WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.519 I wanted to figure out how I could be good enough to actually get myself into the game. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:07.120 I knew where I wanted to get to. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.519 I didn't exactly know what path was needed to get there. 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:20.480 And so I had the opportunity in that particular summer to travel with my basketball coach and several guys on our team doing basketball camps all over the eastern seaboard. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:29.199 We went from uh northern Canada all the way down to Florida and as far away as Japan doing camps five days a week the entire summer. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:37.600 And uh and in that summer I learned what it was gonna take for me to be a basketball player that was good enough to get off the bench. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.600 And so our schedule would kind of go like this. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:58.399 We'd we'd get there, and our assistant coach would say, Okay, guys, we're gonna we're gonna get up early, we're gonna be at the gym at uh six o'clock, and we're gonna lift for an hour, hour and a half before camp gets started, and you're gonna have a couple hundred campers come in and uh they recognize my remedial state, and so they had me join in with the drills with the kids, and you're gonna do these drills all morning. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:07.920 And of course, I was really looking forward to lunch, and so we get to lunch and I'd eat my pizza, and uh and then our head coach would say, Okay, now we're gonna come do our shooting drills. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:10.640 I was like, Man, I feel like it's kind of time to take a break here. 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:21.920 I was lifting early this morning, just did all these drills through the day, and now you've got this other set of drills, and so we would do those over lunch, and then in the afternoon, well, sure enough, our assistant coach said, Yep, you're still pretty remedial. 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:34.159 You need to jump in and do these other drills and uh do those drills a little bit more after the campers went home for the afternoon set, then we would start the rest of our skill workout and we'd go all the way till dinner. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:38.959 I was like, goodness gracious, this is a higher level of commitment than what I was ready for. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:46.560 But day after day, week after week, through the entire summer, I saw my strength and my skills grow. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:56.319 And it wasn't like that I didn't know how to work hard previously, like I didn't know how to sweat and get after it, but there was just a more comprehensive, higher level of commitment that was needed. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.599 And this was after I'd had a relatively decent high school career. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.760 It wasn't like I was new to the game of basketball and didn't know what was going on, right? 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:07.280 That summer was transformational for me. 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:15.919 And Romans 12, I think God has given to us in a similar kind of way to say, you might have been around the game of basketball and you might have been around the church for a while. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.039 But here's what I am calling to you to as a follower of Christ. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:36.240 And for most of us, if we would slow down and read Romans 12 in a reflective and a prayerful way, we would start to see, boy, there is more that God is calling me to as one of his followers than maybe I had previously realized. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:41.039 That's been my prayer over our entire church, that God would show us here's what you're being called to. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:49.599 It's not per se harder work and more spiritual sweat, but a higher level, a more pervasive level of commitment all the way around. 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:58.479 What Paul's doing here is he's writing to this church at Rome, and he wants them to see here's how grace will train you to see yourself differently. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:02.639 Like I was with my coach, he was training me, here's how to see basketball differently, right? 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:07.680 Paul's saying, here's how grace will train you to see yourself differently. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.639 And Paul wanted to get there in person to tell them. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:21.759 That's generally the best way to do things, but God had prevented him, and so, in the most tangible and vivid words possible, Paul writes to them and says, Here's what this is supposed to look like. 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:32.319 You should know, and I mentioned this last week, this last section of Romans, the fourth quarter of Romans, is an incredibly practical, but also incredibly intense section. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:38.719 This is a high application section of scripture and the sermons you'll see reflecting that as well. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.039 Quick review: we're almost at the end of Romans, and it's really important you get the theme. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:44.879 Talk back to me a little here if you've been with us. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:46.560 What is the theme of Romans? 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:52.879 The righteousness of God. 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:54.000 Righteousness of God. 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:55.840 If you haven't written it down, please write it down. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:58.800 Maybe you said that and it just kind of got muffled on the way up to me. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:01.520 The righteousness of God is the theme of Romans. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.599 Paul starts out and says, the righteousness of God is needed by everyone. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:17.680 You can have religious leanings, you can have irreligious leanings, but on your own, your moral efforts, your attempts to be a good enough person, active enough for social change will never get the job done. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.120 You need the righteousness of God. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:29.120 And then he says, here's how the righteousness of God, the perfection of God, can actually be obtained, not through anything you do, but solely by faith in what Jesus Christ has done. 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:31.040 This is what we just sang a second ago. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.879 That song all sufficient merit. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:35.040 The law could never save us. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:41.360 Our lawlessness had won until the pure and spotless Lamb had finally come. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.800 There's only one way. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.240 And then Paul says, here's the benefits of having the righteousness of God. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.079 Your sins are forgiven. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:51.680 You have a right relationship with God, you have eternal hope of heaven. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.720 Nothing can separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus our Lord. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:56.079 Romans 8, praise be to God. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:05:02.560 And by the time you get to the end, Paul says, Now here's what it means to live in light of receiving this righteousness of God. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.000 God has done all this to do for you what you could never do for yourself. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.519 Here's how you're supposed to live in light of the righteousness of God. 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:13.600 And so this morning, the sermon title is, What does grace produce? 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:15.120 Was it change in you? 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:21.920 And here's the answer from verses three through eight: a radically changed view of yourself and others. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:23.920 What does grace produce? 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:28.160 A radically changed view of yourself and others. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:35.279 If you were here last week, you know that Paul at the beginning of Romans 12 was saying, Don't be conformed to the pattern of this world. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:36.079 There's a mold. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.920 The world wants to press you into the mold. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:39.680 Don't be pressed into that mold. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.639 But rather be transformed by the renewal of your mind. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.879 And when you're transformed by the renewal of your mind, then you'll be able to know what God's will is. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.040 You'll be able to test things and approve things and know what his good, pleasing, and perfect will is. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.240 And as he says, here's what God's will looks like. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:56.480 What's the very first thing he comes to? 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.720 These action steps. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.439 Here's how you know what God's will is. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:03.519 Let's dive in. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:05.439 Three points things that grace produces. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:06.959 Here's the first thing grace produces. 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:10.160 Here is God's will for your life: humility. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:13.199 What does grace produce? 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:14.160 It produces humility. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.920 Now, I joked about whether you use the hardback Bible or the leather one in the lost and found. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.240 I don't care which one you're using or if it's on your phone. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.120 But make sure you got one open, because we're going to go back to it a lot. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:24.959 Here's what verse three says. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:39.519 For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:41.839 What's the root issue? 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:42.800 Pride. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:44.879 And it's everybody's issue. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:50.240 And the immediate thought, I know how this goes, like, oh man, let me tell you about the guy I work with. 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:54.000 Let me tell you about that kid in my elementary school. 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:55.759 They are so full of themselves. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.360 Let me, you know what Paul says? 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:02.319 Everyone among you. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.000 No, don't think about somebody else. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:05.279 You think about you. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.160 You think too highly of yourself. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:10.240 This is a universal issue. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.439 And we tend to think it's more particularized than somebody else we know. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.759 And Paul says, nope, nope, nope, that's not how it goes. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.160 Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:23.600 Think of yourself with sober judgment according to the measure of faith that's been assigned to you. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:26.160 That phrase measure of faith is like, okay, I got it. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:27.439 I shouldn't think too highly. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:32.079 But what does it mean to think of myself according to this measure of faith? 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.120 That's one of the trickier phrases in this passage. 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:37.120 Give you a tip for Bible study. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:44.240 When you're trying to read and understand your Bible, there are two tools that you should always be using: word study and context. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.519 Study what the actual words mean and see what the context says. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:50.639 So let's apply those two tools to this phrase, measure of faith. 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:54.879 Scholars say the word measure could be understood in five different ways. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:08:00.720 Of could mean or indicate two different things, and faith could have seven different definitions. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.560 So if you put them all together, there's 70 possible meanings based on the word study. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:08.079 Maybe not the most helpful in this particular case. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:11.920 But the context does help us quite a bit here. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.000 How does the context help us? 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:32.000 Well, we know right out of the gate we're supposed to be thinking of ourselves with humility, and so the idea is the measure of faith that God has assigned, that God has given, think not measure of faith in terms of like how much faith, like you have two tablespoons, you have two cups, you have two liters. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.799 Not difference, but there's a unity of faith. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:37.120 Right? 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:39.759 Paul is driving towards a unified church body here. 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:44.559 And if you say, well, I've got more faith than you, that would actually drive us towards division. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:52.000 The context is, no, it's the same faith, the faith once for all delivered to the saints that you possess, has been given to you. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:57.120 So there's a unity in what you have received, not what you have earned. 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:00.000 God has allotted this to you. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.320 God has given you an inheritance of faith. 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.200 So even the faith I have, I can't take credit for. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.799 God has given me even that. 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:18.320 So measure of faith is a way of saying, look what God has given to all of you in driving, we are united as receivers of grace. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:23.600 Yeah, measure of faith, you we are united as receivers of grace. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:25.679 Now that's gonna change how you think of yourself. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:32.960 You cannot think of yourself too highly when you recognize we are all united here simply as people who've received and we've not brought anything to the table. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.279 And the contrast, the opposite of thinking of yourself appropriately with sober judgment is drunkenness. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:41.679 Right? 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:42.720 Paul uses that example. 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:48.320 Think of sober, think of yourselves with sober judgment as opposed to drunken judgment. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:48.879 Right? 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.279 And it's very easy to see in somebody else. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:10:01.759 Pride in somebody else looks like someone who is drunk on themselves, who's full of themselves, who thinks their jokes are funny and their stories are interesting. 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:04.240 And it's just not. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:04.960 Right? 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:06.639 Think soberly about yourself. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:13.679 I can't help but read this and think of Napoleon Dynamite in Uncle Rico back in '82. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:16.320 Throw that pig skin a quarter mile. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:18.559 Coach would have put me in the game in the fourth quarter. 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:20.159 We don't want state, no doubt. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.159 No doubt about it in my mind. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.039 I'd have gone pro, made millions. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:32.399 I'd be living in a mansion off somewhere, soaking it all in, in a hot tub with my soulmate. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:37.120 He's drunk on himself, right? 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.240 He's absolutely, and we just like, yeah, it's ridiculous, man. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:41.759 Think of yourself with sober judgment. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:45.279 Have you seen the way you tried to throw that loaf of bread at Napoleon? 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:47.519 You don't have it, bro. 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:53.279 But our proclivity and our bent is to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:11:02.480 Now, one of the things we've been saying all throughout the book of Romans is that sin is a an art, it's a Bible term, but it means uh something from the world of archery. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:03.600 It's to miss the mark. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:08.320 So sin is I pull back the arrow of my own life and I shoot and I miss the target. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:10.000 That's what it is to sin. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.440 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3.23. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:14.720 But it's more than that. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:22.399 Because when I say missing the target, you could think of it externally as actions, but it actually goes much deeper than that. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:30.720 One of the church fathers, uh, Augustine of Hippo, served in North Africa, uh, said that sin was something different. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.840 It was being curved inward on ourselves. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:40.240 Every chance to go and see something else, see God's goodness or others in it, I'm gonna curve it back inward on myself. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:41.759 Like a card that badly needs alignment. 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.919 I just keep pulling towards myself, pulling towards myself, pulling towards myself. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:52.799 With every opportunity to love God and love others, I see a way to love myself in this situation. 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:57.519 This might be one of the most counter-cultural messages that we can deliver here. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:01.120 Our world says, what you need to do is love yourself more. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:04.080 What you need to do is care for yourself more. 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:08.559 What you need to do is have a larger view of what you bring to the table here. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:14.399 Guys, not only is that bad for the world, it will end up being absolutely destructive for you. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:21.120 Because as you have a larger view of yourself and a larger love for yourself, what's going to happen is one of two things. 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:33.039 On the one hand, it'll cause you to look down on others who have not done whatever you think they should have done, who have not measured up to your standard, who have missed the mark in whatever way, as if you haven't missed the mark in the exact same way. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:43.600 But one of the more insidious things is not so much how it causes you to look down on others, but how a large view of yourself and self-love actually will cause you to look down on yourself. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:50.080 So I recall at one point, you know, fifth grade, working to be a good basketball player. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:56.159 I'm shooting free throws out there, and I miss a free throw, and I got so mad at myself, how could you ever miss this free throw? 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:00.879 I took the ball and I punted it like it was the ball's fault, and went across the road. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:03.440 What had happened in that moment? 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:06.639 I had a large view of myself and my skill set. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.039 I was a fifth grader trying to shoot free throws. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.039 What do fifth graders do shooting free throws? 00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:12.080 They miss. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:33.039 But when you have a large view of yourself, it's gonna cause you to look down on yourself in self-hatred and self-loathing and self-despising and receive and recognizing grace trains me to see we're united as receivers of grace, receivers of faith, not producers of faith. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:41.440 It actually shrinks my view of myself so that I can see others rightly, but also see myself rightly and not have an outsized view of myself. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:48.799 You see, what this is gonna require of you, brothers and sisters, is that you start thinking about your thinking. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.519 How do I think about myself? 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:52.879 How do I think about others? 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.519 And this is a process that'll take a little time to peel the onion. 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:56.480 I get that. 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:01.679 But if you don't think about your thinking, you're gonna end up with stinking thinking. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:03.759 We don't want stinking thinking. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:12.639 But there's a lot of ways that we think we're moving through the world, we're looking at others and God, and we're actually kind of bending things back on ourselves. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:19.919 This is precisely, I think, what Trace Adkins, the great theologian, was talking about in his album, Songs About Me. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:23.200 So some of you don't love country music, that's okay, we'll keep praying for you. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.320 But um so here's what happens in the song. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:30.559 He's on an airplane, and somebody asks him what he does, and he says, I write country songs. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.399 And he says, I write songs about loving and living and good-hearted women and family and God. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.279 That's pretty much every country song. 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:40.960 And then he follows up after that. 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:46.879 He says, But really, they're all just songs about me and who I am. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:59.440 And a lot of times in our life, it looks like on the outside, we're going through life, we're living life, we're talking to people, we're engaging on loving and living and good hearted women and family and God. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:04.399 But if you would think about your thinking, you'd find out actually it's all just songs about me. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:08.480 You gotta think about your thinking to avoid stinking thinking. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.200 So let me just pause here and let me give you a couple of reflective questions to think through. 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:16.720 We're not gonna put these on the screen because that makes you write them down real quick. 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.039 And if you want to listen to them again, grab the podcast or something. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:20.480 Let's just think about this for a second. 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.840 How do I see that I'm thinking of myself too highly? 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:25.360 Let me ask you this. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.840 Where are you easily irritated? 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:30.799 Where are you easily irritated? 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.159 I shouldn't be bothered with this thing. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.159 Many times that's revenue outside of view of yourself. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:42.480 Where am I quick to second guess others? 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:56.559 If I would have led that project, if I would have taught that lesson, if I would have been in charge of this thing or that thing, if I would have parented that child, they would have seen what grace looks like. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.720 If I would have parented that child, they would have known what discipline looks like. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:07.919 You see, where you're quick to second guess others is an indicator of an outsized view of yourself. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.399 It doesn't mean that everybody else was always right. 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:16.799 It just means I tend to think, well, if I was there, I would have that fixed, and you've forgotten that there's one Messiah and it's not your name. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:19.600 Let me ask you another one. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:30.000 Where do you struggle to listen well? 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:33.440 Where do you struggle to listen well? 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:36.799 You always got something to say real quick. 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:41.200 Maybe that's not I'm not the quick talker person. 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:43.919 I just check out all together. 00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.600 Sit at the table, smile and nod, nothing to say. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.759 That can be an indicator of pride in your own life. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:59.120 That I can't actively listen, be engaged and interested in others, and all I can do is figure out how I'm gonna make this a song about me. 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:05.839 And if I can't do that or I think it's totally uninteresting, then I have the ability to just opt out of this conversation and say this isn't for me. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.240 Let me give you one more. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:16.400 Where is it difficult for you to freely confess sin? 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.319 Where is it difficult for you to freely confess sin? 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.279 When I say freely confess, here's what I mean. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.440 I mean specific sin. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.680 I don't mean, well, I had a little struggle this past week. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.640 I stumbled a little bit. 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:42.880 No, I mean my heart was gripped by greedy desires because the things of this world look really stinking good to me. 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:44.640 And I want more of that. 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.400 I lusted after that man or that woman. 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.759 I coveted what my neighbor has. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:55.839 I didn't tell a little white lie. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:03.519 I realized it would look good for me if I told a lie in this situation, and so I was not committed to the truth because it would make me look good. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:09.359 Like we don't we don't talk about sin usually in specific terms like that, but we should. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:18.960 And when I say freely confess sin, what I mean is specific sins vertically to God and horizontally to one or two other brothers or sisters who are close. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:22.319 Probably not everybody in your Sunday school class, I get that. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:25.519 But James 5 says there's healing in the confession of sin. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:29.920 You go back, you read David in Psalm 32, he says, My bones wasted away. 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.599 It ate up my strength until I could confess. 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:38.480 And one of the reasons we don't freely confess is because we want to make ourselves look better than we are. 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:40.640 We want to uphold a high view of ourselves. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:49.359 And grace trains me to say we are united as receivers, and therefore I don't have to pretend like I have my act all together here. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.599 That's grace humility. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:53.839 That's the first thing grace does. 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:57.680 Now here's the second thing grace produces it produces a unity. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.319 It produces unity. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.319 Look back at verse 4. 00:19:05.200 --> 00:19:06.799 Here's what Paul says. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:21.519 For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:25.200 It produces unity. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:28.559 I think it's important we understand unity rightly in this situation. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:33.440 Sometimes in the church, we define unity as an absence of conflict. 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:37.119 And I'm not after more conflict, so don't get me in the wrong sense there. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:39.359 That's not really what unity is. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:44.240 Unity is more rightly understood as a tightness of bond for mission. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:46.079 Tightness of bond for mission. 00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:52.640 And let's just be real clear: our mission as a church, Parkside Bible Church, is to glorify God by making disciples. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.039 Very, very, very straightforward. 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.519 Glorify God by making disciples. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:02.880 The tightness of our bond for that mission is the measure of our unity. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:06.880 You might think of a musical, like a high school musical that happens. 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:09.440 And uh you imagine all the different moving parts, right? 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:24.799 You need you need the actors, the singers to be united, you need the dance team to be united, you need the musicians to be united, you need the stage crew to be united, you need the people running the lights to be united. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:35.119 But if you get to the end of the production and they say, oh, we were super united, we didn't have any big arguments, well, that's not actually a super unified team. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:47.279 But if they were all tightly bound around the same mission and nothing would distract them from the mission, all of the moving parts working together to produce this amazing musically say, wow, that was an incredibly unified team. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:50.960 You see, unity is much bigger than the absence of conflict, right? 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:53.920 It's a tightness of bond for a mission. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:03.920 And what Paul does after he says that grace produces the first point, humility, what is the immediate next step he goes to? 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:08.559 He says, it's how you relate to the community of faith. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.119 This is so, so important, guys. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:20.799 You understand in the New Testament, God says that you are saved, God makes you a new person, but your faith is always personal and never private. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.599 The language of the New Testament says God puts you into a new group of people. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:36.079 It says He's creating a new nation, He's creating a new body, interconnected, He's creating a new building, a new community, a new family. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:52.400 Like every single image here is saying you're becoming part of a group, and it is always tied, not as like an optional add on for varsity level commitment, but what it means to follow Jesus is I am made into a new person and placed into a new people. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:57.680 And the key phrase here in verse four is you are members of one another. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759 There is a huge payload attached. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.640 To that. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:07.920 It means as a Christian, your core identity is reoriented into this group. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.519 So helpful cross-reference here, Hebrews chapter 10. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:17.279 The author of Hebrews says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as is the habit of some. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:24.480 Okay, so virtual church was happening back then, and so was skipping out on church to go to whatever else people skipped out on church on. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:24.960 Got it. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:25.839 Don't do that. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:32.319 The opposite, don't forsake the assembling, but rather get your butt in church and be there every Sunday. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:37.519 If you did your devotions in Hebrews this morning, you know that's not what it says. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.920 It says, but rather encourage one another. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.559 Don't forsake the assembly. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:50.480 Don't stay home, but rather come and encourage. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:55.200 See how you can give, not what you can receive. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:23:00.400 You see, deep in the heart of the American church is this idea of consumerism. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:02.880 I come to church to get. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:05.119 I come to church as a receiver. 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:06.559 I get teaching. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:08.480 I get filled up. 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:12.960 I show up and I say, What programs do you have to offer? 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:17.519 Like, and some people show up and they're a little bit easier to please. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:21.519 Like they could go to the golden corral and be happy with the whole menu there. 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.160 Other people a little harder to please, they're looking for Fogo to Chow. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:28.319 They want the whole menu there. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.880 But underneath both of those is showing up saying, What's on the menu? 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.440 And what can I get from this situation? 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:40.160 Now the reality is when you come to church, I do hope you get things. 00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:41.839 But you know what's gonna happen? 00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:44.559 You are receiving what others are giving. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:51.039 And you receive not only what they are giving, but you will receive by giving. 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:59.200 And that's a fundamental shift from this menu mindset that often comes into the church. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:07.759 You know, it's around Christmas time we often quote Jesus, who said it's more blessed to give than to receive. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.920 But do you think about your local church involvement in the same way? 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:17.920 Because Jesus said the path to life came from giving, not receiving. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:24.559 That's why Philippians 2 says he emptied himself and took on the form of a servant, becoming obedient unto death. 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:46.240 And as he said the path to life was death to self, and then resurrection in the power of the Spirit, so, brothers and sisters, the path to life, joy, and peace for you is death to self, resurrection to new life in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the way you relate to the other brothers and sisters in this body is one of the number one battlegrounds for that to be lived out. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.720 Absolutely have to get this straightened out. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:57.680 I recall hearing a number of years ago about a grandpa pastor, and he was doing the grandpa pastor thing after church, shaking hands, kissing babies, doing all that. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:02.400 And uh, and somebody came by and said, Pastor, I really didn't like the worship this Sunday. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.559 And he shook their hand, he said, No problem at all. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:05.920 It wasn't for you. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:11.119 Because we're here not worshiping you, but worshiping the Lord Jesus. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:20.640 There's not an audience of worship, there's a congregation gathered raising worship to the one who is worthy, and it's not me, and it's not you, and it wasn't that person. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:27.279 So let me try and put this in even a little bit more starker practical terms for you. 00:25:28.799 --> 00:25:31.440 Wave your hands at me a little bit right now, make sure the blood's still flowing. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:33.599 Go doing a little survey action here, good, okay. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:38.559 If the person next to you didn't do that, you got permission to just elbow them, they might be asleep right now. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:41.119 Or maybe they just didn't want to hit you with the elbow there. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:43.279 They've been lifting, they're kind of swole, you know, whatever the case. 00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:43.759 Okay. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:47.599 You don't actually have to raise your hands for this exercise. 00:25:47.759 --> 00:25:52.319 Uh, but I want you to think in your mind scale of one to ten, as I ask, I have three questions I want to ask you. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:59.279 Now, I understand when it comes to spiritual growth, like you have a part and God has a part, like he's providing the grace, but you're doing the work on a human level term. 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:03.519 Are you responsible for your own spiritual growth? 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:07.680 All right, so I hope you said somewhere near 10 for that. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:08.319 Okay? 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:09.759 Now let me ask you a second one. 00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:16.880 If you have a family, are you responsible for the spiritual growth of your family? 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.799 I hope you said somewhere near 10 for that. 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:28.480 Like obviously the other people are more responsible than you're responsible, but if you're a, especially if you're a dad, you have a vested responsibility in their growth. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.640 Let me ask you a third question. 00:26:31.680 --> 00:26:38.559 Are you responsible for the spiritual growth of the other members of this church? 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:41.519 Now maybe you're not sure. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:42.559 Is this a trick question? 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:43.680 There's 500 of them. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:46.079 How am I supposed to be responsible for all of them? 00:26:46.799 --> 00:27:00.799 When Paul says we are members of one another, one of the things that means is that we have a vested interest and not only interest, but responsibility in the spiritual growth of our other church members. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:05.920 Obviously, you can't have the same kind of responsibility for every single other person, right? 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.119 I get that. 00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:15.359 But have you taken that level of responsibility and interest in someone else's spiritual growth? 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:32.240 Perhaps this is the moment for you, like it was for me in the summer of 2006, where I realized that my coach was calling me to a higher level of commitment than I'd realized. 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:36.480 And you're like, wow, I don't know that I've read Romans 12.4 quite in that way before. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:43.920 And God is calling me as a follower of Him to a higher level of commitment than I had previously understood. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:52.400 See, this is the basics of biblical Christianity, that every Christian is called to commit to other Christians in some kind of a local assembly. 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:54.799 At Parkside, we call that church membership. 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:58.799 You're gonna make a commitment to love one another. 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:02.400 It's very, very important. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:09.200 There are some who've been attending for maybe a while, and you haven't joined, you haven't made that commitment. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:19.839 And you understand, like, I've got this commitment to 4-H, I've got this commitment to use sports, I've got this commitment to the lake, I've got this commitment to like whatever you've got a commitment to, and I'm gonna fit in the church where I can. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.559 This is a call to repentance. 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:30.160 I need to reorient my life around a local assembly of believers, as Romans 12:4 calls me to. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:34.319 And there are others of you who've been members at Parkside, maybe for a long time. 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:39.519 You did the membership class, you serve in kids' ministry, you regularly give. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:48.559 But this relational element of I'm taking interest and responsibility in the spiritual growth of others is not a step you've taken. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:51.200 And it's a call for you to repent as well. 00:28:52.319 --> 00:28:56.240 We are united to one another in a meaningful, meaningful way. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.839 You know what Jesus said in John 17? 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:12.880 He said, our unity, our tightness of bond on mission is actually mission critical because when the world sees that tightness of bond on mission, that's how they know that Jesus is actually the Son of God. 00:29:13.359 --> 00:29:18.079 That this fundamental identity reorients all the rest of my life. 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.000 And that's how the world knows. 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:23.039 You talk about a countercultural truth right here. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:25.279 There's a reason the room's getting quiet. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:26.400 You hear that? 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:27.119 You feel it? 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:29.599 Like, yeah, the toes are getting stepped on. 00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:34.319 Let me give you another countercultural truth right in this passage as well. 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:40.319 Your function doesn't define you, Christ defines you. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:41.119 Right? 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:42.960 He talks about how you're united to one another. 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:46.480 Not everybody has the same function, is what the end of verse 4 says. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:49.599 Your function doesn't define your value. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:59.039 Like some of you are in retirement or approaching retirement, and you went from being a who's who to now you're a who's he. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.759 Now that's kind of an identity shift that's tough to navigate. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.960 You need to remind yourself my value does not come from my workplace function. 00:30:09.519 --> 00:30:17.519 There are others of you who are at home rearing children, and you're looking out at what the other ladies in your community are doing. 00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:23.359 It's like, boy, it seems like they're really making a difference in the world, and I'm just changing diapers and getting bottles ready. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:28.559 Your function doesn't define your value. 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:35.440 Unless we get any further away, let's not pretend as if that function is not a very valuable and needed function as well. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:44.240 There are other ladies who are in the workplace facing a totally different kind of challenge, saying, I wish I was at home with those kids. 00:30:44.799 --> 00:30:47.119 Ladies, your function doesn't define you. 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:48.559 Christ defines you. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.480 And in different seasons of life, there will be different needs, different calls upon your life. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:55.839 We understand that, but you must get square straight out of the gate. 00:30:55.920 --> 00:30:58.079 Your function doesn't define you. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:30:59.680 You go to the youth group. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:02.000 Students, let me see you here. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:07.279 The 12th graders are not more significant than the sixth graders. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:12.480 Their function doesn't define them. 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:15.519 And you apply this more broadly. 00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:19.839