WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.080 Before I start, why don't we pray real quick? 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:03.520 If you'll bow your heads. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:12.480 Heavenly Father, I'm so thankful for this church, thankful for the worship Sam coordinates every week, just love it and honors you. 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:22.239 I pray that this would be a time of rest and peace amidst a busy season of life, that we could just come and hear more about you, the speaker most of all. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.920 I pray that you would speak through me. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:25.039 That is my only hope. 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:26.559 In Jesus' name I pray. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:27.519 Amen. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:32.719 So as Bo said, this is my last day as an elder. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:38.240 We're kind of hanging on to that last 13 hours, and then January 1st we'll be done. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:40.960 But I have been an elder for five years. 00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:43.200 This church started about five years ago. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:59.759 And a few families in Marietta, Mandy and I and Brad and Megan Respus felt like God was calling us to help start a church that preached every week that you are more flawed than you know, but you are more loved than you could ever dare to dream by Jesus. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.879 And we didn't hear, we knew that we needed that message every week. 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:09.599 And we had not found a church in Marietta that preached that every week. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:21.280 And for five years, it's really been a joy in my life to serve as an elder and just to come here and hear that message that Russ preaches every week because I need it every week. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:24.799 I will go beyond that into earning my way in. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:33.760 And if you had told me six or seven years ago that this all would have happened, I would have said, you have the wrong Brian Robinson. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:35.760 That's not something I'm interested in. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:45.920 That's not something I would choose to do, which means to me even more so that it's God and it's Jesus working through people, uh flawed people like myself. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:55.439 So I'm going to focus on the verses today, I'm the vine, and you are the branches, verse five, which says, I'm the vine, and you are the branches. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:59.680 Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:03.439 For apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.840 So what does Jesus mean when he says, Apart from me, you can do nothing? 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:11.520 What does that really mean? 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:16.319 Because I've seen things in the world that people are doing that don't appear to be nothing. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:18.960 They appear to be something, constructive. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.479 Um, but Jesus is saying those things apart from him are nothing. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:30.080 Um I heard a sermon series entitled Jesus plus nothing equals everything. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:32.960 And that was kind of my first taste of this. 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:38.240 Um in 2011, when I heard those words, I thought that I believed that. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:45.280 Um, but it turns out it sounded good to me, but functionally, that's not really how I was living. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:53.919 I was living much more Jesus plus Brian Robinson and my gifts equal success, not Jesus plus nothing. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.439 Um I think that's because I'm a goal-driven person. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:01.439 I'm a firstborn, I'm the elder brother in many ways. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:05.599 Um, and I like control and I like to earn things. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:12.080 Um, but thankfully, God um eventually shows us that we are not in control. 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.919 And this often happens through difficult times in our lives. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Uh, and I'm no different from that. 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:28.240 Um, leading up to that, there's I had this um period of time in my life um where I experienced some brokenness, and we each have a unique story in our lives. 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:37.280 And mine was that um in the past, like growing up, I grew in a loving home, um, went to a good high school. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:49.919 Um again, I'm pretty goal-driven, so I wanted to go to this school, and I got into that college, and I was dating this beautiful girl who's now my wife, and she married me, and I wanted to go to graduate school. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:57.759 So all of this was kind of this upward trajectory in my life, and it felt like I was in control of that. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:08.560 Um, but as most of you that are old enough to know, eventually you hit a period in your life where you realize you're not in control. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:22.319 And for me, that happened a few years ago, like I said, in 2011, through some difficult circumstances, and I was literally kind of at the end of my rope, where I was literally on my knees and my hands were up. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.160 And I was saying, Jesus, help me, because I don't know what to do. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:30.720 I I'm out of, I'm out of options, which is why I was saying I don't know what to do. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:32.720 I tried all the options that I knew. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.079 And that's very fertile ground for Jesus to work. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:40.000 Um, and I need to make it clear that he brought me to that point. 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.519 It wasn't anything that I had done, he brought me there. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:51.199 And maybe you're there right now, um, and you can't imagine a way out of your situation that you're in. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:54.079 And if you are, I know a few things. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.079 I know that you're not alone. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:58.319 I know that he loves you. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:01.360 Um, and his heart breaks for you. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:05.120 And I know that um because he says that in scripture. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:15.839 Isaiah 53 3 says about Jesus, he was despised and rejected by man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:23.680 And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:32.319 Psalm 147 3 says, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:35.600 So he knows, and you're not alone. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:59.839 Um another quote that's in your bulletin, the uh the theologian and um church elder Davis Lee says, ultimately, I love this quote, ultimately, underneath everything that I do, I'm seeking to return to the garden, to be with him, whether I recognize it or not. 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:01.279 Think about it. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:16.000 My efforts to be secure, loved, happy, complete, successful, admired, respected, fulfilled are all based on my ultimate inborn desire to be with Jesus. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:24.000 What I do apart from him has only the illusion of success leading me away from the garden, away from him. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.759 That is my rebellion, my failure. 00:06:28.079 --> 00:06:32.720 Apart from him, I can do nothing, nothing that is meaningful. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:33.920 Quoting Mr. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.759 Brad Respus, Jesus is the answer. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:45.360 The fact that I can cling to that in spite of my flaws makes me eternally grateful. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:52.160 So, how do we get to a place where abiding in Jesus can free us? 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:58.240 I think first we have to understand that who Jesus is and how he feels about us. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:09.439 I saw a movie recently and it dealt with shame, and this woman was saying, I knew that God was a loving God, but I also knew that he was going to judge me. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:13.120 And that always scared me, and I kind of had a fence up there. 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:19.120 And I think that's true for a lot of us, depending on our background or what we were taught growing up. 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:26.079 Um, but I think we have to look to Scripture to see what God says about us through his son Jesus. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.959 Um, we have to know his face is a loving face. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:51.839 Paul says in Romans 8, 38 and 39, for I'm sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:08:00.879 So only because I know of his great love for me, can I view his being in control as relief. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:13.519 And when I fully understand my capacity to sin, and I fully understand that he knows all that about me and he still loves me, I can begin to trust and surrender and open my hands. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:17.519 But I think it has to start with his love for us. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:22.720 Romans 2.4 says, God's kindness leads to repentance. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:27.600 It doesn't say God's law or God's instruction leads to repentance. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:31.839 It says his kindness leads us to turn, leads us to change. 00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:35.759 So back to apart from me, you can do nothing. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.080 I don't desire to do nothing with my life. 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:39.919 I desire to do something. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:42.720 So what does this look like on a practical level? 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:49.200 On Wednesday afternoon, when you're at work or at home taking care of the kids or going to school, what does this actually look like? 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:56.159 Part of our struggle in the day-to-day is that we forget who we are in Christ or we resist that. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.240 We just choose to be selfish. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:03.519 And I think the key is to remember what is true of us in Christ. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.480 Colossians 3 points us this way. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:14.559 Paul says in Colossians 3, 2 and 3, set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:18.879 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:28.480 So why do we do what we know is not good for us that's going to make us feel bad? 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:30.559 I'm going to tell a little story. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:36.799 This Halloween, the story involves this young man sitting in the red checkered shirt up front here, James, my son. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.600 He's seven years old, have three other kids. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.480 So this Halloween, we went trick-or-treating. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:45.759 Mamie and I got to take James and Allie, our first and second graders. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.360 And Sydney and Meg stayed home. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:48.480 They're 14 and 15. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:50.559 They manned the Ford at home. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:58.000 Although when we got home after trick-or-treating, we noticed they were playing loud music, and Meg was dressed up as a giant T-Rex. 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:01.600 And it was a very popular house to come to because of that. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:11.120 But anyway, so Manny and I were taking James and Allie trick-or-treating, and I noticed in between houses that James is chewing. 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:13.919 And I don't remember giving him any gum. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:19.039 And his pace after we had been to five or six houses was increasing. 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:20.799 He was speeding up a little bit. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:31.279 And so we got home, and Allie and James had their little orange jack-o'-lanterns, and they dumped their candy out, and Allie dumps her candy out, and she's got probably 60 pieces of candy in there. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.320 We have a pretty good treat uh street to trick-or-treat on. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:44.159 And then James dumps out his jack-o'-lantern, and he's got about 30 wrapped pieces of candy, and about 30 wrappers. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:54.960 So you can imagine in about five minutes there was a lot of moaning coming from the bathroom. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.480 Fortunately, my wife is sympathetic and was with him in the bathroom. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:01.200 I was outside laughing a lot. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:12.879 So the next day, I went to work the next day, and I came home, and being the instructive father that I am, I sat down with James and I said, No, James, let's talk about this. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:14.480 What happened yesterday? 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:16.559 What happened when you were trick-or-treating? 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:17.759 Why did you eat that candy? 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:23.200 And he looked at me and he said, Well, I knew that you and mom were only going to let me eat like three or four pieces. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:28.960 So, you know, I had at it while I could, and I was like, Well, you know, I'm proud of you for telling me the truth. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.200 That was good that you told me the truth. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:36.159 So, still in instructive father mode, because I don't feel like my point was quite yet made. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:40.240 Um I said, So how do you feel about that decision, James? 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:54.879 And he looked at me uh and he said, Well, I knew I was gonna be full, and then he kind of paused and smiled with a twinkle in his eye, and he said, But I knew it was gonna taste good. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:01.600 And that's funny because we do the same thing. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:12.240 Uh in fact, that morning at work, I had two brownies in the break room, and I knew that it was gonna make me full, but I knew that it was gonna taste good in the moment. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:16.720 And maybe your thing that makes you full is food. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:24.000 Or maybe it's alcohol, or maybe it's tobacco, or maybe it's porn, or maybe it's gossip. 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:29.759 But when our worth and our values are found in these things, they make us sick. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:35.360 They make us feel full or uh just not good. 00:12:35.759 --> 00:12:47.440 Uh, an example of this, like with gossip, um, we have this bit of information that we know and we want to share it with someone else because it makes us feel a little better to have this knowledge. 00:12:47.600 --> 00:13:00.960 I know this because I do it, uh, to have this knowledge to tear someone else down, and they're not all that, and all of that, when after we get this little hit of dopamine or adrenaline, and it makes us feel good in the moment. 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:06.399 But long term, after we do it, it makes us feel sick, it makes us feel full. 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:14.240 And I think in that moment, we're failing to realize what has been done for us, who lives inside of us. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:21.279 We're looking for our acceptance and our worth from another person and not from our creator. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:34.639 Um, a few quotes that are also in your bulletin that help me remember who I am in Christ, and these come from Andrew Murray's book called Abide in Christ. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.080 He was a South African pastor and author. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:50.639 Um, he says, live your daily life in the full consciousness of being righteous in God's sight, an object of delight and pleasure in Christ. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:14:02.639 And the second quote, he says, A soul filled with large thoughts of the vine will be a strong branch and will abide confidently in him. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:10.000 Be much occupied with Jesus and believe much in him, the true vine. 00:14:11.759 --> 00:14:22.240 So in conclusion, um Bo shared a little bit of this story, but the past three or four months of being an elder have been great. 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:28.720 Um we've had really good discussions, but one thing that's been new is we've been bumping into this. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:34.879 We we've some of you know this, we've been bumping into a negative cash flow, which means we're running at a deficit. 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:38.000 We're taking in less than we're spending. 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:51.440 And that in our meetings as elders has been has added some stress, um, not so much in the moment, but more for 2018 and what we're planning to do in the years ahead. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:14:56.799 And um and yeah, so those those decision making has been hard. 00:14:56.879 --> 00:15:07.759 It's been hard to see my friend Russ stress out about those things because um what's in the church's bank account means a lot more to the pastor than it does for someone that just goes to this church. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:10.159 Um, so it's been hard. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:21.200 Um and some of you also know a few weeks ago um we had an anonymous donor call and give our church a million dollars to pay off our mortgage. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:29.919 Um and when Russ told us, we're in that room right over there in that room, Russ told the elders, someone has done this. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.480 And um, there were, it was emotional. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:34.240 There were tears, we cried. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:39.200 Um I remember Bo just started spontaneously praying, which was powerful. 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:47.360 Uh and I remember David Russ quoted uh Ephesians 3.20, which says, more than we could have asked or imagined. 00:15:47.600 --> 00:16:04.480 And Bo alluded to that a little bit in his intro, but I have seen in this church over and over and over again, a church that started in a dental office reception area, um, he does more than we could have asked for or imagined. 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:32.159 Um I went back and looked and read the rest of that verse in context, and it's in your bulletin as well, Ephesians 3, 20 through 21 says, now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus and throughout all generations, forever and ever. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:33.120 Amen. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:45.759 I thought it was interesting that right after it says, To him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we asked or think, it says, according to the power at work within us. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.960 As believers in Christ, we have that power inside of us. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:57.679 Um, we don't need to look to something else to give us that worth or that fulfillment. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:03.120 And as Brad said, uh, Jesus is ultimately the answer. 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:04.640 Let's pray. 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:10.480 Um, Heavenly Father, again, I'm I'm so grateful for what you're doing in this church. 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:14.960 I pray that you would continue to make the next step clear for us. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:21.440 Um we know that um these blessings we don't deserve, that they're just gifts from you. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:26.880 And um I pray for Russ and his family that they have a restful time away. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:33.200 And I pray for our New Year's that we would continue to keep our eyes on you and off of ourselves. 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.640 In Christ's name I pray. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:35.440 Amen.