WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:00.800 Hi. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:03.600 So my name is Sean. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:05.519 I have not been here for very long. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:08.880 So I'm questioning the decision to give me this. 00:00:09.039 --> 00:00:14.560 So I'm doing the reading today and it's from Ephesians 3, 14 to 21. 00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:15.679 Thank you. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:16.640 Any of that? 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:25.839 Alright, so it's uh for this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on and on earth derives its name. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:36.079 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:55.439 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know his love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:03.439 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.519 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:10.400 Amen. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:12.799 This is the word of the Lord. 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:13.680 There we go. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:14.640 There we go. 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:18.640 Thank you, Sean. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:20.319 Great job, brother. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:23.439 All right. 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.079 Welcome to church, everybody. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:27.920 So glad you're here. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:32.079 My intro doesn't really apply now because I wrote it for the power being out. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:35.760 And I've emphasized that quite a few times, so I think we're tired of hearing that. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:38.000 I I don't know if you know this. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:39.519 We're just gonna dive right in. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.959 But I don't know if you know this, but Christianity is dying, apparently. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.239 Word on the street is Christianity is dying. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:52.400 Not globally necessarily, it's actually expanding and multiplying very quickly around the world. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.239 But here in the West specifically, apparently, the church is dying, Christianity is dying. 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.079 And there's some statistics to back this up. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:02.400 In the past 20 years, Christianity has steadily declined in the United States. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:06.719 Uh 20 years ago, 80% of the population would have claimed to be Christians. 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:09.199 Today, that number is down to 60%. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:16.240 And that 20% decline is the largest decline ever measured in the Gallup World poll across any and all nations. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:21.360 But when you actually dig into that statistic, the the they're actually a lot worse. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:24.639 You realize that that 60% is a massive stretch. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.080 And Barna's category of practicing Christians. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.879 So a practicing Christian qualifies as someone who identifies as a Christian, says they are one. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.240 Two, that they consider their faith important, they would say that it's important. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:41.280 And three, they attend church regularly, which in their measurement is at least once a month. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.680 So once every four to six weeks or so. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:49.120 If you put those qualifiers on that 60%, only 24% would qualify. 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:54.319 So even using that pretty low bar for Christian devotion, the best result is 24% of people. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:05.919 But if we actually look at the baseline New Testament criteria for followers of Jesus, so if we just kind of look at the New Testament, try to take kind of the expectation of the Christian life from the New Testament, kind of apply it to our culture. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:17.599 So this is someone whose worldview, values, behavior, obedience, and life purpose are consistently shaped by biblical, by biblical trust and who actively follow and make disciples of Jesus. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:21.039 So that kind of this New Testament kind of expectation. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:27.520 If we use that criteria, only two to three percent, two to three percent of the of the U.S. 00:03:27.759 --> 00:03:28.719 qualifies. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:35.120 So to go back to what we were saying, I don't necessarily know, I don't necessarily believe that Christianity is dying. 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:41.599 But I will say this I think there is a kind of Christianity that is dying in the West, and it needs to. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:46.479 There's a kind of Christianity that is dying in the West and it needs to die. 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.960 There's a kind of Christianity that is popular but not powerful. 00:03:51.199 --> 00:03:54.960 There's a kind of Christianity that creates a full calendar but an empty soul. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:58.479 There's a kind of Christianity that has no fire and bears no fruit. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:02.560 There's a kind of Christianity that resists conviction and is overwhelmed by distraction. 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:07.039 There's a kind of Christianity that costs nothing, produces nothing, and ultimately accomplishes nothing. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:10.719 And this Christianity, this kind of Christianity needs to die. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.639 Because it is really no Christianity at all, right? 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:24.160 You know, there's the the the reality is that there's the this this kind of term, this idea of Christian has become a little bit like a heritage, right? 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:32.560 It's it's like saying I'm from, I'm from, I'm from, I'm from Atlanta, I'm from, I'm from the Northeast, I'm I'm a New Yorker, I'm you know, so people say, I'm a Christian. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:32.959 Why? 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:40.480 Because I was raised in that kind of home and kind of had some of those values, maybe because people would say that I am, or, or however they may think about it. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:46.079 But ultimately, the we don't get to determine or decide what Christian means, right? 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:52.879 Like we don't get to determine or decide what it means, we don't get to change the expectations or the qualifications of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:56.160 Jesus has set these expectations and he's made these things clear. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:04.480 And when you read the New Testament, you look at the people of Jesus, it becomes clear that there, that there's a certain kind of lifestyle that comes with being named by Christ. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:09.600 You know, the the original term Christian was actually a negative term that people at Antioch used to make fun of the people of Jesus. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:11.040 They called them little Christs. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:12.639 That's the idea of Christian. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.519 But then we've we've kind of made it of this marker of like, no, we actually want to be known by the name of Jesus. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:30.160 And so we and so there are people who will bear the name of Jesus and apply it to themselves as an identifying marker, and yet their life doesn't necessarily reflect someone who finds value or importance or love or devotion to Jesus. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:34.480 And that's the kind of Christianity that needs to die. 00:05:34.639 --> 00:05:41.360 I I when we when we read this text, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 14 through 21, I hope it's clear when you read this. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.120 Paul starts out and he says, he says, For this reason, I kneel before the Father. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:49.519 I kneel before God, and I'm on my face, I'm on my knees, and I'm crying out to him, and I'm praying for him. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:58.160 And I hope it's clear that when you read this, that Paul isn't kneeling before God, asking and begging and pleading for the Ephesians to casually identify themselves as Christians. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:01.120 That's not his vision for their life. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:03.759 And that's not his vision for your life. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:04.800 Why? 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:06.800 Because he wants more for you. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:07.680 That's why. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:08.879 Because he wants more for you. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:11.759 So you may hear this and you go, like, oh man, like great. 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:14.879 I walked in and this person's about to now lay this burden on me. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:20.319 He's not going to lay this weight, he's going to now lay this religious kind of talk on me and it's going to weigh me down and hold me back. 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.959 And Jesus is going, no, no, I don't want this for you. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:23.360 Why? 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:28.639 Because because it adds restraint to your life, but actually bears no fruit and gives you no joy. 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:37.839 Why would you want to name yourself by something and add restriction to your life and and and live some kind of haphazard religious lifestyle that ultimately has no power? 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.600 Why would you want that for yourself? 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:45.279 That's why when Jesus in Matthew chapter 11 says, says, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burden, I'll give you rest. 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:53.920 And then he goes on to say, My yoke is easy and my burden is light, the trans, the translation there isn't necessarily that it's that it's easy in this in the sense of like levels in a game, easy. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:55.279 He's saying it fits. 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.519 Like my yoke is meant to fit you. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:04.800 Like he's like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put a life on you, I'm gonna put a lifestyle on you that you can actually bear, but it's also gonna be with me and it's gonna bear fruit. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.920 It's gonna lead to joy, it's gonna lead to life, it's gonna produce something. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:11.920 And when Paul writes this language, I want you to notice the language that he uses. 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.279 He doesn't say the restriction of God, the demand of God. 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:20.399 He says the power of God, the riches of God, the fullness of God. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:31.199 And so in this text, he's actually painting a picture of abundance, like a God who is so generous and wants to give you all things and has everything at his disposal and wants to share it with you. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:45.680 Like this is the picture he's painting of God, not of someone who tries to restrict, someone who tries to weigh down, someone who tries to hold back, someone who looks at you and says, Oh, there's a really good life you could live, but let me actually add these restraints on you and keep you from living a really good life and make you settle for this religious one. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:46.480 No, no, no. 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:53.040 He's saying, He's saying there's power, there's riches, there's wealth, there's fullness of God that is that is offered to you. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:54.560 He's painting a picture of abundance. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.240 And so now think about this, right? 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:00.959 Because let's let's paint a little bit of the context is that Paul is writing this from a jail sail. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:02.560 Like he's writing this from jail. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.399 Sorry, that was that was Alabama right there. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:05.759 You heard that jail sail. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:06.879 Y'all heard that. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:08.560 It's a jail on a sailboat. 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.360 You know, it made like it was that just sounded Alabama roll time. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:35.279 But but Paul is sitting in a in a jail, and he's writing to persecuted Christians in a pagan culture who we've been reading about that have come from have come from Jewish backgrounds and have come from Greek backgrounds and have now come together in one community as a church, and he's now riding to them as they're trying to endure and trying to be resilient Christians and be faithful to Jesus in the midst of this pagan culture. 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:43.279 And all he can talk about and all he can emphasize is the fullness of God and the abundance of his riches and the immeasurably more he longs to do in and through their lives. 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.840 Does that fit the context? 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:53.120 Sitting in a jail, you would think he's writing and he's just complaining and just saying, This is oh, like this is terrible. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:54.480 Well, when are you gonna come help me? 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.200 When are you gonna come to? 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:56.080 And he's going, no, no. 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:57.919 First of all, he's not even thinking about himself. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:01.519 He's writing to them going, Do you realize what's available to you in Christ? 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:03.919 He's like, please don't settle. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:10.799 Like, as he's getting to the end of Ephesians chapter three, this whole, these first three chapters have just been prayer after prayer after prayer after prayer. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:15.039 And we're about to get into four through six, where he starts to give instruction for the Christian life. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.159 But these first three chapters have just been like, Do you realize what's yours in Christ? 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.279 Do you realize what's yours? 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:20.960 Do you realize the family you've been invited into? 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:23.360 Do you realize the community and the relationships that are yours and him? 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.200 Do you realize the riches and the fullness and the gifts and the power that's available to you in Christ? 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.200 Why are you settling for less than that? 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:35.600 And he's going, just as a father speaking to sons, going, speaking to sons and daughters, he's going, man, don't settle. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:37.679 Don't settle for less than his best. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:39.279 Do you realize what's available to you? 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.440 Yes, I know it's hard, but there's so much more in him. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.039 There's so much more in him. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.320 You know, when I meet with people, I often hear the same things to characterize their faith and relationship with God. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:55.759 Tired, weary, aimless, anxious, depressed, weighed down, stagnant, complacent. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:59.039 I hear a lot of people as they talk about their spiritual life. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:11.600 And I can't tell you the last time, if ever, I sat across from someone who said, I'm filled with the fullness, I'm strengthened, I'm rooted, I'm established, I'm experiencing the tangible, overwhelming love of God. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:21.679 And Paul is writing this, not saying that this should be the exception of the Christian life, but saying that this is available to each and every single one of us who call Jesus King. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:34.639 He's saying it shouldn't be that the routine of our lives is to sit around in Christian community and complain about how little we have and how hard it is to follow. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.279 And man, there are like it's hard, like it's hard out here. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:37.919 I get it. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:38.960 I really do get it. 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:54.240 But what Paul's consistently trying to emphasize from a jail in the face of persecution, in the face of all the things he suffered, getting closer and closer towards the end of his life where it's going to be taken from him as he loses his head by the at the hand of the Romans. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:57.600 And he's looking at them going, but do you see what's available to you in him? 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.919 There's riches, there's power, there's fullness, there's abundance, and it's yours. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:04.639 And he's saying that's the lens through which we look at our life. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:06.399 That's the lens. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:09.519 And so it's not meant to be the exception of the Christian life. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:11.840 He's saying, like, man, this is yours, this is all of ours. 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:20.159 And it's not because, because the re the the reality is, I we never we we don't hear people talk like this. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:21.600 It's almost like we're afraid to. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:23.440 We're afraid to be doing okay. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.080 We're afraid to be enjoying Jesus and enjoying the world. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:31.279 It's like someone told us once upon a time that what it meant to be authentic meant to be doing terrible all the time. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:36.080 Like what it meant to be honest about your life was to always be doing bad. 00:11:36.559 --> 00:11:39.360 And someone looks at you and you go, like, nah, man, I'm feeling the fullness of God. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:41.919 I'm feeling empowered right now, I'm being faithful to the Lord, I'm growing. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.039 And people are going, oh. 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:46.960 But what's really going on? 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.480 You know, what are you really doing? 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:52.639 And you go, No, no, for real. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:12:02.159 Like I'm filled with the Spirit of God, I'm conquering sin in my life, I'm loving people in the community, I'm seeing fruit bear in my spiritual life, I'm serving the Lord with joy and privilege and pleasure and delight. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:04.799 I'm experiencing his goodness and his riches. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.120 I wake up because I want to be with him. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:08.080 You know what I mean? 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:11.200 And you go, but what's really going on? 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.399 He's going, no, no, really, really, this is available to me, and we should be experiencing this. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:24.559 And so, and so here's the tension that I'm feeling as kind of we read this, because I'm reading this and I'm getting convicted because I'm going, why does this not describe my life? 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:30.240 When I go back to the to kind of the roots of a lot of my calling, it came from a place of discontentment. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:32.799 Like I was I was someone who had come to faith in the Lord. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:43.360 I was in college and I was like so many other Christians where I was really loud for Jesus, but but behind closed doors, it felt like the enemy was just taking over ground in my heart all the time. 00:12:43.600 --> 00:12:54.720 Like I could be loud about Jesus and I could show up to gatherings and perform about Jesus, but then behind closed doors, it was like I was silently suffering, going, God, if is there this life that you actually offer that I can take hold of? 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.559 And why am I not experiencing it? 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:01.440 And this was literally the place that I got where I was, I was sitting there, I was going, God, either one or two things are gonna happen. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:14.720 You're gonna have to start like, I'm I'm either gonna have to start experiencing what you say in the New Testament, it can be the life of the believer, or I'm gonna have to give you up and go to do the things of this world because I can't do the, I can't do the, this is no fun. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:16.000 There's nothing worse. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:20.159 There's nothing worse than a sinning, suffering, nominal Christian. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:20.960 Because guess what? 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:26.639 You can't enjoy the things of the world because you're a Christian, but you can't enjoy the things of God because you're too much in the world. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:32.720 And so some of us are just like, we're dying on the inside because we're trying to do both of those things, and that's miserable. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.240 And I remember being there and looking at the Lord going, like, God, something's got to change here. 00:13:36.480 --> 00:13:48.559 And and I just, and I just kind of remembered and sensed this invitation from the Lord to go, what if, what if you allowed the pages in the text of Scripture to dictate your expectation for the Christian life rather than your personal experience? 00:13:49.759 --> 00:14:04.000 What if you allowed the New Testament and you looked at the New Testament, you said, I'm gonna take these words of Scripture and say, this is God's heart and expectation for the Christian life, and I'm not gonna base it upon my expectation or the way someone else has told me I'm supposed to expect for the Christian life. 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:09.440 Because I just felt like I was always trying to manufacture fake power. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.360 And I couldn't, I just couldn't do it. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:14.799 It was exhausting. 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:20.399 And so, so much of what we do today was birthed out of this suffering place of discontentment. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:22.000 And some of you are there right now. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:35.120 And I just want to give you really good news that you don't have to stay there, that the offering of Jesus is still on the table, that you can be someone who experiences the power and the privilege and the pleasure of walking with Jesus and experiencing power in his life and actually making an impact for his kingdom. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.399 Like that's actually on the table for you. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.559 Paul claims it is, Jesus claimed it was. 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:50.240 And if we're not experiencing this, we I want you to know it's not because God doesn't want you to experience this. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.960 Because I think there's some of us that we go, well, I guess that's not on the table for me. 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:54.799 God wants that for them, but he doesn't want that for me. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.480 No, that's a lie from the enemy. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:03.440 If we're not experiencing the fullness of God that Paul talks about in this passage, it's not because God is holding out on us and doesn't want us to experience it. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:09.919 Jesus Himself told us, I've come to give you life to its maximum fullness. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:17.360 Like the way that life was meant to be lived and its maximum fullness, through Jesus, you can experience that, and that's what he wants to give you. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.360 And so if we aren't filled with the fullness of God, it's not because he lacks desire. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:22.559 So what's the issue? 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:24.879 I think it's I think it's potentially a few different things. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.000 I think, I think one, there's a source issue. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.039 I'm sorry we don't have these slides up, but there's a source issue. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:38.480 So one is there's a source issue, meaning that you are going to a source that cannot satisfy the longing that you have. 00:15:38.720 --> 00:15:42.960 So we are all we are all made in the image of God to desire fullness. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.639 Like you we desire, like God's put that in us. 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.639 Your desires are not, are not, are not from the enemy or a result of the fall. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.320 Your desires are God given. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:01.200 Now they've been marred and they've been broken by sin and brokenness and other things that have happened in our lives, but the desire in and of itself for more that comes from the Lord. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:07.279 And so that desire for fullness, we take that desire to other things that can't give us that, right? 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:19.120 Every other source is designed to take from you, but only God has unlimited resources to give you, to give to you, and an unlimited to and an unlimited desire to give them to you. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:26.159 So every other source is desired to take from you, but only God has unlimited resources to give you and an unlimited desire to give them to you. 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.559 Nothing else can be the source of your fullness. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:33.200 Not work, not family, not money, not a relationship, not sex success or status. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.159 Nothing else can be the source of your fullness. 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:39.679 And I think what often happens is we confuse dopamine with fullness. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:40.799 Right? 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:47.360 And so we go to something to get to get a hit, and we we we feel like, oh, that's a that's a shadow or that's a glimpse of fullness. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:49.120 It's like, no, no, no, that's that's dopamine. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:52.720 And don't confuse brain chemistry with soul status. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:53.360 Right? 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:54.879 Like, like you're meant. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:57.600 You're meant for the depth and the riches of God. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:16:58.879 That's what you're made for. 00:16:58.960 --> 00:16:59.919 You're made for him. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.159 And what does what does Augustine say? 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.119 He, Lord, you have made us for yourself. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.079 You're made for him. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:19.440 And and yet sometimes we demean ourselves by thinking that there are these shallow things, stuff, that can fulfill you or give you fullness. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.559 And that's demeaning to you as an image bearer. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:28.880 As someone made in the image of God, nothing less than God will satisfy the depth that you have. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:30.640 God has made you that way. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.319 You're deeper than that. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.480 So I think for some of us, there's a source problem. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.079 We just keep going to the wrong things over and over and over again to give us what they can't give us too. 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.720 I think there's a system problem for some of us, for others of us. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:47.920 So you're choosing the wrong system, meaning the wrong process of trying to trying to get these things. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:59.839 So, so for instance, for some of us, God, you may have God or you may say God or say Jesus is the thing that you're chasing after, but the system that you're using to get him is religion, religious performance. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:06.720 And so you're not abiding, you're performing, you're striving, you're pretending. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:11.279 You're not operating in a loving relationship with a living, loving God and Father. 00:18:11.920 --> 00:18:15.440 You're not connecting with God on the basis that he's called us to. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:22.160 Because God has not only called made us for himself and called us to himself, but he's called us to himself in a certain way. 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:23.200 Right? 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:25.599 Cause to have a relationship to be his. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.000 You see this Old Testament and New Testament. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:31.200 Like Jesus didn't invent a relational God in the New Testament. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:32.559 God has always been this way. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:40.160 He's created and formed for himself a people calling to himself a covenant people, saying, I want you to be mine and I want to be yours. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:43.279 Nation of Israel, what do they what do they do in the Old Testament? 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:45.279 They look at God and say, You're not enough for us. 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:47.119 Give us a king like the other nations. 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:50.720 And God looks at Samuel, he goes, It's not that they that they're rejecting you, they're rejecting me. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.200 They're rejecting a relationship with the living God. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:19:03.440 The root of Genesis, when when the fall happens and ultimately we choose something other than God, that's not that's not just a just a values proposition. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.400 That's that's that's rejecting relationship. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:12.559 And God is longing, longing for relationship. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:15.119 That's why Jesus has come, to restore us to the Father. 00:19:15.359 --> 00:19:16.799 See, here's the result here's the reality. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:22.960 If you serve God and do religious duty for God, but you don't know God as loving Father, you do not know God the way that He wants you to. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.200 God's not in this to try to get stuff from you. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:28.400 He has everything. 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:29.279 Right? 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:30.319 He has everything. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:36.160 He doesn't he's not calling you, He doesn't hasn't saved you, He's not at because He's trying to get stuff from you. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.480 He's not some insecure, needy God. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:41.440 He's got everything to give you. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.200 And He wants to know you and for you to know Him and for you to experience His love and experience relationship. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:49.759 Third, I think there's a capacity issue. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.559 I think some of us maybe we desire the right things and maybe we have the right kind of theology or framework, but you simply don't have the capacity. 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.880 You don't have room for God. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:04.319 You don't have the like God's saying, I want to give you my fullness, and you go, I don't have capacity for that, God. 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:06.640 Like I can't receive that. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:11.039 You know, you're so full of so many other things. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:14.480 Your life is so full of so many other things. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:19.359 And the reality is, if you don't have the capacity to say yes to God, then you need to say no to other things. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.319 I can't I can't sit here and tell you what to say no to. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:27.519 And you and I already know, like the rebuttal in your heart is gonna be everything in my life is so important. 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:30.640 But what tends to happen in our lives? 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:32.400 I don't know why we work this way. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:38.160 If I lined everybody up that claims to be a follower of Jesus and I asked, what's the most important thing to you? 00:20:38.240 --> 00:20:40.960 You would say, Jesus, like living my life for him, knowing him. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.160 And yet, when our life gets crowded, what tends to go first? 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:51.200 Our stuff, our trips, our subscriptions, our scrolling, or him. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:21:00.400 That's not to be condemning, it's just like, man, he's offering us fullness, and none of these other things can give us fullness, and how do we prioritize our life? 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:03.279 Do we have capacity to say yes to the Lord? 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:04.720 Or do we not? 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:12.880 And then lastly, just to kind of throw this one in there because the scriptures paint to it, is that for those of us who don't know Jesus, there's just blindness. 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:20.240 Like the New Testament says that the the enemy, the God of this world, has is working to blind the minds of unbelievers. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:26.960 And so it's honestly like you you don't experience the fullness that God has for you because you just don't see him, or you don't see him rightly. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:28.799 Because the enemy's working to blind you. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:31.039 That's what that's his whole goal is to blind you. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:38.000 You know, there's a lot of people, man, that they they they go they go to a lot of environments and they go to a lot of things, but it's almost like they can't see, right? 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:39.039 They can't see. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.880 It's because that there's an enemy in this world who wants to keep you from seeing God. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:50.079 He wants to keep you to where you're going to other things to get some shallow form of what of what God's ultimately trying to offer you. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.759 And you're you're feeding yourself shallow things that don't that don't satisfy. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:54.960 And he loves that. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.799 He wants to keep you that way. 00:21:57.119 --> 00:21:59.759 Even if it means keeping you in religious lifestyle. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:04.640 Or maybe God's on the cover, but ultimately your soul's dying underneath the weight of it all. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:09.440 Whatever it takes to keep you from the life that God has for you, the enemy will use. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.400 And often it's really good things that he will use. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:14.079 Which can be tricky sometimes. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:18.799 Because a lot of times we look at it and we go, Oh, he's gonna he's always gonna use, it's gonna be like sex, drugs, rock and roll, and that's it. 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:19.680 You know what I mean? 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:23.680 And but it's like, no, often it's like really good stuff. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:34.079 It's like money and comfort, it's religion, it's maintaining a decent image, you know? 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:41.359 But lacking the hunger and the desire that pursues a loving relationship where we experience the fullness that God has for us. 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:50.400 You know, I I think it's I think it's really interesting that that throughout the New Testament, you know, God uses this image of marriage or loving relationship throughout all this. 00:22:50.480 --> 00:23:02.559 It's act there's actually a word in here when he talks about to know the love of God that's beyond knowledge, to know the love of he actually uses a word that that is used for intimacy between a couple in this phrasing. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:10.559 Because he's trying to paint a picture of the intimacy that he longs to have and the the desire that he longs to have, the the kind of relationship that he longs for you to have. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:20.160 And so many of us, we don't think about our relationship with God in this in the sense of loving intimacy and closeness between two people who love one another and are willing to give to one another. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:21.519 We don't think about that. 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:30.000 And yet that's the that's that's the image that God's trying to paint around our relationship with him, that there's meant to be this intimacy that we desire and that we experience with him. 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:33.519 So ultimately, what is what what is Paul praying for? 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:39.039 So we're so we're paying attention, like what maybe gets in the, maybe, what maybe gets in the way of us experiencing the fullness that God has for us. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.240 But but what is ultimately Paul kind of painting in this in this text? 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.599 So I want you to kind of imagine these four things as a staircase, right? 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:50.480 So so at the end of this text, Paul is saying, so that you may have the fullness of God. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:54.400 And so it's kind of all of this is kind of crescendoing up to that right there. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:00.319 That's going to be the thing that he wants, he wants to kind of end with and like make the big thing about what he wants you to experience. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:04.319 But there's kind of this staircase of things that he's actually wanting us to experience. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:14.240 And the first thing, the first thing that he prays for is in, so he starts in verse 14, he says, For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:18.799 So he's he's so he's wanting us to know that everybody in this world, like you ultimately come from him. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.839 Like you're alive because he breathed breath into your lungs. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:31.599 And he just painted a picture of Jews and Gentiles coming together into one family, and he goes, he goes, Look, y'all may have different backgrounds and y'all may come from different things, but here's what I need you to know, you all come from me as your source. 00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:37.680 And so all of you have breath because I gave you breath, and all of, and all of you are now existent because I'm I made you exist. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:43.039 And so he's saying, he's saying, you may have families, but I'm ultimately, I'm ultimately the one that you come from. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:48.880 And then verse 16, Paul says, I pray that out of his glorious riches, once again, that's that's the phrase that he uses, out of his glorious riches. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:52.640 So you're not, he's not asking God, who has shallow pockets. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:25:01.920 He's not asking God to give what he can do, he's saying, God, you have abundant glorious riches, and I'm asking that out of those glorious riches, that you may strengthen them. 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:06.240 That you may strengthen them with power through his spirit in your inner being. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:13.839 So the first thing he says is that he wants you to be strengthened, strengthened by the indwelling of Christ through his spirit. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:28.799 And so for those of us, for those of us who are followers of Jesus, when we receive the Spirit of God, this is what Paul is saying, is that is that when you receive the Spirit of God, what what what we're experiencing is the indwelling of Christ. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:35.519 That Christ Himself comes to live in us and make his dwelling place in us. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.119 The word here in the Greek, it literally paints this picture of he's settling down. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:41.039 So this word can be used in two different ways. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:48.640 One can be of a foreigner who's like looking for somewhere to lodge overnight, but you may wake up and he's gone to go somewhere else. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:49.680 So that's one rare. 00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:55.519 But Paul uses the other one, and it's and it's not the picture of someone of like, oh, he's gonna come make his home here, but he may be gone tomorrow. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:58.559 He says, no, no, this one is one who's settling down permanently. 00:25:58.720 --> 00:25:59.920 And so that's a picture he paints. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:08.559 He's like, Did you did you know Christ has come to live in you, to make his home in you, to settle down deep in you, to be permanently placed within you? 00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:10.240 And and what's he saying? 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:20.640 He wants to come out of that, that that your conscious awareness that Christ dwells in you, is rooted in you, is staying with you, is now living in you, that what he wants that to produce is strength. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:22.000 Strength. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:31.359 Once again, as I as I as I sit across from so many people and I ask for them to kind of describe their Christian life, very few people go, like, man, I'm feeling strong. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:33.839 Typically, I get like there's this instability. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.039 I was talking to someone the other day, they go, it's just kind of this uprootedness. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:39.279 I feel like I'm just kind of like drifting. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:41.119 There's not this strength, there's not this resilience. 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:46.319 And what Jesus what what Paul is saying here is that no, God wants to make you resilient. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:47.279 How? 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:51.680 Through your conscious awareness of the indwelling presence of Christ in you. 00:26:54.960 --> 00:26:56.799 I was having a conversation with someone the other day. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:26:58.160 We were talking about anxiety. 00:26:58.559 --> 00:27:05.039 And one of the things we were talking about is how when when when anxiety is getting its way with you, what is it, what is the first thing that it does? 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:08.160 It gets God out of the story. 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:12.799 And anxiety, and when we're when we're having panic, we ultimately begin to operate how? 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:14.880 As functional atheists. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:20.319 And so we now get our future interpretation as if God is not in the story. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:24.880 And so we imagine everything going as bad as it possibly could be because God is out of the story. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:26.799 And what Paul is saying is like, no, no, no. 00:27:26.960 --> 00:27:37.039 Jesus, you need to have a conscious awareness of the indwelling of Christ that is rooted down deep in you, that there's nowhere you go and nothing you do or nothing you walk through, that the indwelling of Christ is not also there with you. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:43.759 Like, like when you experience pain and suffering, it's not because God is absent from the story. 00:27:43.839 --> 00:27:44.000 Why? 00:27:44.160 --> 00:27:46.319 Because he's indwelling in you. 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:53.039 So many of us have this ethereal view of God that he kind of hops in and out of our story and he goes, He goes, No, no, no. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:55.359 If you're in Christ, Christ is in you. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:58.000 The indwelling of Christ. 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:02.240 And so you're not trying to keep him, he's in you. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.319 He's indwelling in you. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:09.359 The Spirit is the presence and power of Christ at work in you. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:17.359 And when he talks about inner being, he's ultimately talking about the control center or our heart, he's talking about our hearts, which is ultimately the control center from which everything in our life flows. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:26.480 And so he's saying, look, if you can understand, you can be strengthened in your inner being through a conscious awareness of the indwelling of Christ, all of your life is going to flow out of that conscious awareness. 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:31.680 So we're looking for fruit in our lives of Christ's presence and power in our lives. 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:35.359 He says that flows from you being consciously aware that Christ is in you. 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:41.279 How many of us feel like we step into our quiet time? 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:45.759 Get our time with the Lord, we step in and we go, hey God, you're here. 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:47.359 I'm glad we scheduled this time together. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:50.000 And then we walk out and we go, All right, hold it down for me. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:51.039 You know what I mean? 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.160 I'll be back in three to four days. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:55.519 Three to four weeks. 00:28:56.319 --> 00:28:58.880 But he's like he's like, no, no, no, no, don't you, don't you realize? 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:01.200 Don't you realize I'm living within you. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:06.640 And so you're you're you you can create designated space and time for you and the Lord. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:08.000 We encourage you to do that every single day. 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.920 Get in the presence of God intentionally, separate that time and make that make that a habit and a priority. 00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:15.759 However, what he wants you to be aware of is that you're not going anywhere and leaving him. 00:29:16.960 --> 00:29:19.839 He's in you and dwelling. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:27.279 He wants this to lead to strength, to lead to resilience. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:28.240 Why? 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:30.799 Because, like we said earlier, life is hard. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:35.519 And he's writing to the Ephesians and he's saying, Look, I know life is hard. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:38.400 I know you're in this pagan culture and many people are coming up against you. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:49.200 I know those of you who just turned to Jesus, you probably now lost your family and lost your community because you're no longer worshiping the false God and idols that they worshipped, and you now have lost things as a result of that. 00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:50.720 Some of you maybe can identify with that. 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:53.359