1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:04,320 It's great to be with you today. It's great to see each of you. 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,520 If we haven't met, my name is Josh. 3 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:09,960 I have the joy of serving as pastor here at the Garden, and I 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,000 am guys. I'm psyched both to be together 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,640 today and also to get to have the conversation that we're 6 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,680 having as we wrap up this series, Rewired by love. 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,440 This morning we're going to be in Mark chapter 3 looking at 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,600 Jesus model of discipleship throughout this series over the 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:33,680 last. Now this will be our 6th week. 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,680 We've been really considering this question like how do we how 11 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:42,960 do we really change not just in terms of what we know, but in 12 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,000 terms of our reflexes, how we respond under stress, under 13 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,920 pressure in relationships. And over the course of the last 14 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,040 few weeks we've been looking at in the first few weeks of the 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,240 series, we considered some of the problem. 16 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,440 Despite what we say, we believe so often times our our defaults 17 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,080 are actually formed by our families, firmed by our 18 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,200 experiences. And then we we get into a 19 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,760 relationship with Jesus and want to become like him and, and 20 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,640 learn this new way. And how do we actually do that? 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,160 And this is such a an area of passion for me, an area I think 22 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,520 that's so important for every one of us who wants to be a 23 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,080 follower of Jesus. And this morning I'm excited as 24 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,120 we close out the spirit this series to talk about one of the 25 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,480 most important things that we contribute to the change 26 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:37,280 process, and that is imitation. Before we dive into scripture 27 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,800 this morning and and look at Jesus model of discipleship, I 28 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:42,600 want to play a little game together. 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,920 Is everybody down for that? I know sometimes we sometimes we 30 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,960 are are not always used to using our bodies and our voices in 31 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:52,360 church, but this is going to be a time for that. 32 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:54,000 This is going to be an opportunity for you to 33 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:56,920 participate. So in just a moment, I'm going 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,920 to ask you a question, OK? And I want to see how quickly 35 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,560 you are able to answer this question. 36 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:05,520 OK? It's going to be a simple 37 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:07,320 question. I promise you know the answer. 38 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,759 So as soon as you hear the question, I want you to shout it 39 00:02:09,759 --> 00:02:10,680 out. OK. 40 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,960 All right, before we do that, I just because it's not it's not 41 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,520 always used to comfortable speaking in church. 42 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:19,280 So let's warm up our voices. And we're going to do that by 43 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,240 saying the word silk SIL K5 times. 44 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,040 OK, you ready? Say it together with me. 45 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:29,400 Silk, Silk, silk, silk, silk. What do cows drink? 46 00:02:36,100 --> 00:02:39,540 All right, OK, let's play another game. 47 00:02:39,740 --> 00:02:42,020 All right, let's play another game. 48 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:45,960 Yeah, but it makes my point so well. 49 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,080 All right, all right, in this game, here's here's what I want 50 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:51,400 to do. I wanted to take you, take your, 51 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,440 take your right hand and point at me. 52 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:55,800 You know, just not feels very intimidating. 53 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,120 OK, take your right hand and point at me and take your left 54 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:02,600 hand and give me a thumbs up. OK, Right hand, you're pointing 55 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,720 left hand, thumbs up. OK, And now when I say switch, I 56 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,560 want you to switch your hands, OK? 57 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,720 All right. So your left hand is going to 58 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,920 point and your right hand is going to be thumbs up. 59 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:17,800 OK, you ready 123? Switch, switch, switch, switch, 60 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,120 switch, switch, switch as fast as you can. 61 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,400 Switch, switch, switch, switch, switch, switch. 62 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,000 I I know you guys know how to do this, right? 63 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:32,160 I'm enjoying it so much. Yeah. 64 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:33,920 All right. All right. 65 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:36,920 What do you notice? This is interactive. 66 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:38,800 OK. What do you notice about these 67 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,080 two simple little games that we just played? 68 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,640 Difficult. OK What What about them felt 69 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,840 difficult? Joe, I imagine that you know 70 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:55,080 what cows actually drink most most often, I would assume. 71 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,000 And have you ever done this motion before? 72 00:03:57,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Have you ever done this motion before? 73 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:00,280 Yeah. OK. 74 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:01,840 Yep. Same. 75 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,920 But it it felt hard, right? Yeah. 76 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:10,760 What else did we notice? I really think about it. 77 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:11,800 You have to really think about it. 78 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,440 Yeah. OK. 79 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:18,399 OK. It became difficult because you 80 00:04:18,399 --> 00:04:21,320 had to use, like all of your conscious attention to do that. 81 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:22,280 Here, do. Let's do. 82 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:23,720 Let's do one more thing. This is going to be easier. 83 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:24,360 I promise. OK. 84 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,360 So instead, same same thing with your hands, but at the same 85 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,680 time, I want you to go 22 points, 2 thumbs up. 86 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,720 All right, All right, let's go back and forth. 87 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,080 Point thumbs up. Point thumbs up. 88 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:36,800 Point thumbs up. What do you notice? 89 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:40,320 It's a lot easier, isn't it? Why is that? 90 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,240 It's consistent. Yeah, it doesn't. 91 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:46,760 It doesn't ask your brain to do something that it's not used to 92 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,680 doing. Here's here's here's my point. 93 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:53,800 In these simple games, the the point is not to embarrass you or 94 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,600 how you showed up is exactly how you're supposed to show up. 95 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:02,440 How how we naturally show up. And my point is this, what we 96 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,480 have practiced is natural. It's easy. 97 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:11,080 What we have not practiced is difficult. 98 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:13,240 It's laborious. The things that we have trained 99 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,120 in, whether it's mental concepts in our head, whether it's 100 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:21,600 physical movements, if we practice something, it becomes 101 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:25,400 relatively easy. But if we haven't, it takes a 102 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,920 lot of mental effort, especially if it's going against something 103 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,840 that feels intuitive or like a default for us. 104 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,200 You know what I'm saying? All right, so I want to pivot 105 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:42,600 and look at what we see here in Mark chapter 3 about Jesus and 106 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,920 Jesus model of discipleship. We read this text here. 107 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,760 Jesus has already been with his disciples for some time when we 108 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,800 get to Mark chapter 3. But at this moment he he gathers 109 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,760 them and he he brings them together. 110 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,640 He calls out the 12 who will of course go on to be the 111 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,120 impostles. And we read here in in Mark 112 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,880 chapter 3 and verse 14 that he appointed these 12 that they 113 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:11,440 might be with him and that he might send them, that they might 114 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,200 be with him and that he might send them. 115 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:21,840 In Luke chapter 6 and verse 40, we see that the student, when he 116 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,400 is fully trained, becomes like the teacher. 117 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,920 The point very simply that I want to communicate to you this 118 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:34,000 morning is that in order to become like Jesus, we need to be 119 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,240 with Jesus and we need to practice imitation. 120 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,920 We need to practice imitation. Of course, many of you are 121 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,720 familiar with the way in which we learn by imitation. 122 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,960 Maybe you've seen a tool called the leadership square in a 123 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:50,440 corporate setting or somewhere else. 124 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:55,440 It's, it's really simple. It's I do and you watch, then I 125 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,760 do and you help, Then you do and I watch and then or I help and 126 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,160 then you do and I watch, right. There's a transference that 127 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,840 happens as we observe someone else do something and then as we 128 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,840 get in the game and begin to practice that same thing and 129 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:12,040 receive support and coaching from them. 130 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:17,400 There's nothing inspired about this framework, but I think it's 131 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,080 interesting that some of what we find is is is working best out 132 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,640 in the world is exactly what Jesus both taught and modeled 133 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,720 when he chose his own disciples. We see in Mark here that that 134 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,160 Jesus calls these disciples and he says, hey, before I'm going 135 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,640 to send you out, before I'm going to ask you to do a bunch 136 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,520 of stuff, I want you to come and be with me. 137 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:45,160 And I can. I can't breakdown every piece of 138 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,720 how this plays out across the gospel of Mark, but I'd 139 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,640 encourage you to go read it. What we see is Jesus is leading 140 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,360 and doing ministry. He's showing up in the way of 141 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,720 the Kingdom. He's teaching, and the disciples 142 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,840 are right there by his side. They're looking, they're 143 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,680 watching, they're observing. When Jesus moves towards 144 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,080 outcasts and oppressors, typically these are people that 145 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:07,480 we would have kept our distance from. 146 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,080 They say, huh, that's interesting. 147 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,600 Jesus is showing up differently. His relationship is different in 148 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,640 chapter 2. Jesus relates to the Sabbath 149 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,240 differently in chapter 2. He shows up confidently and full 150 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,080 of faith. When life stresses everyone out, 151 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:26,880 when they're in a panic in the boat, the storm is raging around 152 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,120 them. Jesus is calm and confident in 153 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,080 the Father's authority when he confronts spiritual powers, 154 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,480 demons that that have everybody else running. 155 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,039 Jesus, again confident in the Father's authority, is able to 156 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:44,520 press in and relate to them when he experiences rejection and 157 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,160 threats from the crowds and the religious leaders. 158 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,600 The disciples are there observing and watching how he 159 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,920 responds, how he relates as they watch him deal with and cope 160 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,080 with the demands of ministry. They watch over and over this 161 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:02,480 pattern, how he steps back, how he steps away to be in the of 162 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:08,800 the Father and connect with God. And then in Mark 6 we read after 163 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:11,880 all of this observation is they watch him practice. 164 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:16,760 Jesus says, hey, your turn and he sends them out two by two. 165 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,840 He says, hey, the stuff that you've been watching me do, just 166 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,440 like I've done it. Now it's your turn. 167 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:28,000 Now you go do the same thing. This is what we see in Jesus 168 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,720 pattern of discipleship. It's how he apprentices his 169 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:34,520 followers throughout the gospels. 170 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,560 But I have to think, to be honest with you, when I think 171 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:42,360 about my own journey, like how I was discipled and even for for 172 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,640 most of us, like if I were to come up to you after the 173 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,080 gathering today, and I would say, Ian, would you be would you 174 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,680 like to be discipled? Right? 175 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,360 I mean, what what comes up in your mind in that moment? 176 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,520 Like, what do you imagine or make up that that could entail? 177 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,320 Probably we all have a little bit of a different picture. 178 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:04,960 But I think for many of us, we would say, well, you know, 179 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,440 probably, I don't know. I guess we're going to meet up 180 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,400 and study the Bible together, right? 181 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:11,720 Perhaps we'll go through a workbook. 182 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,120 Maybe there'll be some memorization or reflection. 183 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,320 We're going to talk about ideas. Maybe, maybe we'll get really 184 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:20,720 nerdy and I'll learn some like systematic theology and some 185 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:22,320 Greek verbs and things like that. 186 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,800 Like these are the models for discipleship that I think that 187 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,240 many of us have inherited. And look, I'm not saying that 188 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,880 that is bad. I think it's a part of our 189 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,440 journey of following Jesus today, an important part. 190 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,880 I've done a lot of that in my life, but it differs from what 191 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,920 Jesus actually did with his followers in an important 192 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,720 element. There is way less practice, 193 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,720 right? There's way less actually going 194 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,760 out into your life, applying it. There's way less actual thick 195 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,160 relationship where you're watching and observing how 196 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,400 somebody else not just talks about their life, but actually 197 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,640 relates to it across every dimension. 198 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,240 Jesus says the student who is fully trained will be like their 199 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:11,400 teacher in Luke chapter 6 and verse 40, fully trained, like 200 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,880 their teacher, not fully informed, not fully inspired, 201 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,440 not fully, not not fully aware, but actually fully trained to 202 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:24,560 have have the kind of relationships, the kind of 203 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:28,320 postures, the kinds of defaults that their teacher has. 204 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,920 The word that Jesus used for this kind of discipleship is is 205 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,760 must they taste? We usually translate it as 206 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,320 disciple or student, both of which are perfectly fine 207 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,360 translations, but actually a more accurate like way of 208 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,520 conjuring this idea based on what was practice at the time 209 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:49,200 might be apprentice or resident. And we're familiar with this 210 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:50,720 kind of training in certain contexts. 211 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,640 Like we know if you study medicine, at some point you 212 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:56,520 become a a medical resident and you follow another doctor around 213 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:58,200 and you learn how they interact with patients. 214 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,800 Of course, there's there's textbook learning as well. 215 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:04,760 But then you get in the lab and you watch and you imitate and, 216 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:08,520 and you ask questions and you do same things if you're a a 217 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,760 bricklayer or a pipe fitter. But when it comes to our 218 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,120 spiritual lives, I think so often we rely on this formula 219 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,880 that we've been talking about throughout this series that kind 220 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:22,560 of assumes that if I just add more information and more 221 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,040 willpower into the formula, then I get more transformation. 222 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:30,880 And yet this is so different from what Jesus did with his own 223 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,760 disciples. I mean, after all, there were 224 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,160 others, many rabbis at the time who actually just gathered their 225 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,400 students around and they parsed Torah and analyzed the verbs, 226 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,000 right? And they focused on on going 227 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,560 deeper and being more specific and wrestling with this passage 228 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:53,480 and that passage. Again, not bad, but also not 229 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:58,200 what Jesus focused on. And look, I know for many of us, 230 00:12:58,200 --> 00:12:59,560 the question comes up immediately. 231 00:12:59,560 --> 00:13:02,680 It certainly does for me of like, all right, well, that's 232 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,160 cool, Josh. Like, you know, if Jesus was 233 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,760 here and he said follow me, right, become my disciple, I 234 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,680 would say yes, but he's not in the room, right? 235 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,200 Like I have a job, I have a family like I have, I have snow 236 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,840 to shovel. Like how what does this actually 237 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:22,760 look like for you and for me, right? 238 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,400 After all, I don't live in the 1st century and I don't have the 239 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,240 opportunity to just walk around and eat with this guy and sleep 240 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:34,920 with him and and look well, what we actually see in Scripture is 241 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,920 that this wasn't just a 1st century thing. 242 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,240 Paul in first Corinthians tells the church at Corinth in First 243 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,880 Corinthians 11 in verse 1, he says follow my example as I 244 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,920 follow Christ. Paul is saying, hey, this the 245 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,280 same pattern here of imitation, of apprenticeship, of, of paying 246 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:56,840 attention, of following, of watching, of looking, of 247 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,800 imitating, of practicing. I'm doing that with Jesus and 248 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,360 you can do it with me. I think this is so beautiful 249 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:10,160 that that God has not asked us to find our way in the spiritual 250 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,200 life by ourselves like our devotional life, our our time 251 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:18,120 with God is essential. We can still hear from Jesus, 252 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:23,960 relate to Jesus, be empowered by Jesus, be guided by Jesus in our 253 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,760 own lives. But I'll tell you what, very 254 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,920 often there's also a piece that in my life, I can tell you, man, 255 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:37,200 God speaks to me a lot in my relationships as I, as I walk 256 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,880 with and journey with other believers, other disciples, 257 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,760 other people who are out in front of me there. 258 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,960 There's this thing that I knew about like conflict, or there's 259 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:48,920 this thing that I knew about prayer. 260 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,520 And in my head, it was already up here, right? 261 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,640 I had the information. But then it took observing 262 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:01,640 somebody do it right, beginning to learn from them, beginning to 263 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,240 walk from them, when it really began to sink in, down to a 264 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:09,760 heart level, down to an embodied level, down to the level of real 265 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:14,480 change. I remember in my early 20s, I 266 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:18,960 had just finished my first graduate degree, and I was kind 267 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,880 of trying to make my way in the world for a bit. 268 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:26,120 I still had more studies on my mind, but in the season I was 269 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,240 just trying to pay down some debt, earn some money. 270 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,320 So I was working a normal job and, and I had in my backpack, 271 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:39,040 if you will, a huge amount of gusto and passion and longing, a 272 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:43,560 huge amount of belief to see the world changed through the power 273 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,520 of the gospel and through the love of Jesus. 274 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,120 Like I, I felt like I had learned some things. 275 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,720 I had all these ideas. I had all these concepts and I, 276 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,600 I wanted to see those translated in a way that made a difference 277 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,480 for my neighbors. There's a problem though, I 278 00:15:58,480 --> 00:15:59,840 didn't know how to be a normal person. 279 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,640 I didn't know how to. I was 1/3 culture kid. 280 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,640 Some of you are like Josh. You still don't need know how to 281 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:11,160 be a normal person. Arguably true, but I remember 282 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:16,360 stepping into a a a friend group and connecting with Matt. 283 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:19,640 Matt was just a couple of years older than me. 284 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:23,040 Honestly, he seemed kind of socially awkward in some ways as 285 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:28,240 well, but I respected not only that intellectually he didn't 286 00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,480 just know about the Bible, but he had a way of showing up in 287 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,880 his relationships that I had really hadn't really seen much 288 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,840 of before. Like he was just really 289 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,800 intentional with people. He made space for people, he 290 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:48,720 listened well, he was curious, he was generous, he was funny 291 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:52,200 often times and like self deprecatory ways and didn't take 292 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,720 himself too seriously. And he also deeply and 293 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:00,080 passionately loved Jesus. And and I saw very clearly 294 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,040 something that was happening in Matt's life that was not 295 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,839 happening in mine. Like I, I could have a 296 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:08,160 conversation about faith with somebody who didn't share faith, 297 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,319 but people were not coming to me looking for guidance or answers. 298 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:18,560 But but everybody was coming to Matt because Matt cared, and he 299 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,240 and he actually showed up with people in the way of love. 300 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,079 And I learned so much in that season of my life about how to 301 00:17:26,079 --> 00:17:29,520 have healthy relationships, how to love people well, how to 302 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:33,400 start spiritual conversations, how to integrate my life with my 303 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,960 faith, not just in academic or theoretical ways, but in 304 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:40,400 practical ways. Much of it wasn't novel to me 305 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:48,080 conceptually, but I experienced Jesus through math as he modeled 306 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,640 it, as he demonstrated what it looked like to follow Jesus and 307 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:54,160 friends. I can tell you that over and 308 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,840 over and over again in my life when I look at the areas, not 309 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,200 only were I like know some stuff, but where I am different, 310 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,240 where I am more like Jesus, where my reflexes look like 311 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,760 love, I can tell you there are relationships behind it in 312 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,720 almost every case. Studying scripture with Neil. 313 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:16,320 The caring for people who were in crisis and whose lives were 314 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:20,080 falling apart without anxiety or or the need to fix it with 315 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,920 Darrell. Like praying with Peter Cha, 316 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,320 practicing hospitality and opening up a home with with 317 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,880 Rhonda. Navigating conflict and intense 318 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,000 conversations in a way that pointed people to truth without 319 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,080 being defensive with Matt, starting finances with Mako, 320 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:41,720 asking great questions and being caring and curious with Laura. 321 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:46,960 Like I can go on and on and on, friends. 322 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,760 These were ideas that the Spirit had very often revealed to me, 323 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,560 convicted me of. And I believe that the Spirit 324 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:55,800 gave me power than to implement what I was seeing. 325 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,840 But also it was modelled. I was apprenticed as I came 326 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,680 under and came alongside sometimes peers, sometimes 327 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:09,440 mentors who said this is what it means to walk out this life of 328 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,080 the Kingdom in relationships. Let me show you, let me guide 329 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,160 you. Because of that, I followed 330 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:21,520 Jesus so much better in in weeks two and three of this series. 331 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:25,920 We talked about how a lot of our our defaults and and reflexes 332 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,800 actually get formed. We talked about survival 333 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:33,120 strategies and internal working models and a lot of nerdy stuff 334 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:36,840 around like basically answering the question of like when you 335 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:41,040 get pushed, what comes out? Like when, when something, when, 336 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,320 when, when the rubber hits the road in your life, how do you 337 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,280 show up? I did my best to explain how 338 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,880 some of that as, as I understand it, both using the lens of, of 339 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,680 scripture as well as neuroscience and attachment 340 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,360 theory, like what we actually see. 341 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,400 And I don't know about you, but I remember when I first learned 342 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,200 about those things, I was like, oh crap, this is scary. 343 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,720 Because like, I, I see that this is true. 344 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:08,880 Like I have enough awareness to notice that how I show up isn't 345 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:13,720 always what I intend or want or say I believe, right? 346 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,040 Sometimes I'm just like really afraid of, of anger. 347 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,920 And so I'm super avoidant in conflict, right? 348 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,880 Sometimes I'm showing up in these ways that like I realize 349 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,080 are not good, but I don't know what to do with this is like, 350 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:31,080 this is the default for me. And I have some good news for 351 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,000 you this morning. And that is, first of all, God 352 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:35,960 is real. The power of the Spirit is real. 353 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:42,240 Change is possible. And also the, the, the latest in 354 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,040 science confirms what we know to be true as Christians already. 355 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:47,760 It gives language and kind of explanation around some of the 356 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,840 mechanisms. Like 100 years ago, people 357 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,440 thought that the brain was relatively static in adulthood, 358 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:56,240 right? They thought the amount of 359 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,120 neurons that you have are what you have. 360 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,600 The level of intelligence that you have is what you have. 361 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:04,320 Things are kind of fixed. Well, they've been a lot of 362 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:08,760 updates and, and discoveries and imaging and, and what we've 363 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,840 learned is that the brain is actually quite plastic, right? 364 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,160 Things can actually be rewired and, and we know this 365 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:17,720 intuitively. I'm not telling you anything 366 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,360 that you don't know at an intuitive level, but like you 367 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,200 can get better at at doing this if you practice right. 368 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,120 It doesn't take very long. And and before long, see, I'm 369 00:21:26,120 --> 00:21:28,280 still messing it up. I need to practice more if I 370 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:30,400 want to become good at that. I don't really care about that. 371 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,080 But I do care about how I respond under stress in my life. 372 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,760 I do care about when I'm overwhelmed, whether I go to 373 00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,960 prayer. And the good news is, is when we 374 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,960 actually put things to practice, when we actually begin to 375 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,680 develop new patterns and watch others and have some fresh 376 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:50,040 experiences relationally, that that the brain can actually form 377 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:54,560 new neurons, new connections, new synapses began to be 378 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,800 created. And it's not just that there are 379 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,200 new possibilities or pathways. And we talked in week 1 about 380 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:03,160 the difference between knowing that and knowing how. 381 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,680 Like there's lots of stuff that we know at an intellectual 382 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,520 level, like where we live, but then there's things that we know 383 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,000 how, like driving a car. Well, you know this because you 384 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,960 can learn a new skill now, you can learn to drive a car or 385 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,240 things like that. But what actually happens in the 386 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:20,520 brain, what we see in imaging is that there, there are these, 387 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:23,320 these white brain cells, these long fibers that become 388 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:27,800 myelinated through repetition. And, and it's kind of like an 389 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,000 electrical, electrical wire that has this cord around it. 390 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,040 And, and, and the more, the more there is, the faster the signal 391 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,360 goes, the more reflexive the new pattern becomes. 392 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:42,720 Like we can become different at the, the level of our actual 393 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:47,800 brain chemistry, the way we're sometimes our, our reactions, 394 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,640 our defaults began to show up in a way that wasn't previously 395 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:53,840 true. I don't know about you, but this 396 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,800 is encouraging to me. It, it means that even if you're 397 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:02,560 showing up and you're like, my trauma has got me like my, my 398 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,400 past has got me. I've got these relationships, 399 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,560 I've been harmed, I've been damaged, I've been messed up in 400 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:12,320 some way. The gospel is real and Jesus 401 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,400 produces trains and change in miraculous and profound ways 402 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,320 that I don't know. That maps entirely onto brain 403 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,440 chemistry. I'm not trying to draw 1 to 1 404 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,200 here between these things. But also neuroscience says, 405 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,360 like, you can actually rewire things with practice. 406 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,320 And look, maybe you're asking this morning a question that is 407 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,680 an area of fascination to me. Like, how do these things to go 408 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:34,040 together? Like I believe in that the power 409 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,280 of the Holy Spirit to change us, to produce fruits in US. 410 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,760 And also here's all this information about brain 411 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,240 chemistry and wiring and all of these things like what, what's 412 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,640 the relationship? And I'll be the first to tell 413 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:49,560 you, I don't entirely know. I'm not sure I believe this is 414 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,120 true. And I also suspect that this 415 00:23:52,120 --> 00:23:57,240 stuff is true as well. What I would say is that from 416 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:01,640 from the very beginning of our faith that we see a posture and 417 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:06,840 invitation over and over, which basically says trust God. 418 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,280 And also there are parts that you are responsible for, right? 419 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,280 Ignatius of Loyola says pray as if everything depends on you, 420 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:17,800 act as if everything depends on God. 421 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:22,480 Paul says work out your own salvation with fear and 422 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:26,720 trembling, for it is God who works in you, right? 423 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,560 Like, I don't know exactly how these parts work together. 424 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,320 I'm not a neuroscientist, I'm not an expert on this. 425 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:38,320 What I will say is that God absolutely does a part that we 426 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,000 cannot by way of the Spirit. A lot of the training is 427 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,440 actually going to him. A lot of the training we need to 428 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,160 do is rewiring to to move to him, to receive from him instead 429 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,080 of coping with things in our own ways. 430 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:57,440 But also, there is a part that is your responsibility. 431 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:02,720 God will not do it for you, at least in most instances. 432 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,440 I've seen God cure people from addiction just like that 433 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,440 miraculously. But I've seen many, many more 434 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,880 instances. There's a lot of work involved. 435 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,280 There's a lot of awareness involved. 436 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,440 There's a lot of repatterning involved. 437 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:23,080 And friends, I think this is important for us because I, I 438 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,200 wonder if, if too often we're actually not taking 439 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:31,680 responsibility for our spiritual lives in the same way that we 440 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,840 take responsibility for our fitness or our relationships or 441 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:40,280 our finances. Like we intuitively get, if I 442 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,240 don't, if I don't do anything in these other areas of my life, 443 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:44,640 that things will be in shambles, right. 444 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,120 Like at a certain point, you're a kid, somebody else mostly 445 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:50,360 takes care of these things, mostly sets up your life for 446 00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:53,120 you. And but as we emerge into 447 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:55,600 adults, like we're like, OK, I'm, I got to figure this out. 448 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,720 I got to build a meal plan. I got to build a workout 449 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:00,280 schedule. I got to, I got to figure out 450 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:01,600 how to budget. I got to figure out how to 451 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,440 navigate these things. What I'm saying to you this 452 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:10,200 morning is that we have to be every bit as accountable, as 453 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,920 responsible for our own spiritual development. 454 00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:18,760 It doesn't just happen to you. Like I, I love this space. 455 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,080 I think it's important. I think it's powerful. 456 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,200 I'm really glad that you're here this morning and maybe this 457 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,080 morning, like the main thing, or maybe even it feels like the 458 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,120 only thing that you can manage in your spiritual life is just 459 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,400 like, I made it to church on Sunday. 460 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,800 Praise God. I'm so glad you're here. 461 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,520 Seriously, It's wonderful this this space. 462 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:40,280 I believe critique creates a lot of good fruit. 463 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:45,240 But there's a problem too. And if I'm being honest, it's a 464 00:26:45,240 --> 00:26:47,880 problem that I don't entirely as a pastor know how to solve. 465 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,200 I spent a lot of time thinking about this, wrestling with this. 466 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,120 And the problem is this, that as good as what happens here on 467 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:02,800 Sunday is, if you don't translate that into practice and 468 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:07,080 imitation in community, you're not going to learn to love like 469 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,520 Jesus. You're actually just not going 470 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:13,400 to to become like Jesus. And I think some of us have been 471 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:17,960 sold a lie that that that tells us that we're saved by grace. 472 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,680 That's not a lie. That's true, absolutely. 473 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,480 But then that means that there's no, there's no part for us. 474 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,000 Like we said, yes, we're going to heaven, the end. 475 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,400 And, and I absolutely believe that that's how adoption 476 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,320 happens. That's how we get into the 477 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:37,960 family. We don't have to earn it. 478 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,760 We don't have to to work our way into it or habit stack or like 479 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,360 God, it's just so gracious. He just says you belong. 480 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:45,880 That's what we talked about in week 4. 481 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,160 But also the point of the Christian life is not to get to 482 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,720 heaven. The point of the Christian life 483 00:27:54,720 --> 00:28:01,480 is for you to become like Jesus. And in order to do that, you 484 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,080 need to just like the disciples did. 485 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,960 You need to be with Jesus, not just for 90 minutes on a Sunday 486 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:09,640 like you. You need to learn how to be with 487 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,120 Jesus and, and it's not just a solo journey. 488 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:16,440 You have to figure out who are the people in your life who are 489 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,800 out ahead of you in the faith that you can imitate. 490 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,200 Just like Paul tells the Corinthians, imitate me as I 491 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,400 imitate Jesus. Who are you imitating? 492 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,200 Because I guarantee you that the people that you look up to, the 493 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,800 people that you admire, the people that you are in thickest 494 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,000 relationship with, you are becoming more like them. 495 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:43,120 Are those habits, Are those relationships forming in you who 496 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,400 you want to be? If not, then pay attention. 497 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,400 Look at that. We've got to change something, 498 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,800 friends, to take responsibility for our own discipleship, not 499 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,600 the part that God does. God is going to do His part with 500 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,480 grace. You can count on Him for that. 501 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,520 God is not the problem in the issue of our lack of 502 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:11,920 transformation. The problem is us, and very 503 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,520 often I think we're stopping at the level of new insight. 504 00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:21,000 We got a cool idea, it's shiny. You walk away from here this 505 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,960 morning, you're like, oh, I understand something about 506 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:24,640 neuroscience and about how discipleship works. 507 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,440 Great. That's not the point. 508 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,400 The point is that it has to translate into how we live if 509 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,960 we're going to experience the change that God has for us.