WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:00.640 Meet you. 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:04.959 And so directly following our gathering, I'll be back at the welcome booth. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:09.119 I'd love to shake your hand, introduce myself personally, and meet you there. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:17.760 Here at Missio, we say that we exist to establish and multiply gospel-centered, city-focused church communities. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:28.559 And so we want to be a people who is centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message that God has come in the flesh to save us from our sins and set all things right again. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:42.560 We want to be a people who humbly listens and learns from the culture in which we find ourselves, and then generously give back to that culture, ultimately culminating in the sharing and showing the love of Jesus in the gospel. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:48.560 And then finally, we want to be, we endeavor to be a true church community. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:55.679 And what we mean by that is that we have not simply been forgiven of our sins and then left on our own. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.719 No, we have been made a part of a community, a body, a family. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:21.439 And Jesus has brought us in and has called us to live as that family as we seek to love one another, bear each other's burdens, rejoice and weep together, ultimately making disciples of one another as we seek to be more and more like Jesus Christ. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:29.120 And so for the last two weeks, we have prayed that God would help us to be a gospel-centered people, that He would help us to be a city-focused people. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:43.760 And then this morning, just for a moment, would you join me as we pray that God would help us to truly be a church community who loves one another, who bears one another's burdens, and then seeks to help each other look more and more like Jesus. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:45.439 Would you pray with me? 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.159 Father, through Christ, you have brought us into a new people. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:59.840 We who were once outside of the faith, outside of the family, you have welcomed us to the table. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:15.599 And we don't sit at this table alone, we sit with our brothers and sisters, and you have called us to be a true community, to model to a world what it looks like to be in fellowship, to be in union with one another. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.560 But Father, this is something that we cannot do on our own. 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:33.439 We need your help as you guide us by your Spirit, centering us on the message of Jesus as we seek together to look more and more like Him. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:41.120 Father, equip us, help us here, and we ultimately pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:42.960 Amen and amen. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:47.120 As has been said, we're gonna continue in our Advent series. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:51.120 Joy has dawned, and we're gonna be in John chapter 1. 00:02:51.360 --> 00:03:02.800 This morning, we're gonna jump around just a little bit, but we're gonna start with John chapter 1, verses 6 through 8, and then we'll skip down to verse 19 and read through verse 27. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:07.840 This is kind of one uh story with a brief intermission, and so we'll skip over that intermission. 00:03:08.159 --> 00:03:14.800 We'll come back to that next week, but we'll read verses six through eight and then nineteen through twenty-seven of John chapter one. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:21.120 When you find your place, and if you're able and willing, would you join with me in standing as we read the word of God? 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:28.960 Hear the word of the Lord. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.639 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:37.840 He came as a witness to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.560 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:53.280 Verse 19, and this is the testimony of John, when Jesus, uh I'm sorry, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:58.319 He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:00.240 And they asked him, What then? 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.199 Are you Elijah? 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:02.800 And he said, I am not. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:03.919 Are you the prophet? 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:05.280 He answered, No. 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:07.680 So they said to him, Who are you? 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:11.599 We need to give an account to give an answer to those who sent us. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:13.439 What do you say about yourself? 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:17.839 And he said, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.680 Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:22.959 Verse twenty four. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:31.519 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees, and they asked him, Then why are you baptizing if you are neither the Christ nor Elijah nor the prophet? 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:44.079 And John answered them, I baptized with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:46.800 This is God's word. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:48.399 Thanks be to God. 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:49.920 Would you pray with me once more? 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:58.639 Father, would you open our eyes and our minds and our ears to hear and see and understand your word by the power of your spirit? 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:03.839 Speak into us and then help us then to live in light of these truths. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:06.319 We pray all this in Christ's name. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.199 Amen. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:08.000 Amen. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:08.879 You can be seated. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:09.759 Thank you. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:16.079 My wife isn't the best in the world when it comes to directions. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:25.519 Now, to preface, I did run this by her, uh, and she affirmed she approved, and so this is not being shared without consent. 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.199 There are a lot of things my wife is great at. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:30.639 Directions aren't one of them. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:31.759 It is what it is. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:42.560 And there have been more times than one when we've been on the phone together, and I'm trying to help her figure out where she is and which direction she needs to go to get to her destination. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.439 I'll ask, okay, look around, what do you see? 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:49.199 And inevitably she responds, I don't, I don't see anything. 00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:56.399 And understandably, I respond very calmly, what do you mean you don't see anything? 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.480 Um say, Oh, well, I see such and such. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:06.560 Here's this road or this building or whatever, and finally we figure out where she is, how she needs to get home. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.480 So the other day we're going somewhere. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:25.040 I'm driving uh my car, she's following behind in her car, and uh we're both headed to the same place, but ultimately this is my fault because I got too far ahead of her, and I look in my mirror and she's no longer there. 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:29.759 I stop, it's been a few minutes, so I call, hey, um, where are you? 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.160 Now the road on which we were driving, there they had recently installed a roundabout. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:39.680 And so I called her, uh, where are you at? 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:49.920 Uh you were right behind me, and come to find out she had made it to the roundabout, but then couldn't quite figure out which exit to take. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:57.279 And so she found herself stuck in this matrix of uh circles in her car. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:06.000 And so I told her, if if you'll look down at your GPS for a moment and look at the little blue line, like it'll it'll show you where to go. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:11.360 Even if the roundabout's not on the map, if you look at the line, it'll show you the direction you're supposed to go. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.560 And it was like a light bulb went off. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:21.519 That if I just follow that path, it'll actually tell her the best direction to go. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.439 She apparently she just listens like to the street names that it would speak to her. 00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:28.399 And of course, this is a new roundabout, doesn't have any of that information. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:32.399 So I said, hey, just follow the arrow and Epiphany. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:36.879 Uh she was able to make her way out of that roundabout. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:46.959 In our text this morning, we see something similar, I think, to that blue line on the Apple maps that kind of points us in the right direction. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:57.759 We see this man named John who's not trying to draw people's attention to himself, but is drawing a clear and present line to something else. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.160 To someone else. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.920 He's not trying to be the point. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:08.399 He's simply pointing others to the true destination, as it were. 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:13.040 And he realizes that there's one much greater than he. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:18.959 And he takes up this calling of simply standing in the street and pointing. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.399 Pointing the way for others to find this truly worthy one. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:34.399 This Jesus who has come into the world, as we talked about last week, as God in the flesh, to save sinners and to restore his creation. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:09:01.759 And as we think through this story of Advent, that Jesus Christ came into the world and that he will one day come again, this introduction of John the Baptist is tremendously helpful for us as we see how he interacts with Jesus and the ways in which Jesus' coming affects how John then lives and moves in his life and in his context. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:14.799 Now, I don't want to be overly simplistic or overly reductionistic here, but we could say that in this room this morning there are essentially two sorts of people. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.679 The first is those of us who tend toward pride. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.840 We try to turn the story and make it about us. 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:30.159 We tend to crave the attention or the adoration or the praise of the people. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.120 We want to be the hero of the story. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.919 Then there are those of us who tend toward self-loathing. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:47.039 We focus not on how great we are, but how rotten we are, how insignificant, how helpless we are to do anything worthwhile. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.600 And therefore, we should probably just not even try to do anything at all. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:58.799 And the irony of both of these groups is that they both think far too highly of themselves. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:11.519 One does this by thinking he or she is naturally the hero, the other does this by thinking that he or she can actually be the exception when God says that he uses the weak and lowly things of the world. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:17.919 This person says, Yeah, but you've never met someone as weak and lowly as me. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:25.200 And essentially, both of these groups are seeking their own glory. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:40.639 But John makes abundantly clear for us that there's only one who is truly worthy of all glory, and that his glory has great implications for how we then live in our world. 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:48.559 And so let me give you a summary statement as we work our way through this text. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:53.919 If you get nothing else, I hope you hear this, ponder this, meditate on this a bit. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:03.919 Because he is worthy of all glory, we can humbly and boldly preach Jesus to all people. 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:12.960 Because he is worthy of all glory, we can both humbly and boldly preach Jesus to all people. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:31.840 As we consider John the Baptist and his life and his ministry, we can also understand some of our own identities, both as image-bearers of God and those who have trusted in Jesus to forgive us of our sins and to bring us into this family. 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:44.799 So let's look at primarily three things that as we work our way through John's identity in this text, it reflects to us some of our own identities in this world. 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.720 First, we are witnesses of Jesus. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:51.120 We're witnesses of Jesus. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.759 Look at verses six through eight. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.399 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:03.519 He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:08.399 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.480 A witness is basically a storyteller. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:23.600 It's someone who has seen something, have heard something, have experienced something, and now is compelled to tell that story. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:27.919 My daughter Willow, my oldest, she's six years old. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.039 When I pick her up from school in the afternoon, inevitably I ask her, hey, how was your day? 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:35.039 Tell me something that you learned. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.360 And every day I get the same answer. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:38.720 I don't remember. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.519 It was too long ago, is typically what she tells me. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.679 It was too long ago. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:53.759 And so I have to drag any detail about her day in class out of her, whether it was what she did in math or what they learned when they're looking at shapes or whatever the case may be. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:59.759 And I might get a little detail or two, but most of the time she just doesn't remember, apparently. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:22.240 But what's interesting is that almost every day, a few minutes later, it's like something will pop into her head that she remembers about something funny that one of her friends did, or something interesting from class, and she will then launch into this story with excitement, telling me every little detail of what happened. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:27.759 Whereas a few minutes ago, before she couldn't remember a single thing from the day. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:41.440 But it when it was something that she saw and experienced and heard that stirred her heart and affected her uh her emotions, she just couldn't stop talking about it. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.120 And she had to tell me this story. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:58.240 As humans, as people created in the image of God, storytelling is at the core of who we are. 00:13:59.919 --> 00:14:04.720 Bearing witness is a crucial aspect of our identity as humans. 00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:11.840 When God made us in his image, he made us to tell a story. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:28.960 In ancient kingdoms, when a ruler would conquer a new land, he would uh uh uh have his craftsmen make up these sculptures or these images that would bear his image, that would tell all who saw it this was the ruler of this land. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:42.639 He would then take them and place them up on the highest points in the land so that everyone traveling through all of the inhabitants could look up and see this image of the king that was telling a story. 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:58.960 And God, when he formed us out of the ground and breathed his life into us, making us his image bearers, he was giving us the responsibility of telling his story to all of creation. 00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:02.799 That he is the king of this land. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.039 So storytelling is part of who we are as humans. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:16.879 But inherent within that is the reality that we are not the point of the story. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:28.559 We're simply the witnesses, we're the the heralds standing on those high places, pointing to someone greater, just as John the Baptist is doing. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.200 He wasn't the light, the text says. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.320 He was simply bearing witness or telling the story of the light. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.200 And this reality is so freeing. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:53.440 This frees us to be humbly bold as we tell the story of the worthiness of Jesus. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:16:08.879 For those of us who tend toward pride as we elevate ourselves to be the point, this frees us to abandon the need to be elevated and humbly point toward Jesus, who is truly worthy of all glory. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:18.559 It frees us from the need to elevate ourselves when we understand that our core identity is to tell another's story. 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:40.080 And for those of us who tend toward pride and self-loathing, this frees us to lift our head and look at Jesus, who has both made us and remade us to boldly tell his story to the world. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.120 We are witnesses, we're storytellers. 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:53.679 We're not the light, but we are the ones who tell the story of the light in a dark world. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:16:56.399 Second. 00:16:57.679 --> 00:17:00.559 We are identified with Jesus. 00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:04.559 Look at verses 19 through 23. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:14.240 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who are you? 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.440 He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, I am not the Christ. 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:22.240 And they asked him, What then? 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:23.680 Are you Elijah? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:24.960 He said, I'm not. 00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:26.160 Are you a prophet? 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:27.200 Are you the prophet? 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:28.319 He answered, No. 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:30.160 So they said to him, Who are you? 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.559 We need to give an answer to those who sent us. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:33.839 What do you say about yourself? 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:38.160 And he said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.079 Make straight the way of the Lord, as the prophet Isaiah said. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:46.000 So now we're beginning to see a pattern. 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:50.960 John is drawing attention. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:18:00.079 He's calling people to pay attention, but he's not doing it in a way that demands the attention for himself. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:10.960 He's not elevating himself, but at the same time, he's also not hiding in a corner with his head hung low, saying, There's no way I could tell this story. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:15.200 No, he is demanding. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:23.680 He's commanding attention, but then he is constantly shifting that attention from himself and on to Christ. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.519 He's saying, Pay attention. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:30.319 But not to me. 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:32.640 To Jesus. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:45.680 And when these men who had been sent by the Pharisees to see what all the commotion was about started hearing the story that John was telling, they asked him, Who are you? 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:50.319 And I find it interesting that John immediately responds, I am not the Christ. 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.880 I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not the Christ. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:01.359 They said, Are you Elijah? 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.119 He said, No. 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:05.359 Are you the prophet? 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:06.400 No. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:09.119 Who are you then? 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:11.200 You can almost begin to hear their frustration. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:17.119 They've been sent to do a job to find out what's going on and who this man is. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:20.559 And you can tell that John's making it difficult for them. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:26.400 They ask, if you're not the Christ and you're not Elijah or the prophet, who are you? 00:19:26.480 --> 00:19:30.559 And John responds by quoting from Isaiah 40. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:37.920 In Isaiah 40, we see this prophecy about one day when God's people are going to ultimately be comforted. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:42.079 Their war will end. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:44.480 Their sins will be forgiven. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:51.920 The text says that the valleys will be raised up, and the crooked paths will be made straight. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:57.759 And it says that the glory of the Lord will be made clear. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:02.559 And in response to this question, who are you? 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.319 John quotes from this text to identify who he is. 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:10.960 He says, I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:13.680 Make straight the way of the Lord. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.720 In essence, saying, That day has come. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:31.039 When my people will be comforted, when their sins will be forgiven, when the rocky, the crooked places will be made straight, when the glory of the Lord will be clear. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:40.079 John is saying, I am that man who is telling you the Lord has come. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:48.240 In other words, John says, I'm with him, but I'm not him. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:53.359 I I point, but I'm not the point. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.279 I'm not the Christ, he says. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:58.880 That's Jesus. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.559 He's the one who is worthy of all glory, not me. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.359 He deflects, he shifts the attention from himself onto Christ. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:09.440 But I'm with him, he says. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.079 I'm identified with him, and I tell his story. 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.440 I speak of his glory, not mine. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:27.519 And all of those of us who trust in Jesus are identified with Jesus. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.640 And again, that is incredibly freeing. 00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:34.799 It frees us from having to be the hero. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.359 Or feeling crushed and defeated when we realize that we can't be. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:59.680 We can simply stand and point to Jesus, who is the true hero of the story, who is the one that was promised that will make the crooked way straight, that will comfort a mourning people. 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:04.880 That will forgive the sins of sinners. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:09.279 We just stand and point. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:15.119 Third. 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:20.480 We're ministers of Jesus. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.359 Verse twenty-four through twenty-seven. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.640 It says, Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:32.400 They asked him, Then why are you baptizing? 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:39.920 If you're neither the Christ nor Elijah, nor the prophet, why are you baptizing? 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:51.920 And John answered them, I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I'm not worthy to even untie. 00:22:54.960 --> 00:23:06.799 So after John made clear that he's not the Christ, he's not the promised one, the anointed one, neither is he Elijah, come back from the dead. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:15.359 These men who've been sent from the Pharisees began to wonder, why is it that John is then baptizing? 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:19.759 And in reality, this is a valid question. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:31.279 If you're not the Christ in their mind, if you're not the Christ, you're not Elijah, come back from the dead, you're not the great prophet, why are you baptizing? 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:37.519 Not a bad question. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:46.880 Except they didn't fully understand the correlation between this sign and the thing that's being signified. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:48.799 Or the thing that it's pointing to. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.680 So, to this question, John answers. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:01.920 I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I'm not worthy to untie. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.279 The pattern continues. 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:10.160 He's deflecting any kind of attention or glory from himself and pointing to Jesus. 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:18.079 Jesus is the only one deserving of this glory, deserving of this attention. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:40.480 And in Mark chapter 1, verse 8, we get a bit fuller of an answer from John the Baptist when he says, I have baptized you with water, but he, the one who's coming, the one whose sandal I'm not even worthy to unlatch, he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:25:01.440 Rather, he's simply making clear that Jesus is the one with all the power and authority. 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:04.480 He's the only one who deserves the glory. 00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:11.440 He's the one who will give to his people the Holy Spirit to be within them. 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:18.319 So he's not making a comparison here between water baptism and spirit baptism. 00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:35.440 Rather, the point is that while it is ultimately the work of God in people's lives that bring them to true saving faith and put the Spirit of God in them, one of the means by which he does this is through the ministry of his people. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:48.960 This task that we've been inherently given as storytellers, to reflect, to show, to share the glory of Christ with the world. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.200 John was a minister of Jesus. 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:58.640 We are ministers of Jesus. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:04.720 We don't have the authority or the power to baptize people in the Holy Spirit. 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:06.640 Only God can do that. 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:10.559 To fill us with the Spirit. 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:12.400 We don't get to do that. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:30.720 But God uses us as his ministers to share his story and share his love with those around us as we seek to save the lost, or ultimately as we seek to bear his good and right image in the world. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:34.799 Preaching that the King has come. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:40.960 We're storytellers. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:43.759 We're not the leading man. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:54.799 We're signposts standing in the way, pointing to something, to someone who is greater. 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.440 And we're humble participants. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:04.799 The greater work belonging to the Lord alone. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:10.799 So this is our gospel conviction. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:24.480 Christ is worthy of all praise because he was sinless, he was deserving of all the glory, and yet he became sin for us. 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:36.400 He's the only true worthy one, and yet the scriptures tell us that he didn't hold on to this glory as a means of avoiding suffering. 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:48.880 But he laid it aside, putting on flesh, becoming like us in every way, and yet remaining without sin. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:59.440 And though he was without sin, the scriptures tell us that he became sin for us. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:06.160 He took the curse on himself for us. 00:28:08.559 --> 00:28:12.559 The only true one who deserved the glory. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:14.720 Think about that. 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:20.400 We who are inherently storytellers try to steal the glory. 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:27.680 But Jesus, who rightly deserves it, laid it aside. 00:28:29.519 --> 00:28:36.480 For a people who were his enemies, who had rebelled against him, who had sinned against him. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:47.279 And rather than crushing them under the weight of that curse, he took the curse himself and became crushed. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:48.799 Why? 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:55.680 So that we then could be seated at the table of God. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.759 So that we could be welcomed into a family that was not rightly ours. 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:21.680 But the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, was crushed for us, taking our curse, taking our penalty, drinking it down to the last drop, and then by grace welcoming us to sit in his seat. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:38.720 By faith, he is worthy of all praise, and yet he laid aside his glory to become sin for us, so that sinners could be made sons and daughters of God. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:54.400 So if we believe that, if that is true, then here are some ways that we can walk in this in our everyday life. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:30:02.720 When we step out of here, into our spheres of influence, into our homes, into our workplaces. 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:08.319 First, be humble. 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:18.160 In John chapter 3, verse 30, John the Baptist goes on to say, he says, He, meaning Jesus must increase. 00:30:19.599 --> 00:30:21.440 And I must decrease. 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:28.240 Jesus is the only one truly worthy of glory. 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:33.279 And therefore, friends, our pride has no foundation. 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:40.240 There's no justification for pride and arrogance in our hearts. 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:43.920 The gospel frees us to be a humble people. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:52.319 We don't have to feel the weight of being elevated or being the hero or having the attention on us. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:30:59.200 Be humble. 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:04.799 And then second, be bold. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:18.720 See, not only does this story of the gospel cut the legs out from under our pride, but Jesus also removes our self-pity. 00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:25.920 Because he has originally created us to tell a story. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:35.359 And through the gospel, he has remade us, he has made us new and sent us on mission to boldly proclaim that story. 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:41.839 That God has come into the world to save sinners and to make things right again. 00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:57.680 And so the gospel removes from us any rightful self-pity to just sit in the corner and loathe ourselves because Jesus gave his life, brothers and sisters, to seat you at the table. 00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:07.200 And so look for evidences of that grace. 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:15.920 When in your heart begins to swell up this feeling of self-loathing, of pity. 00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:21.200 Look for the evidence of God's grace in your life. 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:28.240 The way in which your community is calling you to more Christ's likeness. 00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:35.279 The way in which you have this desire to fight against your sin more and more. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.000 Friends, that's evidence of grace. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:47.119 And then boldly tell the story of Jesus. 00:32:48.720 --> 00:32:52.559 Boldly tell the story of Jesus. 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:58.079 Because friends, it is the greatest story that's ever been told. 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:16.960 That Jesus Christ, the Holy One, the One deserving of all glory, did not seek to hold on to it to avoid suffering, but laid it aside and stepped into your suffering. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:28.160 To then by grace invite you to sit at the table and be treated like sons and daughters of God. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:31.119 That's a great story. 00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:34.319 And so tell it boldly. 00:33:34.480 --> 00:33:35.839 Tell it humbly. 00:33:36.400 --> 00:33:38.079 And tell it boldly. 00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:43.200 Because Jesus is worthy of all glory, friends. 00:33:43.440 --> 00:33:50.160 We can humbly and boldly preach Jesus to all people. 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:52.720 Would you pray with me? 00:33:57.279 --> 00:34:25.199 Father, this Advent narrative, this beautiful story invites us into humble and bold storytelling as we bear your image and share this story, this gospel, this good news with the dark world around us as Jesus, the light, has come into the darkness. 00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:34.400 Father, thank you for freeing us from the need to feel as if we have to be the hero. 00:34:36.960 --> 00:34:53.920 Thank you for freeing us from the inherent desire of self-loathing and pity and setting us on course, sending us on mission to humbly and boldly tell this story in all the world. 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:58.639 We pray this in the name of Christ. 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:00.079 Amen. 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:10.239 Here at Missio, we believe that as the word of God is proclaimed, we see this in the scriptures as well. 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:14.239 As the word goes out, we are then called to respond. 00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:19.760 And so here at Missio, we like to create a space or an avenue for our receiver.