1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,680 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:24,360 Before we dive in and we're going to unpack the text through 7 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:28,080 sections of it and we'll end with some what I hope will be 8 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,439 very clear application for you, we're going to start with saying 9 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:34,920 our confession together. This is our moment of truth 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:39,040 telling as a community where we acknowledge the reality of where 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:44,240 we are right now, both in terms of the struggles, but also in 12 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,560 terms of how God feels about us. And some mornings you might wake 13 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,520 up and think, I don't know. I don't know if God loves me. 14 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:52,840 I don't know if he even likes me. 15 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,480 I'm not sure I even like me this morning. 16 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:58,400 And so it's important that whether we're feeling that or 17 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:00,680 whether we're like, man, there's no wonder. 18 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,680 Jesus. Is a fan of me wherever you're 19 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,840 at on the spectrum today of those things. 20 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,880 It's important that we say these things together because they 21 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,760 acknowledge the truth about who we are and about who God is. 22 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,280 So if this is your first time visiting to River City, you're 23 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,040 so welcome here. We're so glad that you would 24 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,520 join with us to worship and to learn more about Jesus and 25 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,520 walking in his ways. I will say the first line and we 26 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,160 say the second line together. So if it's the first time here, 27 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,080 welcome into liturgical practice. 28 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,720 Confession is this. We are badly broken. 29 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,440 We are deeply loved. That's right. 30 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,400 Some people saying it was some force this morning. 31 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:44,600 I like it. How do we become who we are? 32 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,840 You may not have spent a lot of time reflecting on who am I? 33 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:52,920 And sometimes you might get asked that question. 34 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:55,280 You get into a new setting as. Oh, who are you? 35 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,520 And you might give your name, and you might give your family 36 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,840 setting. You might talk about your job, 37 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,280 but there's some things going on beneath the surface that are 38 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,039 much deeper than those realities. 39 00:02:08,039 --> 00:02:11,320 No matter how covenant or how long term those other 40 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,480 relationships might be, do they really fully express who you are 41 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:20,000 and how did you become the person that you are right here, 42 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,080 right now? You have preferences and 43 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:24,680 longings. We all have. 44 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,600 Opinions, and lots of them. And some of us say them more 45 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,360 than others, right? We we've had these things that 46 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,680 come out from us, but how do we get here? 47 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,800 There's a few things that clearly factor in. 48 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:43,920 One of them is in the realm of your family of origin, the 49 00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:47,760 environment that you grew up in as a little person. 50 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,480 And there's there's a couple, Pete and Jerry's Gazero, who've 51 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:56,520 done a lot of work around the health of a person in the 52 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,280 emotional realm and relational realm. 53 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,720 And one of the things that peace Gazzaro says is that, you know, 54 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,400 we've started to follow Jesus. Aren't we all completely 55 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,160 different now? And and yet Thanksgiving is 56 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,760 still a bust up every year. What is going on? 57 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:17,280 He says Jesus is in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones. 58 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,120 There's a knowledge and a way of being that we carry with us 59 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:26,000 unconsciously. We're not paying attention to 60 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:29,160 it, but it's like the wizard behind the curtain pulling all 61 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,000 of the switches and controlling things. 62 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,760 And that's why sometimes you say things and you go, huh, why did 63 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:42,160 I just say that that way? Or you feel really angry about 64 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:43,840 something, but on reflection you're like. 65 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,320 There's no big deal. What is going on there? 66 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,920 The problem is, for most of us, we're far too busy. 67 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,040 Hurry, hurry. Important. 68 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,480 Lives to live, to ever slow down and pay attention to those 69 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,920 things along with family of origin where you came from, 70 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,560 questions around group participation, who you associate 71 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,080 with. Most of us like to think that we 72 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,760 gravitate towards and associate with people who already think in 73 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,640 the brilliant ways that we think and behave in the very high 74 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,320 moral ways that we already behave. 75 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,040 We like to gather with our tribe or as Pastor Jason said, our 76 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:20,920 mop. And sometimes it is a mop. 77 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,840 Sometimes it's not a kind and gentle place to be. 78 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:29,440 It is fiery and fractured. It turns out, statistically, 79 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,920 that our beliefs are actually biased by association. 80 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,120 Meaning you might come into a group because of one point of 81 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,320 affinity, but lots of other things you didn't agree with 82 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,920 will suddenly start to change as you associate with a group. 83 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:53,320 Social constructs form us deeply in ways we might not even be 84 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,520 paying attention to. That might come out when you 85 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,440 suddenly find yourself in support of a particular policy 86 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,480 or position that a decade before you were violently opposed to. 87 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,040 But now it's obvious, right? Clearly this is the right way 88 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:10,720 and that was the wrong way. And how did you get there along 89 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,040 with your family of origin and your your groups that you 90 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:14,920 associate with? There's these things that we 91 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,880 could call cultural liturgies. We just said a liturgy when we 92 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,800 said our confession. It was a structure, a form that 93 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,160 we entered into the High Anglican Church, Orthodox 94 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,680 Church, Roman Catholic Church. They have a lot more written 95 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,080 liturgy, right? The said prayers that everybody 96 00:05:31,080 --> 00:05:34,280 says together and everybody who's been in those circles long 97 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:38,080 enough knows them by heart. They're embedded in them. 98 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,440 But we also have these cultural liturgies. 99 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,360 If that is something you're like, wow, that sounds really 100 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,640 interesting, Johnny. And I would really like to read 101 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,000 more about that. There's an amazing author named 102 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,960 James KA Smith. He wrote a more readable book 103 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,400 called You Are What You Love and then some really big books like 104 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,240 Desiring the Kingdom that go like Nerdy Deep. 105 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,600 So if Nerdy Deep is your thing, get the big ones. 106 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,080 But he explains some cultural liturgies. 107 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,160 Did you know that the mall is a formative place? 108 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,480 Did you know that the mall is a form of worship? 109 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,880 We enter into these high ceiling glass spaces that pump out 110 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,800 certain aromas, Think incense right that gather us into this 111 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,040 space. Where we go, this is a place of 112 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,520 wonder. I will find many wonderful 113 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,840 things here that will bring me satisfaction and joy. 114 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:30,680 Maybe things to eat, maybe things to wear. 115 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,240 But the Mall is a cultural liturgy that is forming you into 116 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,480 the idea that you are what you own. 117 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,960 What about the rally? What about the political rally 118 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,360 where we go and exercise our free speech, right? 119 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,240 And we get to tell it like we see it, and that's fine. 120 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,680 But the cultural liturgy of the rally is forming you into a 121 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,840 person that believes and lives as though you are what you 122 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:57,040 control, which is why we end up demonizing other people that 123 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,320 don't believe and see like us because we want to control. 124 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,360 That's the end that we're reaching for. 125 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,160 What about the game? I see some jerseys out here, 126 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,320 right? Am I aware? 127 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,960 I don't want to look, please don't tell me, but am I aware 128 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,520 that my football team was one up on Manchester City as I was 129 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,520 stepping up to preach? Yeah, I knew that because my 130 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,280 phone told me that truth may have gone. 131 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:25,480 I didn't have high expectations. But when we are steeped in the 132 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:30,160 culture of the game and our team and our tribe, we start to 133 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:36,440 believe this story that you are your record, your record, and it 134 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,720 doesn't stay in the mall or the rally or the game. 135 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,960 It comes home with you and everywhere you go, and you 136 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,440 happen to turn up everywhere that you are. 137 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,600 Along with these three larger formative things, our habits, 138 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,560 our communities, our desires, and our rhythms all factor into 139 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,920 who we are today and who we're becoming. 140 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:05,080 To change is the normal of the human experience, and we're all 141 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,000 changing and growing in One Direction or another. 142 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,800 But how often do we examine? To what end? 143 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,840 Where am I heading? If you were to look at a line of 144 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,240 my life and change and transformation, what am I 145 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,160 becoming? You want to ask a dangerous, 146 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,280 risky question? Ask someone close to you. 147 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:30,880 Am I more kind and gentle and humble than I used to be? 148 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,240 Just find out. But how do we even know what 149 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:40,440 target we're aiming for? Who should we become and what is 150 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,120 the good life, and how do we get there? 151 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,400 So we live in a world of competing ideals. 152 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:52,240 So you might be simultaneously carrying the idea of radical 153 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:56,320 generosity, but you grew up in a household, as I might be telling 154 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:00,000 on myself here, why financial security was the baseline of 155 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:01,600 knowing that you were doing well. 156 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,920 But also, there's all of these guitar pedals that I want in my 157 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,840 life, and there's pleasures to pursue. 158 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:12,840 And I have these ideals that Duke it out inside of me to 159 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,720 generously give away everything, but also to hold on to 160 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,560 everything so that we're secure, but also to buy a few things 161 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:21,560 because, you know, some days are hard and sweet. 162 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:23,880 Guitar tone makes me feel better, right? 163 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:29,280 You fill in your blank because we live with hearts that have 164 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:36,040 competing wants. I want a healthy body and I want 165 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:40,800 cheeseburgers. And too much of either one of 166 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,440 those denies the other. Which one's going to win? 167 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:50,680 Stay tuned. And then we live in communities 168 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:55,440 of competing behaviors. Listen for those of us that live 169 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:57,200 and work. Hi, my name's Johnny. 170 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,000 I'm a volunteer member of the teaching team. 171 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,400 Let's get that out of the way. Now, my wife and I are directors 172 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,680 of member care at a missions organization here in New 173 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:08,040 Braunfels. That means the majority of our 174 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:12,080 days now are spent within the community of faith, whether it's 175 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,320 doing volunteer stuff here or if it's in our day job taking care 176 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:16,760 of missionaries around the world. 177 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,280 But I did used to work in the marketplace in an IT job. 178 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:28,120 And I know that the office party isn't a lot like my small group 179 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:33,280 on a Sunday night. There are competing behaviours 180 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:39,240 into which we find ourselves with pressures to conform to the 181 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,520 group. Who should we be? 182 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,080 What does it mean to have a good, a blessed life, as Jesus 183 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,400 would say? And how are we going to get 184 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,600 there? In essence, how do we grow as 185 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:57,040 followers of Jesus, specifically into the maturity the pastor 186 00:10:57,040 --> 00:11:02,400 Jason talked about, right? This is the goal of the those 187 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,400 who serve in servant leadership inside the church. 188 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:07,400 The apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher 189 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:12,000 is given to equip the Saints for the work of ministry and to the 190 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,840 end that we grow up into the fullness of Christ. 191 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:20,120 We're not meant to stay babies in Jesus. 192 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,080 Childlike in our faith, yes, but mature. 193 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,200 So how do we change? How do we get there? 194 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,280 Today we're going to look at some aspects of Christian 195 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,120 spiritual formation. I want to be specific with that 196 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:37,360 Christian spiritual formation because every single person on 197 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,120 the planet is being spiritually formed. 198 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:45,560 We are spiritual beings, body, mind, soul, strength. 199 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:50,720 We are spiritual beings and all people are such, but not all 200 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,800 people are being formed into the image of Jesus. 201 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,920 So to talk about Christian spiritual formation has to be 202 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:03,120 formation in the way of Jesus and towards his likeness. 203 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,360 We're going to see Paul address the malformation of the old way 204 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,320 of life and he's going to give us a clear picture of formation 205 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,480 in the way of Jesus. And then there's a few case 206 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,280 studies. Who loves a good case study in 207 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:18,120 the room? I got like. 208 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:24,040 My peeps, 2 of you great, we're going to be reading James Smith 209 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,800 and the rest of you do whatever you want to do it's fine so 210 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,440 we're going to come back to our text and begin working through 211 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:33,680 I'm teaching from the NASB. That's what we settled on as our 212 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:35,680 teaching text specifically because. 213 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,560 It's a little more clunky. The message read so well today 214 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,680 love that translation for this passage but to teach and to get 215 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:47,920 into some of the dynamics of their original language, we like 216 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,360 a a text that's a little bit more technical little. 217 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:54,000 Harder for us makes us realize, hmm, this wasn't written in my 218 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:59,400 language today and so we're in Ephesians 417 through 32. 219 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,320 Pray for me that we get there. We can do we can do this. 220 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,680 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, 221 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:09,400 including preaching 1/2 a page of Bible right here we go verses 222 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,240 17 through 19. Paul says so I say this. 223 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:20,520 And affirm in the Lord that you are to no longer walk, just as 224 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,600 the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their minds. 225 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,000 It's just boys there for a moment. 226 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:31,000 So Paul gets actually pretty strong in the Greek here. 227 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:33,600 I'm affirming something in the Lord. 228 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:38,000 This is a truth for all people, that you are to no longer walk 229 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:40,880 just as the Gentiles. Who's he writing to? 230 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:47,160 All your gentiles? They're still gentiles in a 231 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,040 ethnic sense. But he says you're not to walk, 232 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:56,720 just as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their minds. 233 00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,920 If you have. Read through the Old Testament. 234 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,040 Maybe there's something's going to pop up in reflecting on the 235 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,720 book of Ecclesiastes where the Wisdom teacher talks about 236 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,520 things being meaningless and vanity and are chasing after the 237 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,040 wind. The futility of the way of 238 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:20,400 thinking in the old life. Meant though what people 239 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,960 believed would bring about their ultimate satisfaction and 240 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,720 welfare of others never works out. 241 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:35,200 They were chasing something that was a waste of time, he goes on. 242 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,560 If you think that wasn't harsh, being darkened in their 243 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:43,440 understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the 244 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:48,960 ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their 245 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,800 heart, is a winning speech, isn't it? 246 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,240 Right here? You're like, everybody's with 247 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:57,440 you, we're good now, he says, Look, your way of thinking led 248 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,160 to emptiness and brokenness. And not only that, your 249 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,440 understanding was in the dark. As enlightened as you thought 250 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,960 you were before knowing Jesus, you lived in darkness. 251 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:16,000 You couldn't even see that your way ended in ruin and you were 252 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,840 excluded from the life of God. Now just think back if you've 253 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,440 been with. Us over the weeks to some of the 254 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:26,360 things that. Paul has prayed for the church 255 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,640 at Ephesus and the surrounding churches where this letter went. 256 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:31,920 He. Prayed that the eyes of their 257 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,080 hearts would be enlightened because it's dark in here 258 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:42,120 without God and we need God to move on our behalf to turn the 259 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,360 lights on. And he prayed that they would be 260 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:51,560 rooted and grounded in love. And when something is rooted and 261 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:55,000 grounded well, there is life in it, there is SAP in it, it is 262 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,960 flexible, it grows well. But here we have. 263 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,640 Hearts that have become hardened because they've been cut off 264 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:06,240 from the God life. Stemming from ignorance, 265 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:11,120 stemming from a hard heart, they just kept trudging down the path 266 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,240 of death and more death and brokenness, and it's kept them 267 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:20,840 cut off to the extent verse 19 that they having become callous. 268 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:24,200 Have given themselves up to indecent behaviour for the 269 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,800 practice of every kind of impurity. 270 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:32,200 With greediness, there is a callous compulsion that begins 271 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:35,120 to set in. The more that people give 272 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,880 themselves to a certain practice and way of being, the more they 273 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:43,000 want to do that thing. And so Paul uses this term of of 274 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:48,200 greediness, right? They've given themselves up to 275 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:53,840 something and they just want more and more and more of it. 276 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:59,800 This is the cycle of addiction. It is observable in your life 277 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,480 and in the lives of many people who have found themselves caught 278 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:09,520 up in chasing substance or chasing shopping or sex or 279 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:11,280 whatever. The thing is that you think I 280 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,079 just got to have that to feel OK right now. 281 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,319 If I could just have that, I could deal with this other 282 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,839 problem. But all of these things that 283 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,480 aren't God come with an increased. 284 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:29,120 Cost for a diminished return. The first hit is oh so good, but 285 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:35,800 after that you are owned, you are enslaved and your behaviours 286 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:40,000 will change in the pursuit of the thing that your heart 287 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:44,280 desires. Ben Witherington the third 288 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,880 quotes a guy named Hona in one of his commentaries, where he 289 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:54,160 says every surrender to temptation encrusts the heart 290 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,680 and narrows the range of its future choice. 291 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:03,800 It encrusts the heart, so it's harder for truth and life and 292 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,520 light to penetrate through. You might be thinking of the 293 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:12,280 story of Pharaoh as he resisted God's call to repentance and to 294 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:14,720 let his people go. And throughout that story, 295 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,480 Pharaoh's heart gets harder and harder and harder. 296 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,120 You might be thinking about your own heart and seasons where you 297 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:24,600 just didn't want anything to do with God and no matter who 298 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,000 prayed for you, no matter who talked to you were just like, 299 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,360 Nah, I'm good. I found my scene. 300 00:18:30,360 --> 00:18:33,280 I found my crowd. Makes me feel good, helps me 301 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,440 forget the hurts. I'm just going that way. 302 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,840 Our heart gets encrusted. And then I just thought it was 303 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:41,840 fascinating. It narrows the range of our 304 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,760 future choice. See, we lie to ourselves that 305 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:51,120 we're truly free, when in fact, apart from Christ, we're 306 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:55,960 increasingly subject to sin. We're actually less of our 307 00:18:55,960 --> 00:19:00,920 unique self, and we are more closed off to others. 308 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,880 When the world promises you that if you just all throw off the 309 00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,960 shackles of old religion, be liberated and free in your 310 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,600 thinking, come on, be a thoroughly post secular 311 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,720 postmodern, wherever we've gotten to person, define your 312 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,840 own destiny. Actually, most of those people 313 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,200 living that way look awfully similar, don't they? 314 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,600 Most of them are caught up in the same patterns and the same 315 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,960 struggles and the same brokenness and there's no joy 316 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,080 and there's no life and it's just getting harder. 317 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:37,120 The greediness of sin deforms us. 318 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,560 And so then Paul brings us to a new paradigm. 319 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:49,560 He says, but you verse 20. But you did not learn Christ in 320 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,160 this way, if indeed you've heard of him and have been taught in 321 00:19:54,160 --> 00:20:01,320 him, just as truth is in Jesus. You did not learn Christ this 322 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,320 way, not learn about Christ, not learn the teachings of Christ, 323 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:11,120 not learn the acceptable social statements of Christ people in a 324 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:14,360 religious setting. You did not learn Christ the 325 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:18,680 person himself this way. This is not what it looked like. 326 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:24,960 Dark and futile and closed off. If indeed he says you have heard 327 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,720 him. Have you heard Jesus? 328 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:36,840 Have you heard Jesus? Have you heard him speak your 329 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,400 name? Have you heard him call you to 330 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,840 Him? I suspect there are some in this 331 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:50,560 room who are hungry this morning who are desperately wondering, 332 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,560 would he call me? Yes, indeed. 333 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:03,720 He's calling you right now to him, and your choice is either 334 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:08,880 the life you've been living or the life in allegiance to him 335 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:14,800 who laid down his life for you. That's what's set before you. 336 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:18,800 And so I pray that what you would hear in the rest of this 337 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:23,920 message is a compelling vision towards the truly good and 338 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:29,480 beautiful life that would summon you from darkness and into light 339 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:35,080 as you yield to him. It is the person of Christ who 340 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:39,000 is the new paradigm. This is the apocalypse that Paul 341 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,120 has been teaching and writing and preaching. 342 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:48,760 Jesus is the life. Jesus is the light of the world 343 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:54,800 who shines into our darkness. Have you heard him? 344 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:03,240 If indeed you've heard him and have been taught in him, just as 345 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,040 truth is in Jesus. See, Jesus is the new center and 346 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,840 the paradigm. The person of Christ calls us to 347 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,640 allegiance. The teachings of Christ are the 348 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:18,200 instruction that we need to learn how to live when our 349 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,600 children are born. They don't know that those cute 350 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:26,280 little smiling faces in the wall with face plates around them are 351 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,680 dangerous to stick their fingers and metal objects into. 352 00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,000 They don't know. They have to be instructed in 353 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,720 this. So if you as a parent got mad at 354 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,880 them the first time they did that, it's not fair on the 355 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,120 child, right? Because they don't know they 356 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:45,800 need instruction. You as followers in the way of 357 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:51,360 Jesus need instruction to know how you live now, not in order 358 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:54,240 to be adopted, but because you have been adopted and there's 359 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,040 new house rules. And so we learned the House 360 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,160 rules through the teachings of Christ. 361 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,360 And he says the truth is in Jesus. 362 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:08,480 So as well as allegiance and instruction, I think this points 363 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,160 to the way of Jesus and our alignment. 364 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:16,640 You might acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord of all creation, and 365 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,480 you might know all of the instruction that he brings. 366 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,920 But will you align yourself, your own life, your own 367 00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,920 practices and ways to be in accordance with Him? 368 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,320 The truth is in Him. So he's the measure. 369 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,840 There is no other measure. Jesus is the measure and we 370 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:43,080 align ourselves to Him or not. And you have the free choice as 371 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,640 to which you will do. But you cannot take that which 372 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,840 is not the way of Jesus and try and slap a Jesus sticker on it 373 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:55,320 just because you've, you know, said a prayer sometime you can't 374 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,320 do that. You can't baptize your behavior 375 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,560 into Jesus, but you can be baptized into him and align your 376 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:07,400 life with him. And so Paul tells us like here's 377 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,120 a new paradigm. The old way was dark and futile, 378 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:13,840 but the new way is life in him. And so we get this idea of 379 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,720 counter formation in the way of Jesus verse 22. 380 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,520 That in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid 381 00:24:22,520 --> 00:24:26,360 yourselves of the old self which is being corrupted in accordance 382 00:24:26,360 --> 00:24:30,000 with the lusts of deceit. And that you are to be renewed 383 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,960 in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in 384 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,080 the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and 385 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,760 holiness of the truth. The reason that I would dearly 386 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:48,400 love if we someday did a like 77 weeks series through Ephesians 387 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,800 is because there's like multiple messages just in those verses 388 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:56,560 right there, but. For your sake, my sake, and 389 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,600 everyone's sake, we're just going to be brief and a high 390 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:03,760 level overview of this quick grammar note for you when it 391 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,520 says to rid yourself and to put off and to be renewed. 392 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:09,600 These are infinitives, not imperatives. 393 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,920 The difference would be the imperative puts all the onus on 394 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,000 you. You got to you got to do this. 395 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,960 You've got to figure. This out, get it done right now. 396 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,040 It's a command when it's an imperative, but an infinitive 397 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:22,560 speaks more to what has and is happening. 398 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:29,080 Friends, we are not alone in the work of formation, in the way of 399 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:34,200 Jesus, OK, And what? Paul shows us is this. 400 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:39,160 Picture of taking off the old humanity like a ragged nasty 401 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,720 coat and putting on the new humanity, putting off the old 402 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:51,080 Adam who said I want to be God myself and ends up living in 403 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:56,320 complete separation to putting on the new Adam Jesus so that we 404 00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,600 are clothed in righteousness and in him and the pat the pattern 405 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:05,080 of this counter formation is put off and be renewed and put on 406 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:07,760 and so we can get that idea like the put off All right, so I 407 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,040 stopped doing certain things. I walk out of certain 408 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,200 situations. I don't align with old ways and 409 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,600 I start to try to align in other ways. 410 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,520 But what's this middle bit to be renewed in the spirit of your 411 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:22,080 minds? Paul is talking about the 412 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,040 reintegration of spirit and cognition. 413 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:31,200 See, the old way, when we were just all your Gentiles, before 414 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:35,560 we were baptized into Christ, was darkened in our 415 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,320 understanding and futile in our thinking. 416 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:43,520 And so we actually desperately need renewal in our ways of 417 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,080 thinking about things. You can't just assume that your 418 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,520 old way of thinking neatly locks into ways here. 419 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,480 An example of that in the world would be I grew up in the 420 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,600 British political system. It is not a one for one to the 421 00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,480 US political system. So where I thought I knew 422 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:03,560 boundaries and how they operate and how to think about things 423 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:08,080 did not import into my experience of political life 424 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,680 within the US. Your ways of thinking in the old 425 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,600 life need to be examined and for. 426 00:27:15,680 --> 00:27:18,400 That you need to be aware of them and you need the. 427 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:21,440 Holy Spirit to be at work renewing that this. 428 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,520 Is the just to read that paraphrase from Eugene Peterson 429 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,000 in the Message again, he says take on an entirely new way of 430 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:36,520 life, a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and 431 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:41,160 working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his 432 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:47,080 character in you. God is reproducing. 433 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:55,640 Who He is loving, compassionate, forgiving, just, holy, 434 00:27:55,760 --> 00:28:04,520 righteous, merciful in you. This is what it is to be 435 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:09,760 baptized into the Christ life. And so there is a radical 436 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,360 change. There should be a radical 437 00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:14,760 change. That begins to take place in our 438 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,040 lives as we put off the old ways and we go through this renewal 439 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:23,440 where we allow God by His Spirit to work with us to refresh our 440 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,000 ways of thinking and we begin to put on those new ways of living 441 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,880 that seems so foreign and weird to us before. 442 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,200 Like, have you ever tried out, OK, in our cultural moment, 443 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,320 fasting has become like the ultimate diet plan or something, 444 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,760 right? But people have been fasting as 445 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:45,640 a way to know God and to commune with God and to press in in 446 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:50,120 prayer forever. We think we're so cool with our 447 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:52,360 like, well, this is your body type and blah, blah, blah, blah, 448 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:56,080 blah. Fasting is not a diet trend. 449 00:28:56,080 --> 00:29:00,440 Fasting is a spiritual practice that can break bonds. 450 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,440 Fasting is a spiritual practice that can make us more available 451 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:09,520 to hear God speak to us today. But if you talk to somebody who 452 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,000 is outside of Jesus about this. They're going to be like, you 453 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:16,000 are crazy. Would you like a cheeseburger or 454 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,160 a doughnut or any of your weaknesses? 455 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,760 I happen to have brought them to work today just for you. 456 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:24,680 I may have some things I need to process here. 457 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,840 So what then does Paul do? Having laid out this counter 458 00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,600 formation in the way of Jesus that the the purpose of it is 459 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,560 that we would be made new in the likeness of God. 460 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:42,600 Does that not bring you back to the garden, Adam and Eve and God 461 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,880 breathing life. And these are my image bearers 462 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,680 in the world. And that image has been 463 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,520 devastated by sin. And in Christ that devastation 464 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:56,200 is being undone so that even today, before the end of the 465 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,120 age, before the New Jerusalem comes down and we are standing 466 00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:02,240 in this new city going. Wow. 467 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,520 I couldn't even conceive of this today. 468 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,720 You can live as people of the Kingdom, bringing about radical 469 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,240 change in your neighborhood and your workplace. 470 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,120 It's a reality. It's not something we're waiting 471 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:18,520 for out there. It's something we're pursuing 472 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,320 today that we would be image bearers. 473 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,920 And he begins to give us some case studies. 474 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,120 Case studies in spiritual formation. 475 00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:31,080 He says, Therefore, reading yourselves A falsehood, speak 476 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:32,920 truth, each one of you with his neighbor. 477 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:34,360 Is that in caps up there? Yes. 478 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:38,200 Thank you. When the NASB puts things in 479 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,520 caps it means it's a quote from the Old Testament. 480 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,800 Paul is making a. Quote right here. 481 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:47,080 Speak truth, each one of you with his neighbor, because we 482 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:53,520 are parts of one another. So Paul quotes from the book of 483 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,360 Zechariah. It's in the Old Testament, it's 484 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,440 in the minor Prophets section if you wanted to find it. 485 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,720 But verse 8, I'm actually at chapter 8. 486 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:06,320 I'm actually going to read from 16 through 17 says these are the 487 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,400 things which you shall do. Lord is speaking to his people. 488 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,680 Speak the truth to one another. Judge with truth and judgment 489 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:20,160 for peace at your gates, and let none of you devise evil in your 490 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,000 heart against another. And do not love perjury. 491 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,520 So don't love telling lies about people. 492 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,520 For all these. Things are what I hate, declares 493 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,520 the Lord. Paul just kind of slips this 494 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,400 little. Quote in and breezes on by. 495 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,120 There weren't footnotes in the original text, right? 496 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,960 They just weren't there. Paul just knew the scriptures 497 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,000 like we know a national anthem. It's just in there. 498 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,920 Someone starts it. You're like, I got to finish it. 499 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,360 It's got to happen, right? The scriptures are embedded. 500 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,760 And Paul, he's been formed by them and then reformed in the 501 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,400 way of Jesus. She talks on this one. 502 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,240 We're going to look at them a little more in a moment. 503 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,840 But verse 26, be angry and yet do not sin. 504 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:04,160 Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the 505 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,480 devil an opportunity. And there is a an illusion at 506 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:13,320 minimum to Psalm 4, verse four that says tremble, trembling 507 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:15,280 from anger. You ever been so mad that you're 508 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,160 shook? Yeah, right. 509 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:21,200 Adrenaline surging. You're like, I got to do 510 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,240 something about this now, right? To tremble and do not sin. 511 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,360 Meditate in your heart upon your bed and be still. 512 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,360 I got to tell you, like, contemplative prayer is really 513 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:34,360 hard when you're trembling with rage. 514 00:32:34,480 --> 00:32:36,240 It's just a difficult game, all right. 515 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:41,160 But actually, the instruction of the Scriptures isn't to deny 516 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,000 your anger. But it's to do something 517 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,520 different with it from what the world does. 518 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,720 Be angry and yet don't sin, don't let the sun go down on 519 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,320 your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. 520 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,600 The one who steals Third case study The one who steals must 521 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:01,480 low no longer steal. OK, cool, I used to do it, don't 522 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,640 do it now great, but rather But wait, there's more. 523 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,280 He must labor, producing with his own hands what is good, so 524 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:13,640 that he will have something to share with the one who has need. 525 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:20,200 OK, and then let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but 526 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,880 if there is any good word for edification according to the 527 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:27,160 need at the moment, say that so that it will give grace to those 528 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,960 who hear. So Paul actually begins to 529 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:36,720 unpack this idea of put off and be renewed and put on. 530 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,080 He doesn't just run around saying, stop doing that, stop 531 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,520 doing that, don't do that. Instead, he invites the people 532 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,200 into a new way of living. And I think we've got a slide 533 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,160 where we're going to go through some of these things again. 534 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:55,640 But the old way of lying, whether it's for your gain or 535 00:33:55,920 --> 00:34:01,240 whether it's to slander somebody else, is replaced by speaking 536 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,520 the truth. Why? 537 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,640 Well, what Paul? Says is speak the truth, each 538 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,400 one of you with his neighbor, because we are parts of one 539 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,440 another. And in the reference in 540 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:16,239 Zechariah, it talks about establishing peace at the gates, 541 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:18,920 right? And I think what Paul is saying, 542 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,679 because remember the, the, the main metaphor we're working with 543 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:24,159 is all y'all is the body together. 544 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:29,639 And what lying does is decimates relationship and undoes trust. 545 00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:32,760 It fractures us relationally one from another. 546 00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:36,080 I don't know about you, but when I go on to any of the anything 547 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,920 online now, my first question tends to be, is this true? 548 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,280 I got to Fact Check the fact checkers because I just don't 549 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,199 know anymore. And then I'm like, I forget the 550 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:47,880 Internet. I'm just carry on. 551 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:50,199 I got enough to do here alone. What's going on elsewhere, 552 00:34:50,199 --> 00:34:52,320 right? We're so used. 553 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,040 To lying being a kind of baseline operation relationally, 554 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,160 impulses don't do that instead. Speak the truth. 555 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,320 Why? For connection, because the Holy 556 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:05,360 Spirit has done this profound work of knitting us together. 557 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:09,640 We are members one of another. And so if my hand lies about my 558 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,280 foot, that's no good for me, right? 559 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,880 My hand is like, hey, foot's fine, but foot's actually like 560 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,760 swollen and hurt. I need treatment. 561 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,760 I don't need you to lie if hand hits somebody and says. 562 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:27,480 Foot did it. It's no good. 563 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:30,640 So we get rid of the old way because we name it and we see 564 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:31,960 it. But then we put on the new way 565 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:34,960 because connection is a Kingdom thing. 566 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,760 The old way of unrighteous anger or dysfunctional anger. 567 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:45,040 Look, anger is like gasoline and it can power a Mustang and it 568 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,560 can burn a house down. Gasoline should be handled 569 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,440 correctly. Or for my British people in the 570 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,680 House of which all my Australian people petrol, right? 571 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,560 Just translate for you. I need subtitles. 572 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:03,720 Sometimes people, unrighteous anger is the old way and what 573 00:36:03,720 --> 00:36:06,520 Paul instructs is instead resolve your conflict. 574 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,840 Resolve it every day with the Psalm in mind. 575 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:16,920 Go and tremble in your anger before God first, and then when 576 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:18,960 that heat has been dealt. With. 577 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:23,520 Resolve your conflict on the daily so that the devil can't 578 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,440 get a foothold. The reason is protection to 579 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:31,280 guard the community. Stealing, right? 580 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,120 He says don't steal anymore. Instead do good work. 581 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,080 That's the new way Is good work work? 582 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:41,760 Work is not a curse. The curse is that work got real 583 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:46,280 hard, but work is actually part of our image bearing. 584 00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,600 So do good work. Why? 585 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,000 So that you may provide. If you used to steal for your 586 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,240 own gain. Not only do you get called to 587 00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:59,520 stop stealing, you get called to labor with excellence so that 588 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:03,320 you can share with other people. It's a complete transformation. 589 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:05,960 It goes from greed to generosity. 590 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,120 And then lastly, he says, don't let any unwholesome word come 591 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:13,040 out of your mouth. The death talk that we used to 592 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:16,880 participate in needs to stop. And instead we are to be people 593 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:21,800 who speak life a good word for edification according to the 594 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,760 need at the moment so that it will give grace to those who 595 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:27,880 hear. The reason is that we are 596 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:31,760 summoned as a community to be a people who bless and not curse, 597 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:37,240 who speak life in the way of Jesus to each other and out into 598 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:39,640 the world. So I want to just say that I, 599 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:43,640 I'm, I'm with this initiative for shine, shine the light. 600 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:47,360 When people knock on your door, they come to get hot dog from 601 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:49,120 you. That's not the opportunity to 602 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,800 tell them how awful Halloween is and how terrible the dark things 603 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,400 in their yards are. Y'all listen? 604 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:57,320 So, so I don't know. It's like my kid gets scared by 605 00:37:57,320 --> 00:37:59,400 some of the stuff that's there when I walk into school. 606 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,560 I'm just going to tell you that like, I'm not cool with it, but 607 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,400 I'm also not pounding on the door yelling at people about it. 608 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,680 I'm praying, praying Lord let a dog steal that creepy doll. 609 00:38:13,120 --> 00:38:17,880 That's my prayer life people. So if your creepy dog I was 610 00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:27,880 missing, thank the dog. Praise the Lord finally says, 611 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,560 don't grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day 612 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:33,000 of redemption. All bitterness, wrath, anger, 613 00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:36,280 clamour and slander must be removed from you, along with all 614 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:40,280 malice. Be kind to one another, 615 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,040 compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ 616 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:47,480 also has forgiven you. We are called to be a people 617 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:50,720 because those 4 examples, the case studies that He gives don't 618 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:53,560 cover the full gamut of the ways that we break each other right 619 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,160 as we we got so many ways. What he says is essentially 620 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,760 attuned to the Spirit. Don't grieve the Spirit of God, 621 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,440 which tells us something really important. 622 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:06,200 I don't know where your theology sits here, but if I can grieve 623 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,520 you, then there is personhood involved. 624 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:12,560 The Holy Spirit is not some kind of ethereal force. 625 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,080 The Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity, and 626 00:39:17,080 --> 00:39:20,680 you can grieve him. That sounds bad, right? 627 00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:22,240 Grieving the Holy Spirit sounds bad. 628 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:26,760 Why do these things grieve him? Because they disturb and destroy 629 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:31,400 the unity of the body. The Holy Spirit is at work 630 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,920 bringing unity, not uniformity. I really like the way that was 631 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:36,280 put. Pastor Jason, thank you. 632 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:40,600 Unity. Together we are a body of 633 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,160 Christ. And we can. 634 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:45,240 Grieve the Spirit who has sealed us for the day of. 635 00:39:45,240 --> 00:39:48,880 Redemption again, some questions might sit theologically. 636 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,120 You might be like, well I'm sealed and it's 1 and done. 637 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:57,000 But seals can be broken. Paul is never lackadaisical with 638 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,520 his language. He chooses his words 639 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,800 specifically. You are sealed with the Holy 640 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:04,640 Spirit. You're marked as an authentic 641 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:06,880 one. Don't grieve the Spirit and 642 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:10,520 break the seal. People walk in the way of Jesus 643 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,960 and that's the summons where you walk in the Antichrist or the 644 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,640 Christ life. Will you walk? 645 00:40:16,640 --> 00:40:20,360 Where your mouth is a a mode of destruction or a mode of 646 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:24,360 blessing, will you walk in a way that your hands take and steal 647 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,840 and gain for you, or give and bless and pour out in generosity 648 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:34,800 and faith, spiritual formation. And this is a quote from John 649 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:39,040 Mark Homus Practicing the way book is the process of being 650 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,440 formed into people of love in Christ. 651 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:47,400 The process takes time of being formed. 652 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,840 You're not there yet into people of love. 653 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:55,800 Love is the chief metric of maturity in Christ. 654 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,760 He is the center and the focus and the goal. 655 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,880 So I want to apply this and I'll be as brief as I can because I 656 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:04,400 see that clock. I see you clock. 657 00:41:05,720 --> 00:41:11,560 If you are not yet an apprentice of Jesus, let me just ask you 658 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:16,840 how you feel your life is currently going, the practices 659 00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:20,040 and beliefs and foundations upon which you have built. 660 00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,880 Are they giving you what they said they would? 661 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:27,000 And is what they said what you actually want? 662 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:34,680 If not, Jesus is calling. He said that anybody who would 663 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:41,280 come to him can receive life, eternal life, and he said that 664 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,600 he is the only way to the Father. 665 00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:47,280 So if you've heard people say that Christianity is an 666 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:51,080 exclusive religion and try to tear it down because of that, I 667 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:53,920 just say, well, listen, Christianity is exclusive. 668 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:58,520 Jesus is it we we hold up no other standard or banner. 669 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:04,640 It's Jesus and Jesus alone, but Jesus leads to a transformed 670 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:08,360 life of love in a way that nothing else on this planet and 671 00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:13,960 in our history ever has. So how about you accept the 672 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:19,480 exclusivity of Jesus today and yield yourself to him to become 673 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,880 an apprentice of His way. The call is really Will you put 674 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:29,360 off the old way and bow yourself to Him and trust him in his 675 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,440 loving goodness that He laid down his life to pay for your 676 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:36,520 sin and to bring you new life. Now for those of you who follow 677 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:39,640 Jesus to call this the ongoing work of spiritual formation, 678 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:45,400 which is just as much of a call to yield yourselves to quickly. 679 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:48,040 Some things here. Firstly, name your practices, 680 00:42:48,040 --> 00:42:52,040 your patterns and your passions. Practices, patterns and 681 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:55,240 passions. You need to become observant of 682 00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:59,120 your ways of living. self-assessment is only as good 683 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,080 as yourself awareness. So if you're like well I don't 684 00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:04,080 have any practices, patterns and passions that aren't aligned 685 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:07,320 with Jesus, you need some people around you who can help you see 686 00:43:07,320 --> 00:43:11,560 where you are deviating. Get the help of trusted people. 687 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:15,280 If you don't know what your issues are, practices are your 688 00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,520 habits and actions in the day-to-day. 689 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:20,440 For some people it's a little drink to settle the nerves or a 690 00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,680 little office gossip to feel pseudo connected. 691 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,600 Tish Harrison Warren in her book Liturgy of the Ordinary, says 692 00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:31,480 that God is forming us into a new people and the place of that 693 00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:34,560 formation is the small moments of today. 694 00:43:34,720 --> 00:43:38,400 That's as true as of our formation in the way of Jesus as 695 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:42,760 it is as our malformation. What are your practices and are 696 00:43:42,760 --> 00:43:46,080 they leading you into a life of love and what are your patterns? 697 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:49,360 Your patterns are the repeated tracks that you make in life. 698 00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,760 Maybe you have a history of relational conflict, or maybe 699 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:56,240 there's a history of different ways of numbing out. 700 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:59,480 Trading in one addiction for a more acceptable addiction is 701 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,440 still addiction. Still try and meet a need or 702 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:06,000 cover a wound in a way that Jesus hasn't called you to 703 00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:09,640 practices and patterns build together, but underneath them 704 00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:12,360 are passions, the want under the want. 705 00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:16,680 It's the Y that drives our dysfunctions and often times if 706 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:19,960 we'll spend long enough allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate 707 00:44:19,960 --> 00:44:22,840 the places in us. The Psalms say look, show me any 708 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,360 crooked way in me right to ask Holy Spirit, would you show me 709 00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:29,480 these ways that don't lead me into the life of Christ. 710 00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:31,240 He'll begin to show them and you'll see the. 711 00:44:31,240 --> 00:44:33,480 Practices. 1st and then you'll see some patterns, but 712 00:44:33,480 --> 00:44:37,560 underneath it is a passion, a want that is trying to be 713 00:44:37,560 --> 00:44:40,720 satisfied outside of Christ. You've got to name them. 714 00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:43,680 And then you need to refresh your vision for the good life. 715 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:48,640 You will pursue what you desire. So if your passions are 716 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,560 misaligned, get or renew a right desire. 717 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:57,600 Prioritizing time in the Word, prioritizing time in more 718 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:00,400 contemplative prayer where we just want to be in the presence 719 00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,800 of God. These are ways that we begin to 720 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,120 get a vision of the good life that aligns with the Kingdom. 721 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,640 Get in spaces that you can hear others tell of the goodness of 722 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,200 Jesus and church consumed discerningly. 723 00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:18,480 This is a conviction area. What's the stuff that when you 724 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:22,680 watch it, lead you more into the loving Kingdom ways of God? 725 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:26,080 And what's the stuff that makes you want to go burn stuff down? 726 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,960 I want to say most of the time burning stuff down comes out of 727 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:34,760 an inflamed passion, not out of love and justice. 728 00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:41,320 And then lastly, apprentice to Jesus by a partnership of grace 729 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:45,240 in community. It's a partnership of grace. 730 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:48,480 Dallas Willard have quoted this a lot and I'll just keep quoting 731 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,520 it. Grace is not opposed to effort. 732 00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:55,080 It is opposed to earning. You don't earn your way into the 733 00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:58,640 Kingdom but nor do you lie around eating bonbons and 734 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:01,440 waiting for the Holy Spirit to come and fan you with a gentle 735 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:05,680 breeze. Apprenticeship to Jesus is 736 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:09,480 apprenticeship to a servant hearted life and one where we 737 00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:13,000 take on the gentle easy yoke of Jesus and we walk with him. 738 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,240 The Spirit starts and sustains the work of formation, so we 739 00:46:17,240 --> 00:46:20,440 join him in the work of formation into likeness of 740 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,720 Jesus. So church, show up to the work, 741 00:46:24,240 --> 00:46:28,680 make a commitment and make it your priority that we would be 742 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:33,280 formed by a process into a people of love in Christ. 743 00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:38,320 And you cannot do it alone. No matter how hard you can 744 00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:41,280 introvert, you cannot do this alone. 745 00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:46,080 You need community because community is a space that will 746 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:49,880 reveal your misalignment. But community is also a space 747 00:46:49,880 --> 00:46:53,280 that provides a place for healing and growth. 748 00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:57,960 And as we read, community is actually a primary benefactor of 749 00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:01,560 your formation in the way of Jesus. 750 00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:08,000 Community is necessary for your apprenticeship in the way. 751 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,960 And so church, we have to commit to it because there's a lot of 752 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:13,440 other things that want our time and our attention. 753 00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,880 But you actually have a choice. And in Christ you have the 754 00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:21,200 freedom to make those priorities now and to live free from the 755 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:26,560 old ways, not no longer just as the Gentiles, but as Gentiles 756 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:30,360 transformed by the radical love and power of God. 757 00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:33,760 Thank you for joining us today. River City Church is all about 758 00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,480 experiencing and expressing God's love in our lives and 759 00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:39,160 community, and we hope that you've been able to experience 760 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,800 that today. As grateful as I am that you've 761 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:45,120 spent this time listening in this morning, this podcast is no 762 00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:48,160 substitute for full participation in a local church. 763 00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:51,760 I love it when River City people listen to other pastors, but it 764 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:54,840 is those who show up week after week faithfully giving their 765 00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,720 support and time and resources that make all of this possible. 766 00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:01,560 If we can help you get connected to a local church, pray for you, 767 00:48:01,720 --> 00:48:04,840 or support you in any way, click the link in the description and 768 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:06,960 let us know. If you'd like to financially 769 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:09,800 support the ministry of River City, click the give link on our 770 00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:12,960 website in the description. Don't forget to subscribe and 771 00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:14,680 don't forget to share this with your friends. 772 00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,680 Thanks so much for listening. May the Lord bless and keep you 773 00:48:17,760 --> 00:48:19,280 in all grace and peace.