WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.799 I am so I think it's so cool that Canvas is this Friday night. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:11.439 Because when I show you the verse that we've gotten to now in our study of Ephesians, we've been going through Ephesians since April. 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:14.000 You're gonna think, wow, Justin is a really good planner. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.440 Like months ago, he looked at the calendar and he said, Ah, Canvas, Friday, September 7th. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:22.399 I'll time it so that we're at this verse that week. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:26.480 And I want you to know on the front end, no, that is not what happened. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:28.399 I'm not a planner at all. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:29.519 I bought a planner. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:30.559 I don't use it. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:32.000 Like, I do that every year. 00:00:32.079 --> 00:00:34.399 I'm like, this is the year I'm gonna buy a planner. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:37.840 No, it sits in my backpack, which I forget at home half the time. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.560 I'm going on vacation in two weeks, I don't even know where we're going. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:41.840 Someone asked me this morning. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:45.280 I know the state, I know Florida, which is very general. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:48.000 But someone asked me this morning, like, oh, you're going to Florida? 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:48.320 Where? 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.000 And I'm like, I have no, I don't know. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:50.560 I don't know. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:54.799 Megan knows, and I figure that morning I'll just ask her and we'll just drive there. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:56.640 Um, like, that's how I live my life. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:58.320 It is not, I don't recommend it. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:00:59.520 Um, pray for me. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.039 You know, it's not good. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.560 But uh, but Jesus did say, what good is it to like say you're gonna do this and all this other stuff? 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.319 That's in the Bible, so I just live that way. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.159 Um, but but here's the verse. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:11.280 All that to say this. 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:16.239 I didn't plan this, but I'm standing here on stage with this awesome painting next to me, talking about canvas, talking about art. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:17.280 Check out where we're at. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.280 Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:22.000 For we are God's masterpiece. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:26.799 He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.840 How awesome is it that God is better at planning things than we are. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:30.560 That's a good thing. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:31.519 That's a really good thing. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:33.120 Yeah, absolutely. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:35.280 Okay. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:40.640 For some context, we are wrapping a series up today called Resurrected. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:42.560 It's Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 through 10. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:51.280 We've been going through this for a while, and we call it resurrected because Ephesians 2, 1 through 10 tells a resurrection story, but it is not the resurrection of Jesus. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:54.640 It's connected to that, but it's actually the story of our resurrection. 00:01:54.799 --> 00:02:00.640 Paul begins, he's the author in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1 by saying, Once you were dead. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:03.840 And that's a very interesting way to start a conversation. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.040 Like, you remember that one time when you weren't alive? 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:08.719 You remember that one time when you were dead? 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:10.960 And most of us would be like, never happened to me. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.240 I have I've been alive as long as I've been alive, literally. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.360 And he's not talking, though, about physical death here. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:24.319 He's actually talking about something far more important, like far more grave, really, and that's spiritual death. 00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:28.159 We have a tendency as people to separate the physical from the spiritual. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:32.879 Like we see the spiritual as its own kind of category and then our physical day-to-day lives as their own thing. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:34.000 Jesus never did that. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:35.439 Jesus never ever did that. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.159 The spiritual was every bit as relevant as the physical. 00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:40.960 In fact, Jesus would say that the spiritual is more relevant. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.639 He said, What good does it do you if you gain the whole world but lose your soul? 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:47.599 Is anything more valuable than your soul? 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:52.879 Our spirit is more enduring, it is more important than our bodies. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.560 And so it's so important for us to make sure that we're talking about what God wants to do in our spirit. 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.840 What is spiritual is practical. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:08.879 So when Paul says, once you were dead, he's talking about our spirit, but that should not make us go like, oh, okay, good, it was just my spirit. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:10.400 Whew, at least it wasn't my body. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:13.039 Like Paul would be like, no, no, no, your body, that's gonna die. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:17.759 Your spirit, you better make sure that your spirit is where it needs to be. 00:03:18.479 --> 00:03:23.120 And it's kind of hard for us to understand that concept, though, because we see life as like physical, right? 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:24.240 So how was I dead? 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.159 We've used this analogy over the course of the last few weeks to help us understand it of a phone. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:32.800 I mean, you all have a phone on you right now, and you've probably said at some point in the last week, my phone died. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:35.199 And you did not bury it in the backyard. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:39.919 You know, you didn't hold a service for your phone, because you didn't mean it was physically dead. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:45.120 What you meant was it it had no power, it had no spirit, it had no life. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.840 So it's not able to function as it's meant to. 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:55.520 And the claim that Paul makes is the claim that Jesus himself made, it's bold, is that without Jesus, we are not really alive. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:02.240 Without Jesus, we lack the power to live life as we're meant to, to live life as we ought to. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.840 That's a bold claim. 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:11.759 And so Paul says, Once you were dead, you are spiritually dead, no life, no ability to function, to your ultimate capacity. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:15.280 And then, fast forward to verse 10, he says, You're a masterpiece. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:18.959 So we've gone from being dead to being masterpieces. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:20.879 And that is quite the jump. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:22.800 And there's a lot in between there. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.759 Obviously, if you want to listen to the previous messages, you can. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:32.000 But today I want us to explore what it looks like to be a masterpiece. 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:37.439 To literally be a masterpiece in God's eyes. 00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:48.079 What does it mean to have gone from being dead to not just alive, but but to be apparently so valuable that we are our masterpieces? 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:50.800 Let's talk about what it means to be living art today. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:53.439 Now it's interesting. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:59.120 When I say you're a masterpiece, and I don't want you to change your behavior right now, but I don't see a lot of like, oh, really? 00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:02.079 Wow, I don't see a lot of joy on the faces. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.920 You know, sometimes statements like that they have this way of just kind of going over our heads. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.560 Like we think it's just a metaphor, we we think it's a nice sentiment. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:10.160 I mean, honestly, think about this for a second. 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.439 You're a masterpiece. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.000 Think about everything that God has created. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:16.160 Everything he's made, right? 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:17.839 All the cool stuff, all the cute stuff. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.079 You know, I'm talking about oceans and mountains and puppies and all that stuff. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:23.759 Like everything that's beautiful and wonderful. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:25.199 That's that's just on the earth, by the way. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:26.959 Think about the galaxy, the cosmos. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:33.680 All of that is the craftsmanship of God, and he calls us the masterpiece. 00:05:33.920 --> 00:05:35.439 Like, what is a masterpiece? 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:42.399 A masterpiece is it's the part of creation that best expresses the creativity of the creator. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:49.680 It's whatever, whatever creation is the utmost example of that artist's ability. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:50.639 That's a masterpiece. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:59.120 And God says, hey, yeah, mountains, stars, planets, galaxies, oceans, puppies, all of it, you're the masterpiece. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:03.839 You want to see what the best expression of God's creativity actually is. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:05.199 Look in the mirror. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:15.600 I mean, that's such a crazy thing to say when we think about how many amazing things there are in the world, and we're the masterpiece, and again, we hear that, and it's like no one's going, yay, I'm a masterpiece. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:18.319 We struggle to believe that that's actually true. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.279 And I think this is part of the reason why. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:26.720 We live in a culture that loves fluff, right? 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:32.079 Like we live in a culture that loves to say really positive things with nothing behind it. 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:41.040 Like we've we've been raised to believe very nice sounding things, like ideas spoken over us that are ultimately empty. 00:06:41.199 --> 00:06:44.240 For example, I'm a child of the 80s and 90s. 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:45.600 Anyone else here born in the 80s? 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:46.879 Any other 80s children? 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:47.680 Yeah. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:52.800 Some of you are judging us like we're really young, some of you are judging us like we're really old, but you know. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.120 I am the oldest you can be to be a millennial. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.800 Millennials, 83 is when they start. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:03.600 So here I am. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:05.199 I'm the oldest millennial in the room. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:06.879 So the rest of millennials, like, follow me. 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:08.800 I've been here longer, like I know what's going on. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:11.360 I remember when there was no internet, I remember that. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:14.720 I know how to use a phone book, so like that's valuable, right? 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:15.360 I don't know. 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:24.240 So in my generation, my generation was told a lot of things in school, in television cartoons. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.639 We were told that we were all special. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:29.519 All of us, you are special. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.360 We were told that we were unique. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:33.920 You are so unique, there is no one like you. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:34.800 No one. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:41.680 And we were told that we can do anything if we believe in ourselves. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:42.399 Right? 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:49.600 You can do anything if you just believe in yourself, which is nonsense. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:50.480 Right? 00:07:50.720 --> 00:07:52.480 Like, what nonsense is that? 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.000 Do you know how many things I can't do no matter how much I believe in myself? 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:03.360 Like, it's it's funny, my oldest son, Liam, I've never really talked about him much, but he loves basketball and um we play a lot together, it's a thing. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:08.160 Like about a year ago, Liam was asking me why I didn't play in the NBA. 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:09.680 As if it was an option. 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.639 Like that in his mind, he's like, Dad, why didn't you play in the NBA? 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:16.959 To his seven-year-old brain at the time, he's like, you know, you you should have done that. 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:20.879 And I'm going, well, I didn't really have the opportunity to play in the NBA. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:25.040 And I'm like, I'm five foot nine, and Liam knows every basketball player, it's ridiculous. 00:08:25.120 --> 00:08:27.680 And he's like, Dad, Isaiah Thomas is five foot nine, and he's right. 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.199 There's one guy in the NBA who's five foot nine named Isaiah Thomas. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:32.080 One guy. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:33.279 And he's like, see? 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:36.879 And like to Liam, you should have just applied yourself more, Dad. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:37.840 You know? 00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:43.279 And the truth is, as a kid, I did believe, I believed I was gonna be a professional athlete. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.120 Almost every kid who plays sports is like, yeah, clearly I'm gonna be like the top 1%. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:49.519 You just believe that. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:51.519 I believed in my ability, but here's the truth. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:55.120 I I, no matter how much I believe in myself, I cannot dunk. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:02.159 I cannot do complex math equations in my head, I cannot find my keys most mornings, no matter how much I believe in myself. 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.039 How many of us have gotten ourselves in a lot of trouble because we believed too greatly in ourselves? 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:07.679 Anyone? 00:09:07.840 --> 00:09:11.200 Anyone's like, oh, I believed I was, yeah. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:14.799 That's why you should believe in Jesus, right? 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:17.440 Don't believe in yourself, believe in him. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:21.519 So we've been we've been pumped all this nonsense. 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:28.559 We've been pumped all this fluffy, nice sounding, but ultimately hollow and empty verbiage. 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:36.159 And so by the time we get to adulthood, when we hear a really nice sounding statement spoken over us, we're like, yeah, okay. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:44.480 I'm a masterpiece, just like I was special and unique and can do anything that I put my mind to if I believe in myself and follow my dreams, right? 00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:49.919 Because we all dreamed of like middle management positions and 45, 60 hour work weeks, right? 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:50.799 We all dreamed of that. 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.799 It's the most wonderful thing. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:58.639 But I want you to understand that this statement is not a biblical pep talk. 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.000 It's just meant to make you feel good for a few minutes. 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:10.639 That this statement about you being a masterpiece, it is not, it is not just another nice sounding axiom but ultimately rings on true. 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:11.759 This is real. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:17.679 You are, you absolutely are, in the eyes of God, a masterpiece. 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:21.600 You are that valuable. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:28.000 Yet at the end of the day, there's really two things that determine what makes something valuable. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:33.759 And I want to kind of illustrate these two things with illustrations, actually, um, actual illustrations. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:36.720 So I've got three paintings that I want to show you real quick on the screens. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:37.519 Alright, so here they are. 00:10:37.679 --> 00:10:39.679 Painting number one, take a look at this. 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.960 Painting number two, painting number three. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.480 Alright, three paintings of flowers. 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.159 One of those you can buy on Etsy for$400. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.000 That's the cheapest one, because art is not cheap. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:01.120 One of those you can buy at a fine art gallery for$12,000. 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.600 And one of those sold a few years ago for$1.2 million. 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:09.279 And I want to look at these again and see if you can guess which is which. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:11.039 Okay, so painting number one. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:12.960 No, no, no, keep it up, guys. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:13.679 Don't just blink. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:14.799 Like, we really need to see that. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:15.200 There we go. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:22.000 Painting number one, painting number two, painting number three. 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:24.159 Alright. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:26.240 So take that, take that down. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:26.799 Let's let's do this. 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.320 How many think painting number one is the$1.2 million painting? 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:30.879 Okay? 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:33.039 How many say painting number two? 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.159 How many say painting number three? 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.799 Okay, painting number three is the$12,000 painting. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.080 Painting number two is the$400 painting. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:44.639 So good news. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:49.759 If you liked it a lot, if you raise your hand that it was the$1.2 million, you can get a steal of a deal today on Etsy. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:50.960 You just go$400. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.600 I mean, so it's practically you're you're basically losing money if you don't buy it. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:00.080 Um painting number one,$1.2 million. 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.559 That sold for$1.2 million. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:09.919 Funny story: a guy bought that in a flea market along with a couch and an end table for$50. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:17.120 And then come to find out, it was a lost masterpiece of this very famous artist. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:21.360 Now, now, that's a beautiful painting of some flowers on a on a cloth, you know? 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:27.679 That's like, I mean, I'll be honest, and this isn't meant to be offensive to any of you if you like this, but like that that looks like my grandma's house. 00:12:27.759 --> 00:12:28.799 That's what I think of when I see that. 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.080 I'm like, oh, that's grandma right there, you know? 00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:36.080 And so, it's great. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.559 But but go ahead and show painting number two again. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:42.799 Why is that three thousand times less valuable? 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:45.039 That that's that's the math there, by the way. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:51.679 That costs three thousand times less than the first painting. 00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:56.159 Painting number one is a masterpiece. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:58.000 It's a masterpiece. 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:58.879 Why? 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:01.679 There's two things. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.240 Two things that make it a masterpiece. 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:08.399 Two things that make it worth$1.2 million, and it's very simple. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:10.000 Number one, who made it? 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.559 Number two, how much was someone willing to pay for it? 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.080 It's that simple. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.600 Like who made it? 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:17.919 The artist that made that was a famous artist. 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:23.679 And what's really funny is if that if that painting had a different signature on it and it was exactly the same, it would be like worth nothing. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:25.360 It'd be$400 on Etsy. 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:36.960 If painting number two was exactly the same, but had the signature from painting number one, it's in an art gallery somewhere, it's in an art museum, it's it's it's a masterpiece. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:37.919 There, it's like wow. 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:40.720 Everyone would think differently because who makes it matters. 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:42.399 The maker matters. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:43.759 Right? 00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:53.279 Something is more valuable if it's made by by someone who is respected, someone who's adored. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:54.639 And who made you? 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.279 You're made by God. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:59.279 Psalm 139, 14. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:02.960 The psalmist wrote, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:04.960 Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:06.559 You were made by God. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:09.600 It's interesting if you read the story of creation. 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:13.200 God takes a very different approach with us than every other part of creation. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.480 We're the only part of creation that he makes by hand. 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:21.759 We're the only part of creation that he actually speaks into, not just about. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.159 He doesn't just say, Let there be this. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.159 He actually speaks into us. 00:14:26.320 --> 00:14:28.879 He breathes his spirit into us. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:31.200 He makes us to be like him. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.399 We're unique. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:39.840 In fact, if you read Genesis 1, sometimes God says, Hey, let the earth produce various kinds of fruit and animals and all that kind of stuff. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.399 He basically says, let nature produce these things. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:45.919 But nature didn't produce us. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.399 He made us by hand. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:54.559 We are handcrafted by God, and the maker matters. 00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:57.679 Number two, how much is someone willing to pay for something? 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.000 Well, the reason that painting is worth$1.2 million is because someone paid$1.2 million for it. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.759 Now you might question their judgment. 00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.720 You might think of a lot of things that you'd rather spend$1.2 million. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:10.399 If you had$1.2 million, would you be like, I got a painting I'm about to go by? 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:11.519 Tell you that. 00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:14.000 Some flowers are gonna be on my wall. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:16.320 Nope. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:17.519 Nope. 00:15:17.840 --> 00:15:21.039 It's like a dumb way to spend money in my opinion, but whatever. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:26.879 But someone was was willing to spend$1.2 million on that, which makes it worth$1.2 million. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:28.960 Well, how much are you worth? 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.279 And and don't say priceless. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:32.879 Because that's not true. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:33.519 Right? 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.519 That's the temptation, like, I'm priceless. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:36.080 No, you're not. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:36.720 You have a job. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.799 You accepted a certain amount of money for your time. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:39.279 Okay? 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:41.279 So clearly you're not priceless. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:44.639 You you actually you actually have a price. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:46.559 Is it high? 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:48.080 Absolutely. 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:56.159 First Corinthians chapter 6, Paul is talking to this group of Christians in Corinth, which is a really wild place, unlike America, like prim and proper, like us, but it was really wild. 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.200 And he's actually giving them a sex talk, which is awkward. 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:01.200 Like it's always awkward to have a sex talk. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:08.000 I just had that talk with my eight-year-old, uh, and when I explained it, he went, No. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:11.600 That was it. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.080 And if you're like, he's eight years old, why are you having that talk? 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:15.519 Okay, time out real quick. 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:16.960 I was a youth pastor for 10 years. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:21.039 And if you have a child that's in that age range, I just want you to know you have two options. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:22.159 This is really true. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:26.399 You have two options as to who's going to be the person that teaches your child about that first. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.720 It's either you or a fifth grader on the bus with an iPhone. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:30.159 Those are your choices. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:33.759 So which do you which do you choose? 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:36.480 I'm like, I know the kids on the bus. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:37.840 I know the kids in our neighborhood. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:38.240 Mm-mm. 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:39.679 Nope, not going there. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:41.519 So I had the conversation first. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:49.039 So Paul is giving a sex talk to the Corinthians, and buried in this sex talk is this amazing statement about our value. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.279 He says, run from sexual sin. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.919 No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.399 For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:01.759 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you and was given to you by God? 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:06.640 You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.200 So you must honor God with your body. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:16.880 Now when he says you were purchased for a high price, what's he talking about? 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:19.039 Somebody. 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:22.160 Jesus, Christ, absolutely. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.359 He's talking about Jesus. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:31.200 He's saying that you were bought by God. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:34.880 With God. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:41.039 You were made by God, and then God purchased you with God. 00:17:42.160 --> 00:17:43.680 So how valuable are you? 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:45.519 Well, how much is someone willing to pay for you? 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:50.240 Jesus looked at you and he determined that you are worth his life. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:54.319 That makes you extremely valuable. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:02.079 You were created by God and you were purchased for a price that is greater than we could even comprehend, because Jesus is not just some person. 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:06.640 He's the one who holds all creation together and he died for you. 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.880 That makes you so valuable. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:12.880 You are a masterpiece. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:19.440 You are a masterpiece because you're made by someone important because the price paid for you is high. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:24.960 And look, if you get your value out of anything else in life, you are selling yourself short. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.480 If you get your value out of your paycheck, you are selling yourself short. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.920 If you get your value out of your talent, you are selling yourself short. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:43.200 If you get your value out of your personal appearance or where you live or the car you drive or how attractive your spouse is or how successful your children are, you are selling yourself short. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:52.240 The only thing that you should get your true value from is the concept that you are made by God and worth the blood of Jesus. 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:53.920 That makes you valuable. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.160 That makes you a masterpiece. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:19:00.079 You are a masterpiece in God's eyes. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.039 This is not just just fluff, but it doesn't end there. 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:04.960 It doesn't end there. 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:09.279 The first half of Ephesians 2.10 is we're masterpieces. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:16.880 And we can end right here and be like, yay! But he says something else that's pretty pretty powerful. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:19.599 We are God's masterpiece. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.000 He created us anew in Christ Jesus. 00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:27.119 And that kind of goes along with the idea that we've been resurrected, we've been brought to life, which we've been talking about. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:28.720 So we can what? 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:33.039 So we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:46.319 You can almost summarize most of Paul's writings by saying that what he likes to do is he likes to shine a spotlight on Jesus. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:52.480 And he oftentimes spends the first chunk of his writings just saying, hey, let's look at Jesus. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:53.920 And let's really examine Jesus. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:03.759 Let's put the spotlight on him, let's look at him from every angle, let's think about all that he's done and what it means, and let's think about all the implications of everything he's done for us and what his sacrifice meant and who he really is. 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.720 He just fixes our eyes on Jesus. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:14.799 And then once we kind of grasp that, once he's gone over that over and over and over again, he says, okay, now live in light of that. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:23.599 There really isn't a writer in the New Testament who spends as much time hammering down the point that, like, it's by grace only that you've been saved. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:26.880 You can't do a thing to earn God's love. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:35.119 I mean, the very few verses before Ephesians 2.10, verses 8 and 9, God saved you by his grace when you believed, and you can't take credit for this. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:36.240 It's a gift from God. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:41.119 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:45.440 Paul, he hammers this all the time. 00:20:45.839 --> 00:20:47.599 You did nothing to earn this. 00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:56.480 At the same time, there may not be an author who talks as much as Paul does about how you've got to live differently because of what Jesus has done. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:20:59.839 So it's not just, hey, God's given you grace. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:01.200 He loves you. 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:02.480 Yes, absolutely. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:04.240 We should celebrate that. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.440 But then he says, hey, do something with it. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:12.079 I mean, it's almost like you've been given a lottery ticket and it's a winning lottery ticket. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:13.920 But you still have to cash it in. 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:15.920 You still gotta do something with it. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:21.839 And Paul says, hey, understand who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, but once you understand it, you've got to do something. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.440 You've got to you've got to do things, you've got work to do, you have a purpose. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:28.240 You've got to live a different life. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:37.279 Because this is so amazing, this is so powerful that if you really see it, if you really grasp it, if you really believe it, you cannot help but live in a way you've never lived before. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:43.119 We have a saying here on our staff that we use, it's just kind of funny and helpful to us. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:47.680 That you don't have to be a Jesus follower to become a Jesus follower. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.200 But once you become a Jesus follower, you should be a Jesus follower. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:56.559 And that means we don't have to ask anyone to do anything to start following Jesus. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:57.359 Do you love him? 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:58.240 Do you want to know him? 00:21:58.880 --> 00:21:59.599 Great, cool. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.279 That's that's like that that that is the bar. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:04.640 It's really low. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:08.240 But then once you have him, you gotta do something with him. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.519 And he says that we were dead, but we've been brought to life. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.119 We've been created anew in Christ Jesus. 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:18.720 We're masterpieces, but we're created to do some work, to do the good things that he planned for us long ago. 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.000 Now the question is what things? 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:24.960 I think that's where we struggle. 00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:27.680 Like what things? 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:31.519 Because you know, I kind of alluded to this earlier. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:34.720 In worship team, you guys can make your way out and we'll wrap up. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:39.440 When we're kids, and some of us in the room still are, and some of us in the room still are. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:41.839 But like, you know, yeah, okay. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:46.720 But when we're kids, we we dream big, we we dream of doing meaningful things. 00:22:47.519 --> 00:22:48.559 That's just natural. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:57.440 Like Liam, who's the only kid I have that's old enough to actually be thinking about the future, he told me the other day, Dad, I think I'm gonna be a pastor when I retire from the MBA. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:04.720 Like, my my job is his like retirement plan, which is uh interesting. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.079 I'm like, okay, hey, if you do that, by all means. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:10.000 But that's how kids are. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:12.319 They they they dream big, they dream of doing things that are meaningful. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:20.720 But then we get to adulthood and and we almost always settle into something that seems a little less epic than what we dreamed of as a kid, except on rare occasion. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.400 And so there's this tendency for us to think, oh man, I've missed it. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:28.960 God had this big thing for me to do in the world, and maybe I'm not doing it. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:32.640 Like you ever struggle wondering whether or not what you actually do in life is meaningful? 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:40.319