WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.919 So we've been in a series for most of this year called Unbreakable Joy. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:06.240 If you're just joining us, we've been going through the book of Philippians. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:08.560 Philippians is a really interesting book in the New Testament. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:13.199 It's a letter that was written to a church in a place called Philippi, written by a man named Paul. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:14.480 He had started that church. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:15.439 He loved those people. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:17.679 He was very close to the people in Philippi. 00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:20.079 And after he left Philippi, he ended up in prison. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:28.399 A lot of the letters that Paul wrote to churches, he wrote from prison as he was imprisoned because of his faith and his unwillingness to shut up about his faith. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:31.039 Every time Paul would go to a new city, he'd start a church. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:33.600 And we think church, sometimes we think building and institution. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:34.159 No, no, no. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:42.399 A group of people following Jesus together, meeting in each other's homes, doing life together and following Jesus passionately, and that was always a disruptive thing. 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:46.000 Incredibly disruptive because the way of Jesus is unlike the way of the world. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:55.679 And so when people in large numbers start abandoning the way that things are done in their world and start doing things God's way, it is a disruptive thing. 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.759 And the powers that be don't like disruption. 00:00:57.840 --> 00:00:58.960 So Paul would get in trouble. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.320 He'd be told to stop. 00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:01.520 He refused to stop. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:02.719 He'd be thrown in prison. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.040 And when he wrote Philippians, he was facing very probable execution. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:09.359 And he would, in fact, later on be executed. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:11.920 He was beheaded because of his faith. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:17.280 And you would think that being in prison and facing execution, that Philippians would be kind of a downer. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:28.400 Like you'd read it and be like, man, ooh, like this is, you know, there's movies that are really great movies, but they are, you gotta be in a certain mood to watch them because they you do not leave the movie feeling great. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.480 You think Philippians would be like that. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.159 Like you'd almost need to be depressed to read it and get the most out of it, but it's the opposite of that. 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:42.959 You would think, if you didn't know the context, that the author of Philippians, that Paul, was having the time of his life because it is filled with statements of joy and gratitude. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:49.840 It's really a blueprint for us how to live life with a different kind of joy, not circumstantial, something far deeper than that. 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.640 That's why we've called this series Unbreakable Joy. 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.120 So we've been going that, uh going through that bit by bit. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:56.879 Today we're actually gonna finish up chapter three. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.480 Philippians only has four chapters, so we're we're three-quarters of the way there. 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.120 But we're actually gonna pause for the summer and we'll come back to Philippians in the fall. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.680 Next week, we are starting a summer-long series called the Summer of Wisdom. 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:16.000 And we're gonna explore mainly the book of Proverbs, but other wisdom literature in the Bible that has answers for life. 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:29.439 We're actually gonna give you guys a chance next week to send in questions, challenges, hard situations that you're dealing with right now, or someone you love is dealing with, because we're confident that God's word will speak to those situations. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:32.719 And some of what you text in is actually gonna help inform what we talk about. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:35.039 So it's gonna be a fun summer, summer of wisdom. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:39.759 If you come each week in the summer, you're gonna learn something, and it is going to have immediate impact for your life. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:41.360 I promise you that if you apply it. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:42.319 But that's next week. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:48.400 Today, we're gonna finish the first, I guess the third quarter, we could say, if we're thinking about it like sports. 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:51.840 We're finishing the third quarter of our Unbreakable Joy series. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:56.400 And ultimately, what we're gonna talk about today is the joy of being like Jesus. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:02:59.919 The joy of being like Jesus. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.560 I'm not gonna ask how many of you would consider yourselves to be a lot like Jesus, because that might feel like a trap. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.719 Like if you raise your hand, you're like, ah, yeah, okay, you think of yourselves pretty highly. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:13.199 Uh but the reality is we are called to be like Jesus. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:14.560 We are his followers. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:20.159 In fact, the word Christian began, if you study the history of that word, it began as an insult. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:24.560 It began as an insult where people were called them little Christs. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:26.159 Oh, those little Christs. 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:30.479 And that became our namesake as followers of Jesus, that we are we are Christians. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:31.919 We're little Christs. 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:33.280 We're meant to be. 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:39.360 We're supposed to live our lives almost like we're constantly doing an impression of Jesus. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:50.879 I had a little bit of fun this week thinking about this concept of impersonating Jesus, and so I found a website that you can hire impersonators like celebrity impersonators through locally. 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.680 Do you guys oh guys, it was eye-opening. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:57.840 Um, do you have any idea how many Elvis impersonators live in the Atlanta area? 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:04.879 Like, if I wanted to grossly mismanage church funds and get fired, I could have, which by the way, just so you know, I can get fired. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:05.439 I think it's important. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:07.599 Some churches, the pastors can't get fired, which is dumb. 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:08.240 Um I can. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:13.680 So, and I think I would have had I done this, but like I could have hired enough Elvis impersonators this morning. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:15.199 I didn't know this until this week. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:21.199 Our entire worship set could have just been all Elvis impersonators worshiping in the voice. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:24.959 I mean, it would have been awful and horrible, and I should have been fired if I had done that. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:30.720 But I'm just saying that the supply of Elvis impersonators locally doesn't make any sense to me. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.199 I cannot imagine the demand for Elvis impersonators matches the supply. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:36.000 It's crazy. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:38.639 There were also a lot of Michael Jackson impersonators. 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.839 I found an Abraham Lincoln impersonator, which I thought was interesting. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.759 Because I'm like, how would you even know? 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:49.759 Like there's the hat, tall, but like other than that, how could you even know if that per ah, whatever. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.519 We are actually called to be impersonators. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:54.720 But not like that. 00:04:54.879 --> 00:04:57.439 Not in some cheap, kind of hokey way. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.680 And by the way, if you are an Elvis impersonator, I'm so sorry. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:00.879 I didn't mean to offend you. 00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:04.959 Um I actually know a guy who does Santa, like he's a big Santa guy every single winter. 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.279 Like he becomes Santa, grows the beard, and all that. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:09.759 And I guess that's an impersonation of a type. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:10.399 I don't know. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:13.040 But apologies if you if that's your pastime and love. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:16.399 Um we are called to be Jesus impersonators. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:20.319 We are called to live our lives doing an impression of Jesus. 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:29.519 And even if you would think about yourself and say, man, I'm not good at impressions, usually when we say something like that, we'd be thinking about people who do celebrity impressions or or whatever, do voices. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:34.720 But the reality is, every single one of us, we're all we're all wired to do impressions. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.800 You're all actually really good at impersonating people. 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.279 For example, I would love a show of hands on this. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:42.079 Be honest. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:44.879 How many of you do a really good impression of your parents? 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:50.000 Like if you have a sibling and you want to mock your parents behind their back, even if you're an adult, like, let's be honest. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:06:02.079 How many of you, their mannerisms, some of the things they say, you know, mom, I know you watch from out of town, sorry, but my my little brother and I, every once in a while, just for fun, we'll kind of on the phone, we'll like shift into our parents a little bit. 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:02.959 It's like something that we do. 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:05.120 It's disrespectful and wrong, and I apologize. 00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:06.399 And Lord, I'm sorry. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:08.959 Um and Aaron, I'm sorry for outing you. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:10.959 But like we we do that sometimes. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:12.639 We have our whole lives. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:16.399 Like, we're actually really good at impersonating people. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:23.519 We're in fact, we're so good at it that it's how we learn how to walk, it's how we learn to talk, it's how we learn most of the things that we learn. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:30.000 We are wired by God to observe people and learn from them and follow their example. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.680 And that's ultimately what we're talking about. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:34.240 So with that in mind, I'm gonna open up Philippians chapter 3. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.079 We're gonna read verses 17 through 21. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:46.720 And here's what it says Dear brothers and sisters, Paul is writing this, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:54.160 For I've told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they're really enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:55.519 They're headed for destruction. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:01.279 Their God is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:08.800 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we eagerly, we're eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:16.959 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.360 We talked a little bit about this concept of glory and glorification last week. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.720 It's this pretty big concept, but it's where everything is ultimately headed. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:26.560 You can listen to that from last week if you want. 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:30.560 But Paul begins here by saying, Follow me. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:36.079 Paul says, Pattern your life after me and follow the example of those who are doing the same. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:37.920 Now, Paul's not being prideful here. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.439 Some context, some other verses that give us a little bit more understanding of what Paul's saying. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.319 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 1, Paul also wrote this. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:49.759 He said, You should imitate me just as I imitate Christ. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:58.480 So Paul's telling the people in the church that he's writing to, hey, follow my example, because I'm following the example of Christ. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:01.199 I've learned from Jesus, learn from me. 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:02.160 That's what he's saying. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:09.360 He would actually go on later in the book of Ephesians to write this: imitate God, therefore, in everything you do. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.600 Because you are his dear children. 00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:15.920 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. 00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:18.480 So Paul says, imitate God. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:20.000 Be like God. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:24.399 Pattern your life after people who are following God. 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.680 Do an impression of God every single day, as much as you possibly can. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:30.959 Be like him. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:33.440 That's a pretty big thing to ask people to do. 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:41.919 Now I want to be clear, a little bit of clarification here, because sometimes the idea of an imitation or an impression in our mind can have negative connotations. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:47.519 Like when you hear the word imitate, or you think about imitation, I don't know if that's a positive idea for you or not. 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:49.919 For example, there's negative versions of this. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.879 One would be, um, and I don't know if anyone here's a sushi fan. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:55.200 Any any sushi fans in the room, let's get hungry before lunch. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:56.320 Okay, boom. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:09:02.799 Um if you ever go to like a grocery store and you get your sushi there, and it's not that bad, all right? 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.039 It's not where I would start if you're not a sushi person. 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:07.279 Don't start with grocery store sushi. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:12.879 But those of us who are sushi fans know the grocery store sushi has slowly but surely gotten better. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:13.440 Okay? 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:15.200 It's it's sometimes it's it's enough. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:19.039 But you have to be careful because if you buy grocery store sushi, you've got to read the ingredients. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:23.840 And very often, especially if it's crab, it will say imitation crab. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:25.919 Do you know what imitation crab is? 00:09:26.559 --> 00:09:27.840 Do you want to? 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.480 I'll answer for you. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:31.519 You do not. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:32.720 I looked it up. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:44.720 Basically, they take a number of different ingredients, some of which is real seafood, and they they put some chemicals into it and it turns into a paste, and then they use that paste to shape it into the shape of crab meat. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:46.080 You know? 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:52.000 And you pay like$15 for that if you go and get sushi. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:56.480 So we don't we don't want to be imitators of Jesus in that sense of the word. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.879 We're also not talking about being a knockoff. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:00.799 Like, we all know what knockoff. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.120 How many of you have ever bought something that you knew knowingly this was a knockoff, it was not the real thing? 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:05.759 Yeah. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:07.360 I did this years ago. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:21.440 I was in New York City, I was a senior in high school, and went to New York City, and I don't know if I haven't been in New York City since then, but back then, a lot of the different sections of New York and the streets, you'd be like surrounded by people who had briefcases and they're like trying to sell you stuff. 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:28.559 And when I was a senior in high school, I don't know if this is the case anymore because I don't really keep up with fashion, but but Oakley sunglasses were like a big deal. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:32.799 They were super expensive, they were they were like a huge deal to have a pair of Oakley's. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:37.440 And in New York, I bought this knockoff pair of Oakleys for 10 bucks. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.919 And I actually found a picture of these because they're still really popular. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.240 So this was I was it was 2001, okay? 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:45.200 And so I had, by the way, had frosted tips in my hair. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.480 All right, like just imagine frosted tips. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.399 I had more hair and that. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.159 Um so they were these silver sunglasses with blue flames. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.759 Though, those, by the way, on eBay right now, like$600 for those. 00:10:57.919 --> 00:10:58.720 I never owned those. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.080 I owned the knockoff version of those. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:04.159 I bought them for 10 bucks in New York, and I wore them, and at first it was great. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:10.159 After a few weeks, the blue paint started to rub off, um, became more of like an ombre pattern instead of a flame pattern. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:12.879 The oakly on the front wore off because they were knockoffs. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:16.320 Knockoffs are cheap imitations. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:18.879 That's not what we're being called to be. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.679 We actually, by the way, have to be careful about knockoffs in our faith. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:26.080 Paul actually talks about that just a little bit. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:29.919 He said, if we go back to, uh I'm gonna go back to verse 18. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:34.799 He says, There are many whose conduct shows that they're really enemies of the cross of Christ. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:36.000 They're headed for destruction. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:44.320 Their God is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, that they think only about life here on the earth, this life here on earth. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:58.559 We happen to live in a time when you can go find teachings, uh, you can listen to people talk about Jesus, you can listen to pastors online, and there's a ton of them, Christian influencers, and and that's fine. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.799 There's actually a lot of people that I listen to very often. 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:06.639 There's a lot of people, I'm a pastor, but but I have other pastors that I listen to and learn from. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:10.080 There's many that have blessed me in ways I couldn't even describe. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.000 I've learned so much from them. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:14.720 But there's also a lot of knockoffs out there. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:26.080 Like there's a lot of people who see money to be made or fame to be gotten by by being a prominent person in our faith, and you just have to be really careful about that. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.159 Because those people can lead you astray. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.279 When Paul's writing this, he's talking about people within the church. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:36.240 People that that are that are going by the name of Jesus, but he said they're not the real thing. 00:12:36.480 --> 00:12:37.279 They're not the real thing. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.679 And actually, he gives us something really interesting to sort of identify that. 00:12:41.840 --> 00:12:46.639 He gives us this idea that they're obsessed with the here and now. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:48.559 That they're obsessed with the here and now. 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.080 Something really interesting about our faith. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:52.639 This is a little bit of a sidebar, but we'll come back. 00:12:52.720 --> 00:13:03.440 But something really interesting about our faith is that our faith is not a faith that is only about what is to come, but it's also a faith that is not only about the here and now. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:04.960 It is both. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:06.559 It is both. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.080 So we talked a little bit last week about this idea of future glory. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:11.360 I mentioned that a few minutes ago. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.360 I didn't use the scripture last week, but I could have. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:23.279 Romans chapter 8, verses 18 through 25, Paul wrote, Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:28.879 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:32.799 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:38.320 He's talking about, if you don't know the story, like Adam and Eve, the fall, all the fallout from that. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:46.000 He said, But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:57.759 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time, and we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.679 For we long for when our bodies will be released from sin and suffering. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:09.120 We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies that he's promised us. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.440 We were given this hope when we were saved. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:13.759 If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:18.159 But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:23.200 And so, within our faith, there's always been this idea that there is something to look forward to. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.440 There is something greater, something better, and we should put our hope in that. 00:14:27.679 --> 00:14:31.759 We don't put our hope in the here and now. 00:14:32.720 --> 00:14:35.679 Jesus would actually say something very similar to this. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:42.799 Matthew chapter 6, he says, do not store up treasures here on this earth where moths can eat away at it and it can rust. 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:46.080 He said instead, store up treasure in heaven where nothing can touch that. 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:54.639 So we are called in Scripture to always live with this ultimate focus on something greater, something in the future. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:03.279 But that's not at the expense of enjoying life now or getting the most out of life or experiencing God's blessings in life. 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:06.399 So let me give you an example of this and then we'll come back to the main point. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:07.840 Um, I think this is really important. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.360 We have to understand some of the nuances of our faith if we're going to be mature believers. 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:23.679 And if you're here for the very first time, I want you to know that we work really hard to make everything accessible, but we want everybody here to grow and become mature, strong believers, so that you can make disciples and help more and more people know Jesus. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:28.639 So that you can live the life that God is calling you to, because it's a good life, but it's not easy. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:32.159 So let's say someone, for example, is sick. 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:37.200 If someone is sick, if you're sick, if you've had a diagnosis and it's a hard one, um, you should get prayer. 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:42.159 Every Sunday morning we have people going to the prayer room afterward and getting prayed for by our prayer team. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:44.639 And I'll just let you know in advance what's gonna happen if you're sick. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.240 We're gonna pray that God heals you. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:47.759 Because God does that. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.200 He does. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:50.960 I've I've seen that happen. 00:15:51.200 --> 00:16:00.879 I've seen scenarios where people were really sick, they had a certain diagnosis, they prayed, and and things changed, and it wasn't because of medical intervention. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:01.440 I have seen that. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:03.039 I've also seen it not go that way. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.519 But we're gonna pray that God heals you. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:06.240 We are gonna pray that. 00:16:06.320 --> 00:16:10.399 God is a supernatural God, and we believe that supernatural God does supernatural things. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.519 At the same time, let's say, let's say that you're really sick and God heals you. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:16.480 That is great. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:17.919 That is also temporary. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:24.480 Like we will all, at one point in time, face an end to this life. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:26.720 I think about that a lot with Lazarus. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:32.960 If you know the story of Lazarus, he died, he was a friend of Jesus, Jesus raised him back to life, and then I think, man, Lazarus had to die later. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:39.519 So Lazarus died, was risen, and then one day died again, and I wonder what that second time around was like. 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:44.559 The point is, even healing is temporary on this earth. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:46.399 Everything on this earth is temporary. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:55.679 And we've been given the gift of this life, we're meant to enjoy this life, we're meant to experience blessings in this life, absolutely, but everything in this life will decay, it will end. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:59.919 We're not supposed to live with all of our hope in this life. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:17.039 We're supposed to live with this future glory in mind, and when we struggle, when we suffer, when things aren't going the way that we want them to go, we take we take such, we get so much strength and we get so much hope from the fact that this is not where my hope is. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.960 This is not what I'm counting on. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:22.640 In the long run, I'm looking forward to something that is future. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:41.759 And so I say all that to say that when Paul's talking about essentially knockoffs, like we don't want that kind of imitation, we have to be really careful that we don't let ourselves be influenced by and listen to people who teach as if they're they're teaching the truth of Jesus, but their entire focus is only on the here and now. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:53.680 Those people have a tendency to turn God into some type of genie, and like the most, like it's like all God cares about is making sure you're really happy, and that He loves you absolutely, but it's not always as simple as that. 00:17:54.000 --> 00:18:08.559 One of the easiest ways you can spot that, by the way, and I'll move on, um, is that if you ever listen to someone teach, if there's anyone out there that you listen to, um, and like I said, I have people I listen to, if the focus of every message is on you, that's a big red flag. 00:18:08.799 --> 00:18:11.039 Like Jesus should be the main character of the message. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:12.160 Does that make sense? 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:14.960 That doesn't mean there's not times where there's a message that's hyper practical. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:19.279 Our proverb series that we're about to do, very practical, very, very day-to-day stuff. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.160 But ultimately everything should be about getting your eyes on Jesus. 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.079 We're actually told that we run our race. 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:25.200 This is the book of Hebrews. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:31.680 It says we run our race with endurance by keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who started and who finishes our faith. 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:32.880 We keep our eyes on him. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:40.480 And so if you're you're reading books or you're listening to pastors and everything's this sort of motivational, you, you, you, you, you, that's a big red flag. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:50.160 There was actually a Scottish pastor in the 1800s who died when he was only 30, but he had a very famous quote, and he said, For every one look itself, take ten looks at Christ. 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:56.720 But we live in a culture that flips that sometimes, even in the church, where every one look at Christ, let's take ten looks at ourself. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.440 And so we like we sang a song this morning, it's all about you. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:01.359 It's all about you, always has been, always will be. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.599 Man, a lot of worship songs, so-called worship songs, are like the the inverse of that. 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:06.799 Like, it's all about me. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.759 It's all about like just I'm saying be careful about that. 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:12.480 Paul warns us, this is not just me going off on a tangent. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:14.880 Paul, Paul went off on the tangent, okay? 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:32.480 Paul warns us, as he's talking about imitating Christ, not to be fooled by by knockoffs and cheap imitations, who are completely focused on the here and now, who live to just consume everything that this world has to offer and are obsessed with this life. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:39.759 Always make sure that whoever you're listening to is helping you focus on Jesus and the future glory that is to come. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:40.960 It's really important. 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:41.920 Alright. 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:44.559 So we're not talking about knockoffs, we're not talking about cheap imitations. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:50.720 What we are talking about is living as true imitators of Jesus. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:55.359 Where we are literally being like Jesus in our day-to-day lives. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:57.599 We are called in Scripture the body of Christ. 00:19:57.839 --> 00:19:58.960 Like we are his body. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:06.400 There's a famous poem that was written in the 1500s by this woman, uh Teresa of Avile, I think is what she was referred to as. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:11.519 Either way, that poem says that Christ has no body but ours. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:17.119 That we are his hands, we are his feet, we are his eyes, we're how he operates in this world. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:20.480 So we are called as followers of Jesus to imitate Jesus. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:25.680 And when we do that, it brings so much joy to our lives and it brings so much joy to other people's lives. 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:36.319 But how on earth, without being a cheap imitation, without being a knockoff that gets way off track, how on earth do we actually live imitating Christ? 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:39.039 How can we possibly do that? 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:47.119 Well, if let's back up a little bit and uh let's understand who Jesus really is and how this really is possible. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:48.799 And we've got to go kind of way back. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:56.240 We have to understand how we're wired as people and the things that we have a need for that maybe we're not always aware of. 00:20:56.400 --> 00:21:02.000 For example, if you go back to the book of Exodus and you read the story of Moses, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:08.799 And the first commandment is do not worship any idols, and don't make an idol, don't create an image and worship it. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:10.240 And that seems really obvious. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:12.480 That seems like, yeah, duh, who's gonna do that? 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:21.119 But when Moses comes down the mountain from when God is giving him these commandments, he finds the people of Israel, and they are worshiping an idol, and it happens to be something that they've made. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:26.400 They make a calf, a little cow, out of gold, and they are worshiping it, and Moses loses his mind. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:27.839 Like it's a crazy story. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:28.960 You should read it. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:32.640 It's like, what in the world is happening? 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.319 Well, the reality is the people of Israel were doing what they had been taught to do. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:39.359 They grew up at that point in time, all of them had grown up in Egypt. 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:43.519 They were slaves in Egypt, and and ancient religions were all about images. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:44.079 Right? 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:45.839 Giant statues of their gods. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.400 The Egyptians had statues all over the place of all the different gods that they worshipped, and this would continue on in every single culture. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.960 There's these giant temples, giant statues. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:22:04.079 You even get to the point when the New Testament's written in the Roman Empire, man, every temple would have some big Statue of whatever Roman God, whatever Greek God was being worshipped at that time. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:06.000 That was the way worship went. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:08.240 You have a statue, you have an image. 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:14.799 We got to worship something that we can see, and God refused to let that happen. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.079 God was an invisible God. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:22.160 In fact, the Israelites would have been mocked very much for the fact that, number one, they had one God. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:24.079 Every other culture was like, we have tons of gods. 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:24.720 You have one? 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:25.680 What does he look like? 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:26.799 You don't know. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:29.759 You have one invisible God. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:40.559 And you can see we're in a world full of giant statues and multitudes of gods, even though they were made up gods, that one invisible God seemed pathetic. 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:57.039 And so when Moses went up the mountain and the Israelites were nervous and scared and they didn't know what to do, and they were in the wilderness and they have no idea what they're doing, that that fear, they went to their more basic thoughts and instincts, and they did what they were taught to do, what they grew up to do is we need something we can look at. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.119 We need something we can see that gives us peace. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:03.440 So they made a God and they worshiped it, and it goes really poorly for them. 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:13.839 We were told by God not to make images to worship, because God knew that whatever images we would come up with would be so foolish and so far from the real thing. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.039 But God was not against being seen. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:28.319 He was waiting until the right time when he could let us see him as he actually is. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:31.920 And that's Jesus. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.079 Let me read for you a few scriptures. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:42.720 Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3 says, the Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:50.079 Often in the New Testament, really in a lot of scripture, but when we read the word God, a lot of times God is shorthand for God the Father, right? 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:53.920 We believe that God is God the Son, the Spirit, and the Father, right? 00:23:54.079 --> 00:23:56.480 The Trinity, and we'll get into that another time. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.359 Read about it, research it, really cool concept. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:02.400 It's not three gods, it is one God, three persons. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:04.880 Okay, it gets a little out there, but it's it's cool. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.920 I love it. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.240 Jesus is God. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:10.960 He is. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.920 Jesus was not living life doing an impression of God. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.440 That's what that's not what was happening. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:21.519 Jesus was not living his life pretending to be like God. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:23.839 He is God. 00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.480 It says that he expresses the very character of God. 00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:32.960 So in other words, if we want to know what God the Father is like, we look at Jesus. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:37.440 Colossians chapter 1, verse 15 puts it really simply. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:42.400 It says, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:49.279 He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:52.640 He is God. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:55.440 He is the image of the invisible God. 00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:57.279 So God tells his people, hey, don't make images. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:57.759 Don't do it. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:07.200 You're going to make cows and weird human with animal head things, and it's weird and awful and terrible, and you're just going to get it way wrong and it's going to lead you astray. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:08.400 Don't do that. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.759 But God wasn't saying, I don't ever want you to see who I am or what I'm like. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:22.240 At the right time and at the right moment and in the right way, God became one of us and he gives us something far greater than a statue. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:30.400 I mean, the best thing that a statue could do, if it's accurate, is show you what someone looks like or looked like at a particular point in time. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:45.119 But Jesus as a living, breathing, human being, living as one of us, God in the flesh, he shows us exactly what God is like, what God cares about, what God prioritizes, and in a way that we're naturally wired to experience. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:48.400 Because, like I said at the beginning, we are wired by God to be imitators. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:49.519 That's how we learn everything. 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:52.319 That's how you learn to say things, that's how you learn to do things. 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:54.559 Sometimes it's intentional at first. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.599 Like you have to intentionally imitate things for a while and then it becomes second nature. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:04.240 Like I've told this story before, but um, when I was in seventh grade, I moved to Wisconsin. 00:26:04.319 --> 00:26:06.559 I have to ask this because I always dog on Wisconsin when I talk about it. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:07.599 I did not like living there. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.359 Anyone from Wisconsin in the room? 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:10.960 Anyone grew up, okay. 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:11.519 Sorry. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:13.119 Um sorry? 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:14.400 Okay, I'm not just joking. 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:19.119 I honestly, I live there, for those of you from Wisconsin, I lived there when the Packers won the Super Bowl with Brent Favre. 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:21.519 So that was a good time to be in Wisconsin. 00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:32.559 By the way, if you want to experience cult-like religion, uh if you've never lived in a state like Wisconsin that is that passionate, like we're not passionate about our Atlanta teams. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:33.039 We're not. 00:26:33.119 --> 00:26:36.160 Like we think we are, I promise you, we're not. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:39.359 Uh like Packer fans, oh my goodness. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:40.240 There's nothing like it. 00:26:40.319 --> 00:26:45.200 So I moved to Wisconsin when I'm in seventh grade, and I was from Southern Missouri, and I talked like I was from Southern Missouri. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:49.680 My accent now is this weird uh mismatch mishmash of all the places I've lived. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:53.920 But back then I was purely southern Missouri, had kind of a southern country accent. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.319 I moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:01.920 And they talked, like I'll never forget the first day of school when they did the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.920 And I was like, what is going on? 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:05.119 Like a flag? 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:07.839 It really messed me up. 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:11.680 And you know, think back to when you were in seventh grade. 00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:13.279 Did you want to stand out? 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:14.240 No. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:16.240 Like you wanted to fit in. 00:27:16.400 --> 00:27:18.559 Maybe if you were more secure than I was, you wanted to stand out. 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:20.480 I did not want to stand out, I wanted to fit in. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:24.640