WEBVTT 00:00:01.229 --> 00:00:05.009 Well, welcome to church. Like anybody's heart 00:00:05.009 --> 00:00:09.490 just feel full already? No, cool. Just me. Great. 00:00:09.849 --> 00:00:15.589 You guys, this is good. This is good. You ever 00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:19.890 tried to impress somebody? Right? You ever felt 00:00:19.890 --> 00:00:23.730 like, man, I just need to impress them. And if 00:00:23.730 --> 00:00:25.629 you've ever fallen in love, I guarantee you, 00:00:25.649 --> 00:00:28.949 you've had that tension. Right? There's very 00:00:28.949 --> 00:00:31.670 few people who are like, I did nothing and they 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:34.090 came to me, right? Like you put your best foot 00:00:34.090 --> 00:00:35.590 forward, you're trying to impress them, trying 00:00:35.590 --> 00:00:38.869 to win them over, right? Like the idea of impressing 00:00:38.869 --> 00:00:42.829 people is a tension we live with. I remember 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:46.469 being in Bible college and they had a class in 00:00:46.469 --> 00:00:49.530 Bible college to help you communicate to people 00:00:49.530 --> 00:00:52.179 better. I'll be real honest with you. I think 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:54.299 the class was terrible. I wouldn't recommend 00:00:54.299 --> 00:00:56.219 it. I think there's this thing called the Holy 00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:58.939 Spirit that gave you gifts that wants to use 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:01.859 you. And I don't think a canned outline platform 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.239 is what he intended. I think he wants to use 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:06.219 you to be you and your voice to be you. Anyways, 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:09.099 off my soapbox, right? So we got this class and 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:12.359 you got 10 minutes. And so you got your message 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:15.500 ready and you get up and you look out and it's 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:18.420 all your fellow peers, students, and they've 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:21.640 got. like clipboards type things, and they're 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.099 writing down, grading you on everything. What 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:29.579 is his appearance like, right? What is his hand 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:32.799 gestures like? How does he use inflection? Did 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:35.620 it communicate to me? What were his main points, 00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.019 right? All this kind of stuff. And I'll be honest 00:01:38.019 --> 00:01:40.060 with you, I could care less what they wrote, 00:01:40.099 --> 00:01:42.379 right? Like I could care less about my classmates, 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.060 right? What I really cared about was the professor. 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:49.140 If I wanted to impress anybody, it was him. And 00:01:49.140 --> 00:01:51.180 so I got done and I'm feeling pretty good about 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:54.019 myself. And I get a stack of papers from the 00:01:54.019 --> 00:01:55.340 classmates. I'm like, yeah, we'll look at those 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:57.819 later. Where's the professors, right? And I look 00:01:57.819 --> 00:01:59.819 and there's a grade on there and it's an A. And 00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:02.159 I'm like, yeah. And I go to read his comment. 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:04.920 And I'm like waiting for him to like tell me 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.240 how much I impressed him. And it literally just 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:13.139 says, don't ever dye your hair again. I'm like, 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:15.500 seriously? Out of everything I did for 10 minutes, 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:18.840 that's what you got? And what I had at that time 00:02:18.840 --> 00:02:21.840 was like highlights, blonde highlights in my 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:25.060 hair. And then I chose the natural version of 00:02:25.060 --> 00:02:26.960 that at some point in life. God chose it for 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:30.000 me. But here's the thing. I went to him and I 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:32.699 said, hey, what do you mean don't dye my hair 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:34.539 again? He goes, nobody will ever listen to you. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:38.240 And I was like, well, I don't think that's true 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:39.639 because I think there's something called the 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:41.319 Holy Spirit that's a little bigger than that. 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:45.580 And so for a decade, I dyed my hair just to prove 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:51.479 it to him. So dumb. So dumb. But we try and impress 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:55.500 people, right? It's what we do. We like to impress 00:02:55.500 --> 00:03:00.979 people. We like to set an impression, right? 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:04.620 And to set an impression is that I want to do 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:08.219 something to you that leaves a print. And you 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:10.939 think a certain way because of that print. An 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.340 example would be two days ago, I walked past 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:16.719 my daughter who's sitting at the kitchen table 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:21.120 and she's got like this little clip package thing 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:24.620 and she's pressing slime into it. And I'm like, 00:03:24.659 --> 00:03:26.520 what are you doing? And she's like, well, there's 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.120 lettering on there. So I wanna see if I can get 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:31.800 it to stick and read it on the slime. She's trying 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:33.699 to get an impression from this. She's trying 00:03:33.699 --> 00:03:36.539 to get a print. Right. And what it would say 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:40.419 is the impression that you would get. I remember 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.060 being a missionary kid. And those of you that 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:44.819 don't know what missionaries are like, like it's 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:46.580 people that like a church like ours, we would 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:48.580 send them out. They go to global locations and 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:51.139 share the message of Jesus. So my parents were 00:03:51.139 --> 00:03:54.099 doing that. And for about four and a half years, 00:03:54.180 --> 00:03:56.810 we were in Papua New Guinea, came back. And a 00:03:56.810 --> 00:03:58.729 lot of people called it vacation. It was nothing 00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:01.270 like a vacation, literally. Like my parents were 00:04:01.270 --> 00:04:03.430 exhausted and burned out. And so technically 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:07.009 it's called furlough, right? But here's what 00:04:07.009 --> 00:04:10.449 happened. As missionaries, you walk into a church 00:04:10.449 --> 00:04:12.949 and you're instantly what? Put on this pedestal 00:04:12.949 --> 00:04:15.169 like, oh, these are the super Christians who 00:04:15.169 --> 00:04:17.870 have it all together. Well, I happen to be a 00:04:17.870 --> 00:04:20.149 middle school, no offense to middle schoolers, 00:04:20.149 --> 00:04:22.310 students. I happen to be a middle school boy. 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:25.980 and we would go to these churches, and they support 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:27.879 my parents, right? So they get money from these 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:29.639 churches, and that's what allows them to do what 00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:31.920 they do. So it's really important that we make 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.680 a good impression on these churches. So literally, 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:38.519 I can remember a look from my dad when it wasn't 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:40.720 going well, and it was like, oh, you're about 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:42.899 to get it. You just wait till we leave here type 00:04:42.899 --> 00:04:45.980 thing, right? So we go into these churches, and 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:48.019 the churches were fine. We knew how to act in 00:04:48.019 --> 00:04:51.310 church, and yet God made us. I had two older 00:04:51.310 --> 00:04:54.129 brothers and God just made us boys like boys 00:04:54.129 --> 00:04:57.250 do what boys do at that age. And so the worst 00:04:57.250 --> 00:04:59.269 part was, is people would invite us out for meals 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:01.829 after, which sounds amazing, except they didn't 00:05:01.829 --> 00:05:03.670 want to talk to us. They want to talk to my parents 00:05:03.670 --> 00:05:06.730 and hear stories. And so we would sit there for 00:05:06.730 --> 00:05:10.149 like three hours at these meetings. Right. And 00:05:10.149 --> 00:05:13.430 you got to you got to imagine we've been to church 00:05:13.430 --> 00:05:15.209 after church after church. I've heard all these 00:05:15.209 --> 00:05:18.980 stories multiple times. And so inevitably, you 00:05:18.980 --> 00:05:23.160 begin to what? Be a middle school boy. God made 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.800 you to squirm. It's what he made you to do, right? 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:28.639 And so you begin to act up and find ways to entertain 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:30.980 yourself with knives at the table, you know, 00:05:30.980 --> 00:05:34.100 like that kind of stuff. And it's not long before 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:36.620 you get a real quick clue that you're not making 00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:38.779 a good impression. And if you don't make a good 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:40.500 impression on these people, from my parents' 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.240 perspective, what happens? They may not support 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:47.079 you anymore. We live with all kinds of pressures, 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:50.339 don't we? We live with all kinds of things where 00:05:50.339 --> 00:05:54.959 we're trying to impress people around us. Don't 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:59.019 believe me. Take a look at social media. What 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:03.079 is social media? I have to put something on there 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:08.000 that will impress you. Remember, leave an impression 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.319 on you that you think a certain way of me. Think 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.660 about it. Some of the stuff that people post, 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:18.180 It's like the pressure to do that. I gotta be 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:19.740 honest with you. I'm waiting for like the social 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:23.199 media that's like, here's my worst day, right? 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:26.639 Like I just woke up, went to Taco Bell for lunch. 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:30.459 Sure, you all wanna see that, right? But it's 00:06:30.459 --> 00:06:32.639 not that, right? It's the highlight reel. It's 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:36.000 our best foot. It's our vacation that I want 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.319 you to know we took that vacation and I want 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:42.949 you to feel a certain way about it. I want you 00:06:42.949 --> 00:06:47.850 to know how we're doing. And all of a sudden 00:06:47.850 --> 00:06:51.089 we live with all these forms of constantly we 00:06:51.089 --> 00:06:53.230 are aware of what we are projecting to other 00:06:53.230 --> 00:06:56.930 people. Hey, think about it. You guys, we just 00:06:56.930 --> 00:07:00.649 came in this room and God is present. God who 00:07:00.649 --> 00:07:02.589 is the creator God who's holding it all together, 00:07:02.610 --> 00:07:04.889 who holds your breath in this very second that 00:07:04.889 --> 00:07:07.430 is making the earth spin so fast and yet you're 00:07:07.430 --> 00:07:10.839 not dizzy like that God, right? And he holds 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.160 it all and he knows right now you're in this 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:15.620 room and you have a moment to worship him. And 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:20.939 this is, can we just like be honest? This, some 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:26.740 of us are like, I don't know if I can hit that 00:07:26.740 --> 00:07:29.639 note. I don't think I'm going to sing at this 00:07:29.639 --> 00:07:34.100 part because I'm more worried about what my voice 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:38.000 sounds like to you than I am to lifting it up 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.279 to this God who is, In complete control of everything, 00:07:41.420 --> 00:07:44.879 including the very breath leaving my body. I 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:49.060 feel like I should raise my hand. Okay, I'm going 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:52.639 to go for it. Well, this is what it feels like. 00:07:52.699 --> 00:07:55.040 Okay, it's angled. Is angled okay? Does it need 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.560 to be straight? Wow, I see that guy over there 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:00.060 and he's waving. Do I need to wave? Like, is 00:08:00.060 --> 00:08:01.560 the wave what I'm supposed to be doing right 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:06.279 now? I know, I know, I know. I'm just going to 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:09.949 keep him here. This feels safe, right? I'm just 00:08:09.949 --> 00:08:11.350 going to pretend like I'm carrying something. 00:08:11.509 --> 00:08:16.509 It feels safe. You know what? Maybe I'll spread 00:08:16.509 --> 00:08:18.910 them a little wider. How big was that fish? You 00:08:18.910 --> 00:08:24.250 ever heard that one? I love, you guys, I'm going 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:27.430 to pick on Pastor Ben for a second. I love Pastor 00:08:27.430 --> 00:08:30.170 Ben in worship. You know why? Because if you 00:08:30.170 --> 00:08:35.149 ever stand next to him, he don't care. And why? 00:08:35.610 --> 00:08:38.879 Because he loves Jesus a whole bunch. And this 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.539 is a chance to worship the God that created him. 00:08:41.580 --> 00:08:43.860 And so he worships and the rest of us sit there 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:51.340 and go, I don't know if that sounds good. But 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:53.340 I love that he just raises his voice because 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:58.559 that's what he was created to do. Isn't it crazy? 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:01.679 Like if we just normalize this thing, that am 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.740 I the only one that you get in a worship space 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:07.149 and you're like, you're limiting yourself. And 00:09:07.149 --> 00:09:09.830 the impression that you are giving to God because 00:09:09.830 --> 00:09:13.809 I'm so worried about impressing you. I'm so worried 00:09:13.809 --> 00:09:15.389 about what you will think. I'm so worried how 00:09:15.389 --> 00:09:17.470 I'll come across. I'm so worried. And all of 00:09:17.470 --> 00:09:19.809 a sudden, all of a sudden, a moment, a moment 00:09:19.809 --> 00:09:26.370 that was created to enter into a beautiful posture 00:09:26.370 --> 00:09:31.429 with the person of God is lost. Because my eyes 00:09:31.429 --> 00:09:36.029 are on me instead of on him. But we do it in 00:09:36.029 --> 00:09:42.110 all kinds of things. In Galatians chapter six, 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:47.350 Paul kind of is ending the letter and the way 00:09:47.350 --> 00:09:50.029 he begins to end it in verse 11, he says, see 00:09:50.029 --> 00:09:54.210 what large letters I use as I write to you with 00:09:54.210 --> 00:09:58.960 my own hand. We don't know. We don't know what 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:00.659 happened, but all of a sudden there was a font 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:04.299 change. We don't know how large those letters 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:07.039 were. We don't know if it's because of his eyesight. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.779 We don't know what happened. But he states here, 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:13.639 he goes, hey, I want you to know something. If 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:16.200 I wanted to impress you with my penmanship, I'd 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:19.080 let the other person do it. But he goes, I want 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:21.679 my voice to leave an impression on you, and it 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:24.720 matters that much. that I'm going to write with 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.720 my own hand, even though I know these letters 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:38.159 are large. Verse 12, to those, to those who want 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:43.879 to impress people by means of the flesh are trying 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.409 to compel you to be circumcised. Okay, so he 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:50.889 writes specifically to a group of people. And 00:10:50.889 --> 00:10:53.110 if you're like, why are we talking about circumcision? 00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:55.409 What does this have to do with anything? This 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:58.830 was, if you follow the kind of trail of the Bible, 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:02.389 specifically into the nation of Israel, it was 00:11:02.389 --> 00:11:05.970 given by God as a way to identify as a true son 00:11:05.970 --> 00:11:09.899 of Abraham and a true son of God. And so what 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:12.899 happened is that what was a sign there of going, 00:11:13.059 --> 00:11:16.200 hey, I represented with this group of people 00:11:16.200 --> 00:11:19.120 that God is my God. Then what they did over here 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.299 is they were requiring others to do it. But what 00:11:22.299 --> 00:11:25.019 I want you to get is this, that it's a group 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:29.860 of people who are making another group of people 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:33.659 do something because they are trying to impress 00:11:33.659 --> 00:11:37.789 another group of people. And so they're now looking, 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:40.169 right? They're now going, hey, you need to go 00:11:40.169 --> 00:11:43.029 through this act, through this action, this outward 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:46.789 sign. You need to perform this outward sign. 00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:50.169 But really what they're trying to do is get you 00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:51.769 to do it so they can turn around and go, look 00:11:51.769 --> 00:11:55.330 how great we are. Look at what we're doing. Look 00:11:55.330 --> 00:11:59.830 at how the impact we're having. And maybe just 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:06.860 for us, you should have your guard up. when it 00:12:06.860 --> 00:12:10.240 comes to religion. And what do I mean by that? 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:13.000 I don't know about you, but I'm so tired of reading 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.879 about people who were in a position of power 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.700 that abused that power and have used it in a 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:24.580 way in the name of God. Like, I'm just, I'm over 00:12:24.580 --> 00:12:31.820 it. But the way we avoid that is this. I don't 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:34.779 allow somebody to put me under a gospel, under 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:37.519 the good news, under the message that is not 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:41.059 true. The message that is true is that it is 00:12:41.059 --> 00:12:43.940 Jesus and Jesus alone by grace through faith 00:12:43.940 --> 00:12:51.259 what saves you. That's it. Right? And so what 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:54.860 can happen though, what can happen though is 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:59.370 that message is really freeing. And so you got 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:02.570 Christians being crazy, right? You got people 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:05.269 out on the streets being wild. And so what the 00:13:05.269 --> 00:13:07.929 church did is goes, oh, we got to control them. 00:13:08.809 --> 00:13:11.330 And so what happens is a group of people, why? 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:13.190 Because here's the thing, somewhere along the 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.149 way, people thought that if I'm a good pastor, 00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:19.350 you're going to be good people. That ain't my 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:23.529 job. My job ain't to make you not do certain 00:13:23.529 --> 00:13:28.190 things. That's God's job. Right? And so somewhere 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:30.049 along the way, we started to go, okay, okay, 00:13:30.149 --> 00:13:33.350 if we're gonna have 300 plus students in a room, 00:13:33.429 --> 00:13:39.289 then we gotta control what they do. Right? Why? 00:13:39.409 --> 00:13:41.169 Because they are a representation. When they 00:13:41.169 --> 00:13:42.909 go to their schools, they're a representation 00:13:42.909 --> 00:13:47.190 of what? Heights Church. And so we gotta control 00:13:47.190 --> 00:13:49.690 what they do, tell them what to do. Why? Because 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:54.210 we, we, we, the people making them do it, are 00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:58.029 trying to impress. Look at how great we are. 00:13:59.009 --> 00:14:01.970 Look how good we are. Have you seen our students? 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:08.610 Our students are better than any other students. 00:14:10.110 --> 00:14:14.830 They don't swear. They don't smoke. They don't 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:16.850 hang out with people that do. I don't know why 00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:24.639 I chose those. Those are weird. Isn't it funny 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.559 how we can get sidetracked from the gospel? And 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:29.919 what's happening here, they're getting sidetracked 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:31.440 from the gospel. They're going, hey, you guys 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.720 got to do this. You got to put in some self -effort 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:39.159 and self -worth and gain some self -value to 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:43.299 be bigger and better. No, you don't. You have 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:45.159 to believe that Jesus is the son of God and he 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.080 died on a cross for your sin. And if you believe 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.840 that, you have everything. There's nothing else 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.059 to earn. There's just a life to live that is 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:56.480 living that out in every space and let it impact 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:00.820 every single space you go into. And here's the 00:15:00.820 --> 00:15:03.720 thing, right? Like they're going, we got to control 00:15:03.720 --> 00:15:07.500 this because if we control this just right and 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:11.039 we make you do just the right things, then we 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:17.100 look like we got it together, church. I would 00:15:17.100 --> 00:15:21.820 much prefer to be a part of a community Where 00:15:21.820 --> 00:15:27.960 we are struggling, but it's real. I would much 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:30.120 prefer to be a part of a community where marriages 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:33.480 are actually changing, not just changing behavior 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.600 modification towards one another that will run 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:41.299 out. Right? I don't want to be families that 00:15:41.299 --> 00:15:43.639 are raising their kids in such a way that the 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:46.580 rules are so stringent and so tight around them 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.179 and we keep preaching at them what it means to 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:51.659 be a good Christian. So much so that when they 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:53.179 get older, they're like, I don't want anything 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:56.000 to do with the faith because it doesn't work. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:00.000 You know what's crazy to me? I was just having 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.639 a conversation with somebody in between services. 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:06.259 You know what's crazy to me? It's how for years 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:10.789 the church Would set all these rules to try and 00:16:10.789 --> 00:16:13.649 impress and control, right? That we've got it 00:16:13.649 --> 00:16:17.929 all together. And then you go home and the marriages 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:20.649 are toxic. And then we wonder why our kids go, 00:16:20.730 --> 00:16:26.320 I don't want to be married. You wonder why we 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:31.200 have promoted a gospel of legalism, meaning there's 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:33.519 things you gotta do and gotta perform, and we 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:35.679 promote that and push that, and then when it 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:37.779 doesn't work and it falls apart, we wonder why 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:40.580 the people who chose, who were willingly with 00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:44.759 us go, I'm out. Because you were always meant 00:16:44.759 --> 00:16:48.940 to represent God. You were always meant to, as 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:52.850 Todd said last week, reflect God. And so what 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:55.590 happens is in this case, the reflection that's 00:16:55.590 --> 00:16:58.009 given is it's more about them and them impressing 00:16:58.009 --> 00:17:00.250 somebody else. And then he goes on and says, 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:03.250 the only reason they do this is to avoid being 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:05.869 persecuted for the cross of Christ. He gives 00:17:05.869 --> 00:17:08.789 the motive. He goes, hey, they're making them 00:17:08.789 --> 00:17:10.930 do this, right? Like, and it's looking good for 00:17:10.930 --> 00:17:14.670 them. But then what happens is he goes, hey, 00:17:14.690 --> 00:17:18.730 the only reason they're doing this is to avoid 00:17:18.730 --> 00:17:23.009 persecution. Now, remember. In the story of God 00:17:23.009 --> 00:17:27.410 and specifically, specifically in Paul's life, 00:17:27.670 --> 00:17:30.190 there's a moment in Paul's life. Paul's the author 00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.269 of this. There's a moment in Paul's life where 00:17:32.269 --> 00:17:35.910 Paul is going to Damascus and he has in his hands 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:39.869 papers. And those papers are to kill Christians. 00:17:40.309 --> 00:17:43.750 Okay, so people that have rejected Judaism, he 00:17:43.750 --> 00:17:46.930 is out here on the streets, chasing people down 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:50.099 and putting them to death. Right? That's what 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:55.640 he's been mandated by. So people that are connected 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.640 to the Jewish faith that have now met Jesus, 00:17:59.819 --> 00:18:03.259 what do they know? If I leave the Jewish faith, 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:06.200 the Jewish faith is what? They're going to come 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:08.619 after me. How do I know that? Because persecution 00:18:08.619 --> 00:18:12.319 was rampant when this was written. So there's 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.269 this tension, right? So what they decide to do 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:17.529 is to bridge some of the gaps back to what some 00:18:17.529 --> 00:18:19.650 thought was there was some thought here and we 00:18:19.650 --> 00:18:21.950 can actually mesh these together. So they're 00:18:21.950 --> 00:18:24.349 trying to mesh the two religions together by 00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:26.410 going, you know what? If we just take a little 00:18:26.410 --> 00:18:28.369 bit of that and we take a little bit of Jesus 00:18:28.369 --> 00:18:33.369 and we put it together, we'll be safe. Their 00:18:33.369 --> 00:18:37.210 motivation was it's easier. Their motivation 00:18:37.210 --> 00:18:42.380 was this is safety. Isn't it interesting when 00:18:42.380 --> 00:18:48.640 it comes to conversation about how we act, there's 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.200 something innate in our brokenness as humans 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:58.259 that we love a good list of rules. You ever notice 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:01.500 that? But you ever notice you can't keep them? 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:05.079 You know what I mean? Like you walk into a room 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:06.740 and there's a sign that says, don't touch the 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:08.140 light switch. And the whole time you're like. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.480 no, I shouldn't, but what happens if I do, right? 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:15.039 There's just something inside as you tell me, 00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:18.559 don't do that, right? Like the Bible often says 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:22.539 like, do not fear. You ever tried that? I'm not 00:19:22.539 --> 00:19:24.299 gonna be scared. I'm not gonna be scared. It 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:28.279 doesn't work. It doesn't work. There's something 00:19:28.279 --> 00:19:31.900 inside of us that we know, we love a good rule, 00:19:32.099 --> 00:19:37.880 but we can't keep a good rule. And yet, in so 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:41.599 many religious circles, what have we done? We 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:46.039 create these rules. We create these, I'll be 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:47.779 real honest with you guys, it'd be way easier 00:19:47.779 --> 00:19:51.700 to do my job and preach if I could just come 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:56.059 in and go, hey guys, I wrote a bestseller, five 00:19:56.059 --> 00:20:03.619 keys, five keys to a healthy life. And I'll just 00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:06.150 give you the five keys. Hey guys, I wrote another 00:20:06.150 --> 00:20:08.890 book. Five keys to what it means. Why is it always 00:20:08.890 --> 00:20:10.750 five? We'll go seven, because that's the number 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:14.869 of completion in the Bible. Seven keys to being 00:20:14.869 --> 00:20:21.109 a good Christian. And instantly, instantly, we 00:20:21.109 --> 00:20:25.349 would go, ooh, what are these going to be? Right? 00:20:25.490 --> 00:20:27.170 Like, well, first off, let me just help you out. 00:20:27.250 --> 00:20:29.410 There is no such thing in the Bible as a good 00:20:29.410 --> 00:20:31.750 Christian. Like, let's just eliminate that concept, 00:20:31.910 --> 00:20:33.890 right? Like, you are a Christian or you're not. 00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:36.319 That's it. You're either reflecting Jesus or 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:39.839 you're not. It's that easy. But we love a good 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:43.579 give me a list, right? So you get this list and 00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:45.859 now you leave here and you're like, okay, I got 00:20:45.859 --> 00:20:49.000 this tangibly. I can go do this. No, you can't. 00:20:49.420 --> 00:20:53.220 Because that's not what you were saved to. That's 00:20:53.220 --> 00:20:55.720 not what this is all about. When Jesus shows 00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:59.940 up and he saves you, he transforms you and he 00:20:59.940 --> 00:21:03.099 gives you the Holy Spirit to live inside of you. 00:21:03.849 --> 00:21:06.589 Now let's put that in context. The same power 00:21:06.589 --> 00:21:09.490 that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the same 00:21:09.490 --> 00:21:12.170 power that allows Jesus to perform miracles, 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:18.089 the same power that brings life is inside of 00:21:18.089 --> 00:21:22.730 you right now in the form of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:24.049 --> 00:21:27.150 That's the power that's beating inside of your 00:21:27.150 --> 00:21:32.809 body right now. And we think, Okay, the power 00:21:32.809 --> 00:21:39.869 is in self -will. You are no match. I am no match 00:21:39.869 --> 00:21:44.410 for sin. And I never will be. It'll beat me every 00:21:44.410 --> 00:21:48.470 time. I will never overcome sin in my own power. 00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:53.950 Ever. You know why? Sin is crafty. It finds new 00:21:53.950 --> 00:21:58.450 ways to get you. Right? Because the power isn't 00:21:58.450 --> 00:22:04.289 in what? In my own flesh. But what we crave is 00:22:04.289 --> 00:22:07.430 we crave easier. But you weren't called to easy. 00:22:07.710 --> 00:22:10.009 You know what you were called to? You were called 00:22:10.009 --> 00:22:14.730 to walk in the, by the spirit, moment by moment. 00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:17.890 You were called to take this power that is inside 00:22:17.890 --> 00:22:21.390 of you and to live my life moment by moment aware 00:22:21.390 --> 00:22:25.369 that the power to overcome, the power to be set 00:22:25.369 --> 00:22:28.930 free, the power to not do the same things again, 00:22:29.979 --> 00:22:36.799 is inside of you. I don't know if I say this 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.140 in church. I don't have anybody to ask. I asked 00:22:40.140 --> 00:22:42.900 Pastor Ben last night, so maybe I'll just say 00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:49.619 it anyways. That booty call, you don't have to 00:22:49.619 --> 00:22:56.299 pick up. What do I mean? Friday night, your phone 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:58.140 rings. It's them. You know why they're calling. 00:22:59.259 --> 00:23:01.559 You don't have to pick up the phone. I'm tired 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:05.700 of people going, well, I just couldn't. I just 00:23:05.700 --> 00:23:07.460 couldn't help myself. Yes, you can. You know 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:10.059 why? Because you have the power of God who raised 00:23:10.059 --> 00:23:13.019 Jesus from the dead inside of you, and you have 00:23:13.019 --> 00:23:15.920 the power to overcome that moment and not pick 00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.900 up the phone. Right? You have the power inside 00:23:19.900 --> 00:23:23.099 of you. That for some of you, you're going to 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:25.599 go to the cabinet again. You know the cabinet 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:27.400 I'm talking about? It's out of reach of the kids 00:23:27.400 --> 00:23:28.900 because you don't want the kids to get it. And 00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:30.740 up there, you got all your alcohol up there, 00:23:30.779 --> 00:23:32.819 right? And you're like, well, I can control it. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:34.799 But you can't. And you know you can't. But you 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.740 keep going back to that cabinet, right? And tonight, 00:23:36.819 --> 00:23:38.480 you're going to go back to that cabinet. And 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:40.579 you're like, I just can't. I just can't. It's 00:23:40.579 --> 00:23:43.119 overwhelming. It's too much. I just need to let 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.819 go of what my day's been and what. And so you 00:23:45.819 --> 00:23:49.319 go back to it. You, you, you, you, you have the 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:51.299 Holy Spirit inside of you. You have the. power 00:23:51.299 --> 00:23:54.519 to not open the cabinet. In fact, you have the 00:23:54.519 --> 00:23:57.980 power to pour it down the sink. If it's a problem, 00:23:58.099 --> 00:24:01.920 get rid of it. That's the power that's inside 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.819 of you. Some of you, you're like, I just don't 00:24:03.819 --> 00:24:05.859 know what you're talking about. I went to a prayer 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:08.640 meeting and I just had some prayer requests. 00:24:08.880 --> 00:24:11.680 No, you didn't. You gossiped. Because your issue 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.500 is you can't control your mouth. Your mouth runs 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:17.279 all the time and it's hurting people. Well, I 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:19.400 can't stop it. It's the way God made me. He made 00:24:19.400 --> 00:24:22.559 you to talk, yeah? I'll give you that. He didn't 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:25.000 make you to use your words in that way. Well, 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:27.140 I just can't stop it. You don't understand. Yes, 00:24:27.140 --> 00:24:29.500 you can. You have the power that raised Jesus 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:32.519 from the dead and he's inside of you and he can 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:34.359 control your tongue because James tells me he 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:40.000 can. Right? You have the power inside of you. 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:44.930 I have to choose. whether I'm going to set up 00:24:44.930 --> 00:24:47.769 rules and regulations, right? So my rule is, 00:24:47.829 --> 00:24:50.130 okay, I'm never answering the phone from that 00:24:50.130 --> 00:24:53.809 person. Good luck with that. Good luck. Because 00:24:53.809 --> 00:24:55.390 I'll find another way to communicate with you. 00:24:56.970 --> 00:24:59.269 I'm not going back to that cabinet, but I left 00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:00.630 it there, but I'm not going back, but I left 00:25:00.630 --> 00:25:02.589 it there, and it's always on my mind, and you'll 00:25:02.589 --> 00:25:10.170 go back. Until you choose that the way to live 00:25:10.170 --> 00:25:12.029 your freedom that you've been given in Jesus 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.059 is by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:19.400 be overcome every time. The Holy Spirit will 00:25:19.400 --> 00:25:21.279 never lead you into the things that are opposite 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:26.279 of the person of God. He won't. And we have the 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:28.200 same tension that they have here. We want the 00:25:28.200 --> 00:25:33.460 easy way out. Give me the easy option. Give me 00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.599 the list of rules, John. Tell me what I need 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:38.460 to do. Tell me how I should act. No, no, no. 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:41.859 What I will tell you is you have the Holy Spirit 00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:43.960 inside of you, and what we are told is if you 00:25:43.960 --> 00:25:46.779 walk by the Spirit, you will not fulfill the 00:25:46.779 --> 00:25:50.640 lusts of the flesh. If these people were walking 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.579 by the Holy Spirit that he's talking to, they 00:25:52.579 --> 00:25:54.599 would not be trying to impress other people by 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.019 making other people do religious things. They 00:25:57.019 --> 00:25:59.079 just wouldn't. But their own selfish ambition 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:02.880 to be impressive to somebody else is what's driving 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:05.880 them, and in that moment, driving them by their 00:26:05.880 --> 00:26:08.700 very flesh. How do I know that? Galatians chapter 00:26:08.700 --> 00:26:11.579 5, verse 19 through 21. If you're in any question 00:26:11.579 --> 00:26:14.319 of what the flesh is, it's all there. Your booty 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.299 call is there, by the way. Somebody liked it. 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:21.339 One person. One person. We'll keep that for next 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:28.759 time. No, don't be sorry. I liked it. It was 00:26:28.759 --> 00:26:31.420 a good moment. I hope it's happening in Baghdad 00:26:31.420 --> 00:26:41.680 right now. It was a good moment. You see, sometimes 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:51.240 I think we really, really just want this thing 00:26:51.240 --> 00:26:57.839 to be easy. But when I look at the person of 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.920 Jesus, you guys, the cross wasn't easy. The cross 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:09.119 was excruciating. When I look at the life that 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:10.940 Jesus lived, Jesus didn't live a comfortable 00:27:10.940 --> 00:27:14.579 life. Somewhere along the way, we exchange the 00:27:14.579 --> 00:27:17.079 idea of a Christian life for a comfortable life. 00:27:20.140 --> 00:27:23.059 I know many a person, I know somebody right now 00:27:23.059 --> 00:27:25.519 personally who's sitting in a hospital. Ask them 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:28.160 if they're comfortable right now. I talked to 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.180 somebody else who lost a loved one this last 00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:32.740 week. Ask them if they're comfortable right now. 00:27:33.339 --> 00:27:39.250 You weren't designed for comfort. You were designed 00:27:39.250 --> 00:27:42.690 to walk with the living God. And because he knows 00:27:42.690 --> 00:27:45.049 how broken we are, he went to great extremes 00:27:45.049 --> 00:27:47.589 to put inside you the Holy Spirit so that you 00:27:47.589 --> 00:27:51.309 could walk the life that he created for in Jesus, 00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:59.690 one that is free, one that is abundant. It says 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:03.569 in the next verse, verse 13. Not even those who 00:28:03.569 --> 00:28:05.970 are circumcised keep the law, yet you want to 00:28:05.970 --> 00:28:08.410 be circumcised that they may, or they want you 00:28:08.410 --> 00:28:11.730 to be circumcised that they may boast about your 00:28:11.730 --> 00:28:14.589 circumcision in the flesh. It's so interesting 00:28:14.589 --> 00:28:18.609 to me that he's going within this context. He's 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:20.890 talking about like, hey, they can't even keep 00:28:20.890 --> 00:28:24.849 the law themselves. You know what's crazy? Every 00:28:24.849 --> 00:28:27.390 human that ever put human standards on me in 00:28:27.390 --> 00:28:29.690 the name of religion can't even live them themselves. 00:28:31.389 --> 00:28:33.549 At some point, we got to be honest. We're out 00:28:33.549 --> 00:28:35.690 here on these streets together, struggling together. 00:28:37.089 --> 00:28:39.630 And the only hope we have is the person of Jesus. 00:28:39.690 --> 00:28:41.890 And the only hope for this life is the Holy Spirit 00:28:41.890 --> 00:28:45.029 working through us. And we just got to be honest 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:47.750 with that. And that means I'm going to have good 00:28:47.750 --> 00:28:50.809 days and I'm going to have bad days. But if I 00:28:50.809 --> 00:28:56.069 have honest days, that's the difference. But 00:28:56.069 --> 00:28:58.009 we're designed to do it together and walk together. 00:28:59.419 --> 00:29:01.539 Because there is no other option that works. 00:29:02.680 --> 00:29:05.680 Verse 14, may I never boast, may I never boast 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.980 except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.019 May I never boast. So Paul kind of reaches this 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:14.920 point with his large letters on this paper. And 00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:18.980 he goes, may I never boast. We live in a culture 00:29:18.980 --> 00:29:24.039 that boasts all the time. We live in a culture 00:29:24.039 --> 00:29:27.380 that's all about us making something greater. 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:34.160 And often it's me making myself greater. Like 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.140 social media is something within our cultural 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:41.059 system that it's toxic for us. You don't believe 00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:43.500 me? Read the statistics of what it does to your 00:29:43.500 --> 00:29:48.150 teenage kids. Read where depression and how the 00:29:48.150 --> 00:29:51.329 suicide rate has been affected by your daughters 00:29:51.329 --> 00:29:54.210 seeing people who are trying to impress them 00:29:54.210 --> 00:29:56.069 with how great their clothes are and how skinny 00:29:56.069 --> 00:29:58.609 they are and what body image they should have. 00:29:59.490 --> 00:30:02.670 And what do they do? They start to look at themselves. 00:30:05.069 --> 00:30:07.789 Why? Because somebody else is boasting about 00:30:07.789 --> 00:30:13.619 this is the way. This is what's awesome. Hey, 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.200 I'm not preaching, and I feel like I'm preaching, 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:19.240 and I ain't preaching at you. I've raised kids 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:21.859 in two generations. One generation, we let them 00:30:21.859 --> 00:30:25.920 have social media. This one, I'm not. Because 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:29.619 I see the damage it's doing. And until they can 00:30:29.619 --> 00:30:31.460 handle it, until they can make a choice, it's 00:30:31.460 --> 00:30:34.400 up to them. But why? Because people boast. You 00:30:34.400 --> 00:30:37.539 know what? I'm sick and tired. Wow, I sound really 00:30:37.539 --> 00:30:39.220 grumpy today. I don't know what that's all about. 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:42.099 I don't know where that came from. I'm fatigued. 00:30:43.049 --> 00:30:45.450 by seeing your kids and how awesome they are 00:30:45.450 --> 00:30:48.650 on social media. Your kids ain't that awesome. 00:30:48.750 --> 00:30:51.150 You know why? Because they're hellions just like 00:30:51.150 --> 00:30:52.910 everybody else. You just chose to capture them 00:30:52.910 --> 00:30:56.430 when they were good. Right? Let's be honest. 00:30:56.490 --> 00:30:58.650 That's what it is that you boast about. Look 00:30:58.650 --> 00:31:02.509 how great we are as parents. Man, I just want 00:31:02.509 --> 00:31:04.829 people to post. I was talking to one of the safety 00:31:04.829 --> 00:31:06.410 guys who was walking around today. I'm like, 00:31:06.450 --> 00:31:08.430 I think I'm just going to start posting like 00:31:08.430 --> 00:31:16.930 reality 100 % and see how it goes. You think 00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:18.970 about what we've been given in the Holy Spirit, 00:31:19.089 --> 00:31:23.910 that you can produce love and joy and peace and 00:31:23.910 --> 00:31:27.990 patience and kindness and gentleness. That you 00:31:27.990 --> 00:31:30.069 have this self -control, which means you have 00:31:30.069 --> 00:31:32.890 control of the self. That's what the Holy Spirit 00:31:32.890 --> 00:31:36.049 wants to give you and wants to produce within 00:31:36.049 --> 00:31:41.130 you. And we're so busy trying to go, man, I'm 00:31:41.130 --> 00:31:43.210 just going to, I'm going to love you more. And 00:31:43.210 --> 00:31:44.910 you try and love somebody more. And they're like, 00:31:45.009 --> 00:31:47.029 I'm going to have you arrested. Don't love me. 00:31:49.109 --> 00:31:51.230 Right? Or you think about peace. And so you're 00:31:51.230 --> 00:31:53.109 like, I got to get to this place of peace. So 00:31:53.109 --> 00:31:54.990 I'm going to create a Zen pool in my backyard. 00:31:55.289 --> 00:31:56.990 And I'm going to sit there. And you know what's 00:31:56.990 --> 00:31:58.910 funny? You may think it's peaceful until your 00:31:58.910 --> 00:32:06.349 kids show up. And you're like, oh. Why? Because 00:32:06.349 --> 00:32:09.829 the only thing that can bring peace and love 00:32:09.829 --> 00:32:14.329 and joy, the only thing that can bring a gentleness 00:32:14.329 --> 00:32:18.009 to your anger, the only thing that can bring 00:32:18.009 --> 00:32:22.470 kindness for your cynicism, the only thing that 00:32:22.470 --> 00:32:26.130 can allow you to actually control this self is 00:32:26.130 --> 00:32:29.549 God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. 00:32:30.809 --> 00:32:34.839 And it came at an amazing cost, you guys. The 00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:37.140 end of that verse says, through which? So he 00:32:37.140 --> 00:32:39.119 says, may I never boast except for in the Lord 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.519 Jesus, which is just a random question on that. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:43.119 Like, what are you boasting about? What's your 00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:45.740 life boasting about? If it's not Jesus, it's 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:51.119 pretty worthless. I'm gonna be honest. May I 00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:53.759 never boast. And before you go, man, John was 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:56.039 like really in my business today. Hey, I understand 00:32:56.039 --> 00:32:57.660 football season's coming. I'm gonna boast about 00:32:57.660 --> 00:33:00.779 the Steelers. I get it, I get it. We all got 00:33:00.779 --> 00:33:03.680 the same struggle. May I never boast except for 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:05.869 in the Lord Jesus. our Lord Jesus Christ, through 00:33:05.869 --> 00:33:09.220 which... The world has been crucified to me and 00:33:09.220 --> 00:33:10.980 I to the world. You have to get this. I know 00:33:10.980 --> 00:33:13.619 I'm over time, but this is so important, so important. 00:33:14.079 --> 00:33:16.319 There is a triple crucifixion that happens right 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:18.920 here. And the first crucifixion is Jesus. What 00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:20.980 did Jesus do? He went to a cross and they crucified 00:33:20.980 --> 00:33:24.059 him. Now as excruciating as the physical side 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:26.000 of that is, you just need to understand that 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:28.519 what's happening in that moment is he is taking 00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:31.119 the entire sin of the human race, your sin, my 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:35.200 race, your sin, my sin, and the entire human 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:37.599 race, and he is putting it on him. him and he 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:41.180 is in that moment he is taking the sin of every 00:33:41.180 --> 00:33:45.359 single human that will ever live and he is allowing 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:47.839 it to be placed on him and it's causing separation 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:50.980 with the father on your behalf he who knew no 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:53.700 sin became sin why so that you could become right 00:33:53.700 --> 00:33:57.039 with God And so he takes on and he crucified. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:59.720 He's crucified in that moment and there's separation. 00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:02.319 There's a tearing apart. And it says one of the 00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.119 things that is torn apart in the second crucifixion 00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:09.360 is that the world and all its systems, you realize 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:11.800 that the enemy has this world and he's gearing 00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:14.719 it towards leading you away from Jesus and everything, 00:34:14.940 --> 00:34:17.559 everything around you is geared to push you away 00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.440 from Jesus, not towards from the world standards 00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:23.780 set up. And it says you have been crucified to 00:34:23.780 --> 00:34:26.099 that, which means it has no power. It means we 00:34:26.099 --> 00:34:27.699 don't have the excuse. They're like, well, I 00:34:27.699 --> 00:34:29.920 just live in America in this time. No, you have 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:33.559 no power over you. You've been crucified to it. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:37.519 But what it also says is I, I have been crucified. 00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:41.139 I have been crucified with Christ. He said earlier 00:34:41.139 --> 00:34:43.320 in this letter. So therefore I no longer live, 00:34:43.380 --> 00:34:48.150 but Christ lives through me. What do you have 00:34:48.150 --> 00:34:50.489 right now? You have the greatest gift given to 00:34:50.489 --> 00:34:54.929 any human that's ever lived. And it is the freedom, 00:34:55.070 --> 00:34:58.230 it is the freedom that comes in the person of 00:34:58.230 --> 00:35:04.449 Jesus. You've been set free. And here's what 00:35:04.449 --> 00:35:06.409 that means. Here's what that freedom is for. 00:35:06.570 --> 00:35:10.289 It means that I can walk and live by the Spirit 00:35:10.289 --> 00:35:13.920 of God. That freedom means that as I walk and 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.340 live by the Spirit of God, He produces within 00:35:16.340 --> 00:35:21.659 me the very taste of heaven. He produces in me 00:35:21.659 --> 00:35:26.400 the life of God through me to everything. And 00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:28.500 it means that I can live in freedom. Freedom 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:34.880 means you have a choice. And so as we wrap up 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:37.900 our time, I want to do it different today, if 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:41.989 you'll let me. What I mean by that is this, that 00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:46.309 we've been in this for, I think it's nine weeks, 00:35:46.469 --> 00:35:50.769 maybe 10, I don't know. But we've walked through 00:35:50.769 --> 00:35:55.349 the letter of Galatians and you've heard for 00:35:55.349 --> 00:35:58.250 weeks now. In fact, there was a four week block 00:35:58.250 --> 00:36:00.389 where it was the same message every week, right? 00:36:00.510 --> 00:36:01.710 You could have taken your notes from the week 00:36:01.710 --> 00:36:04.510 before and kept them. Jesus plus nothing equals 00:36:04.510 --> 00:36:06.250 everything, right? Like that was just the... 00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:09.760 And then we hit the point where he starts talking 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:15.440 about true freedom. And here's what I feel sometimes 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:20.460 we miss. That this is not designed for you to 00:36:20.460 --> 00:36:24.500 walk away and just go, well, that was good. I 00:36:24.500 --> 00:36:26.599 hope you do that because I want to impress you. 00:36:26.679 --> 00:36:36.119 Just kidding. But we're meant to respond. We're 00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:38.260 going to respond to what God puts in front of 00:36:38.260 --> 00:36:41.559 us. The only way we change is through response. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.039 And so in a few moments, here's what we're going 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:51.639 to do. That if you're here and you've been here 00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:54.380 maybe over the weeks, whether that's here or 00:36:54.380 --> 00:36:59.980 Baghdad, Paulding, online family, and you just 00:36:59.980 --> 00:37:04.139 go, hey, I felt this tug. If I keep trying to 00:37:04.139 --> 00:37:06.519 find my self -worth in what I do before God, 00:37:06.619 --> 00:37:10.239 I'm still trying to make God happy. I'm still 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:12.599 trying to live up to some expectation that somebody 00:37:12.599 --> 00:37:15.320 else put on me of what this Christian faith looks 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:21.139 like. That maybe you find that you're the one 00:37:21.139 --> 00:37:24.659 putting those expectations on other people. That's 00:37:24.659 --> 00:37:30.000 not your job. Maybe for you, it was the, hey, 00:37:30.059 --> 00:37:32.340 I'm free, but I'm using that freedom and I'm 00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:34.719 living for myself and the works of the flesh 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:37.940 are in my life. Like sin is just running rampant. 00:37:39.400 --> 00:37:41.599 I keep making the same choices. I keep coming 00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:46.579 back to the same place. And as we've gone through 00:37:46.579 --> 00:37:49.619 this, you realize I need to go back to the foundation 00:37:49.619 --> 00:37:52.920 of Jesus plus nothing is everything. I need to 00:37:52.920 --> 00:37:55.320 go back to the foundation of I need to walk in 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:59.360 the power of the spirit. Because I've been missing 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:04.280 that. So here's what we're going to do. If you 00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:07.420 are, would you stand where you are? I promise 00:38:07.420 --> 00:38:15.000 it's not that scary. And now I'm just going to 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:16.659 ask you right where you are, just kind of close 00:38:16.659 --> 00:38:18.699 your eyes or bow your head, whatever, just for 00:38:18.699 --> 00:38:22.980 privacy for those around you. And again, I think 00:38:22.980 --> 00:38:26.940 there's something powerful about When we respond 00:38:26.940 --> 00:38:30.260 physically to a decision and things that are 00:38:30.260 --> 00:38:32.400 happening on the inside. And so if you're here 00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:35.280 and you go, John, I resonate with those things. 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:37.219 I resonate with someone who's trying to earn 00:38:37.219 --> 00:38:39.360 my way to God or I'm trying to make God happy. 00:38:39.940 --> 00:38:42.139 I'm trying to earn something that I already have. 00:38:43.300 --> 00:38:46.400 Or you're here and you go, I'm just, I'm in a 00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:50.000 space where, yes, it's Jesus, but I've added 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:52.480 all these rules and all these things that I think 00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:57.110 I've got to keep up with. Or maybe you're here 00:38:57.110 --> 00:38:59.849 and it's just a harsh reality that you realize 00:38:59.849 --> 00:39:02.309 you live more by your flesh than you do the very 00:39:02.309 --> 00:39:05.489 spirit of God that's inside of you. And today 00:39:05.489 --> 00:39:10.849 you need to surrender and go, I'm done with that, 00:39:11.030 --> 00:39:13.889 whatever that is. And I'm coming back to just 00:39:13.889 --> 00:39:20.969 the foundation of Jesus. And maybe for you, it's 00:39:20.969 --> 00:39:24.250 just a realization that I need to walk by the 00:39:24.250 --> 00:39:28.800 spirit of God. Because my life doesn't look a 00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:31.219 lot like love, joy, peace, patience, the fruit 00:39:31.219 --> 00:39:36.280 of the spirit. So I'm gonna count to three. And 00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:38.219 on three, I'm just gonna raise your hand. And 00:39:38.219 --> 00:39:39.980 the reason for your hand being raised is one, 00:39:40.139 --> 00:39:42.800 you, you are making that decision. It's happening 00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.659 inside of you. But I just wanna pray for you. 00:39:47.099 --> 00:39:50.860 I just wanna pray over you. And so one, if any 00:39:50.860 --> 00:39:55.039 of that resonates, two, God loves you so much. 00:39:56.139 --> 00:39:58.679 Three, just go ahead and raise your hand. Thank 00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:03.059 you. Thank you. Thank you. Hands all over the 00:40:03.059 --> 00:40:09.559 room. Thank you. Thank you. God, we just come 00:40:09.559 --> 00:40:15.099 before you. The creator, sustainer, maker of 00:40:15.099 --> 00:40:20.159 our souls. God, we pray over each and every hand 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:24.460 in this room, in multiple other rooms. where 00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:29.380 people are gathered. God, I pray that you would 00:40:29.380 --> 00:40:32.519 meet just like we started. Meet us where we are 00:40:32.519 --> 00:40:35.659 at. These hands raised, God, it's just our declaration 00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:40.179 that we need more of you. That we need to come 00:40:40.179 --> 00:40:42.579 back to a fresh foundation of everything you've 00:40:42.579 --> 00:40:46.860 given in Jesus. That we need to strip away all 00:40:46.860 --> 00:40:50.989 these things where we just want to work. to try 00:40:50.989 --> 00:40:53.190 and earn something we already have. God, we strip 00:40:53.190 --> 00:40:56.969 away the works of the flesh and the sin that 00:40:56.969 --> 00:41:00.130 is beating us down. God, and we come to the foundation 00:41:00.130 --> 00:41:03.949 that through Jesus, we just stand by the Spirit. 00:41:05.590 --> 00:41:10.809 And so in these moments, would you speak? God, 00:41:10.889 --> 00:41:14.590 as we make room for you, we make room through 00:41:14.590 --> 00:41:16.929 worship for you to continue to work. God, we 00:41:16.929 --> 00:41:21.030 ask for your Spirit. to do what is natural in 00:41:21.030 --> 00:41:25.230 heaven. But we ask that supernaturally here, 00:41:25.429 --> 00:41:28.690 you speak and you move and you create a power 00:41:28.690 --> 00:41:31.210 in this space through our worship, God, that 00:41:31.210 --> 00:41:33.969 we feel your presence, that we know you are here. 00:41:34.090 --> 00:41:37.570 And would you speak to us and confirm the decisions 00:41:37.570 --> 00:41:41.949 we've made? We pray over Baghdad and Paulding 00:41:41.949 --> 00:41:45.969 today and our entire online family that the spirit 00:41:45.969 --> 00:41:50.030 would be present and moving. As we make room 00:41:50.030 --> 00:41:55.449 through our voices and our song to just say thank 00:41:55.449 --> 00:41:57.829 you for loving us so much. And everybody said.