1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,760 Amen. Morning, church. Good morning to those of you on our online family. I noticed Jake is in 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:15,280 Sholo today, and so welcome to Jake. We also have Luke. Luke used to be on Facilities Team here. 3 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:22,240 He's part of the family. He is in Tunisia this morning on a mission trip, and so Luke is there. 4 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:31,200 Could we say hi to Luke? And so Luke, we love you. We're excited to hear stories from you. 5 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:38,400 Also, Baghdad, we're glad you're there with us. Pauldin. I got to see the crew from Pauldin last 6 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:43,120 night, and they were bragging about their breakfast today. I have not seen a picture, 7 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:47,760 but they're like, we're going to send you a picture. It's that good. So I hope you guys are hanging out 8 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:54,160 and enjoying community together. If you're here in the room and you are new to this space, welcome 9 00:00:54,160 --> 00:01:00,080 to you. We are glad that we get to do life together, and so we hope that what you experience is 10 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:06,400 a good family day. You picked a good day to be here because today is Celebration Weekend, 11 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:12,960 which means we are going to put on display what we care about. What it means is we're just going 12 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:20,320 to celebrate to the best that we can what we believe it looks like to celebrate the things that God 13 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:25,920 is after. And so you get to see that. If you are new, you also picked a great time because, yes, 14 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:30,560 it's Celebration Weekend, but we're also talking about values and what matters to the church. 15 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:37,440 And so it's things like this. We're celebrating. If you're in the room and later today, probably 16 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:45,360 about seven o'clock tonight, you're going to celebrate a Kansas City Chief's loss. Just let 17 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:54,640 him know. Let him know. I mean, come on. Let's be honest for a second. I think God's tired of 18 00:01:54,640 --> 00:02:00,880 the Chief's winning. I think he's just like, enough is enough. You know what I mean? But any 19 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:07,440 any Eagles fans? Where are you at? Where are the Eagles fans at? I heard all the way at the back. 20 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:13,120 You're hiding. You should be hiding your teams. They're going to Super Bowl. But here's the things 21 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:17,360 with Eagles fans. There's like one in every service. It's like my favorite thing. Just 22 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:24,560 just Eagles fans speckled through the family. But you didn't want to wear it today. You're like, 23 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:31,200 oh, okay. Okay. We're reserving the seat by the commander's jersey. I see how it is. I see how it 24 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:37,040 is. Yeah, I don't know. Jane Daniels. Everybody loves the rookie, right? Everybody loves the rookie 25 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:42,560 doing something incredible. And we'll see. We'll see today. The Eagles are a tough, tough gig. But 26 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:55,280 Bill's fans. Whoa. Whoa. I've never heard the Bill's mafia so quiet. What is happening? Maybe let's 27 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:01,760 just do this. If you don't care about football, where are you at? It's good to know who I'm talking 28 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:09,040 to. Glad this is relevant for you. Okay. So that's amazing. I'm encouraged right now. Here's the thing. 29 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:14,080 What you value, you will do. What you value, you will do. I value football. So therefore, 30 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:19,040 we talk about football, right? Like what you value, we will do. And when it comes to values, 31 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:24,960 when it comes to values, super important, super important that what we value, we do. We say we 32 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:31,280 are four people, right? That's one of our values. We are four people. Agreed? Okay. So I need you 33 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:36,800 to do something for people right now. If you have empty seats, just stick your hand up. If you have 34 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,800 seats between you that you could love the one you're with better, go ahead and love the one you're 35 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,520 with better. And let's create some seats, but just keep those hands up for a second so our usher 36 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:50,640 fam can see where you are. Guest services can see where you are and try and get some seats for people 37 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:57,280 that are coming in. And for some reason, you can't find a seat. There is overflow and our guest 38 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:03,040 services team can direct you that way. But here's the thing. What we value, we will do. What we value, 39 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:10,000 we will do. And what happens is if you want to know what you value, just follow your actions. 40 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:16,160 What is it that you do in your life that you give this life? You only have one life, by the way, 41 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:22,800 and what you give it away to tells you what you value. And so in your experience, on a personal 42 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,840 level, you can identify these are the things I value. We're just doing that over the last four 43 00:04:27,840 --> 00:04:34,240 weeks from a church perspective. As a church family, we're going, these are our family values. 44 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:39,760 These are the things that are core to us as a church family. These are the things that we are 45 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:45,280 anchoring to. And these are the things we are going to do. These are the things we're going to be 46 00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:53,200 known for. And so for example, that we say we are for Jesus, that the hope is that if you meet anybody 47 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:59,200 from the family, right, that says they're a part of the family of heights, right, then the value 48 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,880 we carry is we are for Jesus, which means that we are going to put him center in our lives, 49 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:09,520 which means that somebody should be able to meet you as part of the height family and go, 50 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,520 man, those people really care about Jesus. You know how I know I'm watching their life. 51 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:21,600 Right. And what happens is what you do over time in your personal life, it creates this thing 52 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:29,040 called legacy, what you are known for. And in a group like this, in a family like this, with 53 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,520 so many different people, when we step out and we go, Hey, this is what we value. This is what 54 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:39,440 we're going to do. What happens over time is it creates culture. And what culture is, is what you 55 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:44,400 are known for. It's how you respond. It's how you interact. And so the hope is that people know 56 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:49,520 straight away, we are for Jesus, which means we are for people that we are going to treat people 57 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:57,280 like Jesus treated them. I had a moment this week. I ended up at the ER on Tuesday night with my 58 00:05:57,280 --> 00:06:03,200 daughter who's 11. I'm going to finish the story now because I'm notorious for not finishing the 59 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:09,360 story. She is okay. She is back to normal. And we are just, there's some stuff we're going to chase 60 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:15,280 with what happened. But we get to the ER. And if you've been to the ER, it's not my favorite 61 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:21,280 place on the planet, right? You're going to be there. They were extremely busy. And so we ended 62 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:26,000 up waiting. But one of the beautiful things is we started to meet people from heights. 63 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:34,880 And you guys, the way they treated us was beautiful. Right? They're like, Hey, let us, let us get 64 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,560 things moving for you. Right? And then, and then the next one, let me, let me see what I can do. 65 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,280 And they're going above them beyond and, and then just the tests that they ran and the things that 66 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:48,160 they did was the care was so above and beyond the way that they love my daughter. Like it was a 67 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:53,440 beautiful expression of what it means to be a part of the family of heights. It was not convenient. 68 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:58,080 It was like between, I think it was 11 and two in the morning when they were helping us. So it's 69 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:04,880 not a convenient time of the day. And yet the love that poured out, right? I could tell they love 70 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:10,480 people really well. And that's what we should be known for. Now here's the thing in the ER, it's 71 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:15,280 one thing, right? Like they're, they're taking what their, their occupation is and they're pouring 72 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:21,600 into what these values that we talk about as a church, they're pouring them in. And it's one thing 73 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,880 to do it there. If you work at Costco, you should be doing the same thing. Right? But, but I don't 74 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:31,120 know about you. Costco is not my favorite place either. You know why? All of Prescott and Prescott 75 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:36,000 Valley show up there. Right? Like it's like a reunion. And, and, and here's the thing though, 76 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:43,200 whether, whether you're there or whether you're, you happen to be whatever occupation God has you, 77 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:50,560 what you value you will do, what are you known for? And so what we're talking about over, over the 78 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:55,680 last weeks are this is who we are. This is what we value. And so here's where we are today. We are 79 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:04,320 on our last value and it is for celebration. We are going to celebrate often. Right? Here's it. 80 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:10,240 Yes. Somebody who's ready. Somebody who's ready. We're going to celebrate often. So here's how it 81 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:16,080 works. If you show up in fact after this service, after this weekend, if you were to go in the back 82 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,320 room here, there's a whiteboard on the wall. And on that whiteboard, there will be celebrations of 83 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:26,640 where we saw God show up today, where we saw God in each other, where we saw our values lived out. 84 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:31,040 Like you're going to see that on this board. There's a text thread that's happening right now 85 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:36,960 where we're encouraging one another with where we see the values being lived out. If you go into a 86 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:42,480 staff meeting, one of the things we take time for is to celebrate. If you go to our senior leadership 87 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:48,000 meeting every Tuesday, we're going to take time at the top of that to celebrate what God's been doing. 88 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:54,080 Why? Because I don't know about you, but for me, I am naturally drawn to the negative, not the positive. 89 00:08:54,080 --> 00:09:02,240 Right? Within me, I've got this broken human nature, and the broken human nature will see the fault 90 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:08,480 before it sees the good. But here's the thing where we need to set rhythms to go, hey, celebration is 91 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:13,520 something that's near and dear to God. But to celebrate means I need to remember, and to remember 92 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:21,520 means I need to set a time. Why? Because to celebrate, you have to see the good. And to see the good 93 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:31,360 is to see God. Why? Because God is good. Wherever you find good, you find God. And so what we're doing 94 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:38,640 is slowing down to go, we don't want to miss the good. We want to slow down often. If you look at 95 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,760 the scripture and the narrative and the story of humans walking with God, what you notice 96 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:50,560 early on in the story is God sets meals for them. He sets moments in a calendar for them. He sets 97 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:56,240 various rituals for them. Like at one point they have a meal, and the point of the meal is this, 98 00:09:56,240 --> 00:10:02,080 remember what God has done. Every aspect of the meal is to remind you of the goodness of God, 99 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:08,000 to remind you what He's done, to remind you what He's given. And for us as a church family, we slow 100 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,200 down around the table, and we take this thing called communion, right? And when we slow down and take 101 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:17,600 the elements together, what are we doing? We're remembering what God has done, and we're celebrating 102 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:24,400 it in the present. So much so that when Paul's writing to the church, he says, celebrate, you are 103 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:30,480 celebrating the Lord's death until He comes. You're reminding yourself of who you really are. You're 104 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:37,280 reminding yourself of the goodness of God. And so within this celebration, right, that I got my 105 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:42,480 brain got to thinking like, where do we see the celebration of God? Where do we get a glimpse of 106 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:47,840 that in the person of Jesus? Because if Jesus has gotten in human form, then where do we see that? 107 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:54,000 Matthew, like what did God actually care about when He was here? Matthew chapter 8, 108 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,960 and verse 5, so it's the story out of the life of Jesus. When Jesus had entered Capernaum, 109 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:11,120 a centurion came to him asking for help. Lord, he said, my servant lies at home, 110 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:17,120 paralyzed, suffering terribly. Jesus said to him, shall I come and heal him? The centurion 111 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:23,440 replied, Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant 112 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:30,080 will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one to go, 113 00:11:30,080 --> 00:11:34,560 and he goes, and that one to come, and he comes. I said, am a servant, do this, and he does it. 114 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:42,800 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, truly I tell you, I have not 115 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:51,920 found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east 116 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:57,120 and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom 117 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,440 of heaven, but the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside into darkness where there will be 118 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:07,360 weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then Jesus said to the centurion, go, let it be done just as you 119 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:16,160 believed it would, and his servant was healed at that moment. So this centurion, this soldier 120 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:24,560 who is a leader, he's over 100 soldiers, he is an outsider to the people of Israel. 121 00:12:24,560 --> 00:12:32,880 And so this outsider who is also in a position of leadership, he comes to Jesus and he's asking 122 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:38,640 specifically for healing. But what's fascinating about this, the way he comes to Jesus is he comes 123 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:45,200 in a posture of humility. He comes in a posture of, first of all, he uses the phrase Lord. Later he 124 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:51,120 says, I don't deserve, I don't deserve to have you come into my house. And so he shows up, 125 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:58,480 he has a need, he puts himself under the authority of Jesus, that he goes, hey, I understand, 126 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:04,080 I'm a leader too, I could tell this one to do that and they do it. I'm putting myself under your, 127 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:10,400 just say a word, just say a word and it'll be done. So he comes with a very specific request, 128 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:16,800 but the posture that he comes in under the authority of God, the humility that he comes in, 129 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:22,720 that he comes in. And then on top of that, the faith that he comes in. Because what he asks for 130 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:28,960 is he goes, hey, you could say a word and my servant will be healed. But at that time, they believed 131 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:34,160 you had to have proximity. At that time, they believed that you had to be there, Jesus had to 132 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:39,440 touch. And so the faith of an outsider would go, no, I don't believe you got to show up and touch. 133 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:44,080 I believe that you can say a word from a distance and this will be done because you have that kind 134 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:51,440 of authority. And so it's this moment where this outsider has this step of faith towards Jesus, 135 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:56,960 and I want you to catch what Jesus celebrates. Because remember, there's people around. 136 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:06,400 And publicly, what does Jesus celebrate? That I haven't seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. 137 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,560 Right? That's quite a statement because Israel was the hub of faith with God. 138 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:18,960 And he goes, I haven't seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. Right? And on top of that, 139 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:24,160 it says that he was amazed. You know what a good day it is if you can amaze God? 140 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:31,280 Right? Let's just, let's just God size God for a second. Okay? He's all knowing, all powerful, 141 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:38,960 and he's omnipresent. Nothing gets by him. And yet it says that this human who is an outsider, 142 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:48,720 not even an insider, amazes God in human form by what? His faith. What is faith maybe kind of 143 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:56,800 summing up what faith is? It's when what you trust leads to action. Right? What you trust leads to 144 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:02,640 action. So you don't just say, hey, I believe this, and then there's no action that goes along with it. 145 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:07,600 Right? Those are just empty words, if you like. One of my favorite phrases I've come across this 146 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,440 year. It's not mine. It's another speaker. He's actually doing an entire collection on it, 147 00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:21,120 but it's the idea of being Christian-ish. Right? Like Christian-ish. Like, hey, I really like you 148 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,600 followers of Jesus and the way you treat people. I'm not crazy about Jesus, 149 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,480 but they'll call themselves a Christian. No, you're just Christian-ish. Right? Like, 150 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:36,960 you say, hey, I really, really, really, I gave my life to Jesus, and none of your life looks like 151 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:44,080 Jesus. You're Christian-ish. Right? Like, you're claiming a part of it. And what he's getting 152 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:51,200 out here is he goes, hey, this Centurion, this outsider had the faith to go, hey, I believe you 153 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:58,080 are the one who can heal. I believe you have that authority. I believe you are Lord. I'm going to 154 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:03,760 show up and I'm going to posture myself and I'm going to let my actions wipe because what you value, 155 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:10,800 you will what? You will do. If you are for Jesus, then your life is what? Going to your actions will 156 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:16,160 show that, hey, I am for Jesus. A little further in the story, it's interesting, between the two 157 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:20,800 stories we're going to read, there's another story. And it's one that you might be familiar with, 158 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:26,080 the disciples are on the water, the waters get crazy, they get scared. Jesus calms the storm, 159 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:34,400 but he asks them, you have little faith. Right? So in one sense, with an outsider, he celebrated faith, 160 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:38,960 another sense, he's in a boat with all of his friends and he's like, where is your faith? 161 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:44,400 And then you get to chapter nine and there's another story in verse 18. While he was saying this, 162 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:50,480 a synagogue leader, so this is somebody who's in the faith, came and knelt before him and said, 163 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:58,480 my daughter has just died, but come and put your hand on her and she will live. So Jesus got up, 164 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:04,400 went with him and so did his disciples. So Jesus is honoring the step of faith of this religious man. 165 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:08,640 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years came up behind him, 166 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,840 touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, if I only touch his cloak, I will be healed. 167 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:22,000 Jesus turned and saw her take heart daughter. She said, he said, your faith has healed you 168 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:27,600 and the woman was healed at that moment. When Jesus entered the synagogue leader's house, 169 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:34,320 he saw the noisy crowd and people playing pipes. He said, go away. The girl is not dead, but asleep, 170 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:40,560 but they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went and took the girl by the hand 171 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:47,920 and she got up. News of this spread throughout all that region. So you have two different scenarios. 172 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:53,760 You have the one where the religious leader is like, hey Jesus, my daughter died, please come put 173 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:59,280 your hand on her, she'll live again. He's again living out his faith, showing up going, hey, 174 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:05,760 I know who you are, please come and heal her. At the same time, there's a woman who's subject 175 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:12,080 to bleeding, who in another spot says that the crowd was pressing in so tight that you couldn't 176 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:17,920 tell who was touching who. And it says that she comes in and she touches the hem of his garment, 177 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:23,520 and she's healed on the spot. Now, what's important is because of her situation, because of her 178 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:29,600 bleeding, she's an outsider. She's ostracized. She's not supposed to be there because she's unclean. 179 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:36,160 And yet, because we value what you value, you will do, what does she do? I believe Jesus can heal me, 180 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:41,040 even though I've tried everything else, I believe this man can. And so she now presses through the 181 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:47,360 crowd, her actions, her trust is put into actions. She touches the hem of his garment and says that 182 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:53,440 she's healed instantly, to which Jesus turns around. Okay, remember the context. It's an entire crowd. 183 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:59,920 It's an entire crowd. They're pressed up against it. What does publicly, what does Jesus do? 184 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:09,520 He doesn't scold her. He doesn't call her out. He looks at her and he goes, your faith. What does 185 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:15,280 Jesus celebrate? The step of faith. The step that says, hey, I know who you are, and I'm going to 186 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:21,840 put action to it. Jesus celebrates now for the second time this step of faith that people take. 187 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:29,440 Matthew 15, there's another story. And in Matthew 15, you get, it's a Canaanite woman. 188 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:36,000 So another outsider comes to Jesus. Hey, my daughter, she's troubled. She's demon-possessed. 189 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:41,600 She's greatly troubled. I need your help. And it's kind of a bizarre story because Jesus doesn't 190 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:47,200 reply. He just keeps going, to which it's awkward enough that you get a sense of this from the 191 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:53,360 story that the disciples come up to Jesus and they're like, hey, she's not stopping. Can you make a 192 00:19:53,360 --> 00:20:00,320 go away? Like, can you just tell her to be quiet? And so Jesus looks at them and he makes this bizarre 193 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:07,520 statement. Hey, I didn't come for her. I came for Israel. And so which then the disciples kind of 194 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:15,600 fade away from the story and she steps in and she goes, Lord, help me. And he says, that didn't come 195 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:21,600 for you. It's roundabout way. He says, that didn't come for you. And she goes, but even those that 196 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:33,920 you didn't come for intentionally, even those get the crumbs. And he responds with healing the daughter. 197 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:43,840 But it's what he says about her. He says, it's because of your great, not just faith, great 198 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:55,680 faith. There's a deep connection between what you do, what you do, and what you believe. What you 199 00:20:55,680 --> 00:21:04,720 value you will do as a church. If we are for Jesus and Jesus is not center stage, we're not for Jesus. 200 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:11,920 Right? Yeah, you would see it in what we do. You would see it in what you do. If we are for people, 201 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:18,720 but we treat them really poorly, we're not for people. Right? Like later on in the, 202 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:24,480 within the values, if we say we're for generosity and we're stingy, we're not for generosity. You'll 203 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:32,880 know it by what? By our actions. And Paul catches this, right? He writes to the church. And so the 204 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:38,080 what celebrated continues on in Colossians chapter one. Paul writes a letter to the church in Colossians. 205 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:45,520 And he says this, we always thank God. Okay. So this is publicly now Paul is saying, Hey, 206 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:52,400 we celebrate you to heaven. We celebrate you in the presence of God, the father of our Lord Jesus 207 00:21:52,400 --> 00:22:00,640 Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love 208 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:06,320 you have for all God's people, the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in 209 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:11,600 heaven. And about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to 210 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:18,000 you in the same way the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world, just as it 211 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:24,400 has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God's grace. What does Paul 212 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:30,560 do? He goes, Hey, I'm going to celebrate. And what am I celebrating? Then I'm hearing that you are 213 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:38,480 walking by faith in Jesus. I'm celebrating that the steps of faith you are taking, the steps of 214 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:45,360 faith that I see, they're being lived out how by your love for all the people by the love for those 215 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:52,880 around them. Right. So, so instantly where we go is this, right, that back to sounds familiar, 216 00:22:52,880 --> 00:23:01,600 we are for Jesus. Therefore, we are for people. How, how will we know that you are for Jesus 217 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:10,160 by how you love people, by how you care for those around you? It'll be seen in your actions, not 218 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:18,960 your words. It'll be seen by how you show up when that person's in need. Hey, it's fascinating to 219 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:27,360 me that when it comes to faith and it comes to this step of faith, no one can take it for you. 220 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:35,680 No one can take it for you. I mean, we're, you guys, you guys, we're about to watch 221 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:42,640 some of the most absurd things happen. Think about it for a second. Somebody signed up to go, Hey, 222 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:51,360 I'll go in front of a room full of people, cameras with who knows how many people, and I will get 223 00:23:51,360 --> 00:24:03,840 into a tub of water with Earl. That's weird. All right. I love you, Earl. Then we love Earl, you guys. 224 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:17,920 Well, we're on it just because it's worth it. You know what I love about Earl is the way he loves 225 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:23,120 people because he loves Jesus. It's amazing. It's amazing. 226 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:30,880 But you're about to watch people do something absurd. They're going to get into a tub, 227 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:37,120 and then they're going to allow Earl to put them under the water. They don't know if he's bringing 228 00:24:37,120 --> 00:24:45,600 them back up. Greater yet, this water, you guys, I know the hose it came from. There is nothing 229 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:57,760 special about this water. Right? What is special is that a human would trust Jesus so much that in 230 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:05,360 an act of obedience, simply because Jesus says so, that I will step out in front of a group of people 231 00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:13,840 to tell them I am for Jesus, that I will identify with him, that I will take a step of faith to go, 232 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:21,200 I am putting my flag. Here's what I love about baptism. Life is hard. Life is long. And as you go 233 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:26,160 through life, there are peaks and there are valleys. And when you hit those valleys, there are times 234 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:30,720 when you go, I don't know what I believe anymore. You know where the Holy Spirit takes you back to? 235 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:36,160 He takes you back to the tub and the water and Earl. And he takes you back and he goes, remember, 236 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:42,000 remember, remember when I'd shown you, remember when you put your flag and said, I am for Jesus. 237 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:48,560 I believe this narrative. I believe who he is. And in that moment, in that moment, it cements for you 238 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:57,600 for the rest of your life. You'll never forget it because it's a step of faith. It's where your 239 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:04,560 values line up with your actions. I love when it comes to baptism, the celebration is seen. 240 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:11,440 In Matthew chapter three in verse 13, it says, then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be 241 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:18,400 baptized by John. But John tried to deter him saying, I need to be baptized by you and do you come to 242 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:27,040 me? Jesus replied, let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. 243 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,400 Then John consented. So you have this moment, right? Where John's like, really, you're coming to me. 244 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:39,520 I need to be baptized by you. And Jesus goes, it's an act of obedience because God's been writing a 245 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:46,560 story, a narrative and to push that story forward and to verify John's ministry and to verify this 246 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:52,240 gospel that's going out, to verify John's claims that this is the Messiah. Jesus goes, we got to do 247 00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:59,760 this. So Jesus is taking a step of faith. He is honoring what he's here to do. He's honoring the 248 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:08,240 Father. He's humbling himself for John to baptize him. And I love what happens next. Verse 16, 249 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:16,320 as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened. 250 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:24,480 And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a lighting on him. And a voice from heaven 251 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:34,880 said, this is my son, whom I love with him. I am well pleased. Okay, there's a voice from heaven. 252 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:42,000 We need to put a name to the voice from heaven, right? Because the voice from heaven says, my son, 253 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:48,160 that means the voice from heaven is the Father. In this moment, you have the entire Trinity 254 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:56,480 celebrating something. What are they celebrating? The baptism of Jesus. That the Spirit is coming down 255 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:05,200 and a lighting on him. That the Father is declaring that he is pleased. Why? Because Hebrews says that 256 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:12,160 how do we please God? It is by faith and it is impossible to please God without faith. And so 257 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:18,320 within this moment, right, there's a celebration of faith, celebration of what is seen in baptism. 258 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:24,560 And my question for you is this, that as you go back, right, we look at all the values, you go back 259 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:30,560 to being for Jesus. Do you know the step of faith that is to be for Jesus? To take yourself off the 260 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:35,840 center and put Jesus in the center of your life to go, hey, I got one life and Jesus, you're leading 261 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:41,280 it and I don't know where it's going to go. To release that kind of control and then for Jesus 262 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:45,840 to go, well, first of all, I'm going to lead you to people, right? And now you start to go, you know 263 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:50,560 how much faith it takes to love people you don't like? It takes a lot of faith because they're 264 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:56,320 not going to give you anything back. You're just giving it away. And so by faith, you stand and 265 00:28:56,320 --> 00:29:01,520 you go, I'm going to love people because Jesus loves people. And so you begin to love people well. 266 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:05,440 And in the midst of that, what happens is you begin to go, okay, Holy Spirit, I'm going to need your 267 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:10,320 help. And so you become for the Holy Spirit where you create space to hear the Spirit of God in your 268 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:16,960 life. You know how much faith it takes to sit and believe that the Holy Spirit lives in you and the 269 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:22,560 Holy Spirit is ignited in you and he wants to empower you and he wants to lead you. That takes a lot 270 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:26,480 of faith. And so by faith, I go, I'm going to trust the Holy Spirit to lead me and guess where he leads 271 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:32,800 you to generosity. And then you're like, I'm going to give it away. This one life, I'm going to be 272 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:38,240 generous. Why? Because God is generous. That takes faith to believe that it's a better life to live 273 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:43,520 generous than to live stingy. And on top of that, then he goes, hey, I want you to serve. You're 274 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:48,000 going to be for serving. You know how much faith it takes when you've got a limited time to go, 275 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,440 hey, I'm going to take my time and I'm going to give it to something to give this one life away. 276 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,880 That I'm going to not give the leftovers. I'm going to give the best. And so you step out and you go, 277 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:02,080 okay, for I'm going to give for our best. Do you know how much faith it takes to not be stingy with 278 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,040 this life? You know how much faith it takes to go, God, you gave me this gift, but I'm going to give 279 00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:10,880 it away for your kingdom. God, you gave me this, this talent. I'm going to give it away for the 280 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:14,560 kingdom. God, you gave me these resources. I'm going to give it away for the kingdom instead of 281 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:20,960 building my own. That requires faith. That requires an action to it. And in the midst of that, God goes, 282 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:28,080 do it together. And you're like with them. And God's like, yeah. And we are four together. You know 283 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:35,360 how much faith it takes if you have ever been hurt by community to step into community and be vulnerable 284 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:41,120 and walk alongside and build the kingdom? That takes so much faith, but it's what we're called to. 285 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:46,240 We're put into a body. And so as a family, we step forward. And what do we step forward to? We are 286 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:51,760 four forward, which means what? That by faith, we are trusting God's future, not mine. And you know 287 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:57,200 what we're going to do? Church all along the way, we're going to celebrate every single time somebody 288 00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:01,760 has a step of faith in one of these values. And they go, by faith, I'm going to step in and before 289 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:07,680 Jesus, we're going to celebrate. Why? Because we are four celebration. We're going to celebrate every 290 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:16,720 single step. Why? Because it's what heaven does. There's a story that Jesus tells in Luke 15. 291 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:23,360 And it's about a lost coin, a lost sheep and two sons. But you know what the punchline of the story 292 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:33,440 is? When what is lost is found. When what is lost is found, there is a party. And the declaration that 293 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:42,720 is made is that in heaven, one sinner that repents, there is much rejoicing in heaven. What is a 294 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:48,080 sinner repenting? It's a step of faith that a human makes. What do we see in Jesus? He is amazed 295 00:31:48,080 --> 00:31:54,560 when a human takes a step of faith to put it in him. And so we are going to celebrate church. 296 00:31:54,560 --> 00:32:04,320 We're going to celebrate. But before we do, I need you to hear heaven today celebrating with you. 297 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:16,240 My daughter, my son, whom I love and I am well pleased. Earl, it's you.