1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,600 Good morning. It's nice to see you. 2 00:00:03,960 --> 00:00:06,560 Sorry about the cold. I I like that joke though. 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:08,760 That was good. Darren, I got to be honest with 4 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:10,560 you. I I thought about fibbing this 5 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:14,160 morning because like the emphasis of my sermon is 6 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,760 cultivating and developing a preference for mission over and 7 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,160 above comfort. So I would, I honestly, I was 8 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,600 like, what if I told them this was all just like some pre 9 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,400 planned object lesson, but it's, it's not. 10 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,200 Maybe maybe it was by the Lord. So you know, maybe enjoy it that 11 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:34,400 way. If you've got a Bible, go ahead 12 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,160 and get that open to the book of Titus. 13 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:37,760 That's all the way in the New Testament. 14 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,720 If you don't know where that's at, there should be a, an index 15 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:42,840 on the inside of the Bible that helps you get there. 16 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:45,320 If you can't find your, you don't have a Bible, that's OK. 17 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,000 We'll have all the relevant texts on the screen for you. 18 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:53,480 All we're doing this morning is Titus chapter 3, the final 19 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:56,160 chapter in Titus. And we're just looking at one 20 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:00,840 verse and that is verse 8, Titus 3, verse 8. 21 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,040 Only one verse to cover this morning. 22 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,160 That's on purpose because this one verse is going to get us 23 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,280 thinking about and it's going to have us explaining the 24 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,360 difference between two different models of church. 25 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,120 We want to explore what was the New Testament model of of the 26 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:21,040 church. And I know that there's people 27 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:22,640 out there who get excited about that. 28 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,680 I know there's also people out there who are like, dude, I just 29 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,800 want to know if God is real and we're going to be talking about 30 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,360 models of church this morning. But if that's you, I'm asking 31 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:34,320 you to stick with me. That exploration of two 32 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:36,880 different models of church will help us gain a better 33 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,200 understanding of the nature of God, but it will also help us 34 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,480 gain a better understanding of like what we're trying to 35 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,800 accomplish when we even gather together as a church. 36 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,640 What I, one of my prayers is that this morning you would have 37 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,760 like just a moment, maybe at the beginning of the sermon or at 38 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,640 the end of the sermon, or maybe in the middle of the sermon, 39 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,440 that you would have kind of a light bulb moment where you 40 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:04,120 think, oh, that's why Frontier Church does it this way or that 41 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,040 way. I hope it's an experience that 42 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:10,039 kind of illuminates why we have this model of church and not 43 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:12,200 that model of church. But before I really dig deep 44 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:19,200 into that, I've got a proposal. Imagine if the Army decided to 45 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:25,640 radically redesign its boot camp to radically redesign its boot 46 00:02:25,640 --> 00:02:28,240 camp. Suppose that instead of using 47 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:33,040 boot camp to prepare soldiers for war, suppose that the higher 48 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:36,400 ups and positions of leadership decided that the real problem 49 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,200 with boot camp and the Army was actually numbers and attendance. 50 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:46,600 People just don't want to do something so demanding anymore, 51 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,800 they said. So imagine that they rebranded 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,480 boot camp and they decided to rebrand boot camp for the Army. 53 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,080 Less around sweat and more around self-care. 54 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,680 Perhaps instead of rifles and push ups, maybe massage therapy 55 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,320 and pedicures. Whatever. 56 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:08,760 Whatever it takes to get people in the doors. 57 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,840 Whatever it takes to to get more, to get more numbers up, 58 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,760 they said. So rather than training soldiers 59 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,800 how to load and shoot rifles, they hire the best pop bands in 60 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,080 the world to come perform for them while they sit in massage 61 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,280 chairs, consuming the entertainment and no doubt 62 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,880 increasing the numbers rather than training soldiers for 63 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:37,640 combat. A boot camp spa hour with face 64 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:44,280 masks and cucumbers. And The thing is, and this needs 65 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:49,880 to be said, The thing is that radical redesign of boot camp 66 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:55,440 might work. It might get more people in the 67 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:59,960 doors, It might increase Army attendance. 68 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:06,520 They might get more recruits. But what's going to happen when 69 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:13,360 they get dropped into combat? They would have every reason to 70 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:19,120 say you got us killed out here. And of course we could all 71 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,240 chuckle at the craziness and madness of the proposal of 72 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,160 preparing soldiers by teaching them what fingernail paint 73 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,000 colors best bring out their eyes rather than training to load 74 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,960 their guns right. It sounds ridiculous. 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,480 There's a war out there, There's a war out there. 76 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:41,600 Of course, it'd be crazy to redesign boot camp around 77 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:47,360 comfort and consumerism and cucumber face masks to get more 78 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:53,520 money, right? But if that's so crazy, then why 79 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,200 is that exactly what the church has done over the last several 80 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,720 decades? Why is that exactly how the 81 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:06,800 church has remodeled itself over the last 20-30, forty, 50 years? 82 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,800 There's a war out there. So if you're able, let's go 83 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,520 ahead and stand for the reading of God's word. 84 00:05:24,740 --> 00:05:27,380 A lot of this text requires explanation. 85 00:05:27,420 --> 00:05:29,900 I'll make sure to front load it a little bit in just a second. 86 00:05:29,900 --> 00:05:32,620 But here's the here's the one verse we're looking at this 87 00:05:32,620 --> 00:05:36,340 morning. Paul says the saying is 88 00:05:36,340 --> 00:05:38,100 trustworthy. What saying? 89 00:05:39,140 --> 00:05:41,180 And I want you to insist on these things. 90 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:43,940 What things? We'll get to that in a second, 91 00:05:44,660 --> 00:05:52,800 so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote 92 00:05:52,800 --> 00:05:56,840 themselves to good works. If you have a voice this 93 00:05:56,840 --> 00:06:02,200 morning, let me hear it say devote, devote themselves to 94 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,960 good works. These things, doing good works, 95 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,600 these things are excellent and profitable for people. 96 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,920 Heavenly Father, I pray that we would be the type of church that 97 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:19,600 gathers together to be filled up with the fuel of the gospel and 98 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:24,160 to be sent out with good works and good news so that we would 99 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,000 be of benefit to our city. So that we would really live for 100 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:36,640 the glory of Jesus and the joy of of Des Moines as we think 101 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,240 about being a benefit to our city to being good for all 102 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,320 people. Maybe there's a face you want to 103 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:48,000 bring to mind. Who's that that family member? 104 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,560 Who's that friend? Who's that Co worker? 105 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,600 Who's that buddy who doesn't know Jesus? 106 00:06:57,160 --> 00:06:59,760 Lord, maybe you'd be so kind to bring their face and name to 107 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:06,680 mind right now as we think about that individual, would you fill 108 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:13,000 us with an earnest desire to go tell that friend about who Jesus 109 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:19,080 is and what he's done for us? That if we live that way, Lord, 110 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,560 we really would exist for the glory of Jesus and the joy of 111 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,160 the morning. So it's in the precious name of 112 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:24,920 Jesus that all God's people prayed. 113 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:32,400 You guys can have a seat. OK, so in a minute, we'll 114 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,600 explore the difference between two different models of church, 115 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,800 the attractional church and the missional church model. 116 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,520 But first, I want to show you the literary flow of verse 8 117 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:45,440 really quickly. There's a literary flow that 118 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,040 helps it make sense because it doesn't make sense on its own. 119 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,040 If you look at the beginning of the verse, it says the saying is 120 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,040 trustworthy. What saying? 121 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:56,480 And I want you to insist on these things. 122 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,680 What things, well, the things that the church needs to insist 123 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,560 on are the things that he just wrote about. 124 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:05,160 The saying he's talking about was the saying right before 125 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:06,440 this. It starts in verse 4. 126 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,440 Here's the saying that's trustworthy and the things that 127 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:11,000 he wants the church to insist upon. 128 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,640 Verse 4 says, but when the goodness and love and kindness 129 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,480 of God our Savior appeared, he saved us not because of works 130 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,320 done in righteousness, anything we can do, but according to his 131 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,840 own mercy by the washing, by the washing of the regeneration and 132 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,480 renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly 133 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,440 through Jesus Christ our Savior. So that being justified by his 134 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:37,039 grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal 135 00:08:37,039 --> 00:08:39,280 life. That that saying right there, 136 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,080 those verses, that's the gospel. That's one of the clearest 137 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,960 articulations of the gospel in all of the New Testament. 138 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:49,600 And so the saying he's talking about and the things the church 139 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,080 needs to insist upon is the gospel. 140 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:54,760 So church, when you get together, make sure to insist 141 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,520 upon these things, these gospel truths. 142 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:02,640 Preach them week in week out. The gospel should be preached 143 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:04,560 every time the church gathers together. 144 00:09:04,560 --> 00:09:09,880 And as it's preached, it should produce a certain effect in the 145 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,640 lives of the church members. What what's the effect? 146 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,840 Pick up right where we left off at verse 8, so that those who 147 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,000 have believed in God may get cozy. 148 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,760 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, so that those who have believed in 149 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,120 God may be careful to devote. Let me hear your beautiful 150 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:38,440 voices again. Devote to devote themselves to 151 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:41,000 good works. Follow me. 152 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,120 Constant and consistent preaching of the gospel of Jesus 153 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:50,200 should produce in the church a devotion to good works. 154 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,240 So having you repeat that word devotion on purpose. 155 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,880 In fact, if you've got a Bible, squint at that word really 156 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:58,560 quickly. If you don't squint at the 157 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:00,760 screen, circle it in your imagination. 158 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,880 I'm going to make a big deal out of the word devote. 159 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:06,080 Devote yourself to to good works. 160 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:11,640 The Greek word here for devote means to stand before or take 161 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:13,520 the lead. You know what a good translation 162 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,000 for it would be? Devote. 163 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,960 That's why they picked that word. 164 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,360 It's the perfect word to take the lead. 165 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:27,840 I'm going somewhere with this. The word devote here is not a 166 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:32,520 passive verb as a part of speech. 167 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:36,640 Grammatically, it is an active verb. 168 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:39,760 And I'm again, I'm going somewhere with this one 169 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:44,680 Christian commenter states the word devotion here is an active 170 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:50,800 leadership posture again, to stand before or to take the 171 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,440 lead, to take the lead in doing good works. 172 00:10:54,640 --> 00:11:02,480 Not passive, active. It's an active verb. 173 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:05,320 And this is the key. That's why I'm making a big deal 174 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,520 out of it. Sometimes as Christians, we have 175 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:10,720 the tendency to think phrases like this. 176 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:17,040 Devote yourself to good works is passive, as if what God's Word 177 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,840 is instructing us to do is just go out there and don't do bad 178 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,880 things. Just avoid doing. 179 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:28,480 Just avoid doing bad stuff wrong. 180 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:33,080 The verb here for devote yourself to good works is not 181 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:38,000 passive, it's active. And that means that the manual 182 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,440 for being a Christian in the 90s that a lot of you grew up with, 183 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,720 or so I heard, is not what's happening right here. 184 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:45,800 And I think you know the manual I'm talking about if you grew up 185 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,600 in the church, I've heard a lot of people just grew up hearing 186 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:52,160 OK, just don't cuss, don't drink, don't chew, and don't 187 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:56,760 date girls who do. Just avoid bad stuff. 188 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:59,120 Just don't listen to secular music. 189 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,160 Just don't watch R rated movies. Just don't do this. 190 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,600 Don't do that. That's not what Paul's 191 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:09,160 advocating for. Paul is not advocating for. 192 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,600 Just go out there and the evil world and just like avoid doing 193 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,400 bad things. Again, the verb here is not 194 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:19,000 passive, it's active. So what Paul has in mind is 195 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:23,920 equipping church with the gospel so that they go out and actively 196 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:28,840 devote themselves to good works. It's about actively looking to 197 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,920 do good works at home in your job in the city, to walk into a 198 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,120 room and actively create a good work to be done, even if it's 199 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,200 not ready for you in there. Why? 200 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,840 Like I heard one leader this week said something really 201 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,240 helpful. He was like, there's two types 202 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,880 of people in the world. One type of person walks into a 203 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:55,160 room and inwardly announces to himself, Here I am, right, the 204 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:59,720 ego barely fits through the door, here I am, you guys come 205 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:05,320 talk to me, you come ask me how my day was, you guys serve me, 206 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:08,680 and people like that just tend to live miserable lives. 207 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,280 The second type of person walks into a room and she inwardly 208 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:18,160 announces to herself, there you are and begins to seek other 209 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:22,920 people and actively look for good works to be done and draw 210 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,120 other people out and bless other people. 211 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,720 Which one are you start with? Like which one are you when you 212 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:34,680 walk into church? Are you here I am, feed me, here 213 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:39,400 I am, or are you there you are. Who needs, who needs to be 214 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:40,720 blessed? Who needs to be built up? 215 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,000 What good work needs to be done? And as you do that, Paul has a 216 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,520 really specific reason why you should devote yourself to good 217 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,680 works. It's to make yourself look good 218 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:55,880 right now to impress people with how religious you are. 219 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:01,560 No wrong. Look at the text, the last 220 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:08,120 sentence in verse 8. Insist on the gospel that 221 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,200 propels us out on mission to do good works. 222 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,800 Verse 8. These things are excellent and 223 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,640 profitable for all people. The people he's talking about 224 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:21,320 right there. I know this is going to blow 225 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,360 your mind. It's not just the church people 226 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:30,120 on the island of Crete He's talking about the whole island 227 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,200 of Crete. Did you know that when the paste 228 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,600 on. Depending on the scholar you 229 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:39,080 read when when the letter of Titus was written, our best 230 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:44,360 estimates suggest that .01% of Cretans were Christians. 231 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:52,920 If Paul's not saying go do good works for the sake of .01% of 232 00:14:52,920 --> 00:15:00,120 Crete, it should be for the good of the entire island. 233 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,800 That's why. That's why our mission statement 234 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:07,640 at Frontier is for the glory of Jesus and the joy of who the 235 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:09,800 morning, right? If the Cretan church has had 236 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:11,440 mission statements, they didn't yet. 237 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,880 But if they did, I am certain that their mission statement 238 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,080 would be the Crete and church exist for the glory of Jesus in 239 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,520 the joy of Crete. So here's the thesis statement 240 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,200 if you were to put it all together, of verse 8. 241 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:29,440 The purpose of the salvation of the gospel is to set the church 242 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,520 on mission for the good of the city where they live in. 243 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:39,920 In other words, the church is to gather, train, equip, and then 244 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:46,240 go win the city for Jesus. The question is, do we want a 245 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,840 church structure like that or not? 246 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,000 And so let's talk church models really quickly. 247 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,720 The historically dominant model of the church was equip, send, 248 00:15:56,760 --> 00:15:59,000 equip, send. And that was the dominant model 249 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:00,560 of the church until about 100 years ago. 250 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,680 So what happened about 100 years ago? 251 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:09,280 About 100 years ago, something started to happen in the Western 252 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,320 world. Church attendance started to 253 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:13,640 decline. And as a result of church 254 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,320 attendance declining, the church started to ask a different 255 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:17,920 question that it never asked before. 256 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,400 The question the church always asked before that was how do we 257 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,160 glorify God and be faithful? All of a sudden they started to 258 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,240 ask the question, OK, people aren't coming to church. 259 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,240 How do we get people to come to church? 260 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,200 And so about 100 years ago, a new church model was born called 261 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:35,680 the Attractional Church. Essentially, church population 262 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:36,920 dwindled. You know what? 263 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,320 OK, you know what dwindles when church population dwindles? 264 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,360 Tithing. What happens when tithing goes 265 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,680 down? Bills don't. 266 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,360 And so the church started to say, Oh my gosh, we got to go. 267 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,240 We got to convince people to come to church. 268 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,640 And so America, now I'm going to question church leaders started 269 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,000 to ask was how can we attract people to come to church? 270 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:57,760 And there's actually nothing wrong with that question. 271 00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,320 I hope you asked yourself that question. 272 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,480 I think, I hope you invite people to church, hopefully not 273 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:08,560 this morning because it's, you know, the boiler issue, but 274 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:10,440 hopefully you invite people to church, right? 275 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,359 That's a great first step. The problem is that the 276 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,880 attractional church model answered the question by saying 277 00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:22,480 what if we attracted people to church by lowering the bar for 278 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,240 truth and primarily entertaining and comforting them. 279 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,080 It was a radical redesign in the history of the church. 280 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:33,760 It was like redesigning boot camp. 281 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,040 Rather than rigorous expository preaching, 20 minute 282 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,160 inspirational talks with a little little Jesus thrown in 283 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:43,200 took the place. Rather than rigorous and 284 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:48,760 biblical liturgy that trained people and dense theological 285 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,840 hymns, liturgy got thrown out and the church started to sing 286 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,800 Top 40 radio hits with Jesus name sprinkled in where the 287 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:01,200 lover's name was. The attraction of church's 288 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:10,560 slogan became come and see. And my problem isn't with church 289 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,720 size. I think there's a lot of big 290 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,280 churches that are super faithful. 291 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,440 They grew not as a result of developing a come and see 292 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,720 mentality. They grew because of the Spirit 293 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,160 of God. So I'm not like I'm not, I don't 294 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:24,880 want to be critical of big churches. 295 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:26,520 I think there's awesome big churches. 296 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:32,400 The problem is developing an entire mentality of come and see 297 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:35,680 will lower the bar for truth to get as many people through the 298 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:37,000 door. Because the problem with that is 299 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,320 that it got a bunch of Christians killed because it 300 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:42,480 turns out that painting people's toenails and then pushing them 301 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,480 into a battlefield is not a good idea. 302 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,080 And so somewhere along the way, Christians started to say, oh, 303 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,480 this, this isn't, this isn't working. 304 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:54,600 And we're still in the middle of this conversation in the Western 305 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:55,320 world. Like, is this? 306 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,600 Is this working? And in response to that, 307 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:02,400 Christians began focusing about a couple decades ago on a bunch 308 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:06,040 of literature, a bunch of books, a bunch of articles on this idea 309 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:07,880 called the missional church model. 310 00:19:08,120 --> 00:19:10,600 And the thing about the missional church model is that 311 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,000 it's actually just an old ancient church model that's 312 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:15,760 based on what we see in the New Testament. 313 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,520 So if the attractional churches come and see, the missional 314 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,560 church is equip and send. So instead of entertaining 315 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,440 people for 45 minutes, the church began to see the central 316 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,840 purpose of his gathering as training people to go out into 317 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,440 battle like a boot camp. And again, this is the way that 318 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,840 the Bible conceptualizes church. Let me just read one verse for 319 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:36,960 you. This is Ephesians 4. 320 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:43,320 Jesus gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the 321 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,040 shepherds and teachers to the church. 322 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:47,960 So all these leaders, God gives the church leaders. 323 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,120 Why Jesus gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists and 324 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:55,560 shepherds and teachers to do ministry for us. 325 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:03,000 No, that's that's the American model of churches called we pay 326 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:10,480 you to be a Christian for us. We pay you to go do the ministry 327 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:12,280 and we benefit from the ministry. 328 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:13,680 The problem with that is the Bible. 329 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:18,200 Watch this Jesus gave the apostles, the prophets, the 330 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,760 evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. 331 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,480 To equip the Saints for the work of ministry. 332 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,360 That's you guys. My job is not to do ministry for 333 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,480 you. My job is to equip you guys to 334 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,680 go do ministry out in the world. Notice this is the model of 335 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:36,640 church that Paul is advocating for in Titus. 336 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,120 Look at verse 8. I want you to insist on these 337 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,560 things, the gospel, so that those who have believed in God 338 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:47,160 may be careful to go do the work, to devote themselves 339 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:49,920 actively to doing good works in their city. 340 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,480 These things are excellent and profitable for people. 341 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,920 Train people with the gospel to go and actively be on mission to 342 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,200 their city. If you take apart all the 343 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:06,760 elements of of church, if you look at all the elements of 344 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,240 church at Frontier, my hope is that you start to see them a 345 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,400 little bit differently as a result of this. 346 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,960 Every piece of our church is intended to equip you, equip 347 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,600 you, equip you, equip you preaching at Frontier. 348 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,400 We preach long biblical sermons, and this is designed to train 349 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:26,880 you to think rightly about God. That's why I point at words in 350 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:28,920 the Bible and I say look at it right there. 351 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,160 That's why I explain words even when I illustrate with a story. 352 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,480 I'm not trying to entertain you guys. 353 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,520 Like when I tell you a story about one of my kids asking for 354 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:39,960 a snack out of the cupboards drawer, it's not to entertain 355 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:41,080 you. It's because I know your kids 356 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,440 are going to ask you for a snack out of the cupboard drawer and 357 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:46,560 there's something to be learned about God in that moment. 358 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,400 It's all designed to equip you to think rightly about God 359 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,400 singing, right? When we sing together, Joseph 360 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:57,600 will even sometimes pause and encourage you to press into the 361 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,280 Spirit more deeply. Why do we do that? 362 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,000 Because we're trying to train you to feel rightly about God in 363 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:07,000 the songs. It's aimed at your heart with 364 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,080 good theology. Even the liturgy, right when 365 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,680 we've got Alex Pascher coming up doing an awesome job calling and 366 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,840 then we respond. She reads, we read right with 367 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,920 we've integrated call response liturgy to train you how to talk 368 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,320 to God. It's giving you language and 369 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,480 vocabulary that you can use in the rest of your week so that 370 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,600 your dialogue with God becomes more fluid and more natural and 371 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,960 more regular. Trains you to talk to God. 372 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,200 Communion. We practice weekly communion to 373 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,760 train you how to hunger for God. You're going to go eat like 374 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:41,240 what's 3 meals a day? You're going to eat 21 meals 375 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,800 this week. What communion does is it trains 376 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:49,200 you to approach all those meals with a posture of gratitude and 377 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,680 communion with with God. And so every time we gather 378 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,960 together, if you put all that together, every time we gather 379 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:58,120 together as a church, you are going to hear from God through 380 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,440 the preaching, you're going to respond to God through the 381 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,440 liturgy, you're going to worship God through singing, and you're 382 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,240 even going to eat with God through communion. 383 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:13,280 Every Sunday is a spiritual boot camp for you. 384 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,320 Why? Because the church is for 385 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:17,720 mission. Amen. 386 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,840 I, I heard one theologian, I just love the way that he 387 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:29,480 phrased this. He said, he said no, no, no, no. 388 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,880 The church doesn't have a mission. 389 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:40,920 The mission of God has a church. You see what's primary and 390 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:42,360 secondary there? Let me phrase it this way. 391 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:48,160 Frontier doesn't have a mission. The mission of God has Frontier 392 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,320 Church. To the degree that we're on 393 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:56,680 mission, we're doing what God's doing to the degree that we're 394 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,400 just kind of coming here to be entertained. 395 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,440 That's just not what God's doing in the world, right? 396 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:06,480 If we're not equipping you for mission, we're doing something 397 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,200 different than what God is doing in the world. 398 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,080 And it's like, OK, I get a cold, but why would a church not be on 399 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:13,920 mission? How does that even happen? 400 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,800 And it's simple because the vast majority of Christians will 401 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,160 leave the church if you make it about God's mission rather than 402 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,480 their comfort. It's just true. 403 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,160 You got to hear me out on this like I want to. 404 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,040 I'm going to phrase this as strongly as I can for the sake 405 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:40,400 of it landing in your heart. The most dangerous threat to a 406 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,600 local church. It's not that atheist in the 407 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,480 pews. If you're an atheist this 408 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:49,240 morning, we're psyched that you're here. 409 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:52,360 That's not the biggest threat to the church. 410 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:54,760 The biggest threat to the church. 411 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:56,040 You want to do the biggest threat to the churches. 412 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:02,520 It's not the drug dealer or the person struggling with porn, or 413 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:11,680 even Satan himself. It's not who's the biggest 414 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:18,360 threat to the church. It is the church person who 415 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,080 thinks that the mission of the church is to pamper them. 416 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,160 That's a threat. All Satan can do is take shots 417 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:35,040 from the outside of the church. Comfort crazed preference junkie 418 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:39,760 church people are like novocaine that can spread on the inside of 419 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:46,280 the church. That person will make a long 420 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:50,160 checklist of all their preferences and they will demand 421 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,960 that the church exist to meet all of those preferences. 422 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:59,760 And when those preferences don't get met, hell hath no fury like 423 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,680 a disgruntled church person with a Facebook account That happens 424 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,040 to you once or twice. Ouch. 425 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,040 That happens to you four or five times. 426 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:13,880 You know what you start to do as a church, as a church leader, 427 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:19,520 You start to go, oh gosh, I just don't, I don't want to deal with 428 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,960 that. So I'm just going to try and 429 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,680 meet this individual's needs and preferences for as long as 430 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:27,320 possible and try to hold them off. 431 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:31,200 And this is, that's how churches drift from the mission. 432 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,640 That's how it practically happens in real time. 433 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,640 Like there's a reason why mission drift is such a 434 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:41,080 predictable thing within all institutions, not just churches, 435 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,320 but all institutions. I was listening to 1 podcaster 436 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:48,080 talking about that this this week and he he talked about how 437 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:53,680 legacy institutions predictably drift from their fiery original 438 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:58,120 mission that drove them into existence into predictable Luke 439 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:00,280 warmth. He said institutions are kind of 440 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:02,800 like battleship kind of like battleships. 441 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,040 The first people who built that battleship, they built it for 442 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:10,200 battle building up. They sent them out there to 443 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:15,240 fight battles and somewhere along the way, people just after 444 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,560 fighting a few battles, they started to clean it up and 445 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:19,640 maintain it, which is the right thing to do. 446 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,720 But somewhere along the way people just start to believe 447 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:27,640 that they built the battleship to wax it down and not to fight 448 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:32,440 battles. Every institution, every church 449 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:37,640 struggles with that drift. And when we planted Frontier, it 450 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,840 was like, grow or die, ma'am, be on mission or we're not here 451 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:48,720 next Sunday. And then 789 years in, you get a 452 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:50,800 plurality of elders, maybe your own building. 453 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,040 And somewhere along the way, maybe you start to think, maybe 454 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:55,600 our job is to just maintain this. 455 00:27:55,720 --> 00:28:02,960 And we do have to maintain this. But right, Sometimes I need to 456 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,000 be reminded of that, but not for the sake of maintaining it, 457 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,880 right? We maintain it for the sake of 458 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:15,600 being on mission for Jesus. That's why we do all the stuff. 459 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:19,720 And oh, oh Christian, the church was built by Jesus as a 460 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,280 battleship for war. It's not just for waxing down. 461 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,400 You too. You were built for mission. 462 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,080 You were built for mission. You were built for the purpose 463 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:36,480 of God, not for being pampered and being cozy. 464 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,240 And don't pull away from me when I talk about comfort. 465 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,520 I feel you backing up right now. Let me just drop a little bit of 466 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,520 a clarity bomb. The missional church model, I'm 467 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,880 not opposed to comfort. I hope you don't hear me saying 468 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,120 that the missional church model should be comforting, right? 469 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,680 You're going to hear the gospel every Sunday. 470 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,000 And you know what you should experience by hearing the 471 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:57,800 gospel? Comfort. 472 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,160 You should be comforted by the fact that Jesus loves you apart 473 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:01,680 from anything you could do for him. 474 00:29:01,840 --> 00:29:04,480 There's nothing more comforting than that there. 475 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,120 I think, I think Heidelberg Catechism, the first question is 476 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:11,280 maybe it's Westminster, is what is your only comfort in life or 477 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:12,920 death? And the answer is that I'm not 478 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,600 my own, but I belong both body and soul to Jesus Christ, my 479 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:17,760 Lord and Savior. That is comforting. 480 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,800 You should know that Jesus will never leave you or no, never 481 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,800 forsake you, no matter what season of life you're in. 482 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,560 You should have relationships where you feel comfortable, like 483 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,880 it's there's relational safety. You know they're not going to 484 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,920 throw you away or gossip about you, right? 485 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:35,120 You should experience comfort in that. 486 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,680 When you need counseling and pastoring in tough seasons, I 487 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:39,800 think you'll find our pastors comforting. 488 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,840 No matter what your experiences with me, when I preach up here 489 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:46,040 and individually in a room with you, if you need comfort, I'm 490 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,840 going to listen, empathize, care, and like Jesus, who is 491 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:51,600 gentle and lonely. We will not break a bruised 492 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:55,400 Reed. The difference is the difference 493 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:01,120 between being comforting and being comfort centric. 494 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,480 There's a difference, right? We're not a comfort centric 495 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,520 church. We're not going to make church 496 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,840 decisions based on whether or not it will or won't upset 497 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,920 people. We're not going to shy away from 498 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,360 tough subjects because some people don't want to hear me 499 00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,720 talk about that. We're not going to convince you 500 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,960 week in and week out that you don't need to grow closer to God 501 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:30,040 or that you don't need to become more transferred in the image of 502 00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:34,080 Jesus because we're afraid you won't tithe next week, right? 503 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:41,760 A comfort center church is built around a comforting church just 504 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,400 preaches the gospel. A comfort center church. 505 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:50,840 A comfort center church is built around the preferences of the 506 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:59,520 least mature church members. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. 507 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:06,440 And that's why when churches drift in that direction, they 508 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,560 lose all their power. Because you can't policy. 509 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:11,760 I was reading Galatians this week. 510 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:16,600 He's so clear. He says I cannot please man and 511 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:20,360 please God. If our church tries to please 512 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:26,240 you, definitionally we are no longer pleasing to God. 513 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:34,960 And getting all your preferences met doesn't make you like Jesus 514 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,920 anyways. It doesn't even make you happy. 515 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,960 Right? If God, if all God gave you was 516 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:49,560 comfort without mission, was meeting your preferences and not 517 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:52,080 sending you out, he wouldn't be God. 518 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,120 He would be an enabler. Enabler. 519 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,800 God calls you to something greater than your comfort. 520 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,000 Again, I hope you experience comfort in the gospel. 521 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:06,640 I hope you have comforting relationships. 522 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:11,120 I hope that the relationship you have with God through the gospel 523 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:13,720 is is comforting. But he calls you to more than 524 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:15,720 comfort. Like notice this at the end of 525 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:22,680 Matthew 28 and Jesus said to them, all authority in heaven on 526 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:27,680 earth has been given to me, go, everybody say go, go. 527 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:31,680 Therefore make disciples of all nations, baptize them in the 528 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,000 name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 529 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,680 Teach them to observe all that I have commanded you as you're out 530 00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:39,440 on mission. What's Jesus promise? 531 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:44,440 Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 532 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,400 Jesus is with you when you're on a mission. 533 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:51,880 Why would Jesus promise that if you are on mission, then He will 534 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:56,240 be with you? Because that's where God is. 535 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,960 He's on mission. Where's God? 536 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:04,920 He's on the mission field. Where can I find God on mission? 537 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:10,080 Where's God hiding on mission? He told you where he's at. 538 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,720 He's on mission to people who don't know him. 539 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,480 I want to be with God, get on mission. 540 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:19,200 I want to grow closer to God, Get on mission. 541 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,280 Why don't I feel close to God? Go share the gospel with people, 542 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,000 right? Like postmodern sensibilities. 543 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,960 They suggest sometimes that like, if you want to find God, 544 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,120 then what you have to do is you have to turn the lights down. 545 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,880 You have to knock on wood, keep a rabbit's foot in your pocket. 546 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,000 You want to find God, Cross your fingers behind your back, 547 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:46,400 discover your right Zodiac sign and at the right place on the 548 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,160 right time, if it's a full moon, maybe you'll discover God within 549 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:55,160 yourself. It's not Christianity. 550 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:04,400 No, you want to feel close to God, Believe the gospel, share 551 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:09,560 the gospel, believe the gospel, share the gospel. 552 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:16,920 That's where the joy is. Like have you ever experience 553 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,360 the joy of leading somebody to Jesus? 554 00:34:21,199 --> 00:34:27,960 It's awesome. There is no worldly pleasure 555 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,520 that exceeds the joy of leading people to Jesus. 556 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,679 That's the most under preached thing about the mission of God 557 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,440 is sometimes the mission of God is packaged as it's this duty 558 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:44,400 that you got to go do. I think the the closer I grow to 559 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,840 Jesus, the more I recognize that the mission isn't just some duty 560 00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:49,719 to go do. It's this cake that God's 561 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:51,239 inviting me to take a bite out of. 562 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:57,040 It's like where the joy is. Sometimes it's hard to listen to 563 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:00,120 preachers preach on mission. And I, I did earlier this week. 564 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,080 So I know because sometimes you're like, dude, it just 565 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,960 sounds to me like you're interfering with my friendships. 566 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,000 And it sounds like all you're trying to do is boss me into 567 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,360 having an awkward conversation with an otherwise good 568 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,120 friendship. I don't know. 569 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:21,600 God is offering you joy. Like, I'm going to try really 570 00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:26,760 hard to not quote my favorite rapper, Eminem, but I can't make 571 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:27,800 any promises. Charles. 572 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:32,560 I was a couple months ago, our two year old wanted a snack. 573 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:34,440 He drops the S and calls it a Knack. 574 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:38,560 So Jack wanted a Knack. Wow, that's the beginning of a 575 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,080 poem. So Jack wanted a neck. 576 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:46,280 And so I took him to the stack cupboard, opened it for him and 577 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:50,200 I, I got Jack one of these applesauce packets. 578 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:52,920 Any parents out there? Do you buy these little go 579 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,920 applesauce squeezes? They're great. 580 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:56,640 I don't know if you've had one. You should treat yourself. 581 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,040 They're great. And so I get one of these 582 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,800 flavored applesauce packets. You take the, you know, you pop 583 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:04,360 the tap and then you just drain it. 584 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,320 And I, I grab one of those and I give it to Jack. 585 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:11,360 And Jack looks at it and he responds to my offer by taking 586 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,640 the swing at me. I dodge it. 587 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:18,040 I'm OK, You didn't want that. So I put the applesauce packet 588 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:21,880 back and I, I noticed Chloe got these. 589 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,360 These things are awesome. They're like these little 590 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,680 granola bites with chocolate chips in them. 591 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:30,920 What are they called? What's that? 592 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:37,680 Made well made goods. Heavenly honks, heavenly hunks, 593 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,280 Heavenly hunks. That was Joseph's name and 594 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:41,960 nickname in, in high school. Heavenly hunk. 595 00:36:45,200 --> 00:36:46,960 They're so good, these little heavenly hunks. 596 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:48,720 So I'm like, you know what I'm feeling. 597 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,280 I'm the feeling like giving them the best. 598 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:54,000 And so I grab some heavenly honks for them and I, I hand 599 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:56,960 them the Jack and he looks, he looks at me like I'm the idiot. 600 00:36:57,640 --> 00:36:58,760 It's like, no, I don't want those. 601 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,280 And I was like, OK, you pick out your own snack then, bud. 602 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:06,240 And so I let them rummage through the snack cover, and he 603 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:08,840 doesn't pick the applesauce. He doesn't pick the heavenly 604 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:10,680 hunks. Do you know what he insists 605 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:15,360 upon? One piece of uncooked spaghetti. 606 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:21,120 One piece of uncooked spaghetti. Palms are sweaty. 607 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:31,360 He says no to the flavored applesauce in the heavenly hunks 608 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:33,920 because he wants a piece of uncooked spaghetti. 609 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,040 Friends, do you see your nature in this? 610 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:44,840 You want so badly to experience coziness and comfort and it does 611 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:50,040 not satisfy. God offers you mission purpose 612 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:55,640 to go bless the world, and we want uncooked spaghetti. 613 00:37:55,920 --> 00:38:00,920 If only you knew how often you resented God for offering you 614 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,000 heavenly hunks because you wanted uncooked spaghetti. 615 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:08,400 I have been angry at God for calling me to be on mission 616 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:11,600 rather than granting me non-stop, never and in comfort. 617 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:18,440 And I promise you the comfort you desire, the worldly comfort. 618 00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:22,040 Let me frame it that way. The worldly comfort that you so 619 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:25,080 badly desire will not satisfy you. 620 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:27,520 It's on cooked spaghetti. It won't. 621 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:34,600 Only God will and only God's mission will fill that purpose 622 00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:37,720 void in your heart. Again, the joy of leading people 623 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:41,000 to Jesus is unrivaled by any of the joys of the world. 624 00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:44,480 When you experience that, you're like, OK, I get why God's so 625 00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:48,840 crazy about mission, right? This is what the church. 626 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:49,920 This is the purpose of the church. 627 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:53,000 Verse 8. I want you to insist on these 628 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,120 things, the gospel, so that those who believe in God may be 629 00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:02,040 careful to go devote active verb, go actively create good 630 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:04,480 works, go devote themselves to good works. 631 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,360 These things are excellent and profitable for all people so 632 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,360 that people would know the Jesus that they serve and worship. 633 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:14,120 God calls you to something greater than your comfort, 634 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,440 right? And that's I keep on picking on 635 00:39:16,440 --> 00:39:19,280 the comfort issues. I think I've rightly defined 636 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:22,680 that it's good to experience comfort and relationship, but I 637 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:24,720 keep on picking on comfort because that's the biggest 638 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:27,440 obstacle to living on mission for God and sharing the gospel. 639 00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:31,320 Sometimes we pretend like it's technique, like I, you know, I 640 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,600 don't know how to like draw it on a white board or I can't do 641 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,360 the Romans road. And I think that stuff is great. 642 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,240 But that's not why you don't share the Gospel. 643 00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:47,320 It's not, it's not. You can tell your friend, hey, 644 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,600 Jesus died for your sins. You can do that. 645 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:54,200 Why don't you do that? It's not because I, you know, I 646 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:57,600 don't know how to like, draw out the little cross and then the, 647 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,760 you know, the void and how to get no, no, no, you can tell 648 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:02,840 people the gospel. You know how to tell people 649 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,440 Jesus died for your sins. Why don't we do it? 650 00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:11,360 Because we don't want to be the awkward guy, right? 651 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,480 And I got to be honest with you, as somebody who's awkward, 652 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,200 Awkward is an underappreciated experience. 653 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,920 Being embarrassed is an underappreciated experience. 654 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,520 It's very good for you and I think your friends actually want 655 00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:34,520 to hear you talk about God. Don't let the media convince you 656 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:38,160 that they that they don't. What they don't want to hear is 657 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:43,240 a little sales pitch. People can tell when Kohl's just 658 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:46,640 telling me this because like he feels obligated to. 659 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:51,120 What people want to see is they want to see a person who has 660 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,960 really experienced God. They want to hear that person 661 00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:57,200 talk about God, you know, like you cut them open and it just 662 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,240 bleeds out kind of way people want to. 663 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,640 Like I was really, I've been thinking about this clip I 664 00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:04,800 watched with Casey Newman on Wednesday. 665 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,080 He was like, dude, you got to watch this clip and I watch this 666 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:08,720 clip and I couldn't stop thinking about it. 667 00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:14,600 It was it was it was 2 atheist bloggers and it was a segment 668 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,920 from their podcast about hot takes. 669 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:23,240 And one of the one of the podcasters says, I got a hot 670 00:41:23,240 --> 00:41:24,600 take. I don't think people are 671 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:29,600 actually religious. And the other podcaster goes, no 672 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:31,680 disagree. How could you even say that? 673 00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:37,360 And she said because, and this is an atheist, she said, because 674 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,440 if I really believe that God was real and people would burn an 675 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:45,040 eternity in hell if they didn't know him, I would be breaking 676 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,000 into people's houses in the middle of the night, shaking 677 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,000 them awake, telling them to accept Jesus into their heart. 678 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:57,720 Do you hear what she's saying? She's she's saying, I don't find 679 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:04,320 Christians convincing, not because they're too crazy, but 680 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:05,840 because they're not crazy enough. 681 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:08,040 That's what she's saying. She goes on to say. 682 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:13,200 She says she goes, I quit eating sugar for like a week one time 683 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,680 and I couldn't stop telling all my friends about the benefits of 684 00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:21,880 not eating sugar. If Christians really believe 685 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,920 this stuff, how can Christians be so good at not talking about 686 00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:32,400 Jesus? How can Christians be so good at 687 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:35,640 not talking about Jesus? I had to ask myself that this 688 00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:37,360 week. Why am I so good at not talking 689 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:42,200 about Jesus again? She says she she doesn't find 690 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:44,040 Christianity compelling, not because Christians are too 691 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:45,960 crazy, but because they're not crazy enough. 692 00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:49,760 I think one of the biggest lies I've believed personally as a 693 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:53,680 Christian is I believe the lie that the best way to win the 694 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:58,600 world to Jesus is to become like the world as much as possible 695 00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,920 and fit in as much as possible, and then just try to slip some 696 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:06,160 Jesus in there. People don't find that 697 00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:08,800 compelling. Doesn't work. 698 00:43:08,800 --> 00:43:12,240 No, we got to be crazy about the gospel. 699 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:15,200 They want to hear about God from somebody who has radically 700 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:18,800 encountered God, and we as people who believe in the gospel 701 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,040 need to be those people. That's the purpose of the 702 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:25,480 church, to fill you with the gospel and then send you out. 703 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:27,400 I designed that illustration at the beginning of the sermon to 704 00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:29,920 sound crazy. The idea of designing boot camp 705 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:32,720 into a pampering parlor is supposed to be ridiculous. 706 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:36,960 But as crazy as it is, it is not as ridiculous as redesigning the 707 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:40,000 church into a spiritual pampering parlor. 708 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:44,600 Imagine going to the beach, and you go to the beach and there's 709 00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:48,800 two people at the beach. OK, hold on a second. 710 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:51,200 You go to the beach and there's one other person at the beach. 711 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:53,480 That person is on a folding chair. 712 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:58,400 And they say, hey, I can't reach this spot on my back with the 713 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:00,040 the sunscreen. Can you help me? 714 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:03,120 Yeah. I don't want the person to get 715 00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,120 sunburned. That's a legitimate need. 716 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,960 Fine, but imagine you go to the beach and there's two people at 717 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:14,720 the beach, one person on a folding chair, and he can't 718 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:16,360 reach the spot with the sunscreen. 719 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:17,720 Say, can you help me with the sunscreen? 720 00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:23,720 The second person is drowning. Who gets your attention? 721 00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:30,640 Help the drowning person. Now imagine there's a bunch of 722 00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:33,920 people on the beach. You go there, a bunch of people 723 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:37,520 on folding chairs who want sunscreen and a bunch of people 724 00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:41,560 drowning. What's the best solution? 725 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,560 Now? The best solution is to run 726 00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:47,400 around trying to convince all the people in the folding chairs 727 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:53,160 that their sunscreen isn't that big of a problem and that they 728 00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:55,480 should go out and try to rescue as many drowning people as 729 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:59,160 possible. And my hope is that when you 730 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:01,880 hear that, you think our church does that. 731 00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:05,680 And if we don't, we need to grow up in that area. 732 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:09,600 Our hope is to be a gospel boot camp. 733 00:45:09,600 --> 00:45:13,560 Our hope is not to build Christians who are passive, but 734 00:45:13,560 --> 00:45:16,000 Christians who are active. Again, I'm not trying to sell 735 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:18,600 you on the mission of God as an obligation or a duty. 736 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:22,280 I'm not going to pressure you into handing out gospel tracts 737 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:25,920 on the way out or making signs for the street corners. 738 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:27,880 The mission of God is not an obligation. 739 00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:33,080 I'm, I'm preaching about mission as joy. 740 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:40,080 I'm trying to get you to see that all those preferences that 741 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,720 you so desperately want to get met, it's just uncooked 742 00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:49,560 spaghetti and what God offers you are heavenly honks. 743 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:57,920 Go, Therefore go make disciples. Go bless the world. 744 00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:00,560 Go be on mission. There's no joy like leading 745 00:46:00,560 --> 00:46:02,480 people to Jesus. Heavenly Father, would you help 746 00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:09,640 us do that? I just really, these sermons, 747 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:14,120 they just really bother me because that's the thing that 748 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:17,720 I'm bad at as a pastor, as I'm bad at being on mission. 749 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:20,240 And so I'm, I'm just always so convicted by this. 750 00:46:20,720 --> 00:46:23,760 And again, we're not a comfort centric church, but I pray that 751 00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,320 people do experience the comfort of the gospel, that they would 752 00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:31,320 know that they are saved by grace alone, apart from any 753 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:33,120 works. And so if they get to the gates 754 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:36,160 of heaven and stand before the Lord one day, and they have 755 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:42,560 legitimately LED nobody to Jesus, they will still be 756 00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:46,120 welcomed into paradise forever on the basis of the blood of 757 00:46:46,120 --> 00:46:50,200 Jesus. They do not need to earn that. 758 00:46:51,720 --> 00:46:59,040 There's so much comfort in that, and yet there's a strange way 759 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:03,440 that preaching the gospel of God's grace propels people 760 00:47:03,720 --> 00:47:07,240 towards good works. And so I pray that we would just 761 00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:11,120 be people who were on mission, people who lead other people to 762 00:47:11,240 --> 00:47:13,160 Jesus. Would you equip us to do that? 763 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:15,840 Lord, it's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 764 00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:17,880 prayed. Amen. 765 00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:21,320 Let's, let's stand and let's worship this God who is on 766 00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:22,760 mission to us right now.