WEBVTT 00:00:00.059 --> 00:00:01.844 Man, hey, good to see everybody this morning. 00:00:01.844 --> 00:00:15.865 Family, we're in John, chapter 7, and I was one of those kids growing up that used to ask all kinds of questions and, yes, as you would imagine, I drove my dad crazy at times. 00:00:15.865 --> 00:00:19.073 In fact, sometimes I would ask the wrong questions at the wrong time. 00:00:19.073 --> 00:00:21.783 Anybody ever ask the wrong question at the wrong time? 00:00:21.783 --> 00:00:24.205 Okay, so I would ask the wrong question at the wrong time. 00:00:24.205 --> 00:00:33.085 Sometimes my dad, he would tell me to do something and I would ask him a question that starts with a W. 00:00:33.085 --> 00:00:36.011 Any guesses what that question was? 00:00:36.011 --> 00:00:39.301 When my dad would ask me to do something, that's right. 00:00:39.301 --> 00:00:40.042 It was why. 00:00:40.042 --> 00:00:42.990 And sometimes he would explain it. 00:00:42.990 --> 00:00:45.759 Other times he would say because I said so, how many parents in the room have? 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:49.549 He would say because I said so, how many parents in the room have used that line because I said so? 00:00:49.549 --> 00:00:55.417 I knew when dad said because I said so, that meant to shut up and do it right. 00:00:55.417 --> 00:01:00.167 Dad was not messing around and I used to ask this question why? 00:01:00.167 --> 00:01:06.332 I think all of us at times in our life we ask different questions. 00:01:06.332 --> 00:01:12.811 Sometimes we ask this question why? 00:01:12.811 --> 00:01:18.944 Sometimes we ask other questions, sometimes the people in the slides. 00:01:18.944 --> 00:01:21.290 They wonder the question when is the next slide going to come up? 00:01:21.290 --> 00:01:32.066 And we get to a text in scripture where they were asking the question and they were arguing about the question who is Jesus? 00:01:32.066 --> 00:01:37.733 Who is Jesus? 00:01:37.733 --> 00:01:42.867 And they weren't just kind of like talking about this, like who do you think Jesus is? 00:01:42.867 --> 00:01:43.608 What do you think? 00:01:43.608 --> 00:01:46.239 They were like we think we should arrest him. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:51.111 Other people are like why would you arrest him? 00:01:51.111 --> 00:01:52.414 He's done all these good things. 00:01:52.414 --> 00:01:56.531 Other people are like I can see y'all being right. 00:01:56.531 --> 00:01:58.257 I can see y'all being right. 00:01:58.257 --> 00:02:04.653 They were like arguing how many guys have ever got into an argument before? 00:02:04.653 --> 00:02:08.925 Oh, come on, y'all are in the house of God and y'all are lying. 00:02:08.925 --> 00:02:09.385 Y'all are waiting. 00:02:09.385 --> 00:02:11.031 Who's ever gotten an argument before? 00:02:11.031 --> 00:02:13.868 Come on, who was in an argument on the way to church this morning? 00:02:13.868 --> 00:02:14.349 No, I'm just kidding. 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:20.326 They were asking this question who is Jesus? 00:02:20.326 --> 00:02:26.592 And the answer to this question, they understood, would change everything else about them. 00:02:26.592 --> 00:02:29.825 Here's the reality. 00:02:29.825 --> 00:02:52.983 The way you answer this question and what you do with Jesus has the potential to change everything about you, has the potential to change everything about you and ultimately determines your eternal destiny. 00:02:52.983 --> 00:02:53.844 Who is Jesus? 00:02:53.844 --> 00:02:57.650 What will you do with Jesus? 00:02:57.650 --> 00:03:11.132 So we're going to jump into John, chapter 7, and we're jumping into an argument where there's a group of people that are going at it, and I wish somebody made a YouTube video of this text because I would have watched it. 00:03:11.132 --> 00:03:13.026 John 7, verse number 25,. 00:03:13.026 --> 00:03:14.391 If you're ready for it, would you say amen? 00:03:15.336 --> 00:03:23.426 It says some of the people of Jerusalem were saying isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 00:03:23.426 --> 00:03:27.390 This is Jesus. 00:03:27.390 --> 00:03:33.437 They are the religious leaders and the authorities. 00:03:33.437 --> 00:03:37.729 How many of you would say if we're talking about killing somebody? 00:03:37.729 --> 00:03:39.432 That's a really heated argument. 00:03:39.432 --> 00:03:41.322 That's intense. 00:03:41.322 --> 00:03:43.669 They're saying isn't this that person? 00:03:44.050 --> 00:03:53.086 Verse 26, yet look, he's speaking publicly and they are saying nothing to him. 00:03:53.086 --> 00:04:02.804 Can it be true that the authorities know that he is the Messiah? 00:04:02.804 --> 00:04:05.669 What does the word Messiah mean? 00:04:05.669 --> 00:04:11.925 The word Messiah means the Son of God, the forgiver of sin, the anointed one. 00:04:11.925 --> 00:04:16.074 This isn't just like this religiously churchy talk. 00:04:16.074 --> 00:04:19.228 This means that Jesus was God in the flesh. 00:04:19.228 --> 00:04:23.800 This means that he has all power and all authority. 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:30.471 This means that he has all power and all authority, and the crowd was like could it be that they actually think that he's the Messiah? 00:04:30.471 --> 00:04:32.553 Is that why they're not saying anything? 00:04:32.553 --> 00:04:33.235 No, no, no, no, no. 00:04:33.235 --> 00:04:50.656 Here's the reason why they didn't want to admit that he was the Messiah Because if they did that, they would have to kneel before him and trust him to be their Lord, to be their Savior and follow him. 00:04:50.656 --> 00:04:57.608 And none of them have time for that. 00:04:57.608 --> 00:05:01.483 Because if he was the Messiah, that required humility. 00:05:01.483 --> 00:05:02.887 And the crowd's watching and they're like man. 00:05:02.887 --> 00:05:05.721 Maybe they actually know that he is who he says he is. 00:05:05.721 --> 00:05:08.750 But then they have some more questions amongst themselves. 00:05:08.790 --> 00:05:10.903 Verse 27, but we know where this man's from. 00:05:10.903 --> 00:05:17.081 When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he's from, as he verse 28, was teaching in the temple. 00:05:17.081 --> 00:05:17.822 This is Jesus. 00:05:17.822 --> 00:05:22.747 Jesus cried out you know me, you know me and you know where I'm from. 00:05:22.747 --> 00:05:25.531 Yet I have not come on my own. 00:05:25.531 --> 00:05:35.564 But the one who sent me is true, you don't know him. 00:05:35.564 --> 00:05:47.944 He's talking to people that prided themselves in knowing God, in knowledge of God, and Jesus says you don't even know him. 00:05:47.944 --> 00:05:49.107 You know what he's doing. 00:05:49.107 --> 00:05:52.192 He's challenging and confronting the Pharisees here. 00:05:52.192 --> 00:05:59.548 I know him verse 29, because I am from him and he sent me. 00:06:01.512 --> 00:06:04.144 So, in response to this, look what they did in verse number 30. 00:06:04.144 --> 00:06:05.108 It says this. 00:06:05.108 --> 00:06:07.728 It says then they tried to seize him. 00:06:07.728 --> 00:06:12.043 He got all up in their business and they didn't like it. 00:06:12.043 --> 00:06:15.831 He says that he's the Messiah. 00:06:15.831 --> 00:06:17.350 They did not like that. 00:06:17.350 --> 00:06:21.194 Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 00:06:21.194 --> 00:06:23.673 Remember, his hour had not yet come. 00:06:23.673 --> 00:06:31.134 What that means is that's the time when he's going to go to Golgotha, to Calvary, he's going to die on the cross and then he's going to resurrect. 00:06:31.134 --> 00:06:33.574 That time was not yet going to happen. 00:06:33.574 --> 00:06:36.829 It was about six months after this, but it wasn't happening yet. 00:06:36.829 --> 00:06:44.406 So because it was not yet in God, the Father's plan for that to happen, they didn't seize him because it wasn't time yet for that. 00:06:45.107 --> 00:06:50.437 However, verse 31, many from the crowd, many from the crowd what's that word? 00:06:50.437 --> 00:07:08.846 They, many from the crowd believed, they trusted in him and said when the Messiah comes, trusted in him and said when the Messiah comes, he won't perform more signs than this man has done, will he? 00:07:08.846 --> 00:07:10.372 They're trying to figure this out and here's what these people understood. 00:07:10.372 --> 00:07:14.408 They understood that in the book of Isaiah, isaiah was a prophet in the Old Testament that was written 500 years earlier. 00:07:14.408 --> 00:07:22.312 Prophecy is that in Isaiah it talks about how the Messiah is going to do all these different signs, all these different miracles. 00:07:22.312 --> 00:07:28.492 The people are seeing Jesus and they know this prophecy from the past. 00:07:28.492 --> 00:07:29.795 They know what Isaiah wrote about. 00:07:29.795 --> 00:07:36.132 Now they're seeing Jesus and they're like you all see all the signs he's doing. 00:07:36.132 --> 00:07:41.153 You all see all the signs he's doing. 00:07:41.153 --> 00:07:45.480 There's no way he'll do more signs than Jesus the Messiah. 00:07:45.480 --> 00:07:48.887 It's got to be him Now. 00:07:48.968 --> 00:07:52.132 Verse 32, the Pharisees they hear all this. 00:07:52.132 --> 00:08:03.384 They heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to. 00:08:03.384 --> 00:08:08.658 They want to lock him up, they want to arrest him. 00:08:08.658 --> 00:08:12.834 This is getting heated, guys. 00:08:12.834 --> 00:08:16.305 Some people want to arrest him, others are trying to figure out. 00:08:16.305 --> 00:08:16.807 Is he the Messiah? 00:08:16.826 --> 00:08:21.036 Verse 33, then Jesus said I am only with you for a short time, that I'm going to those who sent me. 00:08:21.036 --> 00:08:24.406 You will look for me, but you won't find me. 00:08:24.406 --> 00:08:27.392 And where I am, you cannot come. 00:08:27.392 --> 00:08:33.389 Then the Jews said to one another where does he intend to go? 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:34.230 That we won't find him. 00:08:34.230 --> 00:08:41.349 He doesn't intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? 00:08:43.131 --> 00:08:46.037 Verse 36, what is this remark he made? 00:08:46.037 --> 00:08:48.647 You will look for me and you will not find me. 00:08:48.647 --> 00:08:51.452 And where I am, you cannot come. 00:08:51.452 --> 00:08:53.898 What is Jesus talking about? 00:08:53.898 --> 00:08:55.889 That's what he's talking about. 00:08:56.491 --> 00:09:06.712 We read Acts, chapter 1, which is about seven months or so after this, seven or eight months or so after this, jesus is going to be on the Mount of Olives and he's going to ascend back up to heaven to be with his Father. 00:09:06.712 --> 00:09:10.789 That's what he's referring to, and people are like man. 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:11.852 What does he mean by this? 00:09:11.852 --> 00:09:22.211 And on verse number 37, on the last and most important day of the festival, jesus stood up and cried out if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 00:09:22.211 --> 00:09:29.932 The one who believes in me, as the scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him. 00:09:31.035 --> 00:09:39.025 Now, this kind of sounds like kind of random, like why, all of a sudden, is Jesus talking about water inside of you when people are arguing? 00:09:39.025 --> 00:09:44.639 This is why, and this is why it's so important to understand context of Scripture. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:48.373 So what's happening here is they are at a certain festival. 00:09:48.373 --> 00:10:00.591 Here they're at a festival and in this specific festival that they have at this festival, one of the main parts of the festival a seven-day festival was about had a water element to it. 00:10:00.591 --> 00:10:03.398 The priest would start off by going to the pool of Shalom. 00:10:03.398 --> 00:10:05.374 They would take water every morning. 00:10:05.374 --> 00:10:09.253 They would walk all the way to the temple and they would put water on the temple. 00:10:09.253 --> 00:10:12.525 They would do it every morning throughout the seven-day festival. 00:10:12.525 --> 00:10:19.158 On the seventh day of the festival, they would walk around the altar seven times before they would put the water on the altar. 00:10:19.158 --> 00:10:22.315 So the people are seeing all this happen. 00:10:22.315 --> 00:10:24.250 This is the context. 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:31.792 Water's a significant part of the festival that they're celebrating, which is why he's in Jerusalem, and this is what Jesus says. 00:10:31.792 --> 00:10:33.269 They understood the water. 00:10:33.269 --> 00:10:33.993 They saw the water. 00:10:34.044 --> 00:10:41.471 He says hey guys, hey guys, if you believe in me, you will have streams of living water flowing from deep within you. 00:10:41.471 --> 00:10:49.317 If you trust in me, I will spiritually satisfy your soul. 00:10:49.317 --> 00:10:52.948 Yeah, you see this water. 00:10:52.948 --> 00:10:53.731 I'm going to tell you something. 00:10:53.731 --> 00:11:02.686 Believe in me, see what I can do something. 00:11:02.686 --> 00:11:03.326 Believe in me, see what I can do. 00:11:03.326 --> 00:11:09.759 Can I just say that you can spend your entire life looking for something to satisfy your soul, but only Jesus can satisfy your soul. 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:28.610 Yeah, you can think if I just get a better job, if I just get a little bit more money, if some things happen where I get in a better relationship or I get a better house, or if I could just move out of California, whatever. 00:11:28.610 --> 00:11:34.652 And a lot of times we think that something will satisfy our soul in a way that it never can. 00:11:34.652 --> 00:11:47.839 And then what happens is we'll come to a place in our life of disappointment and we'll look to things to cover the pain that we have things like alcohol, things like drugs, food, netflix. 00:11:47.839 --> 00:11:57.567 We run to things to make us feel a certain way when really only Jesus can satisfy our souls. 00:11:57.567 --> 00:12:07.096 And Jesus comes to these people and he says hey, hey guys, hey guys, hey guys, it's me, it's me. 00:12:07.897 --> 00:12:22.005 In verse 39, he said this about the Spirit those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, but the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. 00:12:22.005 --> 00:12:24.908 So, those who believe, we're going to receive the Spirit. 00:12:24.908 --> 00:12:27.009 This is the Holy Spirit. 00:12:27.009 --> 00:12:32.552 Notice, when we believe, when we trust, we receive the Spirit. 00:12:32.552 --> 00:12:36.895 Ephesians 1 talks about this too, about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 00:12:36.895 --> 00:12:38.517 So it's not okay. 00:12:38.517 --> 00:12:41.678 You trusted in Jesus, you believed in Jesus. 00:12:41.678 --> 00:12:46.962 Now, years later, if you feel really some type of way, then you receive the Spirit. 00:12:52.325 --> 00:12:52.888 Jesus says those who believe. 00:12:52.888 --> 00:13:00.956 He says this about the Spirit those who believe in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. 00:13:00.956 --> 00:13:09.178 When some of the crowd verse 40, heard these words, they said this truly is the prophet. 00:13:09.178 --> 00:13:12.667 Others said this is the Messiah. 00:13:12.667 --> 00:13:17.409 But some said surely the Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does it? 00:13:17.409 --> 00:13:18.931 Does he? 00:13:18.931 --> 00:13:20.672 Verse 42. 00:13:20.672 --> 00:13:31.739 Doesn't the scripture say the Messiah comes from David's offspring and from the town of Bethlehem where David lived? 00:13:31.739 --> 00:13:34.961 Can somebody tell me where was Jesus born? 00:13:34.961 --> 00:13:37.423 Bethlehem? 00:13:37.423 --> 00:13:39.008 They didn't realize this. 00:13:39.008 --> 00:13:39.830 Verse 43,. 00:13:39.830 --> 00:13:44.989 So the crowd was divided because of him. 00:13:44.989 --> 00:13:54.441 Some of them verse 44, wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. 00:13:54.441 --> 00:14:09.279 And here's the reality when it comes to the identity of Jesus and your posture towards Jesus is that you cannot be neutral towards somebody that claims to be God. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:16.835 I'll say it again you cannot be neutral towards somebody that claims to be God. 00:14:16.835 --> 00:14:19.458 Why did they want to seize him here? 00:14:20.625 --> 00:14:22.072 Claims to be God, messiah. 00:14:22.072 --> 00:14:23.889 Let's think about it right here. 00:14:23.889 --> 00:14:26.791 Let's pretend I walked up on stage this morning. 00:14:26.791 --> 00:14:28.095 Pastor Cody prayed. 00:14:28.095 --> 00:14:34.014 I said all right, everybody, we're not going to be teaching a text of scripture this morning. 00:14:34.014 --> 00:14:37.254 Have something to share. 00:14:37.254 --> 00:14:47.424 I'm God. 00:14:47.424 --> 00:14:50.269 Y'all would be like Nate has lost his stinking marbles. 00:14:50.269 --> 00:14:51.629 Nate has gone loony. 00:14:51.629 --> 00:15:00.120 Others of you would say why is Nate lying to everybody? 00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:03.211 I thought Nate was a halfway decent guy. 00:15:03.211 --> 00:15:10.450 He's kind of short, but I mean, come on, why is Nate lying? 00:15:10.450 --> 00:15:17.753 You would not be neutral about me if I claimed to be God. 00:15:20.985 --> 00:15:22.535 Jesus claimed to be God. 00:15:22.535 --> 00:15:23.784 Jesus claimed to be God, the Messiah. 00:15:23.784 --> 00:15:35.625 And because he claimed to be God, jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or he's actually Lord or he's actually Lord. 00:15:35.625 --> 00:15:45.898 So Jesus knowingly deceived the masses of people and people came to follow him. 00:15:45.898 --> 00:15:48.280 People died for him. 00:15:48.280 --> 00:15:55.995 Jesus knew that and Jesus was like oh, it's all good, or Jesus was mentally unstable. 00:15:55.995 --> 00:16:03.721 Because if you believe that you're God and you're not, you're mentally unstable. 00:16:03.721 --> 00:16:08.490 Or he actually was Lord or he was who he said he was. 00:16:08.490 --> 00:16:10.754 And here's why we bring this up. 00:16:10.754 --> 00:16:14.419 People say Jesus was just a good guy, he was just a good teacher. 00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:16.807 No, he wasn't. 00:16:16.807 --> 00:16:23.518 Either he was a liar and he deceived the masses of people, he was a lunatic and out of his mind, or he really was who he said he was. 00:16:23.518 --> 00:16:33.629 And you might be in the room and you might be watching online and you might be just kind of discovering and trying to figure out like what's this whole faith thing about and you're like man was Jesus just a good teacher? 00:16:33.629 --> 00:16:39.600 Jesus could not have been just a good teacher because of what he claimed about himself. 00:16:41.245 --> 00:17:03.119 And if Jesus isn't a liar, if Jesus isn't a lunatic and Jesus is actually Lord, then what Jesus is going to do is at times he will confront you, at other times he will challenge you, and sometimes he will confront you. 00:17:03.119 --> 00:17:06.164 At other times he will challenge you and sometimes he will comfort you. 00:17:06.164 --> 00:17:10.635 In the text of scripture, he challenges these people. 00:17:10.635 --> 00:17:13.207 At the end he says yet I have not come on my own. 00:17:13.207 --> 00:17:16.511 But the one who sent me is true, you don't know him. 00:17:16.511 --> 00:17:18.234 But the one who sent me is true, you don't know him. 00:17:18.234 --> 00:17:18.895 What is he doing? 00:17:18.895 --> 00:17:20.959 He's challenging them. 00:17:27.664 --> 00:17:30.871 There were times where Jesus would go to his disciples, I think the time, specifically, they were lacking faith. 00:17:30.871 --> 00:17:33.776 Jesus said why do you lack faith? 00:17:33.776 --> 00:17:36.547 Challenge, or rather confronting them, confronting them. 00:17:36.547 --> 00:17:45.647 There was another time where he wanted them to go out and preach the gospel and teach about the kingdom and just go right, where they are, to people they didn't even know. 00:17:45.647 --> 00:17:46.190 What was he doing. 00:17:46.190 --> 00:17:47.816 He was challenging them. 00:17:47.816 --> 00:17:51.166 There was another time people were worried, they were anxious. 00:17:51.166 --> 00:17:52.569 He says hey, hey. 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:59.231 He says hey, if you seek first my kingdom, I'm going to take care of what you're worried about. 00:17:59.231 --> 00:18:01.107 What was he doing? 00:18:01.107 --> 00:18:02.614 Comforting them. 00:18:05.425 --> 00:18:19.078 Now, here's the problem with American Jesus followers Oftentimes we run and we cling to the things that comfort us, but we push back or try to explain away the things that either challenge us or confront us. 00:18:19.078 --> 00:18:23.148 Oh, I like this over here. 00:18:23.148 --> 00:18:25.536 Like this makes me feel good, this comforts me. 00:18:25.536 --> 00:18:28.412 The part over there that confronts me and my lifestyle. 00:18:28.412 --> 00:18:29.114 I'm not about that. 00:18:29.114 --> 00:18:34.599 I'm peacing out the part that challenges me to take steps of growth in my faith. 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:35.324 I can't do that. 00:18:35.324 --> 00:18:36.046 You don't understand. 00:18:36.046 --> 00:18:39.070 Jesus, I'm busy, but it's all good, I'm resting in your love. 00:18:39.070 --> 00:18:41.894 And this is what Jesus says. 00:18:41.894 --> 00:18:45.666 If Jesus is Lord, then he's going to do all three. 00:18:45.666 --> 00:18:49.013 He's going to do all three. 00:18:49.013 --> 00:18:51.164 And you say, man, I don't like that, like why would he do that? 00:18:51.164 --> 00:18:54.530 This is why he does this Because he cares about your spiritual maturity. 00:18:54.530 --> 00:18:58.798 He wants you to grow, because growth happens one step at a time. 00:18:58.798 --> 00:19:08.893 So, because Jesus cares more about your maturity and he cares more about here's a word your sanctification, setting you apart. 00:19:08.893 --> 00:19:24.654 He's going to confront, he's going to challenge and other times he's going to comfort, because what he wants to do is sanctify you by changing your mindset, changing your worldview, changing your things about your view of things. 00:19:24.654 --> 00:19:32.827 So when you are overwhelmed, in the past, your view was okay, I'm overwhelmed, I'm going to run to alcohol or weed or this over here. 00:19:32.827 --> 00:19:39.619 He wants your mindset to change to say, no, I'm going to run to God and who he says I am and his word. 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:41.308 That's a mindset change. 00:19:41.308 --> 00:19:47.944 That's different Mindsets and worldviews matter. 00:19:47.944 --> 00:19:49.492 They matter. 00:19:51.617 --> 00:19:55.424 There's a guy very few people in our world have ever heard of him. 00:19:55.424 --> 00:19:57.628 His name is Saeed. 00:19:57.628 --> 00:20:00.140 I'm curious has anybody ever heard of this guy? 00:20:00.140 --> 00:20:01.704 Anybody? 00:20:01.704 --> 00:20:03.601 Not one person in this room. 00:20:03.601 --> 00:20:07.480 He died in 1966. 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:25.517 Prolific author, gifted writer, 24 books he wrote, lived in Egypt, politician educator, but he had a worldview. 00:20:25.517 --> 00:20:40.498 It was about one thing the destruction of the West Jews and Christians, of the West Jews and Christians, and he wrote extensively about this. 00:20:40.498 --> 00:20:50.887 In fact, because of his writings he was jailed and incarcerated and eventually executed by his own government. 00:20:50.887 --> 00:20:53.987 This guy had a brother. 00:20:53.987 --> 00:21:09.369 His brother took his teachings and went to Saudi Arabia and became a college professor and took his worldview and indoctrinated it into the student of the classes that he had. 00:21:09.369 --> 00:21:14.414 One of his students was very bright, was very smart. 00:21:14.414 --> 00:21:18.555 One of his students was very bright, was very smart. 00:21:18.555 --> 00:21:25.914 This student has affected every single person in this room directly or indirectly. 00:21:25.914 --> 00:21:43.718 This student's name, osama bin Laden, and what he did was he took Saeed's worldview, embraced it and acted on it. 00:21:43.718 --> 00:21:50.749 And now today we live in an age of terrorism because one person's worldview Guys, worldviews, matter. 00:21:51.329 --> 00:21:51.990 What's a worldview? 00:21:51.990 --> 00:21:56.365 It's just a set of beliefs that you build your life upon. 00:21:56.365 --> 00:21:58.656 That's what this is. 00:21:58.656 --> 00:22:04.028 Every person in the room has a worldview. 00:22:04.028 --> 00:22:13.348 Whether you can articulate what you actually believe or not, you have one In church. 00:22:13.494 --> 00:22:17.205 The church answer is I believe everything Jesus says. 00:22:17.205 --> 00:22:19.883 Do we actually believe everything he says? 00:22:19.883 --> 00:22:34.423 And what Jesus wants you to do is to have a kingdom-centered worldview, a worldview where we see the world through the lens of God reigning, god ruling and his purposes being lived out. 00:22:34.423 --> 00:22:41.486 So a kingdom-centered worldview is when we are hurt by somebody and we probably should forgive them. 00:22:41.486 --> 00:22:42.775 Which can we just say? 00:22:42.775 --> 00:22:44.057 Forgiveness is super hard. 00:22:44.057 --> 00:22:55.476 If I have a kingdom-centered view of being hurt by somebody, my kingdom-centered view, understanding that God is reigning, that God is ruling, how can I have God's purposes being lived out? 00:22:55.476 --> 00:23:03.678 I'm going to see this hurt as an opportunity, as hard as it is to forgive, because in the gospel I have been forgiven. 00:23:03.678 --> 00:23:06.221 That's a kingdom-centered worldview. 00:23:08.546 --> 00:23:09.769 Now here's the challenge. 00:23:09.769 --> 00:23:16.327 A kingdom-centered worldview is directly in opposition to a lot of the worldviews that we have in our world today. 00:23:16.327 --> 00:23:20.365 In fact, there are five predominant worldviews in our culture. 00:23:20.365 --> 00:23:22.583 The first one is this is hedonism. 00:23:22.583 --> 00:23:27.845 This is what hedonism says the most important thing in life is how I feel. 00:23:27.845 --> 00:23:33.982 This is the number one American worldview. 00:23:33.982 --> 00:23:37.929 The foundation of truth is feelings. 00:23:37.929 --> 00:23:44.688 If this feels good, then it is good. 00:23:44.688 --> 00:23:48.233 So feelings are my ultimate trump card that I'm putting out in front of you. 00:23:49.056 --> 00:23:50.662 Number two materialism. 00:23:50.662 --> 00:23:53.864 The most important thing in life is what I have. 00:23:53.864 --> 00:24:00.220 He who dies with the most toys wins. 00:24:00.220 --> 00:24:13.019 So with this worldview, we're going to be living in debt because we have to get more toys, we're going to be overworking and we're going to prioritize work over family, over our spiritual health, because we have to work to make money so we can get more toys. 00:24:13.019 --> 00:24:14.520 Because it's all about what I have. 00:24:14.520 --> 00:24:17.526 Number three individualism. 00:24:17.526 --> 00:24:21.597 The most important thing in life is me. 00:24:21.597 --> 00:24:26.045 Cue the Frank Sinatra song my Way. 00:24:26.045 --> 00:24:33.226 This is the recipe for a miserable life, because the most miserable people are selfish people. 00:24:33.226 --> 00:24:41.795 Because the most miserable people are selfish people, and this is where self-care goes extreme and it becomes all about me. 00:24:41.795 --> 00:24:44.343 This is where narcissism is birthed. 00:24:45.755 --> 00:24:47.461 Number four pragmatism. 00:24:47.461 --> 00:24:50.063 The most important thing in life is what works. 00:24:50.063 --> 00:24:55.080 So this worldview says there's no truth and everything is relative. 00:24:55.080 --> 00:25:07.536 All that matters is if it works for you, so I could be doing something that's unhealthy, that I shouldn't be doing, and you have no right to even speak into my life or even ask me about it, because it's working for me. 00:25:07.536 --> 00:25:09.839 Pragmatism there is no right or wrong. 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.987 It doesn't matter if I'm doing things that are actually going to hurt me or people around me because it's right for me. 00:25:12.987 --> 00:25:17.343 It doesn't matter if I'm doing things that are actually going to hurt me or people around me because it's right for me. 00:25:17.343 --> 00:25:19.530 This is a worldview pragmatism. 00:25:20.334 --> 00:25:23.118 Worldview number five hedonism or humanism. 00:25:23.118 --> 00:25:26.704 People are the ultimate authority and not God. 00:25:26.704 --> 00:25:35.125 So I get to decide the morals, absolutes and truths If I like what God's word says. 00:25:35.125 --> 00:25:44.266 If it comforts me over here, I'm in, but if it challenges or it confronts me, I'm out, because I'm the authority. 00:25:44.266 --> 00:25:49.978 But here's the reality. 00:25:49.978 --> 00:25:55.358 When it comes to this, we can't pick and choose where in Scripture we want to lean into and lean out of. 00:25:55.358 --> 00:25:56.288 We can't go to choose where in scripture we want to lean into and lean out of. 00:25:56.288 --> 00:26:01.957 We can't go to the place where we're like, yes, this makes sense and oh, this is outdated and this is archaic. 00:26:01.957 --> 00:26:03.420 Here's the reality. 00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:09.436 Scripture is timeless and because it's timeless, it's always timely. 00:26:09.436 --> 00:26:15.746 Because it's timeless, it's always timely. 00:26:16.267 --> 00:26:23.284 So, down through the ages, the word of god has confronted cultures and societal norms. 00:26:23.284 --> 00:26:25.086 It always has. 00:26:25.086 --> 00:26:26.308 I'll give you an example. 00:26:26.308 --> 00:26:33.487 First century greek culture the idea of being humble was a vice Ain't? 00:26:33.487 --> 00:26:34.669 Nobody wants to be humble. 00:26:34.669 --> 00:26:41.194 America 2025, we're like we love humble people. 00:26:41.194 --> 00:26:43.994 I stand up here and I'm like guys, we should be humble. 00:26:43.994 --> 00:26:48.088 Everybody's like, yeah, we should. 00:26:48.088 --> 00:26:49.232 I'm like prides, prides. 00:26:49.232 --> 00:26:52.214 Everybody's like, yeah, you're right, I stand up. 00:26:52.214 --> 00:26:52.516 Paul stood up. 00:26:52.516 --> 00:26:56.621 First century Greek culture says, hey, a kingdom-centered mindset is one of humility. 00:26:56.621 --> 00:27:01.666 All the Greeks are like, no, we're Greeks. 00:27:01.666 --> 00:27:03.888 What's happening? 00:27:03.888 --> 00:27:10.363 God's word and scripture is confronting societal norms. 00:27:10.363 --> 00:27:14.049 It always has and it always will. 00:27:14.049 --> 00:27:20.757 Norms it always has and it always will. 00:27:20.757 --> 00:27:22.780 There's a place in 2025 where the Word of God confronts societal norms. 00:27:22.780 --> 00:27:26.147 This is where it is our current sexual climate of our day. 00:27:26.147 --> 00:27:30.159 The current sexual climate of our day. 00:27:31.259 --> 00:27:38.270 God's design for marriage and sexuality is one man and one woman in a covenant marriage. 00:27:38.270 --> 00:27:42.740 Not one man and one woman that think each other's hot. 00:27:42.740 --> 00:27:47.375 Not one man or one woman that are dating each other. 00:27:47.375 --> 00:27:51.140 Not one man and one woman that are in love with each other. 00:27:51.140 --> 00:27:56.987 Scripture says anything outside of that is sin. 00:27:56.987 --> 00:28:04.002 So what that does me just saying that, guys, that's like confronting our culture. 00:28:04.002 --> 00:28:08.436 In fact, like right now, I know I said that Some of y'all are getting a little uncomfortable. 00:28:09.218 --> 00:28:10.778 Pastor Nate, it's time to wrap it. 00:28:10.778 --> 00:28:13.281 Wrap it up. 00:28:13.281 --> 00:28:16.086 You're getting like sweaty. 00:28:16.086 --> 00:28:20.911 So here's the question what do we actually do with that? 00:28:20.911 --> 00:28:23.518 Some of you are like you're reading my mind. 00:28:23.518 --> 00:28:24.221 What do you actually do with that? 00:28:24.461 --> 00:28:25.016 This is one thing we do. 00:28:25.016 --> 00:28:30.336 First thing, we align ourselves with God's truth on that matter, even if it's convenient or not. 00:28:30.336 --> 00:28:36.025 So we personally say what I'm going to do is I'm going to take my life and I'm going to put it in alignment with that. 00:28:36.025 --> 00:28:39.349 Can I just say there's no judgment here, right? 00:28:39.349 --> 00:28:43.654 If you say, man, maybe I'm living with my boyfriend, girlfriend or whatever, I want to make this right. 00:28:43.654 --> 00:28:45.101 Listen, we want to help you make that right. 00:28:45.101 --> 00:28:46.044 That's the first thing we do. 00:28:46.044 --> 00:28:54.667 The second thing that we do is we have grace and compassion for people that are living outside of God's design for sexuality. 00:28:54.667 --> 00:29:00.994 We should not be shocked when people who don't know Jesus live like people who don't know Jesus. 00:29:00.994 --> 00:29:02.959 Shouldn't be shocked with that right. 00:29:02.959 --> 00:29:03.823 Shouldn't be shocked. 00:29:03.823 --> 00:29:17.023 I personally have multiple relatives that are in the LGBTQ lifestyle Intelligent, caring, kind, incredible people. 00:29:18.887 --> 00:29:19.409 So what do I do? 00:29:19.409 --> 00:29:21.538 What do we do? 00:29:21.538 --> 00:29:22.019 This is what we do. 00:29:22.019 --> 00:29:24.366 We look at Jesus and this is what Jesus did. 00:29:24.366 --> 00:29:29.699 Jesus accepted everyone, but he did not affirm everything. 00:29:29.699 --> 00:29:38.557 So the world says this in any area that if you don't affirm everything about me, then you hate me. 00:29:38.557 --> 00:29:44.509 Either you affirm or you don't accept me. 00:29:44.509 --> 00:29:48.644 Guys, I don't even affirm everything about myself. 00:29:52.296 --> 00:29:54.060 This is a false dichotomy. 00:29:54.060 --> 00:29:57.109 This is what a kingdom worldview does. 00:29:57.109 --> 00:30:04.784 A kingdom-centered worldview loves people deeply while standing firmly on God's truth. 00:30:04.784 --> 00:30:15.605 Sexual conviction, compassion, truth, grace we don't get to choose which one. 00:30:15.605 --> 00:30:16.509 We're going to have. 00:30:16.509 --> 00:30:24.688 A keydom-centered worldview has both, and if we genuinely stand on truth, we're going to have a lot of compassion. 00:30:24.688 --> 00:30:28.403 And if we genuinely have compassion, we're going to have truth. 00:30:28.403 --> 00:30:36.186 Here's why I bring this up, because right now, we are being fed a lot of false dichotomies this or this. 00:30:36.186 --> 00:30:37.817 This is over here. 00:30:37.817 --> 00:30:39.741 Hey guys, we got to be able to see through this. 00:30:39.741 --> 00:30:44.762 We're going to be told if we don't wear this pin or wave this flag, then we don't love people. 00:30:44.762 --> 00:30:46.335 That's not what that means at all. 00:30:46.335 --> 00:30:47.497 That's a false dichotomy. 00:30:47.497 --> 00:30:55.667 It is possible to have convictions and also have compassion, and we have to have both. 00:30:56.628 --> 00:30:58.096 Now, here's how I want to wrap this up. 00:30:58.096 --> 00:31:11.127 It's very possible that every person, because of the world that we live in, we have a worldview that's not kingdom-centered seeping into our lives and influencing us. 00:31:11.127 --> 00:31:12.958 My hand goes up. 00:31:12.958 --> 00:31:15.442 I live in the same world y'all do. 00:31:15.442 --> 00:31:19.922 It's so easy for me to have pragmatism as my worldview. 00:31:19.922 --> 00:31:22.067 I'm like it works for you, like I love you, bro, like do you? 00:31:22.067 --> 00:31:26.044 It's easy for me to be materialistic, like I just need to get more stuff. 00:31:26.183 --> 00:31:35.345 Whatever it is and this is what we got to see is, worldviews are going to change all the time is, worldviews are going to change all the time, and we have a choice. 00:31:35.345 --> 00:31:39.930 We can build our life on the truth of the word of God. 00:31:39.930 --> 00:31:53.988 We can build our life on a kingdom-centered worldview, or we can build our life on trends, but we cannot build our life on both. 00:31:53.988 --> 00:31:54.548 We can't do it. 00:31:54.548 --> 00:32:05.638 So here's what I'm gonna invite us to do this morning, every one of us, to consider what is influencing my worldview, what worldview do I actually have right now, and surrender that to the lord. 00:32:05.638 --> 00:32:22.003 Because if jesus is who he said he is, then he's lord, and sometimes we love that, sometimes it's uncomfortable, but here's the reality he is Lord of all. 00:32:22.003 --> 00:32:25.148 So, in our reflection and response time, this is what I want us to think about. 00:32:25.148 --> 00:32:38.787 If we can get the next slide up, reflect on your current worldview, and what places do you not have a kingdom-centered worldview? 00:32:38.787 --> 00:32:40.773 Whatever that is, let's just surrender it to the Lord. 00:32:40.773 --> 00:32:41.994 No-transcript.