WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:07.519 Randy and I uh lived in Wisconsin for about three years, 2012, 2015. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:11.039 And if you've ever been in Wisconsin, they love the Packers. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:16.160 Um I mean they the church is just stacked with Packers gear and cheese heads and all the rest of it. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.399 Um and while we were there, we loved the Packers. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:26.320 I love I loved Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers while he was there, and then he abandoned us um and went to the jets and then hurt himself. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.480 So that's on him. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:37.280 Um But when we were there, we we got a chance to go to Lambeau Field, the stadium, and uh got to do the tour, and it was really cool. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:40.799 Um and we were you learned the history of the Packers and all the rest of it. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:46.560 And uh we were walking through the tunnel and we got to go out actually on the field, and the the rule, you know, it's like, hey, you can't step on the grass. 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:49.439 And he was like, You can't step on the grass, you can't you can't lick the grass. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.439 And I was like, what? 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:53.920 He's like, Yeah, you can't you can't lick the grass. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:00:57.200 And I was like, Well, now I'm gonna lick it. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.799 I wasn't gonna lick it, but now I'm definitely gonna lick the grass. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.959 Um, and so Rainey and I snuck off and we licked the grass. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.000 And uh it tasted normal. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:14.000 It's just I don't know why you, I don't know why he said it, but I wouldn't have done it if he wouldn't have said it. 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:16.959 But we learned the history, we did some weird stuff there, that was really fun. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.959 But one of the things that I learned that I thought was really cool was I learned about Vince Lombardi. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:32.480 I didn't I don't know a ton about Vince Lombardi, um, but the he was a coach and maybe one of the greatest coaches of all time uh in the NFL, and he coached the Packers for a number of years, basically throughout the 60s. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:39.120 Um But one of the things that they was were telling us about him, and like now the Super Bowl is the Lombardi trophy. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.480 Like you get the Lombardi trophy based on you know this man and his legacy. 00:01:42.719 --> 00:02:03.599 Um But he's he's famous for doing this thing where he was coaching the Packers, um, and they were on the way to win the NFL championship and then got stopped like right in the red zone, right before they scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and they blew this lead, and they went from like winning the national championship to losing it just by a little bit, and it was a real tragedy for them, and they were very sad. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:18.159 And so the next season they meet in the locker room, and it's July of 1961, and they're expecting to have this space where it's like, okay, we're going to we we almost won the championship last year, and so let's pick up where we left off. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:21.360 Let's let's uh what's what's something that we can do to upgrade our defense? 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.039 What's something we can do to upgrade our offense? 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:35.280 What's something we can do to upgrade and learn new tactics and new ways to tackle and new ways to just get an edge up on the teams this year so that we can just elevate where we were last year and just pick up from there. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:43.919 And instead of doing that, and this is what he's famous for, Vince Lombardi gets the team together, all 38 players, into the thing, gets them their you know their books and all the rest of it. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:50.719 And basically he just stands up, he's like, okay, he takes a football and he holds it up, and he says, Gentlemen, this is a football. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.400 And he just starts from the beginning. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:03:01.520 And so from there, what he does is he he it says that he grabbed their playbooks, handed it to them, and they went not to page 111 or whatever, they went back to page one. 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.439 And it was like, let's just start at the beginning. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:11.680 They started learning how to block again, this the fundamental way, how to tackle, how to throw, how to catch, how to do special teams, and it felt very elementary to them. 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:14.879 It's like, how is this going to benefit us in any way? 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:20.080 But he just took this tactic of going, like, let's just go back to what we do and why we do it. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:26.319 And then from there, they ended up winning the national championship that year, and then over the next seven years, they won five national championships. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:35.280 And a lot of it is attributed to not because he gave them new ways to elevate their game, but because he just kept going back to like, look, this is what we do, and this is why we do it. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:42.000 Every time we think that it's more complicated than this, we get in our own heads and we mess up and we fumble the ball on the one-yard line. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:42.879 Like, let's not do that. 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.639 Let's just remember this is a football, and it needs to go into that space. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:49.520 Like, that's it's that simple the entire time. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:55.039 And so for us, as I was thinking about that and thinking about our church, I don't want to win any championships. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:56.960 We're not trying to set records here at this church. 00:03:57.120 --> 00:03:57.919 There's nothing like that. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:00.319 We don't want to be in magazines as like the fastest growing church. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.199 Well, I don't care. 00:04:01.360 --> 00:04:02.159 Anything like that. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:10.159 But I do think that there's a space where church in the South and church as a whole can become so complicated. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.360 And so, like, what do we, we we forget what we even do here. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:22.879 And it's like, if you're gonna be a successful church, a lot of people are like, well, if you're gonna be a you know a church nowadays in our culture, like that what they say is like, you gotta be a house church, or you know, no, no, no, it's not a house church. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:31.360 You need to be, the model needs to be multi-site church, or you need to have a satellite church, or you need to have a missional church, a charismatic church, a megachurch. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:35.439 No, it's not megachurch, you need to do this, you need to do that, like all these different things. 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:46.319 And all these people and all these people are writing about this stuff, and people are going, well, I go to this type of church, I go to an intellectual church, I go to a culturally cross-cultural church or a multicultural church, and all these different things, and it becomes so complicated. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:54.480 And I've heard people just over 17 years of ministry, people say, like, if you're gonna be successful, you need to have a building to be a church. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:56.480 And other people are like, no, I vehemently disagree. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:05.519 You do not need to have a building, you need to rent and bless the culture with your rent and partner with schools and stuff like that, which is what we do, although we're not saying it's the end-all-be-all model. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:11.519 Uh some people say, like, you need to have a food pantry so that you're having like the homeless come in and people from the city coming in, which I think is a cool thing. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:21.360 But then other people say, No, you don't need to do that because you just need to take your money and you need to partner with other organizations in the city in order to bless the city, and then all of a sudden that's that's the way that you'll grow your church. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.639 Other people say if you're gonna have a successful church, you need to sing the newer songs. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:27.120 Then they say, no, no, no, we need to bring the older songs back. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:34.879 And then some people say you need to have one service, and some people say, no, you need to have two services, one for the younger generation and one for the older generation, and just on and on and on and on. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:37.600 Like, how do we do church in a successful way? 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:43.839 And I think in the midst of all of these different things that people can say of like, here's what the church is supposed to be. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.920 I think we can just forget that like, what do we actually do here? 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.439 Why are we actually here? 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:50.639 What is this all for? 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:51.680 Who is it all for? 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.040 Why did it even begin? 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:56.959 Is it really live stream that's gonna save the church in the 21st century? 00:05:57.120 --> 00:05:57.839 Is that really it? 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.040 Or is there something else? 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:03.920 And I think it can become so complicated, we just forget what we are, who we are, and why we do what we do. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:14.800 And so for the next 12 weeks, we want to do a series uh titled Here for Him, and basically just looking at the idea of the fact that everything that we do here is for Him, for Jesus. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:16.399 It's not for me, it's not for you. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:21.600 It's everything that we do here is because of Him, and it is for Him, it's about Him. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:40.480 And so what we're gonna talk about over the next 12 weeks is why we worship, why we preach, what we preach, why we gather, why we take communion, why we baptize, why we give money to the church, why we serve the church, your role in the church as the church, and then my role as the pastor and the leadership's role as the leaders of the church. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:52.319 We just want to look at all of these different things, not to just give you information transfer, but just so that we have this space where it's like, this is a football, this is a church, this is what this is, this is how it began, and this is why we exist and this is what we do. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:07:07.439 In hopes that we'll we'll wind up in the space where there's this renewed vision of like, oh, okay, all the different things, it's not like I just go to church on Sunday in the South because my parents went, and then their parents before them, and then their parents before them, and it's just this cultural thing that we do on a Sunday. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:14.480 But like, oh, there's this space here where this thing was created long ago that actually has value to us and there's something here for us. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:24.000 And so that's what we want to do over the next 12 weeks, right up until Easter, to realize more and more like here's why we do what we do, and get back to the fundamentals of some of those things. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:30.560 And so I wanted to begin with this passage today, because this passage is the first time that Jesus ever talks about the church. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.160 It's the first usage of the word. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.680 Jesus says the ecclesia, the church, this gathering of people. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:37.600 And it's the first time he ever says anything about it. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:42.959 And so, what I want to do today is look at three things we learn about the church from what Jesus says about it. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:51.600 Because to me, if if it's his thing and it's about him and for him and all the rest of it, and the word the things that he says about it, I want us to learn from him basically what it is. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:58.399 First one is that we learn that uh Jesus says that it's his church, it's not our church. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.800 It's his church, not our church. 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:11.920 Um, I don't know about you, but I've never walked into somebody's house when they were like making me dinner, and then when we sat down at the dining room table, I was like, actually, I don't like the dining room table here. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.319 I'm gonna move this and just snag it and moved it. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:18.639 Like I've never had you've had me over to your house and just started rearranging your furniture. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:23.600 Like, oh, you put your TV there, that's stupid, and then just grab it and like I've you've never do that. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:24.879 Um that's not what you do. 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:26.720 You don't do that in somebody else's house. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:32.159 Like your preference for where things go and what things go like, like it's not up to you. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:37.279 Your preference doesn't matter as much because you're not in your own house, it's their house. 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:40.720 And I think that similar things uh are involved in the life of the church. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:42.799 The church realistically is not ours, it's his. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:48.559 So our preferences don't matter as much as what he says about the church and how the church is supposed to function. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:52.320 We actually had this happen uh at the last house we were at. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:54.240 Uh, we had this builder who we love. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:55.279 We love him. 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:04.399 And we told him, like, hey, uh, he's gonna sand down all of our floors and then paint and or stain and do all this stuff, and like we want it to look like this. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:05.279 This is what we want it to look like. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:06.399 And he's like, great, got it. 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.080 Paid him the money, got him the stuff so he can go get it, literally got him all the supplies. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.799 And then we go to the beach, which is a terrible idea. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:16.000 Um, and so we go to the beach and he's like, he's doing it. 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:17.679 We when we come back, it's all done. 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.440 And I walk in and it is completely different than everything. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:25.120 He took our stuff back and was like, I thought this looked better. 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:29.120 And he just did the entire wood floor that could not be undone. 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:35.759 He had he did the entire wood floor in a different color, in a different stain, with a different, we wanted matte finished, and he had this shiny thing. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:36.879 It was hideous. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:38.240 And he was like, doesn't it look better? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:41.039 And I was like, bro, no, this is awful. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:41.919 I hate this. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:47.759 And it was thousands of dollars and all this stuff, and we so we just sold that house and gave it to somebody else and made it somebody else's problem. 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:49.440 That's actually true. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:50.960 We did sell the house. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.799 Um but it was like, this isn't yours. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:10:00.240 Like you don't get to, as the builder or as the worker, like thank you for working in this. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:01.840 I'm so thankful you did the work. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.240 But you don't get to make preferential decisions about a house that isn't yours. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:11.279 And I think in the same way, our preferences can't be the thing. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:16.480 Even though we we work in it, we tithe to it, we do all this stuff, like our preferences still, it's not ours. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:18.240 He says, it is my church. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:22.240 On this rock, I will build my church, not your church, not your preferential church. 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:31.679 I will build my thing, what I want to build the way I want to do it, I will do it this way, and not even the way I want to do it, because pastors can get in there too and be like, oh well, the church I want is this. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.039 And it's like it can't function that way because he won't build that church. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:36.720 He only builds his church. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.840 Everything in the church is about him. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.039 The church is for us and it's for our good. 00:10:43.279 --> 00:10:48.639 But at the end of the day, it is about him, and we can't make it about us because it's about him. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.759 He, like we give our money to it, but like he actually bought it. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.519 Like he bought it with his blood. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:55.360 It's because it's his because of that. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:56.639 He chose to purchase it. 00:10:56.960 --> 00:11:11.759 And I think when we forget that, that it's that it's his church and not ours, our preferences for what we would like the church to look like become reasons we either attend the church, like I'm I attend this church not because Jesus is building his church, but I attend this church because it matches my preferences. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:21.200 I attend or what ends up happening is that church stops meeting my preferences, and so I end up either attending the church that meets my preferences, or I leave the church that won't meet my preferences. 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.080 And so it looks like, well, they didn't have this, so I left. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:26.720 They didn't do this in the church, and so I left. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:29.279 The preference becomes the end all, be all. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:39.919 But when we remember that the church is Jesus' church, it's fine to have preferences, but our preferences don't become reasons that we leave, they actually become reasons that we choose to stay. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:46.240 And so it's like, hey, actually, uh this thing that I feel that I think should happen isn't a reason I should go find it somewhere else. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.480 It's something I should actually stay and build there. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.720 And you see this in Acts 6. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:12:00.159 There's this space in the early church, and the first couple of days, it's like the church is growing and all these great things are happening, and then there's a dispute that rises up in the church, which is not shocking. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:07.840 It's been like Jesus rose from the dead, the Holy Spirit comes and does this amazing stuff, and then they're fighting among one another because that's what the church does best. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:09.679 We just argue with one another really well. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:11.120 But this is what happens among them. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:12.000 They start arguing. 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:24.720 It says that in those days, when the number of disciples were increasing, the Hellenistic Greek Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because the widows, uh, their widows, excuse me, their widows were being overlooked. 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:30.559 It's very important, their widows, the Greek uh Jews' widows, were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:37.120 So the twelve gathered together, the disciples, and said, It would not be right to neglect the ministry of the word in order to wait on tables. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:42.559 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you, who are known to be full of the spirit and wisdom. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:46.720 And we will turn this responsibility over to them, and we will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:51.440 This proposal pleased the whole group, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:58.159 Also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus, and Nicholas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.200 And they presented these men to the apostles who prayed for them, laid hands on them, and so the word of God spread. 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:11.679 And you can miss out what happens here because the the Greek-speaking or the Greek Hellenistic Jews are the ones complaining. 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:15.519 And then the seven people who are chosen are the Hellenistic Jews. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:19.120 The seven people are all Hellenistic Jews in this particular space. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.440 And so the point was, it wasn't like, hey, you have a problem, like deal with your own problem. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:24.000 It wasn't that. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.240 It was like you've noticed something in the church. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:31.519 The Lord has given you eyes to see and a heart to feel for this specific thing in the life of the church. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:36.559 The way that we feel like it should move forward is take on that thing, make that thing your ministry. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:38.720 And it says it pleases the whole group of people. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:44.559 And the Hellenistic Jews who recognize that Hellenistic widows were being uh overlooked, they're like, we'll take it. 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:45.919 It will become our ministry. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:50.879 We will bless Jesus, we'll bless Jesus' church by serving the people in his church. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.320 And we're not gonna sit there and go, like, well, I'm gonna go somewhere else because the widows are being overlooked. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:54.960 It's not that. 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.879 It's like actually, I want to step in and bless the church by meeting this need. 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:02.559 And then notice what it says it says that the word of God spread. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.399 The church actually advanced because people didn't choose to go. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.799 I noticed an issue in the church, and so I bailed. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.799 I noticed an issue in the church, and that became my ministry to serve inside the church. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:21.279 Their preferences, their passions, even their in this particular case, their frustration and their angst wasn't something that the Lord was angry at. 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:23.200 It was actually like, hey, I put that there in you. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:25.679 You notice something that's lacking in the life of the church. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.799 Allow that to be a space that you pour into the life of the church. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:32.480 Don't go and find it where somebody else is doing it so you can just take it, take from it. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:37.200 Actually build something here among you that's actually something that's gonna bless the life of the church. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:47.120 And I think there's so much to that, I think it's same, the same is true for our passions, for our preferences, even for your frustrations and for the things that you look at in the church and be like, man, it'd be really nice if the church had X. 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:48.159 It's like great. 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.799 And that that I don't think that's a space where the Lord is going, like, yeah, I'm frustrating you so that you'll leave. 00:14:52.879 --> 00:15:00.720 I think it's like, man, I'm frustrating you're frustrating you so that you'll actually step into your role as someone who noticed a need in the church, and now you're gonna seek to meet it. 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:03.200 And I'm not saying that there's never any reason to leave a church. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.200 I recognize that there are tons of reasons to do that. 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:09.519 Most of them have nothing to do with preferences, and all of them have everything to do with theology. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:19.840 But I do think that there's a space here where what they're saying is like, man, what's available to you in the midst of your frustration is a space to serve the church, not to walk away from the church. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:27.200 And so for us, it would be like instead of saying, they don't have a youth ministry, so I'm going to leave, it would be they don't have a youth ministry, so I'm gonna stay. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:28.799 I'm gonna help pour into this. 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:31.360 They don't serve the poor enough in this area, so I'm gonna leave. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:34.960 No, they don't serve the poor in this area, so I want to begin a thing over there. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:37.039 They don't do mission trips over in this space. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.039 It's like, oh, I'm gonna go to a church that does that. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:39.919 Like, no, no, no. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:41.120 Let's begin that here. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:49.679 The church is built up by people noticing discrepancies or noticing flaws or noticing things that are missing and going, like, I notice this isn't here. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:54.799 I'd like to step in and actually give my hands and feet because Jesus is the head and I'm just the body. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:56.320 And so I'm not gonna leave his church. 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:59.039 I'm actually gonna function as his hands and feet inside the body. 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:06.240 And because it's his church, when we know this, when we believe this and have this in its proper order, our preferences don't become the head and king of the church. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:08.720 He remains that, and our preferences become our ministry. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.440 I think this is super important for us to just be reminded of. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:14.879 And more than most things, y'all, I welcome this at this church. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.159 If you're like, man, I notice a need, great, please come talk to me. 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.200 I will never shoot you down unless it's just a terrible idea. 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:21.519 No. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.679 Um I I genuinely like I want this to happen so much. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:32.080 Like you have passions, you have preferences, you have things, you notice needs that I don't because you are you and I am me. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.440 My passion is for everybody to pray multiple hours a day. 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:36.159 That's what I want. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.879 But if the church is built on that, nobody's gonna do anything. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.679 We're all gonna be praying and nobody's gonna be like actually serving the poor. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:42.559 I'm just praying for the poor. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.080 God, heal the poor. 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.679 Like, like we need we need other people that are like, I think I'm gonna go serve the poor. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.279 We need Alan who's going to my field. 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.480 We need these things that are happening. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:17:00.799 We need people who have hearts for uh adopter, uh, adoption and foster care and all the like we need people with those things because it's not everybody's passion and it's not everybody's preference, but it is yours. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:10.000 And so the church will grow and expand and become more the hands and feet and more all of those things as we actually lean into those things, not run to other churches who have those things. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.359 And again, this isn't a plea for like please stay at our church. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:14.559 It's not that, I promise. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:15.680 I love our church. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:23.759 Um, but the point is it's his, and the way that the church is built up is by people getting into small tiffs and going, should we abandon one another? 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:24.720 It's like, no, no, no. 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:34.559 We should we should look together and work together to actually do something in the life of our city and the life of our church so that we are serving the head who is Christ, because it's his church and not ours. 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.400 And so for us, if you have thoughts, I will say this. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:44.319 I there's a difference between a good idea and a great idea, and I say this to everybody, a good idea is just an idea that you have. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:46.240 Colton, here's a good idea for the church. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:46.960 Love those. 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:51.680 A great idea is a good idea attached to I also want to help do that thing. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:52.079 Okay? 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.920 Tons of people have good ideas, they just launch bombs at you, like, go start this thing. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:17:57.599 And I'm like, uh, I'm busy. 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:00.880 Like, I got an eight-year-old and a wife and all these different things. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:06.079 But like, if you a great idea is a good idea that you go, I'd also like to be the person that runs that and takes the lead on that. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.359 Great ideas, that's what we want. 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:07.759 Okay. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:08.960 Second thing. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:10.000 That's the first thing. 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:11.519 It's Jesus' church, not ours. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:12.640 Our preferences matter. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.039 They just don't matter as much as what Jesus wants to do with the church. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.720 And so everything is about him and for us, but it's about him. 00:18:19.119 --> 00:18:21.279 Second thing is Jesus builds the church. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:23.759 Jesus builds the church, we do not. 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.799 This is what he says on this rock, I will build my church. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:27.759 I will build. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.599 Jesus is like, I build this thing. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.599 You do not build it, I build it. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:41.440 When the church forgets that Jesus builds the church and starts believing that it's up to them as the pastors or the people inside the church. 00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:51.119 It's such a difficult task to build a church, and not like a building, but like to advance and keep the church alive and flourishing. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:59.839 It's such a difficult task that what it normally does when people think it's up to them, what it leads them to do is it leads them ultimately to make decisions out of fear. 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:02.480 Because it's just such a difficult task. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:06.640 And so the way this has happened in the past is like people pander to the largest donors in the church. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.359 It's like I can't I can't, we can't we can't lose them. 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.000 Like it's up to us to keep the church afloat and to keep it, and so like this is what they want. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:14.480 We gotta do it. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:18.079 We gotta pander to the biggest donors because if we lose their money, then our church will sink. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:20.880 And on that, we build the church, not Jesus. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:39.039 It's what friends of mine uh they're dealing with right now in a different state, but uh they just their the struggle is to do whatever the longest standing member, like it's um you know, uh some type of uh business or organization, just the longest standing members just doing whatever they want done because they have the most influence. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:44.319 If we don't do what they want, it'll take the people and the church will split and all these different things, and we'll have to do this stuff. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:58.240 But in reality, I think when we believe that like we are the church, we are the people who have to build this thing, when it leads us to fear, best case scenario, it's one of those two things, just pandering to donors or something like that. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:01.920 Worst case scenario, it's trying to find power and align ourselves with power. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:09.680 This is a church that felt like it was gonna lose its ability to thrive and be a church. 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:14.160 This is the Catholic Church aligning with Nazism back in the 40s or the 30s, actually. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.359 And like they and you look at it, it's like, why would you ever do that? 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.759 Like, why how like you preach the Bible? 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:21.839 Like, how could you ever align yourself with this? 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.119 And like for them it was fear. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.920 Like we might, the church will be snuffed out. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:34.160 The cultural tide is so strong that if we don't align ourselves with the political power of our day, we will lose out and we will no longer exist. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:37.200 And it was just people that just began believing we build the church. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:40.079 Jesus might help, but we're really the builders. 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:41.839 And this is what it leads to. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:49.039 It's what led other churches to in the South, the Southern Baptist churches, to align with slavery and be like, slavery is completely fine. 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:50.319 It's like, why did you do that? 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:53.920 It's like, well, because they felt like if we don't, then we'll lose our biggest givers. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:56.160 We'll lose our people, we'll lose our membership. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.880 And so even though we might disagree with it, we have to compromise because we have to keep the church alive. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:02.480 We have to keep the church afloat. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.359 It's the same reason that churches began denying the resurrection of Jesus. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.519 He's like, man, people don't believe the resurrection of Jesus. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:08.799 They don't believe in a real resurrection. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:09.759 Nobody's ever seen that. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.880 And so we have to change our beliefs on that, otherwise we'll lose our people. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:23.279 It's the same reason that people have changed their views on sin lately and in the past, because it's like we have to become something that our culture looks at and isn't so polarized by us. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.279 We have to change our views on what sin actually are, we have to lighten some of the things that the scriptures say. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:32.559 We have to change those things because, in the in effect, and the fear is we build the church, not them. 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:36.720 It's what led people to change their view on Jesus and of who Jesus is, how to get to God. 00:21:36.960 --> 00:21:41.440 Like, oh, you can just get to God through multiple different ways, and then churches exist that are doing these things. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:51.119 And the whole point is if we don't lax some of these things, if we don't change some of these things, if we don't allow some of these things to switch and to move, then we won't be able to build the church. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:52.880 The church won't survive. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:56.480 And the issue is like Jesus doesn't build that church. 00:21:56.559 --> 00:21:59.759 He he builds his church and he builds it his way, and he's the one who's built it. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:26.079 In the evangelical space that I spend the most time in, the way that this looks the most of people feeling like we have to build the church is it looks like people getting angry and argumentative and debating online and hateful because it's like they feel like the church and Christianity is losing its footing in our nation or in culture or whatever. 00:22:26.240 --> 00:22:29.599 And so if the culture is gonna land blast us, we're gonna land blast them. 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:32.240 If they're gonna call us names, then we're gonna call them names. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:36.400 And then all of a sudden the Christians are fighting the exact same way that the culture is fighting. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.400 And y'all, the church just doesn't, I mean, the world just doesn't need another fearful church. 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.599 Like it doesn't need people arguing online for Jesus' name. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:44.799 It just doesn't need that. 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:48.079 It doesn't need people arguing political agendas versus this person versus this. 00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:49.359 Like it just doesn't need that. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:51.519 I can promise you the next generation doesn't need that. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:52.000 They don't want that. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:53.279 This is the reason why people are leaving. 00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:59.839 They're like, honestly, all they fight about is politics and cultural issues, and I just, I don't want to be a part of any of that. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.799 And the world doesn't need a church doing those things. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:07.759 And the great thing is, it's like it was never our job to try and keep the church afloat or to keep the church alive. 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:08.240 It was him. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:11.039 He will build it, he will do that thing. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:19.200 And the world just doesn't need an angry church spouting things online, arguing on social media and saying that, like, I believe in Jesus and you should too. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.519 And ah, and like all it just doesn't need that. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:24.000 Jesus builds the church. 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:24.559 We do not. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:32.880 And for us, like, if we can believe that, it adds to this space of joy and freedom of going, like, I don't have to worry about those things. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:35.200 I don't have to try and keep the church alive. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:37.680 I don't have to try and make sure the church is relevant. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.799 I don't have to make sure the church has uh is powerful in our culture and people see it as viable. 00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:46.480 I don't have to worry about that because none of those things actually build the church. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.839 Jesus builds the church. 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:56.400 The church was built, I mean, when people talk about relevancy and stuff like that, like I have friends and they're well-meaning, but they're like, are you nervous being a pastor in a culture that really finds the church irrelevant? 00:23:56.480 --> 00:23:57.359 I'm like, not really. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.839 The church, or not really, not at all. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:01.839 The church thrives in irrelevancy. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:06.799 The church, Jesus grew the church at the most irrelevant time in history for Christianity. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:10.240 And so you had the secular side of the world and then you had the religious side of the world. 00:24:10.319 --> 00:24:12.640 Both those sides were aimed against Christianity. 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:16.960 Christianity was the most irrelevant thing that the Romans hated it and the Jewish people hated it. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:19.599 They killed Jesus and they also were there too, killing Jesus. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:24.319 Like it was the most irrelevant time in history for Christianity, and that was the space where it grew the most. 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:26.240 And so are you worried about being irrelevant? 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:30.559 Like, no, it's that irrelevancy has never made people start start coming to church. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:35.359 It's always made the church becoming more relevant has always made the church lead towards decline. 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:36.960 And so it's never been that way. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:38.000 The same with persecution. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:41.680 Aren't you worried about the culture shifting and changing and the taxes and all these different things? 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:43.200 Are you are you worried about some of these things? 00:24:43.279 --> 00:24:44.400 I'm like, not really. 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:46.000 Again, not at all. 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:47.759 The church, I mean, I don't want to be persecuted. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:48.720 I'm not like, sign me up. 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:50.160 I'm not thrilled for that. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:57.039 But it's not the space where I'm sitting there worried about that because the church has always thrived and been built primarily in times of persecution. 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:58.000 Read Acts. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.319 It is persecution that spread the life of the church. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.640 That's why the quote became that like the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:13.599 That's why these emperors didn't want to, they they were killing Christians and watching these people kill Christians early on, and then one of the emperors still didn't like him, but it's like, don't kill him. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:16.000 Every time we kill them, five more sprout up in their place. 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:17.680 Like, stop killing them. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:20.720 And it was like this, they were like, we don't even know how to do this. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:21.920 We don't know how to do this thing. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:27.119 Uh Frederick Bruner uh has this wonderful quote that Rainey sent me because I was talking to her about this. 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:30.400 She says, it's or she says Brunner says this. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:37.039 He says, We will be tempted to distrust this little gospel we bear when we compare it with contemporary powers. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:42.319 But where are all those ancient faiths, philosophies, and forces that once vexed the church? 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.839 Where are the Epicureans, the Stoics, the Gnostics, and the mystery religions? 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.359 Where's the Roman army? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.240 The church is an anvil that has worn out many hammers. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:51.279 I love that. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:53.599 The church is an anvil that wears out many hammers. 00:25:53.680 --> 00:25:57.119 It won't die because he can't, and he builds it. 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:08.720 And so if you look at like all the emperors of Rome, who most of us don't even know their names anymore, but like all of them said at some point, or many of them said at some point, I will stamp out and snuff out Christianity in its time. 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:12.640 It's this small little movement in my city, and I'm gonna stamp it out in my time. 00:26:12.799 --> 00:26:25.839 And so Nero, Domitian, Decius, Valerius, Diocletian, they banned the scriptures, they tore down the house churches, they prohibited meetings, they stripped Christians of their legal rights and carried out mass executions to try and scare people from becoming Christians. 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.559 And then you ask the question like, where are these rulers? 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:29.920 Where's the nation of Rome? 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.359 Where's the strength of Rome? 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:34.640 Like it's it lies in ruins, and now Christians go to visit it. 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.240 Like, we're the people that actually supplied them with money for their own city. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:43.359 Like the city of Rome that was supposed to stamp out the Christians is out now something that lies in ruins. 00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:45.759 And new churches are being established every day. 00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:47.839 Christians are coming to faith every day. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:55.119 Now I will say, Christianity is primarily thriving in spaces where the church isn't trying to make it relevant. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:58.720 They're just doing this, they're just holding up the football and going, y'all, this is a football. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:02.000 They're going, hey, y'all, this is Jesus, this is his church, this is his thing. 00:27:02.240 --> 00:27:11.519 The churches that are just maintaining this fidelity to Jesus and the gospel, and just going, like, I know that the culture wants me to change my beliefs on it, but I won't. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:14.319 I know the culture wants to change these, the way the scriptures are read. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:15.279 I'm just not going to do that. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.839 I know the culture wants me to be more accepting in some of these things. 00:27:17.920 --> 00:27:26.240 Like, I like I love all people, I love my enemies and my neighbors, but I'm not changing these orthodox doctrines and these things that are historical and last. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:31.440 I'm not doing that because every time that that happens, every time we seek to become more relevant, decline happens and death happens. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:33.599 Not the thing that we're actually trying to do. 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:49.599 The church is booming in spaces like Portland and in New York City, and uh and then primarily over, not in the West, but in the East, where it's like, man, they're under persecution and dealing with irrelevancy, and yet that is the space where it's doing it because they're just following Jesus and going, you have the words of life, where else could we go? 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:54.400 And he is building his church where he wants to build his church because it's his to build and it's it's what he wants to do. 00:27:54.640 --> 00:28:07.599 And so for us, I think it's wonderful and to be in this space where it's like, y'all, in this political cycle and the whole thing that we're about to enter into, which does make me nervous a little bit just because I just hate talking about politics so much. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.559 Um, but we don't have to fight online for the name of Jesus. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.839 Like we don't have to fight for the for the relevancy of a church. 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:17.119 Like he's gonna build it. 00:28:17.279 --> 00:28:21.680 We can just love our enemies and love our neighbors and follow Jesus and then he's gonna build his church. 00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:22.559 That's what he does. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:26.240 And he's done it consistently over time without it ever failing. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:31.599 And the churches that have tried to shift or tried to become like the culture have found themselves, like G.K. 00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:38.640 Chesterton says, he says, any church or any person that weds itself to the culture of the age finds itself a widow in the next. 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:43.839