WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the Medichurch podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:18.000 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:26.800 I want to welcome you in. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:28.399 If you're new with us, my name is Clayton. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:30.559 I'm the lead pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:32.079 I'm so glad that you have joined us. 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:35.280 It's no accident that you are here at Meta today. 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:41.920 Whether you are here at Petrenko or Helotus, or even if you're watching with us online, I'm so glad that you are here. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:49.840 Now, um, if you saw any of our invites to this weekend, you know uh that we've been very excited about this. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:55.600 Uh, that we've been talking about big shifts that are happening here at MetaCurch. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:01:05.599 And depending on like you and your personality and your season of life, change and shifts can either be so exciting. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:11.359 Like I've had some people and they've DM'd me and they're like, let's go, let's see what's behind this. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.760 And I've had other people catch me, like, yeah, I don't like change, you know. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.040 So if you could just kind of let us know what's going on. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:20.879 And so here's how I want to start. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.000 I want to start by telling you some things that are not changing. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:35.439 Some of you have been paying attention, you've been noticing like the way we're structuring our services, the way that I'm approaching the text, kind of the way that I'm preaching, the way we are attempting to be more spirit-led in our Sunday services. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:41.120 Some of you thought that the big change was just the long hair, and that is just a midlife crisis. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.280 I don't really know actually what's happening there. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.480 I have no plan. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:46.560 I could shave my head tomorrow, guys. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:47.680 I don't know. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.200 Some things are changing, but the most essential things are not. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.799 Uh, we are metachurch, we are a family for the spiritually orphaned. 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:03.040 For those who are unchurched for whatever reason, dechurched for whatever reason. 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:19.199 Even those who have been anti-church, and maybe they've tried to look for hope in the things of the world and they couldn't find it, and the world could not establish real peace, and the world could not offer unconditional love, and you were anti-church, but now you're willing to give it another shot. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:27.280 There are some fundamental things about metachurch that aren't changing, and I can promise you, at least as long as you guys let me lead here, uh, they won't change. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:31.439 Uh, we go after the people who don't feel like they can belong in church anywhere else. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:32.960 Some things haven't changed. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:34.479 We will prioritize the gospel. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:36.080 We are passionate for the gospel. 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:49.520 The good news is that God loves you so much that even though all of us rebelled and walked out of relationship with God, that God came down for us and gave his life for us and spread his arms to us and invites us in. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:50.800 Some things won't change. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:58.000 Uh, meta church is not just becoming another religious exercise, you know, a list of rules and hoops to jump through. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:02.479 This is about a relationship with your creator and your savior. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:11.599 This is about God calling to you and offering you something, not by your works, but we are saved by grace, an unearned, unmerited gift. 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.759 We are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus, not of ourselves. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:22.560 It's a gift from God, not by our works, so that none of us have anything to boast about. 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:25.520 There are many things that are not changing. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:27.919 Really, our missional strategy isn't changing. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 We do Sunday services, and this is where the entire church gathers together. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.199 Right now, we have five services over two different locations. 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:37.360 We also have people joining us online. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:41.599 We have Jared Aiken who's with us online from Boston every week. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:44.080 I hear from this guy every week from Boston. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:50.479 We've got people in Florida, we have people in Japan, we have people who are tuning in when they can all over the country and all over the world. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:51.360 That's not changing. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.199 The second thing we do is we do life teams. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:58.719 And if you're not on a life team and you're not in Christian community, you need to be. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.599 It is essential. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:06.800 Like just coming and just gathering, I promise you, it's not enough. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:08.800 It's important, it matters. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:15.599 Hebrews says, do not neglect the gathering together of the church, the gathering together of the saints. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:20.319 But you also need Christian community because application happens in community. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:24.639 And if we're not applying what we're learning here, then what are we doing? 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:27.279 I I had this idea, I was I was driving. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:31.360 My thoughts only come to me when I'm driving or when I'm in the shower. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:32.720 I'm useless besides that. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:33.439 I don't know. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.800 But I was driving, uh, and uh my car's very old. 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:38.959 I don't even have like a C D player, you know. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:40.879 I'm out of options, so I just think. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.720 And and I was thinking, you know, the idea of just gathering. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:52.160 Uh James, the half brother of Jesus, says that if you are hearers of the word and not doers of the word, you have deceived yourself. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:55.680 You think you're doing something for the kingdom of God and you're not. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:06.560 I thought, what would we think if there was a weekly program, call it a service, and all it was about was physical health. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:21.519 And every week, millions and millions of people came to an hour-long service where they talked about proper diet, the latest exercise trends, how to maximize your VO2, how to, how to build muscle, how to like all of it inspiring. 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:22.959 They sang songs. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.680 It's like, we want abs, we want abs. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:28.240 And everyone's like, yes, yes, abs. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:42.319 And then they left that, let's say the service was on Sundays, and then they left that service and just went straight to Golden Corral and never stepped foot in a gym. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:47.439 The world would look at that movement like this is the stupidest thing. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:52.399 People worship, exercise, and never do it. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:07.360 So if we're not applying what Jesus asked us to, and we're not actually following him in the details of our life, it does beg the question: what are we doing? 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:14.639 So life teams matter because life teams give you a small circle of people and they hold you accountable, and every week you come in, and it's very simple. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:17.519 We just go through a review of Sunday service. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:25.600 I do a lot of work for Sunday service, so it's like anywhere from a 40-minute sermon to uh a sermon so long that my producers get mad at me, right? 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.879 It's somewhere in there, and then it's like you've got a lot of info, and what are you gonna do with it? 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:33.680 And so you get in the life team and you go, here's what I'm gonna do about it. 00:06:33.759 --> 00:06:37.519 And then you show up to that same group of people the next week, and they go, What did you do about it? 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.920 And it's how you start actually applying the word into your life. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:47.279 And then the third thing we do is uh we help each person at an individual level, spiritual formation. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:49.279 We call it the Meta Movement Academy. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:07:01.439 We have another semester of people graduating right now, it's changing their lives, it's helping them get unstuck, it's helping them get healthy spiritually and relationally and financially and emotionally healthy so that nothing holds them back. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:05.040 These are the things that are not changing. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:07.600 And it's a good thing because we have a lot of conviction about this. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:08.639 Here's what's not changing. 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.560 Our mission at Metachurch. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.319 We do whatever it takes to get people to Jesus. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:20.319 The church is the gathering of God's people, it's the called out. 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.839 And we meet together so that we can move together in the real world. 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:25.920 Here's what's not changing our vision. 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:28.639 Our vision says it's a slight change, but it matters. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:43.360 We do whatever it takes to get Jesus to people, which is why we are going to open new faith communities that are all moving on the same page with the same mission, just like we have done here at Petrinko, just like we've done here at Helotus. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.839 Those things aren't changing. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:08:03.759 And I needed you to know that, especially for those of you who don't have a very high change tolerance in your life right now, so that you can breathe and maybe just kind of receive at least what God has been saying to me, because I've been in a season of wrestling with God. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:08.639 And the season has taken some time, and it's taken me a while to get clarity. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:15.439 And you probably could have gotten clarity a lot faster than I did, but this has been my journey, and sometimes I'm a little slow to the jump. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:17.759 And so I've been wrestling with God. 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:30.240 And the first thing I want to talk about is my own personal wrestling because without that context, I'm not sure the direction we're moving as a church will make as much sense. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:36.720 And so recently, uh God kind of pointed this pattern out in my life. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:39.919 It's this 10-year pattern that has happened. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.440 And uh, and I think I'm I think it's happening again in real time. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:51.360 And it really started when I was seven years old, and then 10 years it showed up again when I was 17 years old, and then 10 years it showed up when I was 27 years old. 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:56.559 And it's like, this is my life story, and I've I've I've been through what we do in the academy, I've told my life story a bunch of times. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.320 I never saw this pattern until maybe January of this year. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.200 I was like, oh man, that's like a 10-year thing that has happened. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:07.919 What happened to me at seven years old? 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:21.840 I just to be transparent, I uh I'm always hesitant to share, but it's an important part of my story, and it's it's a part of uh where my calling came from to be uh a pastor and a preacher. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:33.279 Um when I was seven, like you know, every seven-year-old boy has some heroes, you know, it's like athletes or superheroes that they read about in the comics, or you know, everyone has some heroes, and and I did as well. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:34.000 You guys know this. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:41.840 Michael Jordan was like my sports hero, you know, but like the top of my hero hierarchy was my grandfather. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.919 My maternal grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.559 And I don't know if any of you came up Southern Baptist, uh, but boy, it is hellfire and brimstone, man. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:54.720 And he would he would get after it, and he spent his early years working on the railroad. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:00.480 So out of like all the digits you're supposed to have on your fingers, he had like half of them, you know? 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:08.799 And his right index finger, just the very top digit, was at about like a 45 degree angle, like this, kind of like this, you know? 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:13.360 And man, he would preach and point that crooked finger at you. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.679 It's like God spoke through that finger, bro. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:17.360 I it was crazy. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.440 And I would watch him, and I was just like in awe, you know. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:29.919 And uh I had great parents, I was brought up in the church, and when I was little, uh, I loved the Lord. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:34.000 I mean, I passionately loved the Lord. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:39.519 We went down to South Texas, small town near Alice, I would see Texas. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.240 It's where my mom was raised, where my grandparents lived. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:50.159 And we went in because my grandpa was older, I think he was around 80, and he was going in for what was supposed to be kind of a routine operation. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.960 Uh he had had an aneurysm, they were gonna take care of it. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:57.759 But when you're 80, you know, routine operations have a lot of risk. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.720 And so we came in and it was a full house. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:02.720 Like the whole family was there. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:11.279 But the night before his operation, he spent the entire evening down in his study in his library with just me. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:13.840 And we spent hours. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.919 And I don't really remember it. 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.080 I remember it kind of like you would remember looking at pictures, not videos. 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:26.480 But we spent hours. 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.799 And then it was, you know, time for me to go to bed, and the house was kind of shutting down. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.039 And I didn't know this for a while. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:51.039 But that night, um, when my my grandpa and granny, as really old people do sometimes, slept in different rooms at this point, you know, when they were saying good night, he prophesied over my life. 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:56.080 He said, I don't know what Clayton will do, but I know it will be for the Lord. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:58.080 And I know it will be in ministry. 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.039 And the next day he died. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.399 And I didn't know that for some time. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:16.480 But about a year after that, I was in a church service, and at the end of the service, they did an altar call. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:19.840 And similar to what we do here, we have you raise your hands at Metachurch. 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:23.039 In our churches, they would actually ask you to come all the way down to the front. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:25.519 And it was just a gospel altar call, you know? 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:29.519 If you're ready to accept Jesus Christ into your heart, you know, come down to the front. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.279 And uh, I I had already believed in Jesus at this point. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:38.799 Um, but I walked to the front with a conviction that had moved me out of my body. 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:53.440 It's like I didn't even want to go down front, I was a very shy kid, and I went to the pastor who was preaching in my grandfather's old pulpit, and I told him, I am called to be a preacher. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:56.000 And I was eight. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.240 I was a weird kid. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:12:58.960 All right. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.120 The preacher was like, Yeah, I didn't really ask that, but cool, you know. 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:05.759 And I was seven. 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:12.639 And somehow between seven and seventeen, I had moved so far away from that calling. 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:20.639 I was just living for myself, and I was living for the world, and I was living in rebellion, and I was living with an incredible amount of guilt for how I was living. 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:27.600 And I believed God was very mad at me because I knew God and I knew I was disobeying him all of the time. 00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:32.639 And uh I was bad, like at whatever level I had access to. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.440 That was just how I was organizing my life. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.879 And at 17, I got very sick. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:45.360 And the summer before my senior year, I spent a lot of that summer in the hospital, and they couldn't really figure out what was going on. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:51.519 And so, after a large number of tests and procedures, I was diagnosed with an incurable stomach disease. 00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:56.879 It's an autoimmune disease, it's in the GI tract, and it changed my life. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.440 And it changed my life because I would be, in my mind, sick forever. 00:14:02.639 --> 00:14:05.919 It changed my life also because it slowed me down. 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:07.919 And I don't know, right? 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:12.000 I don't know exactly how God organizes everything. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:19.919 I I don't believe that God like put his finger on my life and gave me a disease, but he did use it. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:22.399 And he called me back to himself. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.039 And at 17, my faith became my own, and my love for Jesus was renewed. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:31.679 And I went into the ministry. 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:32.720 It wasn't long after that. 00:14:32.799 --> 00:14:41.759 I was full-time in the ministry, it wasn't long after that, in my 20s, that I met Katie and my kids, started a family, moved to San Antonio. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.879 I was seven and seventeen, and then twenty seven. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:52.320 At 27, I was helping lead a very, very large church, thousands and thousands of people. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.919 And I didn't know it at the time, but that church had become an idol to me. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:01.440 I could not imagine life without being in leadership of that church. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:09.840 And we talk about it and we get so clear on it here, in part because I was so unclear for so long that the church is just the movement of God's people. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:11.279 It's just us. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:16.960 It's not the branding, it's not the name, it's not the buildings, it's not the staff, it's not the organization. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:19.120 It had become an idol to me. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:24.480 And I can say pretty confidently, I'm not sure anything would have changed directions. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.080 But right before I turned 27, I was hospitalized for a couple of weeks. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:35.919 And this disease I had been living with uh had kind of gotten the best of me for a season. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.679 And I was out, down and out. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:43.679 There were some scary moments in those two weeks. 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:47.200 And I was still and I was quiet, and God spoke to me. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:56.080 And MetaCurch was planted as a direct, a direct line, like A to B from my stay in that hospital. 00:15:56.799 --> 00:16:01.039 And God would once again redeem something that seems so bad and use it for my good. 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:06.879 And so I'm on my way to 37. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:10.000 I'm 35 and a half. 00:16:10.799 --> 00:16:16.559 I'm on my way, and God's been speaking to me, and I've been wrestling with things. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:25.360 And part of why I've taken this so seriously is in part to go, this time it's not gonna take a hospital visit. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:27.600 I'm going to pay attention. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.519 And so here's what's happened. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:30.720 It's very interesting. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:36.559 You see, we we see our suffering, and sometimes it's it's very natural to get mad at God for our suffering. 00:16:37.840 --> 00:16:40.080 But God gave me so many gifts. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:46.879 At 17, I became sick, and I was sick for the next 10 years. 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:49.120 Every day I was very sick. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.840 Some of you knew me back then. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:59.440 Um, it was hard for me to get over about 145 if I really pushed about 150 pounds. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:00.639 It was it was tough. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.000 I couldn't gain weight. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:07.599 Every day I would lose large amounts of blood, every day, every day I was in pain. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:09.200 Every day I was sick. 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.480 See, when I was 17, I was in an army hospital. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:13.920 This is where I was diagnosed. 00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:18.960 And if you've ever spent time in an army hospital, they don't always have the best bedside manner, right? 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:22.720 They're dealing with people coming back from war, they just gotta tell you how it is. 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:24.160 I was 17. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:33.599 The doctor told me that my life expectancy was down to 60, and that the odds are I would die from stomach cancer before 60 years old. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.960 He actually said there was a 92% chance. 00:17:37.119 --> 00:17:38.960 It's seared into my mind. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:43.440 That's tough to hear at 17, but God used it. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:51.920 And in that moment, God gave me a gift, and it's the gift that's animated my ministry. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:54.880 It was a gift of urgency. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:18:00.160 I think for most of us at 17, we just go, I've got forever. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.119 I'm gonna live freaking forever. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.079 I can't even imagine the end of my life. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:08.240 And I was forced to. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:18.640 And it changed me fundamentally, and I lived like I was running out of time. 00:18:19.599 --> 00:18:20.640 Because I was. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.680 The distinct impact of my ministry has been urgency. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:11.839 I lived for a decade dying. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:14.880 And it was hard, you know. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.359 Katie hated when I talked about it. 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:24.720 She wanted to have the 60s and 70s with me and raise our grandkids and our great-gat-grandkids. 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:26.799 So I quit talking about it. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:29.920 And I couldn't get away from it. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.079 I was dying. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:35.599 And I preached like I was dying. 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:38.559 I have an urgency for the gospel. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.960 You know, people talk about my preaching as intense. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.200 A lot of yelling and sweating, you know? 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:50.240 That's what's behind it. 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:55.680 I have an urgency for you to discover the purpose that God has for your life and to live it out. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:20:05.119 I have an urgency for you to quit making excuses that keep you out of taking the next steps, that will allow God to do things that are just unimaginable. 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.480 At 27, it took me a couple of years to believe this. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:12.799 Because I've been so sick for so long. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.880 But at 27, my disease went into remission. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:19.359 And it's a blessing. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:24.240 I stand before you at almost 190 pounds today, you know. 00:20:24.559 --> 00:20:25.920 Your boy got beefy. 00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:28.079 That's great. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:28.720 I couldn't believe it. 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.000 I'm gaining weight, you know. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:34.319 I'm running marathons, I'm healthy, I can do things with my kids. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:35.680 It's great, it's great. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.039 It is a blessing. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:46.880 Uh, and I can say uh confidently, I've never lost my urgency for the gospel. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:49.519 If you've come here, I hope you've felt that. 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:56.640 Never lost my urgency for you to find out what God can do in your life and through your life. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.160 But for a couple of years I've been wrestling. 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:04.960 And we're gonna talk a little bit later about kind of where that wrestling has come in. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:14.880 And I want to share why I think it's time for us to take a little bit of a different approach as the church. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:20.559 Because what I don't want to do is lose my urgency for obedience. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:33.119 And it's so interesting, you know, it's like you pray and pray and pray for your miracle, and sometimes you get it, and you don't know the unintended consequences. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.480 And so I haven't lost my urgency. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:41.039 But I don't wake up knowing I'm dying every day. 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:44.720 And so some of you have felt this, you know. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:52.079 It's like I would come up and I had my manuscript, every single word of what I was gonna say was on stage with me, and I I would go through it, and I quit doing that a little while back. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:22:04.799 You've seen us like take announcements out of the service, and we're gonna continue shaping the service, and God has given me back my urgency. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:07.599 And I feel it. 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:14.160 And I don't know how many years I get, and I don't know how many years any of us get, and none of us are promised tomorrow. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:20.000 And I thank God that it didn't take like a hospital bed for him to get my attention. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:28.480 And I just need you to know as long as I get to be a leader here, I will get on stage and I will preach like I'm dying. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.400 Because every day people are dying. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.039 And many of them don't know Jesus. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.400 And Jesus has left us. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:41.920 He said, You are now my ambassadors. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:44.880 Clayton, you are my ambassador. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:49.920 And your job is to cry out to a world. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:53.200 Be reconciled to God. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:56.799 Put your faith in Jesus. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:01.359 Find out what God can do in you and through you. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:04.880 I want to give you the big picture of what we're getting ready to do. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:09.599 I've always preached in series, and a long series is like eight weeks. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:13.759 An eight-week series, everyone's like, is this series still going? 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:14.640 What's happening? 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:16.000 This is so long. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:17.920 How are we still in this? 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:23.279 Um, I think there was a time for that, and there was a place for that. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:29.680 Uh, but what we're going to be doing moving forward is uh we are going to go through Luke's gospel. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.319 We're gonna go through it line by line. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:34.880 It's how we're gonna use our Sunday services. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.759 The large series is called Fulfilled. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:44.960 We're gonna break it down into sub-series just so that we can kind of follow the themes in Luke's book. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:53.920 But if you think eight weeks is a long series, I think it will take two to three years for us to go through Luke's gospel. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:07.119 And I want you to know why we are taking that kind of investment, why we are taking one book in the whole Bible, just one of the books, so seriously. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:10.960 Here's what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:22.960 He says this, but I fear that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:41.759 For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.400 Follow his pattern of thought. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:47.519 Paul's being very vulnerable with the Corinthian church. 00:24:47.680 --> 00:24:50.400 He's going, There's something I fear. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:54.640 This is what keeps Paul up at night. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:05.839 He said, My fear is someone could come and present a different Jesus to you, and you would just accept it right away. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:26.079 Someone could come and introduce a different spirit to you, not the Holy Spirit, the spirit of the one and true living God, a different spirit, a spirit of the age, a spirit of greed, a spirit of lust, a spirit of status, and you would accept it. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:41.039 That someone could come and preach a different gospel, not the gospel presented in scripture, not the one that Paul bore on the marks on his body, a different gospel, and you would accept it. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:45.279 This is what keeps Paul up at night. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.599 And I look at where we're at in the culture. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:26:00.079 And I'm probably more in this than you because you know I hardly ever watch ESPN. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:05.839 I'm watching a three and a half hour theological debate on YouTube, right? 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:31.200 I'm in it probably too much, but I'm watching our culture accept a different Jesus, and that's a problem because a Jesus shaped into your own image, a Jesus presented by false teachers with bad intentions, is not a Jesus who can save you. 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:45.119 In the Corinthian church, there were Judaizers, these were Jewish men, and what they wanted to do is they wanted to take what they saw as a new sect of Judaism, the Christians. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:54.960 They thought it was Judaism 2.0, and they said, look, we're gonna we're gonna bring you guys in and we're gonna teach you how to earn your salvation. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:59.119 We're gonna teach you how to follow the law of Moses. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:09.839 A different Jesus that teaches that you must follow all 613 of the Levitical laws. 00:27:10.559 --> 00:27:13.759 Paul says, I'm afraid that you might just accept that. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:15.839 We see this. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:20.640 We see people who still are trying to convince you that you have to work your way into eternal life. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:24.640 We see the opposite side of that spectrum. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:33.759 People who teach you that once you have put your faith in Jesus, your sin doesn't really matter anymore. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.559 Let me show you what he wrote to the Colossians. 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:39.119 Colossians chapter two, he says this. 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:45.039 I'm saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable. 00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:47.359 Arguments that sound reasonable. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:59.519 Verse 8, be careful, Christians, Jesus followers, be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition. 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:06.480 Philosophy, deceit, tradition based on the elements of the world rather than Christ. 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.240 Arguments that sound reasonable. 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:15.279 God is love. 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:16.799 God wouldn't judge you. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:19.039 God's not here to judge you. 00:28:20.240 --> 00:28:22.000 Here's something that sounds reasonable. 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:25.039 God wants you to be happy. 00:28:27.279 --> 00:28:30.319 Paul's like, here's what's keeping me up at night. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.480 That someone will look at you living in sin and say, it's fine. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:37.359 Don't you think God would want you to be happy? 00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:38.960 No. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.640 God wants you to be holy. 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:51.680 Arguments that sound reasonable based on the tradition and elements of the world. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:54.160 Here's an argument that sounds reasonable. 00:28:54.480 --> 00:28:56.079 Love is love. 00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:59.440 You know what scripture says? 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.559 God is love. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:05.039 Love cannot define itself. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:06.720 Love is defined in God. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:11.279 So if God gives a command, then the loving thing to do is to follow it. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:17.759 You'll be taken astray by things that make sense to the culture. 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:21.680 As Americans, here's what makes sense: nothing is free. 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.480 You want something, earn it. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.680 You want something, grind for it. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.119 You want something, do better, be better. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:34.079 That's not the gospel. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:39.839 The gospel is you cannot be good enough, you cannot be righteous enough, you cannot be holy enough. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:49.920 What you must do is humble yourself and submit yourself and put your faith not in yourself, not in your own ability, but put your faith squarely on Jesus Christ. 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:58.880 It's so interesting, Paul says, I'm afraid someone's gonna come and preach a different Jesus. 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:05.519 And I'm just watching the culture, and a different Jesus is being presented all the time. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:15.920 On one extreme, it's like if you really are following Jesus, you will be wealthy, you will be successful. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:22.720 And you look at like every single apostle of Jesus, and they were all poor and persecuted. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:30.799 You see versions where it's like true faith always results in miracles, actual, tangible miracles. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:36.640 If you're not seeing signs and wonders and healings, then you're probably not really saved. 00:30:36.799 --> 00:30:39.039 That's a different Jesus. 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:54.960 And the problem is, we end up putting our faith in something that can't hold the weight of our hope, that can't hold the weight of our eternity, that can't hold the weight of our future, that can't hold the weight of our relationships. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.440 It's tradition, it's elements of this world. 00:31:01.599 --> 00:31:06.160 I can't tell you how many arguments I've heard that's like, look, I know what Jesus said. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:10.240 I know what he said, but that was 2,000 years ago. 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:14.960 So I know that God has like these really strict moral boundaries around all kinds of things. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:20.319 But look, man, if Jesus was in 2025, he would have a different approach. 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:27.519 Whatever the sin that you don't really want to give up, Jesus would probably be fine with it. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:34.960 It's like the problem with that is that even though Jesus was on the earth 2,000 years ago, Jesus is God. 00:31:35.920 --> 00:31:38.160 Jesus knew 2025. 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:42.720 Jesus knew 3025 if he doesn't come back before then. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:52.480 Jesus was speaking for all time, for all people, for all cultures, for all traditions, for all elements, for all philosophies. 00:31:52.640 --> 00:32:06.319 He's speaking truth to it, and we, in our infinite enlightened wisdom, say, I know Jesus wasn't okay with this in first century Judea, but today I'm sure he'd be fine, and that's another Jesus. 00:32:08.720 --> 00:32:10.240 And I'm watching. 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:12.960 Paul's fear come true. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:20.799 I mean, I'm always gonna keep it real, like I've seen it here. 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:23.599 I've seen people leave here. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:29.680 Not because of my ideas, because I was just willing to say what Jesus says. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:33.519 And so what do they want? 00:32:35.359 --> 00:32:36.799 A different Jesus. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:40.799 And so, what's the answer? 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:43.200 What do we actually do about this? 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:47.039 Here's what it says in verse 6, Colossians 2, verse 6. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:55.839 So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him. 00:32:56.720 --> 00:33:09.359 Verse 7, being rooted and built up in him, Jesus, and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:22.640 I did a series back in 2023 all about identity, and what we found over and over and over again, all throughout the New Testament, is our identity is found in him. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.920 This is a phrase used hundreds of times in the New Testament. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:26.720 In him. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:30.640 Your identity is found in him, in Jesus. 00:33:30.960 --> 00:33:43.519 Your hope is found in him, your peace is established in him, your relationships are protected in him, your children are brought up correctly, in him, your success is substantiated in him. 00:33:43.759 --> 00:33:51.359 Everything is being rooted and built up in him, which goes back to Paul's concern. 00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:57.039 When we say we are living in him, who do we mean? 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:01.759 Who is Him? 00:34:03.440 --> 00:34:06.400 Who is the real Jesus? 00:34:08.320 --> 00:34:23.280 Because if our life is rooted in Him, if your purpose and power and impact is built up in Him, then we must know who He is. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:33.599 And this is why, as a movement, we are gonna invest the next couple of years finding out who Jesus is. 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:42.079 I love relationship series, giving series, you know, mental health series, all the things we've done for six and a half years now. 00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:50.800 I love, we'll probably do more in the future, but for now, God is calling us to look in one of the historical accounts. 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:55.519 Luke, who detailed, like no one else, went to greater lengths than anyone else. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:05.519 Luke, who is known as one of the greatest historians, not of scripture, one of the greatest historians in the entire ancient world. 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:07.760 We're gonna go line by line. 00:35:09.199 --> 00:35:12.159 And here's the conviction I'm carrying, and here's I've been wrestling with God. 00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:17.039 God, God put it on my heart to go all the way through Luke a couple of years ago. 00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:21.840