, how can you possibly make the right decisions in 310 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:32,080 life? We all know what it's like to have the wrong information. I missed the bus. 311 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:36,120 Darn it. I had the wrong information about the schedule. Or I failed the test. 312 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:39,240 I guess I didn't study the right thing or I didn't understand the concepts. I had 313 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:42,520 the wrong information. Or I took the wrong medication. Oh my goodness, I thought 314 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,460 I was supposed to take two pills and I was only supposed to take one. I had the 315 00:24:45,460 --> 00:24:50,380 wrong information. Or how about even more dire? Somebody marches an army into battle 316 00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:54,000 into certain destruction. Why? Because they had the wrong information. They 317 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,440 didn't realize the enemy was waiting for them. They didn't realize that they were 318 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:02,960 that strong. All because they had the wrong information. But the stakes have 319 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:07,720 never been higher than when it comes to the information that we have about God. 320 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:13,120 Without knowing who God is and what God is like, how can we experience any kind 321 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:18,720 of spiritual transformation? Or how can our society experience something better? 322 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:23,000 That's why the prophet Hosea once wrote this. He said that my people are just 323 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:29,920 destroyed for lack of knowledge. Man, if you Google what is God's like, I did this, 324 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:36,680 you get 3.5 billion results. But how the heck do you know who's right, 325 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,760 who's wrong, right? That we live in this world that is full of misinformation, of 326 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:46,480 false information, of fake news, and alternative facts, right? Yes. So yes, our 327 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:50,200 minds are so wonderful. They can take in and they can process information. But if 328 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,760 we don't have access to the right information, then we're done before we 329 00:25:53,760 --> 00:26:00,400 start. The old saying is true. Garbage in, garbage out. How do we get the right 330 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:04,000 stuff in our minds? Which wires are the live wires and which ones are the 331 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:08,520 dead ones? Which ones have truth and which ones are just lies? Where do we get 332 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,120 what we need to be a renewed people? Well, I want to just close with a couple 333 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:17,080 thoughts here. Jesus at a time in his life, he also was puzzled and worried 334 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,960 about who to believe. Who to believe. He was being tempted by all sorts of 335 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:26,120 different ideas. And in his moment of weakness, he remembered this, that people 336 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:32,000 do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 337 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,840 And that means there is no getting around this idea. That transforming your 338 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:40,560 thoughts and renewing your mind and renovating your spiritual life means 339 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:49,160 reading and meditating and memorizing the words in these scriptures. And that's 340 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,320 why one of the best investments you can make if you're serious about renewing 341 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:57,600 your mind and transforming your life is a good Bible. A good Bible and a 342 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:02,360 translation that works for you and a good reading plan that works for you as 343 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:05,760 well. Now you may say, oh but Rob, I'm not a good memorizer. I've never been good at 344 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,800 reading the Bible and I've never been good at kind of taking things in like that. But 345 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,600 if we've learned nothing else from today's sermon than this is that that's 346 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:16,640 just not true. That is a myth. Our minds are capable of far more than you're 347 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,680 getting it credit for and that there's amazing possibilities of growth and 348 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,000 potential if we would just be disciplined and start to form some of 349 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,200 those new pathways in our minds. Our minds can be renewed and they will be 350 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:36,400 as we meditate and memorize these words. A renovation will begin to happen. That's 351 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,480 one of the reasons why we so encourage people here at Trinity to join life 352 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,000 groups. Because one of the things they do in life groups is when they gather they 353 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:49,120 gather around these words and they open up this book and they say, God show us 354 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:53,320 something that is true and real. God teach me the truth about who I am. God 355 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,880 teach me the truth about who you are. God with all the misinformation that is out 356 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:05,200 there and tries to hurt me, God give me some truth and rewire my mind to heal me. 357 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:10,080 If you're interested in joining a life group I would strongly recommend visit 358 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:14,840 Sally out at the welcome desk after the service and she can point you in the 359 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:21,480 right direction. And so in closing I don't know how all this is gonna sit 360 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:27,280 with you. You know I remember that one of Jesus very first disciples Peter when he 361 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:32,080 heard about all that Jesus was offering and his ideas of rewiring your mind and 362 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,880 thinking differently and replacing old images. Peter was like I'm gonna walk 363 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:40,040 away. I can't handle this. This is too much. This is too painful. I can't go 364 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,520 through all that work. But just at the moment that he was gonna walk away he 365 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,920 kind of stopped and he turned around and he said, oh gosh now who am I kidding? 366 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:57,640 Who am I kidding? Where am I gonna go? Of all the voices out there in the world 367 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:07,440 only your words Jesus give us eternal life. So rip out and replace. Rip out the 368 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:13,400 old ideas and put in some new ideas. The ideas of Jesus kingdom. Rip out and 369 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:18,920 replace the worn-out images and put in the right images of God's image and your 370 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:25,560 true self image. And then finally rip out all the misinformation and replace it in 371 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:31,200 your life with the truth of God's Word. That's a renovation of your heart and it 372 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:38,680 starts with the rewiring of your minds. Thanks be to God. Amen. 373 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:43,240 Thank you so much for joining us today and it's our hope that together we can 374 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:48,520 change our ideas, images, and information in our minds to better reflect the truth 375 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:52,920 of our world and the truth of God's kingdom. And if you enjoyed the show 376 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,720 today please take a minute to rate and review our podcast so that we can 377 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,240 continue to spread the good news to others. Today's sermon was taken from the 378 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:06,960 June 25th 2023 10 a.m. service at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga 379 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:24,680 Ontario. Come again soon and thanks again for listening.