March 17, 2025 • 48 mins
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." These familiar words take on profound meaning when we understand their context - written by Paul while imprisoned for his faith. Far from a prosperity promise, this declaration reveals the secret to finding strength regardless of circumstances.
Throughout this message, we journey across continents to see this truth in action. From South Korean believers worshiping amid busy cityscapes to Nepalese pastors gathering despite harsh conditions, from Cuban Christians facing government opposition to Kenyan believers meeting under shade trees - the power of identity in Christ transcends cultural boundaries and difficult circumstances.
Paul's letter to the Philippians serves as both challenge and encouragement. Though imprisoned, he urges believers to "rejoice in the Lord always" and experience "peace that passes understanding." This supernatural peace comes not from favorable circumstances but from prayer and God's presence, guarding our hearts and minds when anxiety threatens to overwhelm.
The key lies in understanding whose we are before determining what we do. Our citizenship is in heaven, our allegiance to God first. This identity empowers us to press toward the goal despite obstacles, understanding that none of us is perfect but we belong to Christ who makes us His own. When we guard our thoughts and focus on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable, we cultivate the mind of Christ.
God doesn't promise that following Him will be easy - Paul certainly didn't find it so. But He does promise His presence, His peace, and His provision according to "His riches in glory." Whether in plenty or want, abundance or need, we find strength not in ourselves but in Christ who strengthens us. Will you embrace this identity today and discover what it means to truly live victoriously?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me.
Say it with me I can do allthings through Christ who
strengthens me.
You know, it's a powerful ideathat our identity and our power,
our source, is found in Jesus.
A few weeks back, we foundourselves in South Korea and we
(00:23):
were running around in the cityof Seoul.
We were on our way back frombeing in Nepal.
We had a layover for themorning and so we jumped out to
go rent around the city and I'lltell you, you know, we were
prepared for the foothills ofthe Himalayas, for parkas and
all that stuff, because we aredesert people.
You know what I mean.
So we were ready for the cold,but we you know what I mean.
So we were ready for the cold,but we had packed all that stuff
(00:44):
and we were just like runningaround in our little coats.
And I'll tell you, friends, itwas real, real cold.
I don't know if you guysremember the cold.
It's like what we don't havehere.
It was very, very cold, and sowe were representing, we were
wearing our cornerstone hats.
We're running around Seoul,we're having a fun time, and it
was so cold, like we were likeon the verge of the chatter.
You guys know when you start toget the chatter in your voice
(01:06):
and your teeth.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
You guys don't remember, but itwas so cold that Pastor Angus,
he found the biggest teddy bearpossible to get warm.
I mean, it was very cold and soit was an amazing time.
And actually, you know, we weretalking about it and kind of
just taking in the city and wewere thinking about all these
people we came across.
(01:27):
They're very nice and kind andall those things.
And you kind of see this nextimage as we were walking there
it's something I snapped on myphone and just thinking about
the different people that makeup that society.
And it's an individualisticsociety for the most part, but
what was amazing is God, by hishand and by his spirit, has done
an amazing thing and many, many, many people have come to love
(01:48):
Jesus there.
And we know about Paul YonggiCho, pastor David Yonggi Cho,
his work in their church up to50,000 people meeting together
in one church on the weekendthere and many other churches
that there abound.
And you can think of, like inthe Gangnam District, how busy
it is.
You kind of see this here ofall the traffic that runs around
and how crazy it is, and, inthe midst of all that craziness,
(02:10):
that God has moved uponpeople's hearts to draw them to
himself, away from the thingthat would otherwise take their
attention.
We think about the same thingin Bangkok, as you can see here.
You know it's thinking aboutall the high-rise buildings
built up and the train runningthrough the city and we talked
about all the differentdifficulties there spiritually
(02:31):
and how God is doing an amazingwork through ICA Bangkok and
through other churches that arethere, and how they're coming to
know the redemptive power ofJesus and how, even though there
are these difficulties inspiritual darkness, god is using
them as a light of the gospelin difficult places and how he
can move upon hearts to bringpeople to himself.
(02:54):
We think about that in Cuba how,even though the government is
against their faith in Jesus,how people have been drawn to
him and they found the lifechange that they've been looking
for.
And it's by dynamic and it'sbeen amazing to him and they
found the life change thatthey've been looking for and
it's by dynamic and it's beenamazing to be there worshiping
with brothers and sisters inChrist who are proclaiming their
faith in Jesus Christ and aboutwho he is to them.
(03:15):
And it was a powerful moment,you know, being in Kenya this
last year and getting a chanceto be there with friends who go
and pastors who are out evenamongst the rural peoples and
meeting together in tabernaclechurches or even under large
shade trees, bringing peopletogether proclaiming the good
news of the gospel, and how theLord has given boldness and
(03:36):
courage to missionaries thathave gone to all these places
and, as someone like Celesteshared in the first service, who
they lived that way and theyknew what it meant to really to
walk by faith.
As a missionary man, my heartgoes with them and the
challenges that they face andhow to communicate the gospel to
all these different people, toall these different cultures,
(04:00):
and how God loves them and hevalues them and how his heart
goes out to them and that's mysame heart is that, lord, help
us so that we can reach theworld with your message of love
and friends.
How we are challenged to do theexact same thing here in our
community.
How we're called to be thosethat, as we think about our
(04:21):
community, we think about thesprawl of Phoenix Metro.
How we're called to be thosethat take the message of God's
good news to our neighbors too,and how so much of our culture
is very much drive into yourgarage and shut the door and do
your own thing.
How we can be the love of Godto those around us, that we can
be the love of God to ourneighbor and we can be the love
(04:43):
of God in our sphere ofinfluence, at work or wherever
you set your hands to be, andyou can walk with the power of
the presence of God so richlyupon you that even as you go
into the depths of Costco, thatthe Lord will be with you,
especially as people try to takeyour parking.
But you guys get the idea.
(05:04):
It's the grace of God thatrests upon us and that's what he
wants us to do is understandthat he is our source and if he
calls us to do these greatthings, which is what he's
calling us to do it's not in ourown power, it's not by our own
authority that we're doing it,it's by his and because he calls
us to it, then he will empowerus to do the work he's called us
(05:27):
to do.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Would you say amen to that man.
We're so glad that we had thisopportunity to worship together
here at Cornerstone.
It's a blessing to be a part ofit and we're talking about this
idea of Philippians in thisseries right now, and it's a
(05:48):
powerful thing.
In doing so, we very much seeand echo the words that Paul is
writing to the church and thatwe are people who are not
perfect.
We are in need of a Savior andwe see ourselves as those who
are following after Jesus, thatnone of us have arrived, that
all of us are still on thatjourney, following after him.
So I would use this imagery ofJesus walking with his disciples
(06:11):
because that's how we seeourselves, that we're walking
after Jesus, that we'refollowing him where he's leading
us to go, that we know that weneed a savior and so we need to
follow him where he's leading us, because our ambition is to be
more like Jesus.
That's our heart.
And since we're gonna be morelike Jesus, then we need to do
(06:31):
that collectively, in loving Godand making disciples, in
reaching the world.
That's why we give, above andbeyond, our tithe to missions.
That's why we sacrifice, soother people can know the
goodness of God, the love of God.
It's why we give so otherpeople can know the goodness of
God, the love of God.
That's why we give, so thatthose who are in difficulty can
experience a hand of generositytowards them.
(06:52):
And that's what we do.
We do that because we want tolive with intentionality, with
real purpose, that we're nothappenstantially living this
life, that we are those who aregoing to be intentional in being
those that follow Jesus.
Let me challenge you in thisthat you would be those, that in
this season, you're intentionalin your walk with God as well,
and that you would encouragethose around you to join with
(07:12):
you in joining a life group sothat you can connect and grow
and serve the Lord.
See God do something dynamic inthis season of your life.
Now we've been talking aboutthis book of Philippians and
it's a letter that Paul iswriting to the church at
Philippi and they have been ashe started on his second
missionary journey.
(07:32):
They're going and startingchurches throughout this area
and, as we talked about, it'd bein modern day Macedonia.
So it's very heavy Greekinfluence and all those things.
So there's places where they'reworshiping all sorts of deities
, where they're worshiping allsorts of deities and they're
worshiping sex and they'reworshiping money and they're
worshiping every littlespiritual entity in doing all
these things.
So, as the power of God and theproclamation of the gospel goes
(07:53):
forward through Paul, as thechurch starts to get established
, it's very counter cultural tothe people that are around them.
They're living for God, they'reliving with the holiness of God
and they're living with thisintentionality that's different
than everyone else around them.
And so this letter that hewrites to them is one of
challenge, but it's also one ofcongratulations, saying hey,
(08:13):
you're doing such a good work,keep going, don't give up.
And he's writing to them frombeing imprisoned and many
believe, the scholars believe,that he's being imprisoned in
Rome writing this letter to them, encouraging them, saying
listen, though I'm in prison,though I'm in chains, for my
faith in God, don't give up.
The joy of the Lord is mystrength.
(08:33):
I'm not letting it get me down,don't let it get you down that
because of this that we can seegreater things happen, because
we're obedient to God.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're going
to be moving and turning todayto Philippians 4, where we know
this famous piece of scripture.
I encourage you to highlight itand highlight many of the
(08:54):
scriptures we do today and goback and read them for yourself.
Let it wash over you this week,let it challenge and speak to
your spirit.
It says here in Philippians 4,verse 13, I can do all things
through him, who gives mestrength, or through Christ, who
strengthens me.
(09:14):
Just say amen to that, lord.
We thank you for your word.
We pray today that you wouldspeak to us, lord, you breathe
upon it, make it alive andchallenge us, lord, that we
become more like your character.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen.
Say this with me.
(09:35):
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Now we pick up here, actually inthe previous book, in
Philippians 3, on the heels oflast week, and talking about
Philippians 2, where we'retalking about how we are being
known by the character of God inus and how we were talking
(09:57):
about is it something that'ssaid about you when you're not
there that you show the love ofGod to others, or what is said
about you when you're not there,that you show the love of God
to others, or what is said aboutyou when you're not there?
And we know the differencebetween being a person who
actually lives for Christ andthose who just say they're
living for Christ.
And that's not my judgment onyou, that's the Holy Spirit's
(10:19):
conviction on your own life,whether or not you're doing what
you say you're doing.
And that's the thing that wewant to be is because so often
the church is being challengedby being hypocrites, by being
people that say one thing and doanother thing, and instead we
want to be authentic, we want tobe those who are genuine in our
faith and we're beingtransparent to those around us
(10:39):
that yeah, hey, this is where myfaith is at, and, yes, I am
going through something.
But guess what?
Hey, this is where my faith isat and, yes, I am going through
something, but guess what?
He is stronger than mysituation and my faith is within
him, and so I hold onto him,like we talked about last week
hold fast onto the Lord, don'tgive up.
And so we pick up here inPhilippians three, and it's a
(10:59):
challenge about who we are andwhose we are, our identity in
Christ.
Philippians 3.12 says not thatI have already obtained this or
I'm already perfect, but I presson to make it my own, because
Christ Jesus has made me his own.
(11:20):
We say amen to that.
We see this idea that Paulhimself is saying I am not
perfect, and this is a statementthat is counter to who he had
been previously being known bythe name Saul.
Saul had been grown up andbrought up in a place where he
was the top of the top lawyer inunderstanding the word of God,
(11:42):
the law and all that was taughtin that way.
He had been taught by thegreatest teachers, by the
greatest rabbis, and he himselfwas held in high esteem.
He was someone who was theultimate, in the pinnacle of
following all the laws.
That's why they trusted him toenforce it against the early
church and that's why he hadsuch a zeal, such a passion to
(12:03):
actually persecute the church,because he thought the church
was going against the law.
So Paul was one that had hishair and his beard correct as
according to the word.
He didn't have mixed kind ofblended clothing.
He didn't do any of thosethings.
He didn't have bacon thismorning for breakfast.
He didn't do anything that wasagainst the Levitical law
(12:24):
because he was in alignment withit, because he himself could
therefore attain holiness, or sohe thought.
And what he realized in aradical conversion moment when
he met Jesus face to face as hewas going to persecute the
church.
As Jesus spoke to him directly,saying why are you persecuting
(12:47):
me?
He realized that his wholeframe of reference was wrong,
that he could not earn his wayinto the glory of God, he
couldn't work his way into God'sgood grace, he couldn't do
enough to earn a doorway to aholy God.
And even by following all therules, it still didn't make him
holy before God.
(13:09):
It was only through sacrificethat he was made righteous and
it was only through thesacrifices one Jesus Christ,
that we are all made righteousand into relationship with the
living God.
And so, as he has this radicalchange in his heart and his life
, he goes from being Saul tobeing Paul.
He goes from having this radicalhatred of the church to a
(13:31):
radical love for the church,because he identifies as I am a
Christ follower, I belong to him.
And so he's saying from thestart I'm not perfect.
And though we sacrificedeverything, and though I've been
in shipwreck and snake bit andI've been stoned and left for
dead and God raised me up,though we've been persecuted and
I'm currently in chains writingyou this letter, still I know
(13:55):
that I'm in the process, thatGod is working on me and that I
am not afraid because I belongto him and so I am his own, that
God has made me his own, not bymy doing, but what he has done
for me, and so I belong to Jesus.
(14:16):
And this is the very thing thatthe early church had a hard
time with.
Because, you know, he goes frombeing Saul and persecuting the
church, holding the coats ofthose who stoned Stephen to
death for his belief in Christ,and persecuting others and doing
all these things.
He goes from that to saying nowI'm a Christ follower, and
they're like mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, I'm not trusting that guy.
(14:39):
What I love is the courage ofpeople that they would come
alongside and say no, actually,this is our brother Paul, who's
had a life change, and theybrought him in to the community
of faith and, because of hiszeal for God, people saw the
life change that happened in him.
(14:59):
So, friends, it shows thedifference between we are not
our past, that we can be afuture and a belonging to God if
we know whose we are.
And so that's why he can writewith such a boldness to the
church.
Even being persecuted, evenbeing imprisoned, he can still
write with a freedom, becausehis freedom is not based on his
(15:21):
circumstances.
His freedom is based on hisspirit, and his spirit belongs
to the living God that no onecan quench and no one can hold
down.
It continues in verse 13.
It says it like this brothers,I do not consider what I have
made it my own, but one thing Ido forgetting what lies behind
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and straining forward to whatlies ahead, I press on towards
the goal, for the prize of theupward call of God in Christ
Jesus.
I love this.
He talks about living towardthe goal, toward the goal.
So much of our lives and wetalked about it even the
(16:05):
beginning of this year and goingafter the deep things of God,
is that we are those that areliving our life with the goal in
mind.
And that goal is to live ourlife in such a way, with
obedience towards God, thatwhenever we meet him face to
face, he says well done, my goodand faithful servant.
See, we know collectively thatwe're called to be good stewards
(16:26):
of what he gives us right Ofour time, our talent, our
testimony, our treasury.
We're supposed to be goodstewards of all those things.
But he's giving you a specificthing that he wants you to do.
It's your narrative, it's yourstory, it's the thing that he
has only for you to do and noone else, and so that's why we
have to draw near to him, so hecan speak to our hearts and to
our lives about what we'recalled to do.
(16:47):
Specifically, see, you're notcalled to do what I'm doing and
I'm not called to do what you'redoing, but he needs us both to
do his work here, and so that'swhy, when we belong to him,
we're gonna work towards thegoal, because we know what our
end goal is, and it helps us topress forward.
It helps us to press forward,it helps us to go after the
(17:12):
things, the ultimate things,that we're working toward.
Man, you know my son.
He's been a soccer player sincehe was a little boy, and so we
did a lot of club soccer andsoccer teams and all that stuff.
So we were wheels up everyweekend, taking him to soccer
and doing all these things, andrecently, as he went into his
senior year, they were having anamazing season.
His team was very good, and sothey actually were doing very
(17:33):
well, and it's his senior year,so he's captain of the team,
co-captain with others, and he'sdoing great and he was scoring
goals and doing all the thingshe's supposed to do.
And then he had an injury thathappened to him.
He tore his MCL, and so wethought it was going to be a
season ending injury.
I was proud of him because hekept on going to the games.
(17:53):
He kept on going and rooting onhis team, though he had to sit
on the sidelines.
He knew, hey, I belong to thisteam and I know what we're about
, so I'm going to cheer on thosewho can do it, even though I
can't do it.
And what was amazing about thatis that he was able to rehab,
and you can see here, actually,as they went into the playoffs,
where he was actually able torehab and rejoin the team and
(18:16):
score series of goals, going allthe way up to the state final,
where their team went all theway there, which is a pretty
amazing thing.
And what I love about that isthe tenacity to not give up,
even whenever it didn't benefithim anymore.
He was no longer going to bethe one on the field, but, guess
what?
He knew that he belonged to it,and so he was there cheering on
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others that were doing thething.
And then, guess what, when hegot a chance to get back
involved.
He got back involved and wentall the way to the end and they
did a great job.
They went all the way to thestate final.
Unfortunately, it was that lastminute thing where they weren't
able to get the victory, butthey went all the way to the
state final and recovered allthose things.
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
(18:59):
What we know is that it wasn'tjust those on the field that
made it possible.
It was also those who werecheering them on, and they had a
whole series of his friendsthat showed up and they were all
cheering for them and making aruckus and making a rowdy sound
and really cheering on the teamto do their best.
And that's what we have as acommunity of faith is that we
have a big, rowdy ruckus ofpeople that are cheering you on
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in your faith for Jesus is thatthey wanna see you win.
They wanna see you bevictorious.
They're making a noise likelet's go For you, for you,
because they want to see you win.
They don't want you to be doingworse than them.
That's not how this works.
No, they want to see you bevictorious and they want to be
victorious too.
They want to live in thisvictorious life after God, see,
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because we know, as we belong tohim, we're all pressing forward
toward the goal, and that'swhat it's about is continuing to
encourage others on as we livethis community of faith together
.
Now, what we know is this thatour faith in Christ is very much
a decision we make.
But Christ died for the church,meaning the collective, and
I've seen people say, oh, Idon't need the church to be a
(20:07):
Christian, and that's true inthe sense that you know they
don't make a decision for you.
But I've yet to see someonelive successfully for God that
hasn't been involved in acommunity of faith.
And the reason is because youdon't have the support system to
keep you aligned in goingtowards the goal.
And so often what happens isthey begin to get off track and
they start to go after thisthing or after that thing, and
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even though they had made thatdecision in the past, now
they're living for somethingelse, they're cheering for a
different goal, and it gets themderailed.
And so I challenge you today,friend, wherever you are, as I
have to challenge myself fromthe past is that you need the
community and the communityneeds you, that you need to be
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here and you need to live forGod because collectively we can
be victorious to the very end,to encourage each other forward
to live this thing after God.
It continues this and we see inverse 20.
It says but our citizenship isin heaven and from it we await a
savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,who will transform our lowly
(21:13):
body to make it like hisglorious body by the power that
enables him even to subject allthings to himself.
He's talking about this idea ofwhat Christ has done in
transforming.
It's for eternity that webelong to Jesus.
We see ourselves in ChristJesus, that we belong to him,
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and I can tell you that wheneverwe identify that I belong to
Christ first, the kingdom of Godfirst, then we'll live like
that and we know when ourallegiance is to him.
Then, guess what?
We're going to live that way.
I can tell you, as someone whosupports, like USA, sports and
USA soccer, I've done that andI've cheered for USA around the
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world, even though it was verydangerous, and I was like USA,
everybody's like what did youjust say?
Because I love it.
I'm like cheering for it, verypatriotic and I'm very thankful
for all those who made asacrifice for us to have freedom
that we have here.
But I tell you this, friends,that my allegiance first is to
God and that's why we say it'sto God and to family and to our
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country, and we don't get thosethings messed up, because our
allegiance is to him first,because it's an eternal
allegiance that we make to God,and so we live and we're
passionate and we serve with ourlife and we do those things as
unto the Lord and that's why weserve with excellence to our
community, it's why we serve ourcountry with excellence, it's
why we're good citizens and wedo all those things, because we
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belong to him first.
And that's why I can pray forthose who even our country
thinks is an enemy.
I can pray for our brothers andsisters in Iran today that are
going through suffering fortheir faith.
And I can say Lord, be with ourbrothers and sisters in Iran
today, or when their countrywants to hunt them down and
persecute them for their faithin Jesus.
Lord, I pray for them today,lord, that they would have
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strength and they would haveboldness.
Lord, be with them today.
That they would know the peaceof God, lord, that they would
know the liberty of your handupon their life.
Lord, pray that you would keepthem safe, lord, and that they
would have the joy of the Lordto be their strength, and we can
pray like that because theybelong with us and we belong
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with them, because wecollectively belong to him,
because we are in Christ Jesus.
It was amazing, being inThailand, pastor Angus and I had
this opportunity to go and toconnect with the Filipino
community and fellowship of ICABangkok, and so they're living
in Thailand, a big group ofFilipinos, and we were able to
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connect with them, and what'sawesome is they're using this
language or using this communityto reach out to other people
with the love of Christ, andthere are many, many, many
Filipinos that live in Thailand,and so they're able to use that
connection with people andshare the love of Christ with
those around them.
And so that's what we're calledto do as well is that we use
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whatever platform we have andjust to use that for the glory
of God to be made known.
So I'm not talking about on abull horn on the corner telling
people about this.
I'm talking about living yourlife for Christ, wherever you
are, because we belong to him,and it helps us that we don't.
It makes us so that we don'tdivide ourselves away from
others like that's an other andthis is an other, but that the
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uniqueness of every singleculture, every single skin tone,
every single background,they're woven together into this
beautiful tapestry that is thebody of Christ, and that's who
we are as a collective.
We were in Nepal and you know,this is a group of female
pastors you see here, andthey're man.
They were going before the Lordand just really seeking him.
(24:48):
The power of God was there, andwhat I love is that they're all
unified in heart, thoughthey're from different tribes,
they're from different peoples,they're from different parts of
the country and they wouldidentify nationally together,
but they have uniqueness amongstthemselves.
They don't let that divide them, but instead they're unified in
their relationship with JesusChrist, and that's what's
(25:09):
amazing about it is becausethey're unified in heart.
Then they come with thisintentionality for more of him.
Pastor Angus was tasked with adifficult thing, because there
was a main session of businessthat was happening during this
meeting, and so there was agroup of people over a hundred
people that they weren't gonnabe able to participate in the
(25:30):
business session.
So they're like well, we'llgive you a separate session over
here, so you can imagine theirkind of.
The attitude is that they werenot worthy of going to the other
place.
So, like we'll see what this isabout, you know what I mean.
What I love about Angus is thathe has such a heart that he
went and he was just seeking Godand even up early in the
morning praying to the Lord,saying Lord, what do you have me
(25:51):
share with this community, withthese people who might not feel
like they're?
Maybe they feel like they'resecond class, maybe they feel
like they're not worthy enough?
And it wasn't a thing, it wasjust that they couldn't vote, so
(26:14):
it made more sense for them tobe in this other spot.
So he just started out withthis humility in his message and
started to share about theidentity in Christ, and God, by
his spirit, did such an amazingwork there in that room that by
the end of his message, peoplewere standing and worshiping the
Lord in response.
Holy Spirit was moving upon thecrowd in such a dynamic way
that, though even people weren'ttouching anyone, people were
falling out under the power ofGod.
They were falling out throughthe chairs in the middle of the
place and it was pretty wild.
(26:35):
It didn't scare these people atall.
They see spiritual stuff allthe time.
They're like this is great, yes, me.
Next, it was powerful and itwas one of these things, that
man.
I was so thankful for hisobedience to listen to Holy
Spirit and for their obedienceto welcome what he's doing in
their life, all because theyidentify with whose they are
(26:55):
first Friends that in ChristJesus we belong to him.
We see this next piece.
It actually picks up intoPhilippians 4, and it starts to
talk about exactly what Paul wassaying is that listen, don't be
discouraged, but that you wouldbe one that is full of the joy
of the Lord.
He says that you should rejoice, and he's writing this,
(27:18):
remember, from prison.
He says rejoice in the Lordalways.
And again, I say rejoice.
What he's telling them is thatit doesn't matter your
circumstances.
The joy of the Lord can be yourstrength.
The rejoice, the act of havingjoy in your life can be your
testimony to other people, andnot in a fake it till you make
(27:39):
it kind of way.
I mean in a true, genuineexperience, the joy of God in
your life kind of thing.
And that only comes from havingexperience with God and drawing
near to God, because he's thesource of the joy that we're
talking about and so that'sexactly what we're talking about
here is that we would be those,that it doesn't matter our
(28:01):
circumstances, it doesn't matterthat we're in the valley of the
shadow of death, as we sangtoday these prayers that he will
be the good shepherd who guidesus death.
As we sang today these prayersthat he will be the good
shepherd who guides us throughit, says your rod and your staff
.
They comfort me that you aregoing to be the one that is
there.
You're the strong tower, you'rethe eagle's wings over me.
You are more than enough for me.
So I will rejoice, despite mycircumstances, despite the thing
(28:27):
I'm going through, despite whatI feel is insurmountable things
Guess what?
The joy of the Lord is mystrength and I can stand in the
strength of who he is and thepromises of what he has for me,
continues forward in verse five,and it says it like this Let
your reasonableness be known toeveryone.
(28:48):
The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious aboutanything, but in everything, by
prayer and supplication, withthanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God.
I love this, and it hinges onthis very first part of this
promise.
The Lord is at hand.
(29:11):
What does it mean?
It means that he is there,available for you to reach out
and touch.
He is right beside you, he hasnot left you.
He is the good shepherd, notthe one that runs off, but the
one that fights the wolves andfriends.
That's what we're talking aboutis that, since he is for you and
since he's available with you,we do not have to live in fear,
(29:33):
but instead we can draw near tohim.
He is our source and what wefind is that the perfect love,
the perfect holiness, theperfection that is the presence
of God.
As we draw near to him, what itdoes is it starts to push out
all of our imperfections.
(29:54):
We start to embrace his work inus, it starts to work through
us, and that's why, even as weaccept his work for us, we know
that we're still people that arein process and that, even as
Paul writes, that we're notperfect.
So since we're not, then weneed to embrace what he's doing
so he can work in and through us, because he's at hand, he
hasn't left you, he hasn'tforsaken you, and as he works
(30:18):
that in us, and as ourimperfections, our brokenness is
made whole, is healed and isworked through, then what
happens is that he actuallystarts to be the one that gives
you more than you need.
It talks about that we shouldnot be anxious, do not be
anxious, do not be stressed out,but instead embrace what he's
(30:43):
doing for us.
And you think about this, thinkabout all the anxiety that we
might expect.
Sometimes our stresses havestresses.
How many people know what I'mtalking about?
And you start going down therabbit hole of stress in your
life and you're like stress onthis and stress and stress and
stress.
What if this happens?
What if that happens?
And what if they do this right?
And then there's a nuclearexplosion, and then blah, blah,
blah and you can be so stressedout that you can't even accept
(31:06):
what God is trying to do in yourcurrent circumstances, because
you're so far down the road inanxiety.
And he's saying to you do notbe anxious, but by prayer.
And this is the thing is, thisis the big hinge it's by prayer.
So what is prayer?
Prayer is communication withGod, it's drawing near to him
(31:28):
and not just you talking, butalso hearing what he's speaking
to you.
And so often people will comeand say, pastor, you know, I
need some wisdom on this.
I need some guidance.
I'm like praise the Lord, let'spray, let's hear.
Have you been praying?
Yeah, they're like, no, no,I've been stressing out about it
.
I'm like cool, that's not whatthe scripture says.
(31:50):
So we're going to pray.
So let's start with that.
And I'm guilty, you know.
I'm like oh man, lord, whatabout church?
We have this thing and thisthing.
He's like great.
Draw near to me.
Draw near to me Because I'm thesource of these things, that by
prayer and supplication, that Iwill be more than enough for
(32:14):
you.
What you're looking for is inthat relationship with God.
What you're looking for is atthe source of your relationship
with him and drawing near to him, because his perfect presence
pushes out everything that's notperfect.
His perfect presence is peace,it says in verse 7, and the
(32:36):
peace of God, which surpassesall understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds inChrist Jesus, which surpasses
all understanding.
(32:57):
Friends, whenever we can't giveanswers to what we're stressing
about, when we don't have theanswers or the way out, he does,
and so he is the source of theperfect peace.
It says the peace that passesall understanding.
Whenever we don't understandhow we possibly could have peace
(33:18):
in this circumstance.
He does because his presence ispeace over us.
So, as we draw near to him, thepeace of God will rest upon us,
the one that doesn't makelogical sense and it can't
because it's supernatural.
So the supernatural peace ofGod, which comes through prayer
and through his presence, willspeak over you and over your
(33:42):
circumstances and over yourfamily, and over those anxieties
that we're wrestling with andwe're struggling with and we're
fighting against, and the peaceof God will rest upon you.
And guess what starts to happen?
Then your heart starts to calmdown, then your mind starts to
(34:03):
calm down.
Why?
Because the Lord is at hand,he's present with you, and so it
talks about.
So you, because of this, thepresence of God, the peace of
God, will speak over you.
And so what you're supposed todo?
You're supposed to guard yourheart and guard your mind.
Guard your heart, guard yourmind.
You know, growing up as a churchkid man, so often you would
(34:24):
hear guard your heart.
And it was almost like a joke,because you know it was really
said more towards young ladieslooking at young men, because
many times the men in the churchwere actually wolves in sheep's
clothing.
So they're saying girl, youneed to guard your heart.
Guard your heart, girl.
That's not the right boy.
Guard your heart.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
(34:45):
You guys aren't admitting, butyou know what I'm talking about.
Guard your heart, and it'salmost like a joke, but it's not
a joke, because we do need toguard our heart and not just
against some boy, some girlthat's trying to bring you into
this darkness.
Stuff like that I mean thewhole beginning of Proverbs and
the king speaking to his sonwho's gonna be ruling is like
(35:07):
listen, don't run after thissketchy woman because she's a
pit of death and you couldflip-flop that the other way.
You know what I mean.
It's like listen, don't go dothat.
Don't run after this person.
Yes, they look appetizing.
Guess what their demise is.
What they are, that's what theyare.
Don't go after that.
So guard your heart.
And I don't mean just afterthat, I mean guard your heart
full stop, not after the money,not after the sex, not after
(35:32):
anything that would derail youfrom God's purpose for your life
.
The goal is what we're goingafter.
So, as we're living after thegoal, then we need to guard our
heart and we need to guard ourmind, because so often our heart
is our passion, it's ouremotion, and if we don't watch
it, then our passions and ouremotions can be fickle and
they'll take us every which way.
And even if you have yourpassions in check maybe you're a
(35:55):
more stoic person then we needto really pay attention to what
we have our mind about, becausewhatever we think about, what we
think about, what we thinkabout is what we will do.
What you think about is whatyou will do.
What you think about is whatyou will do.
What you entertain in your mindis what you eventually will
make excuses for and go do.
And so what we have to do is wehave to guard our heart and our
(36:15):
emotions.
We have to guard our mindbecause we have to go after the
things of God, because if wedon't watch it, this will derail
us or that will derail us.
So he's saying listen, thepeace of God be upon you, go us.
So he's saying listen, thepeace of God be upon you, go
after the goal which is found inJesus Christ alone, that we
would live victoriously in him.
(36:37):
It picks up in verse eight andsays finally brothers, whatever
is true, whatever is honorable,whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is commendable, if
there is any excellence, ifthere's anything worthy of
praise.
Think on these things, and Ilove this.
(37:01):
Think on these things.
Having a mind of Christ meansthinking about the good things
that God is doing.
And the mind of Christ, we knowthis garbage in, garbage out.
So if we're putting good thingsin, then that's what's going to
come out.
And that's why we talk abouthaving your daily reading of the
word of God is because it willchallenge the attitude you have
in the morning when you haven'thad coffee.
Yet Some of us need to read ittwice a day.
(37:25):
You know what I mean.
That way it can challenge theattitude you had from a bad day
you had.
So we can come in alignmentwith him.
And I don't mean that in aslapping way.
I mean that in a challenge tome and to us that we would think
on these things, because sooften it's easy to pick up all
the negative things.
We're pretty good at that,aren't we?
(37:46):
All the negative things?
We're pretty good at that,aren't we?
All the negative things.
We're like, oh, this is bad,and this is bad, and this is bad
and this is bad.
We think about all the badthings that are happening
instead of Lord.
Thank you for today.
Thank you for a new opportunityfor today.
Thank you, lord, for the thingsthat are going good in my life.
Thank you, lord, for shelterover me and I had some food
today.
Thank you for running water andelectricity at work today,
friends, I've been around theworld.
(38:07):
I don't even have that.
Thank you, lord, there was acommode today that things went
away from me, and not in a pile,lord.
Thank you God.
Thank you, god that I have themind of Christ and so my
attitude is not a spiritual pileof mess, but instead, lord,
you're working through me so wecould be different, so we can
live with purpose.
(38:28):
See, we get so wrapped up in ourown thing.
We can never be intentional inloving another person because
we're so wrapped up in our ownmess that we're broken.
And if we stay broken, that'swhat the enemy wants for you is
you to stay broken, so you cannever be intentional in having
the purpose that God wants youto fulfill.
Friends, we need to be thosethat are living for God with the
(38:50):
end in mind.
And he says this, and it givesyou frame of reference for what
we've been talking about today.
Paul writes.
He says I know how to bebrought low and I know how to
abound In any and everycircumstance.
I have learned the secret offacing plenty and hunger,
abundance and need.
(39:11):
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Friends, that's what he'stalking about.
Is it doesn't matter what we'refacing, it doesn't matter if
it's good times or in bad.
The consistency is found inJesus Christ, and whenever he is
our source, then it doesn'tmatter if it's good times or in
bad.
The consistency is found inJesus Christ.
And whenever he is our source,then it doesn't matter what
(39:31):
we're facing, because the peaceof God is always ours, the joy
of the Lord is always ours.
It doesn't matter what we'regoing through, because it's an
internal driver from the holyGod where we're spending time to
in prayer, and so his presenceis doing these things inside of
us, and so we can say I can doall things.
(39:55):
It's not the I in that sentence.
It is through Christ whostrengthens me.
That's the promise that we have.
Is that it's found in Christ,and if we have this mindset,
where we think about it, oh,it's only there's limited
resource.
That's not what he says.
That's not what the Word of Godsays.
The Word of God says this inPhilippians 4.19, and my God
will supply every need of yoursaccording to his riches in glory
(40:20):
in Christ Jesus.
See, that's why we know that heis more than capable, because
his riches, it's riches in glory, it's his riches, not your
riches, not gonna do it with a50 cents in your pocket, no,
he's gonna do it with the gloryof what he has, of what he is
doing, with his intentionalityin your story.
So, as we draw near to him,that's his presence.
(40:43):
That is the first thing,because it's his presence which
brings the peace.
It's his presence which bringsthe peace, it's his presence
which brings the joy.
It's all those things.
And then, as we have the heart,the focus of God, and then we
have the mind of Christ, well,guess what?
Well then, these other thingsdon't own us, so he can trust
you with more.
And then the physical resources.
Well, guess what All of thatfollows?
(41:04):
It's a seek.
First, the kingdom of God, andall of these other things will
follow unto you.
And so, friends, let's be thosethat focus with the goal in
mind and understand that the joyof the Lord is our strength and
that, through Christ, it is inChrist who strengthens me, we
(41:29):
will be more like Jesus.
Today we have this opportunityto respond to him and to the
message of God, to what he'sbeen speaking to us.
Maybe you're here.
You've never made a decision tofollow Jesus.
Today's your opportunity to doso.
It's your opportunity to inviteChrist into your heart and life
, to say Jesus, I believe youare who you say you are, and so,
(41:52):
lord, I place my faith andtrust in you.
Lord, I believe that you cameand you became a sacrifice for
all of us.
You lived a sinless life, lord,that you took on my sin and my
mistakes, and because you tookthem onto yourself and you paid
for those mistakes with yourlife or I can be made free of
(42:12):
those, I can be forgiven of allmy sin and all my brokenness.
See, that's what Jesus did forus upon the cross.
That's why the symbol, thecross, is so powerful, because
the cross is a place where Jesussuffered for you.
He suffered for me, he took theweight of the world upon
himself and he paid for it onceand for all.
(42:33):
And so that's why, whenever wemake a decision to follow Jesus,
it's not just as our savior,it's as our Lord, it's an
alignment with him saying Lord,I wanna belong to you.
I know whose team I'm on.
I'm on your team, an eternalone, that I want to live for you
and I want to live with purposeso that at the end of this
thing, whenever I meet you faceto face, you can say well done,
(42:55):
good and faithful servant.
The Apostle Paul, I read to thechurch at Rome.
He says it like this because ifyou confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will besaved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified.
With the mouth, one confessesand is saved.
(43:17):
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to make adecision to follow Jesus.
I'm gonna ask, if you're herein the room, if you just stand
to your feet right where you'reat you, bow your head.
If you're online, you prepareyour heart for what God wants to
do, what he wants to say.
It's a powerful thing.
I've seen many people in thesepast weeks make a decision to
(43:40):
follow Jesus.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to say yes toJesus, to invite him into your
heart and life, as people arepreparing their hearts online,
as people are preparing theirhearts.
Here in the room, heads arebowed.
If that's you, you say, pastor,I want to be included in that
prayer today.
I want to invite Jesus into myheart and my life, be the savior
(44:03):
of my life.
Maybe you've made a decision inthe past, but you haven't been
living it and you need to make arecommitment to him.
Today's your opportunity.
Raise your hand and say, lord,I made a commitment to you that
I wanna live this thing for real.
I know whose team I'm on.
If that's you, heads are bowed.
(44:25):
If you wanna raise your handright now and say, pastor,
that's me, include me in thatprayer today.
I want to invite Jesus into myheart and life.
Thank you, lord.
It's people making decisions.
Thank you, god.
Thank you, lord.
Others making decisions See thehands that are there, hands
that are here, hands that arethere.
Thank you, lord.
Other people making.
I'm gonna ask us allcollectively to say this prayer
(44:45):
aloud after me Lord, thank youfor loving me, thank you for
sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
(45:07):
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Many people raising their handtoday Praise the Lord.
We encourage you in this.
That, as that's you, you raiseyour hand today, connect with us
in the back.
(45:28):
We wanna put some resource inyour hand.
If you're online, wherever youare, connect with us.
We don't want you to live thislife alone.
Friends, we are more thanconquerors in him who loved us,
and it's by Christ whostrengthens us that we can live
victoriously after him.
As we come to this altar today,we do so asking for more of his
empowerment, that we would notbe those full of anxiety or
(45:57):
anxious about anything, butinstead that we would know the
peace of God, the joy of theLord, and that the provision of
God would be ours as we drawnear to him.
Lord, we thank you so much.
We pray, lord, giving youpraise for this word today.
Lord, thank you for challengingus, speaking to us through this
word today.
Lord, thank you for challengingus, speaking to us through your
word today.
Lord, thank you for the exampleof Paul or the church at
Philippi.
Lord, and how we too could bechallenged by the things that
(46:17):
you were challenging with Lord,as we could draw near to you.
Today, lord, we ask for more ofyour presence, more of who you
are.
Lord, that we would have ahunger, lord, to spend time with
you in your word and in prayer,but God, also in this moment.
Lord, that you would give usthe peace that passes all
understanding.
Lord, that we would know thejoy of the Lord that would be
our strength despite ourcircumstances.
(46:38):
Lord, that we would see theprovision of God that comes from
your presence.
Lord, all these things and moreas we draw near to you.
We thank you.
We pray this in the powerfulname of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Oh, what a great morning it has been.
Thank you for coming and I wantto let you know next week we
are having our Spring FamilySunday.
It's going to be right aftersecond service, but I need you.
I'm going to tell you right now.
I need you.
So we're going to be setting upat 730 in the morning.
We're going to be setting up at730 in the morning.
If you can come and join me, wewill be out here.
It's going to be 80 degreesnext Sunday.
It's going to be gorgeous.
(47:10):
Invite somebody to come withyou.
Also, we need side dishes.
We're going to supply all ofthe main food, but we need you
just to bring side dishes.
So salads, desserts, casseroles, whatever you can whip up,
bring it.
It's just going to be a fun.
It whip up, bring it.
It's just going to be a fun.
It's going to be a family day,and so you can sign up as you're
(47:30):
headed out.
There's some sheets out there.
You can also go on the app andwe're just going to enjoy the
outdoors while we can, becausewe know it only lasts a couple
weeks, and so just come.
It's going to be a great Sunday.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Amen.
Bring some green corn tamales.
Amen, before we go, a praiseblessing over us today.
Bring some green corn tamales,amen, before we go.
I pray this blessing over ustoday.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(48:06):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church.
Give you peace, lord.
I pray a blessing upon yourchurch, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me.
Say it with me I can do allthings through Christ who
strengthens me.
You know, it's a powerful ideathat our identity and our power,
our source, is found in Jesus.
A few weeks back, we foundourselves in South Korea and we
(00:23):
were running around in the cityof Seoul.
We were on our way back frombeing in Nepal.
We had a layover for themorning and so we jumped out to
go rent around the city and I'lltell you, you know, we were
prepared for the foothills ofthe Himalayas, for parkas and
all that stuff, because we aredesert people.
You know what I mean.
So we were ready for the cold,but we you know what I mean.
So we were ready for the cold,but we had packed all that stuff
(00:44):
and we were just like runningaround in our little coats.
And I'll tell you, friends, itwas real, real cold.
I don't know if you guysremember the cold.
It's like what we don't havehere.
It was very, very cold, and sowe were representing, we were
wearing our cornerstone hats.
We're running around Seoul,we're having a fun time, and it
was so cold, like we were likeon the verge of the chatter.
You guys know when you start toget the chatter in your voice
(01:06):
and your teeth.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
You guys don't remember, but itwas so cold that Pastor Angus,
he found the biggest teddy bearpossible to get warm.
I mean, it was very cold and soit was an amazing time.
And actually, you know, we weretalking about it and kind of
just taking in the city and wewere thinking about all these
people we came across.
(01:27):
They're very nice and kind andall those things.
And you kind of see this nextimage as we were walking there
it's something I snapped on myphone and just thinking about
the different people that makeup that society.
And it's an individualisticsociety for the most part, but
what was amazing is God, by hishand and by his spirit, has done
an amazing thing and many, many, many people have come to love
(01:48):
Jesus there.
And we know about Paul YonggiCho, pastor David Yonggi Cho,
his work in their church up to50,000 people meeting together
in one church on the weekendthere and many other churches
that there abound.
And you can think of, like inthe Gangnam District, how busy
it is.
You kind of see this here ofall the traffic that runs around
and how crazy it is, and, inthe midst of all that craziness,
(02:10):
that God has moved uponpeople's hearts to draw them to
himself, away from the thingthat would otherwise take their
attention.
We think about the same thingin Bangkok, as you can see here.
You know it's thinking aboutall the high-rise buildings
built up and the train runningthrough the city and we talked
about all the differentdifficulties there spiritually
(02:31):
and how God is doing an amazingwork through ICA Bangkok and
through other churches that arethere, and how they're coming to
know the redemptive power ofJesus and how, even though there
are these difficulties inspiritual darkness, god is using
them as a light of the gospelin difficult places and how he
can move upon hearts to bringpeople to himself.
(02:54):
We think about that in Cuba how,even though the government is
against their faith in Jesus,how people have been drawn to
him and they found the lifechange that they've been looking
for.
And it's by dynamic and it'sbeen amazing to him and they
found the life change thatthey've been looking for and
it's by dynamic and it's beenamazing to be there worshiping
with brothers and sisters inChrist who are proclaiming their
faith in Jesus Christ and aboutwho he is to them.
(03:15):
And it was a powerful moment,you know, being in Kenya this
last year and getting a chanceto be there with friends who go
and pastors who are out evenamongst the rural peoples and
meeting together in tabernaclechurches or even under large
shade trees, bringing peopletogether proclaiming the good
news of the gospel, and how theLord has given boldness and
(03:36):
courage to missionaries thathave gone to all these places
and, as someone like Celesteshared in the first service, who
they lived that way and theyknew what it meant to really to
walk by faith.
As a missionary man, my heartgoes with them and the
challenges that they face andhow to communicate the gospel to
all these different people, toall these different cultures,
(04:00):
and how God loves them and hevalues them and how his heart
goes out to them and that's mysame heart is that, lord, help
us so that we can reach theworld with your message of love
and friends.
How we are challenged to do theexact same thing here in our
community.
How we're called to be thosethat, as we think about our
(04:21):
community, we think about thesprawl of Phoenix Metro.
How we're called to be thosethat take the message of God's
good news to our neighbors too,and how so much of our culture
is very much drive into yourgarage and shut the door and do
your own thing.
How we can be the love of Godto those around us, that we can
be the love of God to ourneighbor and we can be the love
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of God in our sphere ofinfluence, at work or wherever
you set your hands to be, andyou can walk with the power of
the presence of God so richlyupon you that even as you go
into the depths of Costco, thatthe Lord will be with you,
especially as people try to takeyour parking.
But you guys get the idea.
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It's the grace of God thatrests upon us and that's what he
wants us to do is understandthat he is our source and if he
calls us to do these greatthings, which is what he's
calling us to do it's not in ourown power, it's not by our own
authority that we're doing it,it's by his and because he calls
us to it, then he will empowerus to do the work he's called us
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to do.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Would you say amen to that man.
We're so glad that we had thisopportunity to worship together
here at Cornerstone.
It's a blessing to be a part ofit and we're talking about this
idea of Philippians in thisseries right now, and it's a
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powerful thing.
In doing so, we very much seeand echo the words that Paul is
writing to the church and thatwe are people who are not
perfect.
We are in need of a Savior andwe see ourselves as those who
are following after Jesus, thatnone of us have arrived, that
all of us are still on thatjourney, following after him.
So I would use this imagery ofJesus walking with his disciples
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because that's how we seeourselves, that we're walking
after Jesus, that we'refollowing him where he's leading
us to go, that we know that weneed a savior and so we need to
follow him where he's leading us, because our ambition is to be
more like Jesus.
That's our heart.
And since we're gonna be morelike Jesus, then we need to do
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that collectively, in loving Godand making disciples, in
reaching the world.
That's why we give, above andbeyond, our tithe to missions.
That's why we sacrifice, soother people can know the
goodness of God, the love of God.
It's why we give so otherpeople can know the goodness of
God, the love of God.
That's why we give, so thatthose who are in difficulty can
experience a hand of generositytowards them.
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And that's what we do.
We do that because we want tolive with intentionality, with
real purpose, that we're nothappenstantially living this
life, that we are those who aregoing to be intentional in being
those that follow Jesus.
Let me challenge you in thisthat you would be those, that in
this season, you're intentionalin your walk with God as well,
and that you would encouragethose around you to join with
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you in joining a life group sothat you can connect and grow
and serve the Lord.
See God do something dynamic inthis season of your life.
Now we've been talking aboutthis book of Philippians and
it's a letter that Paul iswriting to the church at
Philippi and they have been ashe started on his second
missionary journey.
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They're going and startingchurches throughout this area
and, as we talked about, it'd bein modern day Macedonia.
So it's very heavy Greekinfluence and all those things.
So there's places where they'reworshiping all sorts of deities
, where they're worshiping allsorts of deities and they're
worshiping sex and they'reworshiping money and they're
worshiping every littlespiritual entity in doing all
these things.
So, as the power of God and theproclamation of the gospel goes
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forward through Paul, as thechurch starts to get established
, it's very counter cultural tothe people that are around them.
They're living for God, they'reliving with the holiness of God
and they're living with thisintentionality that's different
than everyone else around them.
And so this letter that hewrites to them is one of
challenge, but it's also one ofcongratulations, saying hey,
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you're doing such a good work,keep going, don't give up.
And he's writing to them frombeing imprisoned and many
believe, the scholars believe,that he's being imprisoned in
Rome writing this letter to them, encouraging them, saying
listen, though I'm in prison,though I'm in chains, for my
faith in God, don't give up.
The joy of the Lord is mystrength.
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I'm not letting it get me down,don't let it get you down that
because of this that we can seegreater things happen, because
we're obedient to God.
If you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're going
to be moving and turning todayto Philippians 4, where we know
this famous piece of scripture.
I encourage you to highlight itand highlight many of the
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scriptures we do today and goback and read them for yourself.
Let it wash over you this week,let it challenge and speak to
your spirit.
It says here in Philippians 4,verse 13, I can do all things
through him, who gives mestrength, or through Christ, who
strengthens me.
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Just say amen to that, lord.
We thank you for your word.
We pray today that you wouldspeak to us, lord, you breathe
upon it, make it alive andchallenge us, lord, that we
become more like your character.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen.
Say this with me.
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I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Now we pick up here, actually inthe previous book, in
Philippians 3, on the heels oflast week, and talking about
Philippians 2, where we'retalking about how we are being
known by the character of God inus and how we were talking
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about is it something that'ssaid about you when you're not
there that you show the love ofGod to others, or what is said
about you when you're not there,that you show the love of God
to others, or what is said aboutyou when you're not there?
And we know the differencebetween being a person who
actually lives for Christ andthose who just say they're
living for Christ.
And that's not my judgment onyou, that's the Holy Spirit's
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conviction on your own life,whether or not you're doing what
you say you're doing.
And that's the thing that wewant to be is because so often
the church is being challengedby being hypocrites, by being
people that say one thing and doanother thing, and instead we
want to be authentic, we want tobe those who are genuine in our
faith and we're beingtransparent to those around us
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that yeah, hey, this is where myfaith is at, and, yes, I am
going through something.
But guess what?
Hey, this is where my faith isat and, yes, I am going through
something, but guess what?
He is stronger than mysituation and my faith is within
him, and so I hold onto him,like we talked about last week
hold fast onto the Lord, don'tgive up.
And so we pick up here inPhilippians three, and it's a
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challenge about who we are andwhose we are, our identity in
Christ.
Philippians 3.12 says not thatI have already obtained this or
I'm already perfect, but I presson to make it my own, because
Christ Jesus has made me his own.
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We say amen to that.
We see this idea that Paulhimself is saying I am not
perfect, and this is a statementthat is counter to who he had
been previously being known bythe name Saul.
Saul had been grown up andbrought up in a place where he
was the top of the top lawyer inunderstanding the word of God,
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the law and all that was taughtin that way.
He had been taught by thegreatest teachers, by the
greatest rabbis, and he himselfwas held in high esteem.
He was someone who was theultimate, in the pinnacle of
following all the laws.
That's why they trusted him toenforce it against the early
church and that's why he hadsuch a zeal, such a passion to
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actually persecute the church,because he thought the church
was going against the law.
So Paul was one that had hishair and his beard correct as
according to the word.
He didn't have mixed kind ofblended clothing.
He didn't do any of thosethings.
He didn't have bacon thismorning for breakfast.
He didn't do anything that wasagainst the Levitical law
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because he was in alignment withit, because he himself could
therefore attain holiness, or sohe thought.
And what he realized in aradical conversion moment when
he met Jesus face to face as hewas going to persecute the
church.
As Jesus spoke to him directly,saying why are you persecuting
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me?
He realized that his wholeframe of reference was wrong,
that he could not earn his wayinto the glory of God, he
couldn't work his way into God'sgood grace, he couldn't do
enough to earn a doorway to aholy God.
And even by following all therules, it still didn't make him
holy before God.
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It was only through sacrificethat he was made righteous and
it was only through thesacrifices one Jesus Christ,
that we are all made righteousand into relationship with the
living God.
And so, as he has this radicalchange in his heart and his life
, he goes from being Saul tobeing Paul.
He goes from having this radicalhatred of the church to a
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radical love for the church,because he identifies as I am a
Christ follower, I belong to him.
And so he's saying from thestart I'm not perfect.
And though we sacrificedeverything, and though I've been
in shipwreck and snake bit andI've been stoned and left for
dead and God raised me up,though we've been persecuted and
I'm currently in chains writingyou this letter, still I know
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that I'm in the process, thatGod is working on me and that I
am not afraid because I belongto him and so I am his own, that
God has made me his own, not bymy doing, but what he has done
for me, and so I belong to Jesus.
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And this is the very thing thatthe early church had a hard
time with.
Because, you know, he goes frombeing Saul and persecuting the
church, holding the coats ofthose who stoned Stephen to
death for his belief in Christ,and persecuting others and doing
all these things.
He goes from that to saying nowI'm a Christ follower, and
they're like mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, I'm not trusting that guy.
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What I love is the courage ofpeople that they would come
alongside and say no, actually,this is our brother Paul, who's
had a life change, and theybrought him in to the community
of faith and, because of hiszeal for God, people saw the
life change that happened in him.
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So, friends, it shows thedifference between we are not
our past, that we can be afuture and a belonging to God if
we know whose we are.
And so that's why he can writewith such a boldness to the
church.
Even being persecuted, evenbeing imprisoned, he can still
write with a freedom, becausehis freedom is not based on his
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circumstances.
His freedom is based on hisspirit, and his spirit belongs
to the living God that no onecan quench and no one can hold
down.
It continues in verse 13.
It says it like this brothers,I do not consider what I have
made it my own, but one thing Ido forgetting what lies behind
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and straining forward to whatlies ahead, I press on towards
the goal, for the prize of theupward call of God in Christ
Jesus.
I love this.
He talks about living towardthe goal, toward the goal.
So much of our lives and wetalked about it even the
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beginning of this year and goingafter the deep things of God,
is that we are those that areliving our life with the goal in
mind.
And that goal is to live ourlife in such a way, with
obedience towards God, thatwhenever we meet him face to
face, he says well done, my goodand faithful servant.
See, we know collectively thatwe're called to be good stewards
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of what he gives us right Ofour time, our talent, our
testimony, our treasury.
We're supposed to be goodstewards of all those things.
But he's giving you a specificthing that he wants you to do.
It's your narrative, it's yourstory, it's the thing that he
has only for you to do and noone else, and so that's why we
have to draw near to him, so hecan speak to our hearts and to
our lives about what we'recalled to do.
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Specifically, see, you're notcalled to do what I'm doing and
I'm not called to do what you'redoing, but he needs us both to
do his work here, and so that'swhy, when we belong to him,
we're gonna work towards thegoal, because we know what our
end goal is, and it helps us topress forward.
It helps us to press forward,it helps us to go after the
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things, the ultimate things,that we're working toward.
Man, you know my son.
He's been a soccer player sincehe was a little boy, and so we
did a lot of club soccer andsoccer teams and all that stuff.
So we were wheels up everyweekend, taking him to soccer
and doing all these things, andrecently, as he went into his
senior year, they were having anamazing season.
His team was very good, and sothey actually were doing very
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well, and it's his senior year,so he's captain of the team,
co-captain with others, and he'sdoing great and he was scoring
goals and doing all the thingshe's supposed to do.
And then he had an injury thathappened to him.
He tore his MCL, and so wethought it was going to be a
season ending injury.
I was proud of him because hekept on going to the games.
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He kept on going and rooting onhis team, though he had to sit
on the sidelines.
He knew, hey, I belong to thisteam and I know what we're about
, so I'm going to cheer on thosewho can do it, even though I
can't do it.
And what was amazing about thatis that he was able to rehab,
and you can see here, actually,as they went into the playoffs,
where he was actually able torehab and rejoin the team and
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score series of goals, going allthe way up to the state final,
where their team went all theway there, which is a pretty
amazing thing.
And what I love about that isthe tenacity to not give up,
even whenever it didn't benefithim anymore.
He was no longer going to bethe one on the field, but, guess
what?
He knew that he belonged to it,and so he was there cheering on
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others that were doing thething.
And then, guess what, when hegot a chance to get back
involved.
He got back involved and wentall the way to the end and they
did a great job.
They went all the way to thestate final.
Unfortunately, it was that lastminute thing where they weren't
able to get the victory, butthey went all the way to the
state final and recovered allthose things.
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
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What we know is that it wasn'tjust those on the field that
made it possible.
It was also those who werecheering them on, and they had a
whole series of his friendsthat showed up and they were all
cheering for them and making aruckus and making a rowdy sound
and really cheering on the teamto do their best.
And that's what we have as acommunity of faith is that we
have a big, rowdy ruckus ofpeople that are cheering you on
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in your faith for Jesus is thatthey wanna see you win.
They wanna see you bevictorious.
They're making a noise likelet's go For you, for you,
because they want to see you win.
They don't want you to be doingworse than them.
That's not how this works.
No, they want to see you bevictorious and they want to be
victorious too.
They want to live in thisvictorious life after God, see,
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because we know, as we belong tohim, we're all pressing forward
toward the goal, and that'swhat it's about is continuing to
encourage others on as we livethis community of faith together
.
Now, what we know is this thatour faith in Christ is very much
a decision we make.
But Christ died for the church,meaning the collective, and
I've seen people say, oh, Idon't need the church to be a
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Christian, and that's true inthe sense that you know they
don't make a decision for you.
But I've yet to see someonelive successfully for God that
hasn't been involved in acommunity of faith.
And the reason is because youdon't have the support system to
keep you aligned in goingtowards the goal.
And so often what happens isthey begin to get off track and
they start to go after thisthing or after that thing, and
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even though they had made thatdecision in the past, now
they're living for somethingelse, they're cheering for a
different goal, and it gets themderailed.
And so I challenge you today,friend, wherever you are, as I
have to challenge myself fromthe past is that you need the
community and the communityneeds you, that you need to be
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here and you need to live forGod because collectively we can
be victorious to the very end,to encourage each other forward
to live this thing after God.
It continues this and we see inverse 20.
It says but our citizenship isin heaven and from it we await a
savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,who will transform our lowly
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body to make it like hisglorious body by the power that
enables him even to subject allthings to himself.
He's talking about this idea ofwhat Christ has done in
transforming.
It's for eternity that webelong to Jesus.
We see ourselves in ChristJesus, that we belong to him,
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and I can tell you that wheneverwe identify that I belong to
Christ first, the kingdom of Godfirst, then we'll live like
that and we know when ourallegiance is to him.
Then, guess what?
We're going to live that way.
I can tell you, as someone whosupports, like USA, sports and
USA soccer, I've done that andI've cheered for USA around the
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world, even though it was verydangerous, and I was like USA,
everybody's like what did youjust say?
Because I love it.
I'm like cheering for it, verypatriotic and I'm very thankful
for all those who made asacrifice for us to have freedom
that we have here.
But I tell you this, friends,that my allegiance first is to
God and that's why we say it'sto God and to family and to our
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country, and we don't get thosethings messed up, because our
allegiance is to him first,because it's an eternal
allegiance that we make to God,and so we live and we're
passionate and we serve with ourlife and we do those things as
unto the Lord and that's why weserve with excellence to our
community, it's why we serve ourcountry with excellence, it's
why we're good citizens and wedo all those things, because we
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belong to him first.
And that's why I can pray forthose who even our country
thinks is an enemy.
I can pray for our brothers andsisters in Iran today that are
going through suffering fortheir faith.
And I can say Lord, be with ourbrothers and sisters in Iran
today, or when their countrywants to hunt them down and
persecute them for their faithin Jesus.
Lord, I pray for them today,lord, that they would have
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strength and they would haveboldness.
Lord, be with them today.
That they would know the peaceof God, lord, that they would
know the liberty of your handupon their life.
Lord, pray that you would keepthem safe, lord, and that they
would have the joy of the Lordto be their strength, and we can
pray like that because theybelong with us and we belong
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with them, because wecollectively belong to him,
because we are in Christ Jesus.
It was amazing, being inThailand, pastor Angus and I had
this opportunity to go and toconnect with the Filipino
community and fellowship of ICABangkok, and so they're living
in Thailand, a big group ofFilipinos, and we were able to
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connect with them, and what'sawesome is they're using this
language or using this communityto reach out to other people
with the love of Christ, andthere are many, many, many
Filipinos that live in Thailand,and so they're able to use that
connection with people andshare the love of Christ with
those around them.
And so that's what we're calledto do as well is that we use
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whatever platform we have andjust to use that for the glory
of God to be made known.
So I'm not talking about on abull horn on the corner telling
people about this.
I'm talking about living yourlife for Christ, wherever you
are, because we belong to him,and it helps us that we don't.
It makes us so that we don'tdivide ourselves away from
others like that's an other andthis is an other, but that the
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uniqueness of every singleculture, every single skin tone,
every single background,they're woven together into this
beautiful tapestry that is thebody of Christ, and that's who
we are as a collective.
We were in Nepal and you know,this is a group of female
pastors you see here, andthey're man.
They were going before the Lordand just really seeking him.
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The power of God was there, andwhat I love is that they're all
unified in heart, thoughthey're from different tribes,
they're from different peoples,they're from different parts of
the country and they wouldidentify nationally together,
but they have uniqueness amongstthemselves.
They don't let that divide them, but instead they're unified in
their relationship with JesusChrist, and that's what's
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amazing about it is becausethey're unified in heart.
Then they come with thisintentionality for more of him.
Pastor Angus was tasked with adifficult thing, because there
was a main session of businessthat was happening during this
meeting, and so there was agroup of people over a hundred
people that they weren't gonnabe able to participate in the
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business session.
So they're like well, we'llgive you a separate session over
here, so you can imagine theirkind of.
The attitude is that they werenot worthy of going to the other
place.
So, like we'll see what this isabout, you know what I mean.
What I love about Angus is thathe has such a heart that he
went and he was just seeking Godand even up early in the
morning praying to the Lord,saying Lord, what do you have me
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share with this community, withthese people who might not feel
like they're?
Maybe they feel like they'resecond class, maybe they feel
like they're not worthy enough?
And it wasn't a thing, it wasjust that they couldn't vote, so
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it made more sense for them tobe in this other spot.
So he just started out withthis humility in his message and
started to share about theidentity in Christ, and God, by
his spirit, did such an amazingwork there in that room that by
the end of his message, peoplewere standing and worshiping the
Lord in response.
Holy Spirit was moving upon thecrowd in such a dynamic way
that, though even people weren'ttouching anyone, people were
falling out under the power ofGod.
They were falling out throughthe chairs in the middle of the
place and it was pretty wild.
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It didn't scare these people atall.
They see spiritual stuff allthe time.
They're like this is great, yes, me.
Next, it was powerful and itwas one of these things, that
man.
I was so thankful for hisobedience to listen to Holy
Spirit and for their obedienceto welcome what he's doing in
their life, all because theyidentify with whose they are
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first Friends that in ChristJesus we belong to him.
We see this next piece.
It actually picks up intoPhilippians 4, and it starts to
talk about exactly what Paul wassaying is that listen, don't be
discouraged, but that you wouldbe one that is full of the joy
of the Lord.
He says that you should rejoice, and he's writing this,
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remember, from prison.
He says rejoice in the Lordalways.
And again, I say rejoice.
What he's telling them is thatit doesn't matter your
circumstances.
The joy of the Lord can be yourstrength.
The rejoice, the act of havingjoy in your life can be your
testimony to other people, andnot in a fake it till you make
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it kind of way.
I mean in a true, genuineexperience, the joy of God in
your life kind of thing.
And that only comes from havingexperience with God and drawing
near to God, because he's thesource of the joy that we're
talking about and so that'sexactly what we're talking about
here is that we would be those,that it doesn't matter our
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circumstances, it doesn't matterthat we're in the valley of the
shadow of death, as we sangtoday these prayers that he will
be the good shepherd who guidesus death.
As we sang today these prayersthat he will be the good
shepherd who guides us throughit, says your rod and your staff
.
They comfort me that you aregoing to be the one that is
there.
You're the strong tower, you'rethe eagle's wings over me.
You are more than enough for me.
So I will rejoice, despite mycircumstances, despite the thing
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I'm going through, despite whatI feel is insurmountable things
Guess what?
The joy of the Lord is mystrength and I can stand in the
strength of who he is and thepromises of what he has for me,
continues forward in verse five,and it says it like this Let
your reasonableness be known toeveryone.
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The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious aboutanything, but in everything, by
prayer and supplication, withthanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God.
I love this, and it hinges onthis very first part of this
promise.
The Lord is at hand.
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What does it mean?
It means that he is there,available for you to reach out
and touch.
He is right beside you, he hasnot left you.
He is the good shepherd, notthe one that runs off, but the
one that fights the wolves andfriends.
That's what we're talking aboutis that, since he is for you and
since he's available with you,we do not have to live in fear,
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but instead we can draw near tohim.
He is our source and what wefind is that the perfect love,
the perfect holiness, theperfection that is the presence
of God.
As we draw near to him, what itdoes is it starts to push out
all of our imperfections.
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We start to embrace his work inus, it starts to work through
us, and that's why, even as weaccept his work for us, we know
that we're still people that arein process and that, even as
Paul writes, that we're notperfect.
So since we're not, then weneed to embrace what he's doing
so he can work in and through us, because he's at hand, he
hasn't left you, he hasn'tforsaken you, and as he works
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that in us, and as ourimperfections, our brokenness is
made whole, is healed and isworked through, then what
happens is that he actuallystarts to be the one that gives
you more than you need.
It talks about that we shouldnot be anxious, do not be
anxious, do not be stressed out,but instead embrace what he's
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doing for us.
And you think about this, thinkabout all the anxiety that we
might expect.
Sometimes our stresses havestresses.
How many people know what I'mtalking about?
And you start going down therabbit hole of stress in your
life and you're like stress onthis and stress and stress and
stress.
What if this happens?
What if that happens?
And what if they do this right?
And then there's a nuclearexplosion, and then blah, blah,
blah and you can be so stressedout that you can't even accept
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what God is trying to do in yourcurrent circumstances, because
you're so far down the road inanxiety.
And he's saying to you do notbe anxious, but by prayer.
And this is the thing is, thisis the big hinge it's by prayer.
So what is prayer?
Prayer is communication withGod, it's drawing near to him
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and not just you talking, butalso hearing what he's speaking
to you.
And so often people will comeand say, pastor, you know, I
need some wisdom on this.
I need some guidance.
I'm like praise the Lord, let'spray, let's hear.
Have you been praying?
Yeah, they're like, no, no,I've been stressing out about it
.
I'm like cool, that's not whatthe scripture says.
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So we're going to pray.
So let's start with that.
And I'm guilty, you know.
I'm like oh man, lord, whatabout church?
We have this thing and thisthing.
He's like great.
Draw near to me.
Draw near to me Because I'm thesource of these things, that by
prayer and supplication, that Iwill be more than enough for
(32:14):
you.
What you're looking for is inthat relationship with God.
What you're looking for is atthe source of your relationship
with him and drawing near to him, because his perfect presence
pushes out everything that's notperfect.
His perfect presence is peace,it says in verse 7, and the
(32:36):
peace of God, which surpassesall understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds inChrist Jesus, which surpasses
all understanding.
(32:57):
Friends, whenever we can't giveanswers to what we're stressing
about, when we don't have theanswers or the way out, he does,
and so he is the source of theperfect peace.
It says the peace that passesall understanding.
Whenever we don't understandhow we possibly could have peace
(33:18):
in this circumstance.
He does because his presence ispeace over us.
So, as we draw near to him, thepeace of God will rest upon us,
the one that doesn't makelogical sense and it can't
because it's supernatural.
So the supernatural peace ofGod, which comes through prayer
and through his presence, willspeak over you and over your
(33:42):
circumstances and over yourfamily, and over those anxieties
that we're wrestling with andwe're struggling with and we're
fighting against, and the peaceof God will rest upon you.
And guess what starts to happen?
Then your heart starts to calmdown, then your mind starts to
(34:03):
calm down.
Why?
Because the Lord is at hand,he's present with you, and so it
talks about.
So you, because of this, thepresence of God, the peace of
God, will speak over you.
And so what you're supposed todo?
You're supposed to guard yourheart and guard your mind.
Guard your heart, guard yourmind.
You know, growing up as a churchkid man, so often you would
(34:24):
hear guard your heart.
And it was almost like a joke,because you know it was really
said more towards young ladieslooking at young men, because
many times the men in the churchwere actually wolves in sheep's
clothing.
So they're saying girl, youneed to guard your heart.
Guard your heart, girl.
That's not the right boy.
Guard your heart.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout.
(34:45):
You guys aren't admitting, butyou know what I'm talking about.
Guard your heart, and it'salmost like a joke, but it's not
a joke, because we do need toguard our heart and not just
against some boy, some girlthat's trying to bring you into
this darkness.
Stuff like that I mean thewhole beginning of Proverbs and
the king speaking to his sonwho's gonna be ruling is like
(35:07):
listen, don't run after thissketchy woman because she's a
pit of death and you couldflip-flop that the other way.
You know what I mean.
It's like listen, don't go dothat.
Don't run after this person.
Yes, they look appetizing.
Guess what their demise is.
What they are, that's what theyare.
Don't go after that.
So guard your heart.
And I don't mean just afterthat, I mean guard your heart
full stop, not after the money,not after the sex, not after
(35:32):
anything that would derail youfrom God's purpose for your life
.
The goal is what we're goingafter.
So, as we're living after thegoal, then we need to guard our
heart and we need to guard ourmind, because so often our heart
is our passion, it's ouremotion, and if we don't watch
it, then our passions and ouremotions can be fickle and
they'll take us every which way.
And even if you have yourpassions in check maybe you're a
(35:55):
more stoic person then we needto really pay attention to what
we have our mind about, becausewhatever we think about, what we
think about, what we thinkabout is what we will do.
What you think about is whatyou will do.
What you think about is whatyou will do.
What you entertain in your mindis what you eventually will
make excuses for and go do.
And so what we have to do is wehave to guard our heart and our
(36:15):
emotions.
We have to guard our mindbecause we have to go after the
things of God, because if wedon't watch it, this will derail
us or that will derail us.
So he's saying listen, thepeace of God be upon you, go us.
So he's saying listen, thepeace of God be upon you, go
after the goal which is found inJesus Christ alone, that we
would live victoriously in him.
(36:37):
It picks up in verse eight andsays finally brothers, whatever
is true, whatever is honorable,whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is commendable, if
there is any excellence, ifthere's anything worthy of
praise.
Think on these things, and Ilove this.
(37:01):
Think on these things.
Having a mind of Christ meansthinking about the good things
that God is doing.
And the mind of Christ, we knowthis garbage in, garbage out.
So if we're putting good thingsin, then that's what's going to
come out.
And that's why we talk abouthaving your daily reading of the
word of God is because it willchallenge the attitude you have
in the morning when you haven'thad coffee.
Yet Some of us need to read ittwice a day.
(37:25):
You know what I mean.
That way it can challenge theattitude you had from a bad day
you had.
So we can come in alignmentwith him.
And I don't mean that in aslapping way.
I mean that in a challenge tome and to us that we would think
on these things, because sooften it's easy to pick up all
the negative things.
We're pretty good at that,aren't we?
(37:46):
All the negative things?
We're pretty good at that,aren't we?
All the negative things.
We're like, oh, this is bad,and this is bad, and this is bad
and this is bad.
We think about all the badthings that are happening
instead of Lord.
Thank you for today.
Thank you for a new opportunityfor today.
Thank you, lord, for the thingsthat are going good in my life.
Thank you, lord, for shelterover me and I had some food
today.
Thank you for running water andelectricity at work today,
friends, I've been around theworld.
(38:07):
I don't even have that.
Thank you, lord, there was acommode today that things went
away from me, and not in a pile,lord.
Thank you God.
Thank you, god that I have themind of Christ and so my
attitude is not a spiritual pileof mess, but instead, lord,
you're working through me so wecould be different, so we can
live with purpose.
(38:28):
See, we get so wrapped up in ourown thing.
We can never be intentional inloving another person because
we're so wrapped up in our ownmess that we're broken.
And if we stay broken, that'swhat the enemy wants for you is
you to stay broken, so you cannever be intentional in having
the purpose that God wants youto fulfill.
Friends, we need to be thosethat are living for God with the
(38:50):
end in mind.
And he says this, and it givesyou frame of reference for what
we've been talking about today.
Paul writes.
He says I know how to bebrought low and I know how to
abound In any and everycircumstance.
I have learned the secret offacing plenty and hunger,
abundance and need.
(39:11):
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.
Friends, that's what he'stalking about.
Is it doesn't matter what we'refacing, it doesn't matter if
it's good times or in bad.
The consistency is found inJesus Christ, and whenever he is
our source, then it doesn'tmatter if it's good times or in
bad.
The consistency is found inJesus Christ.
And whenever he is our source,then it doesn't matter what
(39:31):
we're facing, because the peaceof God is always ours, the joy
of the Lord is always ours.
It doesn't matter what we'regoing through, because it's an
internal driver from the holyGod where we're spending time to
in prayer, and so his presenceis doing these things inside of
us, and so we can say I can doall things.
(39:55):
It's not the I in that sentence.
It is through Christ whostrengthens me.
That's the promise that we have.
Is that it's found in Christ,and if we have this mindset,
where we think about it, oh,it's only there's limited
resource.
That's not what he says.
That's not what the Word of Godsays.
The Word of God says this inPhilippians 4.19, and my God
will supply every need of yoursaccording to his riches in glory
(40:20):
in Christ Jesus.
See, that's why we know that heis more than capable, because
his riches, it's riches in glory, it's his riches, not your
riches, not gonna do it with a50 cents in your pocket, no,
he's gonna do it with the gloryof what he has, of what he is
doing, with his intentionalityin your story.
So, as we draw near to him,that's his presence.
(40:43):
That is the first thing,because it's his presence which
brings the peace.
It's his presence which bringsthe peace, it's his presence
which brings the joy.
It's all those things.
And then, as we have the heart,the focus of God, and then we
have the mind of Christ, well,guess what?
Well then, these other thingsdon't own us, so he can trust
you with more.
And then the physical resources.
Well, guess what All of thatfollows?
(41:04):
It's a seek.
First, the kingdom of God, andall of these other things will
follow unto you.
And so, friends, let's be thosethat focus with the goal in
mind and understand that the joyof the Lord is our strength and
that, through Christ, it is inChrist who strengthens me, we
(41:29):
will be more like Jesus.
Today we have this opportunityto respond to him and to the
message of God, to what he'sbeen speaking to us.
Maybe you're here.
You've never made a decision tofollow Jesus.
Today's your opportunity to doso.
It's your opportunity to inviteChrist into your heart and life
, to say Jesus, I believe youare who you say you are, and so,
(41:52):
lord, I place my faith andtrust in you.
Lord, I believe that you cameand you became a sacrifice for
all of us.
You lived a sinless life, lord,that you took on my sin and my
mistakes, and because you tookthem onto yourself and you paid
for those mistakes with yourlife or I can be made free of
(42:12):
those, I can be forgiven of allmy sin and all my brokenness.
See, that's what Jesus did forus upon the cross.
That's why the symbol, thecross, is so powerful, because
the cross is a place where Jesussuffered for you.
He suffered for me, he took theweight of the world upon
himself and he paid for it onceand for all.
(42:33):
And so that's why, whenever wemake a decision to follow Jesus,
it's not just as our savior,it's as our Lord, it's an
alignment with him saying Lord,I wanna belong to you.
I know whose team I'm on.
I'm on your team, an eternalone, that I want to live for you
and I want to live with purposeso that at the end of this
thing, whenever I meet you faceto face, you can say well done,
(42:55):
good and faithful servant.
The Apostle Paul, I read to thechurch at Rome.
He says it like this because ifyou confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and believein your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will besaved.
For with the heart, onebelieves and is justified.
With the mouth, one confessesand is saved.
(43:17):
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to make adecision to follow Jesus.
I'm gonna ask, if you're herein the room, if you just stand
to your feet right where you'reat you, bow your head.
If you're online, you prepareyour heart for what God wants to
do, what he wants to say.
It's a powerful thing.
I've seen many people in thesepast weeks make a decision to
(43:40):
follow Jesus.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day to say yes toJesus, to invite him into your
heart and life, as people arepreparing their hearts online,
as people are preparing theirhearts.
Here in the room, heads arebowed.
If that's you, you say, pastor,I want to be included in that
prayer today.
I want to invite Jesus into myheart and my life, be the savior
(44:03):
of my life.
Maybe you've made a decision inthe past, but you haven't been
living it and you need to make arecommitment to him.
Today's your opportunity.
Raise your hand and say, lord,I made a commitment to you that
I wanna live this thing for real.
I know whose team I'm on.
If that's you, heads are bowed.
(44:25):
If you wanna raise your handright now and say, pastor,
that's me, include me in thatprayer today.
I want to invite Jesus into myheart and life.
Thank you, lord.
It's people making decisions.
Thank you, god.
Thank you, lord.
Others making decisions See thehands that are there, hands
that are here, hands that arethere.
Thank you, lord.
Other people making.
I'm gonna ask us allcollectively to say this prayer
(44:45):
aloud after me Lord, thank youfor loving me, thank you for
sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
(45:07):
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Many people raising their handtoday Praise the Lord.
We encourage you in this.
That, as that's you, you raiseyour hand today, connect with us
in the back.
(45:28):
We wanna put some resource inyour hand.
If you're online, wherever youare, connect with us.
We don't want you to live thislife alone.
Friends, we are more thanconquerors in him who loved us,
and it's by Christ whostrengthens us that we can live
victoriously after him.
As we come to this altar today,we do so asking for more of his
empowerment, that we would notbe those full of anxiety or
(45:57):
anxious about anything, butinstead that we would know the
peace of God, the joy of theLord, and that the provision of
God would be ours as we drawnear to him.
Lord, we thank you so much.
We pray, lord, giving youpraise for this word today.
Lord, thank you for challengingus, speaking to us through this
word today.
Lord, thank you for challengingus, speaking to us through your
word today.
Lord, thank you for the exampleof Paul or the church at
Philippi.
Lord, and how we too could bechallenged by the things that
(46:17):
you were challenging with Lord,as we could draw near to you.
Today, lord, we ask for more ofyour presence, more of who you
are.
Lord, that we would have ahunger, lord, to spend time with
you in your word and in prayer,but God, also in this moment.
Lord, that you would give usthe peace that passes all
understanding.
Lord, that we would know thejoy of the Lord that would be
our strength despite ourcircumstances.
(46:38):
Lord, that we would see theprovision of God that comes from
your presence.
Lord, all these things and moreas we draw near to you.
We thank you.
We pray this in the powerfulname of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
Oh, what a great morning it has been.
Thank you for coming and I wantto let you know next week we
are having our Spring FamilySunday.
It's going to be right aftersecond service, but I need you.
I'm going to tell you right now.
I need you.
So we're going to be setting upat 730 in the morning.
We're going to be setting up at730 in the morning.
If you can come and join me, wewill be out here.
It's going to be 80 degreesnext Sunday.
It's going to be gorgeous.
(47:10):
Invite somebody to come withyou.
Also, we need side dishes.
We're going to supply all ofthe main food, but we need you
just to bring side dishes.
So salads, desserts, casseroles, whatever you can whip up,
bring it.
It's just going to be a fun.
It whip up, bring it.
It's just going to be a fun.
It's going to be a family day,and so you can sign up as you're
(47:30):
headed out.
There's some sheets out there.
You can also go on the app andwe're just going to enjoy the
outdoors while we can, becausewe know it only lasts a couple
weeks, and so just come.
It's going to be a great Sunday.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Amen.
Bring some green corn tamales.
Amen, before we go, a praiseblessing over us today.
Bring some green corn tamales,amen, before we go.
I pray this blessing over ustoday.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(48:06):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church.
Give you peace, lord.
I pray a blessing upon yourchurch, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray all this in thepowerful name that is Jesus
Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
God bless you and have a greatweek.
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