Latest / Faith Church Podcast / Living Worthy of Your Call | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church

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Living Worthy of Your Call | Pastor Kami Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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If you have your Bibles today, I want you to
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look in Ephesians chapter 4. This is our key
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verse here, chapter 4 verse 1. The message that
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I had felt the Lord give me for today, we're
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gonna land there. But with everything that has
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happened this week, I have altered it a bit.
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With the assassination of Charlie Kirk this week,
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this verse has just been resonating within me.
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And that is, as a prisoner for the Lord then,
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I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling
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you have received. I urge you. He's not saying
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I'm hoping you will he's saying I am urging you
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as a prisoner of the Lord To live this life of
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yours Worthy of the calling you have received
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With the With the death of Charlie Kirk who was
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31 and I feel that a little because it's just
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a little older than my oldest son And if you're
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not familiar with him, I'm sure you've been seeing
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it all over the place this week. But he was a
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conservative political activist. He was an author.
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He was a media personality. He was a voice in
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politics. He was a leading voice in politics.
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Interestingly, he had no college degree. Sometimes
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we sit there and we disqualify ourselves because
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we don't think we have some kind of adequate
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certification. One of the most influential men
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in the nation had no college degree. He lived
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his life out loud, his faith out loud, regardless
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of the consequences which we saw this week. And
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while you may or may not agree with his political
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stances, he undoubtedly loved his country and
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he worked hard to empower the next generation.
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This is a person that has lived his life worthy
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of the calling he received. Even as I was thinking
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about his life, the death of it I was recalling
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another young man Dietrich Bonhoeffer great one
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of the greatest theologians of our time and He
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was 39 years old when he was hanged For his work
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against the Nazi regime regime He was a pastor
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and he also, I find the similarities interesting
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because he also worked greatly with the next
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generation of his time. He loved his country,
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Germany, to the point of being hanged. He was
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one of the last group of people, prisoners, to
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be hanged before the Nazi regime collapsed, one
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of the final few, and then it all ended. That
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was after a one and a half year prison sentence.
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And today, his voice is one of the loudest within
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especially the world of spiritual formation,
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discipleship. 39 years old. And we look at that
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and we see, okay, we have this young man, Charlie,
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which I find interesting that just a few months
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ago when asked the question, what happens if
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this all goes away? And he says, if I die, what
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do I want to be remembered for? The courage of
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my faith in Jesus. And we look at this, a 31
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-year -old with such influence. We look at Dietrich
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Bonhoeffer, 39 years old. He had immense influence
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in his nation as well. And we are like, what,
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Lord, is going on? There is this mystery of it
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all. And in our human logic, we don't understand.
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There is this thing called the mystery. But what
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I do know is that the ways of God are different
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than the ways of this world. And what I do know
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is that the God that these two young men served
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is not a god of waste. Right? What I do know
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is that the way the kingdom of God works that
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is unless a seed dies and falls to the ground.
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And so what I know is that their deaths are not
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the end. Their deaths actually cause their voice
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to be even louder, their message to go even further.
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And so today I want us for a few moments to look
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at these lives. then to take a moment and to
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look at our life because what these two men understood
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even at these young ages is that we do live in
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a battle. We do live. We have not all died and
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gone to heaven yet. There is a kingdom of darkness
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and there is a kingdom of light and there is
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a battle for souls that is happening today. And
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so I want us to reread our text again, and this
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time I want us to read it in the Amplified. So
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I want you to listen closely to this. So, and
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this is Paul. The Apostle Paul is writing to
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the church of Ephesus. So I, Paul, the prisoner
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for the Lord, I appeal to you to live a life
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worthy of the calling to which you have been
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called. That is to live a life that exhibits
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godly character, moral courage, personal integrity,
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and mature behavior. A life that expresses gratitude
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to God for your salvation. What I do know is
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that these two young men are in good company
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with the Lord Jesus Christ who at the age of
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33 died upon a cross. He was one of the most
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controversial men of his time and died at the
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age of 33. Listen. The ways of the kingdom, we
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cannot put these things into a box of our own
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earthly understanding. What these two young men
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got is that the Lord Jesus at age 33 died for
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them. And because Jesus died for them, Their
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response was to live a life worthy of that death.
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This is the calling. This is the living with
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gratitude. My life is defined and lived as an
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offering of gratitude to my Savior. To live this
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life worthy. What that actually means is... is
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what we were saying. It's to live in a manner
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that is honoring. And so the way I live my life
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either honors the sacrifice of Christ or it dishonors
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it. That is what it is to live worthy of the
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calling. This life that I have I only have because
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of Him. And so when I live it, Worthy unto His
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sacrifice, I'm honoring the sacrifice. And let's
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think about this word, calling, because we use
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this word when we're talking about like calling
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to ministry. But Paul was writing to a church.
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He was writing to you and to me. To just whoever
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so heard these words this calling is a calling
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to a lifestyle That is marked by the Lord Jesus
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Christ And so today my call to us is to examine
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our lives and say, am I living in a way that
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is honoring the sacrifice of Christ? Am I living
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in a manner that is worthy of the calling that
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I have stepped into when I said yes to Him? It's
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just not a matter of us showing up at church
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on Sunday mornings. There's a lot of people in
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this world that do that. And they know nothing,
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really, of walking worthy of the calling of Christ.
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Charlie and Dietrich are men that lived this
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verse out. They, to me, are people of inspiration.
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They are, I love people. of inspiration. And
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so my question today is, what does it look like
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for you and for me to live this verse out? What
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does it look like for you and me on Monday morning
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to walk worthy of the calling? What does it look
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like for you and me when everything is falling
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apart in life? It feels like your life is just
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one crisis after another. Can I say to you that
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these are men that were not living a life of
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ease? Paul himself is a prisoner. And he's saying
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this is not about what is going right or wrong
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in your life. This is in the midst of what is
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going right and wrong, living worthy of the call.
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And so, are we living? What does it look like
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for us to exhibit godly character? What does
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it look like for us to exhibit moral courage?
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Because we need moral courage today. What does
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it look like for you and I to exhibit personal
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integrity when it's more important now than ever
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that the world sees us living in integrity? We
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are behind closed doors who we are in front of
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everybody. What does it look like for us to exhibit
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mature behavior? to maybe finally grow up in
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the Lord. What does it look like for you and
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I to live a life that expresses gratitude to
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Him? This is our question for today. And so I
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want us to take a moment and look in Philippians
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chapter 3. This is one of my all -time favorite
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chapters, one of my life verses, one of my life
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chapters. And Paul is also writing this to the
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church of Philippi. And so I hope you have your
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Bible because I want you to really get into this.
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In chapter 3 verse 12, Paul says, now Paul is
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a very gifted guy. He's very well educated. And
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he says in verse 12, not that I have already
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attained or am already perfected. But I press
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on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ
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Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do
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not count myself to have apprehended, to have
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grabbed hold. But one thing I do, and this is
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what you need to hear. forgetting those things
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which are behind and reaching forward to those
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things which are ahead. And listen, Paul had
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a lot to forget, didn't he? He was killing the
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Christians. That's what he did before he had
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his Jesus moment. And he's saying, I can't imagine
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having to carry that. knowing that you had overseen
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the people dragging Christians out of their homes
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and watching them be stoned to death. Can you
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imagine that kind of guilt that you would bear?
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And yet he says, listen, this is not him just
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being callous. He understands the cross. And
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so because of that, he's able to say, I forget
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those things which are behind and I reached forward
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to those things which are ahead. I press toward
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the goal for the prize of the upward call of
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God in Christ Jesus. This is an upward call.
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Let's lift up our eyes, friends. We are pressing
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on. toward this upward call. There is something
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in us, and I love that the word says that the
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earth is waiting for the sons and the daughters
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to be revealed. There is something that has been
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deposited in you when you were created that is
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made for this upward call of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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It should pull some kind of string inside of
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you that says I am not for the mundane of this
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earth. I'm not for the common things of this
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earth. I have a higher call. I have been called
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upward in Christ Jesus. There is a more that
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he has called me to. There is a life he has called
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me to. But it's he won't just do it for you.
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He won't just drop it in your lap He's waiting
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for you to put those things behind you and to
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begin to press forward onward toward that call
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and in verse 15 he goes on to say Therefore let
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us as many as are mature I think we would all
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like to say, I'm growing in maturity. This is
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the goal, right? We don't want our babies, Sabrina,
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to remain a baby forever, do we? You would like
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to sleep at night, right? You would like them
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to start feeding themselves a little bit, wouldn't
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you? We don't want them to remain babies forever.
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The goal is spiritual maturity. And so he says,
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have this mind. And if in anything you think
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otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
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Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already
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attained, so whatever maturity you've already
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attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us
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be of the same mind. Okay, this here is our transitional
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moment. There is this call to live your life
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worthy of the calling and It rests our ability
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to do that rests right here in these passages
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To begin with what we have attained to to begin
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to walk it out By the same rule and by the same
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mind. What is a rule? We hear the word rule and
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some of you like if you're like my husband or
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like I don't like rules Rules were made for me
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to break I'm giving him a hard time because he
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threw me under the bus with a bunch of pastors
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this week. So He has it coming They told me that
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Yesterday he kind of threw you under the bus.
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So I'm throwing him under I'm going to quit doing,
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we're going to quit doing this when we're both
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in the same room together as Pastor Jack gets
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moved over to Petersburg. But a rule is not a
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bad thing. All a rule is, is a standard. That's
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what a rule is. It's a standard for behavior,
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right? If I had a household of four kids that
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I was homeschooling and we had no rules, no standards,
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I wouldn't have survived, it would have been
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chaos. And I don't do chaos well. A rule is simply
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a standard. It isn't, what is the standard? He
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said it in Ephesians, live worthy of the calling
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of Christ. He is the standard. These rules these
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activities that happen in our sphere There are
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things that enable us to press on to the prize
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of Jesus If you are how many of you were athletes
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here you competed in what basketball football
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basketball Basketball football and baseball.
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All right He's a true athlete. Wow, we have a
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very athletic. Well, I know Kristen is a softball
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player. I don't know by sight because she ditched
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on me, but I've heard she's a softball player.
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She ditched on my team. I'm not offended at all.
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That was like a year ago. I need to move on,
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let go of the past and move onward. Okay. I won't
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ever refer to it again. I will. She has such
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faith in me. Okay. So nobody else are athletes
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in here? Okay. There we got a few hands. Okay.
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Do athletes do whatever they want when they are
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in training? No. Are there things that you do
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not do? Are there things that you do do? Yes.
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Because they help you to become a competitive
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athlete. Nobody wants you on the team if you're
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gonna not do the things you should do and if
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you are gonna do the thing, not do the thing,
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you know what I mean. If you're gonna do or not
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do, they're not gonna want you on the team, right?
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They want your team, once you engage in the rules,
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the standard that the team sets to participate
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and to compete. I've got a short clip. We're
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going to hear about this in the words of Charlie
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Kirk. And so I want you to turn to the screen
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for just a moment. And did you catch in there
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that one point of a device is set a rule for
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yourself. What was he saying? Now, don't get
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all religious on me. Oh, that's religious behavior.
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That's the Pharisees. No. What we're talking
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about today is setting a standard in your life.
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Setting a rule. One of the people that I love
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is St. Benedict, and he raised up a system of
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monasteries and and he what is called is the
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rule of st. Benedict and and what it was is he
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wrote out to be a part of this here's what it
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looks like to live here here's what it looks
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like to work here here's what leadership is here's
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our daily schedule here's what we're doing for
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spiritual growth what was he doing he was setting
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a standard I have rules in my life. Now see,
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Darren gives me a hard time because at age 20,
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at age 30, at age 40, and at age 50, it's like
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I don't like those decade moments, but they truly
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are evaluation points for me because I truly
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try to live intentional. I want to make the most
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of this one life I have been given. And so I
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do, I have rules that I've set into my life.
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I have rules of nutrition that I have set into
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my life. I have rules about the kind of flour
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that is allowed in my house. I have rules about
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the kind of dairy that is allowed in my house.
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I have rules about where my meat comes from.
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I have rules about grains and them being sprouted
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or unsprouted. I have rules about my nuts being
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soaked and dehydrated before I eat them. Now
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am I legalistic about this no if you invite me
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into your home like Mike and Suzanne did a couple
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of weeks ago I don't think about my rules. I
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enjoy the beautiful meal that you with great
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joy and A lot of times I'm eating food that I
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don't normally eat and I enjoy that But it is
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a standard I've set in my life. I Have rules
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for our lifestyle I don't buy paper products
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We don't eat off of paper plates and silverware.
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I just don't even buy it because I don't want
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the temptation in my house. I have a hard time
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with my big laundry detergent jugs and all that
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plastic, so I buy eco sheets. It's a rule for
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me in my life. Reusable lifestyle. When we're
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traveling, I have rules. If at all possible,
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we pack it. We pack our food because I want to
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know what I'm eating and I don't like to eat
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at restaurants if I don't know where the food
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is at. I have a reusable water bottle. We fill
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a five gallon jug and we just keep refilling
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our water bottles. I hate plastic water bottles.
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What is that? That's a rule that I have set.
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in my life. I have rules about my eye gate and
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my ear gate, what I watch and what I listen to.
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I have no problem with you looking through all
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of my Netflix or all of my apps. I have no problem
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with you getting on my YouTube and looking at
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what I'm listening to and watching. It is an
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open book. because I have a rule, I have a standard.
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Now, I have rule of my devotional life, how I
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engage with the Word, how I engage in worship.
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I take communion every morning on my way to work.
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These are all, I have no expectation for you
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to do what I'm doing. This is the standard for
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my life. You are free to do whatever you want.
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It's your life These are rules that are subjective
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They're not necessarily good or bad spiritually
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speaking these are my personal choices However
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There is a rule that is not subjective There
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is a rule that I don't get to define and you
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don't get to define. And that is the rule of
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Rabbi Jesus. There's this beautiful saying and
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it comes from an ancient Jewish text actually
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before Jesus was ever on the earth. The text
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is the Mishnah. This writing is a writing that
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is describing the student of a rabbi. So this
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blessing says, may you be covered in the dust
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of your rabbi. Let's say that. May you be covered
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in the dust of your rabbi. So that Jewish blessing
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comes from an exact, I'm gonna give you here,
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the exact writing from the Mishnah. And what
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it truly means, and this is what discipleship
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truly is, is that you are walking so closely
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behind your Rabbi, your teacher. that as you
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walk down the road following him, the dust that
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he kicks up falls upon you because you're so
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close to him. And so the full writing is this,
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let thy house be a meeting house for the wise.
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I love that. I'm just super, I gotta have continual,
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I love putting inspiring people around me. I
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love listening to people that are doing what
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I'm not doing so I can learn and grow. And I
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love this. Let thy house be a meeting house for
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the wise. And powder thyself in the dust of their
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feet. And drink their words. with thirstiness.
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Can I ask, is our house filled with the presence
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of Rabbi Jesus? Are we coating ourselves with
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the dust? I think of Mary sitting at his feet
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and Martha, come on, Martha, or Mary, let's get
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busy. No, no, I'm gonna sit here at his feet.
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I'm gonna learn from him. Are we drinking up
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the words of Jesus with thirstiness? Are we hungering
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and thirsting? There is one rule that is not
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subjective. There is one rule that you don't
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get to define and I don't get to define, and
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it is the rule of Rabbi Jesus. I gave you two
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examples today of modern men that have lived
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out a life of obedience to the calling to which
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they've been called. There are others though,
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as I was writing this, that came to mind from
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the Bible, and I'm amazed that almost all of
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them are young people. In their early teen years,
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almost all of them. I find that fascinating.
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And I think of Daniel, a young man captured into
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slavery. He had the courage to say, I will obey
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the ways of my God. He said that to his captors.
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He became a high ranking official in the land
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of his captivity because he had the courage to
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say, I will obey. I think of Joseph, another
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young man sold into slavery by his brothers.
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And in the face of his captor and then prison,
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he had the courage to obey the ways of his God
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in captivity. He became number two in the land
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of his captivity. I think of Noah commanded by
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God to build a massive ark to save his family
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and the world from a flood. Noah obeyed God.
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He persevered for decades in his obedience. No
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experience building ships. No great floods had
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flooded the earth. And he says, yes, he had the
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courage to look a little crazy to the men and
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the women. He was a prophet to the men and women
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of his time. I think of Queen Esther, a young
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girl who becomes just a young Jewish girl that
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gets favor and becomes queen of Persia. And Esther,
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in order to save the life of her Jewish people,
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has to approach the king when she had not been
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called on. And he could have said, she's gonna
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die. And she had the courage to step up. And
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she saved her people. Think of Mary the mother
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of Jesus this young teenage girl when Gabriel
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comes to her and Says she's gonna conceive the
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son of God as a virgin. It wasn't like today
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You're not gonna get you know pregnant at age
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16 and have a baby shower thrown for you This
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is not what was happening in her time She could
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have been stoned to death by Joseph Mary humbly
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and obediently says, behold, I am the servant
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of the Lord. Let it be to me. According to your
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word, I will obey. Here's the real heart of obedience.
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And I think it is what gave these men and women
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the courage to obey. And it's found in the words
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of Rabbi Jesus himself in John 14. And it simply
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is this, if you love me, if you love me, we just
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sang about loving him. It sure is easy in this
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nice air -conditioned room looking all pretty
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to say, I love you, Jesus. But when he calls
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us to obey him and his ways, he says, if you
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love me, keep my commands. What I'm talking about
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today is not some kind of religious outward behavior.
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It brings me joy to please my husband because
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I love him. It brings me joy to please my children
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because I love them. It brings me great joy to
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please God because I love him. Where there is
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love, there should be an auto desire. to please
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that one. And in this case, it's to obey. And
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he goes on to say in verse 16, and I will ask
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the Father, and He will give you another advocate
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to help you and be with you forever, the Spirit
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of truth. I love that Jesus in this verse is
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acknowledging That this is not always easy The
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call to obedience is not always comfortable think
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of that rich young man who said Jesus What do
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I need to do to be saved and he said sell everything
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you have give it to the poor then come follow
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me Well, that was uncomfortable for him That
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didn't make him feel good He he wanted to come
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to God on his terms and when Jesus Said no, you're
34:26
gonna come on my terms. What did he do? He walked
34:28
away and Jesus loved him Jesus is acknowledging
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that we need an advocate. We need a helper to
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obey The spirit of truth the world cannot accept
34:45
him Because it neither sees him nor knows him
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but you know him for he lives with you and will
34:53
be in you You have been given everything you
35:00
need to live according to the standard of rabbi
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Jesus everything We have been given, it lives
35:08
and resides within us. And so when we look at
35:12
John 14, what we see are three things. That obedience
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to God is out of a love relationship. We see
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that the help of the Holy Spirit is given to
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show the way to the truth and how to walk in
35:29
the truth. And we see that the source of courage
35:34
for walking out this obedience is that He lives
35:38
within and dwells within us. We have everything
35:43
that we need. I'm going to ask if the team will
35:47
come back up. We're going to finish here in Hebrews
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12. In Hebrews 12 verse 1, it says this, and
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this is profound because of the context, but
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also because I think that the great cloud of
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witness continually gets bigger and bigger. I
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think that Charlie Kirk is now part of our great
36:10
cloud of witnesses that is saying, come on, come
36:13
on, finish your race, finish your race. And in
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Hebrews 12 .1, it says, therefore, since we are
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surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
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Let us throw off everything that hinders and
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the sin that so easily entangles. And let us
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run with perseverance, the race marked out for
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us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and
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perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him,
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he endured the cross, scorning its shame. and
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sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Consider him who endured such opposition from
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sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose
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heart. This is written right after, obviously,
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Hebrews chapter 11, the great hall of faith.
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All of the men and women That by faith did awesome,
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amazing things for God. That ran their race to
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the fullness. And it's amazing to read those
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stories. But there's a part in there that talks
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about those that saw death. Those that paid great
37:42
consequences to walk out their faith obedience.
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And you know, I find the most encouragement from
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those. The ones that did not receive what they
37:57
were believing for. The ones that saw their sons
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and their daughters killed, their husbands killed.
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They are part of this great cloud of witnesses
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that Hebrews 12 is referring to. And while we
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honor the races of these men and women, However
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long or short their lives were, we are not guaranteed
38:28
tomorrow. And when a 31 -year -old is killed,
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I think that more than any other age, that reminds
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us we are not promised tomorrow. You don't know
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what your life is gonna look like tomorrow. However
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long or short, what these people did is they
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ran their race wholeheartedly. They ran with
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perseverance to the end. And even now, they encourage
38:58
us to run our race. The cost of obedience is
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worth the victory of finishing our race well.
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And so, this morning, what is the race that has
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been set for you? Your race? It's all a race
39:21
of faith, but what those races look like are
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all different. Your race is different than my
39:26
race. And one is not better than the other. They're
39:30
just different. The only reason one is better
39:34
than the other is because one runs wholeheartedly
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to the end. And so what is the race set before
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you today? God is on the move. Holy Spirit is
39:52
doing something in the land. And this life is
39:57
so short. It's a blink of an eye. It's a shooting
40:01
star, and it's gone. And that, that just says
40:08
to me all the more, I gotta run wholehearted.
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I gotta embrace this moment, because I'm not
40:14
gonna have it again. I have all of eternity.
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But this moment on this earth is a flash and
40:21
it's gone. And so, is it worth the cost of disobedience?
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Is it worth carrying a bunch of junk trying to
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run this race for such a short moment of time,
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of all eternity? My call is the call to fresh
40:41
obedience. My call is the call to fresh renewal.
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to following in the ways of Rabbi Jesus, who
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has set the standard. My call is for us to live
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life worthy of the calling which we have received,
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and we each have received it. And so this morning,
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what I'm gonna do, we're gonna have a moment
41:04
of worship here, and I want you to just stand
41:06
with me. And listen, you may not be doing some
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kind of big act of disobedience. You may be struggling
41:16
with some stuff. You may be struggling with some
41:19
addictions. You may be struggling with some sins
41:22
that have become strongholds. But maybe you just
41:26
have some attitudes that have been keeping you
41:29
in disobedience. Maybe you've been talking in
41:34
a certain way that is not up to the standard
41:38
of Rabbi Jesus. Maybe we've been engaged in prayerlessness.
41:45
It doesn't always have to be some major thing,
41:47
but what I'm calling us to is a fresh coming
41:51
upward to the standard of Jesus. So we can run
41:57
our races unhindered, full on out to the end.
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And it'll kind of hurt. I've been doing sprints
42:05
and I was in pain the next day. Sometimes it
42:10
hurts to run the race, but the prize is worth
42:14
it. The prize is worth it. And so the team is
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going to lead us in a moment of worship. Listen,
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this is an all church moment. I want us to honor
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this room is an altar. And so I want us to not
42:30
distract one another, but I want us to engage
42:34
in this moment of worship. If you need to make
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your way to the altar, the altar is a beautiful
42:40
place to lay it down, those things. and to take
42:45
up the standard of Christ. And so in this moment,
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let's just make this an altar moment of saying,
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I'm hearing you, Jesus. I hear your call. I see
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your standard, and I am rising up toward it.
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I'm pressing on toward it. I'm pressing on toward
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you. In Jesus' name, in Jesus' name. If you need
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to come to the altar, come on while the team
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begins to lead us.