SPEAKER_01: Thanks for checking out this podcast from Carterville Christian Church.
SPEAKER_01: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_01: Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's jump into this week's teaching.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning, C3.
SPEAKER_00: Good to be with you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Um, I want you to want you to think back on the last time that you went to a doctor, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So the last time you had a routine checkup, or maybe one of your kids had a routine checkup, or maybe you went to go get something checked uh that was a little bit more concerning.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you had to, you know, had an emergency room visit recently and you had to go into the ER uh for something uh that was a little bit more uh a little bit more concerning.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what the situation was, I want you to think about when the the nurse or the assistant came in and they were checking you and they checked several things for you, right?
SPEAKER_00: They they would have checked your height and weight, they would have checked uh your your heart rate and your temperature, your blood pressure, uh they might have even checked your breathing, your respiratory rate.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they might have even put this little clip on your finger.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: The little thing that goes on the end of your finger there.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I'm told that this reads your blood oxygen saturation levels as well.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, there's gonna there are medical professionals in this room, and I'm not the one that should be talking about this, okay?
SPEAKER_00: But I am nonetheless.
SPEAKER_00: Um and like so there's all these different things.
SPEAKER_00: You might have even been hooked up to a machine that looks like this, maybe.
SPEAKER_00: There's a picture.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right there.
SPEAKER_00: Like that you might have been able to see all these different readings on there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but every time that the doctor or nurse does these different tests on you, they're checking to make sure your body is functioning the way it should be functioning.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like we we know this to be true.
SPEAKER_00: There's not no part of us, when we go to the doctor's office, there's no part of us that's like, I don't want you to check those things for me.
SPEAKER_00: I would, I would actually, I would prefer that you did.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I prefer you hook me up to the machines to make sure there's something off with me.
SPEAKER_00: I I need you to, I need you to check this.
SPEAKER_00: And if there's something wrong with one of these vitals, then it it's it's a sign that there's there's something off altogether.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's this might be pointing to a deeper issue that's going on, or the reason why you're there in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: And we're starting this series today called Vital Signs, five signs that you're fully alive.
SPEAKER_00: And it really comes down to uh the words of Jesus in John chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: When he when he says this, he says, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
SPEAKER_00: I have come that they may have life, that you may have life and have it to the full.
SPEAKER_00: And here's here at C3, we believe this to be true.
SPEAKER_00: We believe the words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We take we take him at his word here, and we believe whenever he says, I have come to give you life and give you life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: And more full than anything else that this world could have to offer us, Jesus is offering us the most full life.
SPEAKER_00: The question that I want us to ask throughout this series, hey, what does it what does it mean to live a full life in Christ?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean for us to live this life that is fully alive?
SPEAKER_00: Like if we were hooked up to a monitor today, what are the things we'd be checking?
SPEAKER_00: What are the things that the that the doctor or nurse would be checking for us?
SPEAKER_00: What are the vital signs we need to be looking for when it comes to life with Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And how do we know that we're functioning the way we should be?
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, like I'm really excited about this series because more than anything else, like this is really a vision for the kind of church we want to be, for the for the direction that we're heading.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I don't know if I don't know if you know this, but this church was established in the year 1887, 139 years ago, this church was established.
SPEAKER_00: Pretty incredible, pretty crazy to think about, in a small little block in the middle of Carterville, Missouri.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the deal our mission as a church was the same then as it is today.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission has always been the same, and it always will be the same.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we exist.
SPEAKER_00: We exist to glorify God by making disciples of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Man, this is pretty straightforward, but I need you to understand.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we exist.
SPEAKER_00: This is who we are as a church.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is the mission.
SPEAKER_00: This I believe this should be the main mission, the main aim, the main goal of every church that has ever existed is to do what Jesus told us to do, to go into all the world and to make disciples.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is why we exist, to glorify God by making disciples, just as Jesus commanded.
SPEAKER_00: But the vision for how a specific church in a specific context carries that out can differ.
SPEAKER_00: It really comes down to like asking this like, what are the signs we're gonna be looking at that are really gonna help us know that we're heading towards that goal?
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are the measurables that we're gonna start focusing on as a as a church, as a body, as a family, to know that we're we're getting down to what's most important, to understand that we're glorifying God by making disciples.
SPEAKER_00: How are we gonna get there?
SPEAKER_00: This comes down to like who we are and what we do as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And it it this is what we're gonna be talking about over the next over the next several several weeks.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I hope and I pray that you will hear and you will see.
SPEAKER_00: The first thing is I hope that you will hear over the next five weeks uh familiar things, honestly.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that you will hear familiar, familiar sayings or familiar, familiar things that are being preached because we've already been preaching this vision for our church for a while now.
SPEAKER_00: Like we've already been like using a lot of the language we're gonna be using.
SPEAKER_00: I hope that it's just familiar to you.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, well, yeah, that's who we are.
SPEAKER_00: Of course we're gonna step into that.
SPEAKER_00: Of course we're gonna be all about that, because that's who we already are right now.
SPEAKER_00: But I hope also that you will see a vision for what the church might look like if we really got on board with the vision that the Lord is giving us.
SPEAKER_00: If we really got on board with where he is leading us.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you I hope you catch the vision.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you catch the wind of where the Spirit is leading us as we as we step forward.
SPEAKER_00: And to that end, I just want to pray.
SPEAKER_00: I want to pray over us right now.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we are so thankful for all that you have done and for what you have made possible.
SPEAKER_00: We're so thankful that you have you take broken, messed up sinners like us, and you still use us for your glory and for your honor.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, that's what we want to do.
SPEAKER_00: We want to glorify you.
SPEAKER_00: So Lord, this morning I pray that you would give us humility, and you would give us unity, and you would give us urgency in your mission that you've that you've set before us.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, more than anything else, I pray that you would give us your spirit to enable us and empower us to do your work faithfully that you've set out in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, a couple things before we really jump into this this first one where we're going today.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to understand a couple things.
SPEAKER_00: And when we're talking about our vision for the church, I need you to understand, like, there's it's gonna be really hard to really try to give you everything that we that we hope and everything that we're that we that we want for this church in a little 30-minute sermon.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be really hard for us to do that.
SPEAKER_00: So we've continued the conversation.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know, like at noon today, there will be a podcast that's that's posted with elders and with an elder and staff members that are talking that are continuing this conversation.
SPEAKER_00: We'd love to continue the conversation with you individually.
SPEAKER_00: If there's something this morning, man, find one of our staff members, find one of our elders, uh, fine, come find one of us.
SPEAKER_00: We would love to continue this conversation with you about what this looks like.
SPEAKER_00: But also, I need you to understand, like each of these statements that we're gonna be unpacking together over the next five weeks, we've we've framed them as like we need statements, like we need blank.
SPEAKER_00: But I want you to understand this isn't just a communal truth, but these are also meant to be individual truths.
SPEAKER_00: Not just we need fill in the blank, but also I need this personally.
SPEAKER_00: And as a leadership and as a staff, we've this conversation around these statements for this series started last September, even a little bit before last September.
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about these for almost a year and really talking about what the impact could have.
SPEAKER_00: And as we did, we quickly came to this conclusion that, hey, this first one is a little bit different than all the others.
SPEAKER_00: Like this first one is is a little bit more important than everything else that we're gonna talk about.
SPEAKER_00: And this is really like who we are as a church, who we are as a church, and it's as as simply as we can put it, we would say it this way: we are a gathering of people that realize we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I need I need you to understand that.
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is this is who we are.
SPEAKER_00: This is your first time ever coming, ever stepping foot in these doors, or if you've been coming here since 1887, you know, I need you to understand we are a group of people who realize we have a desperate need for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And I I know it's gonna sound obvious, but a full life that Jesus has to offer always starts with him.
SPEAKER_00: Like it it doesn't go beyond that.
SPEAKER_00: It always starts with him.
SPEAKER_00: It always, that's the first step, is always with him.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're talking about our vital signs as a church, then this one is our heartbeat.
SPEAKER_00: This one's our heartbeat.
SPEAKER_00: We just did medical training with Chase Kraft just a few weeks ago as a staff and like try to you know figure out what to do in emergency situations, that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things we learned, and I know this is obvious, but one of the things we learned is if there, if you walk up on somebody in an emergency situation and there's no heartbeat, man, it's cause for action right now.
SPEAKER_00: Like you gotta get going right now.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the truth for us, this is true for us as a church.
SPEAKER_00: If we miss this one, that it's cause for action right now.
SPEAKER_00: If we're off kilter at all on this, if we're out of whack at all on this, then it's cause for action.
SPEAKER_00: We need to realign and come to this understanding collectively and individually, we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And it boils down to this that's that's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to turn to your neighbor right now and say, we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, now turn to your neighbor and say, I need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: You do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, you do.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just that shirt that says, Y'all need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's I need Jesus and we need Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_00: This is what it is.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of ways we could talk about this this morning, but I want to simplify it and give you two.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus first and foremost for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Need you to understand that.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: This is true about every person who has ever lived, every person who ever will live.
SPEAKER_00: It's true about every person who believes in Jesus, and even those who have not yet come to know his name.
SPEAKER_00: It's true about every single person who walked through these doors this morning, whether they've come to realize it or not.
SPEAKER_00: And it's true about you, it's true about me.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: This is the clear teaching of Scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Is that what Paul says in Romans chapter 3, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and yet all are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I think about Paul's words in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: The old has passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the new has new has come.
SPEAKER_00: And all of this is from God.
SPEAKER_00: This is all from him who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 21, for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become, in him we might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Peter says this before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter 4.
SPEAKER_00: He says, There is salvation in no one else, for there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself says it, and we sang it earlier.
SPEAKER_00: I am the way and the truth and the life.
SPEAKER_00: No one comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what we believe as a church.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Without him, we are lost, hopeless, helpless.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says in 1 Corinthians that if Christ has not been raised, then all of us, like we should be pitied more than anybody else.
SPEAKER_00: Like we should be just like felt like people should feel bad for us because we've put our hope in something that's not real.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, But Christ has indeed been raised.
SPEAKER_00: He has indeed been raised, and it's for your benefit and for my benefit.
SPEAKER_00: Because without him, without him, there is no hope for salvation.
SPEAKER_00: I think the question that we have to ask this morning that I have to ask for somebody in this in this crowd right now, I've got to ask, do you realize this need for salvation?
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize that you need Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: That what Jordan was already talking about, man, it's good for us to be reminded as we go to the tables every time we gather together.
SPEAKER_00: It's good for us to remind be reminded, I cannot do this on my own.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot save myself.
SPEAKER_00: Like, do you realize that you need saving?
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about this before, and you know the story of the Titanic, you know, as the as that big ship barreled into that iceberg.
SPEAKER_00: What followed after was two and a half hours.
SPEAKER_00: That's how long it took the Titanic to sink.
SPEAKER_00: You realize that?
SPEAKER_00: Two and a half hours it took for the Titanic to sink, and yet, and yet most of those lifeboats went away half full.
SPEAKER_00: 1,500 people passed away.
SPEAKER_00: And there were reports of like men on the main deck smoking cigars, and the band was still playing in the grand hall.
SPEAKER_00: The ship was going down, and they didn't realize it.
SPEAKER_00: And I need to be as clear as I can with somebody in this room, somebody in this room has not responded to the gift of life, the gift of grace that is offered to you freely in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody this morning needs to step forward into that.
SPEAKER_00: And it starts here with realizing, hey, the ship that you're on, it's going down.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the Bible, the Bible teaches.
SPEAKER_00: We are dead in our sin, deserving of wrath, destined to be separated from God forever.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you realize your sin is not the issue, it's the fact that you are sinful, that's the issue, and your sin condemns you.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you realize it or not, like you are, you're you're the ship is going down.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the deal: because of the good news that we have in the person and work of Jesus, because of what he has done once and for all, like you have a way to experience not just life, not just safety from the ship that's going down, but life to the full right now.
SPEAKER_00: It's offered to you right now, it's available to you right now.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Timothy Keller defines the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: He said it this way: you are more sinful than you could ever dare imagine.
SPEAKER_00: Like the ship is going down.
SPEAKER_00: And yet you are more loved and accepted in Christ than you could ever dare hope.
SPEAKER_00: Church, this is what we what we know to be true.
SPEAKER_00: Like we're a gathering of people who realize, man, I need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot save myself.
SPEAKER_00: I need him to step in to my brokenness, to my mess, and I need him to do what only he can do.
SPEAKER_00: I need him to make a way when there is no way.
SPEAKER_00: And praise the Lord, that is available for all of us today.
SPEAKER_00: It's available for you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you've never stepped forward into life with Jesus, if you've never, if you've never surrendered your life to him and entered into the waters of baptism, and we've got everything you need this morning to make that decision.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the service, there's gonna be people up front, there's gonna be people on the back who would love to have a conversation with you about what it would look like for you to take a step forward in faith in this way.
SPEAKER_00: We need Jesus for our salvation.
SPEAKER_00: But church, we also we also need Jesus for our strength.
SPEAKER_00: Like I here's the thing.
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes, sometimes, and I'm just gonna be honest with you, sometimes this church, since I have been involved in this church, sometimes we have made such a big deal about getting people in the water that that we are led to believe that that's the finish line.
SPEAKER_00: Church, that's not the finish line.
SPEAKER_00: That's far from it.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is not the full life that Jesus has for you, is not for you just to come on, come and put on a forgiven shirt and get dunked into a into a uh I don't know, a tank of water back there, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Like, like it's there's nothing special significant about that water.
SPEAKER_00: You know?
SPEAKER_00: Like, and so many times we we have we celebrate big, and let me tell you, rightfully so.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about dead people coming to life.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about those who were enslaved to sin coming to be free in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about new life happening in front of our eyes when we see somebody step forward into the waters of baptism.
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes we celebrate really big there, and then and then we just kind of leave them hanging.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we hand them a towel to get dried off as they as they get out and they they go with their family and go sign the wall, and then nothing else ever happens.
SPEAKER_00: And guys, listen, the life that Jesus has for us is not just a one-time event, but it is an ongoing, ongoing, every moment, every day life where Christ is the one strengthening all of it.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one empowering all of it.
SPEAKER_00: I think I don't know if you catch this in in Paul's words in Galatians chapter two, when he says, I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: Like I live through him, the one who has loved me and gave himself for me.
SPEAKER_00: Even we talked about, we wrapped up our book of Philippians study last week and we were in Philippians 4.13.
SPEAKER_00: The one the famous line from Paul when he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
SPEAKER_00: Like no matter the circumstances, what circumstances may fall, no matter what this life throws at me, no matter in plenty or in abundance and or hunger or need, I will be fine because Christ is enough.
SPEAKER_00: Like he is the one who is strengthening me.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one who ultimately satisfies me.
SPEAKER_00: Like he is everything for me.
SPEAKER_00: He is in all, and he is all himself.
SPEAKER_00: He is everything.
SPEAKER_00: It makes me think of Jesus' words to his disciples in John chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: I know you know them, we sang them too.
SPEAKER_00: When he says, I am the vine, and you are the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
SPEAKER_00: For apart from me, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Did you hear that at the end?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, Apart from me, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_00: I was confronted with that this week.
SPEAKER_00: That smacked me in the face this week.
SPEAKER_00: That little phrase at the end of John 15 5, memorized it in Bible college.
SPEAKER_00: I've heard it hundreds of times, if not thousands of times, growing up, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But it's really easy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00: It's really easy for me to go through life and just depend on my own strength, depend on my own understanding, depend on my own power, depend on my own knowledge, like depend on my own wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: It can be really easy, I don't know, I don't know about you, but it can be natural for me to go through life and just figure out my own problems on my own understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's where you find yourself.
SPEAKER_00: I it's really natural, it can become second nature for me to like, instead of when I'm when I'm faced with something that seems outside of myself or seems like I need I need help, I'll go to a trusted friend or mentor before I go to the Lord in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but like it could be easy for me to rely on my own power rather than rely on the power of the spirit that's alive within me.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than just rather than just asking him to fill me.
SPEAKER_00: AW Tozer said this a long time ago.
SPEAKER_00: He said, if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we would what we would go what we would do would go on, and no one would know the difference.
SPEAKER_00: And if the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everyone would know the difference.
SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, I wonder which of those I fall into sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you're sitting there and you think the same thing.
SPEAKER_00: Like I wonder if the Spirit was taken away from me, like would 95% of what I'm what I'm doing just continue to happen because I'm not really asking him to be a part of it, anyways.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not really inviting his strength, his power to work in me.
SPEAKER_00: Like I'm I'm not consciously aware of his moving and working in my own life.
SPEAKER_00: So everything would just go on like normal.
SPEAKER_00: Or am I dependent on him in such a way that if the spirit was taken away, man, my livelihood would be taken away.
SPEAKER_00: My strength would be taken away.
SPEAKER_00: The very power I'm walking every step with would be taken away.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, we don't just need Jesus for our salvation, we need him for our strength for our daily lives.
SPEAKER_00: Like he is the one that enables us to be able to get through, get through whatever circumstance that's in front of us.
SPEAKER_00: Like we need his strength.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just power for your salvation in one moment, but it's power for your sanctification that's ongoing.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's power to continue to shape him and mold you into his image.
SPEAKER_00: It's the strength so you can face whatever you're facing right now.
SPEAKER_00: Church, at the most basic, we are a gathering of people who realize that we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We need him for our salvation and we need him for our daily lives.
SPEAKER_00: And this kind of honestly, like as I as I think about this and I think about you know what this realization means and the kind of impact this could have, like, I start to get giddy because I start to think about like what kind of a church, what kind of a church, what kind of impact could this have, could this realization have on this place, on this family, on our lives, on our community, if we came to realize ultimately we need Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We need him in every single, every single moment.
SPEAKER_00: We need him.
SPEAKER_00: We're a gathering of people who realize we need Jesus, and here's what it here's what's at stake.
SPEAKER_00: Like when you and I have Jesus, we will have the posture of humility.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we'll have.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you realize, like, quite frankly, if we have come to this realization as individuals, then this is the only posture that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00: It's the only thing that makes sense is for us to be humbled before him.
SPEAKER_00: When we realize I can't do anything apart from you, and I need you to save me because I am wicked and sinful and broken.
SPEAKER_00: Like I need you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: When we come to that, it humbles us.
SPEAKER_00: It humbles us, it gives a humility that looks like the example of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We talked about this in Philippians chapter two.
SPEAKER_00: Like he humbled himself and he gave himself and he emptied himself.
SPEAKER_00: We will have a humility that looks like that.
SPEAKER_00: We'll have a humility that is not thoroughly focused on ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: We'll have a humility that is extending compassion on those in need.
SPEAKER_00: We'll have a humility that realizes what we've been delivered from.
SPEAKER_00: And then responds, a humility that responds in authentic worship for the one who has saved us, the only one who can save us.
SPEAKER_00: Like we'll have a humility that realizes no matter how bad it is, no matter how bad it is, whatever you may be experiencing right now, or whatever decisions, bad decisions you have made, or sin that you find yourself in, or whatever shortcoming that you're kicking yourself for, you're not beyond the reach of God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: And it'll be a humility that realizes no matter how good things get in your life, whatever mountaintops you're experiencing, the successes that you're celebrating, you're not beyond the need for God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: You hear that?
SPEAKER_00: That's how Jerry Bridges said it.
SPEAKER_00: He said it, our worst days are never so bad that we're beyond the reach of God's grace, and your worst, and your best days are never never so good that you're beyond the need of God's grace.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is the posture of humility that we will have.
SPEAKER_00: We'll come to realize like that apart from him, we are we are nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Like we can't do anything.
SPEAKER_00: Apart from him, we are we are on a one-way ticket.
SPEAKER_00: The ship's going down.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll have a humility to realize, like, this is me.
SPEAKER_00: And also, hey, look to your right and to your left.
SPEAKER_00: This is everyone in this room.
SPEAKER_00: Like we're all on the same, all on the same playing field here.
SPEAKER_00: And it will give us this posture of humility.
SPEAKER_00: No matter who steps forward in these doors, like they're welcomed by the same grace that you're welcomed with.
SPEAKER_00: They're welcomed by the same God that you are welcomed by.
SPEAKER_00: They're welcomed with the same love of the Father that you are welcomed by.
SPEAKER_00: Like everybody is welcome in here.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody can come to know Jesus in here.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's in the same need of grace that you are.
SPEAKER_00: And as a result, it will also bring this culture of unity in this place.
SPEAKER_00: Like when we have Jesus, we'll have this culture of unit of unity because we all have this posture of humility, like realizing where we were and where we are now because of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And it will bring unity for us as a church.
SPEAKER_00: It will help us to see that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: It'll help us to realize this.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so many times I feel like this is the chief tactic of the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: It's to try to stick to try to get us to divide over silly, stupid things, over things that do not matter, things that ultimately Christ has already torn down between us.
SPEAKER_00: And so many times we get, we get, we build up these walls in between us over preferences in how we're supposed to do church and how loud the music's supposed to be.
SPEAKER_00: And the church I was growing up in was the color of the carpet and the color of the pews.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you grew up in a church like that.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like so many times we get we get we put up walls between us of political affiliation and of who we're voting for.
SPEAKER_00: Like so many times we put up walls between us on race or social status.
SPEAKER_00: So many times we put up walls between us on, and it's really like just rumors and lies rather than seeking the truth.
SPEAKER_00: Rather than going and speaking the truth in love.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we put walls, like there's people that walk in here and we know the kind of life they've lived.
SPEAKER_00: They're in a different, whole, whole different classification of sinner than we are.
SPEAKER_00: And so many times we we put dividing walls in between us.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth of the gospel is that Jesus is our life and he is also our peace.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2, when he says that Jesus himself is our peace and he's torn down every wall that we could possibly try to put between us.
SPEAKER_00: Like we are united by his blood above all else, and God dwells in this unified presence of his people.
SPEAKER_00: And if we've truly come to this realization as a church that we all need Jesus, then we won't waste time building walls that Jesus broke down through his life and death.
SPEAKER_00: Like we won't waste time with that.
SPEAKER_00: There are more important things to get to.
SPEAKER_00: We'll realize, hey, the ground is level here.
SPEAKER_00: The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of us, not a not a single one of us, brings anything to our own merit as we approach Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Like we are not saved by anything we have done.
SPEAKER_00: We're only saved through what He has done for us.
SPEAKER_00: And it will unify us above everything else.
SPEAKER_00: When we all come to this collective realization, we'll have this posture of humility, we'll have this culture of unity.
SPEAKER_00: And when this realization has taken root in this place, man, there will be a sense of urgency.
SPEAKER_00: Church, we will be, we will be antsy to get out of these doors.
SPEAKER_00: We'll be we'll be chomping at the bit to go get on mission.
SPEAKER_00: Like if we've come to know that all that we all need Jesus, that without him we are lost, without him we can't accomplish anything worthwhile, then the natural next step for us as a church family will be to move forward with a sense of urgency into a lost and dying world that desperately needs what we need as well.
SPEAKER_00: That desperately needs what we have come to find in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Because you and I have no idea.
SPEAKER_00: Like we have no idea when our last moments are gonna be.
SPEAKER_00: We have no idea when the Lord's gonna call us home, when he's gonna take us.
SPEAKER_00: We have no idea when that loved one is also gonna go home either.
SPEAKER_00: Just sign back here.
SPEAKER_00: About a year and a half ago, we were talking about this as a church.
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about the need for us to go, that we have been sent to speak the truth of the gospel, that we've been called to go and open the door to people who need to hear the good news that Jesus came for them and died for them and loves them and is calling them back to Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Like we've been we've been sent to speak the truth of the gospel, and it was a year and a half ago I said, Hey, why don't you go ahead and put a name on a card of somebody in your life, a family member, a friend, a coworker, a son or a daughter, an aunt or an uncle, and come put them on here.
SPEAKER_00: This sign's been hanging in our hallway for the last year and a half.
SPEAKER_00: Sign with with names like Josiah and Nick, Joel and Paxton and Erica and Avery, and Brian and David and Jeremy and Harper and Jeremiah and Noah and Jacob and Christian and Megan.
SPEAKER_00: Church has been hanging in our hallway.
SPEAKER_00: I put a name on that board too.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you knew that.
SPEAKER_00: I put a name on that board.
SPEAKER_00: A year and a half ago.
SPEAKER_00: Not just for this salvation.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just because I've responded to him in baptism.
SPEAKER_00: That is part of it for sure, but it's not everything.
SPEAKER_00: I need him every day.
SPEAKER_00: Like I need his power to be walking with me.
SPEAKER_00: I need his strength every day.
SPEAKER_00: Have you told them that?
SPEAKER_00: Have you gone to them and told them, hey, I want to tell you this in the most loving way possible.
SPEAKER_00: The ship is going down.
SPEAKER_00: Like every single one of us is gonna end up somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: Every single one of us is headed headed to an eternal destiny somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: And I can have surety knowing that I'm walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have any kind of confidence in that?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I let me tell you about my about my God.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you about my Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He is everything for me.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I need him for every single day of my life.
SPEAKER_00: Church, have you gone?
SPEAKER_00: Can I be honest with you?
SPEAKER_00: I haven't.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm trying to lead us forward into where we need to go as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not willing to step into that with my brother-in-law's name that I put on that board.
SPEAKER_00: I'm broken.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: You know what's incredible at the same time is that the mercies of God are new for me today, and they're new for you today.
SPEAKER_00: If you missed an opportunity, man, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You've got one today.
SPEAKER_00: But man, I don't know if you're gonna have one tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: The church, when we come to this realization that we all need Jesus, not just for our salvation, but for every moment of our lives, man, there's gonna be a gospel humility that invades this place.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a gospel unity that invades this place.
SPEAKER_00: There's gonna be a gospel urgency that sends us forward into a lost and dying world that desperately needs it.
SPEAKER_00: Man, that's the kind of church I want to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we need you.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, there's somebody in this in this room right now that needs to needs to step forward and step into the life that you are you're offering freely to them today.
SPEAKER_00: They need to bring their bring their their broken self to you and just lay it in your hands.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray that Lord, that you would, you would make them, by the power of your spirit, you would you would make them stand up and and take steps forward.
SPEAKER_00: To some people in the back or some people up front that just want to pray with them and walk with them and talk with them about what this decision man, this could be a fork in the road day for somebody in this room.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, it could be a fork in the road day for somebody else who's been just relying on themselves way too much, relying on their own strength, on their own ability, on their own wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, help us to help us to repent.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to confess when we have just only only looked at ourselves and and not turned our attention to you, not not relied and depended upon you wholly.
SPEAKER_00: The same attitude that you had, an attitude of humility, of not just being thoroughly focused on ourselves, but but thoroughly focused on others.
SPEAKER_00: Would you unify us above all else?
SPEAKER_00: Or continue to tear down the walls that we're that we're building, that we're putting between us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, you would you call us forward?
SPEAKER_00: Would you send us on mission into a world that desperately needs you?
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, as we come to this realization that we need you, would would you help us to respond?
SPEAKER_00: Respond in authentic worship to the one who, the only one who's worthy of our praise.
SPEAKER_00: We ask that you would be glorified above all else.
SPEAKER_00: We pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's stand and sing this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again for listening to the Carterville Christian Church podcast.
SPEAKER_01: Our prayer is that today's message has encouraged you and drawn you closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: To learn more or get connected with our church family, visit Carterville Christian.com.
SPEAKER_01: We'd love to walk alongside you in your journey of faith.