Well, hi. Okay, so before I forget, before I
forget, there's something really, really sweet
happening today that we have to celebrate, okay?
So our Pauldin location drove to Baghdad. To
be with the Baghdad location. And it gets better.
The Baghdad location cooked breakfast for the
Pauldin location. And they are doing church together
out there. Welcome. We love you. Some of you
are like, I didn't know that. We can go to other
locations. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. You can
go and hang out. But yeah, we love you. We're
glad you're there. We're glad you're doing that
together. Those of you online, so fun. I actually
have been online ever since I left. I thought
I would be here and then this weird social anxiety
thing hit and that's a whole nother conversation
for a different day. But I've got to sit on the
online family for my entire time. Why? Because
this is my church. I get to be a part. It's a
family. I'm like you, like I need to be fed.
And so. Online, we love you. We're glad you're
there. Miss Patty, hello, hello, hello. It's
good to see you. Okay, so I just gotta slow down
for a minute before I take off and just say,
you guys, thank you. Thank you for a gift, okay?
Thank you for being a church family. Thank you
for being a church family that goes, hey, we
really value. And there are so many things I
could tell you about sabbatical. I'm sure they'll
bleed out over the next months. We'll talk about
some today, but I just wanna say thank you to
our elders, that our elders have a vision of,
yes, we want. pastors, and we want them to do
what they do, but we don't want to just use them
and see them roll on somewhere else. We want
to see them use their gifts in this family and
have longevity for the family and build something
together for the kingdom, right? And so thank
you to the elders. Thank you to especially Pastor
Todd. Todd took on the mantle of, he picked up
extra weeks. He picked up extra weeks, but on
top of that, he also helped organize the other
communicators. And if you know anything about
Pastor Bob, he takes a lot of organizing. I'm
just kidding. Pastor Bob's amazing. I thought
Pastor Bob's message, you guys, was one of the
best. I've heard him speak a lot. We did youth
together for a lot of years. I thought what he
spoke here was one of the best I've ever heard
him do in a just mature sense, in a beautiful
way. And Pastor Ben picked up extra ones. And
it's just beautiful. It's beautiful to see the
church staff family that picked up extra roles
that were all of a sudden there. It's hard when
you have three people. So myself, Kathy Peaches
out, Austin Turner's out on sabbatical. And so
three of us gone at the same time. That's a lot
to pick up and to see the staff family do that.
And so I just want to say massive thank you to
our church family, to you, but also to the layers
that go along with that. sabbatical, people have
asked me, well, how was sabbatical? You guys,
I need about four weeks to tell you how sabbatical
was. Like, there's just so much and it's from
the beautiful to the painful and everything in
between. And we'll talk about that more, but
I just don't want us to miss something real quick,
okay? You realize what a gift this is. Where
we can come into a space with other people who,
have seen Jesus in the way he should be and stepped
into relationship with him, right? And then to
be in a space together where we get to encourage
one another, that we get to step in and go, man,
not only do I see you, but I get to see God in
you. I mean, how beautiful that we get to take
this time and be together. And hopefully what
happens is, as we open God's word and whatever,
you walk out of here and you get to see God in
a whole different way. You get to see an aspect
of him that might be new, that he wants to do.
Do you know this, right? Like right now, God
wants to do a work in you. Like that might not
sound like much. The God of heaven who is keeping
everything going, including the earth spinning,
sees you right here, right now, knows that you
are here right now, sees the very things going
on inside of you. And he goes, I want to be in
the middle of that and have a conversation with
you right now. That's unfathomable, y 'all. And
beautiful. And not in my notes. And so we're
going to be here a really long time if I keep
going on tangents. So we've been in a collection,
right? And the collection being Galatians and
walking through the book. We do this often in
the summer if you've been around. We walk through
a book intentionally. And today I got 29 verses.
Okay, so just to put it in perspective, I have
roughly about 30 minutes and 29 verses. There's
no way I'm doing this on time, right? Or we're
shifting something. But it can be really disorienting
to read sections and break them up. And so today,
one of the practices of my sabbatical has been
really anchoring in and enjoying reading the
Bible with no verse numbers, right? Like I have
a Bible that has no verse numbers, that has no
breaks with subheadings. And what I found is
that it... It puts the whole thing together in
a way that by having verse numbers and stuff,
I catch my brain like stopping or breaking down.
And so when you think about the early church,
the early church would have received this letter.
And the way this letter would have been given
to the early church is there was a copy and somebody
read that copy to the church. So I'm gonna ask
you to do something. I'm gonna ask you to not
read along. Like avoid opening your Bible to
try and track along for a minute, which you're
like, you're a speaker telling us, a pastor telling
us to not open our Bibles. Yeah, that's what
I'm telling you, right? And what I want you to
do is just let the word of God be in its entirety.
It's chapter three and let it wash over you and
just see what the Holy Spirit does and what he
shows you as we go through it, okay? And so if
you would, would you welcome Pastor Noah, who's
gonna read it to us. A reading from Galatians
3. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?
Before your very eyes, Christ was clearly portrayed
as crucified. I would like to learn just one
thing from you. Did you receive the spirit by
the works of the law or by believing what you
heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by
means of the spirit, are you now trying to finish
by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so
much in vain if it really was in vain? So again,
I ask, does God give you his spirit and work
miracles among you by the works of the law or
by believing what you heard? So also Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Understand then that those who have faith are
children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced
the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations
will be blessed through you. So those who rely
on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the
man of faith. For all who rely on the works of
the law are under a curse as it is written, cursed
is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the book of the law. Clearly, no one
who relies on the law is justified before God
because the righteous will live by faith. The
law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it
says the person who does these things will live
by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of
the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is
written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a
pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing
given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit. Brothers and sisters,
let me take an example from everyday life. Just
as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant
that has been duly established, so it is in this
case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and
to his seed. Scripture does not say, and to seeds,
meaning many people, but to and to your seed,
meaning one person who is Christ. What I mean
is this, the law introduced 430 years later does
not set aside the covenant previously established
by God and thus do away with the promise. For
if the inheritance depends on the law, then it
no longer depends on the promise. But God in
his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
Why then was the law given at all? It was added
because of the transgressions until the seed
to whom the promise referred had come. The law
was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.
A mediator, however, implies more than one party,
but God is one. Is the law therefore opposed
to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if
a law had been given that could impart life,
then righteousness would certainly have come
by the law. But scripture has locked up everything
under the control of sin so that what was promised
being given through faith in Jesus Christ might
be given to those who believe. Before the coming
of this faith, we were held in custody under
the law, locked up until the faith that was to
come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian
until Christ came that we might be justified
by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are
no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus,
you are all children of God through faith. For
all of you who are baptized into Christ have
clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither
Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor
is there male and female. For you are all one
in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then
you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to
the promise. Let me ask you, where does your
value come from? Where does your worth come from?
What makes you relevant? How does... Your life
matter. My sabbatical started in a way that I
didn't expect. I was so excited to have this
time. I was so intentional that I wasn't gonna
waste any of it. And I intentionally began sabbatical
going, okay, day one, here we go. And I woke
up day one. And I felt like doing nothing. Nothing
sounded good. No food sounded good. No activity
sounded good. And so I was like, okay, that's
an anomaly. I'm just tired. Like day two, nothing.
Day three, nothing. And so you can imagine, I
was a pleasure to be around. My wife was like,
I'm so glad you're home, right? And so as this
continued, I realized that What was gonna be
true was for me to be here at Watson Lake on
Easter with the church family, that was not going
to be healthy for you or for me. And so what
I realized was is I planned, I kind of left it
open. I didn't put anything on calendar really
and just went, God, as this thing goes and you
lead, I'm gonna put something on. And so I knew
kind of in the back of my head, my parents are
in Montana. I wanna go to Montana and visit my
parents. And so I also knew that God was leading
me to have times of silence and solitude, which
I realized, you know, we're really not that quiet.
I found that I'm by myself in silence and I'm
singing and whistling and all kinds of stuff.
I was like, oh, I don't do real well with this,
right? But so I go to Montana. and Easter morning
hits, right? And so I'm excited. There's a church
up there. If you're familiar with Fresh Life
Church, Levi Lusko, I was excited. I've wanted
to go forever, and Montana's a long ways away,
so never had. And I show up Easter Sunday at
their main location, and I'm just excited to
be there. I'm like a kid in a candy store, right?
And I get in their main room, and I don't know
how many it holds. I'm just guessing, but roughly
like 450 people. And if you know the influence
of that church within the nationwide Christian
circles and even beyond, I watched Levi come
into a room of 425 people and you would have
thought he was talking to the entire world, which
I realize there's a camera, I get that part.
But deep in my soul, this question bubbles up.
John, would you give your all if it was 425 in
a room on Easter? Would you be satisfied? And
I was like, oh, that doesn't taste very good.
Let's keep that one out of the way, right? And
so I planned because kind of being a church nerd,
I was like, okay, they've got another location
25 minutes away. It's a new building. I'm going
to go to that location later in the morning.
And so I go to the second location and I get
there on time and I get to their building and
it's new. And I go in and the room holds about
125. And it's a remote location, right? So it's
on screen. And I slide into my seat. And being
the introvert I am, I pick the one on the end
next to the window. The row in front of me is
empty. The row I'm in is empty. And the row behind
me is empty. I am literally alone on Easter Sunday.
And wouldn't you know, sitting there, watching
clouds roll over the mountains on this side and
church inside the room, all of a sudden my phone
starts pinging. And it's people from the Heights
family. And guess what they're doing? Easter's
amazing. And you're not here. True story, direct
quote. This is the best Easter ever. And I would
love to tell you what happened was I respond
and my responses were what? I truly believe in
my head, right? Like that's what we've been working
towards. It's not dependent on a person that
the church family and the gifts that God's given
that no matter who's where and what God's gonna
move and God's gonna work. And I wrote that back.
That's so great to hear. I'm so excited for you.
But in the moment of my lips saying something,
my heart is betraying me. My soul is betraying
me. Because inside what's happening, I'm going,
God, am I still valuable? If I'm sitting next
to a window by myself on Easter Sunday, and I'm
not using my gifts in the kingdom, and no one
can see me and no one knows, God, do I still
matter? Am I irrelevant? To the kingdom? Am I
not needed? And so as I'm sitting there and there's
this turmoil happening inside, I think there's
something that throughout sabbatical, I was reading
another book and I've kind of come to grips with
this phrasing that I found. It's in a book by
Tyler Stanton. But it's this, that the story
you live in The story you live in is the story
you'll live out. The story you live in is the
story you will live out. Hey, here's what I mean,
just in a simple sense. That if you believe,
if you believe. That the way that you become
successful is that you grind, you open the right
doors, you do the work, you put in the time,
you sacrifice everything, right? And you're going
to attain that. Then guess what? You're going
to live out. If that's the story you believe
that success is dependent on you, then guess
what's going to happen? You are going to live
like success is what? Dependent on you. And you're
going to sacrifice everything on the altar of
what? Of success. Why? Because the story you're
inside of, the story you're living inside of
is one where where it's dependent on you, right?
The story, the story that you live in is what's
going to come out. What you truly believe is
what you are going to live out. And that's the
same, that concept of the story and which story
you're living in is what Paul is getting at in
Galatians chapter three, when he starts with,
you foolish Galatians, right? Nice warm start.
I should have come back. You foolish. No, I'm
just kidding. But he starts with, he starts with,
because he wants their attention. He wants them
to know how serious this is. How serious the
story you are living in, that is going to determine
what you do with your life. And so he begins
super strong. Who, who, who has bewitched you?
That who is singular. Why does that matter? Because
what it's believed to be pointing to and what
commentaries and people that are interpreting
the Bible, what they will point back to is that
this is actually what Paul is referencing is
Satan himself. Maybe just pausing for a second,
you realize, right, that you have an enemy today?
There's an enemy of your soul today, right here,
right now. The fact that you are in church today,
the fact that you are sitting here today, the
enemy is not happy about. You're in a war. Did
you know that? Okay. A lot of heads nodding.
This is where it's important. The story you live
in is a story I'll live out. The story you live
in is there is an enemy that's after your soul.
And so you sitting here, he's doubling down on
you. The more steps you take to live by faith
in the person of Jesus, the more the enemy is
coming. And what does he say here? He is trying
to bewitch you. Isn't that fascinating? Bewitched
is this word that is to be put under a spell.
Think about the enemy for a second, right? You
go back to the beginning of Genesis. How did
he start? He changes the story. He changes the
story of what God's been writing and telling
them. And they believe this false story, and
therefore what they live out is a different story.
And it has massive consequences even to you and
me sitting here today. Why? Because we are born
outside of the Garden of Eden. We weren't supposed
to be born outside of the Garden of Eden. But
the enemy changed the story. So what is he saying
here? Hey, church in Galatia, the enemy has bewitched
you, is what he's saying. Before your eyes, the
rest of verse one, before your very eyes, Jesus
was clearly portrayed as crucified. What is he
saying? The story that you got, because Paul
knows how they stepped into faith with Jesus,
is he goes, you were given a very clear truth
about Jesus being crucified. You were given a
clear truth that he is the Messiah, the promised
one that showed up. He has rescued you. He has
saved you. He has redeemed you by the cross and
the empty tomb, right? Like this is true of you.
is your story. And so he goes, okay, that's how
you started. Who's pulled you sideways? Verse
two, I would like to learn just one thing from
you. Did you receive, did you receive, did you
acquire, did you come into possession of the
spirit by the work of the law or by believing
what you heard? Did you inherit the spirit of
God? Did you inherit the Spirit by something
you did to impress God? Did you get the gift
of the Holy Spirit because you just happened
to do the right thing? And God goes, oh, here
you go. That's what he's getting at. Or, or.
Is it what you believe? It's interesting, part
of my sabbatical, and this will probably flesh
out in weeks and months and years to come, but
part of my sabbatical, you can sum up the Bible
in one word, at least for me coming out of it,
trust. Every story in the Bible is about trust.
Everything it points to is about trust. Will
you trust God and what he says? Will you trust
God and the story he is writing? Okay, you realize
you don't have a typewriter? Or some of you are
like, what's a typewriter? Okay, you don't have
a pen in your hand. You don't have a keyboard.
You're not the author. So when we talk about
which story you're living in, God is the author
of the story that we are talking about, right?
Like that we're diving into. God's the author.
which means that if I'm going to live in his
story, then it's by trust in that story. It's
trust in what he says. It's trust in what, so
it's me, it's me giving. And so in this context,
right? Paul's going, hey, did you do something
or did you get it by trusting? Verse three, he
kind of doubles down as he goes through this.
Are you so foolish? After beginning, after beginning
by means of the spirit, you are now trying to
finish by the means of the flesh. What is the
flesh? It's what you inherited being human. What
did you inherit? Well, what you have is opposed
to God, right? Like you are born opposed to God.
How do I know that? I got to hang out with my
grandbaby an awful lot. And you know what? It
is the best season. You know why? Because you
get to enjoy cuddles. You get to enjoy laughter.
You get to enjoy all that. And then you go, here
you go. Go do the work, right? And you get to
fall asleep, it's great. What I know hanging
out with my grandson is when he doesn't get his
way, you better believe he's gonna let you know.
And he will let you know, and he will let you
know until what? Until you do what he wants you
to do. That's what we're all born with. It's
cute in an eight month old, not so cute when
we get old. Right? When we're still crying like
a baby because we're not getting our way. And
what he's saying here, that's the flesh, right?
That we're born with this. I'm born opposed to
what God wants. I'm born where it's like, I can
do this. I can pull myself up. I can just be
what I need to be, right? And God will honor
me. And what he's saying here is, wait, how did
you start? How did you start? This might be a
bad picture. I don't know. We'll do it anyways.
The idea of start and finish reminds me of a
race. And when it comes to running a marathon,
right? Which I am more than happy to cheer my
kids on doing. That's my marathon activity. You
know what I mean? Like they can go do it. I'll
cheer you on. I'll sit with my grandson. But
when it comes to a marathon, if you start running
and then as you're running, you notice people
are getting ahead of you. And so you decide,
I'm not gonna run anymore. I'm gonna get in a
Formula One car and finish this race. For those
of you that don't know, Formula One is by far
one of the fastest ways to travel on this planet
without leaving the planet, right? So what would
happen? They would not allow you to run in the
race anymore, right? So flip it because this
is actually more true. When you said yes to Jesus,
when your trust is in Jesus, you are put into
a Formula One car, right? Like you are given
the Holy Spirit. This is like, and you begin
a Formula One race, right? Like you are going
in the power of the Spirit. And all of a sudden
you decide, I don't feel like driving a Formula
One car. I'm gonna start running. Are you gonna
win the race? No, not a chance. In fact, in fact,
you wouldn't even be allowed. If you pull up
to a marathon in a Formula One car, they're gonna
be like, you're at the wrong race. Or vice versa,
if you show up to a Formula One race and you're
like, I'm just gonna run, they won't even allow
you on the track. Why? Because those are two
different events. Do you realize that those are
two different stories that he's talking about?
He's not comparing things that are alike. It's
like comparing a marathon runner to a Formula
One car. They're not even alike. And what he's
saying is when you stepped in, when you began,
you began by trust. And if you think somehow,
some way that, yes, I can come. And when I come
to Jesus and I'm so needy and I'm in like, if
you think that's how you come to Jesus, right?
Like, like we all come the same way where we
recognize we need a savior. And then somehow
you started that way. And now all of a sudden
you're like, but I'm going to switch to. I'm
gonna do the work. I'm gonna switch to, I'm gonna
gain something more. Paul's going, it's not even
comparable, you guys. It's not even the same
activity. So which then he goes on to say in
verse six, or sorry, verse four. Have you experienced
so much in vain because they were going through
suffering? Was it in vain that you went through
suffering? If now you can. Carry on by yourself.
So verse five. So again, I ask, does God give
you his spirit and work miracles among you by
the works of the law or by believing what you
heard? Does God work miracles among you? I love
that this is where he goes. You ever seen a miracle?
You ever been a part or heard a story of someone's
miracle that God did? How foolish would it be
to be like that person? They just did the right
thing. And because they did the right thing,
God gave them the miracle. That's not how it
works. And that's what he's getting at. He goes,
you've seen it, Galatian church. You've seen
God move and work. And how did that happen? It
was by belief. It was by trust in that God, that
savior, the trust that the Holy Spirit was working,
that the Holy Spirit was gonna do what the Holy
Spirit does, right? Like it was in trust in that.
And now here you are trying to switch to get
something else. Well, what were they trying to
get? Verse six says this. So also Abraham believed
and it was credited to him as righteousness.
So he now brings Abraham into it, right? Father
Abraham, if you go back to the Old Testament,
right, like you go back to the beginning, Father
Abraham had many sons, had many sons, did Father
Abraham, don't leave me hanging, and I am, and
so are, man, we, you know why this makes me happy?
You hear how many old school church people are
singing right now? Yeah? That means there's a
lot of you that have no clue what I'm even talking
about. And that's amazing. That's amazing, right?
And because here's the thing, right? Abraham,
Abraham was the father of the faith for the Jews.
And so what happens in this context is it says,
so Abraham, the father of the faith, he believed,
he trusted God. What was he trusting? God's story.
What was God's story? Hey, Abraham, through you
and your lineage, I'm gonna bring a savior that
will bless the entire world. And what does it
say that Abraham hung on to? He hung on to what?
God's word, God's promise. He trusted that. And
what came out of that is it says that it was
credited. It was added to Abraham, a right standing
with God. By faith, Abraham was made right with
God, which is then why in verse seven, it says,
understand then that those who have faith are
children of Abraham. Now to us, we might be going
like, John, why are we talking about children
of Abraham? What does this have to do with anything,
right? Well, remember, it's written to a church
in a real place at a real time. These are real
people. And they were in a church in an area
of Galatia. And in Galatia, what happened, there
was a group of people known as the Judaizers.
And the Judaizers were Jewish Christians, meaning
they had the heritage of being Jewish and they
had come to know Jesus. They were Jewish Christians.
And what the Judaizers were doing is they were
trying to say to everybody else, the laws that
we're still keeping, you need to keep. And so
just because of the context and who's in the
room and who's listening, one of those would
have been circumcision. That's all I'm going
to say about it, right? Can you imagine I come
back from sabbatical and I'm like, guys, I got
a great idea. But they also had things they were
eating. And so you had to eat those things. And
here's what the promise was. Hey, Gentiles who
aren't Jewish, who earlier were separated and
outsiders. They were saying, hey, if you want
to become the true sons of Abraham, if you want
to get a better Christianity, if you want a closer
standing with God, if you want to be on the real
inside track, then you need to do these things
to become a true child of Abraham. Which is why
Paul's writing and going, listen to his words.
They're so straightforward. He goes, those who
have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles.
He would make right the Gentiles by faith, by
trust in what he has said and in what he has
done and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham.
All nations will be blessed through you. So those
who rely on faith, those who rely on trust are
blessed, are what? What's that word? Blessed,
blessed. Who's blessed? Those that rely by trust.
Right? By belief, by faith, they are blessed
along with Abraham, not separate from Abraham.
They're blessed with Abraham, the man of faith.
So you have this one side where he's going, hey,
if you are living your life, if the story that
you are in is that you are blessed by God simply
because you put your trust in God, he goes, you're
just like Abraham. But then there's another group
of people he brings up. For all who rely, verse
10, for all who rely on the works of the law
are under a curse. As it is written, cursed is
everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the book of the law. So now he goes,
okay, there's two stories. One story is you believe
and you receive, you acquire. Right? I believe
this to be true. I believe what God has written.
I believe what God has done. I believe what Jesus
has accomplished. I believe that. And what I've
done is I've received. The other story is this,
that I work really hard. And when I work really
hard, therefore I get more. If I do this, then
I get that. Can I just use words from scripture?
Those of you. that are living your story, living
out your story. And the living out of your story
is I gotta do more so that I get more. I gotta
do more so that I maybe get that from God. According
to Paul, that is cursed. It's cursed. It can't
work. It can't work. Why is this important, you
guys? There are good things we do that we twist.
You know what? I really wanna see a miracle of
God. So what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna pray and
I'm gonna fast. So something that should be a
spiritual discipline to draw us closer to the
relationship that we have with God, where we
hear his voice and we draw near to him, what
have we done? We've gone, if I do this and I
do this, then, then I deserve a miracle. That's
working under the law and God says that's cursed.
Let's take a generic, or not generic, but maybe
something easier to understand, right? Okay,
God is my provider. My head goes, God is my provider.
I know that, God's our provider, right? Like
we know that here, but the story I'm living out
is over here, I'm in turmoil. I'm striving everything
I can. So over here, I know God's my provider,
right? And head knowledge. But what's actually
playing out in my life is I actually haven't
believed is the story I'm inside of. And I haven't
believed that this God is my provider. And I
haven't believed this God is good. And I haven't
believed that this God will show up for me. And
I haven't believed that my needs will be met
by him because I got to go meet those needs.
You see how it works, right? Like it's so subtle.
That what I've done is I've shifted the story.
Instead of God being my provider, now I'm my
provider and I'm doing the work and I'm striving
and I'm trying to, right? Like think about it
in the sense of, this one's a sensitive one.
But sometimes when we long for healing, right?
Like we know God is our healer, but if I just
have enough faith. You see what happened? We
preached a different gospel. We're in another
story, a story where if I have enough faith,
then what? Then God will somehow do that. It's
so subtle. It's so subtle. And what Paul carries
on with then. As he said, clearly, verse 11,
clearly no one who relies on the law is justified
before God. No one who relies on the law, if
you are here and you think you got to do something,
and if you do just that, then you'll get that.
You just need to understand that no one who lives
that way, he says, clearly no one who relies
on the law is justified before God. You're not
made right because the righteous will live by
faith. The law is not based on faith. The law
is not based on faith. When you live in a way
that you have to do something to, You get something
from God. What he's saying is that's not faith.
That's work. The law is not based on faith. On
the contrary, it says the person who does these
things will live by them. Christ redeemed us.
Christ Jesus redeemed. He bought back. What did
he buy back? The false story that you got to
do something for God to like you. What did he
buy back? That you got to do something to get
something. He bought it back. He redeemed it.
How? By going to a cross, by dying, by taking
it to a tomb and leaving the false story in the
tomb and being raised to life. And what was he
raised with? The story that God always intended.
That what? That God has made a way when there
wasn't a way. That God has provided for you.
It gets even, he flushes out even more that he's
redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's redeemed
us from having to live by this. I got a due to
get for it is written, cursed is everyone who
is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that
the blessing, in order that the blessing given
to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through
Christ Jesus. So that, here's the why. So that
by faith, by faith, how? By trust. In what? What
Jesus has done. How do you know what Jesus has
done? God told you what Jesus has done. By faith,
by trust, by trust, we might receive, we might
acquire what? The promise of the spirit. You
guys hold up right here. right now with all of
the thoughts in your head and all of the things
that you think you don't measure up in, that
when you came to Jesus and your trust was placed
in him, he in turn, he in turn did what? Allowed
you to acquire. The Holy Spirit himself, now
the Holy Spirit, let's put it in context. How
did Jesus perform the miracles that Jesus did?
Through the power of the Holy Spirit. The same
spirit that was in Jesus has been placed into
you. And so the Holy Spirit now inside of you,
you have the same spirit, the same power right
here, right now. How? Not by anything you did.
But by simply going, I believe this to be true.
He goes on to talk about the law and you can
read that later, but basically it's this comparison,
right? Of, well, maybe the law took the promise
and he goes, that's not true. The law can't take
the promise. And he gets down to this idea that
the law is a guardian. Now, I don't know what
you think about the law, what comes to mind when
you think about the law. I know in my life, the
law was a good guardian. How do I know that?
I can't even keep the 10 commandments, let alone
the 613. I just fail. I just fail right out the
gate. Don't have any other God. I put things
in the place of God all the time. I know what
my flesh is. I know what I inherited. I know
that then within me, there's nothing good. The
only good is the spirit of Jesus and what he
is doing to renew. So in this context, what he's
getting at is the guardian came along and it
was temporary. What was the guardian? That you
would see that this due to get, it's exhausting
and it doesn't work. To bring you back to the
person of Jesus, it says, before the coming of
the faith, we were held in custody under the
law, locked up until the faith that was to come
would be revealed. So the law was our guardian.
Until Christ came that we might be justified,
made right, by what? By faith, by trust. Now
that this faith has come, we are no longer under
a guardian. Don't miss this. So, so, here's where
it's all been building to. So in Christ Jesus,
you are all children of God through what? Through
trust, through faith. Okay, okay. Here and now,
God, because some of you came in and you're like,
I don't even know if God sees me. I don't even
know if I'm known. Are you kidding? God not only
sees you, but he knows you. The Bible talks about
he knows you so intimately that he knows the
hairs on your head or lack thereof. He knows
the ones that have fallen out. They won't grow
back. He knows you so intimately that he knows
your very thoughts that you've had. That he sees
you so deeply. That while your lips may be sitting
in church betraying what your soul is actually
saying, that he knows you so deeply that he wants
to have a conversation in your soul today. And
he wants to remind you, what does he want to
remind you of? That you are a child of God. That
you're his kid. Okay, let's God -size this, right?
Because we get lost in this. Go outside the universe,
that God. Right, like outside the unknown universe,
that God. The God who is all powerful, who is
all knowing, who is all present, that God, the
creator God, that God is your father is what
he calls himself. And we can look at it, church.
You can look at it and you can put your earthly
lens on, right? And what I mean by your earthly
lens, we all got earthly dads, right? I don't
know what your lineage is, your heritage is of
your family. And it can be really easy to hear
that God is my father and it can be really easy
to get lost in that. I was reading a book over
sabbatical and one of the phrases that I've fallen
in love with is that he is the perfect father.
He's the perfect father. Everything you can imagine
a father should be, everything you could want
a father should be, and even more, God the father
is to you. I think I'm a pretty good dad. I try
to be. I love my kids. I do anything for my kids.
I try to tell them as often as I can how loved
they are, how nothing will change that. They'll
always be my kids. I don't even compare to your
father in heaven. I'm not even a shadow. And
he looks at you today and he goes, I love you.
I love you enough that I would step onto the
planet. I mean, you think how degrading for the
King of Kings to become human. We're not that
impressive, you guys. To live in the midst of
a broken and in his context, an oppressed people.
He was born into slavery. He was born into mistreatment.
Why? Why? So that he could go to a cross. To
take all of those thoughts about shame and guilt
that you let be your story. Your story is not
shame and guilt. Your story is you are a free
child of God because of Jesus. The stories we
tell ourselves that were not enough or was somehow
not measuring up or that is not your story. Who
you are, it's identity. Who you are, you are
a child of God and that cannot change. That is
who you are. And you, you are loved by God exactly
as you are right now. You guys sitting in a church,
On Easter Sunday alone, while y 'all were partying,
I'm just gonna say, right? Like while you were
all were losing your minds. I'm so thankful that
God loved me enough to have a real conversation
with my soul. I'm so thankful that my heavenly
father loved me enough to sit with me in that
row. It's a whisper. On your way in, you should
receive one of these. I got two questions for
you. First one is this, how did you receive it?
How did you receive what you have in your hand?
I don't mean how did you receive the cup? I don't
mean who gave you that. I mean what this represents.
Your salvation, your freedom, your rescue, your
standing with God, your gift of salvation. How
did you receive it? How did you acquire your
gift of salvation? Because that is your true
story. That it was by faith. It was by trust.
The second question is this. And it's more of
a conversation. than a question for you to ask
the Holy Spirit in a moment of reflection, Holy
Spirit, how am I not living in the story you
have given me? What am I living out? Reveal to
me. My prayer going to Montana was search me
and know me and reveal what's not of you. I don't
know if I'll ever pray that again, if I'm honest,
because it's pretty dark, pretty sideways. But
Holy Spirit, would you show us, would you show
me where am I not living the story you've put
me in? So the next moment's yours, then we'll
take it all together. I left that church on Easter
Sunday and the place I was staying at, if I walked
one direction, it took me to the mountains, like
just massive majestic mountain in front of me.
And I left the church beating myself up pretty
good. I wasn't kind to myself. Didn't know how
it had gone sideways. My soul felt shredded.
And as I'm walking along, All by myself. It was
in between seasons. It's not ski season, but
it's not boat season. And so there was nobody
around. And out of nowhere on this mountain,
this cloud comes down. And anywhere in scripture,
the cloud is represented to the presence, very
presence of God. And it was just enough that
it caught my attention. And so my focus was there.
My thoughts were there. And out of nowhere, I
just felt this internal voice go. John, I walked
with Moses and I'll walk with you. I'm here.
And it was a complete recentering of my soul
for me. God loved me enough to put me in a little
church on Easter Sunday to lead me to a mountain
to tell me I'm here. I believe that communion
is our recentering. It's our recentering to the
story that is true. The story that we said yes
to, that we get so sideways on. And you think
about those early disciples, right? They're gathered
around the table and chaos is about to break
loose for them. Turmoil is about to overtake
them, confusion. And what does Jesus go? Hey,
here's your anchor. Take this bread and remind
yourself that it's my body and it's given, given.
You didn't earn it. You didn't do anything for
it. I came and I laid it down. Why? Because I
love you. Do this in remembrance of me. He took
the cup of wine, cup of redemption, and he reminded
them that forgiveness, because he would take
all of the sin of every human being, both past,
present, and future, of every single human being,
and he would put it on himself, and his blood
would be sufficient to pay the price that when
we sit here and we partake of the cup, That we're
reminded you are, you are, you are. It's not
in question. You are forgiven. No more guilt,
no more shame, no more pain. It's gone. Because
you're forgiven. And he handed him a cup. He
said, take drink, do this in remembrance of me.
God, we thank you this morning. Thank you for
being so good. You are so, so good to us. God,
we don't deserve it in any way, shape, or form
that you would look our way. But God, it's not
even that you just look our way. Look our way.
You showed up. And you have made a way where
there seemed to be no way. You held your promises
when you didn't have to. You provided miracles
and worked miracles on our behalf when you didn't
have to. And so God, we just say thank you. Thank
you for being so, so good to us. Thank you for
being a way maker today. God, as we continue
to worship, as we continue to raise our voices,
would your spirit work in this place? Would you
continue to have conversation with us? Would
we leave here changed because we met with the
living God? And so we just say, thank you. Thank
you for loving us first. And everybody said,
amen.