July 6, 2025 • 60 mins
We explore the revolutionary concept that every Christian stands on equal footing with the apostles themselves, not through our own merit, but through the righteousness of Christ.
• God has granted believers "all things that pertain to life and godliness" through knowing Christ
• Many Christians experience a "false start" by trying to earn God's approval rather than beginning with faith
• Faith must come first, followed by supplements like virtue, knowledge, self-control and love
• Our relationship with Christ isn't about striving but about taking what He freely gives
• The Christian life includes "becoming partakers of the divine nature" - uniquely receiving rather than just giving
• When we build properly on the foundation of faith, God promises we "will never fall"
• God desires not just to admit us to heaven, but to "richly provide" our entrance into His kingdom
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence." - 2 Peter 1:3
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Will Hawk (00:05):
One of the things I love about the song that we just
sang in Stokes you startedpraying it and the Lord had just
pressed it on my heart was thisidea of with every breath, I
long to follow Jesus.
It's a beautiful thing to sing.
It's another thing to mean Idon't know what your resting
heart rate is, and we don't needto pull out our Apple watches
to determine who the mostimpressive athlete is among us,
what your resting heart rate is,and we don't need to pull out
our Apple Watches to determinewho the most impressive athlete
(00:27):
is among us with a 20 heart ratea minute.
But I will tell you this you'regoing to take a lot of breaths
in the next little bit of timeand I wonder how often we
actually think you know Christ,if you have put your faith and
trust in Jesus and he hasrescued you from your sin.
The concept really is likeevery breath in and every breath
(00:48):
out.
You have purchased it, it isyours, it is sort of my gift to
you, and I was reminded of anold Testament, prophet Ezekiel,
and God takes Ezekiel throughthis valley of dry bones.
Let me just pause and tell youthis Sunday is a very
encouraging Sunday, but one ofthe things that I've realized
about encouragement is it feelsbigger the lower you start.
(01:09):
And so if your day is goinggreat you remember this as a kid
like if it's a summer day andyou're already going to spend
the night at your buddy's houseand then you find out you're
going to go see a movie, you'relike, awesome.
But if you're expecting to bestudying for a final and then
the teacher's like, forget that,we're canceling it, just have
the night off, and then you findout you're spending the night
(01:29):
at your buddy's house and you'regoing to go see a movie, you
feel it.
So here's what I'm wanting todo recognizing our souls.
I want us to start low, but notin a fake way, like in a very
real way.
God speaks to Ezekiel and hetakes him into this valley and
there's nothing but bones there.
This is Ezekiel, chapter 37.
If you want to fact check me onthis.
And God asks Ezekiel, he sayshey, ezekiel, what do you think
(01:51):
about these bones?
Can these things come to life?
Can they live?
Can there be life in unexpectedplaces?
Is what God is saying to him.
And Ezekiel being a very smartprophet, he just simply says
Lord, you know, I don't want toget this one right.
I don't know if you're handingout Jolly Ranchers for correct
answers after Sunday school, butyou know all things.
You are sovereign.
(02:11):
And then in verse five, here'swhat God's word says.
It says let's see the Lord andKing speaks to you.
He says I will put breath inyou, then you will come to life
again.
Christian in the room, I canonly speak to the Christians in
the room with this.
Do you realize that you havebeen given second life, second
(02:33):
breath, that the life in thecourse that you on was
ultimately going to end indarkness and in death and gloom,
and whatever the best stuff youwere going to pull off was
going to be wholly insufficient?
But with every breath is a giftthat God has given that we have
the privilege of giving rightback to him.
And so let's be about that thismorning.
(02:55):
A couple of ways that you canlean in.
Number one we would love toknow how to pray for you, how
the pastoral team and the prayerteam can use our breath in
going before the Lord.
So in front of you on theselittle cards, is a side for
prayer.
Please go ahead, grab that, jotit down.
We also love praising God forthings that are going on in your
(03:16):
life.
Jot those things down.
You can leave these in your pewor little like pro tip first
service people.
If you put them in the buckets,it actually does help.
The ushers Second service wedon't really care about.
There's nobody coming in tograb that seat and read your
very deep prayer request thatwe're hoping to get before.
So first, if y'all wanna dropthem in, that's kind of nice,
(03:39):
but you can leave them anywhere.
And then if you're visitingwith us and you feel confident
enough that we can send you oneemail, we would love to be able
to do that.
If, like, the jury is still outon that, we're cool with it.
Maybe just hold on to it and doit at the end.
Also, we would love for you tobe a giving people and you
really are.
So if you're, most of our folksgive regularly online, you can
(04:01):
scan the QR code.
We don't leave it up for verylong, but if you want to give
and you're wondering how we havea couple of little offering
buckets on the other side of thedoor, we don't pass the plate
because historically, midtreehas been very poor at passing
the plate.
I don't know how to explainthis.
We have yet to figure this out.
Maybe our usher team hasdeveloped to the place that we
(04:23):
can try this again, but theplates would go out and somebody
would get it seven times andsomebody wouldn't get it in
seven weeks, and we thoughtpeople might be picking up on
stuff that we weren't actuallytrying to say, and so we just
decided to leave that up to you.
And so that is how you giveMembers.
Obviously, please givefaithfully If you're a visitor.
We just want today to be ablessing to you.
(04:45):
I'm going to invite Carmen tocome up.
I'm looking for.
Would y'all welcome Carmen up?
Carmen is going to share acouple of things, probably three
ways that 127 steps in andadvocates for children in
vulnerable places, and then I'mgoing to pray James 127 over us
(05:06):
when you finish.
So, carmen, tell us what'sgoing on, how are things?
Carmen Overton (05:09):
Thank you.
Good morning.
I'm Carmen Overton and I'm oneof the leaders of the 127 Family
Advocacy Ministry here atMidtree, and we are a part of a
whole bunch of churches throughthe Clement Arts Network that
provides foster care andadoption support to families in
our congregation who are caringfor vulnerable children, and one
(05:30):
of the ministries I want tospotlight this morning is
Lifeline Children's Services.
Lifeline is a global orphancare ministry that our church
partners with and I want to justpoint out a few ways that they
get involved in the orphan carecrisis both globally and here
locally.
Many of you might be familiarwith Lifeline through their
(05:52):
international adoption program,which is probably their oldest
and longest lasting program andvitally important in helping
bring forever families tochildren across the world.
I can't say enough good thingsabout this program and I know
many of you have personalexperiences with that program,
but they bring excellence andexpertise to a very complicated
(06:16):
situation.
One thing that I can tell youin working for a long time in
foster care and adoptionministry is that it is entering
into the deepest, darkestbrokenness that exists in our
world and it's a multifacetedproblem that requires a
multifaceted solution, andLifeline does a really good job
(06:38):
of bringing lots of differentcomponents to that.
But not only do they bring alot of solutions, they do it
with excellence so that whenpeople decide to say yes to
answering the call to adoption,it can be very frustrating
dealing with government red tapeand bureaucracies and waiting
and frustrations, and havingsomebody to walk alongside you
(07:01):
in that really can be the thingthat keeps you going to
completion and bringing childreninto families forever.
Another thing that Lifelinedoes here locally and around the
country is that they offerpregnancy counseling to mothers
who have unplanned pregnanciesto really help them understand
(07:22):
all of the available options.
So sometimes that is givingthem resources to be able to
mother and parent well.
Sometimes it's helping them tomake the decision to place a
child for adoption, but it'sjust a mentor and a support
person who can walk alongsidethat mother in a really
challenging time, and that'ssomething that is offered here
(07:42):
in our area.
And then another thing, becausethe other thing that I've
learned in caring for vulnerablechildren is that it is only an
act that can be done through theHoly Spirit, because you have
to be 100% for adoption andmaking sure that we're helping
fulfill God's promise to set thelonely in families, but you
(08:02):
also have to be 100% for thatbirth family.
So sometimes that means nottaking a child away from a
family, but making sure that afamily can stay together, and
that is something that alsohappens here in our community
through a program calledFamilies Count, where churches
and volunteers are trained toprovide a 12-week course for
(08:26):
parents who are trying to keeptheir children from going into
the foster care system.
It's been wildly successfulhere in our community and has
become a part of our juvenilecourt system to help parents
meet requirements that they need.
But it's just really beautifulbecause it's the church entering
into brokenness and providing aresource and a support system
(08:48):
that a family didn't have before, so that a family can stay
together.
So that's a few things.
Lifeline does a whole lot morethan that, and I would encourage
you to visit their website,lifelinechildorg, to learn more
about what they do or reach outto me.
I'd love to talk to you.
Will Hawk (09:10):
James 127 is what our family advocacy ministry that's
a lot of words.
There's so many adjectives inthe things that y'all do.
We just call it fam.
Well, what blows me away likethis is Carmen's heart, Like
she's not just up here becausewe were like, hey, we need a
spotlight so we can let peopleknow what their money goes to.
She doesn't have a note withher, just so you know.
That's pretty rare.
Most people don't come up withno notes, but it is so inside of
(09:31):
her that one of the things youget they could just like come
and meet you, Absolutely yeah.
And so if you want to know hey,I may not feel called to adopt,
but I would love to supportfolks Carmen would be the person
to know.
And if you're like, hey, I wantto just be involved in some
capacity, Carmen is the personto know.
I did not realize this untilyesterday.
Did you know people can buythat shirt on our store?
(09:52):
No, I don't feel like theyshould be able to.
I feel like you should have tobe on the team.
I'm afraid there are peoplewalking around with stolen valor
that are like no, really, Isupport, I support to $20 worth,
in which I got myself my ownt-shirt.
We'll take it Okay.
Carmen Overton (10:07):
We'll take it yeah.
Will Hawk (10:09):
You better be able to talk about it a little bit if
you buy the shirt and wear it.
Carmen Overton (10:11):
But you know, all you have to do is make a
meal and put it in our freezer.
Will Hawk (10:14):
And that's probably one of the ways that most people
Super easy, yeah, super easy toget involved.
Carmen would be the person toknow if you're like, hey, maybe
we should adopt all the way to.
We just want to help out insome way, and this would be one
way to do it.
Carmen Overton (10:27):
We love babysitters.
Will Hawk (10:28):
Babysitters are good.
Yeah, all right, so I'm goingto pray.
Was there anything else youwanted to say?
I didn't mean to cut you off.
That's good, okay, good ofchildren, and in a world that is
very much broken.
We know that it is.
We know that King Jesus willone day come and will make all
(10:50):
things right.
But until that day comes, youtell us that religion is not
pure just because we say so.
In fact, james 1 26 tells us ifanybody thinks he's religious
and can't bridle his tongue,he's deceiving his heart.
But religion that is pure andundefiled before God, the Father
, is this to visit orphans, tocare for widows in their
(11:12):
affliction and to keep oneselfunstained from the world.
So, father, may every one of uswho is breathing for Jesus at
this point, may we have a heartfor something that is bigger
than us and deeper than us andwider than us.
May we have a desire for thingsthat will outlast us, like
young children who need a dadand who need a mom, families who
(11:33):
are stepping into that who needa meal, and the million
different things that stand inbetween.
Your people have been knownsince the early days of
Christianity for caring for theleast of these because you cared
for us as the least of these.
May we step into that callingtogether.
I pray in Jesus' name, amen,amen.
(11:53):
All right guys.
If y'all want to go ahead andgrab your Bibles, nora will tell
you where to turn in 1 Peter.
What's up, nora?
Nora Radford (12:01):
What's up, Nora?
Hi, good morning.
I'm Nora.
Please turn your Bibles to.
This says Song of 2 Peter.
Song of 2 Peter To 2 Peter.
Carrie, 1, 3 through 9.
Carrie, we have a typo.
Will Hawk (12:17):
Good luck finding that in your Bible.
Okay, I'll tell you.
If you find that in your Bible,I need to see your Bible, okay,
because we need to replace itwith a non-apocryphal version.
Nora Radford (12:26):
Okay, if you have a pew Bible, it'll be on page
1018.
And so while I'm giving you achance to read, there's a funny
little story that Will asked meto share, and so I'll tell it to
you.
Okay, so nine years ago I wasgoing through a very, very ugly,
(12:46):
despairing time in my life, andso I went to Crosspoint and I
usually saw Brad and he wasunavailable and I was a little
upset.
The JV version.
I did get the B team, so I metwith Will.
I did get the B team, so I metwith Will.
(13:08):
He was, and he ended up sharingthis verse with me, which is
going to be verse three.
It's the first one that we readand it's just really cool how
God did kind of a layup rightnow where I'm the one who gets
to share this with you becausehe shared it with me because of
his Well and what I was tellingNora.
Will Hawk (13:23):
What makes this so cool is the only reason I knew
to share that verse with younine years ago which, by the way
, is the ones we're encouragingyou to memorize over the next
five weeks is because Mr MacMcDonald, who is myI think,
second grade Sunday schoolteacher, refused for us to leave
second grade without knowingthat verse.
It was like William, you havebeen given everything you need
(13:44):
for life and godliness andbecause of that, in like 1990,
you got encouragement.
Then we fast forward in another10 years.
Isn't God's word truly livingand active?
How cool.
So let's hear from the livingand active.
Nora Radford (13:57):
Yes.
So if you are like, how am Igoing to get through this?
What am I going to do?
I am not equipped.
Verse three says His divinepower has granted to us all
things, not just some things,all things that pertain to life
and godliness, through theknowledge of Him, who called us
to His own glory and excellence,by which he has granted to us
His precious and very greatpromises, so that, through them,
(14:20):
you may become partakers of thedivine nature, having escaped
from the corruption that is inthe world because of sinful
desire.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtuewith knowledge, and knowledge
with self-control, andself-control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness withgodliness, and godliness with
(14:41):
brotherly affection, andbrotherly affection with love.
For if these qualities areyours and are increasing, they
keep you from being ineffectiveor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he is blind, having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins.
This is the word of the Lord.
Will Hawk (15:03):
Amen, thank you Nora.
His former sins.
This is the word of the Lord.
Amen, thank you, nora.
Well, guys, I'm excited to bediving into 1 Peter by show of
hands.
I'm legitimately curious whoshot fireworks this weekend?
Not watched, shot.
You held the lighter and youlit something and you ran away.
I just need the hands.
Come on.
Who are my people?
Okay, how many of you guyswatched fireworks across the
(15:24):
fourth?
Okay, you're almost as cool asthem, but in a very, very wide,
disparaging way.
So give me one second.
I got to get something set uphere and I hit the wrong button.
The reason I was thinking aboutfireworks is because the text
that we are going to look attoday reminds me a little bit of
(15:44):
setting off fireworks, and I'lltell you the reason why.
The most exciting firework isnot the big one.
The most exciting or the mostfunny one is the one that does
not do what you expected it todo.
Now, if all you've ever done iswatch fireworks, you will not
be able to appreciate this story.
But I'm talking to my peopleand I don't mind that you're
(16:05):
feeling left out.
Maybe next year you'll pick upa lighter and enjoy true joy
with the rest of us.
There is something absolutelywonderful about a dad walking
out with this box and saying allright, kids, it's the big
finale.
This thing cost me $99.
Big finale this thing cost me$99.
(16:25):
And then you light it and itgoes and everybody laughs and,
depending on your level offreedom, tip their drink to the
guy who bought that $100 thingand just say so when's the
finale beginning?
And roast the dad.
That is one fun moment.
My favorite moment is when youlight off hey guys, it's just a
(16:51):
little sparkle fountain and thekids begin dancing and running
around it Until the fire beginsshooting at them and they flee.
Or when you light something andit falls to the side which
almost always happens and goesunder a car, and every adult's
like which almost always happensand goes under a car, and every
adult's like, oh, okay, and nowit's funny, okay.
The reason I begin with this doyou guys have me back there?
(17:15):
Nope, nope, hang on, I wasgoing to tell that story anyway.
I wasn't stalling.
The reason I think about thatis because 2 Peter, by the way,
we're in 2 Peter, so if you'reusing the Bible journal, 2 Peter
(17:35):
, not 1 Peter it begins like afirework that goes off
unexpectedly, it begins to go up, but long before it reaches the
ceiling, it explodes right infront of you in almost
surprising fashion.
Let me show you what I mean.
These are going to be the fivethings we do over the next five
(17:56):
weeks, before I show you thisfirework that went off early
this morning.
My encouragement through theword of God, peter's
encouragement through the HolySpirit and God's living and
active word, is this Christians,christians, grow when others
stall out.
If you're not a Christian, Ihave the same message for you
(18:16):
for the next five weeks Repentand believe in Jesus Christ.
I have no other message for you.
You cannot grow, stand, discern, hope or awaken if this thing
is not alive.
And the only thing that makesthis thing alive is that the
Lord and the King speak to thedry bones of your best attempts
and says come to life and followme.
(18:36):
So, christians, this is whatwe're doing, and this morning,
our encouragement and it reallyis an encouragement is to grow
when others would stall out, andthis is sort of how it looks
like.
This is what it plays likeSimeon, peter that would be
Simon in the Hebrew a servantand apostle of Jesus Christ to
those who have obtained a faithof equal standing with ours, by
(19:02):
the righteousness of our God andSavior, jesus Christ.
May grace and peace bemultiplied and multiplied to you
, in the knowledge of God andJesus, our Lord.
The fuse is lit, but you don'texpect to get the good stuff
till the other side of theintroduction.
This is Peter's opening line.
This is not the stuff that youpine over.
When you have to write somebodya card, you don't think, oh
(19:24):
gosh, what am I gonna say?
What's gonna be the intro?
Dear beloved in the Lord.
Like we don't think that way,we just write their name down
Hannah, who loves to sit upfront.
Hannah here's the rest.
Now, peter is giving usincredible theology, incredible
relationship with God andincredible freedom.
(19:44):
If you constantly compareyourself to others before the
firework even gets off theground, you, christian, have a
faith of equal standing withours.
Who is ours?
The apostles.
I thought I would have a littlefun with this.
I cannot read to you everyverse, but that means if you're
a Christian, god sees you on thesame standing as when the man
(20:08):
was healed at the beautiful gate, when Peter and John showed up.
Now look, I have prayed forsomeone to be healed and I have
seen God do that of cancer andit was one of the highlights of
my faith when I was young.
But this to walk up to somebodysick, somebody lame, who hasn't
walked in years.
And then Peter and John arelike, hey, I can give you all
(20:31):
that I have which is Jesus.
And he stands up and walks.
Hey, christian, who's beenwalking with Jesus for two weeks
?
God sees you on even groundwith the disciples who did this.
He sees you on even ground asPhilip, who healed and cast out
demons in Samaria.
Look, I don't know what thehigh watermark is of you
(20:51):
following Jesus.
It might be changing a diaperat church and, hey, I am great
with that.
I hope it doesn't remain thehigh level watermark of your
faith.
But if that is the most youhave ever done, do you realize
Peter is saying you are of evenstanding as those like Philip,
who has cast out demons?
We are of even standing of John, who left everything behind and
(21:12):
walked into the unknown worldto give his life for the Lord.
Even standing with Saul, who isblinded because of his pride,
and even standing with Ananias.
Ananias is one of my favoritestories in the book of Acts.
Saul, the guy on the bottomwho's like, oh, I can't see,
because he'd been blinded byJesus.
He's been killing Christiansman, woman, child creating all
(21:36):
kinds of a mess.
And the Holy Spirit comes toAnanias and he says Ananias, I'm
going to send a guy to you.
His name is Saul.
We're going to rename him laterand call him Paul, but not
until I give him new life.
I need you to heal him.
And Ananias is like Lord, thisguy has done nothing but create
problems for your people.
Is this really the guy you wantto heal?
And Christ says, yeah, I've gothuge plans for him.
(21:59):
He's going to be on evenstanding as you, ananias and
Will Hawk and Lily Stevens andLane Tite.
They are going to be on evenstanding as you, ananias and
Will Hawk and Lily Stevens andLane Tite.
They are going to be on evenstanding still.
It's not just Saul, it's peoplelike James who were willing to
give their lives for Christ,every single breath, yours, do
(22:23):
you realize?
You are on even standing withthose who have gone before you
and have given their lives forChrist.
Can I show you one more, paul?
This is also, I just think,poetic justice.
Paul, who was blind, was healedthrough Ananias.
Then Paul goes through thisisland called Patmos and Elemas,
this magician who's creatingall kinds of problems.
Paul says you know what, dude,you don't need to see for a
(22:45):
while.
This is going to help you,trust me.
And Paul blinds the guy afterbeing made blind.
Guys, when you look at this verysmall, check out Hebrews 11,
check out Hebrews 12.
When you look at this verysmall subsect of Christians who
have followed Christ with everybreath, do you believe God's
word?
(23:05):
When Peter says to those of youwho have obtained a faith of
equal standing with ours howincredible is this?
Do you think about yourselfthat way?
Or do you think about yourselfas an American Christian who's
just trying to get from Mondayto Friday, make it to the
weekend, slide in a couple ofquiet times?
(23:27):
We so far underestimate the waythat our Lord and our King see
us, and I think this is whatPeter wants us to see.
I want you to grow when otherpeople would stall out, and one
of the reasons people stall outis they simply don't have a
vision of what it is that theHoly Spirit desires to do in
(23:50):
them.
Now, this faith of equalstanding where on earth does
this come from?
I wanna show you a funny littlevideo clip, but I can't do the
audio from here, so let me justgive you the preemptive thing.
So this is a guy who's racingBMX and he invited his mom to
(24:11):
his competition.
His mom is one of the best ofthe types of moms who doesn't
just love her child but lovesmessing with her child.
Now, the way this works isyou're on a little gate and the
gate doesn't drop until the sortof the gun goes off.
But they don't use a gun, itjust goes.
And what happens in this videois, as soon as he gets ready,
(24:32):
the mom goes and he sort ofjumps the start.
Let me show you if I can.
You won't be able to hear it.
Apologies, this is as big as Ican make it, but here you go and
then he gets up and he looks athis mom.
That's my favorite moment.
Yet you have to be lookingclose, because he knows exactly
(24:55):
what just happened.
He knows that, gummit mom, Ilook like a fool in front of
everybody else.
He's like come on, are youserious?
All right, here is why I wantto show you this.
I wonder how many of us got afalse start in our walk with
Christ, and I really wanna cleanthis up.
What I'm about to teach you isthe thing that I teach most at a
(25:18):
Starbucks table and it is thething that I share with people
where I get this response morethan any other time.
I've been going to church for20 years.
Why did nobody ever tell methis?
I've been going to church for40 years and I cannot tell you
how hard I've been going tochurch for 40 years and I cannot
tell you how hard I have beenstriving at the Christian life.
I did not realize there wasfreedom like this.
(25:39):
There was a song is Stokes inhere?
Stokes, are you here?
Hey, good luck with thisexchange.
There was a line in a song thatwe just sang that talked about
like striving, but there wasanother word in front of it.
What is it Say?
What's the line?
Come rest from sin and striving.
(26:00):
Okay, thank you, thank you,thank you All right.
In the song that we just sang,I was like oh gosh, yes, this is
it.
This is it.
There are these twodiametrically opposed attempts
at pursuing Christ Come restfrom sin and striving.
Nailed it, by the way.
I'll be happy next week.
All right From sin and striving.
There are two ways that we tryto do our life.
(26:22):
I'm just going to enjoy thething Eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow I die, or I'm goingto try really hard, lord.
I'm going to read my Bible andI'm going to pray.
I might even be one of thosepeople who fast, and you are
going to see me on Sunday andI'm going to help out in kids
ministry.
What I want you to realize isboth of those things are
inadequate approaches toactually find where true life is
(26:43):
.
This is where true life is Tothose who have obtained a faith
of equal standing to thedisciples.
How?
Why?
By the righteousness of our Godand Savior, jesus Christ.
Now, when I say it, it'stheological, it is clunky.
Let me tell you what I mean bythis.
Take a moment and think aboutthe thief on the cross.
(27:04):
The thief on the cross had noopportunity to change his life,
to join a church, to apologizeto those he had harmed, who were
probably many.
All he had was Jesus and thatwas all that he needed.
This is the message of forthose who have obtained a faith
(27:25):
of equal standing with ours bynot your righteousness, not your
best attempts, but by therighteousness of Christ.
And if you don't get this right, and I'm not going to try to
trick you, I'm not going to tryto tease you.
I want you to get this rightfor the sake of your soul, for
the sake of your life.
I want you to get this right.
I show you this video notbecause I needed a moment of
(27:47):
pause.
I show you this because I dowonder how many of us started
our Christian walk this way.
We thought we were ready, wethought we were listening to the
Lord, but we got a message thatwas just a little bit different
than the gospel.
It sounded like the gospel.
It came in our lives at thetime that we expected the gospel
, the good news that Christwould forgive us of our sins,
(28:09):
gospel.
And instead of starting goingdown that hill and gunning it,
we found ourselves scraped arms,scraped knees and pointing to
all of our spiritual boo-boos.
I wonder how many of us beganthis way and I wonder how many
of us didn't even realize it.
This is what we are called torealize To those who have
(28:31):
obtained a faith of equalstanding with ours by the
righteousness of our God andSavior, jesus Christ.
When I show you all of thosepictures of the disciples, what
I'm wanting you to realize isthere is no hierarchy here.
You're not impressive to God byyour achievement or by your
(28:53):
excellence.
You are not ranked at midtreeor any church by your tenure in
the faith.
I've been walking with the Lordfor 40 years.
That's great.
I just care that you end well.
I've been walking with the Lordfor four minutes.
That's great.
I just care that you end well.
So even those of us who haveonly been believers for a short
period, or those of you who havebeen debating actually trusting
(29:16):
Christ, do you realize that youare given an invitation and an
inheritance because of therighteousness of Christ?
How much love does God have tohave for his kids to just give
them this?
You ever thought about that?
We think about the story of theprodigal son and he goes to his
father and he says hey, dad,here's the deal.
(29:39):
Just give me all my stuff nowso I can enjoy it while I'm
young.
And the dad does, and he goesand squanders it because his
heart is beating for himself andfor himself alone.
But God doesn't do the exactopposite of that.
He doesn't say hey, just so youknow it's gonna be all bad
stuff until you get to the otherside of this doorway he says
(30:01):
even now, while you are in thevalley of the shadow of death or
you are living in a world thatis steeped in sin that I will
one day come and remake, evennow, I'm giving it all to you.
You're my son, you're mydaughter.
You may not be in the worldthat I have created you for, but
you have all of the inheritanceof sonship and being a daughter
(30:24):
, and it's very similar totrying to look through the
keyhole of a door.
Not false starting.
All is banked on this therighteousness of Jesus, that one
phrase, is the little keyholethrough the door by which, the
closer we get to Christ, thecloser we begin to see that
(30:49):
there is something abundantlybeautiful on the other side.
But if your walk with Christ isalways at a distance, if Jesus
is one thing you do and you alsowork, and you're also a mom and
you're also a dad and you'realso a good neighbor and you're
in the HOA and you coach LittleLeague, if Jesus is on a shelf
like that of the seven or eightother big doors in your life,
(31:11):
you're never going to seethrough the little keyhole to
everything that Christ has instore for you.
This scripture is calling youto draw, nearer and nearer and
nearer to Christ, but not bystriving, not by having more
quiet times than you've ever had, or changing your reading from
(31:31):
five minutes a day to 15 minutesa day, or praying more.
All of those are wonderfulthings, but they're all false
starts.
How can we get to the placewhere we can be on this side of
the door but have that kind of avision?
Well, we get there through thepower that only God has.
(31:51):
His divine power has granted tous.
That's the inheritance, that'sthe equal standing, all things.
And it doesn't matter when hesays all things, he means all
things, all things in your life,all things when it comes to
pursuing God and godliness.
And all of it comes through ourknowledge of Christ, who called
(32:13):
us in the first place anddesires for us to see his glory
and to be excellent.
In fact, he's granted to usprecious and very great promises
so that you get to become apartaker of the divine nature.
Or you can go the other way, oryou can find all of the
corruption that's in this world.
(32:34):
Now, when it says partakers, Ikind of wanted to do a little
bit of work.
So this would be the Greekkoinonos, and when this
scripture says you can become apartaker, christians, of the
divine nature, it sounds too bigfor your brain to hold.
So I thought I'd make it verysimple for you.
A lot of us are familiar withthis passage at the bottom out
(32:55):
of Luke, chapter 5.
In fact, you've probably had iton a t-shirt or a coffee mug,
or quoted to you or at you,depending on if you were on a
college campus.
Recently, james and John, sonsof Zebedee, who were partners
with Simon and Jesus, said toSimon do not be afraid, from now
on you will be catching men.
The part of that verse thateverybody loves, that everybody
(33:16):
quotes, is this hey man, greatnews, fisherman, I've got a
higher calling for you.
That is true, but what I wantyou to actually notice is this
this word it's just as muchscripture as anything else.
That is the exact same wordthat you just read in 2 Peter
when it talked about beingpartakers of the divine nature.
(33:39):
It means partners, it meansassociates as much.
James and John, the sons ofZebedee, were partners with
Simon, the fisherman Peter, whowould then write this thing what
God is basically saying is thisyou are a partner with me in
this ongoing rescue mission,this ongoing adoption mission.
(34:00):
You are partners with me asmuch as Simon was partners with
James and John.
And it shouldn't make sense tous.
Look, it makes sense for Darrenand I, a couple of weeks ago,
to partner in thinking throughthe service and thinking through
him sharing his testimonygetting baptized.
It makes sense for me topartner with Stokes and say
(34:22):
here's the tone of the textwe're going through.
Let's think through worshipsongs.
Makes sense to partner withCarrie when we're organizing
who's going to come up here, etcetera, et cetera and so on.
But the fact that God looks at,not will, all believers and he
says do you want to partner withme in this mission?
Do you want to partner with mein being remade of nature?
(34:44):
Do you want to become like me?
This is not a God looking downon us, saying play your little
role, read your little verse,say your little prayers and
maybe I will do somethingincredible with them.
This is a God who condescendsto us and says let us partner
together in this life and inthis ministry and in this
(35:08):
calling.
And he says there are reallyonly two options anyway.
This, by the way, was the endof the verse that I just read to
you, so that through thesepromises, we get to become
partakers of the divine nature.
Let me just also say this Doyou know how unique it is for
Christianity to tell you you getto be a partaker of God's
(35:32):
nature?
Every other religion is a givingreligion.
You need to give to God yoursacrifices.
You need to give to God yourtime.
You need to give to God yourmoney.
You need to give to God yourability.
You need to give to God.
You need to give to God.
Please don't hear me.
That is true, but that is nothow we begin.
If you begin by trying to givethings to God, get ready to go
(35:53):
over your handlebars.
The first thing that aChristian does is take, and
there's no other religion likethat.
There's no other religion orworldview or system of belief.
There's no other faith wherethe God says take from me, I've
broken my flesh for you, take ofit.
I have shed my blood for you,take from me.
(36:18):
This is what God invites all ofus to, and if we would be
takers, we can actually begin toaspire to the very nature of
God.
And please keep in mind theseare the only two options.
There's nothing in here calledthe good life, where we're a
little bit like God but a littlebit like the world.
(36:39):
You're not gonna find that inscripture.
You're gonna find an offer toyou in a million different
places here, but you're notgonna find it oh, I got rid of
the wrong line but you're notgonna find it in scripture.
What do we find in scripture?
We find that God offers to youall things and if I believe this
, I can find peace in thepresent.
If I believe that God isoffering me all things, I can
(37:02):
find peace even though I haveunbelieving children, an
unbelieving mom or anunbelieving dad.
I can believe that if God isgiving me all things, I can rest
in the work of Christ, nottrying to prove to God that I
deserve him.
I don't have to invent newdefinitions of good or wise or
(37:22):
holy.
I can take God's definition ofthose things and I can recognize
that I am far from sufficient,but he is sufficient.
If I believe this, I can findcontentment in what God has
already given me.
But if I don't believe this,I'm constantly gonna feel
hopeless, overwhelmed andspiritually insecure.
(37:43):
I'm gonna feel like I'm on ahamster wheel that never seems
to stop and I'm never gonna knowif I made the mark to be good
enough for Jesus.
I'll make excuses for my sin,I'll redefine my priorities and
I will even question the love ofa God who says you do know.
The moment you trust in me, I'mputting you on equal value,
equal standing with everyoneelse.
I want you to rest in what Godhas done.
(38:06):
That verse tells us we areliterally in the same boat as
Christ.
That is how we start theChristian faith.
And then he begins saying sincethat is the case, since you
begin by the righteousness ofChrist.
For this very reason, I wantyou to really strive.
If you are trusting in Christ,not earning, you are going to
(38:27):
hear the words of the gospel andwhen that bell goes off, the
gate is going to drop Pedal hard.
Christian, lean in.
Believer, look for everyopportunity.
Let me tell you what you oughtto look for.
I want you to supplement yourfaith with virtue and knowledge,
with self-control,steadfastness, godliness,
brotherly affection and withlove.
(38:48):
These are the things that Iwant you to run hard after.
I've listed them for you here.
I want you to go after virtueNow.
In their day and age, that wordmeant excellence.
We think of it as morality.
This is, by the way, why youdon't want to start with virtue.
Otherwise, you're going to walkaround trying to clean yourself
up.
Stop cussing a little bit,watch a few less R-rated movies
(39:12):
and then say well, jesus, aren'tyou just so pleased with what I
have offered to you?
Yes, once we've begun the race,we ought to shoot for
excellence, and we really shoulddesire knowledge of who God is.
Another great word for thiswould be wisdom.
Not just packing your brainwith verses or interesting
factoids or being the smartestperson in the room, but knowing
(39:32):
how to use that knowledge in away that cares for yourself,
that cares for people, and notjust knowledge, but self-control
, which I would call wisdom ofyour body.
Right now, if I told you towithout don't do this out loud,
I just want you in your mind.
I saw a psychologist do this toprove to someone that they had
a level of self-control.
Somebody's going to get thiswrong and it's going to be
(39:54):
embarrassing In your mind.
In your mind, I just want youto yell your name.
Okay, did you do it All?
Right, now, I want you towhisper your name.
If you can do that, you havethe ability to do the same when
you're frustrated.
The problem is outside of Christ.
All of us will raise our handand say well, if you get me mad
(40:18):
enough, if you poke that littlebutton, it is no longer my fault
.
This is the same argument thatthe two-year-old makes, that the
20-year-old makes, that the60-year-old makes in counseling,
but not out loud in community.
He made me do it, he knew it.
He knew if he did that I wasgoing to lose it.
She knew it, she did it.
No, no, no, no, no.
Christian, you are invited tohave self-control and to not
(40:42):
give up on these things, toendure and be steadfast.
The reason that I put three ofthose things in blue, the
highest of them, is because itis also the very definition when
somebody came up to Jesus andsaid teacher, what is the most
important thing for me?
To live my life by Teacher?
Why did they call him teacherinstead of king or God?
(41:04):
Because all they saw in Christwas this hey, you seem to be
smarter, more excellent, morecontrolled.
You've been the same guy sinceyou started doing this ministry
in Galilee a number of years ago.
Hey, teacher, which is thegreatest commandment in the law?
And he said to him you shalllove the Lord, your God with all
your heart, with all your souland all your mind.
(41:25):
Love the Lord, your God, belike him.
This is the great and firstcommandment, and a second is
like it Love your neighbor asyourself.
And what's included in both?
This is what Christians areinvited to, and the more you
pursue those things, the moreyou put off sinful corruption
and the more you put on thedivine nature.
(41:49):
But how can we do this withoutfalse stepping?
How can we do this withoutgoing over our handlebars?
Ten points to the camp store.
If somebody can tell me whatword I covered up with blue tape
at the bottom.
Oh, you've made me very excitedbecause I held this back,
(42:10):
thinking I'm going to teach thisthing so thoroughly that if
anybody doesn't know the answerby the bottom, they're going to
be hyper convicted.
That's what I was leaning into,that's what I was hoping.
So if you're just feeling shytoday, that's fine.
I'm going to take this asconviction.
What's on the bottom line?
What's on the bottom line?
What's on the bottom line?
For this very reason, make everyeffort to supplement your faith
(42:34):
.
In other words, every singlething on the list, all of your
virtue and excellence, all ofyour knowledge, is a supplement
that you take in omega-3s, thatyou take in creatine, a
pre-workout and whatever else.
It is your vitamin D, vitamin C, whatever it is.
Everything that is not in allcaps is a supplement.
(42:57):
And can I tell you what we dowrong all the dang time?
In the South, we preach, not agospel of righteousness by faith
in Christ.
Faith in Christ, what we teachis how to pedal really hard once
the race has begun and peopletry to pedal first before the
gate of faith ever drops.
(43:19):
And if you in your life havetried to go after all of these
things without making sure thatthat one is right, can I tell
you what you're doing?
You're taking a multivitaminand you're putting it into the
mouth of a corpse, expecting itto come alive and grow.
Your excellence will neverbring you life.
(43:41):
It's just not going to do it.
It doesn't matter.
This is going to be the onethat really hits home for Will.
It doesn't matter how much youknow.
It doesn't make you alive.
It doesn't matter if you canquote this to me before you walk
out.
It doesn't matter how much youknow Doesn't make you alive.
Doesn't matter if you can quotethis to me before you walk out
it doesn't make you alive.
It doesn't matter if this isone that's gonna hit home a
little bit, because I've workedon this over the past few years.
It doesn't matter if you can bein a place where you would
(44:03):
usually lose it and you, insomewhat pompous attitude, hold
your composure and while you'redisagreeing with your spouse,
you are just so calm andcollected and confident.
I'm not getting pulled intothis.
It won't save you.
It's a multivitamin in themouth of a corpse.
(44:23):
Look, try to be steadfast.
Act as godly as you want.
Love the people around youReally try to love them.
But if you don't have faith,all you have done?
All you have done is put asupplement in the mouth of a
corpse.
This is how it works and thisis what I teach people when they
say why has nobody explainedthis to me for 20 years?
Here's how it works Salvation,getting saved.
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This is all of it.
Just simply believing Jesus.
You died on the cross and youpromised me that if I ask for
the forgiveness of my sin whichis much I've been living in this
world and with all my own junkfor so long you have promised to
me that I will become apartaker of your nature that I
(45:11):
will take into myself yourrighteousness, your goodness,
your virtue, your knowledge,your self-control, your
steadfastness, your godliness,your love for the people around
you.
You have promised that if Iwould just ask that you would
forgive me of my sin and youwould give me all that, that is
salvation.
That's it.
(45:31):
Pause, end sermon, go home andthen, for those who have done
this, those who have asked forthe forgiveness of their sins,
and that is my greatest desire,for anyone in the room who is
not, then, christian, this issanctification.
Oh, running out of room.
(45:51):
This is sanctification.
Oh, running out of room.
Walking around, this is therest of your life, but only once
the gate is dropped, only onceyou have peddled, only once you
have heard the right messagefrom above that the forgiveness
of your sins is offered, and youhave responded to it and you
are taking in the divine natureof God.
(46:12):
Why do you think communion iswhat it is?
We're going to take communionin just a few moments.
Why do you think it is thatJesus said eat of my flesh and
drink of my blood?
Because he didn't say enoughcontroversial things to freak
people out in the three years hewas preaching?
No, he did that all the time,because we are literally, by
faith, taking into ourselves ourspirit, the work of Christ, the
(46:35):
goodness of Christ, therighteousness of Christ, which
is why, the moment you respondto the gospel, god looks at you
the same way he looks at Paul.
He looks at you the same way helooks at Peter.
We are on equal standing,because all we ever had was
equal faith.
Then, christian, run hard,supplement your faith.
(46:58):
This is about us going hard togrow when other people would
stall out.
Many of us have understoodChristianity the wrong way, and
here's the thing I'm not tryingto teach you about Jesus.
I want you to see him.
I want you to draw nearer tothe keyhole of the door to see
this kind of faith.
(47:19):
Matthew Henry puts it this wayit's not enough for us to be
where God is worshiped if we donot ourselves worship him.
It's not enough, it is notnearly enough, which is why
Peter goes on and he says thisif these qualities are yours,
this list right, if, sorry, ifall of these things are yours
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and they are increasing, theykeep you from being ineffective,
they keep you from beingunfruitful in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, forwhoever lacks these qualities is
so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was
cleansed from his former sins.
(48:05):
Or, to put this positively, ifthese qualities are yours, if
these things are yours, if thesethings are yours, these, if
that is all, man, we're justmaking a mess today.
Sorry, if you're viewing online,it made more sense in here,
(48:30):
maybe, maybe.
All right, I quit.
Guys, I just want you to there.
That'll work.
I just want you to get this,because it's the difference in
living a life for christ and notif you have faith in christ.
These things, they keep youfrom being ineffective, they
(48:53):
keep you from wasting your life,but they will never give you
life.
Faith and faith alone does that.
So if these things are yoursand they are increasing, to put
it in the positive, you will beeffective, you will be fruitful,
you won't be blind.
You will have this wide-eyed,enthusiastic version of what is
(49:14):
on the other side of the keyholeof today and what is on the
other side of the keyhole ofyour entire life.
You will not be blind norforgetful.
You will constantly rememberthe grace of Jesus.
See, guys, if we believe thesethings, we're not going to coast
in life, and here's the betterpart.
You won't even want to.
(49:35):
You're not going to coast inyour Christian life because you
will never want to coast in yourChristian life.
You will want these things tobe true.
Discipleship is not somethingthat is annoying that you do on
a Wednesday night.
You embrace it, you long for it.
You want to participate in whatis on the other side of the
keyhole.
Renewal in your life issomething that you pursue.
(49:57):
Service becomes this joyful andintentional endeavor.
You will take on challengesbecause it doesn't matter if you
fail.
You're already on equalstanding with every Christian
that has ever been.
So bring on the difficulty,bring on the stretching, bring
on the failure.
All Christ is ever going to dois congratulate me, encourage me
(50:17):
and make me grow.
Bring on the difficulty.
This is what the life ofsomebody who does not fall start
but pedal hard is.
But if you do not believe this,if you don't understand this, if
you don't grasp this, you'regoing to assume that your
presence is your usefulness.
You're going to assume thatbeing present at church is you
(50:40):
being useful to midtree.
You're going to assume that youshowing up to your kid's game
is the same thing as you leaningin and then hearing your voice
cheer them on.
It is not the same.
You're going to assume thatyour presence on a date night,
men, when you take your wife out, that the fact that it exists,
(51:00):
is the win.
I am here, am I not?
But if all you're doing isscrolling through your phone
while you're there, can we allagree you've done more harm than
actual good.
Our presence is never the goal.
It is who we are when we arewhere we are.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
(51:22):
calling in election.
This is what I've beenencouraging you to do, by the
way, all morning.
Make sure you didn't falsestart.
Make sure that you have putfaith in Christ.
Faith, faith, faith, faith,faith.
For if you practice thesequalities, you will.
Thomas, I told you last weekthis was going to be the hardest
part for me to preach.
You will never fall.
In this way, there will berichly provided for you an
(51:43):
entrance into the eternalkingdom of our Lord and Savior,
jesus Christ.
The reason it's hard to preachverse 10 is because I live with
you and I live with me.
That's why verse 10 is hard.
If I was a monk in a monastery,I'd read verse 10.
I'd be like amen, isn't Godgood, never going to fall right.
Good stuff.
Everybody here hadn't eatenanything but a grain of rice and
some bread.
We're living prettysacrificially.
(52:04):
Go, team, go.
But here, when I read this, it'shard, because the Bible is so
emphatic, it is so sure and soabsolute.
Hey guys, if you begin by faithand if you supplement your
faith with these incrediblethings which, by the way, god
has promised to give you, if youwill pursue them, you're never
going to fall.
That's awesome.
Except I watch you guys fallall the dang time and I fall all
(52:31):
the time.
So I look at this and I'm likewhat on earth is going on here?
When I read this, I see youfalling, I see me falling.
Falling into sin, falling intomanaging our images instead of
receiving them from God.
Seeing us fall into selfishnessthat is always only going to
produce emptiness.
Falling into pleasures that arealways fleeting and never
(52:54):
enough.
Falling into cold, religious,cerebral knowledge of God rather
than a relationship where weactually enjoy him.
Knowledge of God rather than arelationship where we actually
enjoy him.
But I can tell you this when Ihave faith and, on top of those
(53:14):
things, knowledge, I really donot fall.
When I have faith in Christ andendurance when I have faith in
Christ and love for my brotherin that environment and love for
my brother In that environment,I never fall.
And it's one of the mostamazing things about being led
by the Spirit of God and it'salso one of the most amazing
things that I don't just keepalways going to the Spirit of
God because his answer is alwaysand never.
(53:36):
Don't you know?
You're not supposed to usethose words when you talk about
people's behaviors.
Anybody ever gone to marriagecounseling Like day one stuff is
just don't say always and never, it'll save you like 50% of
your fights.
God's word uses always andnever, always.
It never neglects to do it.
Why?
Because this is always true andit is never wrong.
(53:57):
The question is did we miss thestart or did we stop pedaling?
And I have great news for you.
It is God's great expectationthat you would hear these words
and inside your heart somethingwould beat fresh and new.
Something would say I think Imay have missed started.
That's okay.
(54:18):
I hate this about the church,that some people are embarrassed
to receive Christ because theythink people thought they
received him so long ago.
I hate that.
If only we knew that the momentwe truly responded to the
gospel, we were on equalstanding with the people who
(54:38):
have been walking with him for60 years.
I wonder if it would free us upto just take a step back and
say, oh my gosh, don't get mewrong.
I've got a lot of stuff built.
I got virtue, I got excellence,I got all kinds of knowledge.
I've been trying to love peoplereally well, but I never really
had faith that God wouldforgive me of my sins.
I never really had faith thatChrist's righteousness was given
to me.
(54:58):
Welcome brother, welcome sister.
Please start there.
And for those of us who have, wehave the freedom to pedal fast
and never worry about falling.
You guys remember learning howto ride the bike.
You always wanted to go slowbecause you didn't want to get
hurt, but then you realized, thefaster you went, to a degree
(55:19):
this illustration breaks downthe faster you went, the more
stable you became, and theslower you went, the more wobbly
you were.
So it is with faith in ChristChristian pedal fast, pedal fast
, knowing that not only does itmake you more stable, but that
if you were to fall, honestlyyou never do.
(55:40):
All you do is lean into thearms of grace that pick you
right back up.
So we win when we start, we winwhen we pedal and we even win
when we fall a bit to the side,because in those moments we feel
the hands of Christ.
This message is to those whohave obtained a faith of equal
(56:04):
standing with ours by therighteousness of our God and
Savior, jesus Christ.
Men, if you want to go aheadand come in and prepare for
communion, stokes, if you wantto get ready to come down, I
only have one more thing to tellyou, and that is this I've
already moved off of it, but Ican the very final verse here.
(56:24):
In this way, there will be notprovided for you, but richly
provided for you, an entranceinto the eternal kingdom of our
Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
It is God's great desire tolook at you, christian, and say
well done, good, faithfulservant.
This whole text about trustingin faith and peddling hard is
(56:50):
supposed to free you up, toencourage you that you will one
day be richly welcomed intoheaven.
This is not a message for justgetting by.
This is not a message for, well, what do I have to do so I
don't go to hell?
Get my get out of jail cardfree in the back of my pocket.
(57:11):
No, no, no, no, no.
It is faith, and on that faithwe build and we supplement so
that all of us may one day enterinto a richly warmly welcomed
new world that is waiting for uson the other side of the door.
Here's what I would like for usto do.
(57:32):
We have communion because Godhas invited us to partake of his
divine nature, but I don't wantyou to move too quickly.
I kind of want you to wait forsort of the word of the Lord,
for the moving of the HolySpirit to drop the gate, for you
to come, because I'd like forall of us to ponder did I really
(57:54):
start the Christian race byfaith, or did I try to start
peddling when the gate of myheart wasn't quite open yet?
Do I have faith, belief, trustthat God will forgive me?
Have I actually asked him to dothat?
If you have not done that, lettoday be the day, and you don't
have to fill out a card and youdon't have to walk down to the
front, though you are welcome todo so.
(58:14):
If you would like to beencouraged by a pastor, we would
love to be a part of that.
Some of you may also want tocelebrate Will.
Can I just tell you what'sgoing really well in the
knowledge supplement?
Can I tell you what is going onin brotherly love?
I never thought I'd be able tolove this person well, but by
faith I have been able to,because of the righteousness of
Christ.
But before we come to thistable, which is for believers,
(58:35):
let's make sure that we do notfalse start.
And if we can help you in anyway, we would love to Stokes.
Will you lead us from there?
One of the things I love about the song that we just
sang in Stokes you startedpraying it and the Lord had just
pressed it on my heart was thisidea of with every breath, I
long to follow Jesus.
It's a beautiful thing to sing.
It's another thing to mean Idon't know what your resting
heart rate is, and we don't needto pull out our Apple watches
to determine who the mostimpressive athlete is among us,
what your resting heart rate is,and we don't need to pull out
our Apple Watches to determinewho the most impressive athlete
(00:27):
is among us with a 20 heart ratea minute.
But I will tell you this you'regoing to take a lot of breaths
in the next little bit of timeand I wonder how often we
actually think you know Christ,if you have put your faith and
trust in Jesus and he hasrescued you from your sin.
The concept really is likeevery breath in and every breath
(00:48):
out.
You have purchased it, it isyours, it is sort of my gift to
you, and I was reminded of anold Testament, prophet Ezekiel,
and God takes Ezekiel throughthis valley of dry bones.
Let me just pause and tell youthis Sunday is a very
encouraging Sunday, but one ofthe things that I've realized
about encouragement is it feelsbigger the lower you start.
(01:09):
And so if your day is goinggreat you remember this as a kid
like if it's a summer day andyou're already going to spend
the night at your buddy's houseand then you find out you're
going to go see a movie, you'relike, awesome.
But if you're expecting to bestudying for a final and then
the teacher's like, forget that,we're canceling it, just have
the night off, and then you findout you're spending the night
(01:29):
at your buddy's house and you'regoing to go see a movie, you
feel it.
So here's what I'm wanting todo recognizing our souls.
I want us to start low, but notin a fake way, like in a very
real way.
God speaks to Ezekiel and hetakes him into this valley and
there's nothing but bones there.
This is Ezekiel, chapter 37.
If you want to fact check me onthis.
And God asks Ezekiel, he sayshey, ezekiel, what do you think
(01:51):
about these bones?
Can these things come to life?
Can they live?
Can there be life in unexpectedplaces?
Is what God is saying to him.
And Ezekiel being a very smartprophet, he just simply says
Lord, you know, I don't want toget this one right.
I don't know if you're handingout Jolly Ranchers for correct
answers after Sunday school, butyou know all things.
You are sovereign.
(02:11):
And then in verse five, here'swhat God's word says.
It says let's see the Lord andKing speaks to you.
He says I will put breath inyou, then you will come to life
again.
Christian in the room, I canonly speak to the Christians in
the room with this.
Do you realize that you havebeen given second life, second
(02:33):
breath, that the life in thecourse that you on was
ultimately going to end indarkness and in death and gloom,
and whatever the best stuff youwere going to pull off was
going to be wholly insufficient?
But with every breath is a giftthat God has given that we have
the privilege of giving rightback to him.
And so let's be about that thismorning.
(02:55):
A couple of ways that you canlean in.
Number one we would love toknow how to pray for you, how
the pastoral team and the prayerteam can use our breath in
going before the Lord.
So in front of you on theselittle cards, is a side for
prayer.
Please go ahead, grab that, jotit down.
We also love praising God forthings that are going on in your
(03:16):
life.
Jot those things down.
You can leave these in your pewor little like pro tip first
service people.
If you put them in the buckets,it actually does help.
The ushers Second service wedon't really care about.
There's nobody coming in tograb that seat and read your
very deep prayer request thatwe're hoping to get before.
So first, if y'all wanna dropthem in, that's kind of nice,
(03:39):
but you can leave them anywhere.
And then if you're visitingwith us and you feel confident
enough that we can send you oneemail, we would love to be able
to do that.
If, like, the jury is still outon that, we're cool with it.
Maybe just hold on to it and doit at the end.
Also, we would love for you tobe a giving people and you
really are.
So if you're, most of our folksgive regularly online, you can
(04:01):
scan the QR code.
We don't leave it up for verylong, but if you want to give
and you're wondering how we havea couple of little offering
buckets on the other side of thedoor, we don't pass the plate
because historically, midtreehas been very poor at passing
the plate.
I don't know how to explainthis.
We have yet to figure this out.
Maybe our usher team hasdeveloped to the place that we
(04:23):
can try this again, but theplates would go out and somebody
would get it seven times andsomebody wouldn't get it in
seven weeks, and we thoughtpeople might be picking up on
stuff that we weren't actuallytrying to say, and so we just
decided to leave that up to you.
And so that is how you giveMembers.
Obviously, please givefaithfully If you're a visitor.
We just want today to be ablessing to you.
(04:45):
I'm going to invite Carmen tocome up.
I'm looking for.
Would y'all welcome Carmen up?
Carmen is going to share acouple of things, probably three
ways that 127 steps in andadvocates for children in
vulnerable places, and then I'mgoing to pray James 127 over us
(05:06):
when you finish.
So, carmen, tell us what'sgoing on, how are things?
Carmen Overton (05:09):
Thank you.
Good morning.
I'm Carmen Overton and I'm oneof the leaders of the 127 Family
Advocacy Ministry here atMidtree, and we are a part of a
whole bunch of churches throughthe Clement Arts Network that
provides foster care andadoption support to families in
our congregation who are caringfor vulnerable children, and one
(05:30):
of the ministries I want tospotlight this morning is
Lifeline Children's Services.
Lifeline is a global orphancare ministry that our church
partners with and I want to justpoint out a few ways that they
get involved in the orphan carecrisis both globally and here
locally.
Many of you might be familiarwith Lifeline through their
(05:52):
international adoption program,which is probably their oldest
and longest lasting program andvitally important in helping
bring forever families tochildren across the world.
I can't say enough good thingsabout this program and I know
many of you have personalexperiences with that program,
but they bring excellence andexpertise to a very complicated
(06:16):
situation.
One thing that I can tell youin working for a long time in
foster care and adoptionministry is that it is entering
into the deepest, darkestbrokenness that exists in our
world and it's a multifacetedproblem that requires a
multifaceted solution, andLifeline does a really good job
(06:38):
of bringing lots of differentcomponents to that.
But not only do they bring alot of solutions, they do it
with excellence so that whenpeople decide to say yes to
answering the call to adoption,it can be very frustrating
dealing with government red tapeand bureaucracies and waiting
and frustrations, and havingsomebody to walk alongside you
(07:01):
in that really can be the thingthat keeps you going to
completion and bringing childreninto families forever.
Another thing that Lifelinedoes here locally and around the
country is that they offerpregnancy counseling to mothers
who have unplanned pregnanciesto really help them understand
(07:22):
all of the available options.
So sometimes that is givingthem resources to be able to
mother and parent well.
Sometimes it's helping them tomake the decision to place a
child for adoption, but it'sjust a mentor and a support
person who can walk alongsidethat mother in a really
challenging time, and that'ssomething that is offered here
(07:42):
in our area.
And then another thing, becausethe other thing that I've
learned in caring for vulnerablechildren is that it is only an
act that can be done through theHoly Spirit, because you have
to be 100% for adoption andmaking sure that we're helping
fulfill God's promise to set thelonely in families, but you
(08:02):
also have to be 100% for thatbirth family.
So sometimes that means nottaking a child away from a
family, but making sure that afamily can stay together, and
that is something that alsohappens here in our community
through a program calledFamilies Count, where churches
and volunteers are trained toprovide a 12-week course for
(08:26):
parents who are trying to keeptheir children from going into
the foster care system.
It's been wildly successfulhere in our community and has
become a part of our juvenilecourt system to help parents
meet requirements that they need.
But it's just really beautifulbecause it's the church entering
into brokenness and providing aresource and a support system
(08:48):
that a family didn't have before, so that a family can stay
together.
So that's a few things.
Lifeline does a whole lot morethan that, and I would encourage
you to visit their website,lifelinechildorg, to learn more
about what they do or reach outto me.
I'd love to talk to you.
Will Hawk (09:10):
James 127 is what our family advocacy ministry that's
a lot of words.
There's so many adjectives inthe things that y'all do.
We just call it fam.
Well, what blows me away likethis is Carmen's heart, Like
she's not just up here becausewe were like, hey, we need a
spotlight so we can let peopleknow what their money goes to.
She doesn't have a note withher, just so you know.
That's pretty rare.
Most people don't come up withno notes, but it is so inside of
(09:31):
her that one of the things youget they could just like come
and meet you, Absolutely yeah.
And so if you want to know hey,I may not feel called to adopt,
but I would love to supportfolks Carmen would be the person
to know.
And if you're like, hey, I wantto just be involved in some
capacity, Carmen is the personto know.
I did not realize this untilyesterday.
Did you know people can buythat shirt on our store?
(09:52):
No, I don't feel like theyshould be able to.
I feel like you should have tobe on the team.
I'm afraid there are peoplewalking around with stolen valor
that are like no, really, Isupport, I support to $20 worth,
in which I got myself my ownt-shirt.
We'll take it Okay.
Carmen Overton (10:07):
We'll take it yeah.
Will Hawk (10:09):
You better be able to talk about it a little bit if
you buy the shirt and wear it.
Carmen Overton (10:11):
But you know, all you have to do is make a
meal and put it in our freezer.
Will Hawk (10:14):
And that's probably one of the ways that most people
Super easy, yeah, super easy toget involved.
Carmen would be the person toknow if you're like, hey, maybe
we should adopt all the way to.
We just want to help out insome way, and this would be one
way to do it.
Carmen Overton (10:27):
We love babysitters.
Will Hawk (10:28):
Babysitters are good.
Yeah, all right, so I'm goingto pray.
Was there anything else youwanted to say?
I didn't mean to cut you off.
That's good, okay, good ofchildren, and in a world that is
very much broken.
We know that it is.
We know that King Jesus willone day come and will make all
(10:50):
things right.
But until that day comes, youtell us that religion is not
pure just because we say so.
In fact, james 1 26 tells us ifanybody thinks he's religious
and can't bridle his tongue,he's deceiving his heart.
But religion that is pure andundefiled before God, the Father
, is this to visit orphans, tocare for widows in their
(11:12):
affliction and to keep oneselfunstained from the world.
So, father, may every one of uswho is breathing for Jesus at
this point, may we have a heartfor something that is bigger
than us and deeper than us andwider than us.
May we have a desire for thingsthat will outlast us, like
young children who need a dadand who need a mom, families who
(11:33):
are stepping into that who needa meal, and the million
different things that stand inbetween.
Your people have been knownsince the early days of
Christianity for caring for theleast of these because you cared
for us as the least of these.
May we step into that callingtogether.
I pray in Jesus' name, amen,amen.
(11:53):
All right guys.
If y'all want to go ahead andgrab your Bibles, nora will tell
you where to turn in 1 Peter.
What's up, nora?
Nora Radford (12:01):
What's up, Nora?
Hi, good morning.
I'm Nora.
Please turn your Bibles to.
This says Song of 2 Peter.
Song of 2 Peter To 2 Peter.
Carrie, 1, 3 through 9.
Carrie, we have a typo.
Will Hawk (12:17):
Good luck finding that in your Bible.
Okay, I'll tell you.
If you find that in your Bible,I need to see your Bible, okay,
because we need to replace itwith a non-apocryphal version.
Nora Radford (12:26):
Okay, if you have a pew Bible, it'll be on page
1018.
And so while I'm giving you achance to read, there's a funny
little story that Will asked meto share, and so I'll tell it to
you.
Okay, so nine years ago I wasgoing through a very, very ugly,
(12:46):
despairing time in my life, andso I went to Crosspoint and I
usually saw Brad and he wasunavailable and I was a little
upset.
The JV version.
I did get the B team, so I metwith Will.
I did get the B team, so I metwith Will.
(13:08):
He was, and he ended up sharingthis verse with me, which is
going to be verse three.
It's the first one that we readand it's just really cool how
God did kind of a layup rightnow where I'm the one who gets
to share this with you becausehe shared it with me because of
his Well and what I was tellingNora.
Will Hawk (13:23):
What makes this so cool is the only reason I knew
to share that verse with younine years ago which, by the way
, is the ones we're encouragingyou to memorize over the next
five weeks is because Mr MacMcDonald, who is myI think,
second grade Sunday schoolteacher, refused for us to leave
second grade without knowingthat verse.
It was like William, you havebeen given everything you need
(13:44):
for life and godliness andbecause of that, in like 1990,
you got encouragement.
Then we fast forward in another10 years.
Isn't God's word truly livingand active?
How cool.
So let's hear from the livingand active.
Nora Radford (13:57):
Yes.
So if you are like, how am Igoing to get through this?
What am I going to do?
I am not equipped.
Verse three says His divinepower has granted to us all
things, not just some things,all things that pertain to life
and godliness, through theknowledge of Him, who called us
to His own glory and excellence,by which he has granted to us
His precious and very greatpromises, so that, through them,
(14:20):
you may become partakers of thedivine nature, having escaped
from the corruption that is inthe world because of sinful
desire.
For this very reason, makeevery effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtuewith knowledge, and knowledge
with self-control, andself-control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness withgodliness, and godliness with
(14:41):
brotherly affection, andbrotherly affection with love.
For if these qualities areyours and are increasing, they
keep you from being ineffectiveor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For whoever lacks thesequalities is so nearsighted that
he is blind, having forgottenthat he was cleansed from his
former sins.
This is the word of the Lord.
Will Hawk (15:03):
Amen, thank you Nora.
His former sins.
This is the word of the Lord.
Amen, thank you, nora.
Well, guys, I'm excited to bediving into 1 Peter by show of
hands.
I'm legitimately curious whoshot fireworks this weekend?
Not watched, shot.
You held the lighter and youlit something and you ran away.
I just need the hands.
Come on.
Who are my people?
Okay, how many of you guyswatched fireworks across the
(15:24):
fourth?
Okay, you're almost as cool asthem, but in a very, very wide,
disparaging way.
So give me one second.
I got to get something set uphere and I hit the wrong button.
The reason I was thinking aboutfireworks is because the text
that we are going to look attoday reminds me a little bit of
(15:44):
setting off fireworks, and I'lltell you the reason why.
The most exciting firework isnot the big one.
The most exciting or the mostfunny one is the one that does
not do what you expected it todo.
Now, if all you've ever done iswatch fireworks, you will not
be able to appreciate this story.
But I'm talking to my peopleand I don't mind that you're
(16:05):
feeling left out.
Maybe next year you'll pick upa lighter and enjoy true joy
with the rest of us.
There is something absolutelywonderful about a dad walking
out with this box and saying allright, kids, it's the big
finale.
This thing cost me $99.
Big finale this thing cost me$99.
(16:25):
And then you light it and itgoes and everybody laughs and,
depending on your level offreedom, tip their drink to the
guy who bought that $100 thingand just say so when's the
finale beginning?
And roast the dad.
That is one fun moment.
My favorite moment is when youlight off hey guys, it's just a
(16:51):
little sparkle fountain and thekids begin dancing and running
around it Until the fire beginsshooting at them and they flee.
Or when you light something andit falls to the side which
almost always happens and goesunder a car, and every adult's
like which almost always happensand goes under a car, and every
adult's like, oh, okay, and nowit's funny, okay.
The reason I begin with this doyou guys have me back there?
(17:15):
Nope, nope, hang on, I wasgoing to tell that story anyway.
I wasn't stalling.
The reason I think about thatis because 2 Peter, by the way,
we're in 2 Peter, so if you'reusing the Bible journal, 2 Peter
(17:35):
, not 1 Peter it begins like afirework that goes off
unexpectedly, it begins to go up, but long before it reaches the
ceiling, it explodes right infront of you in almost
surprising fashion.
Let me show you what I mean.
These are going to be the fivethings we do over the next five
(17:56):
weeks, before I show you thisfirework that went off early
this morning.
My encouragement through theword of God, peter's
encouragement through the HolySpirit and God's living and
active word, is this Christians,christians, grow when others
stall out.
If you're not a Christian, Ihave the same message for you
(18:16):
for the next five weeks Repentand believe in Jesus Christ.
I have no other message for you.
You cannot grow, stand, discern, hope or awaken if this thing
is not alive.
And the only thing that makesthis thing alive is that the
Lord and the King speak to thedry bones of your best attempts
and says come to life and followme.
(18:36):
So, christians, this is whatwe're doing, and this morning,
our encouragement and it reallyis an encouragement is to grow
when others would stall out, andthis is sort of how it looks
like.
This is what it plays likeSimeon, peter that would be
Simon in the Hebrew a servantand apostle of Jesus Christ to
those who have obtained a faithof equal standing with ours, by
(19:02):
the righteousness of our God andSavior, jesus Christ.
May grace and peace bemultiplied and multiplied to you
, in the knowledge of God andJesus, our Lord.
The fuse is lit, but you don'texpect to get the good stuff
till the other side of theintroduction.
This is Peter's opening line.
This is not the stuff that youpine over.
When you have to write somebodya card, you don't think, oh
(19:24):
gosh, what am I gonna say?
What's gonna be the intro?
Dear beloved in the Lord.
Like we don't think that way,we just write their name down
Hannah, who loves to sit upfront.
Hannah here's the rest.
Now, peter is giving usincredible theology, incredible
relationship with God andincredible freedom.
(19:44):
If you constantly compareyourself to others before the
firework even gets off theground, you, christian, have a
faith of equal standing withours.
Who is ours?
The apostles.
I thought I would have a littlefun with this.
I cannot read to you everyverse, but that means if you're
a Christian, god sees you on thesame standing as when the man
(20:08):
was healed at the beautiful gate, when Peter and John showed up.
Now look, I have prayed forsomeone to be healed and I have
seen God do that of cancer andit was one of the highlights of
my faith when I was young.
But this to walk up to somebodysick, somebody lame, who hasn't
walked in years.
And then Peter and John arelike, hey, I can give you all
(20:31):
that I have which is Jesus.
And he stands up and walks.
Hey, christian, who's beenwalking with Jesus for two weeks
?
God sees you on even groundwith the disciples who did this.
He sees you on even ground asPhilip, who healed and cast out
demons in Samaria.
Look, I don't know what thehigh watermark is of you
(20:51):
following Jesus.
It might be changing a diaperat church and, hey, I am great
with that.
I hope it doesn't remain thehigh level watermark of your
faith.
But if that is the most youhave ever done, do you realize
Peter is saying you are of evenstanding as those like Philip,
who has cast out demons?
We are of even standing of John, who left everything behind and
(21:12):
walked into the unknown worldto give his life for the Lord.
Even standing with Saul, who isblinded because of his pride,
and even standing with Ananias.
Ananias is one of my favoritestories in the book of Acts.
Saul, the guy on the bottomwho's like, oh, I can't see,
because he'd been blinded byJesus.
He's been killing Christiansman, woman, child creating all
(21:36):
kinds of a mess.
And the Holy Spirit comes toAnanias and he says Ananias, I'm
going to send a guy to you.
His name is Saul.
We're going to rename him laterand call him Paul, but not
until I give him new life.
I need you to heal him.
And Ananias is like Lord, thisguy has done nothing but create
problems for your people.
Is this really the guy you wantto heal?
And Christ says, yeah, I've gothuge plans for him.
(21:59):
He's going to be on evenstanding as you, ananias and
Will Hawk and Lily Stevens andLane Tite.
They are going to be on evenstanding as you, ananias and
Will Hawk and Lily Stevens andLane Tite.
They are going to be on evenstanding still.
It's not just Saul, it's peoplelike James who were willing to
give their lives for Christ,every single breath, yours, do
(22:23):
you realize?
You are on even standing withthose who have gone before you
and have given their lives forChrist.
Can I show you one more, paul?
This is also, I just think,poetic justice.
Paul, who was blind, was healedthrough Ananias.
Then Paul goes through thisisland called Patmos and Elemas,
this magician who's creatingall kinds of problems.
Paul says you know what, dude,you don't need to see for a
(22:45):
while.
This is going to help you,trust me.
And Paul blinds the guy afterbeing made blind.
Guys, when you look at this verysmall, check out Hebrews 11,
check out Hebrews 12.
When you look at this verysmall subsect of Christians who
have followed Christ with everybreath, do you believe God's
word?
(23:05):
When Peter says to those of youwho have obtained a faith of
equal standing with ours howincredible is this?
Do you think about yourselfthat way?
Or do you think about yourselfas an American Christian who's
just trying to get from Mondayto Friday, make it to the
weekend, slide in a couple ofquiet times?
(23:27):
We so far underestimate the waythat our Lord and our King see
us, and I think this is whatPeter wants us to see.
I want you to grow when otherpeople would stall out, and one
of the reasons people stall outis they simply don't have a
vision of what it is that theHoly Spirit desires to do in
(23:50):
them.
Now, this faith of equalstanding where on earth does
this come from?
I wanna show you a funny littlevideo clip, but I can't do the
audio from here, so let me justgive you the preemptive thing.
So this is a guy who's racingBMX and he invited his mom to
(24:11):
his competition.
His mom is one of the best ofthe types of moms who doesn't
just love her child but lovesmessing with her child.
Now, the way this works isyou're on a little gate and the
gate doesn't drop until the sortof the gun goes off.
But they don't use a gun, itjust goes.
And what happens in this videois, as soon as he gets ready,
(24:32):
the mom goes and he sort ofjumps the start.
Let me show you if I can.
You won't be able to hear it.
Apologies, this is as big as Ican make it, but here you go and
then he gets up and he looks athis mom.
That's my favorite moment.
Yet you have to be lookingclose, because he knows exactly
(24:55):
what just happened.
He knows that, gummit mom, Ilook like a fool in front of
everybody else.
He's like come on, are youserious?
All right, here is why I wantto show you this.
I wonder how many of us got afalse start in our walk with
Christ, and I really wanna cleanthis up.
What I'm about to teach you isthe thing that I teach most at a
(25:18):
Starbucks table and it is thething that I share with people
where I get this response morethan any other time.
I've been going to church for20 years.
Why did nobody ever tell methis?
I've been going to church for40 years and I cannot tell you
how hard I've been going tochurch for 40 years and I cannot
tell you how hard I have beenstriving at the Christian life.
I did not realize there wasfreedom like this.
(25:39):
There was a song is Stokes inhere?
Stokes, are you here?
Hey, good luck with thisexchange.
There was a line in a song thatwe just sang that talked about
like striving, but there wasanother word in front of it.
What is it Say?
What's the line?
Come rest from sin and striving.
(26:00):
Okay, thank you, thank you,thank you All right.
In the song that we just sang,I was like oh gosh, yes, this is
it.
This is it.
There are these twodiametrically opposed attempts
at pursuing Christ Come restfrom sin and striving.
Nailed it, by the way.
I'll be happy next week.
All right From sin and striving.
There are two ways that we tryto do our life.
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I'm just going to enjoy thething Eat, drink and be merry
for tomorrow I die, or I'm goingto try really hard, lord.
I'm going to read my Bible andI'm going to pray.
I might even be one of thosepeople who fast, and you are
going to see me on Sunday andI'm going to help out in kids
ministry.
What I want you to realize isboth of those things are
inadequate approaches toactually find where true life is
(26:43):
.
This is where true life is Tothose who have obtained a faith
of equal standing to thedisciples.
How?
Why?
By the righteousness of our Godand Savior, jesus Christ.
Now, when I say it, it'stheological, it is clunky.
Let me tell you what I mean bythis.
Take a moment and think aboutthe thief on the cross.
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The thief on the cross had noopportunity to change his life,
to join a church, to apologizeto those he had harmed, who were
probably many.
All he had was Jesus and thatwas all that he needed.
This is the message of forthose who have obtained a faith
(27:25):
of equal standing with ours bynot your righteousness, not your
best attempts, but by therighteousness of Christ.
And if you don't get this right, and I'm not going to try to
trick you, I'm not going to tryto tease you.
I want you to get this rightfor the sake of your soul, for
the sake of your life.
I want you to get this right.
I show you this video notbecause I needed a moment of
(27:47):
pause.
I show you this because I dowonder how many of us started
our Christian walk this way.
We thought we were ready, wethought we were listening to the
Lord, but we got a message thatwas just a little bit different
than the gospel.
It sounded like the gospel.
It came in our lives at thetime that we expected the gospel
, the good news that Christwould forgive us of our sins,
(28:09):
gospel.
And instead of starting goingdown that hill and gunning it,
we found ourselves scraped arms,scraped knees and pointing to
all of our spiritual boo-boos.
I wonder how many of us beganthis way and I wonder how many
of us didn't even realize it.
This is what we are called torealize To those who have
(28:31):
obtained a faith of equalstanding with ours by the
righteousness of our God andSavior, jesus Christ.
When I show you all of thosepictures of the disciples, what
I'm wanting you to realize isthere is no hierarchy here.
You're not impressive to God byyour achievement or by your
(28:53):
excellence.
You are not ranked at midtreeor any church by your tenure in
the faith.
I've been walking with the Lordfor 40 years.
That's great.
I just care that you end well.
I've been walking with the Lordfor four minutes.
That's great.
I just care that you end well.
So even those of us who haveonly been believers for a short
period, or those of you who havebeen debating actually trusting
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Christ, do you realize that youare given an invitation and an
inheritance because of therighteousness of Christ?
How much love does God have tohave for his kids to just give
them this?
You ever thought about that?
We think about the story of theprodigal son and he goes to his
father and he says hey, dad,here's the deal.
(29:39):
Just give me all my stuff nowso I can enjoy it while I'm
young.
And the dad does, and he goesand squanders it because his
heart is beating for himself andfor himself alone.
But God doesn't do the exactopposite of that.
He doesn't say hey, just so youknow it's gonna be all bad
stuff until you get to the otherside of this doorway he says
(30:01):
even now, while you are in thevalley of the shadow of death or
you are living in a world thatis steeped in sin that I will
one day come and remake, evennow, I'm giving it all to you.
You're my son, you're mydaughter.
You may not be in the worldthat I have created you for, but
you have all of the inheritanceof sonship and being a daughter
(30:24):
, and it's very similar totrying to look through the
keyhole of a door.
Not false starting.
All is banked on this therighteousness of Jesus, that one
phrase, is the little keyholethrough the door by which, the
closer we get to Christ, thecloser we begin to see that
(30:49):
there is something abundantlybeautiful on the other side.
But if your walk with Christ isalways at a distance, if Jesus
is one thing you do and you alsowork, and you're also a mom and
you're also a dad and you'realso a good neighbor and you're
in the HOA and you coach LittleLeague, if Jesus is on a shelf
like that of the seven or eightother big doors in your life,
(31:11):
you're never going to seethrough the little keyhole to
everything that Christ has instore for you.
This scripture is calling youto draw, nearer and nearer and
nearer to Christ, but not bystriving, not by having more
quiet times than you've ever had, or changing your reading from
(31:31):
five minutes a day to 15 minutesa day, or praying more.
All of those are wonderfulthings, but they're all false
starts.
How can we get to the placewhere we can be on this side of
the door but have that kind of avision?
Well, we get there through thepower that only God has.
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His divine power has granted tous.
That's the inheritance, that'sthe equal standing, all things.
And it doesn't matter when hesays all things, he means all
things, all things in your life,all things when it comes to
pursuing God and godliness.
And all of it comes through ourknowledge of Christ, who called
(32:13):
us in the first place anddesires for us to see his glory
and to be excellent.
In fact, he's granted to usprecious and very great promises
so that you get to become apartaker of the divine nature.
Or you can go the other way, oryou can find all of the
corruption that's in this world.
(32:34):
Now, when it says partakers, Ikind of wanted to do a little
bit of work.
So this would be the Greekkoinonos, and when this
scripture says you can become apartaker, christians, of the
divine nature, it sounds too bigfor your brain to hold.
So I thought I'd make it verysimple for you.
A lot of us are familiar withthis passage at the bottom out
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of Luke, chapter 5.
In fact, you've probably had iton a t-shirt or a coffee mug,
or quoted to you or at you,depending on if you were on a
college campus.
Recently, james and John, sonsof Zebedee, who were partners
with Simon and Jesus, said toSimon do not be afraid, from now
on you will be catching men.
The part of that verse thateverybody loves, that everybody
(33:16):
quotes, is this hey man, greatnews, fisherman, I've got a
higher calling for you.
That is true, but what I wantyou to actually notice is this
this word it's just as muchscripture as anything else.
That is the exact same wordthat you just read in 2 Peter
when it talked about beingpartakers of the divine nature.
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It means partners, it meansassociates as much.
James and John, the sons ofZebedee, were partners with
Simon, the fisherman Peter, whowould then write this thing what
God is basically saying is thisyou are a partner with me in
this ongoing rescue mission,this ongoing adoption mission.
(34:00):
You are partners with me asmuch as Simon was partners with
James and John.
And it shouldn't make sense tous.
Look, it makes sense for Darrenand I, a couple of weeks ago,
to partner in thinking throughthe service and thinking through
him sharing his testimonygetting baptized.
It makes sense for me topartner with Stokes and say
(34:22):
here's the tone of the textwe're going through.
Let's think through worshipsongs.
Makes sense to partner withCarrie when we're organizing
who's going to come up here, etcetera, et cetera and so on.
But the fact that God looks at,not will, all believers and he
says do you want to partner withme in this mission?
Do you want to partner with mein being remade of nature?
(34:44):
Do you want to become like me?
This is not a God looking downon us, saying play your little
role, read your little verse,say your little prayers and
maybe I will do somethingincredible with them.
This is a God who condescendsto us and says let us partner
together in this life and inthis ministry and in this
(35:08):
calling.
And he says there are reallyonly two options anyway.
This, by the way, was the endof the verse that I just read to
you, so that through thesepromises, we get to become
partakers of the divine nature.
Let me just also say this Doyou know how unique it is for
Christianity to tell you you getto be a partaker of God's
(35:32):
nature?
Every other religion is a givingreligion.
You need to give to God yoursacrifices.
You need to give to God yourtime.
You need to give to God yourmoney.
You need to give to God yourability.
You need to give to God.
You need to give to God.
Please don't hear me.
That is true, but that is nothow we begin.
If you begin by trying to givethings to God, get ready to go
(35:53):
over your handlebars.
The first thing that aChristian does is take, and
there's no other religion likethat.
There's no other religion orworldview or system of belief.
There's no other faith wherethe God says take from me, I've
broken my flesh for you, take ofit.
I have shed my blood for you,take from me.
(36:18):
This is what God invites all ofus to, and if we would be
takers, we can actually begin toaspire to the very nature of
God.
And please keep in mind theseare the only two options.
There's nothing in here calledthe good life, where we're a
little bit like God but a littlebit like the world.
(36:39):
You're not gonna find that inscripture.
You're gonna find an offer toyou in a million different
places here, but you're notgonna find it oh, I got rid of
the wrong line but you're notgonna find it in scripture.
What do we find in scripture?
We find that God offers to youall things and if I believe this
, I can find peace in thepresent.
If I believe that God isoffering me all things, I can
(37:02):
find peace even though I haveunbelieving children, an
unbelieving mom or anunbelieving dad.
I can believe that if God isgiving me all things, I can rest
in the work of Christ, nottrying to prove to God that I
deserve him.
I don't have to invent newdefinitions of good or wise or
(37:22):
holy.
I can take God's definition ofthose things and I can recognize
that I am far from sufficient,but he is sufficient.
If I believe this, I can findcontentment in what God has
already given me.
But if I don't believe this,I'm constantly gonna feel
hopeless, overwhelmed andspiritually insecure.
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I'm gonna feel like I'm on ahamster wheel that never seems
to stop and I'm never gonna knowif I made the mark to be good
enough for Jesus.
I'll make excuses for my sin,I'll redefine my priorities and
I will even question the love ofa God who says you do know.
The moment you trust in me, I'mputting you on equal value,
equal standing with everyoneelse.
I want you to rest in what Godhas done.
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That verse tells us we areliterally in the same boat as
Christ.
That is how we start theChristian faith.
And then he begins saying sincethat is the case, since you
begin by the righteousness ofChrist.
For this very reason, I wantyou to really strive.
If you are trusting in Christ,not earning, you are going to
(38:27):
hear the words of the gospel andwhen that bell goes off, the
gate is going to drop Pedal hard.
Christian, lean in.
Believer, look for everyopportunity.
Let me tell you what you oughtto look for.
I want you to supplement yourfaith with virtue and knowledge,
with self-control,steadfastness, godliness,
brotherly affection and withlove.
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These are the things that Iwant you to run hard after.
I've listed them for you here.
I want you to go after virtueNow.
In their day and age, that wordmeant excellence.
We think of it as morality.
This is, by the way, why youdon't want to start with virtue.
Otherwise, you're going to walkaround trying to clean yourself
up.
Stop cussing a little bit,watch a few less R-rated movies
(39:12):
and then say well, jesus, aren'tyou just so pleased with what I
have offered to you?
Yes, once we've begun the race,we ought to shoot for
excellence, and we really shoulddesire knowledge of who God is.
Another great word for thiswould be wisdom.
Not just packing your brainwith verses or interesting
factoids or being the smartestperson in the room, but knowing
(39:32):
how to use that knowledge in away that cares for yourself,
that cares for people, and notjust knowledge, but self-control
, which I would call wisdom ofyour body.
Right now, if I told you towithout don't do this out loud,
I just want you in your mind.
I saw a psychologist do this toprove to someone that they had
a level of self-control.
Somebody's going to get thiswrong and it's going to be
(39:54):
embarrassing In your mind.
In your mind, I just want youto yell your name.
Okay, did you do it All?
Right, now, I want you towhisper your name.
If you can do that, you havethe ability to do the same when
you're frustrated.
The problem is outside of Christ.
All of us will raise our handand say well, if you get me mad
(40:18):
enough, if you poke that littlebutton, it is no longer my fault
.
This is the same argument thatthe two-year-old makes, that the
20-year-old makes, that the60-year-old makes in counseling,
but not out loud in community.
He made me do it, he knew it.
He knew if he did that I wasgoing to lose it.
She knew it, she did it.
No, no, no, no, no.
Christian, you are invited tohave self-control and to not
(40:42):
give up on these things, toendure and be steadfast.
The reason that I put three ofthose things in blue, the
highest of them, is because itis also the very definition when
somebody came up to Jesus andsaid teacher, what is the most
important thing for me?
To live my life by Teacher?
Why did they call him teacherinstead of king or God?
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Because all they saw in Christwas this hey, you seem to be
smarter, more excellent, morecontrolled.
You've been the same guy sinceyou started doing this ministry
in Galilee a number of years ago.
Hey, teacher, which is thegreatest commandment in the law?
And he said to him you shalllove the Lord, your God with all
your heart, with all your souland all your mind.
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Love the Lord, your God, belike him.
This is the great and firstcommandment, and a second is
like it Love your neighbor asyourself.
And what's included in both?
This is what Christians areinvited to, and the more you
pursue those things, the moreyou put off sinful corruption
and the more you put on thedivine nature.
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But how can we do this withoutfalse stepping?
How can we do this withoutgoing over our handlebars?
Ten points to the camp store.
If somebody can tell me whatword I covered up with blue tape
at the bottom.
Oh, you've made me very excitedbecause I held this back,
(42:10):
thinking I'm going to teach thisthing so thoroughly that if
anybody doesn't know the answerby the bottom, they're going to
be hyper convicted.
That's what I was leaning into,that's what I was hoping.
So if you're just feeling shytoday, that's fine.
I'm going to take this asconviction.
What's on the bottom line?
What's on the bottom line?
What's on the bottom line?
For this very reason, make everyeffort to supplement your faith
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.
In other words, every singlething on the list, all of your
virtue and excellence, all ofyour knowledge, is a supplement
that you take in omega-3s, thatyou take in creatine, a
pre-workout and whatever else.
It is your vitamin D, vitamin C, whatever it is.
Everything that is not in allcaps is a supplement.
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And can I tell you what we dowrong all the dang time?
In the South, we preach, not agospel of righteousness by faith
in Christ.
Faith in Christ, what we teachis how to pedal really hard once
the race has begun and peopletry to pedal first before the
gate of faith ever drops.
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And if you in your life havetried to go after all of these
things without making sure thatthat one is right, can I tell
you what you're doing?
You're taking a multivitaminand you're putting it into the
mouth of a corpse, expecting itto come alive and grow.
Your excellence will neverbring you life.
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It's just not going to do it.
It doesn't matter.
This is going to be the onethat really hits home for Will.
It doesn't matter how much youknow.
It doesn't make you alive.
It doesn't matter if you canquote this to me before you walk
out.
It doesn't matter how much youknow Doesn't make you alive.
Doesn't matter if you can quotethis to me before you walk out
it doesn't make you alive.
It doesn't matter if this isone that's gonna hit home a
little bit, because I've workedon this over the past few years.
It doesn't matter if you can bein a place where you would
(44:03):
usually lose it and you, insomewhat pompous attitude, hold
your composure and while you'redisagreeing with your spouse,
you are just so calm andcollected and confident.
I'm not getting pulled intothis.
It won't save you.
It's a multivitamin in themouth of a corpse.
(44:23):
Look, try to be steadfast.
Act as godly as you want.
Love the people around youReally try to love them.
But if you don't have faith,all you have done?
All you have done is put asupplement in the mouth of a
corpse.
This is how it works and thisis what I teach people when they
say why has nobody explainedthis to me for 20 years?
Here's how it works Salvation,getting saved.
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This is all of it.
Just simply believing Jesus.
You died on the cross and youpromised me that if I ask for
the forgiveness of my sin whichis much I've been living in this
world and with all my own junkfor so long you have promised to
me that I will become apartaker of your nature that I
(45:11):
will take into myself yourrighteousness, your goodness,
your virtue, your knowledge,your self-control, your
steadfastness, your godliness,your love for the people around
you.
You have promised that if Iwould just ask that you would
forgive me of my sin and youwould give me all that, that is
salvation.
That's it.
(45:31):
Pause, end sermon, go home andthen, for those who have done
this, those who have asked forthe forgiveness of their sins,
and that is my greatest desire,for anyone in the room who is
not, then, christian, this issanctification.
Oh, running out of room.
(45:51):
This is sanctification.
Oh, running out of room.
Walking around, this is therest of your life, but only once
the gate is dropped, only onceyou have peddled, only once you
have heard the right messagefrom above that the forgiveness
of your sins is offered, and youhave responded to it and you
are taking in the divine natureof God.
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Why do you think communion iswhat it is?
We're going to take communionin just a few moments.
Why do you think it is thatJesus said eat of my flesh and
drink of my blood?
Because he didn't say enoughcontroversial things to freak
people out in the three years hewas preaching?
No, he did that all the time,because we are literally, by
faith, taking into ourselves ourspirit, the work of Christ, the
(46:35):
goodness of Christ, therighteousness of Christ, which
is why, the moment you respondto the gospel, god looks at you
the same way he looks at Paul.
He looks at you the same way helooks at Peter.
We are on equal standing,because all we ever had was
equal faith.
Then, christian, run hard,supplement your faith.
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This is about us going hard togrow when other people would
stall out.
Many of us have understoodChristianity the wrong way, and
here's the thing I'm not tryingto teach you about Jesus.
I want you to see him.
I want you to draw nearer tothe keyhole of the door to see
this kind of faith.
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Matthew Henry puts it this wayit's not enough for us to be
where God is worshiped if we donot ourselves worship him.
It's not enough, it is notnearly enough, which is why
Peter goes on and he says thisif these qualities are yours,
this list right, if, sorry, ifall of these things are yours
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and they are increasing, theykeep you from being ineffective,
they keep you from beingunfruitful in the knowledge of
our Lord Jesus Christ, forwhoever lacks these qualities is
so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was
cleansed from his former sins.
(48:05):
Or, to put this positively, ifthese qualities are yours, if
these things are yours, if thesethings are yours, these, if
that is all, man, we're justmaking a mess today.
Sorry, if you're viewing online,it made more sense in here,
(48:30):
maybe, maybe.
All right, I quit.
Guys, I just want you to there.
That'll work.
I just want you to get this,because it's the difference in
living a life for christ and notif you have faith in christ.
These things, they keep youfrom being ineffective, they
(48:53):
keep you from wasting your life,but they will never give you
life.
Faith and faith alone does that.
So if these things are yoursand they are increasing, to put
it in the positive, you will beeffective, you will be fruitful,
you won't be blind.
You will have this wide-eyed,enthusiastic version of what is
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on the other side of the keyholeof today and what is on the
other side of the keyhole ofyour entire life.
You will not be blind norforgetful.
You will constantly rememberthe grace of Jesus.
See, guys, if we believe thesethings, we're not going to coast
in life, and here's the betterpart.
You won't even want to.
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You're not going to coast inyour Christian life because you
will never want to coast in yourChristian life.
You will want these things tobe true.
Discipleship is not somethingthat is annoying that you do on
a Wednesday night.
You embrace it, you long for it.
You want to participate in whatis on the other side of the
keyhole.
Renewal in your life issomething that you pursue.
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Service becomes this joyful andintentional endeavor.
You will take on challengesbecause it doesn't matter if you
fail.
You're already on equalstanding with every Christian
that has ever been.
So bring on the difficulty,bring on the stretching, bring
on the failure.
All Christ is ever going to dois congratulate me, encourage me
(50:17):
and make me grow.
Bring on the difficulty.
This is what the life ofsomebody who does not fall start
but pedal hard is.
But if you do not believe this,if you don't understand this, if
you don't grasp this, you'regoing to assume that your
presence is your usefulness.
You're going to assume thatbeing present at church is you
(50:40):
being useful to midtree.
You're going to assume that youshowing up to your kid's game
is the same thing as you leaningin and then hearing your voice
cheer them on.
It is not the same.
You're going to assume thatyour presence on a date night,
men, when you take your wife out, that the fact that it exists,
(51:00):
is the win.
I am here, am I not?
But if all you're doing isscrolling through your phone
while you're there, can we allagree you've done more harm than
actual good.
Our presence is never the goal.
It is who we are when we arewhere we are.
Therefore, brothers, be all themore diligent to confirm your
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calling in election.
This is what I've beenencouraging you to do, by the
way, all morning.
Make sure you didn't falsestart.
Make sure that you have putfaith in Christ.
Faith, faith, faith, faith,faith.
For if you practice thesequalities, you will.
Thomas, I told you last weekthis was going to be the hardest
part for me to preach.
You will never fall.
In this way, there will berichly provided for you an
(51:43):
entrance into the eternalkingdom of our Lord and Savior,
jesus Christ.
The reason it's hard to preachverse 10 is because I live with
you and I live with me.
That's why verse 10 is hard.
If I was a monk in a monastery,I'd read verse 10.
I'd be like amen, isn't Godgood, never going to fall right.
Good stuff.
Everybody here hadn't eatenanything but a grain of rice and
some bread.
We're living prettysacrificially.
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Go, team, go.
But here, when I read this, it'shard, because the Bible is so
emphatic, it is so sure and soabsolute.
Hey guys, if you begin by faithand if you supplement your
faith with these incrediblethings which, by the way, god
has promised to give you, if youwill pursue them, you're never
going to fall.
That's awesome.
Except I watch you guys fallall the dang time and I fall all
(52:31):
the time.
So I look at this and I'm likewhat on earth is going on here?
When I read this, I see youfalling, I see me falling.
Falling into sin, falling intomanaging our images instead of
receiving them from God.
Seeing us fall into selfishnessthat is always only going to
produce emptiness.
Falling into pleasures that arealways fleeting and never
(52:54):
enough.
Falling into cold, religious,cerebral knowledge of God rather
than a relationship where weactually enjoy him.
Knowledge of God rather than arelationship where we actually
enjoy him.
But I can tell you this when Ihave faith and, on top of those
(53:14):
things, knowledge, I really donot fall.
When I have faith in Christ andendurance when I have faith in
Christ and love for my brotherin that environment and love for
my brother In that environment,I never fall.
And it's one of the mostamazing things about being led
by the Spirit of God and it'salso one of the most amazing
things that I don't just keepalways going to the Spirit of
God because his answer is alwaysand never.
(53:36):
Don't you know?
You're not supposed to usethose words when you talk about
people's behaviors.
Anybody ever gone to marriagecounseling Like day one stuff is
just don't say always and never, it'll save you like 50% of
your fights.
God's word uses always andnever, always.
It never neglects to do it.
Why?
Because this is always true andit is never wrong.
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The question is did we miss thestart or did we stop pedaling?
And I have great news for you.
It is God's great expectationthat you would hear these words
and inside your heart somethingwould beat fresh and new.
Something would say I think Imay have missed started.
That's okay.
(54:18):
I hate this about the church,that some people are embarrassed
to receive Christ because theythink people thought they
received him so long ago.
I hate that.
If only we knew that the momentwe truly responded to the
gospel, we were on equalstanding with the people who
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have been walking with him for60 years.
I wonder if it would free us upto just take a step back and
say, oh my gosh, don't get mewrong.
I've got a lot of stuff built.
I got virtue, I got excellence,I got all kinds of knowledge.
I've been trying to love peoplereally well, but I never really
had faith that God wouldforgive me of my sins.
I never really had faith thatChrist's righteousness was given
to me.
(54:58):
Welcome brother, welcome sister.
Please start there.
And for those of us who have, wehave the freedom to pedal fast
and never worry about falling.
You guys remember learning howto ride the bike.
You always wanted to go slowbecause you didn't want to get
hurt, but then you realized, thefaster you went, to a degree
(55:19):
this illustration breaks downthe faster you went, the more
stable you became, and theslower you went, the more wobbly
you were.
So it is with faith in ChristChristian pedal fast, pedal fast
, knowing that not only does itmake you more stable, but that
if you were to fall, honestlyyou never do.
(55:40):
All you do is lean into thearms of grace that pick you
right back up.
So we win when we start, we winwhen we pedal and we even win
when we fall a bit to the side,because in those moments we feel
the hands of Christ.
This message is to those whohave obtained a faith of equal
(56:04):
standing with ours by therighteousness of our God and
Savior, jesus Christ.
Men, if you want to go aheadand come in and prepare for
communion, stokes, if you wantto get ready to come down, I
only have one more thing to tellyou, and that is this I've
already moved off of it, but Ican the very final verse here.
(56:24):
In this way, there will be notprovided for you, but richly
provided for you, an entranceinto the eternal kingdom of our
Lord and Savior, jesus Christ.
It is God's great desire tolook at you, christian, and say
well done, good, faithfulservant.
This whole text about trustingin faith and peddling hard is
(56:50):
supposed to free you up, toencourage you that you will one
day be richly welcomed intoheaven.
This is not a message for justgetting by.
This is not a message for, well, what do I have to do so I
don't go to hell?
Get my get out of jail cardfree in the back of my pocket.
(57:11):
No, no, no, no, no.
It is faith, and on that faithwe build and we supplement so
that all of us may one day enterinto a richly warmly welcomed
new world that is waiting for uson the other side of the door.
Here's what I would like for usto do.
(57:32):
We have communion because Godhas invited us to partake of his
divine nature, but I don't wantyou to move too quickly.
I kind of want you to wait forsort of the word of the Lord,
for the moving of the HolySpirit to drop the gate, for you
to come, because I'd like forall of us to ponder did I really
(57:54):
start the Christian race byfaith, or did I try to start
peddling when the gate of myheart wasn't quite open yet?
Do I have faith, belief, trustthat God will forgive me?
Have I actually asked him to dothat?
If you have not done that, lettoday be the day, and you don't
have to fill out a card and youdon't have to walk down to the
front, though you are welcome todo so.
(58:14):
If you would like to beencouraged by a pastor, we would
love to be a part of that.
Some of you may also want tocelebrate Will.
Can I just tell you what'sgoing really well in the
knowledge supplement?
Can I tell you what is going onin brotherly love?
I never thought I'd be able tolove this person well, but by
faith I have been able to,because of the righteousness of
Christ.
But before we come to thistable, which is for believers,
(58:35):
let's make sure that we do notfalse start.
And if we can help you in anyway, we would love to Stokes.
Will you lead us from there?
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