WEBVTT 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.640 Well, good morning, church. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.120 It's been a great morning already. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:24.959 Love Ascending Sunday. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:25.519 So amazing. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:28.159 It's a little bit bittersweet to see some of you guys go. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:33.599 So sad, but so thankful for your yes, saying yes to go and be a part of this team. 00:01:33.680 --> 00:01:34.480 It's unbelievable. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.799 We're going to continue this morning halfway through our goodbye series. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:43.359 Today I have been blessed to bring goodbye comparison. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:46.400 And it was a hard message to write, let me be honest with you. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:53.359 We're going to be in Romans chapter 12, starting in verse 9, going through 13. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.519 So if you have your Bibles with you, you can turn to Romans 12. 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.879 I'm reading from the ESV today. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:05.120 You can always follow along on the street on the screen this morning. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:09.520 If you are able, could you please stand as we honor God's word? 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:16.159 Romans 12 verse 9. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:17.280 Paul writes this. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:19.039 He says, Let love be genuine. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.400 Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:27.360 Love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:31.520 Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:32.639 Serve the Lord. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:38.479 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:44.400 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.159 This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:47.039 Thanks be to God. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:48.960 You may be seated this morning. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:49.919 Let's pray. 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:53.199 Father, we thank you for your son. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:02:58.719 Lord, we thank you that you can illuminate our hearts to know you more fully. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:02.240 So, Lord, we do ask that what we know not, would you teach us? 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:12.000 What we are not, would you make us, what we have not, would you give us, and provide it by your son, by your spirit, as we worship you through the preaching of the word today, we thank you. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:14.080 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:14.960 Amen. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:15.680 Amen. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:16.560 Alright. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:23.599 Well, like I said, this was a tough message to write, and I think it's because comparison was baked into my existence. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:28.800 Uh, I am a twin by birth, and so immediately I was compared to my twin brother. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:41.599 Uh I was an athlete, that's comparison all over that world, and now as a uh potential church planter to be sent out from this place, it's very easy for the mind to go, hey, there have been some churches sent out from here. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.719 Let's compare all of these churches, right? 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:47.520 Like this is something that naturally happens to all of us. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:48.879 And so here's what's good, though. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:55.280 As God brought me through my own faithful repentance this week in preparation, he's faithful to do the same for all of us. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.599 Uh, tender with my heart, he'll be tender with yours. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:03:58.560 So thankful. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:04.479 Um, but here is uh the the main idea or our uh our big idea this morning. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:15.840 Because the gospel has given us a secure identity in Christ, we can stop competing with one another and start genuinely loving one another. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:19.040 We could be done right now, and you could go to lunch. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.639 That's pretty much all you need. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:32.240 This refrain that I'll go back to over and over as we continue on this morning is this we don't have to compare when we know we are loved. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.839 We don't have to compare when we know we're loved. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:47.680 What we've seen throughout this uh series already, what Paul has made very clear to us is that our vertical relationship with God has horizontal implications, doesn't it? 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:57.519 Like what we believe about God, how we engage with God, how we receive from God is going to affect our relationships horizontally. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:01.120 Uh and last week Pastor Coach Mike showed up. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.879 Uh he gave it to us, it was amazing. 00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:06.319 Gave us a great word talking about uh saying goodbye to individualism. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:17.040 That get that Paul says, hey, as you've been called into this family, as you've been transformed by the renewal of your mind in Christ Jesus, you have gifts for this family of faith. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:21.279 And you're called into this family, not into an individual walk, but a collective walk. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.279 God didn't call us into a 501c3, he called us into a family. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.000 Uh, he called us into a church, community, and a family. 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:29.600 We'll see that uh as we go. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.079 But here's something that happens naturally. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:42.319 When we come into this family, even though we may be transformed in some ways, sometimes we bring a conformed mind into a transformed space. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:43.439 Does that make sense? 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:49.680 Sometimes our old ways of thinking influence us still in our current reality of the gospel. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.000 We're gonna dig into that as we go. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:58.720 Because our natural state left untouched and unchanged is very selfish and very insecure. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:06.639 Uh, and the truth is this comparison is what insecure people do when they need to establish their worth. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:09.519 Comparison is what all we do. 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.199 It's all that we do whenever we need to establish our worth. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:27.600 And Paul shows this as he breaks down what we're supposed to look like now as a church come together with transformed minds and hearts, uh, that we are not supposed to be an insecure community of faith, right? 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:41.120 Like we're not supposed to be walking this way because an insecure, an insecure community is competing, is pretending with surface-level relationships, and is keeping score. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:42.639 Have you ever been to a church that keeps score? 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:43.120 I'm just kidding. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:44.319 Don't raise your hand on those things. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:45.839 We're not gonna do that this morning. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.319 Uh, we don't want to compare ourselves even in the message uh to the other churches that we've been to. 00:06:50.399 --> 00:06:52.319 See, it's insidious, it's in us. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:59.680 And so, what does then, what does a secure in Christ community look like? 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:02.639 That's gonna be the first part of our message today. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:09.519 I have three points to detail what Paul means by a community of Christ that is secure. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:19.839 When our vertical relationship with God is on fire and we are inflamed in our faith, and then what the implications are as we look to our right and to our left in our horizontal relationships. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:24.480 And so here's the first one Secure people love genuinely. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:35.680 We see this in the first passage, and I'm gonna nerd out a little bit with some Greek because Paul uses three different Greek words for love in this uh these first two verses alone. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:41.680 But he says, Let love be genuine, abore what is evil, or hate what is evil, your your text may say. 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.920 Hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection. 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:50.560 See, comparison makes love conditional, doesn't it? 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.040 Comparison makes love conditional. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.439 I can celebrate you as long as you don't threaten me. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:57.439 I can celebrate you. 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.759 If you've ever been on a team, you know this to be true. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:02.879 I mean, I can celebrate your wins as long as I'm winning more. 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:07.439 I can celebrate the growth you've had as an athlete as long as I'm still starting, right? 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.839 I can celebrate your sales in the workplace as long as I've still hit the bottom line. 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:13.839 I mean, that's something that we do, right? 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:20.240 But secure people in Christ, it frees us from pretending competing and keeping score. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:23.360 You see, Paul talks about a genuine love in this passage. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:31.199 Uh, whenever you look at this, uh, this first love says, let love be genuine, Paul uses the word agape. 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:32.399 Everybody say agape. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.919 Agape love up to this point in the passage has been used several times in Romans. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:43.039 And every time that Paul uses the word agape, he's talking about God's love for us. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:52.399 He's describing his love for his people, that his love is unending, that his love uh is he's not withholding his love, that his love is sacrificial. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:58.799 And Paul does something deeply theological in this moment when he starts describing our horizontal relationships. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:04.240 Paul says, Let your love be like God's love for everybody. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:11.279 Your love for one another should not be conditional, but your love for one another should look like God's love for you. 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:20.159 This unconditional love for one another, deeply influencing what a discipleship culture is supposed to look like. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.360 Believers called to embody the love of God. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:25.679 And then in the next passage, we see the same thing. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:27.200 He puts two together. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:32.639 Uh, we see Storge and Philea, which Philadelphia, if you know that, I'm sure you've heard. 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.080 You've been in church for a while, maybe. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:41.759 In verse 10, says, love one another, storge with Philea with brotherly affection. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.080 This is a familial warmth. 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:49.759 Like I said, Jesus didn't save you into a 501c3 tax-deductible organization. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.039 He saved you into a family. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:52.000 Come on, somebody. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:54.159 Like he brought you into a community of people. 00:09:54.320 --> 00:10:01.759 He's called us not just to love one another with God's affection and love for us, but also to have a devoted familial love. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:07.200 Like Paul is exhorting the believers and he's telling them, you should actually have affection for one another. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:15.200 The same way that you love your brother or you love your sister or you love your parents, it's the same way that you should love one another. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:17.840 It should be a devoted type of love. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.759 This love is not a conditional love. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.320 Like family is family always, isn't it? 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.559 Uh you cannot like somebody in your family, but they still carry the same last name, right? 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:27.759 They're still in the family. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:34.159 The love that Paul's talking about in the passage is a brotherly type of love that's devoted to the family. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:35.679 This has implications for us. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:41.360 We love one another with the love of God, but also we're devoted to this family. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:43.279 Not just the church universal. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:47.759 Like I'm devoted to the Christian walk around the world, but I'm devoted to this family. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.000 The family that God has placed me in. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.480 See, this is a beautiful picture that Paul begins to paint. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:11:00.720 Uh, this in Romans 12, this is less a list of virtues and more an image of what we should want to look like. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:09.120 This community that's not competitive, it's not keeping score to see who is who, uh, but this community that loves one another. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.440 When I'm secure in Christ, I don't have to compete with you. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.759 I can just love you. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:17.600 Doesn't that sound good? 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:21.279 Man, if I'm secure in Christ, I don't have to compete. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:22.159 I can just love you. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.080 The second thing that we see from this passage is secure people celebrate others. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:28.879 Secure people can actually celebrate others. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:31.679 Uh, Pastor Mike broke this down talking about a team. 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:36.799 It's really difficult for you to celebrate your teammates if you don't really love them and care about them. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:43.279 If you're more concerned with your own self-absorbed uh moment, then it's really hard to celebrate other people. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:48.159 Paul says in verse 10, he says, outdo one another in showing honor. 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.320 Uh, this is a reversal of the insecure comparison. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:54.559 The world says, outdo one another. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:59.519 Get the bigger boat, get the bigger house, get the better job, like move to the better place. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:06.480 Uh sometimes we bring this into our Christian walk, like go be more holy and be a part of a church plant or a North Midland launch, right? 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:10.720 Outdo, and we we kind of think in this horizontal way of thinking. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:12.399 And Paul flips it on his head. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.879 He says, Don't outdo one another and get better. 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.320 Outdo one another in lowering yourself and showing honor. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:24.879 You see, when Paul goes into the text, he recognizes that the Roman culture is not much different than ours. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:27.279 Would you say that we have a competitive culture? 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:30.639 Yes, North American competitive culture. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.559 I love to compete. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.080 I had a college coach one time. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.039 He was like, you're not gonna miss the friendships as much. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.679 You're not gonna miss the food that's in the cafeteria. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:41.120 What you're gonna miss most is competing. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:42.240 And I was like, you're crazy. 00:12:42.399 --> 00:12:43.200 These friends are great. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:45.200 They're gonna be forever, it's gonna be awesome. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.120 But I'm gonna be honest with you. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:49.519 I like a good competition. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:52.559 I want to beat my son down the driveway for racing to the car. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:54.080 Like he's gonna have to earn that win. 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.159 I mean, come on now, we gotta do something. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:01.840 Uh those of you who know, he's two years old, so he's uh, but you know, it starts somewhere. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:04.080 Uh we have a hyper competitive culture here. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:04.799 I mean, all of us. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:11.679 We recognize when we watch Olympics, we have people getting zealous for the curling team of the United States of America. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.320 How many of you watch curling through like right now? 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:16.000 You watch curling right now? 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:16.720 That's amazing. 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:18.799 That's a first, everybody. 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:20.399 That's unbelievable. 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.840 Uh, because normally we're we're we have to be stat rats. 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:26.720 We start looking it up like Norway's curling team is going down this year. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:27.919 They got this guy. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.759 We're so competitive. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:33.600 Paul recognizes the natural tendency in the human heart. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:36.879 We love to compete, and he says, outdo. 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:40.240 The Greek word he uses is actually lead the way. 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.279 Let your love lead the way. 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:51.279 Let your loving one another lower yourself in serving and honoring even when they don't deserve it. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:54.240 Man. 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:56.720 Let your love for one another. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:04.320 That boss you have that that claims to be a Christian or you know is a Christian, what does it look like for us even if we feel like they don't deserve it? 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:07.759 Lower ourselves and outdo them in showing honor. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:11.200 He reframes this ambition. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:16.639 And instead, he says, make it your ambition to honor instead of puff yourself up. 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:23.360 A secure, a secure community doesn't fight to be the most impressive, it celebrates and elevates everybody's gifts, doesn't it? 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.639 We know that we've all been given gifts that are different to serve the body of Christ. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.799 Secure community can celebrate these gifts. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:33.120 It sounds like this when I'm secure in Christ, your success doesn't threaten me. 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:34.799 Man, that's good. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:39.919 When I'm secure in Jesus and I know my love from him, I am not threatened. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.000 It gives me something to celebrate. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:44.879 We see this as the movement that we're a part of as mid-cities. 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:49.039 Like, man, when we are winning here, we're winning in San Antonio. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.679 We're winning in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.679 We're winning in Cape Town, South Africa. 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:58.159 Like a win for our churches and our spiritual family across the world is a win for us. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:09.759 Uh, we're not getting together in our uh clusters and our conferences to measure and compare and say who's more Christian, who's more faithful to the call, who is more faithful to do the will of God. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:12.720 We can celebrate the wins of the churches next to us. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:14.480 We even do this in our cities, amen. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:22.960 We can see that there are God-fearing, Bible-believing, faithful churches in our city, and rather than competing, we can outdo and show honor to the churches in our city. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:24.000 Can't we? 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:34.320 We can say, Man, I'm so thankful that though you may not have fit in this family, God called you to be a part of that family, and I want to honor the fact that you're serving and loving over there. 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:35.039 Amen. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.759 Like this is an amazing type of people to be a part of. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.600 We see this uh in the last point. 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:42.240 Secure people give themselves away. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:45.360 Paul says this contribute to the needs of the saints. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:49.120 Verse 13, and seek to show hospitality. 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.320 Comparison is inward focused. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:53.519 How am I doing? 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.360 Where do I rank? 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:59.200 Who can I beat? 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:07.120 If insecure is inward focused, security turns outward. 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:08.080 How can I serve? 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:08.960 Who can I love? 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:10.000 Who can I care for? 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:11.279 Who can I invite in? 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:14.799 How can I provide for the needs of those around me? 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:27.279 A secure in Christ community looks like a people who don't have to spend all their time and energy managing their status, but can give freely. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.720 And from the passage, Paul presents this amazing picture, doesn't he? 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:49.840 Uh, this secure in Christ uh community, this transformed community of believers that does not have to compete, uh, that doesn't have to look across the street or across the aisle or on social media, uh, but can celebrate, can love, and can serve. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.759 Does this sound like a church you want to be a part of? 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:54.159 I mean, this sounds like a church that I want to be a part of, right? 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:55.120 Like I want to see this. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.120 And honestly, uh I have to say, we do a good job at this. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:01.759 Mid-Cities, like, we do a great job doing this. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:02.720 We love well. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:03.679 We sinned. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:12.000 Uh, I mean, I know for me as a freshman in college, when I first came into the doors at Mid-Cities, this was one of the first places that I felt truly loved and cared for. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:23.039 And I felt celebrated as as we've seen in discipleship as uh the Holy Spirit and my leaders have mined out the different gifts and abilities and figured out the call of God on my life. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.920 It's amazing to be in a community that's like, hey, we want to celebrate this. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:27.359 We want to go and play in churches. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:28.160 You should go. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:29.359 Like, you should go do that. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.279 We're gonna sow into that and believe with you. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:34.160 It's amazing to be a part of a community like this. 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:34.960 It really is. 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:36.000 I'm super thankful. 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:39.119 We're not doing it perfect, but we're definitely doing it the best that we can, right? 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:41.039 Like we're we want to love one another well. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:55.200 And I see this uh not from the things that people post and all this other stuff, but as I talk to you guys, as I get in conversations with you, and I can see, man, the love of God in your life, this genuine love for one another. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:57.839 But Paul doesn't stop there. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:05.759 Uh, in this passage, Paul details all of the horizontal implications of our vertical relationship with God. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.079 But he does something very specific. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:20.160 In the middle of this passage, in verses 11 and 12, he changes the conversation from how we relate to one another, and he points us back to our relationship with God. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:37.519 In verse 11 and 12, it says, Don't, it says, Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:47.759 I believe that Paul does this because he knows the manufacturer default setting of our souls. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:54.079 Jesus has called us to be transformed, but sometimes we're conformed, aren't we? 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:07.440 Like sometimes our ways of thinking, the patterns of our mind, are more conformed maybe to our past or the way that we used to think about relationships or the way that we used to think about connecting with people, and it's less transformed. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:30.799 And Paul knows even more specifically, if you're not absolutely captivated with the image of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, the implications that he's explained from Romans 1 all the way to 11, it's really easy to slip back not into a transformed mind, but to a conformed mind. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:48.480 See, the reason I say this is because I have lived life a little bit, uh, only 34 years, but enough to know that I got saved when I was 16, and between now and then, I have not always been fervent and zealous for the Lord. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:49.839 Or am I the only one? 00:19:50.079 --> 00:19:54.079 Like when I first got saved, I mean, Jesus changed my life. 00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:57.680 I was not really looking for God, but this is your testimony too. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.960 God was looking for you, amen. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.319 Like God came into your life, he transformed you, he made you a new creation. 00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:09.359 You may not have been searching for God, but he found you, he redeemed you, he made you new, and I was zealous and fervent for God. 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:13.519 I was rebuking my dad, I was doing all kinds of ridiculous and foolish things. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:16.160 I was like, man, I everybody needs to love God. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:17.920 We've got to be passionate. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:27.039 And it changed the way I related to my friends at school, changed the way that I related to my teammates and my parents, uh, for good and for bad sometimes, unfortunately. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:31.039 Uh, but I got to see God begin to transform my mind. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:44.400 And then one year became two, and three, and then three, and four, and I sinned a little bit and felt ashamed, and I felt guilty, and maybe I did some things I didn't want to do. 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.240 If anything, I have some regrets, right? 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:48.079 Anyone else have some regrets sometimes? 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.839 You think and you're like, oh, I shouldn't have done that. 00:20:50.559 --> 00:21:00.319 And maybe what used to be fervent, zealous, joyful image of the love that you received is you're a little more insecure about that love. 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:07.759 I I know I didn't deserve to receive that love then, but I d I don't know, I should know better now. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:24.559 And what happens is whenever we begin to feel insecure about our assurance of our hope that we find in Jesus, our eyes go from looking at our vertical relationship with God and begin to look horizontally and compare. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.160 What we really want is security. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:40.000 Like even my son at two and a half years old, before he goes to bed, he needs his little lovey, his little like swatch of cloth that makes him feel comfortable. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:42.799 He wants to feel secure before he can rest. 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:46.799 But we're all trying to find something to make us feel that way, right? 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:50.400 Like we want something to make us feel secure. 00:21:50.640 --> 00:21:57.039 And whenever we walk in insecurity in our relationship with God, we have to find it somewhere. 00:21:57.519 --> 00:21:59.759 The default factory setting of a West Texas. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.000 This nice culture is works based righteousness. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:09.359 And what I did when I was a new believer, I knew that my dad loved the book of Romans, and I started reading the Bible. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:10.400 I started reading Romans. 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:16.960 And I found Romans chapter 12, and it became, like if you're a hunter in the room, like a game trail on a path. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.680 Like it was a well-worn path in my daily devotion. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:23.839 There's no chapter I've read more in the Bible than Romans chapter 12. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:24.799 I love this. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:30.720 But unfortunately, what I would do is use it as a comparison scoreboard. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:37.359 You see, Paul tells us, be transformed, be renewed, give your life, lay it down as a sacrifice to God. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.160 You've been given gifts for the body of Christ. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:49.839 And then I saw in the ESV and then the old NIV, the subtitle for the text, if you look at your Bible, it may say Marks of the True Christian. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:53.599 Or uh Yeah, I think that's it. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:22:55.279 Marks of the True Christian. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.400 There's another one. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.079 Yeah, love and action. 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:12.000 And whenever I would feel insecure about my assurance of God's changing my life, I would then hold up Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through the rest of the chapter and use it as a scoreboard. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:12.720 Okay. 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:16.079 Is my love genuine? 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.799 Compared to this guy that I play baseball with, yes. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.720 Compared to this one, still yes. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:26.559 Alright, we're in a good position, right? 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:35.119 And I start to use this rather than an image of what a community of faith is supposed to look like, I begin to use it as a list of virtues to attain to. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:36.480 Have you ever done this before? 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.839 You looked into your Bible and you're like, if I could just become these things. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:46.079 So what happens when we do this is we're using comparison to anchor our hope in our own performance. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:52.480 I'm happy, joyful, faithful, full of faith in my life, as long as I'm performing well, right? 00:23:52.640 --> 00:24:03.039 And so what happens whenever we live this type of life, whenever we use Romans chapter 12 as a scoreboard for how we're doing, we begin to anchor our hope in our performance. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:06.480 And if you measure up well, there's a real danger. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.960 We become like Pharisees, don't we? 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:15.039 If you stack up against the person next to you and you're like, you know what, my love is way more genuine than theirs. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.759 My brotherly affection for my fellow Christians is far more genuine than theirs. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.559 And you know, next week we're talking about vengeance. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:23.839 That belongs to God. 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:25.440 I never take vengeance. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.319 My I'm not wrathful like that person is. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:32.000 And so you begin to use this passage as a scoreboard. 00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:37.599 Whenever you're measuring up, we're anchored in our pride and we become like a Pharisee. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:40.400 We start lording it over people. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.839 And then rather than giving people good news, we give them good advice. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:45.440 We'll just love better. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.039 Just be more sacrificial. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:53.119 Just lower yourself further. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:55.680 Outdo them in showing honor. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:25:00.799 But it's even more painful whenever we pendulum swing to the other side. 00:25:01.039 --> 00:25:02.960 What if we don't measure up? 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:15.359 What if that thought in our head, that internal dialogue, the the flesh speaking, or even maybe the voice of the enemy, and we line up and we say, I'm not sure on where I'm going when I die. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:32.960 I'm not sure if what happened to me was just emotional or if it was actually a transformation, because my life doesn't look the way it did ten years ago, or my life doesn't look the way it did five weeks ago, and we begin to compare ourselves not only to the people around us, but to the faith that we once had. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:38.079 Well, now we find guilt and shame and condemnation. 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.839 See, Paul knew something about this reality. 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:54.400 He knew that if we are left unstoked up in our faith, that our minds will slip back into being conform to the ways and patterns of the world. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:57.920 And so he interjects something specific. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:01.039 Again, we read in verse 11. 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:13.279 He says, Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:19.519 Paul realizes the danger that we slip back into this way, that we have neural pathways. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:20.559 Like, think about this. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:25.039 When I got saved at 16, I had 16 years of ways of thinking. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:30.319 I don't think we think about how strong those like neural pathways in our mind are sometimes. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:34.240 Like, think about when you were anxious, embarrassed, fearful. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:38.319 What did you run to to try to comfort you and give you security? 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:45.519 You actually have like neural synapses like moving you in those directions, like these habits that you've produced. 00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:47.759 Like this is what needs to be transformed. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.839 This is where we're all sitting at in our current walk with Jesus. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:56.480 There's a way and pattern of our thinking that Jesus is renewing day by day, right? 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.440 That he's taking and changing for us. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:02.400 And it's easy to slip back into this. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:09.279 And so my question to you is do you want to know how to bring the zeal back? 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:13.119 Do you want to know how to be zealous for the Lord? 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:29.359 Because what Paul's communicating here is he's like, if your image of heaven is different, then the church that we begin to see that has genuine love, that has brotherly affection, is not something that we strive to attain. 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:35.519 It's a byproduct of our worship and our vision and our security in Jesus. 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:44.000 Because if we are secure, we don't have to compare when we know we are loved. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:49.279 We're not looking at anything else to provide this love. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:52.880 So here's what I want to do. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:56.079 I want to walk through this text. 00:27:56.160 --> 00:27:57.599 How do we get fervent for the Lord? 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:03.279 We see in the Greek, uh, the Greek word for fervent here uh talks about boiling over. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:14.319 Uh the image that it uses is like a water pot boiling like so rapidly, not a rolling boil, not a little tiny simmer, uh, but a rolling boil where the water is flying out of the pot. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:18.880 Uh this has the image of being emotionally inflamed. 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:20.559 Can I tell you something? 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:25.279 How many of you have an emotionally inflamed faith in Christ? 00:28:25.519 --> 00:28:30.960 Like we usually idolize and honor the stoic in Midland Odessa, don't we? 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:33.039 We love a stoic faith. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:35.359 And everybody sat in silence, right? 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:36.799 See, that's what we do, right? 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:39.920 We love a stoic faith in Jesus. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:43.359 And we we want to be so self-controlled. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:44.559 Uh, and you should. 00:28:44.640 --> 00:28:46.079 It's a fruit of the Spirit. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.640 We should be self-cons self-controlled. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:53.119 But one thing should be fervent, one thing should be boiling up. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:57.200 One thing, if you read uh Lonesome Dove, you should be worked into a lather. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:28:57.839 Come on, somebody. 00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:04.720 If you ride a horse, one thing should be so inflamed, and that's your zeal and your passion for the Lord. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:06.000 When's the last time? 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:12.319 When is the last time that you woke up in the morning and you thought, man, I'm zealous for God in a way I've never been? 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:17.039 What he did to me so many years ago is still true today. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.519 How do I reclaim this hope? 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:21.759 And he gives it in the word. 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:27.359 He tells us in the following verse, he says, Rejoice in hope. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:32.400 You see, the way of comparison is to rejoice in your comparison. 00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:40.079 Rejoice in your effort and your works to look like a godly person and put your faith in your own abilities. 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:41.839 That doesn't last. 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:49.680 How many of you know, man, if it's up to my willpower and my ability to perform, I'm going to lose every time. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:52.160 I'm currently in a calorie deficit. 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:56.720 Uh I'm in the Army Reserve, and they came out with a new standard, and I want to meet that standard, whoa. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:59.440 And so I'm in a calorie deficit. 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:05.920 Uh if there's the thing online, I don't know if y'all are familiar with this, um, but people say, like, you should have intuitive eating. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:07.279 Have you heard this? 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:09.039 Just eat intuitively. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:11.519 You should see me eat intuitively. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.200 Like, that's not good. 00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:19.759 Intuitive eating for me is uh binge eating a lot of Oreos. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.519 Like, I heard about the youth stuff that we're gonna be doing, and I'm like, double stuffed. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:25.279 Yeah. 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:29.680 How many of you, let's be honest, eat less than a sleeve? 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:30.559 Come on. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:33.759