The Key of Blessing | Brett Esslinger

Welcome to the Saints Church Glastonbury podcast! We are a local church network based in Alberta, Canada. We go to places no one wants to go and do things no one thought possible so that anyone and everyone can discover hope and life in Jesus.

This week, we start a brand new series called God, Sex, and Money. Today's sermon invites listeners to deepen their spiritual journey by aligning with God's Word, embracing unity within the church, and living out their unique divine purpose.

Verses:
- 1 Corinthians 1:2
- Galatians 5:17
- 1 Corinthians 1:10-11
- Ephesians 4:3
- Acts 2:42-47
- Acts 4:32
- Exodus 30:32

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Creators & Guests

Host

Brett Esslinger

Senior Pastor of SAINTS CHURCH | Author of #HopeNotHype | #YEG | Nacho Enthusiast

What is Saints Church Glastonbury?

A Modern Expression of a Timeless Tradition. A local church in the Glastonbury Neighbourhood of West Edmonton. Sr Pastor Brett Esslinger.

You ready to get into the word? Today we're going to go to 1 Corinthians. We're going to go to 1 Corinthians. We're going to spend a lot of time in 1 Corinthians Well, the letters of Corinthians over the next couple of weeks but let's just start right here. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 2. It says I'm writing to God's church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, because you belong to Jesus, and just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord, jesus Christ, their Lord in ours, paul is writing to this church in the city of Corinth and he's saying listen, god made you a holy people. And the truth is he's saying the same thing to us. This is part of the inspiration for the literal name of our church, saints Church, which is God made you and I a holy people, which means that he has set us apart. He's got a plan and a purpose for our lives.

Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a fine dining restaurant, and maybe one that's like on a Michelin star list. Like pastor, I don't get around that much. It's okay, I'll tell you what happens. I'll tell you that when you go, there's no salt and pepper shakers on the table and they definitely are not bringing you ketchup, because the chef has created a masterpiece that people travel all around the world to experience and they bring it out to you in exactly the way that the chef intended for you to experience it. You don't need to add anything to it, it's perfect.

When I was a little kid, my parents took me and my sister out to a restaurant. It was like a sit-down restaurant, like a normal, like sit-down restaurant. But when you're a child and if you have to wait, so I literally said to my parents why don't you take us to a good restaurant like McDonald's? Food is fast, food is fast. But the truth is, a lot of us have been treating Jesus like the salt and pepper shakers on the table, where we just add him to spice up our life. We don't add him to our lives, we surrender our lives to him.

Yeah, switchfoot, this Christian rock band in the height of the 2000s, declared there's a new way to be human. Pastor Robert Moore said wow, can't speak. Robert Moore said we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around. There's this internal battle within us and in Scripture describes it in Galatians 517. But it says, really, the flesh is at war with your spirit, everything within you is being just wrestling. But the truth is, the more that we give to Jesus and the more that we can actually admit our frailty and the more we can admit our weakness in the midst of our weakness. He is strong. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. So we think, ah, we have to prove it, we have to show, we have to show him what we can do, what we're made of. No, no, no, he already knows, he already understands your situation. What he's asking is if you would lay down every part of your life and align your heart with his word, because if you can align your heart with his word and you can believe what it says, then you can align your heart with his heart, because his heart is in his word. Today, as we start this new series you know it's all the things you're not supposed to talk about around the dinner table I suppose I want to show you a major key to unlock the blessing of God in your life. I want to say it one more time I want to show you a major key to unlock the blessing of God in your life. But it's not what you think.

We're going to spend a lot of time over the next four weeks looking at the letters to the church in Corinthians. There's a lot of parallels. Let's look at the problem. We'll diagnose the problem and then we'll move forward from there. First, corinthians 1, verse 10 to 11. It says I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Let there be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of Chloe's household have told me about your quarrels. That'll tell my dear brothers and sisters.

So there's a problem in the Corinthian church that there's just like there's some factions, there's some groups, there's some cliques, there's some things that are happening and people are just kind of fighting. Just sounds like people stuff to me, right, it's like ah, I like this person, I like this person, I like these people. I'm over here Now. Here's a few things. Do you ever remember an era in church when people used to call brother? People would call each other brother and sister, like brother so and so and sister so and so I'm saying let's bring it back. No, no, takers, I'm going to start. I'm going to start in the lobby. I'm just going to call you brother and sister so and so, because that's who we are, because we're a part of God's family, and so we are to treat one another as brothers and sisters. Now, if you have a sibling, which I do, then you will know that there are times where you would like, you can do nothing against that sibling, because you're going to, like, you're going to take care of those people that rally against them. But there are times where you can, with your sibling, you know, like you can get into it. So these things happen. These things happen in the context of relationship, these things happen in the context of community. In fact, I would go as far as to say that you don't actually have a relationship until you have some tension in your relationship. Up until that point, you're just friendly, you're not friends. It's not until you have to work through something right, you have to go through something that you actually become friends.

The Apostle Paul describes it like this in Ephesians 4, verse 3. He says Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. There is something spiritual about being connected relationally and working through our problems and our struggles as a community. Now there are some markers of the early church Right when the church began. In Acts 2, 42 to 47, it describes the scene. It also describes the feeling. The words that pop out was that there was great joy and generosity among the people, that everyone enjoyed the goodwill of the people, that everyone was just full of awe and wonder because there was signs, there's wonders, there's miracles, there's goodwill and there's fellowship. Sometimes I wonder if we don't see the level of signs, wonders and miracles because we don't have a level of community. Because if you don't have community, you don't understand that there's someone besides you, that you're here to bear their burden and you don't carry your burden for prayer with them, and so we don't see the level of signs, wonders and miracles because we don't have the level of community where we could actually know what's going on with the person to our left or to our right. So join a group today. This is Acts 4, 32.

All the believers were united in heart and mind and they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. In other words. They had skin in the game. They were invested. They were invested in the lives of those around them. They were invested in their community. And it wasn't like communism. It was like I've got a little bit too much and I know that your kid needs braces, so I'm going to sell this extra TV that I have in my garage and I'm going to give you that money so that you have enough money to help get your kids some braces. It was like we're going to live with what we have and we're going to do it in common. Because I know your pain and I'm invested in you, because your success is my success, because I believe in you. Why? Because God believes in you. How do I know that? Because God created you. You're alive, you're living and breathing. God created you, he's got a plan for you and he wants to do something through you. So I've got a responsibility to help you succeed, because I'm partnering with God. Sorry, it's just me today. That's what's happening. This is God's plan for the church and for your life that we would live together in real community Bible words, in real fellowship, in real relationship, in real connection, where it would go beyond a polite lobby talk after church. That's great. That's like the entry point.

All right, let's look at this major key of blessing for your life. You're like, yes, I'm ready to take notes. I want to know about the major key of blessing in my life. Well, it's been hiding in plain sight this whole time. It's been right here. You've read it and you missed it. But we're going to unlock it together. Are you ready? Sorry, nobody's ready. I'm going to go home. I'm going to pack up my things. Are you ready today? Okay, it's a major blessing. It's a major blessing, major key of blessing, psalm 133.

How wonderful I'm going to use the paper for this one. How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in harmony. For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe. Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. In there, the Lord has pronounced his blessing even life everlasting, which we sang about today. As you know, it's the first set of words. Harmony is wonderful and pleasant. Wouldn't it be nice to live in a world with people where it's just wonderful and pleasant? We got enough struggles anywhere to realize. Listen, I don't have an appetite for this environment to be anything other than wonderful and pleasant, because you believe what I believe and we're forgiven. So I can forgive you and we can work through things, and we can walk through things and we can have difficulties, but the truth is our highest and our best. Our goal is to be a part of a wonderful and pleasant community. Verse two it says that harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head and ran down his beard onto the border of his robe. That anointing oil is what set apart Aaron and his sons as priests. It's precious.

Exodus 3032 says it shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy and it shall be holy to you. So you're no ordinary person. You're no ordinary person because God called you, he handcrafted you, created you, he chose you for this moment. He sets you alive in this lifetime, in this era. You were here, you were living and you're breathing. You are no ordinary person. You are set apart. You're a saint, set apart and chosen for God. Verse Peter 2 9 describes it like this. But you are not like that. You are a chosen people. You're a royal priest, a holy nation, god's very own possession. Again, don't take my word for it. Just a scripture Verse Peter 2, 9,. You're God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness and into his wonderful light. So you are a shining beacon of hope wherever you go, because you've been called out of darkness. You've walked through darkness. There's people in this room that know what darkness is, and that's how come. They know that when they bow their knee and surrender their life to Jesus, that there's hope, because they understand how bright that light is your call Now. Verse 3,. It says this Harman is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. Now, I don't know anything about those mountain, but I know that when I feel I describe my soul feels parched where I feel dry. I know how refreshing his presence is. It brings life to my weary soul. Maybe you haven't experienced that yet. He wants that for you. Harmony is refreshing, but it's refreshing on a natural level. We talk about harmony. I love that the scripture uses this word harmony. Thank you, translators of New Living Translation for using the word harmony, because harmony was my worst course in Bible calling Harmony class is where you learn about music. I was a music major. It's where you learn about music and you learn how the notes interplay with one another. So what's significant about this language talking about harmony, is that it's not meant for one single note. The picture here is that for us to be together, that we each have a note to sound. We each have a responsibility, we each have our own uniqueness, but together we create one beautiful sound. Every note that you heard played here is played with chords. There's multiple notes at one time. We each have a different part to play. If you've ever been to the symphony, if you've ever been to the Winster Center or something like it, and you've heard an orchestra tuning, you hear chaos at the beginning, right as all the instruments are doing all their own thing and they're you know it's all these different noises, but they all tune to one pitch. And as they tune to one pitch, all of a sudden it's like they just come into. What Unity and harmony. Because they're tuned to what One note. Who do we tune to? One note, jesus Christ. It brings us the chaos of all of our lives. It brings us into unity and harmony. And there, it says, is God's commanded blessing. I'll read it one more time because you don't believe me yet. Harmony is as refreshing as the dude from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion and there the Lord has pronounced his blessing. Other translation says there the Lord has commanded his blessing, even life and blessing. In the midst of a community of believers who are walking together, who have their hearts knit together, there is blessing major key to blessing in your life the person sitting beside you. And there is God's presence, because the mountain of Zion represents the presence of God. We have a shared destiny and a shared future. The apostle Paul described it in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. He describes this picture of the church as a body. That the body needs every single part, that one part can't just decide that it's fine on its own. Otherwise it's weird, like if my hand just decided this is I'm the body, I'm the hand, it would go away and it would be like a hamburger helper man, except it wouldn't have eyes or a mouth to smile to make it look approachable. It would just be a weird hand. The truth is those of us who choose to live apart from the community of followers of Jesus. We live alone, as isolation, as one singular body part not able to accomplish what God has created us to do. That's why we live, end up frustrated. I want to help you unlock the blessing in your life. It's an Old Testament blessing with a New Testament recipe. I'll say that one more time it's an Old Testament blessing with a New Testament recipe. The Old Testament blessing is found in harmony. Why is harmony refreshing? Because there's so many other spaces and places and environments in our lives that we end up in, whether it's at the office or in your community, whether it's just drama everywhere. I think the word of the Lord is no more drama. You're like have you met me? Because we don't need that here. Okay, we're going to shift gears. We don't need drama in the midst of the house Doesn't mean that we don't have tensions, that we don't have issues, that we work through. What it means is we make a decision to prioritize what God is doing here and that we actually prioritize and love our neighbors as our. It's a realignment right. He's changing the way that we think, the way that we process, the way that we view our world. The way that we view our world is. I'm going to take care of me. In the rest of you, I don't care what happens to you. I got to look out for number one Call of a believer. I got to look out for everybody else, because we're all in this together, that we're a part of a family, that he's bringing us together. He's bringing us together, that our destinies are interwoven together, that he's got a plan for us together. He's got a plan for Saints shirts right now in the season, and if he's got a plan for Saints shirts, it means he's got a plan for you, and if he's got a plan for you, he's got a plan for Saints shirt. We all are required in this. So the Old Testament blessing that calls us to a place of harmony and that's God's pronounced blessing is there on. That place requires a New Testament recipe, and it's found right here in Ephesians 4-3. We already read it Make every effort, which means it's going to take work. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. I should have brought handcuffs. I should have handcuffed myself to pass or set. That would have been the best illustration. The truth is, we're called to bind ourselves together in peace. Make every effort and bind yourself together in peace. It's going to take some effort on our part. It's going to take some work. It's going to take some commitment, but we're going to get through. There might be somebody in this room that you're not talking to right now. Can I tell you that should end today. It's going to take some work. It's going to take some effort. It's going to take oh, you're already getting the butterflies. Okay, everybody, it's worth it. I don't know that it's worth it. How do you know that person? Yeah, and I know that God created them. He's got a plan of purpose for them. I know that he loves them and if he loves them, I love him. It's going to take some effort. It's going to take some work to move beyond the surface, but that's where God's command and blessing is. Not many of us have tasted or touched of this type of relational community, so it's uncharted territory. Not many of us have walked in this level of blessing from God because we have not committed ourselves or bound ourselves together in this way. So I'm just wondering what might happen if a room full of people would decide you know what? We're all in this. Together, we're following Jesus one step at a time. It's not some lame hashtag of better together. It's me making every effort to keep myself united in the spirit with these people and binding ourselves together with peace, which means peace is the ultimate goal and it's also the ultimate outcome. Romans 1, sorry 1. Corinthians 12, 27,. All of you together are Christ's body and each of you is a part of it. Here's what I want to do for the last half. I want to ask a question when does disunity come from? Have you ever thought about it? Where does disunity come from? I've got three barriers to unity. So we'll talk about it on a church level, but it's going to apply to every area of our lives. We're just going to use the church as an example so that it just doesn't feel that personal You're like. Are you talking to me? No, but also yes. Three barriers to unity. First thing philosophy, philosophy. The philosophy is the way we do it and why we do it. The first barrier to unity comes when we have a misalignment in philosophy. I don't like the way that you approach that. I don't like the songs that you pick. Oh, that's the next one. That's perfect. No, steven, I'm on philosophy. Sorry, there's a misalignment that comes where you know what? I don't agree with your method, or maybe it's I don't like your, why? I don't like your reasoning, I don't like why, and so we become misaligned generally over philosophical matters. We call this our approach. There's a barrier to unity when it says I don't like your approach. That's the first barrier to unity. I don't like your approach, okay. Second barrier to unity Preference. How we do it. Once again, it's the method. How we do it Really, that's our strategy. It's the practical part of what we do. So out of these two misalignments, let's call it our philosophy and our preference. This unity happens largely when we're all trying to work from a place of peace and a place of unity. Misalignment happens through misunderstanding and miscommunication. The majority of tension that we experience, let's say in a context like this, actually comes from misunderstanding and miscommunication. I would go as far as to say most moments of tension that happen in our lives come from miscommunication and misunderstanding. You know what I hate? I hate being misunderstood. I didn't mean that. Maybe I said it the wrong way. I meant there was nothing that right. Breaks our heart more when you find out that somebody took something away, that you didn't mean it, or you didn't intend it or, let's be honest, the way that your face said it, not your mouth. And so misalignment happens because we go oh, we're just moving in different directions. You might have heard this we're just drifting apart. You heard that before. We're just drifting apart. You're not just drifting apart, you're just not dealing with your unresolved tension. And here's the third barrier to unity Left, undiagnosed and untreated misalignment leads to personal offense. Right, do you know what they said to me? That's our brother and sister and I just, if I'm going to believe the best in them, I don't know that. They meant what you think they meant by that. I just know them, I don't feel. No, you don't know what they said to me. So then personal offense creeps in. So what's the impact of personal offense? There's three, but there's actually four that turns into five, and I'll you know we're rolling Three impacts of personal offense unresolved tensions, decisions that we make based on pain and offense. So, all of a sudden, your entire decision-making process is based on your personal offense. I'm not going to go there. That person might be there. I can't sign up for. I can't sign up for night to shine on the off chance that they're one of those 12 people that sign up and now all my offenses are directing my life. Third impact of personal offense unforgiveness. I just carry this like this low, and here's the craziest part. And fourth impact personal offense is that I take a step out of blessing. Like you just gave me a major key. Now you're telling me I'm stepping out of it. Yes, when I show choose to be led by my misalignment, my personal offense and my pain, I take a step out of blessing because I take out of, a step out of relationship, both personally and corporately. See, because the blessing, the blessing of God is actually found in the people that are around you. They're the blessing. The community is your blessing, it's your greatest blessing. The person sitting next to you, they're your greatest blessing. Like I don't know their name, you will by the end of the day, because they're your blessing. Some of us are trading or giving away the blessing, which is the gift of relationship over misunderstanding and miscommunication. You're just trading the blessing. Galatians 6, 7 says don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Watch this. The seeds of unity produce harvest, okay. The seeds of disunity produce bitterness. So these are the results. If you look at what happened in the early church in Acts 2, 42 to 47, it's like my favorite passage of scripture because that was the beginning, that's the origin story, that's the beginning of the church as we understand it. What happened there is the spirit of joy and generosity, this goodwill, all this stuff, and the Lord was adding to their fellowship those who were being saved. The seeds of unity produce a harvest. The seeds of disunity produce bitterness. Bitterness starts as unforgiveness. The harvest of unforgiveness is bitterness. Let's look to the Word Hebrews 12. Are you still with me? Hebrews 12 says Work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Do you ever notice now that I've showed you how many times this idea keeps popping up? Work at living in peace with everyone and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Watch this, though verse 15. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Unforgiveness always leads to bitterness, and bitterness destroys lives, your life and the life of everybody around you. Matthew 18. Jesus tells a story describing unforgiveness, and he tells the story of a servant who grows to, grabs the throat of another servant who owes him a small amount of money, and he begins to choke him out. Unforgiveness is choking you out. It's time for you to breathe again. Watch this. It says that the seed of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. Why? Because misery loves company and the devil comes as an angel of light, which means he comes and he appears like he's here to solve your problem. So all that initial rush, those adrenaline that you feel from the anger and from the bitterness and the pain that you think is helping you move forward, that you're helping you think it's helping you work through all that stuff, it's just a deception. It's just a deception to make you think that you're moving in the right direction, that it's going to fuel you. It's just that very same thing that you feel like is giving you strength is sapping you of all life and all energy and direction. Watch this Bitterness corrupts many, corrupting many. Bitterness creates a counterfeit community. Bitterness creates a counterfeit community. Now flash it back to Exodus 30, 32. Speaking of the anointing oil. Remember. Harmony is compared to the anointing oil. It's as. Harmony is as precious as the oil that pours down Aaron's beer. It says this there should be no other composition like it, which means it cannot be faked. You cannot fake it. You should not make it fake. Bitterness creates counterfeit community that looks to take you down with it. I'm drowning. I'm going to pull somebody else down with me. We'll end it right here. Proverbs 17, verse nine. It says love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes all across this place? I believe our first step towards stepping into the blessing of God. I believe the direction is very clear. Lord is asking us to deal with any unresolved unforgiveness that is in our hearts. When we bow our heads and close our eyes, every person in this room, it's a holy moment. It's not a moment to look around, it's a moment to look inside and I just want you to take a moment to ask the Lord is there any unresolved unforgiveness in my life? And I believe that, as you ask that, he's going to bring a name to your mind. He's going to bring a face Right now, by the power of the Holy Spirit. He's going to bring it to your remembrance right now. It might be from this year, it might be from 10 years ago that you didn't even realize you were holding onto it. He's going to speak to you right now. As he brings that to your attention, I'm going to ask you to take a big, bold step and say would you take a moment right now to forgive that person. Ask the Lord to give you the strength if you're not able. Forgiveness does not mean you're letting them back in. It doesn't mean you're giving them access. Trust is a whole other conversation, but it starts right here, because unforgiveness is choking you out and you felt like you've lost opportunities and you feel like you've lost friends and family and relationship over some of these things. Jesus wants to help you find freedom today. Would you just take a moment right now. I forgive this person. I forgive this person. Jesus helped me to forgive. Come on, we surrender everything to Him, including our unforgiveness, or I'm forgiven.