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Sunday | Be The Church | Pastor Jamey | Week 1 · Life Community Church

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, if you're a first-time guest, thanks for uh thanks for being here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome uh to Life Community Church.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for hanging out with us today.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we we believe in the uh the beautiful thing called the church, and we're gonna spend the next couple weeks talking about being the church, and I'm gonna just tell you up front, there are gonna be some things that we talk about that you're gonna go, you know, I don't I don't know how I feel about that.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because I've always been taught blank or I've always heard this.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: And um I'm gonna just I'm gonna challenge our thinking with what scripture says, okay?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is not my opinion.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I think this is where small groups come in uh to play, where we have questions and thoughts.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I'm gonna ask you before you send an email to jesse at lifelinois.org, you send one to Jesus at heaven, okay?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So um uh uh so uh I'm just I'm super excited for this series.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: This is something I've been thinking about for uh the last couple months.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, can I real quick, Sean, pause?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a fan back here?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: All right, sorry.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's cool.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I see people like uh anyway, um, I'm gonna pray.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna jump right in.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus, I pray and thank you uh for this day.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Your word says, today is the day the Lord has made, and we rejoice in this day.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And God, I know that challenges our thinking or our circumstance because some people, it's hard to rejoice today because of whatever they're experiencing.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe it's a thought pattern, maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's a struggle, whatever the case.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: God, I know rejoicing is the farthest thing from their minds.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: But God, your word says that you come and you meet us where we are.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: God, so grateful for that.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: You don't look at us and say, clean yourself up and then come.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: You say, Where you are, that's where I meet you.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And God, I pray that you do that today in Jesus' name.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: I do want to tell you next next weekend, uh, we have people in the well that are helping people.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: We've done this several times.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Register to vote.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: We believe this is important.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you're in this room and you're not registered to vote, you can come to church and register to vote.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh some of you are like, uh, why are why is the church talking about politics in the church when we should be separated from the government things?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hear my heart.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: The separation of church and state was to protect the church from the government, not the government from the church.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Just throwing that out there.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: And we believe our our our right as Americans is to vote.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so find finding that information, finding out that information, I think, is our due diligence as people who vote.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if we're gonna complain about the country and not vote, shame on us.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: You have an opportunity for your voice to be heard.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Also in the in the well, uh, we have two people in the church that are on our school board and they're rerunning for for school board.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: And if you'd like to sign, if you're a Columbia person for Noreen, uh Friedrich or Kelly Moyer, uh, they're in the well.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can ask some questions too.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: You probably didn't know that.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Ask some questions.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: What do you believe about this?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm just kidding.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But yes.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: You should.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: You should be able to.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is the the responsibility of us as the church.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: There was a moment in our history uh where people were knocking on the church doors going, we need help in this matter.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think what culture is realizing is we're no longer getting a knock on the door saying, where does the church stand on this?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And here's why.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Because we've made political issues theological and theological issues political.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: All right, 9 30.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are you awake?
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: I know 8 a.m.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: was not.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I'm hoping for you to be awake, and some of you are like, he said politics, and I don't know how I feel.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: My job is to make you squirm today.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh gosh.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Me saying to you, marriages between a man and a woman is not a political statement.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't say it, Jesus did.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And he he's reminded us of this in Genesis chapter one.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: This has nothing to do with my message, by the way.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: But it is for someone.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what we're talking about is being the church.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: And again, over the next couple weeks, uh, one of the things that I feel it's so necessary is again not to just redefined, but to be reminded of our job as the church.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: The word be defined is to have an exact meaning clearly stated or being exactly as advertised.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So when I say we need to be the church, we need to be exactly as advertised of what it means to follow Jesus.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is not about you going out and saying, I attend Life Community Church.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is about us as the church being followers of Jesus first and foremost.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus said in Matthew 28, go and make disciples of all nations.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: We've made church a come and see where Jesus says it's a go and tell.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Church is not 9:30 to 10:30.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: Church is us.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: And for whatever reason, the vehicle that God uses, starting with 12 individuals that moved into 500 individuals that saw Christ, saw everything that he had done, experienced what he'd done, experienced the resurrection of Christ.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Those 500 people, which only 120 showed up, that means 380 people didn't even believe it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: 120 people, because of them, you're sitting in church today.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just throwing that out there.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is a vehicle God wants to use people like you and me to radically change culture.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do I understand that vehicle?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: I do not.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because all of us in this room are messed up people.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: None of us exempt.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is not about who's better, who's higher priority.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: He says, every single one of us, we're messed up.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're all different.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so as we walk through this series, I want to remind us, and I want us to be informed on what this thing is that we're doing and why we're doing it.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think there's a lot of things that I'm gonna say, and you're gonna go, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: I hear that, and I understand it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I think sometimes our belief doesn't translate into change.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the things we say we believe.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know that there's 86% of Americans say they believe in a higher power or God?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: I will tell you that those 86%, it doesn't translate into a lifestyle.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: What the Bible is talking about is not just a belief system.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: The belief system is the starting point.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: If it doesn't change or trans translate into life changing, how I talk and how I live, if my life isn't demanding a question mark, meaning, if there are people not coming up to me going, there's something different about you, and I can't put my finger on it, then I would question whether we're living for the Lord.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't say that in a condemning way, I say it in a way that our life should be demonstrated exactly what we believe.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Not just our shirts, not just our social media, but everything that I do should radically show I walk with Jesus.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is why I have a problem that sometimes we invite people to church before we ever tell them our story.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's easier for us to go, hey, come come to my church so someone else can tell you the story.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Whereas I personally believe for them to be totally changed, they gotta see something in you and they gotta go, whoa, whoa, explain to me what's going on.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Now I want to go where you've been.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Your story has weights, it has value.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: And people want to know.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's why when I say it demands an answer, they go, Why are you so different?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Why, why do you why do you forgive?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you smile so much?
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like, why is there a joy about you when it shouldn't be that?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yet you are a joyful person.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Versus, listen, and I had servers in the last service that was testifying to this.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of going, one of the worst days to be a server is Sunday because Christians don't tip.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: Heard a couple amens on that one in first service.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: And notice where they weren't on Sunday.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't working because they're like, no, I'm not working this day.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a bad tip day.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Should be the best tip day there is.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it should be the day.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I'm gonna get ahead of myself.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Colossians 2 says, and now just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him and let your roots grow down into him.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Again, there's a continuation.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: We don't we don't preach that this is this is the end.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: We believe that this is the beginning.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is a journey that's the beginning.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's a story to tell.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's a it's an opportunity to say, I once was lost, but now I'm found.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually what is said on the steps as you come up.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I once was lost.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: We sing about it.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: As they come up, but now I'm found.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is there's nothing special.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, this water is nasty.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Especially after a couple kids got in it.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's warm because of the heater, but it might be warm for something else.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: I know it's gross.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: And second or third service is gonna be like, Whoa, what is floating in here?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: We don't we don't preach that there's something holy about this water.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is a representation of what Christ has done.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: But it's not the end, it's the beginning, it's a walk.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And what Paul is telling the Colossian church is listen, your belief in following Jesus is a continuation to follow him.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's not what you do occasionally, it's what you do consistently that radically changes lives.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: If I occasionally love my wife or I occasionally take her out, just know I have a really good couch because I'm gonna be sleeping on it.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: If I occasionally work out, I occasionally run a mile, and then I'm expecting really good results from the things I do occasionally.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just telling you, it's not gonna work out.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's what we do consistently.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: What Paul is telling the Colossian church is church, it's time to be consistent, to be the church that is consistent.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's not Christian friends, non-Christian friends.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's not who I am over here, but who I am on Saturday night.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's how do we consistently be followers of Jesus everywhere that we go?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Here's why.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's a world that may never enter this building that you need to enter their world.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's the reason he said, Go and tell.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Go and tell.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: This is the mission to reach the world.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus said, You are the light of the world.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: He said, You are not the church building, not the location.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: He said, You are the light of the world.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: That means everywhere you go on Monday morning at work, at school, all these things, and there's some places you go that nobody else can go.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody else can go.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I can't be in a student's homeroom, I can't be at your workplace, other people can't be your.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's only you.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: And he's saying, Listen, everywhere that I go, somebody is watching.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: When I'm being tempted, when I'm being disappointed, when I'm when following Jesus costs me something, he says, I'm asking you to be the church there.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: I just here.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: I just isn't in this hour.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we gather to worship Jesus.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we gather to hear God's word.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, we gather to be encouraged.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then what?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: We scatter.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: We scatter.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And if in our scattering we don't point people to Jesus, we've missed it.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: We've missed it.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then he says, probably one of the strongest statements that I think is the hardest.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: He says, invest in someone else.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: This is this is where it gets difficult because Jesus preached to thousands, but he had a small group of 12 and three of them that he really invested in.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, there were crowds, and you guys know this.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked about this.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: We can gather crowds.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: I could go in the Colombians right now and say$100 to anyone that comes to 11 a.m.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: service, and there will be a crowd.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, somebody.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: We can gather crowds.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: This is not what he's talking about.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: He's saying, are you investing?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: What happens to a church that instead of saying how many people attended this weekend, we said how many people are discipling others?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: What would happen instead of a thousand people in attendance?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: We said a thousand people have one other person that they're pouring their life into, investing their time in, showing them what it is to follow Jesus, showing them what they've learned.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: What would be different?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: The byproduct of coming to church would be that relationship.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of, hey, come and see what my church is doing, we're going, look at the life change Monday through Saturday, and now as a result, we're gathering on Sunday, not in somber, in celebration of what God has done.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: What would be different?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're not putting our end all into an hour.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're saying, listen, this is a lifestyle of which I am being the church everywhere that I go.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna mess it up?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: This is the beauty of the gospel.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: The beauty of the gospel is you're gonna mess up.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: The beauty of the gospel is you get an opportunity to go to someone and say, Listen, I missed the mark.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: I said something I shouldn't have said, and I want you to know I'm sorry.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: And they go, My gosh, nobody's ever said sorry to me before.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody's apologized for that four-letter word before.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: And now all of a sudden you are, why?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Why did you apologize?
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you have to understand, this is not about me, this is about Jesus.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he's transformed my life, and so I feel convicted in what I've said.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And then they go, interest peaked.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: I need to know more about this.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of being about experience, it's about a lifestyle change.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's what being the church is.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: Addition says, Come here, my pastor.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Multiplication says, Come walk with me as I walk with Christ.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're not trying to add here, we're trying to multiply.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: This is my story.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: And again, before the invite, this is the why.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what Paul said to Timothy.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: He said this in 2 Timothy 2.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: He said, You've heard me teach these things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: This is usually where a lot of us stop.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: There's no life change.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: We say yes to Jesus and we put a shirt on that says, Jesus is king or Jesus loves you, but there's no difference in our lives than our other friends.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't have many reliable witnesses.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: So we stop and we walk in shame and in insecurity and go, Well, I messed up again.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: No one's gonna believe me.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: What Paul is teaching is like you've heard me teach these things, and there's people around that go, that dude's different.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: There's people around who go, he used to talk like this, now he talks like there's people around who go, man, that dude used to live like this, he don't live like that.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's reliable witnesses.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Paul then says, now teach these truths to other trustworthy people.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Who will what?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: Who will be able to pass them on to others?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: What Paul is saying is from Paul to Timothy to trustworthy people to other people.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: What is this?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is how we got here.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is how we're still here in 2026, known as the church.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: How do we continue?
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_01: How do we not how do we break this cycle?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: This is why I say what I'm about to say.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: For a lot of us, the church needs to be redefined from consumer, from consumer to contributor.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because one of the greatest dangers in the American church is accident accidentally creating consumers because everywhere we go, it's a consumption.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Did I like that restaurant?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the sake was kind of bad.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's supposed to be well done.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Some of you like it that way.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the service wasn't great.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: The service wasn't great, and what are we doing?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're consumers everywhere we go.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So when we come into church, we do the same thing.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I don't really like that building.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's white.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's how kids, I don't know.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: The girl didn't smile, and so uh just and what do we do?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Did I like the music?
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Did I like the coffee?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, I didn't like all these things.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so what do we do?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus, like, I never said to create consumer Christianity.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: I told you to follow me.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: I told you to follow me.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: And eventually, following him is gonna lead to other things.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think some of us following Jesus is not the overflow of our lives.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: And here's what I mean by that.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think for a lot of us, we do things to get Jesus to love us instead of because I love Jesus, I do things.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So because I've said I'm following Jesus, I now want to serve because Jesus told me to serve.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to serve to get Jesus to love me.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I want to serve because I love Jesus.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't start in the Jesus part, we don't start at sitting at his feet, we don't start in scriptures.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: We start with like, I gave my life to Jesus, now I'm gonna just go do.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's why Jesus looked at Mary and said, She's chosen to do the right thing.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Before she moved from here, she's got to make sure she's right with me.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then the overflow.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Martha serving, serving, Lord.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see her?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Do you see what she's doing?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: What is this?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm serving to get your attention.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus goes, just sit here.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: We've neglected the sitting, and then we start serving.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: We go, I'm so frustrated in serving.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like these people.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know why?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because we've tried to love and serve people out of our flesh and good intentions instead of an overflow of my love for Jesus.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you, they'll frustrate you every time.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: If there's a moment where you're like, these people are driving me nuts, that's you talking, that's not Jesus.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus talking goes, listen, I've asked you to extend the same grace I extended you.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was patient with you, be patient with them.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And he starts saying things that go against our flesh, and now we're all of a sudden we're like, you know what?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to sit with Jesus anymore.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because this is what this costs me.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: I said, With Jesus, he starts correcting me.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like that very much.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Jesus said, um, people that love me love discipline.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get into that in a second.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Heads up.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 2.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 2, we just sang about this.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 2 says, Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: I love what Paul's telling the Ephesian church.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, hey, FY, it wasn't one, it was a lot.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was a lot, dude.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna just throw in many sins.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then he says, You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers and the unseen world.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: He's saying, Hey, I'm just wanting you to know who the real enemy is.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's not your boss, it's not even your ex.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: Believe it or not, some of you don't believe that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: You think he's the enemy, she's the enemy, he's not, she's not.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's the disobedience because of what the devil's doing.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, All of us, he repeats it for us because how many of this room know we're ignorant?
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you for your honesty, Greg.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: And the two most important words in all of the Bible say this in verse 4, but God.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know why you're different?
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because of but God.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know why you're patient?
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: But God?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Some might even say it's the biggest butt in the Bible.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: But God is so rich in mercy, you'll get that later.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And he loved us so much that even though Miranda just got it, even though we were dead, because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what we just think about it is only by God's grace.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: That you have been saved.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know that there are people that are pointing to generations of examples of people who used to be lost but now are found, and it can only be attributed to the grace of God that was given to them?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know some of you are the you're the generations that are making a decision because your your parents or your grandparents or your great-grandparents did not find Jesus?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: You're the first generation one finding Jesus.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: And there are gonna be grandkids that are gonna point back to the fact that you allowed the grace of God to change you, and because of that, it changed future generations.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's really good news.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: But God saved you by his grace when you believed, and you can't take credit for this.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: It is a gift from God.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: Salvation is not a reward for the good things that we have done.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: So why?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: So none of us can boast about it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: For we are God's masterpiece, he created us anew in Christ Jesus so we could do the good things He planned for us long ago.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know that God has plans for you?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: And every time we're disobedient, those plans go away.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: Those plans get side.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: There are things that God wants to do in your life, but can't because of the disobedience.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_01: So when we understand that the grace has been extended to us and it's a gift to us, life change happens.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Life looks differently, your kids look differently, your family looks different.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, now as a family, you're getting baptized.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: Why?
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's different.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: And this is what Paul is saying.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: This is where where am I serving?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Who am I reaching?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: Who am I discipling?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: What am I giving?
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Where am I growing?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: This is a very different Christianity.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: And what he's saying is not just defining it, he's saying we're defining what success looks like.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Again, for us, it's attendance matters, but for him, yes, buildings matter because they can be a resource.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, budgets matter because they also can be a resource.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: Programs can matter, opportunities for people to meet and encounter Jesus, all of those things.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: But none of those things are the ultimate measurements.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: The ultimate question is are we making disciples that make disciples?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Or is this gonna end with us?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Is this gonna be the end?
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is this gonna be life community club or life community church?
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Either one's LCC.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: But a healthy biblical growth should produce both.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you can't go, well, there's a lot of people here, so we're assuming they're becoming disciples.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Nor can you go, oh, listen, there's only 12 of us, so I'm assuming that we're doing this thing right.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: He's going, no, a healthy balance is there should be both.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: This is what he's talking about, and this is why it says all the believers in Acts 2 devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's supper, and to prayer.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: He says the word devoted.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: He says, not occasionally interested, not casually involved, devoted.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Who are you intentionally helping follow Jesus?
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Who is your one?
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: Here's a scary stat for me.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: When asked to church people, when was the last time you led someone to the Lord?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a very long time.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't say that to us in condemnation.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: I say that into us on what are we building?
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_01: What are we building?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: If we're building an hour time frame where people can come and see, is that really what it's about biblically?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul is addressing.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: This is what it's about, and there's one hindrance that I'm gonna talk about in 11 minutes.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: Nine minutes.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: There's one, and I'll talk about hindrances the rest of the week.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: You'll know this one word the most because we've made this word acceptable in society, but I've not found one time in the Bible that this word is used in a right way, and the word is pride.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: Pride.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Pride says, I know, pride says I'm right, pride says I deserve, pride says they need to change, pride says, why didn't they recognize me?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Pride says, uh, why didn't they ask me?
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Pride says that's not how I would do it, and it's especially pride is especially dangerous because we can see it clearly in everybody except ourselves.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is why it's dangerous.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is why Proverbs says pride goes before destruction, haughtiness before a fall.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_01: Pride usually doesn't announce itself, it disguises itself.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_01: Pride sometimes looks like confidence, pride sometimes looks like offense, pride sometimes looks like independence, pride sometimes looks like criticism, pride sometimes even looks spiritual.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: And if we're gonna be the church that God wants us to be, in this day, in this hour, we've got to recognize what pride does to the body of Christ.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Pride makes everything about me.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_01: And listen, if it's about me, that's not following Jesus.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: Philippians 2 says to believers, do not be selfish or try to impress others, but instead humbly consider others and care about their interests.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: This is exactly opposite of the spirit of this culture in this age.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Culture says, What do I get?
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, Who can I serve?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Culture says, build your platform.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, take up your cross.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Culture says, make sure people notice you.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus says, wash somebody's stinky, nasty feet.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Not forehead, not hands, feet.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because you and I might have gotten on board with hands.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'll wipe, I'll wipe someone's sweat off their brow, but you ask me to wash nasty feet after walking in dirt on a 110-degree day.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not touching feet.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm talking about.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Pride also makes me hard to correct.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Proverbs says, loving discipline means loving knowledge, while hating correction is foolish.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: This is a strong statement.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: One of the clearest tests of humility isn't how you respond when someone compliments you, one of the strongest is how you respond when someone corrects you.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: You want to know if you have pride in your life?
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: Have someone correct the way you do something.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: And listen to me, and they be right.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: This is the reason Peter, who was corrected more than any other disciple, learned behavior.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: This is learned behavior.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know why?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: For some part of me, I'm really good at apologizing to my wife because it's a learned behavior.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: Meaning I'm really good at something that I've done a lot.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Peter was really good at correction and understanding correction.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you know what Peter said?
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: Peter said, Listen, it doesn't matter how they correct, it doesn't matter in what attitude they correct.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Is there any truth to what is being said?
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: That should be the first and only question.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: When your husband or wife looks at you and says, you know, honey, there's something you've been doing and it really bothers me.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, I don't like that you brought it up, it's not that this is not the right moment for it, or it's not even that you ruined my dinner.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: It should be, is there truth to what she just said?
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_01: If that's all that matters, what I'm showing is that I'm choosing to walk in humility and not pride.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: It would be no different if Sean walked up to me right now, whispered in my ear, Jamie, your flies undone.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, by the way.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: Said, bro, thank you.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: I turn around calmly, zip it up, right?
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: Or Jim Schweppy's in the back.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: Pauses in this moment, running the sound, and says, Ha ha, Pastor, you're letting the cow out of the barn there, my man.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: You need to zip it up, and everybody starts laughing.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: You might go, Jim is in the wrong, Sean is right, and I might tell you, I'm gonna hang out with Sean before I do Jim.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'll agree on that one.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: But they both pointed out truth.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: How we got to that moment should not matter if I'm a humble person and I'm going, is there any truth there?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because when Peter says, if at all possible with you, live at peace with everyone.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know what he's saying?
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: He's saying people are difficult, people are hard, and you gotta really work at living at peace with everyone.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because there's gonna be things that are said that are gonna offend you and gonna drive you crazy.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: But know this is there truth to it?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're finding out as a church, are we for people or are we against them?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: And hear me.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: If someone comes to me and says, I've prayed about this, I don't want to do this.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: But Pastor, I have a couple things I want to bring to your attention.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: I've watched your life.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what we do we don't let people see us enough to correct us, we just let them scratch the surface of our life.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: We live in secrecy.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know why?
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_01: For a lot of us in this room, we're not confronted because people don't know us.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because here's the crazy reality, and I believe this, and you could take this for whatever.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: Every single one of us on a weekly basis should be being confronted by someone in our lives, nobody exempt, but I don't know how many of you are gonna sign up for the correction small group.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, though our pride is going to allow us to allow people to see the real us, not the Instagram version of us, not the smiling when I'm ticked off, us, not the I got it all together and kids smile and keep your hair right, us, but the us that doesn't have it right.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_01: This is why the body of Christ is so important when it comes to spiritual gifts.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're gonna be out in public, and someone who has the gift of discernment is gonna look at you and call your stuff out.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: And in that moment, you're gonna find out am I operating in pride or humility?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know, depends.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you going to church the next Sunday?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not getting through all of this FI.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: I just know that for so much of us in this room, you desire to do what this says.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: You desire to follow Jesus, that is your heart's desire.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like I want to follow Jesus, and hear me.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: If we are following Jesus and taking up our cross daily, our flesh is being killed.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if our flesh is being killed, that really attacks an ego.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I gotta do something with it.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think what Jesus is confronting, not to call it out, not to point at people and go, you, you, you, but that he's preparing us so that when you go to work and someone says, I don't know how I'm gonna make it through this, you go, whoa, whoa, whoa, I've been there.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: I know exactly what you're going through.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_01: And here's what God has done in my life.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know what that changes?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't about you, it's about what God has done.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_01: When someone says, Wow, that's very wise of you to say those words, that's incredible advice for someone so young.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: You go, dude, that's not me.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_01: You've seen my math score.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: This could have only come from the Holy Spirit, and he's saying it to you because he loves you that much.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: Everything that's in here is not to spank you or correct you, it's because he loves you.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: To the point where Jesus says, Listen, I'm looking for a church that loves discipline.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: Because they understand what comes from it.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, I'm coming back for a bride.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Without what?
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: Spot.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: God, we want to be blameless before you.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: And Jesus, would you help us?
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: Because God, everything we're talking about today, man, it hits our pride, it hits our flesh.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_01: God, we don't love it.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: We don't love correction, we don't love discipline.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: God, we need to see this from a different angle.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: Your perspective, not ours, not even our experience.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because so many people in this room, we've been corrected in a wrong way, not a biblical way.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: We've been corrected by people who aren't for us, don't want the best for us.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_01: God, I pray that you would help us to see differently.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: God, thank you that you love us.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you care for us.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: Give you praise and honor.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus' name.