WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:06.160 Well, we are making our way through the book, the letter of Philippians. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:11.919 So it's Paul in prison writing a letter to his friend's church, the church at Philippi. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.919 And this letter is just woven with the idea of joy over and over again. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.120 Paul is dealing with issues in this church, and they're divided and they're having a hard time. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:23.600 And he's writing them, trying to move them towards joy. 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:26.960 So he's trying to move them towards liberation and freedom. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:33.759 And then this morning we get to Philippians chapter 3, and here we have this passage which is essentially about performancism. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:41.359 It's essentially about can you earn God's acceptance and love? 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.880 And can you as a human being earn value by what you do? 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:50.240 I ran into this quote this week in the New York Times, Aaron Callan. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.560 She was the CFO of Lehman Brothers in like 2007, 2008, right? 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.159 Good time to be CFO of a massive bank in New York City. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:00:59.600 Good timing for her. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:09.359 After she transitioned out of that job and she was without work for a little bit, she wrote this article in the New York Times, and the title is Is There Life After Work? 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:11.680 And here's what she said in this short paragraph. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.200 I didn't start out with the goal of devoting all of myself to my job. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.040 It crept in over time. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:21.280 Each year that went by, slight modifications became the new normal. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:28.480 First, I spent a half hour on Sunday organizing my email to-do list and calendar to make Monday morning easier. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:31.920 Then I was working a few hours on Sunday, then all day. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.920 My boundaries slipped away until work was all that was left. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.239 Inevitably, when I left my job, it devastated me. 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:42.400 I couldn't just rally and move on. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:48.159 I did not know how to value who I was versus what I did. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:52.319 What I did was who I was. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:56.640 Okay, so maybe you're not a CFO in New York City. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:02.239 Maybe you're a student, maybe you're in the arts, maybe you're in education, maybe you're raising kids, maybe you're in the business world. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:06.000 No matter what, you know this thought, and I know this thought. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:12.639 I do not know how to value who I am apart from what I do. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:19.120 Equally as intellectual, I was watching Talladega Nights yesterday afternoon. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:27.280 Equally insightful, Ricky Bobby is talking to a girl, and he says, You gotta win to get love. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:28.879 I mean, that's just life. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:43.199 Look at look at Don Shula, legendary coach, look at that Asian guy who holds the world record for eating all those hot dogs in a row, look at Rue McClanahan from Golden Girls, three people, all great champions, all loved. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:44.879 Right? 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:57.520 The entire silly movie, which I watched about half of it yesterday afternoon, the entire silly movie is based on him getting over the idea of if you ain't first, you're last. 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:57.919 Right? 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.879 The whole movie is about him getting over that. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:07.599 That if you don't perform, then you are not somebody. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.120 So, how do you value who you are versus what you do? 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.159 Another way to say it is where do I find my identity? 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:17.039 Who am I? 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.599 What or who justifies me as a person of worth or value or meaning? 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:23.919 Can anything in my job do this? 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:25.039 Or is it something I produce? 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:26.560 Is it how I look? 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:28.000 Is it what I weigh? 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:29.840 Is it what I wear? 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:34.240 What about your religiosity or your morality or spiritual practice? 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:34.800 Is it that? 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:36.080 Is it the collection of that? 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:37.120 Is it the record of that? 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:38.560 Is it the resume of that? 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:39.520 And when is that enough? 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:41.039 When is that enough to be righteous? 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.400 Or when is that enough to be valuable or loved? 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.919 And so we're talking about performancism, which is the mistake. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:56.159 Performances is the mistake to think you can find, I can find, love and value by your performance. 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:02.479 So achievements are not what we do, achievements are who we are. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:14.319 So it would be like I do not just pastor at Christ the Redeemer, I am the pastor of Christ the Redeemer. 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:23.839 Or even worse, not just I am the pastor of Christ the Redeemer, I am my sermons at Christ the Redeemer. 00:04:24.319 --> 00:04:30.720 Or I am the approval that gets created out of my sermons at Christ the Redeemer. 00:04:31.199 --> 00:04:34.160 How do you value who you are versus what you do? 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:39.759 And you're very smart people, so it's all different for all of us how this plays out in your life. 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:47.279 Are you loved and secured as a child of God today based on your performance in any realm, secular or religious? 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:49.680 Do you feel exhausted because of that? 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:58.079 Or are you loved and secured today as a child of God based on Christ's performance for you, not your performance? 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.279 This is what Paul is speaking to in Philippians 3. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.279 Now let's listen to verses 1 through 6 again. 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:12.319 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord to write the same thing to you, as no trouble to me, meaning, like the same thing, like Sam just read it, I have no trouble reading it to you again. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.399 Like for him to say it again and again and again is no trouble and is safe for you. 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:21.839 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:33.120 So he's saying, look out for all the people who are teaching you that behavior is the way in which you're going to get acceptance by God, righteousness by God, absolution forgiveness by God. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.800 For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.279 He's saying we're different, we live by a different way, and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:49.360 No confidence, he's saying no confidence in what we do, though I might myself, here he goes, he's gonna say, here's my resume. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:54.720 If you need a resume, here's what he says, verse 4, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:58.800 If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:10.000 Circumcised on the day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, of Hebrew, of Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under law, blameless. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:24.399 So he says there's dogs, just dogs telling you, just telling you, be better, be more, be better, be more, and then then you'll be then you'll be valued, absolved, forgiven, whole. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:32.480 And he says, ah he says it's loss, rubbish. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.319 The actual word there is excrement. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:39.439 Crap. 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.480 It's actually a stronger word than that, but I'll withhold. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:49.519 And then that word righteousness, the whole passage is about this word righteousness. 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:51.920 And this word could, it means two things at the same time. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:58.399 It means you're right standing before God, that you are righteous, you're right standing before God. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:04.639 And it also means the core of who you are, that you are as you ought to be. 00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:11.120 Now think of all the ways we go and try to figure that out in our lives. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:15.519 All the ways we go and try to manufacture that and produce that. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:20.480 How can I finally get to be how I ought to be? 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:26.160 And the dogs say, Oh, well, that's easy, just do more. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:29.360 Do more, be more, the next achievement, the next thing. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.399 And Paul says, all those gains, and he says, I got them. 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:33.839 I got those gains. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.160 Really impressive stuff. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:37.600 Excrement. 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:43.439 Verse 7 through 11, the rest of the passage, then I'll make a few points. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.519 But whatever gain I had, I counted as lost for the sake of Christ. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:48.000 There it is. 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:50.720 I counted as, I count it as excrement. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:56.560 Indeed, I count everything as lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:07:56.720 --> 00:08:03.920 For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:27.600 I count them as excrement in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.199 So he says, My life is coming by Christ's work for me. 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:32.159 So a few points. 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:36.159 Number one, we all build stages and we all build resumes. 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:38.559 So there's a story. 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:42.080 There's a story, and it's about a guy who begins to walk up a hill. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:44.480 And so he walks up the hill, he gets to the first cave. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.799 In the first cave, there's a fitness trainer. 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:50.639 In the cave, that guy's in there, he's doing like caveman crossfit exercises in there. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:51.440 He's getting big. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:56.399 And the guy goes up to the CrossFit caveman and he says, Hey, I who am I? 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:00.159 And the fitness trainer says, Well, I can't answer that. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:02.159 I have no answer for you. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:04.000 You've got to go further up the hill. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:08.799 And so he starts up the hill even further, and he keeps walking and walking, walking, gets to another cave. 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:13.919 He goes into the next cave, and then there is a career and financial consultant, the best of the best. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:15.440 He could place him in the best job. 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.879 He could help him with his financial portfolio, he could get him exactly where he wants to go. 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:21.039 And the guy asks him, he says, Who am I? 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:26.240 And the consultant says, I can't answer that for you. 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:28.399 You got to go further up the hill. 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.440 And so he starts walking again, and he keeps walking. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:36.639 He's walking up the hill and he keeps going and he goes on and on and on and he's getting more and more tired and more and more tired. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:37.679 He gets into another cave. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:45.120 He walks into the third cave, and then in there is his wife and his kids, and he looks at them and he says, Who am I? 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.519 And all of them look at him and say, We can't answer that for you. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.600 You got to keep going up. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:53.600 So he keeps walking. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:54.639 He's going up this hill. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:01.039 This hill turns into a mountains and then boulders begin, and he's climbing over, but he just has to get this question answered. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:02.000 Who am I? 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:03.919 And who will answer this question? 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:06.240 And he keeps going, but he's getting more and more tired. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:08.000 Eventually he gets to the end of himself. 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:10.799 He is exhausted by this. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.279 And finally he lays down to die. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:16.879 And just as he lays down to die, a lady approaches him. 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:20.320 A very normal-looking lady, but she's beaming with joy. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.039 And he can barely get the question out. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:24.879 And he says, Who am I? 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:29.039 And she smiles and says, Who's asking? 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:36.639 Now, before you think we all need to eat mushrooms in order to understand the story, we don't. 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:42.720 Meaning this, none of those people can answer that question. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.039 None of those people can answer that question for you. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.000 Asking the question to any of those other things never works. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:53.840 It keeps you climbing. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.039 The question can only be asked to the self. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:04.480 When you ask it to the self, then may you have eyes in the grace of God to see your neediness. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:11.440 That there's already been provision for this in Christ. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:22.879 This question that we're going and we're just climbing mountains and asking people, and I mean all of this, all of this, there's already provision in Christ. 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:28.559 And Paul says, everything else is rubbish. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:31.679 All these other things are they're idols in this way. 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:37.279 We build them up and we serve them and we spend energy before them and then and then we show them off to each other. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:44.799 We like to do that, we show them off to each other, and it's waste, it's the waste, it's energy waste, it's life waste. 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:50.320 It's asking a question to all these things that they never have an answer for. 00:11:51.919 --> 00:11:54.879 So, point number one, we we all build stages and resumes. 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:57.840 We all do this, we're all we're all doing this. 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:05.360 Point number two, the stage in the resume, so all that stuff can be both good and can be excrement. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:07.120 Right? 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:11.200 Paul listed a bunch of good stuff, but then he calls it rubbish. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:20.399 So maybe you're here, you said, ah, sounds like you're dumping on achievement and morality and goodness and like accomplishing things and nice things. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:20.799 I'm not. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:25.120 Hey, we celebrated our anniversary and Highlands on Friday. 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:26.799 We had a that was great. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:32.080 I had a great quiet time while I was there and had some good prayer time and read some. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:33.279 That was great. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:35.360 Spiritual practice, that was great. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.759 I worked in my sermon yesterday, that was work, that was great. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.399 Those are good things, right? 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:50.879 Like, see, the spiritual practices and achievement and the career and the family and the money, all that's not the problem. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:52.639 That's not the problem. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:54.720 None of that's actually the problem. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:00.000 The problem is how we think about those things and how we use them. 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.879 I mean, are you do we ask those things the question, who am I? 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:12.320 See, they can but they can be both good and excrement, depending on how we think about them. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:18.480 Do we turn them into idols, or do we just let them be what they are, which is part of life? 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:23.440 Point number three, the rescue, here's the relief in this process, right? 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.720 It's where Paul is trying to lead us. 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:36.000 The rescue is to stop asking gods, little G, the rescue is to stop asking gods who you are and begin being found in God. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.360 The rescue is stop asking gods who you are and begin being found in God. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:42.639 Verses eight and nine there. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:47.600 I counted all loss as to gain Christ and be found in Him. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.799 So I worked up just a little illustration here for us. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:55.120 I found Dora last night in the playroom. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.200 Dora, work with me. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:13:59.039 If you have boys, sorry, no G.I. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:00.960 Joe in our house, just Dora. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:03.919 So here's Dora. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:10.240 And let's find Dora's now found in the glass, right? 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:12.240 Dora's found in the glass. 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:16.480 When when I see Dora, I see the glass. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.039 When I see the glass, I see Dora. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:21.759 No other way around it. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:25.360 She is found in the glass, right? 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.759 This is this is how we are in Christ. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:43.519 When God sees you, however short you fall of the law, however short you fall of what you should be doing and how you ought to be, when God sees you, if you're found in Christ, he sees Christ, and when he sees Christ, he sees you. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.240 And that is liberation. 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.639 That is incredibly, incredibly liberating. 00:14:50.960 --> 00:15:02.879 It's the great secret of life that our culture and our world never tells us that your identity and your wholeness and your righteousness is never earned. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:04.960 Never earned. 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.799 Your identity and your righteousness is a gift given. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:10.240 That's the rescue. 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:12.080 That you already have what you need. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:13.679 That's the rescue. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.600 Now you can begin to understand who you already are. 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.639 In John 12, there's this story, Jesus is eating with his friends. 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:27.120 Maybe you remember if you've been around church. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:38.000 So he's eating with his friends, and then Mary, this lady, she goes and she goes and she gets this jar of perfume, like really, really expensive perfume, and she dumps it. 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:46.080 She dumps it on Jesus' feet, just empties it out, and then she gets her hair and she starts to clean and wipe his feet with her hair. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.360 And then Judas is there. 00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:48.960 I mean, Lazarus is there, sorry. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:50.799 I'm getting very confused. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:16:00.960 Judas is there, and Judas, who is about to betray Jesus, and he says, Hey, that's a lot of waste. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.080 Like, I mean, Jesus, come on. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:05.200 Like, she dumped. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.679 We could have, we could have sold that jar and we could have given that money away. 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:13.039 Of course, he didn't really want to do that. 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.720 Like, I mean, he had other motives, but he's he had a good point. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:18.720 This is a good point, right? 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:21.120 Judas had a good point. 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:24.799 Look at all this waste of a good thing. 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:27.519 Right? 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.039 Get your priorities straight. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.120 Have good stewardship, Mary. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:32.720 Be a better steward. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:34.639 That's the message, right? 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.159 I mean, this is this is often a message. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:40.559 Be a better mother, be a better worker, and then cash that in, right? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.360 Then cash that in for value. 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:45.440 But don't empty out. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:48.559 Don't let go of the goodness. 00:16:48.639 --> 00:16:49.440 Don't let go of that. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:50.879 But Jesus defends her. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:17:07.759 And what this story is about is a story about us emptying ourselves, even the good things, us emptying ourselves and counting nothing, nothing as our source of righteousness and identity and wholeness. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:14.319 Except God's absolution and acceptance and love for us in Jesus. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:22.160 Anything else is just climbing a hill, going into a cave, climbing a hill, going into a cave. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.200 Who am I? 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.160 Who am I? 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.440 Who am I? 00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:31.839 Every night this week, my four-year-old, I guess it started last Sunday night. 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:33.839 We did it for about three or four nights in a row. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:37.519 She demanded us to go find this book, Tangle Fairies. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.480 Don't know how it ended up at our house. 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:42.319 Somebody must have given it to us or something. 00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:43.359 I don't remember buying it. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:45.680 But this one particular book, I got it on our mind. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.839 I'm like, hey, whatever books are in the bed, this is what we're doing. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:50.480 Let's, you know. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:55.039 And she's like, no, Tangle Fairies are where at the bookshelf find this out of like 200 books. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:17:57.519 You know, that's fun to do, just a little slender binder here. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:17:58.799 And so we're looking for it. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.400 We find it back in the bed. 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:01.519 We read the book. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.960 She's still four, so I can read like every other line, and she has no idea. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:06.960 Just you know what I'm talking about, parents. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:08.319 You've done the same thing. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:09.519 And she doesn't know. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.480 I can kind of, you know, get the plot together by the end of it. 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:14.079 And so I'm reading this. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:15.839 She loves this story. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:22.880 Now, what the story's about, it's about some fairies that live inside of your hair, right? 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:32.880 And they're asleep during the day, and then at night, when you go to sleep, they wake up and they play badminton and they swing and they do all sorts of fun stuff. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:40.640 Wow, she sounds so creepy to me that a kid, that a child would want that like this this would be something you want to hear before you go to sleep. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:42.400 But she loves it, they love it. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:51.599 And then by the time you wake up, the tangled fairies go back to sleep, and that's why your hair is tangled in the morning. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:18:54.559 It's a good, creepy, good idea for a book. 00:18:54.799 --> 00:18:55.839 And she loves it. 00:18:55.920 --> 00:18:59.279 And we read it over, and then she asks for it like four nights in a row. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.279 And we read it over and over and over and over again, and she loves it. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:04.720 And she laughs all over again. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:06.400 She laughs at the same place that she laughs. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.680 She gets caught up in the story over and over and over again. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.240 I say that because I told you two stories today. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:13.279 I don't know if you picked up on it. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.920 It wasn't like, oh, that Jesus story with Mary, and then you told another story. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.400 No, I told you two arcing narratives for life today. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.519 And it's two stories we hear over and over. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:29.119 And we one we hear over and over again, and we need to learn how to hear it, spot it, and turn from it. 00:19:29.279 --> 00:19:34.480 And the other, we need to move towards and remember it over and over and over again. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:49.440 Because one is a story from our world about how you will form your righteousness and your value and your identity via secular and religious means based on performances and what you do and your stage and your resume. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:52.799 And it will exhaust you, it will kill you. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.319 And the other is the gospel story. 00:19:57.200 --> 00:19:59.200 What Christ did for you. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:06.160 And that story we need to hear over and over and over again. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:10.400 That which you're looking for, you already are in Christ. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:17.440 Though I'm more flawed than I originally thought, I'm more loved by God in Christ Jesus than I ever dared to dream. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.519 And now what I know is I know we switch between stories all the time, right? 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:27.119 I mean, it's almost as just like driving down the road and you get tired of one audiobook, so you switch to the other one, then you switch to the other. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:29.279 Like we do that, that's what we're constantly doing. 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:39.680 The good news, the remarkable grace, is that the gospel story for you is just as true when you're listening to the world story than when you're listening to the gospel story. 00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:41.759 It's still true for you. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:50.079 Like when God looks at you in the glass, he sees you when he sees Christ, and when he sees Christ, he sees you. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:53.519 So go for it. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:54.559 Go for it. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.920 Achieve, save money, give money. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.480 Live, have spiritual practices. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:07.839 Those are part of a fruit of grace. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.000 You're gonna suffer along the way. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:11.920 That's part of life too. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.039 But none of it is for your righteousness. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.359 None of it is for your identity. 00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:23.119 None of it, none of it is for the wholeness that we all crave. 00:21:23.359 --> 00:21:28.240 The core of who you are has already been spoken for by God in Christ. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:37.119 So, my brothers and sisters, may you be awakened to the gift of counting all things as lost, that you might know Christ in greater and greater ways. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:38.799 Let's pray together. 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:42.079 Jesus, thank you for your sufficiency for us. 00:21:42.400 --> 00:21:43.440 For we need it greatly. 00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:54.640 We confess that we do climb, constantly climb hills and wander into different places and ask all sorts of things, idols, little gods, who am I? 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:55.279 Who am I? 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:55.920 Who am I? 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:56.960 Who am I? 00:21:58.400 --> 00:21:59.440 Help us. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:24.240 Help us to turn from that pursuit back to where we already are, deemed righteous, deemed whole by you, that we are found in Christ, that we are not scored or measured by our performance in this world, but we are yours, secure and beloved. 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:31.519 Forgive us for the ways that we turn from you and use other things as gods and saviors. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:36.799 And help us in our walk of faith to trust in you in greater ways. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:37.680 In Jesus' name. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:38.480 Amen.