1 00:00:00,290 --> 00:00:03,710 Well, once you turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians 2 00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:05,900 chapter 3. And for those of you that are 3 00:00:05,910 --> 00:00:08,960 joining us line on line, Philippians 3, we were in this 4 00:00:08,970 --> 00:00:13,730 letter last week, small little letter in the New Testament. 5 00:00:13,740 --> 00:00:18,820 And we'll put the Bible books on the screen there so you can find 6 00:00:18,830 --> 00:00:20,080 your way there if you're having trouble. 7 00:00:20,090 --> 00:00:24,170 We're gonna let the Apostle Paul help us to conclude our series 8 00:00:25,870 --> 00:00:29,820 today, which is living the life. And I will ask you one more 9 00:00:29,830 --> 00:00:35,220 time, are you living the life? Are you living the life? 10 00:00:35,230 --> 00:00:38,900 Jesus said very truly. I tell you, whoever hears my 11 00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:45,870 word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not 12 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:50,900 be judged, but is crossed over from death to life. 13 00:00:50,950 --> 00:00:54,990 Have you crossed over from death to life? 14 00:00:55,060 --> 00:00:56,900 Summary of where we have come from. 15 00:00:56,910 --> 00:01:00,190 We've looked at this idea that there is an actual, there's a 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,350 line that has been drawn in the sand, so to speak, a line that 17 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,060 we need to cross over from death to life. 18 00:01:06,070 --> 00:01:09,810 It's a very distinct line. We may not know exactly when we 19 00:01:09,820 --> 00:01:13,830 have crossed it, what that moment was, but the fact that we 20 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:16,150 have crossed it is really the critical thing. 21 00:01:16,220 --> 00:01:18,330 And so we've looked at where is that line? 22 00:01:18,460 --> 00:01:20,520 Like what is where is that line? We looked at that. 23 00:01:20,530 --> 00:01:25,720 We also looked at how do we cross that line of moving from 24 00:01:25,730 --> 00:01:28,720 death to life? And last week we looked at how 25 00:01:28,730 --> 00:01:31,340 do we know that we've crossed that line, looked at some of 26 00:01:31,350 --> 00:01:36,180 those vital signs. And so if you, if I'm speaking 27 00:01:36,190 --> 00:01:38,190 kind of mysteries to you right now, you might want to just 28 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,300 check out some of the, the, the previous 2 messages to kind of 29 00:01:41,310 --> 00:01:44,360 get yourself up to speed. But today we're going to look at 30 00:01:44,370 --> 00:01:46,600 if you have crossed that line now what? 31 00:01:47,870 --> 00:01:52,440 Now what many people will think of the, you know, the Christian 32 00:01:52,450 --> 00:01:54,780 life in terms of, OK, I've crossed the line from death to 33 00:01:54,790 --> 00:01:57,940 life and that's the finish line. I'm done. 34 00:01:57,950 --> 00:02:00,990 I've broken the tape and I've, I've, I've crossed, crossed it 35 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,430 and that's it. But it's actually the beginning 36 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,690 of the journey. This is the beginning, so to 37 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:09,139 speak, of the race. And so we need to be thinking 38 00:02:09,150 --> 00:02:11,260 about that. So the question this morning, 39 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:15,000 couple more questions to ponder. Do you know what this journey is 40 00:02:15,010 --> 00:02:17,050 about? Now that you've crossed that 41 00:02:17,060 --> 00:02:20,080 line from death to life, do you know what the journey is about? 42 00:02:20,810 --> 00:02:23,520 Do you know what the goal is in this journey? 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,710 Many people, even even Christians, will think about 44 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:31,230 what we'll think about it in terms of this. 45 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,930 Their answer to that question would be, OK, well, the goal is 46 00:02:33,940 --> 00:02:37,590 to live a good life, and it's a good thing to live a good life, 47 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,530 but there is so much more to it than that. 48 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,220 Some who want to be a little bit more specific will say, well, 49 00:02:43,230 --> 00:02:46,850 the goal is to obey God's commands that are shown to us in 50 00:02:46,860 --> 00:02:50,040 the Word, and it's good for us to obey God's commands that are 51 00:02:50,050 --> 00:02:52,500 shown into Word. But if that is our focus, we're 52 00:02:52,510 --> 00:02:55,180 actually going to miss it. We're going to miss the goal. 53 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,170 Others will say, well, you know, it's heaven. 54 00:02:59,180 --> 00:03:01,110 Heaven is the goal. That's what we're heading 55 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:02,940 toward. And heaven is beautiful and it's 56 00:03:02,950 --> 00:03:04,850 great, but it's actually not the end goal. 57 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,810 Heaven's not the end goal, Philippians Chapter 3. 58 00:03:11,820 --> 00:03:16,090 Apostle Paul tells us what it is we're shooting for, what the 59 00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:19,710 goal actually is. And he's so blown away by it 60 00:03:20,190 --> 00:03:22,660 that and overwhelmed by that. He's saying, you know what? 61 00:03:22,670 --> 00:03:25,530 Everything else in my life, not everything pales in comparison 62 00:03:25,540 --> 00:03:28,410 to this laser focus on this one thing. 63 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,930 And the incredible thing is, is that we miss this so often. 64 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,490 We miss it even when we have the answer, we can still miss it, 65 00:03:37,060 --> 00:03:38,550 forget about it, lose sight of it. 66 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,770 And so, Father, I pray, we pray together as we open up this 67 00:03:42,780 --> 00:03:47,700 precious word from you in the Scriptures, that you would open 68 00:03:47,710 --> 00:03:52,380 our eyes to see wonderful things here and that you would inspire 69 00:03:52,390 --> 00:03:56,080 our hearts for the goal that you have set before us. 70 00:03:56,090 --> 00:04:01,690 We pray in Jesus name, Amen. I'm in Philippians chapter 3 and 71 00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:07,490 we're gonna start at verse 7 and the apostle Paul is saying this. 72 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:15,070 But whatever were gains to me, whatever were gains to me for 73 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:19,709 him, it was he's looking back on his background, on his 74 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:26,460 education, on his capacity to, to serve God, all of these kinds 75 00:04:26,470 --> 00:04:27,770 of things. And he's looking back on and 76 00:04:27,780 --> 00:04:30,780 say, these are the gains. And we may not be able to 77 00:04:30,790 --> 00:04:33,860 identify that exactly, but we can think of, you know, what is 78 00:04:33,870 --> 00:04:38,160 it that we, you know, that, that we can kind of hang our hat on 79 00:04:39,180 --> 00:04:42,590 what, what is it that I have got going for me? 80 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,750 And you might think, OK, maybe it is my background. 81 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:46,350 Maybe it's the family that I belong to. 82 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,660 Maybe it's my intelligence. Maybe it's my good looks or the 83 00:04:50,670 --> 00:04:55,810 good looks of my partner, right? Maybe it's my work ethic or you 84 00:04:55,820 --> 00:04:59,810 know, my my capacity to be able to do things well, whatever it 85 00:04:59,820 --> 00:05:02,470 might be, Paul says. That's the category. 86 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:07,500 Whatever I might consider to be gains for me and continues on 87 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,950 now, I consider loss for the sake of Christ. 88 00:05:13,570 --> 00:05:17,060 In other words, those things Paul said that I had going for 89 00:05:17,070 --> 00:05:20,020 me, those things that could hang my hat on and feel, you know 90 00:05:20,030 --> 00:05:21,180 what? I can feel really good about 91 00:05:21,190 --> 00:05:25,200 this stuff now. I consider all of that a loss. 92 00:05:25,470 --> 00:05:28,120 In other words, all that stuff that's actually working against 93 00:05:28,130 --> 00:05:32,140 me in the end. Verse 8. 94 00:05:32,550 --> 00:05:38,040 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the 95 00:05:38,050 --> 00:05:42,240 surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose 96 00:05:42,250 --> 00:05:46,820 sake I have lost all things. This is this is at the the the 97 00:05:46,830 --> 00:05:51,520 heart and soul of it, the surpassing worth of knowing 98 00:05:51,530 --> 00:05:57,410 Christ Jesus. My Lord, Paul had met Jesus and 99 00:05:57,420 --> 00:06:01,360 he's absolutely floored by this one that he has met. 100 00:06:02,290 --> 00:06:06,980 His immense grace and patience towards Him, His mercy towards 101 00:06:06,990 --> 00:06:09,760 Him, his faithfulness toward Him, that he would actually give 102 00:06:09,770 --> 00:06:13,560 up his life for his sake to give Paul life. 103 00:06:15,070 --> 00:06:18,240 I wanna know this person. This was everything. 104 00:06:18,940 --> 00:06:27,100 Everything to Paul, so he says, I consider them. 105 00:06:27,150 --> 00:06:28,560 So this is all these other things. 106 00:06:28,570 --> 00:06:32,370 So he says, um, for whose sake? I've lost all things. 107 00:06:32,380 --> 00:06:40,710 I consider all those things like garbage, rubbish, refuse, that I 108 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,630 may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness 109 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,980 of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through 110 00:06:48,990 --> 00:06:52,100 faith and Christ, the righteousness that comes from 111 00:06:52,110 --> 00:06:59,030 God on the basis of faith. Paul is against saying that all 112 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:02,230 of those things that could hang, hang my hat on, all those things 113 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,620 that make me really feel good about myself. 114 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,650 He's saying I'm considered that garbage compared to the 115 00:07:08,660 --> 00:07:15,620 surpassing greatness worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord to 116 00:07:15,630 --> 00:07:20,230 be found in Him. You know, when, when, when a, 117 00:07:20,300 --> 00:07:25,100 when an individual receives Jesus Christ, but believes who 118 00:07:25,110 --> 00:07:29,140 he is in receives that person receives Jesus into the life we 119 00:07:29,150 --> 00:07:32,540 actually, we, we actually enter into him. 120 00:07:32,610 --> 00:07:34,000 That's the language of Scripture. 121 00:07:34,050 --> 00:07:36,800 We are actually in Christ. It's kind of like he's got a 122 00:07:36,810 --> 00:07:39,480 home and he's allowed us to enter into the home. 123 00:07:39,530 --> 00:07:42,740 Now we're under his roof, we're in his family. 124 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,910 We're, we're under his protection and everything that 125 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,060 belongs to him now belongs to us. 126 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,670 And for Paul, the most critical thing is that righteousness, the 127 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:59,320 righteousness of Jesus Christ. All the things that I, all the 128 00:07:59,330 --> 00:08:02,810 things that I'm trying to do in order to gain approval, to gain 129 00:08:02,820 --> 00:08:07,030 acceptance to, to have that good feeling about myself, all that 130 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:09,350 stuff, I can never quite get there. 131 00:08:10,310 --> 00:08:13,820 But in Jesus, in him were given out. 132 00:08:13,830 --> 00:08:17,780 All were given his righteousness as a gift. 133 00:08:18,270 --> 00:08:20,380 Paul says, actually that it comes to us. 134 00:08:20,590 --> 00:08:25,110 You know, Paul spent so much of his life trying to please God, 135 00:08:25,570 --> 00:08:28,520 trying to live a righteous life so that he could be accepted by 136 00:08:28,530 --> 00:08:31,320 God. And now he realizes at the end 137 00:08:31,330 --> 00:08:36,470 of the line, I can't get there. I can't get that, but Jesus 138 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,289 Christ is actually given it to me. 139 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:44,770 Righteousness I can't go get. Righteousness comes down to us 140 00:08:45,140 --> 00:08:50,220 as a gift that we receive. He lived the perfect life. 141 00:08:50,310 --> 00:08:53,480 He lived the life that we're meant to live. 142 00:08:53,710 --> 00:08:57,800 And now he says, I'm giving my righteousness to you. 143 00:09:01,380 --> 00:09:06,830 Verse 10. He says I want to know Christ 144 00:09:08,060 --> 00:09:11,260 and if that if that part isn't that lies phrase isn't underline 145 00:09:11,270 --> 00:09:12,350 your Bible. This is a good time. 146 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,230 It's OK to write in your Bible. You know you can write circle 147 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,850 highlight. I want to know Christ. 148 00:09:18,860 --> 00:09:20,950 This was his all consuming passion. 149 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,090 This is at the heart of everything that we're talking 150 00:09:23,100 --> 00:09:25,030 about. This is the goal that he is 151 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,390 referring to, knowing Christ and you remember it was we speaking 152 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,890 about that word knowing Conosco. It's not just knowing about, 153 00:09:33,100 --> 00:09:36,230 it's knowing intimately knowing personally, knowing 154 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,070 experientially. I want to know him. 155 00:09:39,770 --> 00:09:42,320 I'm gonna participate in his life. 156 00:09:43,180 --> 00:09:45,110 This is this is what Paul is saying. 157 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:53,560 He says, yes, I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power 158 00:09:53,570 --> 00:09:57,220 of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, 159 00:09:57,230 --> 00:10:01,160 becoming like Him in his death and so somehow attaining to the 160 00:10:01,170 --> 00:10:07,220 resurrection of the dead. He's talking about power. 161 00:10:07,530 --> 00:10:11,810 He wants to know the power of the resurrected Christ, not in 162 00:10:11,820 --> 00:10:14,120 the sense of something impersonal like I want. 163 00:10:14,170 --> 00:10:17,460 I want God to give me his power so that I can do such and such. 164 00:10:17,590 --> 00:10:21,480 I want to know the power of his resurrection and sense of of 165 00:10:21,490 --> 00:10:27,210 knowing Him, knowing Him who is all powerful to staying, staying 166 00:10:27,220 --> 00:10:32,180 close to Him in relationship with the risen Lord. 167 00:10:32,830 --> 00:10:37,280 But notice here how he is connected these two things. 168 00:10:37,510 --> 00:10:41,280 I want to know the power or participate in the sort of the 169 00:10:41,290 --> 00:10:45,130 power of the resurrection and participate in the sufferings of 170 00:10:45,140 --> 00:10:47,990 Christ. Notice how those two things are 171 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:55,920 linked Power and suffering. We often think of power as 172 00:10:55,930 --> 00:10:58,920 something that we could use in order to avoid suffering. 173 00:11:00,310 --> 00:11:03,680 But here what Paul is saying is that we're given power in order 174 00:11:03,690 --> 00:11:10,900 to suffer, to suffer for Christ. We are given power, We're given 175 00:11:10,910 --> 00:11:14,860 grace by the risen Jesus in order to live the kind of life 176 00:11:14,870 --> 00:11:18,270 that he lived which was to be poured out for the sake of other 177 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:22,200 people, to be serving to looking for that, those opportunities to 178 00:11:22,210 --> 00:11:25,820 serve one another and to suffer for the sake of one another. 179 00:11:26,490 --> 00:11:28,210 That is not something that comes naturally. 180 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,360 That is not the human way. Everything is about the survival 181 00:11:31,370 --> 00:11:34,120 of the if you remove God and the spiritual life out of the 182 00:11:34,130 --> 00:11:37,260 equation, all we have is a material existence. 183 00:11:37,270 --> 00:11:39,410 All we have is survival of the fittest. 184 00:11:40,380 --> 00:11:43,810 What heaven has done and coming down in Jesus Christ is showing 185 00:11:43,820 --> 00:11:46,210 us know there's so much more to life than that. 186 00:11:47,850 --> 00:11:51,210 It's in fact, when you lay down your life, that's when you're 187 00:11:51,350 --> 00:11:53,120 experiencing the fullness of life. 188 00:11:53,130 --> 00:11:56,390 This is what Jesus came to show us. 189 00:11:58,350 --> 00:12:01,680 You have been given power, power, the risen Jesus, in order 190 00:12:01,690 --> 00:12:04,080 to suffer well on behalf of other people. 191 00:12:04,290 --> 00:12:06,640 You know, if you're in a place where you're saying, you know 192 00:12:06,650 --> 00:12:07,800 what? Life is good. 193 00:12:08,290 --> 00:12:11,800 Life is so good. There's a reason why it's so 194 00:12:11,810 --> 00:12:15,020 good. You get being given the capacity 195 00:12:15,030 --> 00:12:19,350 to look at those with whom could not say life is good, life is 196 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:20,980 actually very, very difficult right now. 197 00:12:21,050 --> 00:12:22,720 And to help them, to serve them and to love them. 198 00:12:24,190 --> 00:12:26,730 Paul and 2nd Corinthians 9. He puts it this way. 199 00:12:26,740 --> 00:12:30,780 You know you, you have been. How does he put that now? 200 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,450 He says, oh, you'll be enriched in every way so that you can be 201 00:12:36,460 --> 00:12:40,470 generous on every occasion. The reason why you've been made 202 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,810 rich, not just financially, but relationally and and and and and 203 00:12:44,820 --> 00:12:48,780 and physically is in order so that you can actually show 204 00:12:48,790 --> 00:12:53,380 kindness and grace and generosity to other people who 205 00:12:53,490 --> 00:12:56,380 are not necessarily having a good having a good time in life 206 00:12:56,390 --> 00:13:00,820 right now. We've been given power to suffer 207 00:13:01,490 --> 00:13:04,420 and to do so on behalf of other people. 208 00:13:04,430 --> 00:13:07,790 This is Jesus. This is how we operated. 209 00:13:08,550 --> 00:13:12,590 This is who he is. He used his great power in order 210 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:17,510 to serve us and in so doing bringing life to many like 211 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,540 Hallelujah. And Paul says, I want to be like 212 00:13:21,550 --> 00:13:25,290 that. I want to know Christ. 213 00:13:25,660 --> 00:13:29,440 And so I want to participate in his sufferings, becoming like 214 00:13:29,450 --> 00:13:32,970 him in his death, so that Paul is saying I want to be like him. 215 00:13:33,460 --> 00:13:37,520 And he knows that as he participates with Jesus, just as 216 00:13:37,530 --> 00:13:41,710 he has been carried over from death to life spiritually, he 217 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,010 knows that physically, the moment he dies, he is going to 218 00:13:45,020 --> 00:13:49,280 be raised to life physically as well, just as Jesus. 219 00:13:49,290 --> 00:13:53,210 He's following Jesus into death and he knows that the 220 00:13:53,220 --> 00:13:56,330 resurrection is his and it's coming as well. 221 00:13:58,130 --> 00:14:01,030 It's been just so inspiring walking with some of the 222 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,440 individuals in our congregation who where death is right on 223 00:14:04,450 --> 00:14:09,910 their door, they're facing it and yet they are so alive. 224 00:14:10,140 --> 00:14:14,510 They are so alive and just looking forward to meeting Jesus 225 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,650 Christ. Whether they live or whether 226 00:14:17,660 --> 00:14:21,190 they die, they know they're going to be living with Christ. 227 00:14:21,300 --> 00:14:24,760 It's a beautiful thing, so inspiring, so inspiring. 228 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:32,830 So Paul is saying the goal, the goal is knowing Christ is, is 229 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,410 and, and becoming more like him. And so verse 12, he says this 230 00:14:37,540 --> 00:14:40,850 not that I've already obtained all this or have already arrived 231 00:14:40,860 --> 00:14:45,650 at my goal in in other words, I'm not there quite yet. 232 00:14:45,660 --> 00:14:49,050 I haven't been made perfect. I haven't become like Jesus yet, 233 00:14:49,180 --> 00:14:52,820 but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took 234 00:14:52,830 --> 00:14:54,930 hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not 235 00:14:54,940 --> 00:14:58,030 consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. 236 00:14:58,770 --> 00:15:02,380 But one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining 237 00:15:02,390 --> 00:15:05,970 toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to 238 00:15:05,980 --> 00:15:10,080 win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ 239 00:15:10,090 --> 00:15:16,280 Jesus. He's all about pressing on 240 00:15:16,290 --> 00:15:20,110 toward the goal. In that, in that, in that word, 241 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:24,640 Gioco, it means to pursue. It means to run after, to 242 00:15:24,650 --> 00:15:27,720 literally run after. Now I've entitled this message, 243 00:15:27,730 --> 00:15:30,600 staying alive, right? First one was crossing the line. 244 00:15:30,610 --> 00:15:33,120 Second one was, you know, restoring our vital signs. 245 00:15:33,430 --> 00:15:39,280 This one is staying alive. And what I mean by that is not 246 00:15:39,290 --> 00:15:42,900 that now that I've crossed from death to life, and now there's a 247 00:15:42,910 --> 00:15:45,460 possibility that I might cross back over the line here and 248 00:15:45,470 --> 00:15:48,740 become dead again, I need to stay alive, work to stay alive, 249 00:15:48,750 --> 00:15:51,500 because I just might die. That's not the idea. 250 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,890 The apostle Paul says that Christ Jesus took hold of me. 251 00:15:58,070 --> 00:16:01,100 If Christy, if you've received Christ, he has taken hold of you 252 00:16:01,190 --> 00:16:04,580 and he ain't letting go of friends, and his grip on you is 253 00:16:04,590 --> 00:16:06,560 so much stronger than your grip on him. 254 00:16:06,570 --> 00:16:11,950 So be encouraged by that. But alive in Christ, we can 255 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,820 still live like dead people. We can still be operating in the 256 00:16:16,830 --> 00:16:22,550 flesh. We need to stay alive in Christ, 257 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,010 to be alive to Him. And so how do we do that? 258 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,790 Once we cross that line, we do the about face and we pursue 259 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,250 Christ. We pursue Christ with all our 260 00:16:35,260 --> 00:16:37,240 heart. We run after him. 261 00:16:37,250 --> 00:16:40,550 This is what Paul is saying. And the prize is not heaven. 262 00:16:40,620 --> 00:16:47,050 Actually, the prize is actually Christ knowing him, enjoying him 263 00:16:47,060 --> 00:16:49,780 as a person. That's part of heaven, of 264 00:16:49,790 --> 00:16:53,730 course, but it's so much better than just clouds and angels and 265 00:16:53,740 --> 00:16:55,100 harps and that kind of stuff, right? 266 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:03,850 Many of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus have crossed 267 00:17:03,860 --> 00:17:05,880 the line, but there's no pursuit. 268 00:17:07,190 --> 00:17:11,270 And we wonder why life is just kind of this monotonous plane. 269 00:17:12,190 --> 00:17:14,400 Like what has God done for me lately? 270 00:17:15,150 --> 00:17:19,240 Yet Paul is just saying, press on toward the goal to win that 271 00:17:19,250 --> 00:17:24,130 prize. Many of us are what Johnny Cash 272 00:17:24,140 --> 00:17:27,730 wrote a song called I Walked the Line, right? 273 00:17:28,610 --> 00:17:32,590 And this is how very this is. This is how we as when we're 274 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,330 religious are doing it. We're we're doing life. 275 00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:37,770 We're walking the line now. It's actually a pretty precious 276 00:17:37,780 --> 00:17:40,120 song. He wrote this song as a song of 277 00:17:40,130 --> 00:17:44,780 dedication to his wife, who he wanted to stay true to while 278 00:17:44,790 --> 00:17:46,410 he's on the road. He didn't want to be cheating on 279 00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:50,040 his wife while he's on the road. And so he's walking the line. 280 00:17:50,510 --> 00:17:52,370 He's walking the line, walking the line. 281 00:17:52,380 --> 00:17:56,380 Now, from a religious standpoint, when we're walking 282 00:17:56,390 --> 00:18:01,730 the line, because there's so many pulls toward death, This is 283 00:18:01,740 --> 00:18:04,260 what half of the actually the large majority of the New 284 00:18:04,270 --> 00:18:07,320 Testament is all talking about. Like wake up guys, You're, 285 00:18:07,330 --> 00:18:11,800 you're on this side of the line. Why are you hanging out so close 286 00:18:11,810 --> 00:18:14,860 to the line? Why are you being pulled in? 287 00:18:14,900 --> 00:18:17,660 The temptation is so strong. It's because we've lost the 288 00:18:17,670 --> 00:18:20,080 pursuit. We're not pursuing Christ. 289 00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:23,750 We're just trying to. We're just we're trying to do 290 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:26,960 this stuff in the religious life without the relationship. 291 00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:32,870 And so the pull is so strong to be getting back into that life. 292 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:38,070 It's kind of like, you know, the story of the Exodus God with a 293 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,990 mighty deliverance brings his people through the out of Egypt, 294 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,570 out of bondage, through the Red Sea and moving them into the 295 00:18:45,580 --> 00:18:47,470 promised land. Now when life started to get a 296 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,990 little difficult for them before they hit the promised land, it's 297 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,240 like, you know what? Egypt didn't, didn't look so 298 00:18:54,250 --> 00:18:57,480 bad. And they longed for Egypt. 299 00:18:57,490 --> 00:19:00,290 They longed for the bondage. Just this is this is what we do 300 00:19:00,360 --> 00:19:05,180 when when we have lost sight of the relationship and it's all 301 00:19:05,190 --> 00:19:09,020 just about following the rules and our heart is really not in 302 00:19:09,030 --> 00:19:11,320 it. The pull of the world is so 303 00:19:11,330 --> 00:19:14,240 strong and the apostle Paul is saying, and I'll do an about 304 00:19:14,250 --> 00:19:17,410 face on the line and you pursue Christ. 305 00:19:17,420 --> 00:19:21,460 You press on toward the goal of knowing him, loving him, 306 00:19:21,510 --> 00:19:24,850 experience him, experiencing him, walking with him, 307 00:19:25,010 --> 00:19:29,160 participating in the life that he is living. 308 00:19:29,610 --> 00:19:33,540 In this world. It is so much harder to walk the 309 00:19:33,550 --> 00:19:39,120 line than to pursue Christ. So much harder in the parcel. 310 00:19:39,130 --> 00:19:43,320 Pause is inviting us. Come on guys, come join me in 311 00:19:43,330 --> 00:19:46,240 this pursuit. He put it this way in in in 312 00:19:46,250 --> 00:19:49,780 Romans chapter 6. He said count yourselves dead to 313 00:19:49,790 --> 00:19:53,900 sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 314 00:19:54,490 --> 00:19:59,400 Count yourself dead to all that stuff, but alive to God in 315 00:19:59,410 --> 00:20:04,740 Christ Jesus. How can we stay alive to Christ? 316 00:20:04,870 --> 00:20:07,600 How do we do this? I want to leave with you as we 317 00:20:07,610 --> 00:20:09,650 close this series with one habit. 318 00:20:10,610 --> 00:20:13,840 One habit to instill, one habit to adopt in your life. 319 00:20:13,910 --> 00:20:15,780 There are, there are a lot of spiritual disciplines and 320 00:20:15,790 --> 00:20:19,660 they're very important for us to to continue to engage in those 321 00:20:19,670 --> 00:20:21,720 disciplines. But I want to leave you with one 322 00:20:21,910 --> 00:20:26,600 that to me is this the show stopper, and that is this to 323 00:20:26,610 --> 00:20:33,490 enter the presence of Jesus, just entering into the presence 324 00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:35,810 of Jesus. OK, well, you know, God is 325 00:20:35,820 --> 00:20:38,570 everywhere. His presence is everywhere. 326 00:20:38,580 --> 00:20:40,150 What do you mean enter into his presence? 327 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,770 How to do that? He is everywhere, but we're not 328 00:20:42,780 --> 00:20:47,100 always aware of his presence. Like how often do we forget? 329 00:20:47,870 --> 00:20:50,160 Like you just forgot like 5 minutes like a few minutes ago, 330 00:20:50,170 --> 00:20:52,940 right, right. Like cause that's human nature. 331 00:20:53,010 --> 00:20:56,430 We forget about God. That's what we do naturally, and 332 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:02,430 God in his mercy wakes us up. I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm 333 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:07,920 calling you to life. Entering into the presence of 334 00:21:07,930 --> 00:21:11,800 the risen Jesus on an ongoing basis and re entering because we 335 00:21:11,810 --> 00:21:14,090 continue to forget. Continue to forget. 336 00:21:15,380 --> 00:21:18,590 Brother Lawrence calls this the practice of the presence of God. 337 00:21:19,100 --> 00:21:24,500 Just getting accustomed to enjoying God's divine company. 338 00:21:24,510 --> 00:21:26,320 Just just getting into that, into that mode. 339 00:21:27,630 --> 00:21:31,700 Brennan Manning spoke about this as being aware of the present 340 00:21:31,750 --> 00:21:35,890 wiseness of Jesus. This is so critical. 341 00:21:36,540 --> 00:21:39,730 It's so critical because he is alive. 342 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:44,290 I'm in his presence now and I can relate to him and I can draw 343 00:21:44,300 --> 00:21:48,030 near to him and I can converse with him and I can lean on him 344 00:21:48,100 --> 00:21:50,850 and I can follow him when I'm aware of that. 345 00:21:50,860 --> 00:21:53,610 It makes all the difference in the world and allow it making us 346 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:59,550 come alive to Christ. So I want to just talk about the 347 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:02,820 details of that just to kind of get into the nitty gritty and 348 00:22:02,830 --> 00:22:05,640 say let me micromanage your life. 349 00:22:05,690 --> 00:22:08,860 No, that is not at all what I'm saying, but I do want to kind of 350 00:22:08,870 --> 00:22:10,580 walk through a day. What would this look like? 351 00:22:10,650 --> 00:22:12,980 So to start with, how do you start your day? 352 00:22:12,990 --> 00:22:14,720 Let's just get really practical here. 353 00:22:14,770 --> 00:22:17,990 How do you start your day alive to Christ? 354 00:22:19,810 --> 00:22:26,580 Most of us, what what I should say is, is that by nature we 355 00:22:26,630 --> 00:22:30,940 start our day off guard with God nowhere to be found in our 356 00:22:30,950 --> 00:22:33,210 thoughts. That's what we naturally do. 357 00:22:33,460 --> 00:22:37,910 And so we need to get into a habit of entering into His 358 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,750 presence the very first thing. Maybe if you can drop to your 359 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:44,790 knees when you get out of bed. If you can't do that, no 360 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:46,450 problem. But before you get out of bed, 361 00:22:46,460 --> 00:22:49,690 before you even do anything, just have that reminder. 362 00:22:49,700 --> 00:22:51,590 Maybe it's a note on your bedside. 363 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,650 Maybe it's, you know, maybe it's a voice message that you give 364 00:22:55,660 --> 00:22:57,010 yourself. It's going to go off with your 365 00:22:57,020 --> 00:23:00,100 alarm. Remember to enter into the 366 00:23:00,110 --> 00:23:05,130 presence of Jesus and in that moment just say, good morning, 367 00:23:05,140 --> 00:23:08,670 Lord, good morning, Father, good morning, Jesus, good morning, 368 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:10,470 Holy Spirit, good morning, good morning. 369 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,140 Just just to acknowledge His presence right here and this 370 00:23:14,150 --> 00:23:18,370 thank Him for His mercy. Like the reason why you're still 371 00:23:18,380 --> 00:23:20,630 on the planet is because of His mercy. 372 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,430 I think it's a good reminder. Just thank you for your mercy 373 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:25,730 and Lord keep me close. Doesn't have to be a long 374 00:23:25,740 --> 00:23:27,550 prayer, but just talk in a few seconds. 375 00:23:28,340 --> 00:23:32,120 Keep me close to you today. Wake me up to your presence 376 00:23:32,130 --> 00:23:34,140 today. And that's how you begin before 377 00:23:34,150 --> 00:23:36,780 you brush your teeth, before you get your coffee, before you do 378 00:23:36,790 --> 00:23:38,820 anything. The very first thing to start 379 00:23:38,830 --> 00:23:43,550 your day is to enter into reenter into the awareness of 380 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:48,040 the presence of God. Francis de Sales, his book, the 381 00:23:48,050 --> 00:23:51,810 introduction to devout life, he he talks about this practice as 382 00:23:51,820 --> 00:23:55,160 you pray just before you know, sometimes we'll devote time to 383 00:23:55,170 --> 00:23:57,880 pray. Just put yourself into the 384 00:23:57,890 --> 00:24:01,710 presence of God. Like just take that moment just 385 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:05,290 before before you say anything. Or just just be aware of His 386 00:24:05,300 --> 00:24:08,290 presence, aware of the one that you're speaking to. 387 00:24:08,300 --> 00:24:14,390 And then begin, begin to speak. That's how you start your day. 388 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:16,750 That's a good place. Now, I'm not saying you have to 389 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,670 start your day like that, but it's a good way to start your 390 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:20,590 day. That's a good habit. 391 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,600 OK, let's carry on. Get into the Word, get into the 392 00:24:24,610 --> 00:24:28,360 Word of God. Why are you reading the Bible? 393 00:24:28,550 --> 00:24:29,860 Why would you ever read the Bible? 394 00:24:29,870 --> 00:24:31,950 Why do you open it up? We might think, OK, well, you 395 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,320 know, I want to gain Bible knowledge, which is good. 396 00:24:35,330 --> 00:24:37,480 Bible knowledge is good. Or I want to learn the 397 00:24:37,490 --> 00:24:40,800 principles that are in the Bible so that I can apply them to my 398 00:24:40,810 --> 00:24:43,340 life. You know that that's good too. 399 00:24:43,350 --> 00:24:46,600 But we're missing the point. The whole reason why we read the 400 00:24:46,610 --> 00:24:50,340 Bible is to encounter Jesus. It's to know him more. 401 00:24:50,350 --> 00:24:55,390 That's, that's the whole kitten caboodle there, Kit and 402 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:56,630 kaboodle. You mean You know what I mean? 403 00:24:57,700 --> 00:25:01,270 Jesus on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection was 404 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,990 talking to a couple of the disciples and who were kind of 405 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:09,310 trying to figure out everything, you know, you know, anyway, but 406 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,990 Jesus says beginning the the the commentary is beginning with 407 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:18,550 Moses and all the prophets. Jesus, he explained to them what 408 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,070 was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 409 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:30,070 All the scriptures, all of them are talking about Jesus. 410 00:25:30,540 --> 00:25:34,260 All of them are concerning Jesus like everything is about Jesus. 411 00:25:36,450 --> 00:25:39,980 When we read the scriptures, a great, great way to do it is to 412 00:25:39,990 --> 00:25:46,050 visualize Jesus reading to you. Because this is his word. 413 00:25:46,770 --> 00:25:49,700 This is weird to you, just to just picture that for those of 414 00:25:49,710 --> 00:25:54,810 you who have kids, parents who have kids, young children, man, 415 00:25:55,490 --> 00:25:59,020 sometimes it's hard to do like like table devotions at dinner 416 00:25:59,030 --> 00:26:00,240 time. You know, the kids can kind of 417 00:26:00,250 --> 00:26:04,280 get a little wild, but bedtime is just the perfect time to draw 418 00:26:04,290 --> 00:26:05,660 near to them. The reason why I'm saying this 419 00:26:05,670 --> 00:26:09,330 is that you can help to coach your kids into the kind of 420 00:26:09,340 --> 00:26:12,570 relationship Jesus wants with between us and His Word. 421 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:18,900 Lay down on the bed with your kids and open the Bible and read 422 00:26:18,910 --> 00:26:21,640 to them just like God would be reading to them. 423 00:26:21,650 --> 00:26:25,580 And you're not God, but you're, you're representative of God and 424 00:26:25,650 --> 00:26:30,380 just allow them to pause and ask questions and to talk about 425 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:31,900 what's going on in the Scriptures. 426 00:26:32,190 --> 00:26:35,300 And you have this, this, this glorious opportunity to coach 427 00:26:35,310 --> 00:26:38,460 them and how to interact with the word because the same thing 428 00:26:38,470 --> 00:26:42,990 with us as we open the word and read it like Jesus is is 429 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,290 speaking to us, is is reading this to us. 430 00:26:45,300 --> 00:26:50,230 And we can pause from time to time and just thank Him for it. 431 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,040 Or asking the questions that are deep on our mind like this Lord 432 00:26:54,050 --> 00:26:56,230 just doesn't make sense. Like it's a conversation is what 433 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,260 I'm trying to say. Reading this text is a 434 00:27:00,270 --> 00:27:03,970 conversation. It's a it's, it's, it's an 435 00:27:03,980 --> 00:27:06,530 experience of Jesus Christ. That's what it was meant to do. 436 00:27:06,540 --> 00:27:09,850 So get into the Word. Get into the word Third thing 437 00:27:10,630 --> 00:27:15,090 walking through your day. How to be walking through your 438 00:27:15,100 --> 00:27:18,000 day. We need to do it aware of 439 00:27:18,010 --> 00:27:20,980 Christ, aware of the presence of Christ. 440 00:27:21,030 --> 00:27:24,190 You know, we often think, OK, well, you know, God, God is the 441 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,080 number one in my life. And once I've done the God thing 442 00:27:27,090 --> 00:27:30,450 in the morning, check and now I'm on to the rest of my day. 443 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,170 You know, God, God is meant to be at the very centre of 444 00:27:34,180 --> 00:27:35,710 absolutely everything that we do. 445 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:40,100 And so we need to walk through our day just pausing off them to 446 00:27:40,110 --> 00:27:42,580 remember him, just to think about him. 447 00:27:42,590 --> 00:27:44,260 We read it, we sang it in the song. 448 00:27:44,270 --> 00:27:48,470 You know that he's our best thought by day and by night. 449 00:27:49,220 --> 00:27:52,730 Just keep coming back to thinking about him, re entering 450 00:27:52,740 --> 00:27:56,400 into his presence moment by moment, thinking about him, 451 00:27:56,410 --> 00:28:00,650 praising him, asking him to draw us closer all the way through 452 00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:03,900 the day. Need to slow down in order to do 453 00:28:03,910 --> 00:28:06,200 that. Question for you, the pandemic, 454 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,720 after the pandemic, Did anybody feel lazy after the pandemic 455 00:28:11,410 --> 00:28:14,060 now? Is it laziness or was it just 456 00:28:14,070 --> 00:28:17,010 that we were actually getting back to a human pace? 457 00:28:18,130 --> 00:28:21,870 I think for those of us in southern Ontario, there was some 458 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,430 good things about the pandemic that it slowed us down. 459 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,910 I, I, I have been wavering back and forth my blazier than I was 460 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:29,900 before. Or is this just the human pace 461 00:28:29,910 --> 00:28:32,310 that I'm supposed to be living? And I have come to the 462 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,420 conclusion, I think this is more the human pace that I was meant 463 00:28:35,430 --> 00:28:39,460 to be living because as I'm following Jesus, as you read the 464 00:28:39,470 --> 00:28:42,460 Gospels, there, there there was never a more productive human 465 00:28:42,470 --> 00:28:45,030 being than Jesus Christ. And he moved slowly. 466 00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:50,330 He moves slowly, the way that Paul put it in Galatians 5. 467 00:28:50,340 --> 00:28:59,310 He said let us keeping step with the Spirit, keep in step with 468 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,490 the Spirit. That's the pace of Jesus in the 469 00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:03,850 step. You might even think of it as 470 00:29:03,860 --> 00:29:06,920 sort of like a dance, right? We're dancing with Jesus. 471 00:29:06,930 --> 00:29:09,830 It is not a Sprint. Paul is talking about a race 472 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:12,550 here. He's using race analogy, but he 473 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:16,030 is not saying, you know, Sprint your way through life. 474 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:17,810 That's not the point that he was making. 475 00:29:18,590 --> 00:29:20,560 He was making that we need to go at his pace. 476 00:29:20,570 --> 00:29:23,460 So when we enter into work, you know, for those of us who are, 477 00:29:23,530 --> 00:29:26,640 who are say, say we're engaged in a, in a job, maybe for an 478 00:29:26,650 --> 00:29:30,780 employer, you're, or if you're running a business and you're, 479 00:29:30,870 --> 00:29:32,900 you know, one of the main priorities you have is to make a 480 00:29:32,910 --> 00:29:34,680 profit. You need to remember that your 481 00:29:34,690 --> 00:29:38,100 primary responsibility is actually to a higher authority, 482 00:29:38,770 --> 00:29:42,310 and that is to God Himself, and that you're going to be a better 483 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,300 employee, you're going to be a Better Business owner if you're 484 00:29:45,310 --> 00:29:49,260 doing it in the presence of Jesus and for his glory. 485 00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:53,010 To be pausing often, to be looking for opportunities to be 486 00:29:53,020 --> 00:29:57,030 serving people, not just head down in the computer or kind of 487 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,270 just doing my job, but I'm actually looking for 488 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,150 opportunities to suffer on behalf of others, to be using 489 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,970 the power that Jesus is giving me. 490 00:30:05,890 --> 00:30:09,650 That's the dance. That's a dance. 491 00:30:09,660 --> 00:30:12,220 Staying alive. Great song by the Bee Gees. 492 00:30:12,310 --> 00:30:15,680 Anybody remember dancing on in the late 70s? 493 00:30:16,010 --> 00:30:20,410 You know, to the, to, to the Bee Gees, You know, if you ever 494 00:30:20,420 --> 00:30:24,010 wondered about the words that you're dancing to life's go and 495 00:30:24,020 --> 00:30:29,750 no, let's go nowhere. Somebody help me. 496 00:30:30,190 --> 00:30:34,870 Somebody help me. Yeah, staying alive, right, 497 00:30:34,930 --> 00:30:37,320 Right. Life's going nowhere. 498 00:30:38,390 --> 00:30:44,110 Somebody helped me. That's that's the song of 499 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:49,080 survival of the fittest. I need some help just to get 500 00:30:49,090 --> 00:30:51,560 through. That is not the song of the 501 00:30:51,570 --> 00:30:55,120 redeemed, friends. The song of the redeemed is is 502 00:30:55,130 --> 00:30:58,680 that though my life was going nowhere, somebody did help me. 503 00:30:58,850 --> 00:31:03,240 His name is Jesus Christ and he rescued me and he's brought me 504 00:31:03,250 --> 00:31:07,500 from death to life. And now my priority is staying 505 00:31:07,510 --> 00:31:12,390 alive in him, pursuing him with everything that I have. 506 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:14,200 This is Paul's encouragement to us. 507 00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,360 Don't forget it. Keep that song. 508 00:31:17,370 --> 00:31:18,670 There should be a song in our hearts. 509 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:20,070 You know the reason why we come together? 510 00:31:20,180 --> 00:31:24,260 One more scripture. Ephesians chapter 5 Paul, This 511 00:31:24,270 --> 00:31:26,460 is Paul again. He's saying be filled with the 512 00:31:26,470 --> 00:31:30,510 Spirit speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs 513 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,670 from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your 514 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,750 heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for 515 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,490 everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 516 00:31:39,780 --> 00:31:43,200 It's it's, it's a, it's a there's one of the reasons why 517 00:31:43,210 --> 00:31:45,850 we come together to worship is we're singing to one another. 518 00:31:45,900 --> 00:31:48,510 We're singing the truth to one another to encourage one another 519 00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,050 to stay on that track, continue to pursue Christ. 520 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,390 But that song was never meant to die. 521 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:59,180 Once we leave this building, we need to keep that song alive and 522 00:31:59,190 --> 00:32:04,810 well in our hearts, singing to God, praising Him, thanking him 523 00:32:04,820 --> 00:32:07,140 again and again and again. It's one of the ways that we can 524 00:32:07,180 --> 00:32:10,550 stay alive to him and in His holy presence. 525 00:32:10,860 --> 00:32:13,610 And then the last thing you're walking through our day. 526 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:15,010 It's good just to review your day. 527 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:18,730 Good to review your day. Your heads hit the pillow is a 528 00:32:18,740 --> 00:32:21,660 great opportunity to re enter into the presence of God just 529 00:32:21,670 --> 00:32:26,260 your awareness of him and have that conversation again thanking 530 00:32:26,270 --> 00:32:29,370 him for your day. Maybe asking him how did we do 531 00:32:29,540 --> 00:32:32,510 not how did I do, but how did we do like how how did the 532 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,970 relationship go today Lord good conversation was alive to you 533 00:32:36,980 --> 00:32:40,850 was I was aware of you? How did I love today? 534 00:32:40,860 --> 00:32:43,880 Did I love you? Did I love the people around me? 535 00:32:44,980 --> 00:32:49,390 And that's not to berate yourself, because we never get 536 00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:53,450 perfection out of that, but it's just another way of reengaging 537 00:32:53,460 --> 00:32:55,500 with Jesus and keeping Him there. 538 00:32:55,510 --> 00:32:58,450 He's our first thought in the morning and our last thought at 539 00:32:58,460 --> 00:33:01,620 night, and that's gonna help us to keep him in front of us 540 00:33:01,630 --> 00:33:05,030 throughout the day, to stay alive in him. 541 00:33:05,140 --> 00:33:11,550 So every day, every day, focus on staying alive in Christ by 542 00:33:11,610 --> 00:33:15,250 entering, reentering, reentering, reentering into the 543 00:33:15,260 --> 00:33:18,930 presence of the living Jesus Christ and walk out our days 544 00:33:18,940 --> 00:33:20,330 with Him. Yeah. 545 00:33:25,380 --> 00:33:28,950 We've got a great opportunity as we celebrate Communion this 546 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:34,270 morning, because Communion is really Jesus's invitation to us 547 00:33:35,050 --> 00:33:41,870 to enter His presence in a much more tangible way, to receive 548 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:47,450 grace from His hand, to enjoy His company, for Him to fill us 549 00:33:47,460 --> 00:33:51,150 and nourish our spirits so that we can live the life that were 550 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,160 called to live. And He offers us his body, 551 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:01,870 signified in the bread, And he offers his blood, signified in 552 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:04,530 the cup. And he invites us to feed on 553 00:34:04,540 --> 00:34:11,510 him, to be strengthened mind, body and soul, to live for Him 554 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,300 with everything that we have now. 555 00:34:14,350 --> 00:34:19,840 You may be thinking about coming to the table and maybe you don't 556 00:34:19,850 --> 00:34:22,230 feel worthy enough to come to the table. 557 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,949 And let me just say this. None of us are worthy to come to 558 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,300 the table. None of us are worthy to enter 559 00:34:28,310 --> 00:34:32,050 into relationship with Jesus Christ, but He invites us here 560 00:34:32,710 --> 00:34:35,310 and He covers us with His mercy. This is the beautiful thing. 561 00:34:36,409 --> 00:34:39,020 You know, a lot of people are talking about football right now 562 00:34:39,030 --> 00:34:42,800 because we're getting close to the close to the Super Bowl, but 563 00:34:42,810 --> 00:34:47,000 the 1929 game between this is a long time ago. 564 00:34:47,010 --> 00:34:52,080 Georgia Tech in California and into the second near the end of 565 00:34:52,090 --> 00:34:56,560 the second quarter and there's a fumble and, and Roy Riegels 566 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:02,130 recovers the fumble and isn't in his, in his excitement, he runs 567 00:35:02,140 --> 00:35:07,850 in the opposite direction 65 yards before he's tackled by one 568 00:35:07,860 --> 00:35:11,360 of his own teammates on the on the 2 yard line, right. 569 00:35:12,290 --> 00:35:17,440 And of course, he's humiliated and absolutely devastated. 570 00:35:17,450 --> 00:35:21,620 And they get into the locker room and everybody's just 571 00:35:21,630 --> 00:35:23,720 silent. And there there's no, you know, 572 00:35:23,730 --> 00:35:27,470 roaring speech from the, you know, pep talk from the coach. 573 00:35:28,390 --> 00:35:30,510 But what the coach does say, he says this. 574 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:32,610 Everybody was on the field in the first half. 575 00:35:32,620 --> 00:35:37,030 They're going back on to the second-half and Roy with his 576 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,350 face in his hands, he says I can't go, go. 577 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:41,770 So everybody's running out and and he's just there alone. 578 00:35:41,780 --> 00:35:46,490 I can't go back out there like I've ruined this team and the 579 00:35:46,500 --> 00:35:52,180 coach, said Roy. Stand up, You belong on the 580 00:35:52,190 --> 00:35:54,740 field. Get out there and play. 581 00:35:55,910 --> 00:36:03,170 And of course he did. God in his grace is speaking to 582 00:36:03,180 --> 00:36:05,150 each one of us and saying you belong. 583 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,730 You belong to me. You belong on the field, no 584 00:36:08,740 --> 00:36:13,590 matter how badly you might have messed up, no matter how much 585 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:18,010 you've been walking the line and not pursuing me, saying I want 586 00:36:18,020 --> 00:36:22,780 you to come to the I've got a hold on you and I'm never gonna 587 00:36:22,790 --> 00:36:26,630 let you go. If you've received Jesus as your 588 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,150 Lord and Savior and your desire is to follow Him, you are 589 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,620 welcome to this table. Every single one of us.