Christianity 101

0 (2s): Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome. We're glad you're here with us. It's a little damp and gloomy out there, but I think it's going to clear up and be a pretty day. So I'm excited to lead with you guys again here. It's been a little while, so Sherilyn and doing everything. So it's fun to be back up here. If you guys could stand with this, maybe up on the patio, we welcome you and the loft online. We're going to get a chance to worship with you. And I'm excited about that. So let me pray for us. We'll get started. Oh Lord God. It is such a special time. When we gather as a church here on Sunday, Lord, we're just here together, Lord, for a purpose to receive from you, Lord. 0 (47s): And we're going to give you praise first Lord. We're going to usher you in this place. We're going to sing these songs Lord, with everything that we have. We just want your presence take over the whole campus. Lord, the children's classrooms everywhere. Just leave. No doubt that you're here with us today, Lord. So bless this time. It's in your name. We pray. Amen. 1 (1m 15s): present system thank you, Lord. 1 (16m 36s): That you are faithful. We put our hope in you this morning. God, we pray that you would just be here in our midst. Just touching every heart healing. Every body just calming every anxiety. Your perfect love. Just cast out for you this morning. Let me just center our hearts, our affection or attention on Jesus today to give us ears, to hear you and eyes, to see you hearts of wide enough to receive all that you have for us. We pray this in Jesus beautiful name. Amen you man. So good. 1 (17m 16s): Church to be together. We're going to continue just to worship by saying hello to each other. So high fives, handshakes, whatever you feel comfortable with. Say hello to someone way back in a few minutes with some announcements, 3 (17m 30s): Right? Good morning. Harvest Church Hey, nice shirt Perry. Thanks. Good morning. Harvest Church so glad to be here with y'all. Hey, I'm Jeremy. I'm one of the pastors here and I just got a few announcements for us two minutes. That's it. I'll try. 4 (17m 51s): All right, so, Hey, welcome. If you're, if you're new here, if you're joining us online, want to say a big welcome to you. We'd love for you to stop by the info center. Get plugged in, fill out a communication card. Just find out what's going on here at Church next. We have a exciting, so next week 9:00 AM service. We'll start our kids classes again from birth to kindergarten we'll resume. Next week 9:00 AM service as well as 11. O'clock our full youth program, fifth grade, sixth grade youth, junior high and high school. All that will be next week as well. And don't forget, next week is time change Sunday. 2 (18m 30s): Oh, 4 (18m 33s): You get an, Oh, you get an hour. So it's good. Okay. Okay. All right, so, so it's good. Next next week you might be early or late, depending on when you come. So there's a, another way, a new way to connect with us. If you have an iPhone or Android device, we have Harvest app and there's a new button on there, a new link and it's called connect and that's on our website as well. And that's just a way to connect with us, to give us some prayer requests, sign up for classes or events, volunteer, all that stuff. That's all found on the connect link. And then lastly, we have a Thanksgiving food basket collection that we're starting. The Wiki weekly email update gives a list of items that they're looking for, that they're hoping for. 4 (19m 15s): And you can pick that up at the info center or look for it on the updates and donations are needed by November 15th. So those will be available. Now we get to watch the baptism video from last week. So if you, if you missed it, here's a sweet recap, Kristen, amazing job editing it all, put it together. And I think you're gonna be blessed. It was a great, great day. So here we go. 2 (19m 42s): we, that shoes shoes. 6 (23m 53s): I've said this before. Some of the, some of the best ministry happens when I'm not in town. So I wasn't there. I didn't get a chance to be a part of it, but I'm watching it. So this is the first time I've seen. I got a chance to see what was going on. And we baptized, I think 15 people had a couple hundred people out to, to watch and participate in worship and really, really powerful stuff. So it's, it's hard to, hard to top that, but we're going to be in a Colossus chapter two today. So go ahead and turn there and welcome. I'm I'm back after being gone for a couple of weeks. It is great. It is really great to, to go on vacation, but then it's always just so wonderful to be back. And so I've missed you guys. I love you. 6 (24m 33s): And I'm really grateful to be back here at Harvest Church. Thank you, brother. Appreciate that very much. We're going to be in Colossus chapter two, verses 11 through 23 today. Quick joke. You guys ready for a joke. I kind of made this one up. I should have told you that after the fact, but I kind of made it up. So there's three, three guys stranded on a desert, a deserted Island kind of know where this is going, where these guys are out there for quite a while and they come upon this genie's lamp and they find this genie's lamp. And they're so excited because they're rubbing on this thing and this genie comes out and he's offering to give each of these men one wish. And they're, they're very excited. 6 (25m 13s): The first guy's a doctor, he's missing home. He has got patients who need his attention. He's been out there for a long time and he said, Hey, I've got, I got stuff to do. I got to get home. My, I wish that I would get off this Island and get back to my practice. Boom, he's gone next. Guy's a college professor. And he's like, Hey man, I've got we're mid mid-semester. I'm right in the middle of my duties. As a professor, I need to get back to my students. My wish is that I would get off of this Island and get back to the college campus. Boom, he's gone. The next guy's retired. And he's got enjoying his time on this deserted Island. 6 (25m 54s): And he realizes as his buddies go get, you know, get exported off the Island that he kinda misses them. And so he says, Hey, can you bring those guys back? That's pretty good. Huh? All right. Good, good, good. I'll go back to my other source for jokes. Hey, we've titled the passage today. Christianity one Oh one. It's funny. Cause I titled this message on Thursday, on my prep day. And then on Thursday afternoon, I'm listening to another message. And that guy titled his message. Christianity one Oh one. So we're onto something here. Something's going on. So totally different contexts, totally different points and totally different texts. But there's something important about going back to the basics of our faith. 6 (26m 39s): The basics are important in any, any field, whether it be sports or business. The basics are very, very important. I remember when I was training to run long distances, there were a few things that absolutely had to happen in order for me to effectively run a long race. I had to eat right the day before had to get plenty of sleep. I had to hydrate. And then I had to pace myself. Those things absolutely needed to happen. I remember one race. I was scheduled to run a marathon and it, the schedule of the marathon was I had something else come up and I was going to be traveling on that day of the marathon. So I said, I called my son, Curtis. I said, Hey, would you just pace me? I'm going to go out and run this mayor. 6 (27m 19s): I've been training. I, I need to go run this marathon. So I said, would you ride a bike and just pace me and make sure I've got, you know, hydration and that sort of thing. And, and so he did. And so I run, I get up to S from Oceana and get up to San Louis and I'm on my way back. And by all 18, I have to use the restroom. You know, it's a long you're drinking the whole time and you're trying to stay hydrated. So I stop in Avalon beach to use the restroom. And when I started to run again, I cramped up so bad. I couldn't run the rest of the race. So it was, it was a bit heartbreaking and I never went back and finished a full marathon, but I, I walked the rest of the way and finished it that way. 6 (28m 0s): But there was something broke down in my training. Something broke down in my preparation. I wasn't able to finish 7 (28m 7s): The race. We 6 (28m 9s): Talk about the, the essentials, the basics, getting back to the, the essentials and the basics because we want to finish, well, we want to finish this race. And some of us are just going to limp across the finish line. And that's, that's going to get you there. Others are going to run and run all the way through. I want us all to finish the race. So we're talking about Christianity one Oh one today so that we can finish the race. Colossians chapter two verses 11 through 23 says this verse 11 says, when you, when you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature. 6 (28m 53s): If you're in Christ, if you're a Christian today, if you've been saved by the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, this has actually taken place in your life. You've, you've undergone a, you've undergone an operation as spiritual circumcision, where God has accomplished something in your heart, a cutting away of your sinful nature. He's done this for you so that you can run the race and finish the race. 7 (29m 17s): I 6 (29m 17s): Love Romans two 28 and three 29. It says this for you are not a true Jew because you were born of Jewish parents, or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision, Noah trued, you is one whose heart is right with God. That's what God does for us. A true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law. Rather. It is a change 4 (29m 43s): Of heart produced by the spirit capitalist spirit, the Holy spirit, and a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God. Not from people with that. Let's go ahead and stand up. And we're going to pray and ask the Lord's blessing upon the message today. Lord God, we stand in prayer and adoration of you because you are God. And because you are good. And because you are King your Lord, you are the savior. The one who has circumcised, our hearts cut away, cutting away our sinful nature, those desires of the flesh, Lord God. And I pray that as we come face to face with this truth, this revelation, this understanding, Lord God, that our lives would be transformed God, that it would set us on a different trajectory, a healthy trajectory, a godly God honoring trajectory for the rest of our lives. 4 (30m 32s): God, that we would just realize truth and live differently out of that truth. God that you would fill us with your Holy spirit. As we read your, as your, as we read your, your anointed word and God speak to us, everybody's coming from a different place today. Lord, some of them, some are excited to be here. Some are feeling just a little bit beat up by the world. Some are feeling just overwhelmed emotionally. And I just pray God, whatever the case may be, that you would speak to us. God that you administer to us and God that you would speak through me. You're humble vessel this morning. God, I I'm I'm. I want to be used to encourage, to Edify, to build up the saints in their most Holy faith. 4 (31m 15s): And I want to be built up Lord. I want to be built up in my most Holy faith. So do that good work. We pray in jesus' name. 6 (31m 21s): Amen. Hey man, you can be seated. 4 (31m 24s): I, I changed hearts. A circumcised heart no longer wants to please 6 (31m 32s): People. 4 (31m 34s): This is how, you know, if, if God's working in your heart and of God has done something, there's a, there's a, there's a change. There's a change in your soul and in your heart. Number one in your notes, a changed heart wants to please, God, that's just the reality. But when we've had an encounter with God, when we've welcomed him into our lives, when he's had the opportunity to perform that spiritual circumcision, our minds changed about the way that we live our lives. We no longer care about being people, pleasers our desires that we want to please, God, we are our desires to please the Lord. Some of us are having a hard time, kind of 6 (32m 11s): Getting there. We 4 (32m 13s): Have all of these great desires. We want to please the Lord. But we are caught up on in people pleasing. We want to please the people in our lives. And that is hindering us from pleasing the God in our lives. Like I want to read the Bible, but I keep getting interrupted by people like by emails, 6 (32m 34s): Like by text 4 (32m 35s): Messages and phone calls, et cetera, I want to do this right thing. I want to get and make God my priority. But I keep getting interrupted by all of these people demands in my life. I want to pray, but I keep getting interrupted by people. All of these people demands in my life. I want to go to church, but I keep getting interrupted by people. I want to serve God. I want to do all of these things, but I keep getting interrupted by people. Romans eight, two 29, again says in a person with a changed heart, seeks praise from God, not from people. So if we continue to get interrupted, we need to radically shake up the way that we're living our lives and radically change our priorities so that we're able to do the things that God is calling us to do. 4 (33m 22s): As followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ, we're running a race. And if we don't prepare properly and if we don't get ourselves in spiritual shape, we're not going to finish the race. We're not going to do well. And we're not going to enjoy the journey. God wants us to finish. He wants us to enjoy the journey. He wants us to enjoy him. And so there's a time in our life. When we recognize that there's too many distractions and most of those distractions come in the form of people through internet distractions, through text messages, through emails, through phone calls, through all kinds of different things, where people are trying to they're vying for our attention. They don't realize it. And then there's no harm intended, but unless we keep those things in proper balance in our lives, we're never going to do the things that God has called us to do and live the way that God has called us to live. 4 (34m 17s): We can have a change tart, but lack, self control and focus, right? We can have a changed heart, meaning God has cut away that carnal nature, that sinful nature, but we lack focus. And self-control we lack those things that will help us to grow in our faith as followers of the Lord. Jesus. So I would just say this, ask God to help you to remove those distractions. Maybe turn off your phone. I just read a book. It's called ruthlessly. The, the ruthless elimination of hurry by John Mark Homer and our staff is actually reading it. It was recommended to me and I started to getting into it. And then I said, Hey, the team, we're going to read this thing and just kind of learn together the ruthless elimination of hurry. 4 (34m 58s): Cause our, our culinary culture, we're just hurried. We're rushing everywhere, where we're driving faster than the speed limit because we're in a hurry. Even if we're not going anywhere, we're in a hurry to get there, right? We don't even know why we're in a hurry, but we're constantly in or hurry in in that book. John Mark Homer recommends turning off your phone. He's he? They've got young kids at the house and some of us do some of us don't. He said that when my kids go to bed, I put my phone to bed and I don't wake my phone back up until after I've done my morning devotions, isn't that powerful. So he's keeping in check those devices that are so often distracting us and keeping us from doing the things that God have us to do. 4 (35m 38s): So turn 6 (35m 38s): Off our phones, turn off your phone, close your computer. Don't look at social media, stop playing your games. Give God your full attention. I hear this all the time, but I'd never hear from God. I never hear God speak what God can't speak to us unless he's got our full attention. So we need to power down the devices, focus on God 8 (35m 58s): And 6 (35m 59s): Exercise some self control in our relationship with God, with him, give God our full attention. So Christ performed a spiritual circumcision, the cutting away of your sinful nature. So your, your sinful nature is cut away. Meaning you no longer enjoy sin like you did at one time, who can identify with that? I remember before Christ, I could send them till the cows came home and it didn't really bother me. I mean, I I'd get maybe a ting of guilt in my conscience. I'd feel a little bad from time to time. But, but trust me, the, the, the, the sin, it didn't stop. I wasn't bothered to the point where I was actually stopped. 6 (36m 40s): I didn't actually have the power to stop sending. And so I enjoyed it. But what happened is when I gave my life to Jesus, everything changed that spiritual circumcision took place. And now I can no longer enjoy sin. Still stumbled from time to time and sin from time to time. But I couldn't enjoy it any longer. Why? Because there was a spiritual circumcision that took place. There was a cutting away of that flesh. 8 (37m 9s): You're new in Christ, 6 (37m 12s): New and Christ with your spiritual circumcision, but we can slip back into old patterns and old ways of doing things. We need to remember a changed heart wants to please God. And so if you're in a place where your heart is not wanting to please, God, I would just challenge you today. Challenge you today to return to your first love, to ask the Lord to again, change your hearts. A changed heart wants to please God, number one. But number two, temptation is always going to be present. Have you guys noticed that in your walk with the Lord, 8 (37m 50s): Is it just me? 6 (37m 51s): Anybody else noticed that temptation is going to be present? We stumble at times in sin because of the temptation to sin, but because God has changed our hearts, we don't want to sin. That's the difference. We've been spiritually circumcised, so we no longer want to sin. When we sin as Christians, we grieve and we regret the action of our sinful decision. Sin is followed by repentance. Proving. Maybe you're here today. And you're saying, man, I just don't feel like I'm even a Christian because I, I keep falling into the same pit. I keep falling into the same mistakes and making the same and causing the same problems in my life. Listen, if you're feeling regrets after those decisions of sinfulness, you it's proof 4 (38m 36s): That the Holy spirit has cut away. That Jesus has cut away. That, that carnal nature and you're, you're wrestling. You're in this wrestling match. The temptation is overwhelming, but I promise you, if you begin to train for the battle at hand and prepare yourself, you will begin to get victory over those things. How do you train for that? You can't just go out and run a marathon without preparation, and you can't just go out and try to serve Jesus in a fallen world without preparation, without the preparation, you're going to continue to fall into the same old bad habits and bad patterns of sin that you've always fallen into. 6 (39m 11s): But when you 4 (39m 11s): Strengthen yourself in God's word and strengthen yourself through the spirit of God, through the Holy spirit, then you've got the power and the grace to say no to those things 6 (39m 19s): Keep tripping you up. King David was a man after God's own heart and he got distracted, right? He got distracted and, 4 (39m 30s): And that's something that's been plaguing humanity since their creation distraction, he got distracted and he fell into sin with Bathsheba and had Uriah. The Hittite, her husband killed 6 (39m 43s): Because he wanted to kind of cover up his sin. But he was a man after God's own heart. And when he was confronted with his own sinfulness and that interesting, he was a man after God's own heart. And yet he committed adultery and murder. 4 (40m 4s): This is the difference when he was confronted with his sinfulness, he repented. So I'm 51 is all about 6 (40m 11s): Is repentance. This is what he said, have mercy on me. Oh God, wow. This is not 4 (40m 22s): Just lip service. Like Lord, forgive me. 6 (40m 24s): I messed up again. He said, have mercy on me. Oh God, 4 (40m 28s): Because of your unfailing love because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of 6 (40m 34s): My sins. He, 4 (40m 38s): The weight, the gravity, the IM the, the importance of repentance and doing it wholeheartedly. He certainly sinned wholeheartedly. He went into it head first, sin wholeheartedly. So now he needs to repent wholeheartedly with the same level of passion and commitment. He said, wash me clean from my guilt and purify me from my sin. I think we send way too flippantly. And there, there are acceptable sins within the church. There are acceptable sins within the Church meaning sins that we don't pay too much attention to. I was talking to summer, somebody earlier in the day in the morning this morning, and she talked about the sin of gluttony. 4 (41m 20s): There's a sin called gluttony. There's a white lies that we just kind of dismiss. 6 (41m 27s): There's pride 4 (41m 28s): That we tend to just dismiss these things that we don't take seriously 6 (41m 34s): In our walk with Jesus. David understood the weight and the gravity of the sin in his life. Wash me clean from my guilt, purify me for my sin for, I recognize my rebellion. It haunts me day and night against you and you alone. Have I sinned? I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say in your judgment against me as just meaning you're right. I'm wrong. And your judgment is just often when we sin, we were pants and then we don't want to reap any consequences for our actions. And often the change comes because of the consequences for our actions. 6 (42m 16s): We're forgiven, but there's consequences. David had a lifelong experience with those consequences for his sins. I was born a sinner. He said, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me, but you desire honesty from the womb. Teaching me wisdom. Even there purify me for my sins and I will be clean wash me and I will be whiter than snow. He recognizes the power of the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ, the power of the grace of God to wash over. He knew that if he confessed his sins, that he would be white as snow, that he would be forgiven. So he didn't wallow in it longer than he needed to. 6 (42m 56s): Sometimes we repent and we continue to repent for the same sin that we committed a year ago or five years ago or 10 years ago. So there's a balance that we need to strike here. We need to repent quickly hold short accounts with God repenting quickly for our sin, but then recognizing the power and the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ to wash us as white as snow. David understood the grace and the mercy of the Lord. Jesus Christ. 7 (43m 22s): Okay. 6 (43m 25s): David had a walk with the Lord, a relationship with the Lord so that when he sinned, it grieved him deeply. When he sinned, he knew he needed to repent, honestly. And sincerely. So Psalm 51. If you're in a place where you need to repent to repent is to recognize God, you are right. I am wrong. I have sinned against you and you Lord you alone. Lord, have I sinned against? And I need to change my mind to repent means to literally change your mind and to move in a different direction. Some of us are here today. We need to do that. Maybe because of the sins of lying, maybe it's the sin of pride. 6 (44m 5s): Maybe it's a sin of gluttony. You fill in the blank, whatever the sin may be and be careful about those socially acceptable sins as well read through Psalm 51 and model David's prayer of repentance in your own life. We see a profound change in somebody's life. Who's been circumcised. Who's experienced a spiritual circumcise. We see a profound change in 4 (44m 32s): Their lives. They just live differently. You guys are examples of that. I'm an example of that. My BC days might be Christ. Days are way different than my salvation days. If they weren't, there'd be a problem. If, if you're living the same way that you were living before you knew Christ, there's a problem. There there's a problem that needs to be addressed. And so the challenge is Lord, how is my life being transformed? How is my life becoming more? How am I becoming more and more like you, there needs to be a profound, a change. The old man sinned and kept sending no regrets, maybe a tinge of guilt, little conscience action going on there. But the new man stumbles into sin and then is broken 6 (45m 12s): Regrets. One commentator wrote what people were in Adam. The first Adam sinful fallen and corrupt was destroyed by Christ. The second Adam 4 (45m 25s): Now in Christ, a believer is a new creation read second Corinthians five 17, and having a new head capital H head new. The Bible says that Jesus is the head of his body. He's Christ. As the head of the church, having a new head, a new leader, a new person that we're responsible to having a new head of believer has a new authority for his life. Not the law of Moses, but the 6 (45m 48s): Law of Christ. 4 (45m 50s): So spiritual circumcision is heart proof of your life in Christ. It is proof of the internal stuff, the stuff that's happening, internal and the eternal change. The old life has gone. A new life has begun. Is that good news? That's what the gospel is all about. So if you think you are a Christian and you can send without regret either number one, you're not really a Christian. If you are a Christian and you think you can sin and you can send without regrets, number one, you're not really a Christian or a number two you've backslidden 6 (46m 22s): And hardened your heart to God. And you no longer experience the conviction of sin. If you're 4 (46m 29s): Christian and you stumble. And when you stumble there's conviction, there's deep regret. Then you know that 6 (46m 34s): Things are, are good with your heart. And you confess your sin like David did in Psalm 51. 4 (46m 41s): Spiritual circumcision is proof of a changed life. Baptism is further. 6 (46m 47s): I love when we get a chance to baptize people, we baptize people. And when we were having a service up at the camp a few months ago, and, and I was surprised to hear that there were 15 more people that needed 4 (46m 58s): That want it to be baptized and there's. And I think there's more people in the room that, that want to be baptized that needed to be baptized. Listen, if you're here and you're a believer in Christ, and you've never been baptized Jesus model for it, he commanded it. He asked his disciples to go into all the nations, baptizing people in the name of the father, the son, the Holy spirit. We actually it's part of our Christian experience. It's a, it's a demonstration of our faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is further proof of a changed life. You're making a public declaration of your faith. First verse 12 says this for you are buried with when you were baptized and with him, you were raised to new life. And because you trusted the mighty power of God who raised Christ from the dead baptism is an external demonstration of your cha change life. 4 (47m 45s): The spiritual circumcision is internal. There's something that happens that that reflects in our external life. Externally, we get baptized to prove that we are followers of the Lord. Jesus Christ is our public declaration of, of our faith in 6 (47m 60s): Jesus. Again, 4 (48m 2s): Part of the great commission is to baptize people in the faith, Matthew 28, 19, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy spirit 6 (48m 13s): Spirits. Someone asked me recently, actually it wasn't recently, I guess it was a couple of years ago. They said, why 4 (48m 19s): Do you send out missionaries to other parts of the world when there's so much need in our own country? 6 (48m 24s): Why do you send out missionaries? Well, 4 (48m 26s): We do it because Jesus told us to, he said, go make disciples of all nations, 6 (48m 30s): Baptizing them in the name of the father, the son of the Holy spirit we baptized for the same reason. Jesus told us to 4 (48m 38s): This is how we live our lives as submitted followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We do what Jesus tells us to do. We baptize, we evangelize. We do all of these things because that is what Jesus asked us to do. 6 (48m 53s): Jesus came to give us life. That's 4 (48m 58s): Part of the spiritual circumcision. That's part of the demonstration 6 (49m 1s): Of our, our, our, our baptism. We we're we're. Yeah, 4 (49m 4s): We, we go down signifies our, our death, our old man dying. And we're resurrected into new life. We are baptized because as a picture of our old man dying and our new man resurrecting from the dead, we were literally spiritually dead. Apart from Christ, literally spiritually dead. Apart from Christ. Verse 13 says you were dead. That word means separated. Not annihilated. It means you were spiritually dead cut off from spiritual life. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away, then God made you alive with Christ. For he forgave all your sins. 4 (49m 46s): We can stop right there. That's really good news. He has forgiven all of our sins. So you were resurrected in Christ from spiritual death. Born again, made alive when Christ cut away your sinful nature. And when he forgave your sins born again, new life in Jesus Christ before Christ intervenes in a person's life, they are sinners, spiritually, dead, without hope, destined for judgment, destined for destruction. 6 (50m 14s): But God thank God for God, for his merciful plan of action that rescues us for God. So loved the world that he gave. His only begotten son that whoever, whoever believes 4 (50m 28s): In him should not perish, but have ever lasting life. Christianity one Oh one right there in John three 16. When we believe the gospel, when we believe the good news, there is forgiveness, we are accepted. We are adopted. We are welcomed into the family of God. We are literally born again. This is what happens. Verse 14. He says he canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. Some of us are walking around with old baggage, old sin that we're carrying over our shoulders. That's weighing us down and wearing us out because we don't believe what the scripture says. 4 (51m 9s): We don't believe that God can forgive our sins. We don't believe that. What is written here in this text is true about us. We may believe that it's true about everybody else, but we don't believe that it's true about us. I just want to say, if you're in Christ, if you're a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ. If you've accepted his grace in his mercy, then this is true about you. He canceled the record of the charges against you and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 8 (51m 39s): He took it away 4 (51m 40s): In this way. He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. Listen. Bible says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood ruler of flesh and blood enemies, but we wrestle against the principalities of darkness. And so those principalities who are led by Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies is trying to heap guilt on you for sins that have already been forgiven. He's trying to remind you of past failures and mistakes. Things that have already been forgiven already under the blood of Christ already been nailed to the cross so that they can be forgiven. He is there. The enemy is trying to remind you of things. Don't let him have that head space or a heart space in your life. In this way. He disarmed Jesus disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. 4 (52m 21s): He shamed them by publicly shamed them publicly by his victory, over them on the cross. 8 (52m 28s): A changed 4 (52m 29s): Heart wants to please God, number one, but temptation is always going to be present, but number three, but God, God canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross, man. That's good news. We need to hear that and we need to hear it often. We need to believe it. Often we are saved by grace. We are saved through faith. We are not saved because we have done good. We are saved because Christ is good because God is good. So after we come to Christ as a temptation to sin, because temptation is always there, this side of heaven. Anyway, so there's a temptation to sin. You know, all of the things that we see as sin, but there's also a temptation to begin to earn our way, earn God's favor. 4 (53m 16s): There's a temptation to start doing good for the wrong motivation, trying to earn God's favor, temptation to earn our good standing with 6 (53m 26s): God, by keeping the law. I want to read Romans three 19 through 2019 through 22, because it helps us understand the gospel. Listen, if you're confused about what you believe, I just encourage you to open up the scripture because it makes it really crystal clear what we believe as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We think about the law and we think about God's expectations. And this is what, this is what Paul wrote in Romans chapter three, verses 19 and following, he said, obviously the law applies to those, to whom it was given for it's purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the entire world is guilty before God the law was given so that the whole world would know that we are guilty before God, meaning we can't. 6 (54m 10s): We can never measure up by keeping the law. The Bible says, if you break one part of the law, you're actually guilty of breaking all of it. So even if you do great with 99.9% of it, you're guilty of breaking all of the law for no one can ever be made right with God, by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows how sinful we are. That's what the law is designed to do. It's helped us. It helps us to see how sinful we are so that we can see how desperately we need God. All right. So that's, that's it. And then verse 21 says, but now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago, we are made right with God verse 22. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. 7 (54m 54s): Some 6 (54m 55s): Of you have been really wrestling with your relationship with God, feeling unworthy all by yourself. You're unworthy. But what you need to realize, what we need to realize is that the blood of Christ covers us and that blood washes us, such that we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are the righteousness of God and Christ Jesus. 7 (55m 22s): So the burden can be lifted. 6 (55m 25s): Some of us are carrying baggage is about old, old mistakes, divorces relationships decisions. When we were young decisions, when we were old decisions that that just haunt us. 7 (55m 42s): Okay? 6 (55m 42s): Don't let those things where you out trust that the Bible is true for 16 says, so don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or if not celebrating certain Holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths for these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come and Christ himself is that reality Christ himself is that reality. I read this. A shadow is only an image cast by an object, which represents its form. Once you find once one, once one finds Christ, he no longer needs to follow the old shadow. Why? Because we have the form. We have the person. 6 (56m 23s): So the versus don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on self, on pious self, or a worship of angels saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful mindset made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ the head of the body for he holds the whole body together, which is joint with its joints and ligaments. And it grows as God nourishes it. 8 (56m 46s): You have died with Christ 6 (56m 49s): And he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as don't handle don't taste, don't touch such rules or a mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use 8 (57m 3s): Them. These 6 (57m 5s): Rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious, self denial, and severe bodily discipline, but they prove they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires. 8 (57m 17s): Paul 6 (57m 17s): Said basically, essentially neglecting the body does not nourish the spirits. When I was in college, my freshman year of college in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I spent every Tuesday and Thursday fasting. And I don't remember why, why I fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but, but what it did ultimately is it became a burden for me because I think in my youthful zeal, I was trying to please, God, I was trying to, in my, to the best of my ability, I think I was trying to honor the Lord, but it just wore me down physically. And it wore me down spiritually. And I, at some point realized that I, I needed to change the way that I was thinking about things. 6 (58m 1s): And so now some years later I need, I'm constantly evaluating my spiritual disciplines. Why am 8 (58m 8s): I doing these things? Am 6 (58m 11s): I doing these things? Because I feel guilty on some level and I'm trying to get rid of that guilt. I think sometimes we're doing our spiritual disciplines, praying, reading the Bible, fasting, you know, tithing, serving. We're doing all of these things because we feel some level of guilt and God wants to, wants to eliminate that from your life. He died on the cross to take away that guilt. So sometimes we're doing our spiritual disciplines because we feel guilty. Sometimes we're trying to earn God's favor. Like maybe God will, you know, it's like, you know, a genie lamp or something. If we, you know, handle the just right, you know, we'll get our wishes answered, but that's not how it works either. 6 (58m 54s): God wants us doing our spiritual disciplines because they help us draw close to him. They help us to understand what it means to walk with him and to love him and to trust him and to believe him. Because I think a lot of us are in relationship with him, but we don't, we don't trust him in that. We read the Bible and we think maybe it applies to others, but we don't think it applies to us. We don't believe him on some levels where else, where else our lives would be different. They'd be emptied of the guilt and the condemnation that we often sense in experience as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And so now I still fail at times. 6 (59m 35s): Cause in my humanist, I still want to try to impress God, anybody else? There I go, Lord, I read all of this scripture. Aren't you impressed with me now. Not impressed, but when I'm reading the scripture or praying or devoting myself in some way so that I might know him that are deeper greater, then I'm not looking for an attaboy. I just, I I've automatically got this connection with the Lord. I've automatically got this relationship with the Lord. This the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ is just present in my life. And with that peace and with that confidence in who he is and not in who I am, Christianity one Oh one. 6 (1h 0m 20s): Isn't about works. It's about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It's about a relationship that requires our investments much like a, a marathon run. We need to be invested in order to finish the race. We need to take serious this life as followers of the Lord, Jesus Christ. We need to take serious what God has called us to do. And what he's asked us to do, if at all, if at all amounts to just a list of duties, we've totally missed the Mark. We've totally missed what God has for us. I would just encourage us today to examine our lives. 6 (1h 1m 1s): Someone said an unexamined life is not worth living. So we need to always be examining our lives and say, Lord, why am I doing these things? And if you're like me from time to time, you realize that you were doing it with the wrong motivation. And then at that moment, say, Lord, I don't want to be motivated by the wrong stuff any longer. I want to be motivated purely by my relationship with you. I want to finish. Well, I want to run the race with confidence. I want to do what you've called me to do with humility and with integrity. And so God, I want to stay as close to you as humanly possible. Christianity Christianity one Oh to change. Chart wants to please God, but temptation is always going to be present. 6 (1h 1m 41s): So we have to be ready to battle that temptation, even though temptation is present, sometimes we sin God canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. We celebrate what Jesus nailed to the cross. We celebrate our salvation. The fact that Jesus died, shed his blood for us, was crucified for us. We celebrate communion the Lord's table on the fourth, Sunday of every month. And today's the fourth, Sunday of the month. And so we're going to be taking communion. Hopefully everybody received communion elements. When you came in, if you need communion elements, go ahead and raise your hand and we'll get you those elements there. Go, and Deb's going to work on that for you. 6 (1h 2m 22s): Can we get somebody else to help Deb? There, there we go. Thanks, Jim. Appreciate that. Yeah. Keep your, keep your hands up until everybody has the elements. And then when now, now once you've got the elements, go ahead and get prepared. Meaning trying to locate the clear plastic cellophane on top of the wafer. Try to find that there. And then when you do go ahead and peel that back and get ready and then get started with the next one as well. And just kind of peel that back a little bit and make sure you don't spill it on yourself or your neighbor. And, and then I'm going to read out a first Corinthians 11. 6 (1h 3m 6s): Now communion is a time to refresh ourselves in the Lord. Listen, God has done all of the heavy lifting. When he died on the cross, when God resurrected him from the dead, he did all of the heavy lifting. So if you come heavy to the throne of grace, offload that by simply repenting of your sin, say, Jesus, I, I I'm feeling this burden. And I just want to offload that. Thank you that your grace is sufficient. Maybe you're here today. You've never accepted the grace of the Lord. Jesus Christ. That grace is as close as the words that you speak. If you simply say Jesus, I need your grace. I need your forgiveness. 6 (1h 3m 46s): I need your life in mine. I need your new life. Would you come into my life? Would you forgive my sin as you do that? God is faithful to respond as you faithfully pray, and you are born again as a follower of the Lord, Jesus Christ. When you make your profession of faith, first Corinthians 1123 says for, I pass onto you. What I received from the Lord himself on the night when he was betrayed the Lord, Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which has given for you. Do this to remember me. Let's go ahead and take the wafer. 7 (1h 4m 33s): Thank you, Jesus. Thank you 6 (1h 4m 37s): That you submitted your body to be nailed to the cross 7 (1h 4m 41s): As the perfect sinless spotless lamb of God. You sacrificed your body and poured out your blood for us. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for that Lauren. 6 (1h 4m 57s): And the same way he took the cup of wine after supper saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me, as often as you drink it's for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. Let's go ahead and take the juice. 2 (1h 5m 27s): Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord God. We're grateful for 6 (1h 5m 38s): The opportunity to remember what you've done for us. And then to go back and look at the scripture in Colossians and Romans and Psalm 51 and, and learn what it means to honor you with our lives and to trust you with our lives, to understand doctrine and theology Lord, so that we can walk with a clear hearts and clear mind following after you. God, we love you. We thank you for this time. Lord it's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen. Amen. Let's go ahead and stand up and Hey, as we get ready to worship, I just want to say that this is Jim and Judy's last Sunday with us. 6 (1h 6m 20s): And so Jim and Judy both have been man faithful. They've rescued us a number of times. Where's Judy, she around here somewhere here. Okay, good. There she is, have been faithful friends for the last six years, I guess on and yeah, and then you got to lead some songs, right? And we've got a gift over there for you and I'm going to give it to you a second service because if I gave it to you, I'd have to take it back to give it to you your second. So I guess I could do two and a. So we just want to express gratitude for you and Judy, Judy, CA come on up here. 6 (1h 7m 0s): I want to pray over you guys and just love on you. And we are so grateful. So Jim and Judy moved over North, North County and their families over there. And so they're going to be going to church in North County and, and using their gifts and talents over there. And so Lord, we lift them up to you and we pray God that you bless them in Jesus name. God that you'd watch over them in Jesus name, thank you for their gifts and talents, Lord God. And for who they are as human beings, our brothers and our brother and sister in the Lord. We love them. We're thankful for the relationship that we've enjoyed over these last six years. 6 (1h 7m 41s): And we know that that's going to go on for eternity because Christian relationships go on for eternity. And so this is not goodbye. This is just see you later or see us around town and see around bouts. And so we thank you for them. Lord bless them. They are jewels. They're wonderful. And we honor them for all of that. They do. And for who they are, we bless them Lord in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Love you guys. Let me love you a here. 2 (1h 8m 15s): Now you get to try lead worship. 1 (1h 8m 24s): 0 (1h 13m 50s): It's it's been a special one. I think for us here, for me, it has been, but I got this feeling today that it says all the things that I want to say to you guys. It says, I feel loved. I feel safe. And I feel Jesus in this place. And you guys have always made me feel loved and safe and I've always felt Jesus here. I felt Jesus. I feel Jesus pleasure. Every time I'm up here now I'm shaking. And in the last lines I shall be released. I feel like it's just a new season. There's something out there for Judy and I in a new place, new adventures. 0 (1h 14m 36s): And I'm so grateful to finish. Well, I hope 1 (1h 14m 48s): . 9 (1h 19m 46s): Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your presence here in this place today. And God, we do just release Jim and we blessed him and GED into this next season. God, and just pray that they would just feel like a wave of love. Just wash over them. Even as they leave this place today, they would have sent just you going with them. You go before them, behind them. Thank you for what they've invested here. And God thank you for this church family. I thank you for every household represented, pray God that you would just fill us with your love that we would truly just kind of leak Jesus throughout the week to everyone that we come in contact with that they would just know that we've been in your presence. They would know we're Christians because we love. 9 (1h 20m 27s): So we just bless you. Thank you for your presence in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Awesome guy. Well we yeah, go for it and celebrate. Yeah. So good. Well, we don't. I want to go without saying that if you need prayer this morning, please come on forward. We'd love to have a moment to pray with you. If any needs to come on for Boston staff or volunteers, we'll be here to pray with you, but have a great morning. Make sure to give Jim and Judy lots of love on your way out today. And we'll see you next week. Have a great Sunday.