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. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:21.199 Great to be with you. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:22.800 Welcome, welcome, welcome. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:29.519 If you're new, my name's Ryan, or if we've not yet met, uh thrilled to have you here today. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:43.119 Um, twelve and a half years ago, we began awakening with this driving passion, this singular mission that we exist to awaken this generation to new life in Jesus. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.159 Now, every single church has one missional mandate from Jesus. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.880 That's to go and make disciples. 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:54.000 And yet every church uh fulfills that mission. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:56.479 And am I like staticky in there? 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:58.000 Or is it just my own ears? 00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:58.960 Just go with it. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:00.159 Just go with it? 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:00.799 Is it? 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:03.280 I'm just trying to make sure I'm not doing anything. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.640 All right, how are we doing? 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:05.120 We good? 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:05.680 Okay. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:07.840 Um where was I? 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 Oh, every church fulfills that mission uh uniquely. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:21.200 It's incredible, and that's why we need every single church, especially in the valley and everywhere else, so that every tongue, tribe, and nation is reached. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:29.920 For us at awakening, we're called uh to be a church of every single generation that reaches this generation. 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:42.560 Now to accomplish that mission requires a group of committed core people that says, I'm not just going to church, I am the church. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:47.280 I'm not here to consume, I'm here to contribute. 00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:51.120 I'm not a spectator, but I have a stakehold. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.280 I want to make this my church. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:02:04.159 When we began it uh 12 years ago, we called this group, this committed core leadership, uh, because they were having impact and influence. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:15.680 And yet it we found quickly found that it created some confusion because those that were serving in such significant, meaningful, kingdom, incredible ways were confused. 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:17.280 They're like, is that for me? 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:22.000 I don't feel like a leader, but this is my church and I'm serving. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:25.439 And so we kept getting that question: is this for me? 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:31.840 So we decided to bring clarity and we uh hopefully revamped and made things better. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.919 Instead of calling it leadership, we're calling it membership. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:37.360 Does it make sense? 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:38.719 You with me so far? 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.759 I know it's rainy, but I'm not sure if you're with me so far. 00:02:41.919 --> 00:02:42.479 Here we go. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:43.759 Membership. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:47.280 Uh, and so I am a member of Awakening. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:48.719 This is my church. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:55.680 And this past August, we launched 201 Membership, uh, where we did a sermon series. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:59.120 It was literally called 201, the profile of a disciple. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:05.039 Uh and we went through the five core characteristics of what it means to be a disciple. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:08.560 And then over that time we had a commitment night. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:13.680 And this was a time to say for those who are ready, this is my church. 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:14.800 I'm all in. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:18.240 I want to be a part of this mission and this community. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:23.759 And on that time, that night, we had 126 people who made that commitment. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:31.919 Uh, and so today, in our time together, I want to take a moment and honor those uh in our service who said, I'm all in. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:39.759 These are people who give sacrificially, serve with passion and dedication, and set the atmosphere for our church. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:44.479 And so, if you made that commitment, would you please stand up so we can honor you? 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:45.520 Yes, go ahead. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:46.400 Stand on up. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:50.319 I know you're like, I don't really want to stand up, but please stand up, go for it more. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:52.319 Stay standing, stay standing, stay standing. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:53.919 Yes, you can thank them. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.319 Stay standing, stay standing. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.319 This will this won't be long. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:00.960 It's okay. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:02.879 You'll you'll survive it. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:05.680 You make awakening possible. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:13.280 From kids, youth, college, young adults, cafe, connection, alpha, worship, del Mar, service, food pantry, baptism. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:16.160 Everything we do is built on your faithful yes. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.199 Because of you, heaven is expanding. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.000 Because of you, lives are transformed. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:26.720 Because of you, families are being restored, and a generation is reached. 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:30.480 Awakening would not be what it is today without you. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.079 And so thank you. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:36.560 And everyone else, can we take a moment to thank them as well? 00:04:38.079 --> 00:04:40.079 Now you may be seated. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:44.079 This is just the beginning for us, friends. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:50.240 If we want to see this mission turn into a movement of God in Silicon Valley, it takes every single one of us. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:53.120 We must move from consumers to contributors. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:57.279 We must step out of our comfort zone in order to step into our calling. 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:03.120 This next week, next Sunday, we're launching our first membership class, Awakening 201. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:07.279 Awakening 101 that's happening after the service is your first step. 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:13.759 We want to help you get connected, help discover is this uh place I want to lean in and grow. 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:21.279 Awakening 201 is your next step to going deeper, growing, and discerning, is this my church? 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:26.959 Uh my prayer is that that 126 will double over the next six months. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:31.040 And so there's many of you already in this room that says, I'm in. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:34.319 You've been coming, you've decided awakening's our home church. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:36.240 Then would you make it official? 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.000 Would you sign up for 201? 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:42.480 It's a three-week class, uh, and it's happening during the 11:15 p.m. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:42.879 a.m. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:44.959 service, not PM service, that would be late. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.720 Uh and here's the deal. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:52.319 If you have to choose between 201 or a service, I want to encourage you to go to 201. 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:55.600 Uh we we upload all of our content. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.279 Wherever you download content, you can get our sermons. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:04.079 We do not uh stream our 201, and I'd rather have you there. 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:15.839 And here's the reason why the church God is calling us to be, the lighthouse for those lost at sea, the safe haven for the weary, the wandering, the hope that pierces through the darkness. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:17.680 It requires all of us. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:25.199 And so let's lean in, let's commit, let's take our place, because this generation is waiting. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:26.160 Amen. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:27.360 Amen. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:29.439 You can clap for that. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:30.480 That would be wonderful. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:31.360 Thank you for that. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:32.720 Hey, let's pray. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:33.680 Okay, all right. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:34.240 I don't know. 00:06:39.759 --> 00:06:41.680 We're confused on what we're gonna do today. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:42.879 There we go. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:48.079 Jesus, thanks for this time, thanks for this group, thanks for gathering us. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:57.439 Thank you for those who have led the way, who have prepared this space for us to encounter you. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:06.240 I thank you for those serving in our kids' ministry right now who are uh loving on kids to help them come to know you. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:18.800 I thank you for those serving with our um junior hires at youth camp right now that are sacrificing their time so that uh teenagers might have a life-changing encounter with you. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:24.399 And so, Jesus, we just invite you here to speak to us, to meet with us. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:29.279 That we would hear from your word and be changed by you. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:35.680 And that we would be your hands and feet of hope to a hurting world. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:37.040 In Jesus' name. 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:38.000 Amen. 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:43.680 We're in a series called Foundations, a beginner's guide to the universe. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.920 We've been wrestling really with this question: what are you building your life on? 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:51.120 We're all building our life on something. 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:57.439 Often we don't take time or inventory to really realize what we're building our lives on. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:01.439 Some of it's our career or success or financial security. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:06.079 Some of us are chasing adventure or your family or self-actualization. 00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:11.439 Others, well, you're running on nothing but cold proof and raw ambition right now. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:13.920 This is the valley, isn't it? 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:16.000 But what if? 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.360 What if there's actually a design? 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:26.560 What if the universe isn't random and life isn't a game you hack to get ahead? 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:33.360 The opening chapter of Genesis 1 isn't about how, just how the world began. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:35.840 It's about why it all matters. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:43.759 The origin story is also the foundation story, a guide to how reality works and what it means to be human. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:48.080 We started five weeks ago where he said, in the beginning, God. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:53.679 What a beautiful reality that the story of the universe begins with God. 00:08:53.919 --> 00:09:02.080 He is at the center of it all, and that God created, which means that you are not a cosmic accident. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.360 You have purpose and intention and design. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.399 Your life matters. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.600 And then we asked, week two, what is God up to in the world and in my life? 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:19.279 And God has always been up to the same thing, it's bringing beauty from chaos. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:23.600 He's a God that brings order to the confusion. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:35.919 And then we looked at, well, we have this inclination of good, and we see this around in the midst of such a hurting, broken world, and we asked, where did oh boy, good come from? 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.759 And the incredible reality that God is good. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.399 And all that he created is good. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.639 He is both the author of good and the definer of it. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.240 And so life works best. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:53.120 We said this, life works best according to his design. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:59.279 When we operate our life and we step in, you want to experience the good life. 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:03.039 We're all chasing, that's our foundation, right? 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:04.240 The good life. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:11.120 It begins and is founded in God Himself, for He alone is good. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.159 He's the one our hearts long for. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:19.600 Last week, Carolyn Takeda talked about what does it mean to be human? 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:22.240 You see that? 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:23.120 There you go. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:25.440 Oh, got one on this other side too. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:31.039 You know, originally I was gonna do a building block with all these, and that's just too heavy. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:31.840 So I chose one. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:35.120 I was like, I can only do one brick this whole time. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:35.919 There we go. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.639 But what does it mean to be human? 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:45.279 We live in a cultural moment that's wildly confused about what it means to be human. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:50.960 In the age of AI and anxiety, the question isn't just who I am, but what am I? 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:54.559 Are we just biological machines? 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:57.759 Highly evolved primates? 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:02.159 Consciousness temporarily trapped in skin and bone? 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:08.240 You know what's interesting about humans is humans are curiously unfinished at birth. 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:14.399 We're the only species that actually questions our own existence. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:22.799 We know more about the human body than ever before, yet we seem more confused about what it means to be human than ever before. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:26.000 And so we want to double-click on this conversation. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.080 What does it mean to be human? 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.799 And ask another question in that. 00:11:31.360 --> 00:11:35.440 What do our bodies tell us about God? 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:42.480 What if the way we're made tells us something about the one who made us? 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:46.799 Genesis 1, I love Caroline used this language, this imagery. 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:54.639 Genesis 1 takes us back to the source code, the blueprint for what it means to be human, to be an embodied image bearer. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:58.480 And so if you got your Bibles, would you open up to Genesis 1 verse 26? 00:11:58.639 --> 00:11:59.919 And if you don't, no problem. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.519 We have it right there in your notes. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.159 You can open up your notes and follow along. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:22.960 Genesis 1 verse 26 says, Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the lyssec and all the wild animals, and over all creatures that move along the ground. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:32.720 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them, and God blessed them. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:34.240 Say that word blessed with me. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:35.120 Blessed. 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:36.399 Say it one more time. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:37.039 Blessed. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:39.600 We're gonna end with there, we're gonna close our sermon there. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:51.600 God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, and over every living creature that moves on the ground. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:12:53.600 What does it mean to be human? 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:56.720 What do our bodies tell us about God? 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:05.200 Fundamentally, what we see here, this is the big idea of the sermon, is our bodies are a part of God's good design. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:12.159 Your body, my body, all our bodies are a part of God's good design. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:21.200 You know, the Greeks, when they thought about the body, they thought about the human body, the physical body, as fundamentally flawed, as evil, as bad. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:36.960 The spirit was good and the body was evil, and as a result, uh you can do whatever you want with your body because it doesn't matter, it is the corruptible part of you, whereas your spirit is the divine perfectible part of you. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:43.600 Gnostic thought uh viewed the body actually as a prison for the divine spark within. 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:54.240 And so the goal is to escape your body, somehow to be free of these limitations that we're bound by. 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:58.000 Today we tend to see the body as a problem to solve, don't we? 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:05.679 Software to update or hardware to hack, as if humanity is something to optimize instead of embrace. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:13.759 The biblical narrative begins with our physical bodies are actually a part of God's good design. 00:14:13.919 --> 00:14:14.720 What does this mean? 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:24.480 First, your body has divine dignity, your body has divine dignity. 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:30.480 He said, Let us make mankind in our image, likeness. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.240 This is actually one of the most radical statements in the ancient world. 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:45.200 Uh Genesis begins when he's talking about humanity and the beginning with um royal language. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:52.559 In the ancient world, uh, only kings were talked about having the very image of God. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:55.919 And here we see this incredible reality. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:05.440 All of humanity, every single person has royalty of God imprinted on them. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:06.799 Would you do this for me? 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:10.320 Would you just turn to your neighbor and look at them and say, You're royal? 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.799 You're royal. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.440 Now, not a royal pain in the butt. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.440 That's not what we're talking about here. 00:15:19.679 --> 00:15:20.799 You're royal. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:22.159 Did you say that? 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:23.279 You said that. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:24.399 I can't believe that. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:26.320 It was supposed to be an encouragement. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:27.840 No, right? 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:30.080 You're royal. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:35.360 Your body has divine dignity. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:42.320 No matter your race, gender, wealth, ability, or background, you bear the divine image. 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.600 Every single person on the planet has divine dignity. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:16:07.679 The newborn baby in the NICU, the elderly woman with dementia, the young CEO, the refugee fleeing from war, the Palestinian, the Israeli, the Ukrainian, the Russian, the black, the brown, white, all endowed with divine dignity. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.799 And so your worth isn't something you produce. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.720 Your value isn't in what you contribute. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:19.440 Your identity isn't something you invent. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:26.639 It's something you receive because you bear the royal image of God. 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:37.279 In our culture, we're actually consumed, not that my body has divine dignity, but with this idol of optimization. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:43.039 The idol of optimization goes something like this: my body is actually a project to be perfected. 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:46.720 Shows up in a few different ways. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.559 Biohacking, transhumanism, and then I want to get to social media. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:52.320 Let's talk about biohacking. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.679 My body is a system that needs to be optimized. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:04.799 Supplements, workout routines, blood transfusions, somehow to perfect longevity, to live forever. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:12.480 Over Christmas, we're kind of as a family watching, trying to find something to watch you do that. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.279 You're like hanging out, trying to like, what are we gonna watch? 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:20.240 And then we came across this documentary on Netflix called Don't Die. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:24.160 And we were like, okay, let's watch it. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:25.759 It's weird, by the way. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:28.240 I'm just probably not a family flick. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.799 I'd encourage you to watch it though. 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:31.680 It's strange. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.480 Don't Die. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:39.119 The subtitle is The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, following uh uh tech billionaire Brian Johnson. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:43.440 He's so focused, if you watch this, he's so focused on living longer. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:46.640 It seems like he's not really living at all. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.400 Yet we're focused on this optimization, biohacking. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.160 How do I optimize myself for the longest possible run I can have? 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.319 To stave off death. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.720 Transhumanism says my body is an outdated hardware that needs to be upgraded. 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:07.680 The body needs to be transcended and merged with technology to achieve immortality. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.880 Human bodies fundamentally are flawed, limited, and temporary. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.279 This is very much a Gnostic worldview. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:21.920 And so the goal perhaps is to upload your consciousness so that you can achieve digital immortality, or we can bring the dead back to life digitally. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.119 Neural implants merging the mind with machine. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.960 You know, Elon Musk has been in the news a lot lately, hasn't he? 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.920 But he hasn't been in the news so much for this. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:34.559 He runs a company called Neuralink. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:41.519 Neuralink is uh working to link the brain with uh computer chips. 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:53.359 And they're in their human trials right now of how do you basically uh you know optimize the human uh with technology. 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:59.279 Genetic engineering, now we can uh the future holds that you could potentially have a designer baby. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.039 You pick the eye color, hair color, height, smartness, all those sort of things. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:08.240 Eliminate through genetic uh editing, uh the age desk so that we can live forever. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:09.119 Did you know this? 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:11.839 This is something I found out this week, by the way. 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.680 I had no idea this is a thing. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:20.000 Head transplants, they're doing it with animals, but they're trying to figure out how to do it with humans. 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:24.240 So let's just say your body is kind of decaying, going to bad, but your head's pretty good. 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.200 They're like, let's just put your head on a different body. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.559 Whew! That one was weird. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:32.960 They all are actually. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:38.720 And some of these feel so far out from us, like they don't have any personal impact. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.200 This is Silicon Valley, this is the world we live in. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:49.039 And yet, when we talk about social media, when we think about our body, it's a we fundamentally look at my body as a brand to curate, don't we? 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.279 Comparison culture fuels insecurity and self-obsession. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:20:01.279 Self-worth shifts from being God's image bearer to being image perfect. 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:10.960 Your body has divine dignity, and the gospel declares that your body is actually the very temple of God. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:20.160 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you receive from God? 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:22.799 You're not your own, you are bought at a price. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.200 Therefore, honor God with your what? 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.079 Oh, come on, people. 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:29.279 Help me out today. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:30.880 Honor God with your what? 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.680 Isn't that interesting? 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:40.160 Sometimes we so spiritualize Christianity we miss out the physicalness of it. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:47.119 He didn't say honor God with your mind, which that Jesus does say love God with your mind. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:49.680 There's a place for that. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:59.920 He says, honor God with your bodies, because your physical body matters and is part of his good design. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:04.400 In the Old Testament, if you wanted to meet with God, you went to the temple. 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:08.720 It was a sacred space set apart, holy, where heaven and earth touched. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:17.200 The temple wasn't worshipped, but it was honored, carefully maintained because of who dwells in it. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:24.799 Now you are the temple, the Spirit of God, the very presence of God as a follower of Jesus resides in you. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:33.920 Your body isn't just a project to be uh to perfect or a product to market, it's a sacred space where heaven and earth meet. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.279 Your body has divine dignity. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:44.480 And here we find also your sexuality is sacred. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:46.799 Your sexuality is sacred. 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:49.119 So God created mankind in his own image. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.960 In the image of God, he created them. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.920 Both male and female, he created them. 00:21:54.160 --> 00:21:59.119 Your sexuality, your maleness, and your femaleness is a part of the Imago Day. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:02.079 Together, male and female reflect God. 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:07.920 Sex and sexuality are good and ordained by God as a part of creation. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:19.920 Touching on what Carolyn talked last week, male and female begins with this breathtaking equality. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:26.240 Imago Dei royal. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:31.839 And yet, in this equality, there's a difference by design. 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:39.359 Together, by the way, together we make up the Imago Dei. 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.440 Yes, we are individuals, and yet there is this community. 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:50.400 Let us make humanity in our image, and the image of God, He created them, male and female. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:58.400 It's together as a community that we reflect most accurately the Imago Dei of God. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:03.039 In our culture, sexuality has become a kind of religion, hasn't it? 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:11.599 Rather than God inventing sex and gender and sexuality, sexuality has become an idol. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.559 I call it the idol of sexual autonomy. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:22.319 Here's what we have in the streams of our world, the creed today, sexually, is this way. 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:25.200 My body, my rules. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.480 My body, my rules. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:36.960 In identity dysphoric society, we've attached ultimate value, meaning, and personhood to our sexuality and gender. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:48.480 What's interesting, the biblical narrative begins that sex is actually good and created within God's design. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:49.759 God invented it. 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:52.240 We're sexual before we're sinful. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.839 That we're actually sexual and spiritual at the same time. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.000 You can't bifurcate those. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:02.720 But that you're actually more than your sexuality. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:08.960 The gospel says your sexuality and gender are important, but it's not the most important thing about you. 00:24:09.759 --> 00:24:12.480 Your Imago Day is. 00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:28.400 The mantra today, what we believe, is you are a sexual being with cravings, appetites, and desires. 00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:35.359 You have the right to fulfill the appetite or with whomever you wish, however you wish, wherever you wish. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:37.440 As long as it's consensual. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:42.079 You're sexual being, and to restrict yourself in any way. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.839 That is the greatest evil. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:47.680 It's just an appetite. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:49.920 Fulfill it however you wish. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:56.799 What's wild is food, which we actually will die without, where sex we won't, by the way. 00:24:56.960 --> 00:24:58.480 Just thought I'd let you know that one. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.559 If you don't have sex, you don't die, but if you don't eat, you die. 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:07.119 Anyways, kind of challenge our whole appetite thing there. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:18.079 But none of us would say we can eat whatever we want whenever we want, and we're gonna not experience any negative reality, right? 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:20.079 Okay, just full transparency. 00:25:20.160 --> 00:25:25.680 Yesterday, um I'm working on eating a little bit healthier. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:26.319 I am. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:35.680 I'm not a good um, I don't do well with um vegetables. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.240 And so I was like, I'm I'm gonna supplement those. 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:39.200 It's fantastic. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:44.160 Uh and yet last night, after playing basketball with my boys, I was wiped out. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.759 I was so hungry. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:53.680 And then one of my sons, he's got so much candy, and he doesn't ever eat it. 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:56.960 I have a major sweet tooth. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.720 Major sweet tooth. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:26:10.160 And so we're hanging out, and I was like, hey, uh, you don't happen to have any uh Reese's Pieces, you know, peanut butter cups, do you? 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:13.759 Knowing full well he did, I saw them as he walked in. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:20.480 Like, any any chance you could give me your dear old dad a little bit of that? 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:22.079 He's like, yeah, whatever. 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:27.359 And he gives me this tin uh that he had, and it had like a bunch of the little guys. 00:26:27.519 --> 00:26:30.559 I was expecting just a little pack because I saw he had those two. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:33.200 Uh, and he it had a bunch of the little guys. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:34.160 I had one. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:35.599 I had two. 00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:43.200 Eventually I crumpled up the ones that I ate, threw them in because I was ashamed of how many I ate, and but there's still more there. 00:26:44.079 --> 00:26:47.920 I had another one, another two, another three, then I crumpled those up. 00:26:48.400 --> 00:26:50.799 I finished the whole thing. 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:54.160 And I'm proud of it. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:04.480 The reality is, as we all know, if I just live on peanut butter cups, that's not gonna help me. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:07.440 Right? 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:13.200 And yet we begin to believe I can do whatever I want with whoever I want. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:21.359 I get to define my sexuality however I want, and yet God says, no, I actually have woven it into the fabric of creation itself. 00:27:21.519 --> 00:27:26.960 The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 would say this: that your body is made for God. 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:29.680 It tells a very different story. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:32.960 I have the right to do anything you say, but not everything's beneficial. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:36.640 I have the right to eat as much chocolate as I want, but it may not be beneficial. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:40.240 I have the right to do anything, but you'll not be mastered by anything. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.920 So often we define freedom in our culture as the ability to say yes or yeah. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:49.519 And yet, freedom often is the ability to say no. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:51.680 Right? 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:58.400 At 21, we're like, I have the freedom to drink, woo! Which that is a freedom. 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:05.359 Little young, little young. 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:13.920 And yet we know if you cannot choose not to drink, that's an addiction. 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.000 You say food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:21.200 It's just an appetite. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:28.480 The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:35.599 God's good design, and he longs for you to experience his goodness, and the best good is him. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:41.039 You are designed and hardwired and created for God. 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:46.079 In fact, I like how Christopher West writes it. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:54.400 He says, the sexual confusion so prevalent in our world and in our own hearts is simply the human desire for heaven gone berserk. 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:57.680 It's a longing for heaven. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:05.359 The world sees sexuality as personal preference, but God sees it as a purposeful design. 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:10.640 It's not a playground for self-discovery, it's a sacred gift of God. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:21.279 Your body, your body is part of God's good design, has divine dignity, your sexuality is sacred. 00:29:21.359 --> 00:29:27.599 And finally, your embodiment, your physicalness is eternal. 00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:33.519 Notice that it said, God bless them. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:38.640 I just want you to like chew. 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:41.920 I would love for you to chew on this thought for the rest of the week. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.359 God made humanity to bless them. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.519 God made you to bless you. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:30:06.720 And then he placed them in a garden, fully physical, to be with him. 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:13.200 And the goal was not for a time, but forever. 00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:22.720 And our hearts, by the way, are longing for a return to the garden. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:41.119 A longing for a return to be fully present, physically present, in the presence of our Heavenly Father. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:48.319 Not just any Heavenly Father, the Father who loves you and longs to bless you. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:57.680 And the greatest blessing he can ever give to you, since he is alone good, is Himself. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:09.440 And what we do is we tend to think of eternity as a disembodied state, don't we? 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:11.599 I don't know who said this. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:21.680 Where this idea, like this floating souls, harps, clouds, like when you think of heaven, isn't that the picture that's often comes to mind? 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:32.720 I don't know about you, but often when I think about heaven, or at least sometimes people explain heaven, it's not all that exciting. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:35.519 Like why? 00:31:38.160 --> 00:31:41.680 When my kids were little, the way I'd explain heaven is this way. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:49.359 Heaven is the very best of earth and way, way better. 00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:51.920 That's heaven. 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:55.200 Heaven is fundamentally earthy, by the way. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:00.160 Revelations talks about a new heaven and a new earth. 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:17.119 Heaven is actually God restoring and redeeming our planet, taking out the evil and the heartache and the pain, and Him bringing life and all that is good and flourishing. 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:31.279 Oh, that we would be a people that have a picture of heaven, so that when Jesus said that we'd bring heaven to earth, we would be those types of uh Christians in our workplaces at our schools. 00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:40.559 Instead, we just have this sense of like, well, I just want to get by and get through. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.960 In our culture today, we have the idol of self-deification. 00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:48.799 I can become God-like. 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:59.359 Yval Harari in his sequel to Sapiens Homo Duos said this: humanity's next targets are likely to be immorality, happiness, and divinity. 00:32:59.599 --> 00:33:07.519 Having reduced mortality from starvation, disease, and violence, we now aim to overcome old age and even death itself. 00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:12.480 Having saved people from abject misery, we'll now aim to make them positively happy. 00:33:12.640 --> 00:33:16.240 We don't know how to make them positively happy, but we aim to do it. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:26.000 And having raised humanity above the beastly level of survival struggles, we now aim to upgrade humans into gods and turn Homo sapiens into homodus. 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:28.720 This is not new. 00:33:29.039 --> 00:33:32.000 This was the first temptation in the garden. 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:35.039 Eat this and you'll be like God. 00:33:35.200 --> 00:33:40.160 And the reality was God had already imprinted his image on them. 00:33:40.559 --> 00:33:43.359 He's like, you're already a reflection of me. 00:33:44.319 --> 00:33:49.359 Your future, the gospel tells us, is bodily resurrection. 00:33:51.680 --> 00:33:53.039 A new body. 00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:55.839 Again, back to 1 Corinthians 6. 00:33:56.000 --> 00:34:01.440 By his power, God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.680 Technology dreams of eliminating death. 00:34:05.920 --> 00:34:07.440 Jesus already conquered it. 00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:14.000 And Jesus didn't rise from the dead just as this spiritual, ghostly figure. 00:34:14.159 --> 00:34:16.800 He rose bodily with hands that we could touch. 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:21.119 That he rose in such a way that he showed up to his disciples. 00:34:23.360 --> 00:34:26.400 And he said, See the scars in my hand. 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:30.159 Touch the wound on my side. 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.079 And they were like afraid of him. 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:34.239 And he's like, Does a ghost, can a ghost eat? 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:36.960 He sat down and ate with them. 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:45.920 The resurrection is not an escape from the body, it is the renewal of the body. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:50.800 Jesus took on flesh and never left it. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:35:16.480 The stunning scandal of the incarnation, that the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, would step into humanity, take on flesh, then suffer at the hands of his own creation, defeating death, but he has not just taken on flesh for a time, he's taken on flesh for all time. 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:28.880 He became one of us to be of first fruits, the first resurrection of what's to come for all of us. 00:35:32.000 --> 00:35:36.000 Your future is bodily resurrection. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.519 And your body will one day be raised, not just your spirit. 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:46.960 So how do you live as an embodied image bearer? 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:49.360 Let me just give you a couple of practical things. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:54.719 First, would you be present in your body? 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:01.280 Your body's not a burden, it's a gift from God. 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:07.440 So slow down, breathe, eat, sleep. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:12.159 We need to recover a theology of senses. 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:16.239 Taste, touch, smell, sight, sound. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:21.760 God wants to meet us in all of our senses. 00:36:23.840 --> 00:36:26.960 Like even just now, just take a deep breath in. 00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:36.480 As we close our service, I'm just going to give us a moment to just be attuned to what is our body telling us and then how is God wanting to meet us? 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:39.199 Be present in your body. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:46.639 What if the greatest crisis, uh, spiritual crisis that we no longer inhabit our bodies in the present moment? 00:36:47.360 --> 00:36:50.239 Our minds are constantly adrift to what's next. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:54.639 We live in the digital space. 00:36:56.000 --> 00:36:58.000 Be present in your body. 00:36:58.400 --> 00:37:00.880 And then honor God with your body. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:05.679 You are not your own. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:08.079 You were bought with a price. 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:11.519 Therefore, honor God with your body. 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:15.199 What we do with our bodies matters. 00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:19.440 Physically, sexually, relationally. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:24.880 Honor other bodies as Imago Day. 00:37:28.559 --> 00:37:35.039 And here the problem isn't that we don't know who we are so often, it's we've forgotten whose we are. 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:36.480 Or his. 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.679 And then finally commit to physical community. 00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:49.119 We try to optimize everything. 00:37:49.440 --> 00:37:51.039 Be the most efficient. 00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:57.519 Relationships are incredibly inefficient, aren't they? 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:01.840 Friendships take time. 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:08.400 Following Jesus is not a solo event. 00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:11.440 You cannot do it alone only. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:21.119 In fact, the picture that Jesus would give is of the body, or the Apostle Paul would give it. 00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:24.239 We need one another. 00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:33.599 You can download your favorite podcast, listen to whatever book, live stream, whatever. 00:38:33.760 --> 00:38:37.119 Those are fantastic, but get into community. 00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:41.840 Get with people, get into a small group. 00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:47.119 If you're wrestling or new to Jesus, join Alpha. 00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:49.519 It's kicking off on Thursday. 00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:56.159 But commit to physical community because something happens in this room that doesn't happen online. 00:38:56.639 --> 00:39:01.360 And something happens in circles that doesn't just happen in your time alone. 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:04.800 And we need one another. 00:39:07.679 --> 00:39:11.119 Living as an embodied image bearer, be present in your body. 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:12.880 Honor God with your body. 00:39:13.119 --> 00:39:14.800 Commit to physical community. 00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:17.039 So as we close, would you just do this? 00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:19.119 Close your eyes. 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:23.199 Take a deep breath in. 00:39:24.159 --> 00:39:24.639 Out. 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:29.519 Because we're both spiritual and physical. 00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:34.480 What we do with our physical body postures us spiritually. 00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:44.079 And so would you just open your hands onto your lap as a physical sign of being open to God? 00:39:46.480 --> 00:39:51.760 And I want you just to notice what's going on. 00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:55.760 What's going on inside of you? 00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:09.360 Maybe there's anxiety where your heart feels racing or anxious or don't judge that. 00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:11.440 Just simply bring it to God. 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:12.960 Be present with Him. 00:40:13.760 --> 00:40:14.800 God, I'm anxious. 00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:16.880 Would you meet me there? 00:40:18.079 --> 00:40:20.320 Maybe you're overwhelmed with life. 00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:24.639 And so as a result, your mind's been racing. 00:40:24.719 --> 00:40:32.719 There's a problem, there's a crisis, there's a hurt, there's a in your mind, you've barely been able to even focus in our time together. 00:40:36.639 --> 00:40:43.039 Instead of filling it with ots and shoulds, just simply go, God, my mind's racing. 00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:45.119 Would you meet me there? 00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:55.840 Maybe your life and week had been chaotic, and when you stepped into this place, you just feel his presence and his peace. 00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:04.719 And in experiencing his peace in this moment, would you bring that to him? 00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:05.519 Be aware. 00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:40.960 It says that you knit me together in my mother's womb. 00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:45.760 I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:57.679 As your presence and shame and other lies want to fill your mind and your heart. 00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:09.039 Come to the God who longs to bless you and to say you're fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.320 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:16.880 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:42:17.039 --> 00:42:19.199 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:25.199 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.