WEBVTT 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.679 You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:17.600 Church, we're called to be a people full of grace and truth. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:20.079 That's the new apologetic. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:25.679 That's the new proclamation of the gospel in the third millennium. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.719 Not just full of truth, but also full of love and truth, grace and truth. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:44.079 Understanding the brokenness of people's hearts, but not allowing any opportunity God gives us to not introduce people to a personal, vital, dynamic, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:49.920 At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.479 For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org. 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:59.840 We hope you are encouraged by today's message from pastor teacher Steve Holt. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:14.959 When I was a gymnast in college, you were an advanced level to have been a collegiate gymnast, but I started in ninth grade in high school. 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:18.640 And we had a really, really lousy gymnastics coach. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.719 This guy pretty much stunk up the place as a coach. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.480 He was really a track coach, but he got paid a little bit extra to come in and watch us swing around. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.319 But there was no help. 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:40.000 Well, the next year, that guy resigned and they brought in a great coach, and he changed my life in the arena of athletics. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:50.480 Because what he did is he said, we are going to be the very, very best gymnastics team in the state of Georgia in the basics. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:02:00.560 And if we get the basics right, there's no end to what you can do on each apparatus, but you've got to get the basics right. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:02.159 Does that make sense? 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:13.520 So, in the Christian life, there's so few opportunities for us to get the basics and to really understand what are the nuts and bolts of how to grow. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:17.759 I mean, they they give you the basics to get a driver's license, right? 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:22.000 I mean, you have to take a class if you're gonna get a driver's license. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:28.560 In hunter safety and stuff like that, where you're using firearms, you have to go through a hunter safety class. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:38.800 Any sport, golf, baseball, maybe there's maybe there's a tiddly winks training camp, I don't know, but you've got to get the basics. 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:49.039 So what we're gonna do is we're gonna call it starting points, and I want to talk about for the next few weeks what it means to be an outlier Christian. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:54.560 What it means to be a whole heart, all-in disciple. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:09.680 Because if we miss this part, then we'll continue to have this circular kind of faith that goes from victory to defeat to victory to defeat without growing in our faith. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:19.520 I want the trajectory to be maturity in our walk with God, not just getting victories and defeats and victories and defeats. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:29.520 Because what happens oftentimes in most Christians today is that we're feeling great and we love our faith when circumstances are going our way. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:39.280 But we fall just as prey to the works of the enemy when our circumstances go south as anybody else. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:50.159 And I guess where true joy comes is when we weather storms differently than everybody else. 00:03:50.319 --> 00:04:13.120 And the only way to weather storms in parenting and in singleness and in divorce and in cancer and all those things that every one of us will have some kind of an experience with is to have a faith that's grounded in Christ through the ways that He's given us in Scripture to be grounded in Christ. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:19.120 Because there's a lot of information out there, men and women. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:25.759 There's a lot of stuff on the internet, some of it's really good, and a lot of it's really not. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.439 It doesn't ground you in your walk with God. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:39.199 So I want to start today with what I think is the beginnings of understanding Jesus and how he called people to discipleship. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.680 And how many of you have taken psychology 101? 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:45.279 Anybody taken psychology 101? 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.680 Now, when I was in college at the University of Georgia, we called it Psycho 101. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:54.160 And they had this thing called a scatter plot diagram. 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:56.079 Some of you know what that is, some of you may not. 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.120 But just imagine with me, and I don't have a I don't have a graphic thing. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.279 I need to get this graphic, but I never had time this week. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:05.920 But you have an X and Y, you have axis X and Y, and then you have dots. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:06.480 You remember that? 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.199 They're little dots. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:14.800 And you do a survey, it might be height in relation to weight, or it might be finances in relation to success. 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:19.600 Whatever the survey you're doing, and the dots represent individuals. 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:26.000 And the X and Y status is the measurements of what you're trying to find as the norm. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:33.600 Because you learn quickly in Psychology 101 that normal is the goal. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.680 You're always looking for trends, right? 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:37.680 You're looking for normal. 00:05:37.839 --> 00:05:51.519 But when you do any kind of a survey where you're asking questions or you've got some kind of a way to plot what people say or what they feel or their height and weight or whatever it might be, there's always a couple dots that are like way off. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:59.040 They're like they're like way above the grouping or way below the grouping, and that's called an outlier. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:10.079 And what you learn in Psychology 101 is that you learn to delete data that doesn't fit the norm. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:15.839 Now, Sean O'Cor in his book, The Happiness Advantage, calls it the cult of the average. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.120 He's a Harvard professor, and he does this all the time for a living. 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:21.439 His whole book is basically surveys. 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:33.680 He calls it the cult of the average, and when he began to study about 10 years ago, this idea of what they call happiness psychology, what makes people happy? 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.759 The tendency before that has always been to go with the average and kick out the outlier. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:42.879 Delete it. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:44.639 Because that's how you get an A. 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:53.839 But he challenged the system, and I would encourage his book called The Happiness Advantage, it's a bestseller, it's a great book. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:58.160 Why were these outliers so happy? 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:03.839 And these, this, this cult of the average so unhappy. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:16.399 And yet we were trying to make studies, courses, uh, based on the cult of the average, and he said, No, I'm gonna actually study the outlier and pull the average up. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:21.120 And that was the result that gave the result that became his book. 00:07:21.519 --> 00:07:24.879 Men and women, here at the road, don't miss this. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.959 I am not interested in average Christianity. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.759 I'm not interested in American Christianity. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:40.959 I'm not interested in us just moving along with our happy-go-lucky American dream life and make no impact on the culture. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:50.000 Because if I look at that scatterplot diagram, I see the Evangelical American Church as a scatterplot church. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:55.199 I'm not interested in building a cult of the average church. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:57.439 I'm interested. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:06.560 We are focused on the leadership team here to build wholehearted, all-in disciples of Jesus Christ. 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:14.399 And so the only way that can happen is for us to live it ourselves, which is the most important thing. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:25.360 But then, secondly, that we know through Outlier University how to equip you mentally, emotionally, and at the heart level to be an outlier. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:27.680 This is going to be a university. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.240 It's not a training center. 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:31.920 It's a university. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:43.200 And what I mean is the difference being we are building something that's going to take some work, but you're going to come out a changed person. 00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:57.600 You will not be able to take these courses without coming out going, having a grounding in what you say and how you say it and how you minister to others that is going to set you apart. 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:06.000 And we've designed each course, if it relates to even creation and evolution, relates to how we know each other. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.519 How do we know that the Bible's the word of God? 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:10.720 How do you know that? 00:09:11.279 --> 00:09:12.399 That's what we're going to study. 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:13.200 That's one of the courses. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:15.519 You're going to know why the Bible is the word of God. 00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:17.120 Why is Jesus an outlier? 00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.519 Why is Jesus worth giving everything to? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:25.919 Why are the happiest people on the face of the earth fully devoted Jesus followers? 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:27.360 They just are. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:28.320 Why? 00:09:28.480 --> 00:09:29.200 Well, that's a course. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.480 There's a course on that. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:33.759 We're going to talk about how to about your finances. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:38.559 And we and we love the Financial Peace University, so that's going to be a course. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:39.440 Mission. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:41.600 How do we think missionally about our lives? 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:42.879 That's going to be one of the courses. 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:53.120 So at the end of the service, when we're done, I want to encourage you to go back to the back tables and just go through and see what the offerings are and be a part of that. 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:55.840 Now, here is where I want to start. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:10:02.480 Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:08.480 If you've downloaded the app, it's right there in your app for the sermon notes. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.080 John chapter 1. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:15.120 And if you don't have a Bible, and see if there's one in front of you in one of the seats. 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:18.320 And if there's not, just look around and share with somebody. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:24.720 John chapter 1, verse 14 is the most outlier verse in the Bible, in my opinion. 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:26.639 And then we're going to look at another one in a moment. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:30.639 We're going to break it down what I mean by that, but this is a really weird verse. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:32.399 Okay, this is a description of Jesus. 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:33.840 John 1, 14. 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:39.759 And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:40.879 That's Jesus. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.159 And we beheld his glory. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:51.919 The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, the only born of the Father, is what he's saying here. 00:10:52.080 --> 00:10:56.000 Now, this is the part you ought to underline, you ought to circle it, you ought to highlight it. 00:10:56.320 --> 00:10:58.320 Full of grace and truth. 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:02.960 That's the most counterintuitive statement in all of Scripture, in my opinion. 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:11.039 He was full of grace and love and mercy, but he was also full of righteousness and truth. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:24.639 Isn't it true that when we look on the spectrum today, churches as well as kind of even political parties tend to fall on either a true side or kind of a love and grace side, and Jesus was perfect in both. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.000 Isn't that amazing? 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:31.519 So Jesus came first with grace and love. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:38.879 And so he hung out, and we're going to look at this passage in a moment, with tax collectors. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.600 Tax collectors laundered money. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:45.759 Tax collectors were traitors to the Jews. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:59.519 They were Jews themselves who had chosen to work for the imperial forces of the Roman dictators that were ruling over Israel at that time, and they pilfered money from the people. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:00.960 They stole from them. 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:02.879 They overtaxed them. 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:07.919 And yet he went and he ate with them and he hung out with them. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:18.480 And that made the Pharisees, who would be considered the conservative wing, really, really mad. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.919 And then he loved on prostitutes. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:27.279 We know that Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:29.919 Tradition has it that she was probably a prostitute. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:30.799 We don't know that for sure. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.679 There's nothing in scripture that says that, but it does say seven demons were cast out. 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:35.840 That's a pretty good bit of demons in one person. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:44.799 So he hung out with prostitutes, full of love. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:13:11.360 And he just, he was such an outlier because at that time and place, men and women, that the attitude was that if you were in physical contact, if you were in a room with people who are immoral, unethical, irreligious, anti-religious, then you were associating, you were actually giving veracity to their lifestyle. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:19.519 And Jesus, as an outlier, came out of that and he went right into that, and it really made people mad. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.159 But he was also full of truth. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:37.200 So he didn't just hang out with the prostitutes and with tax collectors and the subsequent word that you see a lot in the New Testament is just sinners. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:38.240 Just sinners. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:40.159 Hang out with sinners. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.480 The woman who is caught in adultery, they're going to stone her. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:46.159 She comes before him. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.480 He says, I'm not going to stone you. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:52.480 But then what does he say next? 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.399 He says, but go and sin no more. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.200 So that ticks off the political left. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:10.960 Who believed, that's the Sadducees, who believed in righteousness a little bit, but really were more committed to mercy and to justice issues. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:16.320 And yet here he is bringing this woman in, and he speaks truth into her. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.159 He's not accepting of her lifestyle, he's accepting of her. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:36.720 And then he says to a man named Zacchaeus, who, we know the story, climbed up the tree, and he's a tax collector, somewhere around Jericho, we believe. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:43.120 And he comes down and he and Jesus goes to his house and Jesus calls him to repent. 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:48.960 He calls him to salvation and he starts just giving away everything he's gotten. 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.480 Righteousness has come. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.000 Full of mercy and truth. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.000 Jesus, outlier. 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:02.000 Church, we're called to be a people full of grace and truth. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:04.720 That's the new apologetic. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:15.440 That's the new proclamation of the gospel in the third millennium, not just full of truth, but also full of love and truth, grace and truth. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:29.679 Understanding the brokenness of people's hearts, but not allowing any opportunity God gives us to not introduce people to a personal, vital, dynamic, growing relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:30.879 That's what Jesus did. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:32.720 This is a starting point for us. 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:33.840 Does that make sense? 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:42.399 That we are, God's calling us to be different from this world and to make an impact upon this world. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:47.519 So now turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 2. 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:53.519 And this is a starting point, I believe, of being a Jesus follower. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:10.320 Mark chapter 2, as you're turning there, Timothy Keller writes in his excellent book, Making Sense of God, Jesus turned the dominant social pattern on its head. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.600 He freely ate with the moral and social outcast. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:23.440 He welcomed and befriended the impure and called them to follow him. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:30.639 Jesus did not fear that they would contaminate him, which was pretty radical at that time. 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:45.200 Rather, he expected that his wholesome love would infect and change them, and again and again and again, that's exactly what happened. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:59.440 How exciting! That we might be accepting to everyone, no matter what their sin, no matter what their background, no matter what they've been through or who they've slept with. 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:04.240 But through that love, their lives would be transformed. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:09.039 Their lives would be changed in the name of Christ. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:11.839 So here we have this really crazy story. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:12.960 Mark chapter 2. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:13.920 I love this story. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.880 I've been in it for a long time. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.680 And this week I've been in it a lot, and I've got so much circled and so many things underlined. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.440 We'll see what happens here. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.279 But look at verse 13. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:28.559 So look at verse 13. 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:31.440 So Jesus is just, he's teaching. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:36.799 He's in the Capernaum area, not far in that province of the Sea of Galilee. 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:41.839 And he's just walking along, and this is what he does. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:48.720 Then he went out again by the sea, and all the multitude came to him, and he taught them. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.759 So he's probably got thousands listening to him. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:18:05.680 But as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tax office. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.920 And he said to him, Follow me. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.720 So he arose and he followed him. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:13.759 There's a lot here. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.000 First thing I want you to get today. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:18.880 Jesus initiated. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.480 Jesus initiated. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.200 God initiates with you. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:33.039 You didn't accept Jesus into your life. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:40.240 Jesus gave you the faith to believe that he has saved you. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:41.599 And you believed. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.519 Even that faith, Martin Luther talked about, was from God. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.279 God initiates with you and me. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:50.960 He's the initiator. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:59.519 You're here because God loves you so much and he's so passionate about your life that he called you out and you came today. 00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:01.920 There's a lot of things you could have done. 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:05.839 You could be shopping right now at Chapel Hills Mall. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:07.279 It's just down the road. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:08.880 But you're here. 00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:13.440 That to me is no great temptation, but for some of you it might be. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:16.720 God initiates. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:30.400 And in the beginning, in Genesis 1, 26, 27, and 28, it said that God made man in his own image and in his own likeness, male and female, he created them. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.640 Men and women, this is what I believe. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:46.400 I believe that when God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit looks at you, he does not see you as a sinner. 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:53.839 I believe he sees you as you were created in Genesis 1, 26, 27, and 28. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:56.160 He sees his image. 00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.880 He sees his likeness in you. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:07.519 And I believe there was something different about Jesus walking along that Levi caught when Jesus said, follow me. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.039 With all the things that Jesus could have been doing. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:22.799 He comes to a guy who is corrupt, embezzling money, laundering money for the Romans, and he says, Follow me. 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:25.519 Jesus initiated. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.640 And there's two ways really to look at our lives. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:35.599 One is all your sin and all the rebellion and all of the stuff that's happened in your past. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:38.319 And we do that. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.240 But Jesus, I believe, looks and he doesn't see that. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:49.359 I think he sees you as you could be, not what you are. 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:54.400 And Levi saw those eyes look at him. 00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:57.359 Think what he's giving up. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:02.000 He's a millionaire by those standards at that time. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.319 He's going to just walk away from that. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:11.359 And Jesus comes and he calls him out because I believe he sees him. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:17.759 Levi's been created in my image and in my likeness. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.319 Men and women, you are beloved. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:23.519 You are created in his image. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:32.880 And the more you dwell on that, and the more you think on that, and the more we meditate on that, the more you become what you are. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:34.799 That's who you are. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.440 Sin is foreign. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:39.440 Sin is not who we are. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:42.000 Look at Psalm 139. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:45.519 If you have your Bibles and you're looking at your Bible, look at Psalm 139. 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:47.759 I love Psalm 139. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.119 Look at verse 13. 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:51.839 And again, if you're on the app, it's right there on your app. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:53.359 Psalm 139. 00:21:53.599 --> 00:21:56.799 For you, and by the way, Psalms is right in the middle of the Bible. 00:21:56.880 --> 00:22:03.519 So if you're if you're new to scripture, which many of us are, if you just Take your Bible and just sort of just sort of let it open. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.440 Usually it opens in Psalms, right in the middle. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.960 If you hit Proverbs, then you went to the right too far, then go left and you'll hit Psalms. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:13.119 Psalm 139, for you formed my inward parts. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:14.079 Verse 13. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:17.599 For you formed, God formed your inward parts. 00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.880 You covered me in my mother's womb. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:23.039 Hello? 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:29.680 I mean, that right there is one of the most powerful passages in scripture. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:38.960 That God sees that child, not a fetus, in the mother's womb. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:41.920 And that baby is just praising God for that. 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:44.160 And that is awesome. 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:49.279 You formed my inward part, you covered me in my mother's womb. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:56.319 I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:22:57.440 --> 00:22:59.519 Marvelous are your works. 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.559 This is before the child is born. 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:04.640 This is before you were born. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:08.319 God says, marvelous are his works on you. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:10.720 You're unique. 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:12.319 You're beautiful. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:14.400 You're created in the image of God. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.319 There's no sin yet. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:18.960 That's who you are. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.119 And that my soul knows it very well. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:28.079 He's saying, the writer here is saying, my soul needs to know this. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.599 My soul needs to meditate on this. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:35.759 Because when I meditate on this, it changes my whole outlook. 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:46.880 I am fearfully and wonderfully made, no matter what my parents said about me, no matter what kind of poverty I was born into, no matter how much sexual abuse I went through. 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:48.240 That's demonic. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:49.599 That is dark. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.440 That's satanic. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.480 But this is the way every one of us in this room were made. 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:58.240 You were made beautiful. 00:23:58.480 --> 00:23:59.680 You were beloved. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:01.519 You are precious in his sight. 00:24:01.599 --> 00:24:02.400 And it goes on. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:10.559 That was hidden from my mother, and it was hidden from my dad, and it was hidden from this world, but it wasn't hidden from you. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:23.759 When I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth, your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.640 Men and women, you were beloved before you were born. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.000 You were beloved before you were born. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:38.559 And this belovedness was initiated by God. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:40.160 We didn't have a conscience yet. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:42.319 We didn't have the ability to respond to God yet. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:46.240 He's already loving us, he's already there for us, he's already noticing you. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:50.799 And some of you, he's putting little artistic gifts in. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:55.519 For others, he's making you of someone who will be great mechanically. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:58.480 And for some of you, you'll be great at math. 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:07.440 And some of you will be great in relationships, and some of you are going to be introverts and extroverts, and there's all these tests you can take, right? 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:09.440 That's great. 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:13.279 But your beloved doesn't matter. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:15.279 Be all in. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.319 Because he created you. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:27.279 And he gave you talents and he gave you skills, and every one of you in this room are you're in the special needs class. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:30.319 You are. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:33.039 You're in the gifted class. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:34.400 You're gifted. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:35.920 Find your gifting. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.119 Find your gifting. 00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:38.640 Quit comparing yourself. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:39.839 Don't look at others. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.240 Don't wish you were this way or that way. 00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.519 Dive into who Christ made you. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:50.079 And if you're parenting kids, dive into how God made them. 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.680 Don't compare them to their older brother, their younger sister. 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:55.279 Let them be them. 00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:03.039 And love them and let them know they're beloved and let them know they're powerful and they're special and they can change the world. 00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:07.359 That they can be outliers and they don't have to fit into the cult of the average. 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:17.440 And so the Bible says, Romans 5.8, but God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.359 And so we look at that and we go, Christ, even though we were in our sin, died for us. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:24.880 He initiated. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:39.680 But way before that, church, before you knew of a personal relationship with Christ, before we had the opportunity to hear the gospel in the womb, he was already saying, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:41.359 You are beloved. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:57.119 Don't you want a God who doesn't compare you with others and doesn't care whether you made A's in school or flunked out? 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.400 Doesn't care, you know, what kind of issues you have. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:04.160 He's already loved you and he's just asking you to go back to Eden. 00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:06.720 Go back to Eden. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:09.039 We've been living east of Eden. 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:10.880 On this earth we live east of Eden. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:14.799 And he said, Why don't you go back to Eden where you were fearfully and wonderfully made? 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:22.319 Right there in Eden, you were made in my image and in my likeness, male and female, I created them. 00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:25.279 That's exciting stuff, folks. 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:29.440 So he's saying to Levi, Come on, man, follow me. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:30.559 Follow me. 00:27:30.720 --> 00:27:32.319 So that's the first thing. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:34.079 Second thing. 00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:38.000 He said to Levi, Follow me. 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:39.759 So he arose and followed him. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:40.880 Verse 15. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:54.400 Now it happened as he was dining in Levi's house that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many, and they all followed him. 00:27:55.279 --> 00:27:57.200 Second point this morning. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:58.799 Follow me. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:02.079 Follow Jesus. 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:09.039 Jesus did not say, follow a moral code, follow do's and don'ts. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:11.200 Follow yes and no's. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:13.359 Follow the Bible. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:15.279 Follow the Torah. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.240 Follow, he said, follow me. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:24.559 If they followed the Pharisees, that was the conservative right. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:29.759 If they followed the Sadducees, that's the liberal left, the progressives. 00:28:30.319 --> 00:28:31.599 He didn't care. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:33.599 He said, follow me. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:36.079 Follow me. 00:28:36.720 --> 00:28:39.359 Men and women, we follow Jesus. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:41.119 We don't follow a church. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:42.559 You don't follow the road. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:43.839 You follow Jesus. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.000 The road did not go to Calvary for you. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:48.079 The road did not die on a cross for you. 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:49.359 Jesus did. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:58.079 Some of you come out of Catholic backgrounds and Baptist backgrounds and Pentecostal backgrounds and Mormon backgrounds or Jehovah's Witness backgrounds, whatever it might be. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:28:59.440 And he says, follow me. 00:28:59.599 --> 00:29:01.039 I don't care about your denomination. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:02.960 I don't care about kind of cult you came out of. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:05.039 I don't care about just follow me. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:06.880 Follow me. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:09.839 That's the first step. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:17.119 That's a starting point in our journey, is that God initiated, and then he said, follow the one who initiated. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:19.279 And that's Jesus. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:21.680 So Jesus says, follow me. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:30.960 So, church, when we share of our relationship with Christ with others, keep the focus on Jesus. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:37.039 Don't get off on all these tangents about this or that or whatever's happening in the news. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:38.720 Follow Jesus. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:42.480 Jesus, he's really good at sorting all that stuff out. 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.039 But we got to get born again first. 00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:48.960 You're here this morning, you haven't been born again. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.359 And I'm not talking about walking the aisle, raising your hand, or standing up. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:30:00.880 I'm talking about that you have said in your heart, Jesus, to the best of my knowledge, I want to follow you. 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:04.640 With the strength that I have, I want to follow you. 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:08.079 That's how we, that's how we get saved. 00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:09.440 That's how we get set free. 00:30:09.680 --> 00:30:17.200 That's how the Spirit of God, Ephesians 1.13, says the Holy Spirit enters into us when we're born again. 00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:22.799 Super cool. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:24.880 Here's why it's cool. 00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:29.599 Because Jesus is the ultimate outlier and risk taker. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:34.799 Jesus is the ultimate outlier and risk taker. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:36.079 So what do you mean? 00:30:36.319 --> 00:30:40.079 I mean he took a risk on you and me. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:51.680 Can you imagine this guy named Jesus raising up this strange group of 12 guys, and one's even going to betray him? 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:54.720 And they're from all, they're kind of the motley crew. 00:30:54.799 --> 00:30:56.000 They're the motley crew. 00:30:56.160 --> 00:30:59.119 If you read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they're always arguing. 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:04.480 They're always saying the wrong things, and they're always having getting into trouble, and Jesus is always like, kind of like, man, I told you this. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:09.440 And then he gave them the gospel and he left. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:11.920 He left. 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:15.279 And he left it to eleven guys. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:21.920 And then the Holy Spirit came 40 days later. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:33.039 Holy Spirit shows up at Pentecost, they get filled with power, they get filled with anointing, they get filled with love, and the world's never been the same since. 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:45.920 Jesus, we believe, probably, if you count everything, never touched more than about 75,000 people during his three years of ministry. 00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:48.400 About 75,000 people. 00:31:49.440 --> 00:32:02.160 Those, those 11 guys that can't sit around the fire for one night without getting in a fight, get filled with the Holy Spirit and change the world. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:04.400 That's crazy. 00:32:04.640 --> 00:32:05.759 But listen, listen. 00:32:06.079 --> 00:32:08.559 Crazy people change the world. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:12.400 Average people don't change anything. 00:32:12.880 --> 00:32:20.160 Average people just are average, and nobody even knows they existed except their family and a few other friends at the end of their life. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:25.519 Crazy people who are living for Jesus have tons of friends. 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:28.000