1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:03,480 Crossing Family I am so glad that you are here this weekend 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:06,840 as we start our First Corinthians series, and to help 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,640 us do that, I've invited Brian Tallte to come and be our 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,320 preacher for the weekend. Brian Tallte has been part of 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,480 the team at First Christian Church in Decatur, IL since 6 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,360 2004, where he served in a variety of roles from youth 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,840 pastor to family ministries pastor, discipleship pastor, 8 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,240 associate pastor, and now as their lead pastor. 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:30,360 He has a bachelor's degree in youth ministry from Billigan 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,280 University and a master's degree in Christian education from 11 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,600 Lincoln Christian Seminary. Brian and his wife, Jessica, 12 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,720 love their Decatur community, love their church, love Mexican 13 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,000 food, and they definitely love their four kids. 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,120 Crossing family, would you please give a warm welcome to my 15 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,840 friend and colleague and our preacher for the weekend, Brian 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:56,080 Tallte. Oh man, thank you. 17 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,760 It is so good to get to be with you all this weekend. 18 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,000 And you know, you all are your own fish living in your own 19 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:03,960 fishbowl. So when a fish comes and visits, 20 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:05,760 I get to have a different perspective. 21 00:01:05,960 --> 00:01:08,480 And you guys, I, I sure hope you don't take for granted what God 22 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,600 is doing in your midst, in this region, through you and in you 23 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:13,920 and all of that. And I'm just honoured to get to 24 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,160 be a little part of it here today as we kick off First 25 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,480 Corinthians chapter one in this journey that we are on. 26 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,640 So I'm going to invite you to turn in a Bible, if you have it 27 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,720 to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 or and you can turn in your study 28 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,000 guide there to page 5 where you can take some notes. 29 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:33,120 And as you do that, just a little bit about me. 30 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,720 So personally, I did not grow up doing this. 31 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,720 I did not grow up doing this whole church in God thing, but 32 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,440 through a pretty difficult time as a 16 year old kid, a friend 33 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,240 of mine invited me to a place not too different from this, 34 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,320 where I experienced something completely different and 35 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,040 discovered that the common denominator in the difference 36 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,320 you all had was none other than Jesus Christ. 37 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,720 And so when I received Jesus Christ, I actually didn't only 38 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,360 receive Jesus, but I also received this idea that I wanted 39 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,880 to be to others what I had experienced in people like you. 40 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,639 And so my journey into ministry wasn't all too separate from my 41 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:10,560 journey with Jesus, which in some ways that's maybe how it 42 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,520 should be for all of us. And so I stepped into youth 43 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,120 ministry because of the way that youth ministry had had such an 44 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:18,560 impact on my life. And then really my story over 45 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,840 the last 20 years, not all too different from Clayton. 46 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:22,600 I've been at the same church the last 20 years. 47 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:24,560 I started off in youth ministry just like Clayton. 48 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,680 In fact, our church over in Decatur, which is like a like a 49 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,400 network brother Church of yours. And I'm going to share a little 50 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:31,480 bit how those stories come together. 51 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:36,080 We are this year 191 years old. How crazy is that? 52 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:40,200 I didn't start the church, so, you know, I don't get much 53 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,200 credit. But one of the fun things about 54 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,960 that church is or this church is that indicator, the original 55 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,120 building met in the County Courthouse there in Decatur 56 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,640 where Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln practice law at the exact same 57 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:54,280 time. And so we don't have an official 58 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,000 record of Abraham Lincoln attending our church. 59 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,280 We're pretty confident he did. Pretty sure that probably 60 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,920 happened. So with this idea in mind with 61 00:03:02,920 --> 00:03:05,240 starting off in youth ministry 20 years ago as part of that 62 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,520 church, one of the things, and I know you've learned this being 63 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,400 under Clayton's leadership, you can put it this way that you can 64 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:15,280 take the youth minister out of the youth ministry, but you 65 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,880 can't take the youth ministry out of the youth minister. 66 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:20,000 It's kind of always with us. So you're kind of like a giant 67 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,920 youth group I know here under Clayton, and one of the things I 68 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:24,840 want to do to kind of kick off our time is go a little youth 69 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:26,160 group in here today. Is that OK? 70 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,960 Can we play a little game to kind of get our party started? 71 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,120 All right, we're going to play a little game called Extreme close 72 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,000 Up where I'm going to give you an image that's like a super 73 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,560 tight version of it and you got to see if you can visually zoom 74 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,720 out to decide and discern what it is. 75 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,040 Sound good? OK, let's play. 76 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,520 First image. What do you think you're looking 77 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,440 at there? Some grass. 78 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:55,200 OK, See anything else going on? Golf ball? 79 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,640 Yes. And more specifically, if you 80 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:03,040 said Clayton's golf ball in the thick rough, you would be 81 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:06,200 correct. All right, next one. 82 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:11,560 Any ideas on what that might be? It's a tricky one. 83 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:18,560 Well, if anyone guessed all the emails that Brian got when 84 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:24,440 Clayton guest spoke at his church that Clayton promised 85 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:29,320 Brian would not receive but went completely out the window when 86 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:33,280 he invited to the altar everyone wearing underwear. 87 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,720 And in case anyone felt left out, anyone not wearing 88 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,960 underwear. True story. 89 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,440 OK, one more. Yeah, yeah. 90 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,600 Anyone who said RIP from Yellowstone, you would be 100% 91 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:00,560 wrong. Clearly, this is none other than 92 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,640 your beloved lead pastor, Clayton Hensel. 93 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,800 No, I mean, I know Clayton loves to play the big goofy guy, but I 94 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,200 just got to tell you personally what a gift he has been to me 95 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,240 and our friendship over the last couple of years of wisdom and 96 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:16,680 encouragement. And I just got to tell you, we 97 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,520 are better in Decatur because of the crossing in Quincy in this 98 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:21,000 region. So thank you all. 99 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:27,760 Crossing Church. And so when it comes to our 100 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,400 Bible, one of the things we want to do interestingly, is kind of 101 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,280 play the same game that we want to zoom in and out. 102 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:36,680 That we want to first. You could say zoom out when it 103 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,480 comes to a book of the Bible, like First Corinthians that 104 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,240 we're looking at here. So that when we zoom back in, 105 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,560 say to a particular book or chapter or passage or verse or 106 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,840 even down to a singular word, we can understand better what is 107 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:52,080 happening in the zoomed in portion because of the context 108 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,600 of what we have zoomed out to look at. 109 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,040 And chapter one of First Corinthians gives us that zoomed 110 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,160 out picture, kind of like when you're watching a Netflix movie 111 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,480 and you push pause and you've got that little thumbnail, but 112 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,800 you can see where it fits in the bigger story. 113 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:07,920 That's what we're going to do here today. 114 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,760 We're going to zoom in and out, in and out of First Corinthians 115 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,920 chapter 1 to understand not only where we're at today, but where 116 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,320 we're headed through the rest of this incredible book for the 117 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:18,640 incredible work that I know God wants to do in and through you 118 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:21,840 personally and as a church. And so with that, let's get this 119 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,240 party started in first Corinthians chapter 1, starting 120 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,800 in verse one follow with me says this is from Paul. 121 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,160 Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God 122 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:40,320 and our brother Sophones to the church, to the church at of God 123 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,680 in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be 124 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:49,160 his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on 125 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:54,920 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours. 126 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,440 And so it's pretty clear from the opening words of this 127 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:04,280 chapter that this book is really not a book per SE, but actually 128 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,760 a letter written to a church from Paul to the church at 129 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:10,960 Corinth. And this is important for us 130 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,680 because as we want to understand what it means for us, it's wise 131 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,200 for us to 1st understand what it meant for them. 132 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,720 Because kind of a pro tip when it comes to reading your Bible 133 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,600 is particularly a letter written to a particular church is that 134 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:28,960 it cannot mean for us what it did not at least first mean for 135 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,320 them. And so to understand this 136 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,160 context of First Corinthians in the bigger context, I'm going to 137 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,200 need some volunteers to help me out here on stage 7 of you to be 138 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,160 exact. Now, I think 48th St's already 139 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:44,840 hand picked some of you to come and join me. 140 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,000 So the rest of you, your cortisol levels can just go down 141 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:50,000 a bit because you're not going to have to come up on stage. 142 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,000 So go ahead and come on stage if you are going to party with us 143 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:54,440 on stage here. So we're going to youth group. 144 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,360 Again, we're getting some volunteers on stage. 145 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:58,280 I promise I'm not like a magician. 146 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,280 I'm not going to saw you in half and put you back together, 147 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:01,880 anything like that. And So what you're going to find 148 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,440 are some pink stickers on the ground. 149 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:06,480 If you can everyone just find a pink sticker. 150 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,400 And just to make sure that the whole crossing family can see 151 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,080 you, we're all going to face this way to make sure we all get 152 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:13,680 a good glimpse of your beautiful faces. 153 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,440 And we're going to walk through essentially a living timeline of 154 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,520 really the beginning of time all the way up to current time and 155 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:24,720 where you crossing fit into this story. 156 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,360 It's a pretty cool reality. So we're going to start in the 157 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,120 beginning here at, you could say the creation of time, which you 158 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,360 read about in Genesis, which is the kickoff book to the Bible, 159 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:37,320 the 66 books of the Bible. So I'm going to turn you this 160 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:38,720 way, buddy. And here's what we're going to 161 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:40,799 do. You're going to be old. 162 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:43,200 I know you are not old, but for this purpose, you're going to 163 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,440 represent the Old Testament. And so I need you to kind of 164 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,080 just lean over like you have a cane here and just kind of act 165 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:51,360 old. Don't bend over too far. 166 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:53,320 Your back will go out and you'll fall down and it'll be a mess 167 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:54,360 and you'll be a funny stone video. 168 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,360 And we don't want this. So yeah, that's a perfect 169 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,640 posture. And so that's the first 39 books 170 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:01,560 of the Bible, which essentially, you could say, boiled down, the 171 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,600 purpose of those first 39 books of the Old Testament is to point 172 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,480 us to what happens in the New Testament, none other than the 173 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,320 coming of Jesus himself. And so we turn the page to the 174 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,160 New Testament. The first four books of that is 175 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:17,280 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, where we see the coming of 176 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,960 Christmas, Christmas in August. And so with that, I'm going to 177 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:22,640 have you, young lady, just kind of hold baby Jesus. 178 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,520 Not, not easy. I mean, this is Jesus we're 179 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:25,920 talking about. So maybe a little little more 180 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,960 support there on the. Yeah, perfect, perfect. 181 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,160 And what we know about Jesus is even though he came as a baby in 182 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:34,720 a Manger, he did not stay that way. 183 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:39,480 That he lived, he ministered, he died and he rose for the 184 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:44,000 forgiveness of our sins and the gift of a new life of which it's 185 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,240 that message that Paul sets the foundation for his book. 186 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:56,160 Check this out verse 3 Paul, he says grace and peace to you man 187 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,840 who doesn't want that. Where does it come from from God 188 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:01,560 our Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. 189 00:10:02,560 --> 00:10:05,160 He goes on. He says I always thank my God 190 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:10,680 for you in this because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 191 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,440 Simply put, the foundation for his letter to the Corinthian 192 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,000 church is the same foundation for us as the crossing church. 193 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,000 With this reality in mind that regardless of whatever topic we 194 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,680 are looking at on a particular Sunday, the topic is always 195 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:28,040 going to be the gospel of Jesus Christ underlying all of it. 196 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:31,280 And so that's the reality that comes in the coming of Jesus. 197 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,360 But as we said, doesn't stay a baby, but we know goes to the 198 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:36,360 cross for all this reality. So I'm going to actually have 199 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:40,960 you shift your baby Jesus to the cross of Christ to represent 200 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,720 this gospel message of which we are all about. 201 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:45,880 And so that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 202 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,320 Then we turn the page to the 5th book of the New Testament, which 203 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,000 is the book of Acts or the Acts of the Apostles or really the 204 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,000 Acts of the Holy Spirit working through the apostles to start 205 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,360 this thing we called the church. And so in Acts chapter 2, this 206 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,920 guy by the name of Peter who hung out with Jesus preaches the 207 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,800 very first Christian sermon other than someone from Christ, 208 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:06,960 you could say. And so in Acts chapter 2, all 209 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,840 these people are moved by the gospel of Jesus. 210 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:10,640 And I'm like, what should we do? They're cut to the heart. 211 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,720 And he says repent, be baptized for the forgiveness of your 212 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:15,040 sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit. 213 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,360 And 3000 people said yes to Jesus that day, and thus the 214 00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:20,840 church was born. And So what you're going to do, 215 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,080 you're going to be Peter and you're going to proclaim the 216 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,840 message of Jesus into the future of our timeline. 217 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,080 So you just kind of cup your hands like that and then point 218 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,000 that direction into the future because this is what changes 219 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:32,480 everything. OK. 220 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,680 And so you guys have to hold this position for a while. 221 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:35,960 So don't get tired on me. All right? 222 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,960 And then, buddy, you get to represent the rest of the New 223 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,840 Testament, the rest of the the Bible, which is essentially 224 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:49,200 letters written to the church on how to follow Jesus, of which 225 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,240 first Corinthians finds its home. 226 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,520 And so you're going to write us some love letters from the Lord 227 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,040 there, and that's what you'll be doing the rest of our time here 228 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,200 together. So you keep writing and writing 229 00:11:58,200 --> 00:11:59,720 good stuff. All right. 230 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,280 And so that's what's happening. So what does the apostle Paul 231 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,240 write to the church at Corinth about what it means to be the 232 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,560 church and to follow Jesus? Pick it up, verse 5. 233 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:17,840 It says for in him you have been enriched in every way with all 234 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,440 kinds of speech and with all knowledge. 235 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,360 So Paul saying you've got everything you need, you're 236 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:24,840 enriched, you're equipped for everything. 237 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,440 Verse 6, thus confirming our testimony about Christ among 238 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:34,680 you, because verse 7, you do not lack any spiritual gift as you 239 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:38,640 eagerly wait our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 240 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:43,160 Verse 8, we have this promise that he will keep us firm. 241 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:47,160 He will keep you firm to the end so that you will be blameless on 242 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,920 the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 243 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,680 And how can we trust this this promise to be true? 244 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,560 Well, actually it's on the first opening page of your study 245 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:01,200 guide. Verse 3. 246 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,680 It should be. Verse 9 God is faithful God, He 247 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,440 is faithful who has called you into the fellowship with his 248 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:15,040 Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. I love the way that the 249 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,560 Scriptures paint this faithfulness of Jesus in other 250 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:23,160 settings, talks about how Jesus is like a groom to his bride, 251 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:27,240 faithful to his church as us, the bride, that we have this 252 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,400 understanding that he will never leave us or forsake us, you 253 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,440 could say, despite our every attempt as man to leave and 254 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:39,600 forsake him, which really takes us to the next chapter, if you 255 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,280 will, of this bigger church history story. 256 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,600 You see, ever since Acts chapter 2, there is a lot of church 257 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,240 history about 2000 years. And so for the sake of time, 258 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:50,800 we're going to kind of speed things up and we're going to 259 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,920 have you represent about 1500 years of church history. 260 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,480 So I'm going to have you go like real wide, OK, Just don't hit me 261 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,160 or this guy in the eye here because you've got, that's a 262 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,520 great wingspan. You're on it, dude, right now. 263 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,080 Don't get tired on me. If he goes all Moses on us, you 264 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,280 got to hold up his arm, you know, just jump in there a 265 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,000 little bit. But for 1500 years of church 266 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,480 history, let's just say short version, some stuff happened, 267 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:17,480 OK? Some stuff happened, some stuff 268 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,080 went down. There was some problems, there's 269 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,840 some challenges and all of this different stuff where 270 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,240 essentially by the time we get to about 1500 in our church 271 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:29,760 story timeline, there's all kinds of problems, There's 272 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,440 corruption, there's compromise of truth. 273 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,120 Like the political enmeshment of the day was so much you couldn't 274 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:38,920 even separate it from the church. 275 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,480 In fact, it's been said this way that when maybe you've heard to 276 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,600 say that mixing religion and politics, it's kind of like 277 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,600 mixing ice cream with manure. Yeah, it doesn't do much to the 278 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,640 manure, but it sure does ruin the ice cream. 279 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,800 That about sums it up. And that's exactly what's going 280 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:00,120 on in the church. Things were a mess. 281 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,680 And so this guy by the name of Martin Luther in protest, you 282 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:07,040 might be familiar with the term the Protestant Reformation. 283 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:11,960 He protests what's going on in the church by nailing his 95 284 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,960 theses or his 95 ideas. This this kind of document to 285 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:21,040 the door of the church on the 95 things he thinks needs to change 286 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,560 to be better, which kind of like modern day complaint emails 287 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,000 didn't go super well. And So what you have is 288 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,600 essentially the biggest church split and separation that you 289 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:36,200 have ever seen. And so as we think about this 290 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,760 larger story of the church splitting and what happens as a 291 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:44,840 result of that, I want to zoom back in to 1st Corinthians to a 292 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,520 similar issue that Paul is trying to avoid. 293 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:51,720 In fact, Clayton, he set the table so well for us, 294 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,720 recognizing that this whole book is just going to be issue after 295 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,280 issue like a game of whack A mole that Paul's going to be 296 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:58,520 taking on. So I want you guys to get out 297 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:02,200 your mallets because we're going to take on the very first issue 298 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:04,720 right here, verse 10. Look what Paul says. 299 00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:11,080 He says, I appeal to you. Other translations say, I urge 300 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:15,040 you, I beg you, I exhort you. One translation says, I beseech 301 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,160 you, I don't even know what that word means, but it sounds 302 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,600 serious. And so Paul, he's saying, I 303 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,160 appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord 304 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:30,200 Jesus Christ, that you do this, that you agree with one another 305 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:35,480 in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but 306 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:41,520 that you would be perfectly united in mind and thought. 307 00:16:43,440 --> 00:16:45,480 Now, I don't know about you, but as I read that, I'm thinking 308 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:51,440 that is a laughable almost command, not only for their day, 309 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,080 but in our day that we would agree there'd be no divisions 310 00:16:55,080 --> 00:17:00,880 and be perfectly united. Now, I don't want you to miss 311 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,560 what Paul is not saying here. What what Paul is not saying is 312 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:08,280 that we have to agree on everything or in the Corinthian 313 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:09,880 church in this case, he's saying, hey, you don't have to 314 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,079 agree on the color of the carpet in the new sanctuary. 315 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,400 You don't have to even agree on what the logo is going to look 316 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,040 like for the First Corinthians Christian Church or whatever 317 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,040 they're called. Or in this case, we're going to 318 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,000 see in verse 11 who gets to pick the guest preacher, which maybe 319 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,000 you'd like to have to say on that because like, man, you 320 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,760 know, this Brian guy's OK, but I really like Clayton. 321 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,240 He is funnier, which I would agree, Clayton is funnier, but 322 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:31,920 that's essentially what's happening in verse 11. 323 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,000 He says this. My brothers and sisters, some 324 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,720 from Chloe's household have informed me that there are 325 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,600 quarrels among you. And what I mean to say is this. 326 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,440 Paul says, one of you says I follow Paul, Another says I 327 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:50,480 follow Apollo's, Yet another says I follow Cephas or Peter 328 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,440 from Acts chapter 2, who preaches the very first 329 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:54,680 Christian sermon, Christian sermon, but still another I 330 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,840 follow Christ. And essentially what we're 331 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:03,280 seeing here in this story played out to the negative in the 332 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:09,640 larger context, zoomed out story of the church is as soon as 333 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,080 Martin Luther kind of drew that first big line in the sand that 334 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:14,840 says, hey, you're not getting it right. 335 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,040 This is how we get it right. Along comes another guy and 336 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:19,880 says, well, actually you're not getting it right. 337 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:21,640 This is the right way to do it. And then there's another guy who 338 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,280 says, essentially none of y'all are getting it right and we're 339 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:24,840 getting it right. And on and on. 340 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,440 It goes into all kinds of different guys and different 341 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,920 denominations and sub denominations all interestingly 342 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,480 being named after all kinds of individuals other than the only 343 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,360 one it should be named after, Jesus Christ. 344 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,360 And so interestingly, it's a result of all this splintering 345 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:45,800 and and separation that we really see this spider web kind 346 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,120 of kind of branch out into the future of the church. 347 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:53,760 And so I'm going to have you be our spider man and I need to 348 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,440 give you the role of giving me your best kind of Spidey web. 349 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,400 So if you know how that move go, yeah, you know how it goes. 350 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,800 And we're going to go ahead and shoot that into the future of 351 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:04,560 the church, that direction. Keep our time. 352 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:11,080 Oh yeah, not your first rodeo. No, no, no. 353 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,680 And So what this spider web reveals is essentially that ever 354 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:20,640 since we have been in direct contradiction, even conflict 355 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:24,800 with the command of Paul and 1st Corinthians to be united around 356 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,040 Christ. In fact, this is kind of a crazy 357 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,200 stat that Did you know that according to the Center for the 358 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:38,440 Study of Global Christianity, that there are more than 45,000 359 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:44,320 registered Christian denominations worldwide, more 360 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,280 than 45,000. Like, that is mind boggling. 361 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:50,000 And so if you've ever wondered like, hey, where did all these 362 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,120 denominations come from, really? In the story of church history, 363 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:56,680 about 500 years ago is when all of that took off. 364 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,680 And so, zooming back in to the Church of Corinth, this is what 365 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,640 Paul is trying to avoid right out of the gate. 366 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,040 He's putting the kibosh on following names like himself, 367 00:20:08,120 --> 00:20:12,160 Paul, or this guy Apollos, or again, Cephas or Peter, and only 368 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,160 following Jesus. And so with all this history in 369 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,440 mind, you can kind of get that zoomed out picture and kind of 370 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,880 hold on to it. It was in the year about 1800 371 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:27,800 where this storyline began to take a significant shift because 372 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,440 in that present day, about 200 years ago, there were all kinds 373 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,360 of denominations being named after guys like Luther or Wesley 374 00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,000 or Calvin. And what I want to share with 375 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,280 you is so cool because this is where the crossing story comes 376 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,160 into play. But a couple 100 years ago, as a 377 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:46,320 result of all this denominationalism and spider 378 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,200 webbing, there were a group of guys, some pastors from some 379 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,960 various denominations who essentially said this is crazy. 380 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,000 This is crazy. Not only is this crazy, but this 381 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,320 is in direct contradiction to the scriptures like First 382 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,640 Corinthians chapter 1. Furthermore, it's in direct 383 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,160 contradiction to things that Jesus said. 384 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,600 In fact, Jesus final prayer that we have recorded in the 385 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,600 scriptures in John 17, listen to this. 386 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,840 This is exactly what Paul is saying to that church, to us as 387 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,560 a church is what Jesus said for us as a church. 388 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,080 Check this out. After Jesus in this big prayer 389 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,000 praying for his original disciples, he prays for us in 390 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,480 the future 2000 years later, saying, I pray also for those 391 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,160 who will believe in me through their message that all of them 392 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,880 may be 1. Jesus says I have given them the 393 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,320 glory, God the Father, that you have given me, so that they may 394 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:44,640 be 1, so that they may be one as we are one, I in them, you and 395 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:46,720 me, so that they may be brought to what? 396 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,800 Complete unity. Complete unity. 397 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,800 Now is this just like unity's for unity's sake? 398 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,360 No, there's very specific understanding of what we're 399 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:00,240 unifying ourselves around. This is the other side of the 400 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,320 coin. Jesus says that we need to be 401 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:09,040 sanctified by the truth. Your word is truth. 402 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:16,600 Because when we do this church, when we unify ourselves around 403 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,400 the truth of God's Word, which reveals Jesus Christ as Lord and 404 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,680 Savior over all, that says that, then the world will know. 405 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:27,440 It is then that the world will know. 406 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:32,120 Jesus says that you sent me and have loved them even as you have 407 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:37,080 loved me. And so again, around 1800, 408 00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:39,840 there's this group of Jesus followers rallying around this 409 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000 reality that said, hey, we are not going to be a denomination 410 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,880 named after some other guy other than the guy Jesus, the God man 411 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,040 himself. And So what we are part of is 412 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,000 that tradition. That's not a denomination. 413 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,880 We actually, we would say we are independent of a denomination 414 00:22:56,120 --> 00:23:00,320 and known more by a mantra. This understanding of like a we 415 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:04,640 are a restoration movement or a restoration unity movement where 416 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,240 we are about constantly restoring ourselves and our 417 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,960 church around the unity of the truth of Scripture that reveals 418 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:15,360 Jesus Christ. And so in honor of that movement 419 00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:17,720 of what your church and our church over in Decatur again, 420 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,480 are part of that same brotherhood, I'm going to have 421 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:24,000 you bud, take my Bible here and I want you to give it a big hug. 422 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,520 Just give it a big squeeze because that represents what it 423 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,920 looks like for us to be unified as a church around the word of 424 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,800 God. Because when we do this, that is 425 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,240 again, no surprise that we look at the whole story of Scripture 426 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:39,640 again. Let's go back to the beginning 427 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,440 that we talk about Jesus who created all things good or God 428 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,560 who created all things good. Jesus was a part of all of that. 429 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,160 And two chapters in, we kind of mess all that up and sin enters, 430 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,880 but that's OK because Jesus comes and he is making things 431 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:53,320 right. And then from there we are 432 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,600 proclaiming that message into the future and we're learning 433 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,320 what it looks like to live out that future as the church 434 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,640 despite 1500 years of trying to deny that. 435 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,400 And all the denominations. We want to say as a church, we 436 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,560 want to say as individuals that make up the church, we are going 437 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:10,920 to unify ourselves around Jesus Christ as revealed in the truth 438 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,280 of God's Word. Can you give our volunteers a 439 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:15,600 round of applause for jumping up here? 440 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:23,400 Guys are awesome, love it. And I think 48th St. they've got 441 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,600 some like free drink coupons to the cafe. 442 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,760 We figured that was the least we could do, and we always try to 443 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,880 do the least we can do. So that's how that works. 444 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:40,800 The apostle Paul, he goes really on just to keep reinforcing this 445 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:43,080 reality of which again, I'm so thankful crossing church, you 446 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,720 are already rallying around. So don't hear this as anything 447 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,080 other than an encouragement of what we are already about as we 448 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,040 continue to go into the days ahead as a church. 449 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:55,040 Verse 13, Paul just reminds us, is Christ divided? 450 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,080 Says, was Paul crucified for you? 451 00:24:58,080 --> 00:24:59,880 Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 452 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:03,600 Paul says, I thank God that I did not baptize any of you 453 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,480 except Crispus and Gaius so that no one can say that you were 454 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,240 baptized in my name. Yes, I also baptized the 455 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:11,200 household of Stephanus. But beyond that, I don't 456 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,160 remember who I baptized. If anyone else. 457 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,000 It's like, what is he talking about? 458 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:17,200 Like, have you ever read like this is one of the most 459 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:18,720 hilarious verses in all the Bible to me. 460 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,520 It's like this stream of consciousness where he's just 461 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:21,800 like, I don't remember who I baptized. 462 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,480 It's like, but that's kind of the point because the point is 463 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:25,960 not the point. Who did the baptizing? 464 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,040 He doesn't care if I did the dunking or you did the dunking. 465 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,840 The point is not who does the baptizing, but the one in whose 466 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,600 name we are baptized in none other than the name that saves 467 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,240 Jesus Christ. That's all that matters. 468 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,880 He goes on verse 17. He says, for Christ did not send 469 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:47,160 me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, of which baptism is our 470 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,920 first response. Our response to say yes to that 471 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:54,560 gospel, not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of 472 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:59,400 Christ be emptied of its power. Listen, there is nothing 473 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:04,960 eloquent about a message of a torture device called a cross 474 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:10,560 then any more than a message about an electric chair would be 475 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,520 today. It's foolishness to those who 476 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:15,200 don't know the saving power of it. 477 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:20,240 To those who are being saved, it is the power of God because it 478 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:24,640 is the power of Jesus Christ alone as revealed by his Word 479 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:26,680 alone. Amen. 480 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,000 Amen. There's an expression, you 481 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:35,720 probably heard it, that you can give a man a fish and feed him 482 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:40,640 for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and feed him for a 483 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,240 lifetime. And I'm just so thankful that 484 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,960 you crossing church understand that that is really the the 485 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,480 mindset of what the church really is. 486 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,000 That you all understand that this gathering for an hour on a 487 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,240 Sunday is really not the end of the game, but really the start 488 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,720 of the journey. That this one hour on a Sunday 489 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,920 is designed not to be the finish line, but the starting line into 490 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:10,280 the other 167 hours that you have each and every week. 491 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,200 And I am so thankful that they don't just say that around here, 492 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,760 but they give you the tools and the resources to make that a 493 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,120 reality. And so again, I just, I have no 494 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,400 stake in this, but I just can't tell you enough like how 495 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,360 incredible a gift it is that they are putting this resource 496 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:29,000 in your hands to be able to get into God's word starting 497 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,920 tomorrow on a daily regular basis. 498 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:37,000 Just knowing the power of God's Word, not just opinion or just 499 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,160 kind of philosophical, like if you weren't here last week, 500 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,800 Clayton, he shared like statistically empirical evidence 501 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,240 of the power of being in God's Word just four times per week. 502 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,360 It came out of this huge study, the Center for Biblical 503 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:54,440 Engagement that once you hit that four times a week mark, the 504 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,520 decrease of the evidence and loneliness and anger and lying 505 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,520 and sexual immorality in the life of a person who takes us in 506 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:05,960 just four times a week. And then the increase of the 507 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,720 ability to do what Jesus did for us, forgive others, to live in 508 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,000 and to live out and share our faith with others. 509 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,640 They have actually coined this understanding because such a 510 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,280 powerful result of the study, the power of four. 511 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:23,120 That's how pivotal this study has been in like quantitative 512 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,800 statistics. And so today we have taken some 513 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,960 time in our hour to zoom out to see where First Corinthians fits 514 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,120 in the Bible, where the Bible fits in the church, where the 515 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:36,160 church fits in the story of history. 516 00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:42,760 But now is the invitation. Now is the invitation to find 517 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,880 how the story of Scripture fits back into you or really better 518 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,200 said, gets back into you. Kind of like those old Gatorade 519 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,560 ads where they have like the athlete that's sweating like 520 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,720 blue and orange and yellow Gatorade, which is kind of gross 521 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:57,920 but kind of cool at the same time. 522 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,280 But what's the tagline? Is it in you? 523 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,040 Is it in you? That's what Clayton and the 524 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:07,920 leadership of this church wants for you to be able to get God's 525 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,120 word into you. And so four times a day, I think 526 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:13,800 this organization should come back and study the crossing 527 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,120 church to find out what happens when 7 * a week, excuse me, 4 528 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,000 times a week to seven times a week that would do for you and 529 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,600 in you and through you. Just this idea that all of you 530 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,240 would be pointed in the same direction, rallying around God's 531 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,920 word in the same way. It is just going to be a 532 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,840 continuation of what I already see happening and what you are 533 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,480 experiencing this, the living out of this mantra that I love, 534 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,280 that you are committed to be the kind of place that makes this 535 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,560 region the hardest place to get to hell from such a cool 536 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,280 reality. And when you all point in the 537 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,600 same direction, I can't wait to see what this keystone habit, 538 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:47,680 it's what habit formation experts, just one little domino 539 00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,320 push forward that just unfolds everything that God wants to do 540 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:53,400 in and through you through his word by the power of his Holy 541 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:54,560 Spirit. OK. 542 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,920 And so with this idea, and I just want to challenge you to 543 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,040 take this in, to recognize that what it is you're going to do 544 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:05,040 this week and for weeks ahead is more than just information. 545 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:07,640 Because that's what we read. A lot of things for us, we open 546 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,960 up our phones or a book, whatever we read for either 547 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,360 entertainment or information. That's you know, that's why you 548 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,200 read. But did you know that God's Word 549 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,320 is not designed for either of those two things? 550 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:20,960 Now don't get me wrong, there's plenty of entertaining stories 551 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,360 and lots of information, but God's word was not designed 552 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,360 primarily for information, but by the power of His Holy Spirit. 553 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:32,480 Transformation. Transformation is the goal. 554 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,160 No one's ever been changed by information alone. 555 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,760 It's been said if all we needed was information, well then we'd 556 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:40,920 all be millionaires and have 6 pack abs. 557 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,720 Let's be honest now we need to move from informed to 558 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,160 transformed. That we would not just read the 559 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,120 word of God, but that we would actually become it. 560 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,840 This is crazy. I want to wrap up with this 561 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,480 verse out of Second Corinthians. The second letter from Paul to 562 00:30:57,480 --> 00:30:58,600 the church accord. This is so good. 563 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,960 Check this out because when we do this church, this is what the 564 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:06,200 promise of God's word is for us. From this letter, says you 565 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:13,440 yourselves then, are our letter. When we do this, we become the 566 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:18,160 letter written on hearts known and read by everyone around us. 567 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:22,040 That you would show that you are a letter from Christ, the result 568 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,600 of our ministry, written not with ink, but the Spirit of the 569 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,160 living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human 570 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:33,400 hearts. And so may we be, by the power 571 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,200 of His Holy Spirit, intersecting with the Word and our lives, not 572 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:38,200 people filled up with information, but of 573 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:41,600 transformation, living letters, that we would further your 574 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:46,120 Kingdom, Lord Jesus, only by your power and always, all for 575 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,600 your glory. Amen, Amen. 576 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:57,020 Amen. Let's move to a time of 577 00:31:57,060 --> 00:32:02,040 decision. What I love about this 578 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,400 opportunity that we have right now gathered in this room and 579 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,440 gathered with the people who are watching online is that 580 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:12,600 transformation can take place. That transformation can can take 581 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,600 place right now in the hearts and the lives of somebody in 582 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,560 this room, somebody who's never started an intimate personal 583 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:23,400 relationship with Jesus Christ. The the reality of the truth is, 584 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,160 is when some of you walked in or some of you stumbled upon the 585 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,400 feed you, you're feeling a whole bunch of different emotions or 586 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:31,880 you're feeling different things inside of you because of the 587 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,160 things that are going your life. Some of you just feel lost, like 588 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,320 you're just looking for something and you don't know 589 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,200 where to find it. Some of you are feeling a little 590 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,280 bit confused. Maybe you've been hurt by the 591 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:43,760 church in the past. Or maybe you're, you're just 592 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,000 feeling hurt because of what someone has done to you or, or 593 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,440 or said to you or about you. Maybe you're like, Hey, the 594 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,680 reason I have not felt this transformation, I've never 595 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:56,360 started that intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ 596 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:57,840 is because you just feel a lot of guilt. 597 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,040 You're just like, man, I've made too many mistakes, mistakes I 598 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:05,320 messed up way too many times. Some of you in this room, if 599 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,600 you're honest with me and if you're honest with yourself, you 600 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:14,120 feel beat up. The world is just like hammering 601 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:19,880 you down or you feel torn down and some of you and you're just 602 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:23,400 like on your your last leg and you you're actually have this 603 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,320 battle in your mind is do I do I give up? 604 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:31,200 I want to also share another scripture with you, the second 605 00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:34,960 letter as well. And 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, 606 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,280 verse 17. It says this incredible truth 607 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:39,760 where this transformation takes place. 608 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,720 It says that anyone who belongs to Christ Jesus, anyone who 609 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,800 declares Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and their personal 610 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,240 Savior says becomes a new person. 611 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,720 The old life is gone and the, the new life has begun. 612 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,720 It's, it's what you see in the baptistry every single week, 613 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:59,680 whether it's at this location or one of our other locations. 614 00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,560 You even see the shirt, it says made new because a 615 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,040 transformation takes place because of the saving grace of 616 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,760 Jesus Christ. And I just got to be honest with 617 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:10,880 you, for some of you, you've been trying to get this 618 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,480 transformation. You've been trying to do it 619 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:13,960 yourself. You've been trying to say, I'm 620 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,520 just going to be a better person or a I'm just going to go to 621 00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,040 church more. I'm just going to make sure 622 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:22,280 religion saves me or my family. He has saved me or my, my, my 623 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,159 network of friends can save me. But I'm just letting you know, 624 00:34:25,159 --> 00:34:28,639 none of those things save you. The only way that you can be 625 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,280 personally transformed is when you say yes to Jesus and you 626 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,080 respond to him in faith. And you say, I believe that 627 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,199 Jesus is my, is the Christ, the, the son of the living God. 628 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:41,760 And I want him as my personal Lord and Savior and my prayers 629 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,000 that today there's somebody in this room and somebody watching 630 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,920 online who will make that decision. 631 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,040 For the very first time a transformation will take place 632 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:54,080 the old is is gone and the new has come and if you have 633 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,920 questions about what that looks like there's going to be someone 634 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,240 in this room right by the baptistry when the music starts 635 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:02,040 and we start to sing and respond. 636 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:04,400 You can make your way right over by the baptistry. 637 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,680 You can ask whatever question God has put on your heart and 638 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,600 put on your mind and it could be answered today is that's my 639 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:14,680 prayer is that transformation will take place as you start 640 00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,120 this relationship with God through Jesus and for the rest 641 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,400 of us in this room. If for those of us who are 642 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,920 following after Jesus, chasing after Jesus. 643 00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,320 I I just need to take a moment real quick and I need you to 644 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:27,920 stretch yourself in a couple ways. 645 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,640 First stretch. Here it is you ready. 646 00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:33,640 Look at those around you. It'll be weird for a little bit. 647 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,720 Look behind you, look in front of you. 648 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:40,680 Look down your row. Don't just look at me. 649 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,080 There are brothers and sisters in this room from all sorts of 650 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,800 backgrounds, all sorts of experiences. 651 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:56,800 But here we are chasing after Jesus, asking his Holy Spirit to 652 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:01,120 do a work inside of us, trusting that his Word is alive and 653 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,800 active and God breathes and it's useful to teach us and to 654 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,680 correct us and to rebuke us and to train us. 655 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:14,080 Let this be a church that finds unity and what we're chasing 656 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:18,800 after, not division in the things that can divide us just a 657 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,440 little bit. When the music starts, you know, 658 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,760 the invitation is always open for these steps. 659 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,840 If you're carrying a burden, if you many, if you're like in 660 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,840 this, this moment of the sermon invitation, you're wrestling 661 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:30,560 with me. Am I part of some division 662 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,520 that's happened in the church? Maybe you just need to lay that 663 00:36:32,520 --> 00:36:36,040 down or you just need to say, God, I, I need you to help me in 664 00:36:36,040 --> 00:36:38,520 this situation. These steps are always open. 665 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,600 A great place for you to humble yourself before the Lord and 666 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:44,520 just give him whatever is on your heart. 667 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,720 And he's wants to just help carry some of that burden. 668 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,440 But I also want to conclude this time stretching you in a second 669 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:54,560 way. Rather than just saying, hey, we 670 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,480 want to be a church about unity and not division, and we want to 671 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,600 be a church that cares for our brothers and sisters around us. 672 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:02,840 We're going to kind of live it out in this moment. 673 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,160 So what I want to invite you to do is for the person to your 674 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:08,720 right. If you don't have a person to 675 00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:10,480 your right, maybe you just pick a different person. 676 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,880 Or if you're online and you're in the car or you're at home and 677 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:15,960 someone's next to you, you're just simply going to pray for 678 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,120 that person specifically. You don't need to pray out loud. 679 00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:24,000 OK, could be a silent prayer, but I want you to pray for them. 680 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:26,640 You don't know what they're going through. 681 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:29,680 You don't know the questions they're wrestling with. 682 00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,720 You don't know the hurts that they're holding on to. 683 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:37,320 But I want to be a church committed praying for one 684 00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:38,960 another as well. So I'm going to give you just a 685 00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:41,160 few moments to do that. And I'm going to conclude with a 686 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:43,160 prayer myself. So why don't you pray? 687 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:45,840 Pray for the person next to you. Pray for the person by you. 688 00:38:08,570 --> 00:38:12,970 Jesus made this time be a time that you look down at your 689 00:38:12,970 --> 00:38:20,290 church, you look down and you see people who are carrying the 690 00:38:20,290 --> 00:38:23,130 burdens of other people carrying the burdens of brothers and 691 00:38:23,130 --> 00:38:26,840 sisters, followers who are chasing after you and, and I 692 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,480 pray that Lord, you may be glorified through this time. 693 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,640 Lord, I pray that as we continue in our worship and as we 694 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,480 continue to just respond in whatever way that you're calling 695 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,920 us to respond. For some, it's to make you Lord 696 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,440 and Savior to have that transformation take place. 697 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,720 For others, it's to lay a burden down or to continue praying for 698 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:47,160 a brother and sister. Lord, I pray that there's unity 699 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,400 found inside this room that Lord, when we sing this song 700 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:52,920 that you truly are the center of our hearts. 701 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,560 You're the center of our lives that everything that's on our 702 00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:59,360 minds and in our it just it speaks your name. 703 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,480 I pray that our actions reflect you that our our minds are 704 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,560 completely transformed by the renewing of your word as well. 705 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:13,920 So God, as we we respond in this moment, I pray you receive all 706 00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:15,000 the glory. We love you. 707 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:16,760 We pray all this your name, Amen. 708 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,240 You guys can stand, you can sing, you can respond.