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Welcome to the River City Church
podcast and a message by our 

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lead pastor, Jason Powers. 
Our prayer is that this message 

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would inspire and encourage you,
build your faith and point you 

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to the life changing love of 
Jesus. 

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May you enjoy the goodness of 
God as you follow Him today. 

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I'm glad that you're here. 
It's a full room. 

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And so I'm great. 
I want to kind of let you know 

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up front, like we've been 
working through Ephesians and 

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we've been, you know, the front 
part is kind of loaded with 

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theology, which is great. 
The great thing about the 

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theology is you can kind of 
wrestle with what does it mean? 

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The dividing line has been down,
the wall has been torn down. 

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We're about to get real 
specific, and I just want you to

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know the point of this thing 
that we do is never, ever, ever,

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ever, ever to be able to do it 
without Jesus. 

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And what that means is you 
should expect for the rest of 

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your life to wake up and go, I'm
not there. 

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Yet I'm not. 
There yet, which brings us to 

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the question, to the decision, 
what do we do when we're not 

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there yet? 
Well, what did you do the first 

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time, that first time? 
And this is what I want. 

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To ask like that. 
First time that you had that 

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sense like. 
God is real and he has something

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to say to my life and I need to 
respond. 

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But that first moment where you 
said, I think I'm going to do 

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it. 
I think I'm going to do it. 

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That moment you didn't have your
life together. 

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That was maybe the moment that 
you were the most put up, put 

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apart and torn up, or you most 
desperately needed Him the most.

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So what I want to ask you now is
if you will wake up in the 

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morning and you have that sense.
I know my life doesn't meet the 

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standard that God has set before
me. 

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I know I'm not quite there yet. 
If He chased you down at the 

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beginning when you weren't 
looking for Him, why do you 

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think now? 
That your desire is to follow 

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him and to honor him and to 
please him. 

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Why do you think now he's going 
to like hit you with a stick? 

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So here's what I want you to 
know. 

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We're going to confront some 
things today that my guess is my

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hope is get in your grill. 
We're going to confront, talk 

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about some things today that are
going to probably make you like,

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I wish you hadn't said that 
because now I got to think we're

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going to deal with it. 
And here's what I want you to 

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know. 
The Lord's desire for you. 

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Is goodness when we see in the 
beginning of the story in 

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Genesis chapter 1 and everything
is flowing and growing and His 

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presence is there and He loves 
us and we experience him. 

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That's His desire for you when 
he could have made it any way 

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that he wanted to. 
That's what he did. 

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And we read at the at the end, 
right? 

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And Jason talks about a feast, 
the marriage feast of the lamb. 

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Can you imagine the bride, those
pictures, right? 

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And you see those goofy pictures
on YouTube right, where the 

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groom turns around and he sees 
his bride and he's just like, 

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breaks down here like, well. 
That's a little weird. 

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I think Jesus is going to look 
at you like that, and he's going

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to look at us like that. 
That's the why when we talk 

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about some behavioral things 
that just we don't like very 

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much, that's the why. 
The reason that we do it is so 

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that we can have an experience 
of His love and our lives and 

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our habits and our behaviors 
forever. 

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That's what it means when we say
as His church, our confession 

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every week. 
We are badly broken. 

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Yes, you are. 
Listen, we have to fight for 

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both of those. 
We can never get to a place 

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where we say, oh, we're pretty 
good. 

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I'm, I'm pretty good. 
Not really. 

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Compared to Jesus, Not, not 
really. 

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Are you nicer than you were? 
Before I hope. 

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We're not there yet, but we also
have to contend for the fact 

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that this is for love. 
This isn't to earn the favor of 

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Jesus. 
This isn't to make him like us 

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more. 
This is he loves you as much as 

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he possibly could. 
He conquered death for you and 

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he invited you. 
Listen, He invited you into a 

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way of life that goes beyond 
that. 

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The great has been conquered. 
Death is not a part of your 

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story anymore. 
If you're a follower of him. 

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The question is, are we 
followers of him or are we 

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simply believers? 
I don't know. 

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Johnny started last week pulling
on this really beautiful thing, 

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right? 
Like this apocalypse, an 

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apocalypse. 
When we talk about the word 

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apocalypse, apocalypse is like 
an unveiling, right? 

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It's like the the scales falling
off the blinds coming off our 

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eyes to where we see reality 
differently. 

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We see the spiritual reality 
that what what Paul calls the 

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powers, the powers of of 
darkness that separate us and 

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divide us. 
And what Johnny pulled on last 

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week is that this apocalypse, 
when we apply it to our lives 

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and the power of the Holy 
Spirit, not like. 

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OK, I'm going to go do 
everything good and I'm going to

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be better and I'm not going to 
need Jesus. 

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I'm going to conquer all my sins
and all my addictions. 

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No, you're not. 
When we begin to apply the power

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of the Holy Spirit into our 
lives, it doesn't just put a new

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coat of paint on us, it 
transforms who we are. 

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This isn't like like this isn't 
like, like washing your Yugo. 

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You remember Yugos? 
Like from the 80s? 

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This isn't like this isn't like 
taking your Yugo to big league 

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car wash and and getting the 
works on it. 

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This is like taking your Yugo to
the car dealership and they hand

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you a Maserati. 
Yeah. 

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All right. 
Maserati fans here, it 

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transforms us to the point when 
we look at our lives and the 

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person that we are now, it 
breaks down nicely and neatly 

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into old and new. 
The old person, the person that 

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you were, the things that drove 
you, that moved you, that 

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captured your heart and the new 
you with new motives, with new 

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desires, with new impulses and 
new stinks. 

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We're not just talking about a 
philosophical musing here. 

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And that's so important because 
if you think Jesus just came 

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with new ideas, we'll miss the 
transformation that happens in 

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our heart. 
What we're talking about now is 

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transformation. 
The very desires of our heart, 

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the very way that we respond to 
people who are like us and who 

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are not like us, are 
transformed. 

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They're made new in every way. 
And as Johnny said last week, 

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and this is so important, are 
you listening? 

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The kind of transformation that 
we're talking about, it's not 

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just transformation, it's 
counter formation. 

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And this is so important because
what this assumes is we've 

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already been formed. 
You're sitting here having been 

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formed by everything that's 
happened in your life. 

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The way that you were raised, 
the way that your mother and 

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father loved you, the way that 
your mother and father talked to

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you about Jesus or didn't talk 
to you about Jesus. 

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The way that you understood your
value to a community, The way 

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you understood your sexuality in
terms of a of a community and 

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your identity. 
In every way we have been formed

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and these powers, these 
spiritual realities that act on 

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us and move in US and transform 
us. 

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What Jesus has come, what we've 
been reading in Ephesians that 

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Paul tells us is Jesus has come 
and has overcome these powers 

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and so that all the things that 
separate us and divide us are 

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now done. 
This is what when Jesus says 

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your will be done on earth as in
heaven, what Paul's saying now 

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is that's not just an idea that 
we can cling to, it's an actual 

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reality that we have. 
Access to. 

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I was talking to Johnny on the 
way in and I see a couple Dodger

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hats in here and wrestled with 
asking you to take them off, but

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Johnny reminded me that the 
walls of division have been torn

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down. 
And so I reach out to you my 

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brother, in the name of the 
Lord, pray for me. 

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My heart is dark. 
I know this is good, I 

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understand it, I get it. 
So if. 

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We're going to be. 
Counter formed though, what that

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means is that we have to be 
unformed. 

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What that means is that we have 
to take a good hard look. 

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That I had negative thoughts 
about this guy when he walked in

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the door and all I know about 
him is what had he's got on it 

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right? 
I need to acknowledge and 

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recognize that they are 
instincts and there are motives 

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in my heart that will not lead 
me towards the kind of life and 

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goodness that God has for me. 
And in order to begin, what we 

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have to do is we. 
Have, and this is what Johnny 

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talked about last week, a new 
vision of what the good life 

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means. 
And this is a reality for all of

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us. 
You are chasing in your life 

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what you think the good life is.
And whatever way you go at that,

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that's what you're after. 
And you think if I could just 

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get a little more what? 
A little more time, a little 

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bit, a little more money. 
If somebody saw me differently, 

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if somebody knew how much I 
cared, if somebody knew how much

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I loved, if they just knew and 
saw me, then we would be better 

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if I just had a little bigger 
house, a little. 

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More money, a little more peace,
a little less sickness, then I 

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would be fine. 
That's not good news, is it? 

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I just need a little bit more to
finally get there because I know

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people who have a lot. 
And you know what? 

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More always wants more. 
If your desire is for more of 

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something, you'll never get 
there. 

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But what if Jesus has given you 
everything? 

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What if it's all? 
Set out there for you, and 

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that's what the good life is. 
The good life is to receive 

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everything that you have and 
everything that you need in this

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life and for the next life, 
right? 

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That's the redeemed vision of 
the good life. 

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Not going and taking what we 
need, but God and His goodness 

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giving us what we need. 
And a big part of that is the 

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way that we see and respond to 
other people. 

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See, this apocalypse, this 
apocalypse of love is what we're

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calling today. 
An apocalypse of love changes 

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the way that we understand 
people fundamentally. 

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My brother is not just a Dodgers
fan. 

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My brother is a beloved child of
a risen king. 

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And my King has watched his 
steps every moment of his life 

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from before he was born. 
What I believe is that my God 

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knit him together in his 
mother's womb and shepherded him

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through some things that maybe 
he doesn't like, maybe some 

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things that he doesn't want, 
maybe some things that he. 

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Wished had gone and the Lord is 
just saying, hang with me. 

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We're going to redeem it. 
You're going to see it. 

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You're going to know what it 
means. 

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But this is who we are and every
person that we have been divided

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and separated against that. 
Is how the Lord sees them. 

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People now aren't enemies to be 
opposed or overcome or 

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manipulated or coerced or torn 
into. 

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People are how God shows his 
love and grace towards us 

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people. 
Broken, fallen, hurting Dodger 

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fan people are how God helps me 
grow. 

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I'm glad you're here today man. 
That's good stuff. 

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So Johnny laid this table for us
last week. 

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The Spirit is at work in our 
world to transform us from 

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people who are separated from 
God and people who are separated

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from each other. 
And he's transformed us now into

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a people who are connected, 
fundamentally connected by the 

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very spirit that flows in us. 
Here's the great thing that that

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communion is such a powerful. 
It's not just a symbol. 

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Something powerful happens. 
Listen from. 

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Wherever you've come today, 
whatever your skin color is or 

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your bank account color is, or 
your politics are, we took the 

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same bread and the same wine, 
the same spirit, the same body 

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on us all. 
That is our fundamental reality.

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That is what God has transformed
us into. 

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That is what God's redeeming and
renewing love looks like. 

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And so now we've got that in 
mind. 

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Right now our, our mind is that 
God has done something great. 

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And with that in mind, we turn 
to Ephesians chapter 5. 

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And what I want to show is 
right? 

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So this is. 
A big turning point, right? 

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And what I want to show you is 
what I want to say is all the 

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things that come up when we 
start chapter 5. 

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We begin with one of the most 
important words that we've seen 

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in Paul's letter. 
It's the word, therefore, so 

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Paul says to us, we've been made
new. 

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If you're in Christ, you have 
been made new. 

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And then comes this word, 
therefore, Ephesians 5 one and 

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two, since you have been made 
new, therefore be imitators of 

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00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:34,040
God as beloved children and walk
in love just as Christ also 

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00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,800
loved you as that word as is 
important, right? 

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In the same way, be an imitator 
of God and do what Jesus did be 

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an imitator of God and walked 
the way that he walked. 

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00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:47,240
Now how did he walk, we're told 
in love and how what does that 

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00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:50,480
look like? 
He gave himself as a up for us 

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00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:55,840
and offering and a sacrifice to 
God as a fragrant aroma. 

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00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,800
So the picture is since God has 
done this for you, since God has

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00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,600
torn down the wall, since he has
transformed us in our hearts 

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00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,800
with his spirit in us, since he 
has done all that, we are to 

240
00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:08,720
imitate him. 
And so imitate. 

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00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,360
You're like, yes, I'm going to 
go out and I'm like sinners. 

242
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,880
I don't like them. 
I tell them I'm standing, I'm 

243
00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:14,880
different. 
Let's listen. 

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00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:17,280
Here's the truth. 
This is the truth. 

245
00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:19,840
It is inescapable. 
It has been borne out through 

246
00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:21,880
all of history, through church 
history. 

247
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,080
We look most like our Father 
when we are loving like Jesus. 

248
00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:32,640
You will never look more like 
the Father in heaven than when 

249
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you love your enemy as yourself 
and sacrifice them. 

250
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,040
You're like, well, I don't know,
Jason. 

251
00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,960
I quit cussing mostly often, 
sometimes once. 

252
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:44,800
I passed passed up an 
opportunity to say a bad word 

253
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:46,400
one time like. 
Isn't the Lord please? 

254
00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,560
Sure, that's growth, that's 
transformation, but if you 

255
00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,240
really. 
Want to look like the Father? 

256
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,240
What you need to go to is a 
place where your tribe and your 

257
00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,280
people hate them and you need to
go and just start loving and 

258
00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,400
serving and washing, feed and 
cleaning up. 

259
00:13:59,560 --> 00:14:01,920
We know this because this is 
what the scripture tells us, 

260
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,360
right? 
We read in John chapter 3 verse 

261
00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:06,120
16. 
What does it say for God? 

262
00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:13,240
So what that he his only son, I 
mean, my daughter Madison read 

263
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,880
the scripture and I just want to
tell you like, I love you. 

264
00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,760
There's a lot of things that I 
would do for you. 

265
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:23,240
I'm not giving up my kid. 
I love her that much, right? 

266
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,960
But what we're told is that 
Jesus is the gift of love from 

267
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:29,320
the Father. 
So now we go to the end of the 

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00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,800
book, John chapter 13, verse 34.
Jesus with his disciples. 

269
00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,160
The same meal that Jason just 
shared with us, right? 

270
00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:36,880
It's around that exact same 
table. 

271
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,720
He just gave his body and his 
blood. 

272
00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,240
And what did he say? 
I'm now giving you a new command

273
00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,440
that you love one another just 
as I have loved you. 

274
00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:46,520
He didn't say go figure out what
the best is. 

275
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,720
He didn't say go be generally 
nice towards somebody. 

276
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:53,600
He didn't say go have generally 
positive feelings about another 

277
00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,240
person. 
He said love them as I have 

278
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,720
loved you. 
And I said by this all people 

279
00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,520
will know that you are my 
disciples if you have love for 

280
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,640
one another. 
This is one of the ways that I 

281
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,680
think the church in the West has
kind of gotten off track. 

282
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:12,760
We've said we want to be known 
by our wealth, by our politics, 

283
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:17,080
by our place, by like, by all 
kinds of different things. 

284
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:21,960
And what Jesus said is love. 
When you love your enemies the 

285
00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,560
same way that I loved you, then 
people will know that this is. 

286
00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,040
For real. 
And then he went and got on the 

287
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:29,360
cross. 
What is he saying? 

288
00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,240
Matthew chapter 22, verse 37. 
Right. 

289
00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:37,160
Someone asked him what's the 
greatest command, Right. 

290
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,920
Because that's what us like. 
Listen, I don't want to 

291
00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:41,880
contribute. 
To that, if it's like if God, 

292
00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,040
you're going. 
To be mad at me, right? 

293
00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,120
Like what's the command? 
Tell me what to do. 

294
00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,040
And Jesus said love the Lord 
your God with all your heart and

295
00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:49,440
with all your soul and with all 
your mind. 

296
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,760
Love the Lord your God more than
you love your job more than you 

297
00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,640
love your sports team, more than
you love your bank account, more

298
00:15:55,640 --> 00:15:57,240
than you love anything in this 
world. 

299
00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:00,080
Love God. 
And then he said that's the 

300
00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,160
first and the second one is like
it. 

301
00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,280
It's like it. 
If you want to know what it's 

302
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:12,440
like to love God with all your 
heart and soul and mind and your

303
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,000
strength, you want to know what 
that's like. 

304
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,000
It's like love your neighbor as 
yourself. 

305
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:20,920
Love your neighbor. 
You want to know how to love God

306
00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:22,840
with all your heart and mind and
soul and strength. 

307
00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:24,800
You love your neighbor as 
yourself. 

308
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,960
So how do you how do you love 
yourself? 

309
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,480
How do you love yourself right 
in this? 

310
00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:31,080
Well, when you screw up, you 
feel bad. 

311
00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,800
And you think of all the reasons
why it happened. 

312
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,080
Oh well, I had this and I did 
this. 

313
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:36,920
You know what you do? 
You know how you love yourself, 

314
00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:43,960
You give yourself the benefit of
the doubt, love your neighbor as

315
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,320
yourself. 
When they do that thing that you

316
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,320
don't like, it's what Jesus 
said, forgive them because they 

317
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,920
don't know what they're doing. 
They think they're just filling 

318
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:54,240
this out. 
When you look at your neighbor 

319
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,400
and he's doing the thing that 
you don't like and they're, you 

320
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,040
know, where don't you don't like
and all the things right, you 

321
00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:00,840
can just say, well, Lord, it's 
because they're dumb. 

322
00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:08,359
It's because they're evil. 
We say this, we say it right out

323
00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,920
loud and in public. 
We like write it down in social 

324
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:13,920
media and post it and post it 
and post it and post it until it

325
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,280
becomes like it's banging and 
people are wondering like that's

326
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:18,520
not love. 
That's not the church over and 

327
00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,119
over again. 
They're bad, they're evil. 

328
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,079
They hate us, they're mean, 
they're destroying things. 

329
00:17:22,079 --> 00:17:24,160
They're terrible and awful. 
You don't say that about 

330
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,880
yourself when you screw up. 
He says love your neighbor as 

331
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,120
yourself. 
See, love is the defining mark 

332
00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:33,640
of God's people. 
That's the defining mark. 

333
00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:35,400
You want to know how? 
People are supposed to be known 

334
00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,520
by the way that they love each 
other. 

335
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,880
That's their that that's. 
The thing, right? 

336
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:42,960
They should be able to say, you 
know that guy? 

337
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:48,120
He reminds me of somebody. 
Jesus, chip off the old. 

338
00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:50,680
Block that guy. 
I pick the family resemblance 

339
00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,720
anywhere. 
Man looks just like his dad. 

340
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,640
But the point isn't just love 
for some like touchy feely 

341
00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,560
thing, right? 
So we can all like watch a 

342
00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:01,640
romantic comedy. 
That's dumb. 

343
00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,880
I don't want that. 
That's weird, right? 

344
00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:06,080
I like this. 
So the point of love is 

345
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,880
specific. 
It's for specific purpose. 

346
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:12,800
And this comes back to what Paul
had taught us earlier, right 

347
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:14,240
when he was talking about 
ourselves, right. 

348
00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,120
And he says. 
Being rooted and grounded in 

349
00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:20,720
love and being built up, right? 
He was talking about, remember 

350
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,280
the temple when he says you are 
the temple. 

351
00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,360
This new church that he's 
building, he's not building 

352
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,240
bricks and mortar and a roof and
windows. 

353
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,200
He's building a temple out of 
his people. 

354
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:31,880
And what's the purpose of the 
temple? 

355
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,760
The temple is where you could 
bring your sacrifice and be made

356
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,240
right with God, right? 
The word for that, you know what

357
00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:43,640
the word is? 
Reconciliation, being reconciled

358
00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:49,680
to God by the sacrifice. 
God sacrificed himself so that 

359
00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:52,280
we could be included in him 
forever. 

360
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,160
He gave himself up for us. 
So the message that Paul is 

361
00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,160
telling us to be imitators of 
Jesus, he doesn't just say, hey,

362
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:04,800
go be nice, go be a nice person.
What he says is go be a 

363
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:06,680
reconciler. 
And you know what's not nice 

364
00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:09,160
about that? 
If I'm going to be a reconciler,

365
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,520
if I'm going to bring people to 
the Lord, that means that I'm 

366
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,280
going to have to stand in the 
face of some powers who aren't 

367
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:16,920
interested in that. 
That means I'm going to have to 

368
00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,760
speak boldly and prophetically 
in some places that may not want

369
00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,440
to hear it because I'm calling 
us to something different. 

370
00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,280
I'm not just calling you to be 
nice or be good or be moral. 

371
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,720
We can take that anyway when I 
what I'm asking is give up this 

372
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,120
life and hope of something 
better for somebody that doesn't

373
00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,880
know Jesus. 
You be that example all y'all. 

374
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,880
Be a place where the Kingdom 
comes, not in brick and mortar, 

375
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,320
but in the way that we love 
people that are different from 

376
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,160
us, from the way that we love 
people who aren't yet following 

377
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,200
Jesus. 
Not for us, for him. 

378
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:52,800
Jesus isn't up there standing, 
looking at us and going. 

379
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,160
They're screwed up. 
I'm not interested in them being

380
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,360
a part of me. 
If we look at somebody and think

381
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:02,200
that they are screwed up in some
area of their life, that should 

382
00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,000
be a bell and a whistle on our 
soul that person needs. 

383
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,680
Jesus real. 
Bad, and so I'm surely not going

384
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:10,960
to yell at them from across the 
way. 

385
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,560
Well, what did Jesus do? 
He left heaven and earth, and he

386
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,120
came and lived like us and with 
us and sat at our table. 

387
00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:19,760
And by the way, he let us kill 
him. 

388
00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:22,560
Greater love is no man than 
this. 

389
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,440
And he laid down his life for 
his friend, and that is our 

390
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:26,600
mission. 
Listen, he says it's 

391
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,600
specifically in Second 
Corinthians chapter 5. 

392
00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:32,320
It's one of my favorite passages
of Scripture because it's hope. 

393
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,760
Listen, 2nd Corinthians chapter 
5 verse 16. 

394
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,480
Therefore, from now on we 
recognize no one by the flesh. 

395
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,760
Because here's what happened 
when you start following Jesus 

396
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:43,640
and you. 
Get the the Spirit. 

397
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,520
Your flesh doesn't change. 
I'm still bald. 

398
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:52,640
I wish it wasn't so. 
We don't judge by what's going 

399
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,800
on out here. 
What we look like we look for is

400
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,720
the Spirit, even though we have 
known. 

401
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,600
Christ by the flesh, yet now we 
know Him in this way no longer. 

402
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,080
Therefore there's that word. 
Therefore, if anyone's in. 

403
00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,640
Christ, this person is a new 
creation. 

404
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:09,520
The old things have passed away 
and behold, new things have 

405
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:10,800
come. 
This is for you. 

406
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:13,920
If you're in Christ, you're not 
the same that you were. 

407
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,040
Now I want you to look at the 
person around the room. 

408
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,600
Same is true for them. 
They're in Christ, they're in 

409
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:20,680
new creation. 
They're not. 

410
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,160
Just what you've seen, and 
they're not just what you think.

411
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:25,160
Now all these things are from 
God. 

412
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:29,360
Listen, He reconciled us to 
himself through Christ and gave 

413
00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:31,600
us the ministry of 
reconciliation. 

414
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:33,200
Great. 
Well, let's go round him up. 

415
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:34,600
Let's bring him in. 
What? 

416
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:35,720
That's not how it goes, he 
tells. 

417
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,440
Us what it looks like. 
Namely, that God was in Christ 

418
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:43,200
reconciling the world to 
Himself, not counting their 

419
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:47,120
wrongdoings against them, and He
has committed to. 

420
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:50,920
Us the word of reconciliation. 
The goal isn't moral 

421
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,400
performance. 
It's relational restoration. 

422
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,560
The goal isn't for you to go out
there and be better than 

423
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,120
everybody. 
The goal is for us to love. 

424
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,880
Well, and I, I'm just going to 
say, you can tell by the way 

425
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,200
that the, the movies that we 
watch and the songs that we've 

426
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,440
seen, we've got a screwed up 
idea of love. 

427
00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:10,720
And there's there's no shame in 
this. 

428
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,120
There's no shame in that. 
But listen, the problem with the

429
00:22:13,120 --> 00:22:15,880
movie kind of Love is it never 
works out that way, right? 

430
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,320
If I can fall in love with 
someone else just because I see 

431
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,240
them across a crowded St. well, 
guess what? 

432
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,840
What if somebody else walks 
across a crowded St. 

433
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,280
Another day? 
Love isn't just. 

434
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:32,760
I feel so good. 
Been married 2122 years. 

435
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:38,400
I I can honestly say I love my 
wife more now than I ever have 

436
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,720
ever have before. 
And most days it's just getting 

437
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:50,840
up and her looking at this face 
and going OK right. 

438
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:57,240
If I left my wife every time she
upset me, every time there was a

439
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,080
pattern of poor behavior, she 
left me every time I gave into 

440
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,760
my dumb, stupid addictive 
desires. 

441
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:06,640
What? 
We would have nothing. 

442
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:08,920
We'd have nothing. 
Brokenness and hurt. 

443
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,320
And listen, we got to know as we
start unpacking some of these 

444
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,440
things that Jesus calls us out 
of, as we start unpacking some 

445
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,080
of these things that that we're 
going to show or not love, the 

446
00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:22,000
enemy is going to whisper in 
your ear that you're, that 

447
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,800
you've missed it. 
The enemy that powers are going 

448
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,480
to whisper in your ear that you 
need to feel shame and 

449
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,520
condemnation. 
And what I want to tell you is 

450
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,960
you don't, you don't need to 
feel shame and condemnation. 

451
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,480
You can feel conviction. 
And take this to the Lord and 

452
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,200
go, Lord, what do we need to do 
about this? 

453
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,560
Because there may be some 
fundamental changes that you 

454
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:43,920
can't just change one day. 
Right now, they're deep. 

455
00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:45,600
They're tied into some things, 
right? 

456
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:50,200
So what do we do? 
This next section is, well, 

457
00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:55,120
let's say this. 
We have to acknowledge, we can 

458
00:23:55,120 --> 00:23:59,040
look at the world and we have to
acknowledge what's happening 

459
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,080
isn't working, right? 
We can say that it's not, it's 

460
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,800
not working. 
And So what I want to say to us 

461
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:10,120
is we can't keep walking the 
path of division and expect 

462
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,280
someday to arrive at 
reconciliation. 

463
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,760
We have to be different. 
We have to the way that we see 

464
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,440
the world, the way that we see 
others, the way that we see 

465
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,400
ourselves. 
It has to be different. 

466
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,560
And that's why this next section
that we're about to read is both

467
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:30,560
crucial and difficult. 
It is non negotiable and it is 

468
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,640
maybe a difficult pill for us to
swallow, right? 

469
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,600
The reality is some behaviors 
serve the purpose of 

470
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:43,760
reconciliation and other 
behaviors serve the powers that 

471
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,680
Jesus defeated. 
That's it. 

472
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,160
It's binary. 
We choose. 

473
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,520
Will we choose the behaviors? 
Not perfectly, but increasingly,

474
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,000
will we choose the behaviors 
that Jesus says lead to 

475
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,760
reconciliation or will we choose
the behaviors that Jesus see 

476
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:03,240
lead to division and separation?
So he goes on in Ephesians 

477
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,840
chapter 5, verse 3. 
So what he's going to do now is 

478
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,680
he's going to set tell us in 
verse 3 and 4, two different 

479
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:14,960
sets of behaviors and how these 
and how these work, right? 

480
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,080
These aren't random lists. 
These aren't things that just 

481
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,840
popped into his brain. 
These are signs of the age. 

482
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,880
These are signs of the 
fallenness that the powers have 

483
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,360
that still used to try to bring 
separation and division. 

484
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:33,880
Verse three, he says sexual 
immorality or impurity or greed 

485
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,160
must not even be mentioned among
among you, as is proper among 

486
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,240
the Saints. 
OK, so we love to pick on the 

487
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,160
ones that like we. 
You've probably, if you've been 

488
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,800
to church anytime, you've 
probably heard a sermon series 

489
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,320
on sexual immorality. 
You should have. 

490
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,320
If you've been to church a long 
time, you probably haven't heard

491
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,400
nearly enough sermons on greed. 
Do. 

492
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,760
You know why? 
Because of a lot of us are much 

493
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,080
better at keeping our sexual 
immorality hidden than we are 

494
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,480
our greed. 
And So what we do is we justify 

495
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,440
the one and we put the other one
on a post and make that big. 

496
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,680
The word for sexual immorality 
here in Greek is porneia. 

497
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,880
And so it covers all of those 
sexual sins that that you're 

498
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,200
thinking of and even the one 
probably that you're hoping it's

499
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:29,360
not thinking of. 
Because the thing that happens 

500
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:32,560
when we start talking about this
is these things, sexual 

501
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,560
immorality and greed, what is 
it? 

502
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,200
And impurity, right? 
It says don't even mention them.

503
00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,760
Because what these things do is 
these things disintegrate our 

504
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,760
experience of community. 
You thought God and Jesus and 

505
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,880
Paul were just prudes. 
You thought they just have this 

506
00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,040
horrible, uptight, prudish 
sexual ethic to try to keep us 

507
00:26:51,120 --> 00:26:54,040
from being, you know, from 
having life. 

508
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,200
But here's the thing. 
How many of you have ever had 

509
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,240
sexual experience outside of 
marriage and your spouse was 

510
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:04,880
just OK with it? 
How would your spouse feel if 

511
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,480
you walked into them this week 
and just said, hey, I just want 

512
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:10,120
you to know I've got a raging 
pornography addiction. 

513
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,040
Would it hurt them? 
Right. 

514
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,720
We know it. 
And listen again, I'm not 

515
00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,160
calling on shame here. 
This isn't to make you feel 

516
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,440
terrible, but this is to hold a 
light up on those things that we

517
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,320
hide and our soul, they separate
us, they divide us. 

518
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,120
That's a piece that I can never 
let somebody. 

519
00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:31,000
See. 
Because I'm embarrassed of it 

520
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,440
and I'm ashamed of it, right? 
And So what happens is we walk 

521
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:36,120
around our marriages, right? 
The whole point of marriage in 

522
00:27:36,120 --> 00:27:38,840
the Garden of Eden is we were 
naked and unashamed. 

523
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,000
He wasn't worried about whether 
she had a few extra pounds, 

524
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,800
right? 
Adam wasn't worried about about 

525
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:48,240
the thing because she knew he 
only sees me and the Father, and

526
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:55,880
that's good enough. 
And so you know, there's a high.

527
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:57,840
Sexual ethic in the Christian 
faith. 

528
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,000
And it's not because God is 
approved and it's not because 

529
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,120
Jesus it's approved, but it's 
because affairs and pornography 

530
00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,960
and addiction, they destroy 
relationships. 

531
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:15,200
They separate us from each other
and like, and, and you know, 

532
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,520
greed works the same way. 
How many marriages have been 

533
00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,320
destroyed by workaholism? 
Why? 

534
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,280
Because you need more. 
Why do you need more? 

535
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,120
More what? 
More money for what? 

536
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:26,520
To do what? 
What do you need to do? 

537
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:27,840
You need to go. 
Somewhere. 

538
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,400
Listen, there's trees there too.
Mountains. 

539
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:31,000
What? 
Whatever. 

540
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000
Like what do you like right? 
So we chase. 

541
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,120
That, and things fall away. 
We chase these things, we chase 

542
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,800
sexual experience, we chase an 
identity in in our sexuality. 

543
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,840
We change all of these things. 
And the idea is sex isn't just 

544
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,800
about a feeling, and it's 
certainly, it is certainly not 

545
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,800
about our identity. 
Do you know what the role of 

546
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,440
sexist is supposed to be? 
Sex is the way that we as human 

547
00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,000
beings get to participate in the
miracle of creation, the 

548
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,440
Trinity, the Father and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, this 

549
00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,440
eternal dance of love coming 
together. 

550
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:09,160
And in love He created them, and
in love He created us. 

551
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,160
And so now we get to do the same
thing. 

552
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,600
We get to participate in love 
for someone. 

553
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,920
We get to come together and we 
get to create something that is 

554
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,840
better and bigger than us. 
It is a testament and it is a 

555
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,920
testimony. 
Look, sex isn't and guess it. 

556
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:26,480
Listen, here's how good God is 
that thing that sex that create 

557
00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,080
something beautiful or kids and 
all this. 

558
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,720
The good news is. 
It feels good too, doesn't It? 

559
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,960
Feels good, It's nice. 
God, you are wise and good and 

560
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,440
abundant in your creation and 
your goodness. 

561
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,600
But if we take a good thing and 
make it the main thing, it 

562
00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:44,080
ceases to be a good thing at 
all. 

563
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,680
And what happens is it becomes 
something that bonds us, that 

564
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:48,600
binds us. 
Because here's the thing I know 

565
00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:50,920
about sex. 
When it's over, it's over. 

566
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,760
And if that is what I need for 
my identity, if that is what I 

567
00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,920
need for my feeling, if that is 
what I need for my purpose, well

568
00:29:57,920 --> 00:29:59,960
then I got to go get something 
else and I got to go get some 

569
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:01,880
more. 
And So what happens then is it 

570
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,520
becomes a non-stop, endless 
chasing of something that is 

571
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,360
good and it's fine, but it's not
ultimate. 

572
00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,280
I want to say this as clearly 
and as plainly as I can. 

573
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,160
There are absolutely strings 
attached to your sexual 

574
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,720
relationship. 
Absolutely. 

575
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,360
It is a soul connection. 
I know because I used to be a 

576
00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,840
youth pastor and I would watch 
these kids and I could tell you 

577
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,680
at a breakup which kids had 
crossed physical boundaries 

578
00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:33,880
because it looks like a little 
divorce got these juniors in 

579
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,400
high school that are grieving 
and breaking in their hearts 

580
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,320
because they've given something 
that wasn't supposed to be 

581
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:40,560
given. 
Now, let me tell you the truth 

582
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:42,320
here, man, I've got so little 
time left. 

583
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:49,040
But listen, here's the thing, my
wife protected her purity. 

584
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:54,320
I didn't and I want you to know 
right And listen, so there's no 

585
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,720
shame, there's no condemnation. 
But what I want to say for those

586
00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:58,840
of you particularly like we have
kids that are going out there, 

587
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:04,800
listen, I knew it, I knew it. 
I knew my wife was bringing me 

588
00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,800
something that I couldn't give 
back to her. 

589
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,760
And if it wasn't what I wanted. 
Now the Lord is good and he 

590
00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:12,360
redeems and restores and we've 
had a great thing. 

591
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:16,520
But here's what I want to say. 
A marriage, a relationship built

592
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:21,320
on purity and integrity and 
honesty and transparency, It is 

593
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,400
geometrically better than one 
where we are just chasing a 

594
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,360
feeling or, or an instinct. 
And what I want to say is 

595
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,600
listen, if you're caught up in 
pornography or in a sexual 

596
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,480
addiction, if you're caught up 
that and you're a little 

597
00:31:33,480 --> 00:31:35,800
uncomfortable right now, listen,
I get it. 

598
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:37,760
I know, I understand. 
But here's what I want to tell 

599
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:38,280
you. 
Here's. 

600
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,680
What the secret isn't the secret
isn't to go home and try harder.

601
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:43,800
You've tried that, it doesn't 
work. 

602
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,520
It isn't to go home and be 
meaner to yourself. 

603
00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:48,640
You've tried that it doesn't 
work. 

604
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:52,000
What you need to do is you need 
to pray for an apocalypse of 

605
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,160
love, that the skills would be 
revealed and that you would 

606
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,000
know. 
Lord, if you'll give me the 

607
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,280
courage and the strength in this
moment to walk in the purity 

608
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:02,560
that I need, I'll do it in this 
moment. 

609
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,800
And Lord, all I ask is that you 
would make it worth. 

610
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,520
It. 
That you would show me. 

611
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,880
Watch your relationships get 
better when you stop talking and

612
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,240
thinking about more money, more 
sex, more for me. 

613
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,280
And he goes on in verse 4 for 
this, you know, with certainty, 

614
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,400
Oh no, no, verse 4, there must 
be no filthiness. 

615
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,600
Or foolish talk. 
Or vulgar joking. 

616
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,880
And as I read this this week, I 
had to come to terms with 

617
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:32,760
realize this excludes almost the
entirety of social media I love.

618
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,240
You don't say mm hmm. 
And then go home and post it on 

619
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:40,000
Facebook. 
Hey, listen, I love you. 

620
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,560
I love your guts. 
I love you. 

621
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,120
I have to tell you the truth, 
it's not working. 

622
00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,320
I know you go on there and 
you're going to share your daily

623
00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:48,800
devotional. 
The problem is you start 

624
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:50,320
scrolling. 
And then you get hooked. 

625
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,880
You know how I know? 
Because I go to post my daily 

626
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:55,920
devotional, I start scrolling, I
get hooked. 

627
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,960
And So what I'm saying is, what 
does Paul say? 

628
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,240
Don't even talk about it in your
gatherings. 

629
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:08,040
Just don't even mention it. 
Honest question, what are you 

630
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,080
getting from your social media 
experience? 

631
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:13,160
What is it contributing to your 
life? 

632
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:17,640
Will it last forever? 
Will you take it with you to 

633
00:33:17,640 --> 00:33:21,640
eternity? 
What if? 

634
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:25,080
What if God has something 
special for you? 

635
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,880
What if God has something more 
for you? 

636
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:29,880
Right? 
And So what does he say then at 

637
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,440
the end, right? 
But rather the giving of thanks.

638
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,720
The problem is that we complain,
but we don't give thanks. 

639
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,120
The problem is we gripe about 
that, but we don't have 

640
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,000
gratitude in our heart. 
And So what Paul does is say, 

641
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,720
don't do these things. 
Don't focus on greed and sexual 

642
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:49,160
immorality. 
Those are more. 

643
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:53,360
Don't focus on more on what you 
don't have, focus on what you do

644
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:55,200
have. 
Gratitude is the killer app. 

645
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:59,360
Gratitude is what allows you to 
see the things in your life and 

646
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:03,240
to name them as gifts. 
Rather than an entitlement and 

647
00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,120
let me just tell you, it's. 
The same thing with my kids, 

648
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:07,160
man. 
Entitlement destroys everything.

649
00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:10,960
Whatever it is that they think 
they're entitled to #1 they're 

650
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:13,840
almost certainly not. 
And #2 it puts me in a weird 

651
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:15,360
position to have to show them 
not. 

652
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,120
But what if we just go to God 
and say, Father, thank you for 

653
00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,480
this day, Father, thank you for 
this beat down old car that's 

654
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,840
probably about to break and I 
have to sink a lot of money into

655
00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:25,920
it because you're going to meet 
that need to. 

656
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,480
Father, you've never left me 
stranded. 

657
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:33,199
You have never left me down, and
if I don't train or practice 

658
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:36,400
gratitude, I feel entitled. 
And entitlement will destroy 

659
00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:40,120
every good thing in your life. 
Gratitude spoils entitlement, 

660
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:45,800
and it protects me from wrath. 
Gratitude protects me from 

661
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,000
wrath. 
Aren't you glad we started to 

662
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,679
talk about wrath today? 
I want to be very, very careful.

663
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:52,920
Very careful. 
But I want you to hear me. 

664
00:34:53,600 --> 00:35:00,240
Are you listening closely to 
this verse 5 for this you? 

665
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:06,640
Who's you all y'all for this? 
You know with certainty that no 

666
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:11,840
sexually immoral or impure or 
greedy person and greed amounts 

667
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:17,200
to idolatry. 
Has an inheritance in the 

668
00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:22,000
Kingdom of Christ and God. 
I see that no one deceives you 

669
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,440
with empty words. 
For because of these things, the

670
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:30,760
wrath of God comes upon the sons
of obedience. 

671
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:35,320
So now we got the inheritance, 
we got the Kingdom of God, and 

672
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,400
we've got wrath. 
How are you feeling? 

673
00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,960
Good. 
We got to be very careful here 

674
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,120
and we got to make sure that 
we're using the words the way 

675
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:46,120
that Paul used the words and not
just the way that I use the 

676
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:47,920
words. 
Because when I read these, when 

677
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:50,920
I read these words, what I read 
is immoral. 

678
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,400
People are going to hell. 
That's what the world. 

679
00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:59,080
Thinks you mean. 
Immoral people are all going to 

680
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:00,960
hell. 
And what we mean, This is why we

681
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,560
divide up into tribes, right? 
Because what we mean is immoral 

682
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,600
people means people that are not
like me, people that sin in a 

683
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:09,680
way that I don't sin. 
And we believe those people are 

684
00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,160
going to hell, right? 
Well, he didn't say going to 

685
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,080
hell. 
Paul didn't talk about hell at 

686
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:16,480
all. 
What did he talk about? 

687
00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:20,520
An inheritance in the Kingdom. 
So let's see what that is. 

688
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:23,000
What happens in Ephesians 
chapter one, verse 11. 

689
00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,200
In him we also haven't obtained 
an inheritance. 

690
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:28,520
Having been predestined 
according to the. 

691
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,800
Purpose of him who works all 
things in accordance to the 

692
00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:33,720
will. 
You know what the inheritance 

693
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:39,960
this it's a community with no 
walls, with no boundaries, where

694
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:44,160
you can be known and loved and 
chased into eternity with love 

695
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:47,360
and goodness and kindness and 
healing and restoration and 

696
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:50,040
goodness. 
Inheritance this participation 

697
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,160
in God's in redeemed Kingdom. 
Now it's here. 

698
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,240
And what he's saying is you 
can't experience new life with 

699
00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:00,240
God until you abandon the old 
way of life. 

700
00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:04,000
You live without him. 
Listen, the inheritance is a 

701
00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:06,800
life where we're not scrapping 
for everything, but where Jesus 

702
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:09,880
gives us and where he loves us. 
And what he says is when we 

703
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:12,760
trade our inheritance, what we 
get is wrath. 

704
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,560
Less chuckling at the Wrath 
line. 

705
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,320
And that's fine, because what I 
mean when I say Wrath, right my 

706
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,480
way is something is. 
Wrong in the. 

707
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:23,960
World. 
This is how Tim Mackey 

708
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:26,920
described, right? 
Something is wrong in the world.

709
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:29,840
I therefore have righteous 
anger. 

710
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:33,040
And because of my righteous 
anger, what I'm going to do is 

711
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,320
destroy it. 
I see something bad that I know 

712
00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,000
is bad, I will destroy it. 
That's the old way of wrath. 

713
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:42,600
But did you know the Scripture 
actually tells us? 

714
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:46,000
There's a long passage that 
actually says several times what

715
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:48,720
God's wrath is like. 
And it's probably surprising for

716
00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:50,080
some of you. 
You're going to wish that I had 

717
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,840
just left it the way that it. 
Was the place where he loves. 

718
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:54,920
To talk about wrath is in 
Romans. 

719
00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:02,480
Chapter 1 I should find it Acts 
Romans have you Mark Luke John 

720
00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:04,280
actor I'm talk amongst 
yourselves while I do my 

721
00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:09,080
homework Romans chapter 1 and 
we're going to read verse 18 

722
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,800
verse 18 says for the wrath of 
God is. 

723
00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:20,000
Revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness 

724
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:24,280
of people who suppress the truth
and unrighteousness. 

725
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,960
OK, so now we've got this 
picture of wrath and what it 

726
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:29,000
does. 
It says it's being revealed, 

727
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:30,680
right? 
It doesn't say he's throwing 

728
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:32,640
lightning bolts, he's saying. 
We're. 

729
00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:35,840
Seeing God's wrath in front of 
us, right? 

730
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:37,600
And So what? 
What are we seeing? 

731
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,280
It says by those who suppress 
the truth. 

732
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:42,040
So what would suppressing the 
truth be? 

733
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,160
Suppressing the truth would be 
God hasn't torn down the 

734
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,320
dividing line. 
The truth would be, no, that 

735
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,920
person is a bad person 
fundamentally, and I need to 

736
00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,160
separate from them and be away 
from them and have nothing to do

737
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:57,000
with them. 
What the truth would be that God

738
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,280
isn't in control. 
What would be an untruth is God 

739
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,880
doesn't care about how I 
practice my identity, how I 

740
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,600
practice my sexuality, how I 
spend my money. 

741
00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,440
God doesn't care about any of 
those things. 

742
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,000
That would be a lie because 
we've seen throughout the 

743
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:13,760
Scripture, through the telling 
of a story that he absolutely 

744
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,320
does. 
And so we're told is his wrath 

745
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,240
is being revealed against that, 
against the suppression of the 

746
00:39:20,240 --> 00:39:24,240
truth, which is keeping down the
order, the way of things that 

747
00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:26,320
God wants. 
So now we go to verse 20. 

748
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:31,480
For since the creation of the 
world, His invisible attributes,

749
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:36,040
that is, His eternal power and 
divine nature, have been clearly

750
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:39,720
perceived, being understood by 
what has been made, so that no 

751
00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:43,800
one is without excuse is. 
That what it says. 

752
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,920
Everyone is without excuse, so 
there's no excuse. 

753
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:48,080
So the idea is we should be able
to look. 

754
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,240
Around and just go, yeah, 
there's something else going on 

755
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:52,960
here. 
I'm not the ultimate king of 

756
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:54,480
this. 
And you know how I know I'm not 

757
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:56,600
the ultimate king? 
Because I can't make the seasons

758
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,360
turn, I can't make it rain. 
I can't make you do anything. 

759
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,360
So there is a God and God is 
good and God is in control. 

760
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:05,880
And now we go to verse 24 and 
what does it say? 

761
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,320
Therefore, what does it say? 
God what? 

762
00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:11,040
Say it out loud. 
It's OK, say it. 

763
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:17,080
He gave them up. 
God gave them up to vile 

764
00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:20,240
impurity in the lusts of their 
heart so that their bodies would

765
00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:22,640
be dis among them. 
And you're like, Nah, I see 

766
00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:24,120
that. 
I know what he's talking about. 

767
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:25,840
They're right. 
Listen, no, he's talking about 

768
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:28,440
greed. 
He's talking about sexual 

769
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:30,920
impurity. 
He's talking about all of it. 

770
00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:35,480
When we go, this doesn't affect 
me, we are covering it up and 

771
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:40,120
what he says is the wrath of God
is giving us exactly what we 

772
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,080
want until we destroy ourselves 
in it. 

773
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,280
As long as you believe that you 
are nothing more than your 

774
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:49,400
sexual identity, you will miss 
the fullness of everything that 

775
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,000
God has for you. 
As long as you believe that your

776
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,760
identity is your job, or your 
income, or your politics, or 

777
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,760
where you come from or who you 
are, you will miss the goodness 

778
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,200
that God has for you. 
And that is what He calls. 

779
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,800
Wrath. 
Wrath is giving people what they

780
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:09,640
want until they end up 
destroying themselves. 

781
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:19,480
This isn't a scold. 
I don't want you to hear me 

782
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,360
yelling at you. 
What I want you to hear is an 

783
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,800
invitation. 
Identify yourself by the love of

784
00:41:25,800 --> 00:41:30,640
Christ, which covers all things,
which reveals all things. 

785
00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:42,280
The wrath of God. 
Is for the dark powers the wrath

786
00:41:42,720 --> 00:41:46,480
of God is for the enemy. 
It was created for him and for 

787
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,280
him alone. 
But if you want to ride the 

788
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:55,080
dragon, there's plenty. 
And so Paul says, leave the 

789
00:41:55,080 --> 00:42:02,040
lifestyle of fallenness, leave 
the broken and empty way and 

790
00:42:02,040 --> 00:42:07,360
walk in and follow him. 
That's what rescue is, be 

791
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,080
rescued. 
But being rescued from a burning

792
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:13,480
building can't mean staying in 
the building, can it? 

793
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:17,600
If I want to rescue you from a 
burning building, I'm going to 

794
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:21,480
get you out of the building. 
So Paul transitions from don't 

795
00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:25,160
stay in a burning building to 
step into the light. 

796
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,320
And he does it with that word 
again, therefore, right. 

797
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:33,960
So we go back to Ephesians 
chapter 5 and we read verse 7. 

798
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:39,400
Therefore, do not become 
partners with them. 

799
00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,600
It doesn't say, it doesn't say 
hate them and just says don't 

800
00:42:43,080 --> 00:42:44,720
latch up. 
Listen, my hope is that you have

801
00:42:44,720 --> 00:42:46,840
lots of people in your life that
aren't following Jesus. 

802
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:48,800
My hope is just that you're not 
following them. 

803
00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,880
My hope is that you're leading 
them into something new. 

804
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,920
So he says don't become partners
with them. 

805
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:58,400
For you are once darkness, but 
now you are light in the Lord. 

806
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:02,640
Walk as children of light, for 
the fruit of the light consists 

807
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:04,760
in all goodness and 
righteousness and truth. 

808
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,280
As you try to learn what is 
pleasing to the Lord, Do not 

809
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:13,120
participate in the useless deeds
of darkness, but instead even 

810
00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:14,960
expose them. 
We're going to talk about that 

811
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:16,200
in just a second. 
That's good, right? 

812
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:20,440
Expose them. 
For it is. 

813
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:23,240
Disgraceful to even speak of the
things which are done by them in

814
00:43:23,240 --> 00:43:26,240
secret, I all think. 
But all things become visible 

815
00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:27,600
when they are exposed to the 
light. 

816
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:29,640
For everything that becomes 
visible is light. 

817
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:33,240
And for this reason it says, 
awake sleeper and arise from the

818
00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:35,800
dead, and Christ will shine on 
you. 

819
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:40,480
Paul's command is simple, wake 
up, wake up to reality, wake up 

820
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:42,200
to the new, wake up. 
What's going on? 

821
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:46,040
Anytime that you read Paul and 
he writes about light and dark, 

822
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,880
he has one thing in his mind. 
It's Genesis 1 talking about 

823
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,560
creation, which is so in line 
with everything that he said 

824
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:53,400
throughout this whole book, his 
whole message to. 

825
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,440
You is you're a new creation. 
You are made new in your heart 

826
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:58,560
and in your spirit and not only 
that, but you're a part of a 

827
00:43:58,560 --> 00:44:01,160
community that is a new 
creation. 

828
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:03,560
Everything about you is made 
made new. 

829
00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:07,840
His command is wake up and see 
that and then walk in it and 

830
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,280
when he says expose the deeds of
darkness. 

831
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:12,360
I used to listen to a radio. 
Talk. 

832
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,120
Show in San Antonio and they 
would put that verse as the 

833
00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:19,000
bumper on the thing and what the
radio host meant was go yell at 

834
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:22,440
people who are doing it wrong 
and what he said is not that he 

835
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:26,200
didn't say go make enemies in 
the way This is why we This is 

836
00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:28,200
why it like we had for 
Halloween. 

837
00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:31,160
We had people over to our house 
right and lots of people like I 

838
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:34,520
got some emails right more 
darkness on Halloween. 

839
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:36,560
That's the Satanist favorite 
day. 

840
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:38,960
And you know what I'd say maybe 
that's so maybe that's that's 

841
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:39,720
right. 
But guess what? 

842
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:41,720
I'm not going to freaking 
concede it. 

843
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:44,560
I'm not letting them have it. 
So you know what we're going to 

844
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:46,240
do? 
What I don't do is put a sign in

845
00:44:46,240 --> 00:44:48,200
my yard that says darkness 
sucks, right? 

846
00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:49,720
Like do that. 
You know what I do? 

847
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:53,320
Turn the freaking lights on to 
call my friends over and we sit 

848
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:55,720
in my house and we pray for 
people as they come by and we. 

849
00:44:55,720 --> 00:44:59,080
Laugh and we tell stories and we
have a great time and we 

850
00:44:59,360 --> 00:45:02,800
celebrate community and we love 
each other's presence. 

851
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:06,120
And what we're doing is building
something on a day that the 

852
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,240
world says, Oh no, that's a day 
for destruction. 

853
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:13,040
And get a day, not today, not 
tomorrow, not any day. 

854
00:45:13,120 --> 00:45:17,040
Shine the light. 
But we expose darkness when we 

855
00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:18,280
go. 
Yeah, guess what? 

856
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:20,760
We don't. 
We don't care as much about our 

857
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:22,040
money. 
Oh, you want money? 

858
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:24,880
Money Here, here's money. 
But we care a great deal about 

859
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:28,000
our bodies. 
We protect our bodies fiercely 

860
00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:30,640
because these are going to spend
eternity with him. 

861
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:33,800
Not this resurrected, changed 
and transformed. 

862
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:37,360
But God gave us this money. 
Oh, I'll give you all the money 

863
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:39,080
you want. 
Oh, but you want to mess with 

864
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:40,800
this? 
My heart, my soul. 

865
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:42,440
And no, I'm not. 
No, we're not going to do that. 

866
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,520
Instead of doing deeds of 
darkness. 

867
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:51,960
You deeds of light So what are 
deeds of darkness hate when you 

868
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:55,760
go online and I go online and I 
respond to hate with hate. 

869
00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:59,280
I have now introduced more hate 
into a world that Jesus wants 

870
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:09,360
more love from hate that wish I 
didn't do that all says the 

871
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:15,080
light is you all y'all all us. 
We are the light to live out 

872
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:17,960
loud in public. 
What he's not doing here, Paul's

873
00:46:17,960 --> 00:46:19,480
not shaking his first at you, 
right? 

874
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:22,320
He's not, he's not calling you a
prude, He's not trying to to 

875
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,480
beat you up in your heart or 
anything like that. 

876
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:29,520
He's begging us to see and 
respond to the reality of a new 

877
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:31,800
creation. 
One of my favorite quotes in all

878
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,520
the world is from a guy called 
CS Lewis from a book called 

879
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:36,480
Weight of Glory. 
I'm going to read it for you, 

880
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,520
right? 
It would seem that our Lord 

881
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:42,640
finds our desires not too 
strong, but too weak. 

882
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:45,680
We are half. 
Hearted creatures. 

883
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:50,240
Fooling about with drink and sex
and ambition? 

884
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:52,720
Stop. 
Which one of those are you? 

885
00:46:56,200 --> 00:47:00,040
When Infinite joy. 
Is offered us. 

886
00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:05,400
Like an ignorant child who wants
to go on making mud pies and a 

887
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:10,160
slum because he cannot imagine 
what is meant by the offer. 

888
00:47:10,240 --> 00:47:15,920
Of a holiday at the sea, we are 
far too easily pleased. 

889
00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,720
Our high sexual ethic is rooted 
in the truth that there is 

890
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:23,640
something better. 
And while this isn't, this 

891
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:27,000
message isn't entirely about our
sexual ethic, it's a lot about 

892
00:47:27,000 --> 00:47:29,240
it. 
Because that has consumed our 

893
00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:32,240
culture. 
So how do we wake up to this? 

894
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:37,680
It is simple, it is 
uncomplicated, and it will come 

895
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:40,880
up against every single instinct
that the powers have planted 

896
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:44,640
deep in your soul and cultivated
with intentionality. 

897
00:47:45,280 --> 00:47:49,080
All is about to show us how to 
live wide, live wide open within

898
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:52,600
the world instead of hiding from
it or participating in right. 

899
00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:54,560
So I'm going to read the passage
and then I'm just going to tell 

900
00:47:54,560 --> 00:47:56,600
us three things real quick, 
Verse 15. 

901
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:01,600
So then be careful how you walk.
Not as unwise people, but as 

902
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:04,640
wise making the most. 
Of your time, because the days 

903
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:07,120
are evil, therefore. 
Do not be. 

904
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:10,400
Foolish, but understand what the
will of the Lord is, and do not 

905
00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:12,960
get drunk with wine in which 
there is debauchery, but be 

906
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,080
filled with the Spirit speaking 
to one another in psalms and 

907
00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:19,120
hymns and spiritual songs, 
singing and making melody with 

908
00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:23,160
your hearts to the Lord, always 
giving thanks for all things in 

909
00:48:23,160 --> 00:48:26,720
the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ for our God and Father. 

910
00:48:26,840 --> 00:48:29,600
So what we need to do is we need
to take our spiritual practices 

911
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:32,000
and pursuit of holiness 
seriously. 

912
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:34,600
Holiness is serious business. 
So what do we do? 

913
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,840
The first thing you do is check 
your perspective. 

914
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:40,320
The question is, am I? 
Am I? 

915
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:41,800
Like it says, don't walk 
foolishly. 

916
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,000
Don't walk like the old creation
is still in play. 

917
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:46,760
Don't walk like Jesus isn't 
seated at the right hand of the 

918
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:48,680
Father. 
Don't walk like you're still a 

919
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:52,040
slave and captive to the Powers.
That be right. 

920
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:54,320
Check your perspective. 
The question is, am I responding

921
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:56,280
in line with a new creation or 
the old? 

922
00:48:56,440 --> 00:48:59,560
Am I responding like that person
who is different from me, is bad

923
00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:02,320
or evil or unlovable? 
Or am I responding like that is 

924
00:49:02,320 --> 00:49:04,960
a person that the Lord loves 
deeply? 

925
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:08,120
Am I protective? 
Am I greedy? 

926
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:13,240
Like take my desire first, Do I 
see people as enemies and 

927
00:49:13,240 --> 00:49:15,720
threats or as part of the 
family? 

928
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:19,720
Check your perspective. 
Second, check your power source 

929
00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:23,400
says don't be drunk with wine. 
In which there is debauchery. 

930
00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:27,360
Some translations the CSB says 
don't be drunk with wine, in 

931
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,640
which there's a reckless living.
The new King James version calls

932
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,880
it dissipation. 
The literal standard version 

933
00:49:33,880 --> 00:49:36,640
calls it wastefulness. 
What he's talking about here in 

934
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:38,720
this park. 
He's not saying don't drink. 

935
00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:42,000
Churches say that a lot. 
They're telling you don't drink 

936
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,120
any alcohol and they do it 
because it's easier to control 

937
00:49:44,120 --> 00:49:46,040
people than just to let them 
have the spirit. 

938
00:49:46,040 --> 00:49:48,480
But what he's talking about is 
these animating forces. 

939
00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,560
When you get together as your 
people, when you get your crowd 

940
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:53,960
together, what's the animating 
force in there? 

941
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:56,520
Is it, Hey, we got to have a 
drink to take the edge off, 

942
00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:58,440
right? 
Is it, Hey, if I just, if I can 

943
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:00,320
just get a little bit drunk, 
then I'll be fine. 

944
00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:02,400
Then I'll be fun. 
I'm like, I'm much funnier when 

945
00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:04,680
I have a drink in me. 
Like what's what's the idea, 

946
00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:06,800
right? 
So what's the thing that moves 

947
00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:09,640
your community or your spirit? 
The Holy Spirit of God or wine? 

948
00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:10,640
And here's. 
Here's the deal. 

949
00:50:10,640 --> 00:50:14,600
You'll get what you choose, 
you'll get whatever you want, 

950
00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:18,480
and your life will bear fruit 
based on your power source. 

951
00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:22,440
And what I want to say is, if 
your power source is wine or 

952
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:26,360
spirits or beer or whatever it 
is, there will never be enough. 

953
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:32,000
But if you are being filled with
the Holy Spirit moment by moment

954
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:35,640
and day by day, you'll be 
satisfied as much as a person 

955
00:50:35,640 --> 00:50:39,040
can be satisfied. 
What is it that controls your 

956
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:42,480
gatherings? 
And you remove wine from your 

957
00:50:42,480 --> 00:50:45,880
gatherings and still have the 
time that you want? 

958
00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:51,240
Can you remove gossip? 
Can you remove anger? 

959
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:57,080
And you remove politics? 
What's your power to relax? 

960
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:01,440
What is your power to speak 
freely? 

961
00:51:02,440 --> 00:51:05,200
What is your power to enjoy your
evening? 

962
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:09,280
The third thing, Check your 
output. 

963
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:13,560
Do you leave places filled up, 
encouraged, hopeful, joyful, 

964
00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:17,200
grateful, focused on the good 
reality that God is redeeming 

965
00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:20,920
all things around you? 
Or are you more noise than 

966
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:24,200
truth? 
Are you more volume than 

967
00:51:24,640 --> 00:51:27,720
substance? 
Do you encourage the people that

968
00:51:27,720 --> 00:51:30,320
you're with, or do you compete 
with them? 

969
00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:35,280
What is the fruit of the life 
that you walk with God? 

970
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:39,400
We are saved to be loved by God 
through the sacrificial love of 

971
00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:43,400
Jesus, or us by the power of the
Holy Spirit within us. 

972
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:47,440
Paul has been pulling back the 
curtain on this apocalypse of 

973
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:51,080
love, and it is an invitation to
live differently in the world 

974
00:51:51,280 --> 00:51:54,680
and experience a new kind of 
humanity rooted in a new kind of

975
00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:57,000
love. 
And next week we're going to see

976
00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:01,040
what love looks like in terms of
power, which will immediately 

977
00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:03,600
and drastically affect every 
relationship of our lives. 

978
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:04,880
So you're not going to want to 
miss that. 

979
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,120
But I want to close us today, 
not with shame, but with an 

980
00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:11,360
encouragement. 
Jesus has something amazing to 

981
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:15,680
give you life. 
His body, soul is an invitation 

982
00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:17,520
to wholeness. 
And he's not mad at you that 

983
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:22,080
you're not there yet. 
He's inviting you to taste and 

984
00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:25,440
see his goodness. 
But Jesus, I pray that you will 

985
00:52:25,440 --> 00:52:28,720
open our eyes to that. 
We love you, and we thank you, 

986
00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:30,240
and we ask these things in your 
name. 

987
00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:32,720
Amen. 
Thank you for joining us today. 

988
00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:35,920
River City Church is all about 
experiencing and expressing 

989
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:38,600
God's love in our lives and 
community, and we hope that 

990
00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:40,640
you've been able to experience 
that today. 

991
00:52:41,200 --> 00:52:43,800
As grateful as I am that you've 
spent this time listening in 

992
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:46,880
this morning, this podcast is no
substitute for full 

993
00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:50,760
participation in a local church.
I love it when River City people

994
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:54,080
listen to other pastors, but it 
is those who show up week after 

995
00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:57,000
week faithfully giving their 
support and time and resources 

996
00:52:57,000 --> 00:53:00,400
that make all of this possible. 
If we can help you get connected

997
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:04,400
to a local church, pray for you,
or support you in any way, click

998
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:06,120
the link in the description and 
let us know. 

999
00:53:06,480 --> 00:53:08,720
If you'd like to financially 
support the ministry of River 

1000
00:53:08,720 --> 00:53:11,680
City, click the Give link on our
website in the description. 

1001
00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:14,800
Don't forget to subscribe and 
don't forget to share this with 

1002
00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:16,800
your friends. 
Thanks so much for listening. 

1003
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:20,000
May the Lord bless and keep you 
in all grace and peace.