SPEAKER_00: Well, we are continuing in our Kingdom Work series.
SPEAKER_00: This is our last Sunday in Kingdom Work, where we have been talking about how do our everyday, ordinary lives reflect the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And really, you know, we've titled it Kingdom Work.
SPEAKER_00: So instantly you think, what I do with my hands, how I spend my time, those are things that we've been talking about.
SPEAKER_00: But really, uh, through all the passages we've looked at, we've continued to see that it is more about who the Lord of your life is that determines the work that comes out of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Continually, we we looked at Deuteronomy and how uh the very first thing that we get is the passing on of God's transformation in our own lives, the obedience He's called us to the next generation.
SPEAKER_00: Then we looked at James and we looked at how the words we speak, uh, the things that come out of our kind of well of being uh reflects what's inside of us.
SPEAKER_00: And then last week we looked at James and in the work that we do and how our very actions proclaim who we claim to serve and to love.
SPEAKER_00: And so all series, we've been looking at kingdom work, and you're just like, I thought you were gonna give me an ABC list, Pastor Ryan, that I could just follow and every day check a box.
SPEAKER_00: Done, done, done, good.
SPEAKER_00: I'm an obedient Christian, praise the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: If only it worked that way.
SPEAKER_00: Now there are things that are very tangible in the Word of God that we can follow, and some things are not, because we know as believers that people can say one thing and yet believe another, that people can declare something and yet not truly believe it.
SPEAKER_00: Because belief creates transformation.
SPEAKER_00: Belief allows us to then begin to live in a way as an outshoe of that belief.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have just been diving into that.
SPEAKER_00: And because the series has been so lighthearted, I decided we'll end the series with another light topic from Ephesians chapter six, uh, masters and slaves, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not difficult at all.
SPEAKER_00: Well, speaking of masters and slaves, it reminded me of my own time growing up in sports.
SPEAKER_00: Uh as I think of just a relevant modern example.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, as a child in sports, uh, it often feels like slavery, in the sense that the coach is the master and what he says goes.
SPEAKER_00: And if you do not obey, there's consequences.
SPEAKER_00: And so unfortunately, I was on a lot of disobedient teams, and which meant a lot more running.
SPEAKER_00: And growing up in Southern California, running in August uh is not fun.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there was a special week dedicated to football players in August, and we rightfully so called it Hell Week.
SPEAKER_00: And Hell Week was basically that it was two to three day practices in a hundred-degree weather, and this is right when you got your pad.
SPEAKER_00: So now it's not even like gym shorts and a t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00: You've got the shoulder pads, the helmet, the pad.
SPEAKER_00: So you're just full-on running in this hundred-degree weather, um, and it is torturous.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not bad enough that you just have to practice a lot.
SPEAKER_00: It's that this is the week coaches want to make sure you are in shape, you're ready for the season because once next week comes, you are in that rhythm of you have three days of practice, a day of rehearsal, and then game day on Friday.
SPEAKER_00: And so it is consistent for the next 10 weeks.
SPEAKER_00: This is how it's gonna go.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is the last week to run you to you, the point of view you feel like you're gonna die.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what happens is that we would be practicing, and then someone wouldn't listen, they'd disobey.
SPEAKER_00: And so, of course, coach goes, That's it, line up.
SPEAKER_00: And you hated those words.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, because that meant everyone, the whole team, even though it was just one person, the whole team's gonna suffer.
SPEAKER_00: We're on the line now, and we're gonna do what our coach called big threes.
SPEAKER_00: You're going to sprint as fast as you can 100 yards.
SPEAKER_00: Then you're going to crawl, crab crawl 100 yards.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, then you're gonna backwards crab crawl 100 yards.
SPEAKER_00: 300 yards of this, and you're gonna do that until the coach believes you've learned your lesson.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to make matters worse, because this is California hot, dry, dead practice field, not the beautiful field we're gonna play on on Fridays, which is well maintained and green and nice.
SPEAKER_00: No, this is the field with weeds that have those little thorn thistles in them.
SPEAKER_00: And so you'd be going and all of a sudden, pain.
SPEAKER_00: And you're just like trying to go with one hand picking out thorns.
SPEAKER_00: Hell week.
SPEAKER_00: Now, coach had full authority, right?
SPEAKER_00: He had the power.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't stand there and be like, no, coach, you run that.
SPEAKER_00: It didn't work that way.
SPEAKER_00: If I wanted to be on this team, I had to listen, I had to obey, I was under the authority of the coach.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it's not a direct comparison, obviously, to what Paul is going to be addressing in Ephesians 6.
SPEAKER_00: It just felt that way.
SPEAKER_00: In Ephesians 6, Paul is going to address one of the most unequal relationships in the ancient world, the relationship between slaves and masters.
SPEAKER_00: And he's bringing both groups, both of them, under lordship of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is going to do something that's going to challenge the very social power of their time.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is going to say is listen, despite this, this very clear separation of power and authority, you still belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Your work still matters to Christ, and your faithfulness is seen by Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to the one with enormous social power, Paul says, you are not the final authority.
SPEAKER_00: You also have a master, and you will also answer to Jesus for the way that you treat people.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is going to do something just so powerful that we're going to see in the text today.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's going to challenge again how we perceive our working relationships today and how we use the authority and power that we've been given.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're able this morning, would you please stand as we read from Ephesians chapter 6, verses 5 through 9?
SPEAKER_00: Paul says to the church of Ephesus, he says, Bond servants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ, not by the way of I service as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or free, masters do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: So before we begin to apply this to our modern example and our lives today, it's important to kind of address uh what Paul is doing here and being responsible with the text.
SPEAKER_00: So now, again, Paul's not writing to first century employees, he's writing to slaves.
SPEAKER_00: These are people enslaved uh in a social system, they have masters.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and in the first century, uh they were a part of the Roman household.
SPEAKER_00: So when Paul's addressing the Church of Ephesus, this Roman colony, there were people who were a part of the household that were slaves.
SPEAKER_00: So you would have your husband, your wife, you may have your parents, uh, children, but then you would have slaves.
SPEAKER_00: You would also have other people that were a part of the household that lived with you.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is addressing this in his letter, and he's already addressed husbands and wives, children, and now he's going to address slaves and masters.
SPEAKER_00: And he's speaking a very uh big truth to a painful social structure of his day.
SPEAKER_00: Now, it's important for us to notice Paul doesn't call for the abolishment of slavery.
SPEAKER_00: That wouldn't make sense in the first century.
SPEAKER_00: Slavery has always existed, has been around.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Roman slavery was different than the slavery that existed within the Judeo system.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and yet Paul is addressing it.
SPEAKER_00: Now, he's not saying, hey, slavery needs to end, but what he does do is radical in its time.
SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes people look at the issue of slavery in the Bible and they go, I cannot be a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot say that this is the authority of my life, while it also allows for a system like slavery to exist.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, when you actually look at historical facts of what those cultures who had slavery, which was all of them at that time, and then you see what God's call is within that oppressive system, you see that God, throughout the Old Testament and New Testament, continues to reach out to the most vulnerable and elevate them, to give them value, to bring them to a place of humanity that other societies and cultures did not do within that structure.
SPEAKER_00: So, slavery uh is not God's ideal design for human society, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: When God created Adam and Eve, he didn't say, All right, Adam, you're the master, Eve, you're the slave.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how he created him.
SPEAKER_00: He said, You guys are equal.
SPEAKER_00: I created you to be partners in this world.
SPEAKER_00: But what happens?
SPEAKER_00: Sin, fall, death.
SPEAKER_00: Now everything that God created is good and holy has been corrupted.
SPEAKER_00: And so then unequal and broken power relationships spread across the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And so here Paul is addressing this very system.
SPEAKER_00: And this passage is not just about productivity and about, hey, how do you manage uh being in these positions of power or powerless?
SPEAKER_00: Rather, it is about who is your Lord, no matter what role you find yourself within that power structure.
SPEAKER_00: And so for the church, what Paul is saying, hey, Church of Ephesus, your Lord is not Caesar.
SPEAKER_00: Your Lord is not the wealthy householder, uh, your Lord is not the employer or the supervisor or the worker, your Lord is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna jump into this in our first point for the day, which is work for the Lord, not for eyes.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul begins in verse 5 saying, bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now we have to pause and look at this first word, the English word bondservant.
SPEAKER_00: Many of us hear that and we think of the Old Testament, Exodus 21, um 2 through 6 in Deuteronomy 15, where this idea of bondservant in the Hebrew is a servant who was enslaved to a master, and he loves that master so much that he says, I'm gonna commit my life to being in your service.
SPEAKER_00: And so they would.
SPEAKER_00: They would get their ear pierced, and it would signify to everyone that this person has indebted their entire life to their master.
SPEAKER_00: So within the Jewish system, slaves would be freed.
SPEAKER_00: And so on certain years, the slaves would be freed and they would be able to be let go.
SPEAKER_00: So it was this indebted servitude within the Jewish system.
SPEAKER_00: But some slaves would say, I love you, I love this house, I love this home, I love this family, I want to give my whole life.
SPEAKER_00: I don't ever want to leave.
SPEAKER_00: I want to continue to be a servant in that.
SPEAKER_00: And so they had this word bondservant that represented that.
SPEAKER_00: Here in the English, uh, the Greek gets translated into bondservant, but really the Greek word is doulos, and doulos means slave.
SPEAKER_00: So that is the word that Paul is using here.
SPEAKER_00: So we don't want to conserve it with the Old Testament Hebrew word for bondservant, uh, which was one who chose that indentured servitude.
SPEAKER_00: Uh no, this is the Roman world.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Roman uh slave that again was not a great system for slaves.
SPEAKER_00: So within the Roman structure, slaves, man, they they would face persecution, harsh treatment.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, masters could threaten to sell them and all these things, and they had no uh they had no real freedoms and no a chance at freedom.
SPEAKER_00: So some slaves in that time could work off, but most were just locked in and could never out uh get out of that system of oppression.
SPEAKER_00: So here Paul is addressing this, and so he's saying, hey, slaves, bondservants is how he translates it.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Obey your earthly masters.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to us, that just seems harsh.
SPEAKER_00: Right, oh, there's that Bible again you go following, obey your earthly masters.
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, not only is it not trying to abolish it, it's condoning it.
SPEAKER_00: But what Paul does here is something so important.
SPEAKER_00: Literally, this phrase can be translated, obey your masters according to the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul is saying is there's a limit to the master's authority.
SPEAKER_00: So we read that and we're like, ooh, you're telling them to obey their earthly masters.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul is saying is, hey, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: I'm putting a limit on their authority over you.
SPEAKER_00: They are an earthly master, meaning that there is another master greater than them.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul, out of the gate, does something radical and puts a limitation on the authority of a master.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, they are not ultimate.
SPEAKER_00: So the enslaved Christian has an earthly master, but guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You also have another master, and that master is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He is your Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And then he continues on with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart as you would for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now, that phrase fear and trembling, it sounds again troubling, especially in a passage about slavery.
SPEAKER_00: But Paul is not blessing the abuse of enslaved people.
SPEAKER_00: He's not he's not making it light.
SPEAKER_00: What he's addressing here is a serious reverence in a sincere integrity before the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So the phrase that follows helps us understand that.
SPEAKER_00: He says, with a sincere heart.
SPEAKER_00: So fear and trembling with a sincere heart.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul is saying is, hey, listen, what your outward behavior needs to be is a reflection of your heart, who you are as someone who's been redeemed by Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So what kind of person are you becoming while you work and serve?
SPEAKER_00: Are you a divided person?
SPEAKER_00: Are you just performing?
SPEAKER_00: So what Paul is addressing to the slave is, are you only working hard when the master's in the room?
SPEAKER_00: So when he's there, you're like, okay, doing it all.
SPEAKER_00: Yep, doing good.
SPEAKER_00: But then when he walks away, you're like, forget that guy.
SPEAKER_00: Paul's like, as a believer, it doesn't matter if they're there or not there, because who you are is not determined by their authority.
SPEAKER_00: It's determined by the authority of Christ in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And if Christ is your Lord, you're going to have a good work ethic.
SPEAKER_00: You're just going to serve faithfully from the integrity of your heart.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul is saying, no matter what our circumstance or status, our goal is no longer about us, but how we reflect Jesus in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: That's a powerful truth.
SPEAKER_00: Because some of us, what happens is we get discouraged and we feel like we're in a position that's beneath us.
SPEAKER_00: And so then we're like, how many of us have had that moment where our attitude is just shot?
SPEAKER_00: Fine, I'll do it because I don't want to get fired.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm not going to be happy about it.
SPEAKER_00: Fine, I'll I'll do this, but uh, you know, as long as they're there, I'm just gonna sit and waste time.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying that is not how the believer responds.
SPEAKER_00: Because your Lord is not whoever your boss is, it's not your master.
SPEAKER_00: Your Lord is Jesus, and everything you do is a reflection of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He continues in verse six and says, Not by the way of eye service, as people pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this word for eye service is actually two Greek words put together, and and so he's using one word for eyes and another word for service or slavery.
SPEAKER_00: And so he puts these words together as a compound Greek word, and he says, Listen, don't just perform when people are physically looking at you.
SPEAKER_00: He says, that doesn't help shape who we are.
SPEAKER_00: If we're only working hard when the person in charge is there, then what good is that if we're just doing the right thing uh when people are looking?
SPEAKER_00: So it's like this if you've ever been at work and you're on a computer and you're just like, oh my gosh, this is taking forever, this is tedious, and then you see that little app down there, you're like, mind sweep, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, little games, you know, you're like computers are great because one screen could be my work, but then instantly another screen can be this game crossword puzzle, solving this, sudoku, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what people play anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And so you have it up, and you're just getting lost in your game, and all of a sudden you hear footsteps coming through the office, and you're like, click, click, you know, back at work.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul's saying you can't be that, you can't have one screen open, and then the boss walks in and you pop up another screen.
SPEAKER_00: He says it's not about looking busy when someone important is watching, it's not about serving in the church as long as you're being recognized.
SPEAKER_00: And that happens even here in this place.
SPEAKER_00: Some people will serve, or some people will say, Oh, I don't want to serve there.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, why not?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know, no one's gonna see.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'll serve on Sunday, but I'm not gonna serve through when it means I have to come in during the week.
SPEAKER_00: And so oftentimes uh we get caught up in how we're gonna be perceived or what accolades we're gonna get.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul's saying, we are doing it for Jesus, not for anyone else.
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom people who follow Jesus don't live for eye service.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because as Christians, we have a different audience, we recognize that Jesus is there.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, listen to the last part of verse six.
SPEAKER_00: He says, we do this as bondservants of Christ, so slaves to Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
SPEAKER_00: Man, what a game changer when we begin to understand this.
SPEAKER_00: Paul speaks about people who are literal slaves in the Roman world, and he says, at the core of who you are, you are actually servants of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that.
SPEAKER_00: Paul understood a truth that's still relevant for us today.
SPEAKER_00: Who you believe you are will dictate how you live.
SPEAKER_00: If you believe that you are a beloved child of a holy, perfect God who's redeemed you, you will live that way.
SPEAKER_00: You will begin to live that way.
SPEAKER_00: But if you believe that you're oppressed, that you are passed up, that you are just no good, no one ever sees your value, if you believe that about yourself, guess what your life is going to reflect that, our identities are so important.
SPEAKER_00: And all throughout scripture, God is trying to remind his people and all people who they are, that they are created, sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: The only part of creation, by the way, that was created in his image.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's saying, Let me make you a new creation through Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let me bring you into this fold.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know who you are so that no matter what your circumstance, no matter what your title, no matter what your role, no matter who's watching you, you know who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And because you know who you are, how you live will not change.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning that you can live, you could be working at the worst environment, and you're just like, I'm gonna give it my best.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to do all that I can to be a good worker.
SPEAKER_00: And it may not be acknowledged, recognized, rewarded, but you're not doing it for them.
SPEAKER_00: You're not doing it for those things.
SPEAKER_00: Now, is it great?
SPEAKER_00: Is it just when your work is rewarded?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, doesn't it feel good?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hands, but some of you were the employee of the month.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you became CEOs, some of you became business owners, some of you became the top person in your field.
SPEAKER_00: And it feels good.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: I worked hard.
SPEAKER_00: I sacrificed a lot and I got there.
SPEAKER_00: But if your reward is those things, just the things you got from it, or what people said about you, then we've missed it.
SPEAKER_00: As believers, that's not what we're striving for.
SPEAKER_00: Now it doesn't make those things bad, but it means that no matter our circumstance, whether we are the powerful or the powerless, we strive to serve our Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We we do everything out of that identity, and that's what Paul is getting at here.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying your deepest identity belongs to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You are not just a slave.
SPEAKER_00: So you see how liberating this message is that Paul's declaring.
SPEAKER_00: And by the way, this is a letter written to the Church of Ephesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the Church of Ephesus wasn't in a building like this, it was probably in someone's home, a wealthy person's home in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_00: Meaning that when they got the letter, do you know how they shared the letter?
SPEAKER_00: They didn't all read it because most of them couldn't read.
SPEAKER_00: It meant that the person who could read would open up that scroll and be like, Hey everybody, the apostle Paul wrote us a letter, gather, get everyone in the household to gather.
SPEAKER_00: Bring in other people of the church.
SPEAKER_00: Bring them here so we can read Paul's letter to us.
SPEAKER_00: So you can imagine as they're reading through Ephesus, and everyone's there.
SPEAKER_00: Masters are there.
SPEAKER_00: Slaves are there.
SPEAKER_00: Children are there.
SPEAKER_00: Husbands and wives are there.
SPEAKER_00: They're all in attendance as this person is reading it.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, he addresses who?
SPEAKER_00: Slaves.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: He addresses the slaves specifically.
SPEAKER_00: He just addressed the masters.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that.
SPEAKER_00: That elevation.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine that pride you're feeling.
SPEAKER_00: The apostle Paul sees us.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't treat us like everybody else.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't treat us like the Romans treat us.
SPEAKER_00: He's writing to us, instructing us, reminding us of our identity in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
SPEAKER_00: We belong to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And because we belong to Jesus, integrity does not depend on who's watching.
SPEAKER_00: It applies to far more than paid work, right?
SPEAKER_00: It applies to school, to ministry, to volunteering, family responsibilities, chores, leadership.
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't matter if someone says good job or not.
SPEAKER_00: So so youth in the room.
SPEAKER_00: If your identity is in Jesus, that means you're going to serve your family as you were serving Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So when your parents say, hey, can you take out the trash?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's not my turn.
SPEAKER_00: It's my brother's turn, sister's turn.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't fill up the can.
SPEAKER_00: And I was you.
SPEAKER_00: I was the oldest son in the family.
SPEAKER_00: So guess whose responsibility it was to take out the trash?
SPEAKER_00: And as a father, man, as a husband, guess whose it was again when I got married?
SPEAKER_00: Mine.
SPEAKER_00: Until I had a son of my own.
SPEAKER_00: And guess whose it is now?
SPEAKER_00: It's just character building.
SPEAKER_00: But again, youth, what an opportunity to remind yourselves that in your home you get to serve the Lord, and that is a practical way to serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what's even crazier all of a sudden you'll begin to see things because we all do, where you're just like, oh, that doesn't belong there, and you just put it away.
SPEAKER_00: Mom and dad didn't even have to ask because you just knew in our house this is how we do things.
SPEAKER_00: And it was just an overflow.
SPEAKER_00: And all of a sudden your parents come home and you're like, wait, whoa, whoa.
SPEAKER_00: Who did the dishes?
SPEAKER_00: We were at work.
SPEAKER_00: And you're just like, oh yeah, I took care of them.
SPEAKER_00: There was no reward promised.
SPEAKER_00: There was no blessing because no one was there to see it.
SPEAKER_00: You just did it.
SPEAKER_00: That is what Paul is calling us to.
SPEAKER_00: We don't do it because people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom of Work asks, Who am I serving?
SPEAKER_00: And as believers, we are serving Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Integrity is what remains when the person you want to impress leaves the room.
SPEAKER_00: So when the people that have the power, have the authority, have the means to bless and acknowledge and promote, when they're not in the room, are we giving our best?
SPEAKER_00: Paul continues in verse 7.
SPEAKER_00: He says, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.
SPEAKER_00: Now, so Paul's saying, you're doing this as if you're doing it to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Your work is as to the Lord, not to man.
SPEAKER_00: What he is not saying is that every human authority is good, because he knows it's not.
SPEAKER_00: Does not mean every employer is healthy, because they're not.
SPEAKER_00: Every workplace is not safe.
SPEAKER_00: That does not mean that every instruction from an authority figure should be obeyed, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes you hear a message like this, and you're like, okay, I'm just a slave to my work.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm a slave for Jesus, so I'm just gonna do whatever they tell me to do because I'm the employee, they're the boss.
SPEAKER_00: No, that is not what Paul is saying.
SPEAKER_00: He is just saying you're gonna work as if to the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But Acts 5.29 says, but Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men.
SPEAKER_00: So we do have a hierarchy in our relationship.
SPEAKER_00: God is above all.
SPEAKER_00: And so if someone commands us to lie, cheat, abuse, exploit, conceal, uh, to commit evil, to commit fraud, to violate God's word, our allegiance first is to who?
SPEAKER_00: You can say the right word.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: If ever in doubt a pastor asks you to say something, even if it's complete off, Jesus, 99.99% of the time is going to be the right answer.
SPEAKER_00: And even if it's not, no one's gonna correct you because Jesus is always still the right answer.
SPEAKER_00: So, Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so we are obedient to God.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is our highest authority, and God's also a good answer because he is, you know, Trinity one.
SPEAKER_00: So if God is our ultimate authority, we recognize that human authority is real, but it's limited because Jesus is our Lord, and that means that we're going to be obedient to the way that God has called us to live.
SPEAKER_00: So when someone calls us to do something that is unethical, something that goes against the instruction God has given us, we know that our bigger authority is to follow what God has instructed us to do.
SPEAKER_00: And so we'll disobey, and that may come at a cost.
SPEAKER_00: So we can respect authority without making the authority our ultimate God.
SPEAKER_00: We can seek excellence without making achievement our identity, and we can serve people without needing the approval to define our worth.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 3.23 says, Whatever you do, work heartily is for the Lord and not for men.
SPEAKER_00: So we can be hard workers, great workers, and still not make the work our God.
SPEAKER_00: Because we know that there is only one Lord, one God in our life, and that is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So serving the Lord, again, does not mean giving your employer everything that belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: Because some of us, we've done that.
SPEAKER_00: We've given our jobs everything.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I put in for a family vacation.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't taken a vacation in two years, but this is an important one.
SPEAKER_00: And they say, Well, we got a big project that's due that week, so I'm sorry, you're gonna have to reschedule.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, listen, I'm gonna need you to come in on Sunday and work on this.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm gonna need you to uh work do an all-nighter.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to don't leave the office.
SPEAKER_00: This has to get finished.
SPEAKER_00: What do we do?
SPEAKER_00: Do we sacrifice our health, our church, our soul, our family on the altar of work?
SPEAKER_00: That's hard, hard questions, hard situations that some of you have probably been in before.
SPEAKER_00: But what it does mean is that legitimate work for God has that God has placed before you can be offered to Jesus with integrity.
SPEAKER_00: So we can take whatever role God has placed you in, and you can say, God, use this.
SPEAKER_00: If it's a barista, man, make the best coffee for people.
SPEAKER_00: Serve with joy.
SPEAKER_00: If someone orders the most ridiculous drink, don't sit there going, oh my gosh, I hate this person.
SPEAKER_00: Be like, I'm gonna make this the best version of this drink they've ever had.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in the service industry, serve with joy and love.
SPEAKER_00: And again, if you are in a position of authority, and we'll get to you in just a moment, uh, do so out of recognition that Jesus is your Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We all get to be a light for those around us.
SPEAKER_00: And so uh our positions of work are not just random, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: God calls us on this journey, has placed you in a time such as this to be a light to the world.
SPEAKER_00: You are saying, like, what's my mission field?
SPEAKER_00: It's where you work, it's where you're around people.
SPEAKER_00: But again, kingdom people work for the Lord, not for the eyes that see them.
SPEAKER_00: Then we have to trust the Lord who does see.
SPEAKER_00: So verse 8 says, Knowing that whatever good anyone does, this will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or free.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul starts off by saying, knowing.
SPEAKER_00: So he grounds Christian faithfulness in a theological conviction.
SPEAKER_00: The enslaved believer knows something, the unnoticed believer knows something, the overlooked person, they know something.
SPEAKER_00: What do they know?
SPEAKER_00: They know that the Lord sees them.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that the Lord sees you?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we know, but we forget.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because people can oversee us, people can overlook our faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not.
SPEAKER_00: People may reward others unfairly over you.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus does not.
SPEAKER_00: People may deny you recognition, but your worth is not defined by your position, your paycheck, or your 401k.
SPEAKER_00: Your worth is defined by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what Paul says: whatever good anyone does, what I love that is he says, anyone, not only the CEO, not only the owner, not only the master, not only the employee of the month, not only the person with the title, anyone.
SPEAKER_00: Anyone who does good work, the Lord sees.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, whether he is a bondservant or free, Paul is speaking to a Roman society that has very clear distinction.
SPEAKER_00: These people have status, power, and authority, these people do not.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul just says, doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter if you're a slave or master, free or a slave.
SPEAKER_00: So he just covers the lines that have been clearly drawn and says that, man, when Jesus is the Lord, when Jesus is the center, when we work for him, that's what's most important.
SPEAKER_00: Not your status, your legal standing or public honor.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one that we live for.
SPEAKER_00: He is the one we're called to be faithful to for.
SPEAKER_00: And who you are in Jesus is a new creation, a believer.
SPEAKER_00: So now your life is shaped from that.
SPEAKER_00: And then he gives us an example from Matthew 6, 3 and 4, when he says, But when you give, this is Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount, but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus in his sermon was introducing his followers to this new way of serving.
SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, when when the with the religious leaders, when they're doing something, they're doing it bold, they're doing it broad.
SPEAKER_00: They want everyone to see what they're doing so they can be praised.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is saying, Not so with you.
SPEAKER_00: And he gives this example of giving.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, hey, when you give, don't give loud and boisterous.
SPEAKER_00: Do it in secret so your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing.
SPEAKER_00: So that way the Father who's in heaven who sees will be the one to reward you when he sees what's done.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul is doing here in Ephesians is he's clarifying this point where he's saying, Hey, listen, God sees everything you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just about the praise or the promotion or better treatment or earthly recognition.
SPEAKER_00: Like God knows what is happening.
SPEAKER_00: And so do what is right at all times, knowing that God sees everything that's happening.
SPEAKER_00: And so for some of us, I think we get caught up in this worldly standard, right?
SPEAKER_00: Where it's like we haven't gotten the praise.
SPEAKER_00: And I, husbands, I know as men we struggle with this.
SPEAKER_00: If we do something and we feel like, hey, we did something outside our normal rhythm here, I want some acknowledgement.
SPEAKER_00: Like you I mean, and we can't help ourselves, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like if we clean the whole house, the whole house, and we're just like, hey, that's not our normal rhythm, where we have some chores, but not all the torch, and we came home one day and we're like, we're gonna surprise our wives, and we clean it's it's I mean, clean, clean, right?
SPEAKER_00: The corners dusted, everything, laundry folded and put away.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, dishes done and put away, everything is just to the complete measure.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think husbands are just gonna sit there and say nothing?
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't this house look nice?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we get passive.
SPEAKER_00: We're fishing.
SPEAKER_00: Did you notice?
SPEAKER_00: We can't help it.
SPEAKER_00: We love, we love the acknowledgement, we love the praise.
SPEAKER_00: And again, wife, not a bad thing.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, not a bad thing, but whoa! Great job doing something we do every single day multiple times.
SPEAKER_00: But when we realize that when we do that, we're not actually doing it for our spouse.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's for them, but it's for the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: That we do it with joy.
SPEAKER_00: We're not just doing it waiting for the I'm gonna get a good job.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing it because Jesus sees it, and that's our call to do that.
SPEAKER_00: And some of you need to hear this today.
SPEAKER_00: You have been faithful in work that feels unnoticed.
SPEAKER_00: You have served in ways that people have forgotten.
SPEAKER_00: You have carried responsibility, no one fully understands.
SPEAKER_00: You have done the right thing when it cost you something.
SPEAKER_00: You have chosen honesty when dishonesty would have benefited you.
SPEAKER_00: You have stayed steady when others got the credit.
SPEAKER_00: You have served in ministry where no one sees half of what you do.
SPEAKER_00: You do the right thing even if everyone else wouldn't.
SPEAKER_00: Now, a very modern example.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, a few weeks ago, there was an 18-year-old boy named Kobe.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, he was from Belgium.
SPEAKER_00: He was on a work site, so it's a Tuesday morning.
SPEAKER_00: They're renovating an old brewery that had been built a hundred years ago, and they're turning it into housing.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's digging uh the trench for the sewage line.
SPEAKER_00: Great job.
SPEAKER_00: Hard work.
SPEAKER_00: But he's going, all of a sudden, he hits this hard thing that shouldn't be there.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh, what is this?
SPEAKER_00: This brick.
SPEAKER_00: Brick doesn't belong.
SPEAKER_00: Why is there brick here?
SPEAKER_00: He busts it open.
SPEAKER_00: What does he find?
SPEAKER_00: He finds ten million dollars in gold.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a photo of this.
SPEAKER_00: So he finds gold coins, gold bricks.
SPEAKER_00: Now you put yourself in that position, you're like, payday.
SPEAKER_00: You're walking off the the work site.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like, hey boss, I quit.
SPEAKER_00: People are like, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know what Kobe did?
SPEAKER_00: Him and his his co-workers, they went and they called the police.
SPEAKER_00: Says, hey, we found a bunch of gold.
SPEAKER_00: They turned it in.
SPEAKER_00: There's no reward.
SPEAKER_00: He didn't get anything.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, maybe credit that he discovered it, but they they're like, hey, this is this is old, this is precious.
SPEAKER_00: So there it's now being held in a secure location where they're going to go through their legal system to see who the ownership belongs to.
SPEAKER_00: But what's crazy is all the things online.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the comments are?
SPEAKER_00: Rookie mistake.
SPEAKER_00: You never tell anyone when you find gold.
SPEAKER_00: You keep it.
SPEAKER_00: Everyone's like, this kid's an idiot.
SPEAKER_00: How, how, why wouldn't he just line his pockets and be rich?
SPEAKER_00: Because it was the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_00: He chose the right thing, even though the whole world is like, fool, you're a fool.
SPEAKER_00: You could have been$10 million richer.
SPEAKER_00: That could have solved all your problems.
SPEAKER_00: 18 years old, you could be set for life.
SPEAKER_00: But he for Kobe, he did the right thing, even when everyone else is telling him he did the wrong thing.
SPEAKER_00: Clearly, and I don't know him, I don't know his background, but he clearly has conviction.
SPEAKER_00: He knows right and wrong, and he knew what the right thing was to do in that situation.
SPEAKER_00: He knew this wasn't his property.
SPEAKER_00: He knew that that did not belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: And so he submitted the right thing.
SPEAKER_00: But it exposes something in our own lives, and we look at that going, well, I don't know if I would have done that.
SPEAKER_00: Because who we are, our actions dictate who what we believe.
SPEAKER_00: And again, if if Jesus is our ultimate treasure, no amount of wealth in this world would help that.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you die, you don't get to take your bank with you.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get to get to heaven and be like, but I got my black card.
SPEAKER_00: There's no limit on this bad boy.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is not impressed by your wealth.
SPEAKER_00: You're not going to get to heaven and be like, hey, Jesus, I was CEO, C O O, C F O.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is going to be like, means nothing.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but Jesus, look at all the money I had.
SPEAKER_00: I have multiple properties across three countries.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't impress our God.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to say, That was your Lord on earth, and now it's going to be your Lord for eternity because depart from me, I never knew you.
SPEAKER_00: But when you come before Jesus, and you may have all that stuff, by the way, but you say, Jesus, you are my Lord, man, he's going to say, Come in, good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_00: Because it wasn't about anything you did on this earth, it was about Him being Lord.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Corinthians 15 58 says this be steadfast and movable, always abounding in work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
SPEAKER_00: So just know this.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord sees you, Jesus sees you.
SPEAKER_00: Paul is calling us to good work again because of who we are in Christ, not because of the things that we will benefit from this.
SPEAKER_00: Which brings us to our last point.
SPEAKER_00: And this is where Paul flips the script.
SPEAKER_00: So now he's going to talk to the masters.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 9 says, Masters, do the same to them and stop your threatening, knowing that he is both their master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
SPEAKER_00: What a statement to make, especially at that time.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul calls it out and he just says, Hey, listen, you masters who are treating your slaves like threatening in a threatening way, stop.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: That was normal.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we're thinking from our 21st century, mostly American view of slavery, but in that time where slavery is the accepted standard globally, and Paul tells masters, hey, this form that you're using to rule over your slaves in a threatening manner, threatening them with physical harm, threatening them with being sold again, threatening them with whatever, Paul says stop.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't go through the list, he just says all the threatening needs to stop.
SPEAKER_00: As a Christian and a master, you don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why don't you do that?
SPEAKER_00: Because you yourself have a master.
SPEAKER_00: You and the slave, you both have a master.
SPEAKER_00: And that master is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You are not the ultimate authority.
SPEAKER_00: Your power is limited.
SPEAKER_00: And so he says, you need to uh you're gonna do the same to them.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's saying, Masters, you need to obey slaves in the same way?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying that you both have Christ at the center of your lives, which means that you are both servants of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So, slave, you're servant of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Master, you're also a servant of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: So, Master, you need to act sincerely, do God's will, act with goodwill, remember the Lord, do what is good.
SPEAKER_00: The gospel does not only transform how people respond to those in authority, it transforms how authority and power are lived out.
SPEAKER_00: God will, God has given some of you in here immense power and authority over others.
SPEAKER_00: How are you using it?
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, stop your threatening and remember that you both have a higher authority, and that is Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is so specific here.
SPEAKER_00: He knows that threatening is a normal power tool of a master.
SPEAKER_00: But he says, stop.
SPEAKER_00: So Christian authority cannot be rooted in intimidation or oppression of another.
SPEAKER_00: What kingdom leadership principle we find here is that Paul says, hey, listen, we all have to have this reflection of character.
SPEAKER_00: And we can't, just because society says something's good, doesn't mean you're allowed to.
SPEAKER_00: It means we still follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, Paul did not come to that conclusion on his own.
SPEAKER_00: Paul did not come to this elevation of people who are oppressed on his own.
SPEAKER_00: He gets it from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Mark 10, 42 to 45 says, and Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
SPEAKER_00: But it shall not be so among you.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave to all.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus set the standard.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, who is the Son of God, Jesus who actually does have all authority and all power, and is the greatest, was there in the beginning before anything existed, coexisting with the Father and the Spirit, Jesus who spoke all things into creation, that Jesus said, I came not to be served, but to serve.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: The God of the universe, when he came down in human form, decided to serve, to give an example for all of us.
SPEAKER_00: That our influence, our authority, our power needs to be not so we elevate ourselves, but so we can serve others.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul is bringing that into this system, into this society.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, There's no partiality.
SPEAKER_00: What?
SPEAKER_00: Yes, there is.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a free master.
SPEAKER_00: I have a household.
SPEAKER_00: I have property.
SPEAKER_00: I have all this influence.
SPEAKER_00: They're a slave.
SPEAKER_00: There is a difference between us.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, No, there's not.
SPEAKER_00: Because you are both created in the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: You are both under the Lordship of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And like I said, God's not impressed by what the world is impressed by.
SPEAKER_00: So the world might be impressed by money and title and status and property and influence.
SPEAKER_00: But a powerful person will not receive special treatment from Jesus because they were powerful.
SPEAKER_00: God does not show partiality.
SPEAKER_00: Romans 2 11 says, For God shows no partiality.
SPEAKER_00: That is why power should produce humility, not entitlement.
SPEAKER_00: But the more authority you possess, the more seriously you should remember what authority is above you.
SPEAKER_00: And kingdom authority.
SPEAKER_00: Authority never forgets that every leader is still under the leadership and lordship of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So, two questions for us, because there's a couple groups here.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you really working for?
SPEAKER_00: So, those of you that are in a place of service right now, you have a job, you are a kid, your parents are in charge, you go to school, you have authorities over you.
SPEAKER_00: What are you working for?
SPEAKER_00: Who are you really working for?
SPEAKER_00: Are you doing everything in your ability because you're doing it for Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: And then there's the other half.
SPEAKER_00: Who are you really answering to?
SPEAKER_00: You're the ones with authority, you're the parents, you're the bosses, you're you're retired, you're you've got power, influence, and property, and all these things.
SPEAKER_00: Now the answer to both those questions are Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Both of us, both those with authority and those without.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is who we should be living for.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is who we should be doing everything for.
SPEAKER_00: So, Christians, do not live waiting for people to notice.
SPEAKER_00: So, church, uh, the point of this sermon is not for you to leave today and be like, all right, let's let people see how good I am.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we should, we should, out of the overflow of our relationship with Jesus, be kind and generous and loving and gracious, and all those things should be lived out of our lives, but we're not doing it so we could be seen.
SPEAKER_00: We're doing it because it's our Lord and who we're doing it for.
SPEAKER_00: Because we will stand before him one day and we will be before him.
SPEAKER_00: And I want Jesus to look at my life, and even though I didn't earn my salvation, even though he's going to look at my life and say, scales are real slanted here, I'm not saved because of the good works I did.
SPEAKER_00: But I do want him to see consistently me pointing back to the Lordship of Him.
SPEAKER_00: That Lord, I gave everything I can, and yeah, I failed again and again and again, but your grace was bigger than all my failures, and thank you, God, for that.
SPEAKER_00: So, church, there's an invitation today for someone in this room who maybe Jesus is not your Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You've heard the name Jesus because you live in the West.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is just maybe a historical person to you, a good historical man who preached some good things about living.
SPEAKER_00: That is not who Jesus was.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was the Son of God who claimed to be God, one with God.
SPEAKER_00: He lived a perfect life that we couldn't live, and then he gave that perfect life up with all power, all authority.
SPEAKER_00: He allowed himself to be crucified, a horrific death, only on the third day to raise back to life, to show that he conquered sin and death for us.
SPEAKER_00: So, Jesus, when I say that, I'm not just talking about a historical figure, I'm talking about the Son of God who laid down everything so we could be made right with God.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're here today and you've known about Jesus, but you've never made Jesus the Lord of your life.
SPEAKER_00: You've never said, Lord, I surrender my life to you.
SPEAKER_00: Would you forgive me for my sin, Lord, and make me a new creation?
SPEAKER_00: I want to be born again.
SPEAKER_00: If you've never done that, today you can do that right where you're at.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, well, Pastor, you haven't quite convinced me yet.
SPEAKER_00: I still have some more questions.
SPEAKER_00: And questions are great.
SPEAKER_00: I actually think you should have questions all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_00: But you'll never get to that point of perfect completion until you're standing before a holy, perfect God.
SPEAKER_00: But that by that point it might be too late.
SPEAKER_00: But it doesn't have to be.
SPEAKER_00: Right here, right now, as you are, God says, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: I've given everything for you.
SPEAKER_00: And if you want this relationship, all you have to do is accept it.
SPEAKER_00: Believe in who I am, confess it, and live it out.
SPEAKER_00: And allow me to now make you into a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, church, it's a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: And those of us who've been redeemed, we know it.
SPEAKER_00: It's not an easy journey, it's not a perfect journey.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but it changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're here today and you want to have a relationship with Jesus, you want to be saved and have an assurance of your salvation, you can do that right here as you are.
SPEAKER_00: Just say yes to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now I want to speak to those of us who are believers in this room and you've made that confession, you've said yes, but you have not taken the step of baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
SPEAKER_00: Today's your lucky day.
SPEAKER_00: After service, we're gonna go do some baptisms in the river.
SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing more special about baptisms in a river.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of neat because it's symbolic that Jesus himself was baptized in the river Jordan, but it's the act of obedience that Jesus commanded believers be baptized in the name of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Because baptism is the profession of our relationship with Him.
SPEAKER_00: It's telling the world and the church and those around, man, Jesus is my Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And if we have not been baptized, we're living in disobedience because it's commanded of us.
SPEAKER_00: And again, baptism is a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: And you might be thinking, that sounds great, but I don't like people.
SPEAKER_00: So that kind of scares me.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about you.
SPEAKER_00: Baptism is about the declaration of what Jesus has done in your life.
SPEAKER_00: So I just want to encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: If you have not been baptized, join us at the river and get baptized.
SPEAKER_00: But you're like, I didn't bring swim trunks.
SPEAKER_00: Who cares?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the great thing about our clothes, they dry.
SPEAKER_00: So don't create excuses.
SPEAKER_00: You can.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to, you can create a number of excuses.
SPEAKER_00: But if you have not been baptized, do it.
SPEAKER_00: Be obedient.
SPEAKER_00: If you have made a confession in Jesus, take that next step.
SPEAKER_00: And then here's what I want to encourage us.
SPEAKER_00: Church, God is moving.
SPEAKER_00: He is moving.
SPEAKER_00: Lives are being changed.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not because I'm up here sharing God's word.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about me.
SPEAKER_00: It is you, church.
SPEAKER_00: You are being transformed.
SPEAKER_00: The word of God is coming out of you.
SPEAKER_00: I see it in your lives, in your prayers, and how you're treating each other, how you're serving this community.
SPEAKER_00: It is overflowing.
SPEAKER_00: Church, be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: God is using you to reach more people for Him.
SPEAKER_00: Go out and keep doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Keep being faithful.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you you are serving and no one's seeing it, but God sees it.
SPEAKER_00: Keep going.
SPEAKER_00: Be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: Church, sometimes people are seeing it and you don't even realize it.
SPEAKER_00: So keep doing it.
SPEAKER_00: I am so blessed every Sunday to have the privilege to stand before you, look out, knowing how this church is just being so generous with its time, its resources, its finances, all that to say we believe in a kingdom greater than ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: And you're seeing it come to fruition.
SPEAKER_00: And I guarantee you we're going to get to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not going to be about Eagle Hills Church or First Baptist Church or first Presbyterian or first, first, first, first, first, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: It's just going to be the sons and daughters of a king who are faithful to the Lord Jesus in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: So let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, we just thank you for who you are.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you've given us this opportunity to be claimed by you, Lord, to be washed anew, to be made righteous, not because of any of our works, Lord, but because of the grace and sacrifice of your son Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, I pray for the person in this room today, Lord, who has not given their lives, would they do that now?
SPEAKER_00: Would they say yes to you?
SPEAKER_00: Would this be the moment that their lives forever change and you become Lord of their life to their very last breath, so that they can stand before you someday saying that it was never me, Jesus, it was all you and be welcomed into a kingdom eternal.
SPEAKER_00: And then, Lord, I pray for the rest of us, Lord, may you continue to renew us.
SPEAKER_00: Would you call us to repentance?
SPEAKER_00: Would we continue to live out the belief that we have that you are our Lord, Lord, and that our lives would be shaped and that your kingdom would grow because of it.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, would you bless our baptismal time today as we go to the river, Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a stranger is walking by and they hear the good news and decide to make a commitment, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever it is, Jesus, we just pray your will be done.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, as we end this service in worship, Lord, would you receive all the glory and all the praise in your powerful name?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.