SPEAKER_02: Some of the most difficult things in Christianity will require more joy than guilt, self-hatred, or determination.
SPEAKER_02: This is why most people don't achieve them, rarely experience them, and really don't enjoy them.
SPEAKER_00: This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02: Father, we uh we're struck this morning, or we should be struck, by the beauty of little words.
SPEAKER_02: Church is not about coming and hearing big words and leaving and feeling stupid.
SPEAKER_02: No, you're a God of you get you use big words sometimes, but most often you use little words.
SPEAKER_02: Like the little words we just sang, like ever and only and all.
SPEAKER_02: That is the God of the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: That's the God of Christianity.
SPEAKER_02: He's not complicated, He's accessible.
SPEAKER_02: He's the God that put on flesh and blood and came and lived on this earth and said, Hey, come to me, all you that labored are heavy-laden, and you'll find rest for your souls.
SPEAKER_02: And so, Lord, let us be struck today by the simplicity of both God and gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Ever only all.
SPEAKER_02: Those are great words.
SPEAKER_02: Ever only all for thee.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Holy Spirit, make the Bible make sense today.
SPEAKER_02: Cause it to kind of click in our head and in our heart and find expression in our hands this week.
SPEAKER_02: And the way we love our wives and raise our children, spend our money and be a neighbor and be an employee and a boss and the CEO.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel affects all those people.
SPEAKER_02: So, Holy Spirit, lead us into the truth so we can be freer cats when we walk out of here than we were when we walked in.
SPEAKER_02: This is our prayer.
SPEAKER_02: We ask for it in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: You can have a seat.
SPEAKER_02: If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to John chapter 15.
SPEAKER_02: If you're our guest, let me say uh welcome and thank you for looking into a new church.
SPEAKER_02: We're going through the Gospel of John and we're up to chapter 15 this morning.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to talk to you this morning about what Christians tend to forget.
SPEAKER_02: What Christians tend to forget, because the longer you're a Christian, I've been a Christian since July of 1982.
SPEAKER_02: That was a long time ago.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you in this room were not even born.
SPEAKER_02: Let me ask this question.
SPEAKER_02: How many of you in this room, I see you smiling out there, how many in this room were not born in July of 1982?
SPEAKER_02: Could you raise your hand?
SPEAKER_02: God, y'all are some punks.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, I don't take that personally.
SPEAKER_02: So I've been a Christian a long time.
SPEAKER_02: And here's what happens.
SPEAKER_02: Like when I said July of 1982, there's a young lady in this section right here that just kind of went, wow, I wasn't even born.
SPEAKER_02: That's a long time ago.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, and now she's trying to figure out my age.
SPEAKER_02: I'll be 55 next month.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, bring your gifts.
SPEAKER_02: So as a Christian, I've been a Christian a long time.
SPEAKER_02: And so it's easy for me to kind of forget.
SPEAKER_02: And we have this passion, and the church and American Christianity kind of fuels this passion for the new.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm all for that, but don't let go of the old.
SPEAKER_02: There's a passage in the book of Ecclesiastes that says it's good to take hold of one thing and not let go of another.
SPEAKER_02: I want to just kind of remind you hey, don't let go of these things in your passion and pursuit of what's new and what's next.
SPEAKER_02: Because a lot of times what's new and what's next pales in comparison to this stuff back here.
SPEAKER_02: So I want to talk to you from John 15 about what Christians tend to forget.
SPEAKER_02: Verse 1, this is the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is talking, and he says this.
SPEAKER_02: He says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
SPEAKER_02: Every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: Abide in me, and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, and neither can you, unless you abide in me.
SPEAKER_02: I am the vine, you are the branches.
SPEAKER_02: Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
SPEAKER_02: For apart from me, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_02: If any one does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.
SPEAKER_02: If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
SPEAKER_02: By this is my Father glorified.
SPEAKER_02: You bear much that you bear much fruit, and so prove yourselves to be my disciples.
SPEAKER_02: As the Father has loved me, so I've loved you.
SPEAKER_02: Abide in my love.
SPEAKER_02: If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.
SPEAKER_02: These things I've spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
SPEAKER_02: May be full.
SPEAKER_02: I want to talk to you this morning about uh what Christians tend to forget.
SPEAKER_02: There's four things from the passage from the text this morning.
SPEAKER_02: The first one is simply this the nature of the Father's work.
SPEAKER_02: We tend to forget the nature of the Father's work.
SPEAKER_02: Now, I may refer to an old man that discipled me throughout their sermon this morning.
SPEAKER_02: I just want to say uh when I became a Christian at 18, it was a couple years later, I went and worked at a at a Christian camp, and I was discipled by an older man that worked there.
SPEAKER_02: I think he was at the time 48.
SPEAKER_02: I thought that was ancient back then.
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm like 20, and I thought this guy could die at any moment.
SPEAKER_02: He was one of those guys that said crazy things to me.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I mean, just it just bizarre.
SPEAKER_02: Uh like he said to me, the first thing he said to me that made me I didn't know what discipleship was.
SPEAKER_02: I just thought you became a Christian, you went to church, you sinned a lot, you told God you're sorry, and you tried harder.
SPEAKER_02: Uh he walked up to me one day, he always had a cup of coffee in his hand, and he would blow on the coffee, and the steam would fog up his glasses.
SPEAKER_02: And I just kind of thought, wow.
SPEAKER_02: And then years later, they made a malox commercial where this guy's blowing on some gumbo.
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Oh, Maylox.
SPEAKER_02: I thought, oh, look, it's that guy.
SPEAKER_02: But he walked up to me one day.
SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm 20 years old, working at a Christian camp, loving Jesus, working for Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And he just looked at me and he said, Hey, are you getting tired of working on yourself and getting nowhere?
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, you talking to me?
SPEAKER_02: Uh and he's like, Yeah, I'm talking to you, Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Personality.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Well, I mean, I'm just, you know, just loving the Lord, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_02: And he goes, relax, relax.
SPEAKER_02: You're not in trouble, son.
SPEAKER_02: I just think that you get a lot of affirmation because you have a big personality and you're enjoyable.
SPEAKER_02: I wonder how much weight you got in the bottom of the ship.
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm concerned you don't have, I'm, what did he say?
SPEAKER_02: I'm concerned you got more mast than ballast.
SPEAKER_02: That's what he said.
SPEAKER_02: I we didn't have Google back then.
SPEAKER_02: This is how long ago that was.
SPEAKER_02: I had to go ask people what is mast and what is ballast.
SPEAKER_02: And they ballast is the weight in the bottom of the ship.
SPEAKER_02: The mast is like the sails and the rigging and stuff.
SPEAKER_02: So, unless you have, if you got more mast than ballast, the ship's gonna turn over.
SPEAKER_02: What keeps the sheep, the ship riding is you got weight in the bottom of the ship where no one can see.
SPEAKER_02: And he would say stuff like that and just walk off.
SPEAKER_02: Now, why am I saying this?
SPEAKER_02: Because the church is supposed to be doing this for each other.
SPEAKER_02: Older men should be speaking into the lives of younger men.
SPEAKER_02: And older women should be speaking into the lives of younger women.
SPEAKER_02: You shouldn't just be getting together with your friends and reading a book.
SPEAKER_02: That's not discipleship.
SPEAKER_02: That's a book club.
SPEAKER_02: Oprah can do that.
SPEAKER_02: The church is to do discipleship.
SPEAKER_02: And it's not about being polished, shiny, it's about being scraped sharp.
SPEAKER_02: Like the first time this man met my girlfriend, the next time we met, he said to me, Hey, can we talk about the obvious?
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Yeah, man, isn't God great?
SPEAKER_02: And he said, What's that?
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Don't make fun of my girlfriend.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, I'm not making fun of your girlfriend, I'm making fun of you.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was like, tell you what.
SPEAKER_02: Oh he asked me one time and he really provoked me.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Are you mad?
SPEAKER_02: I said, Dang straight I'm mad.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Great.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying don't be mad, I'm saying be mad to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_02: What kind of crazy old man are you?
SPEAKER_02: Huh?
SPEAKER_02: He said, first thing we tend to forget the nature of the father's work.
SPEAKER_02: What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: It's verse one.
SPEAKER_02: He says, I am the true vine, Jesus said.
SPEAKER_02: And my father is the vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if I ask you what is a vine dresser, how many in this room would know what a vine dresser is?
SPEAKER_02: Could I see your hands?
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes, all the wine drinkers in the room are like, Yes, I know what that is.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I named my first child, Merlot.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, uh a vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: A vine dresser is now when Jesus tells you something, he never wastes words, okay?
SPEAKER_02: He says, I am the true vine.
SPEAKER_02: My father is the vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: You have to understand that because that sets the tone and the timber for the rest of this passage, especially the first two or three verses.
SPEAKER_02: Uh and so I'm such a nerd.
SPEAKER_02: I went and looked up what a vine dresser was.
SPEAKER_02: I knew what it was, but I wanted to understand what they do.
SPEAKER_02: This is from a secular article about the people that tend grapes in a vineyard where they make wine.
SPEAKER_02: And this is what they said.
SPEAKER_02: They said, a vine dresser, now, when you hear this, think about God and the way he relates to you as a Christian.
SPEAKER_02: A vine dresser is an agriculturalist involved in the daily pruning and cultivation of grape vines.
SPEAKER_02: As with any agricultural professional, vine dressers work nearly year-round to help ensure the vineyard has a successful crop.
SPEAKER_02: Pruning is one of the preeminent tasks of a vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: These pruning techniques take into consideration the shape and the consistency of the vine.
SPEAKER_02: Pruning is an essential task as it removes dead, diseased, or stunted fruits to make room for new growth, ultimately leading to a healthy and productive vine.
SPEAKER_02: The pruning process begins very shortly after planting, usually within a few weeks.
SPEAKER_02: I did not know that.
SPEAKER_02: A few weeks.
SPEAKER_02: Keeping pests away from the burgeoning vines is vital to maintaining the vineyard and ultimately the wine production.
SPEAKER_02: Now let me read that last sentence again, and you think about your friends that your parents don't seem to like.
SPEAKER_02: Keeping pests away from the burgeoning vines is vital to maintaining the vineyard and ultimately wine production.
SPEAKER_02: Vine dressers must also closely monitor vineyards to ensure each is receiving the correct amount of water and irrigation during the growing season.
SPEAKER_02: Failure by the vine dresser to provide adequate water to vines could lead to sunburn, immature vines, and pest problems.
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, I read this over and over and over.
SPEAKER_02: This was my devotional for a period of time, I must confess.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I was struck by the first sentence.
SPEAKER_02: A vine dresser is an agriculturalist involved in the daily pruning and cultivation of the grapes.
SPEAKER_02: God is daily pruning and cultivating.
SPEAKER_02: Unless you understand the nature of the Father's work, you don't understand the next two or three verses.
SPEAKER_02: Because, see, most people hear this now that I said that.
SPEAKER_02: Let me read verse one and two again.
SPEAKER_02: I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
SPEAKER_02: And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: Unless you understand the nature of the Father's work, you fight against that process.
SPEAKER_02: Because most people hear this.
SPEAKER_02: And again, verse two every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.
SPEAKER_02: Every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may be, that it may bear more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: Most people hear this and they kind of think, man, I better get busy producing fruit or else God's gonna take me away.
SPEAKER_02: And preachers with no integrity come along and they use this thing out of context and they make you feel guilty and they kind of manipulate you to you better be producing fruit or God's gonna take you away.
SPEAKER_02: This is why context is so important when reading the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: This is not a bunch of disconnected one-off stories.
SPEAKER_02: This is all everything in the Bible happens in a certain context.
SPEAKER_02: This is the context of what just happened.
SPEAKER_02: We're in chapter 15.
SPEAKER_02: Now, it is in chapter chapter 13 and 14 where Jesus sets the stage, and then it happens that Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, he leaves the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus dips some bread in a cup of wine and hands it to him and said, Here's the one that's gonna betray me like you can't roll up on me.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all are bringing Kool-Aid to a gym party, okay?
SPEAKER_02: You can't tell me things I don't know.
SPEAKER_02: And so he's like, Here's the one that's gonna betray me.
SPEAKER_02: And Judas is so overwhelmed by guilt.
SPEAKER_02: He gets up and he runs out.
SPEAKER_02: Because Jesus hands him the bread and said, Whatever you do, do quickly.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't say stop anything.
SPEAKER_02: And so Judas has left the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: Now, why do I make a big deal out of that?
SPEAKER_02: Here's why.
SPEAKER_02: Because the context of the Bible helps us translate the Bible accurately.
SPEAKER_02: Having said that, I'm saying to you this morning, the first part of verse two, Jesus is referring to Judas.
SPEAKER_02: The second part of verse two, he's talking to the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: Hear it again, verse two.
SPEAKER_02: Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away Judas.
SPEAKER_02: And every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit, the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: He says, Hey, I got no, I got no achievement certificates, no awards, no trophies.
SPEAKER_02: You're bearing fruit.
SPEAKER_02: Great.
SPEAKER_02: God's going to prune you so that you can bring forth more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: Judas Iscariot demonstrates this ruthless commitment to his own agenda to not abide in and trust in Jesus, and his life ends in fruitless despair.
SPEAKER_02: Because the Father, the vine dresser, takes him away.
SPEAKER_02: This is why Jesus says what he says to them, and we'll get to that in just a minute.
SPEAKER_02: The second part's a reference to the disciples, and it's instructive for them, but also for us, because it helps us to understand the necessity of pruning and the goal of pruning.
SPEAKER_02: And because unless you understand, unless I understand the necessity of pruning and the goal of pruning, it all feels like punishment.
SPEAKER_02: It all feels like punishment.
SPEAKER_02: Like I alluded to this girl that I dated when I was 20.
SPEAKER_02: And I thought, man, this is awesome.
SPEAKER_02: And we got one weekend out of the 13-week summer at the camp I worked at where we could have a family visit.
SPEAKER_02: My family's kind of like, we're working.
SPEAKER_02: We ain't knocking off to come see you or some religious cult you've joined.
SPEAKER_02: So my girlfriend came to see me, and I was so excited, and all my guy friends, one of my guy friends said to me, dude, if I had your hands, I'd cut mine off.
SPEAKER_02: I had no idea what that meant.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I think he thinks my girlfriend's pretty, okay?
SPEAKER_02: Back then we said, fine.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you say that anymore in the Me Too generation, but they were all excited.
SPEAKER_02: Have you seen McClennan's girlfriend?
SPEAKER_02: How did he get a woman like that?
SPEAKER_02: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_02: Blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_02: It's all the same things you people say to me now about my wife.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I hear you.
SPEAKER_02: I walk by the hall the other day, and some kid goes, How did the guy that looks like the love child of Pitt Bull and Tim Keller get a woman like that?
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, Yeah, yeah, think about it.
SPEAKER_02: But my girlfriend comes for the weekend, she leaves, and we sit down for our discipleship time on Monday, and he says, Let's start with the obvious.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: He says, What was that?
SPEAKER_02: And he started getting my girlfriend, and I was like, Right, I said, Don't talk about my girlfriend.
SPEAKER_02: He said, I'm not making fun of your girlfriend.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about you.
SPEAKER_02: I think you date her for your pleasure and not God's glory.
SPEAKER_02: And I just thought, about four minutes in, I thought, this is not going well today.
SPEAKER_02: Because discipleship for me, church was where you got together with religious information, played badminton, boo, and Jesus hit it back to you, boo, and then no one, oh, awesome, that's good.
SPEAKER_02: And pray for me.
SPEAKER_02: I've got a little unspoken prayer request.
SPEAKER_02: This old man showed up shirtless and played dodgeball.
SPEAKER_02: It was awesome, but it scared me to death.
SPEAKER_02: He said to me one time, we because we read John 15 the whole chapter for months.
SPEAKER_02: And I was, I remember just thinking, is there anything else in the Bible?
SPEAKER_02: We talked about Pruny one day, and he said to me about my girlfriend, he said, Here's my problem with you, son.
SPEAKER_02: You're trying to make a living, you're trying to make a meal out of small bitter fruit because you don't trust God to bring you the juicy grape.
SPEAKER_02: And in my mind, I was like, I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded really spiritual.
SPEAKER_02: And then he just looked at me and he said, Son, sometimes when God loves you, he puts the blade on you.
SPEAKER_02: What are you talking about, Willis?
SPEAKER_02: And I said, What?
SPEAKER_02: He goes, He puts the blade on you, he prunes you.
SPEAKER_02: He prunes you.
SPEAKER_02: You know why you prune a tree, son?
SPEAKER_02: And I'd worked at a peach orch.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Yeah, you prune a tree to thicken up the branches so it can support the weight of future growth.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Unless you're willing to let go of this and let God prune it off, you ain't gonna get anything better than this.
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna settle for this, you're gonna eat small, bitter, undeveloped fruit the rest of your life.
SPEAKER_02: You are the kid.
SPEAKER_02: He called me a kid.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, I'm 20 years old, I'm not a kid.
SPEAKER_02: He said, You're the kid with a mouthful of raisins who denies the existence of grapes.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I don't even know what that means.
SPEAKER_02: Later that day, like four o'clock, I'm mowing out on the property, and I was like, Oh, he was insulting me.
SPEAKER_02: Afterwards, we got done working, we went and showered up, went to supper to service supper, and I saw him sitting over there with all the adults smiling.
SPEAKER_02: I said, I got your grape raisin thing.
SPEAKER_02: And he just held up his glass and he just was like, hey.
SPEAKER_02: I was just like, Oh.
SPEAKER_02: By the way, I was I'll be 55 next month.
SPEAKER_02: These things were said to me when I was 20.
SPEAKER_02: You need people in your life that say consequential things to you.
SPEAKER_02: I can remember him looking at me, one smiling way.
SPEAKER_02: He says, When God loves you, he puts a blade on you sometimes, son.
SPEAKER_02: And if he doesn't, your life will be a life of leaf and not fruit.
SPEAKER_02: From a distance, you'll look good.
SPEAKER_02: But when Jesus comes close and parts the leaves, there's nothing in there.
SPEAKER_02: I've been a Christian two years, and I remember thinking, this man speaks a different language than everybody I've known so far.
SPEAKER_02: But the more I read the Bible, the more I understood the language that he was speaking.
SPEAKER_02: And again, unless you understand the necessity, the nature of the Father's work.
SPEAKER_02: The Father does what the Father does to bring more fruit into our life.
SPEAKER_02: He's the vine dresser.
SPEAKER_02: Unless you understand that, you understand the necessity of pruning and the goal of pruning, it all starts to feel like punishment when in reality what God is doing is preparing you and I to be able to sustain bigger and more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: You prune again to thicken up branches so it can support the weight of what has to come.
SPEAKER_02: A couple years later, I had another relationship a lot like that one.
SPEAKER_02: Which is great, but it just wasn't like, ah, this is going somewhere.
SPEAKER_02: It's like, hey, it's just somebody to hang out with and kiss on the mouth and go eat dinner with and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_02: Same thing happened, had to end the relationship.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't say, hey, I've been praying.
SPEAKER_02: I think the Lord just wants us to be friends.
SPEAKER_02: Don't be such a coward, men.
SPEAKER_02: Put your big boy pants on.
SPEAKER_02: And say, hey, this relationship doesn't glorify God.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to be in this relationship anymore.
SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of yeah, yeah, yeah things we could say, but that's the bottom line.
SPEAKER_02: How do you feel about that?
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, when you defraud a woman, when you lead her with your words beyond where your heart is, that's called defrauding.
SPEAKER_02: That's an emotionally traumatic thing.
SPEAKER_02: And I just had to sit there and watch just come undone, sobbing uncontrollable, and I thought, this is a gross feeling.
SPEAKER_02: I don't want to ever do this to anybody ever again.
SPEAKER_02: So I didn't.
SPEAKER_02: I just was like, I'm done.
SPEAKER_02: The old man was killing me.
SPEAKER_02: And he said to me, he said, This won't make sense.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it'll be years down the road until this makes sense.
SPEAKER_02: You expect me to go years.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't say that, but I'm thinking it.
SPEAKER_02: That's easy for you.
SPEAKER_02: You're like 48.
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna die any day now.
SPEAKER_02: You got a wife and kids.
SPEAKER_02: When you're 48, it's just easy.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: I'm 54, I'm still waiting for Easy to get here.
SPEAKER_02: This is what I'm saying to you.
SPEAKER_02: None of that made sense until I was in grad school.
SPEAKER_02: I looked up across the campus and I saw this blonde hair whipping in the wind, and these straight-legged Levi's and cowboy boots and a white t-shirt and no makeup.
SPEAKER_02: And my first thought was, What a friend we have in Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: All our sins and griefs to bear.
SPEAKER_02: And then I met her and talked to her, and I was like, dang, that's like a woman.
SPEAKER_02: That's not like a girl.
SPEAKER_02: And guess what?
SPEAKER_02: I heard the voice of the old man.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes when he loves you, son, he lays the blade on you to prune off what's unnecessary so that what's necessary can come.
SPEAKER_02: I've been with that blonde for 26, married for 26 years.
SPEAKER_02: We dated for two.
SPEAKER_02: Best thing I ever did.
SPEAKER_02: Because I understood pruning.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the second thing Christians tend to forget that austerity is not the norm.
SPEAKER_02: Austerity is not the norm.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_02: You still with me?
SPEAKER_02: Can you feel it in the room?
SPEAKER_02: Some of you cats are like, oh, easy, let's just go home right now.
SPEAKER_02: Austerity is not the norm.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 3.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: Hear that.
SPEAKER_02: Already you are clean because of the word that I've spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is not criticizing them.
SPEAKER_02: A lot of people think that Jesus is like, hey, you guys better get out there and bear some fruit.
SPEAKER_02: I'll tell you what, it's going to wadge up and throw you into hell and you're going to burn and blah, blah, blah.
SPEAKER_02: What do you do with verse 3?
SPEAKER_02: Already you are clean because of the word I've spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: He's not criticizing, he's encouraging them to continue in what he's already established.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you've been with us on this journey in the Gospel of John, I know some of you are like, how long am I being John till we get to the end of it?
SPEAKER_02: And then we're going to preach through the book of Daniel next because the culture in Daniel is kind of like our culture.
SPEAKER_02: Christians are being persecuted, and we're going to be persecuted even more.
SPEAKER_02: So put your big boy pants on and buck up, little soldier.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for coming.
SPEAKER_02: And after that, we're going to probably do Galatians.
SPEAKER_02: That's about the next six years.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, so stop asking me how long I'm going to be in John.
SPEAKER_02: Till we get to the end.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Until we get to the end.
SPEAKER_02: So either buckle in or go find you a topical Tommy that'll tell you something new every four weeks.
SPEAKER_02: And it's like riding a stick horse through Christianity rather than into Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Big difference of the two.
SPEAKER_02: And now back to the text.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, already you're clean.
SPEAKER_02: Hear that again.
SPEAKER_02: Already you're clean because of the word I spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: And if you've been with us on this journey, here's why you should develop your muscles and your appetite for exegetical and expository preaching.
SPEAKER_02: Because you see the big themes of the Bible and the big picture of God.
SPEAKER_02: And this is a great example of that.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, Already you're clean because the word I spoke to you.
SPEAKER_02: And if you've been with us in John, you should be like, now wait a minute, I've heard this before.
SPEAKER_02: And where you heard this before was two chapters earlier in chapter 13 at the Last Supper, Jesus gets up to wash the disciples' feet.
SPEAKER_02: Remember that?
SPEAKER_02: He's washing their feet.
SPEAKER_02: He gets to Peter and Peter, Mr.
SPEAKER_02: Austerity, Mr.
SPEAKER_02: When I say austerity, what is austerity?
SPEAKER_02: Austerity is hard, difficult.
SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of people in the church that are like, if it's not hard, it's not spiritual.
SPEAKER_02: And that's Peter.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus gets to him, and Peter says, No, Lord, you won't wash my feet.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus looks up and says, Hey man, if I don't wash your feet, you have no place with me.
SPEAKER_02: Then Peter's like, his austerity kicks in.
SPEAKER_02: He's like, Well, then, not my feet, but my head and my hands and my whole body.
SPEAKER_02: And Jesus is like, dude, I didn't come to bathe you.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we ain't going there.
SPEAKER_02: This ain't a sponge bath.
SPEAKER_02: Knock it off.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what Jesus says.
SPEAKER_02: I brought it for you this morning so you wouldn't think I made it up.
SPEAKER_02: It's John 13, verse 10.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, The one who is bathed does not need To wash except for his feet, but is completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: And you are clean, but not every one of you.
SPEAKER_02: Now that's in chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: Why is Jesus saying you are clean?
SPEAKER_02: You are already clean, but not every one of you, because Judas is still in the room.
SPEAKER_02: Let the Bible translate the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: This is why I say that the first part of chapter of verse 2 is about Judas.
SPEAKER_02: He says, Hey, every branch of me that does not bear fruit, the Father removes.
SPEAKER_02: The Father has removed Judas.
SPEAKER_02: It was part of God's plan all along.
SPEAKER_02: And so he says to the disciples, hey, I'm going to prune you.
SPEAKER_02: Now, now back in chapter 13, you kind of see Jesus says, Hey, the one who's bathed does not need to wash except for him, his feet, but it's completely clean, and you are clean, but not every one of you.
SPEAKER_02: Here in verse 15, look at what he says in verse 3.
SPEAKER_02: Chapter 15, verse 3.
SPEAKER_02: Already you are clean because the word that I spoke unto you.
SPEAKER_02: There's no caveat, there's no not every one of you.
SPEAKER_02: He's not speaking about the disciples, he's talking to the disciples.
SPEAKER_02: And he says, Hey, the vine dresser has removed this branch that couldn't bear fruit because he couldn't submit to God's agenda, because he thought his ideas were better than God's ideas.
SPEAKER_02: And so that's why he ratted on Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, and God saw it coming all along.
SPEAKER_02: So for the rest of you, prepare to get pruned so you can bring forth more fruit.
SPEAKER_02: No cookie, no trophy, no participation medal.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, I believe the gospel and I follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Yes, great, wonderful.
SPEAKER_02: Prepare for God to relate to you in such a way that you understand the nature of his work, that he accomplishes his will in your life.
SPEAKER_02: Christianity is not forgiveness for seeking your will your entire life.
SPEAKER_02: It's not.
SPEAKER_02: It's you laying down your will for the experience of God's will.
SPEAKER_02: And some of you like, I ain't gonna do that.
SPEAKER_02: You'll have that bitter, fruitless existence every year that passes.
SPEAKER_02: And you're just sitting there nibbling on raisins and denying the existence of grapes.
SPEAKER_02: Peter's austerity gets him in trouble, but it makes a great point.
SPEAKER_02: He says to him, You're completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: Let me ask you a question.
SPEAKER_02: You ever think of yourself as completely clean in relation to God?
SPEAKER_02: In preparation for today, about the past couple weeks, people asked me, I did a wedding the other night.
SPEAKER_02: Uh Friday night.
SPEAKER_02: It was great.
SPEAKER_02: Beautiful venue up in Montgomery.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, like they say in Alabama, Montgomery.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and they had open bar, which is my favorite thing, because white people then dance after that.
SPEAKER_02: It's great.
SPEAKER_02: One bridesmaid kicked her shoes off and was doing this on the dance floor.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, go, girl, go.
SPEAKER_02: I looked at my wife and said, White people are dancing, that's my sign to leave.
SPEAKER_02: And she said, Why?
SPEAKER_02: I said, They don't mind getting drunk in front of the preacher, but they don't want to humiliate themselves, okay?
SPEAKER_02: Uh and so we left.
SPEAKER_02: Now, why do I tell you all that I went and did this and all this stuff?
SPEAKER_02: Because people at the wedding evening, the past couple weeks, people asked me, man, hey, man, how are you?
SPEAKER_02: It's been kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_02: How you doing?
SPEAKER_02: And my answer has been, I'm completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: And they said, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: I had a preacher ask me, he said, Man, how are you doing?
SPEAKER_02: I said, I'm completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: He said, What's that about?
SPEAKER_02: I said, In relation to God, I'm completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: One guy said, I said, I'm saying, How are you now?
SPEAKER_02: I said, I'm completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: He said, You mean like you take a bath or something this morning?
SPEAKER_02: I said, No.
SPEAKER_02: Before God, in the eyes of God, I'm completely clean.
SPEAKER_02: And this is austerity.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Watch it, brother.
SPEAKER_02: That sounds like pride.
SPEAKER_02: I said, No, no, it's people like you that are ruled by pride because you say dumb religious things.
SPEAKER_02: You see somebody enjoying themselves, you say, Hey, knock it off, look miserable.
SPEAKER_02: Bear down, brother.
SPEAKER_02: What are you, Hulk Hogan?
SPEAKER_02: Hey, brother.
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm not bearing down.
SPEAKER_02: I'm enjoying myself.
SPEAKER_02: Because, see, here's the thing: the church teaches you that austerity is spiritual.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes life will be hard enough.
SPEAKER_02: You won't have to seek austerity or hardship.
SPEAKER_02: It will find you.
SPEAKER_02: It's just like, nah.
SPEAKER_02: Again, here's the question.
SPEAKER_02: You ever think about yourself as completely clean in reference to and in relation to God?
SPEAKER_02: Because Jesus says, hey, you're already clean.
SPEAKER_02: Already you're clean.
SPEAKER_02: Stop trying to accomplish what Jesus has already established.
SPEAKER_02: That's what the gospel is saying.
SPEAKER_02: You say, I think it's necessary.
SPEAKER_02: You learn to enjoy what God has done in you and for you.
SPEAKER_02: You don't always have to be navel gazing, trying to figure out what deep flaw you've yet to see in yourself.
SPEAKER_02: Believing the gospel means believing what Jesus has accomplished, not only in you, but for you.
SPEAKER_02: Which brings us to the third thing we Christians forget is that union is what makes it all possible.
SPEAKER_02: That's an old Puritan word right there, union.
SPEAKER_02: Union.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all think union, station, Allison Krauss?
SPEAKER_02: No, union.
SPEAKER_02: Union is what makes it all possible.
SPEAKER_02: It's verses four to ten.
SPEAKER_02: John uses the word abide ten times in these verses.
SPEAKER_02: It's hard for us to grasp what it means.
SPEAKER_02: Let me draw your attention to the phrase that's used over and over over the past couple chapters.
SPEAKER_02: It's the first part of verse four where Jesus says this Abide in me and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: Abide in me and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to memorize anything this week, memorize those seven words.
SPEAKER_02: They'll change your life.
SPEAKER_02: You can tell your friends at work, what'd you do this weekend?
SPEAKER_02: I memorized the verse in the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: And they'll be like, What?
SPEAKER_02: Shut up.
SPEAKER_02: Abide in me, three, comma, and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: Abide in me and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because those last four words make those first three words possible.
SPEAKER_02: If you attempt to do that by yourself, the second part, abiding in me, I mean, if you if you if you attempt to do abide in me without recognizing and realizing that, and I in you part, that's where the power comes from, you will you you'll you'll experience fruitless futility and eventually you'll quit.
SPEAKER_02: It sounds like this.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I tried the whole God and Jesus thing, and just churches are not working for me.
SPEAKER_02: No, that's a person that doesn't understand union.
SPEAKER_02: Back to the old man.
SPEAKER_02: The old man told me one time, he said, son, you're zealous.
SPEAKER_02: That's your biggest problem.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, aren't we supposed to be zealous for the Lord?
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Not all the time.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, I think, I think you're lost.
SPEAKER_02: You smile too much, and you, you're not, you're not like hunkering down and white knuckling it and everything.
SPEAKER_02: Because I'd been, I became a Christian, I was 18, and I just started going to the first Baptist church in my town.
SPEAKER_02: They preached two things every Sunday.
SPEAKER_02: Don't drink, don't buy lottery tickets.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm not sure either one of those is in the Bible, but that's a whole nother sermon.
SPEAKER_02: And so I just kind of what I cut my teeth on was a Christianity that defined you by what you didn't do.
SPEAKER_02: This cat defined himself by what he did.
SPEAKER_02: And I was just kind of like, wow.
SPEAKER_02: And my friends like, what's it like?
SPEAKER_02: And I said, it's kind of scary.
SPEAKER_02: But this is an unmanly word.
SPEAKER_02: I said, it's it's enthralling.
SPEAKER_02: And they're like, dude, I don't know if I want to be around that.
SPEAKER_02: I said, yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Union.
SPEAKER_02: Let me give you a definition for union.
SPEAKER_02: Union means learning to believe and enjoy God's relentless commitment to you, his holy capacity towards you and his sheer delight in you.
SPEAKER_02: Hear it again.
SPEAKER_02: Union is learning to believe and enjoy.
SPEAKER_02: Not just believe, enjoy.
SPEAKER_02: Ask yourself today, do I really enjoy what I profess to believe?
SPEAKER_02: Learning to believe and enjoy God's relentless commitment to you, his holy capacity towards you, and his sheer delight in you.
SPEAKER_02: This is the message of Jesus all through the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: It's not one of bitter adherence.
SPEAKER_02: You guys better suck it up and try harder.
SPEAKER_02: I'm telling you what, I'm sending you all to hell.
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_02: It's this sweet union.
SPEAKER_02: It's this wooing, beckoning God that says things to people like this in Matthew 11 Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
SPEAKER_02: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly or humble in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls.
SPEAKER_02: You won't just get physical rest, you'll find rest for your souls.
SPEAKER_02: For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
SPEAKER_02: My 15-year-old is getting ready to finish school this semester.
SPEAKER_02: It's been crazy projects.
SPEAKER_02: Apparently, teachers don't plan to get enough grades.
SPEAKER_02: And the last two weeks when it's supposed to be shutting down, they're like scrambling, and I'm like, she's just killing herself.
SPEAKER_02: And Friday's coming from school and she took a four-hour nap.
SPEAKER_02: And I said to her, hey, don't be a sloth.
SPEAKER_02: The Bible's against lazy people.
SPEAKER_02: No, I didn't.
SPEAKER_02: I said to my kid, good for you.
SPEAKER_02: You should do that more often.
SPEAKER_02: God likes it when you take four-hour naps.
SPEAKER_02: Now I was telling one of my friends that, and he said, Hey, are are you are you uh are you concerned that's gonna become a habit?
SPEAKER_02: I hope this summer she takes a lot of four-hour naps.
SPEAKER_02: I'm just kind of jealous because I have to work every day.
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, we gotta be careful because our kids are don't parent my kids, I'll parent my kids.
SPEAKER_02: I've been around your kids, they smoke pot and vote Democrat, okay?
SPEAKER_02: That's your problem.
SPEAKER_02: They're 22, they don't have any money, of course they're socialist Democrats.
SPEAKER_02: Make a little money and you'll become a Republican.
SPEAKER_02: In the meantime, you want everybody to come here, and everybody come on.
SPEAKER_02: I asked one of them, I said, hey, how many people can America support?
SPEAKER_02: Because if you have no borders and free everything, we're gonna be overrun.
SPEAKER_02: Now, would you feel that?
SPEAKER_02: Some of you are like, where are you going?
SPEAKER_02: Where are you going?
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm just stating the obvious.
SPEAKER_02: I love people of all colors: black, brown, white, yellow, green, fruit stripe, tootie fruity, I don't care.
SPEAKER_02: You cannot accuse me of being a racist because you'd be wrong.
SPEAKER_02: But you can accuse me of having common sense.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all like, what, what, what, what, what?
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's back to the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, Come to me.
SPEAKER_02: Come to me.
SPEAKER_02: Union.
SPEAKER_02: Union is not you just sucking it up and trying harder.
SPEAKER_02: It kills me.
SPEAKER_02: Union is learning to enjoy the unforced rhythms of grace.
SPEAKER_02: It's just enjoy this unforced rhythm of grace.
SPEAKER_02: Charles Spurgeon, a great preacher in the 1800s in England, said this.
SPEAKER_02: He said, There is no joy in the world like union with Christ.
SPEAKER_02: The more we can feel it, the happier we are.
SPEAKER_02: Jerry Bridges was a writer and thinker in Christianity in the 80s and 90s.
SPEAKER_02: He said this.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Nothing cuts the nerve of the desire to pursue holiness as much as a sense of guilt.
SPEAKER_02: On the contrary, nothing so motivates us to deal with sin in our lives as does the understanding and application of the two truths that our sins are forgiven and the dominion of sin is broken because of our union with Christ.
SPEAKER_02: This is what I mean when I say that union makes it all possible.
SPEAKER_02: Last thing I say to you this morning, the text that does most importantly, is that joy is the goal.
SPEAKER_02: Joy is the goal.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_02: Look how practical Jesus is.
SPEAKER_02: He says, These things I've spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, back to the old man.
SPEAKER_02: The old man would say crazy things to me, and I'd be like, hang on a second, let me write this down.
SPEAKER_02: And he he was old school.
SPEAKER_02: He'd tell me, do not bring a pen.
SPEAKER_02: You cannot write stuff down.
SPEAKER_02: You have to learn to remember stuff.
SPEAKER_02: And I'd be like, why don't you do that?
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: He said, Listen, you don't, if something stirs your affection, remember it.
SPEAKER_02: Your soul will remember it, Neil.
SPEAKER_02: So I had to come and spend an hour, sometimes an hour and a half with him, and I couldn't write anything down.
SPEAKER_02: I had to just treasure it up.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Show me the Bible where anybody wrote anything down.
SPEAKER_02: And I said to him, You would never make it at a Bible church.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, I'm not against writing stuff down, man.
SPEAKER_02: We took notes, we took sermon notes in church all the time.
SPEAKER_02: So I went to church with him because I thought I want to go to your church and see if there's more people there like you, and there were.
SPEAKER_02: One old man put his hand on my neck and said, Hey, sometimes the yoke is heavy, but it's really light.
SPEAKER_02: It just feels heavy because you're not used to it.
SPEAKER_02: And I remember thinking, where do these people come from?
SPEAKER_02: I want to be a church that produces men and women like that.
SPEAKER_02: You should have people, you should be, you should have people in your life that speaking in your life, and you should be speaking, the older men should be speaking in the younger men's life.
SPEAKER_02: What do you mean, joy is the goal?
SPEAKER_02: The old man said this to me one time, look at verse 11.
SPEAKER_02: These things have I spoken to you that my joy may be may be in you, that your joy may be full.
SPEAKER_02: These things that my, these and that, these impersonal things that my.
SPEAKER_02: And he said this, he said, God uses impersonal things like things, Neil, to get to personal realities like my, like himself.
SPEAKER_02: He said, So let that affect what Jesus says right in verse 11.
SPEAKER_02: Let it affect the way you think about the Bible.
SPEAKER_02: It's not a thing, it's a living, breathing document.
SPEAKER_02: It is the incarnation of the heart and head nature of God.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh, okay, I can't remember all of this.
SPEAKER_02: These things.
SPEAKER_02: These things that I've spoken to you.
SPEAKER_02: All these things.
SPEAKER_02: Chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: That's when I start picking up.
SPEAKER_02: Chapter 13, chapter 14, into chapter 15.
SPEAKER_02: These things.
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, this is not the first time Jesus will say these things.
SPEAKER_02: If you want to preach a series, look, start looking in John 13 to the end of the chap end of the book.
SPEAKER_02: How many times Jesus says these things?
SPEAKER_02: Because Jesus talks for a while and then he stops and says, these things, and he gives you the reason for these things.
SPEAKER_02: What he says here in verse 11 is, hey, these things I've spoken to you, here's why.
SPEAKER_02: That my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says, the reason I'm telling you these things is that you could have presence and fullness.
SPEAKER_02: My joy would be in you, and your joy would be full.
SPEAKER_02: Here's why.
SPEAKER_02: Some of the most difficult things in Christianity will require more joy than guilt, self-hatred, or determination.
SPEAKER_02: This is why most people don't achieve them, rarely experience them, and really don't enjoy them.
SPEAKER_02: One time we met and he said, I want you to come back next week with a theology of joy.
SPEAKER_02: I'd never heard that in my life.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, Ain't we supposed to just hate ourselves?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, be miserable.
SPEAKER_02: We get to go to heaven in 90 years.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we've got to suffer something in this world.
SPEAKER_02: He asked me one time, he said, What are you afraid of enjoying?
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I just started crying.
SPEAKER_02: He goes, Why are you crying?
SPEAKER_02: He said, You think this is all duty?
SPEAKER_02: You think God would leave something as certain as the gospel to uncertain men like you to accomplish?
SPEAKER_02: Leave me alone.
SPEAKER_02: He was affected by soterology, my doctrine of man, my doctrine of God, all those things you set around and talk about in your theology circles.
SPEAKER_02: And he did it with a smile on his face.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Come back next week with a theology of joy.
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02: He said, What is it about?
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
SPEAKER_02: So I just went and started looking up all the verses in the Bible had joy in them.
SPEAKER_02: Here's three that wrecked me.
SPEAKER_02: This is 1984, by the way, people.
SPEAKER_02: Wrecked me.
SPEAKER_02: Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_02: This is one sentence, by the way.
SPEAKER_02: Make it your goal before you die to write one sentence that is as consequential as this one.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely.
SPEAKER_02: You ever walked into a spider web lately?
SPEAKER_02: You're like, no, no, man.
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, if you're walking with somebody and they start doing that, you know exactly what's happened.
SPEAKER_02: Oh, dude walked into a spider web.
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
SPEAKER_02: Because sin clings so closely.
SPEAKER_02: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
SPEAKER_02: Look into Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, through for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising his shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm just, he said, let me hear what you next week.
SPEAKER_02: Let me hear what you what you discovered, Neil.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, Well, I read this and I read that part, you know.
SPEAKER_02: Every weight and the sin which clings so closely.
SPEAKER_02: And this old man said to me, What sins are clinging closely to you these days?
SPEAKER_02: And I looked at him, I was like, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: He goes, What do you mean?
SPEAKER_02: What do I mean?
SPEAKER_02: You know what that means.
SPEAKER_02: Stop stalling.
SPEAKER_02: Give me an answer.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, What?
SPEAKER_02: What?
SPEAKER_02: And he said, Hey son, have you never confessed yourself?
SPEAKER_02: I said, You want me to say out loud?
SPEAKER_02: Or can I just think of them in my head?
SPEAKER_02: He goes, No, say it out loud.
SPEAKER_02: Because we're supposed to confess our sins one another and pray for one another so that we can be healed.
SPEAKER_02: How are you going to be healed if you keep everything a secret?
SPEAKER_02: Why does this man hate me?
SPEAKER_02: Hey, look at me.
SPEAKER_02: I don't struggle with some sins that I struggled with my first couple years of Christianity.
SPEAKER_02: Because this old man looked at me and said, Hey, what sins are clinging closely to you these days?
SPEAKER_02: All right, just write out loud.
SPEAKER_02: You want me to say that?
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Let us run with endurance the way he's set before us looking at Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
SPEAKER_02: He told me, Your faith wasn't your idea.
SPEAKER_02: Stop acting like you had to take care of it all the time.
SPEAKER_02: I was like, What?
SPEAKER_02: You know, Jesus, we memorize this in the New American Standard, the author and perfecter of our faith.
SPEAKER_02: Who for the joy, here's the power of joy that was set before him.
SPEAKER_02: He endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of God.
SPEAKER_02: What joy do you put before you that allows you to embrace the reality of all you need to die to?
SPEAKER_02: James chapter 1, verse 2.
SPEAKER_02: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: So you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
SPEAKER_02: He said, You know how perseverance, steadfastness, have its full effect.
SPEAKER_02: What is the full effect of steadfastness of just sticking and staying, not spitting a bit and kind of going, no, I just can't take it anymore?
SPEAKER_02: Is that you're complete.
SPEAKER_02: Perfect means complete or whole.
SPEAKER_02: You're whole and complete, lacking in nothing.
SPEAKER_02: And then this is the one that slayed me.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, absolute slayed me.
SPEAKER_02: Matthew 13, 44, Jesus is explaining to people what the kingdom of heaven is like.
SPEAKER_02: What it's like when when God kind of the realm within which what God wants done gets done.
SPEAKER_02: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up, and then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.
SPEAKER_02: The old man looked at me that day and he goes, Hey son, look at me.
SPEAKER_02: Joy is the motivation for all the sacrifices you make.
SPEAKER_02: If it's not, it's just pride.
SPEAKER_02: And when you sacrifice on the basis of pride, you're gonna make sure somebody, if not everybody, knows.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: I never walked in that room with a pen.
SPEAKER_02: This man was so consequential.
SPEAKER_02: He said stuff and I would walk out and I would repeat it until I got to my room.
SPEAKER_02: Let me write this down.
SPEAKER_02: I pray for every one of you in this room.
SPEAKER_02: An old man like that, who teaches you that joy is the goal.
SPEAKER_02: Now, if you're our guest today, here's what we like to do.
SPEAKER_02: We'd like to teach the Bible, and then we like to just think about it for just a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: So some questions come up on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: And you don't gotta write them down.
SPEAKER_02: You can pull your phone out and take a picture of it.
SPEAKER_02: Cloud will just play, may sing something over us.
SPEAKER_02: Here's our questions I want us to think about in light of the text this week.
SPEAKER_02: How does understanding what God does, the vine dresser, inform what you do?
SPEAKER_02: When you think of yourself as completely clean before God, what stirs in you?
SPEAKER_02: What has joy caused you to do lately that you normally wouldn't do?
SPEAKER_02: What are you guilty of not enjoying enough?
SPEAKER_02: Lastly, if you were having lunch with Jesus after this service, what part of the sermon do you think he would want to discuss with you?
SPEAKER_02: Let's pray together.
SPEAKER_02: God, we're grateful that the part of the Christian life is thinking to the glory of God.
SPEAKER_02: It's loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
SPEAKER_02: And so I pray for those of us who are more prone to love God out of our strength.
SPEAKER_02: And today you engage our mind.
SPEAKER_02: And so, Holy Spirit, just brood over us and lead us into the truth like Jesus said you would.
SPEAKER_02: Remind us of things.
SPEAKER_02: Teach and remind, Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: That's what we ask you and need you to do during this moment of reflection.
SPEAKER_02: Father, we're grateful today that sometimes you do put the blade on us, not as punishment, but as preparation.
SPEAKER_02: We were not created to live off raisins when there's such a thing as grapes.
SPEAKER_02: Juicy and satisfying, fresh and vibrant.
SPEAKER_02: So I pray for anybody in this room that's trying to make a meal out of raisins.
SPEAKER_02: You just kind of whisper into their spirit even now.
SPEAKER_02: Man, aren't you ready for some grapes?
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Lord, for engaging our attention and our affection.
SPEAKER_02: We're grateful for that.
SPEAKER_02: So we say thank you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: And everyone says, Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Somebody asked me after the first service.
SPEAKER_02: I said, Well, it came of the old man.
SPEAKER_02: I did his funeral last year.
SPEAKER_02: And people drove from New Mexico to be there.
SPEAKER_02: It was in Waco.
SPEAKER_02: And people came from other states.
SPEAKER_02: Anyway, if you're a guest, I want to say thanks for being part of the church.
SPEAKER_02: The best part of this place is the people you're staying around right now.
SPEAKER_02: Hopefully you've had an opportunity to pull one of those guest cards and fill it out that are in the seat pocket in your row.
SPEAKER_02: And if you would, just drop that one of these wooden boxes by the doors.
SPEAKER_02: And for the rest of us, if today's the day you worship God through obedience or generosity, that's where you would do that as well.
SPEAKER_02: There's opportunities for involvement and engagement at our church.
SPEAKER_02: We want you to be aware of those.
SPEAKER_02: So let's give our attention to our announcements this week.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_01: Camp registration is still happening for Pre-K, Kids, Bridge, and students.
SPEAKER_01: It's not too late for you to sign up.
SPEAKER_01: Just go to Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Next Sunday is a family worship Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: All Bible studies for kids, students, and adults are canceled, and we will gather as families to worship together that day.
SPEAKER_01: Childcare is available for birth through kindergarten.
SPEAKER_01: Today is our final regular community group meeting for the semester.
SPEAKER_01: We will gather in homes across our city to be shaped by God's word and by each other.
SPEAKER_01: If you haven't found a group yet, contact Travis at Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: If you have questions about anything you've heard today, or you would like someone to pray with you, some of our pastors and elders will be available at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_02: Let me say one last thing to you this morning before you're dismissed.
SPEAKER_02: Speaking of pastors and elders, we are an elder-led church, which means as a pastor, I'm not in charge.
SPEAKER_02: That's not the way God designed the church to be, where one person runs the place.
SPEAKER_02: This is not my church.
SPEAKER_02: I shepherd this church along with some other men that are elders.
SPEAKER_02: We're adding to our elder body.
SPEAKER_02: And so the last step of that process is to put the candidate before you, the congregation, and say to you, if you're aware of anything in this man's character or his life that disqualifies him from the office of elder, you need to come to us in the next two weeks.
SPEAKER_02: Your concerns, uh, your cautions will be kept in confidence, just us and the elders, but they will be taken seriously.
SPEAKER_02: And the candidate that we've putting forward to you uh for eldership is Jeff Wood.
SPEAKER_02: Uh Jeff is a doctor here in our city.
SPEAKER_02: That's not why we're asking him to be an elder.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he meets the qualifications of an elder.
SPEAKER_02: I just say that because some of you may have gone to see him.
SPEAKER_02: But anyway, if you're aware of anything in the life or character of Jeff Wood that would disqualify him, I need you to come to myself or David Mertons or Mike Rice or Butch Ewing or one of the pastors and say, hey, I don't know if you know this, but I did business with that guy.
SPEAKER_02: I think he loves money too much.
SPEAKER_02: Uh that's one of the qualifications as an elder, is that you not be a lover of money.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: And so we take the office of elder seriously.
SPEAKER_02: Uh there's one church I know of, it's in a small town.
SPEAKER_02: When they nominate an elder, they put their name in the paper and ask the whole city to speak into it.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Whoa.
SPEAKER_02: So, anyway, if you're aware of anything in the life of Jeff Wood that would be disqualifying or concerning, or you think we should know, please come to us, okay?
SPEAKER_02: We do not want an unqualified man in leadership.
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, I said the same thing in the last service, and he was sitting right here, and he's nodding the whole time.
SPEAKER_02: So, on that happy note, stand to your feet.
SPEAKER_02: Hold your hands out.
SPEAKER_02: Your God is the God of grapes.
SPEAKER_02: So stop eating stinking raisins, people.
SPEAKER_02: Depart now and enjoy the juicy provision, the already cleanness of the relationship God created you to have.
SPEAKER_02: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Bless you.