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 --> 00:00:18,640 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow him today. 6 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,520 I. Don't want to begin with our 7 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,600 confession? I'm going to take just a second 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,160 in your heart. Just acknowledge. 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,560 Where's your heart? Are you racing? 10 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:29,720 Are you running? Are you going fast? 11 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:31,880 Are you sad? Are you grieving? 12 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:32,960 Are you? Where is your heart? 13 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,000 Wherever you are, that's OK. We come to a Father who sees us 14 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,680 and knows us and loves us and our confession to him is we are 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,640 badly broken. Yes, you are. 16 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,720 Grace and peace to you. I've really been enjoying this 17 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,200 Ephesians study. It's deep and it's and it's, 18 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,320 yeah, kind of twisty and windy and it doesn't always go in line 19 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,080 with what we what what, what we think and right and what we've 20 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:59,600 experienced, what we've seen. But I heard an illustration as I 21 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,160 was studying for this that resonated with me. 22 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,200 I've told before, I've talked about how aside from like my 23 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,840 family and my dog and you all like, my favorite living thing 24 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:14,800 alive is Aspen trees. I love, I love the Aspen the way 25 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,880 that the leaves are, the, the, the way they attach the 26 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:19,440 branches. When the wind blows, they 27 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,560 whisper. It's just a very peaceful. 28 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,760 I can feel myself driving into the mountains loving and I see 29 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,280 them. You can see just a picture. 30 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:26,800 Yeah. Right. 31 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,680 So one of the things about Aspen trees as you as you look and see 32 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,880 how they're shaped by wind, they're shaped by, as you know, 33 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,200 the animals come and, you know, rub their horns or their antlers 34 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:37,640 on and they scratch them and they scar. 35 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:38,880 So they all grow up looking different. 36 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,440 But what's interesting about Aspen trees is when you come 37 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,440 across an Aspen Grove like this, or you come down and you see 38 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:50,120 they're all one Organism. So sometimes an Aspen tree 39 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:55,280 spread over square miles, really their roots are so intertwined 40 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,480 and so interlocked. They come from one root ball. 41 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,400 And as I was watching this, I thought, this is a great 42 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,200 illustration. This is a great analogy that 43 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,480 Paul's been talking about for the church. 44 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,680 As he's illustrated, it's like we're one, like there's no, you 45 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,960 look at these Aspen trees, you look at these, you know, the 46 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,560 trunks and the leaves. And you're going to go, oh, 47 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,800 that's one and that's the one. And oh, that one's been rubbed 48 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:16,920 on and that's been scratched by a bear. 49 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:18,440 And this one, you know, needs water. 50 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,720 And this one's got the lesion. They're all stem from and come 51 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,360 from the same 1. And that's kind of really, if 52 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,800 you could summarize visually, chapters one through 3, that's 53 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:30,120 what we see. We are because of the work of 54 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,600 Jesus, the redemptive and restorative work of Jesus. 55 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,720 We are one humanity with one spirit in Christ. 56 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,800 We have one spirit that unites us, that brings us together. 57 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,440 And the thing that Paul was and saying over and over and over 58 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,200 again, it's important for us is it's real even if we don't 59 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:50,720 believe it. And the idea is that Jesus came 60 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,760 and in him all these boundaries and all these barriers were 61 00:02:53,920 --> 00:02:55,920 brought down. And the reality is, we can 62 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:00,720 actually live like that reality, or we can spend our entire lives 63 00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,600 and all of our moments rebuilding what Jesus has torn 64 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,120 down. If we believe what Jesus has 65 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,040 told us, if we believe what Paul tells us has happened on the 66 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:15,000 cross, it affects the way that we work, the way that we walk, 67 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,080 the way that we live, the way that we. 68 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:22,000 Move, and that is what chapters 4 through 6 begin to. 69 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:24,920 Spell out now 4 through 6 chapters 4 through 6. 70 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:29,600 Don't tell us every single thing that every single spirit, 71 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,480 empowered person and picture will do. 72 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:34,840 It just tells us an overview like this is what a people, a 73 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,040 person and a people who are animated by the Spirit of God. 74 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,880 Will look like. This is how they'll behave. 75 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,320 This is what their work will look like. 76 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:44,760 This is what their marriages will look like. 77 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,400 This is what their relationships with their children will look 78 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:49,680 like. This is what warfare looks like. 79 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:53,520 This is what troubles and difficulties look like. 80 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,360 But it all begins with this idea, this Aspen Grove reality 81 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:00,840 that is, we all sit in here and you look around and you look at 82 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,640 the people next to you and they came from somewhere and you came 83 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,320 from somewhere. And I'm looking at some of you, 84 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:06,760 right? Like some of you came from the 85 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:08,360 Northwest, right? I'm looking at you, y'all, 86 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,960 Mariners fans, and we're praying for your souls right now. 87 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,160 Some of you have come from the East Coast. 88 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,080 You're Dodgers fans. We're not even praying for 89 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:15,640 y'all. We're just. 90 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,000 Hoping right, like the Lord will come, but praying for me that I 91 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,640 will have compassion for that right. 92 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,440 But we all come from different places, different family 93 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,360 backgrounds, different socioeconomic realities. 94 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,560 But the truth is in Christ, we all have the same root system. 95 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,040 It's the same life that's flowing. 96 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,440 Through each of us and we want that we want to live like what I 97 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,320 want to say is when those moments in your life that feel 98 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,440 the most deeply, satisfyingly, right when you go, hey, this is 99 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,560 it. These those are those moments in 100 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:50,000 Christ that you experience. What I'm going to say is we know 101 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,760 that we want that. And I want to affirm and 102 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:58,360 acknowledge today, it's hard. It's really, really hard to 103 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,920 continue to live and to walk out this reality, this truth, even 104 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,440 though it's what our hearts want, even though it's this ache 105 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,440 that is deep inside of us. We all have these deep ache to 106 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,880 belong to something, don't we? This is why we, This is why 107 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:15,880 tribalism is such a danger, right? 108 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,160 Because there are groups at our job, in our neighborhoods, on 109 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,760 the TV, wherever we go, there are groups that will say you can 110 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:24,920 be like us. You can be this, oh sure, you 111 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,560 can belong to us. You just have to look a certain 112 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,200 way or think a certain thing or give a certain amount of money 113 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,640 or do a certain. If you just do those things and 114 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:35,480 check those boxes, then you can be like us. 115 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,320 And everyone who's not like us, who's like them, well, then 116 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:43,960 they'll be bad. We seek to belong, and what the 117 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,280 analogy tells us is that you do belong in Christ. 118 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:48,680 You're a part of something that's bigger than you. 119 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,280 But we split. Over differences. 120 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,240 Surface differences, physical differences, differences in 121 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,400 houses and cars and neighborhoods. 122 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,720 And we're lonely as a culture and as a community. 123 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,240 We're. Lonely social media sort of 124 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:06,760 scratches that itch, but not really. 125 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,240 It can make it worse. It can make it deeper because we 126 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,080 see people, but we know we're not really known. 127 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,800 Any time that I can just turn off when I want to or they can 128 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,000 turn off when they want to, we know that that's not the true 129 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:18,720 connection. We want purpose. 130 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:21,240 This is why people are drawn to their jobs. 131 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,560 This is why people become workaholics, because we know in 132 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,520 their job, their job will tell them who they are, tell them 133 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,720 what their contribution is and what their value is. 134 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:32,240 And identity gets wrapped up in there. 135 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,360 We want to know our identity. Who are we? 136 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:36,080 What is it that makes me special? 137 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,760 What is it that makes me unique in this world? 138 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,800 We want to be stable, why do we go too? 139 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,880 Far at work. Why do we worry when the economy 140 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,640 turns? Why do we worry about power 141 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,040 shifts and power structures? Because we want to know that 142 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,280 we're going to be stable. We want to know that the things 143 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,800 that are coming down the road, the things that we're saving and 144 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,120 preparing and working for now, that they'll be there. 145 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,280 That's one of the greatest things with some of the younger 146 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,280 generations right now is they're feeling like, man, we did what 147 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:06,440 we were supposed to do and now everything seems like it's hard 148 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,640 and hurtful and worrying and what do we do? 149 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:11,600 Where's the stability in this? And it becomes a generational. 150 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:18,080 Curse and a fear. We all want to be loved not for 151 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,400 what we produce, but for who we are. 152 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,640 See, the problem is if you just love me because of the way that 153 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,480 I preach, well, someday I'm not going to be able to do this 154 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,520 anymore. If you just love me for what 155 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,680 happens here, well, someday I I'm not going to be able to be 156 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,120 here. And this is going to move on. 157 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,600 If you just love their kids when they're toddlers, well, the 158 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,280 teenage is going to suck for you because, right? 159 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,200 We all want to be loved for what God has put in us, for the truth 160 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,240 that's in us, not just for what we can contribute to the whole, 161 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,800 to the thing. That's why Paul has spent so 162 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,640 much time over the last several chapters on the theology of 163 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,720 this. Because what Paul is telling us 164 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:04,080 over and over again is the things that we most desperately 165 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:08,080 want and search for and seek out for have already been provided 166 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:10,960 for us. The things that will satisfy and 167 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:13,640 nourish the deepest areas of our soul. 168 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,560 Not that it'll be easy. Not that everything will be sun 169 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,920 shines and rainbows now here in this life and eternity is going 170 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,240 to wipe away every tear. He's going to make every sad 171 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:24,320 thing coming true. But in this world, we want to 172 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,680 know that we have hope, right? And what Paul tells us is that 173 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,320 we do have hope. Everything has been provided for 174 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,400 us. It's available to you here. 175 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:36,120 And now the question is, what do we do with it so that we can? 176 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,200 Experience it and that is how Paul starts. 177 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,039 So if you have your scripture, turn to Ephesians chapter 4 and 178 00:08:42,039 --> 00:08:44,400 let me just tell you like. Who? 179 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,120 Like we could do 48 weeks on Ephesians chapter 4. 180 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,600 I mean, we're not going to. I feel like I need to clarify 181 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:54,280 that because you weren't kind of sure, right? 182 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,960 I want to try to spend a lot of time in the text today because 183 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,960 it it really is kind of a beautiful flowing and what Paul 184 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:05,960 says and again with his long and smart, you know, sentences, 185 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:07,800 right? But it really, I guess we kind 186 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:09,800 of stay into it and and lean into it. 187 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,760 It begins to give us hope, but also direction. 188 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,600 And that's why we start with our confession, right? 189 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,680 We admit that we're badly broken so that when we start to get 190 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:21,560 instruction from the Scripture, we have less resistance to it 191 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:24,360 where we can just know like, Hey, my way is the brokenness, 192 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:26,240 right? Like of course I have sin, of 193 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,880 course I have a preference. Of course I know how I want this 194 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,400 to go, but what I want to look at and go, what does it look 195 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:33,800 like in here? What does this tell me and what 196 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:35,280 should it look like? So we started in this in 197 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:38,840 Ephesians chapter. 4. First word is therefore we've 198 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,760 already seen that such an important word right It means 199 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,600 that everything that's come before is this is that hinge. 200 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,280 This is where it was so because of the fact this. 201 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,840 Apocalypse of Aspen tree. Reality where we are, one where 202 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,320 the dividing line between all of us has been torn down in Christ, 203 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,240 where His church is, is 1. It's the tree, it's the temple. 204 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,120 It's all that. Because of all of that, because 205 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:05,320 of the theology that we've just been heaped in, I, Paul the 206 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:11,520 prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of 207 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,720 the calling that you have been called to. 208 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,600 Paul doesn't just say believe, he says I want you to walk in 209 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,000 this reality. It begins with belief. 210 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,040 We have to decide whether we believe that what Paul tells us 211 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,440 about Jesus is actually true or not. 212 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,120 As you look at your friend from a different tribe, from a 213 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:33,520 different country, from a different socio economic 214 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,440 background. As you look at the person across 215 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,440 the street from you that keeps their yard different than you, 216 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,120 that votes different you, that raises their children different 217 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,920 you. The question is, do we believe 218 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,680 what it tells us here? Because what we believe believe 219 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:48,800 is important. It's where it starts. 220 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:52,640 But what Paul says is based on what you believe, you need to 221 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,560 walk in that direction. And what I would say to you 222 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:59,160 lovingly, gently, is you already do. 223 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,760 You walk according to what your deep beliefs are. 224 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,200 That's the problem and my deep beliefs. 225 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,320 I believe that people. Who are different from me are 226 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:11,600 scary, and that's what Paul says. 227 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:17,000 Jesus wants to undo and uncover me, so he says walk in a manner 228 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,960 worthy of the calling that you've been deceived. 229 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,840 Now he tells us how that's going to look. 230 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:26,040 Walk with all humility. Humility is one of those great 231 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,680 words, right? It's all over the the church, 232 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:32,040 it's all over, you know, the things that we talk about, the 233 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,600 way we go. But it can become one of those 234 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,560 things that we talk about so much that we don't really worry 235 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,240 about whether we know what it means. 236 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,160 We can talk about humility as talking. 237 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:42,640 Terribly. I say, oh, I'm old. 238 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:43,920 Nothing. Oh, you don't need nothing. 239 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,520 That's not humility, friend. It's not humility to call what 240 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,400 God has made beautiful, to call it ugly. 241 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,200 That's not humility. That's disassociated from 242 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,440 reality. That's ignoring the truth. 243 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:58,280 We're going to find what He says about you. 244 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,240 We're going to find what He's done in your life and what He's 245 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,080 doing for you. Humility isn't thinking less of 246 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,080 yourself. Some of you need to make peace 247 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:06,640 with that. Some of you have been walking 248 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,480 around with some label that your dad gave you 100 years ago that 249 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,920 Jesus has been trying to deliver you from, trying to have you 250 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,600 walk out from, and it's time to still walk out from that. 251 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,280 He says walk according to who you are, according to what Jesus 252 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,320 says. Walk humbly, not thinking less 253 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,160 of yourself, just thinking of yourself. 254 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,200 Yes, Instead of walking through your day going, What does 255 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,600 everybody think of me? Walk through your day thinking, 256 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:33,440 Who cares? Instead of walking through your 257 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,120 day going, Does everybody notice me? 258 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,040 Is everybody mad at me walking through and go? 259 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:42,280 I am in the eye of my father. Walk through this world. 260 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,280 But listen, if we're going to do that, if we're going to focus 261 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,360 less on ourselves, we got to start focusing less on the other 262 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:49,840 people. And that's the problem. 263 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,280 Because when I look at myself, I can get real enraptured with 264 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,360 this, right? But when I look at someone else, 265 00:12:55,440 --> 00:13:00,000 what I see too many times is annoying, frustrating, 266 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,960 discouraging, out of touch, lost. 267 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,160 So he says, walk humbly with your neighbors, walk through and 268 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:08,840 just go. That person is badly broken. 269 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,800 They. Don't even know it, man. 270 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,240 They think they're right. I don't get to. 271 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,240 Contribute the brokenness. I just get to decide what Jesus 272 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,560 said is they're loves you and I get to decide whether we're 273 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:22,840 going to believe that or not and walk according to that. 274 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:28,480 Walk humbly, he says, with gentleness. 275 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:30,720 I love gentleness. This picture, it's one of the 276 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:32,760 fruits of the spirit, right? The spirit is in you. 277 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:33,920 It's gentleness. And the thing I like about 278 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,640 gentleness is the best place to practice gentleness is in the 279 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:41,280 face of wrongdoing. When I am gentle with my 280 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:45,120 children, it's generally because they've been terrible and 281 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:49,720 deserve the wrath, right? And when I instead just say, 282 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,280 hey, but hey, let's figure this out. 283 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:54,120 We'll be OK, Let's slow down. We'll back up. 284 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,000 We'll do it. This is gentleness. 285 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,000 It it assumes that people in the world are going to cut you off 286 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,160 in traffic, that they're going to stand right in the middle of 287 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:06,520 the aisle at HEB, that they're going to say that dumb thing on 288 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,600 Facebook that you just. Have to have to sit. 289 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:10,800 Right. And they just, we just know. 290 00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,760 And gentleness says when we walk gently, we look and we just go. 291 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,600 I don't have to tell every somebody every time that they're 292 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,800 stupid because I like it when people don't tell me every time 293 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,360 I'm dumb, right? Like you, You're so gracious to 294 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,040 me. Walk with gentleness. 295 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,400 Walk with patience doesn't say feel patient. 296 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:34,920 It says walk with patience with people, bearing with one another 297 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,360 and love. This idea of bearing is like 298 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,640 caring each other. And what it means is like, don't 299 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,720 quit on the relationship. Oh, you mean they're a terrible 300 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,960 person. They're probably just in a 301 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,080 really bad season. They're probably just in a place 302 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,640 where the world is scarier than they know what to do with. 303 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:52,840 What they probably need is exactly what you need. 304 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:57,120 Not to be abandoned, not to be left alone, be prayed for, to be 305 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,240 encouraged. See, that's what the church is. 306 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:01,920 We don't quit on each other because we're different. 307 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:06,080 We don't stop loving each other because it gets hard. 308 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:08,800 This is to be. This is what it means to be 309 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,840 rooted in this apocalypse. This is what it means to be 310 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,440 rooted in this truth of Jesus's love for us. 311 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,840 It means that we walk in our unity. 312 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,400 That means people should look at the church and see us walking 313 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,200 with people that other people don't. 314 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,080 They should just go, hey, why are you with that person? 315 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:35,480 Do you know who that person is? And you go, yes, they are one of 316 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:40,920 my Father's favorite children, and he wanted me to remind them 317 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,480 that they are deeply loved with an eternal kind of love. 318 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,400 What about their? Sin, I can trust that he'll talk 319 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:52,200 about their sin to them. Thank God He hasn't shared all 320 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,240 of my sinfulness with you, but he talks to me about it. 321 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,960 And we're going to walk in that to be rooted in Christ, right? 322 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:01,280 And what does it and what does it say, right? 323 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,040 He goes on. So it says we have this unity, 324 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:07,880 right? He goes on to describe it to 325 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:10,280 keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. 326 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,560 And now it says, look, there is one body. 327 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,000 There's not a Methodist body and a Catholic body and a Protestant 328 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,080 body says there's one body, body of Christ, there is one spirit, 329 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,880 just as you also were called to 1. 330 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,120 Hope of your calling 1. Lord 1. 331 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:34,280 Faith 1. Baptism 1 God and. 332 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,120 Father of all. Who is over all and through all 333 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:38,880 and then all. Did you see what he did with the 334 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:40,760 ones he says you got one guy and he said how many of there were 335 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:41,960 there? Seven of those. 336 00:16:42,080 --> 00:16:44,480 You know what 7 is right? Completion. 337 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,880 It was perfection. Why did God created the world in 338 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,120 seven days, right? And what Paul is telling us is, 339 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:54,640 is in Christ you have this perfect oneness, whatever it is 340 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,360 you think, that keeps you away from the body. 341 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,040 Of Christ that separates you from others you can find in 342 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:00,120 Christ. It's been a. 343 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,000 Been dealt with one body, one baptism, one strength 1 Spirit 1 344 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,599 Lord and we get to walk in that kind of unity. 345 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,319 See when Paul grew up, he grew up in in part of his Jewish 346 00:17:11,319 --> 00:17:13,119 heritage would have been every day they would have prayed. 347 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,200 It's called the Shema right here. 348 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,920 O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord. 349 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:22,920 Is 1 God and what Tim Mackie's this brilliant guy, and he's 350 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:24,640 great. He's kind of gentle kind of guy, 351 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:25,560 right? And what he says, he 352 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:27,839 reformulates this as a messianic. 353 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,920 Shema, we do have one God. We have Jesus who is 1 king, and 354 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:35,360 this is what he looks like. 1 spirit, 1 body, us. 355 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,600 And listen church, this is what we walk in. 356 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,120 You want to know what righteousness is? 357 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,520 Righteousness isn't just being good. 358 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,880 Righteousness isn't just cussing less. 359 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:48,800 Righteousness is the body, it is unity. 360 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,080 We would go to the temple and the Jewish people would go to 361 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,640 the temple to have their sins forgiven so that they could be 362 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:57,560 unified together, walking with each other and walking with God. 363 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,120 This is it is our righteousness. It doesn't do us to be any good 364 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:06,320 by ourselves and hateful are separated and detached from each 365 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:11,800 other, from the body. So to walk in unity is to live 366 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:16,600 like the roots are real, even if there's hit, even if they're 367 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:18,960 hidden. To walk like this connection 368 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,080 among us is greater than whatever would separate us and 369 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:25,920 divide us out there. That's the kind of thing, that's 370 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,280 the kind of fruit that is the visible evidence of new. 371 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,880 Creation. And that's what Paul's been 372 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,440 getting at. We're a new creation. 373 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,280 What he's done in US isn't just a. 374 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:37,760 A shade of meaning to something else. 375 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,080 It's something entirely new, something that the world has 376 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:45,600 been desperately longing. For but yet to see so how does 377 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:51,800 God empower us to do that verse 7 to each one of us. 378 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,560 Grace. Was given according to the 379 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,600 measure of Christ's gift. This is the thing, right? 380 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:03,400 This is the mechanism. How does God fill the world with 381 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:04,840 grace? And we've already been seen it. 382 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,760 We've already been looking at, you know, how he gets grace into 383 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,680 the world. It gives it to you. 384 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:14,760 What's interesting is maybe it's not interesting. 385 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,040 I just say that a word that's like a verbal tick that I have, 386 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,520 right? What The thing is, the Greek 387 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:25,560 word for grace here is the word caris. 388 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:33,360 The Greek word for the word gift here is also Paris, right? 389 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:37,000 And so it's this idea that gifts are grace. 390 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,200 It's something free that he gives us that is for us, that is 391 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,120 to us. The big thing is that it is 392 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,280 something that is undeserved. And what's interesting now is I 393 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:47,520 want to notice a very important shift. 394 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,080 So what have we been saying every time it says you, right? 395 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,840 What does that mean? All y'all are so good. 396 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,720 You're Bible scholars and you didn't even notice it, right? 397 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,520 So what he's saying is all this has happened to all y'all. 398 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,360 All y'all have the same roots. All y'all are growing in the 399 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:02,040 same forest. All y'all are part. 400 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:06,000 Of God's plan, all y'all have this and now verse 7, but to 401 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:12,560 each one of you specifically, individually, uniquely to you, 402 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:17,120 sure we all have one plan, but to you has been given grace. 403 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,040 You have a unique expression of God's gift. 404 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,840 You have a unique expression of grace that differentiates us. 405 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:29,720 So when we say walk in unity, when I say you walk in me with 406 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,640 me and I walk with you and we walk with Jesus, it means we are 407 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:34,840 together. It does not mean that we are the 408 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,320 same. It says that He has given 409 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,800 something special and unique to each one of you. 410 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,880 That means that what you have is different from what I have. 411 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,040 The grace that you have for the world is different than the 412 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:47,920 grace that I. Have for the world. 413 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:50,760 And I think too many times the problem is that we're all 414 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:53,160 running out with hoping for one kind of grace. 415 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,920 And the really busy kind of people are out there running and 416 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,760 doing their specific brand of grace all over the place. 417 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,160 And the world looks and goes, that's not really enough. 418 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:02,800 And it's not that it's not enough. 419 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,520 It's just not differentiated the right way. 420 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,120 And what makes the? Differentiation right you. 421 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:14,240 When you walk in what God has called you to walk in, when you 422 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:19,080 don't just absorb grace but you give grace, when you don't just 423 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,360 experience the goodness of God, but you express the goodness of 424 00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:27,080 God in the world, that's how he gets grace out into the world. 425 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:30,000 It's not uniformity. Jesus hasn't called us to be 426 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:31,440 robots. He hasn't called us. 427 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,680 To look the. Same and dress the same and walk 428 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,400 the same and talk the same and spend the same he's given. 429 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,200 Each of us a unique gift. He goes on and describes it 430 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,120 Verse 8. Therefore it says talks about 431 00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:47,800 now this is a quote from Psalm 68 and notice what it says. 432 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:53,520 When he ascended on high, he led captive the captives and he gave 433 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,640 he gave gifts to all the people. I'm not going to go in and 434 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,000 unpack. If you're really interested, you 435 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,920 can go to the what's it called Bible project, Tim Mackie's 436 00:22:03,920 --> 00:22:07,200 Bible Project, and he has this great probably 20 minute 437 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,720 exegesis of Psalm chapter 68 and it is beautiful. 438 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,080 It is worth your time to go look for that and to do that, but I'm 439 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,920 just not going to do it here. The picture that he says here is 440 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,760 he gives shows the picture of a king after victorious, walking 441 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:26,160 through his town and showering the gifts of plunder with all 442 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,040 the people in the community. So as we look at this now, who 443 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,240 are the The Who has he plundered? 444 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:35,160 Powers, the powers of darkness that would separate us, that 445 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,160 would divide us, that would keep us from each other. 446 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,840 But what we have here is instead of the people giving gifts to 447 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:42,840 the king, O King, you have seen this. 448 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,320 This shows us our king and his generosity. 449 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,840 He's plundered the powers. He's conquered all of that, but 450 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:50,600 he's not a. King who takes. 451 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:55,880 From you He's a king who gives, He gives gifts to his people. 452 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,200 Now this expression, he ascended, what does it mean 453 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,200 except that he had also descended into the lower parts 454 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,800 of earth? This is Jesus who did, what did 455 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,200 he do? He came, He lived with us, He 456 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,880 died. And he who descended as himself 457 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,880 also he who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he 458 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,720 might fill all things. So he's talking about Jesus. 459 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,800 The work and the ministry of Jesus is the fulfillment of 460 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,480 Psalm 68. He is this king who doesn't come 461 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,800 to take from us. He comes to give from us. 462 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:27,360 He doesn't measure what you have. 463 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:29,400 He doesn't walk through and go, well, this is Jacob. 464 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,560 Jacob, the tall, strapping, handsome young man. 465 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,480 I'm going to give more gifts to him. 466 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:34,960 But right like, like somebody over there. 467 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:35,800 That's Jason. He's. 468 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:36,920 Like he's a little. Funny looking. 469 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,000 He's kind of like Swanny. We're going to give less gift to 470 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:39,880 him. Here's the thing. 471 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,840 Are you listening? In the Kingdom of God there is 472 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,040 no such thing as meritocracy. You. 473 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,880 Know what meritocracy is, right? You get what you deserve. 474 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,840 You get what you earn. It doesn't exist. 475 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,840 You know what? There's also in the Kingdom. 476 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,280 There is no competition. There's no stretch where me and 477 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,720 Jacob are fighting for the same goods. 478 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,840 There's no stretch where I have to wonder, is Jacob going to get 479 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,400 more because he's better, or because he's stronger, or 480 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,480 because he's faster, or because he's starter? 481 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:13,760 Meritocracy and competition for glory are entirely out. 482 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,000 Of step with the New Testament, I want to pause and just let 483 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:24,640 that settle. Meritocracy and competition for 484 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:30,440 glory and honor are entirely out of step with the New Testament. 485 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:35,840 So the greater we try to make ourselves look in the world, the 486 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:40,120 more we find ourselves working against a system that elevates 487 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,960 Jesus. And what it says is he gave 488 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:44,480 everybody gifts. But since this isn't a 489 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,800 meritocracy and since you haven't earned this, what it 490 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:53,520 means is the gifts aren't yours. It's not like if you come and 491 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:57,640 work at your job, the payment that they give you is earned. 492 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,240 These aren't earned. The gifts that you have, the 493 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,880 strengths that you have, the parts of your personality that 494 00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:07,120 really just make people light up, those specific unique things 495 00:25:07,120 --> 00:25:11,320 that God puts in you that that cause change and and growth and 496 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:12,720 other people who didn't come from you. 497 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,800 It's not for you. It's something that we steward 498 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,760 and now watch what happens. Verse 11. 499 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,520 He gave some as apostles. Notice what it doesn't say? 500 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:29,680 It doesn't say he gave some the gift of apostleship. 501 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,920 He said he called some to be apostles. 502 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:38,720 Here's the problem with much of spiritual gift teaching as it 503 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,760 exists kind of in the churches where I've grown up, and 504 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,480 honestly, as I've taught them before. 505 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,240 Spiritual gifts as they've. Come and been taught by me exist 506 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:49,480 in you need to go find out what just makes you just the most 507 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,800 neat and you just need to like go figure out how all of your 508 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:54,680 neatness kind of fits in the world. 509 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,560 And that's not what Ephesians chapter 4 says. 510 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,840 It says he gave some people to be apostles. 511 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,920 Apostles are starters, they're expanders, they're beginners. 512 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,920 What that looks like like in context of River City at our 513 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:09,840 staff, I want to know Pastor Brian Schneider, I think has 514 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,560 this plays this role of apostleship in the sense where 515 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,360 he says, hey, where are we going? 516 00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:16,440 How can we make sure that we get there? 517 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:21,000 By setting, by establishing processes and systems and 518 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,840 structures to help make sure that the ministry that needs to 519 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:25,920 happen. We have this great, blowing up, 520 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,120 wonderful ministry on Wednesday night. 521 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,720 That's because Brian has this in this position, in this role of. 522 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,720 Starting things of making sure that there's always a class, 523 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:36,800 that there's always a teacher, that there's always a room. 524 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,400 He gave some as apostles. He gave others as prophets. 525 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,080 Prophets are not fortune tellers. 526 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:45,720 Prophets are not the ones who tell you that God's going to 527 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,000 strike you. What prophets? 528 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,520 Do is just say, hey, our God is a God of justice. 529 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,800 Our God is a job as a God who who heals and restores and who 530 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:56,920 calls the church back to that that. 531 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,240 That's my thing. Right, like when I talk about 532 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,720 things and I push buttons and you walk out and you're like 533 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:03,360 politically a little uncomfortable. 534 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:04,880 Good. You should be. 535 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,760 That's my job. That's what I do Now, my 536 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,440 spiritual gift, my primary spiritual gift is to be an 537 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,560 encourager. I love to talk to you and I want 538 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,200 to tell you what God can do in your life. 539 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,280 But mostly what I want you to know is what God can do in your 540 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,080 life is make peace for those who don't have peace. 541 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:27,320 Lift up those who are held down. Use what you have in this role, 542 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,120 prophet, that's my deal. He gave some as apostles. 543 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:32,920 He gave some as prophets, some as evangelists. 544 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,120 When I think evangelists are word spreaders, they are the 545 00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,600 tellers of the truth. When I think of evangelists and 546 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:40,960 I think in terms kind of our of our staff right those rounds, I 547 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,400 think of Alyssa, our our worship leader. 548 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,920 When Alyssa leads worship, the things that she says are can you 549 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,400 taste that the Lord is good? You know what that does? 550 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,840 That's an invitation for you to follow to experience something 551 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:57,800 from from God. My prophetic urge is. 552 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,280 God is great. And you should get in line with 553 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,000 him. Because it'll make your life 554 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,720 better, right? Alyssa's like, yeah, but it's 555 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:06,440 sweet. Don't you want to taste it on 556 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,320 your tongue? Love it. 557 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:15,160 We need that. Interesting. 558 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,040 Kind of construct and all of these in the Greek right. 559 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,480 He gave some as the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, these 560 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:25,680 next ones, the pastor and the teacher kind of sometimes can 561 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:30,200 some theologians think that it goes as one as the the pastor 562 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,800 and and my friend Johnny who's code kind of teaching this. 563 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,880 He sent me a a reminder I should probably clarify when they talk 564 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,960 about pastor, they're not talking about me. 565 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:49,000 Pastor is not a organizational role in in this the a better 566 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,480 word is shepherd. It communicates it's a guy. 567 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,880 If you're in a small group with someone who has called you when 568 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,640 you were lonely, you have experienced shepherd. 569 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:00,920 Now I teach, right? I teach as part of my as my 570 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,160 prophetic thing. But when we go to our small 571 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,160 groups, that's what we're doing. We're experiencing a shepherd. 572 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,320 And some people are, are like, and I and River City doesn't get 573 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,800 this, but some of the churches are just like when you get sick, 574 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,800 like I need Jason, if I can get to your bed, I, I, I will. 575 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:19,240 But listen, if you want me at your bedside instead of Miss 576 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:24,560 Jamie or Miss Sharon, you don't know me and you don't know Miss 577 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,600 Jamie and Miss Sharon well enough because when I'm sick in 578 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,280 my bed, I want Miss Jamie and Sharon on my bed, right? 579 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,640 I don't like I don't want right. But the idea is these are these 580 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,400 are the roles, these are the way that the church. 581 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,760 So how does God give his get his grace out into into the world? 582 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,440 He gives it to people. He gives it to the apostles and 583 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,120 he says apostles take these gifts, this grace that I give 584 00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:53,200 you and built a build a structure in a system that 585 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,280 allows for the for the. Grace to go and go to new places 586 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,280 where Grace doesn't exist. Is that you? 587 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:01,040 Are you a starter? Do you come to me and just go 588 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,520 like, hey, and some of you do, you'll come up to me on a Sunday 589 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,000 morning. Just be like, hey, we're looking 590 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,760 for a small group. I don't really want to go to any 591 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,320 of those other ones. Can I start one and you go to 592 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:10,880 Brian? You know what Brian says. 593 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,400 Yeah, yeah. Let's go to training. 594 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:16,840 Let's make sure like that we're on kind of on the same page, but 595 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,040 yeah. Some of you will come up to me 596 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,480 and you'll talk to me like, why don't you talk about? 597 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,920 Oh, that's the prophetic thing. It's that thing. 598 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,400 The idea is God. Has given you something that 599 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:33,880 gets the grace and gets his spirit out into the world. 600 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:35,120 Let me see. Make sure that I didn't forget 601 00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:35,640 anything. Right. 602 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:38,240 Oh, what are those 4? Right. 603 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:40,640 This is this is great. What's my job here? 604 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,280 To make sure that you get everything that you need. 605 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,920 No, He gave those these positions for the equipping of 606 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:49,920 the Saints, for the work of ministry, for the building of 607 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,400 the body. He gave some for the equipping 608 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,440 of the Saints. You know what my job is To make 609 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,000 sure that you have what you need to do what God has called you to 610 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,600 do. That's why we have a teaching 611 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:02,640 team here. I don't. 612 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,480 My goal is to take 12 Sundays off. 613 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:07,840 You're just like, I wish I got them. 614 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,000 It's not vacation, it's giftedness. 615 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,480 It's so that you know that my gifts aren't different or better 616 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,160 than your gifts. It's so that you know that when 617 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,360 Johnny stands up in here and speaks, he's got a gift. 618 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,320 When Jason Casey speaks, when Rebecca Grieman speaks, we 619 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:27,360 acknowledge God has put something in them that we need. 620 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,200 And So what we do, when I tell you to go check the Bible 621 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,520 project, it's to equip you to do the ministry that God has called 622 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:35,480 you to do. And two. 623 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,840 And so listen, the question becomes then, well then, Jason, 624 00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,080 what do you do? If I'm doing the children's 625 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,240 ministry and if I'm doing the wars and ministry, Jason, what 626 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:43,800 do you do? And I just go as little. 627 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:45,120 As possible. If I can't, no. 628 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:50,080 Just kidding. Here's the picture look 2001 I'd 629 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:53,200 had a radical experience with Christ and I woke up and I knew 630 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,200 at that moment my life will never be the same. 631 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:57,440 And I'm not sure that I have anything to do with the church 632 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,280 because the church had always been terrible and gross to me. 633 00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:03,120 So I was ready for the Lord. I was ready to experience God's 634 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,040 goodness and his grace. I just didn't think it had 635 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,560 anything to do with the church. But my mom, she's wonderful, but 636 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,520 she was also kind of a nag at the time. 637 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,000 So she like nagged me to go to church with her and she's like, 638 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,120 you found Jesus need to go to the church. 639 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:16,960 And so I had long hair and my hip rope and. 640 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,160 All this stuff, right? And I was going to go once to 641 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:22,040 make sure just so I could write the whole experience off. 642 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,920 And what happened when I got there is they just loved me. 643 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:29,520 And they just said, and I just said, hey, can I like, hang out 644 00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,560 in the youth ministry because they were younger than me and I 645 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:32,880 knew that. And they told me they're like, 646 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:36,440 yeah, you can go lead that small group of middle school girls, 647 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,520 whatever. Do you know what I said? 648 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,560 Let's go, let's go, let's go. You know why? 649 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,200 Because Jesus had done something in my heart and I wanted to tell 650 00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:49,800 Him. And they were. 651 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:58,680 Like oh, didn't last long I. Eventually got right, But 652 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:03,960 listen, over the span of the next couple of years, they gave 653 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,920 me encouragement, they gave me training, they gave me support, 654 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:11,680 they gave me responsibility. And then ten years later, they 655 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:16,760 sent me here. See, the reason that we're here 656 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:22,160 is because 20 years ago, a group of 150 believers on the north 657 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,880 side of San Antonio took a shot with some kid in a hemp rope 658 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,800 necklace and they didn't hoard ministry for themselves. 659 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,040 They didn't say, well, if we let him do it, what will we do? 660 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,280 And I can assure you, there's a thriving, growing church in 661 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,000 Selma, TX right now that we came from. 662 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,440 And anything that we took with us, God has more than replaced. 663 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,120 But what we got from that place was love and training and 664 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:47,600 responsibility. And let me tell you. 665 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,880 About our men's ministry right now, and I'm just going to go on 666 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:51,880 and on and on. Our men's ministry right now is. 667 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,080 Blowing up. If you show up on a Wednesday 668 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,320 night, you're going to hear about Jesus and you're going to 669 00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,640 have guys that are going to talk to you about to sin in your 670 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,640 life, not to judge you or condemn you, but to walk you out 671 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:02,800 of it. And do you know how that 672 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,120 started? That started with Jaime Martinez 673 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,920 coming up to me about 8 years ago and going, I've got a vision 674 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:10,280 to see men discipled in Christ Jesus. 675 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:12,960 And So what I had to say is we didn't have a men's ministry 676 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:14,280 group at the time. Do you know why? 677 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:18,320 Because that's not what I do. And I'm not going to fill a hole 678 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:19,679 that's going to take from someone else. 679 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:21,400 Let me just tell you, we got the right guy. 680 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:24,600 The right guy's. Doing the right thing in men's 681 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:25,320 ministry. He's. 682 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:29,040 Got a gift you've got to give too. 683 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:34,480 And what I'm saying is, there's enough grace in the Godhead for 684 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,840 the entire world. He's waiting on us to get it out 685 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,880 and the way that he does it is gives it to you. 686 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:44,080 We just got to choose. Are we going to fight on 687 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,199 Facebook or are we going to multiply some stuff? 688 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,840 Are we going to fight on Facebook about stuff that's 689 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,840 going to be dead in 100 years and dead to us anyway in 100 690 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,040 years? Are we going to get busy doing 691 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:57,640 things that are going to last forever? 692 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:00,520 He's giving you a responsibility. 693 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,640 He's giving you a place. Those kids up there in 694 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:05,440 children's ministry, Those people that you mean. 695 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,360 You don't know how many people have walked. 696 00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,240 I know some of them. You don't know how many people 697 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:12,480 have walked through those doors stoned out of their mind, ready 698 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,120 on their last leg. Husband, wife threw them out. 699 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:16,240 Can't them? They walk in here. 700 00:35:16,240 --> 00:35:19,120 His last hope. 3 weeks later, we're baptized in the whole 701 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:20,560 family. You don't know how much that 702 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,480 happens, and I should probably tell you, but it happens not 703 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:25,880 because of me, not because because of the stage, but 704 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,560 because out there, Because when they walk in, you're number one, 705 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:32,720 they feel like I belong here. Badly broken, deeply loved. 706 00:35:32,720 --> 00:35:35,440 Not just out of his mouth, out of your face. 707 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:45,080 Yeah, Amen is right, Church. This is what we offer the world. 708 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,520 Not everybody trying to be me. You. 709 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,960 Being you and walking in that. You know why we don't believe 710 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,600 that God gives us grace? Because we don't practice the 711 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,400 grace that He gives us, the grace to lead, the grace to 712 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,720 humble ourselves, the grace to be a fixer. 713 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:04,680 That's what grace is. Stewarding. 714 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,880 Grace looks like multiplying ministry. 715 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:11,720 I'm not talking about a program. I'm not saying you got to go 716 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:14,440 start on Awana. If you're an Awana starter, come 717 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:19,680 on, like we'll start that. I'm talking about respond with 718 00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:22,480 love in the place where God has placed you. 719 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:24,840 I'm looking at some of you who work in schools. 720 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,800 I'll never get to go talk to the kids that you get to talk to, 721 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:33,360 but I know that Jesus died for every student in that classroom 722 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,280 and you get to love them. Oh, but the principal. 723 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:37,280 Oh, but the school board? Up. 724 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,200 They're all gross. It's terrible and awful. 725 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,400 You've got grace from the Lord to give those kids. 726 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:45,640 I don't care what the school board says. 727 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:50,120 Let me love a kid. I don't care what let let me 728 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,520 show love to somebody who needs it. 729 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,400 It's not just about teaching, it's about multiplying teachers. 730 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,240 It's not just about a big gift, my personality. 731 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,320 It's about what the Holy Spirit doing what God is doing. 732 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:05,000 It's showing up in this room and instead of showing up on Sunday, 733 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:07,240 going. Who can who needs to serve me? 734 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,680 Who need who's got like you walk up and just going. 735 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:11,000 I've got something to give today. 736 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:13,800 I've got grace to give somebody. I've got a person that I need to 737 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:15,680 I need to encourage. We don't walk around looking. 738 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:18,640 Who can I talk to that will raise my status? 739 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,800 Who can I talk to that will make me look good? 740 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,480 When you walk into Target, you're looking for the person 741 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,240 that you can pray for, that you can love, that you can serve, 742 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:28,280 that you can humble. And maybe you walked out 743 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,120 sometime and you didn't know and you don't know, but your mindset 744 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:35,160 and your perspective is I have something to offer and to walk 745 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:40,760 in in this. World and So what that means is 746 00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:43,080 like this is one of the things I look now at our broader culture. 747 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:47,320 This is kind of where I think Christian celebrity is sketchy 748 00:37:47,720 --> 00:37:54,280 at best at best because John chapter 3 verse 30 write like 749 00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,000 John the Baptist says that he's got to increase and I must 750 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:03,480 decrease right like that's the call for all of it. 751 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:08,360 Jesus is our hero. Jesus is the one who saves us. 752 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,360 Jesus is the one who leads us and guides us and gives us his 753 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,800 spirit. That's who we walk in. 754 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,800 That's our story. So. 755 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,600 And grace is multiplied instead of hoarded. 756 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,160 The church doesn't stay busy. That's the problem. 757 00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:26,160 I think too many times in the church we're just like, busy, 758 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,040 right? So the church doesn't just stay 759 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,840 busy, it grows up. Look, in verse 13, we're going 760 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:36,320 to do that, build up the body of Christ until we all attain to 761 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,560 the unity of the faith, right? And we talked about that one, 762 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,480 one spirit, one God, right? Unity of the Faith. 763 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,240 And of the knowledge of the Son of God. 764 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:47,080 It doesn't mean that we all have. 765 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,040 It means that we all are experiencing God, that we just 766 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:53,200 know this is a place where we come and we encounter, where we 767 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,960 know God's presence is with us. When you go to HEB and you see 768 00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,240 that person and you stop and you pray in HEB, you know God's 769 00:39:00,240 --> 00:39:03,440 presence is there with you. You know He's doing that to a 770 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,400 mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the 771 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,240 fullness of Christ. This is where we go. 772 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:12,560 This is like Paul's not dialing. He's not pulling back from his 773 00:39:12,560 --> 00:39:14,360 assertion. He's doubling down. 774 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,000 When you show up as the church, when the Spirit of God brings us 775 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,560 together at a birthday party, in a classroom, at your job in HEB, 776 00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:25,840 in the parking lot, wherever you go, it is the literal physical 777 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:30,720 presence of the person of Jesus capable of doing the things that 778 00:39:30,720 --> 00:39:32,480 Jesus did when he was here. That's. 779 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,040 That's the spirit that's in you. You don't have a light spirit, 780 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:40,040 you don't have the diet spirit. You have the spirit that 781 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:44,040 resurrected Jesus from the dead, that brought life to dead 782 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:46,960 places, that empowers his church. 783 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:55,080 As a result, we are no longer children tossed here and there 784 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,120 by waves. The analogy, this is an analogy. 785 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:59,360 The analogy he's going to talk about, first of all, children, 786 00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:01,720 immature, right? He's talking about spiritual 787 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:03,520 immaturity. What does he say? 788 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:07,040 Spiritual immaturity is like, it's like a baby on the front of 789 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:12,240 the boat in a storm. Wild analogy, right? 790 00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,200 Like. That a baby can't sit itself up. 791 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,120 It can't hold its head straight. It certainly can't hold on to 792 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:19,760 anything. And if you're in a storm, it 793 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:21,760 just bounced all over. It's unstable. 794 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:23,440 We see this in our culture, right? 795 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,480 Like we see this every time we get freaked out when the news 796 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:30,120 starts to loves to tell the church what like the latest 797 00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:32,120 problem with our faith is and we all. 798 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:33,840 Freak out. Oh, what if they're right? 799 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:34,920 They're not right. Stop. 800 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,520 For me, the analogy is The Da Vinci Code, right? 801 00:40:39,560 --> 00:40:43,160 Like it came out and church just went bonkers, right? 802 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:45,880 Who's the Antichrist? Every time it's like that's, 803 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,680 that's not it. That's being tossed around by 804 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:54,560 every, what does it say? Wind of teaching, wind of 805 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,880 doctrine, the trickery of people by craftiness and deceitful 806 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,080 scheming. That's what immaturity looks 807 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,560 like. Immaturity is being manipulated 808 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,520 by fads. It's being manipulated by 809 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:10,440 outrage. I love you so much man. 810 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,240 If you turn on the TV night after night and every time you 811 00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:15,840 turn it on, your heart gets angry and you get madder or you 812 00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,600 get more afraid and if you come back and turn it on, you're 813 00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:22,040 being manipulated. I would love for you to not have 814 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:25,160 to deal with that anymore. And I would love you to know 815 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,600 it's because Jesus hasn't invited you into that. 816 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:31,160 He doesn't need you to obsess over what's happening around the 817 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,320 world. I'm not even very good at 818 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:38,720 dealing what's happening upstairs in my kids bedroom and 819 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:42,920 released from having to solve and to fix the world, he said. 820 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:47,680 But instead speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in 821 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:53,560 all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from whom 822 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:57,800 the whole body being fitted and held together by what every 823 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,200 joint supplies according to the proper working of each 824 00:42:01,200 --> 00:42:04,800 individual part, causes the growth of the body for the 825 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:10,920 building up of itself in love. I want to talk real quick about 826 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,160 a word that's going to show up in a couple of chapters and that 827 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:20,040 is the word head. OK, so the word head is the 828 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:24,880 Greek word kefali, right? So it's going to show up in our 829 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:27,920 conversation about marriage and we'll unpack that at that point, 830 00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:29,800 but let's just see what it looks like. 831 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:32,240 I want to tell you some literary background, right? 832 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,160 So what 1 of this was written in ancient Greek, 1st century 833 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,400 Greek. So Paul would have written words 834 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,400 according to the custom and the language that they were used at 835 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,080 the time. And so as you read and you read 836 00:42:42,080 --> 00:42:44,680 some literary criticism, what people have read, lots of 837 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:49,880 ancient Greek works says in the Greek language there is no usage 838 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:54,640 of the word kefley to express authority. 839 00:42:55,520 --> 00:43:02,200 It is always in the Greek used to express to mean source. 840 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,000 Like if you go to land a park right before you go to Panther 841 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:10,200 Canyon, down there on the left it's the headwaters of the Komal 842 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,880 River. It's the source of where and as 843 00:43:12,880 --> 00:43:16,440 we look in here, what Paul has in this passage, it doesn't. 844 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,440 I'm not, you can't always apply everything to every single 845 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:21,160 passage. But in this passage, clearly 846 00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:25,120 where it talks about Jesus as the head, it's talking about the 847 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:28,960 source. And so we are to grow up into 848 00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:33,320 him who is the head, who the whole body is being fitted and 849 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,120 held together. We have this picture of the head 850 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:39,880 and everything else coming and flowing out of that. 851 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:45,000 In the Hebrew, Paul is a Jewish guy, Paul in the Hebrew, it 852 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,600 sometimes can mean that. It can mean authority. 853 00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:51,040 So when we get to that passage, we're going to unpack that. 854 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:53,480 But for right now, the idea is everything that we are and 855 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:57,520 everything that we have flows out from him. 856 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,320 And that's why this matters, because this maturity which 857 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:04,720 comes from speaking the truth and love, which comes from being 858 00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:08,120 in our place, which comes from walking in grace, right, that 859 00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:11,320 brings us that kind of maturity, brings us the stability that we 860 00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:13,480 need. We don't anymore need our 861 00:44:13,480 --> 00:44:15,240 addictions. They don't leave. 862 00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:18,120 And once we get free from the addictions, we're free from all 863 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:21,800 the condemnation, from all the grace, from from all the the 864 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:23,640 shame. And what happens is we get to 865 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:27,720 steadily progress and. Grow in grace because we know 866 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,120 that we are loved and that this is a place to get healthy. 867 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:34,520 We find our purpose in him, in this body where grace comes. 868 00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,640 We know that every pain and every pride is able to help 869 00:44:37,640 --> 00:44:41,800 others experience grace as we express it, as we walk in that. 870 00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:45,600 Now, I do want to say, if you're someone who's winning at life 871 00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:47,920 down here, this may not be good news for you. 872 00:44:49,240 --> 00:44:52,040 If you're winning and you're at the top of the food chain and 873 00:44:52,040 --> 00:44:54,080 the top of the ladder and you've got more and you don't ever have 874 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:56,520 to order, this isn't good. This is like Nicodemus, right? 875 00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:59,280 And Jesus told Nicodemus, you got to be born again. 876 00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:01,000 Nicodemus didn't want to be born again. 877 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:03,000 He's like, thanks, I'm doing just fine. 878 00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:06,960 Unfortunately, this is the thing. 879 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:11,600 If we want to live by grace, by what is given to us freely, we 880 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:14,400 may have to let go of what we can force and what we can do 881 00:45:14,800 --> 00:45:19,280 ourselves. And maturity is about emotional 882 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:23,680 and spiritual growth and health. Because you're in an environment 883 00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:28,400 of truth and love, you get to both receive it but also give 884 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,760 it. So at the end of this first part 885 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:34,080 of the second-half of the book of Ephesians, Paul gives us a 886 00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:38,640 summary of our mission as the church and your mission as a 887 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:39,840 follower. Are you ready? 888 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:47,160 Walk in unity by stewarding grace or the maturity in Jesus? 889 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:53,720 Will you pray with me, Jesus? Help us to walk in unity. 890 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:58,440 Help us to consider one another more highly than ourselves. 891 00:45:58,520 --> 00:46:02,760 Help us to think less of ourselves and more of you and 892 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:06,200 more of others. I pray that you would help us in 893 00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:08,960 our groups to understand and find out these roles and these 894 00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:10,880 purposes and these missions. And I pray that we would be 895 00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:14,120 equipped to grow up into you and Jesus. 896 00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:17,800 I pray that we as your church, as we think about moving, as we 897 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:20,240 think about building buildings and new people coming in, Lord, 898 00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:22,480 they don't just need a place to go, they need a place to belong. 899 00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:24,600 They need your body. So I pray, Father, that you 900 00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:27,520 would prepare us for those that aren't here yet, that we 901 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:30,480 wouldn't just build a physical structure a mile down the road, 902 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:33,600 but that You would be building your temple in us here. 903 00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:38,000 Jesus, we ask these things in your name and for your glory. 904 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:40,280 Amen. Thank you for joining us today. 905 00:46:40,720 --> 00:46:43,520 River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing 906 00:46:43,520 --> 00:46:46,200 God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that 907 00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:48,240 you've been able to experience that today. 908 00:46:48,800 --> 00:46:51,400 As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in 909 00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,480 this morning, this podcast is no substitute for full 910 00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:58,400 participation in a local church. I love it when River City people 911 00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:01,720 listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after 912 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:04,640 week faithfully giving their support and time and resources 913 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:08,040 that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected 914 00:47:08,040 --> 00:47:12,040 to a local church, pray for you, or support you in any way, click 915 00:47:12,040 --> 00:47:13,760 the link in the description and let us know. 916 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:16,360 If you'd like to financially support the ministry of River 917 00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,320 City, click the give link on our website in the description. 918 00:47:19,880 --> 00:47:22,440 Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with 919 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,440 your friends. Thanks so much for listening. 920 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:27,600 May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.