March 3, 2025 • 40 mins
Embark on a profound journey to the breathtaking heights of Nepal in our latest episode, where we explore the intersections of faith, beauty, and life's profound purpose. From the majestic Himalayas to the bustling streets of Kathmandu, we recount stories of spiritual hunger that parallel our own pursuits in the complexities of modern life. Amidst the chaos and vibrant culture, we witness how many chase after false hopes and counterfeit gods while God beckons us toward authentic significance.
This episode unveils not just a travelogue, but a tapestry of life lessons learned in a land rich with faith yet challenged by adversity. From encountering courageous pastors facing persecution to hearing how love abounds within a community despite their struggles, we are reminded of our collective calling to live out our faith boldly every day.
At the core of our exploration, we reflect on how the teachings of Paul in Philippians encourage us to actively engage in the refinement of our character as we embrace God’s transformative love. These moving testimonies spark spirited conversations about our spiritual awakenings and the vitality of our friendships, as we foster relationships built on faith, hope, and community.
Join us as we unravel the beauty of this journey and challenge ourselves to deepen our commitment to living out our faith. We're all called to an incredible life filled with purpose, courage, and unyielding love! Don’t miss out—connect with us and share your thoughts. Remember to subscribe, review, and invite others to experience the love of Christ with us!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
You know, I got in last nightfrom being in Nepal and it's the
foothills that go all the wayup to the Himalayas and so many
people will trek to places likeNepal in looking to scale the
mountains and we know so manythat have done that in the
famous peaks that are there thatso many people take and they
(00:23):
scale those things, and sothey'll go to this country with
this anticipation to dosomething great and it's a
milestone for them and manypeople are seeking to have that
kind of understanding and theculmination in their life as
some kind of mile marker, andothers will go there and looking
for some kind of spiritualawakening and to search out some
kind of thing.
So it's a very interestingsetting because you have all
(00:46):
these people from across theworld coming to a place like
this in search of some kind ofsignificance, and then it's
people themselves are there inthis tension of trying to figure
these things out as well, andso it makes it a very charged
place spiritually, as people areseeking out all of these
different things.
Also, physically it's abeautiful place because you have
(01:06):
the peaks and the Alps in thedistance and then there, on the,
on the, the grounds, kind ofgoing up towards the mountains,
you have these beautiful rollinghills that they've teared down
and they're made into makingfood and growing rice and other
things, and so it's absolutelybeautiful and it's stunning in
that way.
But it's also a little bitperilous because all the roads
are right up next to the edge ofthe place.
(01:27):
And so I'm in the back of thevan just praying to the Lord,
thinking, oh, I'm gonna go seeJesus today.
I'm seeing Jesus today.
As the van goes closer andcloser and closer to the edge
Anybody know what I'm talkingabout.
And so, as you're going next tothe edges about, and so as
we're going next to the edges, Iwas just like taking it in.
I was like, oh, that's verybeautiful, I'm going to go see
Jesus.
Oh, that's very beautiful.
And I was just praying Lord bewith me.
(01:49):
You know what I mean.
But it was awesome because wegot a chance to really take it
in and get a chance to connectwith some people, and being
there with the people wasamazing.
But Kathmandu is a busy, verycrowded city and, as you might
see, it has all these verticalbuildings and it's kind of built
up where there are peopleeverywhere and it's it's a mash
of all these different culturescome together with its own
(02:11):
people having such a history anda pride and a courage to
themselves.
In fact, some of their warriorswere known as some of the most
fierce back in the day, whereeven during the great days of
the British empire, the Britishnever took over Nepal because of
their fierce warriors thatactually kept them at bay.
And it was those same warriorsthat later the British army
(02:33):
actually had come in and teachthem and have their own piece of
the military because of howfierce they were at these
Nepalese warriors that kind ofhad that the vanguard of running
into a battle and the strengthof the heat of the battle.
So it's an interesting peoplebecause they're people of
courage and a people that aresearching out spirituality and
(02:53):
all of these different momentskind of come together as one.
But as you look over the top ofthe city you see that the
highlight for them is actuallymany times is praying to all of
these different spirits, andthey do that at some of these
temples that they're there andso the high points of their city
, many of them are spirituallycharged and so people would be
(03:13):
going about their business,looking to go into worship in
these different places, prayingto all these different spirits
so that somehow those spiritscan help them to take a step up
to this next place.
And so, as a Christ follower,going and seeing this, we saw
where a person after personafter person were seeking out
something, but what they wereseeking was a counterfeit for
(03:33):
the real God.
And so they're seeking out toworship a small spirit, some
small little entity, or maybeeven engraving of something
that's representative there, and, as a result, they're not.
They're actually being blockedfrom actually having a real
relationship with the living God, and so it becomes a kind of a
heartbreak for us, because thepeople are beautiful people, but
(03:57):
their eyes are closedspiritually by worshiping all
these different idols and beingin the city.
It's a busy place.
It reminded me of our timeliving in Cairo or traveling to
India or the places like this,even parts of Asia.
People everywhere and goingabout their life and we took
this on our phone just standingthere in the middle of the
street and thinking about allthese different people, and
(04:18):
what's interesting about them isthat they have the busy side of
life, where they can get sopreoccupied in the busyness or
in the other spirituality, thatboth of those things keep them
from actually connecting to God.
And so, friends, we have towatch that that we ourselves
don't fall into that exact sametrap, that we don't get so busy
(04:40):
in our lives, in the city oflife, that we get drawn away
from God this way, and that wedon't go chasing after these
other false gods, that weourselves get separated from the
very one that we're trying toreach.
The real significance thatlasts for eternity.
That's not just a mountaintopmoment, that's not just some
spiritual high for a second, butis instead a lasting connection
(05:03):
with the living God.
Friends, that's what we'relooking after, and it was a
powerful thing because we got togo and be an encouragement to a
number of pastors there.
We had this pastors meetingthat was for all the different
pastors that were there in thecity, and we got to go and to
help them and to challenge themand to encourage them.
And it was a powerful thing forus and I wanna say thank you
(05:24):
for giving to Kingdom Builders.
We were enabled to helphundreds of pastors come and
participate in the meetings andI'll tell you, it was powerful
because they're coming in fromsome of them four hours away by
motorbike to come down themountains and to be a part of
the meeting, and many of themdon't have the means to really
do anything, so they're stayingthere in the building and
they're having the food that'sprepared and they're living
(05:47):
right there, and so we were ableto help, sponsor them to go and
participate in those meetings.
So I wanna say thank you foryour sacrifice, thank you for
investing so that other peoplecan be encouraged to live for
God in a very difficult place.
See, for them it's illegal tobecome a Christian.
For them, the government isagainst them.
It's one of those things whereproselytizing is against the law
(06:08):
, and so, for them, even being apastor every week is an illegal
thing.
For them, to proclaim themessage of God is an illegal
thing.
And as people come to Christand I'll tell you this, in the
middle of persecution, thechurch is exploding because
people are finding Jesus Christ,they're finding the hope that
they're looking for, they'refinding the true answer that's
not in a false idol, that's notin some kind of obscure little
(06:32):
spirit, but is a real powerwhich is in Christ alone.
And so, for them, they'recoming and finding this
experience, and it's a powerfulthing, and we saw such an
amazing experience from thepastors coming and having that
breakthrough moment where theythemselves are being poured into
by the Holy Spirit and thengoing back out into their cities
and this week, on this weekend,going and sharing the love of
(06:53):
Christ with people in theircommunity.
We're seeing more and morepeople come to know the love of
Christ.
I had an opportunity to sharethere, as well as in Bangkok,
and get to speak with our sisterchurch there at ICA, and so
getting a chance to challengethem was amazing.
I'll tell you, my Nepalese isnot that great, so I had an
amazing interpreter and he waspreaching a better sermon than
(07:15):
me.
How many people know what I'msaying?
So I'm saying something andthen he's getting a very good
response.
I was like this is a goodsermon.
I don't know what he's saying,but it's very good, and so I was
encouraged and the people wereblessed.
But it's it's a differentsetting, though.
What we have you can see inthis next image where everyone's
sitting on the ground.
You know it's it's separatedthe men from the women.
It's very cultural for their,for their experience.
(07:35):
But I'll say this they areserious about their love for
Christ.
They are serious about livingthe love of Christ out to their
neighbors.
They know what it means to bepersecuted.
They know what it means toexperience the government coming
in and taking their stuff awayfrom them because of their
relationship with Jesus.
See, for them, they're notplaying around, they're not
(07:57):
playing games, they're livingthis thing for real.
So, for them, to live is Christand to die is gain, and what
that means is that they haveweighed the cost of following
Jesus and they've said it'sworth it.
I'm going to live for Jesus, nomatter what comes my direction.
And so for them, they'vealready had it be resolved that,
(08:18):
as for me and my house, we willserve the Lord, and they're
saying that every day, puttingtheir life on the line and
understanding that this thingmay come against them.
But guess what?
He is greater than mycircumstances, and the end of
this thing, even if I go throughdifficulty, is greater than
what I'm experiencing right now.
So greater is he that is in methan he that is in the world,
(08:39):
and so we will be overcomers.
We are more than a conquerorthrough him who is in us than
the world, and so, because ofthat, they live it out every day
.
It reminded me whenever Celesteand I came back from living in
the Middle East and we came tothe American church and it felt
like the American church wasplaying games, felt like they
(08:59):
came and they worshiped togetherwhen it felt convenient.
They came and they were a partof stuff, as they wanted to be.
And meanwhile we're in theMiddle East and the Christians
were being attacked and bombedand we didn't stay back from
going to church the next weekendbecause they're not gonna scare
us into not believing in ourfaith.
We stood for Christ and we cameand worshiped the very same
(09:21):
week because we're not gonnastand down to anybody that's
doing that to us, becausegreater is he than he who's in
the world.
Friends, whenever we make adecision to live our life for
real, to live as Christ, to dieas gain, because whenever we go
through that doorway calleddeath, we're not afraid, because
(09:43):
we know who we belong to, weknow where we're going and
because of that, then no one canscare us by taking our life
here, because our eternal rewardis greater than our present
darkness.
Be encouraged.
Be encouraged because that'swhat it means for all of us that
live this thing out to the veryend.
(10:04):
Well done, good and faithfulservant.
Today we continue.
We start a new series called InPhilippians and where we can
take a look at the book ofPhilippians.
It's written to us from Pauland it's an exciting thing as we
take a look there, because Paulis writing to the church.
He's encouraging us to be thosethat live it out for real and
(10:25):
that live a character of Christ.
He's writing to a church thathe started during his second
missionary journey and so, ashe's writing, many Bible
theologians believe that he'sdoing so writing from prison in
Rome back to the church atPhilippi.
You know that city was startedby Alexander the Great's father,
philip, and so that it's inMacedonia modern day Macedonia
(10:47):
today and it was a place ofnotoriety.
It was one tied back to theirfamily homelands, and so this is
kind of the birthplace ofAlexander the Great.
Actually, celeste and I havehad an opportunity to be in
Philip's home in Macedonia andthe place that is actually where
the city was founded.
It's a pretty amazing thing tothink about how that church it
(11:07):
was standing up against theculture of its day, which was
just like we were seeing inNepal was worshiping all sorts
of idols.
The church was standing forJesus and they'd had a real life
change, and so they'reencouraging others in the same
way.
They had so enveloped in theircharacter of Christ that it
wasn't just about them, but theywere actually sending support
to Paul and to others in amissionary effort so other
(11:30):
people could hear about thegospel.
So even back there in their day, they were showing us a model
of what it means to be kingdombuilders and to be sacrificing
so other people can know thelove of God.
And so this is where we hearthis letter written back from
Paul to the church at Philippi.
Is that it's an encouragingletter, unlike some of the other
ones where when you open theletter, it feels like it's
slapping you in the face.
(11:51):
This one is more of anencouragement saying hey,
continue in the path of what Godis already doing in your life.
Let it be a blessing as we livethis life after Jesus.
See, that's how we seeourselves here at Cornerstone is
that we are people that arefollowing after him, and so we
use this imagery of walking withChrist because that's how we
see ourselves.
(12:11):
None of us have arrived.
All of us are still followingJesus where he's leading us to
go, and that means that everysingle one of us is imperfect
and all of us need a savior, andso we're following Jesus
because we want to be more likeJesus and friends.
Let me encourage you that youwould join in that effort, that
(12:31):
you yourself would take thatchallenge and say yes to Christ
and invite him into your heartand life.
He is the answer that you'relooking for, that we would be
more like him Collectively.
We love God, we make disciples,we reach the world.
That's why we live the way wedo.
We want to empower others toexperience the love of Christ in
(12:52):
this way.
And it's beyond our gatheringshere of our faith community.
It's throughout the week,throughout the city.
That's why we meet in lifegroups, so that we can dialogue
and we can build relationship.
And so let me encourage youthat you would be intentional,
because a lot of people were inlife groups this past week and
it was a great week for thembecause they were part of a life
group that was buildingcommunity together.
Let me encourage you to connectand grow and serve the Lord,
(13:15):
amen.
So we're going into Philippiansand we're talking about this
letter and looking at it for afew weeks here and the challenge
of what it is to us.
So if you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're
picking up here and startinglooking at Philippians 1 in
verse 6.
It says, and I am sure of this,that he who began a good work
in you will bring it tocompletion at the day of Jesus
(13:40):
Christ.
Will you say amen to that?
Amen?
You know, as we look about thisprocess, we see how it's
talking about completion and howhe's working in us.
Now we know that Christ,whenever he paid the price for
us upon the cross, that he didit once and for all for all
people.
So our perspective of the sinthat's been paid for is done by
(14:03):
Jesus Christ.
He said upon the cross it isfinished.
Can we say amen to that?
And because of that reason thatwhat it means is all those
things, they're already done andgone.
But as we embrace Christ, thenit's the development of our
character of saying yes to himthat it's being refined in us as
we become more like Jesus.
So that means it's a process ofus saying yes to God so we're
(14:25):
forgiven of all that sin andmade in right standing with him.
But it's also our character aswe say yes to him every day.
That's why it says that wewould have our daily bread.
It means our source, comingfrom God, that give us today our
daily bread right, give us ourdirection, our guidance, our
understanding, the mind ofChrist, all those things for
today, that Lord, we would be instep with what you want to do
(14:49):
Now.
As we talk about this too, wealso know that it's a process,
so that means that sometimes thecharacter that we have in us
needs to be taken off so we canbecome more like Jesus.
You know, as I was in Nepal, Iwas looking at how they had all
these amazing statues anddifferent pieces.
All of them are idols orrepresentative of spiritual
(15:10):
things, but they're allbeautiful, they've all been done
by hand and you can take athink about the time that was
put into it and the painting andall this other stuff.
And you know, you see somethinglike this.
It'd kind of be their versionof a gargoyle.
It's a representative of aspirit that they worship and
it's supposed to give themprotection against other bad
spirits.
So they're praying to an evilspirit to protect it from evil
(15:32):
spirits.
Do you see the problem that'shere, and not just that, but you
see the other things that arebehind them.
It's prayer wheels, and eachwheel is a prayer to a specific
spirit that's supposed to bedoing something for them.
And so, as they spin thesewheels and the prayers are
supposed to be going forwardtowards that spirit to do things
that the people want it to do.
And so the problem is, justlike it's talked about in
(15:55):
Christ's day, when Jesus castout the demons, the evil demons,
from others, they're like oh,he's doing it by the work of the
devil and he says does thedevil cast out the devil?
No, instead, what we see hereis the problem is that they're
beginning to try to use spiritsagainst spirits, when all of
those things are a counterfeitfor the living God.
And here's the thing thosethings are prayed for and
(16:19):
they're anointed towards thatspirit's focus.
So let me encourage you in thisthat whenever we, from a Western
perspective, see something likethis, we think of it as
decoration.
We think like, oh, that lookscool, that'd be a cool vibe in
my house, and other things likethis.
But let me tell you this thatthe people who made that thing
have a different intentionalityfor it than you do as decor in
(16:42):
your home, and though they mightbe a beautiful item or thing.
I mean encourage you that youwould get those things out of
your house and out of yoursphere of influence, out of your
home, out of your family,because those things do have a
spiritual intonation andinclination that's different
than the heart that Christ hasin you, and so there'll be a
conflict between the spirit ofthose things you're trying to
welcome and the one that youhave inside of you.
(17:04):
So let me encourage you thatyou get those things out of your
heart in life, even especiallybecause you've done so in
ignorance, where you're nottrying to bring that stuff in,
but instead just remove thatstuff out of your life, so you
have no conflict with whatChrist wants to do through your
life.
Amen.
Now, think about this.
Now.
I think the beauty of it isamazing and you think of the
skill and the craftsmanship.
This is a panel from one of theopening doors we had at a place
(17:27):
we were staying and I wasthinking about all of the time
and the effort that it took todo something like this, and it's
absolutely beautiful.
Now it's meant to be a guardianagainst something, a spirit
against a spirit.
So the focus of what it is isnot our heart, but you can think
about the process by whichsomeone had to learn this skill
and it's absolutely amazing.
I was thinking about just thetime it would take to do one
(17:49):
little corner, one little bit ofthe flower.
And I'm somebody who uses thecorrect key all the time on my
laptop.
Anybody else Undo?
You guys do undo at all.
I'm like no undo, I'm thinkingabout.
These guys are like and that'sa whole other panel, let's start
it again.
You know what I'm saying?
That would be crazy, but it'samazing how the artist can see
(18:11):
something that's not there andthen make it come alive out of
it.
Now, for us, it says right therein the top 10 of those things
commandments given to us.
Right, the 10 commandments donot have a graven image, do not
be worshiping other gods.
So the idea to go and to makesomething to worship is against
the very heart of what we have,because we're worshiping the
(18:32):
living God and it talks abouthow he, instead as the master,
is against the very heart ofwhat we have, because we're
worshiping the living God and ittalks about how he, instead as
the master, is actually the onethat's using us in his hands as
a tool for what he wants us todo the purpose and the plan he
has for our lives, and so verymuch it's actually the other way
around, where he is the onethat is doing the work in our
lives and taking off whatshouldn't be there, so we can be
(18:55):
representative of what he wantsus to be.
And that's a hard thing because, in a character we know,
whenever he starts to work onour character and starts to
chisel against us because it'snot so fun, it's not so fun.
I'm gonna try over here wherepeople are gonna smile at me, hi
, hi, you guys more receptive towhat I'm saying, right, because
(19:20):
the thing is we know wheneverHoly Spirit starts to talk to us
about things in our life thatwe need to get challenged on,
like whenever he's talking to usabout forgiving somebody and we
don't want to, and one of thosethings where it's like he's
challenged us on our attitudeand how we're example of Christ
(19:40):
and other people know that andthen we're being a terrible
witness at a workplace or we'reusing choice words that we
shouldn't be using Rats up, ratsup, rats up, up, up.
And here's the thing we could besomeone, someone, especially
those of us with you knowletters and things on our names
that make us very spiritual.
(20:01):
We especially need to belistening to this, because he's
like hey, we're like god, Ialready forgave all these people
.
He's like cool, very cool.
Remember how you got offendedagain and picked up your old
offense?
Remember that.
Remember how you need toforgive them again, because I
forgave you much.
You need to also forgive.
Here.
I'm like right, right.
He's like remember the badattitude you had?
(20:23):
Was that really being the loveof Christ to people?
I'm like God.
I was traveling for 30 hours toget home.
You know the people were onthese planes, do you know?
He's like yeah, I know You'reone of them.
I know how are you going to be,how are you going to be the
love of Christ to them?
How are you going to reflectthe love of God?
(20:48):
See, he's working on all of us.
None of us are finished All ofus until we see Jesus face to
face.
He's not done with you yet, andfriends, be happy about that,
because in your circumstances,he's not done with you yet, and
so, whenever you're facingsomething difficult, he's not
done with you yet.
He's still working on all of usso we can be more like him.
(21:09):
See, we have to accept this byfaith, because it's by faith
that's the currency of thekingdom of God.
We have to say yes, lord, Ibelieve you are who you say you
are, that you keep your promisesand that your promises are good
, and so that's what we have todo is, by faith, say yes to God
and keep on saying yes.
When we come to those characterissues, it is very much that
(21:31):
it's that piece where he'strying to work in us so that we
reflect him more.
So whenever someone talks aboutyour character, are they
talking about thecharacteristics of God or are
they talking aboutcharacteristics of other things?
See, because character it talksabout who you are and what you
represent.
But what I love is that he willnot stop with us.
(21:52):
He wants to see us be completedtowards the purposes he has for
us and the life that he's givenus, with the plan that he has
for us.
And if we say yes to him, he'llkeep on working on us so that
we can live in a different waythat's greater than our own
plans for ourselves, the thingthat's in us that will break off
the curse that's from before.
So the generations in front ofus don't live underneath that,
(22:15):
but they live underneath theblessing of God and the
direction of God and theguidance of the Lord, that the
curses from before and mistakesfrom before are gone.
In the name of Jesus Christ,they stop with me and with mine
so that we can go forward inChrist.
Friends, that's what we'retalking about, because he will
complete the good work thatstarted in you.
Continues here in the scripture.
(22:36):
He picks up here in verse nine.
It says and it is my prayerthat your love may abound more
and more, and knowledge and alldiscernment, so that you may
approve what is excellent.
So be pure and blameless forthe day of Christ, filled with
the fruit of righteousness thatcomes through Jesus Christ to
(22:57):
the glory and the praise of God,amen.
What does it say here?
It says that your love mayabound more and more.
Think about this.
In all of these pieces of thescripture, though, it's talking
about discernment and wisdom.
It's talking about ourcharacter and the fruit of the
spirit of God in our lives.
Right, the fruit of the spiritlove, joys, peace, patience,
(23:20):
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.
You see all these differentelements that we want to be said
about us, but it all startswith love.
It starts with the love of God.
Why?
Because the love of God is thefirst thing, the first
motivating factor of how hereached us where we are.
We experienced his love first,and when other people experience
us, that they would experiencethe love of God as well, that we
(23:42):
would respond with the love ofGod.
We know the difference betweensomeone who knows about God and
someone who's experienced God,because someone who knows about
God, knows books about God, theyknow the analytical things,
dates and times and blah, blah,blah.
Those are good things to know,but to know the presence and the
character of God is so muchmore, because that's the
(24:04):
transformation, is the one fromthe heart.
So, friends, that's why we drawnear to him, face to face, so
that we too can experience thelove of God, and it's from being
in his presence that his lovewill flow out to others.
So whenever we draw near to him, then we get it for ourselves,
but not just for ourselves, weget it for others too, because
(24:25):
whatever the abundance of theheart has is what comes out of
us.
So let that be the love ofChrist.
We've been talking about battlefor the family, and so we talked
about how valuable kids are toGod and how children are
something that's valuable to theLord.
When we were in Nepal, we sawthese amazing Nepalese kids are
so awesome and many of them arecoming out of poverty.
(24:48):
They don't have anything, butGod's value is for them and he
has a purpose and a plan fortheir life and he's made
provision for many of them.
And we heard stories ofmiracles and how God had saved
so many out of lives that weremeant for abuse or for
trafficking and for other things, and how God had redeemed them
and he established a new futurefor them, and we saw something
(25:11):
powerful with that moment.
In fact, one of those that wewere serving with she served for
50 years in the country andover those 50 years she's had
over 70 children that she savedfrom that type of life.
And now those children, nowthat she's in her older years,
those children themselves havefamilies and they have broken
(25:32):
off the curse of their past andtheir family is living in a
different way.
They have gone on to becomepastors and go into the West and
have these amazing places ofseniority and influence, all
living under the power of Christ, because something that was
modeled to them is that they hadvalue, though they came from
nothing and no one wanted them.
(25:53):
She loved them, with the loveof Christ, because God values
them, and so she scooped them upand cared for them the way that
Christ had cared for her, andit changed everything because
she said yes to God, because sheloved them.
I think about our own kids.
They just got back from KidConand they had an amazing time
(26:14):
worshiping the Lord, and what'sawesome about that is that our
kids too, even in our owncontext, even in our own spheres
, they had a heart to go intoworship God and all their voices
are lifting up to God andfocusing on him, because our
kids are not going to be thechurch.
Our children are the church.
They have their relationshipwith God and their prayers are
(26:35):
heard before the Lord, and sothat's the same value that we
have that each one of us, fromthe time we're first in our
first infancy of ourrelationship with God, would
understand that we have apurpose and a plan, that our
voice is heard by our father inheaven and that we can
communicate with him.
It continues here in verse 12and says this I want you to know
(27:04):
, brothers, that what hashappened to me has really served
to advance.
It continues here in verse 12and says this Now, this was a
question for the church inPhilippi.
They were trying to understand,while their leader, the guy who
started their church, theirpastor, why God had saved him
(27:26):
from so many other circumstances, why he had been saved from
shipwreck and snake bite and hehad been brought back from being
stoned to death for his faithin Christ and he'd been led out
of other places and givenfreedom from prison.
And now he's in prison in Romeand he's been kept there and
they're trying to say well,what's going on?
Is something the matter withPaul, like what's happening here
and what Paul is saying is no,actually, my imprisonment for my
(27:48):
faith has been made known toall these people and now it's a
witness to them of why we'rebeing imprisoned and they're
looking to understand of who weare and why we are different.
You know, this gives us a goodencouragement that our testimony
is so powerful, because when weuse our testimony for God, he
(28:09):
can use it to challenge thosewho are watching us, who don't
have a relationship with God yet.
I wonder how many times he willallow us to go through
something that will refine ourcharacter.
It will take off those edges aswe've been talking about, but
it's also as a testimony toothers that are watching you in
the middle of difficultcircumstances.
Are you going to go and actlike them and act like the rest
(28:32):
of the world, or are you goingto turn to God, who is your
source, and walk in the peace ofGod?
The understanding of God Does itmake it easy?
No, it does not.
Does it mean it's difficult?
Yes, it is, but the differenceis that he will not leave us.
He will not forsake us.
He is for us, even in themiddle of the death, even in the
middle of all that we gothrough, the suffering that we
(28:54):
might have to walk through.
He does not leave us alone,suffering that we might have to
walk through.
He does not leave us alone.
He is for us, he is with us andour future in him is greater
than our current reality.
So, friends, your testimony andwhat you say and what you show
in your character becomes anencouragement to others that say
, wow, I watched this sisterwalk through something difficult
(29:17):
, but she kept her faith in Godand in the end her outcome was
greater than what she wentthrough.
Or I saw this brother and hestayed faithful to God and yeah,
it wasn't easy and he had toreally walk it out.
But guess what?
Because of it, it was anencouragement to me Let me find
out what these people have thatI don't have, and that's why
it's an encouragement to us touse our testimony for God that
(29:41):
he won't leave us in the middleof what we're walking through In
the valley of the shadow ofdeath.
He's for you, he's with you,he'll guide and protect you and
walk you right out of thatseason into green pastures.
Philippians continues forwardhere, and it says this in verse
18.
It says what then?
Only that in every way, whetherin pretense or in truth, Christ
(30:02):
is proclaimed.
In that I rejoice, yes, I willrejoice.
Think about this perspectivethat Paul, though he's in prison
, though he's in chains, thoughhe's in a place he can't get out
of, he doesn't take it as woeis me and oh, I'm so suffering.
No, instead, he says no, I'mgonna rejoice in the Lord in the
(30:23):
middle of my circumstances.
That's a strong perspective.
That's realizing that yourcharacter and your value comes
not from you and what you'vedone, but in he who values you
as the child of God and you'resaying listen, I belong to him
and it is worthwhile serving him, even though I'm going through
something difficult.
(30:44):
We think about our friends, ourbrothers and sisters in faith
that today they themselves arein prison for their faith in
Jesus.
They're being persecuted intheir faith in Jesus.
Let's just offer a prayer up tothe Lord for them right now,
lord.
We just ask, lord, for ourbrothers and sisters right now,
lord, that are in prison fortheir faith, are going through
hardship or difficulty,persecution in their family, in
(31:06):
their community, by theirgovernment.
Lord, we ask and pray theprayer of faith, lord, that you
would minister to them right now.
They would know the presence ofthe Almighty God.
Lord, that they would know yourpresence, they would know the
peace that passes allunderstanding and, lord, the joy
of the Lord would be theirstrength.
Lord, we ask so that you wouldliberate them from them
(31:27):
circumstances, if at allpossible, but, lord, in the
midst of their difficulty, thatthey would continue to shine,
lord, and be a representative ofwho you are and Lord, those
around them, lord, even thosethat are persecuting them.
Lord would be them.
Lord, even those that arepersecuting them, lord would be
churned in heart towards you,lord, of the witness that these
people have made for you, lord,that you would be glorified in
the midst of it.
(31:48):
We thank you for these things.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen.
What we know is that you knowour joy of the Lord.
It comes from inside of us.
It comes from being in thepresence of the Lord.
It comes from inside of us.
It comes from being in thepresence of the Lord.
It's not happiness with ourcircumstances, because many
circumstances we go through wedon't want to go through Anybody
, in fact we don't wish them onpeople we don't even like,
(32:10):
because we don't want to gothrough it at all.
But here's the thing that inthe midst of difficult
circumstances, that we can stillhave the joy of the Lord
because that comes from beingwith him and that comes from
inside of us.
And that's why, in the middleof difficult things, like Paul
being in prison, that he canstill say I have the joy of the
(32:30):
Lord and I rejoice, even in thecircumstance I'm in, because he
is greater than my circumstance.
Friends, whenever we continuethis out, then that's where you
get to that last point, thatlast piece that says for me, to
live is Christ, to die is gain.
We can never get to this placeunless we understand who we are
(32:53):
in God.
We would never get to thisplace unless we understand that
we belong to him and that we'rebeing refined in our character,
that the love of God isabounding in us and that we're
shining the light of Christ, nomatter where we are.
Whenever we get to that place,then we start to understand that
, listen, I'm living this lifeas unto Christ.
So for me, my life is towardsChrist.
(33:16):
And if I die for my life inChrist, then guess what I win
either way, because this doorcalled death, I go into the
presence of God for eternity.
So we don't live with fear, wedon't live with any of those
things.
Our gain is eternal.
Our gain is the presence of himforever.
(33:36):
So we walk in the strength andthe understanding that our gain
is more of Christ and that weget to live in the love and the
peace of God for eternity.
So, friends, let us be thatreflection of who he is to us,
that we would live with loveabounding in the character of
God.
(33:56):
Today we have this opportunityto respond to him, as we want to
be more like Jesus.
We have that question that eachone of us has to answer in
saying have you embraced Jesus?
Maybe you're here and you'venever said yes to following
Jesus.
Today is your opportunity to doso.
It's your opportunity to invitehim into your heart and life,
(34:19):
to start a new relationship withhim.
Or maybe you have made adecision in the past but you've
walked away from living activelyafter him.
Today, friends, would be anopportunity to recommit your
heart back to him.
Say, lord, I believe you arewho you say you are.
I invite you into my heart andlife.
That, lord, you would save mefrom all these things.
(34:40):
Forgive me of my sin.
I wanna have a life with you,friends.
That's what it means to say yesto Jesus.
For us.
We see the symbol of the crossas one of freedom, one of
forgiveness, because Jesus tookall of the sin, all of my sin,
all of yours.
He took it all upon himself andhe paid for it upon the cross,
and with his death, with hissacrifice, it made us in right
(35:04):
standing with the father.
He became the holy sacrificethat we could never be.
We can't earn our way into thepresence of a holy God.
We can't do enough good things,we can't give enough gifts, we
can't do any of those things.
So instead, by faith, weembrace what Christ has done for
us.
That's why he came, that's whyhis mission was for us that we
(35:27):
would be redeemed and restoredback into that reconciliation of
a relationship with God.
Apostle Paul he writes to thechurch at Rome.
He says this because if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
(35:51):
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day of salvation,your opportunity to say yes to
Christ.
I'm gonna ask, if you're herein the room, if you just stand
right to your feet, right whereyou're at, bow your head, be
prepared to respond to what Godwants to do.
If you're online, whereveryou're at, prepare your heart to
say yes to God as heads arebowed here in the room.
(36:16):
Friends, if that's you, if youwanna make a decision to follow
Jesus today, if you just raiseyour hand right where you're at,
say, pastor, remember me inthis prayer.
Today I want to make a decisionto follow Christ.
I want to invite him into myheart and life.
See the hands here, hands there.
Thank you, lord, people makingcommitments, another hand that's
there, people makingrecommitments to the Lord.
Thank you, jesus.
(36:42):
Friends online, wherever youare across the world, you see
those hands that are raised fromhim.
I'm gonna ask if everyone wouldrepeat this prayer after me out
loud.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
(37:09):
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Praise the Lord.
If that was you, let meencourage you that you would
connect with us in the back.
We want to put some materialsinto your hands so that you're
successful in living this lifewith Christ.
(37:30):
If you're online, message us.
We want to connect with you soyou're not doing this life alone
.
Friends, all of us arechallenged with what it means to
say yes to Christ, to embracehis work inside of us, to live
that love abounding towardsothers.
As we come to this altar, we doso preparing our hearts,
because we're gonna come andhave communion together as an
(37:51):
exit today.
So let's come to this altarasking the Lord to remove
anything that would be betweenhim and us, and asking the Lord
to have all of who we are.
Lord, we thank you so much foryour word.
We thank you, lord, for Paul'sexample to us, lord, and his
challenge to us, and what itmeans to live with the joy of
the Lord as our strength, evenin the midst of difficult
(38:11):
circumstances.
Lord, we're not playing games.
Lord.
That we belong to you andbecause we belong to you, lord,
that we ask that you would helpus in our character, lord.
Help refine us, lord, that wewould have more of your love
abounding, more of who you are,lord, the forgiveness and the
joy that we would experience,lord, that it would be reflected
towards others, that they wouldsee a good testimony of what it
(38:33):
means to follow after Jesus.
Lord, we come to you today andto your table, lord, to remember
the great sacrifice you had forus, lord, your body and your
blood, which was shed for us andbroken for us.
Lord, that you, because of yoursacrifice, made it so we could
be made whole.
So we come to this altar today,lord, asking you, lord, to
cleanse us of anyunrighteousness.
(38:54):
Lord, help us in any area wherewe need help and your
assistance.
We ask for you to pour out yourspirit upon us.
We pray this in the powerfulname of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Amen.
We are so grateful that youjoined us.
Isn't God good?
You come and you receive, andhe just keeps giving.
Well, I want to let you know.
In just a couple of weeksyou've seen advertisement on it
we're going to have a springfamily day and I'm excited.
We're going to have a pettingzoo and all of that again.
So we need you.
We need you to invite peopleneighbors, friends, family,
(39:23):
colleagues.
Bring them, and not only that,but we need people just to jump
in and help.
It's going to be an amazing day.
You'll find a sign up on theapp or on the website.
You'll also see some paperwhere you can sign up out there
in the lobby as you head out.
But don't miss it.
It's three Sundays away andit's just going to be a great
day.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Amen.
Before we go, I'm going to praythis blessing over us.
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.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
(40:05):
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.
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
You know, I got in last nightfrom being in Nepal and it's the
foothills that go all the wayup to the Himalayas and so many
people will trek to places likeNepal in looking to scale the
mountains and we know so manythat have done that in the
famous peaks that are there thatso many people take and they
(00:23):
scale those things, and sothey'll go to this country with
this anticipation to dosomething great and it's a
milestone for them and manypeople are seeking to have that
kind of understanding and theculmination in their life as
some kind of mile marker, andothers will go there and looking
for some kind of spiritualawakening and to search out some
kind of thing.
So it's a very interestingsetting because you have all
(00:46):
these people from across theworld coming to a place like
this in search of some kind ofsignificance, and then it's
people themselves are there inthis tension of trying to figure
these things out as well, andso it makes it a very charged
place spiritually, as people areseeking out all of these
different things.
Also, physically it's abeautiful place because you have
(01:06):
the peaks and the Alps in thedistance and then there, on the,
on the, the grounds, kind ofgoing up towards the mountains,
you have these beautiful rollinghills that they've teared down
and they're made into makingfood and growing rice and other
things, and so it's absolutelybeautiful and it's stunning in
that way.
But it's also a little bitperilous because all the roads
are right up next to the edge ofthe place.
(01:27):
And so I'm in the back of thevan just praying to the Lord,
thinking, oh, I'm gonna go seeJesus today.
I'm seeing Jesus today.
As the van goes closer andcloser and closer to the edge
Anybody know what I'm talkingabout.
And so, as you're going next tothe edges about, and so as
we're going next to the edges, Iwas just like taking it in.
I was like, oh, that's verybeautiful, I'm going to go see
Jesus.
Oh, that's very beautiful.
And I was just praying Lord bewith me.
(01:49):
You know what I mean.
But it was awesome because wegot a chance to really take it
in and get a chance to connectwith some people, and being
there with the people wasamazing.
But Kathmandu is a busy, verycrowded city and, as you might
see, it has all these verticalbuildings and it's kind of built
up where there are peopleeverywhere and it's it's a mash
of all these different culturescome together with its own
(02:11):
people having such a history anda pride and a courage to
themselves.
In fact, some of their warriorswere known as some of the most
fierce back in the day, whereeven during the great days of
the British empire, the Britishnever took over Nepal because of
their fierce warriors thatactually kept them at bay.
And it was those same warriorsthat later the British army
(02:33):
actually had come in and teachthem and have their own piece of
the military because of howfierce they were at these
Nepalese warriors that kind ofhad that the vanguard of running
into a battle and the strengthof the heat of the battle.
So it's an interesting peoplebecause they're people of
courage and a people that aresearching out spirituality and
(02:53):
all of these different momentskind of come together as one.
But as you look over the top ofthe city you see that the
highlight for them is actuallymany times is praying to all of
these different spirits, andthey do that at some of these
temples that they're there andso the high points of their city
, many of them are spirituallycharged and so people would be
(03:13):
going about their business,looking to go into worship in
these different places, prayingto all these different spirits
so that somehow those spiritscan help them to take a step up
to this next place.
And so, as a Christ follower,going and seeing this, we saw
where a person after personafter person were seeking out
something, but what they wereseeking was a counterfeit for
(03:33):
the real God.
And so they're seeking out toworship a small spirit, some
small little entity, or maybeeven engraving of something
that's representative there, and, as a result, they're not.
They're actually being blockedfrom actually having a real
relationship with the living God, and so it becomes a kind of a
heartbreak for us, because thepeople are beautiful people, but
(03:57):
their eyes are closedspiritually by worshiping all
these different idols and beingin the city.
It's a busy place.
It reminded me of our timeliving in Cairo or traveling to
India or the places like this,even parts of Asia.
People everywhere and goingabout their life and we took
this on our phone just standingthere in the middle of the
street and thinking about allthese different people, and
(04:18):
what's interesting about them isthat they have the busy side of
life, where they can get sopreoccupied in the busyness or
in the other spirituality, thatboth of those things keep them
from actually connecting to God.
And so, friends, we have towatch that that we ourselves
don't fall into that exact sametrap, that we don't get so busy
(04:40):
in our lives, in the city oflife, that we get drawn away
from God this way, and that wedon't go chasing after these
other false gods, that weourselves get separated from the
very one that we're trying toreach.
The real significance thatlasts for eternity.
That's not just a mountaintopmoment, that's not just some
spiritual high for a second, butis instead a lasting connection
(05:03):
with the living God.
Friends, that's what we'relooking after, and it was a
powerful thing because we got togo and be an encouragement to a
number of pastors there.
We had this pastors meetingthat was for all the different
pastors that were there in thecity, and we got to go and to
help them and to challenge themand to encourage them.
And it was a powerful thing forus and I wanna say thank you
(05:24):
for giving to Kingdom Builders.
We were enabled to helphundreds of pastors come and
participate in the meetings andI'll tell you, it was powerful
because they're coming in fromsome of them four hours away by
motorbike to come down themountains and to be a part of
the meeting, and many of themdon't have the means to really
do anything, so they're stayingthere in the building and
they're having the food that'sprepared and they're living
(05:47):
right there, and so we were ableto help, sponsor them to go and
participate in those meetings.
So I wanna say thank you foryour sacrifice, thank you for
investing so that other peoplecan be encouraged to live for
God in a very difficult place.
See, for them it's illegal tobecome a Christian.
For them, the government isagainst them.
It's one of those things whereproselytizing is against the law
(06:08):
, and so, for them, even being apastor every week is an illegal
thing.
For them, to proclaim themessage of God is an illegal
thing.
And as people come to Christand I'll tell you this, in the
middle of persecution, thechurch is exploding because
people are finding Jesus Christ,they're finding the hope that
they're looking for, they'refinding the true answer that's
not in a false idol, that's notin some kind of obscure little
(06:32):
spirit, but is a real powerwhich is in Christ alone.
And so, for them, they'recoming and finding this
experience, and it's a powerfulthing, and we saw such an
amazing experience from thepastors coming and having that
breakthrough moment where theythemselves are being poured into
by the Holy Spirit and thengoing back out into their cities
and this week, on this weekend,going and sharing the love of
(06:53):
Christ with people in theircommunity.
We're seeing more and morepeople come to know the love of
Christ.
I had an opportunity to sharethere, as well as in Bangkok,
and get to speak with our sisterchurch there at ICA, and so
getting a chance to challengethem was amazing.
I'll tell you, my Nepalese isnot that great, so I had an
amazing interpreter and he waspreaching a better sermon than
(07:15):
me.
How many people know what I'msaying?
So I'm saying something andthen he's getting a very good
response.
I was like this is a goodsermon.
I don't know what he's saying,but it's very good, and so I was
encouraged and the people wereblessed.
But it's it's a differentsetting, though.
What we have you can see inthis next image where everyone's
sitting on the ground.
You know it's it's separatedthe men from the women.
It's very cultural for their,for their experience.
(07:35):
But I'll say this they areserious about their love for
Christ.
They are serious about livingthe love of Christ out to their
neighbors.
They know what it means to bepersecuted.
They know what it means toexperience the government coming
in and taking their stuff awayfrom them because of their
relationship with Jesus.
See, for them, they're notplaying around, they're not
(07:57):
playing games, they're livingthis thing for real.
So, for them, to live is Christand to die is gain, and what
that means is that they haveweighed the cost of following
Jesus and they've said it'sworth it.
I'm going to live for Jesus, nomatter what comes my direction.
And so for them, they'vealready had it be resolved that,
(08:18):
as for me and my house, we willserve the Lord, and they're
saying that every day, puttingtheir life on the line and
understanding that this thingmay come against them.
But guess what?
He is greater than mycircumstances, and the end of
this thing, even if I go throughdifficulty, is greater than
what I'm experiencing right now.
So greater is he that is in methan he that is in the world,
(08:39):
and so we will be overcomers.
We are more than a conquerorthrough him who is in us than
the world, and so, because ofthat, they live it out every day
.
It reminded me whenever Celesteand I came back from living in
the Middle East and we came tothe American church and it felt
like the American church wasplaying games, felt like they
(08:59):
came and they worshiped togetherwhen it felt convenient.
They came and they were a partof stuff, as they wanted to be.
And meanwhile we're in theMiddle East and the Christians
were being attacked and bombedand we didn't stay back from
going to church the next weekendbecause they're not gonna scare
us into not believing in ourfaith.
We stood for Christ and we cameand worshiped the very same
(09:21):
week because we're not gonnastand down to anybody that's
doing that to us, becausegreater is he than he who's in
the world.
Friends, whenever we make adecision to live our life for
real, to live as Christ, to dieas gain, because whenever we go
through that doorway calleddeath, we're not afraid, because
(09:43):
we know who we belong to, weknow where we're going and
because of that, then no one canscare us by taking our life
here, because our eternal rewardis greater than our present
darkness.
Be encouraged.
Be encouraged because that'swhat it means for all of us that
live this thing out to the veryend.
(10:04):
Well done, good and faithfulservant.
Today we continue.
We start a new series called InPhilippians and where we can
take a look at the book ofPhilippians.
It's written to us from Pauland it's an exciting thing as we
take a look there, because Paulis writing to the church.
He's encouraging us to be thosethat live it out for real and
(10:25):
that live a character of Christ.
He's writing to a church thathe started during his second
missionary journey and so, ashe's writing, many Bible
theologians believe that he'sdoing so writing from prison in
Rome back to the church atPhilippi.
You know that city was startedby Alexander the Great's father,
philip, and so that it's inMacedonia modern day Macedonia
(10:47):
today and it was a place ofnotoriety.
It was one tied back to theirfamily homelands, and so this is
kind of the birthplace ofAlexander the Great.
Actually, celeste and I havehad an opportunity to be in
Philip's home in Macedonia andthe place that is actually where
the city was founded.
It's a pretty amazing thing tothink about how that church it
(11:07):
was standing up against theculture of its day, which was
just like we were seeing inNepal was worshiping all sorts
of idols.
The church was standing forJesus and they'd had a real life
change, and so they'reencouraging others in the same
way.
They had so enveloped in theircharacter of Christ that it
wasn't just about them, but theywere actually sending support
to Paul and to others in amissionary effort so other
(11:30):
people could hear about thegospel.
So even back there in their day, they were showing us a model
of what it means to be kingdombuilders and to be sacrificing
so other people can know thelove of God.
And so this is where we hearthis letter written back from
Paul to the church at Philippi.
Is that it's an encouragingletter, unlike some of the other
ones where when you open theletter, it feels like it's
slapping you in the face.
(11:51):
This one is more of anencouragement saying hey,
continue in the path of what Godis already doing in your life.
Let it be a blessing as we livethis life after Jesus.
See, that's how we seeourselves here at Cornerstone is
that we are people that arefollowing after him, and so we
use this imagery of walking withChrist because that's how we
see ourselves.
(12:11):
None of us have arrived.
All of us are still followingJesus where he's leading us to
go, and that means that everysingle one of us is imperfect
and all of us need a savior, andso we're following Jesus
because we want to be more likeJesus and friends.
Let me encourage you that youwould join in that effort, that
(12:31):
you yourself would take thatchallenge and say yes to Christ
and invite him into your heartand life.
He is the answer that you'relooking for, that we would be
more like him Collectively.
We love God, we make disciples,we reach the world.
That's why we live the way wedo.
We want to empower others toexperience the love of Christ in
(12:52):
this way.
And it's beyond our gatheringshere of our faith community.
It's throughout the week,throughout the city.
That's why we meet in lifegroups, so that we can dialogue
and we can build relationship.
And so let me encourage youthat you would be intentional,
because a lot of people were inlife groups this past week and
it was a great week for thembecause they were part of a life
group that was buildingcommunity together.
Let me encourage you to connectand grow and serve the Lord,
(13:15):
amen.
So we're going into Philippiansand we're talking about this
letter and looking at it for afew weeks here and the challenge
of what it is to us.
So if you have your Bible, yourtablet, your phone, we're
picking up here and startinglooking at Philippians 1 in
verse 6.
It says, and I am sure of this,that he who began a good work
in you will bring it tocompletion at the day of Jesus
(13:40):
Christ.
Will you say amen to that?
Amen?
You know, as we look about thisprocess, we see how it's
talking about completion and howhe's working in us.
Now we know that Christ,whenever he paid the price for
us upon the cross, that he didit once and for all for all
people.
So our perspective of the sinthat's been paid for is done by
(14:03):
Jesus Christ.
He said upon the cross it isfinished.
Can we say amen to that?
And because of that reason thatwhat it means is all those
things, they're already done andgone.
But as we embrace Christ, thenit's the development of our
character of saying yes to himthat it's being refined in us as
we become more like Jesus.
So that means it's a process ofus saying yes to God so we're
(14:25):
forgiven of all that sin andmade in right standing with him.
But it's also our character aswe say yes to him every day.
That's why it says that wewould have our daily bread.
It means our source, comingfrom God, that give us today our
daily bread right, give us ourdirection, our guidance, our
understanding, the mind ofChrist, all those things for
today, that Lord, we would be instep with what you want to do
(14:49):
Now.
As we talk about this too, wealso know that it's a process,
so that means that sometimes thecharacter that we have in us
needs to be taken off so we canbecome more like Jesus.
You know, as I was in Nepal, Iwas looking at how they had all
these amazing statues anddifferent pieces.
All of them are idols orrepresentative of spiritual
(15:10):
things, but they're allbeautiful, they've all been done
by hand and you can take athink about the time that was
put into it and the painting andall this other stuff.
And you know, you see somethinglike this.
It'd kind of be their versionof a gargoyle.
It's a representative of aspirit that they worship and
it's supposed to give themprotection against other bad
spirits.
So they're praying to an evilspirit to protect it from evil
(15:32):
spirits.
Do you see the problem that'shere, and not just that, but you
see the other things that arebehind them.
It's prayer wheels, and eachwheel is a prayer to a specific
spirit that's supposed to bedoing something for them.
And so, as they spin thesewheels and the prayers are
supposed to be going forwardtowards that spirit to do things
that the people want it to do.
And so the problem is, justlike it's talked about in
(15:55):
Christ's day, when Jesus castout the demons, the evil demons,
from others, they're like oh,he's doing it by the work of the
devil and he says does thedevil cast out the devil?
No, instead, what we see hereis the problem is that they're
beginning to try to use spiritsagainst spirits, when all of
those things are a counterfeitfor the living God.
And here's the thing thosethings are prayed for and
(16:19):
they're anointed towards thatspirit's focus.
So let me encourage you in thisthat whenever we, from a Western
perspective, see something likethis, we think of it as
decoration.
We think like, oh, that lookscool, that'd be a cool vibe in
my house, and other things likethis.
But let me tell you this thatthe people who made that thing
have a different intentionalityfor it than you do as decor in
(16:42):
your home, and though they mightbe a beautiful item or thing.
I mean encourage you that youwould get those things out of
your house and out of yoursphere of influence, out of your
home, out of your family,because those things do have a
spiritual intonation andinclination that's different
than the heart that Christ hasin you, and so there'll be a
conflict between the spirit ofthose things you're trying to
welcome and the one that youhave inside of you.
(17:04):
So let me encourage you thatyou get those things out of your
heart in life, even especiallybecause you've done so in
ignorance, where you're nottrying to bring that stuff in,
but instead just remove thatstuff out of your life, so you
have no conflict with whatChrist wants to do through your
life.
Amen.
Now, think about this.
Now.
I think the beauty of it isamazing and you think of the
skill and the craftsmanship.
This is a panel from one of theopening doors we had at a place
(17:27):
we were staying and I wasthinking about all of the time
and the effort that it took todo something like this, and it's
absolutely beautiful.
Now it's meant to be a guardianagainst something, a spirit
against a spirit.
So the focus of what it is isnot our heart, but you can think
about the process by whichsomeone had to learn this skill
and it's absolutely amazing.
I was thinking about just thetime it would take to do one
(17:49):
little corner, one little bit ofthe flower.
And I'm somebody who uses thecorrect key all the time on my
laptop.
Anybody else Undo?
You guys do undo at all.
I'm like no undo, I'm thinkingabout.
These guys are like and that'sa whole other panel, let's start
it again.
You know what I'm saying?
That would be crazy, but it'samazing how the artist can see
(18:11):
something that's not there andthen make it come alive out of
it.
Now, for us, it says right therein the top 10 of those things
commandments given to us.
Right, the 10 commandments donot have a graven image, do not
be worshiping other gods.
So the idea to go and to makesomething to worship is against
the very heart of what we have,because we're worshiping the
(18:32):
living God and it talks abouthow he, instead as the master,
is against the very heart ofwhat we have, because we're
worshiping the living God and ittalks about how he, instead as
the master, is actually the onethat's using us in his hands as
a tool for what he wants us todo the purpose and the plan he
has for our lives, and so verymuch it's actually the other way
around, where he is the onethat is doing the work in our
lives and taking off whatshouldn't be there, so we can be
(18:55):
representative of what he wantsus to be.
And that's a hard thing because, in a character we know,
whenever he starts to work onour character and starts to
chisel against us because it'snot so fun, it's not so fun.
I'm gonna try over here wherepeople are gonna smile at me, hi
, hi, you guys more receptive towhat I'm saying, right, because
(19:20):
the thing is we know wheneverHoly Spirit starts to talk to us
about things in our life thatwe need to get challenged on,
like whenever he's talking to usabout forgiving somebody and we
don't want to, and one of thosethings where it's like he's
challenged us on our attitudeand how we're example of Christ
(19:40):
and other people know that andthen we're being a terrible
witness at a workplace or we'reusing choice words that we
shouldn't be using Rats up, ratsup, rats up, up, up.
And here's the thing we could besomeone, someone, especially
those of us with you knowletters and things on our names
that make us very spiritual.
(20:01):
We especially need to belistening to this, because he's
like hey, we're like god, Ialready forgave all these people
.
He's like cool, very cool.
Remember how you got offendedagain and picked up your old
offense?
Remember that.
Remember how you need toforgive them again, because I
forgave you much.
You need to also forgive.
Here.
I'm like right, right.
He's like remember the badattitude you had?
(20:23):
Was that really being the loveof Christ to people?
I'm like God.
I was traveling for 30 hours toget home.
You know the people were onthese planes, do you know?
He's like yeah, I know You'reone of them.
I know how are you going to be,how are you going to be the
love of Christ to them?
How are you going to reflectthe love of God?
(20:48):
See, he's working on all of us.
None of us are finished All ofus until we see Jesus face to
face.
He's not done with you yet, andfriends, be happy about that,
because in your circumstances,he's not done with you yet, and
so, whenever you're facingsomething difficult, he's not
done with you yet.
He's still working on all of usso we can be more like him.
(21:09):
See, we have to accept this byfaith, because it's by faith
that's the currency of thekingdom of God.
We have to say yes, lord, Ibelieve you are who you say you
are, that you keep your promisesand that your promises are good
, and so that's what we have todo is, by faith, say yes to God
and keep on saying yes.
When we come to those characterissues, it is very much that
(21:31):
it's that piece where he'strying to work in us so that we
reflect him more.
So whenever someone talks aboutyour character, are they
talking about thecharacteristics of God or are
they talking aboutcharacteristics of other things?
See, because character it talksabout who you are and what you
represent.
But what I love is that he willnot stop with us.
(21:52):
He wants to see us be completedtowards the purposes he has for
us and the life that he's givenus, with the plan that he has
for us.
And if we say yes to him, he'llkeep on working on us so that
we can live in a different waythat's greater than our own
plans for ourselves, the thingthat's in us that will break off
the curse that's from before.
So the generations in front ofus don't live underneath that,
(22:15):
but they live underneath theblessing of God and the
direction of God and theguidance of the Lord, that the
curses from before and mistakesfrom before are gone.
In the name of Jesus Christ,they stop with me and with mine
so that we can go forward inChrist.
Friends, that's what we'retalking about, because he will
complete the good work thatstarted in you.
Continues here in the scripture.
(22:36):
He picks up here in verse nine.
It says and it is my prayerthat your love may abound more
and more, and knowledge and alldiscernment, so that you may
approve what is excellent.
So be pure and blameless forthe day of Christ, filled with
the fruit of righteousness thatcomes through Jesus Christ to
(22:57):
the glory and the praise of God,amen.
What does it say here?
It says that your love mayabound more and more.
Think about this.
In all of these pieces of thescripture, though, it's talking
about discernment and wisdom.
It's talking about ourcharacter and the fruit of the
spirit of God in our lives.
Right, the fruit of the spiritlove, joys, peace, patience,
(23:20):
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.
You see all these differentelements that we want to be said
about us, but it all startswith love.
It starts with the love of God.
Why?
Because the love of God is thefirst thing, the first
motivating factor of how hereached us where we are.
We experienced his love first,and when other people experience
us, that they would experiencethe love of God as well, that we
(23:42):
would respond with the love ofGod.
We know the difference betweensomeone who knows about God and
someone who's experienced God,because someone who knows about
God, knows books about God, theyknow the analytical things,
dates and times and blah, blah,blah.
Those are good things to know,but to know the presence and the
character of God is so muchmore, because that's the
(24:04):
transformation, is the one fromthe heart.
So, friends, that's why we drawnear to him, face to face, so
that we too can experience thelove of God, and it's from being
in his presence that his lovewill flow out to others.
So whenever we draw near to him, then we get it for ourselves,
but not just for ourselves, weget it for others too, because
(24:25):
whatever the abundance of theheart has is what comes out of
us.
So let that be the love ofChrist.
We've been talking about battlefor the family, and so we talked
about how valuable kids are toGod and how children are
something that's valuable to theLord.
When we were in Nepal, we sawthese amazing Nepalese kids are
so awesome and many of them arecoming out of poverty.
(24:48):
They don't have anything, butGod's value is for them and he
has a purpose and a plan fortheir life and he's made
provision for many of them.
And we heard stories ofmiracles and how God had saved
so many out of lives that weremeant for abuse or for
trafficking and for other things, and how God had redeemed them
and he established a new futurefor them, and we saw something
(25:11):
powerful with that moment.
In fact, one of those that wewere serving with she served for
50 years in the country andover those 50 years she's had
over 70 children that she savedfrom that type of life.
And now those children, nowthat she's in her older years,
those children themselves havefamilies and they have broken
(25:32):
off the curse of their past andtheir family is living in a
different way.
They have gone on to becomepastors and go into the West and
have these amazing places ofseniority and influence, all
living under the power of Christ, because something that was
modeled to them is that they hadvalue, though they came from
nothing and no one wanted them.
(25:53):
She loved them, with the loveof Christ, because God values
them, and so she scooped them upand cared for them the way that
Christ had cared for her, andit changed everything because
she said yes to God, because sheloved them.
I think about our own kids.
They just got back from KidConand they had an amazing time
(26:14):
worshiping the Lord, and what'sawesome about that is that our
kids too, even in our owncontext, even in our own spheres
, they had a heart to go intoworship God and all their voices
are lifting up to God andfocusing on him, because our
kids are not going to be thechurch.
Our children are the church.
They have their relationshipwith God and their prayers are
(26:35):
heard before the Lord, and sothat's the same value that we
have that each one of us, fromthe time we're first in our
first infancy of ourrelationship with God, would
understand that we have apurpose and a plan, that our
voice is heard by our father inheaven and that we can
communicate with him.
It continues here in verse 12and says this I want you to know
(27:04):
, brothers, that what hashappened to me has really served
to advance.
It continues here in verse 12and says this Now, this was a
question for the church inPhilippi.
They were trying to understand,while their leader, the guy who
started their church, theirpastor, why God had saved him
(27:26):
from so many other circumstances, why he had been saved from
shipwreck and snake bite and hehad been brought back from being
stoned to death for his faithin Christ and he'd been led out
of other places and givenfreedom from prison.
And now he's in prison in Romeand he's been kept there and
they're trying to say well,what's going on?
Is something the matter withPaul, like what's happening here
and what Paul is saying is no,actually, my imprisonment for my
(27:48):
faith has been made known toall these people and now it's a
witness to them of why we'rebeing imprisoned and they're
looking to understand of who weare and why we are different.
You know, this gives us a goodencouragement that our testimony
is so powerful, because when weuse our testimony for God, he
(28:09):
can use it to challenge thosewho are watching us, who don't
have a relationship with God yet.
I wonder how many times he willallow us to go through
something that will refine ourcharacter.
It will take off those edges aswe've been talking about, but
it's also as a testimony toothers that are watching you in
the middle of difficultcircumstances.
Are you going to go and actlike them and act like the rest
(28:32):
of the world, or are you goingto turn to God, who is your
source, and walk in the peace ofGod?
The understanding of God Does itmake it easy?
No, it does not.
Does it mean it's difficult?
Yes, it is, but the differenceis that he will not leave us.
He will not forsake us.
He is for us, even in themiddle of the death, even in the
middle of all that we gothrough, the suffering that we
(28:54):
might have to walk through.
He does not leave us alone,suffering that we might have to
walk through.
He does not leave us alone.
He is for us, he is with us andour future in him is greater
than our current reality.
So, friends, your testimony andwhat you say and what you show
in your character becomes anencouragement to others that say
, wow, I watched this sisterwalk through something difficult
(29:17):
, but she kept her faith in Godand in the end her outcome was
greater than what she wentthrough.
Or I saw this brother and hestayed faithful to God and yeah,
it wasn't easy and he had toreally walk it out.
But guess what?
Because of it, it was anencouragement to me Let me find
out what these people have thatI don't have, and that's why
it's an encouragement to us touse our testimony for God that
(29:41):
he won't leave us in the middleof what we're walking through In
the valley of the shadow ofdeath.
He's for you, he's with you,he'll guide and protect you and
walk you right out of thatseason into green pastures.
Philippians continues forwardhere, and it says this in verse
18.
It says what then?
Only that in every way, whetherin pretense or in truth, Christ
(30:02):
is proclaimed.
In that I rejoice, yes, I willrejoice.
Think about this perspectivethat Paul, though he's in prison
, though he's in chains, thoughhe's in a place he can't get out
of, he doesn't take it as woeis me and oh, I'm so suffering.
No, instead, he says no, I'mgonna rejoice in the Lord in the
(30:23):
middle of my circumstances.
That's a strong perspective.
That's realizing that yourcharacter and your value comes
not from you and what you'vedone, but in he who values you
as the child of God and you'resaying listen, I belong to him
and it is worthwhile serving him, even though I'm going through
something difficult.
(30:44):
We think about our friends, ourbrothers and sisters in faith
that today they themselves arein prison for their faith in
Jesus.
They're being persecuted intheir faith in Jesus.
Let's just offer a prayer up tothe Lord for them right now,
lord.
We just ask, lord, for ourbrothers and sisters right now,
lord, that are in prison fortheir faith, are going through
hardship or difficulty,persecution in their family, in
(31:06):
their community, by theirgovernment.
Lord, we ask and pray theprayer of faith, lord, that you
would minister to them right now.
They would know the presence ofthe Almighty God.
Lord, that they would know yourpresence, they would know the
peace that passes allunderstanding and, lord, the joy
of the Lord would be theirstrength.
Lord, we ask so that you wouldliberate them from them
(31:27):
circumstances, if at allpossible, but, lord, in the
midst of their difficulty, thatthey would continue to shine,
lord, and be a representative ofwho you are and Lord, those
around them, lord, even thosethat are persecuting them.
Lord would be them.
Lord, even those that arepersecuting them, lord would be
churned in heart towards you,lord, of the witness that these
people have made for you, lord,that you would be glorified in
the midst of it.
(31:48):
We thank you for these things.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist, amen.
What we know is that you knowour joy of the Lord.
It comes from inside of us.
It comes from being in thepresence of the Lord.
It comes from inside of us.
It comes from being in thepresence of the Lord.
It's not happiness with ourcircumstances, because many
circumstances we go through wedon't want to go through Anybody
, in fact we don't wish them onpeople we don't even like,
(32:10):
because we don't want to gothrough it at all.
But here's the thing that inthe midst of difficult
circumstances, that we can stillhave the joy of the Lord
because that comes from beingwith him and that comes from
inside of us.
And that's why, in the middleof difficult things, like Paul
being in prison, that he canstill say I have the joy of the
(32:30):
Lord and I rejoice, even in thecircumstance I'm in, because he
is greater than my circumstance.
Friends, whenever we continuethis out, then that's where you
get to that last point, thatlast piece that says for me, to
live is Christ, to die is gain.
We can never get to this placeunless we understand who we are
(32:53):
in God.
We would never get to thisplace unless we understand that
we belong to him and that we'rebeing refined in our character,
that the love of God isabounding in us and that we're
shining the light of Christ, nomatter where we are.
Whenever we get to that place,then we start to understand that
, listen, I'm living this lifeas unto Christ.
So for me, my life is towardsChrist.
(33:16):
And if I die for my life inChrist, then guess what I win
either way, because this doorcalled death, I go into the
presence of God for eternity.
So we don't live with fear, wedon't live with any of those
things.
Our gain is eternal.
Our gain is the presence of himforever.
(33:36):
So we walk in the strength andthe understanding that our gain
is more of Christ and that weget to live in the love and the
peace of God for eternity.
So, friends, let us be thatreflection of who he is to us,
that we would live with loveabounding in the character of
God.
(33:56):
Today we have this opportunityto respond to him, as we want to
be more like Jesus.
We have that question that eachone of us has to answer in
saying have you embraced Jesus?
Maybe you're here and you'venever said yes to following
Jesus.
Today is your opportunity to doso.
It's your opportunity to invitehim into your heart and life,
(34:19):
to start a new relationship withhim.
Or maybe you have made adecision in the past but you've
walked away from living activelyafter him.
Today, friends, would be anopportunity to recommit your
heart back to him.
Say, lord, I believe you arewho you say you are.
I invite you into my heart andlife.
That, lord, you would save mefrom all these things.
(34:40):
Forgive me of my sin.
I wanna have a life with you,friends.
That's what it means to say yesto Jesus.
For us.
We see the symbol of the crossas one of freedom, one of
forgiveness, because Jesus tookall of the sin, all of my sin,
all of yours.
He took it all upon himself andhe paid for it upon the cross,
and with his death, with hissacrifice, it made us in right
(35:04):
standing with the father.
He became the holy sacrificethat we could never be.
We can't earn our way into thepresence of a holy God.
We can't do enough good things,we can't give enough gifts, we
can't do any of those things.
So instead, by faith, weembrace what Christ has done for
us.
That's why he came, that's whyhis mission was for us that we
(35:27):
would be redeemed and restoredback into that reconciliation of
a relationship with God.
Apostle Paul he writes to thechurch at Rome.
He says this because if youconfess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe inyour heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
(35:51):
Friends, today is your day.
It's your day of salvation,your opportunity to say yes to
Christ.
I'm gonna ask, if you're herein the room, if you just stand
right to your feet, right whereyou're at, bow your head, be
prepared to respond to what Godwants to do.
If you're online, whereveryou're at, prepare your heart to
say yes to God as heads arebowed here in the room.
(36:16):
Friends, if that's you, if youwanna make a decision to follow
Jesus today, if you just raiseyour hand right where you're at,
say, pastor, remember me inthis prayer.
Today I want to make a decisionto follow Christ.
I want to invite him into myheart and life.
See the hands here, hands there.
Thank you, lord, people makingcommitments, another hand that's
there, people makingrecommitments to the Lord.
Thank you, jesus.
(36:42):
Friends online, wherever youare across the world, you see
those hands that are raised fromhim.
I'm gonna ask if everyone wouldrepeat this prayer after me out
loud.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
(37:09):
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you InChrist's name.
I pray Amen, amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Praise the Lord.
If that was you, let meencourage you that you would
connect with us in the back.
We want to put some materialsinto your hands so that you're
successful in living this lifewith Christ.
(37:30):
If you're online, message us.
We want to connect with you soyou're not doing this life alone
.
Friends, all of us arechallenged with what it means to
say yes to Christ, to embracehis work inside of us, to live
that love abounding towardsothers.
As we come to this altar, we doso preparing our hearts,
because we're gonna come andhave communion together as an
(37:51):
exit today.
So let's come to this altarasking the Lord to remove
anything that would be betweenhim and us, and asking the Lord
to have all of who we are.
Lord, we thank you so much foryour word.
We thank you, lord, for Paul'sexample to us, lord, and his
challenge to us, and what itmeans to live with the joy of
the Lord as our strength, evenin the midst of difficult
(38:11):
circumstances.
Lord, we're not playing games.
Lord.
That we belong to you andbecause we belong to you, lord,
that we ask that you would helpus in our character, lord.
Help refine us, lord, that wewould have more of your love
abounding, more of who you are,lord, the forgiveness and the
joy that we would experience,lord, that it would be reflected
towards others, that they wouldsee a good testimony of what it
(38:33):
means to follow after Jesus.
Lord, we come to you today andto your table, lord, to remember
the great sacrifice you had forus, lord, your body and your
blood, which was shed for us andbroken for us.
Lord, that you, because of yoursacrifice, made it so we could
be made whole.
So we come to this altar today,lord, asking you, lord, to
cleanse us of anyunrighteousness.
(38:54):
Lord, help us in any area wherewe need help and your
assistance.
We ask for you to pour out yourspirit upon us.
We pray this in the powerfulname of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (39:03):
Amen.
We are so grateful that youjoined us.
Isn't God good?
You come and you receive, andhe just keeps giving.
Well, I want to let you know.
In just a couple of weeksyou've seen advertisement on it
we're going to have a springfamily day and I'm excited.
We're going to have a pettingzoo and all of that again.
So we need you.
We need you to invite peopleneighbors, friends, family,
(39:23):
colleagues.
Bring them, and not only that,but we need people just to jump
in and help.
It's going to be an amazing day.
You'll find a sign up on theapp or on the website.
You'll also see some paperwhere you can sign up out there
in the lobby as you head out.
But don't miss it.
It's three Sundays away andit's just going to be a great
day.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Amen.
Before we go, I'm going to praythis blessing over us.
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.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
(40:05):
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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