WEBVTT 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:14.320 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:16.600 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:19.780 with dozens of nationalities worshipping together. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.000 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.239 you are through our website ecb .asia or our 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:31.079 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.079 --> 00:00:35.060 by this week's sermon. We have been studying 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:37.619 the book of Colossians since the beginning of 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:41.549 July. And today is session six of the series. 00:00:41.789 --> 00:00:48.009 Will you join me as I pray? Lord, when we open 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:51.409 your word, so often it feels as if you wrote 00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:56.109 it just for us. Thank you for being so personal. 00:00:58.409 --> 00:01:00.789 I'm asking you today that we'll be the same. 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:05.129 Speak to our lives no matter where we are in 00:01:05.129 --> 00:01:10.400 our journey. And the things that you have envisioned 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.579 for us today, we welcome them. And will you use 00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:18.180 me in your power and in your grace? I pray in 00:01:18.180 --> 00:01:23.579 Jesus' name, amen. In this session six, we're 00:01:23.579 --> 00:01:27.200 going to be talking about peace at work. And 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.420 the question, obviously, is do you have peace 00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:33.980 at work? Or do you have anxiety, stress, and 00:01:33.980 --> 00:01:38.469 depression? What we'll discover in this study 00:01:38.469 --> 00:01:40.730 today is that peace at work has very little to 00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:43.950 do with work itself. And it has much more to 00:01:43.950 --> 00:01:48.030 do with the way you see yourself and whether 00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:51.890 you have peace within you. Your context becomes 00:01:51.890 --> 00:01:56.549 secondary. What we've discovered so far in the 00:01:56.549 --> 00:01:59.650 book of Colossians is that the apostle Paul explained 00:01:59.650 --> 00:02:03.090 to the first Christians in the first century, 00:02:03.150 --> 00:02:05.170 this was the first generation of Christianity, 00:02:06.090 --> 00:02:10.009 In the history of the world. And as he writes 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:12.270 to these Christians in the city of Colossae. 00:02:12.930 --> 00:02:16.050 He tells them look. You have to understand that 00:02:16.050 --> 00:02:19.250 when Jesus saved you. He transferred you from 00:02:19.250 --> 00:02:21.250 the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:24.509 And at that moment he reconciled you completely 00:02:24.509 --> 00:02:29.490 with God. All your sins 100 % forgiven. Paid 00:02:29.490 --> 00:02:33.560 by Jesus himself. So you don't need. To live 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:37.000 in fear. In fear of rejection. You don't need 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:39.780 to try to help Jesus save you. No. He did it 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:43.080 all. You just need to be rooted in him. And let 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:49.180 his grace. And his peace. Just be in your life. 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.979 So be rooted in Jesus. Experience his grace and 00:02:53.979 --> 00:02:57.500 his peace as a recipient. Because once you're 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:00.949 able to experience it as a recipient. You will 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:04.250 discover that grace does not stop with you, flows 00:03:04.250 --> 00:03:07.629 through you. And what Jesus wants is for you 00:03:07.629 --> 00:03:10.409 to experience his grace and his peace in you 00:03:10.409 --> 00:03:13.969 and through you into your relationships, as we 00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:16.509 discovered last week, also into your home life, 00:03:16.710 --> 00:03:20.270 and as we will discover today, also in your work 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:25.590 life. What was the challenge that the Colossians 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:28.939 were facing? That causes the Apostle Paul to 00:03:28.939 --> 00:03:32.639 have to write all of this content to them about 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.960 this topic. Well, to understand the context, 00:03:36.300 --> 00:03:39.159 we have to go back to understand the historical, 00:03:39.300 --> 00:03:43.979 cultural context of the church of Colossae. The 00:03:43.979 --> 00:03:48.800 Colossians were mainly Gentiles that lived in 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.479 the Roman Empire. And even though there were 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:54.620 some Jews in the community as well, this was 00:03:54.620 --> 00:03:59.400 not a Jewish city. And part of the Greco -Roman 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.560 world, it was shaped by the social structures 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.740 that they had already created. This is what we 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:08.960 studied last week, the concept of pater familias, 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.800 where there was a very hierarchical order that 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:19.959 was based on power, control, and fear. And this 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.379 permeated the way the family life worked, but 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:26.279 also the way society worked. And within this 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:30.199 social structure, there was a legalized system 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:35.779 of slavery that was one of the economic engines 00:04:35.779 --> 00:04:41.720 of the Roman Empire. There's a word the Bible 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:44.759 used to describe this group of people in the 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:50.490 sector of society. It's doulos. Servant, bondservant, 00:04:50.550 --> 00:04:54.129 slave. Perhaps you have heard this word doulos 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:57.350 in some ministries. Some ministries use that 00:04:57.350 --> 00:04:59.970 name as the name of their ministry. This is where 00:04:59.970 --> 00:05:03.370 it comes from. It's the word doulos, servant, 00:05:03.649 --> 00:05:09.839 slave. But this group of people... Was a large 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.019 sector of the Roman Empire. It is estimated that 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:18.060 between 10 to 20 % of the Roman population. Were 00:05:18.060 --> 00:05:23.300 doulos or slaves. And the way people enter into 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:28.240 this category. Was either through the conquests. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.180 These were prisoners of war that were brought 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:34.459 into the Roman Empire. As the empire was expanding. 00:05:35.100 --> 00:05:38.930 Or there were people that were in debt. and enter 00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:42.750 into these arrangements where they gave the ownership 00:05:42.750 --> 00:05:46.250 of their lives to a master, and now that master 00:05:46.250 --> 00:05:49.410 had all the legal power over their lives, whether 00:05:49.410 --> 00:05:53.149 it be temporary or for life. Because most slaves 00:05:53.149 --> 00:05:57.970 had the opportunity to buy their freedom. And 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:01.050 this slavery, in contrast to some other modern 00:06:01.050 --> 00:06:04.430 contexts of slavery, was not linked to a particular 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:08.740 ethnicity or caste. Anybody. Could become a slave 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:14.180 in that sense. Even a Roman. But there were some 00:06:14.180 --> 00:06:17.459 also that became slaves because of their crimes. 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:21.339 And this was their punishment. And they would 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:25.180 be slaves for life. There was no way out. And 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:29.279 all this sector was so large that through some 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.879 studies it's considered that Italy itself was 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:37.600 perhaps 30 % of the population were slaves. And 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.779 therefore these doulos, they were under the authority 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:45.560 of the master or the Lord. And the word the Bible 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.259 uses for this is the word Kyrios. Now that is 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:51.899 also a word that you might find in some ministries. 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:55.500 There are some publications called Kyrios. It's 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:57.620 because this is the word that the Bible uses 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:01.040 to describe the concept of master. And it's used 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.459 for God as the Lord. So every time that we pray, 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.569 oh Lord. In Greek, you will be using this word, 00:07:08.750 --> 00:07:12.310 Kyrios. And it was the word for the master who 00:07:12.310 --> 00:07:17.269 had legal ownership of the slave. So there was 00:07:17.269 --> 00:07:26.910 Kyrios and this slave relationship. Now, we know 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:30.370 because of ancient writings how all of this thing 00:07:30.370 --> 00:07:34.860 worked. And there were... into these categories 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:38.120 that spread out all through different professions 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.000 in the financial system of society. So you have 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:44.959 laborers and forced labor on the one extreme. 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:47.879 These were people working on agriculture, on 00:07:47.879 --> 00:07:50.959 the fields, on the mines. And then you have people 00:07:50.959 --> 00:07:55.259 working at home. They were taking care of cleaning. 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.970 They were taking care of the kids. Then you have 00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:01.610 more skilled professionals. You had teachers. 00:08:01.870 --> 00:08:04.189 You had people working in finance. You had people 00:08:04.189 --> 00:08:07.350 working in the medical field. And then you have 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:10.290 even higher positions, people that were working 00:08:10.290 --> 00:08:14.449 on administration of big, large properties. And 00:08:14.449 --> 00:08:17.850 all of these different sectors were populated 00:08:17.850 --> 00:08:26.040 by the workforce of the doulos. If you look at 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.339 some of the writings, you will find something 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:31.199 like this. With Aristotle, for instance, on the 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.639 4th century before Jesus. Because the Greco -Roman 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.600 world laid the foundation for the New Testament 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:40.840 time. And this was the mindset that permeated 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:45.000 the way Christians, the first Christians, the 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.120 world was like. Look at what Aristotle says. 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:52.139 The first and smallest parts of a household are... 00:08:52.490 --> 00:08:55.389 Master and slave, husband and wife, father and 00:08:55.389 --> 00:08:58.570 children. And that's why, as we are reading Colossians, 00:08:58.690 --> 00:09:02.169 you notice last week that it's addressing all 00:09:02.169 --> 00:09:07.710 these hierarchical orders in society. Then, you 00:09:07.710 --> 00:09:11.789 also have the attitudes that you know that people 00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:15.129 were going to have in society towards each other. 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:18.330 And the attitude that many people had towards 00:09:18.330 --> 00:09:21.669 the slaves is not something that you have to 00:09:21.669 --> 00:09:24.009 guess. It's actually documented. Some of these 00:09:24.009 --> 00:09:26.730 people wrote about it. Aristotle wrote about 00:09:26.730 --> 00:09:30.230 it himself. And he says this, some men are by 00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:33.529 nature free and other slaves, and that for the 00:09:33.529 --> 00:09:37.309 latter, slavery is both expedient and right. 00:09:37.450 --> 00:09:40.789 In other words, for some people, their place 00:09:40.789 --> 00:09:44.190 in society was meant to be a slave. That's where 00:09:44.190 --> 00:09:48.440 you belong. That is your position where you were 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:53.820 born for. So for some, slavery was not just a 00:09:53.820 --> 00:10:00.740 temporary thing. It was your destiny. Now also 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:03.139 the way they thought of some of the slaves is 00:10:03.139 --> 00:10:06.679 very interesting. A slave is a living tool just 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:11.220 as a tool is an inanimate slave. You're just 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:15.320 a tool. That's all you are. And there's another 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:18.080 writer that writes about this. His name is Varo, 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:20.879 and that's now from the first century. Now we're 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:24.059 talking about the time of contemporary to the 00:10:24.059 --> 00:10:27.379 Colossians. And look at what he says. Slaves 00:10:27.379 --> 00:10:31.240 are the speaking tools. Oxen are the bellowing 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.720 tools. And carts are the silent tools. You are 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:39.919 just a talking tool. That's all you are. You 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:43.799 have no rights. I have power over you. I'm your 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:48.360 master and you're here to serve me. So just do 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.919 what I say. You are just a tool. And even though 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:55.340 in the time of the Roman Empire, in the time 00:10:55.340 --> 00:11:00.320 of the early church, the concept of slavery as 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.000 an economic legal system was so embedded in Roman 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:06.539 culture that... Not about to really question 00:11:06.539 --> 00:11:09.419 the structure of it, but some people start questioning 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:13.820 the way people were treated. And we do have one 00:11:13.820 --> 00:11:17.419 of the rarest quotations about this in a letter 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:20.000 that another person wrote. His name is Seneca. 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:23.980 And what he writes is this. Look, yeah, there 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:26.559 are slaves, but they're also human beings. They're 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:29.740 slaves, but they also share the same breath, 00:11:29.980 --> 00:11:32.840 the same life, the same death. They are people, 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:36.789 like we are. And he was just making a comment. 00:11:36.809 --> 00:11:39.149 He was not advocating for the end of slavery. 00:11:39.549 --> 00:11:43.669 But it was Christianity that challenged this 00:11:43.669 --> 00:11:47.929 order of legalized slavery that eventually became 00:11:47.929 --> 00:11:50.429 the foundation for the complete abolition of 00:11:50.429 --> 00:11:55.629 it. So the attitudes that you can see building 00:11:55.629 --> 00:11:58.809 into this give us completely the background for 00:11:58.809 --> 00:12:02.000 understanding Colossians. Because Colossians 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:03.960 and the letter of Philemon, as we noticed, came 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.879 hand in hand. Now, I know that some of you have 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.220 not been in the previous studies. We covered 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:12.539 some of this in session one. But let me just, 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:16.200 for your sake, give you a little summary of the 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:19.500 background. Because the Apostle Paul was in Rome 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:21.759 in prison when he wrote this letter that we are 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:26.320 studying now. And the way this came up... was 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:29.059 that he's in prison and he meets a guy called 00:12:29.059 --> 00:12:31.639 Onesimus who was a slave who had escaped from 00:12:31.639 --> 00:12:35.899 his master. And Onesimus now is there with Paul, 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:38.080 hears the message of the gospel, now believes 00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:42.299 in Jesus. And Paul finds out that the master 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:47.460 of this Onesimus slave was a guy called Philemon 00:12:47.460 --> 00:12:53.200 who was a friend of Paul. So this guy was a Christian. 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:58.789 Who attended a church in this town of Colossae. 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:03.610 And Paul knew the founder of that church. Who 00:13:03.610 --> 00:13:07.590 was Epaphras. And Epaphras comes to Rome to visit 00:13:07.590 --> 00:13:09.409 Paul. And tells him everything that is going 00:13:09.409 --> 00:13:12.809 in that church of the Colossians. So Paul says, 00:13:12.909 --> 00:13:16.509 you know what? Onesimus, you have to go back 00:13:16.509 --> 00:13:19.509 there. Connect with that church. I'm going to 00:13:19.509 --> 00:13:22.250 send a letter to Philemon. But I'm also going 00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:26.009 to send a letter to the Colossians. And he decides 00:13:26.009 --> 00:13:29.149 to send Tychicus with the letters and with Onesimus 00:13:29.149 --> 00:13:32.330 and then they go. So at the core of what's going 00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:35.929 on in this church of the Colossians was a relationship 00:13:35.929 --> 00:13:40.789 among masters and slaves. One of them Philemon 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:47.429 and the other one Onesimus. So now you can start 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:53.360 imagining how Onesimus was thinking of himself 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:59.519 as he has escaped his master and gone all the 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:03.299 way to Rome. I imagine, I just can't imagine 00:14:03.299 --> 00:14:06.080 the Apostle Paul talking to Onesimus because 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:09.460 right now, based on the studies of psychology, 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:12.850 psychiatry, and counseling field, We understand 00:14:12.850 --> 00:14:15.289 much better what are the struggles that people 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:17.929 have that have come out of human trafficking, 00:14:18.090 --> 00:14:21.090 have come out of slavery, or are the descendants 00:14:21.090 --> 00:14:24.070 of slaves. And there's an emotional dimension 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:27.730 that works in their lives that now we understand 00:14:27.730 --> 00:14:31.309 better. And there are some of these tendencies 00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:35.570 that you start hearing. If you are just a tool, 00:14:35.889 --> 00:14:41.129 you're useless. Imagine hearing things all the 00:14:41.129 --> 00:14:44.039 time. That's why you can understand the language 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:47.120 now when Paul writes to Philemon and he says, 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:51.379 hey, formerly Onesimus was useless to you, but 00:14:51.379 --> 00:14:55.179 now he has become useful. You see the language 00:14:55.179 --> 00:14:58.820 of just these tools? That's what they are. And 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:01.340 he says he's useful now both to you and to me. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:04.539 This Onesimus that escaped, now he came to know 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:08.000 Christ. He is your brother in Christ now. So 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.639 now you will have to start thinking of him differently. 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:14.470 Perhaps the reason he was separated from you 00:15:14.470 --> 00:15:17.029 for a little while was that you might have him 00:15:17.029 --> 00:15:20.509 back forever. Yes, Paul, I want him back forever. 00:15:21.049 --> 00:15:26.690 That's his place. But what he means is no longer 00:15:26.690 --> 00:15:30.909 as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear 00:15:30.909 --> 00:15:34.490 brother. He is very dear to me, but even dearer 00:15:34.490 --> 00:15:37.889 to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother 00:15:37.889 --> 00:15:43.820 in the Lord. What? Onesimus, my brother, he's 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:47.340 just a talking tool. That's all he is. What are 00:15:47.340 --> 00:15:50.879 you talking about? Can you start sensing how 00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:53.259 revolutionary the message of the Apostle Paul 00:15:53.259 --> 00:16:02.539 is to the social order? The attitudes that the 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:06.899 Greco -Roman world had towards these people and 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:10.490 the system that had built the economy, Of the 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:15.529 empire. Was rooted on this mindset. If I were 00:16:15.529 --> 00:16:18.950 to ask Onesimus. Onesimus who are you? I am just 00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:25.350 a living tool. A talking tool. And who do you 00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:29.909 serve? Well my owner of course. And what is your 00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:36.370 goal in life? My goal in life? Survival. I am 00:16:36.370 --> 00:16:39.029 just trying to survive. That's all. Get to the 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:42.429 next day. And hopefully one day gain my freedom. 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:48.990 That's it. Therefore you can understand. What 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.809 we now understand with the study of psychiatry 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:56.429 and psychology. Is the idea that undermining 00:16:56.429 --> 00:17:02.409 all of these functions. There was an internal 00:17:02.409 --> 00:17:08.259 world that the person was wrestling with. Feelings 00:17:08.259 --> 00:17:11.779 of low self -worth, anxiety, insecure attachment, 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:16.440 PTSD, which is the post -traumatic disorder. 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:20.140 Imagine if they had become conquered and brought 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:23.359 as captives and now they are slaves. Can you 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:27.099 imagine all the trauma that they came from? Internalized 00:17:27.099 --> 00:17:31.480 inferiority. Yes, I am my role. That's all I 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.299 am, a tool. And you start feeling like that. 00:17:34.339 --> 00:17:38.509 That's all you are. Dissociation, social withdrawal, 00:17:38.970 --> 00:17:42.950 shame, loneliness, all of these different things 00:17:42.950 --> 00:17:48.910 going inside the person's heart. That's why the 00:17:48.910 --> 00:17:52.170 three main challenges that they are facing is 00:17:52.170 --> 00:17:55.589 this identity crisis, thinking that I'm just 00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:59.109 a tool. The value crisis, thinking that I'm not 00:17:59.109 --> 00:18:02.150 good enough, maybe I deserve to be in this position. 00:18:02.490 --> 00:18:06.539 And the hope crisis. Life has no meaning. There's 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:09.940 no purpose. I am just breathing and surviving 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:16.599 day by day. These were the people that became 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:19.819 Christians in the first century. And now the 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:23.960 gospel is reaching them, not only so that they 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.839 can die and go to heaven, but now the apostle 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.559 Paul wants these Colossians to experience God's 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:38.230 grace. And what else? In the place of all that 00:18:38.230 --> 00:18:41.809 woundedness that the social structure has created. 00:18:43.029 --> 00:18:46.269 That's why the Apostle Paul will take time to 00:18:46.269 --> 00:18:49.690 write to these Christians in Colossae, but not 00:18:49.690 --> 00:18:52.569 only then, but in other places as well. If you 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:56.789 look at this map, this is the Roman Empire during 00:18:56.789 --> 00:19:00.259 the time of the Apostle Paul. You can see some 00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:03.440 of the arrows for some of his missionary trips. 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:06.519 But here what I want you to see in all of these 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:11.240 arrows that I put in there, if you go from your, 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:16.519 let me see, your left, and you see the area of 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:22.519 Galatia, then you have the area of Colossae, 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:25.849 then the area of... Philippi, and then all the 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:29.089 way to the other side in Athens and the Greek 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:34.390 area, you have Corinth. And the Apostle Paul 00:19:34.390 --> 00:19:36.750 writes to all of these Christians in all of these 00:19:36.750 --> 00:19:41.769 places about this concept. Do you have peace 00:19:41.769 --> 00:19:48.750 at work? And because the social economic structure 00:19:48.750 --> 00:19:52.569 was this, He's going to say something to all 00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:55.849 of them. And before we get into Colossians itself, 00:19:55.950 --> 00:19:59.009 I want you to see what he tells each one of them. 00:19:59.589 --> 00:20:02.869 To the Corinthians first, starting on that side 00:20:02.869 --> 00:20:05.269 of your screen, he's going to address the issue 00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:09.950 of status. And he says, look guys, were you a 00:20:09.950 --> 00:20:13.970 slave when you were called to follow Jesus? Then 00:20:13.970 --> 00:20:16.430 don't let it trouble you. Although if you can 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.660 gain your freedom, do so. Yeah, it is better 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:23.160 to be free than to be a slave, so work for it. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:29.319 But if you are a slave, don't worry about that, 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:34.099 because that is not who you are. For the one 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:37.220 who was a slave, when called to faith in the 00:20:37.220 --> 00:20:42.079 Lord, is the Lord's free person. So you are truly 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:46.119 free in Christ. Your circumstances do not determine 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:51.920 who you are. But at the same time, the one who 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:57.440 was free when was called to follow Jesus is Christ's 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:01.079 slave anyway. So you may be free, but you still 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:03.920 have a master and you are still a slave to that 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:08.380 master, except that that master is Jesus. So 00:21:08.380 --> 00:21:12.220 he addresses these people and he starts addressing 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:15.539 their status because the way they think of themselves 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:20.759 has to change. Not only the slave, but the master. 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:25.180 Both of them have to redefine who they are. And 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:28.259 the role in their society is not who they are. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:34.539 Who they are in Christ is who they are. So you 00:21:34.539 --> 00:21:37.359 were bought at a price. Do not become a slave 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:40.500 of human beings. If you are free, don't sell 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:43.920 yourself into slavery. No, you are already free 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.490 in Christ. So he simply addresses these things 00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:51.109 to help them understand, yeah, the social structure 00:21:51.109 --> 00:21:56.009 is complicated, but who you are is not. You are 00:21:56.009 --> 00:22:03.170 a doulos and you have a kyrios. Jesus is your 00:22:03.170 --> 00:22:06.529 Lord. He is your master. And because he is your 00:22:06.529 --> 00:22:09.609 Lord and he is your master, you are a servant 00:22:09.609 --> 00:22:13.599 whether you are legally free or not. So you have 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:16.180 to start thinking about yourselves from that 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:18.460 perspective. And that's what he tells the Corinthians. 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:22.720 Now, what does he tell the people there on the 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:27.619 other side in the churches of Galatia? He addresses 00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:30.480 the concept of hierarchy in this new community 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:35.000 in the church. And he says, look guys, now that 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:37.519 you have come to know Christ, you are a new community. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:42.579 Jesus is our master. And because this is true, 00:22:42.740 --> 00:22:46.319 in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:49.039 through faith. Now you are one family in Christ. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.619 For all of you who were baptized into Christ 00:22:53.619 --> 00:22:57.799 have clothed yourself with whom? With Christ. 00:22:57.940 --> 00:23:00.599 Now you belong to him. You are rooted in Jesus. 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:05.460 He is your Savior. He is your Lord. You are his 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:09.470 child. Now you are his servant. Therefore, when 00:23:09.470 --> 00:23:13.009 we're talking about our community, there is no 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:18.690 Jew and Gentile, slave, free, male, female. No. 00:23:19.450 --> 00:23:22.890 We don't function in that hierarchy that your 00:23:22.890 --> 00:23:26.990 social system has created. No. I mean, there 00:23:26.990 --> 00:23:28.890 are still Jews and Gentiles. There are still 00:23:28.890 --> 00:23:31.890 men and women. I mean, they still exist. But 00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:34.470 in the body of Christ, they're not hierarchies. 00:23:35.069 --> 00:23:41.910 Because we are one. In Christ Jesus. Therefore. 00:23:42.349 --> 00:23:47.410 That is who we are. And now to the Colossians. 00:23:47.690 --> 00:23:51.269 He's going to focus. On helping them understand. 00:23:51.630 --> 00:23:58.450 Their attitude. Towards their work. Both. To 00:23:58.450 --> 00:24:02.009 the one that is. The doulos. And to the one that 00:24:02.009 --> 00:24:04.950 is the curios. And he's going to address both 00:24:04.950 --> 00:24:07.470 of them, and he's going to tell them, this is 00:24:07.470 --> 00:24:11.549 what you need to keep in mind. If you want to 00:24:11.549 --> 00:24:14.230 experience God's peace, regardless of what your 00:24:14.230 --> 00:24:18.450 social status is, regardless of what your circumstances 00:24:18.450 --> 00:24:24.990 are, this is what you need to be focused on. 00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:28.369 And now, I really want to know what he tells 00:24:28.369 --> 00:24:32.240 them. Which is very interesting. Last week when 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.299 we were doing this study, we looked at Colossians 00:24:34.299 --> 00:24:36.380 and then we looked at Ephesians. And what he 00:24:36.380 --> 00:24:39.619 told them about the family unit, marriage and 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:44.819 parenting was almost identical. And now when 00:24:44.819 --> 00:24:47.420 you read Colossians and then you look at Ephesians 00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:50.980 again, he almost repeats the same thing word 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:53.940 by word. It's fascinating. And once you see the 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:58.180 map, it makes sense. Ready to know what he tells 00:24:58.180 --> 00:25:04.400 the Colossians? So here we go. Chapter 3. Slaves, 00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:11.859 obey your earthly masters in everything. Do it, 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:16.200 not only when their eye is on you and to win 00:25:16.200 --> 00:25:20.799 their favor, but with sincerity of heart and 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:30.279 reverence for the curious. The curious. The Lord 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:35.700 Jesus. If you have not invited Jesus into the 00:25:35.700 --> 00:25:39.700 realm of your life, and if you have not realized 00:25:39.700 --> 00:25:44.819 that actually He is the Lord, then the first 00:25:44.819 --> 00:25:47.000 things that you need to do if you're going to 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:51.019 experience God's peace in your life at work is 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:55.980 to realize That Jesus needs to be invited into 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:59.279 that space. So that everything that you are doing. 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:05.660 You are doing it for whom? For him. Not for Philemon. 00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:10.900 You're not working for Philemon Onesimus. You're 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:17.200 working for Jesus. And the other thing Onesimus. 00:26:19.420 --> 00:26:21.640 Don't do what everybody else does. You know all 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:23.829 the other people that work for this guy. Do it 00:26:23.829 --> 00:26:25.809 that way. When he walks by, oh, let's work because 00:26:25.809 --> 00:26:29.210 he's watching. Show yourself busy, you know. 00:26:29.910 --> 00:26:33.109 And so with you, you are working for the one 00:26:33.109 --> 00:26:36.890 that sees you all the time. So what you are going 00:26:36.890 --> 00:26:40.029 to do is that you are going to work with your 00:26:40.029 --> 00:26:46.730 heart in everything you do. Yeah, but he doesn't 00:26:46.730 --> 00:26:51.089 deserve it. Yeah, he doesn't, but he does. And 00:26:51.089 --> 00:26:56.990 you're working for Jesus. And also, whatever 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:02.549 you do, you will work at it with all your heart. 00:27:02.849 --> 00:27:07.890 Not halfway. Not just another day surviving. 00:27:08.329 --> 00:27:13.029 No. You will do everything that you do with all 00:27:13.029 --> 00:27:15.470 your heart as working for the Lord, not for man. 00:27:15.549 --> 00:27:19.450 Because you know what? You may not have any legal 00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:22.880 rights here in this Roman system. But in the 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.259 kingdom of Jesus, that Philemon is your brother. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:31.039 And you're going to be together forever in the 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:35.039 new kingdom. And when Jesus comes back, you're 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:39.119 going to be glorified. And you will receive something. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:43.740 You know that you will receive an inheritance 00:27:43.740 --> 00:27:52.599 from the Lord as a reward. Philemon. Onesimus, 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:56.200 you guys need to change the way you are thinking 00:27:56.200 --> 00:28:00.619 about your lives and your work. Onesimus, do 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:03.559 you realize that you will receive an inheritance 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:06.460 from the Lord? That the way you are serving him 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:12.400 here and now has eternal impact? What do you 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:14.380 mean? What inheritance? What are you talking 00:28:14.380 --> 00:28:18.640 about? He doesn't say. He doesn't explain. So 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.400 I'm not going to try to tell you what he didn't 00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:25.220 say. But, can you imagine a guy that was told 00:28:25.220 --> 00:28:28.380 you are just attacking tools, so shut up. Just 00:28:28.380 --> 00:28:30.500 do what I say. You have no rights in this place. 00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:38.059 To hear the Apostle Paul is addressing me? Nobody 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:40.519 addresses me. I'm just like a fly on the wall. 00:28:42.539 --> 00:28:47.880 And he's writing a whole section to me? Wow. 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:50.839 He's telling me that he's not my master, but 00:28:50.839 --> 00:28:54.700 he's my master. Oh, I feel a little bit better 00:28:54.700 --> 00:28:57.680 now. He's telling me that I'm going to receive 00:28:57.680 --> 00:29:01.839 an inheritance. I cannot even own land in my 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:07.779 own place here, but I, oh, the way I serve Jesus 00:29:07.779 --> 00:29:12.819 here now has impact in eternity. Now you got 00:29:12.819 --> 00:29:18.869 my ear. Remember, It is the Lord Christ Jesus 00:29:18.869 --> 00:29:25.549 you are serving. He never said that you are just 00:29:25.549 --> 00:29:32.670 a talking tool. You are his child redeemed by 00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:37.849 the blood of Jesus. So if you want to experience 00:29:37.849 --> 00:29:44.029 his grace and his peace in your work, yeah, if 00:29:44.029 --> 00:29:46.819 you can be free, great. But the problem is not 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:51.119 your external freedom. The problem is your attitude 00:29:51.119 --> 00:29:56.099 of your heart. And that is where you need to 00:29:56.099 --> 00:29:59.960 invite Jesus. To transform and to heal. So that 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:02.720 you can experience his peace. Flowing through 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:07.339 you in whatever you do. Whatever you do. Now 00:30:07.339 --> 00:30:11.779 Philemon I want to talk to you too. Both of you. 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.720 Because look. If you choose to do the wrong thing, 00:30:15.940 --> 00:30:19.819 then there's consequences. You will be repaid 00:30:19.819 --> 00:30:22.980 for your wrong, and there's no favoritism. So, 00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:29.019 do what is right. But for you, Philemon, the 00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:31.619 curious here in this relationship, I have something 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:35.359 to tell you. Masters, provide your slaves with 00:30:35.359 --> 00:30:41.279 what is right and fair. Because you know that 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:45.490 you also have a... Master in heaven. You think 00:30:45.490 --> 00:30:47.549 that you are the man here. That you are the curious. 00:30:48.109 --> 00:30:53.970 It's like no. You have a curious. And that's 00:30:53.970 --> 00:30:58.150 Jesus. So he is your master. And if he has given 00:30:58.150 --> 00:31:00.609 his life for you. To give you what you needed. 00:31:01.349 --> 00:31:04.670 You need to treat. Those working for your estate. 00:31:05.390 --> 00:31:10.190 With what is right. And what is fair. Because 00:31:10.190 --> 00:31:14.880 you're also. A slave serving a master. And whatever 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:17.539 you do, work at it with all your heart because 00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:20.400 it is the Lord Christ Jesus. You are serving 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:30.859 not your investors. Wow. And Paul, you addressed 00:31:30.859 --> 00:31:35.180 the slaves before you addressed us masters. He 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:40.359 is redefining the whole picture. No wonder. They 00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:43.539 were not experiencing peace at work because they 00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:47.119 were trying to simply imitate the social structure 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:51.700 that they had inherited rather than change their 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:56.359 mindset and embrace their identity as people 00:31:56.359 --> 00:31:59.539 who belong to a new kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:04.200 And here you have it. You can now understand 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.480 how revolutionary this was. And how eventually 00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:09.480 it did become the foundation for the abolition 00:32:09.480 --> 00:32:15.680 of slavery. For the Roman it was simple. I am 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:19.900 the master. I own you. I have power. And my job 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:24.119 is to subdue you. And to govern you. You have 00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:28.119 no agency. You are just a slave. And now Paul 00:32:28.119 --> 00:32:30.720 comes and redefines that mindset. He says not 00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:36.359 so. That way. Actually, there's only one master 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:39.759 in this relationship. His name is Jesus. He is 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:44.779 the Lord that both of you are serving. So if 00:32:44.779 --> 00:32:48.799 you have a master -servant relationship, what 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:51.279 you need to remember is that you master, you 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.240 do what is fair and right for the person working 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:57.000 for you. Because you're accountable to Jesus. 00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:00.339 But the person working for you, you work out 00:33:00.339 --> 00:33:02.079 whatever you're doing with all your heart because 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:05.680 you're also accountable to Jesus. And this is 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:10.460 how it works in the kingdom. And until we get 00:33:10.460 --> 00:33:15.759 it, we will never be able to experience grace 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:20.180 and peace at work. Because look, I understand. 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:26.500 The contrast is just astronomic. It's just so 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:34.440 unimaginable for their time in history. Now when 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:38.759 Onesimus comes back from Rome and comes back 00:33:38.759 --> 00:33:44.599 to the Colossians, if you ask him, Onesimus, 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:49.279 who are you? Well, I'm a servant of Jesus. And 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:51.799 who is your master? Well, Jesus, no offense. 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:56.380 Philemon. But Jesus is my master. And what is 00:33:56.380 --> 00:33:59.500 your goal? Well, I already learned from Paul. 00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:02.799 Eternal impact. I am looking for that inheritance. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:08.239 I know what I do now has that impact. Complete 00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:14.579 transformation. I know I'm not a slave, nor are 00:34:14.579 --> 00:34:21.329 you. At least, of people. But do you realize 00:34:21.329 --> 00:34:26.690 that you and I are doulos of Aquirios? You are 00:34:26.690 --> 00:34:29.750 a servant, whether you realize it or not. And 00:34:29.750 --> 00:34:33.869 you have a Lord and his name is Jesus. And if 00:34:33.869 --> 00:34:36.369 you are not going to align your identity with 00:34:36.369 --> 00:34:40.909 the Lord in whatever you do, you will be able 00:34:40.909 --> 00:34:44.570 to start identifying with Onesimus so much. Because 00:34:44.570 --> 00:34:47.110 the way you will start thinking about yourself 00:34:47.110 --> 00:34:50.090 and your function and the emotions that are going 00:34:50.090 --> 00:34:53.730 to be inside of you will be nothing of grace 00:34:53.730 --> 00:34:57.110 and peace. You will be able to identify with 00:34:57.110 --> 00:35:02.130 all these things. Let me just ask you. Are you 00:35:02.130 --> 00:35:04.090 in the middle of an identity crisis where you 00:35:04.090 --> 00:35:07.750 feel like, you know, I'm just nothing. I'm just 00:35:07.750 --> 00:35:11.690 a position. I do not feel seen or heard. People 00:35:11.690 --> 00:35:15.159 don't treat me like a person I am. Did you feel 00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:22.099 invisible? Hmm. What about this? The value crisis. 00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:25.059 When was the last time that you tried to convince 00:35:25.059 --> 00:35:26.980 yourself that you are good enough because that 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:30.980 nagging feeling, I'm not good enough. I'm not 00:35:30.980 --> 00:35:33.960 good enough. Have you been struggling with that 00:35:33.960 --> 00:35:38.699 feeling? How about the hope crisis? Waking up 00:35:38.699 --> 00:35:40.760 one day before you go to work and you think, 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:44.349 what's the purpose of life? Another day at work. 00:35:44.889 --> 00:35:48.409 What's the meaning of all of this? Are you feeling 00:35:48.409 --> 00:35:51.650 hopeless? Like you are just in survival mode? 00:35:52.750 --> 00:35:57.789 You see, you don't have to be onesimus and be 00:35:57.789 --> 00:36:00.590 in that social context to start struggling with 00:36:00.590 --> 00:36:03.210 all of these things. How about the other stuff? 00:36:03.489 --> 00:36:06.510 Do you feel low self -worth? Do you feel anxiety? 00:36:06.909 --> 00:36:09.030 When was the last time you had an anxiety attack? 00:36:09.650 --> 00:36:15.400 At work. Do you feel insecure attachment, your 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:17.940 ability to establish meaningful relationships 00:36:17.940 --> 00:36:21.840 always suffers? Are you struggling with stress, 00:36:22.179 --> 00:36:25.159 with internalized inferiority, with dissociation? 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:29.059 Are you withdrawing socially, feeling shame or 00:36:29.059 --> 00:36:35.820 loneliness? Welcome to Onesimus' world. I don't 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:39.880 mean his cultural world, his internal world. 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:45.719 And this is where Jesus wants to meet you today. 00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:49.579 Because you and I need to understand the same 00:36:49.579 --> 00:36:53.519 thing that Onesimus had to understand. That so 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:56.500 far you've been blaming your context. You've 00:36:56.500 --> 00:36:58.800 been blaming your boss. You've been blaming your 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:03.159 parents. You've been blaming your country. But 00:37:03.159 --> 00:37:07.179 what if the secret to experiencing God's peace 00:37:07.179 --> 00:37:12.030 and grace. Has nothing to do with that. But everything 00:37:12.030 --> 00:37:18.250 to do with inside. And the way you think of yourself. 00:37:19.309 --> 00:37:22.250 And the way you let Jesus align your identity 00:37:22.250 --> 00:37:27.369 with his. Is the secret. For that grace and peace 00:37:27.369 --> 00:37:32.110 to start outflowing from you. Wouldn't that be 00:37:32.110 --> 00:37:38.610 a game changer? That's why. I want to read this 00:37:38.610 --> 00:37:41.829 again, but not from Onesimus' perspective, but 00:37:41.829 --> 00:37:45.289 from my perspective here today and now. Will 00:37:45.289 --> 00:37:49.710 you read it aloud with me? Whatever you do, work 00:37:49.710 --> 00:37:53.250 at it with all your heart as working for the 00:37:53.250 --> 00:37:56.889 Lord, not for man, since you know that you will 00:37:56.889 --> 00:38:00.230 receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. 00:38:00.590 --> 00:38:04.809 It is the Lord Christ Jesus you are serving. 00:38:06.159 --> 00:38:10.800 It's like, boom, boom, boom. It's like, it hit 00:38:10.800 --> 00:38:15.980 me everywhere, you know? It's like, really, you 00:38:15.980 --> 00:38:23.900 have to say that? I think that we all need to 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:29.300 have a little time of truth here. Who are you? 00:38:33.559 --> 00:38:37.150 Well, I, I'm an architect. I work. No, no, no. 00:38:38.070 --> 00:38:43.670 That's your job. That's your title. Who are you? 00:38:45.650 --> 00:38:49.190 Well, you know, I don't know. I just graduated 00:38:49.190 --> 00:38:53.730 from college. No, no, that's your degree. Who 00:38:53.730 --> 00:39:03.210 are you? There's only one answer to that. I'm 00:39:03.210 --> 00:39:08.230 a doulos of Jesus Christ. I'm a servant of Jesus. 00:39:09.710 --> 00:39:14.469 That's who I am. Redeemed by his grace. I belong 00:39:14.469 --> 00:39:17.769 to him. I belong to his kingdom. He's my king. 00:39:18.110 --> 00:39:24.469 And I live here to serve him. Who are you? Do 00:39:24.469 --> 00:39:27.610 you see yourself as a servant of Jesus in everything 00:39:27.610 --> 00:39:33.860 you do? Even the work you hate? Because that 00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:37.820 is the beginning of transformation. The peace 00:39:37.820 --> 00:39:40.940 will come from aligning ourselves with the Lord. 00:39:41.159 --> 00:39:44.360 And one of the funny things is that we have the 00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:49.340 tendency to link our identity to what we do. 00:39:50.159 --> 00:39:53.900 And that doesn't escape any of us. In my own 00:39:53.900 --> 00:39:57.500 journey, I remember that the way it clicked. 00:39:58.230 --> 00:40:02.190 It was just in the transition when ECB invited 00:40:02.190 --> 00:40:05.349 us to come to work here from Dallas. Because 00:40:05.349 --> 00:40:07.349 I had been working in Dallas for 18 years in 00:40:07.349 --> 00:40:11.030 our church there. And I had a very specific role. 00:40:11.230 --> 00:40:15.190 I was the senior pastor of our church. And when 00:40:15.190 --> 00:40:17.670 I was going to come here, it was not to be a 00:40:17.670 --> 00:40:20.650 senior pastor. It was to have a supporting role. 00:40:22.110 --> 00:40:25.409 And I remember that when I started feeling compelled 00:40:25.409 --> 00:40:28.300 that this was something that was... God was calling 00:40:28.300 --> 00:40:32.380 us to do, what I started wrestling in my prayer 00:40:32.380 --> 00:40:37.380 was, but God, I'm a senior pastor. How am I going 00:40:37.380 --> 00:40:39.099 to go to a place and not be a senior pastor? 00:40:40.860 --> 00:40:48.059 This feels like a downgrade. And it happens that 00:40:48.059 --> 00:40:51.320 during that time I was reading Philippians, when 00:40:51.320 --> 00:40:55.710 the Apostle Paul, again, talking to us, Says 00:40:55.710 --> 00:40:57.610 your attitude should be the same one as Jesus. 00:41:00.110 --> 00:41:02.429 Who did not consider to be equal to God or something 00:41:02.429 --> 00:41:07.150 to hold tight to. But he took the form of a servant. 00:41:08.070 --> 00:41:14.150 A doulos. And when I was reading that. It hit 00:41:14.150 --> 00:41:18.210 me. I'm not a senior pastor. That was my role. 00:41:20.309 --> 00:41:26.840 I'm a servant of Jesus. What freedom. That was 00:41:26.840 --> 00:41:29.679 easier to do. It's like I'm not letting my identity 00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:34.739 go. I'm just changing functions. Roles. Titles. 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:37.360 But in the kingdom of Jesus. He moves you around. 00:41:39.059 --> 00:41:41.920 Your job is just temporary. But your identity 00:41:41.920 --> 00:41:47.119 is not. But it's easier said than done now. It's 00:41:47.119 --> 00:41:50.199 like. Going through that, it was really an emotional 00:41:50.199 --> 00:41:54.019 place where God had to meet me there and it had 00:41:54.019 --> 00:41:58.039 to click in my heart. Today I can say positions 00:41:58.039 --> 00:42:03.099 don't matter. Titles don't matter. What matters 00:42:03.099 --> 00:42:05.760 is that I am where God wants me to be, doing 00:42:05.760 --> 00:42:08.420 what he called me to do because he is the master 00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:13.719 that I'm serving. And I had to learn that. But 00:42:13.719 --> 00:42:15.840 you know one of the times in which we feel the 00:42:15.840 --> 00:42:18.869 crisis the most? It's when you actually lose 00:42:18.869 --> 00:42:23.050 your job and you have no job at all. If you have 00:42:23.050 --> 00:42:27.909 no job, then what are you? A loser? Unemployed? 00:42:28.110 --> 00:42:32.110 No, that's not your identity either. If you are 00:42:32.110 --> 00:42:33.849 in that stage in which you are transitioning 00:42:33.849 --> 00:42:38.289 jobs, there's something I have to tell you. It 00:42:38.289 --> 00:42:42.369 is very common for people that are in that space 00:42:42.369 --> 00:42:46.710 of transition to have this wrestling. And there's 00:42:46.710 --> 00:42:51.130 this very simple book called Still Looking. It's 00:42:51.130 --> 00:42:54.989 written by a Christian from testimonies of Christians 00:42:54.989 --> 00:42:57.570 that had to go through this transition of losing 00:42:57.570 --> 00:42:59.670 their job and all the wrestling that they went 00:42:59.670 --> 00:43:01.730 through. And one of the things that they discover 00:43:01.730 --> 00:43:04.150 is that the process you go through emotionally 00:43:04.150 --> 00:43:08.630 is very similar to the process of grieving. First 00:43:08.630 --> 00:43:11.630 you go through denial. It's like, no, this cannot 00:43:11.630 --> 00:43:15.340 be happening to me. To anger, it's like, I can't 00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:17.559 believe they did this to me. Who do they think 00:43:17.559 --> 00:43:21.380 they are? To bargaining. God, if you give me 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:24.679 a job, I'm going to start tithing 50 % of my 00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:33.400 salary. To depression. Keep rejected. Nobody's 00:43:33.400 --> 00:43:36.280 going to hire me. I'm in my 50s now. I'm not 00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:42.380 competitive anymore. To acceptance. Lord, you're 00:43:42.380 --> 00:43:46.599 the one I work for. If you haven't provided a 00:43:46.599 --> 00:43:49.980 job for me yet, that's fine. I know you care 00:43:49.980 --> 00:43:53.380 for me. You give to me at the right time. So 00:43:53.380 --> 00:43:56.599 as I wait, just strengthen me. Very different. 00:43:57.539 --> 00:44:00.579 If you are in that journey, remember who you 00:44:00.579 --> 00:44:03.659 are. You are not your job. You are not your title. 00:44:04.840 --> 00:44:09.179 You are a servant of Jesus Christ. First thing. 00:44:09.239 --> 00:44:14.559 Second thing. Whom are you working for? Are you 00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:18.300 working to please people and impress people? 00:44:19.179 --> 00:44:23.280 Are you working for your boss? Or are you working 00:44:23.280 --> 00:44:28.500 really for Jesus? Because when you are working 00:44:28.500 --> 00:44:32.480 for Jesus, suddenly everything gets redefined. 00:44:33.079 --> 00:44:35.639 Next time that you try to do something crooked 00:44:35.639 --> 00:44:39.739 or underhanded, you know that Jesus is watching. 00:44:40.269 --> 00:44:43.110 And the Holy Spirit is going to convict you and 00:44:43.110 --> 00:44:45.409 you're going to start feeling like, you know, 00:44:45.449 --> 00:44:49.590 even if you cover your ears, still there. You 00:44:49.590 --> 00:44:55.409 are serving somebody else. Have you made the 00:44:55.409 --> 00:44:59.530 transition? Perhaps today is the time to come 00:44:59.530 --> 00:45:01.929 to God and say, God, I've been blaming my boss 00:45:01.929 --> 00:45:05.929 and I feel so upset with this guy. But today 00:45:05.929 --> 00:45:08.030 you have told me that you are my boss and I had 00:45:08.030 --> 00:45:11.099 never even thought. That I'm working for you. 00:45:11.920 --> 00:45:14.579 That never crossed my mind. I thought that working 00:45:14.579 --> 00:45:16.579 for you was, you know, helping with the children's 00:45:16.579 --> 00:45:26.019 ministry on Sunday at ECB. But my job? Who is 00:45:26.019 --> 00:45:34.139 really your boss? And the third question is, 00:45:34.760 --> 00:45:37.940 what is your goal at your job? To get the next 00:45:37.940 --> 00:45:43.309 promotion? Hey, better paycheck? Oh, that's good 00:45:43.309 --> 00:45:45.409 and cool, especially if you give some of your 00:45:45.409 --> 00:45:48.590 resources to do our ministry here. But you know 00:45:48.590 --> 00:45:57.610 what? That is not what is our goal. A servant 00:45:57.610 --> 00:46:00.150 has only one goal towards the master and it's 00:46:00.150 --> 00:46:04.829 to do everything I do to please you. Everything. 00:46:06.170 --> 00:46:10.579 And here, As servants of Jesus, we are living 00:46:10.579 --> 00:46:16.679 for kingdom impact. Not for career impact. Kingdom 00:46:16.679 --> 00:46:22.579 impact. And therefore, it's a time for us to 00:46:22.579 --> 00:46:26.039 come to God and say, God, I had never even thought 00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:31.139 about how you want to use my career. My retirement. 00:46:32.300 --> 00:46:36.780 How you want to use my time for kingdom impact. 00:46:37.960 --> 00:46:40.820 I have not even asked you about that. And now 00:46:40.820 --> 00:46:44.780 it hits me. I'm your servant. My career is yours. 00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:49.780 I want to use it for your glory. Lord, would 00:46:49.780 --> 00:46:53.900 you lead me? That's why I love a story I want 00:46:53.900 --> 00:46:57.519 to share with you. There's an actor in the U 00:46:57.519 --> 00:47:01.380 .S. Famous because he has a brother that is also 00:47:01.380 --> 00:47:04.380 an actor. So he's a family of actors. His name 00:47:04.380 --> 00:47:08.170 is Stephen Botwin. And today he's a Christian, 00:47:08.230 --> 00:47:10.150 but he wasn't a Christian. He didn't grow up 00:47:10.150 --> 00:47:12.889 in a Christian home. He was an actor in Hollywood 00:47:12.889 --> 00:47:16.050 pursuing his career as an actor. And as he tells 00:47:16.050 --> 00:47:18.369 his story, he says, you know what? My life before 00:47:18.369 --> 00:47:21.630 Christ was focused on making money and existence 00:47:21.630 --> 00:47:25.429 of self -absorbance. It was all about me, money, 00:47:25.489 --> 00:47:27.829 money. And I was making a lot of good money in 00:47:27.829 --> 00:47:31.170 my career at that time. Lots of movies and contests 00:47:31.170 --> 00:47:34.650 that he was doing. But he says, we moved to this 00:47:34.650 --> 00:47:38.130 house. And somebody recommended this cleaning 00:47:38.130 --> 00:47:41.150 lady that we hired to work for us. So there she 00:47:41.150 --> 00:47:44.889 would come to clean our house. Do you have a 00:47:44.889 --> 00:47:48.030 maid at home? That cooks for you? That cleans 00:47:48.030 --> 00:47:56.630 your house? That was his case. Just a maid. But 00:47:56.630 --> 00:48:00.610 he started noticing something. This maid, every 00:48:00.610 --> 00:48:04.719 time she came to clean, she would sing. But every 00:48:04.719 --> 00:48:07.400 time that she would sing, all the songs that 00:48:07.400 --> 00:48:10.880 she was singing were songs about this guy, Jesus. 00:48:13.420 --> 00:48:16.920 And because Stephen was not a Christian, he didn't 00:48:16.920 --> 00:48:20.300 believe in all this nonsense. One day he talked 00:48:20.300 --> 00:48:24.179 to her and said, you know, I see you happy all 00:48:24.179 --> 00:48:26.360 the time singing these songs, but I can't help 00:48:26.360 --> 00:48:28.940 but notice that all of them pretty much talk 00:48:28.940 --> 00:48:33.409 about Jesus. I'm just curious, do you have more 00:48:33.409 --> 00:48:35.929 songs in your repertoire that do not talk about 00:48:35.929 --> 00:48:42.969 that? And at that moment, she looked at him and 00:48:42.969 --> 00:48:47.829 she started laughing. Like laughing. And she 00:48:47.829 --> 00:48:49.909 tells him something that he will never forget. 00:48:51.309 --> 00:48:54.309 You think that the reason why I come here is 00:48:54.309 --> 00:49:02.760 to clean your house? She was a servant of Jesus. 00:49:03.840 --> 00:49:07.860 She was not there to clean houses. She was there 00:49:07.860 --> 00:49:13.639 for Kingdom Impact. Her name, Augusta. And one 00:49:13.639 --> 00:49:17.639 day, Stephen's wife comes and says, you won't 00:49:17.639 --> 00:49:21.980 believe what Augusta just told me. She told me 00:49:21.980 --> 00:49:23.679 that the reason why she's coming here is because 00:49:23.679 --> 00:49:25.739 God told her that one day you and I are going 00:49:25.739 --> 00:49:29.739 to become followers of Jesus. And we're going 00:49:29.739 --> 00:49:34.480 to have our own ministry. Now the one laughing 00:49:34.480 --> 00:49:41.380 was Stephen. That's ridiculous. We'll never become 00:49:41.380 --> 00:49:52.599 religious people. Kingdom impact. You know what 00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:55.659 the last thing he says in his testimony? Today 00:49:55.659 --> 00:49:59.199 my life is God's life in me. To what he wants. 00:50:03.239 --> 00:50:05.860 Do you think that you are in your office. To 00:50:05.860 --> 00:50:11.579 work for them. Do you think that you are taking 00:50:11.579 --> 00:50:16.780 that airplane. That flight. To attend a business 00:50:16.780 --> 00:50:21.320 meeting. Could it be that if Jesus is really 00:50:21.320 --> 00:50:26.360 your Lord. He has bigger plans. And kingdom impact 00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:28.579 may mean that he is going to put you with someone 00:50:28.579 --> 00:50:31.900 in that flight. So that you can meet them in 00:50:31.900 --> 00:50:35.099 their time of need. Because they have never met 00:50:35.099 --> 00:50:42.260 someone who loves Jesus. Could it be. That you 00:50:42.260 --> 00:50:47.239 are not there just to clean houses. I think the 00:50:47.239 --> 00:50:53.679 answer is yes. What Paul tells us. Is that whatever 00:50:53.679 --> 00:50:58.400 we do. We're doing it for our true master. And 00:50:58.400 --> 00:51:00.780 we're going to do it for kingdom impact. And 00:51:00.780 --> 00:51:06.159 when it clicks in the heart. That is when the 00:51:06.159 --> 00:51:09.420 grace and peace of Jesus will start flowing through 00:51:09.420 --> 00:51:12.980 you. Into everything you touch. And one day there 00:51:12.980 --> 00:51:15.840 will be someone that will praise God. Because 00:51:15.840 --> 00:51:19.599 you were in their lives. In that job. Because 00:51:19.599 --> 00:51:23.070 Jesus had placed you there. And they could see 00:51:23.070 --> 00:51:25.630 in you something that they saw in no one else. 00:51:26.389 --> 00:51:32.769 Jesus in you. So I would like to conclude this 00:51:32.769 --> 00:51:34.969 study by just telling you a couple of things. 00:51:35.070 --> 00:51:38.949 First, remember, we have a new master, a new 00:51:38.949 --> 00:51:42.070 attitude, and a new purpose. And that is the 00:51:42.070 --> 00:51:48.449 secret of peace in our work. So, if you are in 00:51:48.449 --> 00:51:52.920 this context, I want to remind you that we are 00:51:52.920 --> 00:51:55.800 going to offer a course that is just eight weeks. 00:51:56.539 --> 00:52:00.199 It's called Resolving Everyday Conflict. And 00:52:00.199 --> 00:52:02.940 it's to equip you to know how to engage with 00:52:02.940 --> 00:52:08.880 difficult people. Yes, at work. Or at home. And 00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:14.000 how to deal with conflict in a godly way. This 00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:17.780 is going to be coming soon. We are going to offer 00:52:17.780 --> 00:52:20.900 it here. Sundays. When the registration is open. 00:52:21.059 --> 00:52:24.380 Go and register for it. It will equip you. To 00:52:24.380 --> 00:52:28.019 be someone. That is a blessing to your team. 00:52:28.980 --> 00:52:31.920 Also. If your work is affecting your marriage. 00:52:32.159 --> 00:52:34.219 And all the stress you are. Is affecting your 00:52:34.219 --> 00:52:37.400 home. Remember. We have the marriage course coming. 00:52:37.719 --> 00:52:40.440 At the end of the month. So go for that. We'll 00:52:40.440 --> 00:52:44.880 equip you. Also. To deal with these things. So 00:52:44.880 --> 00:52:50.380 the bottom line question, is Jesus the Lord of 00:52:50.380 --> 00:52:54.820 your career? Because if you have not invited 00:52:54.820 --> 00:52:59.119 him to be the Lord of your career, now is the 00:52:59.119 --> 00:53:04.320 time to do it. Lord, we rightfully call you that 00:53:04.320 --> 00:53:11.400 because that is who you are. Our master. And 00:53:11.400 --> 00:53:17.940 we live for you. If we have been wrestling because 00:53:17.940 --> 00:53:22.539 we have not invited you to really be the Lord 00:53:22.539 --> 00:53:30.920 in our work. To be the Lord of our careers. Today 00:53:30.920 --> 00:53:35.039 we acknowledge that and we repent for it. No 00:53:35.039 --> 00:53:39.440 wonder we have not peace. Because we have inherited 00:53:39.440 --> 00:53:42.780 a worldview that is different from yours. And 00:53:42.780 --> 00:53:45.969 today we're asking you Lord. Help us see through 00:53:45.969 --> 00:53:51.090 your eyes. Yes, it will be great to have a different 00:53:51.090 --> 00:53:57.510 environment at work. But Lord, today we understand 00:53:57.510 --> 00:53:59.309 that it's not about the environment outside, 00:53:59.610 --> 00:54:03.829 but the environment within. Would you let your 00:54:03.829 --> 00:54:08.289 peace govern our hearts and bring the healing 00:54:08.289 --> 00:54:34.650 that we need. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. If 00:54:34.650 --> 00:54:37.489 God is calling you to support our ministries, 00:54:37.550 --> 00:54:40.230 you will find giving options on our website. 00:54:41.090 --> 00:54:44.469 And remember to join us next week. God bless 00:54:44.469 --> 00:54:44.710 you.