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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's sermon with Pastor Brett explores the transformation from ritualistic worship to a genuine, passionate relationship with Jesus, emphasizing the importance of obedience, stewardship, and inviting others to embrace Christ's love.
Verses:
- Mark 7
- Matthew 6:5
- John 12:43
- 1 Samuel 13
- 1 Samuel 15
- Revelation 3:15-16
If you need PRAYER, Text or call 587-400-2010
If you would like to GIVE today to build the house of God, click here: www.saintschurch.ca/give
For more information and to stay connected, visit www.saintschurch.ca
★ Support this podcast ★
This week's sermon with Pastor Brett explores the transformation from ritualistic worship to a genuine, passionate relationship with Jesus, emphasizing the importance of obedience, stewardship, and inviting others to embrace Christ's love.
Verses:
- Mark 7
- Matthew 6:5
- John 12:43
- 1 Samuel 13
- 1 Samuel 15
- Revelation 3:15-16
If you need PRAYER, Text or call 587-400-2010
If you would like to GIVE today to build the house of God, click here: www.saintschurch.ca/give
For more information and to stay connected, visit www.saintschurch.ca
Creators & Guests
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.
If you have a Bible, we're going to go to Mark, chapter 7, and it actually speaks to exactly where we are now, which is beautiful when the Lord just has a picture and how it works. For us and for me and as a pastor and as a spiritual leader, it's like you get a picture, but it's just dots and we're just trying to connect the dots to see what God ultimately wants to do. And sometimes we get a very clear picture of that, of what he wants to do. And other times it's like you kind of just go on this journey of the dots and I think it's funny. The dots kind of make sense, since we follow Jesus one step at a time. It's kind of like he leads us one dot at a time and then we begin to see the picture that is emerging. And the picture that is emerging now I'm going to get way ahead of myself and even into next week the picture that is emerging is a church that is hungry for Jesus. That's the picture that's emerging. The picture that is emerging is a church that's hungry for the presence of God. The picture that is emerging is a church that sets aside even our own thoughts, methods or agendas and we say God, we just want more of you. We want more of your presence. But the picture that is emerging is a church that is hungry for the presence of God. But we understand that as the presence of God pours out, as there's more hope and life and freedom and healing and all those things, we understand that there's a degree of messiness that comes with that, because where there's people, there's problems, and where there's people who have pain, there's deep problems. But Jesus isn't afraid. Oftentimes we, as his people, are afraid. So the picture that is emerging is a beautiful church, full of hungry, passionate people, and the most hungry people I know for the presence of God are also the most hungry people that I know to share the message of Jesus. In fact, I would suggest that you're not truly hungry for more of Jesus until you're hungry for his presence and hungry for others to encounter his presence and hungry for others to encounter his presence. Okay, mark 7. Mark 7.
One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand-washing before eating. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, I can't speak today. They don't eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to, such as ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.
Anyone else riveted by this? Just me? Okay, see, I was doing this verse actually was. So part of my daily Bible reading right now is that I'm reading a chapter a day in Mark, and so this was a part of my daily Bible reading and I was reading it on my phone and I screenshotted this passage because it just grabbed hold of me and I know that you're kind of like I don't understand.
We're talking about what? Cupping hands and washing things, including kettles. Why is this of any relevance to us? Well, jesus speaks to it right here in verse 6. Jesus replied you hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God For you, ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition. Now maybe you can see why I'm more interested in it, because, while we might not have a problem of, of, of, of demanding people cup their hands and wash their hands in a certain way which we should all wash our hands, by the way just I shake hands at the end, so I just reminding us all to wash hands. Um, I shake hands at the end, so I'm just reminding us all to wash hands.
We're not so worried about those things, but when we read it, we're like who cares about this? They really, really, really, really cared, really, really, really cared, and they really, really, really cared because it was a part of their tradition, and that tradition was added to scripture, so the way that they viewed those traditions was on par with scripture. In fact, what Jesus is suggesting in this entire passage here you don't have it in the back, don't worry about it and he said in verse nine you skillfully sidestep God's law in order to hold on your own tradition. In fact, their tradition became so strong and so powerful in their hearts and minds that it started superseding scripture. So it wasn't that they weren, they weren't believers. They were believers. And we're talking about, of course, the Jewish leadership establishment, here Pharisees specifically. So these were strong religious leaders and, without even realizing it, they had substituted their tradition for the word of God.
God, and my concern is that I don't ever become a person or a leader who substitutes my own tradition or preference for the Word of God. My prayer for our church is that we are not people who would rather a way of being instead of the way of being, that if there was a weight and there was a scale, that the weight of the word would tip the scale every time. So I have a question when does passion become performance? I think passion becomes performance when you care more about your tradition, your rule or your way than you do, either when you care more about Jesus or you care about people. Passion becomes performance when you care more about your way, your tradition or your rule, more than you care about Jesus and more than you care about people.
Now I need you to be very, very mindful, and I put them in that order for reasons. If you're taking them, taking down notes, you probably need to make a chasm, because the truth is this does not apply If you say people than Jesus, if you care, if you care about people more than your tradition, your rule or your way. That's great, but it's out of order. Priority is Jesus Christ and his word, because what can happen is that when we prioritize people over our rules or our traditions, when we prioritize people over our rules or our traditions and we go, we do it because we love you. We have the tendency to drift from the word of God Because we make it. I just want you to feel, okay, I just want you to feel. And the truth is this is harsh and I understand that, but the truth is their feelings matter less than the truth. Now, when you speak the truth, you speak the truth in love. That's scripture. The church has had a problem of speaking the truth and we've left love outside the door. We don't understand how to navigate that. So if passion becomes performance, when we adhere to tradition over the word and over Jesus Revelation 3, 15, 16.
I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other, but since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth. I said mouth instead of mouth. That was weird. Sorry. He's like listen, I just need. He was speaking to the church at Laodicea and he's speaking to the church in West Edmonton, alberta, canada, and he says I understand that you're either hot, that you're, that you need to either be hot or you need to be cold. I don't understand any other parameter. When you're lukewarm in the middle, where it's kind of lax days, I kind of don't care about it, I'm kind of just in this middle. He goes look, I'm going to spew that out of my mouth.
The problem is that the 21st century Christian is largely conditioned to be lukewarm, because anytime you start to passionately follow the way of Jesus, you start to passionately follow the word of Jesus, you're called a radical, but it's just obedience. When does passion become performance? I got three suggestions for you for when passion becomes performance. First thing passion becomes performance when it's about how it looks. First thing passion becomes performance when it's about how it looks, not what it means. Passion becomes performance when it's about how it looks, not what it means. If you responded to the front because it made you look spiritual, not because you were pursuing Jesus, your passion became a performance.
Matthew 6, 5. When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth that is all the reward they will ever get. Number two when does passion become performance? Passion becomes performance when I do it for them, but I don't do it for him. Are you with me? Passion becomes performance when I do it for them, but I don't do it for him, I do it for the crowd John 12, 43, for they loved human praise more than the praise of God. Number three when passion becomes reforming, when obedience is optional.
First, samuel 15, context to this Saul is on a hot streak. He's the king of Israel. Israel begged for a king. Though they were being led by a spiritual leader, they wanted a king. They wanted to be just like everybody else. That's a red flag. They asked for a king. God gave them a king. His name was Saul.
Saul was on a hot streak because he spent a couple different moments doing whatever he wanted to do. The first thing that he did you can find it actually a chapter sooner is that he, before they go to war, they would offer a sacrifice. It was an act of worship. It was an act of of asking for direction, military direction and strategy so that they would be led by the Lord into battle. You're supposed to wait for Samuel, who's the prophet, the spiritual leader of the nation, to come and do that.
Saul saw that his men were getting tense and they were getting antsy, and so he offered the sacrifice himself to make them feel big, make them feel better. So what did he do? He created a ceremony out of a spiritual act. Are you with me? So he said, man, I'm going to take the life and the power, I'm going to take the voice of God out of this, because that's what that was about. It was about making a sacrifice to hear the voice of God, that he would send you into battle and that he would go before you. And they just made it a ritual to make everybody feel better.
He disobeyed God and he's like that's. This is a problem that we have. Skip ahead. That's first Samuel 13,. Skipped ahead to 15.
You'll find that God gave him another set of specific instructions on how to lead his men into battle, and he disregarded them or he misheard them, and he misheard them in a way that or interpreted it in such a way that it directly benefited him, but it was not reflective of the original request. This is actually the breeding ground for disappointment in our hearts and lives. We do this often. We hear what God says, or what we believe he says, and then we think about how he's going to do it and we chart it out and we write it in our little journal at night. And God said this, and it's going to look like this, and it's going to look like this, and it's going to look like this, and it's amazingly, it always benefits you. It always leads with you being famous and more money, and then it doesn't happen the way that you prescribed it and you're like God where are you? And he's like I'm still over here with the original instructions that I gave you, which often looks like surrendering your life and moving the direction that he wants to go, regardless of how you feel about it and regardless if it's for your tangible natural benefit in this moment.
So the response of God back to Saul is what is more pleasing to the Lord, your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen, obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than the offering of fat rams. I'll continue. It says rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. Come on, where's my stubborn idol worshipers in the house? So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.
The highest calling for any believer is that of a steward that God gives you something, you become responsible for it, and it is our job then to do the best we can with what he's given us. And he's given each of us whatever we have, according to how we are wired, and it's not our job to shop around and compare. It's our job to be the best stewards with what he's given us in our lives. The only way you can really be a good steward is if you learn to hear the sound of God's voice and you learn to live a life of obedience following the sound of his voice. Because as you're trying to steward this, ultimately you're going to end up in a place where you're like how do I do this? And it leads you to a place of humility and submission and surrender where you say God, I don't know what I'm doing, but I know that you know, that you know and we call that wisdom, where God begins to intervene and gives systems, strategy, all these different things, and he speaks and he gives us the supernatural wisdom.
Now the book of Proverbs tells us that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. I'm like that can't be right. That can't be what the Bible says. It should say like happiness and joy with the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It says no, no, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What is the fear of the Lord? We started to touch on it briefly last week.
Fear of the Lord is on the other side of the coin. It's all and it's wonder. But on this side of the coin it is exactly that. God is all powerful, he is omnipotent, he is omniscient. He's all the things. He created, this universe. He knows it all. He is the most powerful being on the force of the plan. He's not even a by our own definition, because we're all just playing in his sandbox.
And I have an awareness of how big he is, how powerful he is, and I have a healthy fear and respect for that, for him. The best way I could illustrate this Now, I'm not much like I'm. This is the weirdest illustration I've ever done in my life, because this isn't even my thing. But there's this professional wrestler. He was also a UFC fighter. His name is Brock Lesnar. I don't know how tall he is, but he is massive. He is a wall of human strength and power. If anyone knows how big he is, let me know. He's massive, he's huge. If he walked into a room I can tell you I've got a healthy fear of Brock Lesnar because I understand that he could rip me limb from limb. I also understand that there's a whole storyline and I'm not a part of it, so I don't have to be worried. But what I know is that the sheer force and power that he has I respect. Most of us have more fear and respect for Brock than we do for Jesus. Let me plant the seed and we're going to just land this plane right here.
Obedience creates the combustible and consumable matter within our hearts. Scripture describes God as an all-consuming fire. In the Old Testament. You would see that when they would bring sacrifices, it would be consumed with fire. When there was a miraculous move of God, when Elijah went up against the prophets of Baal to say whose God is real, they danced around and they tried all these ceremonies and these empty traditions and their God didn't answer. But all Elijah did is he prays, says would you just do your thing? God comes and he consumes it with fire. God is an all consuming fire. He will consume every part of who we are and that's scary, but it's beautiful because it's a refining. It burns away all the stuff that's actually getting in the way. It burns away my brokenness and my insecurity. It burns away my pride, which gives way to humility. He's an all-consuming fire. When I live a life of obedience and I follow his voice and his prompting, it begins to shake loose all of the plaque and the junk that I have accumulated on my heart, that has made my heart hard, and it begins to fall away. He comes and he consumes it like an offering. Offering. Obedience is not only the tool that God uses to lead you and guide you and direct you. It's the tool that he uses to transform you.
I'm desperate for a hungry church, a church that's hungry for more of Jesus, but I'm keenly aware that a hungry church must be an obedient church. Would you stand to your feet? Out of respect to our children's ministry team, I'm going to land the service here, not because they aren't amazing they could go longer but because we love them and we honor their choice to serve. We love them and we honor their choice to serve, but I can't. I'm just going to ask that there's no movement in the room right now. This is not a time to pack your things. It's not a time to go. This is a holy moment. I I would be living outside of obedience if I did not make room to invite you in this room, who do not yet know Jesus, into a personal relationship with Jesus. Let me tell you why I do this. If you've been coming to St Church any length of time, you might've noticed that there's not a Sunday that goes by, there's not a time that I speak, that we do not do this. Why is that? It's a simple act of obedience.
When we planted what is now St Church, glory Hills, when Desiree and I started that church, it used to be called Engage and we met in a little movie theater and I was working a full-time job. I managed Starbucks because I moved to a new community and I needed to meet as many people as possible and I needed a simple thing called a paycheck, and I was nervous. I was like God, how am I going to be able to get up and teach your word and speak if I don't have all this time to study? I'd already been serving as a pastor full time for five years and I was used to a certain rhythm and a routine. And God, how am I going to do this? And he spoke to me. And he spoke to me at a conference.
I was doing sound at a church conference and I got called out by the speaker on the stage and I'm actually I'm going to honor that man today. His name is Chris Mathis. He's the pastor of Summit Church here in Edmonton and he didn't know who I was and he wasn't who he is now. Then and he said sir, I have a word for you. The Lord wants you to know that you're always going to have a word. Okay, read my mail. And as I was praying about it, the Lord had one more request. He said you're always going to have a word, but he said every time you give the word, I want you to give an opportunity for anyone and everyone to respond, to have a relationship with me.
From that moment that we started our church now 11 years ago, every Sunday there's not a Sunday that I don't live out of obedience and create a moment Doesn't matter what was shared or what was spoken. Here's the truth, whether you're in the room or you're online, and I just got a real powerful sense today about online that, if you're online today, that, while we'd love to have you here, if you can't be here, that God wants to bring healing, hope and life to you right where you are and that there's breakthrough Even in this moment. I pray that the Holy Spirit would meet you where you are and for those that are crying out for breakthrough and those are crying out for healing and hope, that they would just receive that now, in Jesus' name. But I just need to speak to those in the room that don't know Jesus yet. You're here either by accident or by choice. You're here because you have to be or you're here because you want to be. But all of that is irrelevant.
What matters right now, in this moment, is that Jesus Christ wants to be, can be and is the Lord and Savior of this planet. He wants to have a personal relationship with you. He wants to help you discover hope, life and freedom. You've been on a quest to find the highest version of yourself and, my friend, can I tell you that the highest version of yourself does not exist without Jesus, because he made you, he handcrafted you, he knit you together. You cannot live up to your highest potential without Jesus. You've tasted, you've tried, you've sampled, like at Costco going. Does this way of life work for me? Does this way of life work for me? Does this way of life work for me? The truth is stop, stop eating samples and come and eat the main course. His name is Jesus.