1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,320 Oh, Crossing family, I want to welcome those of you joining in 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,720 all of our different locations, those of you who are part of the 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,240 crossing inside, and to those of you who are part of the Crossing 4 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,960 online. In fact, I want to wish a very 5 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,120 special welcome to Destiny watching online from Colorado. 6 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,920 Crossing families, you welcome Destiny from Colorado. 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,720 Here's Destiny's story. Last week, 1045 service Destiny 8 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,120 joined our online services for the first time and a couple of 9 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,280 our difference makers reached out and kind of said hello and 10 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,280 invited her into the private chat. 11 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:36,400 And later that day, we got a word from one of our difference 12 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,040 makers that have welcomed her that when they went into the 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,960 private chat, Destiny said that she was about ready to get off 14 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,280 the online service because she had decided that church was not 15 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:47,840 for her. But because she hopped in the 16 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,600 chat, the difference maker met her there. 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,680 She stayed through the service and realized her words. 18 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,000 It was for her. She felt like the sermon was 19 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,520 perfect for her and she couldn't wait to come back next week. 20 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,160 So hopefully, Destiny, you're joining us right now. 21 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,200 The difference maker again, they're great. 22 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,760 The difference maker was so moved that he reached out and 23 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:11,520 said, hey, I want to serve every service because I want to do the 24 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,400 best I can do to help other people find what I found in 25 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:15,960 Jesus. And to those of you who are 26 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:18,880 joining from all over, wherever you're watching from, we're 27 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,760 trying to do a better job as a church administering to our 28 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:23,840 online community. And if you're interested in 29 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:29,040 helping out, you can send an e-mail to online@thecrossing.net 30 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,480 and they'd love to have you join as you're traveling and doing 31 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,040 things like that. You might go, you know what, 32 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,440 even while I'm gone, I still want to be a part of helping 33 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,840 people find what I have found in Jesus. 34 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,520 Well, it was the winter of last year. 35 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,440 We are in a series called 50 for 50 where we are spending 50 36 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,920 minutes a day for 50 days, spending time reading our Bible, 37 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,120 praying, and doing some exercise. 38 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,280 And over the course of those 50 days, we were going to read 39 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,560 through the entire New Testament. 40 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,280 And as I was going through the readings in the morning, I would 41 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,280 be so excited to have you read what I had just read. 42 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,680 And I was thrilled to see our entire church all across this 43 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:06,600 region being exposed to the power of God's Word. 44 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,840 I mean, when you think about our people, reading through Matthew, 45 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:13,080 Mark, Luke, and John and getting a more beautiful picture of 46 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,840 Jesus, it's exciting. Then I was thinking about us all 47 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,040 going through the book of Acts and realizing what happens when 48 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,920 the Holy Spirit comes into a person's life and they live out 49 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:24,440 faith and obedience and finding out what's possible. 50 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,720 But I got to be honest with you, there were, as we were going 51 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,480 through the series, there were three specific times where I 52 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,960 kind of had a, a check in my spirit going, man, I don't know 53 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:36,840 how our people are going to handle this. 54 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:39,400 One was when you guys were reading through the Book of 55 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:40,880 Revelation. I was like, Oh my goodness, 56 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,720 they've got to have way more questions than we have answers. 57 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:46,400 And so I just want you to hear me say this. 58 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,760 We're going to tackle the Book of Revelation. 59 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,120 It'll be one of the 1st 10 series that we put out when we 60 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,480 get inside the, the new production center in the new 61 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,440 multi site offices. Then there was a chapter in 62 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:58,600 First Timothy that I was going, you know what, we need to 63 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:00,760 definitely address it. And I want, you know, in the 64 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,960 next 10 years as a church, we'll treat the pastoral epistles 65 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,960 first and second Timothy and Titus just like we treated 66 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,720 Romans. But there was one book in 67 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,560 particular that I was going, we need to make sure that we do 68 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,000 something. I'm sure it caused a little bit 69 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,480 of concern in your life and you're going, man, what does all 70 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,040 this mean? And instead of running from it, 71 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,080 we ran to it, which is why we are in the book of First 72 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,200 Corinthians. I knew that chapters 7 and 8 73 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,880 would be a little bumpy. To those of you who don't 74 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,000 remember Chapter 7, that's the one that your husband took notes 75 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:34,600 in. OK chapter. 76 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,200 He's like, he's never taken notes before then. 77 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:44,520 But to be honest with you, chapters 1112 and 14 are going 78 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:46,920 to be a little jarring. So I just want you to know as 79 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:48,640 you're reading through it, you're going to go, are you 80 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:49,520 kidding me? Yep. 81 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,400 And so over the next couple of weeks, as we're going through 82 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,760 what my opinion are some of the three most difficult chunks of 83 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,120 scripture to navigate, we're going to get through it. 84 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:01,800 You're going to be fine. On the other side, if you had a 85 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,000 hard time parking at one of our locations, it'll probably 86 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:05,720 lighten up over the next couple of weeks. 87 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,560 Now before we jump into these three chapters, Chapter 11, 88 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,120 Chapter 12 and Chapter 14, what I want to do is I want to kind 89 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:19,480 of give you a gift and these are pillars to help you navigate the 90 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,040 scriptures. OK, so the first pillar is this 91 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,880 is not just the crossing, but here at the crossing. 92 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,280 But all Christians believe that God's way is the best way. 93 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,440 What that means is if God says it, we believe it that it's the 94 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:32,400 best way for us to live our lives and we should build our 95 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:36,320 lives upon it. Jesus says this in John chapter 96 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,240 10 verse 10. I have this is Jesus talking. 97 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,400 The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. 98 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,120 But I have come that you may have life and have it to the 99 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,600 full, which means that life that is designed and directed and 100 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,960 submitted to God is the best life. 101 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,200 You can't live the life that you were designed and created or 102 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,720 commanded to be apart from Him. So we believe, and Christians 103 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:02,760 believe that God's way is the best way. 104 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,480 Even if we don't like the way, we know that it's the best way. 105 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,160 The second one is that all Scripture is useful. 106 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:15,240 All scripture is useful for you. Look what it says in Second 107 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,840 Timothy chapter 3. All scripture is God breathed, 108 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,360 which means it originated not from man, but from God. 109 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:28,640 It is God breathed and it is, what's the next word useful. 110 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,440 What's it useful for? Teaching, rebuking, correcting 111 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,920 and training in righteousness. If you want to live the right 112 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,840 kind of life, the kind of life that God created you for, 113 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:43,720 designed you for, and commanded you to do, you need to be a 114 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,240 person who is a person of the Word of God. 115 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,800 It will help you to live the righteous life and but check 116 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,080 this out so that every servant of God may be thoroughly 117 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,120 equipped for every good work. What that means is you cannot do 118 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,680 the good thing that God has called you and commanded you to 119 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,360 do unless you are a person of the Word of God, submitted to 120 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,920 the Word of God. There are going to be times in 121 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,640 your life when you need to be taught something that you didn't 122 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,360 know. There are going to be times in 123 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:16,880 your life when you need to be rebuked for doing something you 124 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,640 should not do, corrected for believing something that you 125 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:25,680 should not believe, and trained to do the things of God. 126 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:28,280 Pillar one. God's way is the best way. 127 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:30,240 Pillar 2. All scripture is useful. 128 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,480 Pillar 3. Obedience to God's word matters. 129 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:39,200 Not just knowing about God's word, but doing what God's Word 130 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,760 says matters. Look at what Jesus says in 131 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:46,880 Matthew Chapter 7. Therefore, everyone who hears 132 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,760 these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a 133 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,400 wise man who built his house on the rock. 134 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,720 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and 135 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:58,880 beat against that house, yet it did not fall. 136 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,320 Why? Because it had its foundation on 137 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,840 the rock. But everyone who hears these 138 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:09,960 words of mine and does not put them into practice is like what 139 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,680 kind of man? A Yeah, a foolish man who built 140 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:17,440 his house on the sand. The same rain came, and the 141 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,160 streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and 142 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,320 it fell with a great crash. You can know God's Word, but 143 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,120 unless you submit your life to God's Word, you are not building 144 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,720 your house, your life, your family on a firm foundation. 145 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,120 God's way is the best way. It's the only way to have the 146 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:36,920 life that you're designed to have, the full life. 147 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,320 All Scripture is useful in helping us find out and live and 148 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,920 experience God's way. But ultimately, unless you apply 149 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,760 what God's Word says to your life, you will not have the life 150 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:51,000 that God designed you to have. Today we're jumping into First 151 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,800 Corinthians 11, and I'm going to be honest with you. 152 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,240 There's a lot to cover, and contained in it are some of the 153 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:01,200 most confusing and frustrating chunks of Scripture. 154 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,120 You're ready. Here we go, verses 11 through 155 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,360 16. This is Paul talking to the 156 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,920 Corinthian church. Follow my example as I follow 157 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,320 the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me 158 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:17,440 in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed 159 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,960 them on to you. But I want you to realize that 160 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:25,080 the head of every man is Christ, and the head of every woman is 161 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,720 man, and the head of Christ is God. 162 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:30,960 Every man who prays or prophecies with his head covered 163 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,960 dishonors his head, but every woman who prays or prophecies 164 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:37,280 with her head uncovered dishonors her head. 165 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:42,679 It is the same as having her head shaved, for if a woman does 166 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,240 not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off. 167 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,240 But it it If it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut 168 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,680 off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. 169 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,600 A man ought not cover his head, since he is the image and the 170 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,680 glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 171 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,200 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 172 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,360 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 173 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,880 It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority 174 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,160 over her own head, have her head covered because of the angels. 175 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,600 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor 176 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,280 is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so 177 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,640 also man is born of woman, But everything comes from God. 178 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,120 Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray 179 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,760 to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of 180 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,600 things teach you that if a man has long hair, is it a disgrace 181 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,840 to him? But that if a woman has long 182 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,440 hair, it is to her, or it is her glory? 183 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:43,560 For long hair is given to her as a covering. 184 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:45,360 So you don't have to wear a hat, but you have to have long hair. 185 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:47,240 We'll get into that. Which isn't true. 186 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,600 Don't worry, you're fine. If anyone wants to be 187 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,520 contentious about this, we have no other practice, nor do the 188 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,720 churches of God. And I'm assuming after I read 189 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,400 that you guys are going, this makes perfect sense. 190 00:09:58,640 --> 00:09:59,960 Let's just pray and get out of here. 191 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,280 We could get our grocery shopping done early today. 192 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:04,120 Clayton. All right, let me level with 193 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,960 you. If you're scratching your head, 194 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,720 you're not alone. If you're a little confused, 195 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:10,800 you're not alone. That's why I want to walk you 196 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,000 through this again. God's way is the best way. 197 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,480 All scripture is useful and obedience matters. 198 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,280 There is a reason this is given to us. 199 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,360 Now what? When you and I are walking in 200 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,920 life, we have to understand that God's word is given to us for 201 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:29,680 our good. But there are two errors. 202 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,000 When we find ourselves with a confusing or a frustrating text, 203 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,880 one of the errors is to under apply it, skip over it, move 204 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:44,520 past it, Don't give it any chance to do a work in US. 205 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:48,160 Sometimes when people find something in scriptures that 206 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:50,840 they don't like, what they functionally do is they take 207 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:52,920 scissors to it and just cut it out. 208 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,360 The problem is, is the moment you start doing that, you are 209 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:01,320 now making God into your image and you as a God do not save. 210 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,800 Selective Christianity becomes progressive Christianity and 211 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,720 progressive Christianity becomes no Christianity. 212 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:15,520 So we have to give the text a chance, the Holy Spirit time, 213 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:21,240 because it is for us. The second one is to over apply 214 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,880 it and to become legalistic with it. 215 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:28,480 Where you go so far that you make a minor issue, a major 216 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,080 issue. Hear me. 217 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:32,920 What we're going to talk about today is what I would call a 218 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,960 secondary issue. What do I mean by a secondary 219 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:38,840 issue? A secondary issue is something 220 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,040 that you and I could disagree on and we still get to give each 221 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,160 other high fives in heaven because we're both there. 222 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:50,600 A primary issue is an issue that if we, you and I are not in 223 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,000 agreement on that thing, we can't high 5 each other in 224 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,120 heaven because you and I are not in the same place. 225 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,280 So a primary issue. God created the world. 226 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,000 That man has sinned, that he sent his Son Jesus to die on the 227 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,320 cross to pay the price that you and I could not pay. 228 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,120 Three days later, rose from the grave, ascended into heaven, is 229 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,120 seated on the throne, and has sent his Holy Spirit to empower 230 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:15,760 us. If you don't believe that Jesus 231 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,720 is the way, the truth, and the life, that is a primary issue 232 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,080 that separates people from heaven and people from hell. 233 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:27,640 But these things are secondary issues, things that good godly 234 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,200 Christian people can disagree on how to apply a particular text. 235 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,160 Now, what I'm going to do today is I'm going to walk you through 236 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:37,680 what I genuinely believe the Bible is teaching. 237 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:42,600 And you may not agree with me, but I will tell you, make sure 238 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,000 that the reason you do not agree with me, you are still finding a 239 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:50,160 way for you to allow this text to work on your heart. 240 00:12:50,480 --> 00:12:52,000 You can go, Clayton, I've read this book. 241 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:53,360 I want you to know I've read that book too. 242 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:55,440 There is a reason why we're going through this. 243 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:57,120 And there's all kinds of things inside of here that are 244 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,560 confusing and frustrating. For instance, in the original 245 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:04,120 language, the words husband and wife could also be man and 246 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,520 woman. So you could walk away from this 247 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:11,000 saying on some level that all women should be subjected to or 248 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,840 under the authority of all men. What I believe is what it's 249 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:19,000 saying is that husbands and wives so that women are to be in 250 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,600 submission to their husbands. But we'll unpack that in just a 251 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,120 second. Now, when this was written, the 252 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,840 Bible was written for us, but not necessarily to us. 253 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:32,280 We were a part of its intended audience, but we were not its 254 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,840 primary audience, which is why we're reading First Corinthians, 255 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,320 not First Crossings. Does that make sense? 256 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,400 So Paul is writing to this group of people and he is trying to 257 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,800 help a young church make a godly difference in a Pagan culture. 258 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,640 And now you're like, well, that's kind of us, a church 259 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,000 trying to make a a godly difference in a Pagan culture. 260 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:55,920 Starting in chapter 8, for those of you who are here, he's 261 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,680 addressing how Christians are to leverage and steward their 262 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:02,560 freedoms in Christ. And what you're going to see in 263 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:07,480 chapters 11/12/13 and 14 is Paul addressing how you and I are to 264 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,040 express ourselves and leverage our lives when we gather 265 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:15,600 together as Christians and how we present ourselves as we go 266 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,760 out into the world. Paul is encouraging them to 267 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:23,680 consider how best to leverage their freedom and how they look 268 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:28,560 and how they operate in light of what is loving to others and 269 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,360 draws attention to God. Because Christians are others 270 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:37,680 focused people. So let's break it down #1 why 271 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,640 all the headship talk? Paul is reminding them that 272 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,320 Christians are people who live under authority. 273 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,960 You want to be a person who lives in submission to 274 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:54,040 authority. If you find a person who doesn't 275 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,440 let anybody speak into their life or have authority over 276 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,680 their life, that is a dangerous person. 277 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,480 So like my life, I live under the authority of our elders. 278 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,200 I surround myself with other people who I lean on and allow 279 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,560 to speak into how I direct my life. 280 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:19,320 And when God created humanity, He made it in order on purpose. 281 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:24,520 So men are to be in under the authority of Jesus. 282 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,800 Women are to be in authority or live under authority to Jesus, 283 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,480 but they are also to live under the authority of their husband. 284 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:37,400 In other words, godly women submit to their our godly wives 285 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,840 submit to their godly husbands. You see, God created man and 286 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:47,480 then out of Adam he created women or created Eve, and out of 287 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,600 Eve came all men. This does not mean, pay 288 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:57,920 attention here that women are less than men, because in this 289 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:02,080 very text it says that God is the head of Christ. 290 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,720 Is Jesus less than God? No equal. 291 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,120 But when Jesus was walking here on earth, he lived in submission 292 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,400 to the Father. That is why he says in the 293 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:19,400 Garden of Gethsemane, not my will be done, but your will be 294 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,360 done. Men are to live in submission to 295 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,240 our, husbands are to live in submission to Jesus, and wives 296 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,280 are to live in godly submission to their husbands. 297 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:33,680 This does not mean that men make all the decisions. 298 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,920 This does not mean pay attention, men, that we Lord our 299 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:46,080 authority over our wives. Our model is Jesus. 300 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:53,280 Jesus said that the greatest among you will be your servant. 301 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,440 Men, pay attention here because you thought you were going to 302 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:58,600 like the sermon. You're not. 303 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,920 Look at me when young people come up to me and say, Clayton, 304 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:04,839 we're thinking about getting married. 305 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:07,720 Here's one of the questions I ask young men and young women. 306 00:17:08,599 --> 00:17:10,720 Do you want to serve them for the rest of your life? 307 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,440 Not are they cute, not how do you feel when they walk into the 308 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:17,839 room? But do you want to wake up every 309 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:22,520 day and serve them? Married people, husbands right 310 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:24,720 here. Here's a great way for you to 311 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:29,520 live this out in your life. Serve your family, serve your 312 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,680 spouse. Here's a way to do it. 313 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,200 Ask them how can I serve you today Because how you want to 314 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,560 serve them? I'm going to give you space, 315 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:43,920 babe, and go play golf. Her answer is different than 316 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,840 your answer. Does that make sense? 317 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,360 So let me tell you tangibly how this looks. 318 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:53,040 I hate running errands. I mean this. 319 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:58,360 I would rather serve time in prison than run errands. 320 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,840 I mean this. I hate it, and I'll tell you 321 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,200 why. I feel like there is a calling 322 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:07,880 on my life that every waking moment should be directed to the 323 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,000 advancement of the gospel and to make this region the hardest 324 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:11,520 place on planet earth to get to hell from. 325 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:16,400 And when I am about that, I feel the most alive and energized. 326 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:24,120 And to stop doing that, to wait in a line somewhere is a death 327 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:29,640 sentence. And God and His great mercy gave 328 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,520 me my wife. And if I ask her, how can I 329 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:37,200 serve you today, she would say, could you go get me some coffee? 330 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,600 Which means I have to stay in a line. 331 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,720 So every Friday and Saturday morning I get up early and I go 332 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,040 and get coffee and have it on her by her bed so when she wakes 333 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:53,960 up there is hot coffee. It means that on Sunday 334 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:58,640 afternoons, I go grocery shopping. 335 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:06,200 I hate it. And ladies, if you guys want to 336 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,680 do me a huge favor between like 3:00 and 5:00 on Sundays, if you 337 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,160 could be there and help me find the stuff that she's put on the 338 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:18,320 list, I would love it. Now my job is to show up in my 339 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:26,320 home to serve. Second thing, men are called to 340 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:31,400 die. The reason why men get to make 341 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:35,680 the final decision in the home is because men are to pay the 342 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,560 ultimate price for the decisions in the home. 343 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,160 Here's what I mean by that. When Paul is writing the church 344 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:46,280 in Ephesus, he says wives submit to your husbands. 345 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,920 And then he says, men love your wives as Christ loved the 346 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,360 church. What was the dominant thing that 347 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,040 Jesus did on behalf of the church? 348 00:19:55,040 --> 00:20:00,800 He died for it. So men, if you're single and 349 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,800 you're going, I think I want to marry her, you need to ask 350 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,240 yourself this question, am I prepared to die for her and all 351 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:12,160 of her subsequent personalities? And if your answer, if you're a 352 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:17,040 yeah, if your answer is I'm not willing to die for that, she's 353 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:21,920 not the one you marry. Your job is you're the first one 354 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:26,560 that dies in the home. Let me unpack this, ladies. 355 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,840 I bet this has happened zero times in your marriage. 356 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,960 You're both under the covers, and as you're getting into bed, 357 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,320 your husband goes, oh, my goodness. 358 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:38,400 What is that? I'm so scared. 359 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,320 Sweetie, will you go check on that for us? 360 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:44,800 No. What does she do? 361 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:46,920 Go find out what that is. It's nothing. 362 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,400 Go find out what that is and whatever it is, you're either 363 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,560 killing it or it is killing you. That is how it works. 364 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,120 We are hard wired. Now listen, we are hard wired 365 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:00,480 completely differently. Now let me say this, OK ladies, 366 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,440 this was not planned to be on Rise weekend, OK? 367 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,960 This is not like a subtle flex. Like did you enjoy your 368 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,520 spiritual gathering? Now submit, OK? 369 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,200 That was not that was not why this was OK. 370 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,720 They moved the day to Rise so it ended up here. 371 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:17,360 So God was trying to work on you. 372 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:24,440 Let me explain. Men are called by God to serve 373 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:28,200 their family through death. We die for them. 374 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,880 We die first. If we were to go to Rise and we 375 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,640 were to put a kangaroo with boxing gloves in the middle of 376 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,880 Rise on stage, thousands of women, kangaroo with boxing 377 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:40,760 gloves. Here's what the women would go. 378 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:50,040 I wonder what his name is. That is such a cute kangaroo. 379 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,680 If you were to do the same thing and uncommon guys would go home 380 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:02,640 with black eyes, they would go home and go honey, this was the 381 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:07,480 best conference ever. Why baby? 382 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:15,000 Because I found out that if we are ever in Australia and a 383 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:19,680 kangaroo comes up on us, you're going to be just fine. 384 00:22:21,360 --> 00:22:24,040 Because a man would see a kangaroo in boxing gloves and 385 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,640 go, I'm going to find out. I'm going to find out. 386 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:31,760 So we're a little dumb, but that's because we're supposed to 387 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,840 die first. Men make the final decision 388 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,320 because men make the ultimate sacrifice. 389 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:44,360 Hear me men, I believe that you will be held accountable for God 390 00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:49,520 for the spiritual temperature of your home because you are to 391 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,920 lead it and you are to sacrifice for it. 392 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,160 You will be held accountable by God for how you led your home. 393 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:03,480 Wives, I believe you will not be held accountable for the 394 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:04,960 spiritual temperature of your home. 395 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:09,080 Your husband is, but you will be held accountable for whether or 396 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,120 not you are an asset or a liability to that 'cause now 397 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:15,120 don't take this to crazy extremes. 398 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,760 Here's what I mean, if you're here today and you have a 399 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,440 deadbeat husband who is a drunk and is scary and all those 400 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,280 things, none of this, we are talking about how you are to be 401 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:27,480 rightly ordered in the home under God's protection. 402 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,640 OK? So if you have a bad dude, 403 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,280 you're going to have to make decisions that are outside of 404 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,000 his leadership to protect your family from a person who is not 405 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:37,000 doing what God has called him to. 406 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,600 Two second thing, what is all the head covering stuff that the 407 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,960 Bible's talking about? Well, Corinth was a messed up 408 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,200 place. Women were mistreated, enslaved, 409 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:49,800 prostituted, and there was all kinds of gender confusion. 410 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:53,600 When this happens, the value of women is destroyed. 411 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,320 The distinction between men and women is blurred. 412 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,440 Pagan priests would wear coverings over their head when 413 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,480 they would go about their practices, and women would cover 414 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,080 their heads indicating that they were married. 415 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,600 So when all of a sudden the church shows up, the men are 416 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,800 dressing like the pagans, and then the married women are not 417 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,640 keeping their head covered. So they're basically showing up 418 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,080 for church. And they're saying either one of 419 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:22,160 two things as married women. They're either saying, hey, I do 420 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,720 not respect the authority of my husband and I want you to know 421 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:29,240 it, or two, I'm married, but I'm on the market and that's a 422 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,640 problem. So he's saying, hey, this is how 423 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,720 we are to show up. This is how we are to behave. 424 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,480 We are to be salt and light. In a culture that confuses 425 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:45,960 gender, Christians respect it. In a culture that's trying to 426 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:51,360 unorder the family, Christians seek to reorder the family in 427 00:24:51,360 --> 00:24:54,120 God's design. What does this mean for you and 428 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,560 I today? That you and I are to present 429 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:00,240 ourselves in a submissive way to God and to one another. 430 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,680 You and I are to think about how we dress and how we conduct 431 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:08,480 ourselves and what we put forth in culture to draw people's 432 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,280 attention to God. Like one of my rules for our 433 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:15,000 staff is any time we're in a place we should be better 434 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,320 dressed than 80% of the people around us. 435 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,760 If I'm dressed at 105% and I'm wearing a three piece suit, 436 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,040 nobody's going to want to talk to me. 437 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,760 If I show up and I look like I just rolled out of the trunk of 438 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,240 a car, nobody's going to want to talk to me. 439 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:33,000 I specifically put this outfit on because my wife laid it out 440 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,280 for me. OK, Yeah, she did a good job. 441 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,400 Although this shirt got a bunch of hits last year because they 442 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,760 thought it was made by Coleman and it's a tent. 443 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,680 But what I want you to think is, is when I go places, how am I 444 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,760 presenting myself? How am I honoring God and the 445 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,680 cause and others? How am I making sure that I'm 446 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,200 living in submission to somebody or something? 447 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,280 How am I living in a life that is serving others and pointing 448 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,360 other people to Jesus? Hear me. 449 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:07,160 When it comes to women, we are to recognize and respect our 450 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:10,080 differences. Men have value. 451 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:12,640 Women have value. Each have something to 452 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,640 contribute. Each has something to protect. 453 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:23,320 God chose to place his image in men and women with their 454 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:29,280 differences, and when one gender is elevated too far, it can 455 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,240 undervalue the other, or it can remove the distinction between 456 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:38,400 gender all together. And you and I, as Christians, 457 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,080 protect that. Then Paul takes a really hard 458 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:42,360 right turn. You just survived the tough 459 00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:44,720 stuff. Take a deep breath, let it out. 460 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:46,280 You made it through the weird stuff. 461 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,800 OK? 17 through 34 in the following 462 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,320 directives, I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more 463 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,440 harm than good. So when they gathered together 464 00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,640 as a church, it was a dumpster fire in the 1st place. 465 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,560 I hear that when you come together as a church, there are 466 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,480 divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 467 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:07,360 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show 468 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:08,800 which of you have God's approval. 469 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,520 So then when you come together, it is not the eating, it is not 470 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:14,840 the Lord's Supper that you eat. They're talking about communion, 471 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,160 for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own 472 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,720 private suppers. As a result, one person remains 473 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,520 hungry and another gets drunk. Don't you have homes to eat and 474 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,600 drink in? Or do you despise the Church of 475 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:28,520 God by humiliating those who have nothing? 476 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,720 What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? 477 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:36,480 Certainly not in this matter, for I received from the Lord 478 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,920 what I also passed on to you. The Lord Jesus, on the night he 479 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,480 was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, that 480 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,040 word in the Greek is Eucharisto. For those of you who are 481 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,320 Catholics. He broke it and said, This is My 482 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,960 body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. 483 00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:54,560 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, This cup 484 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,800 is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in 485 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,320 remembrance of Me. For whenever you eat this bread 486 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:06,480 and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. 487 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,640 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in 488 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,680 an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the 489 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,040 body and the blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine 490 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,920 themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the 491 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,560 cup. For those who eat and drink 492 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,520 without discerning the body of Christ, eat and drink judgement 493 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,560 on themselves. That is why many of you are weak 494 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:33,680 and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 495 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,840 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we 496 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:39,600 would not come under such judgment. 497 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,680 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are 498 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:47,160 being our disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned 499 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:51,760 with the world. So then my brothers and sisters, 500 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:53,760 when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. 501 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,200 Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home so that when 502 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,600 you meet together and may not result in judgement. 503 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,920 And when I come, I will give further directions. 504 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,400 Let's unpack it early. Church is not meeting in a 505 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:05,960 building like this. They're meeting in people's 506 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,440 homes. If you're going to try and get a 507 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,560 bunch of people into a house, you're going to go to a large 508 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,320 house. A large house is going to be a 509 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,400 wealthy person's house. So they're having church at 510 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:16,000 wealthy people's houses and the wealthy people are inviting all 511 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,680 their wealthy friends over and they're pre gaming and all the 512 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:21,640 food that they were going to eat when they had the meal, which is 513 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,360 more than just a moment like we do, They were going to celebrate 514 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:26,840 the meal while the rich people got together and they ate all 515 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,040 the food and they started to drink all the wine. 516 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,240 And so somebody gets drunk on the stuff that was supposed to 517 00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,600 be for communion, which is why we give you guys the itty bitty 518 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,560 stuff because if you want to get drunk on that, take you all day. 519 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,040 Right now, poor people are showing up at the church, at the 520 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,560 rich person's house, and they were going, hey, you know what, 521 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:47,840 things have been a little tight this week. 522 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:49,800 The pantry's a little empty. You know what we're going to do? 523 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,960 We're going to use communion to kind of get our bellies full. 524 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:57,160 And what Paul's saying is, no, when you show up to take 525 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:00,480 communion, you know what you're supposed to do Take communion. 526 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,520 You're supposed to remember what Jesus has done on your behalf 527 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,520 and to mold and shift your life to be in alignment with him. 528 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,680 Paul's saying communion is about Jesus paying the price that you 529 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,200 could never pray or pay. It would be like you showing up 530 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,840 at a War Memorial acting like a fool. 531 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:25,640 Everybody would go, how can you do that in this place, in this 532 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,240 moment? So when you and I get ready to 533 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,000 take communion, there's four things we can do to make sure 534 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,800 that we're doing it in a way that honors the Lord that 535 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,320 remembers what he did. 1 You can look back at what Jesus has 536 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:43,040 saved you from. Nothing will produce humility in 537 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,600 your life like thinking back through all the dumb things that 538 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,600 you used to do. 2 You look within. 539 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,240 When you look within and you self examine, you realize that 540 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,520 there's some areas in your life that are still way out of 541 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:03,480 alignment with the cause of Christ. 3 We can look around and 542 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:06,280 realize that the way we live impacts our brothers and sisters 543 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,000 in Christ and the mission that God has called us to live on. 544 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,640 Number 4, you can look forward to when you get to eat it with 545 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:16,960 him in heaven. That's one of the promises that 546 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,440 Jesus gives. He says I will not eat of the 547 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:23,360 bread or drink of the cup until I do it with you in my Father's 548 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,320 Kingdom, which means there will come a day where you and I will 549 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,160 actually take communion with Jesus in heaven. 550 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,160 What a glorious moment that will be. 551 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,520 Now, about the warning. You're going well, Clayton. 552 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,720 It says I don't want to do it in an unworthy way because if I do 553 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,280 it in an unworthy way, I'm going to be judged. 554 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:48,320 Yeah, you are. That makes total sense. 555 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,080 Think about this. Your God, you send your son to 556 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:58,520 die on behalf of all humanity, and then people make light of 557 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,040 your son's sacrifice. Would you take that personally? 558 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,240 Yeah. God's saying if you show up to 559 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,320 remember what my son did and you do it in a haphazard manner, 560 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,520 that's I'm. I'm going to judge you for that. 561 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:13,560 That's not OK. Now you might be going, but 562 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,200 Clayton, I always feel unworthy. You should. 563 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,360 We will always feel unworthy when we take communion because 564 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,760 we will remember that Jesus came on our behalf to save us from 565 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,960 ourselves. We will never be worthy, but he 566 00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:32,200 was worthy and because he was worthy, we are made worthy to be 567 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:36,760 able to take communion now with I may not feel like I'm worthy, 568 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,600 but that's not the issue. The issue is, am I acting in an 569 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,720 unworthy way? So how do I make sure that I'm 570 00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:46,880 not operating in an unworthy way when I take communion? 571 00:32:47,040 --> 00:32:47,920 There's a couple things you can do. 572 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:53,160 One, make sure the posture of your heart is right. 573 00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,520 When you get ready to take communion, you can feel 574 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,800 unworthy, but you can make sure that you do not act unworthy. 575 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:03,840 And the way you make sure you don't act unworthy is with the 576 00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,800 right heart posture. So here's a couple questions. 577 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:12,600 Am I being self reliant? Am I thinking to myself, I am 578 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,400 who I am because of what I have done? 579 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:21,320 Hear me, if you are in Christ, it has nothing to do with you. 580 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,160 It has everything to do with Him. 581 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:29,160 You are who you are because of who's you are, and you are who's 582 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:36,160 you are because of what He did on the cross on your behalf #2 583 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:42,600 are you defiant? Is there a sin or a pattern of 584 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,440 your life that is out of alignment with God's Word that 585 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:49,240 you keep repeating? And if you keep showing up for 586 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,160 communion to remember the sacrifice that Jesus paid on 587 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:56,440 your behalf for your sins, and yet you keep doing the sins over 588 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:58,920 and over and over again, that ain't right. 589 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,840 Three, are you self-centered? Are you only thinking about 590 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:09,199 yourself and not thinking about the mission and the cause of 591 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:11,719 Christ and your brothers and sisters in Christ? 592 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:13,360 That's why I've told you guys this. 593 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:14,800 That's why I pray these four prayers. 594 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,840 One, thank you for paying a price that I could not pay. 595 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:21,159 It is important for me to remember that my salvation is 596 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:22,719 because of him, not because of me. 597 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,960 Two, thank you for not giving up on me. 598 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,840 Hear me, I am not on my like fifth chance with God. 599 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,000 I'm in I don't know how many digits. 600 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,719 I'm on the millionth chance for sure. 601 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:45,520 Let me say something to you. There is nobody on planet Earth 602 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:51,480 who has been worse to you than you have been to God. 603 00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:58,400 And yet He still hears you when you call on His name. 604 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:05,840 He still moves on your behalf, His mercy and His grace is still 605 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,160 available. So when you come into communion 606 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,800 with a heart posture that says thank you for doing what I could 607 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,400 never do, thank you for not giving up on me, you are well on 608 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,200 your way to taking communion in a worthy manner. 609 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,280 The third prayer that I pray is to help me to live a life in 610 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,840 response to your love. How could I receive it and do 611 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,840 nothing with it and for it and four, help me to remember, you 612 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:31,320 did not die for just me, but for the sins of the world, which 613 00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,440 means that I will never put my eyes on somebody that God did 614 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,200 not send his son to die on the cross for. 615 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:39,720 So that means I change how I treat other people. 616 00:35:39,720 --> 00:35:43,200 Like I said, Christianity is others focused. 617 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,200 Why does all this matter? I'll tell you the very first 618 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,680 verse in first Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul says follow me 619 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:53,960 as I follow Christ. So can you say that when you 620 00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,960 think about your home life, are you living your life in a way 621 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:01,080 where other people could follow you and end up with Jesus? 622 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,040 When you go into your work, when you present yourself in culture, 623 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,280 in society, are you living your life in such a way that it 624 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:10,800 points and draws people to Christ? 625 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,960 Because if you are not pointing them and drawing them to Christ, 626 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,480 you are pulling them away from him. 627 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:24,440 And that's like the worst thing you could do for a person who's 628 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,040 found Jesus. I want you to think about that 629 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:28,400 as we move to this time of decision. 630 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:35,560 To those of you in here or watching online who have never 631 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:38,680 started an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ, 632 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:43,240 let me just level with you. You will live in submission to 633 00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:47,520 something. You just want to make sure that 634 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:50,280 whatever you're submitting to leads you where you want to go. 635 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,120 And if your life is not found in Jesus, you are walking a road 636 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,800 that you do not want to walk and it ends at a place that you do 637 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,240 not want to go. It requires no change, no 638 00:37:02,240 --> 00:37:05,080 repentance. It allows you to make all your 639 00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:08,520 own decisions, live life exactly the way you want to live, but it 640 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:13,000 will not put you where you ultimately want to go because 641 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:15,800 the truth is you are either following Jesus or you are 642 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,360 following Satan. You might be clean. 643 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,360 I'm not following Satan, I'm just following me. 644 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:22,800 Well, following you doesn't lead to heaven. 645 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,440 The Bible puts out two roads. One's a wide Rd. that requires 646 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:31,840 nothing of you but you to keep walking. 647 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:36,080 It's full of hardship and pain, and where it leads is no good. 648 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:40,560 But there's a narrow Rd. this road. 649 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:46,160 For the record, it's also hard. So hard, in fact, that God says 650 00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,080 He has to give you the power of the Holy Spirit in order for you 651 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:54,120 to walk it. Just like the wide Rd. the 652 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:58,640 narrow Rd. has valleys. The difference is that the 653 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,360 Christian, when they're walking the narrow Rd. of Christ, does 654 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:05,400 not walk that road alone. Because even though I walk 655 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,160 through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, 656 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:12,080 for you're with me. Jesus promises to walk the 657 00:38:12,080 --> 00:38:16,400 valleys with you, and Jesus comes. 658 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:22,080 And this is what Jesus says to those of you who want to get to 659 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,400 God. You want to be where God is. 660 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,760 You want heaven on your horizon. This is what he says. 661 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,680 Jesus says I am the way, I am the truth. 662 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:37,560 I am the life. No one comes to the Father 663 00:38:37,720 --> 00:38:44,000 except through me. Heaven is the place where God 664 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,000 dwells. If you want to be in heaven, you 665 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:49,080 need to be on the road that leads to God. 666 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:52,960 The road that leads to God goes through the person, the work, 667 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:59,800 the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ and every other Rd. 668 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:04,680 doesn't. So you have a choice today. 669 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:11,840 You can be found in Christ, in submission to Christ, or you can 670 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,240 say no. I just want you to know what's 671 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:18,760 at stake. You can either be where God is, 672 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:22,600 which is heaven, or you can walk the road to lead where God 673 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:26,000 isn't, which is hell. Today. 674 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:32,200 The decision you make matters, and not making a decision is a 675 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:35,120 decision. And so just a few moments when 676 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,080 the people around you stand and sing and some of the people come 677 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,080 to the steps and pray, I want to encourage you to walk right over 678 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:43,000 there next to that baptistry underneath the screen and talk 679 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,280 to somebody about how to start a relationship with Jesus Christ. 680 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:50,360 To the rest of you in the room, to those of you who would call 681 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,360 yourself a Christian, I just want you to really allow this 682 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,560 question to have the kind of weight it deserves in your life. 683 00:39:57,040 --> 00:39:59,760 Can you say follow me as I follow Christ? 684 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,120 If your home were to follow you as you follow Christ, would they 685 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:09,760 actually draw close to Christ? When you go into your workplace, 686 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,600 can you say follow me as I follow Christ? 687 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,600 And if they were to follow you, would they draw closer to 688 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,720 Christ? Paul says, listen, I'm not a 689 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:23,040 perfect person, but I'm a person who's under the authority of 690 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:28,320 Christ and I'm chasing him. And as Christians, if you are 691 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:32,680 not in a spot today where you can say follow me, do what I do 692 00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:36,120 as I follow after Jesus, then this is a perfect time for us to 693 00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:39,320 re examine, repent and make things right. 694 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:41,080 Would you do that? Would you stand with me, 695 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:45,240 Heavenly Father? Would you reveal to us what it 696 00:40:45,240 --> 00:40:48,760 is that we need to do? You know every step that every 697 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,080 person needs to take. You know every challenge that 698 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,400 they're presently navigating. You know the work that needs 699 00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,560 done. And so, God, in faith, we're 700 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:00,680 asking you to not just reveal to us what it is that you want us 701 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,720 to do, but God, that you'd give us the courage to do it. 702 00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:07,440 Your name I pray. Amen.