WEBVTT 00:00:01.070 --> 00:00:06.070 Welcome. If you're new here, just know that's 00:00:06.070 --> 00:00:09.689 not something we take lightly. If you're here 00:00:09.689 --> 00:00:13.150 and you're going, man, I always refer to it personally 00:00:13.150 --> 00:00:15.150 as just like the dating phase. You know what 00:00:15.150 --> 00:00:17.449 I mean? You're dating the church to figure out 00:00:17.449 --> 00:00:21.629 if we smell or if we've got any weird habits 00:00:21.629 --> 00:00:24.809 or that kind of stuff. If we're going to leave 00:00:24.809 --> 00:00:28.769 you with the bill, that kind of thing. But just 00:00:28.769 --> 00:00:36.109 know you being here, I personally believe it's 00:00:36.109 --> 00:00:39.250 by design. I don't think you're here by chance. 00:00:40.070 --> 00:00:44.490 And I don't think that you being here is just 00:00:44.490 --> 00:00:49.490 another Sunday. Like you stepped into, I don't 00:00:49.490 --> 00:00:53.090 know if you realize this or not, but you stepped 00:00:53.090 --> 00:00:56.670 into a moment that can pass us by if we let it. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.340 And we have to move slowly enough to see the 00:01:00.340 --> 00:01:06.359 moment. Here's what I mean. You step into a room 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:10.540 of people and normally in a group this size and 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:13.760 in a space like this, there's a variety of people. 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.620 Some have said yes to Jesus. Some are still navigating 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:19.219 and going, man, I like this Jesus. I don't know 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:22.700 if I can trust him. Some are like opposed to 00:01:22.700 --> 00:01:25.000 Jesus and you're here to just prove why you're 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.040 opposed to Jesus, that kind of thing. And so 00:01:28.040 --> 00:01:33.099 it can be easy to miss what just happened. But 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:38.519 we have the gift. It's a gift to come in and 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.260 be able to sit next to other people that are 00:01:41.260 --> 00:01:44.299 all in different places on the journey, but to 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:46.900 hear those who are ahead of you on the journey, 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.859 to raise their voice. and not be afraid to raise 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:54.480 their voice. And maybe they raised their hands 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:55.659 and you're like, well, that's weird. Why are 00:01:55.659 --> 00:01:57.000 they raising their hands? It's not a concert. 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:02.000 Do that at a concert. But the idea that you were 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:06.140 here and you got to experience people going, 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:11.539 there is no one else. And like they're saying 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:14.900 it from the sense of conviction, church. There 00:02:14.900 --> 00:02:19.099 is no one else who is worthy, who matches up 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:23.849 to. Who has greater value than the person of 00:02:23.849 --> 00:02:28.530 Jesus. And you got to experience that. We get 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:31.189 to experience that together. Do you realize that 00:02:31.189 --> 00:02:33.270 in that song, one of the lines that I love in 00:02:33.270 --> 00:02:36.990 that song is that you get to do something that 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:40.550 not even the angels can do. I don't know if you 00:02:40.550 --> 00:02:43.530 caught it or not. But that song, right, like 00:02:43.530 --> 00:02:45.830 what it is speaking about is what Jesus has done 00:02:45.830 --> 00:02:48.129 for you, what Jesus has purchased for you, that 00:02:48.129 --> 00:02:51.150 you were lost and now you are found, right? That 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:53.610 you had no standing with God and because of the 00:02:53.610 --> 00:02:56.349 person of Jesus, you're made right with God. 00:02:57.250 --> 00:03:01.150 That your future eternally is secure in the person 00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:04.250 of Jesus. And so that creates in you a thanks. 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:10.659 Can you believe just the cosmic story? That a 00:03:10.659 --> 00:03:13.199 God would love you enough and love me enough 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.319 that he would show up in person and do for us 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:17.659 what we cannot do for ourselves, pay a debt that 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:20.819 we couldn't pay, right? That we would be given 00:03:20.819 --> 00:03:23.120 this life and given this moment and put into 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:26.340 this room with other people to go, no one else 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:29.400 is worthy. You know what your no one else is 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:32.360 worthy is? It's just a thanks. It's gratitude. 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:38.110 And you know who can't do that? The angels. Because 00:03:38.110 --> 00:03:41.389 they haven't even experienced that for themselves. 00:03:42.229 --> 00:03:46.969 They got to watch you and watch God pursue you 00:03:46.969 --> 00:03:50.289 and watch God love you enough to show up so that 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:53.449 you could stand in a room and go, no one else 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:57.949 is worthy, only Jesus. That's the privilege. 00:03:58.189 --> 00:04:00.610 Think about it. I don't think as you were singing, 00:04:00.810 --> 00:04:04.009 maybe you were, but I don't think anybody was 00:04:04.009 --> 00:04:06.590 going, who else is worthy? And you're like, me. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:10.979 I'm worthy, right? It's not happening. The collective 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:13.580 voice is raising and going, no, no, no. Don't 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:15.219 let your eyes settle here. Don't let your eyes 00:04:15.219 --> 00:04:17.959 settle here. Get your eyes to what really matters. 00:04:20.860 --> 00:04:23.899 I don't think anybody was singing worried about 00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:27.540 someone coming through the door because you mentioned 00:04:27.540 --> 00:04:30.300 the name Jesus in a public space and now your 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:32.060 life, we may not make it out of here. I don't 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:34.000 think anybody's worried about it. We have a gift. 00:04:34.060 --> 00:04:36.480 We have such a freedom. This is a... This is 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.360 such a gift and such a freedom to be able to 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:41.279 come in here together and not be worried about 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:43.879 someone coming in because you said the name of 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:49.459 Jesus in a public space. What a gift. What a 00:04:49.459 --> 00:04:52.860 moment. And we've got to learn how to slow down 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:56.139 and cherish and nourish that and go, man, let 00:04:56.139 --> 00:04:59.800 it feed your soul for the rest of the week. That's 00:04:59.800 --> 00:05:04.660 the value of what this is. And it's this beautiful 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:09.379 moment. And sometimes we treat it like just another 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:14.540 latte. It's just another church service. I just 00:05:14.540 --> 00:05:17.600 gotta make it through an hour. Church is boring. 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:22.220 Meanwhile, what just happened in this room is 00:05:22.220 --> 00:05:25.319 resonating throughout the caverns of heaven. 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:31.620 I assume there's caverns there. It's resonating 00:05:31.620 --> 00:05:34.040 and resounding in the very presence of God. And 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.379 it was your voice because only you can bring 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:42.680 your voice in the presence of God. And this isn't 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:48.620 in my notes, so we probably should move on. In 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:54.339 Matthew 13, 44, Jesus tells the story. And the 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:59.870 story is framed in... that the kingdom of heaven 00:05:59.870 --> 00:06:04.149 is like. Okay, so it's this idea of the kingdom 00:06:04.149 --> 00:06:08.829 of heaven. It's God's rule and reign, his domain. 00:06:09.709 --> 00:06:12.610 And this is what it's like. And then it goes 00:06:12.610 --> 00:06:14.850 on to tell the story of a man who went to a field. 00:06:14.910 --> 00:06:16.550 And when he got to the field, he discovered that 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:19.769 the field had a treasure. And it says that he 00:06:19.769 --> 00:06:24.139 took that treasure and he hid the treasure. Now 00:06:24.139 --> 00:06:26.459 in that culture, for you to hide the treasure 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:30.100 was for you to protect it. So what we first see 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.240 about this man is as he comes, his actions change 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.819 determined by the value that he found within 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:39.759 the treasure. And he hides it and he protects 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:42.519 it. And it says that he goes away and he gets 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.079 back to all of his stuff. All of the stuff that 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.389 once carried this high value for him. He gets 00:06:49.389 --> 00:06:51.589 back to it and it says that he sells it all. 00:06:51.730 --> 00:06:53.850 The things that had captured his heart at one 00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:57.029 point that meant so much. He sells it all and 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:01.509 he goes back to the field and he buys the field 00:07:01.509 --> 00:07:04.189 because he knows the treasure, the value that 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:08.569 the field holds. When you find something that 00:07:08.569 --> 00:07:12.670 you value, it changes the way that you live. 00:07:13.949 --> 00:07:18.279 When you find something that you value, When 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:23.060 you find something that is so worth it, something 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:27.000 that you just can't live without, something that 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.899 has such meaning and value and beauty, that all 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:35.420 of a sudden it changes the way you interact with 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:39.319 everything else. Maybe even things that you once 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:44.120 felt were valuable, you now live differently 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:48.189 towards them because of what you found. That's 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:52.649 the essence of what Galatians chapter five is 00:07:52.649 --> 00:07:57.350 leading us into. And over the next two weeks, 00:07:57.389 --> 00:08:00.089 at least, we're gonna spend some time just looking 00:08:00.089 --> 00:08:03.129 at Galatians five. And today, what I'd love to 00:08:03.129 --> 00:08:06.769 do is just kind of give you a lens and kind of 00:08:06.769 --> 00:08:08.930 a framework that we're gonna look over the next 00:08:08.930 --> 00:08:12.970 few weeks at Galatians five through. Because 00:08:12.970 --> 00:08:16.230 what we find in Galatians 5 is it's Paul trying 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:19.290 to help the church in Galatia through this letter 00:08:19.290 --> 00:08:24.189 to go, hey, how do you live this life? How now 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:27.269 do you live this life when everything has changed? 00:08:27.930 --> 00:08:30.329 And so he starts out in verse 1. He says this. 00:08:30.850 --> 00:08:36.269 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 00:08:36.330 --> 00:08:41.409 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:45.519 has set us free. What is the purpose of the whole 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:49.679 cosmic story? What is the purpose of the grand 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:51.840 narrative of this God who would leave heaven, 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:54.200 that would become a man, that would go to a cross, 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.440 that would suffer and die, taking the sin of 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:00.320 the world, my sin, your sin, on him, leaving 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:04.399 it in a tomb, rising again, death defeated, sin 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:07.340 defeated. What is the purpose of this whole story? 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:13.940 Your freedom. is the purpose of the entire cosmic 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:17.279 story. It is for freedom that Christ did what 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:22.980 he did. Why? So that you could be free. Now, 00:09:23.059 --> 00:09:25.419 when we talk about freedom, we have to be careful 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:30.080 because we can easily associate freedom in this 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:34.759 passage to, well, that's political freedom. At 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:37.340 this time, this world was not free. It was under 00:09:37.340 --> 00:09:41.070 the oppression of the Roman Empire. So the world 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.509 was not politically free. So Paul can't possibly 00:09:43.509 --> 00:09:45.750 mean political freedom that you've been saved 00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:50.090 for. We enjoy political freedom, but I wouldn't 00:09:50.090 --> 00:09:54.990 count on political freedom, right? Like we look 00:09:54.990 --> 00:09:58.710 at things like, well, it's economical freedom, 00:09:58.889 --> 00:10:00.370 right? Like come to Jesus and everything gets 00:10:00.370 --> 00:10:03.950 better and you get rich. That's a terrible gospel 00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:06.899 and is not true. How do I know it? Look back 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:09.279 at the people that lived this out. Lots of them 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:11.399 lived in poverty. They lost their business circles. 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:13.840 They lost their social circles. They were worse 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.899 off for saying yes to Jesus, not better. And 00:10:16.899 --> 00:10:19.500 so what happens here then, what happens here 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:22.000 is the freedom has to mean something else, that 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:25.200 you have been set free. You have been set free. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:29.159 And it has to be in a much larger sense of what 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.320 God's doing in the universe. And then it says 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.039 specifically, says specifically something about 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:39.220 you. That it is for freedom that Christ has set 00:10:39.220 --> 00:10:47.000 us free. That's identity. That's who you are. 00:10:48.259 --> 00:10:50.759 I don't know if you feel that today or not, but 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.440 that's who you are right here, right now. You 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.480 are free because of the person of Jesus Christ. 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:58.440 Well, what am I free from? What does this look 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.399 like? So what I'd love to do is, kind of create 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:03.559 this framework. But the framework is born out 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:06.039 of maybe taking a picture from football, if we 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.200 can, okay? So if you don't like football, maybe 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:12.340 daydream for a minute, come back. So in football, 00:11:12.539 --> 00:11:15.320 imagine, let's make it a high stakes game, Super 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:17.940 Bowl. And the Steelers are in the Super Bowl. 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:21.039 I told you, we're daydreaming, we're daydreaming, 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:26.879 right? But you're in this game, right? And you 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:31.559 receive the playbook of the other team. I mean, 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.419 every single play that they're going to do for 00:11:33.419 --> 00:11:35.399 that game, every single one, they're not going 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:37.580 to deviate from it. They're going to run this 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:40.779 plan. And so you look at it and play number one 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:42.759 is they're going to run a draw to the right side. 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.620 What do you do with your defense? You stack the 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:50.200 what? Right side. Why? Because that's where they're 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.299 going to attack. And so you stack your right 00:11:52.299 --> 00:11:55.360 side and you defeat them. Right? We understand 00:11:55.360 --> 00:11:57.679 it in a sports context. What we're given here 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:01.750 by Paul. is we're given the cheat code, if you 00:12:01.750 --> 00:12:05.950 like, the way to live, the way to live in this 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:11.169 life, right here, right now, because he reveals 00:12:11.169 --> 00:12:14.649 the enemy's plan through what he's saying. What 00:12:14.649 --> 00:12:16.190 do I mean by that? Well, we're gonna use a couple 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:17.769 of phrases. We'll use them over the next couple 00:12:17.769 --> 00:12:20.509 of weeks. But on one side of this, you've got 00:12:20.509 --> 00:12:24.850 the phrase no longer, right? So no longer refers 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:29.820 to who you are. are. Here's what I mean, right? 00:12:29.899 --> 00:12:32.500 The context of Galatians has been this idea of 00:12:32.500 --> 00:12:34.919 slavery, like that you've got to work hard, you've 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.080 got to earn it, you've got to gain it. And Paul's 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:39.500 coming along and going, in Christ, you have been 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:42.799 set free. You no longer are under that. You no 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.080 longer are under all these rules and regulations 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:47.559 to try and earn God's favor. He goes, you're 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:50.590 free from that. So what happens is what was true 00:12:50.590 --> 00:12:54.350 of me is I was a slave. I was a slave to having 00:12:54.350 --> 00:12:58.750 to perform. I was a slave to having to earn my 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:00.789 own worth and try and get a good standing with 00:13:00.789 --> 00:13:03.889 God. That's who I used to be. I'm no longer that. 00:13:03.909 --> 00:13:08.870 Why? Because now I am free. And so what happens 00:13:08.870 --> 00:13:10.830 is you follow this all the way through, right? 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:14.179 You didn't have a right standing with God. You 00:13:14.179 --> 00:13:17.000 had no relationship. In fact, you were guilty 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:20.679 before God. Jesus shows up, dies on the cross, 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.539 and what's now transferred to you on your life 00:13:26.539 --> 00:13:29.480 is that you are no longer guilty, right? So what 00:13:29.480 --> 00:13:32.840 was true is I was guilty. I am now no longer 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:36.179 guilty. I am now not guilty because of the blood 00:13:36.179 --> 00:13:39.500 of Jesus. And you continue to follow this through. 00:13:39.580 --> 00:13:42.879 The idea of I've got to work and earn God's forgiveness. 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.559 So on one side, I've got, I'm unforgiven. Well, 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:52.120 in Jesus, you are no longer unforgiven. You guys, 00:13:52.139 --> 00:14:00.700 you realize right now, right now, today, even 00:14:00.700 --> 00:14:05.559 with all the feels you got, you will never be 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:10.860 more forgiven than you are right now. You'll 00:14:10.860 --> 00:14:14.669 never be more forgiven. How do I know that? Because 00:14:14.669 --> 00:14:18.129 in the droplets of blood from God himself on 00:14:18.129 --> 00:14:22.529 a cross, it says that he paid for all of your 00:14:22.529 --> 00:14:28.710 sin. All of it, past, present, future. It was 00:14:28.710 --> 00:14:32.190 all paid for. So what that tells me today is 00:14:32.190 --> 00:14:36.809 you are no longer unforgiven. You are forgiven. 00:14:37.269 --> 00:14:41.419 What was true of you is no longer true. Why? 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:45.460 Because of the person of Jesus. The idea of self 00:14:45.460 --> 00:14:49.019 -worth, right? That I earn my own worth, that 00:14:49.019 --> 00:14:51.879 I earn my own standing with God, that's no longer 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.779 true. Why? Because now I have Jesus' worth. What 00:14:55.779 --> 00:14:59.440 Jesus did for me, that gives me worth, right? 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:02.139 The idea of self -effort, right? That I just 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:04.980 gotta work hard enough, strive hard enough, do 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:08.559 enough good things. Can we just talk about something 00:15:08.559 --> 00:15:11.990 for a second? When somebody tells you, well, 00:15:12.029 --> 00:15:14.490 you're not a very good Christian, you know what 00:15:14.490 --> 00:15:17.350 I want you to tell them? That's not in the Bible. 00:15:19.590 --> 00:15:23.230 That phrase is not in the Bible. But somehow 00:15:23.230 --> 00:15:27.269 we associated it with, okay, there's good Christians 00:15:27.269 --> 00:15:28.730 and there's bad Christians. Well, I guess I'm 00:15:28.730 --> 00:15:30.570 just a bad. No, no, you know what the Bible has? 00:15:30.769 --> 00:15:32.690 People who believe Jesus died for them on the 00:15:32.690 --> 00:15:34.929 cross and they become sons and daughters and 00:15:34.929 --> 00:15:38.250 people that don't. Right? That's it. It's that 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.850 simple. You either are a follower of the way. 00:15:40.950 --> 00:15:43.409 You are, in the term we use as Christian, you 00:15:43.409 --> 00:15:45.809 either are that because you put your faith, trust, 00:15:45.929 --> 00:15:47.809 and hope in the person of Jesus and what he's 00:15:47.809 --> 00:15:51.649 done, or you don't. But this whole idea of there's 00:15:51.649 --> 00:15:54.289 good and there's bad, all that is is me trying 00:15:54.289 --> 00:15:56.950 to get self -effort to be in the good category. 00:15:57.330 --> 00:15:59.070 That's no longer true of you. Why? Because you 00:15:59.070 --> 00:16:03.840 have Jesus' effort. What gives me any standing, 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.519 any worth? It's not what I've done. It's what 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:10.000 he's done. And the sooner we wrap our heads around 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.100 this, the sooner we begin to understand where 00:16:13.100 --> 00:16:17.000 we actually live. And so on the one side, you 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:19.799 have this idea of this is no longer true. All 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.389 these things that once were true of me. They're 00:16:23.389 --> 00:16:26.049 no longer true. You're no longer a slave. You're 00:16:26.049 --> 00:16:28.549 free. You're no longer guilty. You're not guilty. 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:31.230 You no longer don't have a standing with God. 00:16:31.289 --> 00:16:34.730 You have a right standing with God. At one point 00:16:34.730 --> 00:16:37.929 in your life, you were trying to earn God's favor. 00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:40.429 You don't have to. You already have God's favor 00:16:40.429 --> 00:16:44.330 and you're in grace. Right? All of a sudden I 00:16:44.330 --> 00:16:47.309 stand on this side where my entire identity is 00:16:47.309 --> 00:16:50.090 changed. What's also true on the other side, 00:16:50.149 --> 00:16:52.669 you'll see another phrase that says not yet. 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:56.809 And what not yet is this, that you have an inheritance 00:16:56.809 --> 00:17:01.779 that is promised for you in eternity. That your 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:05.039 inheritance, what the idea of heaven, the new 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.500 heavens, the new earth, right? Like in everything 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.299 that that brings, your complete identity, because 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:12.599 you may stand here and especially next week when 00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:15.599 we get into the idea of I'm not being a slave 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:18.579 to sin, right? Like not living for my own desires 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:21.420 and passions. You may go, well, I know that's 00:17:21.420 --> 00:17:25.900 true, but I don't feel that, right? That doesn't 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:28.059 change that it's true. It means you just don't 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:32.180 feel it. What is true of you is that you have 00:17:32.180 --> 00:17:34.880 been set free for how long? All of eternity, 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.700 right? Like what's true of you, what's true of 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:42.519 you is that your right standing with God lasts 00:17:42.519 --> 00:17:45.700 for all of eternity, void of how you feel here 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:49.259 and void of what you experience in life. Your 00:17:49.259 --> 00:17:51.740 inheritance, that you are a son and you are a 00:17:51.740 --> 00:17:53.880 daughter means that you're a co -heir with Jesus, 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:55.740 that everything that is promised to Jesus is 00:17:55.740 --> 00:17:59.779 promised to you. That's all in eternity. But 00:17:59.779 --> 00:18:01.920 here's the thing. How do I know it's not yet? 00:18:02.279 --> 00:18:05.380 Well, it tells me in eternity, there's no more 00:18:05.380 --> 00:18:10.819 death. Anybody experiencing death still? Right? 00:18:11.819 --> 00:18:13.940 There's no more pain. Anybody experiencing pain? 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:19.619 That tells me what? We're not there yet. So what's 00:18:19.619 --> 00:18:21.880 true of you is your identity is completely changed 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:26.980 and I'm still not in eternity with God yet. So 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:31.440 that leaves this. You are in the in -between 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.079 life. I'm living in between. I have a complete 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:38.200 new identity, but I'm in the in -between life 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.420 because I'm not yet in eternity. I'm not yet 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:44.079 face to face. I'm still living by faith. I'm 00:18:44.079 --> 00:18:47.640 not living by sight yet. And here's what the 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.700 enemy knows. Ready? This is the enemy's kind 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:57.349 of game plan. The enemy knows. He cannot change 00:18:57.349 --> 00:19:00.609 your identity. He cannot change who you are, 00:19:00.650 --> 00:19:02.750 who Jesus has made you. He can't touch that. 00:19:05.150 --> 00:19:08.309 Everybody excited about that? He can't touch 00:19:08.309 --> 00:19:10.529 it. What I mean by that is this. He can't come 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:13.470 to you and go, oh, you think you're not guilty? 00:19:14.109 --> 00:19:18.230 Ah, I'm gonna say you're guilty. He can't change 00:19:18.230 --> 00:19:21.250 that. That's your identity before God, your right 00:19:21.250 --> 00:19:23.740 standing. Oh, you think you have a relationship 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:25.819 with God? I'm gonna change that. You don't have 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:28.740 a relationship anymore. He can't change that. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.339 Oh, you're free? No, you're not. You're a slave. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.960 He can't change that. Oh, you think you're forgiven? 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:37.160 No, you're not. You're unforgiven. The enemy 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:40.420 cannot change that. He does not have that power 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:43.799 over your life. Only God has the right and the 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.490 power to tell you who you are in Jesus. And he 00:19:47.490 --> 00:19:50.529 paid for it to be true. So in this context, the 00:19:50.529 --> 00:19:53.410 enemy can't do anything to change your identity. 00:19:53.910 --> 00:19:56.470 Your identity is given by God in the person of 00:19:56.470 --> 00:19:59.829 Jesus. Now, what the enemy also knows is that 00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:03.150 you have an inheritance and a future and he can't 00:20:03.150 --> 00:20:06.549 touch it. Your inheritance is secure. He doesn't 00:20:06.549 --> 00:20:12.190 get to go, oh no, we're revoking your past. He 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:16.009 doesn't have that power. The enemy is so dumb. 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:21.500 It's okay to call the enemy dumb. He's not that 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:23.839 big and scary. I know the creator. He's a little 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:28.680 bigger. But the enemy still thinks he can win. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:32.799 But I got a story that tells me that Jesus wins. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:37.059 So what is the enemy doing? If he knows he can't 00:20:37.059 --> 00:20:39.359 win, what is he doing? Well, he's going to get 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:42.539 whatever he can. What can he get? He can't get 00:20:42.539 --> 00:20:46.980 your identity. He can't get the no longer. He 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:52.269 can't get your future. But he can get the in 00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:55.630 -between life. And that's what Paul is writing 00:20:55.630 --> 00:20:59.069 about in this section. He is writing about the 00:20:59.069 --> 00:21:02.170 in -between life. How do you live in the in -between 00:21:02.170 --> 00:21:07.569 where you have been set free? How do you navigate 00:21:07.569 --> 00:21:11.509 this life? And so he goes on and he says, in 00:21:11.509 --> 00:21:13.990 that verse, he says, stand firm then, stand firm 00:21:13.990 --> 00:21:16.950 then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again 00:21:16.950 --> 00:21:23.529 by a yoke of slavery. Stand firm then. What does 00:21:23.529 --> 00:21:26.549 stand firm mean? It means become who you are. 00:21:27.430 --> 00:21:29.890 Become who you are. Become who you're going to 00:21:29.890 --> 00:21:33.450 be. So in between, what he's saying is don't 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:37.549 let the enemy pull you back and convince you 00:21:37.549 --> 00:21:41.250 of things that are no longer true of you. Don't 00:21:41.250 --> 00:21:43.950 let the enemy pull you back and tell you things 00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:46.690 that aren't true of who you are, that God's upset 00:21:46.690 --> 00:21:50.089 with you because you did that last night. God's 00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.710 not upset with you. Why? Because when he looks 00:21:52.710 --> 00:21:55.069 at you, he sees the person of Jesus and he sees 00:21:55.069 --> 00:21:57.670 his sacrifice and what he has done and your standing 00:21:57.670 --> 00:22:00.890 has not changed before God just because you chose 00:22:00.890 --> 00:22:08.750 to do something. Isn't it funny how twisted we 00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:12.250 get this, you guys? I don't know what kind of, 00:22:12.349 --> 00:22:15.230 maybe you're not churched and there's a blessing 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:19.359 to that, trust me. I've been in church for as 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.000 long as I can remember. Swore I would never do 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.920 this. God had different plans. I can remember 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.660 going to Sunday school as a little kid. Worst 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:32.480 name ever for kids' church, by the way. No kid 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:35.859 likes to go to school on the weekend. But we 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:38.519 had Sunday school. And you would show up, and 00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:40.220 you know what? If you showed up with your Bible, 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:44.279 guess what would happen? You got a gold star. 00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:48.420 If I showed up, and I could say the Bible verse 00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:50.500 from the week before, that was two gold stars. 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:55.640 And then guess what? If I had perfect attendance 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:59.720 for whatever block of time that was set, that 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:03.519 was another gold star. And if you got just enough 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.599 gold stars, you got a reward. Now, I'm not knocking 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:12.180 anybody that did that culture, grew up in that 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:14.400 culture, whatever. But isn't it fascinating that 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:16.900 what was connected to me is if I do these things, 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:20.759 I will earn what? I will earn some kind of favor. 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:27.819 Now, translate that to a grown man. I have my 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:30.660 prayer time this morning. I'm closer to God. 00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:35.460 No, I'm not. I couldn't be closer to God than 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:38.220 I already am. The prayer time is just an expression 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:41.099 of love in the relationship that I have with 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:44.089 God. Isn't it funny? Like we get up and we're 00:23:44.089 --> 00:23:47.170 like, ooh, I got my French press. It's already 00:23:47.170 --> 00:23:49.869 going to be a good morning or whatever your coffee 00:23:49.869 --> 00:23:52.490 of choice is. And I got some quiet time and I 00:23:52.490 --> 00:23:54.789 opened my Bible and I actually read a chapter, 00:23:54.910 --> 00:23:58.990 a whole chapter today. Oh, God's got to be like, 00:23:59.089 --> 00:24:02.849 we're just, we're tight today. You were tight 00:24:02.849 --> 00:24:06.410 before you ever started the coffee. But it's 00:24:06.410 --> 00:24:08.450 subtle, right? It's subtle what the enemy wants 00:24:08.450 --> 00:24:12.609 to do. The enemy wants to shift. So instead of 00:24:12.609 --> 00:24:15.250 my time with Jesus being, I have found something 00:24:15.250 --> 00:24:17.970 so valuable that everything else taints to it. 00:24:18.029 --> 00:24:21.150 So why wouldn't I spend time with what I value? 00:24:22.109 --> 00:24:25.029 And so now the reading of my Bible is so that 00:24:25.029 --> 00:24:28.250 I can get to know this God. There's so much value 00:24:28.250 --> 00:24:31.029 and beauty inside of it that now when I sit with 00:24:31.029 --> 00:24:33.750 my Bible, it's about understanding him and seeing 00:24:33.750 --> 00:24:37.369 him and understanding his heart and letting that 00:24:37.369 --> 00:24:40.930 change me. But what the enemy will want to do 00:24:40.930 --> 00:24:45.869 is what? Shift it back to, ah, attaboy, good 00:24:45.869 --> 00:24:56.470 job. I think it's interesting that it's just 00:24:56.470 --> 00:24:58.769 wired, and we'll talk about it next week, but 00:24:58.769 --> 00:25:02.549 it's wired inside of us to earn God's approval. 00:25:04.150 --> 00:25:06.690 It's wired inside of us to think that God is 00:25:06.690 --> 00:25:13.079 mad. that God is upset, that he is angry, when 00:25:13.079 --> 00:25:15.599 all that's flowed from the very throne of God 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:29.079 is deep, passionate, pursuing love. You're so, 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:32.180 I'm not preaching this in a, woo, look at you, 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:35.279 you're amazing. I'm preaching this from God's 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:41.759 perspective. You are so valuable to him that 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:46.839 he cannot live without you. And what does the 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:49.380 enemy wanna do? The enemy wants to, his battle 00:25:49.380 --> 00:25:52.099 plan is if he can get you to forget who you are 00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:54.000 and what you've been given and forget the God 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.660 that loves you and convince you otherwise, in 00:25:56.660 --> 00:25:58.779 the middle, you will live like you don't even 00:25:58.779 --> 00:26:02.579 know Jesus on the other side, which is why he 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:05.759 says what he says next. Mark my words, I, Paul, 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:09.599 tell you, That if you let yourselves be circumcised, 00:26:09.660 --> 00:26:11.180 that idea of circumcised is that you're still 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:12.980 trying to earn God's favor. You're still trying 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:15.019 to self -effort this thing. You're still trying 00:26:15.019 --> 00:26:20.339 to self -worth this thing. Christ will be of 00:26:20.339 --> 00:26:26.099 no value to you at all. The enemy knows. The 00:26:26.099 --> 00:26:27.960 enemy knows, you guys, that if he can get you, 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:31.839 if he can get you to believe the lies, to believe 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.819 that the things that were who you were pre -Christ, 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:38.490 pre -Jesus, If you can believe those and live 00:26:38.490 --> 00:26:40.890 in the middle like those things are true, he 00:26:40.890 --> 00:26:45.609 knows that you devalue Jesus with your life because 00:26:45.609 --> 00:26:47.390 your life will be about you. Think about it for 00:26:47.390 --> 00:26:49.910 a second. The idea of self -worth, who are my 00:26:49.910 --> 00:26:54.349 eyes on? Me, you guys, I can remember so many 00:26:54.349 --> 00:26:58.049 times in my life where communion would happen 00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:02.630 and I would have instant feelings of guilt and 00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:06.779 shame and unworthiness. I can remember like sitting 00:27:06.779 --> 00:27:09.259 in communion, going through this list of what 00:27:09.259 --> 00:27:11.799 the last two days have been, let alone the last 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:15.299 week and being like, God, I'm so sorry. I just 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:18.000 need your forgiveness. And all the while, all 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:20.359 the while, a moment that should have been my 00:27:20.359 --> 00:27:23.160 eyes being on Jesus and his worth and how valuable 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:25.640 he is and what he has done for me became how 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:28.720 wretched I am and my eyes are on me and how I 00:27:28.720 --> 00:27:30.680 got to beg for this and I got to prove myself 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:35.460 to God and then he will. That is not, that is 00:27:35.460 --> 00:27:38.019 not, that's the enemy getting in and going, hey, 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:40.599 you're believing the wrong thing because truth 00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:44.579 is he has already done it and there's nothing 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:49.000 left to get. And so the enemy wants to convince 00:27:49.000 --> 00:27:52.299 you what? If the enemy can convince you that 00:27:52.299 --> 00:27:54.619 you live like you used to be, then guess what? 00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:58.309 Christ has no value to you. You devalue him. 00:27:58.529 --> 00:28:00.109 The other thing that the enemy will do, and we'll 00:28:00.109 --> 00:28:02.190 talk about this more next week, but the enemy 00:28:02.190 --> 00:28:04.990 wants you to believe that your future isn't secure. 00:28:05.869 --> 00:28:07.750 The enemy wants you to believe, he wants you 00:28:07.750 --> 00:28:09.809 to forget, right? Think about it for a second. 00:28:10.069 --> 00:28:13.049 If you really get an idea of heaven and being 00:28:13.049 --> 00:28:15.450 with God, and you really get an idea of what 00:28:15.450 --> 00:28:18.910 the kingdom of heaven is like, then you long 00:28:18.910 --> 00:28:23.369 for it. You can't wait to be face to face and 00:28:23.369 --> 00:28:25.630 not walk by faith anymore, but walk by sight. 00:28:26.569 --> 00:28:28.950 You can't wait for a space where there is no 00:28:28.950 --> 00:28:32.809 death and there is no pain. Like it just becomes 00:28:32.809 --> 00:28:35.750 this deep passion of yours that all of a sudden 00:28:35.750 --> 00:28:38.509 when I see what is ahead, when I see the future, 00:28:38.650 --> 00:28:41.930 when I see what God has promised, all the things, 00:28:41.950 --> 00:28:44.130 just like the man with the field, all of a sudden 00:28:44.130 --> 00:28:47.970 they don't look so good. All of a sudden, in 00:28:47.970 --> 00:28:50.450 light of the universe and what God is doing in 00:28:50.450 --> 00:28:52.829 the grand narrative, in the light of my future, 00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:55.670 all of a sudden I don't try and get that house. 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:00.380 Because it doesn't matter. All of a sudden, it's 00:29:00.380 --> 00:29:04.200 not about trying to find the right person and 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:08.019 always trading up. All of a sudden, it's not 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:10.279 about getting the best experience of this world 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:12.980 and wringing it for everything it has. It doesn't 00:29:12.980 --> 00:29:15.740 matter. It loses its value. It's not there anymore. 00:29:18.519 --> 00:29:21.640 And if the enemy can convince you to get your 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:25.500 eyes on earth instead of eternity, then you will 00:29:25.500 --> 00:29:28.079 live the in -between trying to collect everything 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:30.519 you possibly can here, trying to hold on to it 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:32.640 with everything you've got. You realize, right, 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:41.140 you're gonna get old. You're gonna get old. And 00:29:41.140 --> 00:29:44.140 what's crazy is in our culture, you can get shots 00:29:44.140 --> 00:29:48.019 for that. I don't mean drinking shots. That would 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:52.259 be one way of doing it. Right? I can get an injection 00:29:52.259 --> 00:29:57.420 that pulls my face up a little bit. I can do 00:29:57.420 --> 00:30:00.200 these things to try and stay young forever. The 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:02.039 problem is you're not going to stay young forever. 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:05.440 And 20 years from now, it's not going to look 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:07.779 so good because your face is going to be all 00:30:07.779 --> 00:30:14.380 tight and nothing else is. You realize wrinkles 00:30:14.380 --> 00:30:19.119 are beautiful. Wrinkles prove that you have lived 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:25.069 a life worth living. Wrinkles, wrinkles prove 00:30:25.069 --> 00:30:29.710 that you are that much closer to eternity. And 00:30:29.710 --> 00:30:33.089 that is a good thing because this place sucks. 00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:37.670 We just got to put it in perspective. We hold 00:30:37.670 --> 00:30:41.170 on to this like, oh, this is amazing. It's not 00:30:41.170 --> 00:30:45.569 even a shadow of what's to come. And at some 00:30:45.569 --> 00:30:51.289 point we have to realize. That if the enemy can 00:30:51.289 --> 00:30:54.029 convince you that this is worth holding on to, 00:30:54.150 --> 00:30:57.329 right? Versus going, I'm letting go because I 00:30:57.329 --> 00:31:00.930 know my inheritance. When you can let go and 00:31:00.930 --> 00:31:02.750 you see some of these people and you're around 00:31:02.750 --> 00:31:04.769 them, you're like, it's like they don't care. 00:31:05.849 --> 00:31:07.950 Why? Because what they've learned, what they've 00:31:07.950 --> 00:31:10.529 learned is in the in -between, in the in -between, 00:31:10.589 --> 00:31:13.769 only one thing matters. Look at verse six with 00:31:13.769 --> 00:31:18.680 me. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision 00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.680 nor uncircumcision has any value. So all he's 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.259 saying, you might be going, if you're new to 00:31:24.259 --> 00:31:25.720 this whole thing, you missed a couple of weeks, 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.559 why are we talking about circumcision? This is 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:30.740 weird, right? Okay, so in their culture, in their 00:31:30.740 --> 00:31:33.079 tradition, their religious tradition, there was 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:36.019 a belief that to be in the in crowd, to be closer 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:39.140 to God, then this had to happen, right? And so 00:31:39.140 --> 00:31:41.440 what he's getting at is neither of those things 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:45.720 actually matter. right? Like your self -effort, 00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:47.980 whether you do it this way or that way, none 00:31:47.980 --> 00:31:50.220 of that matters. Your to -do list of how do I 00:31:50.220 --> 00:31:53.799 be good? How do I make God happy? None of that 00:31:53.799 --> 00:31:57.160 matters. Listen to what he says, how we should 00:31:57.160 --> 00:32:04.920 live. The only thing, okay, if I say only, this 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:09.059 is the only thing. Pretty pointed, right? The 00:32:09.059 --> 00:32:14.230 only thing, the only thing that counts. is faith 00:32:14.230 --> 00:32:20.910 expressing itself through love. The only thing 00:32:20.910 --> 00:32:26.410 in this in -between life, between my new identity 00:32:26.410 --> 00:32:29.289 in Christ, this in -between and what is to come 00:32:29.289 --> 00:32:35.950 in eternity, the only thing that counts is that 00:32:35.950 --> 00:32:40.339 by faith, I reject. The enemy's battle plan. 00:32:40.460 --> 00:32:45.339 By faith, I go, this is who I am in Christ. I 00:32:45.339 --> 00:32:47.940 am no longer a slave. I am no longer guilty. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:51.440 I am no longer separated from God. I am no longer 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:54.019 have to work my own way there. Like all of that, 00:32:54.039 --> 00:32:57.279 that's no longer true. By faith, I have to accept 00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:01.240 that I am free today. That God looks at you and 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:03.900 he is pleased with you today. That he looks at 00:33:03.900 --> 00:33:05.720 you and because of his son, you are forgiven 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.380 today. That he looks at you and he declares you 00:33:08.380 --> 00:33:10.869 not. I'm not guilty because of Jesus. By faith, 00:33:10.890 --> 00:33:14.569 I have to accept that, right? And when I accept 00:33:14.569 --> 00:33:16.650 that and I'm living in this middle, by faith, 00:33:16.670 --> 00:33:21.269 I have to look at his future and what he writes. 00:33:21.289 --> 00:33:24.250 And by faith, I accept that this world is not 00:33:24.250 --> 00:33:27.769 my home. The new heavens and new earth someday. 00:33:28.970 --> 00:33:33.789 But today, this old earth is groaning. It's falling 00:33:33.789 --> 00:33:37.819 apart. And by faith, I have to believe that this 00:33:37.819 --> 00:33:40.660 is the story I live inside of. And when, when 00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:44.079 I grasp that, it says, how do you do? What do 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:48.980 you do next? You express. What is an expression? 00:33:49.019 --> 00:33:54.119 It is to put into visual form. How do I put all 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:56.220 of this into visual form? How do I live in my 00:33:56.220 --> 00:34:01.480 day to day? It says by what? By love. By love. 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:07.369 By love. You see, something amazing happens when 00:34:07.369 --> 00:34:09.949 you reject the enemy's plan and you see yourself 00:34:09.949 --> 00:34:13.329 as Jesus sees you. All of a sudden, I have nobody 00:34:13.329 --> 00:34:16.690 to impress and nobody to prove anything to. All 00:34:16.690 --> 00:34:18.230 of a sudden, I don't have to collect all this 00:34:18.230 --> 00:34:20.929 stuff for here. Guess what I get to do? I'm not 00:34:20.929 --> 00:34:24.530 worried about me anymore. I'm worried about the 00:34:24.530 --> 00:34:26.750 expression of Jesus that is seen through me. 00:34:27.750 --> 00:34:30.170 And so now I start to love the person next to 00:34:30.170 --> 00:34:33.869 me. Now I start to love those in my family circle. 00:34:35.019 --> 00:34:39.239 Now I start to love those that I work with. Now 00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:41.280 I start to love those like when I go to a restaurant, 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:43.500 right? You just love the people around you unless 00:34:43.500 --> 00:34:48.360 it's cold, then you're not going there. Some 00:34:48.360 --> 00:34:50.099 of you, that was too soon. You're still grieving. 00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:59.679 Still grieving. But you're to love. You're now 00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:03.349 free. What are you free to? That I don't have 00:35:03.349 --> 00:35:07.150 to make this life about me. Jesus has freed me 00:35:07.150 --> 00:35:10.650 to make it about you. Jesus has freed me to make 00:35:10.650 --> 00:35:12.909 it about those around me. Jesus has freed me 00:35:12.909 --> 00:35:17.889 to serve. That I no longer have to worry about 00:35:17.889 --> 00:35:19.849 it. But here's the thing, that what he's getting 00:35:19.849 --> 00:35:22.949 at is that your life matters. Your life counts. 00:35:23.210 --> 00:35:26.309 The way you live. Do you live like the man who 00:35:26.309 --> 00:35:28.969 found something so valuable that Jesus is so 00:35:28.969 --> 00:35:31.030 valuable that he'll give everything else away? 00:35:32.009 --> 00:35:34.030 so that you would know. I highly doubt that if 00:35:34.030 --> 00:35:35.809 you went to that man's field, he's like, oh, 00:35:35.949 --> 00:35:38.969 I just want to show you the grass. He's like, 00:35:39.030 --> 00:35:41.789 no, no, no, no, come look what I found. It's 00:35:41.789 --> 00:35:43.869 mine and it's precious. Like that's the idea 00:35:43.869 --> 00:35:46.530 that Jesus is so valuable to you that you go, 00:35:46.610 --> 00:35:48.710 I'm going to live an expression of love that 00:35:48.710 --> 00:35:51.789 displays to everybody how valuable Jesus is. 00:35:51.829 --> 00:35:55.550 That's the power of your life. There was a man, 00:35:55.590 --> 00:35:57.989 I don't know if you saw the news this week. There 00:35:57.989 --> 00:36:03.889 was a man, he died. He was 114 years old. That's 00:36:03.889 --> 00:36:05.809 not a bad, in England we say that's not a bad 00:36:05.809 --> 00:36:12.750 batting average, right? 114. What's significant 00:36:12.750 --> 00:36:19.190 about his passing is that 89 years old, he decided 00:36:19.190 --> 00:36:22.869 he saw a long distance runner and he decided 00:36:22.869 --> 00:36:25.010 he was gonna take up long distance running at 00:36:25.010 --> 00:36:30.719 89 years old. Some of you are like, I'm not even 00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:34.440 close to that and I ain't running, right? 89 00:36:34.440 --> 00:36:41.199 years old. Three years later, he finishes a marathon. 00:36:42.219 --> 00:36:44.400 He broke the record. I didn't even know there 00:36:44.400 --> 00:36:47.840 was a record for 90 plus in marathons. He broke 00:36:47.840 --> 00:36:54.139 the record by 58 minutes. Shattered it. He continued 00:36:54.139 --> 00:36:58.230 to run all the way until he was 101. At 101, 00:36:58.289 --> 00:37:01.670 he set records that they had to create because 00:37:01.670 --> 00:37:05.349 nobody was doing it. At one point in his life, 00:37:05.369 --> 00:37:09.230 he was on a relay team and the overall total 00:37:09.230 --> 00:37:15.690 age was 397. People watched his life and were 00:37:15.690 --> 00:37:18.829 inspired so much so that the Queen Elizabeth 00:37:18.829 --> 00:37:24.289 gave him an award due for people in sports. It's 00:37:24.289 --> 00:37:26.780 sacrilege, but they took David Beth... Beckham, 00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:30.079 Adidas took David Beckham out of their spot and 00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:33.840 put this man in to prove that impossible is nothing. 00:37:33.900 --> 00:37:37.920 Don't clap for that. To prove that impossible 00:37:37.920 --> 00:37:42.199 is nothing. He gave his life and he inspired 00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:45.340 people towards what? What he valued and it was 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:48.539 running. One of my favorite quotes of him this 00:37:48.539 --> 00:37:50.900 week that I got to read, he's like, the first 00:37:50.900 --> 00:37:54.440 20 miles, they're not difficult. The last six, 00:37:54.460 --> 00:37:59.599 I talked to God. What a beautiful testimony that 00:37:59.599 --> 00:38:03.760 a life can leave. Your life has immense value. 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:09.139 You, you are the expression of Jesus to everyone 00:38:09.139 --> 00:38:12.639 around you. And what you do with your life will 00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:15.659 either devalue that expression or add value to 00:38:15.659 --> 00:38:19.800 it. We started in here singing and we were singing 00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:24.820 about no one else, no one else, no one else is 00:38:24.820 --> 00:38:28.659 worthy. But Jesus. And I wonder what it would 00:38:28.659 --> 00:38:31.420 be like to close out the weekend. Because y 'all 00:38:31.420 --> 00:38:35.539 are last. In a way that where you stand and you 00:38:35.539 --> 00:38:37.719 take your voice and you go, I am going to use 00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:40.760 my voice as an expression of love to declare 00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:44.119 I found something so valuable. And his name is 00:38:44.119 --> 00:38:48.360 Jesus. Would you stand right where you are? I 00:38:48.360 --> 00:38:50.699 need you to catch this. I need you to sing over 00:38:50.699 --> 00:38:52.820 the people next to you. Because they may not 00:38:52.820 --> 00:38:56.010 know yet the value that is in Jesus. His worth 00:38:56.010 --> 00:38:59.329 that no one else can compare. And your voice 00:38:59.329 --> 00:39:01.590 gets to be the expression for them today of the 00:39:01.590 --> 00:39:03.190 love of God. Let's sing together.