1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,920 You for jumping back in and hey, welcome if you're watching 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,080 online, welcome to North Life Church this morning. 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,920 If you're watching online, know that we want to invite you to 4 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,000 come be with us in church. We are located at 115 E Main St. 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,040 which is the historical part of downtown Gaylord and the old 6 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,520 movie theater. And you can park right on the 7 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,000 Main St. in the side streets and find us. 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,720 Our services are 9 and 10:30 on Sunday mornings. 9 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,320 You're invited. We'd love to have you in worship 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,000 with us sometime soon. All right, if you have your 11 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,479 Bibles this morning or online, please take and turn them to 12 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,720 Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. 13 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,520 And know that notes are available on the back table. 14 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,320 If you'd like to grab those now or on your way out, they will 15 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,760 assist you in navigating through the message with me this 16 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:46,240 morning. Romans chapter 12. 17 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:49,160 And while you're turning there, I'll let you know that again, 18 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:51,360 Jason, I and a few others from the church were in Dallas for 19 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:53,280 conference, had a really great time. 20 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,240 And then we were able to go visit some churches in the 21 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,480 Dallas area. And we're very inspired. 22 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,200 And one of the churches we went to, I want to tell you about and 23 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,560 encourage you towards his teaching. 24 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:09,200 The pastor of the church, we went to Lake Point Church, which 25 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,320 is outside of Dallas East in Rockwall, TX. 26 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:14,800 And the pastor's name there at Lake Point, his name is Josh 27 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,480 Howerton. And we were able to to be in 28 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,280 their service last Saturday evening, late afternoon. 29 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,320 It was really, I was very inspired. 30 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,480 But just check him out. Josh Howerton, Lake Point. 31 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,120 He has a podcast and I think his teaching is really admirable and 32 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,200 might inspire you. So we were great and inspired 33 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,480 last week being there. And then we went to a church in 34 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,480 Wiley on Saturday evening. And out of curiosity, how many 35 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:36,840 of you have heard of Anthony Evans? 36 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,840 Does anybody know Anthony Evans? Anthony Evans. 37 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:40,960 OK, good. I'm just curious how many of you 38 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:43,840 heard of Tony Evans? Tony Evans is a teacher, OK? 39 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,560 This is his son who's a singer, and him and I were in a band 40 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,920 together years ago, but he was on The Voice and some other 41 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:50,560 stuff. But we got to go see him in the 42 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,680 concert on Saturday night. And then how many of you have 43 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,240 heard of Priscilla Shear? Anyone heard of Priscilla Shear? 44 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,240 So that would be his sister. Interesting enough. 45 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:00,960 So Tony Evans daughter is Priscilla Shear. 46 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,280 OK, so we went and got to be in worship there and then we went 47 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,120 to Gateway Church on Sunday morning in in South Lake, which 48 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,520 is north of Dallas and had a very inspiring time there. 49 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,240 Also Chris Hodges spoke if you know who he is. 50 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,520 So I encourage you towards what's happening at those 51 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,840 churches and grateful that they poured into our team from North 52 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,200 Life last weekend. All right, if you have your 53 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,400 Bibles, Romans chapter 12 and Ben, I'm not going to read as 54 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:27,920 much as I've read. I'll just read the first part of 55 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:29,640 this and then I'll get back to it later in the message. 56 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:32,280 But we're going to start with verse 3. 57 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:33,800 So Romans chapter 12, verse three. 58 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:35,440 I have more. I have 3 through 6 on your 59 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,320 notes, but I'm just going to read the first part and we'll 60 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:38,840 come back to it later in the talk. 61 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:41,800 So starting in verse 3, the apostle Paul writes to the 62 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,320 church at Rome and he says, For by the grace given to me, saying 63 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,160 I have grace, the grace that I got. 64 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:53,840 I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly 65 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,160 than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each 66 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:02,480 according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 67 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,400 Paul is saying, do not think of yourself more highly than you 68 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,400 should or ought. So this morning I want to talk 69 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:16,160 to you about how to think of self, how to think of yourself, 70 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:22,280 how to think of self. Let me pray for us, Goddess, We 71 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,040 look to your word this morning. We do it as an act of worship. 72 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,920 We come with a Worshipful heart and a posture of reverence and 73 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,920 appreciation for the truth that you revealed to us through 74 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:36,440 Scripture. And now our hearts are open, our 75 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,560 minds are open. We're eager and ready to learn 76 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:44,440 how to grow in our in our view of self and in the culture that 77 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,080 we live God. So many people have just a 78 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:50,560 twisted view of themselves, some good, some bad. 79 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,400 And so help us as followers of Jesus to get how to view 80 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,840 ourselves in Jesus name. And everyone loudly together 81 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,040 said Amen. Now often, every so often, I 82 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,400 will kind of pivot from something that I was going to 83 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:11,760 teach and something will happen in the news in our country, 84 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,680 sometimes in another country. And as your pastor, sometimes 85 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,040 when there's something glaring that's going on in the week, 86 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,320 then I feel like for me to ignore it and not address it, 87 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,640 you know, because we don't live, I feel like for me not to 88 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,120 address it as a disservice to you as a, as a church. 89 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,200 So we don't live in a, in a vacuum, so to speak. 90 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:30,840 We don't live with our head buried in the sand. 91 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,960 We're aware of what's happening in the world around us. 92 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,880 OK, so this week there was a current event and some of you 93 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,680 will be unaware, some of you will be aware, but this current 94 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:45,160 event throughout the week maybe go, OK, I, I need to figure out 95 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,360 how to address this. OK, now this morning our worship 96 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,200 team and teams that are here volunteering, serving on Sunday 97 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:52,880 mornings. We always pray kind of right up 98 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,480 here on the stage in a circle at 8:00 AM on Sunday mornings. 99 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,920 Those who are serving from the coffee shop and sometimes 100 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:02,880 setting up the ushers and those who are in up in the tech booth 101 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,480 with video and lighting and and video with audio and other 102 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,520 things live streaming, then the musicians and the singer. 103 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,400 So, so we're here this morning. Maybe there were, I don't know, 104 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,920 12 or 15 of us at 8:00 and we were praying. 105 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,280 And I said, OK, how many of you knew this happened this week? 106 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:17,200 And there were a few were like, I didn't hear anything about 107 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,480 this. OK, so I'm aware that some of 108 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:21,640 you, you're going to hear about this for the first time from me. 109 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:23,720 OK, But let me explain to you what happened. 110 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,200 And I thought about having a picture of it, but I didn't want 111 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:27,240 to do that. And I'll tell you why in a 112 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,720 second. So this past week, President 113 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:34,480 Trump posted an AI generated photo of himself. 114 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,200 How many of you saw it? Anybody. 115 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,000 OK, How many of you did not see it? 116 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:39,360 Wave at me if you did not. OK, good. 117 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:40,840 Very good. Some of you didn't see it. 118 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,360 OK, so and good for you because right, You're, you're, you're 119 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,000 you, you missed it, right? So what was the what was the AI 120 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,480 photo? The AI photo was President Trump 121 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:54,840 in like this white robe with kind of this red sash and he was 122 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,080 in a, in a kind of a collage of like people that were around him 123 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:02,600 on his side, like nurses and soldiers and others. 124 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,640 And then behind him, I think it was like the White House. 125 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,160 And there was a sky with initially understand the this AI 126 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,920 generated photo initially had like like soldiers in the sky 127 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,200 and like jets and stuff. But somebody, whether it was 128 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,560 President Trump or someone else, altered it to where it looked 129 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:19,720 like they were heavenly beings, almost demonic characters behind 130 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,040 him in the sky and in front of President Trump in the AI 131 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,440 generated photo was a man who appeared to be sick, like in a 132 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,600 stick bed. And President Trump was like had 133 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,280 his hand on him. And then in his hand it was like 134 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:33,760 these rays of light coming out and it was glowing. 135 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,200 Okay, so that paints the image for you. 136 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,680 I don't want to put it in church this morning or in your notes. 137 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:44,160 So, so I mean, there was outcry and ironically, often you have 138 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,960 like the right conservative side and they get mad about something 139 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,280 and they get loud. And then often you get the left 140 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,880 liberal side and they get loud about something. 141 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,520 But rarely do you ever have an instance where both sides are 142 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,120 upset. And I must say this week both 143 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,560 sides were upset. It was a curious thing. 144 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:03,800 It was like a rare occasion, man, the left and right are 145 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,360 together on this right. And so people those who some 146 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,880 people are like, this is heresy. And right now President Trump is 147 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:12,480 kind of in a bit of a spat with the Pope. 148 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,160 I don't want to go into that. This is in fact, this is not 149 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,000 going to be a political message. This is all going to go 150 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,560 somewhere. But so he's in a spat of it with 151 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,920 the Pope. And so people were like, this is 152 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,920 heresy. This is wrong. 153 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,080 And so you had religious leaders crying out for him to remove the 154 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,400 post and he did. Then ironically, you had some 155 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,960 who were like, well, you know, it's, it's just tacky. 156 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:35,880 It's incredibly tacky. And I think it was tacky. 157 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,320 Was it heresy? I don't know, but then some over 158 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:41,800 here thought, you know, look how he views himself. 159 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,520 Is he a Messiah? He views himself as the Messiah. 160 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:47,360 He views himself as Jesus. People on the left and the right 161 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,320 were upset about it. I will tell you my take on it is 162 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,120 that 79 year old people should not be online posting AI photos, 163 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,280 right? No offense if you're 79, OK, if 164 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,920 you're 79 years old, but there should be a limit right at a 165 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,840 certain like they should take your driver's license away, 166 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,240 right at a certain age, driving AI generated photos on the 167 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,640 Internet. So he's too old to be doing 168 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:15,080 this, in my opinion. OK, so it just raised the hubbub 169 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,320 and people are upset and and you can think what you think. 170 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:23,440 Again, this is not a a message about politically what you know, 171 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:24,240 is he right? Is he wrong? 172 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:29,000 But what happened to me this week is that to me, the biggest 173 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,840 towel and President Trump posting this and he's the 174 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:34,320 ultimate troll. I understand that. 175 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,360 And he's got a sense of humor. I understand that. 176 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,720 But my question this week was the bigger issue is insight into 177 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,039 how President Trump thinks of himself. 178 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,920 How does he view himself? And maybe he and you know, he 179 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,280 was by the way, he was asked about it by reporters, you know, 180 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,240 why are you posting yourself as Jesus in this image? 181 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,040 And he said, well, he didn't think it was Jesus. 182 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:57,720 He thought was a physician, right? 183 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,080 And he said I like, you know, I want to see people healed. 184 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,440 So he thought himself a physician in it. 185 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:04,560 I don't know. I don't maybe I don't know. 186 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,400 I don't I, I didn't pay enough attention to really ever get to 187 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,800 the bottom of it. I just paid attention enough to 188 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,160 go. This could be his view of 189 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:17,160 himself. So then what's interesting to me 190 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,680 is it begs the question then how do I think of myself? 191 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,240 How do I view myself? Paul says do not think of 192 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:26,720 yourself too highly. And we're going to look at a lot 193 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,920 of other things this morning in Scripture when it comes to 194 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:34,480 viewing ourselves. But if it enraged you or enraged 195 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,880 somebody else that President Trump thinks this of himself, I 196 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,200 just wonder sometimes I think people can tend to project anger 197 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,280 that they have it themselves onto others. 198 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,640 And what do I mean by that? There's a principle in 199 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:52,040 psychology where sometimes when you have anger at yourself for a 200 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,600 certain flaw or inadequacy, when you see it in others, then you 201 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,480 become very upset and enraged. Parents have to be very careful 202 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,920 about this because often we give our flaws to our kids, right? 203 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,360 Right. They have the same hanging UPS 204 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,040 often that we have. And maybe you've not dealt with 205 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:09,800 it in your own life. So then when you see it in your 206 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,720 kids, if you're not careful, you can become really upset at your 207 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,160 kids for the same flaw that you have, right? 208 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:16,320 You know, this is a thing, right? 209 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,520 Projection. So when it I was not that 210 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,240 bothered, I mean, I was like, you know, it's tacky. 211 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,200 And again, he's age 60 or 79, probably not a good idea to be 212 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,880 doing this at 79, but because your filter, you know, his 213 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:31,560 filter gets a little, I think cloudy at that age when it comes 214 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,880 to these types of things. So, but my, my question was if 215 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,680 it really bothered people, then is it because maybe they have 216 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:43,320 kind of a, an odd view of themselves and I kind of want to 217 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,040 wade in with that. So that's the premise this 218 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:46,600 morning. I just begged the question, how 219 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,320 do I think of myself? And how should you think of 220 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,040 yourself? How should you view yourself 221 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,400 when it comes to being a follower of Jesus and living in 222 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,680 light of the crucifixion, the death, the burial, the 223 00:10:57,680 --> 00:11:00,840 resurrection of Jesus and now grace that comes from God? 224 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,440 Paul says in light of the grace that I've been given, he's 225 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:06,800 saying to people, don't think of yourself too highly. 226 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,320 And so I want to unpack what Paul means by that. 227 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,240 And I want to connect it to a whole bunch of other scriptures 228 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:17,720 this morning to to then again. So the issue to me is not him 229 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,880 posting this. The issue to me is like it begs 230 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,360 the question in my own life and in your life, how should we view 231 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,200 ourselves in light of our relationship with Jesus? 232 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:30,720 Now, another thing that happened in the news this week, maybe you 233 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,360 saw this, is that some people came out and like, look at 234 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,160 Trump, President Trump. He's comparing himself to Jesus. 235 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:37,720 You know, he's looking like Jesus. 236 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,120 And people got talking heads on TVI saw some people said Jesus 237 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,240 would never even claim to be the Messiah. 238 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,480 Jesus didn't. He didn't say he was God. 239 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,840 Jesus was humble. Jesus was humble and he would 240 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,720 have never promoted himself. And I'm like, you're full of 241 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:57,640 something because it's not true. Jesus certainly, certainly, 242 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,640 certainly over and over and over again said that he was the 243 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:03,440 Messiah. And he walked in humility, yes, 244 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:06,120 but the humility in Jesus did not look like, well, he didn't 245 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:10,560 know who he was. Jesus knew who he was and that's 246 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:14,840 what got him killed. And it was his plan all along. 247 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,520 That was his plan to boldly proclaim who he was. 248 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:19,640 Now, early on in this ministry, when he would do miracles, He 249 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:22,280 would tell people, don't go tell anybody about this yet because 250 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,600 it wasn't time yet. But eventually the time is going 251 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,280 to come for him to sacrifice himself for us, and he's going 252 00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:31,920 to sacrifice himself for us as the reason they're going to take 253 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,240 him out is because he knew who he was. 254 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,360 So let me show you because if you heard people this week say 255 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:38,280 Jesus was humble, he never said he was God. 256 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:39,360 He never said he was the Messiah. 257 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,040 They're wrong. OK, so watch Jesus John chapter 258 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:47,000 5 verses 52 to 59. Jesus is having a bit of a spat 259 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,760 with the religious leaders. And Jesus did have spats with 260 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,760 those who were prideful and had a wrong view of themselves. 261 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:55,600 They thought themselves better than others. 262 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:57,240 They viewed themselves too highly. 263 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,680 And how does Jesus respond to people that view themselves more 264 00:13:00,680 --> 00:13:04,760 highly than they should? Watch this 52 The Jews said to 265 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:07,480 him. Now we know that you have a 266 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:08,760 demon. Why? 267 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,160 Because he healed people, the only people. 268 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,280 And watch what he's going to say. 269 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,080 He's talking about Abraham. And they said the people said 270 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,400 Abraham died, as did the prophets. 271 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,520 Yet you say if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death. 272 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,600 Right now Abraham died. Abraham died, but Jesus is 273 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:27,080 talking about the resurrected Abraham. 274 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,280 He will live eternally. And they don't like it. 275 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,680 And they said to Jesus, are you greater than our father Abraham 276 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:37,120 who died and the prophets died? Who do you make yourself out to 277 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:40,040 be? They're upset about who he 278 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:43,240 thinks he is. And Jesus answered, If I glorify 279 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:48,120 myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies 280 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,680 me, of whom you say He is our God. 281 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,480 But you who have not known him, I know him. 282 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:56,880 But you who have not known him, he says, I know Him. 283 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,160 If I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like 284 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,440 you. But I do know him, and I keep 285 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:03,680 his word. Watch this. 286 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:06,240 You might think that Jesus was nice all the time. 287 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,760 No, he wasn't in this occasion. He's like, you're a liar. 288 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:15,320 If I said I'd if I said I'm not God, then I'd be lying. 289 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,200 If I said I didn't know the father, I'd be lying. 290 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,600 I'd be like you liar. And that's how he's talking to 291 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:22,880 them, right? So if you think Jesus was humble 292 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:24,920 and never said he was God, you're wrong and you think Jesus 293 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,720 was always nice, you're wrong because he was often very 294 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,280 pointed. Verse 56, he says your father 295 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,840 Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. 296 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,360 He saw it and was glad. It's like Jesus saying Abraham's 297 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,480 been viewing this from that holding place where people were 298 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:40,560 and they could view what's happening. 299 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:42,480 That's another story. But but he's like Abraham's 300 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:47,520 seeing this and he said, I will glorify myself and my glory is 301 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,120 nothing. It is my Father who glorifies 302 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,760 me. I'm going to go down verse 57. 303 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,280 So the Jew said to him, you were not 50 years old. 304 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:57,480 And have you have you seen Abraham? 305 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:00,200 He's like they're saying Abraham lived thousands of years ago. 306 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,840 How can you claim to have seen him and watch what Jesus says 307 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,920 blessed you think that he wasn't proclaiming himself to be God on 308 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,440 the side? Jesus said to them truly, truly. 309 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,520 Whenever Jesus says truly, truly, it means this is 310 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,880 especially true. Everything Jesus says is true, 311 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,760 but this truly, truly means pay attention. 312 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,920 It's especially true. He says, I say to you before 313 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:25,640 Abraham was I am, before Abraham was I am. 314 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,960 And watch when he says this, when he says this. 315 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,120 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid 316 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:33,840 himself and went out of the temple. 317 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:39,000 Jesus is saying, listen, before Abraham was I was, I am. 318 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,480 And why are they so enraged? Well, for one, he's saying I was 319 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,800 alive before Abraham. I was in existence before 320 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,200 Abraham. But also when Jesus says I am, 321 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,760 it's a nod. It's it's pointing back to 322 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,120 Exodus where God called himself, I am right. 323 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,120 The story is in Exodus chapter 3. 324 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,680 It's the story of Moses when he's been in the wilderness for 325 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:01,720 40 years. Remember the first 40 years of 326 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,560 his life, he grows up in the court of Pharaoh and he is 327 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,600 royalty of sorts. But then he kills a Egyptian 328 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,880 soldier who is mistreating Jewish slaves, Hebrew slaves. 329 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,160 And so he, you know, he goes away in exile for 40 years. 330 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,000 And after 40 years of wandering in a wilderness like mountain 331 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,000 desert area, God comes to him. He's been a shepherd of goats 332 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,760 and the likes, and God comes from in a burning Bush and he's 333 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,000 going to tell Moses, go back to Pharaoh and tell him to let my 334 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,920 people go, Let the Hebrew slaves go free, right? 335 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:33,520 Watch. So that this is the story. 336 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,240 That's the context. So verse 14, then Moses said to 337 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:41,240 God, after God has said go back to Egypt, Moses said, if I come 338 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,760 to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your 339 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,960 father's has sent me to you. And they asked me, what is his 340 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,400 name? What shall I say to them? 341 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:54,960 And God said to Moses, I am who I am that great. 342 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:56,880 So what God says, what is my name? 343 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,640 We would say Yahweh. God saying my name is I am, I'm 344 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,680 everything, I'm all things, all I am, all powerful. 345 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,839 I am that I am. So when Jesus says I am, he's 346 00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:10,160 giving himself the same name. That's why they stone him. 347 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:12,520 They're not, they're they're angry at him when he says he's 348 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,880 before Abraham. But when he says I am, they 349 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,480 become really enraged and they want to take him out. 350 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,400 They want to stone him. He's claiming to be deity. 351 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:26,040 Now, there's another occasion where there's kind of a similar 352 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:27,880 thing happens. This is when Jesus is in the 353 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:29,480 temple before the death of Lazarus. 354 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,480 OK, so if you remember the story in John, Jesus is in the temple. 355 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:34,960 Then Lazarus dies. He read. 356 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,040 He, you know, brings it back to life. 357 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,680 Then Jesus goes on to Jerusalem as crucified, buried, 358 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:43,120 resurrected, and then is with his disciples afterwards. 359 00:17:43,120 --> 00:17:44,640 OK, so this is the context of that. 360 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:49,600 So John chapter 10, Jesus says I and the Father are one those who 361 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:51,040 said Jesus didn't save us, God, they're wrong. 362 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,320 The Jews, when Jesus said I and the Father one the Jews picked 363 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,400 up stones to again stone him and Jesus answered them. 364 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,800 I've shown you many good works from the Father. 365 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,400 For which of them are you going to stone me, right? 366 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:03,920 I've healed this person, I've healed this person. 367 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:06,160 I've did this good teaching. I've done all these good things. 368 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,520 What are you stoning me for? The good works. 369 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,800 Well, they're stoning him because he says he's God. 370 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,240 I'm one with the Father. The Father and I are one. 371 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:20,800 Jesus knew who he was in Mark 1460 through 65. 372 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:22,520 Here's a story that says and the high priesthood. 373 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,720 This is after Jesus has been arrested, the night that he had 374 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,280 communion, the night he had community with his disciples, He 375 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,360 goes to pray, and while he's praying in the garden, 376 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:32,760 Gethsemane, they come and arrest him and they take him and he's 377 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:34,600 before a council or before trial. 378 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:37,240 And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, have 379 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,840 you no answer to make? What is it that these men 380 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,480 testify against you? They were testifying that he 381 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,200 claimed to be deity and they thought it was blasphemous, but 382 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,080 he remained silent and made no answer. 383 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,160 Again the high priest asked him, Are you the Christ, the Son of 384 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:52,960 the blessed? Are you the Messiah? 385 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:54,160 Are you God is what they're saying? 386 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:59,120 And Jesus said I am. And when he says I am, again 387 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:01,600 it's the same language that God used at the burning Bush with 388 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:03,600 Moses. He said, I am, and you will see 389 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,560 the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming 390 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:08,920 with the clouds of heaven. And the high priest tore his 391 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,600 garments and said, What further witnesses do we need, right? 392 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,200 He thinks Jesus is blasphemy. He says, you've heard his 393 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,000 blasphemy, blasphemy. What is your decision? 394 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,720 And they all condemned him as deserving death. 395 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,560 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to 396 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,000 strike him, saying and prophecy. And the guards received him with 397 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,360 blows. So those who want to adopt Jesus 398 00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,560 as their example of humility and say he never claimed to be God, 399 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,720 they're totally wrong. They're totally wrong. 400 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,160 Jesus knew who he was and his plan all along was to sacrifice 401 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:43,920 himself for our forgiveness. But he knows who he is and him 402 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,440 proclaiming who he is is what leads to his death. 403 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:51,240 That's the story of Jesus. So as followers of Jesus, if 404 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,120 Jesus knew who he was, then it's beneficial for us to know who we 405 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:58,760 are also. So that with that in mind, let's 406 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:01,480 go back to Romans where we started, to Romans chapter 12, 407 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,120 where Paul is giving to them instructions, the Church of Rome 408 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:06,920 on how they should view themselves. 409 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,840 Verse 3 For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among 410 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,160 you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to 411 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,160 think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the 412 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,920 measure of faith that God has assigned. 413 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:25,320 Now you should give thought to who you are and but he's saying 414 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:27,200 don't think too highly of yourself. 415 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,560 Don't inflate yourself. Don't make yourself more 416 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,600 important or more glorious than you actually are. 417 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,440 And when he's saying give sober judgement, it's it's it's it's 418 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:40,120 him saying, listen, give like understanding, grow in your 419 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:42,600 understanding of who you are. It's beneficial. 420 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,760 OK, Now this is not promoting low self esteem, but an 421 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:49,960 accurate, realistic view of your talents and your skills. 422 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,680 We know that the world around us is totally flawed in this, 423 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,680 right? So many people are just because 424 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,240 many people grew up getting like participation trophies, right? 425 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,800 Just because you participated, somebody inflated your view of 426 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:04,840 your skills or your talents. And you know, the old American 427 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,440 Idol, if you go back like 10 or 15 years ago, I mean, sadly, 428 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,480 like in a mean spirit, much of that show was people coming on 429 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:12,840 that actually thought they could sing. 430 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,280 Their view of themselves was inaccurate, right? 431 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,840 And so, I mean, the show, in my opinion, back then was kind of 432 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,240 mean spirited because you would put these people on who were 433 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,200 just terrible and their mother or their grandmother or somebody 434 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,760 convinced them that they could sing and they were terrible. 435 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,720 And you'd watch it mock and laugh. 436 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,200 It was mean spirited. OK, I appreciate that now that 437 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:32,400 the show seems different than that. 438 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,840 I don't I don't we don't have TV reception, so we don't get 439 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:36,480 American out. But I watch the highlights, you 440 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:42,200 know, so he they're not promoting a low self esteem, but 441 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,480 we're just promoting an accurate Paul is saying an accurate view 442 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:48,640 of who you are. And in our culture now, people 443 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,520 often have these inflated views of their importance because the 444 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,880 world around you will try to inflate your view of yourself 445 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,040 and you can miss it right terribly now. 446 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,280 But it's but also you're not intended to like think of 447 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,480 yourself as lowly and undeserving and scum. 448 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,120 And there's a wonderful hymn. I do it every year at Good 449 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,360 Friday. I try to do it at Good Friday. 450 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,680 The original version of it has a word that I've changed. 451 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,000 And this morning when we were in our circle, our prayer circle, I 452 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:16,480 asked the worship team if they knew the song. 453 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,680 And what I found out is that they were singing it with the 454 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,680 new evolution of words. So the song is at the cross. 455 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:23,720 Do you know the song at the cross? 456 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:27,200 It's like, alas. And did my Savior bleed? 457 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,920 And did my sovereign die? Do you know, sing it with me 458 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:37,520 that he would give himself away for such a worm. 459 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,280 Somebody said it right. The original version was for 460 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,640 such a worm as I right. So every year I like I update 461 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,000 that, you know, and it's one of there were some others. 462 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,520 There was a variety of updated evolutions of that song. 463 00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,280 So I love that song at the cross, at the cross where I 464 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,200 first saw the light and the burden of my souls rolled away. 465 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,800 It was there by faith. I received my sight and now I am 466 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,880 happy all the day. I love the whole song. 467 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:06,720 I just don't like the worm part, right? 468 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,400 So I take the worm part out because that's not also to be 469 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:14,040 the view of ourselves. Not too highly, but not too 470 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,000 lowly. Not a worm, am I? 471 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:21,440 So you're wanting to find that sweet spot of where I am 472 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,160 accurately. What am I really like? 473 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,760 And that's where it takes being in relationship with others. 474 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,120 And my question to you, has anyone ever told you that maybe 475 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:30,560 you thought too highly of yourself? 476 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,760 When I was 30 years old, I'd been serving at Res Life, our 477 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,360 mothership church down in Grand Rapids for like 5 or 6 years. 478 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,600 And I was recruited to go serve at this church called Willow 479 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,840 Creek in the Chicago area as a worship leader, worship 480 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,280 director. And when I when I was, so I was 481 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,040 being recruited for a couple months and then basically I've 482 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,800 been offered the job and mostly said yes. 483 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,720 And we were just kind of in the process of tying up things at 484 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,640 the end. And then some somehow the, the, 485 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,800 the, the staff and the leaders of the church had forgotten 486 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:57,800 that. Oh yeah, we forgot. 487 00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,920 There's another part of the process that we didn't do. 488 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:02,280 And that was that I was supposed to have an elder interview. 489 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,000 So with the board of directors or the board of the church, 490 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,200 there was, I was supposed to have an interview with two of 491 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,120 the people on the board. And so by then it already been 492 00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,160 like 3 months. And the leaders that were 493 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,000 recruiting me, if you will, they just forgot. 494 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:15,520 OK. But I think the, I think the, 495 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:17,920 some on the board were like, hey, we're supposed to be part 496 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:21,760 of this process, right? And so kind of last minute I was 497 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,800 like, oh, they said, oh, we want you to have an interview. 498 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:25,960 And interesting enough, it was two women and one was an 499 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:27,720 attorney and they love the Lord, I'm sure. 500 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,800 And whether the other was, I don't remember. 501 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,120 But but what was interesting is that I, I didn't realize that 502 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,360 they were a little bit put off because they've been left out of 503 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:38,280 the process. OK, so I went into the interview 504 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:40,800 and I was pretty confident by this point. 505 00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:42,520 I mean, it looked like that I was going to be offered this 506 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,440 job. So I'd go into the interview and 507 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,440 somehow I must have come across as viewing myself more highly 508 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,800 than I ought. So one of the women who's 509 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:53,160 probably in her 50s, I was 30 at the time, she kind of leaned 510 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,640 forward and she was like, you think too highly of yourself. 511 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,360 And when she said it, like part of me was like, OK. 512 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,160 And I thought, well, maybe maybe I do. 513 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,880 Or, or maybe you're, maybe you're upset that the process 514 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,760 went awry. But I'll tell you, it messed 515 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,760 with me for a while and it but it, but it made me look and go. 516 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,800 I mean, I'm 30 years old and I'm still growing. 517 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,360 And I was aware that even in my younger years, sometimes when I 518 00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:21,720 was insecure. And maybe you're like this when 519 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,600 you're insecure and you're unsure of who you are, then 520 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:28,000 maybe you could try to mask it with, with an air of confidence. 521 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:32,680 And so maybe in this interview, in my attempt at covering things 522 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,120 that I was insecure about, maybe I maybe I like an animal that 523 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,880 will kind of swell itself up, right, right. 524 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,640 An animal. So maybe I swelled myself up a 525 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,320 little bit. And in doing so, maybe I did 526 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,400 come across thinking of myself more highly than I ought to. 527 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,360 And I must tell you, my parents are probably watching now and my 528 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:52,880 parents are wonderful and they might remember this. 529 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,160 And this is compared to that. This is kind of light hearted. 530 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,560 But I had this in my background when I was like 15, man, when I 531 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,400 was 15, my poor parents, I wasn't on drugs and I wasn't 532 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,000 like getting arrested or anything, but I was just 533 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,360 difficult. And I was mad at some things in 534 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,160 the world and, and my family and, and I love Jesus and I was 535 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:11,560 involved in youth group and I was as a worship leader already 536 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,720 at 15 years old. But, but I was just mad at some 537 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,560 things in my parents lives. And, and we'd moved a couple 538 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,840 times and, and I was unhappy about that. 539 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:20,560 And so I was just an ornery 15 year old. 540 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:22,480 And I remember my parents would say to me sometimes they were 541 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,920 like, we don't know who you think you are, but you're not 542 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,600 who you think you are, right? Because at 15, I was on, I was 543 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,960 rebellious and I was, I was, you know, just fighting against my 544 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:34,960 parents, right? And so I kind of had that in my 545 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:37,080 history. So when these women said to me, 546 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:40,800 you think too highly of yourself, I had to really 547 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:44,720 wrestle and go, well, maybe I do or or maybe I and covering my 548 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,440 insecurity and my feeling of inadequacy with a false sense of 549 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,880 confidence. And so my question for you, that 550 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,360 is, where are some areas in your life where maybe you do think 551 00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:55,160 too high of yourself? Or maybe there are areas where 552 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:56,520 you really don't and you're insecure. 553 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,360 But if you're not careful and unaware, maybe you'll put this 554 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:02,560 air of confidence on that is a false sense of who you really 555 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,280 are. So this is when Paul saying, 556 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:05,320 don't think too high of yourself. 557 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:10,600 It really, I mean, this is a big issue in our lives because it 558 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:13,320 can inhibit your relationships and your success in so many 559 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,120 areas of your life. So that means you want to get a 560 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:18,640 good view of yourself, right? So watch this, I have this, I 561 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,760 came up with this idea some years ago when I was teaching 562 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,600 worship leaders years ago, I would teach workshops and teach 563 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,440 worship leaders and I would say, hey, when you leave worship, 564 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,040 there's this fine sweet spot that you're looking for. 565 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,560 On the one hand, you don't want to get up in front of people 566 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,400 insecure and you don't want to get up in front of people and 567 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,040 have this air about yourself where people will root for you. 568 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,880 And what do I mean by that? Parents, those of you who had 569 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,680 kids in sports, let's say you have a 7 or 8 or 10 year old or, 570 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,000 or a high school student, when you go to their games, there's a 571 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,400 part of you're leaning forward when your kids are little and 572 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,400 they're playing sports and you're, this is what you're 573 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,000 saying, even though you might not know you're saying this, 574 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,040 you're saying I hope they do good. 575 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,360 I hope they do good. Oh, I hope they do good. 576 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:56,840 I hope they do good. Right, Right. 577 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,600 You can relate this. You're leaning forward. 578 00:27:58,600 --> 00:27:59,600 It's like, oh, I'm hoping they do good. 579 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,440 And they're up there and they're awkward, right? 580 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:03,400 And they're at a funny age. I hope they do good. 581 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,800 OK, That's you rooting for them. When I get up to teach the Bible 582 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,960 or to lead worship, I don't want you to be sitting there going, 583 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,120 oh, I hope he does good. I hope he does good. 584 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,320 I hope, I hope he does good. No, I want to get up and I want 585 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,720 to have confidence and I want to like, I want to lead with such 586 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,200 confidence that you're not even thinking about those who are 587 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,360 leading, right? Like you don't even notice us. 588 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,360 It's like we want you to just get lost in worship and it's you 589 00:28:27,360 --> 00:28:29,200 and God and you're connected, right? 590 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:30,920 But then on there's another side. 591 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,720 And sometimes I call it the dig me vibe. 592 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,560 OK, and what is the dig me vibe? I think sometimes worship 593 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,040 leaders or pastors or teachers, they can get up in front of 594 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,160 people and when they play and when they sing, there's this 595 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,760 kind of this thing. It's like, check me out, dig me, 596 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,240 dig me. And I'm like, oh, that's not 597 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,800 good either. That's worse than root for me, 598 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,440 right? So what you want to do in this, 599 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,400 apply this in your own life. It's like, OK, in your job, in 600 00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,440 your parenting, whatever your roles are, if you come with a, 601 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,080 if you come with a lack of confidence and you haven't 602 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:05,960 thought of yourself highly enough, right? 603 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,440 Maybe you think of yourself as a worm. 604 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,880 So you come and you're like, oh, man, I'm just so unsure of 605 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,000 myself. People will sense that. 606 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:15,280 And it's hard to follow someone that's terribly unsure of 607 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:17,480 themselves. So you want to have enough 608 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,160 confidence where people aren't rooting for you. 609 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,080 And then you want to then to be humble at the same time where 610 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:27,400 it's not like dig me, right? Because that's icky and gross, 611 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:29,640 right? So you want to find the balance. 612 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,440 So when Paul says don't think of yourself too highly of yourself, 613 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:33,800 he's like, you should think of yourself. 614 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:35,880 You should ponder who you are. And now I'm going to go into 615 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,520 scriptures that give you like what you should think, right? 616 00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,720 So if you should not think too highly of yourself, well, what 617 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:44,400 should you think of yourself? Well, I want to, I want to get 618 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:49,480 there right now because you want to focus on being and not not 619 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,280 being. I want to focus on not thinking 620 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,600 of myself about it. I don't think I want to think, 621 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,720 OK, what should I be thinking when I think of myself? 622 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,840 And what I want to tell you is that like there's a recipe for 623 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,120 what I should think of myself. It's not one verse. 624 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:02,800 You don't take one verse and make a doctrine of it. 625 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,280 Instead, I'm going to give you several verses and, and the 626 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,800 mixture of them is what's going to make it right. 627 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:10,920 And this is like any recipe, right? 628 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:14,080 You need this spice in it. They need this, this over here. 629 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,840 And when you put it all together, you get get the right 630 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,320 flavor that you're looking for and you're thinking about 631 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,000 yourself. I'm going to give you several 632 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,080 that you want to put into how you think about yourself. 633 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,040 All of them together, I think will lead you to a healthy view 634 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:28,640 of self. OK, you ready? 635 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,520 Here we go. 2nd Corinthians 517. Here we start. 636 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:34,200 Paul writes to the Church of Corinth. 637 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:40,280 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 638 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:44,480 The oldest passed away. Behold, the new has come. 639 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:48,160 When you think of yourself, if you're a follower of Jesus, then 640 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,080 you should think of yourself as a new creation, and you should 641 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,120 think of yourself as being in Christ. 642 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,400 This is the biggest theme that the apostle Paul writes about. 643 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,440 In fact, he mentions it 143 times. 644 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,400 He uses the term in Christ over and over and over again in 645 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,400 letter after letter. It's his like you can't miss it. 646 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,520 So when you read like Romans and Galatians, Ephesians, 647 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:13,320 Philippians, Colossians, the writings of Paul, Timothy, all 648 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,080 of those writings just understand Paul over and over 649 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:17,360 and over. He's just trying. 650 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,120 You can't miss it. He wants you to have your 651 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,440 identity most from being in Christ. 652 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,560 And identity is really an interesting thing because in the 653 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,480 culture in which we live, people are chasing after identity. 654 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,680 So This is why you might be drawn to a certain brand, right? 655 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,920 If you have this certain brand of purse or certain brand of 656 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,280 shoes. And often it's like, yeah, I 657 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,240 want to have, you know, certain shoes, like these shoes, man, 658 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:44,120 I'm in the orthopedic stage of life, right? 659 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:47,120 I need comfortable shoes, right? So these aren't necessarily 660 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:48,280 cool. It's like this guitar I'm 661 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,400 playing, right? It's no longer about looking 662 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,400 cool, right? Hopefully it never was. 663 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,200 But but it's like, I've got this really light little guitar. 664 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,920 I'm calling it my orthopedic guitar, right? 665 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:58,760 I don't have to get my arms out like this. 666 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,400 It's just all I have to do is light, just move my wrist. 667 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,840 I'm hoping. OK, so so but you can maybe you 668 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,360 chase your identities in shoes or clothes or a neighborhood 669 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,920 that you live in or a sports team, right? 670 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:13,880 The sports team that you follow some people and great to have 671 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,960 your sports jerseys, yes. But if it becomes your identity, 672 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:18,640 if you ever met someone that seems like man, the biggest 673 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,440 thing about their life is a sports team that they follow 674 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,680 brands or clubs. Maybe you join a certain club or 675 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:31,840 career, see people we have a God has designed us with a hunger 676 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,720 for identity, but it needs to be filled with us identifying as 677 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,520 being in Christ. It's the most important part of 678 00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:41,560 our lives, more important than anything being in Christ. 679 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,200 So Paul goes after this over and over and over again. 680 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,640 So when you think of yourself, you should think of yourself as 681 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,720 being buried, resurrected and in Christ. 682 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,000 He says this in Galatians 2 verse 20. 683 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,560 He says I have been crucified with Christ. 684 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:58,360 It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the 685 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,320 life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith and the Son of 686 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,640 God who loved me and gave himself for me. 687 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,480 The most important thing in your life is your faith in Jesus. 688 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,960 What you should think about most is your identity being found in 689 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,120 Christ. We've died to self. 690 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:16,920 We've been risen in Christ already. 691 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,200 That's the sign of baptism. Baptism is an outward 692 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:21,880 expression, what's already happened in us. 693 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:23,840 We have been buried and resurrected. 694 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,760 Now we identify as being in Christ. 695 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,000 OK, Now, if I'm going to build upon this recipe, then as I'm, 696 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,160 I'm in Christ. I'm a new creation. 697 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:35,960 Look at me. Yes, go. 698 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:37,840 So the thing you do is it'll taste. 699 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,920 The taste won't be quite right unless you add something like 700 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,320 this to the equation. Jeremiah 17, nine. 701 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,240 Now when I think about myself, what else do I think about 702 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:46,920 myself? Well, I think what Jeremiah 703 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:48,240 says. The hardest. 704 00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,800 Deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. 705 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:56,920 Who can understand it? I live my life in Christ 706 00:33:56,920 --> 00:33:58,920 understanding. I've been buried, resurrected in 707 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:00,680 Him. I look at myself. 708 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,880 I'm a new creation in Christ. But then also, I realized that 709 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:07,280 what I have to view myself as with an awareness that I have a 710 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,760 propensity for a heart that wants to deceive. 711 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,440 And the heart is deceitful. And so when we follow after our 712 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,239 passions, when we follow after our, you know, unfettered 713 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:21,679 desires and selfishness, then, yeah, we can miss our identity 714 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,800 of being in Christ. I'm in Christ, but aware that my 715 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,960 heart can go dark. And this is really important in 716 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:32,280 the life of Christians because I will tell you, like even in Nazi 717 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,880 Germany in the 1930s and 40s, a lot of the Nazis, interesting 718 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:41,159 enough were prior Christians and look how dark their hearts went. 719 00:34:41,159 --> 00:34:44,280 I mean, the, the most horrible evil I've been to the Holocaust 720 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,880 Museum in Jerusalem. And it's man, I was offended a 721 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,000 bit by it when I went into the first time. 722 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,000 You kind of snake through it, so to speak, at the way you go 723 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:52,400 through it. And right at the beginning of 724 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,120 the Holocaust Museum, it was like pictures of Martin Luther 725 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,040 and the Crusades. And it kind of presented that 726 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,160 the Germans that were Nazis were Christians. 727 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,200 I'm like, I wouldn't think of them as Christians. 728 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,480 And yet when I only kind of studied it out, it's like a lot 729 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,080 of Lutheran's became Nazis. Why? 730 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,200 Because the heart is deceitful. And if you're not aware of it, 731 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,000 you'd be shocked at the evil that you can do within a lack of 732 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,680 an awareness of how deceitful the heart can be. 733 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:17,760 Now I don't want to just ponder right there. 734 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:19,760 I want to be aware of it. Now I want to tell you what else 735 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,720 about when I think about myself, what do I want to think? 736 00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:25,560 Genesis 126 to 27. This is early in the story of 737 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:27,160 the Bible. This is at creation. 738 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:31,840 It says, then God said, let us make man in our image after our 739 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:33,920 likeness. He's talking about the Trinity 740 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:35,160 of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 741 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,960 And he says, and let them have dominion over the fish of the 742 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,320 sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, 743 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,320 and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps 744 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:46,360 on the earth. So God created man in his own 745 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,960 image, in the image of God. He created him. 746 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,520 Male and female, he created them, male and female, He 747 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,240 created them. Now this is what we call the 748 00:35:55,240 --> 00:36:00,040 Imago day in ancient tradition and doctrine that we are. 749 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,240 Imago day is Latin for image of God. 750 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:05,800 When you think of yourself, it's it's healthy and right that you 751 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,400 think of yourself. I'm created in the image of God. 752 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,280 I'm created to be God like this is how God wired me and made me. 753 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,560 Why is this important? Because if you fall for the lie 754 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,400 that you evolved out of some slime in a pond somewhere 100 755 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:24,040 billion years ago, then you'll miss how you are created. 756 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,160 You didn't evolve from some monkey type of creature. 757 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,080 No, God crafted and created us in his image. 758 00:36:31,480 --> 00:36:33,840 Created in his image. So when you think of yourself 759 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:36,680 and view yourself, you go, OK, I'm Imago day. 760 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:38,320 You can start your day saying Imago day. 761 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:43,120 I'm created to be like God. I also have that bend and that 762 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:44,680 propensity. And it's not just a positive 763 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:50,040 confession, but it's a sense of importance and value. 764 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:52,720 Now also I want to view others in light of this. 765 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:54,920 When I think of myself, I'm thinking, yes, I'm a created in 766 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,760 the image of God, but also I want to see others the same way. 767 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:00,880 And if you don't see others as creating an image of God, then 768 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:02,920 maybe you'll think too little of other people. 769 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,920 But would you value those who are the least of these created 770 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,160 in God's image? It will increase within you 771 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,920 mercy and love and generosity and compassion for others. 772 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,520 Now in light of this, in the same way in the New Testament in 773 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:21,640 Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul says in verse 10, for we 774 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:26,600 are his workmanship like we're crafted artistically. 775 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,720 I even think and we're created in Christ Jesus. 776 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:33,120 Again here Paul, it says overriding theme in Christ Jesus 777 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:36,840 for what are we created for? For good works which God has 778 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,040 prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 779 00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,160 When you think of yourself, you say I'm crafted by God 780 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,680 creatively, I'm his workmanship and I'm creating for good works. 781 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,320 Think of yourself in that way. I'm created to do good. 782 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:52,560 God lead me to good works. It's part of what my life should 783 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,640 look like. And when you think about your 784 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:57,920 the things that you work at, maybe you're proud of your work. 785 00:37:57,920 --> 00:37:59,640 Maybe when you think of your work, you're like, this is my 786 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:01,640 workmanship and you're proud of it. 787 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:03,040 Or maybe you have a hobby or something. 788 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,160 But sometimes you create something, you step back and you 789 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,720 look at it and go, this is good. That's how God views us. 790 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:11,720 When you think of yourself, you can think of yourself in that 791 00:38:11,720 --> 00:38:14,080 way. But to get a rounded view of 792 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,080 yourself, you also need to look at Romans chapter 3. 793 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:21,480 Paul writes for all of sins and fall short of the glory of God 794 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,080 and are justified by grace as a gift. 795 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:27,160 So through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 796 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:30,000 When you think of yourself, it's okay and right that you are 797 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,720 aware that you are a Sinner, but some traditions will, in fact, 798 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:37,120 some traditions will have you pray over and over and over and 799 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,520 over again. Have mercy on me, Lord Jesus, a 800 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,560 Sinner. Have mercy on me Lord, a Sinner. 801 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:43,560 You pray that prayer over and over. 802 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,600 If you only view yourself as a Sinner, then it will be 803 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:48,520 incomplete. You say yes, I'm a Sinner and I 804 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:52,480 struggle with failure sometimes, but I'm justified through Christ 805 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,280 because if you just stick in that center part, you'll miss of 806 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:58,760 the right view of yourself. You yes, when you sin there's a 807 00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:01,520 forgiveness of God and you're justified on both of those. 808 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:04,720 But be aware that you have ongoing things in your life that 809 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:07,920 you are going to need to lean into God until you take your 810 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,560 last breath. Be aware, but realize that 811 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,160 there's justification through Jesus. 812 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,760 All right, Also, when you think of yourself, look at this 813 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:17,360 Philippians chapter one, verse 6. 814 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,440 It says, and I am sure of this. It's like Jesus saying truly, 815 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:23,400 truly Paul's like I'm I'm writing all this. 816 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:28,760 But really I'm especially sure of this that he who began a good 817 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,520 work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus 818 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:36,200 Christ. When you fail, when your heart, 819 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:38,280 when you're aware, it's like, man, my heart can sometimes trip 820 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,720 me up. I'm a Sinner, I'm justified. 821 00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:43,560 And then when you look at yourself, you go, but I'm in 822 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:48,000 process. God is like continuing the work. 823 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:50,640 And when you became a Christian, I mean, that was that was that's 824 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,240 a part of it. When I pray to lead people to 825 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:54,680 the Lord, I'm like God now show me. 826 00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:57,480 And for some of you, it's like God is going to reveal things to 827 00:39:57,480 --> 00:39:59,560 you lifelong that you were unaware of and he's going to 828 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:02,480 bring you to new levels in his process. 829 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:05,280 Some years ago I wrote a song and the idea of the song was 830 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:06,400 finished the work and the lyric was. 831 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:09,480 Someday in the twinkling of an eye will all be changed. 832 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,080 But for now, the change in us is day by day. 833 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,920 We won't sit and wait for you to appear when there's so much more 834 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:20,080 to do in us while we're here. And so my course was like finish 835 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:25,080 the work that you begun said it's obvious you're not quite 836 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,760 done, O Lord, finish the work in us. 837 00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:31,240 The idea was like when I look at myself, God, it's obvious you're 838 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:33,160 still working. There's still a lot to do when 839 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:35,400 you got it's glaring, it's glaring. 840 00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:38,240 So God finished the work. It's a prayer, but know that 841 00:40:38,240 --> 00:40:41,680 you're in process and he, if you allow him to, he will keep 842 00:40:41,680 --> 00:40:43,600 working you. And if you won't allow him to, 843 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:49,240 he'll still keep working you. It will just be more painful to 844 00:40:49,240 --> 00:40:55,280 be aware of it and to welcome it is, I assure you, better adding 845 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:56,440 to the recipe. How should you think of 846 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,800 yourself? John 15 Jesus says this, Abide 847 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,640 in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit 848 00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,880 by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless 849 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,200 you abide in me. I am the vine, and you are the 850 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:13,400 branches. Whoever abides in me and I in 851 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:18,280 him, He is He. It is that bears much fruit, for 852 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,520 apart from me you can do nothing. 853 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:26,520 This is a curious thought for Christians to have because 854 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,000 around you there are people who are not following Jesus and 855 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,600 they're breathing and they're doing things and sometimes 856 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,120 they're successful. Often they can be successful and 857 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,920 it can appear that that everything is going right, you 858 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,520 know, in their lives. But she's just a saying. 859 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,080 I think that apart from me, if you're not in the vine attached 860 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,200 to me, then the things that you accomplish eternally will end up 861 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:50,560 being pretty empty. But in me, when you when you 862 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:52,320 abide in me, it's like we're connected. 863 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:54,800 We're connected. Then things that are eternal, 864 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,800 yes, you can do things that have eternal Kingdom purpose and 865 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:01,200 eternally it will make a difference. 866 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,520 So when you live your life like it's a prayer, Jesus, here's how 867 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:08,040 I think about myself. Apart from you, I can do nothing 868 00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:13,040 of value, nothing that has eternity in mind, no purposes 869 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:17,120 that will have Kingdom, eternal lasting impact. 870 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:20,200 So it's a prayer, Jesus, apart from you, this is how I view 871 00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:22,120 myself. I can do nothing that is of 872 00:42:22,120 --> 00:42:26,240 great value. Then Mark 10, here's another 873 00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:28,080 part of the recipe. And Jesus called them to him and 874 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:30,800 said to them, you know, that those who are considered rulers 875 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:32,200 of the Gentiles lorded over them. 876 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:35,320 He's talking to his disciples. And here he's talking about 877 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:37,840 those who are ruling over them, who would have been the Romans. 878 00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:41,160 They were lording over the the Jews. 879 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:45,840 OK. And he says this and they're and 880 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:48,320 they're great ones exercise authority over them. 881 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:51,280 So the the lower ranking ones have authority over us. 882 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:53,520 And then the ones that are really high-ranking will they 883 00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:56,240 have authority over their own. But it shall not be so among 884 00:42:56,240 --> 00:43:00,240 you. But whoever would be great among 885 00:43:00,240 --> 00:43:03,120 you must be your servant. So Jesus is painting is like, 886 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,800 hey, look, you've got these Roman all the way up to the 887 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:06,280 Caesar. They're important. 888 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,680 They rule, they they dictate they they, they hover over Jesus 889 00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:12,240 like, but not you. You're not going to be that way. 890 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:16,200 Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. 891 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:20,280 See, he's turned it upside down. Their view is like for us to get 892 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:22,120 power and throw the Romans out, we're going to have to do it 893 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,280 with authority and and world systems. 894 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,680 But Jesus is like the world systems are not going to work in 895 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,320 the system of the Kingdom. The economy of his Kingdom that 896 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:32,000 he's building is going to be that the servants are going to 897 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,800 be the ones that have the greatest eternal impact. 898 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,760 Verse 44 And whoever would be first among you must be slave of 899 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:42,960 all for even the Son of man cannot came not to be served, 900 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,920 but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 901 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,400 When you think of yourself, you should learn to think of 902 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:51,120 yourself as a servant, a slave to all. 903 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:52,800 I mean a slave has bad connotation. 904 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,600 It's unlike when Jesus was talking and the Roman system 905 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:58,920 slaves was not they were not treated as we as it has been the 906 00:43:58,920 --> 00:44:00,960 last couple 100 years, which is of course horrible. 907 00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:03,440 It was horrible in Jesus's day, but not as horrible. 908 00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,480 OK, so Jesus it's OK for him to use slave of all. 909 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,000 It was different. So we look at his servants of 910 00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:10,960 all Jesus is like you want to be the greatest in the Kingdom. 911 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:15,520 Think of yourself itself as a servant and the culture in which 912 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:17,080 we live. People want to be served. 913 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:18,520 We go to the restaurant that has the best service. 914 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:20,120 We go to the resort that has the best service. 915 00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:22,840 We're all about being served. So when you go someplace, it can 916 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,480 be easy in our psyche in the Western, you know, the United 917 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,320 States in the West where we live, it's easy to get so 918 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:33,480 obsessed with being served that you forget that Jesus said, how 919 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:36,360 should you think of yourself? You should think about yourself 920 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:38,720 as a servant. How can you serve those around 921 00:44:38,720 --> 00:44:41,720 you and your family and your church and your community and 922 00:44:41,720 --> 00:44:43,600 your job? Even if your job is excelling 923 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,680 and your business is excelling, it's still from this man instead 924 00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:50,480 of how can I serve others? That's how we should think of 925 00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:53,560 ourselves. Philippians 2 Paul gives us 926 00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:56,200 another thing to go on. He says in verse two, complete 927 00:44:56,200 --> 00:45:00,440 my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, full 928 00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:02,680 being in full accord. This is the little song I sing 929 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,760 to my kids all over. Make my joy complete by being 930 00:45:04,760 --> 00:45:07,440 like minded. You know, I used it to raise my 931 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:10,040 sons particularly. And then he says this in verse 932 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,920 3. Do nothing from selfish ambition 933 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:17,000 or conceit, but in humility count others more significant 934 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:21,320 than yourselves in the Kingdom. How do you think of yourself? 935 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:23,160 Well, you think of others as more significant, more 936 00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:24,240 important. I'm not. 937 00:45:24,240 --> 00:45:25,880 I'm not the center of the universe. 938 00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:29,440 It's not about me. And then Paul says, let each of 939 00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,400 you look not only to his own interests, but also to the 940 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:34,920 interests of others. When your conversations are, are 941 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:37,920 you the center of the universe or are you, are you leaning in 942 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:39,560 and do you want to know more about others and their 943 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:41,520 interests? Paul's like man, you should be 944 00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,440 about the interests of others, their needs, their wants. 945 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,320 Think of the interests of others, and then he goes on. 946 00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:50,720 Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, 947 00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:54,320 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality 948 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:59,320 with God a thing to be grasped. Instead, Jesus emptied himself 949 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:01,200 for seven by taking the form of a servant. 950 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:04,880 Being born in the likeness of man, Jesus emptied himself to 951 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:07,440 become a servant. If we want to be Christ like 952 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,240 that, our thinking should be the same. 953 00:46:09,960 --> 00:46:11,400 In verse 8. And being found in human form, 954 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,960 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 955 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:18,040 even death on the cross. Therefore, God has highly 956 00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:20,120 exalted him. And we stored on him the name 957 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:22,720 that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every 958 00:46:22,720 --> 00:46:25,240 knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and 959 00:46:25,240 --> 00:46:28,160 every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is the Lord. 960 00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:32,440 For the glory of God the Father. Jesus is our ultimate example of 961 00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,240 how we should view and think of ourselves. 962 00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,040 He emptied himself for the sake of others. 963 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,320 He became a servant. And because of that, God lifted 964 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,480 him up. The Father exalted him and the 965 00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:45,960 Father will do the same in our lives. 966 00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:49,280 So let me give you application and tie this up. 967 00:46:50,080 --> 00:46:52,200 This week's current events with President Trump. 968 00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:55,520 You can get sucked into like the talking heads on TV and hear 969 00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:57,960 people argue about it, but I wouldn't waste your time. 970 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:01,720 But it is I, I think it is a little nudge for us to look at 971 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:05,400 our own lives and self reflect on how I think about myself. 972 00:47:05,720 --> 00:47:09,720 What's my view of myself. Jesus knew who he was. 973 00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,440 He did, He was, he knew he was, got it, got him killed, and he 974 00:47:12,440 --> 00:47:15,440 is our example. Ask yourself, how do you view 975 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:17,280 yourself? Too high, too low? 976 00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:20,760 Do you? Do you understand that you are 977 00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:22,440 in Christ? When you think of yourself, the 978 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:25,280 most important thing is that you are in Christ and that you're 979 00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,720 made in the image of God. Yes, you're a Sinner, but you're 980 00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,040 justified and God is in the process of working on you. 981 00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:36,080 Welcome it and strive more than anything else to be a servant 982 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:44,280 for others as Jesus was. Let me pray for us, God, Thank 983 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,200 you for these truths, and thank you that we can lean into 984 00:47:48,200 --> 00:47:53,680 Scripture to ready ourselves to just be more and more like you. 985 00:47:53,720 --> 00:47:57,120 Jesus, That's our hope. And so for some of us, our view 986 00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,720 of ourselves is too high. For some of us, it's too low. 987 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:03,760 So I pray that you would help us to find that sweet spot right 988 00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:08,560 there in the middle where we can live our lives viewing ourselves 989 00:48:08,560 --> 00:48:11,080 in a way that is glorifying to you. 990 00:48:11,960 --> 00:48:16,960 Our spouses, our children, our church, our workplace, our view 991 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:19,280 of ourselves impacts all of those places. 992 00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:21,640 God. So help us give us revelation. 993 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:27,080 I pray in Jesus name. And everyone said, hey man, hey, 994 00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,160 before we leave, I do want to give just a quick moment to say, 995 00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:31,680 if you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, I want to just 996 00:48:31,720 --> 00:48:33,760 give you a moment to do that. You've never made the decision 997 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:35,280 to become a Christian. What does it take? 998 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:37,680 You believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth that 999 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:39,520 Jesus is Lord and then you shall be saved. 1000 00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:42,640 That's all it takes and some want to complicate and all you 1001 00:48:42,640 --> 00:48:45,160 got to do is to do No, no, the Bible says that believe in your 1002 00:48:45,160 --> 00:48:47,960 heart that Jesus is Lord and you shall be saved and then confess 1003 00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:49,760 it with your mouth. And then from there you want to 1004 00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:51,680 grow in the ways of God. And we as a church would love to 1005 00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:54,120 help you do that. But the first step to becoming a 1006 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,280 follower of Jesus is surrendering your life and 1007 00:48:56,280 --> 00:48:59,280 saying, Jesus, become my Lord and Savior and grow me in your 1008 00:48:59,280 --> 00:49:00,760 ways. And with that, you get the 1009 00:49:01,240 --> 00:49:04,320 forgiveness, the mercy of God in your life. 1010 00:49:04,480 --> 00:49:06,800 And then our hope for you is that lifelong you chase after 1011 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:08,960 him and eternity is born in you now. 1012 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:11,440 So I'm going to pray, and I want to encourage you to pray with me 1013 00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:13,240 if you'd like to receive Christ as your Savior. 1014 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,120 And then I want to encourage you to tell somebody, a family 1015 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:18,960 member, you can e-mail me, say I've made the decision to follow 1016 00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,120 Jesus, and we'll talk to you about next steps. 1017 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:23,240 Let me pray and you can echo this prayer. 1018 00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:27,400 Jesus, I come to you with an understanding that you are God, 1019 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:31,480 you are Lord, and I welcome you to be the Lord of my life. 1020 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:35,520 And I want to turn from my own sinful ways and I want to go 1021 00:49:35,520 --> 00:49:38,320 your way. So teach me your ways and come 1022 00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:40,880 and be the Lord of my life. So I want to die to myself 1023 00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:43,720 metaphorically, and I want to be resurrected in you. 1024 00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:46,360 And then I thank you that eternity. 1025 00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:50,600 I will have eternity with you. And you put eternity and purpose 1026 00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:53,080 in me. Now I receive it, and I receive 1027 00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:57,120 your Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, come and dwell in me. 1028 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:01,000 Show me your ways as I grow in you in Jesus name and everyone 1029 00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,000 said Amen, Amen. Let's all stand together again. 1030 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,000 If you made that decision to become a follower of Jesus, I 1031 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:08,920 encourage you to tell somebody, tell me, reach out to someone 1032 00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:11,680 and we want to encourage you and your next steps and where you 1033 00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:14,360 could go from here. Before you go now, I want to say 1034 00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:16,680 a blessing over you. So if you'll prepare your heart 1035 00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:23,240 to receive this blessing, and now I may the Lord bless you and 1036 00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:26,680 keep you, and may he make his face to shine upon you. 1037 00:50:27,560 --> 00:50:30,240 And may the joy of the Lord that is unspeakable and full of 1038 00:50:30,240 --> 00:50:34,680 glory, may it abound to you. And may the peace of God that 1039 00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,920 passes all understanding, may it surprise you in the midst of all 1040 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:39,520 of the challenges that life brings. 1041 00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:42,160 And then may the mercies of the Lord, in other words, the 1042 00:50:42,160 --> 00:50:44,840 forgiveness of God, that is new every morning. 1043 00:50:44,840 --> 00:50:48,320 May it be especially new to you now and your mornings to come. 1044 00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:52,120 And now may the Lord Jesus Christ guard your heart and your 1045 00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:54,960 mind. You are salt and you are light. 1046 00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:57,720 Go now and be salt and light into the world. 1047 00:50:57,720 --> 00:51:00,080 You are blessed. We hope to see you again soon.