WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:22.260 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast. 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.880 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons. 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:30.420 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:31.260 the latest message. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:32.440 Thanks for listening. 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:46.840 Well, good morning. 00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:50.620 Man, there's a lot going on around here, right? 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.020 Normally, I walk out, and it's like I got like a minute to get stuff ready. 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:56.220 And so I walked out, sat down, and I was like, oh, about three and a half. 00:00:56.280 --> 00:00:56.880 I'm going to go over here. 00:00:57.040 --> 00:01:00.700 But there's a lot of exciting stuff going on at Willow Ridge Church, and there's something 00:01:00.700 --> 00:01:01.960 for everyone here. 00:01:02.080 --> 00:01:05.040 And so maybe something grabs your attention on that announcements. 00:01:05.460 --> 00:01:08.300 Maybe getting connected with a small group with Dave is what you want to do. 00:01:08.500 --> 00:01:14.360 But we would love to have you join us in the life of this congregation as we grow closer 00:01:14.360 --> 00:01:16.200 together and closer to the Lord. 00:01:16.440 --> 00:01:19.180 I am excited about tonight, all right? 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:23.940 So I don't know about you, but maybe some people are excited about bingo, and some people are 00:01:23.940 --> 00:01:25.080 not excited about bingo. 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:26.380 Here's what I'll tell you. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.120 This ain't your great-grandmama's bingo that we're going to play here tonight, all right? 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.960 All I'm going to say is, Mike sees like I'm ready for this, right? 00:01:34.660 --> 00:01:38.620 This is bingo Willow Ridge style. 00:01:38.820 --> 00:01:40.540 So that's all I'm going to say about it. 00:01:40.740 --> 00:01:45.740 So we'd like to have you come back tonight as we have a whole lot of fun with a whole 00:01:45.740 --> 00:01:48.400 lot of food with our church family tonight. 00:01:48.540 --> 00:01:50.640 And so we'll spend time doing that together. 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:56.980 Also, next Sunday, we're going to conclude our series on discipleship by looking at discipleship 00:01:56.980 --> 00:01:58.080 and the family. 00:01:58.220 --> 00:01:59.060 So very specific. 00:01:59.220 --> 00:02:00.820 You guys know, we'll talk about this in a minute. 00:02:00.880 --> 00:02:03.160 We've been working through some topics with discipleship. 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:04.920 So it'll be discipleship in the family. 00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:10.320 And so what we're going to do next Sunday is we're going to have a time of family worship 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:14.920 in our service next week, which is a little bit different than what we normally do. 00:02:14.980 --> 00:02:17.700 So let's kind of talk about what this looks like a little bit. 00:02:17.820 --> 00:02:23.680 So next week in the worship service with us, we're going to have threes and up with us. 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:27.540 So three-year-olds and up with us in our service, all right? 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:32.660 Babies to twos, they'll still have their rooms here in building one, but threes and older 00:02:32.660 --> 00:02:33.440 will be here. 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:34.440 So what does this mean? 00:02:34.440 --> 00:02:38.220 All right, we're going to shorten things up with what we do, I promise, all right? 00:02:38.640 --> 00:02:39.660 Especially my teaching. 00:02:39.860 --> 00:02:43.180 I'm only going to preach for 51, not 53 minutes next week, all right? 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:47.340 So we're going to tighten that up a little bit so that parents, you can help kind of keep 00:02:47.340 --> 00:02:47.760 their attention. 00:02:47.880 --> 00:02:49.540 No, we're going to shorten things down. 00:02:49.700 --> 00:02:53.160 We're going to, if you've been with us on a Christmas Eve service before, kind of think 00:02:53.160 --> 00:02:57.860 what that looks like because we want to have an opportunity to engage your whole family 00:02:57.860 --> 00:02:58.660 in that, right? 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:02.640 While still being faithful to God's word and God's worship that he's called us to. 00:03:02.980 --> 00:03:03.180 All right? 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:07.100 Next Sunday, with everybody in here, we will partake in the Lord's Supper together. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:12.600 Now, Dawn and her team have done a wonderful job of putting together a resource, parents, 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:13.800 that's available to you. 00:03:13.880 --> 00:03:15.380 She emailed it out this week. 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:17.060 It's available on Facebook. 00:03:17.300 --> 00:03:22.900 And you can also pick up a copy at a check-in station about talking with your kids about 00:03:22.900 --> 00:03:28.120 the Lord's Supper, what that is and what that means so that you are ready as a family with 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.400 all those questions asked about what that looks like next week for y'all. 00:03:31.560 --> 00:03:36.520 If you have any questions, please contact us this week and we would love to answer those. 00:03:36.780 --> 00:03:38.700 So let's go ahead and get this out on the table. 00:03:38.860 --> 00:03:39.080 All right? 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:40.280 Here's what it means. 00:03:40.360 --> 00:03:41.740 Next week is going to be a little louder. 00:03:42.440 --> 00:03:42.900 All right? 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:46.080 Next week is going to be a little bit more movement in the room. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:47.900 It's going to be a little bit of chaos. 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:50.380 And that is absolutely okay. 00:03:51.140 --> 00:03:52.440 It's absolutely okay. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.060 Here is the goal next week. 00:03:55.600 --> 00:04:02.180 Parents, Willow Ridge Church members, grandparents, our kids need to not just know that we go 00:04:02.180 --> 00:04:06.660 to worship, but our kids need to know that we worship and they need to worship with us. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:07.240 All right? 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:15.340 So from my heart, right, to yours, next week, this is not a reason to take Sunday off. 00:04:16.260 --> 00:04:17.000 It's not. 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:22.800 It might be a little bit of inconvenience for some of us, but it's not a reason to take 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:23.060 it off. 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:26.720 It's part of discipleship and we're excited about what the Lord's doing. 00:04:27.120 --> 00:04:29.240 And so please, please join us for this. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:34.320 So as we continue on in our discipleship series, right, we've been largely looking for the last 00:04:34.320 --> 00:04:39.460 three weeks as discipleship in the context of the local body of believers. 00:04:39.640 --> 00:04:44.500 And so we've looked at Willow Ridge Church specifically in this, in the application. 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:49.900 So we talked about discipleship and church membership, like there's a level of value of commitment 00:04:49.900 --> 00:04:55.780 and what we're doing and what we want, an acknowledgement from you of, yes, we're part of this flock. 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:57.360 We're part of this body. 00:04:57.660 --> 00:05:01.360 We're committed into the vision, into the leadership of where we're going. 00:05:01.500 --> 00:05:07.540 And we're committed into all of us as a body of believers saying we're investing in this 00:05:07.540 --> 00:05:09.060 as a church family. 00:05:09.320 --> 00:05:12.980 And then the week after that, we talked about discipleship in the community and community. 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:17.580 And we looked at that in Acts chapter two of what did the early church, what were their 00:05:17.580 --> 00:05:23.560 behaviors, what were their practices and how did that build in among them some disciplines 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:28.060 to help them grow closer, not only to each other, but closer to the Lord. 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:35.500 As the Lord gives us one another and a beautiful relationship to come alongside, to help, to encourage 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:39.440 and push each other toward more being like Christ. 00:05:39.580 --> 00:05:44.820 And then last week we talked about discipleship and serving, that we're a part of the body of 00:05:44.820 --> 00:05:48.620 Christ and that the local congregation is a reflection of that. 00:05:48.840 --> 00:05:55.640 And so each one of us plays an important and vital role in there as we form the body so that 00:05:55.640 --> 00:06:02.740 the body can be as efficient as God has created it to be, to see more and more men, women, and 00:06:02.740 --> 00:06:08.120 children hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then grow 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:10.160 in their relationship with Christ. 00:06:10.280 --> 00:06:15.400 And so we need all of us get in the game, all right? 00:06:15.940 --> 00:06:18.880 It's what Paul, it's what scripture calls us to. 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:25.800 And every week we've gone through this though, because when we hear of discipleship, our tendency 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:32.660 can oftentimes be in our hearts to think that discipleship is a program, that discipleship 00:06:32.660 --> 00:06:38.280 is something that I go to, that discipleship is a night of the week or a morning, and I can 00:06:38.280 --> 00:06:40.140 check that box and move on from it. 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:43.900 And so we want to build in through this, that discipleship is not that. 00:06:44.380 --> 00:06:45.460 It's not that. 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:50.180 Going to a small group does not check the box of discipleship and you're done. 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:55.180 Signing up for a class does not check the box of discipleship and then you're done. 00:06:55.340 --> 00:06:57.480 That's not at all what we see with Jesus. 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:03.200 Jesus comes up to his early first disciples and he says, follow me, not to a building to 00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:08.540 take a class, but follow me in every aspect, in every part of your life so that you can become 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:10.500 more and more like Jesus. 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:13.120 And he says, I'm going to make you fishers of men. 00:07:13.200 --> 00:07:17.980 I'm going to produce something in you so that you live on mission for the Lord of what he's 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:19.760 called you and created you to be. 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:21.460 And that's what discipleship is. 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:26.060 So discipleship for us should weave into every aspect of our life. 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:30.140 So is small group an avenue to help us in the discipleship process? 00:07:30.540 --> 00:07:30.900 Yes. 00:07:31.080 --> 00:07:34.300 Is are these classes a piece to help us in that? 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:34.840 Yes. 00:07:34.960 --> 00:07:38.000 Is what we're doing on Sunday morning a piece of that? 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:38.540 Yes. 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:42.640 Is what Joel does up in this room on Sunday morning with our students a part of that? 00:07:42.860 --> 00:07:43.060 Yes. 00:07:43.180 --> 00:07:45.760 Is what Don does with our kids over there and that? 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:46.100 Yes. 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:47.220 But there's so much more. 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:49.860 And so discipleship is about van rides. 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:54.260 When you drop your kids off at school, it's about lunches with your coworkers that are fellow 00:07:54.260 --> 00:07:55.220 believers in Christ. 00:07:55.220 --> 00:08:00.320 That discipleship is the conversation between you and your spouse as you challenge each other. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:01.920 That discipleship is all of this. 00:08:02.200 --> 00:08:08.400 So what we find in Christian discipleship, it's both the formal and the informal process that 00:08:08.400 --> 00:08:15.140 we go through to become more like Christ, more invested in his mission, in every aspect of 00:08:15.140 --> 00:08:15.580 his life. 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:17.880 So I'm not just a disciple when I'm at church. 00:08:18.020 --> 00:08:25.180 I'm a disciple in every avenue, in every season, in every stage of life that where God places me. 00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:30.800 And so largely we've looked at discipleship in the context of the local body. 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:38.600 But today we're going to take a step closer into, not farther up to see more, but we're 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:43.460 going to take a step closer in this and we're going to look at discipleship and personal 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:44.500 responsibility. 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:48.480 And here's what I mean by personal responsibility. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:56.060 God is a wonderful gift and he's gracious to us as he gives us the Holy Spirit when we're 00:08:56.060 --> 00:09:02.160 saved, who works in us to produce in us, right, the fruit of the Spirit that we talked about 00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:04.980 this summer and to help us make us more into the likeness of Christ. 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:08.780 God gives us his Spirit who dwells inside of us. 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:13.800 It's what we see happen on Pentecost and it's what happens at salvation for all believers. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:15.600 And this is what God gives us. 00:09:15.800 --> 00:09:18.560 But God also gives us the community of fellow believers, right? 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:23.660 What we've been talking about who surround us to encourage us and to walk through this. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:33.880 But with all of that, you and I individually need to take responsibility for growing in our 00:09:33.880 --> 00:09:34.240 faith. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:36.420 Here's what I mean by that. 00:09:36.660 --> 00:09:40.160 We say all the time we don't like excuses and we don't. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:46.000 But how many times have we used the excuse about where we are in our immaturity in Christ and 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:47.040 blaming it on someone else? 00:09:48.060 --> 00:09:55.680 I have to take responsibility for my growth and my commitment in Christ. 00:09:56.340 --> 00:09:57.260 But here's the deal. 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.900 We're going to begin with this and then we're going to work through. 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:06.900 But oftentimes I think there can be the misconception that as we say we're going to take responsibility 00:10:06.900 --> 00:10:15.200 for growing in and maturing in our relationship with Christ, that that's easy, right? 00:10:15.640 --> 00:10:17.020 That it just happens. 00:10:18.400 --> 00:10:26.080 That we just can wake up every morning and spiritually speaking become a couch potato and just grow 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:27.500 in our relationship with the Lord. 00:10:28.460 --> 00:10:29.520 But that's not the case. 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:34.060 And you know that if you're honest with yourself about your walk with the Lord. 00:10:34.060 --> 00:10:36.600 And what we see is what scripture points to us. 00:10:36.660 --> 00:10:40.260 So before we get to Philippians, I want to read a couple different passages in 2 Timothy 2, 00:10:40.380 --> 00:10:41.160 starting in verse 3. 00:10:41.260 --> 00:10:42.120 It'll be up on the screen. 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:43.740 Paul writes and he says, 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:47.740 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 00:10:48.920 --> 00:10:55.300 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:00.360 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 00:11:00.460 --> 00:11:06.840 It is the hardworking farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:15.040 So Paul writes here and he says like here is some comparisons in the life of a believer of what it means to follow the Lord. 00:11:15.200 --> 00:11:16.840 He said it's a soldier. 00:11:17.960 --> 00:11:19.340 It's a soldier. 00:11:20.040 --> 00:11:20.580 I don't know. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:30.020 I have the utmost respect for the men and women who sign up to be a part of our armed forces and what they go through and what they prepare for. 00:11:30.020 --> 00:11:34.320 Because what they're preparing for day in and day out is a violent battle. 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:36.360 That's what they're preparing for. 00:11:37.660 --> 00:11:43.120 And most of us were unwilling to sign up for what they signed up for. 00:11:44.260 --> 00:11:52.820 And Paul says that as we think through what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ, it's like a soldier, right? 00:11:53.520 --> 00:11:56.700 He gives the picture of an athlete, right? 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:00.120 An athlete does not hang out on the couch. 00:12:01.180 --> 00:12:13.220 An athlete works to prepare their body through vigorous training so that they can compete, so that they can follow the rules to not have to skim by into what they have to do. 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:27.940 He describes it as a farmer who works against forces beyond what they can control in order to produce something in a crop that is at its core very frail. 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:39.080 And so Paul says, being a follower of Jesus is this, a soldier, an athlete, a farmer, not easy. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:43.040 In 1 Corinthians 9, he says this starting in verse 24. 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:48.720 He says, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? 00:12:48.900 --> 00:12:51.180 So run that you may obtain it. 00:12:52.140 --> 00:12:56.620 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. 00:12:56.620 --> 00:13:01.040 They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 00:13:01.380 --> 00:13:03.040 So I do not run aimlessly. 00:13:03.380 --> 00:13:09.060 I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.920 Lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. 00:13:14.140 --> 00:13:21.500 And so Paul says within here, within this difficulty of this journey, he gives two descriptions of what must be done. 00:13:21.500 --> 00:13:23.980 He says, practice self-control. 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.680 At the core, denying yourself. 00:13:28.860 --> 00:13:31.080 He says, practice discipline. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:39.460 Discipline means pushing oneself to something that isn't what the flesh desires, right? 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.100 It's not hard. 00:13:42.140 --> 00:13:43.680 I'll pick on me, all right? 00:13:44.220 --> 00:13:51.340 It's not hard at the buffet to say, you know what? 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:52.260 I'm going to be disciplined. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.380 Three bowls of ice cream today, right? 00:13:54.980 --> 00:13:56.300 That's not discipline. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.120 Discipline, let's begin, says I'm not going to go to the buffet, right? 00:14:01.680 --> 00:14:09.100 But if I do, there's restraint, there's discipline, denying of what the flesh wants. 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:21.320 So we see these, and Jesus, in his own words, in Luke chapter 14, he says, if you're going to be a disciple, if you're going to be one of my followers, then here's what you need to do. 00:14:21.420 --> 00:14:22.960 You need to count the costs. 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:27.880 Because at the core of what Jesus is calling us to, there's no gotchas. 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:30.120 There's no gotchas. 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:36.760 Have you ever signed up for a deal that you're like, this deal is too good to be true? 00:14:37.680 --> 00:14:41.480 I found in my life, if I ever think this is too good to be true, guess what? 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:44.880 It's too good to be true, and it's not true, right? 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:48.560 And at some point in time, there's the gotcha. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.100 You didn't know what you were signing up for. 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:57.700 And Jesus says, I want you to understand in following me, there is no gotchas. 00:14:57.880 --> 00:14:59.800 There is no bait and switch. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.400 There is no, this is going to be easy, right? 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:07.760 Jesus says, take up your cross and follow me. 00:15:08.780 --> 00:15:10.420 That's what the gospel demands from us. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:16.660 So as we look at what it means to be a disciple of Christ, right? 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:18.180 We got to understand it's difficult. 00:15:18.180 --> 00:15:22.040 Yesterday, I was meeting with a group of people and talking to them 00:15:22.040 --> 00:15:24.120 about sharing their testimony, right? 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:29.460 How to build your story in Christ and tell your story to those who are far from God 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:30.560 or don't know God. 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:31.960 And we walk through this. 00:15:32.160 --> 00:15:36.800 It's really at its core, what you've got to get past is the layer of being uncomfortable. 00:15:37.380 --> 00:15:40.340 What you've got to work past is your level of shyness, 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:43.540 because it's not difficult at all to share your story. 00:15:43.540 --> 00:15:48.680 Yes, arguing scripture and apologetics may be difficult, but sharing your story is really 00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:50.200 only answering four questions. 00:15:50.500 --> 00:15:52.380 Number one, what was your life like before Jesus? 00:15:52.660 --> 00:15:52.820 Right? 00:15:52.820 --> 00:15:54.580 We can all describe that really well. 00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:57.460 You know what your life was like before you got saved. 00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:00.080 Question number two, how did Jesus grab your attention? 00:16:00.660 --> 00:16:00.820 Right? 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:03.080 Was it at a youth conference when you were a kid? 00:16:03.140 --> 00:16:05.200 Was it a conversation with your parent? 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:07.640 Was it a conversation with a coworker? 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.240 Was it coming to a worship service? 00:16:09.480 --> 00:16:11.160 What did God do to grab your attention? 00:16:11.420 --> 00:16:12.940 Number three, how did you respond? 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:14.260 Did you fill out a card? 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:15.200 Did you say a prayer? 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:16.460 Was it a conversation? 00:16:16.760 --> 00:16:17.480 Was it a commitment? 00:16:17.680 --> 00:16:18.900 What did that look like for you? 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:21.500 But question number four is where we seem to land on the most. 00:16:21.740 --> 00:16:24.540 It was this, what has your life been like since? 00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:26.600 And here's the deal. 00:16:27.300 --> 00:16:34.720 Our temptation oftentimes is to say, well, since being saved, my life has been perfect and 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:35.940 easy because Christ is in it. 00:16:37.140 --> 00:16:38.300 Now I'm going to ask you this. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.700 How many of you could raise your hand and say, right now your life is perfect and easy? 00:16:43.380 --> 00:16:44.080 None of us. 00:16:45.060 --> 00:16:45.880 None of us. 00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:53.580 It isn't true because Paul later on in 2 Timothy 4, he says, here's what his life is looking 00:16:53.580 --> 00:16:55.760 like as it ends, as it heads toward the end. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:56.880 He says, I fought the fight. 00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:58.140 I finished the race. 00:16:58.400 --> 00:16:59.520 I kept the faith. 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:00.840 Right? 00:17:00.900 --> 00:17:03.640 The perseverance of the faithfulness of the Lord. 00:17:04.540 --> 00:17:09.520 So if you came here today hoping to hear us say, hey man, sign up to love Jesus and everything's 00:17:09.520 --> 00:17:10.660 just going to magically work out. 00:17:10.820 --> 00:17:11.240 I'm sorry. 00:17:11.320 --> 00:17:12.020 That's not the gospel. 00:17:12.140 --> 00:17:13.380 That's not what scripture teaches us. 00:17:14.340 --> 00:17:15.260 It's not easy. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:24.480 And if you and I are saying yes to growing as disciples of Christ, then we have to understand 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:27.560 that spiritually speaking, it's not a day at the spa. 00:17:28.360 --> 00:17:32.600 But it's, it's grueling work that he calls us to. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:34.340 But here's the deal. 00:17:34.780 --> 00:17:35.980 It's so worth it. 00:17:36.820 --> 00:17:41.640 It's so worth it to watch the beauty of what he's done. 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:48.120 When a runner finishes the race, they never regret that they ran it. 00:17:49.260 --> 00:17:54.620 They'll acknowledge how difficult it is, but how beautiful it was to cross the finish. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:02.280 And brother and sister in Christ, as you're going through and facing what you're going through, 00:18:02.520 --> 00:18:03.800 here's the bit of encouragement. 00:18:04.760 --> 00:18:06.860 As we run, it is difficult. 00:18:07.800 --> 00:18:11.520 But when we cross that finish line, amen, it is worth it. 00:18:12.320 --> 00:18:15.220 It's so, so worth it. 00:18:15.560 --> 00:18:16.100 So let's start. 00:18:16.180 --> 00:18:18.600 Let's look at Philippians 2, let's look at verses 1 through 4. 00:18:20.140 --> 00:18:22.040 So Paul writes to the church at Philippi. 00:18:23.640 --> 00:18:28.820 He says, starting in verse 1, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, 00:18:29.060 --> 00:18:33.180 any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:38.700 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, 00:18:39.060 --> 00:18:42.500 being in full accord of one and of one mind. 00:18:42.840 --> 00:18:47.020 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:51.940 but in humility count others more significant than yourself. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:55.940 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, 00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:59.700 but also to the interest of others. 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:03.520 So what I want us to see, what we begin to grasp from this, 00:19:03.560 --> 00:19:07.400 is that the gospel demands difficult growth. 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:11.080 Not easy growth, difficult growth. 00:19:12.020 --> 00:19:14.360 Paul's writing this to the church. 00:19:15.040 --> 00:19:18.460 And his audience that he's appealing to is believers. 00:19:18.560 --> 00:19:19.420 Look back at verse 1. 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:24.500 So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, 00:19:24.760 --> 00:19:29.480 any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy. 00:19:29.780 --> 00:19:36.420 So his call is not for all people in some universal ethical modification 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:39.940 where the whole world gathers together and holds hands 00:19:39.940 --> 00:19:41.680 and talks about how much we love each other. 00:19:42.520 --> 00:19:43.300 That's not it. 00:19:44.100 --> 00:19:48.260 It's a command of Christ for the church. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:53.760 If you've experienced the encouragement and the love of Christ, 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:58.200 if you've felt the work of the Spirit of God in your life, 00:19:58.320 --> 00:20:02.400 if you know the love of God and the grace he gives, 00:20:02.520 --> 00:20:04.080 then here's what he's got for you. 00:20:04.860 --> 00:20:09.780 Here's the demands that Paul's going to lay out for you in doing this. 00:20:09.780 --> 00:20:14.380 So church, if you're here and you say, I'm a follower of Jesus, 00:20:14.580 --> 00:20:17.140 then you don't get to say, but this doesn't apply to me. 00:20:18.820 --> 00:20:20.160 This isn't what I'm about. 00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:23.100 Well, I'm not ready for this yet. 00:20:24.540 --> 00:20:26.500 No, this is the call. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:33.220 And as Paul writes, he says, and this is going to be on surface level. 00:20:34.260 --> 00:20:38.560 This is beyond just cleaning up the outside of what's there. 00:20:38.560 --> 00:20:42.480 This is a deep rooted work in you. 00:20:43.340 --> 00:20:46.380 He says, look, be of the same mind. 00:20:47.620 --> 00:20:49.760 Be of the same love. 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:53.100 Find yourself in full accord. 00:20:53.300 --> 00:20:58.180 What he means is without dissension amongst you, right? 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:01.160 That's hard enough to work out with two people. 00:21:02.320 --> 00:21:06.280 And Paul throws this out to this body of believers. 00:21:07.420 --> 00:21:10.520 And then in verses three and four, 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:17.240 he gives us what I believe are some of the most difficult verses in the Bible for us to try to fake. 00:21:18.580 --> 00:21:21.680 He says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.760 but in humility, count others more significant than yourself. 00:21:27.760 --> 00:21:33.740 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:40.280 So this is how the gospel, right, demands difficult growth. 00:21:42.280 --> 00:21:44.280 It's involved in humility. 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.580 It's involved in setting other things aside. 00:21:47.740 --> 00:21:49.160 I got to think about this this morning. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:56.680 How easy would Christianity be if it was a list of five or six things that we make sure we do every day? 00:21:57.600 --> 00:22:04.460 Like how easy would Christianity be if what we have to do is, hey, every day, wake up and say these five prayers? 00:22:04.520 --> 00:22:14.600 How easy would Christianity be if it said every day, make sure you do three nice things for three different people? 00:22:15.560 --> 00:22:24.700 How easy would Christianity be if it was wake up every morning and read your Bible 20 minutes a day? 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:26.400 Nothing more, nothing less. 00:22:26.780 --> 00:22:27.760 That's easy. 00:22:28.860 --> 00:22:30.080 That's routine. 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:32.540 That's checking boxes. 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:35.180 But here's what Paul says. 00:22:35.980 --> 00:22:41.460 You do nothing from selfish ambition, even if you feel justified for it. 00:22:42.560 --> 00:22:48.360 Even if it's your core, you know and you feel that you're right, and everyone else says that you're right, 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:53.200 and it's going to profit you, search your heart, and if it's of selfish ambition, you don't do it. 00:22:54.840 --> 00:23:01.200 Paul says count others, others here is all others, more significant than yourself. 00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:02.540 Whew. 00:23:04.300 --> 00:23:04.560 Right? 00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:06.780 All others. 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:09.720 All others. 00:23:11.380 --> 00:23:14.480 You mean just 20 minutes a day or all others? 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:16.220 No, all others. 00:23:18.280 --> 00:23:24.580 And then understand that at your core, your actions affect others, 00:23:24.840 --> 00:23:30.540 and so always, always consider them. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:40.200 So I remember, right after I got married, Aaron and I got married, 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:46.480 I had the realization, I can't just think about me anymore. 00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:48.320 Right? 00:23:49.260 --> 00:23:54.160 And then years later, God said, I'm going to ramp that up a little bit more in your life, right? 00:23:54.460 --> 00:23:56.700 You don't get one kid, you get two, you know? 00:23:57.660 --> 00:23:59.660 And so now I can't. 00:23:59.760 --> 00:24:00.820 There's not mine. 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:01.900 There's not me. 00:24:02.040 --> 00:24:02.920 There's not I. 00:24:03.020 --> 00:24:03.800 There is us. 00:24:04.100 --> 00:24:05.760 And we are together. 00:24:07.360 --> 00:24:13.760 And Paul says, and this is how we think of all others, in every aspect of who we are. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:20.120 And so the gospel demands difficult growth. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:22.860 It doesn't suggest it. 00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:28.580 It doesn't say when it's convenient for us, this is how we're to be. 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:34.680 It doesn't say, as you get more established in your life, that this is what you're to embody. 00:24:35.760 --> 00:24:42.840 Paul says, if you have partaken in the encouragement and the love of Christ, then this is for you. 00:24:43.120 --> 00:24:45.220 So 13-year-olds, this is for you. 00:24:45.360 --> 00:24:47.100 33-year-olds, this is for you. 00:24:47.320 --> 00:24:49.100 77-year-olds, this is for you. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:53.120 If you are here, if you're a follower of Jesus, this is for us. 00:24:54.120 --> 00:24:57.380 And it hits the pastor in the gut just as much as it hits you in the gut. 00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:01.240 Not suggestions, but the demands. 00:25:01.540 --> 00:25:02.940 And then he continues on. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.660 Philippians 2, starting in verse 5. 00:25:05.800 --> 00:25:11.860 Have this mind amongst yourselves, Paul writes, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:18.620 who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 00:25:18.620 --> 00:25:24.100 but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, 00:25:24.120 --> 00:25:29.480 and being found in human form, he humbled himself by coming obedient to the point of death, 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:30.780 even death on the cross. 00:25:31.040 --> 00:25:37.560 Verse 9, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 00:25:37.800 --> 00:25:43.240 so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:49.380 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:26:00.420 So Paul doesn't roll out a verse 4 and say, discuss this amongst yourselves and elect from yourselves 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:04.460 someone to set at the standard, who's getting this right. 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:07.100 He comes back in verse 5. 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:09.400 Now, the early church would take this passage of Scripture. 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:13.740 This is just a side piece right there, but it was so valuable and important to them 00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:18.080 that these verses that we just read is one of the early hymns that the early church would sing. 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:23.020 He says, I'm going to give you this picture of having this in mind, 00:26:23.040 --> 00:26:27.400 and what Paul displays before them is the obedience of Jesus. 00:26:28.700 --> 00:26:34.560 And so here in this, Jesus is the model, Jesus is the standard, Jesus is the goal. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.500 So there can be nothing more because he's Jesus. 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:50.900 And anything else compared is drastically, right, less. 00:26:52.180 --> 00:27:02.700 And he says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:12.020 So yes, others may exemplify a life with Christ, but he is the standard. 00:27:13.140 --> 00:27:21.380 And so Paul does in these few verses, walks through and outlines a lot of the life of Jesus here on this earth. 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:32.240 And he says, what we see from Christ, that we're to embody, that we're to become, that we're to see working out in us, 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:38.820 is some of the most difficult things as he embodied that in perfection, and you and I are battling through this in our lives. 00:27:39.560 --> 00:27:51.680 We see the humility of Christ, that Christ being fully God, but also fully man, did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:28:01.840 Was he God, yes, yes, but his embodiment of humility in his ministry as he came to do the will of the Father. 00:28:02.780 --> 00:28:05.600 So we see the humility of Christ as our standard. 00:28:06.120 --> 00:28:08.100 We see the sacrifice of Christ. 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:12.020 He emptied himself, the form of a servant, the likeness of man. 00:28:12.320 --> 00:28:18.160 Oftentimes, we think of the sacrifice of Jesus, and we think only of the cross. 00:28:19.300 --> 00:28:23.520 And I don't mean only as minimizing it. 00:28:24.220 --> 00:28:26.860 It's the most beautiful work ever been done. 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:32.580 As he died and paid for the sins of all of mankind so that life could be found in him. 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.820 But in every aspect of his life, was there a form of sacrifice? 00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:44.800 He is royalty, and he took on the form of a servant. 00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:53.060 He is God, and he took on the likeness of man, the sacrifice of Christ. 00:28:53.060 --> 00:29:01.780 Every moment from the manger to the cross is a picture of the sacrifice of Jesus in everything that he did. 00:29:03.160 --> 00:29:11.160 And in that, thinking of others, death on the cross. 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:13.740 And then this is the standard. 00:29:14.860 --> 00:29:16.040 This is the model. 00:29:16.600 --> 00:29:25.060 This is the example that is you and I take personal responsibility for what God is calling us to, 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:28.580 where God is setting us, that Jesus is the standard. 00:29:28.840 --> 00:29:31.220 So let's just go ahead and deal with some of the obvious, right? 00:29:31.840 --> 00:29:34.780 You and I, we can't die for the sins of the world. 00:29:35.060 --> 00:29:36.060 We can't do it. 00:29:36.540 --> 00:29:37.720 We can't live perfectly. 00:29:38.820 --> 00:29:40.020 But we haven't been called to. 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:50.880 But you and I, what he is calling us to, can find ourselves humbly before the Lord and in all things seeking to do his will. 00:29:51.840 --> 00:30:03.160 We can find ourselves and understand that in every day, in every moment, that God is calling us to live not a life of indulgence, but in a life of sacrifice. 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:07.380 Sacrificing for him and sacrificing for others. 00:30:08.200 --> 00:30:16.880 And that just as Christ put the needs of others before the needs of himself, that we can do the exact same thing. 00:30:17.560 --> 00:30:19.140 To view ourselves humbly. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:21.620 To see ourselves as the servant. 00:30:22.340 --> 00:30:23.340 And to embody that. 00:30:24.560 --> 00:30:25.400 That's not easy. 00:30:26.220 --> 00:30:26.960 It's difficult. 00:30:27.740 --> 00:30:29.380 Look at verses 12 through 13. 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:32.100 Paul says, 00:30:32.100 --> 00:30:45.460 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. 00:30:46.360 --> 00:30:54.880 For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:58.180 So here's the point, and we'll get to explaining this. 00:30:59.120 --> 00:31:03.260 Work out what is working in you. 00:31:04.380 --> 00:31:08.340 Work out what is working in you. 00:31:08.820 --> 00:31:14.580 Again, Paul says to this church, he's looking for obedience to the Lord. 00:31:15.500 --> 00:31:18.100 And Paul says this, he says, you know, you've obeyed. 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:19.360 I've seen this. 00:31:19.620 --> 00:31:21.080 I've experienced this. 00:31:21.300 --> 00:31:22.940 I know the depth of that. 00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:25.720 But Paul says, don't let it end there. 00:31:26.100 --> 00:31:33.540 How much more you're called to obey, not only in my presence, but also in my absence of when I'm gone. 00:31:33.780 --> 00:31:42.060 And so Paul's saying to them, let this permeate and work toward every single aspect of your life. 00:31:42.280 --> 00:31:47.360 Like business owner, you should be a Christian business owner. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:52.380 Teacher, you should be a Christian teacher. 00:31:52.700 --> 00:31:56.120 Doctor, you should be a Christian doctor. 00:31:56.480 --> 00:32:03.800 And what you do does not solely come out of what you've been trained in your knowledge and in your school to do that. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:06.700 But it comes from who you are in Christ. 00:32:07.820 --> 00:32:10.300 So can I unethically get ahead? 00:32:10.940 --> 00:32:11.540 No. 00:32:11.860 --> 00:32:12.620 Why not? 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:14.380 Because it's who you are in Christ. 00:32:15.740 --> 00:32:22.680 How do I manage those who work under me as you would, as you understand that you are under Christ? 00:32:23.340 --> 00:32:28.780 That in every aspect of our lives, that Jesus is who comes from us. 00:32:28.780 --> 00:32:36.620 Not in the presence of those who are solely saints found in Christ, but for those who aren't as well. 00:32:37.580 --> 00:32:38.980 And that this is who we are. 00:32:40.220 --> 00:32:49.140 That yes and amen, there's no difference in who we are when we walk in here, when we walk into our small group, and when we walk onto the ball field or the office place. 00:32:49.940 --> 00:32:52.900 It's who we are in Jesus. 00:32:54.120 --> 00:32:55.920 So Paul says, it's obedience with me. 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:57.720 It's obedience without me. 00:32:57.900 --> 00:33:01.200 But then there's two phrases that I want to look at, and we're going to wrap up with these. 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:09.480 Paul says, first he says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 00:33:10.340 --> 00:33:12.900 I want to say this before we get into this. 00:33:13.320 --> 00:33:16.200 Working out your salvation is not working for salvation. 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:17.380 Right? 00:33:18.220 --> 00:33:22.340 If you're here, and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, he did the work. 00:33:23.580 --> 00:33:24.680 He didn't do it partially. 00:33:24.940 --> 00:33:25.740 He did it fully. 00:33:26.720 --> 00:33:33.360 And no part of Christianity demands the work that you must do in order to inherit the grace that he gives you. 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:40.760 Working out your salvation is not working for salvation. 00:33:41.520 --> 00:33:55.320 But being saved, being regenerated, brings you and I into a covenant relationship with the Lord, and there are expectations and demands that come from that. 00:33:56.040 --> 00:34:05.520 And your Christian life, as a result, is to be authentically demonstrated to others, because this is who I am. 00:34:05.520 --> 00:34:09.540 Paul says, work it out. 00:34:10.040 --> 00:34:10.880 Right? 00:34:11.740 --> 00:34:13.320 Work it out. 00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:15.380 And it's done. 00:34:15.640 --> 00:34:19.880 It's done with fear and trembling. 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:21.020 Right? 00:34:21.720 --> 00:34:25.160 What that means is in joy and reverence before the Lord. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.960 It's the call of how we're to view him of who he is. 00:34:30.620 --> 00:34:33.460 So work out your salvation. 00:34:34.140 --> 00:34:34.320 Right? 00:34:34.520 --> 00:34:35.940 There's expectations. 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:38.820 There's demands that God has given us. 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:49.160 And we, as Christians, who have partaken in the encouragement, partaken in the comfort, partaken in the love, partaken in the affection, partaken in the sympathy. 00:34:49.340 --> 00:34:52.920 We want to work this out so that it is visible. 00:34:53.740 --> 00:34:54.500 That it's visible. 00:34:54.760 --> 00:34:54.920 Right? 00:34:55.540 --> 00:34:57.220 Think about your... 00:34:57.220 --> 00:34:58.320 Think about muscles. 00:34:59.560 --> 00:34:59.800 Right? 00:35:00.300 --> 00:35:01.820 We all got muscles. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:10.800 But some of them, on some of us, are easier to be seen than some of us on others. 00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:11.120 Right? 00:35:11.900 --> 00:35:12.920 I've got muscles. 00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:14.740 I just keep them insulated. 00:35:14.940 --> 00:35:15.140 Right? 00:35:15.380 --> 00:35:17.540 I want to keep them warm and protected. 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:17.920 Right? 00:35:18.120 --> 00:35:20.560 It's a layer of insurance over everything. 00:35:20.660 --> 00:35:20.860 Right? 00:35:21.180 --> 00:35:22.040 I got that. 00:35:22.220 --> 00:35:29.340 But, like, when you see someone, right, and they're like, that's my impression of somebody with muscles. 00:35:29.500 --> 00:35:29.640 Right? 00:35:30.100 --> 00:35:30.540 Right? 00:35:32.600 --> 00:35:33.580 Here's what they do. 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:36.480 They do this crazy, insane thing. 00:35:37.060 --> 00:35:37.320 Right? 00:35:38.080 --> 00:35:39.460 It's called working out. 00:35:39.620 --> 00:35:39.840 Right? 00:35:40.460 --> 00:35:41.460 That's what they do. 00:35:42.080 --> 00:35:50.700 And when they get done working out, after a consistent time of working out, you can look at them and then not have to tell you, oh, I bet they work out. 00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:51.080 Right? 00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:52.100 Why? 00:35:53.100 --> 00:35:59.160 Because what they're doing and who they're becoming can be visible and can be seen. 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:11.340 And so the Bible calls all of us to work out our salvation so that it can be visible, that it can be seen, that it's who we are. 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:23.920 And then he says this, God who works in you, he continues, God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:34.500 God has done and is doing, God has done and is doing a work in every one of us who's a believer. 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:41.560 Through the power of his spirit, he is transforming us. 00:36:43.160 --> 00:36:52.800 Scripture tells us that he gives us a new heart, that he gives us a new mind, that we in Christ, we begin to feel differently. 00:36:53.460 --> 00:36:55.980 We begin to think differently. 00:36:56.320 --> 00:36:58.620 We begin to hear things differently. 00:36:59.020 --> 00:37:02.300 We begin to see things differently. 00:37:03.100 --> 00:37:09.000 That God is working in us to do this. 00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:12.300 I remember the day after I got saved. 00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:14.760 The day after I got saved. 00:37:15.540 --> 00:37:23.120 A thought came to my mind that I'd had so many times in my life. 00:37:24.400 --> 00:37:25.700 This thought came. 00:37:27.040 --> 00:37:32.200 And immediately, a thought easily a thousand times in my life. 00:37:32.280 --> 00:37:33.940 This one thought came into my mind. 00:37:33.940 --> 00:37:43.300 And for the first time in my 22 years, the next thought that came with it, that's sin. 00:37:44.860 --> 00:37:48.920 No one had ever told me that that thought was sin. 00:37:50.540 --> 00:37:56.920 But the spirit of the Lord inside of me says, you're mine now. 00:37:57.760 --> 00:37:59.680 And I'm transforming you. 00:38:00.380 --> 00:38:04.100 That which is in you is changing. 00:38:05.100 --> 00:38:07.380 And that is sin. 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:11.040 And, Bo, you need to remove that. 00:38:11.720 --> 00:38:12.840 You need to remove that. 00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:14.960 And so we begin to think. 00:38:15.060 --> 00:38:15.940 We begin to feel. 00:38:16.080 --> 00:38:18.280 We begin to see things differently. 00:38:19.000 --> 00:38:22.520 And all of these transformations are for a purpose. 00:38:23.240 --> 00:38:23.380 Right? 00:38:23.620 --> 00:38:26.040 To both work and will for his good pleasure. 00:38:26.220 --> 00:38:29.420 To live for his name of what he calls us to. 00:38:29.420 --> 00:38:38.080 So when we take these two statements that Paul gives the church at Philippi, when we take these two statements and we put them together, here's the conclusion that we come to. 00:38:38.180 --> 00:38:38.260 Right? 00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:45.140 God does not demand of us what we are not capable of doing when we are found in him. 00:38:46.380 --> 00:38:56.900 He is calling us to a life that he, through the power of his spirit, that's embodied within us, is empowering us to do this. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:57.060 Right? 00:38:57.300 --> 00:39:02.840 So when we take what God is doing in us, here's what working it out means. 00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:04.760 We work it to the surface. 00:39:06.280 --> 00:39:22.920 We take the heart of humility that he's given that this is what working out our salvation looks like, is I'm no longer going to wrestle with, God, should I obey you or should I not? 00:39:23.120 --> 00:39:28.040 It's God, yes, in your power and in your grace, Lord, give me the power and the strength to do this. 00:39:28.220 --> 00:39:31.700 And God says, you've got it in the spirit in you and go and do it. 00:39:33.640 --> 00:39:34.840 So I've got two questions. 00:39:36.140 --> 00:39:37.120 And we're going to close. 00:39:38.260 --> 00:39:39.180 Question number one. 00:39:41.320 --> 00:39:42.760 What is God doing in you? 00:39:44.260 --> 00:39:45.660 What is God doing in you? 00:39:46.900 --> 00:39:58.260 Where is that rumble in your being of the sin that is in your life that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is convicting you for? 00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:00.760 What is God doing in you? 00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:03.080 What is God doing in you? 00:40:05.080 --> 00:40:14.160 If the answer to that question is nothing, I'm going to ask this question. 00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:16.980 Is the spirit of God in you? 00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:19.800 Is the spirit of God in you? 00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:30.460 And my fear is there's so many of us that have fallen into a pattern of cultural Christianity, but we've never experienced rebirth in Christ. 00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:41.560 And our Christian walk has been filled with checking the external boxes of our life, but we've never experienced the internal work of the spirit that marks us as a believer. 00:40:42.440 --> 00:40:46.120 So what is God doing in you? 00:40:46.620 --> 00:40:50.860 And when you answer that, pursue it. 00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:53.940 Pursue what God's doing in you. 00:40:54.760 --> 00:41:01.380 And if you can't answer that, then today could it be the day that you fall down before him. 00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:03.800 To repent of your sin. 00:41:05.100 --> 00:41:06.880 To acknowledge who he is. 00:41:07.740 --> 00:41:09.600 And to confess him as Lord and Savior. 00:41:11.020 --> 00:41:12.780 And I want to ask this last question. 00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:17.520 Not only is what is God doing in you, this matters. 00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:19.920 What can others see from you? 00:41:20.960 --> 00:41:22.140 What can others see from you? 00:41:22.920 --> 00:41:27.620 Do they know you're a Christian because you've got a really cool coffee mug that sits on your desk and says that you're a Christian? 00:41:29.140 --> 00:41:37.460 Do they know you're a Christian because you'll drop a note on Facebook, on Instagram, on something about the fact that you have a Bible verse? 00:41:39.160 --> 00:41:42.020 Do they know that we're a Christian because we slap a bumper sticker on our car? 00:41:43.140 --> 00:41:53.760 Or do they know that we are a Christian because of the evidence of the Spirit of God working in us? 00:41:55.340 --> 00:42:02.560 The more that I wrestle with this within myself, the more I come to the realization of how much I need to repent and confess every day. 00:42:03.180 --> 00:42:03.400 Amen? 00:42:04.360 --> 00:42:11.120 The more that I begin to understand of what God is doing in me, the more it brings me to my knees before him. 00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:17.640 So this isn't a message of how we've all got it figured out or how I've got it all figured out. 00:42:17.640 --> 00:42:21.800 But it's a message for all of us to say, you know what? 00:42:22.820 --> 00:42:27.500 I need to take responsibility for me. 00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:33.720 And I need today to choose to grow in Christ. 00:42:34.420 --> 00:42:35.120 Would you pray with me? 00:42:36.180 --> 00:42:37.980 Lord, we thank you so much for today. 00:42:38.100 --> 00:42:41.460 We thank you, Lord, for this time that we could be here together. 00:42:42.880 --> 00:42:45.780 Lord, I thank you for the conviction and the drawing of your word. 00:42:46.660 --> 00:42:49.840 I thank you for the work of your Spirit in us. 00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:56.080 Lord, I pray that everyone in here could answer the question of what you're doing in their life. 00:42:56.860 --> 00:43:03.540 I pray that they could acknowledge the sin that they're working through under the guidance and conviction of your Holy Spirit. 00:43:04.260 --> 00:43:11.700 Lord, I thank you for the conviction that you're giving me, not only this week, but today and in this moment of the sin that's in my life. 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:20.620 And, Lord, I thank you in your grace and your kindness, what you do in your love is you bring us to the sweet spot of confession and repentance before you, 00:43:21.680 --> 00:43:24.780 where you forgive us over and over and over again. 00:43:25.580 --> 00:43:29.340 Lord, give us the boldness and the strength to work out our salvation. 00:43:29.640 --> 00:43:37.360 Lord, may people see the evidence of the Spirit of God in our lives, and they might not understand why we are the way they are, 00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:38.920 but, Lord, they know that it's something different. 00:43:39.400 --> 00:43:46.960 And it's not through some man-made moral compass, but it's through the Holy Spirit of God that indwells and that lives inside of us. 00:43:48.500 --> 00:43:50.680 And so, Lord, may it transform us. 00:43:51.240 --> 00:43:55.520 May you transform us in every aspect, in every part of our life. 00:43:55.520 --> 00:43:56.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:43:56.520 --> 00:43:56.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:43:56.520 --> 00:43:57.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:43:57.520 --> 00:43:58.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:43:58.520 --> 00:43:59.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:43:59.520 --> 00:44:00.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:00.520 --> 00:44:01.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:01.520 --> 00:44:02.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:02.520 --> 00:44:04.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:04.520 --> 00:44:05.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:05.520 --> 00:44:06.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:06.520 --> 00:44:07.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:07.520 --> 00:44:08.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:08.520 --> 00:44:09.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:09.520 --> 00:44:10.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:10.520 --> 00:44:11.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:11.520 --> 00:44:12.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:12.520 --> 00:44:13.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:13.520 --> 00:44:14.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:14.520 --> 00:44:15.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:15.520 --> 00:44:16.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:16.520 --> 00:44:17.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:17.520 --> 00:44:18.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:18.520 --> 00:44:19.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:19.520 --> 00:44:20.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:20.520 --> 00:44:21.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:21.520 --> 00:44:22.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:22.520 --> 00:44:23.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:23.520 --> 00:44:24.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:24.520 --> 00:44:25.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:25.520 --> 00:44:26.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:26.520 --> 00:44:27.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:27.520 --> 00:44:28.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:28.520 --> 00:44:29.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:29.520 --> 00:44:30.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:30.520 --> 00:44:31.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:31.520 --> 00:44:32.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:32.520 --> 00:44:33.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:33.520 --> 00:44:34.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:34.520 --> 00:44:35.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:35.520 --> 00:44:36.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:36.520 --> 00:44:37.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:37.520 --> 00:44:38.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:38.520 --> 00:44:39.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:39.520 --> 00:44:40.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:40.520 --> 00:44:41.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:41.520 --> 00:44:42.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:42.520 --> 00:44:43.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:43.520 --> 00:44:44.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:44.520 --> 00:44:45.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:45.520 --> 00:44:46.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:46.520 --> 00:44:47.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:47.520 --> 00:44:48.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:48.520 --> 00:44:49.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:49.520 --> 00:44:50.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:50.520 --> 00:44:51.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:52.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:52.520 --> 00:44:53.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:53.520 --> 00:44:54.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:54.520 --> 00:44:55.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:55.520 --> 00:44:56.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:56.520 --> 00:44:57.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:57.520 --> 00:44:58.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:58.520 --> 00:44:59.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:44:59.520 --> 00:45:00.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:00.520 --> 00:45:01.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:01.520 --> 00:45:02.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:02.520 --> 00:45:03.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:03.520 --> 00:45:04.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:04.520 --> 00:45:05.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:05.520 --> 00:45:06.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:06.520 --> 00:45:07.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:07.520 --> 00:45:08.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:08.520 --> 00:45:09.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:09.520 --> 00:45:10.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:10.520 --> 00:45:11.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:11.520 --> 00:45:12.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:12.520 --> 00:45:13.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:13.520 --> 00:45:14.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:14.520 --> 00:45:15.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:15.520 --> 00:45:16.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:16.520 --> 00:45:17.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:17.520 --> 00:45:18.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:18.520 --> 00:45:19.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:19.520 --> 00:45:20.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:20.520 --> 00:45:21.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:21.520 --> 00:45:22.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:22.520 --> 00:45:23.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:23.520 --> 00:45:24.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:24.520 --> 00:45:25.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:25.520 --> 00:45:26.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:26.520 --> 00:45:27.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:27.520 --> 00:45:28.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:28.520 --> 00:45:29.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:29.520 --> 00:45:30.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:30.520 --> 00:45:31.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:31.520 --> 00:45:34.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:34.520 --> 00:45:35.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:35.520 --> 00:45:36.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:36.520 --> 00:45:37.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:37.520 --> 00:45:38.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:38.520 --> 00:45:39.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:39.520 --> 00:45:40.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:40.520 --> 00:45:41.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:41.520 --> 00:45:42.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:42.520 --> 00:45:43.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:43.520 --> 00:45:44.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:44.520 --> 00:45:45.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:45.520 --> 00:45:46.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:46.520 --> 00:45:47.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:47.520 --> 00:45:48.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:48.520 --> 00:45:49.520 May you transform us in every part of our life. 00:45:49.520 --> 00:45:51.520 That what we partake in. 00:45:51.520 --> 00:45:52.520 When we acknowledge. 00:45:52.520 --> 00:45:55.520 When we recognize as you as Lord and Savior. 00:45:55.520 --> 00:45:57.520 When we confess our sin and repent. 00:45:57.520 --> 00:45:59.520 When we surrender before you, Lord. 00:45:59.520 --> 00:46:03.520 That the tomb, the grave is not the end for us. 00:46:05.520 --> 00:46:08.520 But it's the finish line. 00:46:08.520 --> 00:46:12.520 And what awaits for us is the crown of righteousness. 00:46:12.520 --> 00:46:22.520 That makes every bump and bruise and scar. 00:46:22.520 --> 00:46:25.520 That we face on this earth worth it. 00:46:26.520 --> 00:46:28.520 Makes it worth it. 00:46:28.520 --> 00:46:31.520 It makes every point of persecution. 00:46:31.520 --> 00:46:34.520 Every point of criticism worth it. 00:46:35.520 --> 00:46:38.520 It makes every arrow of hatred. 00:46:38.520 --> 00:46:41.520 Every moment of mocking worth it. 00:46:41.520 --> 00:46:42.520 Worth it. 00:46:42.520 --> 00:46:46.520 That it makes every moment of our lives worth it. 00:46:46.520 --> 00:46:47.520 Because Jesus, you're worth it. 00:46:50.520 --> 00:46:55.520 Because every tongue in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 00:46:55.520 --> 00:46:57.520 Will confess that Jesus Christ. 00:46:57.520 --> 00:46:59.520 And Jesus Christ alone is Lord. 00:47:03.520 --> 00:47:07.520 So Lord, I don't like the bumps and the bruises. 00:47:10.520 --> 00:47:11.520 But amen. 00:47:11.520 --> 00:47:12.520 It's worth it. 00:47:12.520 --> 00:47:13.520 It's worth it. 00:47:13.520 --> 00:47:14.520 It's worth it. 00:47:14.520 --> 00:47:15.520 It's in Jesus name we pray. 00:47:15.520 --> 00:47:16.120 Jesus, we pray. 00:47:45.520 --> 00:47:46.240 and Instagram.