WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:21.440 Great to be with you again this morning. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:33.600 And as we wrap up this series on the four great invitations from Jesus, I got thinking this morning, and I thought of who invites us really determines how we respond. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:34.560 A lot of times. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.240 Like this morning, I got an invitation from Macy's. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:41.520 40% off only today. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:43.840 I get that about three or four times a week. 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.280 I don't know, maybe I got something for Teresa ages ago. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:53.039 Or not yet today, but I'm sure I'll get a phone call and it'll have a number I don't recognize. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:00.960 And if I ever do answer it, it's going to tell me on a tape recording of some great opportunity if I would visit some place and listen to some, right? 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.719 And I just delete it. 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:14.159 And I thought to myself, as we get ready to wrap this up, maybe we should take just a moment and remember who's making these four great invitations. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:16.159 Lean back, if you will. 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:21.359 In fact, stand up, just for a sense of uh sobriety. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:28.879 As we uh sort of summarize and talk about the last invitations. 00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:45.840 Speaking of the Father, it says He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption for the forgiveness of sins. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:54.799 And then it describes who has given us the invitation to come, to follow, and to abide. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:02:04.799 You know, we have these pictures in our mind of Jesus and childhood and this is who is making the invitation to each one of us this morning. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.919 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:23.039 For by him all things were created, whether in the heavens or on earth, visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:25.680 He is also the head of the body, the church. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:33.120 He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might have first place in everything. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:40.879 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness, the fullness of deity, to dwell in him. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:50.159 And through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether things on earth or heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:51.439 You can sit down. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:57.120 And what I got thinking was, boy, that brings a sobriety to these invitations. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:59.680 You know, when we started off, we talked about, right? 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:04.800 Jesus said, Come, I'll give you rest, take my yoke, learn from me. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.919 And this great promise of peace in our life. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.199 Then he said, Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:13.199 There's there's purpose, there's a direction. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.599 You start to line up with what God wanted you to do and what he made you for. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:22.639 And then we remember we said it's impossible to live the Christian life, it's not just hard. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:24.479 And he says, Abide in me. 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:25.680 There's power. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:36.000 As the Spirit of God takes the word of God in the context of community, and he gives us what we don't have to become like him and to do what he's called us to do. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:43.039 And this week, the final invitation is to come and go and make disciples. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:54.000 I uh put it this way: it's an unspeakable privilege to join Jesus in his rescue mission to bring life and light and love to a broken world. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.479 Now that's one of those sentences, right? 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:57.120 Pause. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.159 Think about how messed up our world is. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.879 Think about real needs. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:04.319 I mean, people that you know. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:11.520 I mean, just think of the Silicon Valley, think of neighbors, think of what's happened in the last couple of years, think of the culture. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:28.639 And Jesus is inviting you to join him on the unspeakable privilege to rescue people, to bring them where they would have life, that they would see the light, that they would experience love. 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:38.160 And so this is an amazing invitation, and that's what we're gonna talk about uh right after the uh resurrection. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:39.519 I love this line. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:49.439 He said to his disciples, even before you know the ascension and all the rest, he says, as the Father has sent me, I'm sending you. 00:04:49.600 --> 00:04:50.240 Think of that. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:58.000 When the triune God saw all the world and all the needs in his heart of love, he sent Jesus. 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:07.839 And now Jesus says to us, just as the Father sent me to bring light and love and to care and to rescue, I'm sending you. 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:15.360 And then we get the formal invitation in uh Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 to 20. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.800 The context here is that he's already appeared to 500 eyewitnesses. 00:05:20.959 --> 00:05:27.120 And in verse 18, he says, All power or an authority has been given to me in heaven and in earth. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:29.199 In your notes, just write the word power. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:37.360 When we say we're gonna go make disciples, everything you need, all the resources, that word for power or authority, circle it. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:39.279 We get our word dynamite. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:43.680 Everything you need to be and to do, all He wants you to do is available. 00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:46.160 And then here's the invitation: actually a command. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.480 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:48.959 How? 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:57.279 Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in order that they could watch online, in order that they could agree with what Jesus. 00:05:57.600 --> 00:05:59.279 Wait a second, I think I read that wrong. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:08.240 Teaching them to observe, to live out everything that I taught you. 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.199 And then it's sandwiched in this next promise. 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:16.319 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:20.720 You'll never face anything as you say, I've come to Jesus. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.560 I really am following him. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:24.480 I'm learning and abiding. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:29.680 Okay, I want to be a part of the team that does for others what you did for me. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.920 I've got all the power I need, and I'll never do this alone. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:43.120 In the next little section, I actually uh it comes out of Luke chapter 6, verses 39, because it raises the question, like, how do you do that, right? 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.160 I mean, how do you make disciples and what are we supposed to do? 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:47.199 And what's it look like? 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:49.279 And how do you know if you're successful? 00:06:49.680 --> 00:07:00.639 And after Jesus described in the Sermon on the Mount what it meant to be a genuine follower and how different it was from how people were thinking, in verse 39, he says, and Jesus gave this parable. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:05.040 He said, if a blind man is leading a blind man, they'll both fall into the ditch. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:13.279 And then he went on to say, if a verse 40, if a if a student when he's fully grown, or a disciple when you're fully trained, you become just like your teacher. 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:20.879 And then the last part was, you hypocrites, why are you seeing the speck in other people's eyes? 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:22.079 Stop it. 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:31.680 Quit judging other people, take the plank out of your eye, and then we often forget, then go back and take the speck out of theirs. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:42.959 And as I thought about that passage, I've thought about probably what I've learned the most over the years in terms of go and make disciples, is you can't impart what you don't possess. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:44.079 That's the picture. 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:49.519 If you're blind, if you don't know what a disciple is, if you're not on that path, you can't take anyone with you. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:51.759 And then I love the second line. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.240 Uh more is caught than taught. 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:58.639 You know, if you're a parent, by the way, this is a big memo. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:01.040 If you have small kids, listen really carefully. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:04.639 If you have older ones, pray hard and do as much repair as you can. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:06.959 Your kids are never going to do what you say. 00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:11.120 They're going to catch who you really are. 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:18.399 Your values are not what you profess, your values are not, you know, what you intellectually believe, your values aren't even your very best intentions. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.800 Your kids are going to catch what really matters to you. 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:29.600 How you think about time, how you think about money, how you think about different people, how you think about different races, how you think about all the issues of life. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:30.720 They just catch it. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:39.440 And so when you want to go on discipleship, we have to, the last one, we have to be what we want those that we're leading to become. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:42.399 And so that's always the first step. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.639 And where I would get stuck on this, I was probably, I don't know how many years. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.279 I was a pastor way over 10 years. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:53.279 Um, boy, maybe, maybe closer to 15 or 20. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:58.159 And I would meet with other pastors and I would say, you know, I'm trying to learn and grow. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.080 And Jesus said, Go make disciples. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:00.480 What? 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:02.559 So how do you define a disciple? 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:04.240 And we get a bunch of pastors around. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:12.000 We say, well, you know, in some circles, well, they come to a morning service, an evening service, they give 10%, and they kind of help out at the church. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:12.559 Okay. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:17.519 Other people as well, well, they've had this experience or that experience, and okay. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:25.360 And what I realized was um I literally had the chance in one of my former lives to go all around the world and meet pastors all around the world. 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:35.679 And I said, just tell me, if someone walked up to you and said, I prayed Jesus lives in me now, I've got the next three to five years marked off, I will do whatever you want me to do. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.000 I'll come to whatever meetings, I'll learn whatever. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:40.000 Would you give me the clear pathway? 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.639 And could you tell me what it is and when I'm a mature disciple of Christ? 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:45.840 I really want to do. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:51.919 And I'd like to say that they just would pull out, you know, like their phone or something and say, Oh yeah, this is our plan. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:59.759 About 98 out of 100 pastors said, Well, we invite them to church, we got some programs, and we tell them here's some next steps. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.000 I said, Well, how do you know when they're mature? 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:12.639 And so it was about um, I don't know, a little over 15 years ago, I was in another life and I was training pastors in Nigeria, of all places. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:16.399 It was really hard because they speak English, but not my English. 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:24.559 Well, I wouldn't, when Naissem was giving the announcements, I thought to myself, someone finally speaks almost as fast as me. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.039 You know, and I thought, I love this, you know. 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:32.639 And they said, No, this is not Nigeria, you need to speak very slowly. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:41.200 And so I tried to speak very slowly, and I had 12 sessions on how to grow a high-impact church, and I'm in session number one, and it's a really mixed group. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.960 So on the front row, there's a guy with an iPad, and on the front row a guy who's barefooted. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.679 And they've come from all over, lots of them. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:52.080 And the first one was on the purpose of the church is to make disciples. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:11:02.399 And so I went for this definition, and it was like, you've all had a conversation with either a small group or another person or maybe a bit larger group, and you're thinking, they don't get it. 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:04.000 I'm not getting through. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:09.279 And I thought, oh, I'm speaking slow, which is killing me, and I'm gonna have to do this 11 more times. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:13.360 If we don't get on the same page, I'm gonna go nuts, and this is worthless. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:15.200 And I thought, oh, what am I gonna do? 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:16.639 And so I said, Stop. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:22.080 This is one of maybe the second or third most mystic experience I've ever had with Jesus. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:24.639 I said, Do you see that brother right there on the front row? 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.039 Because I've tried three or four times to describe a disciple. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:35.919 I said, if he went online and there was a server in heaven and he went heaven.com slash disciple, do you know what would come right on his computer so we would know? 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.159 And like 3,000 pastors go. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:43.679 And I'm thinking, I wonder what I'm gonna say next, because none of this is in my notes. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:48.799 And I heard out of my mouth say, Becoming a Romans 12 Christian. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:59.919 Now, now to be fair, the Holy Spirit, you know, had memorized that chapter, I'd actually taught it before, but never I said, well, forget those notes I gave you, open your Bible, and so I will say to you, open your notes in the middle. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:02.399 And all of Romans 12 is right there. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.200 And they're gonna tell you why I want to share it with you. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:12.480 Because what I realized was a disciple is not someone who does spiritual activities. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:16.159 I mean, the people that fasted, prayed, right? 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:28.879 Down to the, you know, herbs and spices that gave, they were super religious, the harshest words that ever came out of Jesus' mouth was to religious people. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:30.879 And we're no different. 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:34.559 So how do you actually measure what it means to be a disciple? 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:39.919 And I'm gonna walk out of the light for just a second because there's 12 chapters in Romans, and I've got to go to chapter one. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:41.919 Chapter one is here, right? 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:44.080 One through three, the problem of man. 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:46.399 We've all sinned and fall short of God's glory. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:49.200 Chapter four and five, the the solution. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.759 Christ died in our place and we receive him by faith. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:54.480 Chapter six through eight, how do you live this life? 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.960 It's the power of the Holy Spirit in us. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:09.440 Chapters nine through eleven, uh, sort of a little parenthesis says, if you're a Jew that's believed in Jesus, I just want you to know that, you know, as a nation, God took you out of the game because you fumbled the ball. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:15.679 I'm over-spiritualizing a bit here, and he's got a plan for you to get back in the game later, but I want you to understand what's happening. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:21.360 He's a sovereign God, his purposes will be fulfilled for the land and all the promises he made to David. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:23.759 And now we're at chapter 12, therefore. 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:29.679 And in chapter 12, what he does, he gives an executive summary of what a disciple is. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.720 Uh, Will Durant describes the Apostle Paul as the most brilliant mind in the first century. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:38.879 And we know he had some special relationship with Jesus after he came to Christ. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:41.440 We know he had an intellect that was unbelievable. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:53.279 And I believe chapter 12, he took the Sermon on the Mount and all he learned and all this, and for a sort of Greek mindset like us, he said, okay, let me give you the profile of a disciple. 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:54.159 So are you ready? 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.000 11 chapters are all about what? 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:56.639 Grace? 00:13:56.799 --> 00:13:57.840 It's the gospel. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:00.639 Based on grace, totally what God does. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.879 And then you'll notice, look, look in your notes. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.440 Chapter five, there's five relationships. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.519 Discipleship is always relational. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:08.960 It's not about performance. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.960 It's a relationship that grows out and changes every relationship. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.440 So, first relationship, there's five. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:18.000 Go down through, circle the word God, right? 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:18.720 In your notes. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.720 Go down, circle the word world. 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:26.080 Go down one more time, circle the world yourself, then circle believers, then circle nonbelievers. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:30.080 All I want you to know is it's it's about graces and about relationships. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.200 And what he's gonna do, he's gonna give us just a snapshot. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:34.960 I'm only gonna give you the postcard. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:36.480 I can't go through it all. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:46.000 But what I want to do is just give you a quick postcard that you could say, okay, I've come, I'm following Jesus, I'm abiding and learning, and he says, go make disciples. 00:14:46.159 --> 00:14:49.039 I want you to say, Oh, this is what a disciple is. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:53.919 And this disciple is based on my relationship by grace of trusting Him. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:58.240 So, what's the normal disciple look like in their relationship to God? 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:01.440 Remember, you came to know Jesus in chapters four and five. 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:03.279 Notice what it says. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.000 Relationship with God is surrender to God. 00:15:06.159 --> 00:15:19.200 Therefore, I urge you, my brothers and sisters, in view of God's great mercy, those 11 chapters, the work of Christ, the resurrection, offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.240 This is your spiritual service of worship. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:33.279 And so what he's saying is, for normal followers making disciples, you have to be one before you can help others, is that a the word offer, put a little box around offer in your notes. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.399 It's in a tense in the Greek that is, it's punctilliar. 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:38.159 It happens in a point of time. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:45.840 You've already come to know Christ, and a certain day at a certain time, you say, Lord, I surrender all that I am and all that I have. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:50.639 My family, my money, my career, my location, my future. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:57.360 You fill in the top of the purchase order and you say, This is what I want you to do. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.960 I've already signed my name at the bottom. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:04.240 I may struggle with that, it may be difficult for me, but I want you to know I'm fully surrendered to you. 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:09.360 And here's the question that it answers How do you give God what he wants the most? 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:11.360 Do you remember who he is? 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.879 All the fullness of deity dwells. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.120 God is inviting you, and he says, This is what I want. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:24.720 More than your religiosity, way more than your money, more than this, more than that. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.039 He wants you, all of you. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.080 That's your spiritual service of worship. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:34.240 But your spiritual service of worship of mine has some big competition. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.399 And so the next he says, What's a disciple look like in relationship to the world? 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:42.080 And this isn't the physical world, this is that the world system. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:17:03.120 That you, just a regular ordinary person, you, me, you could test, approve, experience, demonstrate what God's will looks like in a normal human being, in our case, right here in the Silicon Valley. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:06.720 His will is good, acceptable, and perfect. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:16.960 And so the fact of the matter is, remember we talked about those things that are barriers to abiding, distractions, disoriented desires, all those kind of things? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.799 Do you remember when Jesus was tempted by the enemy and he quoted God's word? 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:33.119 Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life, or in our language, sex, status, salary, or pleasure, power, possessions. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:50.960 There's a world system that pops up on my phone, every commercial, most every movie, and it says significance and meaning is when I get enough money, or when I'm prettier or more handsome, or I run this company, or I go public, or when finally we own my own home. 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:53.359 You fill it in, but it promises that. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:18:01.440 And the world system is a mistress seeking to seduce you away from the love of God. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:09.279 First John would take this and say, if any man loves the world, any woman loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:14.720 And all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.799 So we're in a battle that's always tugging. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:21.920 And he says, you know, you're separate. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:29.039 By the way, progressively, three steps forward, two steps backwards, but progressively you are doing two things. 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:33.920 You're saying no to that value system, and yes to your mind gets renewed. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:35.359 Remember of abiding? 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:37.119 And you start to renew your mind. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:45.359 And instead of your life being conformed to what this is, your life little by little gets conformed to what God says. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:48.640 The third relationship is our relationship with ourself. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.519 And here, a disciple isn't just surrendered to God or progressively separate from the world's values. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:57.839 You have a sober self-assessment. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:05.519 He says, For by the grace of God I say to every one of you, don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but rather think of yourself with a sober. 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:08.160 I mean, literally, it means to not be drunk. 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:10.160 Have an accurate perception of yourself. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:10.640 How? 00:19:10.799 --> 00:19:12.720 According to the measure of your faith. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:17.920 It's it's that word in this particular case is the measure, what God says about you. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:23.359 Do you do you grasp the identity issues that people struggle with today? 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:26.079 And it's not people out there, I mean it's us. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:28.880 I mean, do you do you know what your strengths are? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:30.559 Do you know what your weaknesses are? 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:37.119 Are you are you comfortable realizing that you don't have it all together, that I'm insecure, you're insecure, everyone struggles? 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:40.319 The apostle Paul is saying, here's the deal. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:45.519 Most all of us in many opportunities will pose. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:54.319 And we'll either try to be someone else or we'll try to reflect that we know more or act more, and we do it because we're insecure. 00:19:54.720 --> 00:19:57.359 And he says, a disciple gets it. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:01.279 You understand, you know, these are the strengths that I gave you. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.839 And then you don't have to be embarrassed. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:05.920 These are weaknesses that you have. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:12.880 And then he goes on to say that, you know, just as we have many members in a physical body, so we are one body in Christ. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:14.799 We're individually members of one another. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:18.000 And he says, I want you to just have an accurate view of yourself. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:19.759 Here's the measure of my faith. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:23.279 On this day, at this moment, I'm deeply loved by God. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.519 I've been sealed by the Spirit. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.519 He's deposited gifts in me. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:29.920 My eternity is absolutely sealed. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.640 I know where I'm going and I know why, based on what Christ did, and I've received that by faith. 00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:40.880 God has a tremendous plan for my life, and he knows that I will struggle, and he's patient, and he's loving. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:49.599 But here he says, you need to know what your strengths and gifts are because there's other people, their strengths interdependently connect with yours. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:55.839 And there's this amazing joy that comes when you belong and where you fit. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:05.440 If verse one tells us how in the world do we give God what he wants the most, verse two tells us, how do we get the very best from God? 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:12.480 And verses three through eight answers this question: how do you ever come to grips with the real you? 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:24.880 How do you get where instead of, if I was only taller, if I was only prettier, if I was only more this, if I was only smarter, if I if I people spend their life chasing phantoms. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:30.640 I'm telling you, one of the most liberating things that ever happens in your life. 00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:36.640 And you know, when you start sharing, these are my strengths, but these are my weaknesses, it doesn't repel people. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:40.799 Most of us live with what I call a hologram mentality. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:43.680 And but by the way, I've I've I've done this in spades. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:49.920 You know, especially if you come from an alcoholic family, you kind of learn where the pressures are and you learn how to please people. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:57.599 And so you learn to act different ways and say different things because this group or that group are at work or over here. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.359 And then what you do is you present this. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.720 Persona. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:02.160 I call it a hologram. 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:05.359 And if you're really, really good at it, here's the tragedy. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:07.599 People start loving the persona. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.119 And what you realize, they don't really know you. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:26.240 The most human experience of the greatest power I've ever experienced in my life is to sit across the table, first and foremost, with my wife, and then with some very, very close friends. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.799 Where they have seen the good, the bad, and some really, really ugly. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.400 And accept and love me just for who I am. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:38.799 That's what that's that's being a follower. 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:40.640 It just frees you. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.640 You'll know the truth, and the truth will. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:44.799 Yeah. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:51.119 And so the Apostle Paul wants these disciples to understand that this is normative. 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:52.720 This is what a disciple looks like. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:54.559 Heaven.com slash disciple. 00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.880 You're surrendered to God, you're separate from the world's values. 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:02.799 And by the way, that's three steps forward again, and a couple backwards, sometimes four backwards, like we all mess up. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:06.720 And then you get this sober self-assessment, and then you say, well, where do I fit in the body? 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.279 He goes, Well, he lists seven specific gifts. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:12.799 And he says, these are your core motivations. 00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.319 We're all told to obey all those things in verses six through eight. 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:19.519 But he says, if it's if it's teaching, man, focus on that. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.160 If it's exhortation, man, do that counseling, encouragement. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:23.440 If it's leader, be diligent. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:24.880 If it's giving, be generous. 00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:26.799 If it's merciful, do it with compassion. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:30.240 If it's proclaiming God's word, hey, go for it. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:32.960 You know what it's like to be? 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:39.519 Some of you do, to be in a church, to be in a small group, to feel like I'm accepted for me. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:40.720 I belong. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:48.880 And as you bring what you bring and others bring what they bring, God does something really beautiful through us. 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:50.960 We've seen it happen here so much. 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.440 The fourth relationship is with fellow believers. 00:23:53.599 --> 00:23:54.240 What's it look like? 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.440 What's an authentic follower, a disciple look like? 00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.599 They're serving in love. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:01.920 He says, love must be sincere. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.599 You might put an underline under that. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.519 Literally, it's without hypocrisy. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:12.160 In the Greek culture, all the drama was done by men, and so they would wear one of those masks and learn how to throw their voice. 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.920 He says, You want to have great relationships with other believers? 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:17.759 Take off your mask. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:22.880 Hate what is evil, cling to what is good, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:39.599 And then I don't have time to develop it, but there's about 13 participles that all have the force of a command of honoring one another, caring for one another, praying for one another, financially helping one another. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:43.279 This isn't like I'm in a small group and we sit around in a circle. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:44.000 How did your week go? 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:44.960 My week go okay. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:45.759 Is your week okay? 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:47.440 Uh, what did you have for question number four? 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:48.319 I had uh God. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:49.359 Cool, great answer. 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:50.079 How about you? 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:51.440 For question five, what did you have? 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:52.160 I had Jesus. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:53.359 Oh, that's really great. 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:55.200 Okay, now how are the 49ers doing? 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:56.400 Have you heard about the draft? 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:58.480 Or, you know, what's on sale? 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:08.559 Now, these are the kind of relationships where the real you shows up and you meet real needs that are sacrificial and they're not convenient. 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:16.400 And you say to another group of people in the body of Christ, My time is your time, my money when needed is your money, my heart is your heart whenever you need it. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:20.400 I will lay down my life for you the way Jesus laid down his life for me. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:26.079 And when you ever get to experience that, I'll tell you, unbelievers will look at it like, what in the world is going on here? 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.480 You're not those little religious people. 00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:31.519 It's serving in love. 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:35.759 The real you meets real needs for the right reason in the right way. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:43.279 And not only is it so attractive, but you know, it answers that deep question that we have. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:46.079 How do you experience authentic community? 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:47.200 Right? 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:56.400 I mean, the experts, at least in America, probably beyond, all the experts say the number one relational issue in America today is loneliness. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:02.880 We've never been more connected to information and less connected to one another. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:07.599 Suicides are up, anxiety is up, struggles are up. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:12.319 What we all long for, I mean, it's an amazing gift. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:21.279 If you just get like even two or three people in your life that love you for you and that would do whatever for you, it changes everything. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:23.920 And see, that's what a disciple is. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:27.519 It's not about, you know, how many times, okay, gosh, I only read two chapters. 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:28.720 Oh, gosh, what shall I do? 00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:36.160 I'm supposed to read three chapters a morning, and someone said a proverb, I didn't try the Psalms, I did this, and gosh, I can only give 9.5%, or I gave 11%. 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:37.759 I guess God loves me more. 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:41.920 You know, it's we get all this junk, we get all the same junk that people did. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:46.640 Being a follower of Jesus is you've come and found rest. 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:49.839 You're following him and you abide. 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:55.279 And the Spirit of God begins to enlighten the Word of God, and you talk honestly from your heart. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:59.119 And when you mess up, you just own it, and He forgives and cleanses. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:10.079 And then you get in a group and community like this, so important around here, and you you receive it with someone who actually gives you a hug and eye contact that you realize this invisible God shows up how? 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:11.519 Through his body. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:15.039 You know, we we sing things like he's our hands and he's our feet. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:18.400 But it's for each other, it's real. 00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:24.079 You know, it's not it's not just helping the teachers, it's not just helping all the people in need and and giving away food. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.000 Those things are awesome. 00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:38.400 Can you can you can you can you fathom what would happen if God would awaken a new generation to the reality of Jesus? 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:40.319 I've heard that somewhere. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:42.079 Does anyone know where that came from? 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:44.799 It's the mission of this church. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:46.960 Well, how do you do that? 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:52.079 You come, you follow, you abide, and then we make disciples. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:28:02.559 Finally, um he talks to us about our relationship with unbelievers and in a fallen world especially, and we supernaturally respond to evil with good. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:07.839 Um some of you are actually all of you are way younger than me. 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:14.319 And if you have not yet been betrayed in a really big way, don't hold your breath. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:15.359 It's coming. 00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:20.720 And and it happens inside or outside the church. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:27.200 If you haven't experienced some deep injustice or someone you love, it's coming. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:28.880 It's a fallen world. 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:34.640 So, how do Christians, how do genuine followers respond to the evil that's aimed at us? 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.920 And the heat is going up in this culture, especially. 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:45.519 Well, here's what a disciple does: bless those who persecute you, bless and curse not, rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:46.960 Live in harmony with one another. 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:50.160 Don't be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:54.559 Don't be conceited, do not pay or repay evil for evil. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:55.440 Be careful. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:07.279 Literally, it means take thought, try to really understand what's right in the sight of other people, even who disagree with you on morality, on politics, on God, on everything. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:12.559 Try to pause and empathize and recognize these are their presuppositions. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:14.480 They actually really, really believe this. 00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:17.200 And this is what they're doing, and here's how they're attacking me. 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:22.559 But I got to get under their skin and grasp this is what's happening inside their heart. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:27.039 Because if you don't, you'll just blame or you repay evil for evil. 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:29.359 Doesn't mean you compromise. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:34.960 And then notice if they're hungry, I mean, I mean, this is the people that have posted stuff about you. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:37.039 This is the ex that walked out on you. 00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.319 This is the supervisor that almost ruined your career. 00:29:40.799 --> 00:29:42.079 If they're hungry, what do you do? 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:42.880 You feed them. 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.559 If they're thirsty, what do you do? 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:47.200 In our culture, you're gonna you're gonna give them a drink. 00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.640 In doing so, you'll heap burning coals on their head. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:52.559 You go, wow, that sounds really good. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:54.319 My boss could really use that. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:30:05.599 This is a this is a picture in the ancient Near East when someone has repented and it was in a village, and if if they repented and realized, man, I totally messed up, I was totally wrong. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.880 My thoughts and my behavior were over here, and I need to go over here. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:19.279 They would build a little fire, put coals in it, put it in a pan, put it in a towel, and they would put it on their head and they would walk through the village and publicly say, My thinking, it's a picture of repentance. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:23.599 I don't care what people say about you, I'll tell you what. 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.200 Your ex-mate, when they get cancer, when you show up to pray. 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:32.240 I I've got a good friend who was so abused by an ex-mate. 00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:35.359 I mean, love, love, love. 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:42.160 Actually, she blew through all the money, did horrendous things, and made him the evil person. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.519 Twenty-some years later, he he bought her a home. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:48.160 Because her life was so messed up. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:50.480 He just kept loving. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.519 Do you remember what Jesus said when he was hanging on the cross? 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:56.559 Anybody remember? 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:02.160 Father, uh forgive them, they know not what they do. 00:31:02.400 --> 00:31:03.599 Remember Stephen? 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:07.839 Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. 00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:15.759 When they walked into the Colosseum, arm in arm, singing, praying, that they weren't superstars. 00:31:16.160 --> 00:31:33.519 They knew all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Jesus, and Jesus lived in them, and he would be with them, and they really had this picture of life, really isn't just about right now, and what you can get and who you can impress, and how much you can own, and what you drive, what you wear, and where you live. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.519 There is a real heaven that's a real heaven. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:37.440 There's an eternity that's a real eternity. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:38.880 This matters. 00:31:39.599 --> 00:31:54.240 A disciple is surrendered to God, separate progressively from the world's values, has a sober self-assessment, is actively serving in love, and is supernaturally responding with evil, with good. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:57.920 Now, I I ran through that. 00:31:58.319 --> 00:32:03.279 And so at the very bottom, this happened, I I think this was about 12 years ago. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:12.720 After Nigeria, I came back and I thought, literally, that outline, I was on my way to another event, and I had that God moment. 00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:17.440 I thought, you know, I I think um I've never seen that in the scriptures ever. 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:25.519 So I on the back of an envelope, I wrote those five relationships and those biblical responses, and then I thought, you know, I think I'm gonna try this out. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:31.759 So I spoke another message with a little more intentionality, and it was to a very multicultural group in California. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:44.960 Um and then little by little I developed a series, and then what I realized was, what if my fellow pastors who I've been asking for 10 years, and none of us could come up with a good definition? 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:57.359 I mean, you know, maybe the Baptists have theirs and the Methodists have theirs and the Pentecostals have theirs and the Reformed theology has theirs and dispensationalists have theirs, but I'm thinking, like, don't they all believe in Paul? 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:06.640 What if he actually gave us five relationships based on grace with a biblical response that you could actually measure? 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:12.960 And so uh at the very bottom, there's a uh thing that says true spirituality online. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:16.480 We we created an e-learning system about 10 years ago. 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:23.039 And like there's messages on each one of those areas, and if and you can do like a six or seven minute video. 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:25.599 It's like, you know, I just want R12 light. 00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:28.559 Uh, there's a like a 40, 43-minute video. 00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:31.680 Uh, there's just the audio, there's the notes for each one. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:34.319 Um, there's a small group there if you say, you know what? 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:39.279 I want I want to become a real disciple and I want to make disciples. 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:41.920 Uh uh, I'm gonna jump in and you can do that. 00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:43.759 It's all without charge. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:50.960 In fact, one of the things I I did, and I'm so grateful to um Ryan, he's really gracious. 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:57.759 And uh, in some settings, you know, I'm I'm his dad, I'm always his dad, but when I'm here, he's the pastor, and I gotta ask permission to what can I do? 00:33:57.839 --> 00:33:59.200 And it was very gracious. 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:04.880 You'll you'll notice in your bulletin it says uh the four great invitations of personal assessment. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:07.200 Here's what I'd like you to do. 00:34:07.279 --> 00:34:09.280 Not not right now, but in a in a private moment. 00:34:09.440 --> 00:34:14.800 Maybe stick this in your Bible and say, um, well, here's the illustration. 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:31.840 Imagine yourself blindfolded, uh taken in a car, and then you can tell they put you on a plane, and then you land somewhere, and it's in a dark room, and then the lights are turned on, they take off the blindfold, and they say you've got two days to get to Chicago. 00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:35.440 What's the very first thing you gotta do? 00:34:36.159 --> 00:34:37.119 Come on, you're smart. 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:39.039 You're one of the smartest people in the world. 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:40.639 What do you gotta do? 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:43.199 You gotta find out where you're at. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:45.679 You gotta find out where am I at right now? 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:51.199 Here's my question: Where are you at right now in making disciples? 00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.760 You can't impart what you don't possess. 00:34:55.039 --> 00:34:57.760 You gotta be what you want others to become. 00:34:57.920 --> 00:35:05.440 If you don't know where you're at, it's just, you know, like a shotgun, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and by God's grace, he does use that. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:11.280 So I would just encourage you, you know, not here, but get a quiet place and just do that little assessment. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:15.679 And it's not in any way to go, oh wow, I sure am not this hyper. 00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:17.360 I wish I was. 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:23.280 No, it's just to say, I thought I was here, and oh, in this one area, I'm over here. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:30.639 Or some of you have this strict conscience, and I thought I was here, and you're gonna go, oh, I'm here. 00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.440 I'm making progress with uh groups and staff and elders, because I wanted to put this into practice. 00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:43.679 Uh, one of the things Theresa and I did when I was a senior pastor is we'd have the elders over to our home once a month. 00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:48.400 We'd all eat together and just hang, you know, and hear about kids and life and all the rest. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:51.119 And then Ther went with the women in one room and I went over. 00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:53.199 I'm not sure what they did, but they loved it. 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:56.559 And then I got with the guys, and no business. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:01.840 And so literally, I would, I mean methodically, I would say, hey guys, great to be with you. 00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.480 We're just brothers here tonight, not trying to run anything in the church. 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:07.519 On a scale of one to five, where are you at in surrender? 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:18.400 Now, obviously, we we know at a point in time we all said yes to the Lordship of Christ, but a one is God's really speaking to me about letting go, surrendering something, and you haven't. 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:22.639 A five is God really spoke to me and you let go of something, you really surrendered. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:24.880 No one can say a three because that's a cop out. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:25.760 Go. 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:31.360 And so I'll never forget one guy said, I'm I'm at a one right now. 00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:32.960 Very godly man. 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:34.480 I said, Why? 00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:37.760 Because my daughter wants to be a missionary in Afghanistan. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:41.039 And I just, I don't want her to go, she's gonna get killed. 00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:43.199 Or I think she's gonna get killed. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:46.880 But children are a gift from the Lord. 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:48.239 I know the right answer. 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:49.920 I don't want to give the right answer. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:51.039 Thanks, man. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:52.320 We're gonna be on that. 00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:53.760 Over here, a five. 00:36:54.239 --> 00:36:55.920 What's a five about? 00:36:56.079 --> 00:36:57.920 Um, I got an amazing job. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:36:58.960 I made a ton of money. 00:36:59.119 --> 00:37:03.440 And yes, of course, I tithe and I give over above my tithing and and blah, blah, blah. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:08.159 But I I realized, man, I could do a ton of good. 00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:19.360 And I God's just speaking to me about what why don't you why don't you give out of your comfort zone instead of in your comfort zone? 00:37:19.519 --> 00:37:25.360 Everyone thinks I'm really generous because, well, if you had, if most people had as much as me, you know, they get really big checks. 00:37:25.440 --> 00:37:26.000 They just don't know. 00:37:26.079 --> 00:37:27.599 That's not much of what I got. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:29.119 And I'm really excited. 00:37:29.280 --> 00:37:31.119 God spoke to me and I released that. 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:34.960 I'm doing some actually a few crazy things right now. 00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:36.719 And God's showing up. 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:45.119 But but you understand is that, you know, you know, the next time it might be separate from the world's values, and I might say, hey, where are you really struggling with the world squeezing you in? 00:37:45.280 --> 00:37:53.119 And, you know, you can't be with a group of men and not know at least some of the guys that struggle with pornography, or over here it might be shopping, over here it's pleasing people. 00:37:53.199 --> 00:38:04.400 And all I'm saying is there's a way to measure in an informal, loving way that's grace-based and relational, where we can say, How am I doing? 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:16.559 And now I want to help those Jesus has rescued like me to learn to be surrendered, because surrender is the channel through which God's biggest and best blessings flow. 00:38:16.719 --> 00:38:22.239 Because separate from the world's values is how you get the very best from God and experience his will. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:28.559 Because being a sober self-assessment is how you finally discover who you are and quit pretending. 00:38:28.719 --> 00:38:36.239 And because serving in love is how you really experience authentic community and you experience God's presence through other people. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:49.519 And because supernaturally responding to love gives you an actual game plan that's not blaming or anger or ungodliness to respond to the evil that is aimed at you because it all comes. 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:51.119 Does that make sense? 00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:52.400 That's the postcard. 00:38:52.480 --> 00:38:54.000 Now, here's here's here's something. 00:38:54.159 --> 00:38:55.599 I have a really wonderful wife. 00:38:55.760 --> 00:38:57.760 I called her this morning after I got here. 00:38:58.000 --> 00:39:02.320 This is the the card, uh, your connection card. 00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:04.000 So I called her this morning. 00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:24.639 I said, honey, um what would you think if we invited, just I looked at my calendar, this coming Sunday, for three Sundays in a row, people that said, Hey, I'll I'm I went to that, you know, that true spirituality online, and I looked at at least the first short video or long video, and I did a little assessment. 00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:26.639 What if we invited them over to our house? 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:27.760 Our backyard's pretty big. 00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:30.960 We could probably get, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 people, I don't know. 00:39:31.119 --> 00:39:33.440 And I we just invite them to our house. 00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:37.519 And and maybe they're like, you know, we just started coming here a couple years ago. 00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:41.440 Maybe they don't feel quite connected or they want to take a first step. 00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:43.199 Would you, what do you think? 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:45.039 Yeah, honey. 00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:47.280 That'd be at first I said, could we feed everyone? 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:49.360 She goes, No, we're not going there, you know. 00:39:49.679 --> 00:39:51.280 And so I want to invite you. 00:39:51.440 --> 00:40:06.079 So if you just put your name and your email legibly, uh they'll send you my address, and next Sunday night, um, you bring, bring your little evaluation and do at least one, and we'll sit around together and have some drinks. 00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:08.719 I say, hey, you know, what's like how you doing? 00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:11.679 Here's what I know, and I hate this about my job. 00:40:11.920 --> 00:40:17.840 By Tuesday, 90% of everything I've said, you won't remember any of it. 00:40:18.159 --> 00:40:20.000 That's very discouraging. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:28.639 But what I've learned is those people who take a baby step and respond to the light, wow! Then they take another baby step and another and they get connected. 00:40:28.719 --> 00:40:30.159 And then here's what you'll learn. 00:40:30.320 --> 00:40:32.400 Here, oh, I shouldn't give this away. 00:40:32.559 --> 00:40:33.840 It's a spoiler. 00:40:34.159 --> 00:40:40.880 When we sit around next Sunday night outside at my house, you'll go privately, you'll never say this. 00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:43.599 These people are as messed up as I am. 00:40:44.639 --> 00:40:46.880 There's as many posers in here as me. 00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:49.280 I thought everyone's doing great, I'm doing terrible. 00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:50.559 And you know what'll happen? 00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:52.079 God'll show up. 00:40:52.880 --> 00:41:07.519 As you turn to uh the back page, I want to do give you just a heads up on uh I would say maybe the biggest breakthrough I had in terms of how do you go about this? 00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:10.079 Write the words at the top. 00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:14.320 It's a journey, it's a process. 00:41:15.920 --> 00:41:18.239 It takes time, intentionality. 00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:22.000 You don't have to, you know, you could just use one word. 00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:23.760 Some of you are going, I can't write that fast. 00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:28.400 Journey, process, time, intentionality, perseverance. 00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:34.159 I mean, this whole thing was, you know, I've been a Christian 50 years this month. 00:41:34.719 --> 00:41:38.880 I don't have enough hands and toes to tell you how many times I wanted to quit. 00:41:39.360 --> 00:41:41.760 I'm so glad I didn't. 00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:44.559 And the breakthrough, my biggest breakthrough came. 00:41:44.719 --> 00:41:50.159 I was 30 years old, and I was um uh in seminary. 00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:59.679 I took a little church, about 35 people, so I'm working, and we had three children at the time, and I was completely overwhelmed, trying to do everything, working out all my issues. 00:41:59.840 --> 00:42:07.199 And there was a mentor that we kept bugging for about three years, and we had a brown bag lunch with a guy named Howard Hendricks, and we called him prof. 00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:12.880 And he just walked in and we'd done a couple brown bags, and he goes, Gentlemen, that's how he talked. 00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:14.400 You know what's wrong with you? 00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:15.519 We didn't. 00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:17.679 That's why we ask you to be with us. 00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:23.760 He says, You're all a bunch of overachievers, and you're so performance-oriented. 00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:25.920 And then he said, Write this down. 00:42:26.239 --> 00:42:31.199 You will never be more loved than you are right at this second. 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:35.199 There's nothing you can do to get God to love you more. 00:42:35.360 --> 00:42:37.840 There's nothing you can do to get him to love you less. 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:43.039 Therefore, life really is about how are you going to say thank you. 00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:50.079 And then he would write in these big block letters, and he wrote the word objective, and he said, Who do you want to be? 00:42:50.880 --> 00:42:54.559 You guys are so into do, do, do, accomplish, accomplish, accomplish. 00:42:55.199 --> 00:42:59.199 Of course you do, but it has to flow from your who do you really want to be? 00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:01.519 And then he wrote the word priority. 00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:05.280 He said, How badly do you want to be that person? 00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:11.280 There's a lot of distractions, there's lots of hobbies, there's lots of people, there's lots of pressures. 00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:13.840 How badly are you willing to say no? 00:43:13.920 --> 00:43:15.039 This is who I want to be. 00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:16.960 And then he wrote the word schedule. 00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:26.000 And he said, I've been in groups like this all the time, and you have good intentions and you have a desire, and you can say, I want to be a man of God, or I want to be a great husband, or I whatever. 00:43:26.159 --> 00:43:29.599 And he says, What I know is if it doesn't show up, the third word was schedule. 00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:38.480 Show me in your schedule, each week, where and how is it planned into your schedule for you to become that kind of person. 00:43:38.800 --> 00:43:53.920 And then he wrote the last word, it was discipline, and he said, The difference between it was an old day, men and boys, all men in the room, is those who are willing to pay the price and do what's on their schedule when they don't feel like it. 00:43:54.800 --> 00:43:59.360 And I remember uh, you know, I've been to a lot of brown bags, I've heard a lot of messages. 00:43:59.440 --> 00:44:03.920 I don't Understand how the Holy Spirit works, but I was overwhelmed. 00:44:04.639 --> 00:44:11.119 And I remember driving, it's 32 miles, was from where I went to school, out to this little community called Kaufman. 00:44:11.199 --> 00:44:16.639 And about seven or eight miles before you got there is Crandall, a dinky town back then, and had a Dairy Queen. 00:44:16.800 --> 00:44:19.360 And I pulled off and went into the Dairy Queen. 00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:23.280 I can't remember what I ordered, and sat in one of those very hard booths. 00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:26.880 And I just felt like I was at one of those moments in my life. 00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:31.679 And I took a napkin out, which is my habit when I'm going to really write something important. 00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:35.440 And I wrote, I want to be a man of God. 00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:39.920 I want to be a great husband. 00:44:40.559 --> 00:44:43.199 I want to be a great father. 00:44:44.159 --> 00:44:46.719 I want to be a great pastor. 00:44:47.440 --> 00:44:49.679 I want to be a great friend. 00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:50.880 And I don't know why. 00:44:50.960 --> 00:44:53.599 Maybe it was my background and some negative experiences. 00:44:53.840 --> 00:44:57.119 I want to stay in shape all the days of my life. 00:44:57.440 --> 00:44:58.559 Go figure. 00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:01.679 And then I got my calendar out. 00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:12.559 And I blocked off mornings and family times and a date with my wife and meeting with my kids and more protracted time for sermons. 00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:21.360 Because I had enough ability once I did all my study to do a pretty good sermon with all the other demands without that last 10 or 15%. 00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:31.119 And I put it all on my schedule and then I had a crisis because I looked at my schedule and it's like 65 or 70% full, and I haven't done my to-do list. 00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:36.559 I said, Lord, this is not going to work because I can't get my to-do list done when only some of these are in there now. 00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:38.639 And this is really scheduled. 00:45:39.199 --> 00:45:43.760 And I heard the Holy Spirit say, so are you getting your to-do list done now? 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:44.320 No. 00:45:44.880 --> 00:45:48.320 Okay, well, here's the issue, Chip. 00:45:49.519 --> 00:45:56.480 Who you become will be 100x more important than anything you ever accomplish. 00:45:56.719 --> 00:46:04.480 And as Dallas Willard said, who you become is the greatest gift that you will ever give to others into our world. 00:46:04.880 --> 00:46:07.280 And so I went on that journey. 00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:10.880 I did it very imperfectly, but I blocked off those times. 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:18.880 I put it in my calendar, found two or three guys that I could work out with two or three times that I could be very open with, shared it with them. 00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:20.880 And here's what happened. 00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:24.960 I said, Will you show me how I can get some time? 00:46:25.199 --> 00:46:28.480 And we're all a product some way of our family of origin. 00:46:28.800 --> 00:46:42.880 And so I uh I didn't know why, but my parents would watch the 11 o'clock news, and then this will date most all of you, and then they watch Johnny Carson, or you can think Letterman or Jimmy Fallon, whatever. 00:46:42.960 --> 00:46:44.960 But that's what you just did when you were an adult. 00:46:45.119 --> 00:46:51.039 You watch 11 o'clock news, so you know all the different things, so you're up on life, and then you watch the monologue, then you go to bed. 00:46:51.440 --> 00:46:58.639 And for some reason with our kids, we decided we're not gonna experiment for two weeks, you know, we're not gonna watch TV during school nights. 00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:02.400 And um I thought, gosh, if they're doing it, I probably should do it. 00:47:02.480 --> 00:47:11.679 So, you know, the you know, the kids play games, they start playing the guitar, we lifted weights, and and so I mean, they're little kids, so they're they're in bed like 8, 8:30. 00:47:11.840 --> 00:47:12.960 It's like nine o'clock. 00:47:13.039 --> 00:47:13.679 I'm going. 00:47:15.440 --> 00:47:17.280 I can't watch the news. 00:47:18.239 --> 00:47:19.760 Can't watch Letterman. 00:47:21.039 --> 00:47:25.360 It's 9.15, and it's like, man, I am bored. 00:47:27.039 --> 00:47:28.239 I think I'll go to bed. 00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:33.119 I woke up at 5 with more sleep, more energy than I ever had in my life. 00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:35.199 Stop watching the news. 00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:40.239 I realized it's just different names and different tragedies that they give me every week. 00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:46.800 And I found out I could go to the you know, the newsstand and read the top line, and I knew what happened in the world. 00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:51.119 And if I needed to know more, I could read an article or ask someone, or in our day, go online. 00:47:52.159 --> 00:47:55.280 Pretty soon I just said, Lord, I'm not doing that. 00:47:55.599 --> 00:47:56.800 I changed one thing in my life. 00:47:56.880 --> 00:47:59.199 I got an hour and a half, almost two hours back. 00:48:00.239 --> 00:48:05.519 And all I can tell you was I didn't see any big, rapid, amazing change. 00:48:05.840 --> 00:48:13.360 But three years in, the guy that met with his wife and the guy that was the pastor was different than the guy three years earlier. 00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:15.840 Ten years later, the capacity grew. 00:48:16.079 --> 00:48:18.239 Twenty years later, the capacity grew. 00:48:18.480 --> 00:48:20.559 Thirty years later, the capacity grew. 00:48:20.719 --> 00:48:30.079 And I remember thinking, I had all these demands in my life, and if if all the demands were a big pile of dirt, it was a little wheelbarrow, wheelbarrow. 00:48:30.239 --> 00:48:33.679 And then after two or three years, it was, oh, the wheelbarrow's bigger. 00:48:33.920 --> 00:48:36.239 And after 10 years, it was a pickup truck. 00:48:36.480 --> 00:48:40.559 And after 20 years, it was this, you know, this U-Haul thing filled. 00:48:40.800 --> 00:48:53.199 And the person who showed up to prepare for a message had been in God's word for 20 years and had a relationship with friends very imperfectly and with very ups and downs and struggles. 00:48:54.320 --> 00:48:56.880 God wants you to be a disciple. 00:48:57.760 --> 00:49:13.280 You need a Paul, you need a Timothy, and you need a Barnabas or Barnabette that you can say, I'm not sure why God brought me to church this weekend, but I think I need to do what that guy was talking about, and I can't do it alone. 00:49:13.519 --> 00:49:15.360 I need someone to help me. 00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:19.599 I need someone that I need to get off my rear end and help someone else. 00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:24.880 And then I gotta have someone that'll go through life with me because it's hard. 00:49:25.280 --> 00:49:32.159 If no one has ever done that for you, um, we did a little experiment and there's a QR code, I Will DoIT With You. 00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:39.119 And um I'll walk you through how God taught me to study the Bible and how to pray and how to process life. 00:49:39.199 --> 00:49:43.599 And I'll never talk more than 10 minutes on those little things, and I'll ask you to give me 10 minutes. 00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:51.199 And we did that during COVID, and we had just tens of thousands of people who developed the habit of meeting with God. 00:49:51.679 --> 00:49:54.960 I said, give me, give me 20 days and 20 minutes of your time. 00:49:55.280 --> 00:50:00.159 And what I will tell you is you will abide and follow and come. 00:50:00.639 --> 00:50:02.320 And God works. 00:50:03.199 --> 00:50:04.239 Here's my question. 00:50:06.880 --> 00:50:08.639 You don't need to do any or all this. 00:50:10.480 --> 00:50:16.800 As I've been talking and the Spirit of God in this room has been moving, what is the one thing that keeps coming to your mind? 00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:18.159 What's the baby step? 00:50:18.480 --> 00:50:20.960 What's what one thing do you say? 00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:23.199 That's what I need to do. 00:50:24.159 --> 00:50:25.760 Because here's the good news. 00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:29.119 If you respond to the light that God gives you, guess what? 00:50:29.599 --> 00:50:30.320 More's coming. 00:50:30.559 --> 00:50:32.639 Respond to that, more's coming. 00:50:33.519 --> 00:50:36.159 And little by little, over time, he's gonna change you. 00:50:36.400 --> 00:50:37.519 He's gonna change me. 00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:40.000 And and he this isn't a pipe dream. 00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:48.800 He can and will introduce and awaken the next generation to the reality of Jesus. 00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:51.119 And isn't that what we all signed up for why we came here? 00:50:51.920 --> 00:50:53.039 Would you bow your head? 00:50:55.599 --> 00:51:02.639 Would you ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what is that one thing that He wants you to do? 00:51:04.239 --> 00:51:06.559 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:51:06.719 --> 00:51:11.119 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:13.360 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:19.519 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.