WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:01.439 Father, thank you for today. 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:02.879 Thank you for us all being together. 00:00:03.040 --> 00:00:06.959 Thank you for the relationships we have with each other and especially with you. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.679 Thank you for adopting us as your very own children. 00:00:09.839 --> 00:00:10.880 We praise you for that. 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.880 Holy Spirit, we just thank you for being here, for being our teacher. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:20.559 And uh we just ask you to teach us this morning that we could all leave uh with uh whatever it is we need. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:23.679 And and Jesus, we just praise you. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:24.559 Uh we love you. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:30.160 We thank you for being our Savior and our Lord and our friend, and it's in your name we pray. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:31.039 Amen. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:39.600 So we're taking a little bit of time and we're uh looking at a letter that Paul wrote to a church in Corinth, pretty new church. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:43.600 The city was in some ways similar to Atlanta, it was kind of a new city. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:52.320 It had been destroyed and uh was rebuilt, and it was fast-paced, and it was a business hub, and and people moving in and and all that type of stuff. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.359 There was a combination of cultures in Corinth. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:01.039 Uh, it was mostly Greek, but they had a strong uh Roman influence and and a Jewish influence. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:06.319 And Paul had started this church a couple of years before he writes this letter. 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:17.439 And uh, but then he had traveled on through throughout uh uh Europe and Asia Minor at the time, and the church had gotten a little off course. 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.239 And so that's kind of what what Paul is writing about. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:25.760 And a lot of times on Sunday when we talk, it's it's really uh a personal thing. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:33.599 You know, where we're looking at uh at Jesus and we're looking at at uh God's word and we're seeing how it can apply to us personally. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:44.719 And this letter is a letter to to a new church like us, and so one of the things we want to do is uh is listen to God for us as a group together. 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:50.000 And uh then there also will be things that we can apply at our own lives. 00:01:50.239 --> 00:02:05.920 Well, this church had gotten a little enamored, it's part of the Greek and Roman and a little bit Jewish culture, but they'd got enamored with the people, and they were impressed with different people that were leading and and how smart different people were and and just kind of wisdom and intelligence uh in general. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:17.120 And so Paul takes the first part of this letter and he kind of has a heart-to-heart with his friends in in Corinth, and he's trying to show them like what this church could be. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:19.120 And he uses two metaphors. 00:02:19.199 --> 00:02:23.120 And we looked at one uh last week, and the the first one was a farm. 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.479 You know, and he said, I start, I started the church, okay? 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:27.680 So I planted the church. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:32.719 Apollos came along and he watered the church, and the church is growing, and who gets the credit? 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:34.800 And he's like, Who cares? 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:35.599 Who cares? 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:36.639 We're just people. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:39.520 You know, God, it's God's farm. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:43.520 God is what's making things grow. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:46.639 And then he immediately goes, and that's where we stopped last week. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:49.919 He immediately goes on to the very next metaphor. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:58.319 And so in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 9, you'll see him finishing that one and starting the second. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.000 He says, For we are both God's workers, and you are God's field. 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.439 And then immediately he says, You are God's building. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.919 And so it's going to be a farm and it's going to be a building. 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.520 Those are the two examples he uses. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:13.280 Because of God's grace to me, I've laid the foundation like an expert builder. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:14.879 Now others are building on it. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:18.479 But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:25.680 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have, Jesus Christ. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:36.319 And if God would say anything about us, his hands, and I'd love it to be our foundation is Jesus. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:42.080 You know, second would be that we're filled with and are and express and demonstrate God's love. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.560 But our foundation has to be Jesus. 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:49.520 That's Paul's instruction to this new church in Corinth. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.479 You know, the foundation has to be Jesus. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:55.039 And a foundation can be anything. 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:57.759 You know, our foundation could be the Bible. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.039 That's how I was raised. 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:01.919 I grew up in a church where we talked about the Bible a lot. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:04.560 And when we got together, we generally talked about the Bible. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:13.439 We talked about what translation was the best translation and how to interpret the Bible and what rules are in the Bible. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:21.759 And and um I was gonna go on, but I'm not. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:38.079 But it became pretty self-righteous and legalistic. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:44.560 And I went to church with good people, I mean, three times a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, my entire life. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.519 I mean, every week, my entire life growing up. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:56.480 And um and I didn't meet Jesus, the person, the son of God, until I was 32 years old. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:02.000 And I knew a lot about the Bible, but I never learned too much about Jesus. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:07.839 That he loved me and I could trust him and um and all those types of things. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:09.360 And so I love the Bible. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:10.240 I mean, I really do. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.000 The Bible is such a gift to us, it feeds us and teaches us and changes us. 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:22.160 But Jesus said to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, but the scriptures point to me. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:29.360 You know, and so the Bible, I hope you know how I mean this, isn't the foundation of this church. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.920 It has to be Jesus. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.639 The first intent of the Bible is to lead us into a relationship with God through Jesus. 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:40.480 After that, his word teaches, convicts, encourages. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.399 But it's so important for the foundation to be Jesus. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:06:00.000 Jesus prayed for us, I mean, literally for us in this room, in John 17 in verse 20, he says, I'm praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:01.120 So that's us. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:11.120 Um, I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one, as you are in me, Father, and I am in you, and may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.439 I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:17.839 I am in them and you are in me. 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:25.839 May they experience such perfect unity that the world would know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:35.839 Now, Jesus says the number one way that the world is gonna know that Jesus is the Son of God is by our unity. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:45.279 You know, it's really counterintuitive because you know you'd think it would be something else, handing out tracts or some evangelism thing. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:46.560 He says it's by our unity. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:51.120 How well we get along together is how the world's gonna know that Jesus is his son. 00:06:51.279 --> 00:07:03.120 And what's happened, mostly, I guess, in Western Christianity, um, is that we've kind of divided or congregated around our strengths or our gifts. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:19.279 And so if the Bible's very important to us, and I'm talking in relativity, so obviously the Bible's important to all of us, um, but but if if that's a huge focus of ours, then I might want to go to a Bible church where that's the focus. 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:32.639 You know, if I have uh uh a gift of faith, you know, and I really believe God for everything, for signs, wonders, miracles, healing, then I might want to go to a faith-focused church. 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:38.879 You know, if I speak in tongues, I might want to go to a speaking in tongues um church. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:47.360 And when we do that, and there's great churches of all those varieties, but when we do that, we tend to get unbalanced. 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:58.160 Because most of the people in that group are gonna have the same strengths, you know, and the same gifts and the same focus. 00:07:58.560 --> 00:08:04.720 Um, Bible foundation churches can become uh legalistic, and not all of them are. 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.759 I mean, there's great churches with that focus, you know. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:09.759 And honestly, I love going to a church like that. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:15.600 And I love hearing someone go like straight teach straight through the Bible, you know, just verse for verse. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.439 Um I love that. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.040 But you can get unbalanced. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:23.519 Faith foundation church, um, actually, I like those. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:32.320 I mean, um I like going to a faith service every now and then and just get a boost of of what's going on there. 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.879 But faith foundation churches can become dangerous. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:37.840 I mean, literally. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:46.399 See, I was at this healing service, and this woman in front of me falls backwards, hits her head on the floor, knocks herself out. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:55.120 The woman next to her says, Hallelujah, praise Jesus, and puts this a cloth over her legs. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:02.399 And um, and so the uh so I and a couple other people noticed she had knocked herself out. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:07.519 And we helped her and she eventually came to and everything was uh was good. 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:09.519 But that's a good that's a good tip. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.720 If you go to a faith service, you don't want to go unconscious. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:17.519 It's like um it's like you don't want to have a heart attack when you're playing charades. 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:23.200 You know, you're you're wanting an ambulance, everybody's trying to figure out what movie you are, you know. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.240 It's the same sort of thing. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:31.840 Um you know, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit's so important, and so important to us. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:41.039 And Paul, we're not gonna get there today, but Paul's gonna go on with the same metaphor about the build about a building and about being a residence for the Holy Spirit. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.120 You know, so the Holy Spirit's important. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.960 But if the Holy Spirit's the foundation, you know, it can it can get a little weird. 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:51.600 Um and that happened in Corinth. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:57.679 And Paul literally, further on in this letter, he's gonna say, you know, you need to ratchet the weirdness back a little bit. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:09:59.519 You're freaking out the visitors. 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:03.679 Um and that's a paraphrase, but that is exactly what he's gonna say. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:10.799 Um and I think Paul, who was inspired, also knew that weirdness would eventually lead to tambourines. 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:16.639 And um that's always a bad combination. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.080 Now, I'm I'm really not making fun of these types of churches. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:24.080 I'm actually teasing us. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:33.120 Because we have Bible-focused people, we have faith-focused people, we have Holy Spirit-focused people. 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:34.559 Thank God, here. 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:40.000 You know, and Jesus' plan is for us all to be together in one place. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:45.840 That's his best plan, you know, is for us all to be together in one place. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.159 You know, and the way we can do that is if we have him as our foundation. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:54.159 We have people here care deeply about the Bible. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:03.360 And so um occasionally I'll get an email, you know, and it's someone that that's pointing out how I explained a verse wrong or said something that wasn't clear. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:09.360 And, you know, I appreciate that because I mean we want to be about truth, and I want everything to be clear. 00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:23.279 And and it may be that we talk about it and we don't even end up agreeing, but they don't get mad and and leave, you know, or often they're right, you know, and so it it helps me, and and it, and it's uh it's an important thing. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:26.080 And and we need you because we want God's truth. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.320 Faith people, we have um we all have faith. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.519 You know, again, we're talking relativities and focus and gifts. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:40.799 We all have faith, but some people have an actual gift of faith, and they share that with all of us. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.519 And so that's basically what our prayer team does. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:54.320 We think of sharing our faith as telling someone about Jesus, which is um which is true, but our prayer team literally shares their faith. 00:11:55.519 --> 00:12:06.559 And so if you need anything from God and you just can't believe, you can't believe that he would do it for you, you can't believe he would do it at all, they got your back. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:08.639 They'll believe for you. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.120 They'll share their faith with you. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.399 They'll grab your their your hand and pray for you, pray with you. 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:26.399 You know, I probably don't talk about this enough, or maybe maybe so, but we've had more miracles in the last few years here. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:28.240 You know, it's just that's not a focus. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:32.559 But we've had but I mean, God answers our prayers so dramatically. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:39.840 We've had job miracles, relationship miracles, childbirth miracles, adoption miracles, health miracles. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:50.879 I mean, just this morning off the top of my head, um I could think of people who have been miraculously healed of ovarian cancer, brain cancer, prostate cancer, Lugarrick's disease. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:13:05.200 Um you remember Nate's that's uh uh you remember Nate Snow's God story in September. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:09.120 You know, and we've a lot of us have been praying for Nate ever since uh that accident. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:17.039 But but that morning we all prayed together for Nate, and and you may have heard, but just recently he started speaking, which is a miracle. 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:24.159 Um so so God can do anything. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.159 God does everything. 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:33.840 And we need people with great faith, you know, to uh to help us believe um with them. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:41.519 Um we need everyone and all the differences in how God wired us with gifts of the Holy Spirit. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:44.559 Um God's given us all of them. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:49.919 We've he's given dreams to people here that have helped and encouraged uh us so much. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:53.919 We have people who speak in tongues like breathing air here. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:04.799 And they might not do it in here just out of really out of respect and and love and and understanding how Jesus is designing this church um here. 00:14:06.559 --> 00:14:08.399 But we need we need all those gifts. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.799 We need we need everything that Jesus has for us. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:24.960 But we can be wired different, and we can have different types of gifts and even different focuses, if you will, and get along so well for one reason. 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.919 All of those things are important, but they're not the foundation. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:40.080 Jesus is the foundation of this church, the foundation of our lives, and so we we all rally and agree on that. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:55.039 You know, we fall in love with Him, we love each other, and it's pretty easy to actually appreciate how differently God wired us and the different gifts and strengths that we all have, and it makes us strong together. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:15:02.240 And so as so as a relatively young church ourselves, we can take to heart Paul's heart-to-heart with this new church. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.360 He says, the only foundation can be Jesus. 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:06.879 We can't get away from that. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.039 Our foundation has to be Jesus. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:14.080 And it's true here when we're together, and it's true in our lives individually. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:22.720 In Hebrews 1, it says, going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:25.519 Recently he spoke to us directly through his son. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.639 By his son, God created the world in the beginning, and we'll all belong to the Son at the end. 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:36.879 This Son perfectly mirrors God and is stamped with God's nature. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:41.519 He holds everything together by what he says, powerful words. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:48.480 See, Jesus isn't just the foundation of a healthy church, he is the foundation of everything. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:50.399 Of everything. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:57.440 If we want to know what God the Father is like, Jesus is the perfect mirror, the perfect reflection of God. 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:00.399 If we want to know God's plan to adopt us, it's Jesus. 00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:03.759 If we want to know if God loves us, look at Jesus. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.919 If we want to see what true love looks like, look at Jesus. 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:09.919 Is God kind, compassionate? 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:11.120 Is he really forgiving? 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:12.480 Jesus. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.080 What's my purpose in life? 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:16.000 Well, ask Jesus. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:17.759 He'll tell you. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:22.000 He created you uniquely, but to love God and to love people. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:25.600 How do I love other people? 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:26.399 Watch Jesus. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.159 What do I want to be when I grow up? 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:30.320 I want to be like Jesus. 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:35.200 He is the foundation, he is the center of everything. 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:46.000 And so if at his hands we're going to be all God wants us to be, and in our own lives, if our lives are going to be what God wants them to be, our foundation has to be Jesus. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.759 And it's true in every aspect of our lives, it's true in our relationships. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:56.080 You know, Paul talks to husbands in Ephesians 5 and 28. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:01.279 He says, Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:03.360 A love marked by giving, not getting. 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:05.279 Christ's love makes the church whole. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.200 He his words evoke her beauty. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:13.680 Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.079 And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:22.160 They're really doing themselves a favor since they're already one in marriage. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.480 So the foundation of our marriage is Jesus. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.519 And we talked the last couple weeks about how we can read God's word. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:35.759 And then we can take a few minutes, we can ask the Holy Spirit to show us how to apply it in our lives. 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.799 God did that for me, I don't know, maybe ten years ago with this verse. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:47.039 So I'd read it, and his direction was to rewrite it. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.119 Just rewrite it on paper. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:55.359 But everywhere it said husband, write Steve, and everywhere it said wives, write Susan. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:01.200 And so it was this Steve, go all out in your love for Susan. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:03.279 Exactly as Christ did for the church. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:05.119 A love marked by giving, not getting. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.799 Christ's love makes the church whole. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.319 His words evoke her beauty. 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:16.559 Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.359 And that is how you ought to love Susan. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:24.160 You're really doing yourself a favor since you're already one in marriage. 00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:35.200 You see, so I got direct instruction from God to make Jesus the foundation of my relationship with Susan. 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:37.519 And our marriage hasn't really been an easy one. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:39.200 We've been married 28 years. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:42.000 The first 27 are the hardest. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.119 Actually, the first 10 were really hard, honestly. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.039 The second ten were hard as well. 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:01.599 She definitely agrees. 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.839 Now, this is the best news for all of us who are married. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.079 You know, it it can get better. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:31.519 It can get better. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:34.319 Even if you have a great marriage, it's going to get better. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.839 But especially for those of you this morning who are struggling in your relationship, because they are hard. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:43.440 Relationships are um difficult. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:45.519 I mean, you have great hope. 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:46.240 Don't give up. 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.319 You have great hope. 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:52.079 Jesus can do what you don't even know how to start doing. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:20:04.880 He can break down walls, he can heal hurts, he can help us to completely forgive and forget and move forward, even if we can't imagine being able to forgive and forget and move forward. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:19.759 I can say with a hundred percent certainty that as we make the foundation of our relationships, Jesus, our relationships are gonna get better and better and better. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:25.119 So, you know, only way I know to do that is just is ask him. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:28.319 Ask him to help us to be more like him with our spouse. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:32.640 Ask him to help us make him the center of our relationship. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:34.400 It's true in careers. 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:43.920 You know, if we haven't made Jesus the focus, the foundation of our career, we're missing such great joy and such huge opportunity to see him work in our lives. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:51.359 In Colossians 3, it says, work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:54.880 Jesus is the foundation of our careers. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.759 You know, I used to think God didn't care that much about my work. 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:01.519 He's obviously got bigger things, you know, on his plate. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.599 But the truth is, he cares about you. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.599 He loves you. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:13.680 He cares about everything you do, he cares about everything you think about, he cares about the stuff you're worried about. 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:20.000 And if you're spending as much time as we spend at work in our careers, I mean, he cares. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:22.160 And he can help. 00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:25.279 And he wants to be the foundation of your career. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:29.920 Um, you know, every day we have an opportunity to make Jesus our focus at work. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:33.279 We'll have an opportunity to ask him to help us answer a problem. 00:21:33.440 --> 00:21:40.720 We'll have the opportunity to ask him to give us patience with a coworker or customer to give us um wisdom. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.880 We can ask him for a favor with a boss or with a prospect. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:56.079 You know, we'll have opportunities to be honest and have integrity and trust him to make it work out for our good. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:04.799 And we also have opportunities to talk about Jesus in a Real normal way and help God change someone's life. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:07.680 Maybe just invite them here to be with us. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.240 And God will give us the wisdom how to do it. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:15.839 Ted, it's just been such a big part of my life. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:21.119 And I just promise you, if you make Jesus the foundation of your work, you'll have so much joy. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:24.799 You'll hear him speak. 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:26.400 You'll see him answer prayers. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:28.640 Today's Telgate Sunday. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.400 Falcons play the Colts. 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:31.440 We need to win. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:33.200 We got to win this game. 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:45.359 And it's a big opportunity because Manning's not, you know, he's injured and he's not playing, and the Colts are 0-6, but no game is easy in the NFL, and particularly not road games. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.759 So it's an important game. 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.000 But the Colts haven't always been 0-6. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:53.759 In 2007, they won the Super Bowl. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.079 Tony Dungey was their coach. 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:02.480 And so they win the Super Bowl, and Jim Nance presents Tony Dungey with the Super Bowl trophy. 00:23:02.559 --> 00:23:08.079 It's in front of 75,000 fans and 97 million television viewers. 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:13.279 And Coach Dungey said, I'm proud to be the first African American coach to win this. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:24.559 But again, more than anything, Lovey Smith and I, who is the Bears coach, is the Bears coach, and I are not only African American, but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:26.880 We're more proud of that. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.640 I'm reading from a newspaper article. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:36.720 It goes on The Colts beat the Chicago Bears 29-17 on a soggy field in Miami, Florida Sunday. 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:40.480 They did it for their coach, whom the players say deserved the win. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:44.079 And Dungey did it without yelling or cursing from the sidelines. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:52.960 A trait that his players have trained with and that opposing coach and close friend Lovey Smith picked up when he assisted Dungy on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:58.720 A day ahead of the game, Dungy headlined the annual Faith-Based Super Bowl breakfast, hosted by Athletes in Action. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:24:09.119 A record crowd of 2,500 people witnessed Dungey speak as the first ever Super Bowl coach to appear in person at the breakfast a day before the NFL marquee game. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:13.599 Dungey pushed the team's practices and meetings back to attend the breakfast. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:18.559 Dungey was up against his protege and fellow believer Smith for the big win on Sunday. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:23.599 Both he and Smith had already made history going into the Super Bowl as the first African American head coaches. 00:24:23.839 --> 00:24:31.519 Smith called the event a perfect stage for the coaches to confess their faith in Jesus Christ in a video shown at Saturday's breakfast. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:39.599 Both coaches appeared in a USA Today ad on Friday with a message that said, We're pro-football coaches, but we're also men of faith. 00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:45.680 A faith that defines who we are, it comforts us in tough times and produces hope in the midst of adversity. 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:53.440 It is through our common faith in Jesus Christ that we have individually experienced God's love and forgiveness. 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:59.119 See, we can make Jesus the foundation of any career. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.480 Foundation of any part of our life. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.359 Students, we got such great students here. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:10.319 In 1 Timothy, Paul says, Don't let anyone let think less of you because you're young. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:17.039 Be an example to all believers in what you say and the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:26.559 Man, you can make a big difference at school as Jesus is the foundation of everything that we do. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:44.559 And so whether it's here, Paul would say, whether it's here with us together, whether it's at home in our family relationships, if it's at work in our careers, if it's at school, you know, if our foundation is Jesus, it'll have a dramatic effect. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.519 You know, it is He's the only foundation. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.000 He's the center of everything. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:59.680 Paul said, for no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have, Jesus Christ. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:00.880 So we'll stop there. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:05.440 We'll ask the worship team to come up, and we'll sing one more song together. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:11.519 Um, you know, maybe there's a uh a part of your life. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:14.400 I used to kind of compartmentalize my life, you know. 00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:26.880 I had work and I had church and I had these friends and I had those friends, and and um maybe there's some part of your life, the Holy Spirit will show you, that you've compartmentalized, that Jesus could be a foundation. 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:33.759 It could be so much more if uh if he became the foundation of everything. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:38.960 Let's uh let's stand, we'll get ready to uh to sing together. 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:44.480 You know, the first part of Jesus being the foundation for all of us is just get connected with him. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:48.480 You know, it's to put our our trust in him, and you can trust him. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:50.160 I mean, you can trust him. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:57.759 You know, and we ask him in our own words, in our own way, just to be the foundation of our lives. 00:26:58.000 --> 00:26:59.440 You know, I need you. 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:00.960 Help me, lead me. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:02.720 You know, I've screwed things up. 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:03.759 Can you get me out of it? 00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:07.920 You know, whatever, whatever it is, you know, I want to change. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:09.200 I need your help. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:12.960 Whatever that is, we say it to him in our own words, in our own way. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:17.519 And the spirit inside of us comes alive, it connects with God's spirit. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:19.680 And then he starts changing us. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:21.119 And he uses the things we talked about. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:25.279 He uses people with faith, he uses his word, he uses his spirit. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:30.720 And mostly he does the heavy lifting, but he starts changing us from the inside out. 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:37.519 And then our lives become, it's a process, but our lives become what he always intended them to be. 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:41.279 You know, as our foundation becomes Jesus. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:44.319 So you can do that today if you if you haven't already. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:46.960 Let's uh let's finish with a prayer. 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:50.079 Father, we thank you for for this morning. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:28:00.480 Uh Holy Spirit, I just ask that you would just speak to each of us again, I ask, and that we'd go away with something that we can apply, or maybe just something that that encourages us if that's what we need. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:03.119 And I ask a blessing on every single person here. 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:12.960 You know, we're all at different places, we all have different things going on, and whether it whether it's health, whether it's finances, whether it's relationship, or whether it's just a desire to be closer to you. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:15.920 God, we just ask you to give all of us what we need. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:19.119 And we love you, and we thank you, and we trust you, and we thank you for each other too. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:20.160 In Jesus' name. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:20.960 Amen.