SPEAKER_00 0:06

Thank you for joining us for a sermon from Sutrain North. I like to tell the story of when I went to college, I had grown up in a Christian home, conservative, pretty legalistic. And when I say pretty legalistic, I mean very legalistic background. And even though we weren't sheltered, because a lot of us went to public school, we were sheltered in the church, and they thought we were just like held onto real tight. So I went to the University of Memphis for my first couple years of college. And I tell the story, I I enjoy telling it. It's like I'm a Christian, I'm gonna take some religion courses for electives. And so if you've lived life, you know, like, oh my goodness, taking a religion course at a public university. It's like, oh, that's gonna be interesting. But I thought, yeah, I'll do this. And so I get into my first religion class. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life, didn't know what my major was. And uh I'm just sitting in college, newly 18, and then this professor comes in and says, Hey, the purpose of this class is to prove all world religions wrong and that everyone is a sham. Welcome to my class. And I was like, oh, wow, this will be interesting. Now, what was interesting is uh a lot of the people in my class were probably from a similar background as me. I didn't know any of them, but I could hear the rumblings because as the semester went on, the professor would make all these claims without really giving much proof. One of the claims he made was that Christian baptism was based on Zoroastrianism, where they would be baptized under the blood of a bull. And I was like, oh, okay. And gave no evidence, and even if that was true, it was like, okay, whatever. And then it drove me to the library to study, and it gave me my love for apologetics. But for some in the class, I saw them start to drift. And I remember one class specifically before it started, one student said to another student, I can't believe our parents never told us this stuff. They've been feeding us lines of stuff. That's all I can say, uh, our whole lives. And it's like, oh wow. And so the drift that they had was not immediate, but I thought about the influence of what causes us to drift and what forms us. Because it probably started with hearing some things in class and then talking to friends and making new friends that had different beliefs. And so as they moved from their influence, and maybe their grounding wasn't great in the tradition they grew up, they they drifted. And that's what Galatians 4 is all about. Um, Paul in Galatians 1 through 3, what he's done is he's he's like articulator of the faith, defender of the faith, theologian. But in chapter 4, what he does is he shifts a little bit to being very much more pastoral and just showing his heart for the people. And so as we read our passage today, we're concluding uh the rest of chapter 4. I'm gonna read just the uh 12 through 20 for us as we begin, and the last point will hit the last verses. But as we hear this, hear Paul's heart. And remember what we said through this whole thing is where do you find yourself in the story today? Because at the end of the day, humanity is the same. Just 2,000 years ago, or like we all, since the fall in the garden, we have the same struggles. We struggle with fear, guilt, and shame, all these things. So hear this word, and if you wish, you may stand for the reading of God's word. We'll read Galatians 4, 12 through 20. Hear Paul's heart. I beg you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have not wronged me, you know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh. You did not despise or reject me through my physical di though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God as Christ himself. Where then is your blessing? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. So then have I become your enemy because I told you the truth? They court you eagerly, but not for good. They want to exclude you from me, so that you would pursue them. But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner, and not just when I am with you. My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don't know what to do about you. This is the word of the Lord. Maybe seated. You can follow along in your outline here. And Paul does not start with in this section with anything other than being very personal with them and talking about relationship based in memory. So he starts here and he says, When I preach the gospel to you, I came in weakness, and that's why I came. And so there's different thoughts. There's not a lot known about what physical ailment Paul had. Some say it's tied to eyesight because he says I would have ripped out my eyes, but that's not the main point anyway. The main point is that he was probably going somewhere else to preach the gospel, and because of his infirmity, he landed in this place by the providence of God. And then he says it wasn't ideal circumstances. And in that day and age, just like in our day and age, a lot of times what would happen is if you saw someone who's struggling, and especially in the religious world, it's like, you must have made God mad. If you struggle, if you're sick, if you have an ailment, what did they do? Because that's how the world works. But we remember what Jesus said. It's not because of the blind man's sin that he is blind. It's like that's not the correlation here. People suffer. And sometimes God's precious servants suffer the most, and God uses them in their weakness for great things. So he's saying, you embraced me, you didn't turn away, you received me as Christ Himself. So he's going back and saying, Remember how you started with me? You embraced me. And so the movement was from freedom and affection to suspicion and distance. And that can happen quickly. And so when we think about redemptive memory, uh redemptive remembering, it's something that I think about a lot these days, and I continue to think about this quote that I've told you before from Kurt Thompson. It's what you pay attention to, you remember, and what you remember becomes your anticipated future. So the question is, what are you paying attention to? Because that becomes your anticipated future, and I can shift it around a little bit. What you pay attention to is what's forming you. Because we're all being formed by something. And the application for this first point is think back. Can you think back to a time where you were pursuing God, and then you maybe now you've drifted? Um there are a lot of reasons we drift, and I was thinking about the personal choices we make, the way life wears on us, we get beat down. A lot of times people's choices are maybe because you saw religious leaders fall or their spiritual abuse. There's so many reasons why we drift. So many reasons. But the truth is we only have agency for ourselves, the choices that we make. And the truth is you can start well and finish poorly. The Galatians they started well and now they're drifting. And Paul's saying, come back, don't follow that way. There's a Stephen Curtis Chapman song. Anybody Stephen Curtis Chapman fan from back in the day? You gotta be probably a little older. Um, but it's a a song called Waiting for Lightning. And he says this in uh verse 2. He says, Night falls and the curtain goes down, no one's around, it's just you and the truth. As you lie in wait for a feeling to take you by storm, somewhere in the depths of your heart where it's empty and dark, there's a flicker of light, and the spirit calls, but do you notice it all? And the the chorus is, but you're waiting for lightning, a sign that it's time for a change. You're listening for thunder while he quietly whispers your name. And there are times that we drift and we're just waiting for God. Show me a sign, show me, and it's it's like he has given you the word, he's given you community, and he is whispering your name. But my encouragement to you is listen, especially in those quiet moments when you lay on your bed at night and things are maybe raging around inside. I call it in myself the hum is always going internally, and it can it can rage or it can be quieted, but I can't really control it per se, but I can control what I do with it. All right, so as we look at the past and we think about when grace was personal, we want to look at the present and say, what is forming us? So that's point number two, discern what is forming you now. Paul names the two great influences in their life right now. He says, they, and they are the false teachers, the Judaizers. Remember, they've come in and they've said, as Jewish Christians, and they've said, hey, Gentiles, you can be Christian, but you've got to become like us, where we have adapted the Old Testament law and we still have to do these things, and unless you do these things, then you're not really saved. And Paul has already been hitting it again and again in so many ways, where he says, if you preach a gospel different than it's by grace you're saved through faith. If you preach a different gospel, even if it's an angel from heaven, may they be accursed. It's a big deal. He says, They make much of you. So these false teachers have come in and they're they're saying, Hey, you're really smart, you're really good, follow us. What is so that's one influence. What's Paul? He says, My little children, and this is something most men shouldn't say. I am again in the anguish of childbirth, and most ladies say, you don't know what that's like. And it's like, no, I don't. But he says, he's putting this point, I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Think about that, the agony. He talks in other places, this is what I strive for to present everyone mature in Christ. So the two major influences here, and that's where the, even as we get to chapter 5, when we talk about the fruit of the spirit and the works of the flesh, these are the two stories. These are the two lives we can live. And they do war against each other. So the false teachers, they want to collect these people to build themselves up. Paul labors for Christ to be formed in them. And so we have this war. And I think with uh false teachers and cults, there's a thing called love bombing. And when someone comes in, it's like we're gonna show so much love and acceptance, and then we're gonna shift them towards this message or this charismatic leader. And I would just tell you, beware, beware, beware, beware. That's probably the derivation of that beware. I don't know, you can Google it. Beware of the super spiritual groups. If someone comes to you and they're just all about rules and they're like, this is serious Christianity, if you want to be serious, or if they have a special revelation, they're like, This is this is the special revelation God gave me. Therefore, if you want to be super spiritual, follow me and my way and my nuanced view on this little specific subject, then you'll be a serious Christian. Show you're serious. That's what I grew up with. That's what I grew up with. I remember in youth group one time, the uh, this was we were doing a Friday night thing and the basketball and pizza and all these things. And the youth pastor said to us, he he pulled us all in, we want to get back outside and start playing. He said, if you're serious about Jesus, I want you to stay in this room. Everyone else can go back out and play. That's what I grew up with. I stayed in those with a few people that stayed because I it was driven by guilt and shame. It's like, I am serious about Jesus. What did you think that did to our souls? Our friends are outside playing basketball. It's like, how long is this gonna last now? Man. The groups you attach to will form you. That formed me in big ways. It took a lot of unforming. And the truth is for the rest of my life, there'll be residuals of that upbringing. That's just the way it is, but it can turn me to the Lord and remind me to redemptively remember the truth. There have been Harvard studies, a lot of studies, um, long-term research, where it just proven that you you become more like the people you're with. Some people say you're you're most like the five people you spend the most time with. That's why you've attached to them. Think about that. Now, if you're in a family, it's like, well, I'm stuck with them, so but I don't know. Think about that. I mean, that's that can be comforting and encouraging or kind of scary. But it can be tied to your happiness, to your habits, even health patterns. And formational formation is relational, it's not just intellectual, it's not just the learning. I mean, we absorb things from other people. And scripture's been saying this the whole time. Bad company corrupts good morals. Walk with the wise, become wise. What about the Old Testament? God said, do not immerse yourself, do not go over to these foreign nations because they're doing terrible things, and you're going to become like them if you do. What happens? They go, they mingle, they become like them over and over and over again. So the culture we live in shapes us. Now, here's the interesting thing. We're called to be in the world and not be of the world. Are we still like, should we just go buy some property, build some houses, and you put me in charge of your finances? That's kind of the definition of a cult. That's what it is right there. Don't do that. Be wary of that. But we're gonna be in the world, but we need to be looking like what's shaping us. What is shaping us? I remembered in a study where they talked about youth and being told, follow your dreams. And a lot of that derivation came especially coming out of the 60s. And so in 1970, guess what most kids wanted to be when they grew up? It was an astronaut. Why? Because in 1969, walked on the moon. And so, what if you track that, it's it's every study is a little reductionistic. Um, but if you look at it, it's like that drove a lot of students into STEM, so science and and math and engineering. Some became pilots, and it was like, I want to, I want to do that, even if they didn't become engineers. But some studies show today, and it comes down to what's forming you. It's if you look at what a lot of youth want to be, guess what they want to be? The top things. Not all of them, but some. And you're right. Social media influencer, gamer, YouTuber. We are being formed by the things that we value, and our desires are even being shaped. And so it's not a matter of what or if you're being shaped, it's it's what or who is shaping you. What's shaping what you want, what's what voices are forming your desires, what has been discipling your imagination. And that's why the secret things of the heart and the things that we view, and those things become so dangerous because they lead us down a trail. It's not, you don't just jump from A to Z. You start looking at something, and then it's A to B, and then it goes to C. And over time it's a gradual drift. D. And then before you know it, you're at you're at Z, and it's like, what am I gonna do? And God in His grace is when you get I'm cut now, but we're gonna change before next week. I'm gonna move over to this thing. When you get to C and D, God whispers your name and you have community, and it's this idea of come back. Come back now. And if you find yourself on the in this illustration at the latter ends in a secret life, at the end of the alphabet, there come. Come. Let's talk. There's always damage that's done. But there's a call to you. Just like the Galatians. So the last point. And if you if you realize it, the sermon has one point, even though I'm it's it's got three. It's it's basically uh what's forming you. Choose a story you will live from. So this section We're having a lot of trouble today, aren't we? Hey, I will give you an update though. All the colors have been chosen. It's gonna be exciting. I'm gonna tell you about it since the mics we got new mics, but we haven't figured out the signals yet. There's uh waves that go. I I'm gonna go to a handheld Well, this is already handheld. I'm gonna go to this one. Can I do this, Chad? It's not Chad's fault. Now this is directly wired in. I don't know if I can get to my notes, but I'm gonna try. Alright, that's great. So Oh, I was gonna tell you about the update. So, new carpet, all through here, in the hallway, some great laminate in the fellowship hall so you can spill with confidence. We got two 98-inch TVs. We're gonna paint this all one color and take this. This is actually just a frame. The wall's painted white. There's not actually a screen there. You can come check it out after the service if you want. So we'll paint that 98 inch TV. I keep telling people I'm gonna frame this a little. Bit lower, and then we're gonna put a 90-inch 98-inch TV up there, and it's gonna be sweet. I don't know if you can imagine this place without red on the floor. I can. I've been imagining it for a while, but we are super excited, and um yeah, all that from the microphones, right? What's forming you? What's forming me is excitement about this auditorium and just the idea that we can come in and have a fresh space and say, man, this is beautiful. And we worship together and we're formed together. But choose a story you'll live from. This is all about the fruit of the spirit and the works of the flesh. He's getting to it in Galatians 5, but it's the two stories, and he takes you all the way back to Genesis. To Abraham and Sarah, they've been given a promise, but they had to wait. And the trouble with the promise was that it was impossible in their own strength to fulfill it. And year after year after year passes. And he's gonna make, God's gonna make a great nation out of Abraham's line. It's like, how is that even possible? It is impossible. And so as they wait, they try to fulfill the promise in their own strength. And so Abraham takes Sarah's maidservant, Hagar, and Ishmael is born. And God said, That's not the way. And then miraculously, not because of anything Abraham or Sarah do, it is because of God's gracious gift given. Do you see the parallel between salvation and grace? Isaac is given, and a great nation is born, and from that great nation, Christ comes. There's still tension between Ishmael's seed and Isaac. But we do this, and he says, look at the picture. There's two women, there's two covenants, there's two ways of relating to God. There's slavery, which is law, self-effort, anxiety-driven, and there's freedom, which is promise, grace, inheritance, peace. Which side are you living from? And it Paul's key line, he says, we are not children of slaves, but of the free woman. And brother and sister, I say to you today, you're free. And you say, Well, don't feel very free. And there are things that uh attach to our soul and lead us different ways, but the truth is we're free in Christ. We've been set free. So the gospel is freedom. Workspace religion is slavery. And we continue to grow in just this freedom of what does it mean to live free in Christ? Because you think if I'm free, and we'll talk about this, I can just do whatever I want. And it's like, no, no, no. May I sin so grace can abound? Paul says, no way, no way. But the more we see how much we're loved, the more we see how much God has done for us, the more we will live out of delight and less out of duty. I heard this story and adapted it many years ago. That uh imagine it's Ginger and I's anniversary. We're gonna be married 20 years in June, June 10th. Um and I want to surprise her, so I get some flowers and I knock on the door, our own door of our own house, which is kind of weird. Um, and then she answers it, and I'm like, hey, babe, and she's like, What are you doing? And then I have flowers and I say, It's the duty of a husband to do something special for his wife on the anniversary. So I thought I'd do that. You think that bless her heart? She might gently shut the door. And but if I come, knock on the door, and she's like, Oh, why are you doing this? And I say, Because you're my love, and it gives me the greatest delight to see joy in your life, and we're gonna celebrate today. That's like our relationship with God. So much starts in duty, and some stay in that place their whole lives. What's funny? I I think even think about it like this. It's like if we are so duty bound, then we can even try to make delight a duty, right? It's like, oh, I gotta delight more. It's like, ah, just relax and breathe deep. Confess where you're at, and just it's like this is where I'm at. You're okay. But let's move together. Here's a sentence to carry. Who you listen to is shaping who you're becoming. Who you listening, who you listening to, I typed that in wrong, didn't I? I'm the proofreader. This is just uh my country upbringing. Who you listening to is shaping who you are becoming. You can insert an R in there. Maybe you'll remember it more because of that, leaving that word out. But who you are listening to is shaping you. Who are you listening to? And as we slow down, just think who are you listening to? With all the sound trouble, I'm gonna risk playing a song of reflection for you, okay? We're gonna try it. Um, but this is the Stephen Curtis Chapman song that means so much to me. It's called Waiting for Lightning. After I sing it, I'll I'll pray. And if you're a Christian here today, I'd invite you after I pray after the song to come forward and to take some juice and bread back to your seat and reflect what's forming you. And our goal is to be the non-judgmental observer, to look at our lives and just say, this is what is. God already knows. How can I take a step towards what is real and beautiful and true? Because God is calling our name. So I'm gonna take a moment just to shift over here. I'd invite you just to, if you would, bow your head and just reflect and pray and hear the words of this song. Looking at the view, for used to believe where you are, you can see you are far away from home. You once knew call out to you from across the divide, and you know it's time to step back over the line, but you're waiting for line sign that it's time for change. You're listening for thunder. While he quietly whispers your name. Whispers your name. No one's around, it's just you and the truth. You lie and wait for feeling to take you by storm somewhere in the depths of your heart, where it's empty and dark, there's a flicker of light, and the spirit calls. But do you notice at all? Cause you're waiting for lighting, a sign that it's time for a change. You're listening for thunder while he quietly whispers your name. The sign and the words have already been given, and now it's by faith, we must look, we must listen. Let's hear that line again. The signs and the word have already been given, and now it's by faith you must look, you must listen instead of waiting for lightning sign that it's time for a change. Instead of waiting for thunder, he quietly whispers your name. Oh, please don't wait. Thank you. Let's pray together. Father, as we come to this time of communion, we pray that you would show us who and what is forming us that is not you, which is not what you're calling us to. And I pray for those who have drifted, and they're being formed by so many different things. I pray that you'd speak to their hearts, and in this time where we have time to reflect, time to hear this song, that we would know that you're waiting with open arms, and we can just turn, and you are right there, desiring for us to come home. Please move in our midst, and we ask this in Christ's name. Amen.