WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:21.900 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.380 --> 00:00:25.500 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:29.980 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:30.880 the latest message. 00:00:31.180 --> 00:00:32.080 Thanks for listening. 00:00:35.180 --> 00:00:41.420 We are in our last week in our series, All Things New, and next week we are going to start 00:00:41.420 --> 00:00:43.520 a new series on 1 Corinthians. 00:00:43.800 --> 00:00:48.280 Now, I know this is crazy because we just had Christmas, but I will say this, all right? 00:00:48.500 --> 00:00:49.280 Where was I at? 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:50.160 This is very important. 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:54.380 Publix? 00:00:55.620 --> 00:00:56.840 Yeah, I think it was Publix. 00:00:57.960 --> 00:00:59.320 I walked into Publix. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.980 Now, like at the beginning of December, I saw Valentine's candy. 00:01:04.360 --> 00:01:08.260 But the Lord has shined his face on us, and we are blessed. 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:16.300 Because in Publix, right now, they are selling the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup eggs, all right? 00:01:17.600 --> 00:01:18.260 That's right. 00:01:18.660 --> 00:01:21.460 Joanne, lead us all in a round of applause for that, right? 00:01:22.520 --> 00:01:25.200 So, Easter is coming, all right, soon. 00:01:25.620 --> 00:01:32.700 And so, our 1 Corinthians Met series will take us almost all the way until our Easter series 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:33.360 will begin. 00:01:33.460 --> 00:01:38.280 And so, we're excited about that, to kind of take each week on Sunday morning and walk through 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.580 1 Corinthians together as a church. 00:01:40.720 --> 00:01:43.340 And for the most part, we're going to take it, like, chapter by chapter. 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:47.880 And so, if you want to join us in the reading of that, you can do so. 00:01:47.940 --> 00:01:51.980 And so, you can read 1 Corinthians chapter 1 this week, and then that's where we'll begin 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:52.580 next week. 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:58.220 But also, and something that's important for us and important for you, our small groups 00:01:58.220 --> 00:02:01.020 are going to be walking through this with us as well. 00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:05.560 And for the most part, all of our small groups are going to be starting back next week. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:06.140 There we go. 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:07.960 I can see your face, and I like to see your face. 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:12.360 So, also, on the chairs around you is one of these cards. 00:02:12.540 --> 00:02:16.880 It's a little bit bigger than the other ones that are there, and it has all of our small 00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:20.440 groups that are listed for here for our church. 00:02:20.640 --> 00:02:24.700 And so, all these groups are going to be walking through this with us and want to encourage you 00:02:24.700 --> 00:02:26.660 to be a part of one of those groups. 00:02:26.660 --> 00:02:31.620 Now, what's exciting about this is we met with a group of people, I think, at the end 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:35.200 of November, the 1st of December, to talk about the new strategy moving forward. 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:39.660 And so, as you go through here and as you see names of groups that are meeting, there's 00:02:39.660 --> 00:02:40.720 some changes that are there. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:46.900 In the past, most of our groups met on Sunday afternoons to Sunday evenings, and now we have 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:51.240 a wide variety of different times from Sunday morning, Sunday evening, even throughout the 00:02:51.240 --> 00:02:53.180 week for groups that you want to be a part of. 00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:57.220 We've got groups that have been meeting and consistently meeting for years, and they're 00:02:57.220 --> 00:02:57.860 a part of this. 00:02:58.140 --> 00:03:01.400 And then we've got groups that are brand new, that have never met before. 00:03:01.700 --> 00:03:06.020 And so, they're looking for those who haven't been connected to a group to be a part of that. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:10.800 And so, let's just say, man, you're super extroverted, and you're like, man, I want to call these 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.140 numbers, and I want to talk to these leaders and find out what's going on so that I can be 00:03:14.140 --> 00:03:14.980 a part of that group. 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:17.360 Absolutely wonderful and fantastic. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:19.260 We want you to do that. 00:03:19.260 --> 00:03:24.720 In fact, we encourage people, okay, take this and go sample a group for a Sunday night 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:30.040 and find out what they're about and what that dynamic is going to be like, and then try another 00:03:30.040 --> 00:03:30.980 one the next week. 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:35.920 And you're not going to miss anything, because we're all going through this same series together, 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:38.360 and maybe you can find the group that God has for you. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:43.080 But let's say that you're really uncomfortable with that, and you're a little bit nervous about 00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:45.440 calling someone that you don't know and asking the details. 00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:46.380 Well, that's fine, too. 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:51.640 Pastor Dave, his name and his numbers on this card, and part of what he does in his ministry 00:03:51.640 --> 00:03:57.540 is to help connect you into a group that best suits you with where you're at. 00:03:57.720 --> 00:04:02.880 So call him and say, hey, I'm looking for a group of people that fit kind of this dynamic 00:04:02.880 --> 00:04:06.880 of what I'm going through in life right now, and I guarantee you there's a group for you. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:12.480 And for us at Willow Ridge Church, and this seems maybe overly simplistic, but what this 00:04:12.480 --> 00:04:21.520 card represents for us is the heart of discipleship, because it's so easy to come in here on a Sunday 00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:28.020 morning and just kind of gather and listen to me and to do that and then to go. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:35.460 But when men and women of faith can sit down in a room and dive into Scripture and talk about 00:04:35.460 --> 00:04:41.180 what the Lord is doing and challenge each other and encourage each other and equip each other, 00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:41.580 right? 00:04:41.660 --> 00:04:47.400 Like, that looks more like the church in the book of Acts than, honestly, this does, all right? 00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:51.500 And so maybe you've been here for years and you've never tried a small group. 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:54.820 Maybe you've been here for five minutes and never tried one. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:59.680 We want to encourage you to be a part of a small group at Willow Ridge. 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:00.860 Give it a try. 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:04.040 We're excited to see what God is going to do. 00:05:04.140 --> 00:05:05.600 There's a ton of them on here. 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:10.640 Guarantee it'll fit your time, fit your schedule, and fit the needs that you have. 00:05:10.900 --> 00:05:11.160 All right. 00:05:11.400 --> 00:05:13.180 So let's go ahead and jump in. 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:19.100 If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 is where we'll 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:19.920 be this morning. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:23.100 We've been going on in our series, All Things New. 00:05:24.660 --> 00:05:27.140 And this is week three, so just kind of a little recap. 00:05:27.260 --> 00:05:28.500 Let's say you've been out on vacation. 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:30.360 We want to kind of catch you up with what we're doing. 00:05:30.700 --> 00:05:33.640 So first week, we talk about God makes all things new. 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:39.420 And what we looked at was the start of eternity and how God takes everything that was broken 00:05:39.420 --> 00:05:42.520 and he brings it to newness. 00:05:42.760 --> 00:05:45.560 And so there's a new sense of creation. 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:52.580 There's a new relationship with him that every part of sin that we feel and that we experience 00:05:52.580 --> 00:05:54.220 in this world is gone. 00:05:54.540 --> 00:06:00.120 But what excites me the most within that, it's not just the external things that we feel within 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:02.880 that, but it's the internal things that we feel, right? 00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:10.100 So not only do we no longer sin in eternity, but we don't even have the desire to sin in eternity. 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:12.540 And so God makes all things new. 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:16.000 And then what we looked at last week is that God makes us new. 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:20.780 And we looked at in a relationship with the Lord, all things are new. 00:06:20.900 --> 00:06:25.760 In a gospel relationship with him, when we are saved, then all things become new in that. 00:06:25.980 --> 00:06:31.300 And we looked at Jesus and the woman, the Samaritan woman at the well and the dynamic of what happened 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:35.440 there as he shared the newness of the hope of the gospel that for her was foreign. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:40.800 They talked about worship and what it means to be in a relationship with him, free from the 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.960 bounds and constraints, a man-made religion and what he desires for us. 00:06:45.260 --> 00:06:50.860 And then the purpose that he gave her, the life that he gave her as he made all things 00:06:50.860 --> 00:06:51.100 new. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:57.480 So in areas of her life that were once associated and filled with shame, where this lady would 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:03.660 be ostracized and ignored and shunned in her community, where she would have to hide herself 00:07:03.660 --> 00:07:08.060 and not even want to be around because what people might think or might say about her or 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:09.160 even to her. 00:07:09.880 --> 00:07:15.820 That because the power of the gospel, that what God does is God leveraged those things to say, 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:18.380 this is who I was, is what she said. 00:07:18.420 --> 00:07:19.920 And this is what he told me. 00:07:19.960 --> 00:07:22.960 You've got to come hear who this man is. 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:31.180 And the power of the hope of the gospel, that the gospel saves sinners like her and like 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:32.540 you and like me. 00:07:33.340 --> 00:07:37.780 And so this morning, what we want to look at and what we want to do is God gives us new 00:07:37.780 --> 00:07:38.400 purpose. 00:07:39.320 --> 00:07:40.420 God gives us new purpose. 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:45.860 What we are to do and who we are to be on a daily basis. 00:07:46.120 --> 00:07:46.300 All right. 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:50.100 Now, here's what I want to kind of ask you guys, a little quick poll, a little quick survey. 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:55.400 By a show of hands, how many of you, I'm just going to ask that you kind of pause and leave 00:07:55.400 --> 00:07:56.500 them up there for a minute, all right? 00:07:56.660 --> 00:08:03.220 How many of you in some way, shape, or form had some New Year's resolution, New Year's 00:08:03.220 --> 00:08:04.380 goal that you set? 00:08:04.460 --> 00:08:05.500 Just raise your hand. 00:08:05.740 --> 00:08:06.380 I'm in there. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:07.300 How many of us? 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:08.100 All right. 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:10.420 All of us who are glutton for punishments, right? 00:08:10.460 --> 00:08:10.600 All right. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:10.900 We had these. 00:08:10.940 --> 00:08:11.860 Now, leave your hands up, all right? 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:16.240 Now, how many of you on January 9th, they're still going strong, leave your hand up? 00:08:16.320 --> 00:08:17.080 I'm going to put my hand down. 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:17.380 All right. 00:08:17.440 --> 00:08:17.560 Yeah. 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:19.240 We see hands dropping quick, right? 00:08:19.540 --> 00:08:19.760 All right. 00:08:19.780 --> 00:08:20.120 Appreciate it. 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:20.820 Y'all put your hands down. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:24.300 Now, all these other people who didn't put their hands up, they probably said something 00:08:24.300 --> 00:08:25.000 too, all right? 00:08:25.060 --> 00:08:28.080 But they didn't want to be ashamed of it when they had to say, we failed with this, all 00:08:28.080 --> 00:08:28.220 right? 00:08:28.360 --> 00:08:29.440 So, I was there. 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:31.320 I wrote in my phone. 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:32.920 I'm weird. 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:36.080 Because I didn't want to say that I broke a New Year's resolution. 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:37.480 I'm not kidding y'all. 00:08:37.520 --> 00:08:38.060 I did this. 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:41.780 I wrote my New Year's goals like that was going to change anything, right? 00:08:41.900 --> 00:08:42.640 Like, mm-mm. 00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:45.820 I never fall through with resolutions, but goals. 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:47.200 I can take care of that, right? 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:47.980 Nope. 00:08:48.020 --> 00:08:48.600 Not at all, right? 00:08:48.620 --> 00:08:49.740 We've got to recycle. 00:08:50.100 --> 00:08:51.120 Monday's the new day. 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:52.260 We'll get going with it, right? 00:08:52.540 --> 00:09:00.460 So, but here's what I learned about myself and about people when it comes to New Year's 00:09:00.460 --> 00:09:01.020 resolutions. 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:09.960 As we notice this aspect in our life, let's just say we want to exercise every day, right? 00:09:11.780 --> 00:09:12.440 That's mine. 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:14.580 So, I set the goal. 00:09:15.560 --> 00:09:18.320 I'm going to get up and I'm going to exercise every morning. 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:20.920 Feel better about myself. 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:26.920 Start off the day with a good sweat, feel a little bit better, and then attack the day. 00:09:27.220 --> 00:09:28.600 But here's what I didn't do. 00:09:29.180 --> 00:09:33.960 I didn't decide for myself that I'm going to go to bed a little bit earlier so that I have 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:36.100 the energy to wake up a little bit earlier in the morning. 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:41.580 I didn't decide for myself that I'm going to drink a little less coffee and a lot more 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:45.300 water during the day so that I'm fully hydrated through the course of that. 00:09:45.300 --> 00:09:50.200 I didn't set as a goal for myself that I'm going to eliminate the golden arches that are 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:55.600 there that draw me in, right, to double cheeseburger meals and Big Macs. 00:09:55.660 --> 00:10:01.760 I didn't acknowledge all of those areas and instead what I said is here's this one aspect 00:10:01.760 --> 00:10:06.460 of my life that I want to correct and I want to fix, but I'm going to ignore everything else 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:07.200 that's going on. 00:10:07.380 --> 00:10:11.480 Well, then when it came to this, now I don't have the energy to do because I didn't go to 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:12.320 bed any earlier. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:18.000 I don't have the hydration within my system and I can feel that when it comes to working 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:19.820 out, so I say, no, not right now. 00:10:20.520 --> 00:10:26.260 And then when it does, I'm like, but I feel kind of bad because I got it supersized yesterday, 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:26.640 right? 00:10:27.680 --> 00:10:29.380 And so it falls short. 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:32.160 Like, what in the world does this have to do with anything, all right? 00:10:32.740 --> 00:10:33.940 Here's my point. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:37.120 We do the exact same thing with the gospel. 00:10:38.780 --> 00:10:44.800 That what we do with the gospel oftentimes is we say, I'm going to take what the Lord 00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:51.200 is doing and I'm going to apply it to this area of my life and I'm going to apply it to 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:54.880 this area of my life and I'm going to apply it to this area of my life. 00:10:55.680 --> 00:11:02.380 But there's all these other areas that are free in our mind from the effects of the gospel 00:11:02.380 --> 00:11:04.340 and the power of the gospel. 00:11:05.460 --> 00:11:10.820 And what we're going to look at this morning in 2 Corinthians 5 is what begins to happen 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:17.120 and take place, where we begin to find the purpose for what God has for us in this world 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:26.500 when the gospel infiltrates and takes over and consumes every aspect of our life, right? 00:11:26.760 --> 00:11:28.420 So let's start reading verse 14. 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:31.140 Paul writes and he says, 00:11:31.140 --> 00:12:00.720 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:04.640 according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:09.040 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:12:09.540 --> 00:12:12.500 The old has passed away and behold, the new has come. 00:12:13.160 --> 00:12:20.420 All this is from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:28.220 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not recounting their trespasses 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:32.300 against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:39.040 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:44.140 And we implore you on the behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:53.720 For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:12:54.520 --> 00:13:01.360 And in that passage of Scripture, there's probably a couple of hot verses that, as we read through it, you're like, 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:02.300 Oh, yeah, that. 00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:04.080 Oh, yeah, that. 00:13:04.760 --> 00:13:06.640 And make really good bumper stickers and t-shirts. 00:13:07.640 --> 00:13:14.960 But we see them so much more in the fullness of Scripture, of what Paul is writing for us. 00:13:15.220 --> 00:13:17.600 And so just three things that I want us to look at this morning. 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:24.420 When the love of Christ, when the gospel, when it comes to us, when God saves us, 00:13:24.660 --> 00:13:29.020 what that creates with us in every single aspect of our life. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:29.900 So number one is this. 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.020 The love of Christ calls us to die. 00:13:33.020 --> 00:13:34.780 The love of Christ calls us to die. 00:13:36.260 --> 00:13:37.680 2 Corinthians 5, 14. 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:42.860 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this, 00:13:43.560 --> 00:13:48.160 that one has died for all, therefore all have died. 00:13:48.780 --> 00:13:57.700 What I want us to look at within our life in this moment is the call that you and I have daily and in Christ to die. 00:13:58.040 --> 00:14:01.460 And what we're going to see within this, and what I want to begin this is, 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:07.420 is in the context of believers, because the attack on sin rests uniquely on us. 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:13.320 The attack on our sin rests uniquely on believers. 00:14:14.180 --> 00:14:15.420 Paul begins by saying, 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:18.720 for the love of Christ controls us. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:21.840 This audience that he is preaching to, 00:14:22.060 --> 00:14:27.140 the audience that he is writing to within this is in the context of believers. 00:14:27.140 --> 00:14:32.160 And so the standard of what we are going to see here, to die, to sin, goes to the church, 00:14:32.280 --> 00:14:33.900 and it goes to all of the church. 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:36.320 Every single one. 00:14:37.740 --> 00:14:41.280 That when you and I say that we are in Christ, 00:14:42.460 --> 00:14:46.460 there's not a removal from that in other aspects of our life. 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:53.320 Now, when we look at society, I can't, I'm not going to say that we can't mutually agree, 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:58.720 whether you're a believer or not, that there is this certain ethic that we abide by. 00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:01.160 And it's an interesting thing. 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.440 When you move from culture to culture, you will find this agreed upon ethic, 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.480 whether they're done by government or society. 00:15:09.020 --> 00:15:09.920 And it ranges. 00:15:10.040 --> 00:15:12.240 And I'm not saying that as individuals, 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:18.260 but as residents of Lexington, of South Carolina, of the United States, 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:23.760 that we can't agree on like a mutual ethic to ends of different degrees, right? 00:15:23.920 --> 00:15:26.080 From murder to jaywalking. 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:34.180 But what I am saying is that there is a biblical command for us who identify with Christ, 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:41.580 believe that we are called and saved by him uniquely on us to die to sin. 00:15:42.660 --> 00:15:43.720 To die to sin. 00:15:44.860 --> 00:15:47.260 And that's not the standard that we can carry to the world, 00:15:47.380 --> 00:15:50.200 but it's the standard that we need to hold dearly here. 00:15:51.020 --> 00:15:52.720 Paul writes in Galatians 2.20, 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:55.640 I've been crucified with Christ. 00:15:55.740 --> 00:15:58.840 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 00:15:59.380 --> 00:16:01.740 In the life I now live in the flesh, 00:16:01.880 --> 00:16:06.900 I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. 00:16:06.900 --> 00:16:14.020 So all of this of what is happening is because we have identified in Christ's crucifixion. 00:16:14.920 --> 00:16:17.660 We've identified in what he has done. 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:24.000 And we acknowledge it's not I who longer live, but it's Christ who lives in me. 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:28.860 And so in salvation, we align, we identify with the death of Christ. 00:16:28.860 --> 00:16:31.380 It's the very first picture of baptism. 00:16:32.140 --> 00:16:34.940 It's why we do what we do in baptism. 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:42.900 That as the person who is saved comes into the water and sits down in the baptistry that we have, 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:44.460 even though they are saved, 00:16:44.460 --> 00:16:49.460 even though they are saved, the picture of what they are showing as they sit there is who they were before Christ. 00:16:50.420 --> 00:16:56.600 And as Christ was died to sin and put into a tomb, they die to themselves. 00:16:56.760 --> 00:17:01.640 And that's the picture of as they go down into the water. 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:07.240 And it's the beautiful picture of what we see and what we experience. 00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:13.620 And so for us, what we begin to see in the crucifixion of Christ, what we agree with, 00:17:13.740 --> 00:17:20.360 what stirs our hearts for him is that while Christ died for our sins, 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.420 we are dying to our sins. 00:17:24.620 --> 00:17:26.180 And that's the knowledge of that. 00:17:26.820 --> 00:17:30.620 Christ on the cross died for your sins and mine. 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:38.040 And the call that we have in the walking and the newness of life is to die to our sins. 00:17:38.320 --> 00:17:39.200 So what does that mean? 00:17:40.060 --> 00:17:42.580 Like, what does that look like in our life? 00:17:42.740 --> 00:17:45.020 How do we begin to say, all right, but how do I take that? 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:46.440 How do I process that? 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:53.100 How do I let that transform in my mind to go to every aspect of my life? 00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:56.560 And I read someone this week, and they summed this up in four, 00:17:56.680 --> 00:17:58.620 and I thought it was just beautiful with what they said. 00:17:58.840 --> 00:18:00.620 They said, number one, what does it mean to die to sin? 00:18:00.860 --> 00:18:02.540 They said, sin no longer controls us. 00:18:03.820 --> 00:18:07.560 That we wake up every single moment of every single day as a believer in Christ 00:18:07.560 --> 00:18:11.100 and say, these desires that I have in my heart that are sinful, 00:18:11.420 --> 00:18:14.860 these actions that I have done and that I may do again, 00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:17.000 those are not what controls me, 00:18:17.100 --> 00:18:20.220 but it is the Spirit of God who lives in me. 00:18:20.540 --> 00:18:23.340 So it's no longer sin that controls me. 00:18:23.460 --> 00:18:27.000 It's waking up, realizing the victory we have, 00:18:27.100 --> 00:18:29.680 that we have identified with the death of Christ, 00:18:29.780 --> 00:18:32.060 that is no longer sin that's there. 00:18:32.300 --> 00:18:36.100 But then secondly, with that, we seek to eliminate sins. 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:38.600 We seek to eliminate sins. 00:18:39.580 --> 00:18:43.360 It's not just that sin no longer controls me, 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:47.420 but it's actively looking at the sins that are in my life, 00:18:47.540 --> 00:18:49.140 and I'm seeking to eliminate them. 00:18:49.420 --> 00:18:51.880 And here's where most of us, myself included, 00:18:52.080 --> 00:18:55.540 fall so many times short of this standard of eliminating sins. 00:18:56.020 --> 00:18:58.860 You eliminate a sin by killing it. 00:19:00.020 --> 00:19:01.640 And we don't look to kill sin. 00:19:03.820 --> 00:19:05.200 We look to manage it. 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:07.540 We look to control it. 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:10.280 We look to excuse it. 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:12.760 We look to pacify it. 00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:15.620 I've told this story once before, 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:19.480 and I'll tell it a million times as long as the Lord gives me this opportunity, 00:19:19.780 --> 00:19:22.420 because I feel like this is what this looks like in our life. 00:19:22.920 --> 00:19:25.920 I was reading an article one time. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.660 I don't know how I got on this article, 00:19:27.980 --> 00:19:31.020 but I was reading this article about a snake charmer 00:19:31.020 --> 00:19:36.660 that for years had been a snake charmer with these very poisonous cobras, 00:19:37.880 --> 00:19:40.360 and that he would charm these snakes, 00:19:40.460 --> 00:19:44.800 and that he would go up and he would touch the head of these poisonous snakes, 00:19:44.980 --> 00:19:49.860 and then eventually pick up the snakes and handle these snakes. 00:19:51.860 --> 00:19:56.960 And then the article said that one day a snake bit him, 00:19:57.940 --> 00:19:58.940 and he died. 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:07.360 And I thought, yep, mm-hmm, that's what they do, right? 00:20:07.660 --> 00:20:08.940 Just a matter of time, bro. 00:20:09.020 --> 00:20:12.280 You were lucky for a long time, right? 00:20:13.040 --> 00:20:14.460 And we would look at it and say, 00:20:15.260 --> 00:20:19.460 yep, that's what happens when you continually seek to touch the head of a snake. 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:20.880 It's going to destroy you. 00:20:20.900 --> 00:20:22.080 It's going to kill you. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:23.460 This is what's going to happen. 00:20:23.760 --> 00:20:26.080 But here's the truth about so many of us. 00:20:26.360 --> 00:20:27.180 That's what we do with sin. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:29.180 That's what we do with sin. 00:20:30.360 --> 00:20:31.460 I'm just going to get near it. 00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:33.080 I'm just going to touch it. 00:20:33.080 --> 00:20:34.180 I'm just going to excuse it. 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.640 It's been years, and it hasn't brought anything for me. 00:20:38.300 --> 00:20:40.200 But what the Bible says, we're to die to it. 00:20:40.220 --> 00:20:42.020 We die to it by killing it. 00:20:42.800 --> 00:20:44.540 And we kill the sin that's there. 00:20:45.800 --> 00:20:48.360 Number three, what does it mean to die to sin? 00:20:48.360 --> 00:20:50.360 It means we pursue the things of the Lord. 00:20:51.320 --> 00:20:52.700 We pursue the things of the Lord. 00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:56.800 So we stop looking at this world and saying, what does it have to offer me? 00:20:56.860 --> 00:21:01.260 But we wake up every morning with a renewed energy and passion for, Lord, what do you have for me today? 00:21:02.260 --> 00:21:04.020 Lord, what do you have before me? 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:05.260 What are the relationships? 00:21:05.460 --> 00:21:06.320 What are the opportunities? 00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:07.680 What are the things that are there? 00:21:07.840 --> 00:21:09.400 And we're going to pursue the things of the Lord. 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:12.080 We're no longer going to pursue the things that we want. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.340 We're no longer going to pursue the things that the world leads us to. 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:16.080 We're going to pursue the things of God. 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:19.240 And to find those and to see and to wrestle with. 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:24.360 And when decisions need to be made in our life, we ask God, God, is this what you have for me? 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:26.500 Is this what you want for me? 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:28.640 Is this what you desire for me? 00:21:29.800 --> 00:21:32.800 I was having a conversation with someone even just earlier today. 00:21:33.300 --> 00:21:37.180 And it was just a beautiful and wonderful, refreshing conversation. 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:43.860 Because as we were talking, he said, you know, there's all of these opportunities that I find that are opening up for me right now. 00:21:44.300 --> 00:21:48.200 And within me, I kind of feel this longing to maybe take them. 00:21:49.220 --> 00:21:54.220 But I'm just stopping right now and asking the question, God, is this what you have for me? 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:56.360 Is this what you desire for me? 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:57.740 Is this what I'm to do? 00:21:58.300 --> 00:21:58.520 Right? 00:21:58.560 --> 00:21:59.960 We pursue the things of the Lord. 00:22:00.040 --> 00:22:02.280 So we understand that sin no longer controls us. 00:22:02.580 --> 00:22:04.940 We understand that we seek to eliminate sin. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:06.980 Number three, we pursue the things of the Lord. 00:22:07.260 --> 00:22:10.800 And then the fourth thing that we need to understand is this doesn't mean we are sinless. 00:22:11.800 --> 00:22:12.840 It doesn't mean we are sinless. 00:22:13.380 --> 00:22:21.080 And just really shortly and quickly, we understand that what covers us in this moment is no longer guilt or shame, but it's the grace of God. 00:22:22.080 --> 00:22:24.920 And that's what we begin to see and what we experience. 00:22:25.140 --> 00:22:27.480 And so the love of Christ calls us to die. 00:22:27.580 --> 00:22:31.100 But then the second point is that the love of Christ calls us to life. 00:22:31.860 --> 00:22:33.040 It calls us to live. 00:22:34.120 --> 00:22:35.240 Verse 15 through 17. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:45.940 And he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 00:22:46.320 --> 00:22:55.320 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 00:22:55.700 --> 00:22:58.600 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:22:58.940 --> 00:23:03.200 The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. 00:23:03.320 --> 00:23:08.260 So this is the second picture that we see of baptism, right? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:11.460 So when we baptize, you go under the water. 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:12.720 But guess what? 00:23:12.800 --> 00:23:14.500 We bring you up and out of it, right? 00:23:15.040 --> 00:23:17.100 We don't leave you underneath there, right? 00:23:17.580 --> 00:23:20.160 We don't hold you down for an extended period of time. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:35.240 You go under, you come back up, and the picture of coming out of the water for us is the new life that is found in Christ, of what God has for you, and what God is calling for you, and what God is having for you to do. 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:43.360 And so we see this, and so because we have died with Christ, we can overcome sin and bear fruit for God's glory. 00:23:43.600 --> 00:23:53.480 So now who I was is no longer who I am, and who I am now is to walk in the newness of the Lord. 00:23:53.880 --> 00:24:03.320 Romans 6, 4, we were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death for a reason, for a reason. 00:24:04.120 --> 00:24:13.680 In order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:24:14.300 --> 00:24:26.000 And so just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too can identify in the resurrection of Jesus and walk in the newness of life. 00:24:26.280 --> 00:24:31.740 Christ died our death for us so that we may live our life for him. 00:24:32.900 --> 00:24:41.420 Where he didn't leave us in the tomb, and that's why Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.080 He is a new creation. 00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:48.820 The old has passed, and the new has come. 00:24:49.040 --> 00:24:52.100 That's who we are in him. 00:24:52.100 --> 00:25:01.660 And as the body, we place this on one of the most beautiful words that is in this passage. 00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:03.620 Is the word anyone. 00:25:03.620 --> 00:25:04.600 Is the word anyone. 00:25:05.780 --> 00:25:06.260 Anyone. 00:25:06.820 --> 00:25:13.460 So if anyone dies in him, he is a new creation, is what the scripture teaches us. 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:15.300 So what does anyone mean? 00:25:16.320 --> 00:25:18.080 Anyone means anyone. 00:25:18.860 --> 00:25:24.200 And so we have to apply this to what we believe, to what we practice, to what we expect. 00:25:24.840 --> 00:25:27.240 We talked about this in the message before Christmas. 00:25:28.040 --> 00:25:31.900 That God saves the unlikelies and uses them. 00:25:32.660 --> 00:25:38.500 And in this room right now and standing on this stage is a group of unlikelies. 00:25:39.780 --> 00:25:41.400 And that God saves us. 00:25:41.840 --> 00:25:49.320 And doesn't just save us for what we've done, but then saves us for what he has for us. 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:55.540 And he uses them and he uses us for his glory, for his name, for his renown. 00:25:55.980 --> 00:26:03.000 And that in this life, it's a life of joy, excitement, meaning, purpose, all found and rested in him. 00:26:03.880 --> 00:26:11.660 But this passage of scripture covers not only who we are in Christ, but this passage covers also how we see the world in Christ. 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:13.060 Look back at verse 16. 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:17.960 From now on, therefore, regard no one according to the flesh. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:24.820 Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 00:26:24.820 --> 00:26:26.560 So here's what Paul's talking about. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:34.220 Paul writes to this church and he says, look, in salvation, we see Jesus differently. 00:26:34.960 --> 00:26:40.920 We see him as our Messiah and as our Savior and not simply a man. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:45.640 We understand his divinity and we see him in this. 00:26:45.780 --> 00:26:52.860 Now, if you were saved later in life, all right, or if you were saved from, and when you were saved, 00:26:52.860 --> 00:27:00.020 like maybe you were in a different faith or different understanding of scripture, then you understand what Paul's talking about, right? 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:04.000 Now, for some of us, let's say, and there's nothing wrong with this, right? 00:27:04.080 --> 00:27:08.920 It's the beauty of what God does and the blessing that he's provided for my family and for my kids. 00:27:09.040 --> 00:27:18.120 If you were raised in church and the only understanding of Jesus that you've ever had and to your knowledge that you've ever believed is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 00:27:18.320 --> 00:27:22.460 then this is a little foreign to you, maybe this concept of what Paul is talking about. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:28.360 But for Paul, Jesus was a heretic before Paul was saved. 00:27:29.100 --> 00:27:34.640 For many of the people that he's talking to, this is a foreign concept of this man, of who Jesus was. 00:27:34.820 --> 00:27:38.740 But he says, now that we've been saved, we see him differently. 00:27:39.260 --> 00:27:44.100 We no longer just see him by the flesh, but we see him differently as well. 00:27:44.100 --> 00:27:53.280 And now, take that, and as you see others, see them differently as well. 00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:57.180 And so we see them as someone with a soul. 00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:05.200 Now, when we look at people, we probably determine, or the world or the culture has determined to look at people 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:07.240 and to see them primarily in different categories, right? 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:12.640 We see them by their race, we see them by their political party, we see them by their gender, 00:28:12.840 --> 00:28:18.300 we see them by their socioeconomic standing, we see them by their choices that they've made. 00:28:18.540 --> 00:28:24.360 But Paul comes in here and says, now we're to look at each other, we're to look at the world differently, 00:28:24.580 --> 00:28:29.240 and what we see is in the spiritual context, and we see that these are individuals with a soul, 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:34.860 and now this is replaced with lost or saved, because this is what this is going to push us to in our life. 00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:43.620 That is, I look at the world that surrounds me as a follower of Christ. 00:28:44.980 --> 00:28:49.840 It's not that I don't look at and appreciate the beautiful diversity of the world, because I do. 00:28:51.020 --> 00:28:56.020 It's not that I can't sit down with someone who maybe has a different political party that they have 00:28:56.020 --> 00:28:59.960 and have the conversations that we have back and forth, because we do. 00:29:00.780 --> 00:29:05.620 But it's saying that when I take the mind of the gospel and I look at that and I begin to apply that, 00:29:05.800 --> 00:29:12.180 that very quickly what becomes the driving force in my life is that every person that I interact with, 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:17.180 every individual that I see, that I recognize that there's a soul that's there, 00:29:17.840 --> 00:29:25.320 and there's eternity that awaits, either with Christ or not. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:30.380 That they're either saved or they're not. 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:37.160 And so in light of the gospel, everything becomes secondary. 00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:39.680 Everything becomes secondary. 00:29:40.460 --> 00:29:44.480 And it's what drives us and pushes us to this last part, 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:48.480 is that the love of Christ calls us to ministry. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:51.000 The love of Christ calls us to ministry. 00:29:51.060 --> 00:29:51.840 Look at verse 18. 00:29:54.200 --> 00:29:59.660 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself 00:29:59.660 --> 00:30:02.580 and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:08.060 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, 00:30:08.820 --> 00:30:14.540 not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 00:30:15.820 --> 00:30:20.980 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. 00:30:21.460 --> 00:30:25.600 We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 00:30:25.840 --> 00:30:29.440 For our sake he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, 00:30:29.700 --> 00:30:33.080 that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:30:35.320 --> 00:30:40.440 So when you got saved, whether it's 7, 17, or 77, 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:45.200 when you got saved, God didn't say, 00:30:45.520 --> 00:30:48.860 all right, cool, you're saved now, just come to church a little bit, right? 00:30:49.060 --> 00:30:50.840 Maybe throw in some mission trips, 00:30:51.660 --> 00:30:53.240 really kind of get your good quiet time, 00:30:53.340 --> 00:30:55.620 hit up a few small groups, see you in heaven, right? 00:30:55.640 --> 00:30:56.540 That's not what he did, right? 00:30:57.460 --> 00:31:02.520 What this tells us is that when God saved us from something, 00:31:02.520 --> 00:31:04.520 he calls us to something. 00:31:05.600 --> 00:31:07.320 Verse 18, all this is from God, 00:31:07.560 --> 00:31:11.300 who through Christ reconciled us to himself, 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:16.740 and then gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 00:31:17.600 --> 00:31:20.580 And this is what we see happening in salvation. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:24.620 First is that Christ reconciles us to himself. 00:31:24.780 --> 00:31:26.700 So let's talk a little bit about reconciliation. 00:31:28.060 --> 00:31:30.320 In a message that could take another hour, 00:31:30.320 --> 00:31:33.900 just really quickly, Christ reconciled us to himself 00:31:33.900 --> 00:31:36.840 by paying the price for our sins, 00:31:36.960 --> 00:31:40.300 and we are now united to him. 00:31:40.420 --> 00:31:44.880 So there's sin that separates us from the Lord. 00:31:45.280 --> 00:31:48.140 And through Christ's death on the cross, 00:31:48.280 --> 00:31:53.260 he takes opposing forces and joins them together. 00:31:53.600 --> 00:31:56.940 And so that we are now reconciled to him. 00:31:57.320 --> 00:32:00.580 What did divide us now brings us together. 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:04.080 But he didn't, when he reconciled us to himself, 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.880 he also gives us this unique ministry 00:32:07.880 --> 00:32:09.760 only found for believers, 00:32:10.180 --> 00:32:12.340 the ministry of reconciliation. 00:32:13.340 --> 00:32:15.000 And so that you and I, 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:16.800 we don't get a choice in the matter. 00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:22.380 There's not like, no, I'm not volunteering for that. 00:32:23.540 --> 00:32:28.700 It's given to us this ministry of reconciliation. 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:30.800 And so Paul writes about this, 00:32:30.820 --> 00:32:33.720 and he says it's work that believers have been given. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:36.960 And so this ministry, we show it, 00:32:37.080 --> 00:32:39.660 we model it, we fight for it, 00:32:39.820 --> 00:32:40.940 we fight for peace. 00:32:42.260 --> 00:32:44.280 And it's where we begin to understand the concept 00:32:44.280 --> 00:32:45.220 blessed are the peacemakers. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.740 Blessed are the peacemakers, 00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:49.840 what Jesus is gonna say in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:32:51.340 --> 00:32:52.520 Blessed are the peacemakers. 00:32:53.280 --> 00:32:55.400 Those who understand this message of reconciliation, 00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:58.300 that because of sin, man has been separated from God, 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:01.160 but through the unique and only work of Jesus Christ, 00:33:01.280 --> 00:33:02.640 they can be reconciled to him. 00:33:03.780 --> 00:33:07.480 And peace can reign, right? 00:33:08.080 --> 00:33:09.160 Blessed are the peacemakers. 00:33:09.780 --> 00:33:12.240 But it's not only just the work that we do, 00:33:12.380 --> 00:33:14.940 that we show, that we model, that we fight for, 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.020 but it's the message that proclaim. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:19.460 It is the gospel and we proclaim it. 00:33:21.040 --> 00:33:22.000 A few years ago, 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.020 I had the opportunity to go to Taiwan on a mission trip. 00:33:27.100 --> 00:33:27.700 Many of you know that. 00:33:27.760 --> 00:33:30.780 There's even still some pictures out in the hallway of that. 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:33.980 And on our mission trip to Taiwan, 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:38.120 we had a 36-hour layover in Hong Kong. 00:33:38.700 --> 00:33:40.160 Kind of unique, kind of cool. 00:33:40.340 --> 00:33:41.500 I've never been to Hong Kong before. 00:33:41.620 --> 00:33:42.240 Yep, I liked it. 00:33:42.260 --> 00:33:42.660 It was good. 00:33:42.980 --> 00:33:43.640 We enjoyed it. 00:33:44.320 --> 00:33:46.060 We were walking through the streets of Hong Kong, 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:47.900 and if you don't know much, 00:33:47.940 --> 00:33:49.420 if you've never been to Hong Kong, 00:33:49.520 --> 00:33:50.640 seen pictures of Hong Kong, 00:33:50.740 --> 00:33:51.520 think New York City. 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:53.800 Skyscrapers everywhere. 00:33:54.780 --> 00:33:55.760 People everywhere. 00:33:56.920 --> 00:33:59.020 But what I think is cool about New York City, 00:33:59.100 --> 00:34:00.100 as I've gone there, 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:01.640 is in the midst of the skyscrapers, 00:34:01.700 --> 00:34:02.880 in the midst of the businesses, 00:34:03.280 --> 00:34:04.720 in the midst of all that's going on, 00:34:04.760 --> 00:34:05.340 there's parks. 00:34:06.520 --> 00:34:10.260 So you can walk around in downtown New York City 00:34:10.260 --> 00:34:11.240 in Manhattan. 00:34:11.500 --> 00:34:13.600 And we all know about Central Park, 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.260 but there's so many other, 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:16.220 these smaller parks. 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:18.820 And so we're walking around, 00:34:19.300 --> 00:34:21.560 going through Hong Kong, 00:34:21.680 --> 00:34:24.660 on our way to go prayer walk at a temple. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:26.580 And all of a sudden, 00:34:26.720 --> 00:34:29.600 we see a guy who's out there 00:34:29.600 --> 00:34:31.780 playing basketball by himself. 00:34:33.060 --> 00:34:34.520 And we were kind of intrigued. 00:34:34.600 --> 00:34:36.320 And one of the guys looked at us and said, 00:34:36.640 --> 00:34:38.680 when are we ever going to have the opportunity 00:34:38.680 --> 00:34:40.380 to play basketball in Hong Kong? 00:34:40.460 --> 00:34:41.480 And so we were like, let's do it. 00:34:42.020 --> 00:34:42.820 So we walked down there 00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:44.220 and began to play basketball with this guy. 00:34:45.620 --> 00:34:47.300 Fortunately, he spoke pretty good English. 00:34:48.340 --> 00:34:49.840 And so we played basketball 00:34:49.840 --> 00:34:52.400 for about 30 minutes with this guy. 00:34:53.200 --> 00:34:54.480 And at the end of it, 00:34:54.540 --> 00:34:55.280 he was kind of like, 00:34:56.060 --> 00:34:56.980 all right, so what are y'all doing here? 00:34:57.240 --> 00:34:58.620 He didn't say y'all, but you know. 00:35:00.580 --> 00:35:02.120 I'm translating, translating. 00:35:02.900 --> 00:35:04.140 He didn't say you guys either, right? 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:07.620 And so we told him we were pastors 00:35:07.620 --> 00:35:09.760 that were on a mission trip 00:35:09.760 --> 00:35:11.440 and what we had been doing. 00:35:12.640 --> 00:35:15.460 He said, oh, I've heard a lot about Christianity. 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:17.440 Thank you, Lord. 00:35:19.120 --> 00:35:21.940 And we said, well, do you have a set of beliefs? 00:35:23.900 --> 00:35:25.520 And he began to describe his beliefs. 00:35:27.220 --> 00:35:29.020 And he said, yeah, I've got some beliefs. 00:35:29.120 --> 00:35:31.440 He said, but what I've kind of done 00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:34.340 is taken a list of a lot of beliefs. 00:35:35.520 --> 00:35:37.240 And I just kind of bring them in together. 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:41.200 And what I've come to in my understanding 00:35:41.200 --> 00:35:43.860 is that I'm just going to be 00:35:43.860 --> 00:35:45.780 a really good person. 00:35:47.260 --> 00:35:49.120 And then I feel like at the end of that, 00:35:50.200 --> 00:35:51.360 that God will reward me. 00:35:53.160 --> 00:35:53.960 And so we're sitting there 00:35:53.960 --> 00:35:55.000 on this basketball court 00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:55.900 in the middle of Hong Kong. 00:35:57.820 --> 00:35:59.140 And so can I ask you a question? 00:36:01.240 --> 00:36:02.720 What does that mean to be a good person? 00:36:04.660 --> 00:36:05.580 And he said, I don't really know. 00:36:07.320 --> 00:36:08.080 Just be good. 00:36:09.860 --> 00:36:10.500 And I said, okay. 00:36:12.180 --> 00:36:14.200 I said, can I tell you what we believe? 00:36:15.540 --> 00:36:16.220 And he said, yeah. 00:36:17.740 --> 00:36:18.420 And I asked him, 00:36:18.460 --> 00:36:20.840 because the universal suffering 00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:22.040 that we all experienced 00:36:22.040 --> 00:36:24.780 of the question of brokenness. 00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:26.880 And I said, do you believe in that? 00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:29.000 And he said, yeah, yeah, there's brokenness. 00:36:29.000 --> 00:36:30.500 We talked about sin and what sin was. 00:36:32.140 --> 00:36:32.980 And so we walked all the way back 00:36:32.980 --> 00:36:34.240 to the fall and the creation 00:36:34.240 --> 00:36:35.680 of what happened. 00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:39.360 And said, you know what we believe 00:36:39.360 --> 00:36:42.900 in there is that Jesus came 00:36:42.900 --> 00:36:45.460 because I can't be good enough. 00:36:46.480 --> 00:36:47.920 No matter how many mission trips I take, 00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:49.940 no matter how many things that I do, 00:36:51.040 --> 00:36:52.280 no matter how good I am to my wife, 00:36:52.380 --> 00:36:53.220 how good I am to my kids, 00:36:54.140 --> 00:36:55.420 how good I am to everybody else 00:36:55.420 --> 00:36:56.100 that I'm going to be around, 00:36:57.160 --> 00:36:59.640 how I try not to do bad things, 00:37:00.140 --> 00:37:01.260 think bad things. 00:37:02.600 --> 00:37:04.040 As long as there's one in me, 00:37:04.120 --> 00:37:06.020 there's one too many 00:37:06.020 --> 00:37:07.860 and we all have that. 00:37:08.560 --> 00:37:10.880 Except for this guy named Jesus. 00:37:12.500 --> 00:37:14.060 And told him who Jesus was. 00:37:14.900 --> 00:37:16.320 And walked him all the way through. 00:37:17.320 --> 00:37:18.720 And said, and in Christ, 00:37:19.380 --> 00:37:20.740 and in Christ alone, 00:37:21.640 --> 00:37:25.280 we can be reconciled to God 00:37:25.280 --> 00:37:27.860 because of who he is 00:37:27.860 --> 00:37:29.580 and what he has done. 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:39.960 He didn't believe. 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:42.380 He didn't profess. 00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:45.720 We asked if we could pray with him. 00:37:47.360 --> 00:37:48.160 He said, yep. 00:37:50.780 --> 00:37:52.500 And then we like bowed our heads 00:37:52.500 --> 00:37:53.400 and closed our eyes, you know, 00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:54.340 because that's what we do. 00:37:55.300 --> 00:37:57.040 And he said, could we not do that? 00:37:58.680 --> 00:37:59.040 Yeah. 00:37:59.680 --> 00:38:00.320 Sure, why? 00:38:01.400 --> 00:38:02.360 He said, because people are watching. 00:38:03.600 --> 00:38:03.900 Cool. 00:38:04.920 --> 00:38:05.440 So we prayed. 00:38:06.380 --> 00:38:07.820 Eyes open, staring at each other, right? 00:38:08.400 --> 00:38:09.780 Really uncomfortable for Southern Baptists 00:38:09.780 --> 00:38:10.440 to do that, but 00:38:10.440 --> 00:38:12.560 we did it. 00:38:12.620 --> 00:38:13.720 God hurt us, right? 00:38:17.160 --> 00:38:18.320 It's not just enough. 00:38:20.720 --> 00:38:22.000 Oh, hear me with this, church. 00:38:23.900 --> 00:38:25.220 It's not just enough to do it. 00:38:27.620 --> 00:38:29.040 We've been entrusted with a message, 00:38:29.900 --> 00:38:30.780 is what Paul says. 00:38:32.140 --> 00:38:33.420 And we've got to carry it. 00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:39.600 God's word said that we've been entrusted 00:38:39.600 --> 00:38:42.040 with the message of the gospel. 00:38:42.420 --> 00:38:43.400 Now, let me ask you something. 00:38:44.520 --> 00:38:45.720 What does it mean 00:38:45.720 --> 00:38:47.180 to entrust 00:38:47.180 --> 00:38:48.260 someone 00:38:48.260 --> 00:38:49.320 with something? 00:38:50.960 --> 00:38:52.300 Of all the things 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:53.420 that you have, 00:38:54.180 --> 00:38:55.540 are they all 00:38:55.540 --> 00:38:56.500 of equal worth 00:38:56.500 --> 00:38:57.400 and equal value? 00:38:58.600 --> 00:38:59.020 No. 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:00.500 It's not. 00:39:01.580 --> 00:39:02.400 It's a weird thing 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:03.160 that I have 00:39:03.160 --> 00:39:04.100 at our house. 00:39:04.820 --> 00:39:06.280 I've got a lot of shovels. 00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:07.960 I don't know why 00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:09.360 I have a lot of shovels. 00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:11.160 I've got a lot of shovels. 00:39:12.180 --> 00:39:13.260 Shovels at my house 00:39:13.260 --> 00:39:14.340 do a unique thing. 00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:16.340 They grow legs 00:39:16.340 --> 00:39:17.560 and walk away. 00:39:18.560 --> 00:39:19.220 They do that. 00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:20.580 So anytime 00:39:20.580 --> 00:39:21.600 there's like 00:39:21.600 --> 00:39:23.460 a deal on shovels, 00:39:23.700 --> 00:39:24.140 guess what? 00:39:24.300 --> 00:39:25.180 I'll take another shovel. 00:39:25.440 --> 00:39:26.180 I'll take another shovel. 00:39:26.360 --> 00:39:27.060 And if you want 00:39:27.060 --> 00:39:27.880 to borrow a shovel, 00:39:28.180 --> 00:39:28.920 come to my house 00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:30.180 and I don't ever care 00:39:30.180 --> 00:39:30.940 if you give it back, 00:39:30.980 --> 00:39:31.280 all right? 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:32.960 I know where Lowe's is. 00:39:33.140 --> 00:39:34.540 I can get more shovels, 00:39:34.540 --> 00:39:34.780 right? 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:36.640 So come get 00:39:36.640 --> 00:39:37.640 a shovel. 00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:39.180 Now, 00:39:39.720 --> 00:39:40.180 the Lord 00:39:40.180 --> 00:39:41.700 has blessed me 00:39:41.700 --> 00:39:43.320 with two kids. 00:39:45.280 --> 00:39:46.140 Two kids. 00:39:48.260 --> 00:39:49.100 And if you 00:39:49.100 --> 00:39:50.420 want to 00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:51.340 come 00:39:51.340 --> 00:39:52.600 and get 00:39:52.600 --> 00:39:53.220 one of them, 00:39:54.720 --> 00:39:56.160 this is a little different 00:39:56.160 --> 00:39:56.680 than the shovel, 00:39:56.760 --> 00:39:57.000 right? 00:39:58.060 --> 00:39:59.500 And for me to say, 00:40:00.340 --> 00:40:00.660 yes, 00:40:01.560 --> 00:40:02.720 they can go with you. 00:40:03.800 --> 00:40:04.940 I'm entrusting 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:05.620 them with you 00:40:05.620 --> 00:40:07.880 because they are precious 00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:10.220 and they are valuable 00:40:10.220 --> 00:40:12.640 and more importantly, 00:40:13.740 --> 00:40:14.580 and not in a way 00:40:14.580 --> 00:40:15.780 that is belittling to them, 00:40:15.860 --> 00:40:16.480 but hear this, 00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:17.800 they are mine 00:40:17.800 --> 00:40:20.080 and they are my wife's. 00:40:22.900 --> 00:40:23.760 The gospel 00:40:23.760 --> 00:40:24.780 isn't a story. 00:40:28.080 --> 00:40:29.040 The gospel 00:40:29.040 --> 00:40:29.720 isn't just 00:40:29.720 --> 00:40:31.620 a good statement. 00:40:33.360 --> 00:40:34.240 The hope 00:40:34.240 --> 00:40:34.840 that we've 00:40:34.840 --> 00:40:35.820 been given 00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:36.720 with this 00:40:36.720 --> 00:40:38.200 is that 00:40:38.200 --> 00:40:39.140 God's word 00:40:39.140 --> 00:40:39.780 says that 00:40:39.780 --> 00:40:40.660 you 00:40:40.660 --> 00:40:41.840 and I 00:40:41.840 --> 00:40:42.920 have been 00:40:42.920 --> 00:40:43.860 entrusted 00:40:43.860 --> 00:40:44.400 with this. 00:40:45.340 --> 00:40:45.740 Now, 00:40:45.800 --> 00:40:46.280 let me back up 00:40:46.280 --> 00:40:46.820 a little bit. 00:40:47.780 --> 00:40:48.260 Here's what 00:40:48.260 --> 00:40:48.840 we said earlier. 00:40:50.120 --> 00:40:50.980 God didn't ask 00:40:50.980 --> 00:40:51.580 your permission 00:40:51.580 --> 00:40:53.860 to entrust 00:40:53.860 --> 00:40:54.460 you with this. 00:40:56.920 --> 00:40:57.440 Regardless 00:40:57.440 --> 00:40:57.980 of what 00:40:57.980 --> 00:40:58.700 you're doing 00:40:58.700 --> 00:40:59.620 with the gospel, 00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:01.520 you've been 00:41:01.520 --> 00:41:01.900 entrusted 00:41:01.900 --> 00:41:02.260 with it. 00:41:03.720 --> 00:41:04.500 Some of us 00:41:04.500 --> 00:41:04.720 are doing 00:41:04.720 --> 00:41:05.460 nothing with it. 00:41:06.480 --> 00:41:07.340 It does not 00:41:07.340 --> 00:41:07.980 mean that we 00:41:07.980 --> 00:41:08.520 have not been 00:41:08.520 --> 00:41:09.320 entrusted 00:41:09.320 --> 00:41:09.700 with it. 00:41:10.980 --> 00:41:11.440 When we 00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:11.720 have been 00:41:11.720 --> 00:41:12.640 reconciled 00:41:12.640 --> 00:41:14.340 to Christ, 00:41:14.620 --> 00:41:15.080 the Bible 00:41:15.080 --> 00:41:15.980 tells us 00:41:15.980 --> 00:41:16.560 we are 00:41:16.560 --> 00:41:17.220 given 00:41:17.220 --> 00:41:18.420 the ministry 00:41:18.420 --> 00:41:19.560 of reconciliation. 00:41:21.020 --> 00:41:21.400 And so 00:41:21.400 --> 00:41:21.800 there's a 00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:22.200 core 00:41:22.200 --> 00:41:23.480 of hypocrisy 00:41:23.480 --> 00:41:24.160 in the 00:41:24.160 --> 00:41:24.740 heart of 00:41:24.740 --> 00:41:25.100 us 00:41:25.100 --> 00:41:25.660 if we 00:41:25.660 --> 00:41:26.040 want to 00:41:26.040 --> 00:41:26.900 claim 00:41:26.900 --> 00:41:27.980 the benefit 00:41:27.980 --> 00:41:29.180 of salvation 00:41:29.180 --> 00:41:29.900 but not 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:30.260 the work 00:41:30.260 --> 00:41:30.620 of it. 00:41:31.640 --> 00:41:31.800 Right? 00:41:33.680 --> 00:41:34.400 And that's 00:41:34.400 --> 00:41:34.760 the purpose 00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:35.380 that we have. 00:41:36.520 --> 00:41:37.240 And that's 00:41:37.240 --> 00:41:37.680 the ministry 00:41:37.680 --> 00:41:38.020 that we're 00:41:38.020 --> 00:41:38.420 called to. 00:41:39.420 --> 00:41:40.060 It's not 00:41:40.060 --> 00:41:40.480 a ministry 00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:41.100 that we show 00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:41.820 up for an 00:41:41.820 --> 00:41:42.300 hour on 00:41:42.300 --> 00:41:42.480 Sunday 00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:42.760 morning. 00:41:44.120 --> 00:41:44.740 It's not 00:41:44.740 --> 00:41:45.240 a ministry 00:41:45.240 --> 00:41:45.660 that we 00:41:45.660 --> 00:41:46.360 check the 00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:46.940 box because 00:41:46.940 --> 00:41:47.380 we've done 00:41:47.380 --> 00:41:48.240 this quiet 00:41:48.240 --> 00:41:49.460 time with 00:41:49.460 --> 00:41:49.720 a group 00:41:49.720 --> 00:41:50.300 of co-workers. 00:41:51.540 --> 00:41:52.180 But it's 00:41:52.180 --> 00:41:52.880 the ministry 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:53.420 that we've 00:41:53.420 --> 00:41:53.860 been given 00:41:53.860 --> 00:41:54.300 that the 00:41:54.300 --> 00:41:54.980 Bible says 00:41:54.980 --> 00:41:55.540 that Paul 00:41:55.540 --> 00:41:56.360 writes and 00:41:56.360 --> 00:41:56.860 says here 00:41:56.860 --> 00:41:57.560 we've been 00:41:57.560 --> 00:41:58.080 entrusted 00:41:58.080 --> 00:41:58.540 with it 00:41:58.540 --> 00:41:59.460 and we 00:41:59.460 --> 00:41:59.900 are now 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:00.980 the ambassadors 00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:02.120 of Christ. 00:42:03.340 --> 00:42:03.820 That's 00:42:03.820 --> 00:42:04.020 who we 00:42:04.020 --> 00:42:04.220 are. 00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:06.620 And for 00:42:06.620 --> 00:42:07.260 an ambassador 00:42:07.260 --> 00:42:08.600 it is filled 00:42:08.600 --> 00:42:10.400 every single 00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:12.080 aspect of 00:42:12.080 --> 00:42:12.600 their life. 00:42:14.260 --> 00:42:14.460 So how 00:42:14.460 --> 00:42:14.660 does the 00:42:14.660 --> 00:42:15.060 gospel do 00:42:15.060 --> 00:42:15.920 that every 00:42:15.920 --> 00:42:16.300 single day 00:42:16.300 --> 00:42:16.760 for us? 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:18.460 We die. 00:42:19.780 --> 00:42:20.740 We live. 00:42:21.880 --> 00:42:22.660 We go 00:42:22.660 --> 00:42:23.880 and proclaim 00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:25.140 and live 00:42:25.140 --> 00:42:26.140 out and 00:42:26.140 --> 00:42:27.360 model and 00:42:27.360 --> 00:42:28.720 share the 00:42:28.720 --> 00:42:29.380 gospel of 00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:30.120 Jesus Christ 00:42:30.120 --> 00:42:32.060 that comes 00:42:32.060 --> 00:42:33.220 to reconcile 00:42:33.220 --> 00:42:34.980 all that 00:42:34.980 --> 00:42:35.420 is broken. 00:42:36.340 --> 00:42:36.700 All that 00:42:36.700 --> 00:42:37.100 is broken. 00:42:37.900 --> 00:42:38.220 Would you 00:42:38.220 --> 00:42:38.480 pray with 00:42:38.480 --> 00:42:38.620 me? 00:42:44.420 --> 00:42:45.060 Lord we 00:42:45.060 --> 00:42:45.380 come to you 00:42:45.380 --> 00:42:45.860 this morning 00:42:45.860 --> 00:42:47.900 and Lord we 00:42:47.900 --> 00:42:48.340 thank you 00:42:48.340 --> 00:42:48.860 that all 00:42:48.860 --> 00:42:49.640 things are 00:42:49.640 --> 00:42:50.080 new. 00:42:52.460 --> 00:42:53.000 All 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:53.400 things. 00:42:55.560 --> 00:42:55.920 And that 00:42:55.920 --> 00:42:56.540 in Christ 00:42:56.540 --> 00:42:56.960 we have 00:42:56.960 --> 00:42:57.540 new life, 00:42:57.840 --> 00:42:58.400 new hope, 00:42:58.720 --> 00:42:59.260 new meaning, 00:42:59.700 --> 00:43:00.260 new purpose. 00:43:03.860 --> 00:43:04.480 when it 00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:05.140 begins 00:43:05.140 --> 00:43:07.860 Lord in a 00:43:07.860 --> 00:43:08.400 relationship 00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:08.940 with you. 00:43:11.240 --> 00:43:11.960 Lord I 00:43:11.960 --> 00:43:12.700 pray that 00:43:12.700 --> 00:43:13.080 as we're 00:43:13.080 --> 00:43:14.420 here this 00:43:14.420 --> 00:43:14.760 morning 00:43:14.760 --> 00:43:16.680 that in 00:43:16.680 --> 00:43:17.160 the hearts 00:43:17.160 --> 00:43:17.520 and the 00:43:17.520 --> 00:43:18.040 minds of 00:43:18.040 --> 00:43:18.700 some who 00:43:18.700 --> 00:43:19.160 are here 00:43:19.160 --> 00:43:21.560 Lord that 00:43:21.560 --> 00:43:22.000 in this 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:22.320 they would 00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:23.040 see their 00:43:23.040 --> 00:43:23.400 own 00:43:23.400 --> 00:43:24.120 brokenness. 00:43:25.520 --> 00:43:25.740 Lord they 00:43:25.740 --> 00:43:26.200 would see 00:43:26.200 --> 00:43:26.680 that maybe 00:43:26.680 --> 00:43:27.380 even within 00:43:27.380 --> 00:43:28.280 their life 00:43:28.280 --> 00:43:28.740 Lord they 00:43:28.740 --> 00:43:30.280 desired the 00:43:30.280 --> 00:43:31.320 benefit of 00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:31.920 salvation 00:43:31.920 --> 00:43:32.260 without 00:43:32.260 --> 00:43:32.540 the 00:43:32.540 --> 00:43:32.920 ministry 00:43:32.920 --> 00:43:33.180 of 00:43:33.180 --> 00:43:33.340 it. 00:43:35.520 --> 00:43:36.280 And that's 00:43:36.280 --> 00:43:36.860 not Lord 00:43:36.860 --> 00:43:37.980 who you 00:43:37.980 --> 00:43:38.380 are, 00:43:39.820 --> 00:43:40.240 who you've 00:43:40.240 --> 00:43:40.580 called us 00:43:40.580 --> 00:43:41.120 to be, 00:43:42.320 --> 00:43:42.720 and what 00:43:42.720 --> 00:43:42.980 you've 00:43:42.980 --> 00:43:43.400 saved us 00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:43.620 to. 00:43:45.600 --> 00:43:46.220 And so 00:43:46.220 --> 00:43:46.480 Lord I 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:46.880 pray that 00:43:46.880 --> 00:43:47.560 right now 00:43:47.560 --> 00:43:48.060 in this 00:43:48.060 --> 00:43:48.480 moment 00:43:48.480 --> 00:43:51.460 Lord if 00:43:51.460 --> 00:43:51.760 that's 00:43:51.760 --> 00:43:52.000 the 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:53.620 battle 00:43:53.620 --> 00:43:53.960 of the 00:43:53.960 --> 00:43:54.340 heart 00:43:54.340 --> 00:43:59.020 Lord that 00:43:59.020 --> 00:43:59.320 we could 00:43:59.320 --> 00:44:01.120 understand 00:44:01.120 --> 00:44:02.940 the 00:44:02.940 --> 00:44:03.180 simple 00:44:03.180 --> 00:44:03.740 power of 00:44:03.740 --> 00:44:03.820 the 00:44:03.820 --> 00:44:04.160 gospel 00:44:04.160 --> 00:44:07.740 for an 00:44:07.740 --> 00:44:08.200 individual 00:44:08.200 --> 00:44:09.180 to admit 00:44:09.180 --> 00:44:11.060 to 00:44:11.060 --> 00:44:11.740 themself 00:44:11.740 --> 00:44:13.640 that 00:44:13.640 --> 00:44:13.980 they're a 00:44:13.980 --> 00:44:14.180 sinner 00:44:14.180 --> 00:44:17.400 that what 00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:18.040 separates 00:44:18.040 --> 00:44:18.660 them from 00:44:18.660 --> 00:44:18.960 you 00:44:18.960 --> 00:44:21.140 is all 00:44:21.140 --> 00:44:21.540 of their 00:44:21.540 --> 00:44:22.000 sins. 00:44:24.040 --> 00:44:24.780 Lord and 00:44:24.780 --> 00:44:25.180 they can't 00:44:25.180 --> 00:44:25.760 fix that. 00:44:26.680 --> 00:44:27.500 They can't 00:44:27.500 --> 00:44:28.080 control that. 00:44:28.160 --> 00:44:28.460 They can't 00:44:28.460 --> 00:44:29.220 manage that. 00:44:30.360 --> 00:44:31.080 and they 00:44:31.080 --> 00:44:31.280 need to 00:44:31.280 --> 00:44:31.800 be saved 00:44:31.800 --> 00:44:32.760 from it. 00:44:34.700 --> 00:44:35.280 Lord that 00:44:35.280 --> 00:44:36.060 they believe 00:44:36.060 --> 00:44:38.120 that Jesus 00:44:38.120 --> 00:44:38.780 is the only 00:44:38.780 --> 00:44:39.200 one who 00:44:39.200 --> 00:44:39.540 can do 00:44:39.540 --> 00:44:39.780 that. 00:44:41.700 --> 00:44:42.320 They would 00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:43.020 believe that 00:44:43.020 --> 00:44:43.780 Jesus is who 00:44:43.780 --> 00:44:44.120 the Bible 00:44:44.120 --> 00:44:44.620 says he 00:44:44.620 --> 00:44:44.860 is. 00:44:47.560 --> 00:44:48.420 He is our 00:44:48.420 --> 00:44:48.780 Savior, 00:44:48.980 --> 00:44:49.440 that he is 00:44:49.440 --> 00:44:50.620 our Messiah, 00:44:50.780 --> 00:44:51.320 that he is 00:44:51.320 --> 00:44:51.840 our Lord. 00:44:54.300 --> 00:44:54.920 And Lord 00:44:54.920 --> 00:44:55.320 they would 00:44:55.320 --> 00:44:55.920 confess 00:44:55.920 --> 00:44:58.580 to you 00:44:58.580 --> 00:44:59.180 right now. 00:45:02.460 --> 00:45:03.140 Jesus 00:45:03.140 --> 00:45:05.980 is their 00:45:05.980 --> 00:45:06.700 Savior and 00:45:06.700 --> 00:45:07.000 Lord. 00:45:11.000 --> 00:45:11.740 They would 00:45:11.740 --> 00:45:12.660 be reconciled 00:45:12.660 --> 00:45:13.200 to you 00:45:13.200 --> 00:45:16.740 right in this 00:45:16.740 --> 00:45:17.140 moment. 00:45:18.500 --> 00:45:19.240 They would 00:45:19.240 --> 00:45:19.780 die a 00:45:19.780 --> 00:45:20.680 spiritual death 00:45:20.680 --> 00:45:28.360 life with 00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:28.660 you 00:45:28.660 --> 00:45:30.380 and you 00:45:30.380 --> 00:45:30.740 alone. 00:45:32.840 --> 00:45:33.560 And it's in 00:45:33.560 --> 00:45:34.220 Jesus' name we 00:45:34.220 --> 00:45:34.440 pray. 00:45:35.560 --> 00:45:35.820 Amen. 00:45:37.520 --> 00:45:38.300 In just a 00:45:38.300 --> 00:45:38.680 moment we're 00:45:38.680 --> 00:45:39.240 going to stand, 00:45:39.840 --> 00:45:40.180 we're going to 00:45:40.180 --> 00:45:40.640 respond. 00:45:41.740 --> 00:45:42.400 We got prayer 00:45:42.400 --> 00:45:43.100 encouragers on 00:45:43.100 --> 00:45:43.780 either side of 00:45:43.780 --> 00:45:44.540 our auditorium. 00:45:45.720 --> 00:45:46.400 If you're here 00:45:46.400 --> 00:45:47.320 this morning 00:45:47.320 --> 00:45:50.040 maybe that 00:45:50.040 --> 00:45:50.520 was you. 00:45:52.760 --> 00:45:53.400 We'll talk 00:45:53.400 --> 00:45:53.680 about a 00:45:53.680 --> 00:45:54.140 relationship 00:45:54.140 --> 00:45:54.600 with the 00:45:54.600 --> 00:45:54.860 Lord. 00:45:55.960 --> 00:45:56.600 If you 00:45:56.600 --> 00:45:57.640 confess that 00:45:57.640 --> 00:45:58.700 in your 00:45:58.700 --> 00:45:59.120 prayer, 00:45:59.560 --> 00:46:00.380 what I want 00:46:00.380 --> 00:46:00.800 to encourage 00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:01.220 you to do 00:46:01.220 --> 00:46:01.620 right now 00:46:01.620 --> 00:46:02.020 is confess 00:46:02.020 --> 00:46:02.740 that to 00:46:02.740 --> 00:46:03.520 someone. 00:46:05.860 --> 00:46:06.520 Our prayer 00:46:06.520 --> 00:46:06.840 and courage 00:46:06.840 --> 00:46:07.020 would be 00:46:07.020 --> 00:46:07.340 great. 00:46:07.980 --> 00:46:08.300 I'll be 00:46:08.300 --> 00:46:08.620 right down 00:46:08.620 --> 00:46:08.900 here in 00:46:08.900 --> 00:46:09.260 front as 00:46:09.260 --> 00:46:09.500 well. 00:46:10.200 --> 00:46:10.480 Confess 00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:10.820 that to 00:46:10.820 --> 00:46:11.000 me. 00:46:12.540 --> 00:46:12.980 Maybe 00:46:12.980 --> 00:46:13.340 you're here 00:46:13.340 --> 00:46:14.000 this morning 00:46:14.000 --> 00:46:15.520 filled with 00:46:15.520 --> 00:46:16.040 struggles 00:46:16.040 --> 00:46:16.420 and with 00:46:16.420 --> 00:46:16.920 doubts. 00:46:19.180 --> 00:46:19.840 Feel loss 00:46:19.840 --> 00:46:20.240 of hope, 00:46:21.400 --> 00:46:21.880 loss of 00:46:21.880 --> 00:46:22.320 purpose. 00:46:23.640 --> 00:46:24.020 Need someone 00:46:24.020 --> 00:46:24.520 to pray with 00:46:24.520 --> 00:46:24.600 you. 00:46:24.640 --> 00:46:24.880 They would 00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:25.360 love to do 00:46:25.360 --> 00:46:25.600 that. 00:46:26.080 --> 00:46:26.640 Here's my 00:46:26.640 --> 00:46:26.980 heart. 00:46:28.380 --> 00:46:29.080 I want you 00:46:29.080 --> 00:46:29.700 to respond 00:46:29.700 --> 00:46:29.980 to the 00:46:29.980 --> 00:46:30.900 Lord as 00:46:30.900 --> 00:46:31.300 He leads 00:46:31.300 --> 00:46:31.620 you this 00:46:31.620 --> 00:46:31.880 morning. 00:46:32.520 --> 00:46:32.840 Would you 00:46:32.840 --> 00:46:33.860 stand as 00:46:33.860 --> 00:46:34.220 we worship 00:46:34.220 --> 00:46:34.440 Him? 00:46:45.520 --> 00:46:48.120 thanks again 00:46:48.120 --> 00:46:48.640 for listening 00:46:48.640 --> 00:46:49.000 to the 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:49.420 Willow Ridge 00:46:49.420 --> 00:46:49.780 Church 00:46:49.780 --> 00:46:50.140 weekly 00:46:50.140 --> 00:46:50.760 podcast. 00:46:51.220 --> 00:46:51.500 We hope 00:46:51.500 --> 00:46:51.740 that you 00:46:51.740 --> 00:46:52.080 enjoyed 00:46:52.080 --> 00:46:52.600 listening to 00:46:52.600 --> 00:46:53.040 this week's 00:46:53.040 --> 00:46:53.380 message. 00:46:53.980 --> 00:46:54.280 If you'd 00:46:54.280 --> 00:46:54.560 like to 00:46:54.560 --> 00:46:54.940 learn more 00:46:54.940 --> 00:46:55.380 about who 00:46:55.380 --> 00:46:55.780 we are 00:46:55.780 --> 00:46:56.440 or explore 00:46:56.440 --> 00:46:56.860 additional 00:46:56.860 --> 00:46:57.420 resources, 00:46:57.980 --> 00:46:58.400 visit us 00:46:58.400 --> 00:46:59.180 online at 00:46:59.180 --> 00:47:02.440 www.willowridgechurch.com 00:47:02.440 --> 00:47:03.640 or by searching 00:47:03.640 --> 00:47:04.320 for Willow Ridge 00:47:04.320 --> 00:47:04.940 Church on 00:47:04.940 --> 00:47:05.620 Facebook and 00:47:05.620 --> 00:47:05.980 Instagram. 00:47:05.980 --> 00:47:06.100 Instagram.