October 29, 2025 • 45 mins
We wrestle with why glory belongs to God alone and how that truth frees us from chasing applause. From sanctification to service, we show how peace and joy arrive as byproducts when Christ stays first and the adjectives fall away.
• resting salvation in Christ alone
• sanctification as God’s work in us
• merit culture versus grace culture
• algorithms and the pull toward self
• tuning the heart through surrender and trial
• joy completed through obedience to Jesus
• Colossians and Christ above all
• dropping adjectives before Christian
• serving without recognition and hidden faithfulness
• suffering as a place to reflect His glory
• Soli Deo Gloria as a daily practice
• prayer for courage and steadfast hearts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:09):
Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode
of the Midweek Podcast, broughtto you by Fresh Wind Church.
Each week our team brings younew content to help you take
steps towards Jesus and discovermore in Christ.
Today's episode is hosted byPastor Ryan.
SPEAKER_02 (00:27):
Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast.
Pastor Ryan joined again withPastor Tim and uh Tim this
Sunday we wrapped up our uhOctober series, Reformation
Roots.
And man, I I I had such a agreat time studying and
preparing for this, just divingback into some of really the the
(00:48):
foundational truths of ourfaith.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
I think when we talk about so many different issues,
you know, the Bible covers justabout everything, but when you
get back to uh what salvation isall about, uh the just resting
in what he's done for you.
This sermon series has beengreat for that.
(01:13):
We you know, we get so tied upin trying to be the right guy
for God, trying to be effective,trying to be usable.
Um, you know, do these things sothat you uh do not uh become
useless in your knowledge ofJesus uh that uh Peter talks
about.
(01:33):
We uh we need a chance to to sitdown and say, uh, it's just
Jesus.
Right, you know?
Yeah.
It's not me, it's just him.
We were talking uh aboutsanctification.
Last night we had Charles wasteaching us sanctification.
I asked him at the end, and Isaid, So what did sanctification
(01:56):
look like for the thief on thecross?
Because he came to Jesus rightthen.
And uh the answer is Jesus isgonna take care of that for you.
And it's oh well wait.
Sanctification is where I work.
(02:16):
You know, I got good works todo, I got growing to do, I got
these things that I gotta dounless Jesus does it for you,
which is what happens at the endanyway.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
Right.
Yeah, God is working in you togive you both the desire and the
power to do what pleases him.
He's he's working out thissalvation and sanctification
thing, you know?
And it is, it's easy to to fallback into especially this kind
of American mindset that youknow we're the self-made man,
and I gotta uh stomp my feetdown in my boots and I gotta I
(02:51):
gotta do this thing.
Meritocracy.
Yeah, and then Jesus comes alongand is like, uh, actually,
you're gonna screw this up.
I'm gonna I'm gonna take care ofthis for you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Right.
Um like you said yesterday, theuh yeah, we're doing this
podcast on Monday, it comes outon Wednesday.
Sorry about that, guys.
Um, but what you said yesterdayabout getting up on the stage
with them, it starts with thatmeritocracy you're talking
about.
You know, I need to be the man.
God wants me to be the man, andhe does.
He wants you to to be the man,but it's not good enough.
(03:24):
So he's gonna he's gonna takeyou a little bit further, and
we're like, well, wait a minute,can I can I just get a little
credit for trying so hard?
And Jesus says, I'll take thatcredit.
You know, it's my glory thatwe're working on, and you just
reflect it.
Yeah, and uh it's it's it's atough thing to get around
(03:44):
because it's our whole culturethought, you know, it's just you
know, I gotta be, God wants meto be Have and uh I'm trying my
hardest.
Can I get a little pat on theback?
SPEAKER_02 (03:57):
I mean, we we start young, man.
I mean, as soon as your kid doessomething, you know, learns to
walk, we're all excited,clapping for him, going crazy.
Um, you know, LA's flag footballteam, they just won the
championship and we're givingout medals.
The trophy, I'm not kidding you,it's almost as tall as Ellie.
I'm like, good night, people.
(04:17):
Does it have to be so big?
Um, and and listen, all of thatis great.
And I'm not saying we shouldn'thand out trophies and medals to
people.
We you should be excited whenyour kids do something great.
That's not what I'm saying.
But I mean, we learn at a youngage, like, look at me, look at
me.
Come come watch what I've done.
Right.
(04:37):
And then we come to ourrelationship with God, and man,
it's especially if you know, ifyou serve in ministry at all,
this is an easy thing to fallinto because you're working for
God, you know, you're gettingready for sermons, or you're
preparing a study.
You know, we you you've we weman, and how exciting this.
We got some guys in the churchwanting to step up and start
(04:59):
teaching.
And so I know you've beenworking a lot with these guys,
helping them start to put thosethings together.
And so you're doing all thisstuff.
And you think about you know,the fall fest and Anisa and her
team and all the people that putall that together.
It was a great event.
And you and you do all thisstuff and it's it's for God.
And then someone comes along andsays, Hey, that was awesome.
(05:20):
And you're like, Oh, that feltgood.
Yeah, and all of a sudden it'slike, well, it's for God, but I
mean, it's it was a little bit,I did do a good job.
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Um We live in an age where everything points back to
us, yeah, to our brand, um, ourfollowers, our goals.
Uh but life actually worksbetter when it's not centered on
us at all.
unknown (05:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
And then centering on other people.
And then you get accolades fornot being centered on yourself,
and then you got to go throughthat fight again.
Very narcissistic society, eventhe algorithm online, who's
watching you?
Your algorithm is a little bitdifferent than mine.
If we look up the same thingonline, they're gonna feed you
(06:05):
this, they're gonna feed mesomething else.
But even that algorithm is aboutyou.
You know, what do you like?
What do you what can I get youinto, and then feed you some ads
to get you to buy this thing.
And so we are being manipulatedtowards back to ourselves
constantly.
SPEAKER_02 (06:26):
And this has nothing to do with the podcast, and so
uh hopefully I don't throw youoff your thought here, but that
algorithm is so smart, they canchange pricing for people based
off what that algorithmalgorithm thinks you're gonna
pay, what you're willing to payon that item.
How many times have you lookedup that item?
How long has it been saved inyour cart?
(06:48):
And so you might go one day andit's like, no, the price just
jumped because we know youreally want it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
Right.
You looked at this a lot.
And you know, that's happeningto us uh 24-7 now with uh
carrying your phone around.
You might not know it, uh, butthat's what's happening that
algorithm's all about you.
And we want things to be aboutus, even church sometimes.
Hey, you preached that sermonand uh felt like you were
(07:17):
talking exactly at me.
And it's like, no, no, I wasn't.
I wasn't.
It just feels that way becausewe're in a culture that feels
that way 24-7.
SPEAKER_02 (07:30):
Right.
Yeah, it's definitely easy to toget into this idea where it's
about me and wanting to be onstage.
Um and man, I I don't know howwe we fight back against that
sometimes, but um, you know, onSunday, just really encourage
people, man, if this is reallygonna be Christ alone, we have
(07:53):
got to we've got to climb offthe stage, you know.
And you know, I kicked up my myWalmart boots and tried to get
them in the spotlight, did thehokey pokey.
Um, because man, that's who weare, right?
Like just God, I want this to beabout you.
I just need a little bit of it.
Right.
Um, and that feels so good.
(08:14):
Um, and you know, I I don't Idon't know.
I'm I'm going way out here, butyou know, I I think experiencing
that um that little puff ofpride that we get, that you
know, just a glimpse of whatwhat true worship must feel like
(08:34):
for God, you know, when wereally worship and he feels in,
I don't, I don't know how to saythis in theological concepts
that would make sense, but Imean when God gets our true
worship, um, I mean, scripturesays he is seated on the praises
of his people.
Um, and nothing we experiencedown here is going to come
(08:56):
anywhere close to that.
And then to know, man, when wetake that, we're we're robbing
him of that glory, you know.
This is supposed to be abouthim.
And it's it's hard to climb offthat stage and lay flat on the
ground and say, God, this is allabout you.
SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
It's it's hard, but what I what God is, he's he's
like, I, you know, I existed andI was happy and I loved and I
got praises, and I never neededyou at all.
So why does God selfishly standon that stage and says, I get
(09:32):
all the glory?
Well, it's because you werecreated to give the glory.
And if you're ever gonna be atpeace or in tune spiritually, uh
Charles had a great example lastnight as he was teaching on
sanctification.
He was talking about a guitarthat has to be tuned.
(09:54):
It's the tension on the guitar,on the guitar string that puts
you in tune with the HolySpirit.
And so we're gonna have thattension he's gonna teach us.
That's what sanctification isall about.
Being in tune with Jesus inevery situation.
It was a great example.
(10:15):
And uh so that's that's what weneed to be, we need to be in
tune with how God created us tobe, and that to be in tune, you
have to quit trying to take someglory or be filled with pride
and give that glory to the Lord,and then you're in tune
spiritually to where it leads tosatisfaction and peace and all
(10:40):
those other things that the Lordwants to dump in your lap.
SPEAKER_02 (10:43):
Well, here's the thing if if you receiving glory
was what was best for you, youbetter believe God would give it
to you.
Right.
He withholds no good thing fromhis children.
Scripture's clear on that.
And so if it was in your bestinterest to receive glory, God
would give it to you.
Right.
He would allow you to receiveit.
(11:04):
But he knows it is it is acancer within us.
When we start to get that, thenpride and all these other things
begin to build up in our life.
And the best thing that we cando is give God glory.
And then it does exactly whatyou talk about.
It starts to bring peace in ourlife.
Because I'm not I'm no longerchasing the applause of man.
(11:27):
You know, I I'm going through mylife saying, man, if I if I
lived faithfully for Christtoday, I've done it.
I've done it.
Um, and I don't I don't needanybody to recognize that.
I don't need I don't need a fanclub.
Right.
Years ago when uh I was theyouth pastor, Dave Meyer was one
of my adult leaders, and thestudents in the the youth group
(11:47):
created a Facebook page backwhen teenagers were on Facebook
called the Dave Meyer Fan Club.
We don't need a fan club.
You know, we're just man, I amI'm living for God's glory, and
I get peace and I getcontentment and all these things
that I what you are what youreally need.
So the best thing for you, andGod knows this because he
created you, is not that youreceive glory, but that you
(12:09):
reflect glory.
When people look at you, theysee him.
And that's the that's the onlyway we ever really find peace,
that we ever really findcontentment, that we ever
experience true joy, true joy,is when I am a conduit through
which God gets glory.
Um and until that point, when wemake it about us, then anytime
(12:33):
someone um says something, youknow, I don't know if that was
one of your best sermons.
You know, um, anytime a podcastcomes out and the the you know
listener count goes down, we'renot doing it, you know.
Um everything becomes contingenton those things.
(12:54):
And you know, it makes me think,I I I don't know Forrest Frank
personally.
I don't, I don't, I think I'veonly listened to three or four
of his songs in total.
Um, and I hate holding up anyone person as a model because as
soon as you do, it seems like somany of them fall.
(13:14):
Um, but this guy That wasencouraging.
Yes.
This guy, man, he seems and allI get is what's online, right?
But he seems to be the realdeal, man.
Um I was I was I saw this videoum of another guy talking about
his how he had prejudged ForrestFrank off of you know some
(13:35):
conversation or something, andthen actually got to meet this
guy in person.
He's like, no, he is totallylegit.
Um but they had the Dove Awardsum a couple weeks ago, last
month, whatever.
And Forrest Frank was nominatedfor like three, four, five
different categories, best song,artist of the year, all this
stuff, and decided not to go.
(13:57):
Um, and all these people startedthrowing an absolute fit, you
know, how could you not go?
And blah, blah, blah.
And he is and I'm not sayingit's wrong to go.
I'm not saying it's wrong to goand again get the trophy because
you work really hard, you madesome great music, and people
want to recognize you for that.
I'm not saying that's wrong.
But here's a guy who said, Man,that that's not for me.
(14:21):
All of that was was for my king.
And how can I go and grab that?
And and I appreciate that hestuck to his conviction on that.
And then there was um there wasanother artist, I don't even
think he's a Christian artist,but commented, like, oh, so you
won't take you know Jesus'trophy, but you'll take his
money, you know, because you hegets paid for making these
(14:42):
songs, right?
And then Forrest Frank comes outand makes this video, and he's
like, Hey, I'm glad you askedthat because this is what I
wrestle with every day of mylife.
And and here's here's how I Iprocess those ideas.
And he goes, Man, I'm a safeplace.
If you want to talk more about,I would love for you to
challenge me on this.
Call me, text me, like, let'stalk this out.
(15:03):
And I was like, How often do youhear that in the music industry
or in the influencer industry?
Right.
You know, someone's saying, Askme those questions because
that's what I'm wrestling with.
How do I make sure that as myfame and my increase and my um
influence and all these thingsexpands?
(15:23):
How do I make sure that Godstill is the one getting the
glory?
SPEAKER_01 (15:27):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
Um, man, such a tough thing because you know, we
we want to be the Christians whoare putting out the great music
that everybody's listened to andthe viral videos, and we want
the successful podcast, we wantto write the books, we want all
that stuff.
And here's a guy, like I said,it's I'm always scared to to put
anyone up, and I don't want toput any more targets on Forrest
(15:48):
Frank's back because Lord knowshe's got plenty.
Here's a guy standing up forJesus, the devil hates that.
Um but man, I I I I just praythat God would continue to to
use him in that way to say, man,I I I enjoy all of this stuff
and it's all great, but this isall for God's glory.
Um, and as soon as it's it'snot, I need to sit down.
(16:12):
And so he tells, he made a videosaying something along the lines
like, Don't follow me, followJesus.
And if if you're coming to mymusic and it doesn't point to
Jesus, then just stop listening.
I was like, man, that's so good.
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
Yeah, and everybody who takes an award every now and
then doesn't mean that they'retrying to steal God's glory or
anything like that.
Um but we have seen um Hollywoodand make fun of people who say,
I wanna I wanna thank my LordJesus Christ.
(16:46):
And um I think sometimes we weget bitter because the Lord
wants it all.
And and what you just said priorto that was well, I want it all
so I can give you all you cantake.
And right now you can't takemuch.
But if you learn to give me itall, then I can fill you up.
(17:09):
Do you want to be filled up?
And I love that uh about Jesus.
You know, he is the image of theinvisible God that we can't see,
something that we can uh grab ahold of, we can uh see, we can
read about him, we can see howhe reacted as he was uh uh
(17:34):
walking this earth, and we seethat man, this guy loved me,
gave his life for me, and thenso now that I trust him, he
says, I want you to give me allthe glory so I can make you into
what you were created to be.
And we don't connect thosethings uh all the time, but he
(17:58):
came down here so he we couldlearn to trust him, and when we
place our faith in Christ,that's what we're doing.
We're trusting who he is andwhat he did for us, and now he's
like, now listen, give it all tome so I can give all me to you.
SPEAKER_02 (18:14):
Yeah, that's that's so good, so important.
If we could grab a hold of that,that God saying all the glory is
mine is not because God doesn'twant you to be happy, you know,
and that's what God, why are youso selfish?
You know, why why can't whycan't any of this go to me?
Um when that's our attitude,man, it's always gonna be a
(18:36):
battle.
Um, but when I realize, man,God, God's doing this because
it's it's not what's best forGod, it doesn't complete God
anymore.
Right.
You know, you giving God glorydoesn't make him any more
glorious.
He is God, he is glory.
Um and nothing you can do, canadd or take away to that.
(18:56):
And so when I realized, man, thethe point of this is not
punishment, it's not becauseGod's selfish, it's because God
knows what's best for me and hewants to give me those things.
You know, he wants to fill meup.
He said, I came that you wouldhave life and have it more
abundantly, or that you wouldhave it to the full.
I think the NLT says a rich andsatisfying life.
(19:20):
Well, if that's true.
And I think it was Pat Selviwhen he came one time.
He said, Man, when scripturesays it, it's either true or
it's not.
It's either true or it's not.
And so if it's true, and Ibelieve God's word is true, then
the best thing for you not notfor God, he's still God, but the
best thing for you is that Godgets all the glory.
(19:42):
And then when you do that, likeyou're saying, then he can fill
you up with all the things thatyou can handle.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
The sacrifice of Jesus kind of opens the door for
us to to see this a better way.
I think God is asking you tosacrifice your pride and give
him all the glory, sacrificeyour life to give him all the
glory, sacrifice what you wantfor what he wants to give him
(20:11):
all the glory, and it's justexactly what he did for you.
That's right.
The cross flips the world'sdefinition of gl definition of
glory upside down.
Strength through surrender,victory through sacrifice.
And Hebrews chapter 12 us he rewhat did I just say there?
(20:33):
Hebrews chapter 12 tells us I Ithink I made that all into one
word.
Um don't don't rewind and lookat that.
So Hebrews chapter 12 tells usthat for the joy set before him.
(20:54):
And so Jesus is saying, Look, Iwent to the cross, I was
accused, I dealt with the shame,all that kind of stuff for the
joy that's set before me.
And I'm gonna ask you to do thesame thing, to sacrifice your
(21:16):
life, your wants, your uhambitions, your pride to give me
glory so that you can have thesame joy as me.
So we're talking about thecreator of the universe, talking
about what his joy is.
I want you to have that samejoy, and his joy was in us, and
(21:42):
he says, You will find yourcomplete joy, your completeness,
your satisfaction in me.
So he's just reversing what he'salready done for us and asking
us, look, this was great, it wasawesome.
Now you sacrifice, yousurrender, and then you can have
(22:06):
that same experience that I had.
SPEAKER_02 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean, Jesus comes right out and says that in
John chapter 15.
He says, If if you keep mycommands, you will remain in my
love just as I have kept myfather's commands and remain in
his love.
And he says, this, he says, Ihave told you these things so
that my joy may be in you andyour joy may be complete.
And there is this link betweenmy joy being complete and
(22:32):
keeping Christ's commands.
And he says, Listen, I've I havedone this so that my joy can be
in you and that your joy may becomplete.
And we think joy is found in allthese other things, getting
success, getting people tonotice us, more likes on our
Instagram post, more followerson you know Facebook or X or
(22:56):
whatever.
Um we're we're constantlychasing some sort of validation.
And if I think if I can getenough people to tell me that
I've made it, then I'll be okay.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
And he says, Man, this is what this is how your
joy is complete.
When you begin to remain in mylove and you keep my commands,
then your joy is complete.
It's all about him, and thankGod he sent Jesus to model the
way for us.
SPEAKER_01 (23:23):
Absolutely.
We would be lost, um literally,if it wasn't for Jesus coming,
and and we were talking earlierabout how Jesus uh responded He
was God, he could have doneanything he wanted to, but He He
placed Himself in man and Helaid aside His glory and His
(23:44):
power and He did everything thatum in life the way that you and
I as a Christian should do it.
He prayed, he asked the Father,he got his guidance from the
Father.
He didn't need it, he didn'thave to do it that way, but he
chose to.
And this is um the amazing thingabout our Father, our great
(24:07):
Redeemer is look, I'm gonna showyou how and then I d I just want
you to do greater things thanme.
It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (24:18):
Yeah, what a statement, right?
Um we're supposed to do evengreater things, Jesus said.
Um Paul, when he he's writing tothe Colossians, that's where we
were at Sunday, um he he he justpulls back the veil and lets us
see Christ in his divine glory,you know.
(24:41):
Um he is the image of theinvisible God, he is the
firstborn over all creation.
All things have been created byhim, for him, through him.
I mean, all he says everythingabout this is about Jesus.
Don't you see he alone is at thetop?
And man, I I just think when itcomes to to God's glory, if we
(25:06):
could, if we could grasp a holdof that and say, man, this is
this is all about Jesus.
And and we quit trying to addthings to it.
And I mean, really, that's whatwas happening with the the
Colossian church.
You know, people had gotten inthere and they were trying to to
add all this thing, all theseother things to Christ.
You know, it's Christ plus,well, you got to keep the the
Old Testament law, it's Christplus this new philosophy or
(25:29):
idea, it's Christ plus this, youknow, New Age spiritualism thing
that they got going on there.
Um it's all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (25:36):
And Paul's like, no, no, it's none of that.
We do it, we do it now.
Um, the adjectives that we throwin before Jesus.
I'm a conservative Christian.
No.
No.
If you put conservative in frontof Christian, then the meat of
(25:58):
what you're saying is on theconservative.
It's not on Christ.
unknown (26:03):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:04):
And it if if Christ now suddenly has to be
subordinate to yourconservatism, then then it's not
Christ.
It's not Christ alone.
There's no such thing as aconservative Christian, it's
just not in the Bible.
There's no such thing as a gayChristian, it's just not in the
Bible.
There's no such thing as aliberal Christian, a Democratic
(26:27):
Christian, a RepublicanChristian, whatever title that,
and I know I said all thepolitical titles, but it doesn't
matter what you're saying andwhat you think you are, it comes
after Christian.
SPEAKER_02 (26:40):
Right.
That's so important.
SPEAKER_01 (26:42):
I'm a Christian who happens to be a liberal.
I'm a Christian who happens tobe a Republican.
I am not, it's Christ first.
And and a lot of times when youput Christ first, those other
things don't ever come up.
SPEAKER_02 (27:00):
Well, no, because now when Christ is is first,
then everything I is an outflowof that instead of the other way
around.
Exactly.
You know, I I begin to vote theway that I believe Christ, the
stances that he would take onthose issues.
Right.
Um when it comes to life, I knowChrist is about life.
So I vote that way.
(27:20):
Are you conservative or are youliberal?
What does that matter?
Right.
This is what I believe Christwould do.
I know he's about life.
And so it it changes everything.
And you know, I I read thatquote from Charles Spurgeon, and
I know I quote him in so manysermons, but he was the
preacher's preacher, man.
Man, he's awesome.
So good.
We stand on the shoulders ofgiants.
(27:41):
Yeah.
But he said, if Christ is notall to you, he is nothing to
you.
It is Christ plus nothing.
And and what you're saying is soimportant because yeah, I I want
to define myself um this way.
And no, if if you're a followerof Christ, that's who you are.
Um, and then everything that youdo should be an outflow of that,
(28:04):
never the other way around.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
And that that in conservative circles, we still
try to fudge it a little bit.
I'm an evaluational Christian.
No, you are not.
You are not.
Christ comes first.
Well, I'm I'm I lean to reformtheology, and uh that's how I
view things.
Well, it doesn't matter.
(28:28):
Christ has got to be first.
I I go to this church, and uh sonow I'm a Baptist or I'm a
Pentecostal.
No, you are a Christian first.
That should be the first thingout of your mouth.
I believe that Jesus died for meand I have received what he has
done, and I am saved by him andhim alone.
(28:51):
It doesn't matter what my churchis, it doesn't matter if I'm in
a prison cell and I haven't beenout in 11 years, it doesn't
matter if I've um I'm rocking atthe top of the evangelical
whatever, and I've got lightsand lasers and smoke and all
that kind of stuff before Ipreach.
Jesus comes first.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
And that's how we gotta live.
And when you learn to live that,um we have this idea that to
live that is to give up just alittle bit too much of
ourselves.
And when we because I want anidentity, and Christ says, Look,
(29:40):
I've come to live inside you.
I've taken your identity takemine.
And let's live in communiontogether.
And that's that's what we'rethat's what we're all about.
It it's hard to, you know,Charles Spurgeon said that um
you said this if Christ is notall.
(30:00):
To you is nothing to you.
That's what you just said.
And that is that is the biggest.
I don't know how to explain it.
My wife can explain it better.
She came to me and read thisthing about a guy who was in
prison in the gulag and he wasthere forever and no light.
A guy showed up with food everynow and then.
(30:22):
I mean, it was just him andJesus.
And he said, I want to be anothing so that Jesus can fill
me with him.
I don't want to um I would Ijust want to be a vessel, a
(30:42):
clear vessel with nothing in itbut Jesus.
And you know, Teresa and I itchanged the way we prayed about
being filled with the HolySpirit.
Because the first thing we do isempty us completely out and then
fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Because you're not filled withJesus if there's something else
(31:04):
in there.
Even if it's a speck ofsomething else, you're not
filled with him.
And uh it's influenced the waywe prayed.
This this idea of uh Christ isnot all to you.
If Christ is not all to you,he's nothing to you.
And and it is an influence.
It's the way we got to look atevery situation.
(31:25):
You know, how is Christ?
Fill me with your Holy Spirit,tell me what to do in this
situation.
And that's tough when you'rehurt or you're embarrassed or
you're you're struggling, ifyou're questioning God's
decisions on things, it's hardto say.
I release it to you, yeah, and Iwill I will reflect your glory
(31:47):
even in this situation.
SPEAKER_02 (31:49):
Such a tough concept to grab a hold of, man, because
Jesus taught some pretty, Imean, pretty rough things.
He said, if if you love yourmother or father more than me,
you're not worthy to be myfollower.
I mean, it our love for himshould make the love that I have
(32:11):
for my wife look like hate.
And it's like, whoa, whoa, holdon.
One guy said, you know, hey, Ijust need to go back.
My dad died.
I just need to go bury him.
Um, and then I'll come followyou.
And she said, let the dead burythe dead.
You come follow me.
You're like, whoa, whoa, Jesus,why are you so rough on this
(32:32):
stuff?
Um, this whole idea that, man,it is him alone.
Him alone.
Him plus nothing.
And we just we think we need allthese other things.
I need, I need him plus allthese followers.
I need him plus a goodretirement package.
(32:53):
I need him plus, you know, carthat doesn't break down all the
time.
Right.
I want Jesus.
I just need these other thingsto be complete.
And then Charles Spurgeon comesalong with a sledgehammer.
Right.
No, no, no, no.
If he is not all to you, he'snothing to you.
And that ultimatum, man, itfeels it feels tough.
(33:17):
And it's like, man, how do I howdo I live that out?
And until we realize it's forour good.
It's for our good.
SPEAKER_01 (33:28):
Yeah, I think um applying this to real life is
first of all, in salvation.
It's it's Christ alone.
And you can rest in that.
You don't have to worry aboutkeeping it, hanging on to it.
It's it's in him alone.
And there's freedom there ifpeople can grab a hold of that.
(33:52):
And and when we serve the Lordin service, it's about working
without recognition.
You know, don't let your lefthand know what your right hand
is doing.
And uh work for the Lord.
It's about you and him.
And uh we we uh I was walkingaround church the other day and
(34:17):
there was uh something laying onthe floor.
It was white.
I didn't get close, I didn't goover and pick it up and throw it
away, which I'm confessing.
SPEAKER_02 (34:27):
And that's what I had to pick up on the floor the
other day.
SPEAKER_01 (34:31):
So I was uh I was waiting.
I said, I wonder how long ittakes for someone to pick that
up.
And someone swept in, picked itup, threw it in the garbage, and
went on to whatever they weredoing, and didn't break a sweat,
didn't look around to see, youknow, hey, I'm picking this up.
And uh, but I I confess there'ssome times here when I've been
(34:55):
on digging a hole at the churchor doing something that I've
called you and said, I just wantyou to know.
I've gotten quite a few of them.
And somebody was out heresacrificing, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:08):
Yeah, he'll he'll call me God.
I just need you to appreciateme.
SPEAKER_01 (35:14):
So, and then then the tough part, uh serving
without recognition, the toughpart is then in suffering,
trusting his strength whenyou're hurting and still saying
it's you, it's about you.
(35:34):
And we sh the scripture teachesit, and we don't preach on it a
lot, it's tough.
It's like one of those toughsteaks, you know, when Fligner's
has them on sale and you'relike, how can be that be that
cheap?
And then you cook it and you'relike, Oh.
That's why that's why you canchew on it all day.
Uh those are those are toughsermons, but the Lord wants you
(35:56):
to, in your suffering, to tuneyourself to his suffering.
Uh turning that guitar, and whatwould God do if he was suffering
like me in this?
That's why the scripture says hehe's gone through it all.
And uh now he's living in peopleall over the world, and he's
(36:19):
gone through it all.
And he wants you to take thatsuffering and you become one
with his.
And that's that's a tough,that's a tough stake.
unknown (36:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
And then in worship, we have to make more of Jesus,
not ourselves.
SPEAKER_02 (36:41):
That's what John said, right?
He must become greater, I mustbecome less.
Um that's that was the challengeon Sunday.
You know, I told people it's wetry to get on stage and play the
hokey pokey, put our put our armin there, our leg in there, just
something.
Give me a little bit of thisspotlight, a little bit of this
glory.
Um John said, Man, I gottabecome less and less so that he
(37:04):
can become greater and greater.
And so we gotta get off thestage.
You know, we gotta climb downand quit trying to steal it.
SPEAKER_01 (37:12):
Um This is the beginning of wisdom to fear the
Lord, which means you're livingin the presence of him all the
time.
unknown (37:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:24):
When you go to bed at night, when you wake up in
the middle of the night and haveto go to the bathroom, you're in
his presence.
When you're greeting your familyin the morning or when you're
picking uh your boy up afterdetention, you know, you're in
the presence of the Lord.
Who are you gonna be?
And uh when he alone is youraudience.
(37:47):
Right.
That's that's wisdom.
SPEAKER_02 (37:50):
And I know if you've showed up to clean the church
and you do it on a day, nobody'shere, nobody sees it.
SPEAKER_01 (37:57):
And the pastor's kids has ran through it with
their muddy boots on.
SPEAKER_02 (38:01):
I was gonna leave that part up.
Um, are you you're back in thenursery, you know, wiping kids'
snotty noses and picking alltheir Cheetos or whatever they
got back there up off the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
And you're wondering how long this cold's gonna last
that you probably just got.
SPEAKER_02 (38:17):
Right.
All those times, and you'relike, does anybody care?
Does anybody see?
Does anybody notice?
And it's it's I I get it.
It's hard to say, man, I I getGod's glory alone and I want to
live that way, but just someonerecognize what I've done here.
(38:38):
And and then to look at the youknow, the the worship team or or
your pastors and say, well,yeah, but I mean you guys are
out in front, everybody sees howhow awesome you guys are.
Um I man, I want you to know Godhas not missed a single thing.
And when you begin to to workfor the Lord and not for human
recognition, and I know peoplemight not give you all the
(39:01):
thanks that you deserve.
One, I want you to know as yourpastors, we see it.
Yeah, we notice.
But more importantly than that,God sees it, He knows your
faithfulness.
Um and when you you say, Man,I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna
do it.
And even if nobody knows, evenif nobody cares, um, I'm I'm
(39:22):
gonna do it because I'm servingmy king.
Man, I believe that God blessesthat level of faithfulness.
That is you giving him theglory.
And um I I believe I believenone of that none of that gets
wasted.
SPEAKER_01 (39:38):
None of it.
This is this is what it's liketo live for him and not adding
yourself to it at all.
You know, what can Jesus giveme?
He can give me peace.
So I gotta work at this to getpeace.
No?
Live for him, and peace is thebyproduct.
(40:01):
Um joy.
Um well, I am so depressed.
I just need some joy.
I need to live for Jesus to getjoy.
No, you live for Jesus, and joyis just the byproduct of that.
And I think that's what he'strying to teach us all.
Um very deep uh emotional thingscame out of the Reformation that
(40:25):
I I don't think we realize.
But this Christ alone isfreedom.
Yeah, that's true.
It's freedom.
His glory and not my own, Idon't have to worry about that
anymore.
He is gonna give me myaccolades, he is gonna give me
my reassurance.
Um when David uh got all his uhbuddies, his little group in the
(40:49):
old testament, his warriors, gotall their wives captured and
their children taken away.
They were like, I'm sick of thisguy.
And they were his best friends.
And David had to encouragehimself in the Lord.
And that's that's where we aresometimes when we're trying to
(41:12):
live in Christ alone, where it'swhere He is the object of
everything, is we have toencourage ourselves in the Lord.
I guarantee you every thoughtthat you have said, I am not
gonna think about that.
I am not I'm not gonna waste mybrain on thinking uh about that
(41:35):
woman or about the lottery orabout all these other things.
I'm gonna focus on the Lord.
Even those thoughts God ispaying attention and when you
stand before him, he's gonnaremind you.
And so this is a this is a toughthing to crack because we look
at um how people grow up in thechurch and they become you know,
(42:02):
this star on stage for Jesus,and and we think, well, that's
what God wants us all to be.
No.
Paul says it twice for sure.
Uh live a quiet life and workwith your hands.
What what are you doing?
SPEAKER_02 (42:17):
And and no, is there is there is nothing that man is
ever gonna give you that's gonnamean more than what God has
prepared.
No eye has seen, no ear hasheard, no mind can even conceive
what God has prepared for thosewho love him.
There, no followers, no bookdeal, no viral podcast or video,
(42:40):
none of that is gonna compare towhat God has.
Continue no matter what, justlive faithfully, live for his
glory.
You know, I I talked about thatum Johann uh Sebastian Bach at
the end of each of hiscompositions, SDG, for the glory
of God alone.
Man, live that way, solideogloria.
(43:01):
Every part of your life, justmark that there.
And at the end, you can know,man, I have I have fought the
good fight, I have finished myrace, and now I get to step into
and receive all that God hasprepared for me, and it's gonna
far outweigh anything you couldhave ever chased or received
(43:23):
down here.
So just keep pursuing him, livefor his glory, and God is going
to do immeasurably more.
SPEAKER_01 (43:30):
Get rid of your adjectives, even the ones in
your mind, and just rememberChristian starts with Christ,
and he is the focus, he is theking, and everything you do
should be doing it exact the waythat he would do it, and for his
glory.
And once you get there,everything else starts to the
(43:55):
shine goes away, and you realizewhat you're created for, and you
can live in peace and in joy.
unknown (44:02):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (44:03):
Doesn't mean you're not gonna struggle, but that
struggle is just another chanceto give him glory.
Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02 (44:11):
Father, I thank you so much.
Um Lord, I thank you for the thereformation.
I thank you for Martin Luther,and and it wasn't just him, it
was all these guys who who hadgot together and said, Man, this
something's something's notright.
We've we've missed the markhere.
And they called us back tofaithfulness, scripture alone,
Christ alone, faith alone, gracealone, for your glory alone.
(44:34):
Father, it revolutionized theworld and Father, it's changing
lives and hearts today.
And so, Father, I pray that youwould plant, um, plant these
truths deep in our hearts sothat we can we can rest in your
faithfulness, not our effort,not our merit, but in the
goodness, the grace, and themercy of God.
(44:54):
And Father, give us the couragethat we need, the stamina and
the fortitude that we need.
Amen.
To live for your glory alone.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
Thanks again for joining us for this episode of
the Midweek Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
Let us know how God is usingthis resource in your life or
send any podcast questions ortopic ideas to podcast at a
freshwind.org.
If you would like to supportthis ministry financially and
help us continue offering youresources that equip you to
discover more in Christ, simplytext any amount to the number
(45:29):
84321.
We're so grateful for yoursupport.
Make sure to tune in next weekfor a brand new episode of the
Midweek Podcast.
Be blessed and have a greatweek.
Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode
of the Midweek Podcast, broughtto you by Fresh Wind Church.
Each week our team brings younew content to help you take
steps towards Jesus and discovermore in Christ.
Today's episode is hosted byPastor Ryan.
SPEAKER_02 (00:27):
Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast.
Pastor Ryan joined again withPastor Tim and uh Tim this
Sunday we wrapped up our uhOctober series, Reformation
Roots.
And man, I I I had such a agreat time studying and
preparing for this, just divingback into some of really the the
(00:48):
foundational truths of ourfaith.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
I think when we talk about so many different issues,
you know, the Bible covers justabout everything, but when you
get back to uh what salvation isall about, uh the just resting
in what he's done for you.
This sermon series has beengreat for that.
(01:13):
We you know, we get so tied upin trying to be the right guy
for God, trying to be effective,trying to be usable.
Um, you know, do these things sothat you uh do not uh become
useless in your knowledge ofJesus uh that uh Peter talks
about.
(01:33):
We uh we need a chance to to sitdown and say, uh, it's just
Jesus.
Right, you know?
Yeah.
It's not me, it's just him.
We were talking uh aboutsanctification.
Last night we had Charles wasteaching us sanctification.
I asked him at the end, and Isaid, So what did sanctification
(01:56):
look like for the thief on thecross?
Because he came to Jesus rightthen.
And uh the answer is Jesus isgonna take care of that for you.
And it's oh well wait.
Sanctification is where I work.
(02:16):
You know, I got good works todo, I got growing to do, I got
these things that I gotta dounless Jesus does it for you,
which is what happens at the endanyway.
SPEAKER_02 (02:28):
Right.
Yeah, God is working in you togive you both the desire and the
power to do what pleases him.
He's he's working out thissalvation and sanctification
thing, you know?
And it is, it's easy to to fallback into especially this kind
of American mindset that youknow we're the self-made man,
and I gotta uh stomp my feetdown in my boots and I gotta I
(02:51):
gotta do this thing.
Meritocracy.
Yeah, and then Jesus comes alongand is like, uh, actually,
you're gonna screw this up.
I'm gonna I'm gonna take care ofthis for you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:00):
Right.
Um like you said yesterday, theuh yeah, we're doing this
podcast on Monday, it comes outon Wednesday.
Sorry about that, guys.
Um, but what you said yesterdayabout getting up on the stage
with them, it starts with thatmeritocracy you're talking
about.
You know, I need to be the man.
God wants me to be the man, andhe does.
He wants you to to be the man,but it's not good enough.
(03:24):
So he's gonna he's gonna takeyou a little bit further, and
we're like, well, wait a minute,can I can I just get a little
credit for trying so hard?
And Jesus says, I'll take thatcredit.
You know, it's my glory thatwe're working on, and you just
reflect it.
Yeah, and uh it's it's it's atough thing to get around
(03:44):
because it's our whole culturethought, you know, it's just you
know, I gotta be, God wants meto be Have and uh I'm trying my
hardest.
Can I get a little pat on theback?
SPEAKER_02 (03:57):
I mean, we we start young, man.
I mean, as soon as your kid doessomething, you know, learns to
walk, we're all excited,clapping for him, going crazy.
Um, you know, LA's flag footballteam, they just won the
championship and we're givingout medals.
The trophy, I'm not kidding you,it's almost as tall as Ellie.
I'm like, good night, people.
(04:17):
Does it have to be so big?
Um, and and listen, all of thatis great.
And I'm not saying we shouldn'thand out trophies and medals to
people.
We you should be excited whenyour kids do something great.
That's not what I'm saying.
But I mean, we learn at a youngage, like, look at me, look at
me.
Come come watch what I've done.
Right.
(04:37):
And then we come to ourrelationship with God, and man,
it's especially if you know, ifyou serve in ministry at all,
this is an easy thing to fallinto because you're working for
God, you know, you're gettingready for sermons, or you're
preparing a study.
You know, we you you've we weman, and how exciting this.
We got some guys in the churchwanting to step up and start
(04:59):
teaching.
And so I know you've beenworking a lot with these guys,
helping them start to put thosethings together.
And so you're doing all thisstuff.
And you think about you know,the fall fest and Anisa and her
team and all the people that putall that together.
It was a great event.
And you and you do all thisstuff and it's it's for God.
And then someone comes along andsays, Hey, that was awesome.
(05:20):
And you're like, Oh, that feltgood.
Yeah, and all of a sudden it'slike, well, it's for God, but I
mean, it's it was a little bit,I did do a good job.
SPEAKER_01 (05:28):
Um We live in an age where everything points back to
us, yeah, to our brand, um, ourfollowers, our goals.
Uh but life actually worksbetter when it's not centered on
us at all.
unknown (05:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
And then centering on other people.
And then you get accolades fornot being centered on yourself,
and then you got to go throughthat fight again.
Very narcissistic society, eventhe algorithm online, who's
watching you?
Your algorithm is a little bitdifferent than mine.
If we look up the same thingonline, they're gonna feed you
(06:05):
this, they're gonna feed mesomething else.
But even that algorithm is aboutyou.
You know, what do you like?
What do you what can I get youinto, and then feed you some ads
to get you to buy this thing.
And so we are being manipulatedtowards back to ourselves
constantly.
SPEAKER_02 (06:26):
And this has nothing to do with the podcast, and so
uh hopefully I don't throw youoff your thought here, but that
algorithm is so smart, they canchange pricing for people based
off what that algorithmalgorithm thinks you're gonna
pay, what you're willing to payon that item.
How many times have you lookedup that item?
How long has it been saved inyour cart?
(06:48):
And so you might go one day andit's like, no, the price just
jumped because we know youreally want it.
SPEAKER_01 (06:54):
Right.
You looked at this a lot.
And you know, that's happeningto us uh 24-7 now with uh
carrying your phone around.
You might not know it, uh, butthat's what's happening that
algorithm's all about you.
And we want things to be aboutus, even church sometimes.
Hey, you preached that sermonand uh felt like you were
(07:17):
talking exactly at me.
And it's like, no, no, I wasn't.
I wasn't.
It just feels that way becausewe're in a culture that feels
that way 24-7.
SPEAKER_02 (07:30):
Right.
Yeah, it's definitely easy to toget into this idea where it's
about me and wanting to be onstage.
Um and man, I I don't know howwe we fight back against that
sometimes, but um, you know, onSunday, just really encourage
people, man, if this is reallygonna be Christ alone, we have
(07:53):
got to we've got to climb offthe stage, you know.
And you know, I kicked up my myWalmart boots and tried to get
them in the spotlight, did thehokey pokey.
Um, because man, that's who weare, right?
Like just God, I want this to beabout you.
I just need a little bit of it.
Right.
Um, and that feels so good.
(08:14):
Um, and you know, I I don't Idon't know.
I'm I'm going way out here, butyou know, I I think experiencing
that um that little puff ofpride that we get, that you
know, just a glimpse of whatwhat true worship must feel like
(08:34):
for God, you know, when wereally worship and he feels in,
I don't, I don't know how to saythis in theological concepts
that would make sense, but Imean when God gets our true
worship, um, I mean, scripturesays he is seated on the praises
of his people.
Um, and nothing we experiencedown here is going to come
(08:56):
anywhere close to that.
And then to know, man, when wetake that, we're we're robbing
him of that glory, you know.
This is supposed to be abouthim.
And it's it's hard to climb offthat stage and lay flat on the
ground and say, God, this is allabout you.
SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
It's it's hard, but what I what God is, he's he's
like, I, you know, I existed andI was happy and I loved and I
got praises, and I never neededyou at all.
So why does God selfishly standon that stage and says, I get
(09:32):
all the glory?
Well, it's because you werecreated to give the glory.
And if you're ever gonna be atpeace or in tune spiritually, uh
Charles had a great example lastnight as he was teaching on
sanctification.
He was talking about a guitarthat has to be tuned.
(09:54):
It's the tension on the guitar,on the guitar string that puts
you in tune with the HolySpirit.
And so we're gonna have thattension he's gonna teach us.
That's what sanctification isall about.
Being in tune with Jesus inevery situation.
It was a great example.
(10:15):
And uh so that's that's what weneed to be, we need to be in
tune with how God created us tobe, and that to be in tune, you
have to quit trying to take someglory or be filled with pride
and give that glory to the Lord,and then you're in tune
spiritually to where it leads tosatisfaction and peace and all
(10:40):
those other things that the Lordwants to dump in your lap.
SPEAKER_02 (10:43):
Well, here's the thing if if you receiving glory
was what was best for you, youbetter believe God would give it
to you.
Right.
He withholds no good thing fromhis children.
Scripture's clear on that.
And so if it was in your bestinterest to receive glory, God
would give it to you.
Right.
He would allow you to receiveit.
(11:04):
But he knows it is it is acancer within us.
When we start to get that, thenpride and all these other things
begin to build up in our life.
And the best thing that we cando is give God glory.
And then it does exactly whatyou talk about.
It starts to bring peace in ourlife.
Because I'm not I'm no longerchasing the applause of man.
(11:27):
You know, I I'm going through mylife saying, man, if I if I
lived faithfully for Christtoday, I've done it.
I've done it.
Um, and I don't I don't needanybody to recognize that.
I don't need I don't need a fanclub.
Right.
Years ago when uh I was theyouth pastor, Dave Meyer was one
of my adult leaders, and thestudents in the the youth group
(11:47):
created a Facebook page backwhen teenagers were on Facebook
called the Dave Meyer Fan Club.
We don't need a fan club.
You know, we're just man, I amI'm living for God's glory, and
I get peace and I getcontentment and all these things
that I what you are what youreally need.
So the best thing for you, andGod knows this because he
created you, is not that youreceive glory, but that you
(12:09):
reflect glory.
When people look at you, theysee him.
And that's the that's the onlyway we ever really find peace,
that we ever really findcontentment, that we ever
experience true joy, true joy,is when I am a conduit through
which God gets glory.
Um and until that point, when wemake it about us, then anytime
(12:33):
someone um says something, youknow, I don't know if that was
one of your best sermons.
You know, um, anytime a podcastcomes out and the the you know
listener count goes down, we'renot doing it, you know.
Um everything becomes contingenton those things.
(12:54):
And you know, it makes me think,I I I don't know Forrest Frank
personally.
I don't, I don't, I think I'veonly listened to three or four
of his songs in total.
Um, and I hate holding up anyone person as a model because as
soon as you do, it seems like somany of them fall.
(13:14):
Um, but this guy That wasencouraging.
Yes.
This guy, man, he seems and allI get is what's online, right?
But he seems to be the realdeal, man.
Um I was I was I saw this videoum of another guy talking about
his how he had prejudged ForrestFrank off of you know some
(13:35):
conversation or something, andthen actually got to meet this
guy in person.
He's like, no, he is totallylegit.
Um but they had the Dove Awardsum a couple weeks ago, last
month, whatever.
And Forrest Frank was nominatedfor like three, four, five
different categories, best song,artist of the year, all this
stuff, and decided not to go.
(13:57):
Um, and all these people startedthrowing an absolute fit, you
know, how could you not go?
And blah, blah, blah.
And he is and I'm not sayingit's wrong to go.
I'm not saying it's wrong to goand again get the trophy because
you work really hard, you madesome great music, and people
want to recognize you for that.
I'm not saying that's wrong.
But here's a guy who said, Man,that that's not for me.
(14:21):
All of that was was for my king.
And how can I go and grab that?
And and I appreciate that hestuck to his conviction on that.
And then there was um there wasanother artist, I don't even
think he's a Christian artist,but commented, like, oh, so you
won't take you know Jesus'trophy, but you'll take his
money, you know, because you hegets paid for making these
(14:42):
songs, right?
And then Forrest Frank comes outand makes this video, and he's
like, Hey, I'm glad you askedthat because this is what I
wrestle with every day of mylife.
And and here's here's how I Iprocess those ideas.
And he goes, Man, I'm a safeplace.
If you want to talk more about,I would love for you to
challenge me on this.
Call me, text me, like, let'stalk this out.
(15:03):
And I was like, How often do youhear that in the music industry
or in the influencer industry?
Right.
You know, someone's saying, Askme those questions because
that's what I'm wrestling with.
How do I make sure that as myfame and my increase and my um
influence and all these thingsexpands?
(15:23):
How do I make sure that Godstill is the one getting the
glory?
SPEAKER_01 (15:27):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
Um, man, such a tough thing because you know, we
we want to be the Christians whoare putting out the great music
that everybody's listened to andthe viral videos, and we want
the successful podcast, we wantto write the books, we want all
that stuff.
And here's a guy, like I said,it's I'm always scared to to put
anyone up, and I don't want toput any more targets on Forrest
(15:48):
Frank's back because Lord knowshe's got plenty.
Here's a guy standing up forJesus, the devil hates that.
Um but man, I I I I just praythat God would continue to to
use him in that way to say, man,I I I enjoy all of this stuff
and it's all great, but this isall for God's glory.
Um, and as soon as it's it'snot, I need to sit down.
(16:12):
And so he tells, he made a videosaying something along the lines
like, Don't follow me, followJesus.
And if if you're coming to mymusic and it doesn't point to
Jesus, then just stop listening.
I was like, man, that's so good.
SPEAKER_01 (16:24):
Yeah, and everybody who takes an award every now and
then doesn't mean that they'retrying to steal God's glory or
anything like that.
Um but we have seen um Hollywoodand make fun of people who say,
I wanna I wanna thank my LordJesus Christ.
(16:46):
And um I think sometimes we weget bitter because the Lord
wants it all.
And and what you just said priorto that was well, I want it all
so I can give you all you cantake.
And right now you can't takemuch.
But if you learn to give me itall, then I can fill you up.
(17:09):
Do you want to be filled up?
And I love that uh about Jesus.
You know, he is the image of theinvisible God that we can't see,
something that we can uh grab ahold of, we can uh see, we can
read about him, we can see howhe reacted as he was uh uh
(17:34):
walking this earth, and we seethat man, this guy loved me,
gave his life for me, and thenso now that I trust him, he
says, I want you to give me allthe glory so I can make you into
what you were created to be.
And we don't connect thosethings uh all the time, but he
(17:58):
came down here so he we couldlearn to trust him, and when we
place our faith in Christ,that's what we're doing.
We're trusting who he is andwhat he did for us, and now he's
like, now listen, give it all tome so I can give all me to you.
SPEAKER_02 (18:14):
Yeah, that's that's so good, so important.
If we could grab a hold of that,that God saying all the glory is
mine is not because God doesn'twant you to be happy, you know,
and that's what God, why are youso selfish?
You know, why why can't whycan't any of this go to me?
Um when that's our attitude,man, it's always gonna be a
(18:36):
battle.
Um, but when I realize, man,God, God's doing this because
it's it's not what's best forGod, it doesn't complete God
anymore.
Right.
You know, you giving God glorydoesn't make him any more
glorious.
He is God, he is glory.
Um and nothing you can do, canadd or take away to that.
(18:56):
And so when I realized, man, thethe point of this is not
punishment, it's not becauseGod's selfish, it's because God
knows what's best for me and hewants to give me those things.
You know, he wants to fill meup.
He said, I came that you wouldhave life and have it more
abundantly, or that you wouldhave it to the full.
I think the NLT says a rich andsatisfying life.
(19:20):
Well, if that's true.
And I think it was Pat Selviwhen he came one time.
He said, Man, when scripturesays it, it's either true or
it's not.
It's either true or it's not.
And so if it's true, and Ibelieve God's word is true, then
the best thing for you not notfor God, he's still God, but the
best thing for you is that Godgets all the glory.
(19:42):
And then when you do that, likeyou're saying, then he can fill
you up with all the things thatyou can handle.
SPEAKER_01 (19:50):
The sacrifice of Jesus kind of opens the door for
us to to see this a better way.
I think God is asking you tosacrifice your pride and give
him all the glory, sacrificeyour life to give him all the
glory, sacrifice what you wantfor what he wants to give him
(20:11):
all the glory, and it's justexactly what he did for you.
That's right.
The cross flips the world'sdefinition of gl definition of
glory upside down.
Strength through surrender,victory through sacrifice.
And Hebrews chapter 12 us he rewhat did I just say there?
(20:33):
Hebrews chapter 12 tells us I Ithink I made that all into one
word.
Um don't don't rewind and lookat that.
So Hebrews chapter 12 tells usthat for the joy set before him.
(20:54):
And so Jesus is saying, Look, Iwent to the cross, I was
accused, I dealt with the shame,all that kind of stuff for the
joy that's set before me.
And I'm gonna ask you to do thesame thing, to sacrifice your
(21:16):
life, your wants, your uhambitions, your pride to give me
glory so that you can have thesame joy as me.
So we're talking about thecreator of the universe, talking
about what his joy is.
I want you to have that samejoy, and his joy was in us, and
(21:42):
he says, You will find yourcomplete joy, your completeness,
your satisfaction in me.
So he's just reversing what he'salready done for us and asking
us, look, this was great, it wasawesome.
Now you sacrifice, yousurrender, and then you can have
(22:06):
that same experience that I had.
SPEAKER_02 (22:08):
Yeah, I mean, Jesus comes right out and says that in
John chapter 15.
He says, If if you keep mycommands, you will remain in my
love just as I have kept myfather's commands and remain in
his love.
And he says, this, he says, Ihave told you these things so
that my joy may be in you andyour joy may be complete.
And there is this link betweenmy joy being complete and
(22:32):
keeping Christ's commands.
And he says, Listen, I've I havedone this so that my joy can be
in you and that your joy may becomplete.
And we think joy is found in allthese other things, getting
success, getting people tonotice us, more likes on our
Instagram post, more followerson you know Facebook or X or
(22:56):
whatever.
Um we're we're constantlychasing some sort of validation.
And if I think if I can getenough people to tell me that
I've made it, then I'll be okay.
SPEAKER_01 (23:07):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
And he says, Man, this is what this is how your
joy is complete.
When you begin to remain in mylove and you keep my commands,
then your joy is complete.
It's all about him, and thankGod he sent Jesus to model the
way for us.
SPEAKER_01 (23:23):
Absolutely.
We would be lost, um literally,if it wasn't for Jesus coming,
and and we were talking earlierabout how Jesus uh responded He
was God, he could have doneanything he wanted to, but He He
placed Himself in man and Helaid aside His glory and His
(23:44):
power and He did everything thatum in life the way that you and
I as a Christian should do it.
He prayed, he asked the Father,he got his guidance from the
Father.
He didn't need it, he didn'thave to do it that way, but he
chose to.
And this is um the amazing thingabout our Father, our great
(24:07):
Redeemer is look, I'm gonna showyou how and then I d I just want
you to do greater things thanme.
It's crazy.
SPEAKER_02 (24:18):
Yeah, what a statement, right?
Um we're supposed to do evengreater things, Jesus said.
Um Paul, when he he's writing tothe Colossians, that's where we
were at Sunday, um he he he justpulls back the veil and lets us
see Christ in his divine glory,you know.
(24:41):
Um he is the image of theinvisible God, he is the
firstborn over all creation.
All things have been created byhim, for him, through him.
I mean, all he says everythingabout this is about Jesus.
Don't you see he alone is at thetop?
And man, I I just think when itcomes to to God's glory, if we
(25:06):
could, if we could grasp a holdof that and say, man, this is
this is all about Jesus.
And and we quit trying to addthings to it.
And I mean, really, that's whatwas happening with the the
Colossian church.
You know, people had gotten inthere and they were trying to to
add all this thing, all theseother things to Christ.
You know, it's Christ plus,well, you got to keep the the
Old Testament law, it's Christplus this new philosophy or
(25:29):
idea, it's Christ plus this, youknow, New Age spiritualism thing
that they got going on there.
Um it's all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (25:36):
And Paul's like, no, no, it's none of that.
We do it, we do it now.
Um, the adjectives that we throwin before Jesus.
I'm a conservative Christian.
No.
No.
If you put conservative in frontof Christian, then the meat of
(25:58):
what you're saying is on theconservative.
It's not on Christ.
unknown (26:03):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (26:04):
And it if if Christ now suddenly has to be
subordinate to yourconservatism, then then it's not
Christ.
It's not Christ alone.
There's no such thing as aconservative Christian, it's
just not in the Bible.
There's no such thing as a gayChristian, it's just not in the
Bible.
There's no such thing as aliberal Christian, a Democratic
(26:27):
Christian, a RepublicanChristian, whatever title that,
and I know I said all thepolitical titles, but it doesn't
matter what you're saying andwhat you think you are, it comes
after Christian.
SPEAKER_02 (26:40):
Right.
That's so important.
SPEAKER_01 (26:42):
I'm a Christian who happens to be a liberal.
I'm a Christian who happens tobe a Republican.
I am not, it's Christ first.
And and a lot of times when youput Christ first, those other
things don't ever come up.
SPEAKER_02 (27:00):
Well, no, because now when Christ is is first,
then everything I is an outflowof that instead of the other way
around.
Exactly.
You know, I I begin to vote theway that I believe Christ, the
stances that he would take onthose issues.
Right.
Um when it comes to life, I knowChrist is about life.
So I vote that way.
(27:20):
Are you conservative or are youliberal?
What does that matter?
Right.
This is what I believe Christwould do.
I know he's about life.
And so it it changes everything.
And you know, I I read thatquote from Charles Spurgeon, and
I know I quote him in so manysermons, but he was the
preacher's preacher, man.
Man, he's awesome.
So good.
We stand on the shoulders ofgiants.
(27:41):
Yeah.
But he said, if Christ is notall to you, he is nothing to
you.
It is Christ plus nothing.
And and what you're saying is soimportant because yeah, I I want
to define myself um this way.
And no, if if you're a followerof Christ, that's who you are.
Um, and then everything that youdo should be an outflow of that,
(28:04):
never the other way around.
SPEAKER_01 (28:05):
And that that in conservative circles, we still
try to fudge it a little bit.
I'm an evaluational Christian.
No, you are not.
You are not.
Christ comes first.
Well, I'm I'm I lean to reformtheology, and uh that's how I
view things.
Well, it doesn't matter.
(28:28):
Christ has got to be first.
I I go to this church, and uh sonow I'm a Baptist or I'm a
Pentecostal.
No, you are a Christian first.
That should be the first thingout of your mouth.
I believe that Jesus died for meand I have received what he has
done, and I am saved by him andhim alone.
(28:51):
It doesn't matter what my churchis, it doesn't matter if I'm in
a prison cell and I haven't beenout in 11 years, it doesn't
matter if I've um I'm rocking atthe top of the evangelical
whatever, and I've got lightsand lasers and smoke and all
that kind of stuff before Ipreach.
Jesus comes first.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
And that's how we gotta live.
And when you learn to live that,um we have this idea that to
live that is to give up just alittle bit too much of
ourselves.
And when we because I want anidentity, and Christ says, Look,
(29:40):
I've come to live inside you.
I've taken your identity takemine.
And let's live in communiontogether.
And that's that's what we'rethat's what we're all about.
It it's hard to, you know,Charles Spurgeon said that um
you said this if Christ is notall.
(30:00):
To you is nothing to you.
That's what you just said.
And that is that is the biggest.
I don't know how to explain it.
My wife can explain it better.
She came to me and read thisthing about a guy who was in
prison in the gulag and he wasthere forever and no light.
A guy showed up with food everynow and then.
(30:22):
I mean, it was just him andJesus.
And he said, I want to be anothing so that Jesus can fill
me with him.
I don't want to um I would Ijust want to be a vessel, a
(30:42):
clear vessel with nothing in itbut Jesus.
And you know, Teresa and I itchanged the way we prayed about
being filled with the HolySpirit.
Because the first thing we do isempty us completely out and then
fill us with the Holy Spirit.
Because you're not filled withJesus if there's something else
(31:04):
in there.
Even if it's a speck ofsomething else, you're not
filled with him.
And uh it's influenced the waywe prayed.
This this idea of uh Christ isnot all to you.
If Christ is not all to you,he's nothing to you.
And and it is an influence.
It's the way we got to look atevery situation.
(31:25):
You know, how is Christ?
Fill me with your Holy Spirit,tell me what to do in this
situation.
And that's tough when you'rehurt or you're embarrassed or
you're you're struggling, ifyou're questioning God's
decisions on things, it's hardto say.
I release it to you, yeah, and Iwill I will reflect your glory
(31:47):
even in this situation.
SPEAKER_02 (31:49):
Such a tough concept to grab a hold of, man, because
Jesus taught some pretty, Imean, pretty rough things.
He said, if if you love yourmother or father more than me,
you're not worthy to be myfollower.
I mean, it our love for himshould make the love that I have
(32:11):
for my wife look like hate.
And it's like, whoa, whoa, holdon.
One guy said, you know, hey, Ijust need to go back.
My dad died.
I just need to go bury him.
Um, and then I'll come followyou.
And she said, let the dead burythe dead.
You come follow me.
You're like, whoa, whoa, Jesus,why are you so rough on this
(32:32):
stuff?
Um, this whole idea that, man,it is him alone.
Him alone.
Him plus nothing.
And we just we think we need allthese other things.
I need, I need him plus allthese followers.
I need him plus a goodretirement package.
(32:53):
I need him plus, you know, carthat doesn't break down all the
time.
Right.
I want Jesus.
I just need these other thingsto be complete.
And then Charles Spurgeon comesalong with a sledgehammer.
Right.
No, no, no, no.
If he is not all to you, he'snothing to you.
And that ultimatum, man, itfeels it feels tough.
(33:17):
And it's like, man, how do I howdo I live that out?
And until we realize it's forour good.
It's for our good.
SPEAKER_01 (33:28):
Yeah, I think um applying this to real life is
first of all, in salvation.
It's it's Christ alone.
And you can rest in that.
You don't have to worry aboutkeeping it, hanging on to it.
It's it's in him alone.
And there's freedom there ifpeople can grab a hold of that.
(33:52):
And and when we serve the Lordin service, it's about working
without recognition.
You know, don't let your lefthand know what your right hand
is doing.
And uh work for the Lord.
It's about you and him.
And uh we we uh I was walkingaround church the other day and
(34:17):
there was uh something laying onthe floor.
It was white.
I didn't get close, I didn't goover and pick it up and throw it
away, which I'm confessing.
SPEAKER_02 (34:27):
And that's what I had to pick up on the floor the
other day.
SPEAKER_01 (34:31):
So I was uh I was waiting.
I said, I wonder how long ittakes for someone to pick that
up.
And someone swept in, picked itup, threw it in the garbage, and
went on to whatever they weredoing, and didn't break a sweat,
didn't look around to see, youknow, hey, I'm picking this up.
And uh, but I I confess there'ssome times here when I've been
(34:55):
on digging a hole at the churchor doing something that I've
called you and said, I just wantyou to know.
I've gotten quite a few of them.
And somebody was out heresacrificing, you know.
SPEAKER_02 (35:08):
Yeah, he'll he'll call me God.
I just need you to appreciateme.
SPEAKER_01 (35:14):
So, and then then the tough part, uh serving
without recognition, the toughpart is then in suffering,
trusting his strength whenyou're hurting and still saying
it's you, it's about you.
(35:34):
And we sh the scripture teachesit, and we don't preach on it a
lot, it's tough.
It's like one of those toughsteaks, you know, when Fligner's
has them on sale and you'relike, how can be that be that
cheap?
And then you cook it and you'relike, Oh.
That's why that's why you canchew on it all day.
Uh those are those are toughsermons, but the Lord wants you
(35:56):
to, in your suffering, to tuneyourself to his suffering.
Uh turning that guitar, and whatwould God do if he was suffering
like me in this?
That's why the scripture says hehe's gone through it all.
And uh now he's living in peopleall over the world, and he's
(36:19):
gone through it all.
And he wants you to take thatsuffering and you become one
with his.
And that's that's a tough,that's a tough stake.
unknown (36:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:32):
And then in worship, we have to make more of Jesus,
not ourselves.
SPEAKER_02 (36:41):
That's what John said, right?
He must become greater, I mustbecome less.
Um that's that was the challengeon Sunday.
You know, I told people it's wetry to get on stage and play the
hokey pokey, put our put our armin there, our leg in there, just
something.
Give me a little bit of thisspotlight, a little bit of this
glory.
Um John said, Man, I gottabecome less and less so that he
(37:04):
can become greater and greater.
And so we gotta get off thestage.
You know, we gotta climb downand quit trying to steal it.
SPEAKER_01 (37:12):
Um This is the beginning of wisdom to fear the
Lord, which means you're livingin the presence of him all the
time.
unknown (37:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (37:24):
When you go to bed at night, when you wake up in
the middle of the night and haveto go to the bathroom, you're in
his presence.
When you're greeting your familyin the morning or when you're
picking uh your boy up afterdetention, you know, you're in
the presence of the Lord.
Who are you gonna be?
And uh when he alone is youraudience.
(37:47):
Right.
That's that's wisdom.
SPEAKER_02 (37:50):
And I know if you've showed up to clean the church
and you do it on a day, nobody'shere, nobody sees it.
SPEAKER_01 (37:57):
And the pastor's kids has ran through it with
their muddy boots on.
SPEAKER_02 (38:01):
I was gonna leave that part up.
Um, are you you're back in thenursery, you know, wiping kids'
snotty noses and picking alltheir Cheetos or whatever they
got back there up off the floor.
SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
And you're wondering how long this cold's gonna last
that you probably just got.
SPEAKER_02 (38:17):
Right.
All those times, and you'relike, does anybody care?
Does anybody see?
Does anybody notice?
And it's it's I I get it.
It's hard to say, man, I I getGod's glory alone and I want to
live that way, but just someonerecognize what I've done here.
(38:38):
And and then to look at the youknow, the the worship team or or
your pastors and say, well,yeah, but I mean you guys are
out in front, everybody sees howhow awesome you guys are.
Um I man, I want you to know Godhas not missed a single thing.
And when you begin to to workfor the Lord and not for human
recognition, and I know peoplemight not give you all the
(39:01):
thanks that you deserve.
One, I want you to know as yourpastors, we see it.
Yeah, we notice.
But more importantly than that,God sees it, He knows your
faithfulness.
Um and when you you say, Man,I'm gonna show up and I'm gonna
do it.
And even if nobody knows, evenif nobody cares, um, I'm I'm
(39:22):
gonna do it because I'm servingmy king.
Man, I believe that God blessesthat level of faithfulness.
That is you giving him theglory.
And um I I believe I believenone of that none of that gets
wasted.
SPEAKER_01 (39:38):
None of it.
This is this is what it's liketo live for him and not adding
yourself to it at all.
You know, what can Jesus giveme?
He can give me peace.
So I gotta work at this to getpeace.
No?
Live for him, and peace is thebyproduct.
(40:01):
Um joy.
Um well, I am so depressed.
I just need some joy.
I need to live for Jesus to getjoy.
No, you live for Jesus, and joyis just the byproduct of that.
And I think that's what he'strying to teach us all.
Um very deep uh emotional thingscame out of the Reformation that
(40:25):
I I don't think we realize.
But this Christ alone isfreedom.
Yeah, that's true.
It's freedom.
His glory and not my own, Idon't have to worry about that
anymore.
He is gonna give me myaccolades, he is gonna give me
my reassurance.
Um when David uh got all his uhbuddies, his little group in the
(40:49):
old testament, his warriors, gotall their wives captured and
their children taken away.
They were like, I'm sick of thisguy.
And they were his best friends.
And David had to encouragehimself in the Lord.
And that's that's where we aresometimes when we're trying to
(41:12):
live in Christ alone, where it'swhere He is the object of
everything, is we have toencourage ourselves in the Lord.
I guarantee you every thoughtthat you have said, I am not
gonna think about that.
I am not I'm not gonna waste mybrain on thinking uh about that
(41:35):
woman or about the lottery orabout all these other things.
I'm gonna focus on the Lord.
Even those thoughts God ispaying attention and when you
stand before him, he's gonnaremind you.
And so this is a this is a toughthing to crack because we look
at um how people grow up in thechurch and they become you know,
(42:02):
this star on stage for Jesus,and and we think, well, that's
what God wants us all to be.
No.
Paul says it twice for sure.
Uh live a quiet life and workwith your hands.
What what are you doing?
SPEAKER_02 (42:17):
And and no, is there is there is nothing that man is
ever gonna give you that's gonnamean more than what God has
prepared.
No eye has seen, no ear hasheard, no mind can even conceive
what God has prepared for thosewho love him.
There, no followers, no bookdeal, no viral podcast or video,
(42:40):
none of that is gonna compare towhat God has.
Continue no matter what, justlive faithfully, live for his
glory.
You know, I I talked about thatum Johann uh Sebastian Bach at
the end of each of hiscompositions, SDG, for the glory
of God alone.
Man, live that way, solideogloria.
(43:01):
Every part of your life, justmark that there.
And at the end, you can know,man, I have I have fought the
good fight, I have finished myrace, and now I get to step into
and receive all that God hasprepared for me, and it's gonna
far outweigh anything you couldhave ever chased or received
(43:23):
down here.
So just keep pursuing him, livefor his glory, and God is going
to do immeasurably more.
SPEAKER_01 (43:30):
Get rid of your adjectives, even the ones in
your mind, and just rememberChristian starts with Christ,
and he is the focus, he is theking, and everything you do
should be doing it exact the waythat he would do it, and for his
glory.
And once you get there,everything else starts to the
(43:55):
shine goes away, and you realizewhat you're created for, and you
can live in peace and in joy.
unknown (44:02):
That's right.
SPEAKER_01 (44:03):
Doesn't mean you're not gonna struggle, but that
struggle is just another chanceto give him glory.
Let's pray.
SPEAKER_02 (44:11):
Father, I thank you so much.
Um Lord, I thank you for the thereformation.
I thank you for Martin Luther,and and it wasn't just him, it
was all these guys who who hadgot together and said, Man, this
something's something's notright.
We've we've missed the markhere.
And they called us back tofaithfulness, scripture alone,
Christ alone, faith alone, gracealone, for your glory alone.
(44:34):
Father, it revolutionized theworld and Father, it's changing
lives and hearts today.
And so, Father, I pray that youwould plant, um, plant these
truths deep in our hearts sothat we can we can rest in your
faithfulness, not our effort,not our merit, but in the
goodness, the grace, and themercy of God.
(44:54):
And Father, give us the couragethat we need, the stamina and
the fortitude that we need.
Amen.
To live for your glory alone.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen and amen.
SPEAKER_00 (45:06):
Thanks again for joining us for this episode of
the Midweek Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
Let us know how God is usingthis resource in your life or
send any podcast questions ortopic ideas to podcast at a
freshwind.org.
If you would like to supportthis ministry financially and
help us continue offering youresources that equip you to
discover more in Christ, simplytext any amount to the number
(45:29):
84321.
We're so grateful for yoursupport.
Make sure to tune in next weekfor a brand new episode of the
Midweek Podcast.
Be blessed and have a greatweek.
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