WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.840 You nervous, Will? 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:04.320 How are we doing, church? 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:05.839 It's been an awesome day, huh? 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.359 Well, three of you thought it was awesome. 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.919 I thought it was pretty stinking awesome. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.960 Uh man, celebration service, so much fun. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:18.320 Glad you guys are here. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:24.879 Again, I call you guys a smart service, other than I heard traffic getting in was a little bit uh challenging. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.320 So we're still adjusting. 00:00:26.399 --> 00:00:27.679 We're trying to figure it out. 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:29.760 Um, but praise God. 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:31.120 Thank you for your patience. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:33.439 And thank you for being here part of the 11 a.m. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:33.840 service. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:55.600 We're starting, as you saw, uh from uh the amazing acting of the Roland uh video, uh, that this is a three-part series really uh set in the book of Romans, where you know Paul teaches us that a new creation reality uh causes us to say goodbye to some things. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:59.119 So goodbye to individualism, goodbye to comparison. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:01.119 Some people call it comparison. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.439 So we'll talk about that next week. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:07.439 Get your ticket early for that one. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.359 And then uh vengeance. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.599 So uh it's gonna be a lot of fun. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:28.400 Uh really, you know, at the beginning of the year or late last year, we prayed as a church and or as a leadership, and really felt like the word for 2026 was deeper, to go deeper in our faith, deeper in worship, deeper in relationships. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.719 And we've been chasing that all year. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:36.480 And I really feel like this is a direct hit on all of those, especially deeper relationships. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.159 Romans chapter 12 is a, I mean, Romans itself is powerful. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.480 Romans chapter 12, powerful chapter. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:44.239 You can go ahead and turn there if you'd like. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.239 Paul's not really teaching us to be nicer to one another. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.359 Uh, it's not really about how nice you are to one another. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:59.439 Paul is showing us what deeper actually looks like when the gospel gets into our bones. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.480 How many know it's one thing to know the gospel? 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.680 It's another thing for it to get in your bones, to get down in your heart. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:11.039 It's been said that there's 18 crucial inches between your head and your heart. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:23.439 So it's one thing to kind of know about it, it's another thing to live it out each and every day for our minds to be renewed and our lives to be transformed, as Paul talks about. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:32.319 Um we'll be looking at that goodbye, individualism, comparison, vengeance, today, individualism. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.400 And before we really get into our the main text, I want to drive home. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:40.159 I got to kind of set up Romans chapter 12 just a little bit. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:50.159 Um, Paul has spent 11 chapters in the book of Romans talking about the good news of the gospel, what God has done. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.879 He explains deep theology, and it's a powerful. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.199 This is a great three weeks to dive back into Romans, read through it. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.120 Um He talks about sin, grace, justification, the Spirit. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:02.080 It's powerful. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.280 11 chapters again of what God has done. 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:22.560 And then he gets to really Romans chapter 12, verse 1, where we'll start today, and he there's this one word that basically becomes the structural uh hinge of Paul's letter to Rome, and that word is therefore. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:29.120 Based on everything that God has done, therefore, here's the new reality. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:31.520 Are you tracking with me? 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:47.759 And so we will see that, you know, uh it connects the first 11 chapters of deep theology and good news to the practical chapters that follow on how we as believers live in light of the good news. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.759 How do we live when the gospel gets in our bones? 00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:01.680 It's not a, we don't just like turn in the old rule book and get a new rule book because it's not really based on behavioral willpower. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:11.039 It's actually what happens when our minds are renewed and our lives are transformed, then we are given a new creation reality. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:16.959 The Bible says that if you're born again like Daryl, he is a new creation in Christ. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:19.519 The old is gone, the new is come. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:26.319 He just identified with the death of his old self, raised to the new life in who he is in Christ. 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:32.000 That is the realest thing we can know today of what that he is a new creation. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:37.040 The Bible says he gives, takes out a heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:46.480 We're talking about a new heart reality, a new creation reality of what happens in salvation and with the gospel. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.399 Sometimes we limit the gospel to just forgiving our past. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.480 Somehow we limit the gospel of just like we compare the gospel to fire insurance. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.399 We don't want to go to hell, so we need some fire insurance, and so that's the gospel. 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.279 But how many know the gospel is much bigger than that? 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:09.519 The Bible is a new creation reality, and we are called to walk into that. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:15.519 Look what uh Paul says in Romans chapter 12, just to reiterate what I've just laid out to you. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:20.720 Romans 12, verse 1 says, I appeal to you, therefore. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:24.160 So literally he's 11 chapters, what God has done. 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:39.439 Now he's making an appeal to the church in Rome and to us today, and he says, Therefore, because what God has done, it says, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:44.800 How many know that is a new reality for us? 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:54.240 You actually have to pause and ask yourself, because what God has done, am I presenting myself as a living sacrifice? 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.040 That's a game changer. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:07.360 And then it goes on to say, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.439 Walking into new creation reality is your spiritual worship. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.680 Worship isn't just coming together to sing some songs. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:24.240 No, it is your whole life worshiping God. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.040 Your whole life presented to God. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:32.800 We dedicated little Cora last service, we dedicated her to the Lord. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:42.399 That her whole life, God would love her and draw her near, and she would live her life unto God. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:48.399 How many know Korah has not exactly understood that reality yet? 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:51.199 And you know what? 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:54.160 Some of us aren't much different than that little toddler. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:07:07.759 We sit in church and we haven't really embraced the new reality that God has called us to whole life worship, to be living sacrifices, wholly and acceptable to God. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.959 And that is our spiritual worship. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:27.680 But be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:33.040 One of the biggest questions I get as a pastor is, Pastor, how can I know the will of God? 00:07:33.279 --> 00:07:46.000 Well, this Bible says, based on what God has done, when you embrace His mercy and walk in this new creation reality, and your minds are renewed and your lives are transformed, you will know the will of God. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.639 There is no doubt about it. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:51.439 It's powerful, isn't it? 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.199 It's powerful, isn't it? 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.160 By the way, most of my questions are not rhetorical. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.600 I actually want feedback. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:01.040 So verses one and two lay out the whole series in one sentence. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:06.480 It literally says, the gospel doesn't only forgive us, it transforms us. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:21.360 While you think about it, the world tries to press us into its own design, defined by idols like money and success and status and power. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:24.480 We are to live unconformed. 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:29.920 So to be conformed is to be in the same shape. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.120 So the world has a mold and it presses you to fit into that. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:40.879 And what Paul is literally saying is be unconformed. 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.120 Don't be in the same shape as the world. 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:54.399 He's saying in this New Testament, new creation reality, we're not just supposed to kind of fit into the mold of the world. 00:08:54.639 --> 00:09:02.080 Instead, our minds are to be renewed and we're to be not conformed, but transformed, changed. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:12.000 To be unconformed is to really recover our original vocation as image bearers. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:24.159 We are called to be image bearers, to reflect God's creative and redemptive love back to this broken world. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:30.559 How can we be image bearers if we're in the same shape as the world, as culture? 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:41.440 So it's saying be transformed so that you can return to that vocation, that you are image bearers of his love and grace and mercy back to that world. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:47.279 Because of mercy, we say goodbye to old patterns. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:54.879 Because of his mercy, we say goodbye to being conformed to the world. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:59.919 And we say hello to renewed minds. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.440 We say hello to transformed lives. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:06.720 We say hello to a new creation reality. 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:15.759 And as we look at verses 3 through 8, they really show us the first place this transformation happens, and that is in how we see ourselves. 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:27.919 Paul often, Garrett reminded me of this in between services, when Paul would write, he always addressed the church in a way that they would remember who they are. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:36.080 He would say things like, to the saints in, to the Christ followers in, to the disciples in. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:37.039 Why? 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:44.240 Because he, if you don't embrace who you are, you'll never understand how God has called you to live. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:44.960 Right? 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:49.840 And so we'll see that this is the biggest concept we have to grab a hold of. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:53.360 And when we say individualism, we know what that means. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:58.159 We live in one of the most individualistic societies in the world. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:10:59.840 Really? 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.960 We live in the most individualistic side. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.600 Like individualism, we pride ourselves in our individualism. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:15.519 And in some ways, maybe historically it's served us well, but it doesn't serve us well in the body of Christ. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.960 When we say individualism, we're saying my life is about me. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:32.639 You know, I was thinking there's all this debate right now about choosing your own identity and you know, all that kind of stuff. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:33.679 And I thought, you know what? 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:41.120 All that is, is what we're really doing is we're actually moving out of individualism into hyper-individualism. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.639 That really, my life is whatever I say it is. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:46.799 And that's what culture says. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:53.279 When the Bible says, do not be conformed to the world, that's the kind of junk it's talking about. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:58.960 And so it says here individualism says my life is about me. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:07.039 It's about my freedom, about my preferences, about my goals, about my fulfillment. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.639 It's the idea that I am ultimately my own person. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:16.879 Well, if I'm ultimately my own person, then I can choose whatever I want to be. 00:12:17.679 --> 00:12:20.000 But that's not what the Bible says. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.600 The Bible doesn't say I can choose my own identity. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:36.559 And what happens is the reason the Bible says do not be conform to the world, because the world's ideals can be easily, it easily creeps into the church. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:41.360 And we find it with the consumerism that happens in the local church. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:52.960 Because I got to go find the church where it's about me, where I can grow, where I'm going to be fed, where I like the color of the carpet, where the pastor doesn't step on my toes, where whatever. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:53.840 Right? 00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:04.240 We bring this mindset into the church, and the idea is far from the gospel reality, really, that Paul is instructing us today. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.679 I thought about it, you know, like we begin to treat church as something that exists for me. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:15.679 Again, my preferences, my comfort, my spiritual growth, my experience. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:19.360 All of those kind of things. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:25.519 Instead of seeing ourselves a part of something that's bigger than ourselves. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:31.840 And what God, what Paul is saying is that you're a part of something bigger now. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.960 And we're going to look at that today. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.840 Individualism is the way of the world. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:45.759 And we're reminded that a community, a family, a church is the gospel way. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:52.799 The gospel doesn't simply save individuals, it creates a new family. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:57.120 The gospel doesn't just change who I am. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.879 The gospel changes who we are. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:02.879 Let me say that again. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.279 The gospel doesn't just change who I am, it changes who we are. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.480 And so let's dive into what Paul said in verse 3. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:21.600 He says this, for by grace given to me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:29.679 But rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with faith God has distributed to each of you. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:37.519 The gospel, the new creation reality, the gospel gives us a new identity. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:40.159 We have to know who we are. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:45.200 Paul starts, not if you think about it, we'll get into talking about gifts and some other things. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:46.799 He doesn't start with gifts. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:48.720 He doesn't even start with community. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.639 He starts with how you think. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:55.440 What you think about God is the most important thing about yourself. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.159 How you think, your renewed mind. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:02.320 That's why Paul challenges us to live with a renewed mind. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:08.639 And he challenges us here to think with sober judgment. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:17.360 Building on this idea of the renewed mind, Paul says, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather with sober judgment. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.519 Notice he doesn't say, think less of yourself. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.480 It's not deaf self-deprecation. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.399 It is not, he doesn't say think more of yourself. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.679 He says, think of yourself correctly. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.279 How do you see yourself? 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:38.159 It sets the stage for everything else. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:39.759 Amen. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:47.600 One of the important reasons that we do water baptism is because we are identifying ourselves, as I said, as new creations. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:58.720 We're thinking soberly about ourselves because of God's mercy, because He died for me, now He's causing me to die, right? 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:01.279 And to be raised in new life. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.840 Because we gotta get this one correctly. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:10.639 Pride will actually wreck community before gifts and anything else ever have a chance to build it up. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.440 So we can't think more highly of ourselves. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:21.039 And if it's almost as Paul says, you get your thinking wrong here, by the time in a minute, when we get to the gifts, you'll do one of two things. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:28.000 You'll think your gift matters more than the person sitting next to you, and there's a whole lot of that in church. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:36.159 Or you'll think your gift doesn't matter, and you'll literally sit there on your gifts. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:44.080 And we won't become who God's called us to be. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.039 Because your gift's in your back pocket. 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:49.440 Are you with me? 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:53.759 You gotta know who you are, you gotta know who God has designed you to be. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.200 And where does Paul say that all this individualism starts? 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.360 He doesn't even start with our actions or our decisions about our schedule or any of that. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.359 He says it starts further back and it starts with the way we think. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.680 The first characteristic of a transformed life is a renewed mind. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.680 And the idea that the gospel gives us a new identity. 00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:19.519 Sober judgment means a sane and realistic view of yourself. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:26.400 Out there and in here, we battle with self-awareness. 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:30.880 And what I'm trying to say is, I want you to have gospel awareness. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:39.759 You have to understand the gospel and who it makes you and how being in union in Christ, what it does to your identity, you're a child of God. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.079 You are born again. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.559 You are filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:45.920 That's who you are. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:47.119 Let's say that together. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:48.799 Say, I'm a child of God. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:51.039 I'm born again. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:53.519 I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:58.160 That is your gospel identity in Christ. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.519 And that is the most important thing about you. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:05.920 Identity in Christ means it really is a believer's true self. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:20.640 And it means that your true self is identified or defined by our union with Christ rather than by the worldly labels, achievements, success, failures, opinions. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:32.000 Many of us fall into the temptation to define ourselves by our past, by our failures, by what people think of us. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.839 Today, Paul says, get your mind right. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:43.039 Paul says, think about you, think about yourself the way that Christ thinks about you. 00:18:44.240 --> 00:18:46.559 Man, I again, I'm born again. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.759 I'm no longer defined by my past. 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:56.880 I am chosen, I am adopted, I am loved, I'm fully accepted and permanent family members. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:02.400 My self-worth comes from Christ's finished work on the cross. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:07.440 If I was worth dying for, then I don't have to fight for my self-worth. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:13.039 It's not about human performance, social status, or wealth. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:15.440 It's about Christ dying for us. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:21.039 So the gospel gives me the new uh a new creation, a new answer to creation. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:21.920 Who am I? 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.559 I don't have to create my identity. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:26.720 Christ defines me. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.039 He knit me in my mother's womb. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:33.039 He created me for a destiny and a purpose. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:35.920 He gave gifts to me. 00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:45.519 So that, not so that I could be successful as a successful individual, but so that I can offer it back to the body of Christ. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:49.759 I don't have to prove my identity. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.640 I don't have to compare my identity. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:59.200 I don't, all I have to do today is receive my identity of who I am in Christ. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.240 The gospel says you belong to Christ. 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:20.400 You know, I was a high school coach for years, and it didn't take five minutes of practice to find the difference in the players who were secure in who God made them, secure in their placement on the team, and those that were insecure and didn't understand their true identity. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:26.000 Those guys that didn't understand their true identity, it was like every rep was an audition. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.000 They were trying to prove themselves. 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:31.519 They were trying to, you know, show this is who I really am. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.319 And what that led to is overstriving. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:38.960 And then what that led to is they weren't very coachable. 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:40.559 Why? 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:48.319 Because coaching, correction that we all need is not received the way correction is intended to give. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:54.480 The player that doesn't know who they are, they receive correction as rejection. 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:06.880 And whether it's human correction coming to your life, or whether it's Bible correction coming to your life, sometimes we're not that much different. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:16.960 And then, you know, also the player who didn't know their role, didn't know their identity, you know what was the one of the greatest challenges? 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.599 They couldn't celebrate anybody else. 00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:26.960 It's like somehow, if my friend or my teammate made a great play, then somehow that reflects me, and I'm just not enough. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:38.559 So therefore, inside of me there's this like bitterness that prevents us from really being a team in what God called us to be because I was always jealous of the person beside me. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:39.359 Guess what? 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.960 The church is not that much different. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:49.759 Yet when we know who we are in Christ, we can receive coaching and we can celebrate others. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:59.440 And when we walk in that, really, this true identity of who we are, it produces esprit de corps that's about enthusiasm and motivation. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:02.319 Union with Christ and union and mission. 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:05.920 And no longer are we competing with the person sitting beside us. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:13.200 No, I just show up as a child of God and say, God, you made me just how you made me, use me for your glory. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:18.559 And when we have that attitude, how many know that's the church God called us to be? 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:22.400 See, God didn't just save us to ourselves. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.599 He didn't just, you know, say, I belong to Christ. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.240 He says, I belong to the people he's given me. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:30.079 That really is the second point. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:36.160 The new creation is not only has he settled our identity, he's given us a new family. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.519 The church is a family. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:41.599 Look what it says in four and five. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:48.960 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:53.440 So in Christ, we, though many, form one body. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:57.839 And each member, get this, belongs to all the others. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:02.400 Man, that will smack individualism in its face. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:09.519 Paul saying, I made you this, or saying God made you this way, and you don't even, you no longer belong to yourself. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:12.319 You belong to the family that God has placed you in. 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:19.519 Therefore, I mean, think about how healthy is it a family that I only participate in family things when it benefits me. 00:23:20.559 --> 00:23:23.279 That's not a family I want to be a part of. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:25.200 Amen. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:27.200 That's quiet in here today. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:29.039 I preach myself happy, though. 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:30.160 I love this. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:32.000 I love the church. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:35.920 I love that my identity is settled in Christ. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.720 I love, I thank God because the church has saved my life. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.559 I wouldn't be standing here today if it weren't for God's church and his people. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:52.880 So Paul shifts from an image of a mind to the image of a body because that is the best picture of what we are. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:54.640 It's not an organization. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.079 It's not an audience. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.440 You guys aren't an audience showing up for a show. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:02.160 No, you are a family, a body. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:04.880 One body, many members. 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:07.119 It's the clearest definition of the church. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.880 Paul writes in the final phrase, that phrase that each member belongs to all the others. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:18.160 Think about how radical that would have sounded in Rome. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:23.279 Think about how that would have looked. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:31.039 I mean, in Rome, what happened was all of a sudden the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles. 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:39.440 But everything for Rome, I mean, up until this moment, Rome ran on status. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.799 It ran on ethnicity mattered. 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:46.319 Power mattered. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:47.279 Money mattered. 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:55.920 And the church in Rome was now Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, slave and free, sitting in the same room together. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:03.759 People who would have never ever shared a meal anywhere else in the city shared a meal just like we just shared a meal together. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:08.319 How many know that will challenge your mindset? 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:12.720 Especially an individualistic mindset. 00:25:13.519 --> 00:25:14.799 Then think about the Jews. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.720 They've been taught for generations to stay separate from the Gentiles. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:21.519 Different food, different tables, different lives. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:25.279 And Paul says, no longer do you belong to yourself. 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.400 That'll step on your toes, won't it? 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:30.559 That'll step on your toes, won't it? 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:33.920 That steps on our toes, doesn't it? 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:35.200 Yes. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:38.240 And together, all of us are one body. 00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:41.200 I mean, that would have stopped them in their tracks. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:43.920 But guys, that's not just history to us. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:48.079 At mid-cities, at mid-cities kneeling, this is not just history. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:49.359 This is our vision. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:51.519 It's something we do intentional. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:57.279 We're building a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church on purpose. 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:06.640 Because of this new creation reality, this is something that we value and build towards on purpose. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.119 I mean, we want to build a church that looks like heaven. 00:26:13.599 --> 00:26:23.920 The Bible says in Revelation that we will all stand before the throne and we'll worship every nation, every tribe, every tongue. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:31.519 I want this church to look like that. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:43.680 Every nation, every tribe, every tongue, worshiping together, image bearers of the new family and the new creation reality of what God has done. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:47.039 1 Corinthians 12, Paul says it this way. 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.279 I'm just going to read it to you because the Bible's powerful. 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.640 A lot of y'all have heard this, but don't just say, I've heard this. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:57.119 Let's let it get into our bones. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:07.680 He says in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 12, for just as body is one and has many members, all the members of the body, though many, are one body. 00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:09.119 So it is with Christ. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:18.400 For in one spirit we're all baptized into one body, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, and all and all were made to drink of one spirit. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:23.599 Verse 14, for the body does not consist of one member, but of many. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:34.240 If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:44.880 And if the ear should say, Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. 00:27:45.039 --> 00:27:50.799 If the whole body were an eye, that would be weird. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:54.960 Where would be the sense of hearing? 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:01.680 If you're in the ear in the body of Christ, you are needed. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.279 Are you tracking with me? 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:15.200 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:19.359 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:23.119 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:24.880 Let's go on just a little bit more. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:31.920 Nor again can head to the feet, I have no need of you. 00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:37.119 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:51.759 And on those parts of the body that we think less honorable, we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:29:05.680 But God has so composed the body, given greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:08.880 If one member suffers, all suffer together. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:12.160 If one member is honored, all rejoice together. 00:29:12.319 --> 00:29:16.640 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 00:29:16.880 --> 00:29:26.559 Paul considers this section of our text today the same reminder when he says, back in Romans, each member belongs to all the others. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:46.880 That attitude is the attitude that builds the life of the local church, the enthusiasm, the devotion, the esprit de corps, the mutual honor that turns into active engagement, deep fellowship, that's what we're talking about, and unified mission. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:58.240 It's only when we're all together and we bring our best to offer it to God as a living sacrifice that we actually operate in this family dynamic. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.480 Neely, we are a family. 00:30:01.599 --> 00:30:03.759 And we want everyone to fill it. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:08.880 We say goodbye to individualism and hello to healthy family. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:13.839 And then that takes us to our third point, which the gospel gives us a new purpose. 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:21.279 So now Paul goes 6 through 8 and he starts talking about the different gifts according to the grace each one is given. 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:23.920 If it's prophesying, prophesy. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:26.079 If it's serving, serve. 00:30:26.319 --> 00:30:28.240 I mean, this is the way Paul says it. 00:30:28.480 --> 00:30:32.240 If God has gifted you to serve, serve. 00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:35.839 If God has gifted you to lead, lead. 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:39.920 If he's gifted you to be generous, be generous. 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:45.119 I mean, Paul doesn't like make it like it's not very soft or kind or fancy. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:52.559 He's like, if this is your gift, whatever it is, bring it because we're lacking as a family if we don't have it. 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:59.119 He says these gifts aren't given for self-expression, they're given for mutual service. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:02.160 Remember back to verse 3. 00:31:02.319 --> 00:31:06.960 If we get our thinking wrong, then the gifting goes wrong too. 00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:16.640 Either it's inflated and you think you're something you're not, or it's deflated and you don't use it and walk in what God has given you because you think somehow it's insignificant. 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:21.519 Our culture approaches church like customers approach a store. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:26.559 We have this idea what church helps me become my best self? 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:30.480 This church isn't meeting my needs. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.480 I think I'll find another one. 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:36.559 Paul is literally asking a completely different question. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.440 He's saying, how has God gifted me to strengthen the body? 00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:45.039 That's a total different question. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:54.960 But what we do is we bring our individualism and individualistic mindsets into the church, and somehow we think the church is about me. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:58.799 And what I receive instead of what I give. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:03.839 That changes the whole dynamic of who we become as a family. 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:11.039 Let's look at this list again: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, mercy. 00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:15.279 Every single one of them requires someone else in the room. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:22.799 Meaning you can't stay at home in bed by yourself and say, I have the gift of leadership. 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:28.240 I mean, you're not even leading yourself. 00:32:31.119 --> 00:32:38.079 Well, I have the gift of teaching, but I'm gonna sit at home and watch Netflix all day, binge, binge watch stuff. 00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:45.359 No, every one of these, I mean, a gift of mercy means nothing to a person alone again in their house. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:49.039 A gift of encouragement has no one to encourage. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.960 Teaching assumes somebody's listening, leading assumes others are following or being led. 00:32:55.680 --> 00:32:58.480 That's not on accident, that's the design. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:04.160 The gospel doesn't save you and hand you gifts to use by yourself. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:10.079 Some of you are sitting on your gifts, and we need them. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:15.200 We are limping along because you are yet to contribute. 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:21.599 We search the world over for an elbow in the body of Christ. 00:33:26.640 --> 00:33:29.839 Oh, there's an elbow, but they're hiding. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:36.960 If you're an elbow, it's time to stand up and be an elbow. 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:40.319 I can't even feed myself without my elbow. 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:45.759 And maybe I need to give it some rest, but you get what I mean. 00:33:46.799 --> 00:33:50.799 I can't drink my twelve sparkling waters without my elbow. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:57.759 Yet the elbow is sitting there quietly in the Bible, just saying, you know what? 00:33:57.839 --> 00:34:01.759 I just, you're sitting there with your lip poked out thinking it's all about you. 00:34:03.759 --> 00:34:06.400 And what does this church have to give? 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:09.119 Still offended at your last church? 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:12.159 And God's saying, I'm trying to get you in the game. 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:13.920 We've got some lifting to do. 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:18.800 We've got a city to reach, we've got nations to reach, we've got stuff called to do. 00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:27.840 If you don't have your identity right, you won't have your thinking right, you will never feel like you fit into the family, and then you will never bring your gifts to offer it to the family. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:30.000 That's what Paul is saying today. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:39.519 But God hasn't just saved us to redeem our past, he saved us so that we will be used in his family. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:47.199 The whole gospel connection, and here's the good news, is that it's based on the mercies of God. 00:34:47.599 --> 00:34:54.719 If it weren't 11 chapters of Romans and what Christ had already done for us, Paul would be out of his mind to tell us this. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:35:05.280 But because what Christ did, because what happened on the cross, because of God's good mercy, he can say, get your butt in the game. 00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:13.280 Get your thinking right, get your mind right, quit pouting, and let's be the body of Christ. 00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:16.239 God is literally calling us that. 00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:18.960 We're saying goodbye to individualism. 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:24.880