1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:03,040 Welcome to the Illuminate Church podcast. 2 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:05,680 We hope today's message is encouraging to you and. 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,520 In this series that we are in the midst of, it's all about 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:17,640 community, restoring community to God's original design and 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,280 that we're in Week 2. And so this morning we're going 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,080 to kick it off by saying a couple practical things. 7 00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:26,400 One is we are a house that believes everything we do is 8 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,680 founded on the Word of God. And if you don't have a Bible in 9 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,439 your hand this morning and you would like one, we want to put 10 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:34,640 one in your hands. Go ahead and raise your hand 11 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,320 nice and high. Our ushers will bring a Bible to 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:38,480 you. You can keep it. 13 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:41,680 You can leave it here if you would like, but we would love 14 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,640 for you to have your own Bible. I also want to tell you that we 15 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,040 believe that life change takes more than what happens here on 16 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,560 Sunday morning. It's why we talk about groups. 17 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,160 It's why we talk about learning how to read the Bible. 18 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:58,400 And it's why we have created a brand new resource that is going 19 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,240 to help you keep the sermon alive during the week. 20 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,680 It's a digital resource. It's going to come to you. 21 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:05,960 And all you have to do. I think we have AQR code. 22 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,920 All you have to do is snap a picture of that. 23 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,400 Grab it. We got some Bible hungry people 24 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:16,280 in the back. And what this does is on Sunday, 25 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,680 you'll get some questions to digest the message with with 26 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,600 people after church. And on Monday you're going to 27 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,240 get a resource that's for the week. 28 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,800 And then you're going to get prompts and reminders that help 29 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,360 you dig further into what we talked about here on Sunday 30 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:32,720 morning. We would love it if every single 31 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,200 person was eating of the Word all week long. 32 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,360 And that's why we've provided this for you. 33 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,880 With all of that being said, let's pray and let's jump in. 34 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,320 Father, we thank you so much that you are unchanging. 35 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,480 Your presence is undeniable. We want more. 36 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,040 We're hungry and we're thirsty. And God, for anyone here today 37 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,240 who's saying, I'm curious, but I'm not sure what this is all 38 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,560 about. I pray, Lord, that the power and 39 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,760 the presence of Your spirit, the fullness, the activity of Your 40 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,520 Word would land on ears and hearts and eyes that want to 41 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:09,320 see, hear, and know You. So use my mouth, use my body, 42 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:11,840 use whatever you want to do to convey your living and active 43 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,360 word. And it's in Jesus name that we 44 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,920 pray, Amen. So when we talk about community, 45 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:19,600 what we're really talking about is relationships, right? 46 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,960 Great community is founded on great relationships. 47 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:27,440 And great relationships I think get formed around great question 48 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:28,920 asking. If you want to build 49 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:31,000 relationship with someone, you learn how to ask great 50 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,880 questions. And so this week, someone I love 51 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,040 very much, I was spending time with building relationship and 52 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,000 she asked me a question that prompted some curious thinking. 53 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:43,880 She said, I want to know what you were like in high school. 54 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,800 And I thought to myself, so long ago, I'm not really sure that I 55 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,800 know what I was like in high school, but she asked it in a 56 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,200 really neat way. She said, give me 5 words that 57 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,840 would tell you, tell me about you in high school. 58 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,320 And I was formulating. I'm like, I'm think I'm getting 59 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,480 to one or two. And I'm not really sure I get to 60 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:04,120 5, but they're all pointing towards one word. 61 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,240 And it's nerd. OK. 62 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,640 I think I really was a giant nerd. 63 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:13,320 I loved school, I loved academics and I loved reading. 64 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:17,600 I was telling her, I think I spent at least one summer inside 65 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,720 the Public Library. And I don't mean like I went and 66 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,560 checked out some books. I mean, like, I treated it like 67 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,520 it was my living room. Like, hey, this book is good. 68 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:27,760 I read it. I finished it today. 69 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,080 I'm going to put it back. And at the end of the day, my 70 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,680 parents would pick me up like I was a nerd. 71 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,640 It's OK, But I love books. How many of you love books, love 72 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,440 movies, love a great story? We love a great story. 73 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,760 We're storytelling people, right? 74 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,560 But in a great story, almost always there's a build up. 75 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,720 There's like a conflict that's rising, pointing towards 76 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:52,080 something. You know what I'm talking about. 77 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,880 And then we're longing for the tip over into the resolution. 78 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:00,600 Who? I think for me, 350 pages, just 79 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,400 about enough before we're tipping right 97 minutes. 80 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:08,440 That movie better have resolved or we don't like it, right? 81 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,640 Can I get an Amen? So what happens in our spiritual 82 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,839 lives when we're in a conflict that's just not resolving? 83 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,800 What happens when the gap between what we know to be true 84 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:22,920 and what we're actually living in our lives? 85 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,520 Like it's just not working out and we're living in like this 86 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,720 sustained conflict? What I believe the Lord wants us 87 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,520 to understand today is the role that community plays in 88 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,560 resolving this conflict, the gap between what you know and what 89 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,040 you become. Because the reality is, I'm here 90 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,920 to tell you, you may not like it, but you're in a giant 91 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:50,840 conflict right now because you are an eternal being born with 92 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:54,680 an eternal spirit, and you're living in a temporary place. 93 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,360 And this temporary place called Earth has boundaries and 94 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:03,200 constructs that are built by humans that don't really align 95 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,760 and match with the God who designed you and the Kingdom 96 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,640 presence and the Kingdom way. So the minute you're born into 97 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,520 the spiritual family, reborn and you have become a new creation, 98 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,160 you're now faced with a day in, day out conflict. 99 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:20,000 Which one are you going to choose? 100 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,400 Are you going to choose the Kingdom principles, the Kingdom 101 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,880 way, the eternal perspective, or are we going to choose to 102 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,960 satisfy the earthly temporal flesh that we're living in? 103 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:32,560 Are you starting to see the conflict? 104 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,600 It's the conflict that you feel when you come to an amazing 105 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,920 conference like these men just did or the women are going to do 106 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,520 in August. That's a shameless plug. 107 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,360 We are going to do the same thing in August. 108 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:49,240 You should sign up now, but when you go to a conference and you 109 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,200 have your mind blown and the power of the presence of the 110 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,200 Holy Spirit and the Word transforms you, and then you go 111 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,120 back to your regular life, right? 112 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:03,680 And you feel this conflict within this is a conflict that 113 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,200 we can read all about in the Bible. 114 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,240 But it's this, the moment you become a Jesus follower, we are 115 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,480 called to transfer our allegiance from this world and 116 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,000 its ways to the Kingdom and its ways. 117 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,840 And as long as we're living on this side of heaven, we are 118 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,320 going to face times where we feel stuck. 119 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,640 Maybe you're not convinced yet, but anytime that you know what 120 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,480 you should be doing in your heart, you're convicted by the 121 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,200 Holy Spirit. Because here's the deal, once 122 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,480 the Holy Spirit is in you, you're not going to feel good 123 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,880 doing the things the way the world does anymore. 124 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,160 So what's the conflict? The conflict is the choice we 125 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,240 make day in and day out of. Where is our citizenship? 126 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:55,200 Where is it going to land? If you feel stuck today in any 127 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,960 way between what you know is right but what you are actually 128 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,560 doing, then today's message is for you. 129 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,560 Moses. He is a leader that God chose. 130 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,480 We read about him in the Old Testament. 131 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,840 He is the leader that God chose to take a ragtag bunch of people 132 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,720 that had been in slavery, that were wandering in the desert to 133 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,520 the precipice of joining the promised land that God has 134 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,360 provided. And he's taking these millions 135 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,760 of people through the miracle of the Red Sea. 136 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,200 You may have heard about that. That was Moses, and so as Moses 137 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,200 is standing before them recounting everything God has 138 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,600 done and he's telling them you're going to go into that 139 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,400 nation and you're going to be a community. 140 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,160 Here's what you need to know. If you will turn to me and 141 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,120 Deuteronomy, turn with me. Deuteronomy chapter 30, we're 142 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,640 going to read how Moses explains this conflict. 143 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,840 Deuteronomy chapter 30. We're going to read a passage 144 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:57,000 here, and then if you want to mark Matthew 12, that's the New 145 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,080 Testament. You can mark Matthew 12. 146 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,320 Those are the 2 main places. I would love for you to join me 147 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,440 in your Bible today. I'm going to read other verses, 148 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:08,640 but those are the 2 main anchors, Deuteronomy chapter 30 149 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,600 and Matthew chapter 12. Everybody ready? 150 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,560 If you're ready, say yes, OK. Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 151 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:18,800 11. Moses stands before the people 152 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,960 like I am today, and says now what I am commanding you today 153 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,240 is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 154 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,440 It's not up in heaven so that you have to ask who will ascend 155 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:34,280 into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey 156 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,240 it. Nor is it beyond the sea, so 157 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,760 that you have to ask who will cross the sea to get it and 158 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,240 proclaim it to us so we may obey it. 159 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:48,600 No, the word is very near you. It's in your mouth and it's in 160 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,960 your heart so that you may obey it. 161 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,640 So what we're hearing from Moses is this God way of living is not 162 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,680 unattainable. It's not some mystery. 163 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,400 So we haven't hit the conflict yet, right? 164 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,800 Here comes the conflict. In verse 19, Moses says, this 165 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,120 day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you 166 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:18,160 that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. 167 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,840 So here's the conflict. Every day, day in and day out, 168 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,200 we get choices to choose life or to choose death, to choose 169 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,840 blessings or to choose curses. And this is Moses admonition. 170 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:33,000 What does he say to them? Now choose what? 171 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:37,320 Now choose life. Moses said it's accessible, the 172 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,440 word is in your mouth, it's in your heart. 173 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,560 It couldn't be closer to you. But we have to make a choice 174 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:46,200 about what we do with it. And he says now choose life. 175 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:50,560 It's the very same principle within this conflict that Jesus 176 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:56,080 presents in Matthew chapter 16, verses 24 through 26, when he's 177 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,160 teaching his disciples and he says, if anyone wishes to come 178 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:04,760 after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow 179 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,000 me. This is sounding 180 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,360 counterintuitive, right? You want to live, you've got to 181 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:11,360 die. What is Jesus talking about? 182 00:10:11,560 --> 00:10:15,640 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever 183 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,960 loses his life for my sake will find it. 184 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,960 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and 185 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,720 forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in 186 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:30,080 exchange for his soul? Do you hear the conflict? 187 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,440 Which one do you want? You want the earthly temporal 188 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,400 life? Then you're going to lose 189 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,720 whatever Jesus is offering. But if we're willing to choose 190 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,960 life in Jesus way and say death to whatever this context is, we 191 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,560 will have everything that Jesus is offering. 192 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:54,160 And so both Moses and Jesus say choose life. 193 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:57,760 How do we do this? When you're running a business 194 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:03,360 and you choose maximum generosity, radical generosity 195 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:08,640 instead of maximum personal gain, you choose life. 196 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:12,560 Say it loud. When you forgive inside your 197 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,040 home, your neighborhood, your church, your workplace, When 198 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,480 others would tell you you are justified to cut them off or 199 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,640 retaliate, you choose. You choose life. 200 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:27,840 And when you parent your children according to the Word 201 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,800 and not according to the world, you choose yes. 202 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,760 And today, in our context, what we're talking about is when we 203 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,600 choose community in this way, when we open our homes, when we 204 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:45,120 open our tables, when we share our resources, when we use our 205 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:52,280 time to put lonely people into our family, you choose yes. 206 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,920 So how is this possible? How are we going to win this 207 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,440 battle? Moses said it, Jesus said it. 208 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,200 How are we going to choose life? I believe that God has given us 209 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,400 two key gifts in order to do this successfully day in and day 210 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,880 out. Number one is the Holy Spirit. 211 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,720 When you receive Jesus in salvation, He gives you the 212 00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,640 indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit. 213 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,400 And the second one is the topic for today. 214 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:23,880 He gives you a new family. He gives you a new family, but a 215 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,160 family that is marked and defined not by the world's 216 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,920 explanations, but by Jesus's. And today what we're going to do 217 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,560 is we're going to study Jesus's family. 218 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,200 Because if you feel stuck, like you are not winning the battle, 219 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,720 if you are not winning this conflict day in and day out, 220 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,720 decision by decision, it might be because you are not 221 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,440 experiencing this new family in the way that Jesus intends. 222 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:55,520 And so today we are focusing on the new family of Jesus as a 223 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,600 gift. Everybody say gift. 224 00:14:06,830 --> 00:14:10,430 This is what we mean when we say there's a growing new family in 225 00:14:10,430 --> 00:14:12,710 a community. Did you see all ages, all 226 00:14:12,710 --> 00:14:14,510 colors? Did you see baptism? 227 00:14:14,510 --> 00:14:17,430 Did you see men sharpening men and women with women? 228 00:14:17,430 --> 00:14:21,950 Did you see people who, without anywhere else they could connect 229 00:14:21,950 --> 00:14:25,350 because of a special need, are finding family in the Thrive 230 00:14:25,510 --> 00:14:31,160 Family community? This yes, I see you, Buck. 231 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:35,840 This is the new family that is going to help you choose life 232 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:37,760 over death. So today what we're going to do 233 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,200 is we're going to study five characteristics about this 234 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,720 family so you will know what your part is, what we are 235 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,360 building, and we will know how we will know when we've hit it 236 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,200 is when Jesus's family looks like this number one, this 237 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,680 family that Jesus is building goes beyond your relationships 238 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,080 that come through marriage, birth or adoption. 239 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,080 You know the phrase blood is thicker than water. 240 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,040 Jesus's blood is thicker than anything else. 241 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,480 If that's where we're looking, the blood of Jesus is creating a 242 00:15:07,480 --> 00:15:12,680 new family that is going to go beyond your family of origin. 243 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,960 And this is a great promise If you have a finger holding there 244 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,080 in Matthew 12. Let's go to Matthew 12. 245 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:21,400 This is our central passage today. 246 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:26,080 It's only four verses, but it's rich, it's challenging, and it's 247 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,440 wonderful. So as you go to Matthew chapter 248 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,240 12, we're going to read verses 46 through 50. 249 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,280 But I want to tell you very briefly what has happened in the 250 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,440 preceding verses because we're jumping in to verse 46. 251 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,560 Anytime you read that Jesus is teaching to a crowd, he's likely 252 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:44,200 teaching to three kinds of people. 253 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,800 Everybody say 3, The first one are the disciples that have 254 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:50,160 devoted themselves to following Jesus. 255 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,400 The second kind of people are the curious people. 256 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,560 They're trying to figure out, are you a wacko or is this 257 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,280 something I want to follow? Right? 258 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:02,320 And then the third group of people inside that crowd, often 259 00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,960 we're religious leaders, they're called Pharisees or Sadducees. 260 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,560 And these people are trying desperately to protect the 261 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,800 current state of the Jewish church. 262 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,560 And when Jesus comes and he starts rocking the boat, they 263 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,360 don't like it. So all of that has been 264 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,320 happening leading up to these verses. 265 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,600 And so Jesus disciples, they pulled some grain off of a stalk 266 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,600 and the Pharisees said, you violated the Sabbath. 267 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,480 And Jesus healed somebody on the Sabbath, and they said you 268 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,680 violated the Sabbath. The Pharisees did. 269 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:36,400 And then finally, the Pharisees went so far as to say, yeah, so 270 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,480 you're doing some miracles, but we don't think your source of 271 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,080 power is God. We think your source of power is 272 00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:48,760 Satan really affrontive, right? So as we get into verse 46, this 273 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,200 is the crowd that Jesus is speaking to in Matthew 12. 274 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,800 Let's pick it up together. While he was still speaking to 275 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,320 the crowds, behold, his mother and his brothers were standing 276 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,840 outside seeking to speak to him. And someone said to him, behold, 277 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,520 your mother and your brothers are standing outside seeking to 278 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,160 speak to you, Jesus. But Jesus answered the one who 279 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:14,520 was telling him and said, who is my mother and who are my 280 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,599 brothers? And stretching out his hand, he 281 00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:22,880 said to his disciples, Behold my mother and my brothers. 282 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,520 For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven, he is 283 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,280 my brother and sister and mother. 284 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,960 Now I've got children. If my son Owen was hanging out 285 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,800 and doing his thing and I was like, Hey, can somebody get 286 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:41,000 Owen? And he's like, I don't have a 287 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,280 mom. What are you talking about? 288 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:46,960 I would be crushed, right? Can you put yourself in this 289 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,480 situation and say, what is going on here? 290 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:53,640 Now, if you're new to learning about Jesus, you might think, is 291 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,200 Jesus really rude? Did he just like really crush 292 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,840 his mom and his brothers? Or you might say, oh, OK, this 293 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,640 is where we learned that our church family and our church 294 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:08,040 roles and what we do is more important than anything else. 295 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,240 So your kids can just die on the altar of ministry, right? 296 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:17,120 Y'all better say no. A little better than that, no. 297 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:21,800 So when we face scripture, that seems like it's confusing, we 298 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,360 have to dig. So we're going to dig by saying 299 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,520 what else did Jesus say about family? 300 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:31,560 In Matthew 15, Jesus reinforced and strengthened the commandment 301 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,520 to honor your father and mother. And the apostle Paul in First 302 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:40,760 Timothy 58 gives this challenge. If anyone does not provide for 303 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:45,120 his relatives, especially for members of his household, he has 304 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:49,360 denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 305 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:52,760 So we are called to take care of our family. 306 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:56,960 We are called to honor our parents, to serve well those by 307 00:18:56,960 --> 00:19:01,280 which we are related by blood, marriage or adoption 100%. 308 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,360 So what is Jesus doing? When we launched this church, I 309 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:12,240 had a baby in a sling 1314 years ago and I had a 7 year old and 310 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,480 an 11 year old. And I can identify with Jesus in 311 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:19,640 some way in this passage because every Sunday morning I felt like 312 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,760 my job was to minister to whoever it was that was right in 313 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,840 front of me. Like if you were right in front 314 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,320 of me and you were talking to me and sharing your heart with me 315 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:30,160 after the service, I wanted to give you my full attention. 316 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:32,880 I might be bouncing a baby or have like a toddler or whatever, 317 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,160 but I'm locked in, right? But what would inevitably happen 318 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:43,440 is my precious sweet kids would be like, can we go to lunch with 319 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:44,920 so and so? Can I have a play date with so 320 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:45,880 and so? Can we? 321 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,160 And I'd be like locked in trying to say, hey, I'm giving my 322 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,360 attention, but they really needed or wanted whatever was 323 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:54,960 going on, right? There's a tension here in this 324 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:59,120 moment and I think we cannot resolve it in a simplistic way. 325 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,880 We have to dig. When you consider the whole of 326 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:06,960 Scripture and you dig further into what God is saying, you are 327 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,880 going to find this is an expansion of family. 328 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,200 It's not a replacement. Jesus is expanding our 329 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:20,200 understanding of family and he is not replacing you and your 330 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,440 family come into this new community. 331 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,280 If you're single, you bring yourself into this community and 332 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,880 what will happen is you will influence the community and the 333 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,960 community will influence you. But Jesus's new family, the 334 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,960 building blocks, are your family of origin. 335 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:42,760 Now what happens if your choice to follow Jesus puts you at odds 336 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,520 with your family by blood, marriage or adoption? 337 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,400 Because that can happen in a very real way. 338 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,280 You could be choosing to follow Jesus after you're married. 339 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,400 You've already made a choice of spouse, and maybe your spouse 340 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,160 isn't on the spiritual journey with you. 341 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:58,920 How many know that would cause tension? 342 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,000 But Jesus doesn't say get divorced. 343 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,520 You know what he says, keep loving me, keep living your life 344 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:08,720 and your faith will win over your spouse. 345 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,320 What if you're a student? Like I was a student that came 346 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,440 to church and came to faith and no one in my household was 347 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:18,360 following Jesus at that time. So what happens? 348 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,560 You come into this youth, everything in here is a youth 349 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,640 ministry. Now you guys meet on Sunday 350 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,000 night, but this is your youth ministry and this family will 351 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,960 help you grow up and you will lead your parents because you 352 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,440 are living that life with them and in front of them, right? 353 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:39,280 And what happens when your religion of origin is completely 354 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:44,280 a rejection if you choose Jesus? What if you literally are cut 355 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:47,800 off, kicked out? I know one family that took in a 356 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,520 young girl whose family completely cut her off. 357 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:56,360 There is a cost to following Jesus, but what Jesus is saying 358 00:21:56,360 --> 00:21:58,880 is we're going to expand your understanding of family and the 359 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,360 ideal state is you bring yourself and your family into 360 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:05,440 this body. But if there is a cost, a 361 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,960 rejection or a cutting off, here's what Jesus promises will 362 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,760 be true. He says in Matthew 12 verses 29, 363 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:19,800 Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or 364 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:26,160 mother or children or farms for my name's sake will receive many 365 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,160 times as much and will inherit eternal life. 366 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:35,920 So even in that very difficult choice, choose Jesus every time. 367 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:40,560 And Jesus will use this new family to close any gaps, to 368 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:45,120 help you by putting you into a community that will help fill 369 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:49,040 every deficit that you have. So Jesus is building a new 370 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:53,120 family that's expanding. What else is this family #2 this 371 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:56,080 new family of Jesus is counter cultural. 372 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,760 To understand how significant this moment is between Jesus and 373 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,480 the crowd and his disciples and his family, we have to go and 374 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,600 understand what was the family unit like in ancient Israel. 375 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,320 It's very different than what we understand in our perspective. 376 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,920 Even if you come from a culture, American or otherwise, that 377 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,600 really values family, it's nothing like what was true in 378 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,360 ancient Israel. In ancient Israel, a son would 379 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:28,400 take the name of his father, not even just his last name, but the 380 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,640 first name. He was identified and known only 381 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:37,680 by his family and his household. Your entire economic, social, 382 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:43,760 religious and political status was established by your family 383 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,000 and your family alone. It was not moved by your 384 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:52,400 personal success or anything like what we experienced today. 385 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:55,760 You know, in America today, we value family, sure, but you can 386 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,840 be very successful, very independent and go completely on 387 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,200 your own, right? At this time in this society, in 388 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:08,760 ancient Israel, there was no you apart from your family, period. 389 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,280 Family was everything. We experienced this when we went 390 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,560 to Israel in 2023. We were in a town called 391 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:17,480 Capernaum. I've got a picture I want to 392 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,040 show you. And this is the town where Jesus 393 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,040 did most of his living or anchor for his ministry, right next to 394 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:28,280 the Sea of Galilee. And in Capernaum you can go and 395 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,440 see the structure that remains. And while we were standing 396 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,600 there, our tour guide was showing us this. 397 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,320 I'm like, well, that's great. It's a bunch of walls. 398 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:37,840 Yay. But what she said was so 399 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,280 profound. Every one of those walls, every 400 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,760 one of those little squares or rectangles represents what they 401 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:49,000 added to their household as their family expanded. 402 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,800 So if you were living in one of those rectangles and your son 403 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,440 got married, you would not say, son, go buy a nice piece of 404 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,960 property, Let's get you set up in a rental for your family. 405 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,480 You would say go get the stones. We're adding on to the house. 406 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,440 So inside that household, one family unit, grandparents, 407 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:12,920 parents, children, grandchildren, great 408 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,920 grandchildren were living and existing based on their family 409 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,320 name. Everybody with me. 410 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:25,120 So when Jesus says, who is my family? 411 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,280 If he asserts anything is superior to his family of 412 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:34,760 origin, he is literally shaking the ground, shaking the 413 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,840 foundation, and shocking everyone who is listening. 414 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:41,240 But Jesus doesn't have a problem being offensive, right? 415 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,360 Everything he did was to come to show the Kingdom of heaven. 416 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,880 In fact, he said over and over, the Kingdom of heaven is like 417 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,000 the Kingdom of heaven is like. Why? 418 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:53,920 Because the Kingdom of earth is nothing like the Kingdom of 419 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:57,680 heaven. And so when he begins sharing 420 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,200 who is my family, he is definitely upsetting the norms 421 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,800 of the day. He does the same thing in the 422 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,080 parable of the Good Samaritan. It's in Luke chapter 10, verses 423 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,520 25 to 37. And I'm not going to read you 424 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,800 the whole passage. I'm just going to summarize the 425 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,040 story and we'll pit stop at a couple verses along the way. 426 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,040 But here's what you need to know. 427 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,920 There was an expert in the law that came to Jesus. 428 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,040 Another crowd, another situation. 429 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,240 But when the Bible says expert in the law, it does not mean a 430 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,880 lawyer or a judge. It means a religious leader 431 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,880 who's the expert in how their political and religious laws 432 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,480 were one at that time. Also very different from us, 433 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,720 right? So the expert of the law comes 434 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,960 to Jesus and he's like, OK, Mr. Kingdom of Heaven, that's great. 435 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,640 How do I get this eternal life? And Jesus responds to him by 436 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:52,320 telling him a story. But in verse 29, we learn that 437 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,480 not only did this man want information, he wanted to 438 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,320 justify himself. He wanted to prove that Jesus 439 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,040 was wrong and he was right. So the expert in the law asked 440 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,120 Jesus, how do I inherit eternal life? 441 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,520 And Jesus says, love God and love your neighbor. 442 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:13,920 So in verse 29, we read he wanted to justify himself. 443 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,120 So he asked Jesus, who's my neighbor? 444 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,680 And Jesus answered with a story about a man that was walking on 445 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,840 the road and he was attacked and he was beaten, he was robbed, 446 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,680 and he was left for dead. And along that road came two 447 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,800 other religious leaders. It says two different kinds of 448 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,120 religious leaders, a Levi and a priest. 449 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:38,720 And he comes by, They both come by, and instead of stopping to 450 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,640 help this man, they get as far as they possibly can away and 451 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:46,080 they leave him to die. But there's a third person that 452 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,200 comes by in the story, and that person is called a Samaritan. 453 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,680 Everyone say Samaritan. The Samaritan would be like a 454 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,440 mortal enemy of this Jewish leader. 455 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,840 Like, not just we don't like each other, we hate each other. 456 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:01,480 And so the Samaritan, what does he do? 457 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:04,520 He comes and he stops and he bandages the wounds. 458 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,240 He cares for the man. He uses his own money, his 459 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,120 resource and his time to make sure that the injured man is 460 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:12,840 going to be in a place where he can heal. 461 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,960 He even says, I'm going to come back and make sure that I pay 462 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,520 for everything that he needs. And so in this story, Jesus then 463 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,360 goes on to say, which of these three do you think was a 464 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,920 neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? 465 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,800 Verse 37, the expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy 466 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,800 on him, and Jesus told him, go and do likewise. 467 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,560 So the shock value in this parable is that Jesus made the 468 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:46,720 enemy the neighbor, right? The enemy, the moral example he 469 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,040 made. The shock value about who you 470 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:53,240 think I'm calling you to love and build family with is not 471 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,760 what you think. It's parallel and relates very 472 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,920 clearly to what Jesus says when he says who is my family? 473 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,080 The shock value here is that Jesus places the value on 474 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:10,200 something outside and across family lines because this new 475 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,640 family is beyond blood and it's countercultural. 476 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,160 Why? Because God's designed to reach 477 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,800 the World with the good news is to show his true character and 478 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,960 his heart and his face through a multi generational cross 479 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:29,680 cultural family that lives in such a way that the health 480 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,000 within this family defies all human understanding. 481 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,880 And when people encounter that kind of family of God, they say, 482 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,960 I have to know your father. And Jesus's plan, His mission, 483 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:46,200 is to be countercultural because the Father's heart is for all. 484 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,840 And the point of being countercultural is not to be 485 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:54,800 rebellious for rebellion's sake. The point of being rebellious in 486 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:59,600 this case is for redemption. Rebellion is not the point. 487 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,200 Redemption is. And that brings us to point #3 488 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:09,280 this new family of Jesus is not only beyond blood, it's not only 489 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,160 counter cultural. This new family is on a distinct 490 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,960 mission together. Do you remember in Matthew 491 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,720 chapter 12? If you can go there, let's read 492 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:24,040 verse 50 again together. For whoever does the will of my 493 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:28,560 Father who is in heaven, He is my brother and my sister and my 494 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,880 mother. Did Jesus say the people who 495 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,520 show up to temple or church, they're the in the church family 496 00:30:36,560 --> 00:30:40,640 shake your head no. Did Jesus say if you're nice and 497 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,080 you're good enough and you do all the right things, then 498 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,640 you're in in the family? No, he said those that are my 499 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:52,040 just my disciples that are doing the will of my father alongside 500 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:56,360 me underneath 1 mission. This is the family that I am 501 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,080 talking about because the new family of Jesus will be marked 502 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:04,680 by disciples on a mission, and that mission is not earthly 503 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:09,000 pleasure and pursuit. It's not wealth or status. 504 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:13,400 It's not ringing out the most that we can out of life on our 505 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,400 trips around the sun. This family of God is going to 506 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:24,440 be marked by the costly love of mercy, care, and forgiveness 507 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,760 within a family that has one primary focus. 508 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:31,600 And when we're all looking at that same focus, everything else 509 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,280 gets ordered and prioritized underneath it. 510 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,800 And Jesus gave us that focus in Matthew 2819 and 20. 511 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,080 My discipleship group just memorized this a few weeks ago. 512 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:48,920 Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 513 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,520 them in the name of the Father of the Son and the Holy Spirit, 514 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,680 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 515 00:31:55,680 --> 00:32:01,680 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 516 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,720 So what is the big deal with this family? 517 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:09,120 This family is crystal clear on our mission that is to share the 518 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:14,520 gospel and to share our lives in such a way that causes spiritual 519 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,000 babies to become spiritual parents to keep adding to and 520 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,880 growing the family. And when Jesus said, I want you 521 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:25,520 to teach them to everything that I've taught you, when He said 522 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:28,440 I'm commanding you teach them to observe it all. 523 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,400 He didn't mean in a classroom. Do you know what he meant in 524 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:38,240 your everyday real life? This is the mark of the mission. 525 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,480 When I was 13 years old, I entered Jesus's forever family, 526 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,240 and my family of origin was not following Jesus and I didn't 527 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,960 have spiritual parents. So when I was 13 years old, from 528 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,960 the age of 13 to 16, Mike and Karen, they opened their family 529 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,520 and their home to me. They had young children and I 530 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:03,760 learned how to center your life and your family around Jesus and 531 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,520 it was an incredible life changing season. 532 00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:11,800 And Paul and Paula, they led a consistent youth discipleship 533 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:13,560 group. And every Friday night I went 534 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,240 over there and I learned from the Bible and we played games 535 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,800 and we had dinner and they made room in their lives to disciple 536 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,080 me. And when I got married, Garnett, 537 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,600 she invited me into her home. She was a young mom. 538 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:31,280 She had three little girls. I had just gotten freshly off of 539 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:36,280 the I do and she taught me how to honor my husband, how to be a 540 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:40,240 new wife and she showed me what it meant to be a Mama that I 541 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,800 would one day become. When we were newly married, we 542 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,080 had a team of other young marriage and we met and we did a 543 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:53,600 covenant group where we read about conflict and money, how to 544 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:57,840 love one another, how to choose life inside of our marriage. 545 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,880 And Chris and Jen, they opened their home and friendship to us. 546 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,080 They had a little baby and we spent all kinds of time over 547 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,360 there, but our whole time together was around the baby's 548 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:12,080 needs. So we'd be making dinner and 549 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,400 then somebody would be like, oh, I'll change his diaper. 550 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,920 And so I'd go change his diaper and then we'd come and we'd play 551 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,120 a game, but it's time for the baby to go to bed. 552 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,040 So Tim would put the baby to bed. 553 00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:24,880 You know what that did for us? It showed us we were ready to 554 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:28,280 have a baby. It showed us how to build our 555 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,960 life around friendship and community with a young child. 556 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:37,679 And then when we had our first baby, when Owen came, Bill and 557 00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:42,000 Becky, they came to our house every Monday night. 558 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,600 Now they had teenagers. They were teaching us all kinds 559 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,800 of things about how to go through the teenage years, but 560 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:50,920 they showed up every Monday night at our house so that Tim 561 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,000 and I could go to worship practice and we could serve on 562 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:57,000 the worship team. This is community. 563 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,160 This is just a 10 year snapshot of my life that I'm sharing with 564 00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,760 you. The gift of community is people 565 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:08,720 to become like Jesus with in every season of your life. 566 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,800 And together you uphold the mission of Jesus, of expanding 567 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,280 this very family that we're in. But have you ever been in a 568 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:19,920 church? Anyone ever been in a church? 569 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:22,480 You should raise your hand, everyone. 570 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:25,000 Anyone ever been in a family called church? 571 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,680 That was messy. Come on y'all. 572 00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:33,400 That was like 4 people. Have you ever been the messy 573 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,400 person in the church? Yeah, I have too. 574 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:38,640 You know why church families stay messy? 575 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,280 Because we forget that we are a body and that Jesus is the head. 576 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,080 We forget that when we're called into the family and we're born 577 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:48,920 into it, we have to keep growing up. 578 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:53,560 We forget that the way God designed our body is for our 579 00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:57,280 systems to intricately work together with the brain being 580 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,640 the giving and the receiving of information, right? 581 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:03,440 We were in 7th grade science this week, I think with Eli. 582 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,280 We were studying about cardiovascular system, 583 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,120 respiratory system, digestive system, all of these things and 584 00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:13,800 it reminded me that the body only works when we all work 585 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:17,480 together and it only works when we have a great head. 586 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:23,600 Did you know that we are a body? First Corinthians 12/27 says now 587 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:28,080 you are Christ's body and individually parts of it and 588 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:33,080 Ephesians 4 says there is one body and one spirit just as you 589 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,320 also were called in one hope of your calling. 590 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,680 Verse 15 says speaking the truth and love. 591 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:46,040 We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that 592 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:51,680 is, who say it loud. We're supposed to grow up into 593 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:57,280 the head and from Him our whole body being fitted and held 594 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:01,280 together, where every joint supplies according to the proper 595 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:05,480 working of each individual part, will cause the growth of the 596 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,560 body for the building up of itself in love. 597 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,160 If we submit ourselves to the head and the counsel of the 598 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,520 Word, we will hear things like this. 599 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:19,640 Here's how we live together. Be kind and compassionate to one 600 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:23,720 another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave 601 00:37:23,720 --> 00:37:25,800 you. We will here love each other 602 00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,920 deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 603 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:32,120 We will hear that we are to offer hospitality to one 604 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:34,640 another. We will here serve one another 605 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,680 humbly in love. Look not only to your interests, 606 00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:40,560 but the interests of others. Is this sounding like a good 607 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,640 family? If we submit to the Head and the 608 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,400 counsel of the Word, and we align to the truth of God and 609 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:52,080 let Him guide us in how to live, we won't be a messy church. 610 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,720 He'll move us from mess to maturity. 611 00:37:55,240 --> 00:37:57,720 And in that maturity we will learn here. 612 00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:00,920 Maybe one of the hardest things. You know the Bible says in 613 00:38:00,920 --> 00:38:04,480 Matthew 5, if you come to give your offering to the Lord, you 614 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,680 come to make your worship sacrifice, or you come to bring 615 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:11,520 your gift, or you come to be in His presence, and you have 616 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,960 something between you and somebody else in conflict. 617 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:19,320 You know what the Bible says, Put your thing down, go resolve 618 00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:22,440 that conflict, and then come back and bring your offering. 619 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:27,320 If we could get Jesus as the head and Jesus's word as our 620 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:32,800 wisdom, we will be a mature, beautiful, powerful church where 621 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,960 you want to be and other people want to be with you. 622 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:40,560 Praise God, but there is an alarming thing I heard this 623 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:42,760 week. I heard it Friday and it came 624 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,040 through the Barna group. If you don't know Barna, they're 625 00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:49,720 a very reliable statistical based group that studies data 626 00:38:49,720 --> 00:38:52,040 and people often related to the church. 627 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,040 And I want to read you this statement. 628 00:38:54,040 --> 00:38:56,840 They tested this statement and they asked for agreement. 629 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,280 Now you need to know it was people inside the church, 630 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,960 outside the church, people who all all spectrums. 631 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,240 They put this statement forward. So I'll give it to you and you 632 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:10,360 can tell me if you would agree spiritual advice from AI 633 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:15,720 artificial intelligence is just as trustworthy as advice from a 634 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:21,520 pastor. No, 30% of the people said they 635 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:26,200 agreed. 30% of the people. And the reason I'm telling you 636 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,160 this is not because I'm worried about my job security. 637 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:35,880 I am worried about our maturity. Jesus must be our word and our 638 00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,440 wisdom. We must grow up as the family of 639 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,880 God, up under Jesus as the head. And when we do, we will be 640 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:47,320 forming the family that Jesus has in his heart. 641 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:51,640 It'll be beyond blood. It will be counter cultural. 642 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,880 It will be on a distinct mission. 643 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:58,200 And we will grow up in maturity. And you know what word came with 644 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:00,080 maturity? It was love. 645 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:05,400 When we help each other grow up, what it births is love. 646 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,800 And our fifth and final point this morning is that this new 647 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:14,160 family that Jesus is describing is eternal. 648 00:40:15,720 --> 00:40:18,040 It's the only thing that's going to last. 649 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,400 And when Jesus is talking in this situation where he's 650 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:26,440 saying, who's my family? These disciples are my family. 651 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,160 The reason he's doing it is because he's building an eternal 652 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:32,240 family. And we have to stop looking this 653 00:40:32,240 --> 00:40:37,160 way and start looking this way and then look back down and do 654 00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:42,440 what he calls us to do. In Genesis, Pastor Tim taught us 655 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:46,200 that God established community in the form of a family because 656 00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,080 God is community and everything he does is through community. 657 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:54,160 In Moses and Abraham, Jesus is not pictured yet, but he's 658 00:40:54,160 --> 00:40:56,600 already on the scene. He's forming this family through 659 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,440 his future sacrifice. And everything in the Old 660 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,920 Testament shows us God is creating a nation. 661 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,840 It's made-up of families, clans and tribes. 662 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:11,440 And that nation has one job, show the heart of the Father to 663 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:14,800 the world. And in turn, we see, man, we're 664 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:19,760 messy without a savior, right? Then the Savior comes, Jesus 665 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,480 comes and he takes these families, these tribes, these 666 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:25,200 clans, and he mixes them, all them up and puts them into a 667 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:28,120 brand new family. And he breathes the Holy Spirit 668 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,080 on them, and he burst the church. 669 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,160 And by the power of the Spirit, he births a church that can 670 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:38,560 withstand the gates of hell by being beyond blood, 671 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:43,080 countercultural, on mission, and united to each other with Jesus 672 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:45,840 as the head. But then he goes one step 673 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:51,280 further in revelation to show us how eternal and how significant 674 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:56,080 this church family is. He calls you the bride. 675 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:02,560 He calls you the bride and he says in eternity in the Book of 676 00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,240 Revelation, he says we're going to have a wedding feast that 677 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:08,280 blows out any wedding feast you could ever imagine. 678 00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,960 And Jesus is the groom and the church is his bride. 679 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:15,600 Now, guys, you got to get over this. 680 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,320 We're a bride together. What does it mean? 681 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:23,440 Treasured, covenant relationship, loved, adored, 682 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:28,400 sacrificed for, laid down his life for an eternal bride. 683 00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:36,360 And as Jesus teaches us, yes, he's teaching us that the family 684 00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:40,200 equals the church and the church equals the bride. 685 00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:43,720 But the family that he is building has eternity on its 686 00:42:43,720 --> 00:42:48,320 mind always. And so in Revelation 22, seven, 687 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:52,320 and 17, we hear Jesus through the apostle John. 688 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,560 He gives this incredible promise. 689 00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:59,160 Jesus says, behold, I am coming quickly and blessed is he who 690 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,440 heeds the words of prophecy in this book. 691 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:07,800 And what is our response? Verse 17, you remember the two 692 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,640 gifts that are going to help you choose life. 693 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:13,360 What were they? The Holy Spirit and the church, 694 00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:14,320 right? The community. 695 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:20,320 In verse 17, we hear Jesus says the Spirit and the bride say 696 00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:22,360 what? Come. 697 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:27,560 Let the one who hears say come. Let the one who is thirsty come. 698 00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:33,480 Let the one who desires take the water of life without cost. 699 00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:39,000 Is it truly without cost? In just a moment we're going to 700 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,560 receive communion. But just remember, when Jesus 701 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:46,280 says this is coming without cost, it's without cost to us. 702 00:43:47,240 --> 00:43:50,800 And so when he says I'm coming back for you, bride, we want to 703 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,880 be ready. We want to be the family that he 704 00:43:53,880 --> 00:43:57,120 designed and that he desired. That's beyond blood, that's 705 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:02,640 countercultural, that's on mission, that is submitted to 706 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:06,080 the head and beautifully functioning as the body and has 707 00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:11,240 eternity on its mind. So in Matthew chapter 12, what 708 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:15,280 was Jesus saying when he said, who is my family? 709 00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:19,840 These disciples are my family. He is not making us pick between 710 00:44:19,840 --> 00:44:24,240 people. He is saying something so much 711 00:44:24,240 --> 00:44:26,840 more valuable. At the root of this passage, 712 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:30,040 Jesus is addressing the very conflict that we started with 713 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:31,280 today. Do you remember? 714 00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:35,880 I put before you life and death. Choose life. 715 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:40,640 And So what is Jesus saying every single time there is a 716 00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:44,480 conflict inside of you about choosing the things that are 717 00:44:44,480 --> 00:44:47,840 valuable in heaven over the things that are valuable to 718 00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:51,040 earth? Pick the Kingdom every time. 719 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:55,360 Every time you're faced with a choice between choosing life and 720 00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,440 choosing death, choose life every time. 721 00:45:05,400 --> 00:45:10,040 And so he knows it's not easy. That's why he gave us the Holy 722 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:13,320 Spirit and He's giving us community. 723 00:45:14,240 --> 00:45:19,760 How you choose who you choose, how much you choose to get in, 724 00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,600 who you choose to let come around you and shape you. 725 00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:27,920 This is the critical choice of today because with the right 726 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:33,080 community, you can pick the eternal over the temporary every 727 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:37,320 single time. God is providing you a forever 728 00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:40,800 family, a community to do this with, regardless of your 729 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,920 relationships that come through marriage, birth, or adoption. 730 00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:50,920 This community is essential. So God is putting it before us 731 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,400 today. Choose life. 732 00:45:55,000 --> 00:45:59,320 And as we remember in communion, God chose us first, right? 733 00:45:59,960 --> 00:46:02,880 Jesus chose us first. So if you will stand to your 734 00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:07,560 feet as we close today, we're going to do a few more things. 735 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:13,480 The first of which is to talk about communion. 736 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,880 What is communion? You come from other faith 737 00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,760 backgrounds. You may have been taught only 738 00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,040 certain people can take communion in this church. 739 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:26,040 The table is open. The requirements or the guidance 740 00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:29,760 for taking communion, the body and the blood of Jesus is that 741 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,280 you are confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior. 742 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:37,880 So inside of this wafer and this juice is the promise that was 743 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:42,280 fulfilled in Jesus as Messiah and the future promise that he's 744 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:47,680 coming back for his bride. In the body and in the blood is 745 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:53,040 the remembrance of the mission. We confess, we align, we restore 746 00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:56,440 our hearts to God's design for community when we take 747 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,040 communion. So as you're preparing your 748 00:46:59,040 --> 00:47:00,960 elements, you can go ahead and peel back. 749 00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:03,400 If you need the elements, you can raise your hand and our 750 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,120 usher will bring you one if you didn't get it. 751 00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:09,640 If you need gluten free, you can like wave it back and forth and 752 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:13,920 we'll bring you that. But but before we receive 753 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:19,120 communion, we want to extend the invitation to salvation because 754 00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:23,720 the table is open and the sacrifice has been made. 755 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:27,560 The unique identity, death and resurrection of Jesus. 756 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:29,760 He was fully God and fully human. 757 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:33,600 He bore all of our sins. He took the penalty of what we 758 00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:37,800 could not bear and he bore it. Then he defeated death, 759 00:47:37,840 --> 00:47:41,560 resurrected, and he gives us the opportunity for new life. 760 00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:46,840 And so today, if you are being stirred, if you're saying I have 761 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:49,640 never done this, I've been around it, I've been near it, 762 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:53,200 but I've never taking this step, today is your day. 763 00:47:53,640 --> 00:47:57,240 The Holy Spirit is stirring you. And this is the way that we do 764 00:47:57,240 --> 00:47:59,120 that. Here we're going to say together 765 00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:02,680 something all out loud. But for you, it's the 766 00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:06,120 application of the Scripture that says when you believe in 767 00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:09,600 your heart and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, 768 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:13,800 you will be saved, nothing more, nothing less. 769 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:18,080 So church, we're going to agree together and raise our voices 770 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:21,200 with those who are boldly declaring Jesus for the very 771 00:48:21,200 --> 00:48:23,320 first time. Would you say this with me out 772 00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:24,600 loud? Repeat this prayer. 773 00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:31,000 Father God, I see you, I know you came after me. 774 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:37,640 I know there is no way to you but through Jesus. 775 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:45,440 And so I believe in my heart and I confess with my mouth that I 776 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:52,840 need the blood of Jesus to cover me, to heal me, to set me free. 777 00:48:53,880 --> 00:49:01,720 And so I say today, Jesus, you are my Lord and Father, we thank 778 00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:03,840 you so much for those that are being saved today. 779 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,480 If you made that decision and you declared it today, we want 780 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:09,840 to walk with you. We'd ask you to boldly raise 781 00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:12,360 your hand. The rest of your life is going 782 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,360 to be full of bold choices. So today, make your first one, 783 00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,520 raise your hand nice and high, and let our ushers bring you a 784 00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:23,520 card so we can walk with you in this new family. 785 00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:27,680 Let's prepare to receive communion. 786 00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:33,680 Go ahead and take out the bread. Jesus said, this is my body 787 00:49:33,680 --> 00:49:36,840 broken for you for the forgiveness of sins. 788 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:40,480 Tell him thank you and receive his gift. 789 00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:52,400 And then he said, this cup, this blood, this is the offering, the 790 00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:56,920 substitution for your sin. He said drink of it and remember 791 00:49:57,080 --> 00:50:00,160 the covenant that he has made with you for now in eternity. 792 00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:06,960 Would you receive this? As we close today, we're going 793 00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:08,800 to praise, we're going to raise the roof. 794 00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:12,720 We're going to sing about eternity because we are a family 795 00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:15,680 that is beyond blood. We are going to be counter 796 00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:17,720 cultural. We are on mission. 797 00:50:17,720 --> 00:50:23,000 Jesus is our head and we need each other and this is an 798 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,320 eternal family. God bless you and the reading 799 00:50:26,320 --> 00:50:30,520 and the hearing of the Word. Thanks for joining us today. 800 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:33,600 We hope God is speaking to your heart through this message. 801 00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:36,600 If you'd like to connect with us, you can text connect to 802 00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:43,120 407-588-0115 or visit Illuminate dot church. 803 00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:44,800 Have a great week.