1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,800 We're starting a new series here today, Dreams for a new year, 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,600 and we're going to be doing that for the rest of January, I think 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,880 maybe the first Sunday in February as well. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,800 I have a confession to make though. 5 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:17,320 The sermon I'm preaching today was not originally intended for 6 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,680 this series. It was intended for our Wicked 7 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:24,520 for Christmas series and but I tweaked it so it would fit in 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:29,040 this series because Paisley worked so hard to sing, to learn 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,520 the song popular to sing to us. And then we got snowed out on 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,760 the 14th when she was scheduled to sing and she has such a 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:39,960 beautiful voice. I wanted to be able to right 12 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:42,640 then I fell because you were going to do it last Sunday and 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,520 then I fell. So we got bumped again. 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,560 So she's been bumped twice and and we're very, very excited 15 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:51,200 that she's going to be singing for us today. 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,680 And and I I had to tweak the sermon. 17 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:55,640 Not a whole lot. It still fits. 18 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:01,480 And but as we're talking about the new year, and I know new 19 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,200 beginnings, New Years, they always seem to inspire dreams 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,400 and, and imaginings of what the future might hold. 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,920 And sometimes those imaginings and dreams are exciting and 22 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,720 sometimes they're terrifying. But we're going to talk a little 23 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,840 bit today and for the rest of the month about these dreams for 24 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,760 the new year. And the question today is, do 25 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,000 you dream of being popular? Is that one of your dreams for 26 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:28,400 the new year of, of having more folks like you, more people that 27 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:33,640 follow you on, on Facebook if you're my generation, or, or, or 28 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,680 Tiktok if you're, you know, younger than 30, I don't know 29 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,240 Tiktok 35. I'm not sure where the Tiktok 30 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,960 generation starts, but it's definitely younger than me. 31 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,560 Do you dream of getting more likes of more follows, of more 32 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:54,280 love, of more popularity? You know, popularity is a very 33 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,720 nice thing and, and it matters how popular we are. 34 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:00,960 It really does matter. We're going to talk about that 35 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,040 in a minute. But there are some risks to 36 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,640 popularity as well. Now in the the movie Wicked, the 37 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:12,080 two main characters, Glenda and Alphaba, Glenda was popular. 38 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,720 She was incredibly popular. Everyone liked Glenda, everyone 39 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,920 admired Glenda. Everyone wanted to be like 40 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:19,760 Glenda. Everyone followed Glenda's 41 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,320 advice and tips and guidance. She was the trend setter setter. 42 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,280 She was the standard setter and she and Alphaba became 43 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:29,080 roommates. And nobody liked Alphaba, at 44 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,600 least nobody at school. Most people didn't like Elphaba. 45 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,440 She was the the epitome and definition of unpopular. 46 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,960 And Glenda felt that the greatest gift that she had to 47 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,280 offer Elphaba was to teach her how to be popular. 48 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,440 And popularity matters. In spite of what our parents 49 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,600 tell us growing up, sometimes it doesn't matter. 50 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:56,000 Popularity matters it It matters whether people like you or not. 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,320 It matters whether people approve of you or not. 52 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,760 It affects your social life. It affects your friendship 53 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,080 network. It affects sometimes your self 54 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,680 esteem. It can affect jobs that you get 55 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,280 and a career path that you may or may not have it. 56 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,920 It can affect how well you do at your job. 57 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,160 We, we've all heard the expression it's not what you 58 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,200 know it too, you know, And that's another way of saying 59 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,000 that popularity matters. Who likes you, who respects you, 60 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,800 who admires you? Who is Who is following your 61 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,840 your your family, or following your career or following your 62 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:34,080 education? Following what you're doing, 63 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:36,240 following your successes and your failures. 64 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,240 Popularity. Popularity can determine whether 65 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,800 we get the raise, whether we get the promotion. 66 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,000 Popularity can determine how we feel about ourselves. 67 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,840 Popularity can determine how well our kids do in school and 68 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,600 whether school is a blessing or a curse. 69 00:03:54,440 --> 00:04:00,920 Popularity matters. The problem comes when we place 70 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,880 too much value and too much importance or the wrong kind of 71 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,400 value and the wrong kind of importance on popularity because 72 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,720 popularity, because it matters. Popularity is also a trap. 73 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:18,800 One of the the well, the Scripture on the opening slide 74 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,240 is, is that you know that seeking the approval of people 75 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:29,080 is a snare, but God lifts up those whom God approves. 76 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,960 The snare is this. Once we decide, it's one thing 77 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,120 to recognize that popularity matters. 78 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:41,280 It's another thing to live for popularity, to make that the 79 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:44,880 goal of what we do and the reason why we do things. 80 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,080 Once we live for popularity, once we make that the goal of 81 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,320 what we're doing and the reason why we're doing it, then 82 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:58,920 popularity has us and it holds us because now we belong to the 83 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:01,480 people who approve or disapprove. 84 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,600 Social media is the easiest way to see this and the the culture 85 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,920 of influence and influencers that has grown up on social 86 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:14,200 media over the past decade or so here, because once you start 87 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:20,440 gathering followers, you have to please the followers or you'll 88 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,320 lose the followers. And so now you can't choose what 89 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:28,760 you say just because to say what you say or, or do what you do 90 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,280 just because it's important to you, because you have to gauge 91 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:35,480 how people will react to that. Because if you lose followers, 92 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,240 then you lose influence and you lose influence and you lose 93 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,040 advertising and you lose advertising and you lose money. 94 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:44,880 And worst case scenario, you get cancelled and you get a, a, a 95 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:52,600 plague of negative attention on social media or in real life. 96 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:55,040 This was true long before social media. 97 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,200 And we know that everyone here, I, I'm sure, I hope, I think 98 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:00,000 probably knows who Michael Jordan is. 99 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,280 And, and I'm not a basketball expert. 100 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:10,680 I still think Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball, 101 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:12,560 greatest basketball player who has ever lived. 102 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,440 But Michael was a businessman as well as a basketball player. 103 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,760 And his deal with Nike was a revolutionary kind of deal. 104 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,720 And he has made a lot of money selling sneakers and tennis 105 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:31,200 shoes throughout his career and, and his life and, and early on 106 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,120 in his career. And when his trajectory was 107 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:36,760 really high and he was at the, you know, reaching and, and, and 108 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:41,560 achieving the height of his popularity, there was, as there 109 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:43,840 always is in this country, political turmoil. 110 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,240 And Jordan was asked and pressured by people around him 111 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,040 to take a stand. And in this particular case, 112 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,520 just take a stand for the Democrat candidate for president 113 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,920 during that particular election. I'm not even sure which election 114 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,360 it was, but to take a stand and promote them. 115 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:06,760 And he refused to do it. And people asked him why and he 116 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:08,800 said this is an interview. I think you can find it on 117 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,120 YouTube somewhere. And they asked what why and, and 118 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,120 Jordan's response was, is because Republicans buy sneakers 119 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:20,360 too. And, and, and that's a good 120 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:25,360 business decision. It's also a reflection of what a 121 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,080 trap popularity can be. Now, I'm not trying to throw 122 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,120 stones at Michael Jordan. I, I don't know what his 123 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,360 politics are. I don't know any of that. 124 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,800 I don't know what I, but if we're in a spot where, where 125 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,640 we're saying, I can't say this because I'll lose my customers. 126 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,640 If, if what that thing is is something that doesn't really 127 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,040 matter and isn't really important or is really a 128 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,280 secondary issue, then fine. You know, I, I, that's cool. 129 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,040 But if, if we find ourselves saying I have to hide who I am, 130 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,240 I have to pretend my beliefs are something other than they are 131 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:04,360 because I don't want to lose popularity. 132 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,280 Now we're in that trap. We're in that trap. 133 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaking of that, we're going to see, are we ready? 134 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,360 Awesome. Come on up. 135 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,600 Now it's time to hear the song. At this point in the sermon, 136 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,160 Paisley Partlow sang Popular. She did a beautiful job with the 137 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,120 song and I wish I could include it here, but due to technical 138 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,560 limitations, I could not get a good recording of her singing. 139 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,200 You can, however, find Ariana Grande's version on YouTube and 140 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,600 all major music platforms. Now back to the sermon. 141 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:46,200 All right, good job, well done. Thank you, Paisley. 142 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:52,000 Very well done. Popularity is a trap is a trap 143 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:55,360 and and the singing of it can be a lot of fun. 144 00:08:55,560 --> 00:09:03,480 But living for popularity keeps us under the thumb of the people 145 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,960 whose opinions we are craving all the time. 146 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,360 To stay popular means we have to keep pleasing the crowd. 147 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,360 We have to keep doing what we think we'll be admired for 148 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:17,280 doing. And we're we've become bound to 149 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:23,400 maintain that popularity. One of the pieces in this in, in 150 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,080 one of the realities of our modern culture is that that we 151 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,320 are have very, very clearly become tribalistic. 152 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,440 And there it's rare to find, you know, back in the days like in 153 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,640 the 80s, seventies and 80s, you knew what you were doing, I 154 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:40,480 think, wasn't it? It's weird that I can still 155 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:42,360 remember this. I think Tuesday night at 8, you 156 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,760 remember Happy Days. Tuesday night at 8 and everybody 157 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:51,480 watched Happy Days and, and everybody watched The Waltons 158 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:56,640 and, and, and God help us, everybody watched Hee Haw on, on 159 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,600 Saturdays. Everybody knew what the popular 160 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:05,480 shows were on television. Now we're spread out all over 161 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,920 the place and and my kids watch stuff on YouTube that I 162 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,520 absolutely know nothing about and get really confused by when 163 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:18,400 they say, Hey, would you mind? This happened with what our our 164 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:20,440 son when he was home. He hates when I talk about him, 165 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:21,600 but he won't be listening to this. 166 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:27,040 So the the the he said, Hey, do you mind if we watch this 167 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,480 YouTube? Who builds aquariums? 168 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:33,520 And we spend an hour watching a guy build an aquarium on YouTube 169 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:35,560 and he loves that stuff. I'm going, OK, that's 170 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:37,680 interesting. I don't get it, but it's kind of 171 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:42,240 cool. We're fragmented and within 172 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:47,720 those tribes we have no problem typically making people in other 173 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,160 tribes angry. We see that in politics very 174 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,800 clearly, the rage baiting and, and all the kinds of the things 175 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,720 that happens where we try to get the people in the other tribe to 176 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:02,200 look bad while we look good to our tribe. 177 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:10,120 And our mind can tell us that we're being righteous when we're 178 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,680 doing things like that because it's OK if those folks don't 179 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:19,560 like me. The problem is when we're 180 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,360 popular, when we're seeking popularity, even if it's just 181 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,600 within our tribe, it's still a trap because no tribe, however 182 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,200 good they are, whether it's a political tribe or a social 183 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,720 tribe or whatever kind of no tribe is perfect. 184 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,520 And sometimes we have to look at our own tribe and say this is a 185 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,240 problem with us. But if we're if we're again, if 186 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,480 we're living for the popularity, we'll never be able to do that 187 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,520 because when we criticize the people that are praising us, we 188 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,520 risk losing the praise and losing the popularity. 189 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,600 So how do we avoid this trap? Popularity matters. 190 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,280 It affects us, it affects our lives. 191 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:54,640 It affects the lives of our kids. 192 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,040 It affects politics, it affects religion, it affects all of the 193 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,640 different parts of our lives. How do we avoid the trap while 194 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,280 living in this world where popularity matters? 195 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:14,040 By living for an audience of 1. The key to avoiding the trap is 196 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,360 to do what Paisley told me she needed to do this morning. 197 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,720 She said when I sing, I just need to be singing to God and 198 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,840 God needs to be happy with me. It doesn't matter whether other 199 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:26,640 folks are. And I said, you just preached 200 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,640 the sermon. We'd have been done by now if 201 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:34,600 you'd been here earlier. Just saying, followers of Jesus, 202 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:37,720 to avoid the popularity trap, we need to live for an audience of 203 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:42,320 one understanding the God sees everything clearly, God calls 204 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,040 out what's real, and God holds us accountable in a way that no 205 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:52,720 crowd or culture can. We don't have to worry about 206 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,480 cancellation on one side. We don't have to worry about 207 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,120 being popular and having all the likes and all of the views and 208 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,720 all of the love and all of the influence on the other. 209 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,680 If our focus is just on, is this pleasing to God? 210 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:11,880 For whom am I doing this? Why am I doing this? 211 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,160 Worship is a great tool for this because that's what worship is 212 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:20,120 about. One of the reasons the church 213 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,680 gathers and worship every week is to make sure that we keep our 214 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:27,280 focus on our audience of one who is God. 215 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,760 We don't do this for us. I mean, there's a sense in which 216 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,920 it's good for us, just like exercise is good for us. 217 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:38,080 But I don't exercise either. So that's not a really helpful 218 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,040 analogy for me. But we, we do this for God. 219 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:49,640 The trap is, you know, there's always a trap that has to be 220 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,720 avoided. That the trap when you're 221 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,640 standing up front, whether you're a pastor or, and other 222 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,560 churches and worship leader, whether you're the, the pianist 223 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,040 or organist, whether you're, if someone that's upfront. 224 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:07,080 The trap is in thinking this is about me and, and I need to stay 225 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,160 popular with the folks that are out there. 226 00:14:10,680 --> 00:14:14,720 The trap for sitting out there is, is thinking that it's about 227 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,840 you, that your customers here and the customer is always 228 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:20,400 right. And if not getting the songs 229 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,640 that I like and the sermons that I like and the programs that I 230 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,000 like, then there's a problem here. 231 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:29,680 But you're not customers and I'm not a performer. 232 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:36,760 This show isn't for us. What we do here is for God to 233 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,480 give God credit, to give God praise, to give God glory, to 234 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:45,480 reset our focus on God for at least an hour every week and and 235 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,280 hope and pray that that carries over throughout the rest of the 236 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,360 week. So when we're not intentionally 237 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:54,080 and directly talking about God, we're still remembering who our 238 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,720 audience is, whether we're at work or whether we're at school. 239 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:00,360 It's not really about pleasing the teacher. 240 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,120 It's not really about pleasing our friends. 241 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:03,920 It's not really about pleasing our boss. 242 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:05,920 It's not really about pleasing the customers. 243 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:10,760 At the end of the day, it's about pleasing God and making 244 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,240 God our audience of 1. I want to read through a few 245 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,000 verses. Couple of them we've already 246 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,120 read, but I'm going to hit them again because they're short, 247 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:24,040 because this is this theme runs throughout the Old and the New 248 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:33,600 Testament and and in a very real sense, it's at the core of our 249 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,880 identity. Blessed are you, Jesus said. 250 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,160 When people insult you, persecute you and falsely say 251 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,640 all kinds of evil things against you because of me, rejoice and 252 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,200 be glad because great is your reward in heaven. 253 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,880 For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were 254 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:51,560 before you, don't worry about being canceled. 255 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,920 Don't worry about being hated on for doing now, if you're doing 256 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,160 rotten stuff, then that's on you, right? 257 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,880 There's no blessing in that. If you're out doing rotten stuff 258 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:02,520 and people say, hey, you're rotten, then there's this is not 259 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,160 what Jesus is talking about. He says when you're out treating 260 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,440 me as your audience of 1 and doing the good that I've called 261 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:11,680 you to do. And if people are bad mouthing 262 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,360 you for that, that's their problem. 263 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,560 That's their problem. You'll be blessed. 264 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,080 You may be persecuted now, but you will be blessed in heaven. 265 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,800 John 1225 and 26. Anyone who loves their life will 266 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,560 lose it. Anyone who hates their life in 267 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,480 this world will keep it for eternal life. 268 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,200 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am my servant 269 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:37,040 will also be. My father will honor the one who 270 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,440 serves me. Part of that loving our lives 271 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:47,200 again is popularity. If we love our life, if if we 11 272 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,560 particularly deadly way to love our lives is to seek popularity 273 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:56,200 and to live for popularity, to make my life all about the 274 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,960 approval of others instead of about serving God. 275 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,119 The same time, many of them, even among the elders, believed 276 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,960 in Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they would not openly 277 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,119 acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the 278 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,520 synagogue. For they loved human praise more 279 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:18,720 than praise from God. 1st Thessalonians 2 one through 4 280 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,480 You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not 281 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,359 without results. We had previously suffered and 282 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,280 been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know. 283 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,200 But with the help of our God, we dared to tell you His gospel in 284 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:36,000 the face of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not 285 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,520 spring from error or impure motives. 286 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,000 We are not, nor are we trying to trick you. 287 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,800 On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be 288 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,800 entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please 289 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:52,240 people, but God who tests our hearts. 290 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:56,960 And then the verse that we had on the opening slide, the fear 291 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,640 of people becomes a snare. But whoever trusts the Lord will 292 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:07,200 be set on high, hiding these words in our hearts, keeping our 293 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,400 focus on God, and remembering that over and over and over 294 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:17,120 again in the Scripture we see by word and by example that living 295 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:21,800 for praise from other human beings is is a a, a quick road 296 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,280 to hell. Living for the honor and praise 297 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,680 that comes from God is that straight and narrow way that 298 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:33,560 leads to life that we don't live to please others. 299 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:38,120 We don't speak to please others, no matter who those others are. 300 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,080 We live and speak and breathe and work and play to please God. 301 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,520 When we can do that, then we avoid the popularity snare. 302 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,120 Consider Jesus. Jesus, One of the temptations 303 00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,960 the devil put in front of Jesus was to live for popularity. 304 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,040 That's what the temple test was about in the wilderness when the 305 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,960 devil said to Jesus, throw yourself off the temple because 306 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,880 God has commanded his angels concerning you that it will not 307 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,880 let you come to harm. Scott Blevins paraphrase there, 308 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:10,840 why the temple? Why not a mountain? 309 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,640 Because the temple was public. The temple was where everyone 310 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:15,680 was. It would make a big splash. 311 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:17,280 It would gain him a lot of followers. 312 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,760 People would admire and respect him because they would see this 313 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,000 undeniable miracle right in front of them. 314 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:28,160 And Jesus said, no, I'm not here to test God. 315 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,600 I'm not here to gain cliques or gain votes. 316 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:35,880 I'm not running for office. We see it even more dramatically 317 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,040 flying after me. My goodness, I must be sweet. 318 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,840 Did it crawl up the shirt? I just, I'm just that sweet. 319 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,560 Let's see. I was again hoping a little more 320 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:54,280 laugh than that, you know. But Jesus showed us even more 321 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,760 when at a point when he fed Bible says 5000 men, not 322 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,120 counting women and children. So that it you know, if arguably 323 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:05,520 every man that's there is there with his wife and they have a 324 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,680 kid or two, we're looking at 15. This fly is just determined to 325 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:14,560 distract me today. He's die bombing me. 326 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:22,800 My goodness, maybe I'm not that sweet and and Jesus had 1520 327 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,280 thousand people. That were there people that 328 00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:31,160 wanted to make him a king? It is determined my my son got 329 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:32,840 an assault. He got one of those little salt 330 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:37,680 pistols that you can shoot bugs out of the air with thinking I 331 00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:46,040 should have kept it for myself. Jesus left that place where he, 332 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:50,360 all those 10s of thousands of people had come to admire him 333 00:20:51,120 --> 00:20:54,520 and we're admiring him and, and we're praising him and we're 334 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,760 honoring him and he snuck off and he left them. 335 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,560 And when they found out that he snuck off and left and they went 336 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,080 after him, that's how popular Jesus was. 337 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,200 And when they caught up with him, he turned around and he 338 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,640 said to thousands and thousands of people, the only reason 339 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:13,480 you're after me is for the free food I fed you. 340 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:15,920 You're after me for the free food. 341 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:21,240 Anyone that wants to follow me needs to eat my flesh and drink 342 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,600 my blood. Turned a lot of people off. 343 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,640 At the end it came down to everyone left but the 12. 344 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:36,560 Everyone left but the 12. Jesus was not seeking 345 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,240 popularity. He said to the 12, are you going 346 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,680 to leave too? And they said you're the only 347 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,840 place where we can find life. You're the only one that has the 348 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,760 life that we really want and really need. 349 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,920 And they stayed and followed and they learned that lesson that 350 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,640 day that carried on. You see it in the book of Acts 351 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:00,720 when, when, when they did the same kinds of things, risking 352 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,800 persecution, actually receiving persecution to tell others about 353 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,160 Jesus because they knew Jesus was the only source of life. 354 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,480 And it wasn't about them being popular. 355 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:15,280 It was about them honoring God. And that's how Jesus lived. 356 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,800 We're going to be heading into Lent real soon and we'll we'll 357 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,200 tell again the story of of Palm Sunday, where Jesus entered 358 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:26,240 Jerusalem and was hailed by thousands in the city as the 359 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,240 king, as the Messiah. And less than a week later, he 360 00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:36,000 was being crucified because he refused to let them make him 361 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:41,200 king. If his kingship rested on his 362 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,320 popularity, then they would control him. 363 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:51,120 But his kingship came from God, and he was going to honor God 364 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:53,640 whether others followed him or others killed him. 365 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,360 Consider Jesus in this. Followers of Jesus need to 366 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:02,280 discipline and train themselves to live and think like Jesus. 367 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,640 Be more concerned with what God thinks of us than what other 368 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,200 people think of us. To seek God's honor and esteem 369 00:23:08,360 --> 00:23:12,960 rather than the honor and esteem of others have the same mind 370 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,320 that Jesus had is what Paul writes to us in Philippians. 371 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,760 And part of that mind is a mind that says I want to honor God 372 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,480 and I don't care how that impacts my popularity. 373 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,440 We can consider Mary and Joseph too. 374 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,680 I this was the Christmas part, which I'll do in a little more 375 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:36,040 briefly here, but Mary and Joseph living in the small town 376 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:41,480 of Nazareth and Mary agreeing to what the Angel said. 377 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:47,520 Let it be with me as you have said, let the Holy Spirit make 378 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:52,200 me pregnant and have this baby even though I'm not married. 379 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,560 And she becomes pregnant outside of marriage. 380 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:57,600 She was engaged, but they hadn't been married yet. 381 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:05,840 And and the loss of honor and reputation that that caused is 382 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,360 difficult for us to imagine in this day and age. 383 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:13,600 And for Joseph to go ahead and marry her anyway meant him 384 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,120 losing honor and reputation as well. 385 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,360 But it wasn't about the honor. It wasn't about the reputation, 386 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:23,240 it wasn't about the popularity for them. 387 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,520 It was about what does God want? What is God asking us to do? 388 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:33,760 What is God asking me to do? And if that costs me popularity, 389 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,480 if it costs me praise, if it costs me friends, if it costs me 390 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:43,200 the goodwill even of neighbors and family, I will still do it 391 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,320 when I know that this is what God is calling me to do. 392 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,720 Because it's not about the praise and it's not about the 393 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:56,000 popularity. It's about God, It's about God. 394 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:03,440 Elphaba was not popular and and that was OK with her. 395 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:06,760 Well, no, it really wasn't. It was a cause of great distress 396 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:12,040 for her and Glenda thought that the best way to help Elphaba was 397 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,640 to teach her how to be popular. Not as popular as Glenda, but 398 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,440 popular. How to please the crowd. 399 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,040 How to get the boy. How to get everyone to like you. 400 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:23,880 How to get folks to laugh at your jokes. 401 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,080 How to get people to admire her admire you. 402 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,120 That was Glenda's wheelhouse, and that's what she thought 403 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,480 Alphaba needed. But that's not what Alphaba 404 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,560 needed. Alphaba didn't need to learn to 405 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:41,120 be popular. Alphaba needed a friend to stand 406 00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:43,880 beside her even when she was unpopular. 407 00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:49,320 Alphaba needed an ally who would work with her and fight with her 408 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,280 to resist the evil, injustice and oppression that was in the 409 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,920 world. That's what not lessons in 410 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,240 popularity. One of the greatest mistakes 411 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,560 that we can make is to think to get God's will be done. 412 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:06,680 We pray that every thy Kingdom come, thy will be done for to 413 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,840 for that to happen, for the church to do that is that we 414 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,080 then have to be popular. If we can just get enough 415 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,240 followers, if we can just get enough people in the building, 416 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,560 then we can have influence, then we can make a difference. 417 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:25,480 It's a trap. We don't need to be popular to 418 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,200 do God's will. We don't need to be popular to 419 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:31,920 be part of God's Kingdom coming here on earth just like it is in 420 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,720 heaven. We need to be faithful. 421 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,360 We need to be faithful to God. We need to be faithful and 422 00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:42,600 loving and caring toward one another because as soon as we 423 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:46,120 start courting popularity, as soon as it becomes about the 424 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:49,280 numbers, as soon as it becomes you know how many likes or how 425 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,080 many clicks or how many buts are in the seats, As soon as it 426 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,280 becomes about that, now that is in charge and that is in 427 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,560 control. And that is the thing that's 428 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:02,600 driving us rather than God. And that's the trap of 429 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,040 popularity. It's like money in that way. 430 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,080 Those are two things that I, you know, I, I, I, I hear and, and, 431 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,920 and I feel those pressures. If I just had more money, if I 432 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:16,720 just had more thought for, you know, popularity, then then I 433 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,160 could get so much more done in this world for God. 434 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,440 Jesus died on the cross alone. And that's the most important 435 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,440 thing that's been done on this world since creation. 436 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:36,200 And all we need is to be like Jesus and to be faithful, to do 437 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,920 what God calls us to do, to make him our audience, and to let 438 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:46,560 others respond with praise or with condemnation as they may in 439 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,040 Jesus name. Amen. 440 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:48,960 Amen.