SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
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SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, indeed, Lord, you became a slave so that you can release us from our slavery.
SPEAKER_00: You are the eternal Son of God who stepped down to take on man.
SPEAKER_00: And to Lord, make us children of God.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, we are thankful here today that we get to turn our eyes to Christ yet again and to see in him our rescuer, our deliverer.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, we pray, Lord, that we would see you as the one who redeems us and who has lived to be our example.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, help us to see the ways of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Help us to follow after his likeness and to live like him for the glory of your great name.
SPEAKER_00: We pray, Lord, that as we turn our eyes to your word today, that you would speak.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we say together, speak, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We are listening.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray all this in the precious name of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: You may have a seat.
SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to be with you all here today.
SPEAKER_00: My name is Julian.
SPEAKER_00: I'm the spiritual formation pastor here at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: And we are glad that you are here to worship the Lord with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you have a Bible, I want to invite you to join me in Philippians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be in Philippians chapter 2 today.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to be in verse 1 here shortly.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to explore a question today as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And that question I want to ask us is how low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: How low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: The other day, my wife and I, Kelsey, we uh took our girls to the roller rink, and I found out that falling when you're over 40 feels a lot different than when you fall when you're 10 years old.
SPEAKER_00: It was funny because I was skating with my oldest daughter, and my feet just get out from under me and I fall pretty hard and pretty fast.
SPEAKER_00: It's funny because you know they have like young uh teenagers that are working there, and a 16-year-old boy comes to me and he goes, Sir, sir, are you all right?
SPEAKER_00: I said, Yes, I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: But my oldest daughter, she looked at me and she said, Dad, you ate it.
SPEAKER_00: And I said, That's right.
SPEAKER_00: I did eat it pretty good.
SPEAKER_00: But while I was recovering from my soreness, uh, I was remembering uh a game that we used to play on roller skates.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we used to play limbo.
SPEAKER_00: Did any of you guys play limbo on roller skates?
SPEAKER_00: And some of you guys may remember that, but uh it starts, you know, relatively high.
SPEAKER_00: And so everybody normally skates under the first pass.
SPEAKER_00: But as the game goes on, the bar gets lower and lower.
SPEAKER_00: And if you touch the bar, if you touch the ground, then you're out.
SPEAKER_00: But the person who wins is the person who goes the lowest.
SPEAKER_00: The person who uh wins the game is the person that can go the lowest.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, that picture reminds me of a young Lindsay Frelick for some reason.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but when it comes to how we treat one another in the church, I believe the Lord wants to ask of us, how low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: How low can you put others before yourself?
SPEAKER_00: And what we find is when we look at Jesus Christ, we see the champion of limbo, the one who became low for us, the one who humbled himself so that we could know him and we could be in unity with one another.
SPEAKER_00: And so today, as we ask the question, how low to you go, we want to look to Christ, the one who rescued us and the one who is our example.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: in a fallen world, I think we all play a different game.
SPEAKER_00: I think we're playing King of the Mountain.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may remember this game.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's the game where you race to the top, and the first one who gets there has to push and pull everyone else off the mountain while you are getting pushed and pulled yourself.
SPEAKER_00: And I believe that selfish ambition, rivalry, pride, when we find ourselves engaging in this kind of mentality and behavior, we find that in the end, if you win, it really means nothing.
SPEAKER_00: But what we find in Jesus, our rescuer, is the one who is an example of who lived a good life for us and who models for us of the kind of life that we were meant to enjoy.
SPEAKER_00: I want to read from Philippians chapter two here this morning, and I want us to see our call as a church as we read this passage together.
SPEAKER_00: Our main text is in verses 5 through 11, but I want to begin in verse 1 for some context.
SPEAKER_00: Let's read God's word together.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul he writes this so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
SPEAKER_00: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others.
SPEAKER_00: And here's our key text have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word of God for the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: I believe here we find in our text two things to consider from verses five through eleven.
SPEAKER_00: First, in verse five, we see that we are to have the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Paul calls the church to have the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Then in verses six through eleven, we are given the song of Christ, the song of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Where do you get the mind of Christ uh conveyed for us?
SPEAKER_00: It's in verses six through eleven.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to unpack this passage and then I want to ask us again, Grand Parkway, how low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: First, consider this.
SPEAKER_00: You are called to think like Christ in your relationships.
SPEAKER_00: Again, verse 5, Paul says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul he wrote to the church of Philippi, who was struggling with um rivalry within the church, with selfish ambition, with conceit, which is empty pride.
SPEAKER_00: And as they were being tempted within and without, the apostle Paul writes, and he says, Hey, this does not bring unity in the church.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, this kind of mentality brings disunity, it brings division.
SPEAKER_00: And that's not what God has called you to.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, he's called us to unity and to um uh to to uh unity.
SPEAKER_00: And what we see here is that uh this kind of mentality, this disunity and division, does not bring glory to God.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, it brings uh a distaste for people.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord caused us together to be fruitful and to live on mission for Him.
SPEAKER_00: What we see is that God, what He has for us, just as what He had for the church of Philippi, is to put to death our disunity and to put on humility and put on love and to put on selflessness.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, Hey, let's be all hands in the middle on this, because this is what brings God glory, and this is how we'll be successful in what God has called us to as we live on mission together.
SPEAKER_00: But how do you get there?
SPEAKER_00: How do you get to unity in Christ?
SPEAKER_00: How do you get the mind of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: I believe this the way forward to a common lifestyle is for us to share in common belief.
SPEAKER_00: And we do that by upholding Christ and looking to Christ together.
SPEAKER_00: And what we do when we extol Christ, we want to tune our hearts to his.
SPEAKER_00: A.
SPEAKER_00: W.
SPEAKER_00: Tozer, in his book, The Pursuit of God, he tells of how to have greater unity.
SPEAKER_00: He says it this way: Has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos, all tuned to the same fork, are automatically tuned to each other?
SPEAKER_00: They are of one accord by being tuned not to each other, but to one standard to which each one must individually bow.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, this is why we preach and teach Jesus Christ, because as we lift him up, we will tune our hearts to his and experience then the unity that he has called for us as the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: You see, you must think of Christ like this in your relationships.
SPEAKER_00: You must have the mind of Christ and put on the mind of Christ, because it's not automatic if you're going to experience the kind of unity that the Lord has for us as we reveal for us in the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, to show us what the mind of Christ is like, he gives us a song.
SPEAKER_00: That's why for some of you, you see in your translations a different kind of format in verses 6 through 11.
SPEAKER_00: And that's because some, that's the reason because some scholars believe that this is a song that has poetry and rhythmic style to it, which was a song that was adopted in the early church.
SPEAKER_00: And here that song is still relevant for us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's two parts in the song that you'll notice.
SPEAKER_00: The first part is how Christ made himself low.
SPEAKER_00: The second part is how then God raised him high.
SPEAKER_00: Christ made himself low, and then God raised him high.
SPEAKER_00: And the first part you see it in verses six through eight.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what we are to see.
SPEAKER_00: When Christ makes himself low, we see in our Savior our example.
SPEAKER_00: And you are to then give like Christ, who gave his life for you.
SPEAKER_00: Give like Christ who gave his life for you.
SPEAKER_00: Look again at verses through eight.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Who, though was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Notice that the song doesn't begin with the earthly life of Jesus, but it begins with the pre-existent eternal Son of God of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what it says that though he was in the form of God, that is Jesus being very God of very God, we then see that he humbles himself and he demonstrates his love for us in this continual downward uh motion.
SPEAKER_00: The contrast is seen here.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, though he was in the form of God, he then takes on the form of a servant.
SPEAKER_00: Notice he doesn't see serving us as beneath him.
SPEAKER_00: Nor does he cling to his majestic status or to his um his royal uh status and privilege.
SPEAKER_00: He's not clinging to that at our expense, no, but rather he empties himself by taking on the form of a servant for us.
SPEAKER_00: It's important to stop here and to make sure that we're singing the same song, the same song that the Bible sings, and the same song that the church has sung all throughout the ages.
SPEAKER_00: Because some have wrongly taught that Jesus left his divinity in order to become man.
SPEAKER_00: But the eternal Son of God is not subtracting his deity here, he's adding to himself humanity.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the church has called the doctrine of the incarnation.
SPEAKER_00: And it means that God, who is fully God and was fully God and always will be fully God, he adds to himself full humanity.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we confess with the scriptures and with the church throughout the ages, for example, with uh the creed of Chalcedon, that Jesus is truly God and truly man without any mixture of error.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this verse is communicating that though Jesus veiled his deity, he did not void his deity.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, fully God, becoming fully man.
SPEAKER_00: And he does this in his humble love for us.
SPEAKER_00: He took on himself the form of a servant.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't reluctantly come, he's not grasping for the throne, he rather gives up his prerogatives and his privileges so that he can give his life for us.
SPEAKER_00: Anselm would say it this way: if he were not fully man, then he could not die for us.
SPEAKER_00: And if he were not fully God, then he could not save us.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news for us this God who is a hundred percent God becomes a hundred percent man so that he could 100% save us.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now consider how low Jesus goes.
SPEAKER_00: He steps down and he becomes a baby boy.
SPEAKER_00: And though he was a king, he was not born into royalty, he was not born of money, he was born in a manger.
SPEAKER_00: And he steps further down, he becomes a servant for us.
SPEAKER_00: But he serves and goes even lower, becoming obedient to the point of death.
SPEAKER_00: But he even goes lower because the kind of death that he dies was death on a Roman cross.
SPEAKER_00: You see, he served you not only by living a righteous life for you, but he serves you but by dying in your place, taking on the judgment that you deserve at the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And it's important for us to see here something and not miss it.
SPEAKER_00: And that is this that Paul is indeed writing to show us that Jesus is our example.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, he must first be your savior.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you have Jesus as your example and not as your savior, you're still dead in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: You see, first he must be your savior, and then he must be your example.
SPEAKER_00: It's what Paul is showing the church of Philippi and what he wants us to see here today as well.
SPEAKER_00: But again, he becomes low and he came low to rescue us.
SPEAKER_00: And this makes me want to ask a question.
SPEAKER_00: How low were you when Jesus met you?
SPEAKER_00: For some of us, our testimonies very much tell the story of how the Lord met us when we were at our lowest.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to remind you that no matter how far you went, the Lord chased after you and met you there.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you just running from God today, I want to tell you don't run any further.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to go any lower.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord wants to meet you right here where you are at.
SPEAKER_00: What kind of pit did you fall into?
SPEAKER_00: Or what kind of pit did you dig for yourself?
SPEAKER_00: The Lord can meet you there because the Lord condescends and he humbles himself, becomes a servant to meet you where you're at, even if you're in your lowest moment.
SPEAKER_00: There is not a place low enough where the Lord cannot meet you, but he's come to find you yet even there.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how far away you've run from God, the Lord meets you there.
SPEAKER_00: Look, Jesus not only comes to be with you in your lowest moment, but he comes to lift you up and to raise you up, to raise you up into newness of life, to raise you up into the abundant life that he has called you to.
SPEAKER_00: There was a missionary to Africa, and this missionary tells a story about a particular tribe that uh they were a part of.
SPEAKER_00: And in this tribe, the strongest man in that tribe could only be king.
SPEAKER_00: And you would think because he had to wear this big headdress or these heavy royal robes, but that's not necessarily why he had to be the strongest person.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this part of Africa, in this part of Africa, um, rain is scarce.
SPEAKER_00: And they had these unique wells where you had to have slits and you had to personally go down there to get the water and to bring it back up.
SPEAKER_00: Well, there was one day where a man fell and broke his leg, and no one in the tribe could save that person.
SPEAKER_00: And so they summoned the king.
SPEAKER_00: And what the king did is he laid aside his headdress, he laid aside his royal robes, and he went all the way down and became a servant and served that man to put him upon himself and to lift him up and to rescue him.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me ask you a question Did that king stop being king when he laid aside his headdress and his robes?
SPEAKER_00: No, but he took them off and he went down to go and rescue that man.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way, does Jesus stop being God when he comes to rescue us?
SPEAKER_00: No, he is the very God who is very man who became a servant for us so that he would rescue us.
SPEAKER_00: This is the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And it's through the cross that we are saved.
SPEAKER_00: And now it's through the cross that we must live.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, give like Christ who gave his life for you.
SPEAKER_00: We saw in the first part of the song how Jesus makes himself low.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in the second part of the song, in verses nine through eleven, we see how God raised him high.
SPEAKER_00: God raised him high.
SPEAKER_00: Look again at verses nine through eleven.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: That is what the Father does for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing when we humble ourselves, this is what the Father wants to do for us as well.
SPEAKER_00: This is our third point.
SPEAKER_00: Allow the Father to lift you up.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus teaches this in Matthew 23, uh, verse 12.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.
SPEAKER_00: And whoever humbles himself will be exhausted, uh exalted.
SPEAKER_00: Now, don't miss both sides of that coin.
SPEAKER_00: Both are true.
SPEAKER_00: If you humble yourself before the Lord, the Lord will exalt you.
SPEAKER_00: But if you exalt yourself before the Lord, make no mistake about the Lord will humble you.
SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, when we humble ourselves and we admit our need for a savior, the Lord lifts us up.
SPEAKER_00: He exalts us with newness of life.
SPEAKER_00: He will exalt us when he returns and gives us a glorified body.
SPEAKER_00: But humility is not just a one-time act.
SPEAKER_00: Humility is a lifestyle for the Christian.
SPEAKER_00: We live a cross-shaped life, a continual life of humbleness and a service just like that of our Savior, our rescuer.
SPEAKER_00: I think this captures uh it best, this passage from Matthew chapter 20.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, let me set it up for you.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples, they're jockeying for who's going to be the best in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: It's even comical because uh James and John, their mom comes to Jesus, and uh the mother is saying, Hey, Jesus, can both of my sons you know sit at your right and your left in your kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Jesus, he responds, and he says this in verse 25.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, it shall not be so among you.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way here, we don't want to exercise ourselves over others, but we want to become a servant like that of the greatest servant of all, our King, King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to be great in the kingdom of heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Then get busy serving, get busy serving and trust that God will do the exalting in his time, in his way for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: But look at verses 9 through 11, just a little more closely.
SPEAKER_00: First, we saw that the Son, he made himself low, and he serves us with the redemption for the Father's glory.
SPEAKER_00: The Father then lifts him by placing on him the name that is above every name.
SPEAKER_00: That is the name Lord, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: He is God, King of glory in eternity past.
SPEAKER_00: And now his name is Lord, the God who saves, the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Now we move from the eternal Son of God who took the form of a servant to uh to the cross.
SPEAKER_00: And now, because of the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ, he has this upward status and this name that's above every name, the Lord saves.
SPEAKER_00: And you see, when Jesus, when he rose again, the king, he comes to the throne, but this time he comes back to the throne not empty handed, because he rescues a kingdom people for himself.
SPEAKER_00: And that's who we are in him, the king of glory.
SPEAKER_00: The final lines here.
SPEAKER_00: They envision a day where every knee bows and every tongue confesses this reality.
SPEAKER_00: Whether under the earth, on the earth, or in the heavens, they all confess and bow at King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: By the way, I recommend that you do that now, not wait for that day.
SPEAKER_00: But let me get back to my message.
SPEAKER_00: This part of the song, it reminds us of another song.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, it echoes this song that we find in Isaiah.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah 52 and 53, in those chapters, for example, we have the servant songs.
SPEAKER_00: And what Paul is doing here is he's remixing the song, he's updating the song.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if some of you, uh if you've listened to an old song before, that's a classic, and uh a new artist comes along and they uh they remake the old song.
SPEAKER_00: Now, sometimes the the new song, it's not as good as the original, right?
SPEAKER_00: But every now and then you get a new artist who remakes it and who updates it, and the new song is better than the original.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul's doing for us is he's showing us, hey, this is a better song for us, because what was foreshadowed or what was promised here in Isaiah chapter 45 is now realized and fulfilled in Jesus Christ because he accomplished the redemption.
SPEAKER_00: And it's this Jesus, when he returns, that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.
SPEAKER_00: We have this song in Philippians 2, and it's a better song because it tells us of the king who accomplished redemption for us.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is calling for us as a church to experience unity.
SPEAKER_00: And as a church, we can only do that when we lift high the name of Jesus and we tune our hearts to the Savior who laid down his life for us.
SPEAKER_00: And his life is a model life for us, an example for us.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're to experience unity as a church here at Grant Parkway, we must live our lives, Kim, in service to one another, laying our lives down joyfully and gladly, not seeing service as beneath us.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's my joy because I get to reflect the Savior who laid his life down for me.
SPEAKER_00: And so I don't need to grasp for my privilege or for my prerogatives or for my preferences.
SPEAKER_00: I lay them aside and I lay my life down like the one who laid his life down for me.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to ask you, Grand Parkway, how low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing: this is a game that requires 100% participation.
SPEAKER_00: And if you call this church your home, if you're a member here, I want you to gladly participate in this together, this heart.
SPEAKER_00: Let us share in it together that we would all lay down our lives for one another.
SPEAKER_00: What if each time we gathered, it was an opportunity to experience a big bonfire?
SPEAKER_00: And what if we had an opportunity to say, in the burn pile, I'm throwing my selfish ambition, I'm throwing all of my pride, and I'm sacrificing it to the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And what if instead we were able to put on the mind of Christ and live out what we see demonstrated in him for us?
SPEAKER_00: What kind of church would we be if we all experienced that together?
SPEAKER_00: This is the path of unity for us.
SPEAKER_00: And once we live in this way, we are uh living out the design the Lord has called us to as his people.
SPEAKER_00: I believe change it should happen and it should begin in the church.
SPEAKER_00: But don't let it stop here.
SPEAKER_00: Take it home with you.
SPEAKER_00: You know, some of us we don't have rivalries in the church, but some of y'all have rivalries in your marriage, or maybe with a family member.
SPEAKER_00: But what if this passage unlocked for you an end to the vicious cycle that you're experiencing?
SPEAKER_00: What if this passage was the way that that cycle could be broken?
SPEAKER_00: Somebody has to lose.
SPEAKER_00: And the gospel grants us the grace to lose.
SPEAKER_00: And the cycle can end with us.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord rescues us and redeems us for freedom.
SPEAKER_00: Live in the freedom that the Lord has given you.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us, I believe, we're playing king of the mountain or cutthroat on at work and on our jobs.
SPEAKER_00: But what this passage helps us to do is to no longer live in that way.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ did not call us to that.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he gives us a new ethic, a new way to approach our work and to approach those who are at our work and to our clientele or whomever that we are engaged with, or also in our communities.
SPEAKER_00: It's time that we together crucify the mentality that brings this unity and division and together put on the mind of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's for freedom that Christ set us free.
SPEAKER_00: Now go live in the freedom.
SPEAKER_00: So may I ask you one more time how low can you go?
SPEAKER_00: If we're to be like Christ and if we're to experience the kind of unity that we see here, we need to think like Christ and in your relationships.
SPEAKER_00: You need to give like Christ who gave his life for you.
SPEAKER_00: We need to allow the Father to lift you up in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray to God.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray, Lord, that as we look at what we see here in your word this morning, may you continue to stir our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: The kind that doesn't bring superficial change, but but true, deep, real change.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, I pray, Lord, that as we look to Christ who is our Savior, may He now be our example.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, Lord, you delivered us from the penalty of sin.
SPEAKER_00: And you're delivering us from the power of sin.
SPEAKER_00: And now, Lord, deliver us to something, deliver us to a new life and an abundant life.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, I pray, Lord, that you would be the one who would bring healing wherever healing needs to be.
SPEAKER_00: And let it begin with us, Lord, the people of God and the church of God.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I pray, Lord, that your grace would spill out into every part of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And that, Lord, our marriages will be able to be healed where they need to be healed.
SPEAKER_00: Our relationships with our sons and daughters, with our grandchildren, with our parents.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, Father, that this passage would be a medicine for us.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I pray, Lord, that as we engage with the world, that it would be notably different.
SPEAKER_00: That there's something about us that's not of this world.
SPEAKER_00: It's indeed otherworldly.
SPEAKER_00: Because Christ came to rescue us and give us newness of life.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Father, we ask that you would continue to have your way in our hearts and in our church.
SPEAKER_00: May you continue to lead us on, King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Lord, may we gladly bend the knee and confess that you are Lord, and may we joyfully follow after you to the glory of your great name.
SPEAKER_00: As you continue to worship, I have some questions on the screen for you.
SPEAKER_00: Would you read those questions and ask the Lord to continue to work in your heart at this time?
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you a few moments to do that.
SPEAKER_00: Amen, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We pray that you'd have your way in our hearts and may you be glorified in us.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, we pray, Lord, that we would continue to live and to practice what we see in Christ, the one who rescued us.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, we pray, Lord, that we would flourish as a church.
SPEAKER_00: And Father, we pray, Lord, that our community, our county, our city would be greater for it.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray, Lord, that we would reflect the wonder and the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ and the way that we live.
SPEAKER_00: So, Father, may you have your way at Grant Parkway as we make ourselves low and become humble like Christ our Savior.
SPEAKER_00: We pray this in his precious name.
SPEAKER_00: And the people said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: We don't make you aware of all that's going on in life of our church, and the way we do that is by our video announcements.
SPEAKER_00: Let's turn our attention to the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Here's what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_04: Howdy.
SPEAKER_04: My name is Ian Weber.
SPEAKER_04: I get to serve as the student pastor here at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_03: And my name is Amy Fairley, and I serve as the associate student minister.
SPEAKER_04: This year we're going to be doing something a little different in the student ministry.
SPEAKER_04: We're actually going to be hosting our very first ever Student Apologetics Conference, helping students look a little deeper into their faith.
SPEAKER_03: Why Weekend's purpose is to help students know why they are Christians in the first place and what that asks of them.
SPEAKER_03: No one should believe in Christianity on blind faith, nor is someone a Christian because they go to church or their parents are Christians.
SPEAKER_03: People should be Christians because Christianity is true in every sense.
SPEAKER_03: History, science, philosophy, archaeology, theology, logic, all of it points to a real God who is good and who knows his Christian personally.
SPEAKER_03: Plus, at Y Weekend, students will learn how to defend their faith as Scripture commands believers to do in our theme verse, 1 Peter 3.15.
SPEAKER_03: This weekend will serve them both in their current grades and for the rest of their lives.
SPEAKER_04: At Y Weekend, students can ask their questions in a place that welcomes the things that don't make sense or seem harsh, confusing, contradictory.
SPEAKER_04: It also encourages students to bring their unbelieving friends to think critically about the greatest movement in human history, the Christian faith.
SPEAKER_04: Your students are not going to want to miss this weekend.
SPEAKER_04: Sign up online, on our social media, in the parents' email, whatever.
SPEAKER_04: We look forward to seeing you there.
SPEAKER_02: The Men's Discipleship Group Training is this Wednesday, March 26th from 6 to 7 p.m.
SPEAKER_02: in the gathering room.
SPEAKER_02: This one-hour workshop is designed to equip and encourage discipleship group leaders and participants.
SPEAKER_02: Finally, as April is approaching, so too is our annual partnership with Hike for Home.
SPEAKER_02: This is a suicide awareness walk on the morning of April 12th at Brazos River Park.
SPEAKER_02: Not only is this a great cause, but you also get to enjoy a plethora of your church family, engage tons of people from the area that may not know Jesus and have plenty of free food and coffee.
SPEAKER_02: If you'd like to attend, please sign up on our website.
SPEAKER_02: For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_02: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If you're visiting with us, I just want to say again, welcome.
SPEAKER_00: Would you do us a favor?
SPEAKER_00: Would you text welcome to that number on the screen?
SPEAKER_00: We would love to know that you were here visiting with us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you came to worship by way of giving, we have our drop boxes in the back.
SPEAKER_00: If you've brought your tither offerings, you can drop them off there.
SPEAKER_00: If you would stand, I would love to give you a spoken blessing before we are dismissed.
SPEAKER_00: You could hold out your hands like this.
SPEAKER_00: Christ traded his royal robes for a servant's tau so that you can have new life and abundant life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, rather than grasp for your earthly life, give it away and glorify your Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Go enjoy the abundant life as you live in the likeness of King Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You're dismissed.