Being Ready for God's Work: The Power of Spiritual Rebirth

Are you trying to modify your behavior or asking God to transform your heart? There's a huge difference between trying harder to be better and inviting God to make you into someone new. What in your life needs to die so God can truly use you? 🤔

Transcript

You can't build something strong without a strong foundation. The same is true for your faith. Welcome to Build a podcast from Danville First Baptist Church. A church for anyone to begin and build a real relationship with Jesus. Build is where Sunday's message becomes Monday's conversation.
Each episode we dig deeper into what God is teaching us, talk about how it shows up in real life, and help you keep building your faith beyond the weekend. Let's get started.
Welcome to Build the podcast of FEC Danville, where we aim to build on Sunday sermon and ultimately build on a relationship with Christ. So it's a new year, a new outlook, and that always comes with what does that mean for us as a church, as leaders in the church, and just as as Christians, the church. So that tends to be where new year sermons go. And Daniel didn't disappoint with bringing us that place. But it was so much more than just a new year, new you type of situation.
Looked at Luke and then flipped over to John and rounded things out. I love it when we're able to use John 3:16 and it because it just gets so like watered down. But when you, when it's applied such a PA is so powerful, which is why it's so so readily used because it says so much. And then you did 316 and 17, which 17 probably is one of my favorite verses and I always advocate that they should always be used together. So I appreciated that as well.
But looking at what it means to you got these words of being ready and I'm getting tongue tied because I'm excited going through the process of what it is going to entail to be ready. So we'll kick it over to Daniel and let him expand on that. I too love John 3:17 and I know that both of you do too. So I thought I'm definitely going to say 16 and 17 for our conversation sake here today. But they do go together.
It is a good reminder that God did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world. And therefore we should not be condemning the world. We should be using words that bring salvation to the world. But yeah, looking at being ready, you know, the new year is always a time of reflection. It's a time of new starts and those types of things.
So it's always a good time for vision and for course correction and just helping us to focus maybe on something. It's just kind of a natural time to refocus on something. I've had it in my spirit for a while that new things may be coming and I know that that can be unsettling to some or almost dishonoring when it, when it, you know, like, if something's new, then that means whatever we had wasn't good. And I don't know what that means. And I almost thought we were headed like new was going to be our word, but it's not really.
That's not really it. The more I thought about it, the more I prayed about it, the more I let the Lord just kind of settle it in my heart. It was really more just about whatever it is, I just want you to be ready for it. And so ready ended up being the word that we settled on. And then we're looking at three different ways that can help us be ready.
And yesterday was rebirth. So we're looking at rebirth, return, and resolve when it comes to being ready. And so that's where we're this week. Just want to be ready for the Lord, for His work, for his return. We looked at Luke 12, where Jesus uses a couple of parables, really we only looked at the first part yesterday, where Jesus says to be ready and that a good servant is ready for the Master's return.
Uses the wedding banquet as the illustration for that. The wedding banquet was a time that someone would go to, but there was no predetermined length of that celebration, but there was a certainty that it would end and that the. That you would go back home. So if you were a servant at home with your Master gone, you don't know when he's coming back, but you know he's coming back. And Luke 12 is obviously speaking of end of times situations, second coming of Christ situations which wouldn't have landed on the people of the day at all because they had Jesus in front of them.
Why would you come a second time? You're already here. They don't know yet that the cross is the destination. They. That the resurrection is coming, that the ascension is coming.
They don't know he's going to have to come back because they don't know that he's going to leave. Why would he ever leave? Because he's here. And so we just looked at that. Just wanting to be a ready servant, wanting to have a ready heart, wanting to have a ready spirit, wanting to be prepared and not rigid and stuck in what we think is best and what you think is right and what we think is good.
If I just. The heart behind it is if we needed to change, then change. If it's something new, then do something new. If it's pour gasoline on what you're already doing, then pour gasoline on what you're already doing. And from an individual level to a Sunday school small group level, to the entire congregation level and then outreach level, like on every level, from individual to the entire congregation, let's pray for, have, be ready, have a spirit of readiness for service and not a spirit of rigidity where we're stuck in our ways and stuck in a rut of doing what we want to do because we think what we do is best.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Let's just be ready for whatever it is. If he confirms that it's great, then keep doing it and do it with new vigor. And whatever it is, I don't know what it is. That's the thing.
I don't know what it is. I don't know if God wants us to stop, cut, redo, renew. I don't know. That's the entire point. Let's just be ready for whatever it is.
And I think if we're ready, then we'll be. We'll be blessed, because that's what the word says. And I think if we are ready, then that's what being faithful is, is being ready. So that's where we were yesterday. Yeah, that's good.
And I think, you know, you know, when you. When you talk about being ready, sometimes our mind instantly goes to, you know, wait. We're going to wait. We're just going to wait on what's going to happen, and then we're going to. And really, ready is more of an active word than waiting is.
And I think, you know, for me, like, I'm a doer. I want to do things. I want to get things done. I want to push through whatever is going on. And.
And so, like, even with Anchor and with our youth right now, I'm, like, pleading with them last night, like, hey, what do we have to do to get the gospel in the minds and the hearts of more of your people? And, you know, what I have a hard time with is staying the course when I don't see the expected result. And I think that's part of being ready is to seek God in what you're doing and not always hopping from one thing to the next. And my tendency in the flesh is to hop from one thing to the next until I find the magic formula. But really, being faithful might mean just keep doing what you're doing, regardless of what you see, because faith isn't sight at this point.
Yes. Are you being faithful? Are you doing what you're supposed to? And if so will you trust me with the results? Even if the results are down the road and just from a transparency standpoint, an authentic standpoint, that's hard for me.
You know, I've. We've thrown some things against the wall, you know, in the last six months. And I'm like, oh, this is. This is it, this is it. And it's a. Whoa.
You know, we're staying somewhat still as far as numbers, you know, I feel like we're seeing some growth individually, but I'm not seeing some stepping forward that I want to see out of some of our students. And so, like, finding that gauge, am I being faithful or am I being lazy?
And it's really just an evaluation of am I seeking God's face and being faithful to whatever he says, regardless of what it looks like? That's hard. It is, yeah. I know that for me, because I'm very impatient when I'm ready to see something happen. I feel like I'm very patient with lots of things.
But once I'm ready to go, I'm ready to do it now. And I guess I've reached a maturity that I understand. That's not at all how God works.
It's his time and that's all that it is. And so being ready is super important because when it does happen, then it does happen all at once, seemingly. But there may be six months or six weeks or whatever it is of patience and waiting for what he wants to do. And I think that's always part of the process. Is that because we learn.
I know I learned so much during that time when I'm focused on being patient and waiting and listening and, you know, constantly seeking. It invokes all of those things which we should be doing regularly. But we listen to the world most often when we're waiting to see what the world's going to do. But when we have that something that we're hyper focused on, that we know we're called to, it can come. Like I said, it seems like a snail's pace.
And then all of a sudden it happens. And then you look back, you're like, wow, a lot happened in the course of a year. Yeah. But it seemed like it took forever to get there. So it's, it's so.
It's so cool. The thing that keeps, for me, that is coming out in this. And I've kind of had this thought, I don't know, for about the last six months that being obedient is so important. And I. To the point, like, I've tried to Encourage people.
When I see people being obedient to what the Lord's calling them to do, because it's so easy to not be obedient. But you can't be obedient if you're not ready for what's happening. You will miss it 100%. And I mean, Dusty and I have talked about this here recently. It's just sometimes it seems so insignificant.
You being ready to be obedient is sometimes the thing that is the catalyst for a whole nother set of things. So it may not even have anything. Being ready had nothing to do with you. Right? Yeah.
You know, that makes me think of a lot of agricultural illustrations in Scripture. And there's that kind of cliche of, you know, two farmers pray for rain. One goes out and tills the ground, plants the seed, you know, and the other one waits for the rain, which one actually believes the rain is coming. And that's kind of the thought behind being ready. If you need rain, then be ready for the rain.
Because if the ground's not tilled and the seeds not planted, then when the rain comes, then the rain didn't matter anyway. It's too late. And so that's kind of what you just said makes me think of. And that's the heart behind being ready. Like, let's just be ready.
Let's not miss an opportunity that the Lord brings in front of us for whatever reason that we can bring up for our. From our flesh and rationalize it away. And then yesterday, the first sub point of being ready, we talked about rebirth and went to John chapter three, where Jesus literally says, you have to be born again or reborn or born from above or born from God, all kind of wrapped up in that, in the Greek, of what's being said there, born again. Probably the most traditional way to say that, and I love that way. I love saying you need to be born again.
I don't think there's. Some people think there's a negative connotation with that. And there can be worldly because of how that has been presented at times out in the world. But I'm not afraid of the word born again. I think you should be born again.
I think I'm born again, and I'm glad that I'm born again. I'm glad that the Lord made me new by the Spirit and that he does that, that being born again comes from him. That's literally what the word means, comes from above. This rebirth comes from the Spirit, comes from God. And we talked about the first step to being ready is being reborn by the spirit, is understanding that in order to become who God wants you to be, there must be a death of who you are.
There must be a death of who you are. And I think while I have to be careful how I say this, while I think salvation, you were reborn in salvation one time. I think one way to frame sanctification is many continual rebirths in your life. I think that's kind of what sanctification is, is that it's more like you, as you walk down the road, it's another part of where God says, I'll see this part. That part needs to die.
Let that part die and be reborn in the spirit. You know, I can take your. You know, we talk about. Often about our passion. I can take your passion.
And when that dies to the flesh and is reborn in the spirit, it could actually be a good thing. Yeah, but. But when you're passionate in the flesh, people are scorched by that. So that part of you, that way needs to die and be reborn in the spirit and used by my power, through you, for my ways and my glorification through you, and by the Spirit, and let the kingdom grow because of that. And so the first step is rebirth in salvation.
And then I think there's a continual rebirth of sanctification as we. As we grow. Just like each year a plant dies and then grows back again the next year. Kind of the same thing of that process. And again, I don't want to be very clear.
I don't think that you're resaved, but I do think. I do think that's kind of one way to illustrate sanctification. Although I'd be very careful of using that in certain. In certain. You know, I wouldn't say it that way to someone that was very young in the faith.
I wouldn't want to confuse them. But I think that makes sense to us in this context. Yeah, I think what you're saying, really, I mean, we see the same thing paralleled in the physical. You know, I mean, when a baby's hungry, there's nothing wrong with it. Crying and then the mother knows it's time to eat.
But, you know, my kids are 15, 16, and 20. If they're crying because they're hungry, like, I want that part of them, that infant stage, to go away. It's no longer there. It's a part of their past, but it's been buried. And then they became toddlers.
I don't want them to be toddlers at 15, 16, and 20. And then they become Those tweens, and they deal with that whole set of middle school problems that I deal with every single day. And I want that part of their life to die, and then I want them to mature. And so it's really the same way spiritually. And I think you did a good job of bringing this out yesterday.
As we talk about sanctification and we talk about parts of us dying and then being reborn into something more mature, you talked about how that it's not about don't be like the world, because it's not about physical change, but a change of your heart. And it's not about behavior modification. Like, because I want to honor Jesus, I want to lose my temper less often. Like, that's not it. I want to lose my temper less often because I want to point people to Jesus.
And I eliminate that path if I'm acting like a buffoon because I'm angry. And so I want to leave it there where I can still be passionate, I can still advocate for myself or advocate for what I care about. But. But I'm not allowed to do it the way I used to. Because when I used to do was about gratifying the flesh, and now I don't want to walk in the flesh.
I want to gratify the spirit. And I live by a new set of rules. The old set of rules that I lived by died, and it wasn't. I don't act different now because that is proof that I'm saved. I act different now because I want everything I do to point others to Jesus.
And that's hard. But that's exactly what being reborn means, is I don't see situations the way I used to. I don't look at it the way I used to. I don't deal with the way now. Let's be real.
Sometimes we still do because our flesh gets in the way. But to truly be reborn means that we are going to try to fulfill the spirit rather than fulfill the flesh. And it's hard, but it's not about the behavior. It's about the why. And the why is always in the end that we want to bring glory to Jesus.
And I can't do that if I'm fulfilling the flesh. Right? Yeah. Another area of scripture that is more along the rebirth idea is Ezekiel 36, and I will take their heart of stone and I will give them a new heart. That's why we refer to it that way often, because the heart is the core of the inner being.
It's not the valve that pumps blood. That's not what we mean when we say heart. We're talking about what it is to be human, which is some combination of mind, emotion, and spirit, which we usually use the word soul for that. But we want a new heart. And in salvation, that's what Christ gives us is a new heart.
And going back to the first thing you said, it's not that behavior modification is. Okay, I'm going to lose my temper. Last, less new heart is. I'm going to be a Lord. Make me a person that's patient.
Right. Don't. I'm not going to be a person who loses my temper less. I'm going to be patient. Make me patient.
Yeah. I can't make myself patient. Right. Like, I can't. I. I can lose my temper less.
Right. See what I'm saying? Right? I can. I cannot lose my temper less.
Yeah. But I can't be patient on my own. That has to come from the Spirit. He makes me patient. The Lord makes me patient.
And the heart behind those two things are different. On the backside of it, it may look the same. That's key. But the heart of it is very different. And therefore, who gets the glory for it is very different.
And how long it lasts is very different. It's very hard for us to. To modify our behavior long term. It basically doesn't happen. You know, I was gonna make some quips about New Year's resolutions yesterday, and I decided.
Decided not to. You know, there's actual statistics on it. It's astronomical. Like how fast a New Year's resolution just falls off the cliff. Because most of the time a New Year's resolution is a behavior modification goal.
And, you know, like, I want to read, you know, 15 books this year. Yeah, that's a behavior modification goal. A character goal is I want to be. I want to become someone who reads. Yeah.
And how you approach those two different. Those things are very. They're very different. And so we're talking about character transformation always. Heart transformation, always.
Not behavior malification. And so, you know, you just don't want that. And, you know, Paul talks about maturing in Christ and not being a babe in Christ and still drinking, you know, milk, but. But wanting some real good deep food. And sometimes your theology, how you view God, your soteriology, how you view South.
Salvation really matters in your maturity and in your maturation. And I think that's why we talked last week about what, you know, that not wanting to go to hell and saying a prayer is not the gospel. But if that's how you viewed the Gospel, as long as you've lived since then, there isn't a calling to maturation in that. Right. You achieved it, you've achieved it, and you're just sitting around waiting to go to heaven.
And that's. And that's how you know that, that, that. That belief is more prevalent than we would like to admit or many think there is. Because that is often what is in a church. People who have.
People who are just waiting around to go to heaven. And so, you know, if you're, if you've been saved for, well, oh, if you think you're a Christian. Yeah, there you go. There you go. If you think you're a Christian and maybe you thought you were a Christian for 5, 10, 15, 20 years now, but you're still acting like an infant or a toddler in your Christianity, then either you're not saved or you've wasted a lot of time and stop wasting that time and start.
And start growing up. Like, recognize that you are doing that, you know, And I think I'm fixing to step on toes. That's okay, though. That's what we're here for. It is what we're here for in a loving, very loving, kind, graceful way.
If your idea towards the church is, I didn't make this up. I heard this said by somebody smarter than me. And we say this sometimes, and there's some truth to it. So first of all, let me put a caveat before I even say what I'm about to say. I'm not saying if you've ever said this or that.
If and when you say this, that you are an immature Christian. That's not what I'm saying. But if what I'm about to say is your heart set. Yeah. Where you stay, where you live, where you live, then that is a problem.
And when you look at the church and view the church as, I want to get fed, feed me. Yeah, right. As a human being, what is the only stage, life to where someone cries and whines to get fed? You just said it. Yeah.
Babies. And it's perfectly fine for babies to do that. Right? Feed me, feed me, feed me. But if you're 40 years old and you're sitting in a high chair crying, asking someone to feed you, you look pretty foolish.
I mean, that just doesn't. That just doesn't go. It doesn't fit. And so while as a shepherd, I want my sheep to be fed, well, the shepherd doesn't actually feed the sheep, does he? The shepherd leads the sheep to green grass, and then the sheep Eat, you know, and that's Ephesians that the job of the minister is to build up the church to do the ministry.
And so you, you know, it's very different thought than being spoon fed like a baby where and the baby didn't do anything except exist during that time. And if you're just existing in the church expecting to be fed versus you need to be refueled, led to places where you refuel because you're putting in the work. Right. You're an active, participating, you're actively participating and you need to that pastor, that shepherd that's going to take you to where you can get and show you where it is. Let me clarify something else too because that can be a confusing term that I just used to be an active participant in the church.
I don't mean that you're teaching Sunday school or on a committee or I mean an active participant in the church that you're living and loving and serving human beings. Well, that's what I mean by being an active participant in the church, not this church. In the church is your goal to serve others? Well, that's what Paul tells us in Galatians. That's what practicing Christ likeness, that's the point of it is to love and serve each other well, to care for each other well, to honor each other well to one another, each other.
Well about 55 times in the New Testament we have one another's statements. One another. Well, that's being an active participant in the church. And for some that means you have a gifting or a calling to a specific ministry in the actual local church building. But that's, but, but it's, it is that.
But it's also more than that. You may never teach Sunday school or be on the greeter team or be on the budget committee or whatever or be a pastor or whatever the case may be. But you can be an active participant in your church because you're the person that prays for people. You're the person, you know, you're the Miss Pain that makes rolls for people's funerals. You know, you have the gift of hospitality which is done primarily outside of the church, although there is a place for that, you know, in Sunday mornings and those things.
So it's more than that. But if you're not an active participant participant in the church. But, and you say that you're a Christian.
Yeah, let me go hard man. It's hard for me to take it goes to the, you know, make sure your lamp is lit. Yes. And what, and what does that look like. What's the practicality of look.
Of that looking? We're not carrying around lamps. So what does that look like? It looks like. That looks like the people look to look at you and know, number one, that something different.
They don't even. They may not know what it is, but they know something's different. And that's because they're seeing Christ in you through you, not you. And that's why you appear different than someone else doing the exact same thing. Maybe.
Yeah, but it's. It's all those things when. When they look you. You were talking about this, too. That would.
When somebody looks at me or how I reacted is. Am I showing them Christ? Is my lamp visible or have I hid it? And it's hard. The bad part is once you hide it, it's hard for that person, especially to ever see it again.
Let me give you a real. This is from today, right? I love how the Lord does this. This is a real example. I can't use the person's name because I don't have permission, but a real example of being an active participant in your church.
That looks very, very different than what often comes to our mind, right? So I visit an elderly person in our church today, right? Just have a conversation, checking up on them, seeing how they're doing, dude, the amount of love and spiritual insight and spiritual wisdom and the prayer that was prayed over me before I left, like, I put it into my phone after we got done because I thought, man, I don't ever want to forget that encounter today and that. And I know that person prays for me and for this church often, right? Physically, not very active because it's not a possibility.
But affecting this church, man, and affecting this pastor, I can promise you, for the good in so many ways. And it fueled my spiritual tank, dude. Like, I'm running on full today. I am ready to go. And it was from a couple of statements that were bathed in the Holy Spirit that were given to this person from God, spoken in obedience, with love and care in a way that you couldn't just accept it as coming straight from the Lord's mouth.
Like, truly, it's what it felt like. And, man, that's being a mature Christian. Yeah. So you're about to get me fired up. That's a dangerous place.
Y' all know that. So I think this ties perfectly into what you preached on yesterday and what we're talking about. You know, you talked about In Luke, chapter 12, verse 37, it says, I assure you, he being the bridegroom he will get ready. He will have the servants recline at the table and then come and serve them. Because Jesus didn't come to be served, but to serve.
And so this is the idea that we're. This is the very thing we're talking about. Like today, you know, when we. Or anytime we come to church and we feel like we're doing it the right way, we're doing it with the right intentions, and we're coming and we think, well, this is going to be weighty, this is going to be heavy, this is going to be hard. I've got to do this thing for Jesus.
But when we're doing it for Jesus, we come away feeling fed and lifted up and like, because Jesus has a way of turning that stuff on its head. And the thing that you feel like this is going to be exhausting because it's hard. God's called me to hard. But yet when we're ready, Jesus comes and he serves us. He turns everything upside down.
We think we're doing it for him, but we walk away full. And, you know, today, you know, I'm going to visit, you know, this scene. I'm going to go bless their heart by showing up and what happened. God turned it on its head and you walked away being lifted up and filled up. And that's what I wish others could see when they say, there's no time left.
There's nothing I can't give anymore. We talked about exhaustion last week, and the reality is that if we would serve. I'm not saying serving isn't tiresome. I'm not saying that. But when you genuinely serve Jesus and you're faithfully doing it, there's going to be times you get wore down.
But there's going to be more times than that where you see God move and you are the one that was filled up and blessed because you've got to be in the presence of God Almighty. And that's an unbelievable experience. You said yesterday also like that sometimes we're ready to do things for Jesus, but we're not ready to be with Jesus. And that struck me because I'm a doer. I want to do things.
I want to go, I want to push. And like, man, this year I want to do a better job of seeking. I want to seek to serve. That's my heart is service. But I also want to just seek being with and being in the presence of my Savior.
Because when I'm with Him, good things are going to happen, the right things are going to happen. And so I Thought you did a good job of bringing that out. And I think today's a great example of what does that look like right now in the Christian walk? It means that sometimes when I think I'm doing something for Jesus or for others, I'm the one who walks away filled up and blessed and ready to go to the next challenge and say, let's go. This week we're going to do some great things for Jesus.
For sure. For sure. Like, so much for. Yes. Like, amen and amen on top of that.
Right. Because to personalize it even more, like, I've got a sermon to prepare for. I've got a prayer service to prepare for. I've got a Bible study on Sunday morning to prepare for. Like, there's so many things I could have been doing for Jesus today.
Right. Instead of having that visit. And. And. And I would have been perfectly justified to say, man, I'm just a little too busy to go do that today.
Like, but that was being with Jesus today. Yes, that. That's what I was called to today. And it would have been so easy to sit in my office. Not that it's wrong.
There's nothing wrong with me being in my office doing that work. Like, that work needs to be done. It has to be done. But today I felt that, and then I had the fleshly pull of like, oh, gosh, but I've got all this work to do, you know, And I'm just. I'm just thankful that the Lord allowed that today.
Right. And along those lines, I have a. I won't say his name because I don't have permission, but I have a buddy who's in the ministry, and he had such a good Facebook post a couple of days ago, and it probably spoke to me because it's hitting me right where I'm at, and it's exactly in line with what we're talking about. The word that I'm carrying into this this year is presence. Not. Not passive, not lazy, but very intentional.
Intentional. For me, that means leading fewer things, but leading them deeper. Being physically faithful, not extreme. Opening my life and home so the truth of God's word has a place to land and connect, building with the future in mind, not just the next moment. I want my preaching to land deeper because it's backed by a shared life.
Here it is. I want less events and more conversations. I want less scheduled and more time on the porch. I want life to reflect what I teach, and I want to build and plant things that last if it cost presents, it's Too expensive. And I was like, that's exactly along the lines of what I'm saying, of there's nothing wrong with doing things.
Things have to be done. And from a person who is a chronic producer, I get the desire to do that. And at the same time, there's more to it than that. I also just want to be with Jesus. And often being with Jesus looks like a conversation with a Jesus loving person or a conversation with someone who doesn't know Jesus so I can share the love of Jesus with that person.
And so, you know, you said it when you preached, you know, Sunday before last. And I, and I say it often too. Like I, I'm just preaching and teaching from where I'm at. Like, it's just what I'm going through. And so I hope what I'm going through also lands for you because that I don't know how else to lead but, and share but from my own experience and what the Lord's teaching me.
And I think all that, that post and all of that included all just kind of lands kind of in the heart of where, where this message is and where this series is. Because I even said yesterday that, that it's. And you just got through saying that it's. It's. I'm, I'm not saying you need to do more, right?
I'm not saying that do more is behavior modification and do more is, is a works based mentality.
God may call you to do something new or extra that may be what you need to be ready for. But oftentimes growth is pruning. Oftentimes growth addition comes by subtraction. Oftentimes it's saying no to things so you have a better yes. So I'm not asking you to pile on more things into your already crammed and packed schedule so you can feel like a better Christian.
That's not at all the heart behind that. Yes, work. Yes, work hard.
But I'm not saying, you know, be ready to do more. And if you ain't doing more than, you are a terrible person and a terrible Christian. That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying. You might need to do less.
Yeah, it kind of makes me think I had a revelation the other night and this was not a spiritual revelation, but just it kind of, it parallels that same idea. So I hate playing games, but I will to. Because, because I've guilted into it. But I hate playing any kind of card game, board game. I hate playing games.
And we were having family game Night, the other night, such a weird thing to hate. It is. I'm sorry. I finally realized why. That's where.
That's where we're going. That's the revelation. That was a revelation because I always thought, like, oh, it's because I'm so competitive, and it becomes unfun for me. And that is sometimes true.
But it occurred to me why I hated it so much, because I've also accused my daughter that her competitiveness ruins the games, too. That has also been true in the past. But she promised that she was gonna just have fun. We were just spending time together and having fun. And for the most part, that's what was happening.
But there was a moment things were getting a little bit elevated. I was like, okay. I kind of. I was ready to shut it all down. And she was like, but I'm being good.
I said. I said, but that's. That's not why I hate games, actually. It's because I want. We.
The idea we were doing this was to spend time together. To me, this is not spending time. We're actually spending more time together right now, sitting here talking to each other. The board game was an activity that forced that, and then it usually gets ruined by the competitiveness of it. We can't have a good time.
The time was spoiled by poor attitudes on whoever's part. Right. But it's because we. Instead of just putting in the time and being present with each other, we needed an activity to foster that. And that's not a spiritual level, but we do that spiritually.
We create activities so that we can spend time together and get the people here. We don't spend time with anybody when we do activities because we're doing the activities. We'd probably be better served just putting some snacks on the table and saying, just come hang out for the next hour. Sit around the table, and let's talk with each other. Like, that's actually probably a better scheduled event than, you know, come and we're gonna play basketball or volleyball or what?
You know, that got the people there. But all you was play basketball and volleyball. They're doing that across the street at school. You know, that has no spiritual relevance on anything. It's the time spent together.
Well, and I think the key to all this is. And you touched on this yesterday, is evaluating what we're doing, why we're doing it, what's the heart behind it, and what needs to die and what needs to grow. And, you know, I'm one that traditionally, I've hated New Year's Resolutions and things like that, because I'm one of those. I'm either gonna do it or I'm not. It really doesn't matter if it's.
Yeah, it doesn't. And so. But, you know, I've been thinking, like, sometimes activities or behavior modification is necessary to want to get to where we want to get. You know, I think for me, like, I'm not a reader. I've never been a reader.
I have not enjoyed. Never in my life have I ever really enjoyed reading. And so I had to get disciplined to put time into the Word. And yes, you develop an appetite and you develop a hunger for it, and that is the heart behind it. But the behavior modification had to come to build that.
But over the last several years, like, I've read through the Bible in a year for the last however many years, and it's been good for me as someone who's not intrinsically motivated to read, that's been good. But this year, I'm like, you know, what, Am I going to move past infancy? Am I going to just do a plan to say, hey, I read the Bible this year? How about I dig into God's Word? How about I stop worrying about how many verses or chapters I read today and how much did I get into the Word and look into the Word and see the meaning behind the Word and what Jesus is trying to teach me?
And that's where the behavior modification might have been necessary in the beginning, but at some point, we hope to get off of milk and get to meat. And now I'm not reading. I don't have to have a plan to read the whole Bible to make sure that I'm actually going to read because I have a hard. I have a checkbox. But, like, I don't think I'm going to have any trouble this year spending time in God's Word every day.
But it's going to look different because I'm different than I was when I started doing this 12 years ago. And my goal is different. My goal is not just to read, but my goal is to understand, to equip myself. How can I better serve? How can I take this part of God's Word that I really.
I'm not very comfortable with it because I'm bad at it. But can I pour myself into that? Or am I going to skim over the hard parts and read the parts that I like because they're in my wheelhouse? And the same thing with activities like, what can we cut out for the sake of just spending time talking and Digging in. And then what do we need to keep.
Because, you know, Daniel and I have had this conversation for years now. Like, I'm big on. Like, I don't care what the bait is. I want to get people here because I believe when they're here, I'm going to have two opportunities. I'm going to have the opportunity to connect with them on a personal level, and I'm going to have the opportunity to give them the gospel.
Not activities for activities, but activities for purpose. And if the goal is to have the biggest, best game of dodgeball in the history of dodgeball kick rocks, it doesn't need to be here. We can do that anywhere. But if. If dodgeball hitting you in the face, the ball gives me a chance to share the gospel with you too.
Like, that's the best of both worlds, baby. Let's go. And so, you know, it's just that evaluation. And I think that's what we don't. I don't.
I say we because it's more comfortable. Let me break it down. So what I don't do enough of is evaluate what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Cut out the fluff, cut out the. Cut the fat off of it and get to the what's important.
And that's what, to me, Rebirth is about. And that's what the message may not have been, what everybody got, but that's what I took, was let's reevaluate and let's get to what's important. And sometimes activities are bait so that I have an opportunity. And sometimes activity is a distraction because I don't want to do what I'm really called to do. And this makes it look like I'm doing what I'm called to do, but I don't actually have to have any heart in it.
Like checking a box wasn't wrong to do it for a while, but if 10 years in, I'm following the same plan I was 10 years ago, I haven't grown very much. And that's not where I want to be. I want to be a better Christian today than I was last year. Certainly better than I was 10 years ago. And it's just what's important and what's not.
It's funny how this conversation almost always intersects somehow with our Sunday morning Bible study. It's amazing how that happens because we were in Galatians chapter six yesterday in Sunday school, and three and four is talking about it's carry each other's burdens is the premise. And hey, here's living by the flesh, here's living by the spirit, here's what it looks like. Now, you who call yourself spiritual, if you want to see what that actually looks like, carry each other's burdens. Yeah.
And do it well. And carry the burdens of the legalist. Carry the burdens of the enemy, if you really want to. If you're really spiritual. I think Paul put quotes around.
Yeah. Air quotes around that when he said that like, and, and, but then it says but don't. But when you're, like, when you're the one carrying the burden, you're the one encouraging someone who has fallen. Verse 1 of chapter 6 says, Don't. Don't think you're special.
Yeah. Like you're not that important, literally, is what he says, you're not that important. But do examine yourself. Yeah, do examine yourself and really take a true self evaluation of yourself. And when you compare yourself now to your old self from yesterday or a month ago or 10 years ago, and you see growth, take satisfaction in that.
Yes. That's a good thing, right? That's the good kind of pride. We don't use the word pride because it's got such a negative connotation, but that's the good kind of pride. The pride of satisfaction, the pride of meaning, the pride of purpose, the pride of job well done.
Don't compare yourself to the person that's fallen because tomorrow you'll be the person that's fallen and they'll be the one helping you. Don't compare yourself to others. Compare yourself to the end game, which is Christ forward. And then compare yourself to you yesterday or a month ago, yourself in the past, and see your growth. And what does that do?
When you see that and you look at it honestly, why does that bring satisfaction? One, because you go, that's definitely Christ working in me. That's definitely not me. I'm not good enough to do that. I'm not smart enough to do that.
And it gives you an opportunity to glorify the Lord. But, but, and it gives you that, like it's fuel, that satisfaction is fuel. It's like, man, this really does work. And it really is worth it. Living for Jesus really is worth it.
And so, yeah, examine yourself, you know, Examine yourself. And what you just said a second ago perfectly summed up the heart that I have and that I think the Lord has given me. Behind this message in this series is what you were saying. So that. That on the rebirth part of it.
Yes. So I got it. I got it. Right. Yeah.
One out of 275 people that were doing your stay. Well, I think, you know, when we talk about sometimes activities being a distraction, and this is a. This is a cute example that, like, was in no way a negative thing. But, like, you know, yesterday we had. We had a visitor in Sunday school, and afterwards, man, we were visiting and I was, you know, I want to get to know this guy.
I want to get to know his family and their story and what brought him here. And, you know, he had a small kid with him. And the kid came in probably four times. While we're talking, like, dad, church is starting. Hey, dad.
They've started singing hey, dad. And like, it was cute. Like, there was nothing offensive about it. The kid was just like, hey, we're at a new church. Let's go to church.
And, you know, and me and the dad were talking, and it's just like in that moment, what. And in the back of my mind, too, I'm like, well, you know, I was asked to help a prayer at the beginning of service, and I've got duties that I'm supposed to be doing. I'm supposed to be out. I'm the guy who usually greets everybody when they, you know, like. But were we doing the most important thing that we could be doing in that moment, which is connecting so that hopefully there's something here, hopefully the Holy Spirit, hopefully the things that are going on.
But also someone that I know is going to be looking for me next week and that I know, hey, I care about this person's development or I care about this person and like, activities, relationship. They're not adamantly opposed to each other, but they don't always work together. And sometimes, if I'd have missed the second song, being up there to help pray, but I was able to make a human connection to somebody to me that's worth it. You know what I mean? Not that I'm belittling that time.
That time needed to happen in church, whether I was there or not, but that's the most important thing. Sometimes we do and. And your eyes were open and took that opportunity. And then what's the Lord going to do when you do that? Well, he's going to say, oh, nobody's ready, so somebody's going to step into your spot.
Absolutely. Like, it's just going to happen because the Lord's going to take care of that. And that's what we have to not get so locked into. And I get a bad rip, sometimes earned, but of being anti tradition. But I think sometimes tradition stands in the way of being ready for something new because it's not what it's supposed to look like.
And finding that balance of being ready, but then also not change just for the sake of change, but just. I'm ready for whatever this looks like. If it looks like it adds for the last hundred services, great. As long as the Spirit's moving and doing his thing. And if it is something totally different and I missed the whole church service because I'm having a spiritual conversation with one person in the parking lot, then that's okay too.
If that's where the Spirit has me, then let's do it.
You know, you said something yesterday that things kind of shoots into all of these things is that without being born of the Spirit. So if you've not been reborn, then you cannot save or participate in the kingdom of God. It doesn't matter how good you are, that it's a matter of the Spirit being in you. And then you see things so different. And there's this whole other world.
Yeah. And you equated it to. It's not exactly like Neo seeing the Matrix, but you. But it kind of is at the same time like it you there because there's so much out there. And we could get really, really deep into some things on that.
But there's a whole nother. There's. The Spirit is existing all around us and showing us things. But we can only see it if we're connected in that.
The example in the Old Testament of, you know, like, we're so outnumbered. Like, open the drives. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Never mind.
We're good. You know. And instead of seeing the opportunity as you would in the flesh, you know, the thing that would make you mad or that you would crush the enemy, now you see it as an opportunity for love or reconciliation or. Or an opportunity to share grace or opportunity to share mercy. You see life differently when you live it in the Spirit.
But until you're first reborn in salvation through faith by God's grace, you literally do not have the power, do not have the ability to see life that way. You can't see. And that's why the things of God are foolish to those who are lost and dying. It's just like it doesn't make sense. It's like.
Because you're literally blind to it, you can't see it until you're reborn of the Spirit. So first be reborn of the Spirit. Put your faith in Christ first if you want to live. It's not prosperity gospel. It's the truth.
If you want to Live the best life this life has to offer. This world has to offer. Give your life to Christ. It's a better life to live. Yeah.
Because the world has a terrible life to offer. Yes. So, yes, yes, yes. Not. It's not.
Give your life to Christ to have your best life that you think would be good to satisfy. That's. That's the problem with the prosperity gospel. I actually heard a clip of Bodie Bauckham saying this today, as only Bodie Baucom could say, rest in peace. I miss him.
I miss him. That, that. The problem with the prosperity gospel is it says, hey, you get everything that your sinful carnal flesh says you deserve and want. What a terrible gospel. Yeah.
Like, that's literally hell. If every one of us gets what we want in the flesh, that's what hell on earth is. That's what it would look like. That's not the gospel. I don't.
I don't want that. I don't want that gospel. I don't want to live that life. I want to live the life for Christ. That.
That life's worth it. That's right. Yeah. I don't want to. I don't want to skip through that.
I think that's a great point. But you said something yesterday that we have to talk about before, before we close up. Okay. That I didn't want to like it, and I really, like, had to, like, I'm going to come up with something. I'm going to poke a hole in that.
And I haven't. I haven't. But here's what you say. You say anything God lets into his kingdom is eternal, and that's why the standard is so high.
Huh. That was heavy. That's a lot. And so I just wanted to give you a chance to double down on it and, you know, you know, let us. Let us have it again.
Because obviously it was something I needed to hear because, like, it's. It's in bold in my notes. Like, we think about God's standard being so high, being unfair, we just can't reach it. It's too much. Which.
That's why we need a savior. But when you think about it in perspective of this is why the standard is what it is. It's because anything allowed into the kingdom is eternal. And so if we could take those pet sins, if we could take those little things that don't seem like a big deal to us and they went to heaven, they would be an eternal problem. And we're not going to have eternal problems.
And so I Don't know. I just wanted to hear. I just wanted you to go a little deeper than that. It was kind of a glance over yesterday. Right.
It's something I almost brought up in a, in a episode a couple of weeks ago. But I just. The spirit kept my mouth closed. I wanted to talk about it then, but maybe it was because we were supposed to talk about it now. So I'll try to stay on track here.
So it started with when I, when I. When the realization of why death had to come after sin. Yeah.
And that, that was actually God's grace and mercy. It wasn't God being mean. It wasn't God being a, you know, hard headed, mean guy in the sky. It was actually grace and mercy. It wasn't the punishment, it wasn't the.
Yeah. Death was actually grace and mercy. Because once sin entered, death had to enter. Because you read in Genesis and it says, after Adam and Eve get the knowledge of good and evil and have now sinned, God places cherubim around the tree of life because if they get to that, then they'll live forever.
Right? Right. In their fallen corrupt state. And that's the thing, they'll live. It's not that God doesn't want you to live forever.
It's not like you sin now you gotta die. It's like, no, dummy, you sinned now you gotta die so that you don't live forever in sin. Right? Yeah. And so that's the first part.
And then, so then you flesh that out. It's like, okay, because we even say it that way. We don't mean to, but if you listen to how we talk about it, sometimes it's coming from a heart of saying, you know, deep down I think God just really isn't fair and isn't just in his standard being so high. Like, if he would just let me, I could do enough to earn his favor. That's kind of the heart like I'm gonna.
Like, if he would, he won't let me, so it's not possible. But if he would let me, I really could work hard enough. And he would go, okay, you're okay. You know, nobody else of the billions of people that have lived were good enough during the way into heaven. But you worked hard enough to get into heaven.
So you would walk right into heaven with pride. And then that pride would be eternal. Because that's when we're resurrected unto eternal life. That means everything that exists in that new creation is going to be resurrected unto eternal life. And so everything that is in that, in God's kingdom in eternity is eternal.
That's why sin cannot exist. It's not that God is mean. It's not that he is unloving. It's not that. Right.
You know how we know that? That's what the cross shows us. The cross proves that it's not. It's not that God is mad at you because you sin. It's that God will not allow Satan and his fallen demons to win.
He's not going to happen. And if anything that is related to sin, anything sin and subcategories of sin underneath, if that were to allow to be eternal, then God's not right. Yeah, he's not correct. It's not going to happen. So it, I think AW Tozer said it, I've heard Chip Ingram repeat it.
That what comes to your mind when you view God is the most important thing about you. And so I'm thankful that God has grown me in that area where I. Where every day I see him more as the graceful, merciful, loving Savior that he is. And it is his unfailing love, his chesed his, that he covers your sin with the blood of Christ so that that sin will not enter into eternal life. Because anything that were not covered by that sin, by that blood, if it were allowed to be in his kingdom, it's going to be there forever.
So thank you Jesus that your standard is so high, that your standard is absolute perfect holiness. Because that's all that there's going to be in your presence for eternity. And it's if that's not a savior worth dying to flesh and giving your life to, I don't know that you're ever going to find one. That's good. That's good.
And I think that's the importance of learning scripture and memorizing scripture. Because when those doubts creepy in about God's fairness or his justice or his love, may we look at it through the scope of Romans 5:8. God has proven his love for us. And while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
So when we start thinking that things aren't like, I can't question God, he's proven his love. He hadn't just said dusty, I love you, Dusty, I'm gonna make you feel a little bit like he proved his love and poured it out. That's right. But that's so good, man. I appreciate you digging in.
And I think it was you and Anchor a few years ago who talked about from Genesis when death entered, it was God's mercy. And that flipped things for me like I I had never heard that. I'd never thought about it like that. I always felt like, man, you know, I understand there has to be a standard and we didn't hit it. But man got really death, like, for eating fruit.
Like, come on, man, like, I mean, like, we escalated quickly here. Yeah, yeah. But when you think about like, that, like, he protected them from living forever in a state of fallenness.
God's goodness so surpasses my normal understanding, and I'm thankful for his mercy and that someone like me can be saved and that there's hope, that the fights that I fight now with my flesh, that someday those fights are going to end and I'm going to be perfected into what he created me to be. And. Come on, Lord. Come on. Yeah, it's, it's, it's Paul's words that just come to life when you really dig in.
To think about it. To live as Christ and to die is gain. That's what we mean by that. I will be rid of this sinful shell forever more when I die or when Christ returns. But until then, I live for Christ, and that's good, too.
I'll walk him in front of the people that I walk in front of every day until then, I'm not in a hurry to get. It's not about, you know, sometimes I think we are just waiting to go to heaven. Yes. But it doesn't say, you know, to live is punishment and to die is gain. Exactly.
To live is Christ. Like, if I don't carry his name in front of these people that I'm around every day, who's going to. So the burden that I have is the blessing that I get to carry the name of Christ wherever I go and whatever I do. I think sometimes we emphasize too much that, well, when this life's over, I'm going to go to heaven. Like, yeah, that's true.
And I'm excited about that. But until then, I'm not going to suffer until I get there. I'm going to carry the banner of Jesus. I'm going to suffer for Christ. Yes.
But I'm not going to suffer for pointlessness. Right. It's not just a pointless way. If that was the only goal, when we get saved, he'd take us home. The goal is for me to be his advocate here and to be his ambassador here so that others can know what I know.
Which is. And what? Sorry. Oh. Which is just that there's a Savior.
Yes. They mean, oh, you're good. Yeah. Because what, what does. Once I'm Saved, living for Christ do.
Every time I do it, it proves God right. Because Satan says it's not better. Right? Just worship yourself. Yeah, just do whatever you want.
Just get it, keep it, gain it. Get as much glory for yourself as you can. And, and, and so you're literally getting to prove God right by suffering well for Christ in this life and living well for Christ in this life. You're getting to prove him right and prove Satan wrong. It's purpose, man.
It's meaning. There's such deep meaning to living this life well. Like if, if, if your mindset is just exist in these days until I die, then I get to go to heaven. Like, dude, you're missing so much good that could be in your life and so much eternal impact that your life could have.
And we're going to be graded on that because of eternity. Everything matters in your life. Everything. Everything. Every conversation, every act of service, every act of love, every time you forgive, every time you're merciful, every time you do anything in the spirit, like it's going to echo for eternity.
It is so worth it. So worth it. And it's worth it in the moment. For days like today, like I talked about earlier, like, dude, the world has never given me anything that gave me what I felt when I was in that moment today. And then when I went and sat in my truck, there's nothing the world's ever offered me that I've tried that gave me that.
And that was one little conversation with one person in our church here today for an hour and a half. And it was really only 90 seconds, 3 minutes maybe of that hour and a half. And it was like, oh God, you're so good, man. Like, you're so good. Like, how did she know to say that?
Nobody knows that. Yeah, nobody knew to say that. Yeah, that's just in here. He's the only one that knew that. And she literally said like the words of God to me today.
I feel like I could go another decade on that one conversation today, man. Like, he's good, man. He's so good. Don't miss it. Don't miss it because you're only thinking about getting to heaven.
As we close. I want to leave us with one thought not to discuss because I just want to be a thought that we have. And this is for everybody but to evaluate in our lives what needs to be put to death.
Because in doing that, we open ourselves up to what God is actually calling us to do. Amen. So what is it that, that you me, you need to put to death so that God can use you, truly use you. Just take that and sit on it. I don't, you know, I don't want anyone to hear that.
And immediately maybe you do know. I don't know. But probably not. You're probably just. It's.
Whatever it is probably is hidden and masked because we're being deceived so that we don't do whatever it is that God's calling us to do. So, amen. I hope that someone is blessed by these words today. If you didn't, if you missed the sermon, I always invite you to go to fbcdan.com to get caught up on what's going on. Listen to the sermon.
If you didn't for yourself. So again, hope that you were blessed and that you will join us again when we come back next week and discuss next week's sermon. So we will see you then. Peace. See ya.
Well, that's it for this week's episode of Build. Remember, what we build with our hands fades, but what we build on Christ lasts forever. If today's episode encouraged you, share it and keep the conversation going. You can find past messages, upcoming events, and ways to connect@fbcdan.com let's keep building our faith one brick at a time. We'll see you next time.