Latest / Life Community Church / Sunday | Be The Church | Pastor Jamey | Week 2

Transcript

Sunday | Be The Church | Pastor Jamey | Week 2 · Life Community Church

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Jamie Bridges, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: All of our services are inspired and built straight from the Bible.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let's get into this week's message recorded at Life Community Church.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, if you're a first-time guest, thanks for uh thanks for being here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Uh one of our services this weekend, and and we believe, as we're jumping into this series, what it means to be the church, uh, what it means to respond correctly, and and we're just diving through uh trying to be followers of Jesus.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: This is the aim.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: The aim is that we follow Jesus and we're trying to make disciples who also follow Jesus.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Are we gonna miss it?
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: Who missed it this week?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Come on.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_02: Like everybody else without a hand up is a liar, and you just missed it.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so now you can raise your hand, right?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: This is this is what we're talking about.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: And we got one verse that I really want to walk through, and then we'll go to the second verse.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: But Luke chapter 9, 23, and it says this It says, if any of you wants to be my follower, there's three things.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: First, you must give up your own way or deny yourself, or another translation says, Turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: So this is this is the greatest invitation of all time.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: The greatest invitation.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because up front he says, Listen, if anyone.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_02: And this would have been shocking to the original audience, because the original audience, it was not an anyone thing.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: It was you were raised this way, you had this last name, you were raised under this certain rabbi, and so anyone at this point was not anyone.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: What Jesus changes is, listen, when I've come, I don't care about your last name, I don't even care where you've been.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: My mercies are new every single day, and my invitation means anyone is anyone.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: And this is the greatest news of all time.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because you have been invited to a lot of things, and you do a lot of things with those invites.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_02: You throw them away, you ignore them, you show up late to them, all of those things.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it's based off of who you know, maybe a friend of somebody knows, you're a plus one, all of those things.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_02: What Jesus is saying up front that we cannot miss.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here, but we cannot miss this.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Anyone means anyone.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that means when people come in and they say they have a past or we know they have a past, the invitation is for them too.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is not about us and them, it's about us.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: The invitation.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Now, anyone makes the invitation wide, but the standard doesn't change.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's ultimately what we need to see.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: There are no, there's not two versions of Christianity.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: One where I just believe in Jesus and one where I believe in Jesus, crucify my flesh, deny myself, and follow Jesus.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: This is not like radical people over here, surface people over here.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: There's one version.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the invite that Jesus brings us to.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I would say it this way.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like I think for a long time, especially how it's raised, maybe some of you were raised this way.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: We sometimes think that when we come to Jesus, we don't really talk about the cost of following Jesus.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: We don't talk about uh the price that we might have to pay.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: We think if I come to Jesus, then Jesus is gonna start blessing my life, giving me the desires of my heart.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so we kind of take this mindset where Jesus is giving us a blank check.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Well, really, what it is, is we're writing the blank check to Jesus.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Every single day we're saying, Jesus, here's my life.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Every single day with my signature, I would encourage you going on Amazon, getting a big check.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's not too much money, and every single day, investing in something that he's called us to as followers, to every day.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm laying.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus doesn't want a portion of your life, he doesn't want the tip of your life, he wants your whole life.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: When he says all of it, he means all of it.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's not so much that I'm giving, oh Jesus, thanks for the blank check.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now that I'm following you, everything just got easy.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: I have more money than I've ever had, more friends.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Everybody loves me.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, Jesus said they hated me, now they're gonna hate you.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I don't oh, I don't want to hear that, Pastor.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about grace some more.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about how I missed the mark.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: Talk about how Jesus is gonna bless me because He He wants the best for me, and because He wants the best for me, it's an abundance of blessings.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, he didn't give you a blank check.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: He asked you to present the blank check.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: I say, God, here's my life.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: Here's everything.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: This is what Luke 9.23 is.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's a beautiful invitation, but the invitation has standards.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: This this invitation, he says three things.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: First thing he says is, give up your own way.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: You must give up your own way.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: He's not saying you should hate yourself.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: He's not telling you you shouldn't have a personality, he's not saying you should never enjoy anything.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_02: He's saying something so much deeper.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's saying denying yourself means surrendering your right to be the one in charge of your life.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_02: This is crazy new flash.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: You may not know this yet.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: There is a God and you're not Him.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'll put it this way you're not in charge.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: If you're a control freak, need a lot of like spreadsheets and plans and got a five-year plan too, it's good.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad you have it.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad your brain works that way, but God is probably gonna mess it up.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: I'll never forget when my wife came to me and said, Listen, I feel like we're supposed to foster.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, When you said we, did you include me?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: Or was it just like the kids?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And it took me, and I know some women in this room, you're gonna be like, it usually takes a man a while to catch up.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: I I can hear you right now.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's I hear you.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: It sounds like my wife's voice, but I hear you.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And it took me three years of killing my selfishness to get to the point where I looked at her and said, I too believe this.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: What is it?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: What was it Jamie took a long time?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Probably.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a I'm an ignorant being.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: It could have taken me a long time.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: What did I have to do?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: I had to deny my selfish ways so that I understood and grasped that I'm not in charge.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: The question changes from what do I want to Jesus?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: What do you want?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_02: And that is a dangerous question because you think you're going A and Jesus goes, I'm going this way.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so to deny yourself and to give up your selfish ways is a big deal, and it's where he starts.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: He says, Listen, when my pride wants to win, I'm asking you to choose humility.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: When you want to live offended, I'm asking you to choose forgiveness.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: When you want to tell God that you're uncomfortable, I'm asking you to not let fear make that decision.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: When when you think that you know the plans for your future, I'm telling you, you're to say, Jesus, here's what I want, but not my will, your will be done.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: And that is dangerous.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: And this is why Jesus says this must happen daily.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Stop pointing to an event that happened 25 years ago when you came to an altar.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful, I love it, but it's not the end all.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: Just like I don't look at my wife and said, But you do you remember June 21st, 1997?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: I made this commitment and she's gonna go, What about today?
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: I need you to be the husband today.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: Not the 21-year-old Jamie.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: He was pretty immature.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: You think immaturity looks like this now?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: You should have seen 21-year-old Jamie.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: And some of you get it.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: So denying yourself doesn't mean you don't have desires, it means your desires don't have the ultimate authority.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: And this is what he's saying.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Second thing he says is to take up your cross daily.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: There's a big difference and distinction between denying yourself and taking up your cross daily.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: They belong together, but they're not exactly the same.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: Denying yourself is surrendering your will.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Taking up your cross is accepting the cost that comes with that surrender.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: So desiring or denying yourself is not my way, taking up your cross, whatever it costs.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: That would have sounded shocking to the original audience because they didn't carry or wear or put up in their churches crosses.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: Because this cross represented one thing execution.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: If you were carrying your cross, that meant you were on your way to die.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: So when Jesus said to the original audience, I'm asking you to deny yourself, that would have been shocking because most parents had plans for their kids, and it was fishermen, it was tax collectors, it was all of these things.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: And now he's saying, deny that.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: And then he says, take up your cross, which is what?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: Deny.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: There's a cost that is coming to following Jesus.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: This is not something we talk about a lot because cost doesn't get you a lot of followers.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's like if I said right now, we're gonna spend the rest of the time on giving money.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: Some of you checked out.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's a cost factor.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about some, so when we're talking about our lives, we're talking about something that's gonna cost us our preferences, our popularity, our reputation, our comforts.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so this is ultimately saying, He's saying, Listen, you must take up your cross daily.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: A person, again, carrying a cross was headed to death.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so Jesus says, and listen, some of you in this room, we we might have used this wrong.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_02: Some of us have said, like, well, my job is my cross to bear.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_02: Some of you have said, like, my my marriage is my cross to bear, my kids are my cross to bear, my bad back is my cross to bear, and this is not what Jesus is talking about.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: Your cross is not simply something difficult that happens to you.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: Taking up your cross means willingly accepting the cost of following Jesus.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_02: And again, it is daily.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: So Jesus isn't asking for an emotional surrender, he's asking for a lifestyle.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: Every morning I die again to the idea that my life belongs to me.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: And again, if you're in this room where you're like, I'm in control, until you're not, you're gonna figure out wow, there's something bigger here.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_02: So deny people's approval isn't going to determine my obedience, taking up your cross.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: Even if following Jesus costs me, I'm gonna follow him.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think this is this is easy to say, it's hard to live.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's the reason when Isaiah writes, they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: I would say honoring Jesus with our lips is easy to do.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: But to be the church that God has called us to do, our altar call moment that we have to have today is what we do when we leave here.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: People don't care what you believe if you're not gonna change the way you live.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna question then, what do you actually believe?
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: And as a follower of Jesus, we have to really ask this question: who is actually leading my life?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_02: Because this is the follow me part that we'll spend the last 28 minutes on, 25 minutes on.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because Luke 9, 23 isn't primarily an invitation to add Jesus to your life, it's an invitation to give my whole life to Jesus.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: And so we understand this from a standpoint of like, I'm I'm willing to do hard things until hard things come.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: And Jesus is saying when you follow him, there are going to be some people that no longer want to be around you.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be some people that don't actually like you.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: You might get passed over for the job that you deserve, that you should have gotten, that your education speaks to, but you didn't get it because you follow Jesus.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: That might actually happen.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_02: And that is persecution.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: And before we start jumping around, like, well, we live in America, there are people who have actually lost their lives for following Jesus around the world.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: They've been asked the question Will you renounce Christ and all that He's done?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: And they said no, and they were beheaded.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like that has actually happened.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's not a myth, it's not a wonder, it's actually happening around the world.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And listen to me, I don't want to be that guy's a bearer of bad news.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to continue.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad I'm not ending there?
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe not.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, verse 24.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: This is why this is important.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: He says, if you try to hang on to your life, it will slip away from you.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus is speaking from an eternity standpoint, and really following Jesus comes down to two words.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Follow me.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_02: Follow me, which means what?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus gets the final word.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Surrender in the scriptures has authority even when it confronts my preferences.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_02: I don't ask, do I agree with Jesus?
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: I ask, will I obey Jesus at all cost?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: See, a lot of us when we read Joshua and we hear about Jericho, which is a familiar passage.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: People talk about Jericho all the time.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: People walked around it seven times.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's this beautiful picture, it's this beautiful story in the Old Testament that God did.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: But we think when we read about Joshua and Jericho, we think it's about Jericho.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: And then that's how we approach Jesus.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_02: We approach Jesus from a standpoint of, I have a Jericho in my life, I have a giant in my life, I have a Goliath in my life.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: First and foremost, none of us are David, just throwing that out there.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have a Goliath in your life, and that's not ultimately the point.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_02: But we bring that to him and say, God, can you take this Goliath?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: Can you take this Jericho?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: We rub Jesus three times, we do this funny dance, and we say, I'm willing to come to church, I'm willing to join a small group.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: If you would just take Jericho, and we approach God that way, whereas when Joshua sees Jericho, it says he's confronted with an angel of the Lord.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's confronted with the Lord and he's saying, Listen, what is going on?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: And the Bible says in that moment, Joshua does something so crazy.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: The Bible says Joshua got in the most surrender position you could get in.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes our surrender looks like this, sometimes like this, sometimes like this.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's all we we raise our hands all differently, right?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, out, open, in, uh.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: And we call it surrender.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the Bible says that Joshua went face down before the Lord.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_02: The most vulnerable position you could be in is right here.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because I don't know what's happening around me, but I'm surrendering and I'm trusting the one who does.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_02: So we think that Jericho is what it's all about.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: And God shows Joshua it's not about your Jericho, it's about surrendering your life.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's not about conquering Jericho in your life, it's about conquering you.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_02: Because we're selfish.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: We need to deny ourselves.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_02: We have wants and comforts and the ways we thought it should go, and this isn't how it's supposed to be.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not so much whether that is gonna happen, it's gonna happen.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be things that happen that you go, that's not what I thought was gonna happen.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: And in that moment, we either go, God, I'm coming back to you, or we're surrendering our life and saying, God, it's all yours anyway.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: And so ultimately, following him is Jesus, you get the final word.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: This is the reason David says this in Psalm 119.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: How can a young person stay pure?
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's a question.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: How can a young person stay pure?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Come on, where's my young and heart people?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Age is just a number?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: No?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Young people stay pure.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: By obeying your word, I have tried hard to find you.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Don't let me wander from your commands.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against you.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Ultimately, he's saying, I, when I understand the word, and when I understand knowing the word, and when I understand that this is the word and how I stay in tune and on course with him, then I understand that the word that I've hidden in my heart isn't just to sound fancy or to sound wise or to throw out scriptures on social media.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's so that I'm not sinning against God.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: Because before you sin against people, you've sinned against him first.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so what he's saying and following him is you're saying, like, Jesus, you get the final word.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Your word matters.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: And listen, you can't live out the word unless you know the word.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: We talked about this on Friday morning.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how anyone who says they follow Jesus can't be in the Bible every single day because I have to hide the word of God in my heart so that when the time is right, the temptation is right, when I need to make a decision, the word is already there and that's what's coming out.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: I've hidden your word.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's not just that, it's I give Jesus my identity.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: Our world encourages us to build our identities around career, around success, around politics, around sexuality, around popularity, around achievements, even our own pain.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: But surrender says, before I am anything else, I belong to Jesus.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: Because this side of heaven, everything else can be taken away.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: My title, I can be, I could be a husband now, but I may not be the rest of my life.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: I could be a father, I could be a pastor, I could be a ghost, I could be all of those things, but those are just titles, they can all be ripped away.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: But when I understand I belong to Jesus, and I understand sonship, and I understand being a daughter of the king, and I understand who I am in Christ, when I understand what Galatians says, my old self has been crucified with Christ.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: When I understand Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not lean on your own understanding in all your ways.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: Acknowledge him that you understand your identity.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: What might be in front of you does not define you.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because he's already defined you.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: It causes you to see things in a completely different way and losses and crazy when life throws you a curveball.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: When you understand who you are, then you understand a bigger picture.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: Man, there's a bigger picture at play.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, in this world, there's gonna be troubles.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: And here's ultimately, following Jesus', I obey when obedience costs me.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think all of us in this room, it's easy to follow Jesus when life is good.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: Kids aren't too crazy, there's money in the bank, job's not too bad.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, I'm following Jesus, the joy of the Lord.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, you're doing it.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: No problem.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: But when it's hard, obedience that costs nothing rarely feels like surrender.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: I follow Jesus when I stop negotiating with sin.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Surrender isn't saying Jesus forgive me while I continue living however I want.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's Jesus change me.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: This is the ultimate right here.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: We won't become perfect overnight.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: Sanctification is a process, but surrendered people don't make peace with what Jesus died to set them free from.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: And there are things that you and I can we have to stop negotiating with gossip, with pornography, with sex out of bounds.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Like we have to stop negotiating.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's a dangerous place.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: And he's saying, followers of mine will not do that.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: Because following Jesus ultimately means holiness still matters.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just a song we sing.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_02: Grace doesn't give us permission to remain unchanged.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus loves us where he finds us, but following him means allowing him to transform us.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: This has to be the place.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Peter wrote this in 1 Peter 1 5 and 16.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: But now you must be holy in what?
• 21:59
  unknown: Everything.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Everything you do.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Just as God who chose you is holy, for the scripture says you must be holy because I am holy.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: Not because your pastor's holy, not because your mentor's holy, not because grandma who who who prayed for you is holy, but because God is holy.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: He's the standard.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: Other people are not the standard.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_02: He's the standard.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: He says, not be religious.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: He says, be holy.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: What does this actually mean?
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Holiness carries the sense of being set apart for God.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: For God.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: It isn't primarily about looking different.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: So people think you're spiritual.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's about belonging completely to God.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: And because you belong to Him, you increasingly live different.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: This holiness isn't merely about separation from something.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: It's about consecration to someone.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: This is about relationship.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: Because you're in a relationship with the Lord, you live different, you talk different, you act different.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_02: And when you don't, the conviction of that relationship makes sense now.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_02: He's convicting us not to push us away, not to make us feel shame and condemnation, but to bring us what?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: In a bright relationship with the Lord.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: Has there been a moment where your family said, All right, everybody gather around, gather around the table?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: You're like, oh crap.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's usually one of two things.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: We're going on vacation or someone messed up.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: And there's no in between.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: You never had those meetings?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: I highly encourage them because it will make your kids wet themselves.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: And then you just blow them away, like, hey, we're going to the beach, and like, oh my gosh, that scared me.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then the next time you're like, hey, we're moving.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what?
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Last time we're going to the beach?
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_02: What is this?
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_02: This is, hey, son, I want to take you.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: And we want to have coffee and we need to talk about something.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_02: There's some things as dad I'm concerned about.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm going to say these things that they're going to be hard.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm going to say them to you, not because I want to push you away, but because I want you to be better.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I want you to be better than me.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not competing with you, son.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: I want the best for you.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_02: And because I want the best for you, I'm willing to say, what happened?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: Because of my relationship with my son, I was able to bring things to the light that needed to be talked about so that he would better himself.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: What is that?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: That is living in a relationship where confrontation is real, but it's for the individual.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: Living in a relationship with the Lord.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: When I read scripture, the Bible tells us it will rebuke us, it will encourage us, it will do these things.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Why?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: Because God wants us to be encouraged, but he also needs to correct us.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: There are things that we're going to be doing that if God doesn't correct us, we're going to miss out.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: What is that?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm now different because of my relationship with the Lord.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: What he's asking of us is he's saying, listen, there should be a difference in how we live because we're in relationship.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: Not because we go to church, not because we're in a small group, not because I have a good friend that has good morals, but because I'm in a relationship with Jesus.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: This is the aim.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_02: This is the goal that we're in a relationship with Jesus.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: We should be walking around going, hey man, what's God saying to you right now?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_02: Where's God challenging you?
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: And that shouldn't be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, who are you to ask me what God's child?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: This is between me and the Lord.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's not.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because my relationship with my wife carries over into my kids.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: I know we might pretend.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, let's make sure everything's okay so the kids don't know.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's not the point.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: The point is my relationship with Jesus should affect where I live.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: At school, at work, at the job, not just on the front of my shirt.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: And this is ultimately, he's inviting us, the any ones, into a relationship.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_02: And this is beautiful.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: Again, this is not about people noticing.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: Look how holy they are.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_02: This is about people become this is about us becoming more like Jesus so people notice Jesus.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: Not us.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: And how is that gonna come?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: People are gonna say, why'd you say no to that?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, my conviction on this is that I shouldn't do it, and that's why.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's not because I'm better than you, it's because my relationship with the Lord won't allow that to happen.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's why.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Not in an arrogant way, not in I, oh look, I'm holier than you.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: No, let people say those things.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's not how we live.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: This is ultimately what he's saying.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: And when what is in my life right now that doesn't look like Jesus, but I've learned to live with that.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what is in my life that I know does not live and look like Jesus that I need to get rid of, but I've learned to live with it.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: We've been in our house six years.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_02: We've touched every part of our house except for our bathroom.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: Our bathroom.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: And it is the ugliest color of blue there is.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: And if you walked in, you're gonna go, Wow, the rest of your house looks like it's updated, but your bathroom is light blue.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: What's the reason for that?
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: We've learned to live with it.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of things in our life that we've learned to live with, that everybody else notices those things, but we've become complacent about those things and we've learned to live with it.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: What Jesus is asking of us when it comes to holiness is what are the things in our life that we know are not right that we've learned to live with?
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: And we need to fix them.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Because here's what it is.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_02: If you're in this room and you're like, Jesus can have everything except, listen to me.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Surrender doesn't have an accept.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: One dude just said amen.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_00: Which tells me, like, we either we either hit a nerve, don't agree, or are ignoring it.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not needing all 300 of you to say amen.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_02: Someone said not really in the first service, which I thought was cute.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_02: But I need us to understand the anyone that he's talking to is everyone in the room.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_02: Because we have a mindset when we come into church that this is for everyone else but me.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_02: And hear me, the invitation is for everyone.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: I don't care where you've been, I don't care what you've done.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_02: Your friends might, but I don't.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus don't.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna hit the last one hard.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is the worst one.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Trying to do my best in three services to stay on topic.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_02: Extremely hard, but I only got one more because 11, they just get it all.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_02: Last one.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: Following Jesus means reconciliation.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: This past week in our staff meeting, my wife brought up a scripture in 2 Corinthians, Paul's writing.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: We spent the whole summer in Corinthians talking about a messed up people.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: And it was easy to look at scriptures in 1 Corinthians and go, wow, these people are messed up, all the while realizing, wow, so are we.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_02: And she brings up this specific passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, and I want to read these eight verses, because this is what reconciliation looks like.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome, right?
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_02: Paul says up front, listen, I'm not coming to you because obviously the last time I came, some of you were mad about it.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_02: Certainly not someone I have grieved.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won't be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_02: I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't want to grieve you, but I wanted to let you know how much I love I have for you.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: Verse 5.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_02: I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: Otherwise, he may be overcome by discouragement.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_02: Paul and the Corinthian church, man, they had a complicated relationship.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_02: There had been sin, there had been conflicts, there had been confrontation.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: Paul had apparently written a difficult letter confronting what was happening.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: But notice here, Paul says his goal wasn't to win a fight, his goal was to restore a relationship.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_02: Confrontation isn't about proving I'm right.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's about fighting for what is right and fighting for the relationship.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_02: Paul doesn't minimize the offense.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Something happened, someone caused pain, correction was necessary.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes I think we, as followers of Jesus, we misunderstand forgiveness with pretending everything is okay.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus never calls us to live in fake peace.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: He doesn't.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, he told the Ephesian church, speak the truth in love.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: Paul says the church had already disciplined this person enough.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Then this instruction that I think is so shocking that I think you and I, as the church, we need to be known for this.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: He says, it is time to forgive, but not just forgive.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because I think sometimes we're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I forgive you.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_02: He says, Not only do I want you to forgive him, I want you to comfort him.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: And your comfort might be how he overcomes how he gets better.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Paul's ultimately saying, like, hey, church, this is enough.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: You've punished this man enough.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_02: He's repented, stop beating him up.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_02: The person has responded to correction.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_02: Don't keep punishing someone who's repented.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: He says, like, you messed up, so you're finished.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: The gospel says, You messed up, you repent, you let Jesus begin restoring you.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, we should never be in a place where someone's worst moments becomes their permanent identity.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_02: That should never be what we're about.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot want reconciliation while continually using someone's past as a weapon against them.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_02: There's something bigger that's happening.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_02: And listen to me there's a difference between allowing someone in the room and making them know that they belong in the room.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like as the church, we can say, like, hey, everybody can come, you're all invited.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, anyone means anyone.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: But what about when they're here?
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is it a saying?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: Or is it an invitation that I might sit with you and comfort you?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: Reaffirm.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_02: You know what reaffirming means?
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Meaning at one moment I told you I loved you.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: At one moment we were close.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_02: So now I'm gonna reaffirm.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: You want to know if you've forgiven someone?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_02: Try telling them you love them.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: You want to know if we have the heart of Jesus?
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: When I see them, am I bringing up what they've done, or am I bringing up my love that I have for them?
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_02: Man, we should be so good at this.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_02: Listen to me.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: I know some of you are thinking this.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_02: There's gotta be wisdom, though.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: There's gotta be accountability, there's gotta be boundaries and time needed to maybe rebuild trust.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_02: I agree.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: But our posture should be we're rooting for restoration, not waiting for another failure.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_02: I think here's what we do in the meantime sometimes.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: We say, Yep, I forgive them, and then we sit back and we go, let's just wait.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just wait for them to make another post.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Let's just wait for another Thanksgiving before we give them another opportunity.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: Man, let's just let's just let them feel this for a second.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: Or some of you throw karma crap around like you're Buddhist.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, karma, it's like, are we are we Buddhists now?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because karma actually means you get what you get later in life, and I don't even believe that.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: If we believe in karma, I'm gonna tell you right now, we're all in freaking trouble.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_02: Every single one of us.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: So before you start looking at the people in the back or start looking at people across from you, like that dude's definitely in trouble.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: So are you.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_02: Karma's gonna get you too.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: Probably as a cat.
• 36:08
  unknown: Just kidding.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even know where that came from.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: Romans 12 says, Don't just pretend to love others, really love them.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: Hate what is wrong, hold tightly to what is good, love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: Verse 17 Never pay back evil with evil.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do things in such a way that everyone can see you're honorable.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_02: Do all things, all that you can to live in peace with, and here's this word again everyone.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: Notice what scripture doesn't say.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_02: Reconciliation is always completely possible.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's not.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: But it says, do everything you can.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: There are gonna be some people, and you can't control this.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: There are gonna be some people that don't repent.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know what has to happen in reconciliation?
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: Two people have to agree to come together.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: That doesn't always happen.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: But my heart can always be right if it ever does.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: So when he says, if at all possible with you, live in peace with everyone, he says, Listen, would you be a safe place for people who repent to come back to?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_02: Or are you gonna be the person that pushes them away?
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_02: Someone has to be the safe place, someone has to be the landing place.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot control whether their heart looks like Jesus, but the gospel, the ultimate story of the gospel is about reconciliation.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: That is the whole thing is about reconciliation.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: Second Corinthians 2, three chapters later.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: And all of this is a gift from God who brought us back to himself through Christ.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: We're separated because of sin.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus didn't wait for us to fix ourselves, he came after us.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_02: This is where the cross meets justice and mercy, and now people who have been reconciled to God become people who practice reconciliation with others.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's the challenge in front of us.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: Reconciling people.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_02: Listen, John 13, Jesus says, Listen, this is how the world will know that you're my disciples.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: This is how, right here.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: By how many times you attend church, how many times you check in, how many church merch churches do you have?
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_02: How many, how long have you had them?
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: Did you come to She Wakes?
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_02: None of that.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: This is how the world will know that you're my disciples by the way you love and treat other people.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's how.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: So we can be known for it.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_02: We could be the reconciled people, reconciling people back to him, which is what he's asked us to, and this is the challenge.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot preach a gospel of reconciliation while living a life of unresolved bitterness.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_02: And you might even, I hear you, gosh, I hear you.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: You don't understand what they've done.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_02: This is not a moment where you potentially pick up where you left off.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: This is a moment of will you be a welcoming landing spot for when they do.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: This is how you find out.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_02: When they come to you and they say, Hey, listen, FYI, I know this is four years ago.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: But I want to say sorry to you for what I said, for what I did.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_02: What do you do in that moment?
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_02: Because Peter said, Listen, God, this happens all the time.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus, what am I supposed to do?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Forgive him every time?
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: And he says, Yes! And then all of a sudden, Jesus gets really good with math.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_02: When Peter says, How much?
• 40:03
  SPEAKER_02: 70 times 7.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, couldn't he just said 490?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_02: Some of you are like, it's 490.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_02: What was Jesus saying?
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus was saying, every time they come to you and say I was wrong, you Sam, I forgive you.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: What if they don't mean it?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_02: He didn't ask, he didn't say that.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: Now all of a sudden we're gonna be oh, I wonder if they mean it or not.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's not what he said.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_02: He said, if it's possible with you, live at peace with everyone.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_02: Are you bringing the peace or are you bringing the chaos?
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's one of the two.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: Are you a reconciler?
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_02: Followers of Jesus reconcile.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: Followers of Jesus brings the peace.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_02: Followers of Jesus will seem weak to culture.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_02: Followers of Jesus will be hated.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_02: Followers of Jesus will have to deny their pride, will have to deny their flesh.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_02: Your flesh will want to get revenge, you've got to deny that.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to crucify that part of your flesh.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_02: And that's it's gonna cost you.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna cost you.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_02: And people are not gonna like you.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to be liked, my God, sell, sell ice cream, sell, sell something else.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_02: Like sell something.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_02: Because following Jesus, and when you sell forgiveness and you sell uh reconciliation, man, people do not like you.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's hard.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_02: Sometimes, anybody in this room, you just want to punch people.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_02: Come on, yes, I see those hands.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_02: Culture says, do what makes you happy.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: Sound what Jesus said.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_02: He said, reconciled people.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: Reconcile people to Him.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus today.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_02: God, thank you that you meet us where we are.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: But God, thank you that you love us too much to keep us here.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_02: God, this is about transformation.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_02: This is about living different.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_02: Not so the world says, wow, look how different those people are, but that people might see you.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_02: God, that is the aim.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: God, can you make that about what we're known for?
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: God, I know we're gonna be hated.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: I know we're gonna be despised.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_02: I know that people don't want this white box building in the middle of a community.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: I know people don't like us.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_02: But God, I'm checking our hearts and going, what's it about?
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_02: Am I living at peace with everyone?
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_02: Am I a safe place for people to land?
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_02: God, would you show us the truth?
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_02: Would you search us?
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_02: As men and women who desire to follow you, would you help us?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_02: We can't do this on our own.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_02: On our own, God, we're we're selfish people.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_02: But God, we give you our lives today.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name.