WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.439 We're going to begin our new series. 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:09.919 The new series is called Imagine, and we're really kind of asking the question, what does God want the church to be? 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:14.960 It's really simple, and when we think of church, we might imagine certain things that we like. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:28.160 And I'm sure, and I've done this exercise with lots and lots of people, if I asked you to imagine a great church or a church you would like to attend, you would make a list of wonderful things. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:33.280 Very rarely does anybody imagine something about the church that I'm like, ooh, I don't like that. 00:00:33.759 --> 00:00:41.280 Usually we we think of like the basic things that are that are good and true and beautiful, and and we like those things. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:54.479 And one of the questions though we're going to ask in the next eight weeks is what does God imagine when he decided to let the church be his representative? 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:06.879 You might think of a representative as somebody who stands in the place of and is a picture of what that person they're representing is supposed to be like. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:12.560 And some of us right away, I know, we think like, man, God made a mistake. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:21.359 Like, let's just acknowledge for a moment there's a seeming gap between Jesus and the church. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:32.480 If you've ever read a gospel, one of the Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the beginning of your New Testament, if you've if you've ever read about the life of Jesus, you've probably found Jesus compelling. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.719 Most people find Jesus compelling. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:39.840 In fact, if you look at surveys, most people think Jesus was an interesting, good person. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:45.519 They find his life compelling, and believe it or not, that's not the PR of the church. 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:49.599 Most people do not think like, wow, churches are compelling. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:50.959 They're just like Jesus. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:56.239 I read the pages of the New Testament, then I go to the local church, and I can't tell the difference. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.239 Like this is so amazing. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.920 No, we we find in church that that so much of what was irresistible about Jesus just it doesn't translate to his people very well. 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:14.400 That somehow, probably because of our sins and our mess, we we aren't very Christ-like. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:18.159 Jesus was irresistible to so many people. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:30.000 People who were far from God found him attractive, people who were outcast, people who were sick, people who wanted something, all brought their needs to Jesus. 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:32.159 Crowds gathered around him. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:39.840 Not everybody liked him, but but interestingly in the Gospels, the people that had the hardest time with Jesus were were religious people. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.039 Pretty much everybody else liked him. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:51.840 The only people that didn't seem to like him were super political people who had power that was threatened, and religious people that had power that was threatened. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:55.680 Everybody else thought this man was incredibly compelling. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:00.879 And so the question is kind of like what has happened? 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:04.000 Why does the church not have that reputation? 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:06.400 Why is the church not that compelling? 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:12.879 Why is Jesus irresistible in the church so incredibly resistible? 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:14.400 Right? 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:21.520 Like most of us were not so compelled by the church that we're like, I've got to be there. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.439 I would travel miles and miles and miles just to get to one. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:31.599 That this is a representation of the Jesus that we read about in the scriptures. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.479 And I don't think churches intend to be this way, by the way. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:40.240 I've never been in a church that they were like, let's have a board meeting and let's vote to not be like Jesus. 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.120 Like we think we've got too much Jesus in this place. 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:44.560 Like, let's vote them out. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:46.000 Let's decide consciously. 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:48.879 Like, we're not going to be like, no, that never happens. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.000 Instead, inch by inch, something else moves towards the center. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:58.879 In some churches, it's it's a personality, it's a person who wields influence. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:02.639 So we we would never use this language because we we know it sounds sinful. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:25.839 We'd never say politics or power influence the church, but but the reality is that decisions are made and things happen not with Jesus at the center, not to look like Jesus the best we can, but but rather because we have a desire, we have needs that we bring for influence to be liked, to be relevant. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:30.319 For other churches, it's it's tradition, inches towards the center. 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:34.000 The most important thing is how we've done things. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.800 And gradually Jesus gets pushed out of the center. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.879 For other churches, they're they're chasing an experience. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:50.240 If we just hit the second and the third song right, and there's an emotional high in worship, that's that's good church. 00:04:50.319 --> 00:04:53.600 And if we just had that, that would be the center. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.720 For others, it's it's this inward community. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:06.160 The center of the church is, you know, if we just had a place where me and my friends and I knew everybody, I hear this all the time as a pastor. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:17.920 If it if we just didn't get too big, what I always hear when people say that is like, I want there to be you, Pastor, to draw a line where you stop letting people come. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:21.600 And I'm in and they're out. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:30.720 But don't let it get too big, because what's more important to me than the people out there is how comfortable in here is. 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:31.920 Right? 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.720 And in that comfort becomes the center. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.240 Is this my church? 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.240 Does it have my programs? 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:47.519 For others, the the center becomes side projects, platforms, social media influence, podcasts. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:52.560 The center quickly becomes something other than Jesus. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:58.319 And so the question we're gonna ask today is how does Jesus stay the center of the church? 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:05.279 And over the next eight weeks, we're gonna talk about what we believe, and it's gonna kind of move from the center on out. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:19.360 And so next week we'll talk about the scriptures and orthodoxy, the week after that, alive in the spirit, worship, and then we're gonna gradually move out to the distinctives of our church and what we believe the Lord is calling the church to be. 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:25.839 But but today it all starts with this question: Is Jesus the center? 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.040 And what does that mean for the church to look like him? 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.439 So let's pray and then we'll get into the word. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.079 Holy Spirit, we welcome you here. 00:06:35.360 --> 00:06:36.800 We acknowledge your presence. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:38.800 We need you. 00:06:42.959 --> 00:06:45.040 Would you speak to us today? 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:46.959 Would you show us Jesus? 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:56.480 Would you help us as a church and as individuals to become the kind of people that you're calling us to be? 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:00.160 Amen. 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.639 We're gonna be bouncing around Colossians today. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:10.720 Um and Colossians is a letter written by Paul, and it was written to the church in Colossi. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:20.399 Um, we're gonna start in chapter 1, verse 15, but at the very beginning, where we're gonna begin, is a Jesus-centered church is captivated by Jesus. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:23.199 A Jesus-centered church is captivated by Jesus. 00:07:23.360 --> 00:07:28.560 If you're following along, I know some of you are avid note takers and you believe in the handout. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:30.560 Um that word is captivated. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:31.920 Captivated by Jesus. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:33.680 And I'm gonna read in verse 15. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:45.519 He's the image, speaking of Jesus, he's the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible. 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.800 Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all things have been created through him and for him. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:55.040 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.120 He is the head of the body, the church. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:04.319 He's the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:16.480 For in him all fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.079 And we'll stop right there. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:25.519 Paul is writing about Jesus, and in the first thing he says, the very first words, he's the image of the invisible God. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:29.040 And I want you to highlight or underline that word image. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:31.759 Paul's talking about something you see. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:34.399 Jesus is something you have to see. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:43.679 Today we're talking about what does it mean for us to be a Christ-centered church, and the place it begins is we have to see Jesus. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:46.720 Now, there's different ways of seeing. 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:47.600 Some of you know this. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.799 Sometimes we see something and we don't really see it. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:56.399 So to be captivated means to see and to have our attention drawn to something. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:02.240 Gospel tradition says that there were two people crucified next to Jesus. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.039 There were two thieves, one on each side. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.000 And it's a fascinating picture of seeing. 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:20.480 These are two guilty men who deserve to die, and they both look at a crucified Jesus, and one scoffs and says, If you were God, you would save yourself. 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:26.799 And the other looks at the exact same image and says, This is the Son of God. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:41.360 They see the exact same thing, and one of them sees a weak, pathetic God, and the other sees the Savior of the world and says, Would you remember me when you were in paradise? 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:46.799 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and what do we see when we see Jesus? 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.399 We see, according to Paul, that Jesus is God. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.639 Look at these words. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:10:07.600 He's the firstborn over all of creation, for in him all things in heaven on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers, all things have been created through him and for him. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.639 When he says firstborn over all creation, it's not talking about chronological birth. 00:10:13.039 --> 00:10:32.639 The word means first in supremacy, that he is above all things, that Jesus, this Jesus, he is Lord, he is God, that there's a way of seeing Jesus that only the Holy Spirit can bring, where when we see him, we see that this is God among us. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.039 That his name is Emmanuel. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:41.440 It says that in verse 19, the fullness of God dwelled in him. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:46.720 The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.919 That word fullness, if you didn't know it, it literally means all of. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:11:00.960 Sometimes I think when we think of the Trinity, we think of a circle divided like a pie chart, three pieces of the pie, and Jesus is just one of the pieces. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:06.080 And that's not at all how the Bible describes the Trinity or Jesus. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:10.080 All of God is in all of Jesus. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:13.120 And all of Jesus is in all of God. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:19.279 A hundred percent of the divinity, the pie chart, all the attributes of God are in Jesus. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:25.840 He says in verses 15 through 17, Jesus has supremacy over everything that has been created. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:30.000 All things on heaven and earth, visible and invisible. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.360 In verses 17, 18, and 19, we see he's got over all of salvation. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:39.360 Through him, God was pleased to reconcile himself to all things. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:47.440 Paul wants us to see something crucial, that Jesus is God and that he is supreme. 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:54.080 Now, some of us we've grown up in church and in biblical truths like that, they're like fish and water. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:59.440 You know, the old joke, a fish says to another fish, like, How's the water today? 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:02.000 And the fish replies back, What the heck is water? 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:03.759 It's just the air we breathe in. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.279 We we take it for granted. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:14.159 It's like if you I had a friend in Jordan when I lived in the Middle East who worked in a butcher shop, and I visited him one day, and I was overwhelmed by the putrid smell. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:19.440 And I turned to him, my Arabic wasn't great, but it was good enough to say, What is the smell and why is it so bad? 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.480 And he literally looked at me and said, What smell? 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.759 And I'm like, This is the worst thing I've ever smelled in my life. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.519 And he's like, What smell? 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:29.600 Maybe you live near railroad tracks. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:30.879 What train? 00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:35.840 We were conditioned to not see things anymore. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:41.360 This is how people can stay in abusive relationships or toxic work environments. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.759 They they don't see it anymore. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:49.679 It's background noise, and Paul is saying we have to be captivated by Jesus. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.320 He has to be seen, and when he's seen, what we read is that he has supremacy. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:01.279 He is first place in everything. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:02.639 Verse 18. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.039 He's first place in everything. 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:09.600 Some translations say he's supreme over all things. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.519 I don't want you to miss this. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:21.600 Paul is saying that Jesus is a picture of God, that all the dignity, all the worth, all the value, all the attributes that God has, Jesus has. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.000 And to be a Christ-centered church means to be a God-centered church. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:31.120 And when we see Jesus that way, we have this reordering. 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:35.279 He must become supreme over everything. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:39.440 He must become preeminent over everything. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:46.480 Sometimes when they say like a big truck goes over a small bridge, it causes what's called like a bridge quake. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:48.000 The bridge will shake. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:54.080 Same thing actually happens when something heavy goes over ice, it causes an ice quake. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:01.440 What Paul is saying is when Jesus descends into a life, it causes a life quake. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:04.720 Everything gets reordered. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:07.440 Nothing is non-negotiable. 00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:17.039 No thought you have, no conviction, no need, no idea, no experience, no trauma, none of it remains negotiable. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:19.279 He is supreme over all of it. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:22.960 He may change it or he may not, but he is Lord over it. 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.879 Over every area of your life, he is supreme. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:28.320 He is Lord. 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:30.720 It exists for Him. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:52.080 When we see this, when we have a picture of Jesus, we realize that anything we might make supreme in our lives, whether it's our work or our reputation, our families, anything that we might make supreme, we no longer can. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:54.399 Tim Keller says it like this. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:15:00.320 If we absolutize anything, he is no longer the absolute to us. 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:08.080 We no longer can have my will and my way if Jesus is truly God. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:14.480 And while that's true of us as individuals, it's also true of us as a church. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:21.200 The Lord Jesus must be supreme of our community. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:29.919 Not just in name only, not just in words, not just in the bylaws, not just in the values listed on a website. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.000 He must be supreme. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:33.759 He must be the head. 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:45.519 He must be over every budget, over every staff member, over every program, over every dollar we ever spend, over every mission we partake in, over every member. 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:47.360 He is supreme. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:48.960 He is the Lord of it all. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:50.480 He is the head of it all. 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:57.759 From heaven's eyes, I am an intern pastor, a temporary steward of what belongs to him. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:00.720 We should fear the Lord. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:05.360 We shouldn't dare bring mixed motives into the church. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:09.039 We shouldn't dare try to use it for our side projects. 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:11.440 It does not belong to us. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.679 It is not our thing. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:15.919 It is not our dream. 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:17.279 It is his. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.840 And with great fear and trembling should we touch it? 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.559 We should never make it about our mission. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:27.120 It should never be about our ideas. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:30.399 He is supreme over it all. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:38.960 If a church wants to keep Christ as the center, it has to have an image of Jesus as supreme. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:44.480 It has to be captivated by this idea that He is Lord of it. 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:46.320 That it is not mine. 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:57.120 I would argue that any church that begins to not look like Jesus is a church that is no longer captivated by him. 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.720 That he has become dull, boring. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:09.200 Yesterday's news, the train tracks we've learned to ignore, that we've moved on to more exciting or relevant things. 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:16.720 We've moved on to personal strategies or ways we think the kingdom of God should be run. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.640 And the simple reality is that it was not ours to tamper with. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:25.920 The church belongs to Jesus. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:28.000 He is the head of it. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.279 This church belongs to Jesus. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:36.160 Our job as a community is to remind each other of that truth. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:43.200 To never let any power, any board, any pastor have the power to change that truth. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.559 To hold ourselves accountable to that truth. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.200 That we are going to look at Jesus. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:51.759 We are going to see him as the head. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.720 It's not going to be a slogan on the wall. 00:17:54.880 --> 00:18:02.160 It's going to impact every choice we make, every dollar we spend. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:06.720 The church is called to be captivated by Jesus. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:15.200 Second point is as we're captivated by Jesus, a Jesus-centered church increasingly looks like Jesus. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:18.480 I'm going to flip over to chapter 3. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:20.640 Actually, he's going to use the same word. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:23.519 If you remember in verse 15, he uses the word image. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:28.559 He's going to use the same word in a different context in the same way, though. 00:18:28.799 --> 00:18:31.680 In chapter 3, I'm going to pick up in verse 9. 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:44.960 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you've stripped off the old self with its practices, and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge according to the image of its creator. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:53.440 In that renewal there's no longer Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, scythians, slave or free. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:55.759 But Christ is all in all. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:03.200 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:12.079 Bear with one another, and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so that you also must forgive. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:36.160 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called to the one body, and be thankful, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom and with gratitude in your hearts, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:43.359 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.400 I want to start back up in verse ten that we are being renewed. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:54.559 You've clothed yourselves with a new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:56.400 I want you to see what Paul's doing here. 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:04.880 He's saying, Jesus is in the image of God, and now you, you and I, we're being renewed into the image of our Creator. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:06.720 You might think of it like this. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:11.200 In Genesis, it says that every person was made in the image of God. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:15.440 And then it goes on to tell the story about how that image got bent. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:18.400 How even though we were made in the image of God, we sinned. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:22.160 And what Paul is saying is Jesus came back. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:26.960 We were the painting that got messed up and no longer reflected God. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:31.920 Jesus came back as a perfect picture of what God was like. 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:37.519 And now He is renewing us into that image. 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:43.440 That every single person is made in the image of God, and Jesus is restoring that image. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:52.400 That we are damaged paintings, and he is the restorer, and he is painstakingly putting us back into the image of God. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:54.559 And how does he do that? 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:57.680 Well, first it says he gives us a new identity. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:58.640 Did you catch that? 00:20:58.799 --> 00:21:05.200 Before there was a list of things to do, he tells us names for who we are. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:13.119 He says in verse 12 and going that you are God's chosen ones, holy and beloved. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:20.400 Before the imperative, what we're to do, which is clothe ourselves, we are given a new identity. 00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:23.119 And then now all of us we have identities. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.920 In fact, we all have layers of identities. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:32.480 Different anthropologists have talked about this, as well as psychologists, but but we all have layers of identities. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:41.039 You might be here and you might be a mom, you might be an engineer, you might be a Buckeye fan, you might be born in Ohio, but your parents were from India. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:44.480 And you might be all of those things, and those things, they're layers. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.640 And the deeper the layer goes, the more it impacts who we are. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:54.640 And for many of us, when we become a Christian, it's like we take on a new identity, but it's it's a top layer. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:22:00.880 The process of becoming like Jesus is this identity must get Lower and lower. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:04.079 It must get to the bottom layer of who we are. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:17.200 As it becomes more and more who we are, the reality, the truth that we're in Christ, that's our new identity, chosen, beloved, holy, that from that flows out how we live. 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:31.039 So Paul is saying we're being renewed into the image of the Creator, and it happens because we've been given a new identity and then told to clothe ourselves or to live in accordance with that identity. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.079 Pastor Rich used this analogy several months ago. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.799 He used the picture of method acting. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:40.559 If you know anything about method acting, you you embody the role. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:53.920 He talked about Daniel Day Lewis and how he was playing as an actor, somebody who had cerebral palsy, and to do that, he actually lived in a wheelchair for a number of months, and he fully embodied the role. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:56.000 You ended up getting an Academy Award for it. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:01.279 But the basic idea was he he became or he lived out an identity. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:15.519 Paul's saying you've been given a new name, that you're being renewed into the image of Jesus, and that you are to live, to clothe yourself with that new identity. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:18.240 I want to put all the pieces together so far. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:20.960 We have an image of Jesus. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:22.720 We're captivated by him. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:24.400 He is our Lord. 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:26.480 The things in our life come under him. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.920 And he begins to make us look like him. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.880 He begins to restore who we were meant to be. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:37.680 Our identity becomes more and more. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.160 We belong to Christ. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:50.240 And as that happens, we begin to clothe ourselves in this portrait he gives us in verses 12 through 14. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.960 And this is a portrait, by the way, of Jesus. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.000 This isn't just a list of virtues to try out. 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.400 This is a picture of Jesus. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.039 Clothe yourselves with compassion. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:06.000 Have you ever seen in the Gospels Jesus clothed with compassion? 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:08.960 Jesus had compassion on the poor. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:10.960 He had compassion on the sick. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:14.000 He had compassion on all sorts of people. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:17.359 He was bothered by other people's sufferings. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.920 Clothe yourself with compassion. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:22.480 Clothe yourself with kindness. 00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.720 Have you ever seen in the Gospels Jesus' kindness? 00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:31.200 I would encourage you, if you haven't, to read the Gospel of Mark. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:33.279 I'll take you about 45 minutes. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:37.039 And just mark down all the times Jesus is kind. 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:42.240 I think you'd be astounded at the kindness of Jesus. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:45.920 Clothe yourselves with Jesus' meekness. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:49.920 They tried to make him king and he refused power. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:57.200 Over and over he went the way of lo humility. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:03.519 He clothed himself with meekness and humility with patience. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:06.000 Clothe yourselves with patience. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.000 Put on patience. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.079 What is Paul saying here? 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:15.599 He's saying, look, there's a picture of Jesus that captivated you. 00:25:16.240 --> 00:25:21.039 He was God and He was compassionate and He was beautiful. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:28.400 And as He names you and as it becomes your identity, start dressing like Jesus. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:31.279 Start living that way. 00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.519 In a church that is Christ-centered, it's the exact same thing. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:41.680 Churches have identities, and those identities have layers. 00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:50.480 And the practical question is, what is the most fundamental layer of this church? 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:57.200 What is the identity that drives what this church is trying to look like? 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:02.559 And the question really is, is do we have a portrait of Jesus? 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:10.240 I mean, can you imagine that Jesus was one of the most amazing people to ever live? 00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:14.799 Here was a man who welcomed people that society missed. 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:18.480 Here was a man who stepped across ethnic lines. 00:26:18.640 --> 00:26:25.680 Here was a person who forgave and lived with an incredible humility despite having all of the power. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:30.960 Here was a person who gave up the riches of heaven to wash feet. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:37.839 Here was a person that touched people that nobody else in the society would touch. 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:41.359 What would it look like for the church to be that? 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:46.000 To a church to say we want to be wearing those clothes? 00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:52.960 For a church to be known not for its opinions on every cultural topic, but for its kindness? 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:58.079 For a church to be filled with people that are determined to be the best neighbors? 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:08.880 For a church to be filled with foster parents that say we will pick up the people, the kids that are sliding through the cracks of society? 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:15.279 What does it look like for a church to say we will be involved in disaster relief around the world? 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.119 We will give sacrificially? 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:22.000 What would it look like for a church to feed people like Jesus? 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:30.079 That said, I'm not going to just grocery shop for myself, but I'm going to make sure all the food banks in my area always have enough food? 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:35.359 What does it look like for a church to seek justice like Jesus? 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:49.680 What does it look like for a church to not worry about ruffling religious feathers, but to be more concerned about the people who would never step into a religious service? 00:27:50.160 --> 00:28:01.200 What does it look like to be a church that walks the way of the cross that says I don't have to have it my way in society or in culture? 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:05.839 I will be the outsider to reach the outsider. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:22.720 What does it look like to be a church where egos have been crucified and left at the door because nobody is trying to be the head of the church or control it, but we're all more concerned about being led by the Spirit. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:28.079 What does it look like for a church to clothe itself like Jesus? 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.400 Can you imagine a church like that? 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:41.599 If we are captivated by Jesus, if we're obsessed, if our eyes are fixed, then he will begin to transform us to look like Jesus. 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:53.279 And we will choose, we will clothe ourselves in a portrait of what we think Jesus looks like right here and right now, and it's not always easy. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:29:00.640 It's much easier to list the ways we want to look like Jesus than it is to do it in the complexity of life. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:06.000 But the question I'm always asking myself is, would Jesus attend this church? 00:29:07.519 --> 00:29:14.799 If he were writing us a letter, like he did in the churches of Revelation, what would he say to this church? 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:17.039 Where would he find fault? 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:18.480 What would he bless? 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:22.079 In what ways have we have we missed him? 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:31.200 In what ways has has other priorities, other things captivated us or distracted us from him? 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:36.960 We are committed as a church to looking like Jesus. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:42.880 To be a Christ-centered church is to be captivated by him, but it's also to look like him. 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:47.920 To increasingly become the embodiment of him. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:53.920 I believe that if we are the body of Christ, then we should look like the head. 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:58.319 That we don't have the autonomy to not look like the head. 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:03.759 We don't get to decide what this project is, the head decides. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:06.799 And we conform to that. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:15.119 We yield to how Jesus lived and we follow in his footsteps. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:23.039 We don't lead and drag God along, throwing the name of Jesus onto our project. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:24.880 We are subservient. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:26.160 He is supreme. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:27.680 How does this happen, though? 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:28.799 How is this possible? 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:35.519 The final point: a Jesus-centered church is transformed by the gospel of Jesus. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:38.720 Transformed by the gospel of Jesus. 00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:48.480 In Colossians 3, 1 and 2, he says, So if you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:56.400 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are below, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:03.200 In chapter 1, verse 15, we read that he was the firstborn of the dead. 00:31:04.400 --> 00:31:12.720 Part of marveling at Jesus is marveling at the gospel, that Christ died for us. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:19.920 Did you catch that in the portrait that Paul is giving us of Jesus, the image of God? 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:23.680 He says that God died. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.000 That God died. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:28.400 John had a similar revelation. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:32.319 John in the book of Revelation, he has this picture of heaven. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:35.200 There's a throne, the center of all power. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:43.839 Around the throne are these concentric circles of all creation, beginning with elders and angels working its way out to all creation. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:52.240 And John gets a picture of what is standing on the throne and the thing at the center of the universe, the reality underneath all reality. 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:53.680 What does John see? 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:57.519 He says, I see a man standing as a lamb slain. 00:31:58.640 --> 00:32:01.519 That all power, all authority, what does it look like? 00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:04.240 It looks like this crucified God. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:09.279 That this is the image that we see, it's the image of the gospel. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:13.920 How is it possible to live like Jesus? 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:18.799 How is it possible to be captivated by Jesus? 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:22.559 We must see and hear the gospel. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:29.200 We've been in Romans for eight months because we wanted this church to be founded on the gospel. 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:35.119 But the image of Jesus that reflects the image of God is the acts of Jesus. 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:44.799 And the acts of Jesus, as great as his life and ministry were, they culminated in the act of him dying on the cross and being raised from the dead. 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:51.039 And that it's only the gospel that produces the way of Jesus. 00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:55.519 It's only the gospel that produces the way of Jesus. 00:32:55.839 --> 00:33:02.160 As we announced last week, starting in January, our church's new name is going to be Via Community Church. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:04.640 And in the it means the way. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:11.119 The basic idea is that Jesus called himself the way, the truth, and the life. 00:33:11.279 --> 00:33:18.480 That in the book of Acts, we see multiple times that the only name the church had in the book of Acts was the way. 00:33:19.119 --> 00:33:21.039 That there were followers of the way. 00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:26.160 And we might think that the way of Jesus is a lifestyle, and it is. 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:33.920 We might think that it's about atomic habits and spiritual disciplines, and those are included and they matter. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:37.519 We might think it's about being super, super nice. 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:43.119 You know, if I'm just super nice, I'll be closer to Jesus than the people that are not nice. 00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:44.880 And that's true too. 00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:49.279 But there's something much more foundational to the way. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:34:02.720 The only way to follow Jesus, because Jesus did demonstrate the way to live, but the only way to follow Jesus is to realize that he is the way to God. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:06.400 And that we must have a new birth. 00:34:07.200 --> 00:34:10.719 That we must be thoroughly converted. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:12.880 Again and again. 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:18.480 To use the language we've been using in Romans, we must be gospalized. 00:34:18.960 --> 00:34:21.199 Our minds must be renewed in the gospel. 00:34:21.280 --> 00:34:35.519 For many of us, we we kind of grew up thinking that the gospel was like the entry ticket, and then you listen to sermons for 40 years about being a better person, and then the entry ticket would get you into heaven when you died. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:37.760 It's important to have the entry ticket. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:42.079 Usually you get it by saying a prayer coming up and having a tearful moment. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:48.400 If it happened before eight, you're gonna wonder the rest of your life whether it was real, and if it happened in middle school, you're gonna wonder if it was emotions. 00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:51.519 If it happened as a young adult, you're okay, right? 00:34:51.679 --> 00:35:00.079 That's kind of how we process, that's how we think, and we wrestle with did I do it or did I not, and all those things, and those are all important questions. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:10.559 But what's what's undisputable is that if we want to live the way of Jesus, we have to be converted by him. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:17.199 The disciples struggled over and over in Jesus' three years of ministry to look like him. 00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:21.119 They succeeded in some ways and they failed in a lot of others. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:22.639 They had high moments. 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:25.360 Peter acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah. 00:35:25.519 --> 00:35:26.480