I Want to Belong to God

Introduction:

I Want to Belong to Jesus… (John 1:4–13)

  1. Because He gives me an UNBEATABLE HOPE. (John 1:4–5)

  2. Because He gives me a MEANINGFUL MISSION. (John 1:6–8)

    Isaiah 40:3A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

    John 3:30He must increase, but I must decrease.

  3. Because He gives me a SPOT IN HIS FAMILY THAT I CANNOT EARN. (John 1:9–13)

    John 3:19–20And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read
John 1:4-13

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Who or what do you often set your hopes on? Why can’t these people and things satisfy you as Jesus can?

  3. What excuses are holding you back from bearing witness to the light? How will you bear witness to the light this week and next?

  4. How does Jesus give us the right to become children of God? Why can’t this right be deserved or earned?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

  • Well, as you turn to John chapter one, I want to ask you the same exact question that you

    just heard in the video.

    I want to ask you a question that Pastor Jeff brought to your attention last week in his

    message.

    It's probably a question that you're tired of hearing and asking this holiday season.

    What do you want for Christmas?

    With Christmas being so close, you have asked and heard the answer to that question many

    times over the past several weeks.

    The questions you've, the answers you've heard and the answers you've given include an O'Wallah

    water bottle.

    Isn't that popular?

    That's still popular.

    I don't really know.

    A red light therapy mask.

    Anybody want that?

    That's popular on Instagram, isn't it?

    A massive Lego set, a Nintendo switch to new AirPods, a smart ring, which I guess is kind

    of like an Apple Watch, but a ring on your finger.

    I don't really know.

    Or fancy golf clubs.

    But there are many things that you want for Christmas that you cannot write down on a wish

    list.

    There are many things you want for Christmas that cannot be bought or wrapped.

    Maybe you want that big promotion.

    Maybe you want that bonus this year that you aren't sure is coming.

    Maybe you want healing in your own body or in the body of a loved one.

    Or here's a big one.

    Maybe you want to feel like you belong.

    You want to not be rejected.

    That is a desire that every single person in this room shares.

    It's a desire that starts when you're young and it continues on for the rest of your life.

    As a kid and then a teenager, every single one of us was desperate to fit in and have

    a group of friends to belong to.

    Rejection is painful.

    It leaves lasting memories, especially when you're a kid.

    You know, growing up, my friends and I used to have a sleepover almost every single Friday

    night.

    And during 11th grade, there was a month-long stretch where there was no sleepovers.

    And I was really confused.

    I didn't know why this routine had been broken.

    So one day at the lunch table, I said to my friends, "Hey, guys, we haven't had a sleepover

    in a while.

    Do you guys want to come to my house this Sunday?"

    And whenever I said that, everyone at the table erupted in uncontrollable laughter.

    And I was, again, just very, very confused.

    After they were all done and calmed down, I said, "What's so funny?"

    They then proceeded to tell me that they thought it would be hilarious to not invite me to

    sleepovers for a while to see how long it would take me to notice and say something.

    I missed a whole month of sleepovers with my friends.

    And to be honest, in that moment, externally, I tried to laugh it off.

    I tried to act like it wasn't a big deal.

    But internally, I felt rejected.

    I felt like I didn't belong.

    You ever felt that way before?

    A friend stopped talking to you.

    A family member cut off communication for seemingly no reason.

    A boyfriend or girlfriend ended the relationship without warning.

    Your spouse chose to give up on the marriage and leave.

    You have felt rejected before.

    You have felt like you don't belong.

    You feel that way right now?

    Maybe you couldn't care less about what gifts you're going to get under the Christmas tree

    this year.

    Maybe you don't want anything from Amazon or the mall.

    More than anything this year, you just want to experience that sense of belonging.

    You want to know that there are people who love you, who care about you, and will never

    let go of you no matter what you do.

    I can't guarantee you that sense of belonging with your family and with your friends this

    Christmas.

    I wish I could, but I can't.

    But I can guarantee there is someone infinitely greater who will give you that sense of belonging.

    I can guarantee there is someone who will not reject you, who will not turn away from

    you if you truly turn to him.

    That person is Jesus Christ.

    There is no one better to belong to.

    There is no one better to be loved by.

    There is no one with a tighter grip in all of existence than him.

    I want you to walk out of this service this morning if you're a believer with a greater

    sense of confidence that you were loved by Jesus Christ.

    That you are safe and secure in his steady hands.

    There is no better gift than that.

    And if you're not a Christian this morning, I want you to know that the invitation has

    been extended to belong to Christ.

    He commands you to follow him.

    He invites you to enjoy his acceptance and not fear others' rejection.

    More than anything, I want all of you in this room to want to belong to Jesus this Christmas.

    So before we continue any further, let's go to the Lord and ask for His help.

    Please pray for me that I will faithfully represent God's Word and I will pray for you

    that you will faithfully receive it.

    Father, we come to you and we bring all of our pain to you.

    All of our fears are all of our deepest, darkest worries that we're afraid to admit to other

    people.

    Lord in this room, I'm sure there's many, many stories of rejection.

    Many, many stories of feeling like we don't belong and I'm sure if we brought everybody

    up on stage to share how they feel that there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house today.

    Lord, we ask that you bring the comfort that only you can.

    That you would challenge us, you would tear us down so that you can build us back up again.

    Lord, I do ask for myself, Lord, your Word is perfect, but I am not.

    I do not feel up to the task of proclaiming such a glorious passage, but Lord, give me

    your strength, give me your wisdom.

    I pray for everyone in this room that you would give them the faith to receive your Word

    today.

    I pray that you would seek and save the lost.

    Thanks for the rest of us, Lord.

    We would walk out of this room with a greater sense of confidence in who we belong to.

    We ask all this in Jesus' mighty name.

    Amen.

    Was a quick refresher.

    Let's reread the verses that Pastor Jeff covered last week.

    This will set the table and help us to understand the context of our passage this morning.

    So John chapter one, verses one through three.

    In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

    He was in the beginning with God.

    All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

    These verses are all about who Jesus is.

    He is the Word of God who created all things.

    Without Jesus, this universe would not exist.

    This world would not exist.

    You would not exist.

    Jesus is the source and sustainer of everything that you can see and everything that you cannot

    see.

    Jesus isn't just the Word of God.

    John says that He is God Himself.

    Verses one through three focus on who Jesus is, while verses four through thirteen focus

    on what Jesus gives.

    If you properly understand who Jesus is and what Jesus gives, you will want to belong

    to Him.

    You will want to belong to Him because no one can compare to who Jesus is, and nothing

    can compare to what Jesus gives.

    So outline for this morning, I want to belong to Jesus.

    I want to belong to Jesus, first reason, because He gives me an unbeatable hope.

    Because He gives me an unbeatable hope.

    Let's read chapter one, verse four.

    In Him, in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men.

    Life was and is found in Jesus and Him alone.

    As we already discussed, Jesus made all things.

    He is the source of all life on earth.

    He is the cause of everything.

    But He's not just the cause of physical life.

    He is the only supplier of eternal life as well.

    There is no other viable option to turn to or to search for besides Jesus.

    But that doesn't stop us from trying, does it?

    Millions have tried, and billions have failed in trying to find true life apart from Jesus.

    And you and I have tried our hand at this pointless search as well.

    Trying to find life in our jobs, in our finances, in our status, our stuff, and even our families.

    Life cannot be found in your job.

    You realize that one day you will have to retire.

    You may let go from that job.

    One day that job will belong to someone else.

    Your life is not found in how much money you have.

    Let me ask you a question.

    How much of the money in your various accounts will you be able to take with you when you

    die?

    Do we not know the answer?

    Not a single dime.

    Life is not found in your status and popularity.

    There will always be someone bigger and better than you.

    In 150 or 200 years, how many people on this planet will be thinking about you?

    The most likely answer is not a single soul.

    Life is not even found in your family.

    As great as your spouse, your kids, your relatives might be, they cannot meet the deepest needs

    of your soul.

    Can your spouse forgive you of your sins?

    Can your kids give you that unbeatable hope that you're looking for?

    No.

    Can your family guarantee your eternity?

    No.

    All of those needs can only be met by Jesus Christ, who is the only source of life.

    And John goes on to say that this life was the light of men.

    That sounds pretty cool, right?

    But what does that actually mean?

    The life was the light of men.

    I'm no scientist, but let me give you a quick pop quiz in astronomy.

    What do all the plants in this solar system orbit around?

    You're all really tired this morning.

    What is it again?

    All right, very, very good.

    Could we survive without the sun?

    What does the sun do for us?

    Is the major source of life because it is the major source of light and heat on this

    planet without the sun shining as it does, we would all freeze to death without the sun

    shining as it does.

    We would not be able to see anything.

    We would be lost in the darkness without the light of Christ shining as it does.

    We would not be able to see and understand the truth without the light of Christ shining

    as it does.

    We would not know how to be saved.

    We would not know how to have a relationship, a friendship with God without the light of

    Christ shining as it does.

    We would be hopeless and lost in the darkness of our sin without the light of Christ shining

    as it does.

    None of us would have any spiritual life.

    Who is the light of the sun offered to?

    The 8.3 billion people on this planet.

    Who is the light of the sun of God offered to?

    Same exact answer, the 8.3 billion people on this planet.

    As we'll see in a few minutes, many choose to hide from this light and by doing so, they

    miss out on the life that he offers.

    But that does not stop Jesus from shining his light, which we see in verse 5.

    Read that with me.

    "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it."

    The word "overcome" in this verse can also be translated as "comprehended" or "understood."

    And many scholars believe that John picked this word for a very specific reason.

    He chose this word because it has a double meaning.

    Each of these words makes sense in context or flip sides of one another.

    Let's cover one side of the coin first.

    Let's cover the light, shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.

    I walk my dog Murdoch almost every single night at 10 p.m. after the family is asleep.

    And my wife hates this plan because she thinks I'm going to get pan-kicked by a car.

    It hasn't happened yet, so please just pray for me that this trend continues and I'm able

    to be safe.

    But there is this one house in my neighborhood that fascinates me.

    This house has a lamppost in the front yard that shines brightly for about 10 to 20 seconds,

    then it just shuts off.

    And it comes back on a few seconds later and it happens every single night for the past

    year.

    And this may sound strange to you, but I think about that lamppost almost every single day.

    Every single time I exit the house to go take Murdoch on this walk, I wonder, is tonight

    going to be the night when that light is extinguished?

    Is tonight the night when darkness will overcome that person's yard?

    Because there's something wrong with that lamppost.

    There's something wrong with the bulb.

    There's something wrong with the wiring.

    It's just a matter of time.

    I don't have much faith in that lamppost.

    I don't think you would have much faith in that lamppost if you took a field trip to

    my neighborhood and drove past it.

    But do you know who you should have total and complete faith in?

    Do you know whose light you should never wonder or worry about being extinguished?

    Jesus Christ.

    The light of His glory never flickers.

    The light of His gracious love never turns off.

    He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

    No matter how dark this world gets, no matter how bleak your life looks, Jesus Christ is

    shining just as brightly as He always has.

    Sin, injustice, and evil cannot lower the intensity of who He is and what He has done.

    Nothing and no one can turn the dimmer switch down on the light of the world.

    Let's flip over to the other side of the coin.

    The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.

    You know, Satan and his demons are crafty.

    I'll give them that.

    They are intelligent.

    But at the same time, these evil forces are complete morons in comparison to the all-knowing

    all-wise God of the universe.

    The devil and his demons are fighting a losing battle because they cannot figure out a way

    to extinguish the light of Christ.

    They're like a bunch of roided-up bodybuilders trying to push over a mountain with their

    bare hands.

    It's just not going to happen.

    Their attempts to snuff out the light only fan it into flame even more.

    The harder they try, the harder they fail.

    No matter what they do, Jesus keeps forgiving more and more people.

    No matter what they try, the church keeps getting built up.

    No matter what scheme they hatch, the kingdom of God keeps advancing.

    Satan and his workers have already been defeated by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

    They know that eternal judgment awaits them.

    Are they going to go quietly without a fight until Jesus returns?

    No, they are kicking and screaming like bratty children.

    And I know that they're kicking and screaming causes a lot of pain and hardship to every

    single person in this room.

    But they cannot change the ending that God has already written.

    The light will win because the darkness cannot overcome it or understand it.

    That is certain.

    That is a fact.

    Maybe you've been a believer for months, for years, and maybe even for decades.

    And you know the truths of verses four and five intellectually.

    You have a very hard time believing these truths emotionally and experientially.

    You're in a tough season right now and you feel like the darkness is winning.

    You feel like the light is losing.

    You feel like the darkness understands how to overcome the light just fine.

    You feel like you cannot have victory over that sin pattern in your life.

    You feel like there is more sin in you than there is mercy in Christ.

    You feel helpless.

    You feel hopeless.

    If that's how you feel right now, my heart goes out to you because I've been there before.

    And I'm sure I'll be there again.

    If that's how you feel, I want to challenge you to stop looking at you.

    Stop looking at your circumstances.

    Fix your eyes on Jesus.

    Focus your attention on what He has given to you.

    Root your confidence in the new and everlasting life that has been given to you.

    Ask the Holy Spirit to re-energize you with the light you see when you open up the pages

    of this book during your daily quiet time.

    You understand your hope is not found in you.

    You understand that your hope is not even found in your circumstances changing.

    Your hope is found in belonging to Christ.

    When you belong to Christ, you are given an unbeatable hope from an unbeatable Savior.

    I want to belong to Jesus because He gives me an unbeatable hope.

    I want to belong to Jesus because He gives me a meaningful mission.

    That's the second reason on your outline, because He gives me a meaningful mission.

    In verses 4 through 5, John talks about the message of the light.

    In verses 6 through 8, John talks about the messenger of the light.

    Let's read these verses together.

    There is a man sent from God whose name was John.

    He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him.

    He was not the light that came to bear witness about the light.

    To be clear, John is referencing a totally different John here.

    It's kind of confusing.

    What John is he talking about?

    John the Baptist.

    Why couldn't they have had a different name?

    Why couldn't it have been like Bill the Baptist or Baron the Baptist or whatever?

    Why did it have to be John?

    Well, don't worry.

    We'll make it work.

    We'll deal with it.

    John the Baptist was sent by God as a messenger to prepare the way for the promised Messiah

    and Savior who was prophesied about all throughout the Old Testament.

    John was prophesied of in the Old Testament as well.

    Isaiah 40 verse 3, "A voice cries in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord,

    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'

    Malachi 3, 1, 'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.'"

    John the Baptist came to roll out the red carpet for the coming king.

    He didn't come so that others would believe in him and believe in his greatness.

    He came so that others might believe in Christ through him.

    John the Baptist's followers once came to him to give him the news that a lot of people

    were following Jesus.

    He was getting more popular and his disciples were even baptizing people, which is kind

    of like John's main thing.

    It's his name, right?

    John the Baptist.

    Like, John, don't you realize that all this is happening?

    Jesus is getting more popular than you.

    Is this frustrate John?

    Was he jealous?

    Not at all.

    He was actually really, really excited because he was successfully carrying out the meaningful

    mission that God had entrusted to him.

    Here's the response he gives his disciples.

    He says, "He, Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease."

    That was the slogan of John's life in ministry.

    That should be the slogan of your life in ministry as well.

    He must increase, but I must decrease.

    You realize you're not the point of anything.

    Jesus is.

    John the Baptist wasn't the point of anything either.

    Jesus was.

    His mission was to point everyone to Christ, to bear witness to his light.

    I know what some of you serious students of the Bible may be thinking right now.

    You're internally objecting a bit.

    Hold on a minute, Pastor Taylor.

    You're saying that Jesus is the light and John the Baptist wasn't.

    But later on in this gospel, didn't Jesus say that John was like a lamp that was shining?

    And doesn't Jesus tell us that all Christians are the light of the world?

    How does this all make sense?

    Yeah, Jesus does say that in Matthew 5, 14, and then John 5, 35.

    To help answer those great questions, let me slip on my lab coat again and give you another

    pop quiz in astronomy.

    When you look up in the night sky and you see the moon shining bright.

    Does that moon actually have any light of its own?

    Where does its light come from?

    The sun, the light of the moon is shared and reflected.

    It's the same for John and it's the same for you and me.

    We have a shared and reflected light that is given to us by Jesus Christ.

    All throughout John chapter one, verses four through 13, the Greek word "phos" is used

    in reference to Christ and "phos" is the essence of light.

    In John 5, 35, the Greek word "looknos" is used to describe John.

    A looknos is a portable lamp.

    Jesus is the light while John is the lamp that displays the light.

    A candle cannot shine on its own.

    It needs to be given the light of a flame.

    A lamp in your house cannot shine on its own.

    It needs to be given the light of a bulb.

    Jesus Christ is the sun and you are the moon.

    Jesus Christ is the flame, you are the candle.

    Jesus Christ is the bulb and you are the lamp.

    You are here on this earth to display His light to everyone, to shine His light in the

    darkness, to bear witness about His light because you have none of your own.

    And I know what some of you were thinking at this point.

    Okay, Taylor, I know I need to buckle down and share the gospel.

    I need to make disciples.

    I need to shine His light everywhere.

    I'll do that as soon as the holidays are over.

    Whatever Christmas is in the rear view mirror, I'll get right on that.

    No, you won't.

    And you're thinking, where is your Christmas cheer, Pastor Taylor?

    What do you mean, no, I won't.

    I mean, you won't.

    If you will not bear witness the light of Christ today, what makes you think you'll

    do it tomorrow?

    If you were unwilling to bear witness the light of Christ at the end of 2025, what makes

    you think you'll be willing to do it at the start of 2026?

    Do you understand that Christmas is the perfect time to bear witness to the light of Christ?

    This is the time when you're around people, you're not usually around.

    This time of season is all about joy, but most people are miserable.

    Most people are looking for something that they cannot find because they're looking in

    the wrong place.

    Right now is the perfect time to bear witness to the light.

    Grab a bunch of the Christmas Eve invite cards at the back table and hand them out as if

    you were given $100 for each one you handed out.

    I'm not going to give you $100, but the rewards you get in heaven for that will be infinitely

    greater.

    Grab one of those invites, put it in an envelope, put money in that envelope, put a personal

    note in that envelope and give it to your mailman tomorrow.

    Take it upon yourself to read scripture, your family get together this week and talk about

    why you're even celebrating Christmas, why Jesus came in the first place.

    Stop putting off that gospel conversation with that unsafe family member at Christmas.

    Finally do it.

    Invite that unbeliever who has no family in the area to your Christmas dinner.

    Buy them a Bible.

    Write a note in that Bible and give it to them.

    I keep going and going and going.

    There are so many ways to bear witness to the light of Christ this week.

    Don't make excuses for why you can't.

    Don't point to your calendar and say you're too busy.

    This is the reason why you're here, isn't it?

    To bear witness to the light.

    If anything, there's other things getting the way of the most important thing on your calendar.

    Don't justify your fear and laziness by saying you don't want to stir the pot this Christmas.

    You just want to have a calm Christmas.

    Shouldn't you care more about sharing the peace of Christ with your family and friends?

    When you belong to Christ, you recognize that you've been given a meaningful mission.

    When you belong to Christ, you value your calling way more than your comfort.

    When you belong to Christ, you make disciples, you don't make excuses.

    When you belong to Christ, you bear witness to his light because the darkness is everywhere

    that you go.

    I want to belong to Jesus because he gives me an unbeatable hope.

    I want to belong to Jesus because he gives me a meaningful mission.

    I want to belong to Jesus, final reason, because he gives me a spot in his family that I cannot

    earn.

    Because he gives me a spot in his family that I cannot earn.

    We talked about the message of the light and the messenger of the light.

    Now we're going to wrap up by talking about the two responses to the message of the light.

    The first response is in verses 9 through 11.

    The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

    He was in the world and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

    He came to his own and his own people did not receive him.

    As I said earlier, the light of the Son of God is offered to everyone.

    Anyone is welcome to step into the light.

    Anyone is welcome to receive the life of Christ and be forever changed.

    But most choose to step out of the light rather than do it.

    Most choose to reject the life of Christ that is offered.

    And this is proven by verse 11.

    He came to his own people and his own people did not receive him.

    And this verse has two different focuses.

    When you zoom out, John is talking about mankind.

    Statistically and biblically, there are way more non-Christians than Christians.

    There are way more people who reject Christ than receive him.

    We all agree on that basic fact of life.

    But if you zoom in, John is talking about Israel.

    Many of Jesus' fellow Jews rejected him, hated him, called for his crucifixion.

    Many of the Jews rejected the message of Christ when it was shared by the apostles.

    Even to this day, many Jewish people refuse to accept that Jesus is the light.

    That's not always going to be the case.

    All does say in Romans that one day all Israel will be saved.

    Do you have time to talk about that right now?

    As Pastor Jeff often says, "Buy me some Pantera bread or Chick-fil-A."

    We'll talk about it across the street sometime.

    Here's an important question.

    Why do most people reject Jesus?

    Why do most people not receive the light of Christ?

    John gives us a very simple yet sad answer.

    Later on in this Gospel in chapter 3 verses 19 through 20, he writes, "And this is the

    judgment.

    The light is coming to the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, because

    their works were evil.

    For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light,

    lest his works should be exposed."

    Have you ever been sleeping or laying in a dark room and suddenly someone turns the

    lights on?

    Are you overjoyed by this?

    Are you really excited by this?

    What's your natural human response?

    What do you do?

    You close your eyes, you cover your face with your hands and your blanket, you yell, "Turn

    that light out!"

    That is the natural human response, physically and spiritually.

    It is far more comfortable to lay in the darkness than be in the light.

    It's simpler to be oblivious and not see yourself for who you really are.

    It's effortless to do nothing about your greatest problem, which is your sinful nature.

    It's easy to lash out at those who try to pull you into the light.

    That is why most people do not receive Jesus.

    They'd rather lay in the darkness.

    They love their sin more than Him.

    That's the first response to the message of the light.

    John says there's only one other response, and that's in verses 12 to 13, the best part

    of this entire passage.

    But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children

    of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of

    man, but of God.

    The first and wrong way to respond to Jesus is rejection.

    The second and right way to respond to Jesus is receiving and believing.

    You reach out to receive the gift of eternal life by believing in the name of Jesus Christ.

    We say that all the time, but what does it mean to believe in the name of Jesus?

    Well a name represents all of who a person is and all that a person does.

    When you believe in the name of Jesus Christ, you are believing that He is who the Bible

    says that He is.

    That He has done all the Bible says He has done.

    You wholeheartedly believe that He is the Word of God who created all things.

    You have faith that He is the light of the world.

    He is your only source of hope.

    You trust that He is the Savior who died on the cross for your sins, who took the punishment

    that you deserve.

    You submit to the reality that He is the Lord of your life, who has the divine right to

    tell you what to think, say, and do.

    When you receive Jesus and believe in His name, John says that you are given the right

    to become a child of God.

    There are only two children in this entire world who have the right to claim that they

    are my kids.

    I love all the kids in this church, but I love two of those kids the most.

    Only two of those kids have a legal right to say that I am their father.

    Only Samuel and Emmy Brown have that legal right.

    What's the evidence of this?

    Well, Kate and I have their birth certificates at home as proof that those kids belong to

    us.

    When you belong to Christ, your spiritual birth certificate is signed and sealed by His own

    blood.

    You are given the right to claim God as your father and Jesus as your big brother.

    You have given the right to declare that you belong to the greatest family imaginable.

    Can you earn this right?

    Can you work your way into the family of God?

    Not according to John at the end of verse 13, he says, "Who were born not of blood nor

    the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but of God."

    You are not given the right to become a child of God because you're a good person who does

    nice things for other people.

    You are not given the right to become a child of God because your parents are great Christians

    and raised you in the church.

    You are not given the right to become a child of God because you come to church every once

    in a while.

    You pray regularly and do community service projects.

    You are not given the right to become a child of God because of your track record and your

    good works.

    You are given the right to become a child of God because of the gracious work of God in

    Christ.

    That's it.

    That's the only source.

    How do you respond to Jesus?

    Do you reject Him or do you receive Him?

    Do you believe in His name, His work, and His reputation, or do you believe in your name,

    your works, and your reputation?

    One response leads to eternal destruction while the other leads to eternal life.

    One response leads to everything being taken away from you and the other leads to everything

    being given to you.

    Please don't leave this room without considering who Jesus is and what He is offering you.

    Everything hinges on your response to Him.

    What do you want for Christmas?

    Do you want to belong to the world or do you want to belong to Jesus?

    Do you want to settle for the flickering hopes of this sinful culture or do you want the

    unbeatable hope of an unbeatable Savior?

    Do you want to lead a meaningless existence or do you want to carry out the meaningful

    mission of pointing others to the point of life?

    Do you want to be a child of the devil who absolutely hates you or do you want to be

    a child of God who unconditionally loves you?

    If you have not yet believed and received Jesus, now is your chance.

    Now is your opportunity.

    You don't know if you're getting another opportunity past this one, so don't waste it.

    The life of Christ is being offered to you right now.

    Don't slap the gift away.

    The light of Christ is shining in this moment.

    Do not step back into the darkness once again.

    Now is your time.

    Now is your chance.

    You're alive right now.

    You're not guaranteed tomorrow.

    Life is hard.

    Discouragements and disappointments are all around us.

    It's so easy to lose track of what's important in the darkness.

    And we need the light of biblical reminders to let us know what is true, what is real,

    and what is right.

    This ring I wear on my left hand is a symbol that I belong to my wife.

    I'm taken.

    I'm out looking for anybody else to give me that feeling right to belong to.

    The Lord's Supper is a powerful symbol that you belong to Christ and no one else.

    You're spoken for by the Son of God and you're not looking for anyone else to give your life meaning.

    You're not looking to anything else to give your life meaning.

I Want to Know God

Introduction:

John 17:3 – And this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

John 1:18 – No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

I Want to Know God (John 1:1–3):

  1. The REALITY: Jesus is GOD.

    Colossians 2:9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

    Zechariah 12:10And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced…

    Acts 20:28Pay careful attention to yourselves... to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

    Hebrews 1:2But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

  2. The RESPONSE: FAITH in Jesus.

    Hebrews 11:6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

    How Can I Grow in Knowing Jesus?

    1. CONFESS with your mouth.

      Romans 10:9If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

    2. HEAR the Word.

      Romans 10:17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

    3. KEEP His commandments.

      John 15:10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read
John 1:1-3

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Why do you think the deity of Jesus is denied by so many cults? Why is that such a common point of contention?

  3. How would you explain the Trinity to a 7 year old?

  4. Define “faith”. Why do you think faith is the God-ordained way of knowing Him?

  5. What’s your favorite dinosaur?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

  • Stegosaurus.

    Nobody asks, so I'm just going to tell you.

    Game show host.

    And gray.

    Oh, oh, and what I want for Christmas.

    I just want to know God.

    Did you ever ask for something, like for Christmas or whatever, and somebody got you the generic

    version?

    Has that ever happened to anybody else?

    Show of hands.

    You wanted something and you got the generic version?

    That happened to me when I was a kid.

    When I was a kid, they came out with this wacky thing.

    It was called a pogo ball.

    How many people show of hands remember the pogo balls?

    Okay, a few of you.

    One person in the first service did.

    Or about half of the first service's attendance.

    Remember what a pogo ball was?

    If you don't know, just imagine like a snowman with the head cut off.

    It was that kind of shape, right?

    And it had this hard plastic ring that went in between these two balls that were kind

    of fused together.

    And you were supposed to like stand on the plastic disc and squeeze your feet on that

    top ball and then you would bounce on the pogo ball.

    And the pogo ball would let you jump almost as high as you could jump if you weren't on

    a pogo ball.

    But it was the hot item the one year.

    And I wanted a pogo ball.

    You know what my parents got me?

    The Saturn ball.

    Pogo balls, generic cousin.

    The Saturn ball.

    And not only was it actually not fun to use, but my family was making fun of me when I

    did use it.

    So if I would jump on it, they'd be like, "Here we go on our Saturn ball, our Saturn

    ball, our Saturn ball."

    And that really hurt my feelings.

    So the Saturn ball got thrown into a closet and it's probably still there until today.

    But look, I know we've had this conversation before.

    But there's just some things you can't go generic, right?

    Like ketchup.

    Altars.

    Oreos.

    The generic's not the same.

    Don't try to tell me that it is because you're just lying to yourself.

    But nothing has been made more generic than God.

    We live in a culture that is okay with the generic concept of God.

    But when you get specific, people get squirrely about that.

    You're like, when people say, "God bless America."

    "God bless America."

    You know, you can ask, "Well, which God?"

    Do you mean the God of the Bible, the one who created us, the one who judges sin, the

    one who commands us to repent and believe, the one who calls us to live our lives according

    to his wisdom?

    And it's like, oh no, not that God.

    But we're just okay with the generic concept.

    But you see, the problem with that line of thinking is God isn't a generic concept.

    In fact, God's not a concept at all.

    God is a person.

    God is a specific person.

    And as we enter into the Christmas season, you know, we know the Christmas story from

    Matthew and from Luke, right?

    We know that version of the Christmas story well with the census, and Bethlehem and Mary

    and Joseph and angels and shepherds and manger and the star and the magi.

    Right?

    Well, Matthew and Luke sort of tell the story of the incarnation like looking over people's

    shoulders, right?

    But we're going to be looking at the Gospel of John because his Christmas story is a little

    different.

    In John's Christmas story, we are looking over God's shoulder.

    That's really the theme of the whole book of John.

    And we studied this some years back.

    But the theme of John is this, "The God of the universe has revealed himself by coming

    into this world as a man to not just save you, but to have a relationship with you."

    That God wants you to know Him.

    In fact, this is what Jesus Christ was praying.

    John 17.3, Jesus said, "And this is eternal life that they may know you."

    The only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent, eternal life.

    Nothing's more important than eternal life because you are either going to live forever

    with God or you're going to die forever apart from God.

    So what do you want for Christmas?

    The top of your list should be eternal life.

    And according to Jesus, that comes from knowing Him, from knowing God.

    And I do have to remind you that knowing about God is not the same as actually knowing God.

    You realize those are two completely different concepts.

    Knowing about God and knowing God.

    Not the same.

    Think of it this way.

    Imagine a young man comes to church, a single man.

    And he's been coming here for a while when all of a sudden one day he notices there is

    a beautiful young single woman.

    And he's like, "I don't think I met her, but who is that?"

    But he gets his friend.

    He's like, "He found out who that girl is."

    And his friend comes back with the information.

    And he says, "Oh, you asked about that girl.

    Here's what I know.

    She loves missions."

    She loves working with children.

    She enjoys traveling.

    And get this, she's a big Steelers fan.

    But she also loves rom-coms.

    Now if this friend goes back to the dude and gives this report on what this woman is like,

    do you think this man would be like, "All right, now that I have the information about

    her, I am satisfied.

    Thank you.

    That is all."

    Is that the end of the story?

    No, you see, now that he knows about her, that makes him all the more want to know her

    personally.

    You see, that's how it is with God.

    That's how it is with Jesus Christ.

    The more you know about Him, the more you want to know Him personally.

    The fact should lead you to the relationship.

    How do I know God personally?

    Well John 1.18 tells us that no one has ever seen God, the only God who has at the Father's

    side.

    He has made Him known.

    And folks, this is a fundamental truth.

    That the only way that we can know God is He has to make Himself known.

    And that's what we celebrate every Christmas that God has made Himself known because He

    did it in the most personal way possible.

    He showed up and introduced Himself.

    So look at John 1.

    Picking up in verse 1.

    We're just going to get the first three verses today.

    This might feel more like a Bible study than a sermon.

    But these are important truths that we're going to wrestle down here.

    John 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was

    God.

    He was in the beginning with God.

    All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."

    Notice that John in introducing our Lord, He's using this word, "Word" a lot.

    Why does He use the word "Word"?

    Well He doesn't really explain that.

    But I promise you that the audience that He wrote to in the first century would have known

    exactly what He was talking about.

    Because John primarily would have been writing to the Greeks and the Jews.

    The word "Word" in the Greek is "Logos."

    And to the Greeks, the Logos was like this impersonal force, this impersonal energy source.

    Because the Greek philosophers were like, "Look, all of this had to come from somewhere.

    The world didn't happen by accident.

    There has to be some force out there that's behind the structure of the earth.

    All logic and reason."

    They had this idea, it was an impersonal force, and they called it the Word, the Logos.

    So John is writing to the Greeks, and he goes, "Hey, you guys talk about the Logos, right?

    Did you know the Logos is a person?"

    It's not a thing, it's a person.

    It's a person that was with God.

    It's a person that was God, and it's a person according to John 1.14 that became flesh

    and dwelt among us.

    So that's how the Greeks would have heard this.

    Do you know how the Jews would have heard this?

    And we probably don't have to guess, right?

    When the Jews would have heard the Word Word, what would they have thought of?

    They immediately would have thought of the Law and the Prophets, what we call the Old

    Testament.

    You see, you go through the Old Testament over and over and over.

    The Word of the Lord came too.

    The Word of the Lord came too.

    The Word of the Lord came too.

    And all of the Law and the Prophets, it's known as the Word of God.

    So the Jews would have picked up on this concept immediately.

    You know what the purpose of words is?

    Words are to communicate something.

    Words are to be deliberately chosen and used to convey information to another person.

    That's what John's saying to the Jews.

    The Word became flesh.

    Jesus Christ is God's communication to man.

    A living, breathing Word.

    So God isn't some impersonal force.

    God's not a generic concept.

    According to God's Word, He is a person.

    And He has revealed who exactly He is in Jesus Christ.

    Let's just pause for a second and ask that you would pray for me as we do this little

    study together that I would accurately represent God's Word.

    Let me pray for you to have a heart open to receive this absolutely essential truth that

    God is teaching us today.

    So let's pray.

    Father in heaven, we live in a culture that is fine to think of you in general terms.

    But to call you a person, a father, the sovereign of the universe, it's tough for some people

    to grasp.

    And I just pray Father today, especially over these next few minutes, that we would really

    have our hearts and minds open to what it is that your Word wants to teach us about

    the way that you've revealed yourself through your Son.

    It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

    Amen.

    So on your outline, I want you to write some things down.

    I want to know God.

    Here's where it starts.

    Number one, the reality.

    This is the reality.

    Jesus is God.

    Let's look at these verses here.

    Look at verse one again.

    He says, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

    In the beginning.

    Is that something familiar at all?

    That phrase, "In the beginning."

    Where have we heard that?

    Genesis 1-1, right?

    That's how the whole Bible starts.

    And John is starting in the same place.

    John is saying, by saying in the beginning, John is saying, "Before anything was created,

    the Word existed."

    The Word.

    And notice he says two things about the Word.

    First of all, the Word was with God.

    And secondly, the Word was God.

    First of all, let's talk about the Word was God.

    This claim is nothing less than Jesus Christ is Almighty God.

    This is all through the New Testament.

    If we were to just do a Bible study today looking at the verses of the New Testament

    to talk about Jesus being God, we would be here long after the snow melted.

    But the New Testament is so full of this truth.

    For example, Colossians 2-9 says, "For in Him, in Jesus, the whole fullness of Deity

    dwells bodily."

    Most concise statement of Jesus' Deity is probably right here in John 1-14.

    It says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory

    as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

    The Word became flesh and dwelt.

    That Word dwelt in the Greek is the word tabernacled.

    The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.

    You heard the tabernacle?

    In the Old Testament, it was this portable structure that as Moses was leading the Israelites

    out of Egypt, God told Moses to build this structure and it had this tent with the Holy

    Place and the Holy of Holies.

    And this was the place where God's unique presence dwelt among His people.

    So when John says, "The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us," you know, if you

    were in the Old Testament times, if you lived with Old Testament Israel and somebody said,

    "Hey, can you point to the place where God's unique presence lives on the earth?"

    You would point to the building, the tabernacle.

    You would say, "Yeah, God's unique presence on earth is right there."

    Fast forward to 2025 right now.

    If I were to say, "Can you point to the place where God's unique presence dwells on earth?"

    Where would you point?

    It's right here, right?

    Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

    The temple was just the permanent version of the tabernacle.

    This is where God lives.

    This is God's unique presence here.

    So what John is saying in John 1.14 is for about 33 years of earth's history, when you

    would ask, "Where is God's unique presence on the earth?"

    You'd point to a man.

    That man's name is Jesus Christ.

    You would point to him and say, "Right there.

    That man is the unique presence of God on the earth.

    This is where he is."

    All right?

    Jesus is not an exalted angel.

    Jesus is not some special enlightened human.

    According to this verse, Jesus is the God.

    And every false religion denies this, by the way.

    And I can just tell you personally, you would be shocked at how many times I've had to have

    this conversation with people over the course of my ministry, that people who actually say,

    Jesus never said He was God.

    You heard that argument?

    Jesus never said it.

    What the argument is this, that's something the church kind of came up with.

    We kind of, like some religions like us, we sort of hitched that idea onto Jesus.

    Did Jesus Himself, they say, "Oh, if you study the words of Jesus, He never said He was God."

    Well, do you remember back in Exodus chapter 3, God called Moses through the burning bush.

    You know, you're going to lead my people out of Egypt.

    You're going to lead them to the promised land.

    Do you remember Moses says to God, "Well, what if Israel asks who sent me?"

    What if Israel is like, "What is His name?"

    Do you remember in that moment, God told Moses what His name is?

    You remember?

    God told Moses His name is, "I am who I am."

    That's God's name.

    His name is, "I am."

    I love that.

    God didn't say to Moses, "My name is I was."

    Like Moses, like what's your name?

    And God's like, "Moses, I was.

    Oh Moses, you should have seen me back in high school.

    Oh Moses, I was so good looking and I was such a good athlete.

    Back in the day Moses, back in the day I was really something.

    No, he's not the I was.

    But nor did God tell Moses that he's the I will be."

    Right?

    Like Moses is like, "What's your name?"

    And God's like, "Well Moses, you tell the Israelites, I might not be nothing special

    now but I'm taking my vitamins and I'm drinking my milk and I'm doing my palates and I'm jumping

    on my pogo ball and someday, someday I'm going to be something great.

    I will be."

    God's not the I was and he's not the I will be.

    God is, "He is I am."

    From eternity past, He is infinite, majestic holiness.

    He is the I am.

    And in eternity future, He will still be infinite, majestic holiness.

    He is the I am.

    You're like, "Well what does that have to do with Jesus?"

    Because Jesus repeatedly claimed that He is the I am.

    It's all through the gospel of John, what, like seven times.

    I am the bread of life.

    I am the light of the world.

    I am the way and the truth and the life.

    I am the good shepherd.

    I am the door.

    All through Jesus made this claim.

    John chapter 8, Jesus said before Abraham was, "I am."

    John chapter 10, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one."

    And in that moment the Jews picked up stones, they were going to kill them for saying that.

    Jesus says, "I did a lot of good works for which of them are you going to stone me?"

    And they said, "Oh no, you're making yourself out to be God the way you're talking."

    And you see, they knew exactly what He was saying.

    They knew exactly what He meant when He said, "I and the Father are one."

    Oh, and by the way, not only does the Bible say that Jesus is God, did you know that the Bible also says that God is Jesus?

    Here's what I mean.

    Look at Zechariah 12/10.

    This is before the incarnation, the Christmas story.

    This is before the baby in the manger story.

    This is Old Testament.

    Look at what God says.

    God says, "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and please, for mercy, so that when they look on Me on Him whom they have pierced."

    Do you see how God identifies Himself?

    He identifies Himself as the one who was pierced and who was the one that was pierced.

    It's Jesus Christ on the cross.

    Do you see that?

    Do a little word study there.

    That's exactly what He's saying.

    They will look on the one whom they've stabbed.

    Right?

    It's also in the New Testament.

    God is Jesus.

    Look at Acts 20, for example.

    Paul says, "The Ephesians elders pay careful attention to yourselves to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood."

    Who bought the church with His blood?

    He says God.

    You're like, "I thought it was Jesus that shed His blood."

    Well, Paul's saying that as Jesus shed His blood, that was God obtaining the church with His own blood.

    So Jesus is God, yes, and the Bible also says that God is Jesus.

    The word was God, but the Bible also says here that the word was with God.

    The word was with God.

    And in case you missed it, in case you didn't quite catch it in verse 1, verse 2, he just says the exact same thing.

    He was in the beginning with God.

    So somehow, Jesus is God, but being with God, somehow He is distinct from the Father.

    Like if I said to you yesterday, I was with my buddy Nathaniel, and I was my buddy Nathaniel.

    You would say, "Were you and Nathaniel smoking something? Like what was going on there?"

    That doesn't make sense, does it?

    How can you be with somebody and be somebody at the same time?

    But that's exactly what the Bible says about Jesus and His relationship with God.

    He's not only God, but He's also with God.

    And people want that explained all the time.

    Pastor Taylor had a couple of weeks ago, the little children back there had a Q&A thing with him.

    And one of the questions they were asking about, the trinity.

    And look, do you want to know about the trinity? Here's the reality.

    Nobody can figure that out. That's the truth.

    You can't do it.

    Because from the moment you were born, you've only ever known two things in your life.

    Your whole life, you've only ever known two things.

    And that's time and space.

    You can't fathom an existence outside of time and space.

    This is where we are.

    And now we have a God who lives and exists in rules outside of time and space.

    God is not bound by time and space.

    And somehow we think that we're going to be able to explain everything about Him.

    Here's what I know.

    The Word was with God and the Word was God.

    The Bible says God exists.

    He's one God, but He exists as three persons.

    Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Jesus is eternal, but distinct.

    And you don't have to explain it to believe it.

    I can't explain to you how my car works, but I believe that it does when I get in and drive it.

    Look at verse 3.

    He says, "All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."

    Okay, this is just theology 101. It's all through the Old Testament.

    God is Creator.

    And John here is saying Jesus is God, He's with God.

    And then John takes another step and says, "Jesus is Creator. He made all things."

    And somehow, again, the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all involved in creation at the same time.

    You're like, "Can you explain that?"

    I just told you I could not explain that.

    But somehow God, the Father created through God the Son, and the Genesis tells us that the Spirit of God hovered above the waters.

    All three members of the Trinity were involved.

    And somehow Jesus is the agent of creation.

    The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 2 that in these last days, God has spoken to us by His Son,

    whom He appointed the heir of all things through whom also He created the world.

    Through whom He created the world.

    That's all John's saying here in verse 3.

    "Every living thing gets life from something else.

    A tree, a dog, a woodpecker, you. You got life from something else.

    The only person who has never received life from someone else is God Himself."

    That's what John's saying, since Jesus already existed before creation,

    and because Jesus didn't get His life from something else, then He must be God.

    Those are the biblical facts about Jesus.

    And listen, even if you're sitting here today or listening to the podcast later or whatever,

    even if you don't agree with that, can we take an honest look at what the Bible says and stop trying to twist it?

    Oh, it doesn't really say that.

    The Bible overwhelmingly says that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

    That's the truth that you have to reckon with.

    He is God.

    So if you want to know God, number two, the response.

    The response. You want to know God? The response is faith in Jesus.

    The reality is Jesus is God. The response is we have to have faith in Jesus.

    You see, God took the initiative.

    God did His part in revealing Himself as Jesus, so the question is, what's my part in knowing Him?

    It's faith.

    Faith is the only way to know God.

    Oh, and speaking of generic,

    not only do people use the name of God in a generic sense,

    but you'll find that people use the concept of faith in a generic sense.

    There is a true biblical sense and definition of faith,

    but we live in a culture that just throws that word faith around all the time and uses it in all kinds of ways.

    Here's what I mean.

    Some people use faith like it means a wishful thinking.

    Faith is just wishful thinking.

    Like, well, I just kind of have faith that everything's going to work out.

    Like, what does that even mean?

    For some people, they think faith is just the way of the ignorant.

    Like, well, you believe in science.

    Or you believe in faith, rather. I believe in science.

    And they're condescending. You're just some, you know, backwoods, redneck, you're ignorant.

    I believe in science, but you have your little fairy tale faith.

    And still other people look at faith as some kind of ambiguous spirituality.

    You hear people say, I'm a person of faith.

    Do you know who else is a person of faith?

    Literally everybody.

    Everybody believes in something.

    What is your faith in?

    Because you can have faith in the wrong thing.

    So listen, my friends, God is not a generic concept and neither is faith.

    Faith is a specific disposition towards a specific person.

    That's why Hebrews 11.6 says without faith,

    it is impossible to please Him for whoever would draw near to God.

    That's the knowing God piece.

    Whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists

    and that He rewards those who seek Him.

    It starts with obviously an acknowledgement of His existence,

    but it doesn't stop there. You have to seek Him.

    You have a responsibility.

    God took the initiative. He revealed Himself in Jesus.

    What is my responsibility in this relationship?

    Or how can I grow in knowing Jesus?

    I want you to draw these three things down.

    How can I grow in knowing Jesus?

    Letter A, you have to confess with your mouth.

    Romans 10.9 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord

    and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

    And you are not going to grow in your relationship with Him

    if you don't have one to begin with."

    So have you made that confession?

    Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross

    to pay the penalty for your sins, that He rose from the dead

    to give you eternal life? Do you believe that?

    Because people have this idea that, well, we're all children of God

    and a creative sense, yes, but not in the adoptive sense.

    Yes, we do all have a relationship with Jesus.

    The question is, do you have a good relationship with Him

    or a bad relationship with Him?

    You have to confess with your mouth.

    Ask to start there, letter B, you have to hear the Word.

    You have to hear the Word.

    Romans 10.17 says, "So faith comes from hearing

    and hearing through the Word of Christ."

    The only way your faith grows is through the Word of God.

    Because this is the only truly reliable source of information

    about Jesus, because this is the source of information

    that was given to us by God.

    You have to be in the Word

    if you're going to know Jesus.

    Any relationship involves time and communication.

    And some people, they spend no time in His Word,

    no time praying His Word and reading and studying and meditating.

    And they spend no time at all in the Word.

    And then they wonder why they feel so distant.

    Relationships grow when time is spent together.

    You need to prioritize spending time and praying the Word of God.

    Finally, letter C, keep His commandments.

    Jesus says in John 15.10, "If you keep My commandments,

    you will abide in My love just as I have kept My Father's commandments

    and abide in His love."

    That's how you abide. It's through obedience.

    Now listen, if you're a Christian and you're in sin,

    sin is not going to end your relationship with Jesus.

    But you're obviously going to feel distant from God

    if you have unrepentant sin.

    Any area of disobedience in your life that you refuse to deal with,

    you're going to feel distant.

    And that's not on God. That's on you.

    God hasn't gone anywhere. You have.

    So what is it in your life right now that you're like,

    "I know that this is what God wants me to stop doing,

    or maybe something God wants you to start doing,

    but you know exactly what it is.

    You need to turn from that sin.

    You need to obey whatever Jesus is calling you to.

    And you're going to enjoy the freedom

    that repentance brings in your walk with Christ."

    This is what keeps people from coming to Christ

    in the first place, by the way.

    Jesus will take you just as you are,

    but He won't leave you that way.

    Jesus wants to transform you.

    He wants to change you.

    Some people just don't want to be changed.

    Keep His commandments.

    The Word became flesh.

    God became a man.

    Our worship team would come back up.

    You know, I came to Christ when I was 20.

    And it's an amazing thing to grow up in a church

    as a kid.

    All those days, all those years

    sitting in the church, how little I really understood.

    But when I was led to Christ, it was this whole new

    world, right?

    And I remember I was trying to understand.

    And I had this Bible that my parents got me.

    You know, some Bibles have the little story inserts,

    little devotional things that kind of build into the Bible.

    Well, this Bible had this story in it.

    And the story goes something like this.

    There was this farmer and his wife, it was Chris Paseeb,

    and the farmer's wife was going to church.

    And she asked her husband if he wanted to go with her.

    He goes, "No, I don't get that church stuff.

    It doesn't, that makes no sense to me.

    You know, I'm not interested at all, but you go have fun."

    Well, she went to church.

    And while he was home, he saw that there were birds trying to get

    into his barn.

    This really bad deep freeze came over, kind of like,

    "What happened here?"

    And these birds were trying to get into the barn,

    seeking shelter from the cold.

    The farmer says, "Well, I can help those birds."

    So he goes, "I'll just go out and open the door

    and let them in the barn."

    And when he went out, you know what birds do, right?

    They just kind of scattered everywhere.

    The farmer's like, "Well, that sure didn't help anything."

    So he thought, "Well, maybe if I just leave breadcrumbs,

    I can like guide them in there somehow."

    Didn't work.

    No matter what the farmer did, he couldn't get the birds

    into the barn to get shelter.

    And as the story goes, I don't think it's a true story,

    but as the story goes, he stood and looked

    out the kitchen window, and he saw the birds back flying

    around the outside of the barn not able to get in.

    And the farmer thought to himself,

    "Those birds are going to die."

    And as badly as I want to save them,

    I don't know how I can get them into the barn.

    But then the farmer had a thought.

    The farmer thought, "You know, if I could become a bird

    for like five minutes, I could approach them,

    they wouldn't be scared of me, I could speak their language,

    and I could show them the way that they could be saved."

    And right when he had the thought, the story goes,

    "Off in the distance, he heard the church's bells ringing."

    And that's when it connected.

    It's a dumb story.

    Admittedly, what I'm going to tell you as a young Christian,

    when I read that, that's what made everything click for me.

    Yes, that's the purpose of the incarnation,

    that God became one of us to save us.

    So what do you want for Christmas?

    I want to know God, not the generic knockoff,

    but the real person.

    Because knowing God is eternal life.

    We're going to have our elders and members of our prayer team

    up front here.

    And in just a moment, Ashley's going to sing a song over you.

    And we're going to have a good old-fashioned altar call.

    You can stay in your seat, you can pray right where you are.

    But I want you to know there's people that are up here that would love to pray with you

    and for you.

    So as Ashley sings over you, we're going to invite you

    to come. Maybe there's somebody here

    that today you're like, "You know what? I don't really know God. I know about Him.

    But I don't really have a relationship with Him.

    Today's the day. Today's the day that you can go from knowing about

    God to knowing God. So please come.

    Our Father in Heaven, we thank You

    for the way that You have demonstrated Your holiness and love

    by taking on flesh and blood.

    Father, I pray against all of the distractions. It's that time of year

    that there's more to do than we have time to do.

    And there's so many things buying for our attention.

    Father, I pray that we would take a real

    close examination at the person of Jesus Christ and examine our own hearts.

    Are we truly walking with Him? Do we truly

    have a relationship with Him that we're spending time

    together and knowing and growing?

    Or are we just churchgoers?

    Father, I thank You. You've revealed Your heart. You want us to know You.

    You've done everything and have just simply called us to receive

    what You have accomplished.

    Father, thank You. We praise You and ask that You would continue to manifest

    Your goodness and presence in us by the power of Your Spirit through the wisdom

    of Your Word. We praise You in the name of Jesus

    Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Be Worth Imitating

Introduction:

Pastor Bob Huber

Are You Worth Imitating? 4 Areas to Evaluate (1 Corinthians 4:14–21)

  1. Your LOVE for PEOPLE: Worth Imitating. (1 Cor 4:14)

    2 Corinthians 12:15 – I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.

  2. Your HEART for EVANGELISM: Worth Imitating. (1 Cor 4:15)

  3. Your CONSISTENCY of FAITH: Worth Imitating. (1 Cor 4:17)

  4. Your HANDLING of SINNERS: Worth Imitating. (1 Cor 4:14, 18–21)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 Corinthians 4:14-21

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Who has been a “spiritual father” to you? What do you imitate about them?

  3. Who have you tried to be a “spiritual father” to (led to Christ, discipled)?

  4. What kind of change, specifically, do you think Paul was hoping for from the “arrogant” (1 Cor 4:18-21)?

  5. How do you know when to admonish someone (v14), and when to rebuke them (1 Cor 4:19)?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

  • Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

    What kind of a church is this?

    We are a church that proclaims the authority of God's Word without apology.

    What kind of a church is this?

    We are a church that lifts high the name of Jesus in worship.

    What kind of a church is this?

    This is a church that believes firmly in the power of prayer.

    This is a church that shares the good news of Jesus with boldness.

    So let's bow our heads and I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful

    to communicate God's Word and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what

    it is that the Lord wants to teach us today.

    All right?

    Let's just take a moment and pray.

    Father in heaven, as we turn to your Word, we ask that you would speak to us through

    this.

    Your Word even calls this the foolishness of preaching.

    But somehow your spirit is at work with your Word when it is proclaimed and we believe

    that.

    And that's why we don't shrink away from what anything that your Word says, but we

    go after it.

    Father, we want to know you and you have revealed your character through your Word.

    So Father, I pray for all of us today.

    This would be a day of self-examination.

    This would be a day where your spirit grabs us in a fresh way.

    Thank you ahead of time for everything you're going to do.

    We pray in Jesus' name.

    And all of God's people said, "Amen, amen."

    We've had, in harvest Bible Chapel over the years, we've had some pretty spectacular guest

    speakers and other pastors come and preach.

    And by far, this one's my favorite here.

    This is Pastor Bob Huber.

    This is back when we were meeting in Marshall Middle School actually.

    But Pastor Bob Huber was my pastor and he is in heaven now.

    Or as he would have said, he graduated and he's having a good day.

    You know, I moved to Chicago for a while to learn how to plan a church.

    But it was this man who taught me how to be a pastor.

    And I had the privilege of working with him for many years.

    But probably the profoundest lesson I ever learned from him was in year one.

    I was helping with a day camp up in Slippery Rock at Deep Valley Camp.

    I'm going to tell you this story and I know some of you are going to hit you and some

    of you are going to be like, "What in the world is he talking about?"

    But that's just the way these things go sometimes.

    But we were at day camp and this was year one of like, I just became a Christian and just

    started serving Christ and was learning.

    And we were walking across the camp.

    It was free time for the kids.

    They were just running around kind of doing their thing.

    Second graders, alright?

    So Pastor Bob and I were walking by and there was this little boy just sitting and just

    playing in the dirt.

    And as we walked by, Pastor Bob stopped and he said to the little boy, "Hey, get up.

    You're getting all dirty."

    So the little kid got up and kind of brushed himself off and just kind of stood there and

    Pastor Bob and I kept walking and all of a sudden Pastor Bob stopped.

    And he turned around and he went back to the little boy and he said, "Get back down in

    the dirt."

    There was so much I learned from that whole thing.

    So much that I learned about ministry.

    And I could spend hours just talking about the lessons I learned from that little thing.

    Here's the big one.

    Kids got to be kids, right?

    That's why at Harvest we say it all the time, we don't care if your kids are running around

    or making messes or making noise.

    Like kids got to be kids.

    But you know in that incident at camp, and I saw that attitude from Pastor Bob, I said,

    "You know, that's worth imitating."

    That attitude towards kids.

    That's worth imitating.

    And you know we're going through 1 Corinthians here and Paul has used many images to talk

    about his connection with them.

    He's talking about being a farmer, being a builder, being a servant, being a steward.

    And in this passage we're looking at today, here's the image on the table.

    A father.

    The 1 Corinthians.

    Paul's addressing Christians who weren't acting like Christians.

    That's been this whole stretch, the whole 1st 4 chapters.

    There was division.

    There were little teams being made and there was disdain for people that weren't on your

    team.

    Like I follow Paul.

    You're one of those appallished people.

    Blame.

    And there was so much division in the church.

    Christians who weren't acting like Christians.

    Paul was pretty direct with them.

    I think we saw that especially last week.

    He was pretty direct in the way that he addressed them.

    And you know if you're going to be that direct with someone you better have a good relationship

    with them.

    Look at verse 14.

    Let's pick up in verse 14.

    Paul says, "I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my

    beloved children.

    For though you have countless gods in Christ, you do not have many fathers.

    For I have become your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

    I urge you then, be imitators of me."

    That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind

    you of my ways in Christ as they teach them everywhere in every church.

    Some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.

    But I will come to you soon if the Lord wills.

    And I will find out not the talk of those arrogant people, but their power for the kingdom

    of God does not consist in talk but in power.

    What do you wish?

    Shall I come to you with a rod?

    Or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

    In that chunk of text, did you pick up a dad tone in there?

    This is why Paul was so stern with them because he saw himself as their father, their spiritual

    dad.

    And parenthood, whether it's having kids of your own or adopting kids or having spiritual

    children, listen, parenthood is about two things really.

    It's about love and it's about responsibility.

    So this passage here is for everyone who is a spiritual parent.

    Everyone who leads someone spiritually, everyone who is making disciples, listen, whether you're

    a small group leader or you're leading the youth group or Harvest Academy, you're teaching

    precepts, you're involved in our ministry team or serving as an elder, if you're one

    of our conference speakers, some of you are involved in addiction recovery ministry.

    This is for you.

    Some of you are leading Bible studies at work.

    This is for you.

    Some of you, your primary discipleship opportunity is the children in your home.

    That's who this passage is for.

    Those of you who are making disciples.

    Look at verse 16 again, because this is the verse that really jumped out to me.

    Also as I urge you then, the imitators of me.

    That verse leads me to two questions.

    And the first question is, have I been faithful to follow my spiritual parent?

    I mean I talked about Pastor Bob.

    I'm not 1% of the pastor that he was.

    But am I being faithful to follow my spiritual father?

    How about you?

    Are you being faithful to follow your spiritual parent?

    That's a question that I wrestled with this past week, but not as much as another question.

    Here's the second question, this is the one that really hit me.

    Am I worth imitating?

    What about me?

    Am I worth imitating?

    What about you?

    Do you consider yourself worth imitating?

    Did you say what Paul said here?

    Hey, follow my example, could you say that?

    If the people that you disciple, if the people that look up to you as their spiritual father,

    their spiritual parents, if the people that look up to you act like you, would they be

    effective for the kingdom of Jesus Christ?

    If the people that looked up to you imitated you, would they be honoring God in His Word?

    Would they?

    Would you want people to imitate you?

    Or would there just be too many areas of your life where you would just end up saying, "Yeah,

    don't do what I do."

    Are you worth imitating?

    I want you to consider this sustained illustration through the rest of the message.

    But I want you to imagine that I brought you a brand new Christian.

    Okay?

    Imagine that this young man came to Christ, he just came to Christ yesterday, and we brought

    him to church, and he was baptized today, and I brought him to you, and I said, "Okay,

    this young man is going to live with you for a month so that he can learn what it looks

    like to follow Jesus Christ."

    How would that go for the next month?

    I mean, assuming that you weren't going to put on a show, assuming that you were just

    going to be your authentic self for the month, okay, we're assuming that.

    How's that going to go?

    Would you find yourself over the course of the month with this brand new Christian?

    Would you find yourself constantly saying, "Yeah, don't do that."

    Right?

    You use some salty, non-sermony language, and then you turn to this young man looking

    at you and you're like, "Yeah, don't talk like that."

    Are you telling some perverted anatomy joke?

    Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what, you shouldn't tell jokes like that.

    You shouldn't talk like that.

    You shouldn't think like that.

    This new Christian that's following you around for the month sees you losing your temper,

    you're kicking the lamp, you're kicking the dog, and then you turn to him and you say,

    "Yeah, don't do that."

    You shouldn't lose your temper like that.

    You're neglecting time in God's Word, you're neglecting time in prayer, and you're like,

    "Yeah, you know what, I'm really busy and don't have the time to spend in God's Word

    in prayer, but you shouldn't be like me.

    You really should make time for that."

    Would it be a rough month for you?

    Or after that month, this new Christian comes back to me and says, "You know, I am really

    growing with the Lord following that person's example.

    This past month has been huge for me watching how the life of Christ has manifest in a person's

    life throughout the week."

    Is that what they say?

    This is the sermon that we all have to take a hard look at ourselves.

    I mean, let's be honest with ourselves.

    Are you worth imitating?

    There are probably hundreds of categories we could get into.

    Let's just stick to this particular text here.

    Four areas to evaluate.

    Are you worth imitating?

    Here's four areas to evaluate that we see from the Apostle Paul.

    Number one, write this down.

    Your love for people.

    Your love for people.

    Worth imitating?

    Let me give you verse 14 again.

    He says, "I do not write these things to make you ashamed but to admonish you as..."

    Look at this.

    "My beloved children."

    My beloved children.

    I love that so much because if you've been with us through 1 Corinthians in this journey,

    you can see that Paul would have a lot of reasons to call them something else.

    Let's put it that way.

    But this is how he viewed them.

    Your beloved children.

    You're not commodities to be used.

    You're not customers to satisfy.

    You're not annoyances that are draining the life out of me.

    He says, "You're spiritual children that I love."

    Love.

    That's what parents are wired to do.

    It's a love.

    It's meeting needs, yes.

    It's helping when there's hurt.

    It's protecting.

    And ultimately, love is sacrifice.

    You go to 2 Corinthians in chapter 12.

    This is what Paul addresses the same church.

    I love this verse because this is the heart of a parent.

    Paul says, "I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls."

    That's the heart of a parent.

    Parents sacrifice for their children.

    Parents give of themselves.

    So when you genuinely love people, you're going to do the same.

    Easier said than done because I don't know if you noticed,

    but some people are hard to love.

    Have you noticed that?

    I mean, we already talked about these Corinthians.

    They had so many problems.

    Like, man, how do you love unlikable people?

    How do I conjure up the love to love unlikable people?

    You don't have to turn there, but just jot down John chapter 21.

    It's one of my favorite scenes in the Bible.

    But in John chapter 21, we see the resurrected Jesus restoring Peter.

    Do you remember the question that Jesus asked Peter three times?

    Do you remember?

    He says, "Peter, do you love sheep than feed them?"

    Is that what he said?

    No?

    Watch that one, didn't I?

    What did he say?

    He says, "Do you love me?"

    Do you love me?

    And when Peter answered, Jesus...

    Oh, then he talked about the sheep, right?

    Feed my sheep.

    Do you love me?

    He didn't ask Peter if he loves sheep.

    He asked Peter, "Peter, do you love me?"

    Because when you love someone, you love what they love.

    Right?

    See, if I put all of my effort into just loving you and not the Lord,

    it's going to fizzle out.

    But when the effort is in loving Jesus Christ,

    He changes my heart to love the things that He loves.

    I love you because Jesus loves you.

    You have value to me because you have value to Jesus, you see.

    Jesus loves the church.

    You know, He died for you.

    He's preparing a place in heaven for you.

    And He does His work on earth through you.

    And if Jesus so loves you and He knows you a lot better than I do,

    how could I not love you?

    So think of that new believer following you around for a month.

    What he see in love for people that's worth imitating.

    And area we need to evaluate your heart for evangelism.

    Is it worth imitating?

    Look at verse 15 again.

    He says, "For though you have countless guides in Christ,

    you do not have many fathers,

    for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel."

    Countless guides.

    What's a guide?

    Well, in the Greek, it's pedagogos.

    Now wealthy families in those days would have a pedagogos.

    A guide, some translation is tutor.

    It was a slave whose job it was to take boys back and forth to school

    and to help them mature.

    Or as the kids would say today,

    they would help them learn how to adult.

    That's what a pedagogos did, preparation for adulting.

    That's what they did.

    And Paul here says, "You have," literally in the Greek,

    "you will always constantly have countless people teaching you."

    And that is more true now than it's ever been.

    You're constantly going to have countless people giving you information

    on TV, radio, podcasts.

    Bible teaching is out there.

    But there is no one who has the relationship with you

    like the one who led you to Christ.

    The one who discipled you.

    Your spiritual father, your spiritual parent.

    Everybody has that relationship like that.

    This is a tough sell right here.

    Because some Christians aren't spiritual parents.

    Because you've never led anyone to Christ.

    You've never discipled a new believer.

    Because if you have, you know that it's a unique relationship.

    It's a special kind of love and responsibility that comes.

    And the sad thing is too many people in the church miss out on the blessing.

    Because honestly sharing the gospel just isn't in -

    just it's never a thought to share the gospel with anyone.

    You know, there's a pastor that I listen to,

    speaking of countless teachers.

    There's a pastor that I listen to often.

    Ron Dunn.

    He used this illustration one time.

    And I really had to chew on it for a while.

    But he said the gospel of Jesus Christ

    is a train that runs on two tracks.

    And one rail of the track is the work of Jesus Christ.

    There's death on the cross and His resurrection.

    But the other rail of the track is someone to deliver that message.

    And he used this illustration.

    He said imagine there's a man on death row

    about to be executed and the governor pardons him.

    The governor has the pardon in paper form and gives it to a courier.

    And says here's the pardon.

    I need you to deliver this to the prison

    where the man is about to be executed here.

    Take this pardon.

    You realize it does that man on death row no good

    if that courier doesn't deliver the pardon.

    Could you imagine?

    Could you imagine the governor saying,

    "Look, this is going to save this man's life.

    Make sure the prison gets it and the courier forgets."

    Or he just doesn't think it's that important.

    Right?

    If the courier doesn't deliver the pardon,

    it's not going to take the effect.

    And do you understand?

    You are God's courier.

    In Jesus Christ, God has pardoned sin

    and the people you know who don't know the Lord are on death row.

    And God has given you the pardon to say deliver this.

    Tell them that they don't have to die.

    And so often we're just like, "Eh, not that important."

    You're the courier.

    Are you getting the message out?

    That's so amazing to me that God has the ability

    to do whatever He wants to do.

    And what He wants to do is use you to reach people with the gospel.

    He wants you to disciple the lost.

    So how often, during the course of your week,

    do you engage people in spiritual conversations at work,

    at the barber shop, with your unsafe family?

    How often do you say to someone,

    "Hey, can I pray for you?"

    How often do you invite somebody to church?

    So think of that new believer

    that's following you around for a month.

    What would they see from you?

    Would they see a heart for evangelism that's worth imitating?

    Number 3, are you worth imitating?

    How about your love for people?

    How about your heart for evangelism?

    Worth imitating?

    Number 3, quickly, what about your consistency of faith?

    Consistency of faith.

    Is it worth imitating?

    Look at verse 17 again.

    He says, "That is why I sent you Timothy,

    my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,

    to remind you of my ways in Christ

    as I teach them everywhere in every church."

    He says, "That is why I sent you Timothy."

    Wait, wait, wait.

    What is why you sent me Timothy?

    Verse 16, he said, "Are you going to get the flow here?"

    He goes, "Hey, be imitators of me.

    That's why I sent you Timothy."

    You see his point?

    You see his point?

    Timothy is the perfect example of discipleship.

    Timothy is what you want in a spiritual child.

    Paul's like, "Hey, him coming is as good as me coming."

    That's what you want.

    That's when you know that you have discipled someone.

    You can send them and they can perfectly represent you.

    And you have no worries.

    I have that with Pastor Taylor.

    Whether it's going somewhere to speak

    or dealing with a crisis or counseling someone,

    I know that if he's going, it's just the same as if I go.

    I know he's going to handle it.

    And I know he's going to honor Jesus doing it.

    Paul says, "Tim's going to represent Tim."

    I call him Tim.

    We went to high school together.

    Tim will represent.

    He'll do what I do.

    What do you do, Paul?

    He says, "Teach the same thing everywhere."

    Right? You see that?

    Teach the same thing everywhere.

    Teach what?

    My ways in Christ.

    My ways in Christ.

    Consistency is not about the lesson of Bible principles.

    That's not what he's saying here.

    I printed out a workbook

    and we made a million copies and we're passing it out.

    That's not what he's saying.

    The consistency is in my ways in Christ.

    It's the way that I live out these principles.

    My ways everywhere.

    Do you see that?

    What Paul's talking about here

    is integrity.

    Integrity.

    By the way, men,

    you want to sign up for the men's conference.

    Brian Beehe gives a message on integrity.

    We were working through rehearsals and such

    and he gave his rehearsal recently

    and every man that was in the room

    was just crushed.

    Justin, integrity.

    That's what he's talking about here.

    Integrity. I'm the same follower of Jesus everywhere.

    Not just Sunday, not just a church,

    not just a small group.

    It's integrity.

    Because nothing dishonors the Lord

    or kills your witness like hypocrisy.

    Do you have any areas of hypocrisy in your life

    that you need to repent?

    If a new believer followed you around,

    would they see a consistency of faith worth imitating?

    And then finally, number 4,

    your handling of sinners.

    Worth imitating?

    I want you to notice the different tones

    that Paul uses here

    because he's addressing really two different groups

    in this passage.

    Did you notice that?

    Look at verse 14 again.

    He says, "I do not rate these things to make you a shame

    but to admonish you as my beloved children."

    Admonish means to lovingly confront

    in order to change.

    There's a gentleness in admonishing

    because spiritual children

    are a lot like regular children.

    They mature slowly.

    They mess up a lot.

    They frustrate you like crazy.

    And that's why Paul says,

    "I'm not trying to make you feel bad."

    All the stuff that we've been talking about, Paul's like,

    "I'm not just trying to bust your chops.

    I'm not trying to kick you when you're done.

    I'm not trying to hurt your feelings."

    He says, "Here's my end game. Do better."

    That's all I'm saying. Do better.

    Sometimes I get a little emotional and fired up

    whether it's in preaching or counseling.

    Why?

    Because look, my job up here is not to just give you

    Bible information.

    Like here's what the Bible says.

    You should do this.

    If you don't, it doesn't matter to me.

    It matters to me that you embrace this.

    It matters to me that you are taking God's Word

    and reflecting its truths in your life.

    It matters to me that you get it.

    And that's why there's times that we have to admonish

    our spiritual kids when they sin.

    We have an obligation to do that, by the way.

    An obligation.

    That's part of parenting.

    So that's one group. Look at the other group.

    Look at verses 18 through 21 again.

    He says, "Some are arrogant as though we're not coming to you.

    But I will come to you soon if the Lord wills,

    and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people,

    but their power.

    For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk,

    but in power.

    How do you wish?

    Should I come to you with a rod?

    Or with love and a spirit of gentleness?"

    Did you notice the change of tone?

    Some people need a little loving admonishment.

    Like, hey, we're going to do better.

    All right, we're going to do better.

    Other people need a rebuke.

    Like, hey, you need knock down a peg.

    He's addressing the arrogant.

    Do you notice that the arrogant?

    Some of you are arrogant.

    They're like kids when mom and dad aren't there.

    I don't care what they say.

    That's what these arrogant Corinthians, they were like.

    I don't care what Paul says. He's not here.

    What's he going to do about it?

    Oh, he's going to come.

    Paul's not going to come. That's why he sent Timothy.

    He's afraid to come here.

    Paul ain't going to do nothing.

    All right?

    I don't know why you guys are so concerned about Paul.

    He ain't here and he ain't coming.

    So arrogant.

    And I love that Paul's like, oh, I'm coming.

    He's as if the Lord wills.

    And Paul says, then we'll find out.

    We'll find out who's all talk and no game.

    We'll find out when I get there.

    Put your helmet on.

    Years ago in prison ministry, we had an elderly man

    who went in. His name was Joe.

    And sometimes in prison ministry,

    you would get guys come to Bible study,

    not because they wanted to learn the Scriptures,

    but because they wanted to cause problems.

    We get that a lot. People would come just to pick fights.

    And there's one guy in particular this one night,

    everything that was said, it was just like,

    oh, you're telling me that?

    And he was just like, he was protesting everything.

    He was mocking everybody.

    He would not shut up the entire time.

    And just obnoxious.

    And finally, Joe spoke up.

    And Joe said to the man, he goes, have you ever

    seen a semi truck driving down the road?

    And the guy's like, yeah?

    And Joe goes, well, you know, it's the empty trucks that

    make the most noise.

    Guy didn't say much after that.

    And that's kind of what Paul's saying here.

    He goes, some of you people are just talk.

    He goes, we'll find out when I get there.

    Because the kingdom of heaven is not just like talking.

    The kingdom of heaven is the power of the Holy Spirit

    in your life.

    So Paul says in verse 21, you make the choice.

    You make the choice.

    Do you want me to come with the rod?

    You're with gentleness.

    How many parents have said something like that to their kids?

    I know I have.

    Like, hey, look, this can go one of two ways.

    Make a better choice.

    It's up to you.

    So love disciplines.

    Look, you're going to deal with sinning people.

    But even in this one passage here,

    we see that you can't deal with all sinning people

    the same way.

    Because the people in verse 14, they were caught up

    in the divisiveness.

    And yeah, they needed corrected.

    But the arrogant in verse 18, the arrogant needed knocked down.

    A peg.

    That's why we see two different tones in the same passage.

    And parents, you need to get this.

    Parents, when your kids are sinning, spiritual parents,

    when those of your disciples are sinning,

    you have to ask yourself, is this a matter of immaturity

    or is this a matter of rebellion?

    Because immaturity or rebellion, I

    need to figure that out because that determines my response

    to the kids.

    I've seen this a thousand times.

    Some parents completely freak out when their kid drops a dish.

    But then that same kid will be flagrantly disobedient.

    And the parents just like, eh, well, what can you do?

    Like, no, no, that's where you've got to lay the hammer down.

    On the rebellion.

    Paul got that.

    That's why you see the different tones.

    So you're going to model this.

    You have to address sin.

    And sin has to be addressed appropriately.

    Is this a situation where I admonish?

    Or is this a situation where I rebuke?

    Am I dealing with immaturity?

    Or am I dealing with rebellion?

    So what about that Christian--

    that baby Christian that's following you around all month?

    Would they see the way you handle sinners to be worth imitating?

    I talked about ministry year one.

    Kind of a defining moment.

    And we talk about marriage year one.

    First year of our marriage--

    I was on the phone.

    I was on the phone.

    It wasn't this nice.

    It was an old school.

    We've been married a long time.

    It was a bigger, clunkier phone.

    But it was a cell phone.

    And I was just as technologically stupid

    then as I am now.

    But I was on the phone with someone

    and hung up the phone and set the phone down

    on the kitchen table.

    And Aaron and I were sitting at the kitchen table.

    And we started talking and reminiscing.

    We both went to Shakora Elementary School.

    There go gremlins.

    And we started talking about the music class.

    The music teacher had come in once a week.

    We were just wheeling in the keyboard on the cart.

    And we would sing these ridiculous songs.

    Aaron and I were reminiscing.

    And we started singing the songs together.

    I asked her if she would come up today

    and join me for a duet.

    She's leaning towards no.

    But we were like, oh, do you remember that song?

    The song about--

    this is a story about Sammy.

    Do you guys remember this one?

    His father said in the mouth to buy bread.

    So Aaron and I are belting it out.

    But Sammy didn't feel like walking.

    He wished he could fly in.

    And we're like belting it out.

    And we're laughing.

    And then it's like, oh, do you remember little Tommy Tinker?

    Do you remember-- no, I didn't go to school with him.

    That was one of the songs.

    Anybody remember little Tommy Tinker?

    Nobody, nobody at all.

    Little Tommy Tinker-- we were singing it.

    We were just little Tommy Tinker, sad and a clinker.

    And he began to cry, ma, ma, poor little innocent guy.

    But it's around.

    So when I say, he began to cry, then you

    would come in at the beginning.

    I keep going.

    And it's around.

    And it was a real hoot.

    So Aaron and I were sitting there like, little Tommy Tinker.

    And we were like, we did the round.

    And it was awesome.

    And I'm like, do you remember--

    another song that I liked was the Jelly Bean Jump.

    Jump to the Jelly Bean Jump, jump, jump.

    So we started singing that one.

    Jump to the Jelly Bean Jump, jump, jump.

    Folks in Mexico City, big, small, andy, dee, dee, dee,

    all joined in this pretty ditty.

    Jumped them every way.

    Nobody.

    Well, Aaron remembered.

    And we sat there for, what, 30, 45 minutes

    belting out these songs and laughing hysterically.

    Well, I accidentally did not hang up the phone.

    And in a way that I still don't understand,

    the whole thing got recorded.

    And it was re-listened to.

    And we were reminded of it for a very long time.

    You're like, why did you tell us that horrible story?

    Well, one reason is I wanted to float those songs as options

    for coming onto the worship set.

    But the other one is this.

    I learned a very valuable lesson that day.

    Whether you realize it or not, someone's always listening to you.

    Whether you realize it or not, somebody's watching you.

    And oh, it's over.

    Much more serious matters than the songs that we sang in Mexico City.

    Much more serious than the songs that we sang in elementary school.

    Somebody is watching how you follow Jesus Christ.

    So the question is, are you worth imitating?

    Let's pray.

    Our Father in Heaven, this is a passage that kind of hits us all between the eyes.

    Because we are all well aware of the gap between who we are and who we should be sometimes.

    Father, we thank you for your grace.

    Father, we thank you that our salvation is in performance based by us.

    It's based on the performance of Jesus.

    But at the same time, Father, you have called us to be worth imitating.

    You have called us to take the doctrine from the pages of your Word

    and show people what that looks like applied in the life of a dad, of a mom, of a friend, of a worker.

    We are to be an example.

    I just pray, Father, by the power of your Spirit, that we can in a sense sort of stand beside Paul

    and encourage others to follow our example in seeking you.

    We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

See Yourself as a Servant

Introduction:

Humble Yourself: 4 Truths to Help You (1 Corinthians 4:1–13)

  1. Only GOD'S OPINION of me matters. (1 Cor 4:3–5)

  2. I've RECEIVED all that I HAVE. (1 Cor 4:6–8)

  3. God wants to SHOW everyone how I SUFFER. (1 Cor 4:9–13a)

    John 15:20 – Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you...

    1 Peter 2:21–23 – For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

  4. The WORLD thinks I'm SCUM. (1 Cor 4:13b)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 Corinthians 4:1-13

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Paul is once again admonishing them on their divisiveness over “who is the best minister”. Why do you think there is so much content on this subject in 1 Corinthians?

  3. How would you define humility? Why does the Bible say that you must “humble yourself”, i.e., that job is on you to do?

  4. In 1 Cor 4:6, Paul tells them not to “go beyond what is written”? What specifically does he mean by that? How does this principle apply to Bible study in general?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

  • Good morning. My name is Jeff and let me tell you a little bit about myself.

    That's such an interesting thing, isn't it? Like, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

    Or when you ask somebody, "Hey, hey, tell me about yourself." It's an interesting thing

    because the first thing that comes out of their mouths is the thing that they want to be known

    as, right? Or known for. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. Do you know where you see this a lot?

    Game shows, right? Let me tell you a little bit about myself. Or if you've ever watched Jeopardy,

    it's such a cringy moment. You know, they come back from commercial break and some of us remember Alex

    Trebek, who's the guy now? Ken Jennings, okay? Like, "All right, we're going to meet our contestants

    and tell me a little bit about yourself." I'm always so fascinated with the way they identify

    themselves, right? It's so fascinating because some are cool, but some are just really, really

    weird. And I'm like, "You're on TV and this is going to go to syndication and this is going to be

    seen by millions and this is what you came up with." You know what I'm talking about? Like, you

    know, this is our challenger Bill. Tell us about yourself. And Bill's like, "Yeah, one time I showed

    up to work and I had my pants on backwards." "Oh, what'd you do?" "Well, I just kind of stepped into

    the bathroom and turned him around." I was like, "Okay. All right, let's meet Glenda." And I'm like,

    "What was that? Let me tell you a little bit about myself. How do you want to be known?"

    Well, I was thinking about that a lot this past week as we get to 1 Corinthians chapter 4,

    because if the Apostle Paul was on Jeopardy and the host says, "All right, well, tell us a little

    bit about yourself, Paul." I think we know exactly what he'd say, because it's here in 1 Corinthians

    chapter 4. Look at the first couple of verses. He says, "This is how one should regard us

    as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required

    of stewards that they be found trustworthy." Tell us a little bit about yourself, Paul. He goes,

    "Okay, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ." Actually, this word for servant in the Greek is "the lowest slave,"

    like bottom rank slave. And then he says, "Stewards, what's a steward?" Well, in those days,

    wealthy people would have someone who was like their house manager. They were in charge of

    distribution and spending and inventory. And you know who got that job? It was one of the slaves,

    still a slave. Why is he saying this? Well, we've seen throughout 1 Corinthians, the issue was

    all of this exalting leaders, putting Paul and Apollo, Sisyphus up on pedestals and all these

    factions. And Paul here in 1 Corinthians is saying, "Look, look, look, you're regarding us as world

    changers. You're regarding us as these elite Christians. You're regarding us as celebrity

    church planners." And Paul here is like, "Ah, here is how you should regard us."

    I'm a slave. That's it. I'm a slave.

    They had this terrible problem exalting the ministers, and it resulted in them exalting

    themselves. We've seen that. The pride with their alignment, like, "Yeah, I'm one of Paul's guys."

    Oh, yeah, that's nothing. I'm one of Apollo's guys. And they were proud of their alignment,

    and they had disdain towards others. Like, "Oh, you must be one of those Paul people."

    Paul here is saying, "Why are you making so much of us? We're just slaves. All we're trying to do

    is be trustworthy." That's it. We saw back in chapter, I'm sorry, verse 18, rather, in chapter 3,

    look back there. Paul says, "Let no one deceive himself."

    We are so self-deceived. And Paul's like, "Oh, Corinthians, you think you're so wise. You think

    you have it all figured out. You think you're on the right team. You're so full of pride."

    Again, that's the issue. You looked down to verse 21 in chapter 3. Pastor Taylor covered this last

    week. He says, "So let no one boast in men." That shouldn't be happening. Not Paul, not Apollo's,

    not Jeff, not Taylor, not your favorite podcast or YouTube's preacher. We shouldn't be exalting anyone.

    And when we get to this section here in chapter 4, here's what we're going to see. Paul is giving a

    true biblical assessment of himself. And he tells the Corinthians, "Look, you have to take

    an honest assessment of who we are, and, Corinthians, you have to take an honest assessment of yourselves."

    So here in this passage, Paul's going to be serving up some humble pie. All right? So,

    strap on your helmet. This isn't going to be a very comfortable message, because Paul's like, "Hey,

    stop with the pride. Stop exalting people. Stop exalting yourselves. Here's a reality check. And

    harvest, we need a reality check." Because it's real easy for us to point to the Corinthians and be

    like, "Wow, look at all the pride they have. Look at all the problems they have." That's...

    Pride is in every one of us problem. You realize that. Every single human has a problem with pride,

    has a problem with self-exaltation. And it's real easy to do that in a church identity. It was for

    the Corinthians, and it's easy for a harvest Bible chapel to begin to exalt ourselves.

    We can look at some of the nonsense that's happening around us in other churches or

    organizations that call themselves churches. And it'd be real easy for us to say, "Well,

    we're the only ones that are faithful. We are more mature than the other Christians.

    I don't know what their problem is, but I follow this guy or I listen to this guy.

    That means I'm one of the smart ones. I'm one of the enlightened ones." And

    it's real easy to get on the path of pride.

    That's what we're going to see in this passage of Bible telling us to humble ourselves.

    Like, "Hey, hey, knock it off. Stop thinking so much of yourself.

    You've got to humble yourself." You know, so much in God's Word, we see things that the Holy Spirit

    does in us and through us. Yes, but from what I've studied in God's Word, the command to humble

    yourself, that's on you. And that'd be a whole other sermon series, but you and I are commanded.

    We are commanded to humble ourselves so we don't get carried away in our pride.

    Because humility is the number one characteristic that God's looking for in people. You're not going

    to come to Jesus unless you're humble. You're not going to live a victorious Christian life

    unless you're humble. You're not going to have a fruitful ministry unless you're humble. If you're

    going to be humble, it's on you. So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.

    Humble yourself. You're like, "Well, how do I do that?" Paul's like, "Well,

    here's four things that will help you do that." All right. So I hope you had a good Thanksgiving

    and I hope you're not too full because you're about to have four slices of humble pie.

    And I don't feel bad at all because I've had to eat this all week. All right.

    So pray for me and I'll pray for you. All right. Just pause for a second. Please pray for me

    as I pray for you. Father in heaven, as we come to your Word, let us not be deceiving ourselves.

    Every single one of us have this drive to put the spotlight on us, to make much of us,

    to think too much of ourselves. And Father, this passage

    is certainly going to give us the attitude that you've called us to have.

    Father, I pray through the wisdom of your Word, by the power of your Holy Spirit,

    that you would give us the faith to make the choices that we need to make, to humble ourselves

    so we can see the greatness of Jesus Christ manifest in our lives.

    We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Humble yourself. Here's four truths that will help you.

    These are four statements that Paul made about himself and that we would commend to you to

    make about yourself. Number one, only God's opinion of me matters. Only God's opinion of me matters.

    Look at verse 3. Paul says, "But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you

    or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself." Now, quick review when we talk about

    judge, that's like everybody's favorite verse in the Bible. "Don't judge, don't judge." It's

    everybody's favorite because they don't understand it. Judging does not mean like, "Hey, don't call

    me out on sin or you're judging me." That's not what that means. Judging doesn't mean that like,

    "I can be a jerk and I can't care what other people think of me because of my jerking. Just don't call

    me out." That's not what judging means at all. Actually, this word for judge in the Greek could

    be translated cross-examined. He's talking about people, listen, he's talking about people judging

    your walk with Christ. That's what he's talking about. Judging your, as he mentioned in verse 2,

    judging your trustworthiness. Some Bibles say faithful or faithfulness. That's what he's talking

    about. People judging your faithfulness, your trustworthiness. And well, what does that mean to

    you, Paul? He says, "Well, that's a very small thing." And in the Greek, do you know what that

    means? That means the smallest. Your opinion of my spiritual walk does not matter for bad or for good.

    It doesn't. Here's what I mean. After service, if I was a guest reception

    and you walk by and you're like, "Jeff, I think you're a bad pastor."

    Like, well, sorry, I feel that way, but your opinion doesn't matter. And right now, there's some of

    you that are like, "Yes, I can get on board with that." Your opinion doesn't matter.

    That's not really my main concern, though. You know what the bigger danger is?

    It's the guy that walks your guest reception and says, "Jeff, I think you're a great pastor."

    That's the bigger danger, because then that stuff can start going to your head.

    Right? You can start to think, "You know what? Yeah, they're right. I am pretty awesome.

    They nailed it. Come back. Tell me more."

    But the reality is for bad or for good, the opinion doesn't matter.

    And that's where there's a danger. I've been talking about this with our ministry team and

    our conference speakers of these conferences coming up.

    Yeah, people's opinion of your trustworthiness, your faithfulness, doesn't matter good or bad.

    But watch out for the compliments, because they're much harder to dismiss because

    they're much easier to go to my head. Look at verse 4. Paul says, "For I'm not aware of anything

    against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me."

    See, Paul says, "What other people think of me doesn't really matter.

    Neither does what I even think of myself." It doesn't matter either.

    Right? You need to have the funeral.

    I realize I'm probably not as great as my grandma thinks I am.

    And I'm probably not as horrible as my critics think I am.

    Either way, it doesn't matter. Because a slave only cares about one thing.

    That's pleasing his master. Look at verse 5. He goes on,

    "For therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes

    who will bring delight to things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the

    heart, then each one will receive his commendation from God." Okay, here's what he's driving at.

    At the end of the day, there's only one opinion that matters. Who's is it?

    God's, right? That's it. All that matters is what God thinks of me. He's going to make the final judgments.

    On your heart. Listen, this verse should knock every single one of us down a peg.

    Because you see what God's word is telling us? God sees what you do. Yes, yes, he does. But

    much deeper than that. God sees why you do what you do. Your motives, your thoughts, what no one

    else knows, everything that you do in the dark, God is going to drag it to the light. Understand

    it with God. There are no secrets. You might have secrets from your family, you might have secrets

    from your spouse, you might have secrets from your boss, you might have secrets from your parents,

    but you do not have any secrets from God. So are you pretending? Are you pretending in your

    walk with Christ? Well, you might fool me, but it doesn't matter. You're an open book to God,

    and he's going to judge. Are you sincere? Like, look, I'm not perfect, but I'm sincere. I am

    sincerely seeking to know and honor the Lord. Jeff, I really am seeking to know the Lord.

    That's great because the Bible says someday you're going to receive your commendation.

    As far as humbling yourself, my friends, you will never humble yourself until you get to the place

    where only God's opinion of you matters. You've got to get there.

    Number two, not only do I need to reckon with only God's opinion of me matters. Number two,

    write this one down. I've received all that I have. I've received all that I have.

    Verse six, he says, "I have applied all these things to myself and apollos for your benefit,

    brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written,

    that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." There is a lot going on in

    that verse. All right, let's break it down here because this is so crucial in so many ways. First

    of all, he says, "I've applied all these things to me and apollos for your benefit." You're like,

    "I've applied what things?" Everything so far that he's been saying about pride and humility,

    all of this stuff. He goes, "I'm applying all of this to apollos and I for you." In other words,

    look, all this stuff that he's talking about, this isn't just a preacher thing and it's not just a

    church member thing. This stuff about pride and humility, this is an all of us thing.

    You get that? He says, "Excuse me, we all need to learn not to go beyond what is written."

    Like, what does that mean? Listen, this is a principle that carries over in everything.

    You need to learn that you must not, excuse me, you must not go beyond what the Bible says.

    You must not go beyond what the Bible says.

    Like, well, what's he talking about? Here's his point. He's telling the Corinthians and he's telling

    us harvests because they were exalting others and they had disdain for others and Paul's like,

    "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to view people only the way the Bible describes people."

    That's what he's saying. You need to view people only as the Bible describes. That's it.

    How does the Bible describe people? Every single one of us were born with a sin nature. We inherited

    that from Adam. The Bible says Adam brought sin into the world and he passed it on to his kids,

    he passed it on to his kids and he passed it on to us. We were born with a sin nature. We are

    rebellious against God by birth and by choice and we deserve hell. That's what the Bible says about

    people. But Jesus came, God in the flesh came, he died on the cross to take away our sins. He

    rose from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life and he has commanded us to turn from our sin

    and to believe in him. And when we do, the Bible says that you are born again. When you do the Holy

    Spirit, God's Spirit Himself comes and empowers you to be who God called you to be. And every single

    person who is saved is saved that way. Spoiler alert. If you're going to heaven, you're going to hear

    the same testimony a lot. Like, how'd you get here? Jesus! Look, how'd you get here? Jesus! I'm

    going to go ask this lady, how'd you get here? Jesus, you're going to hear that not a lot. You're

    going to hear that exclusively. Paul's point here is, look, you guys are all messed up about

    exalting people. Look, you need to have a biblical perspective of who we are. Don't go beyond that.

    Or, did you see that at the end of the verse? If you do, you will start exalting yourself, right?

    He says, you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. Go beyond what the Bible says,

    you're going to start having pride. You're going to start to think that you're better than others.

    And then Paul gives them the Dutch uncle. Look at verse 7.

    He says, he has three questions. Paul says, "For who sees anything different in you?"

    Like, we're all the same. The Bible describes this is who man is. And he goes,

    "Who sees anything different in you?" Like, what, you're something different?

    You're something special? You're a little snowflake?

    Like, all you're like, "I know what the Bible says, but I'm different. I'm special. Grandma

    thinks I'm special." He says, "Who sees anything different in you?" Like, what makes you think

    you're so special? Right? Next question. What do you have that you do not receive?

    Get back to that in a second. What's that question, Marinette?

    What is it that you're in possession of that wasn't given to you?

    All right? Then he drives it home with this third question. He goes, "If then you received it,

    why do you boast as if you did not receive it?"

    Paul's like, "Why are you so fully yourselves? Anything and everything about you,

    you received that." I mean, think about that. Just think about that for a minute.

    That's true physically, right? Everything about you physically, you received that

    genetically from your parents.

    You know, occasionally, I'll meet somebody or whatever, and they're like, "How old are you?"

    I'm like, "Well, I'm 50." And people say, "Well, you look young for your age."

    And I say, "Have you been to the eye doctor lately?" No, I don't say that. I don't say that.

    I just smile and say thank you, or like, you know, I got good genes from my mom. But you know what I'm

    thinking when people say that? Like, that's very nice of you to say, but I contributed nothing to that.

    Like, this is what I got. That's just what I got. I received this. You're like, "I'm sorry." Well,

    I received this. This is what I got. This is what was given to me.

    You're like, "Well, doesn't that upset you?" It doesn't matter how I feel about it. This is what I got.

    This is the shade of my skin. This is as tall as I'm going to get. But that's true for you.

    Everything you have was given to you. But I don't really think that's Paul's main

    point here. I think mainly he was talking spiritually, right? Everything that I have

    spiritually has been given to me. Salvation? How is a gift from God? God gave me that.

    What about spiritual giftedness? Where did I get that?

    The Holy Spirit. God gave me a spiritual gift. He gave you a spiritual gift that was given. That's

    why it's called a spiritual gift. He gave it to you, right? Oh, by the way, your talents

    are given to you by God. You know, the Bible says those are given to you by God.

    You're natural, what we call natural talents. The Bible says those were given to you by God.

    Look that up. It's in Exodus.

    Everything about you has been given to you from God directly or from God through your parents.

    And you're like, not me. I work hard.

    Who gave you the ability to work hard?

    You see, why are you acting like you earned anything?

    And then Paul gets sarcastic with them. Look at verse 8.

    Obviously, dripping with sarcasm here, he goes, "Already, you have all you want.

    Already, you become rich. Without us, you would have become kings."

    That you did reign so that we might share the rule with you.

    You see the sarcasm? He's condemning their pride. He's like, "Oh, oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize

    that you were these spiritually elite and wise people. I didn't realize that you

    attained a level of spirituality all by yourselves. You didn't need us, Madam President.

    Oh, I beg your pardon for thinking different."

    What Paul's doing here is he's pulling them back down to earth. He's like, "You guys think you're so

    superior with your pride. Knock it off. Get off of your high horse. Stop it."

    Because everything you have has been given to you. How in the world can you boast about that?

    You know, just imagine this scenario. Imagine that five of our kids from Harvest Academy,

    imagine I gave them each a quarter. Like, "No, don't spend it all in one place."

    But I gave five kids a quarter. And as you're walking out church, you see the five of those kids.

    Those five kids are sitting at a table up here by Harvest Academy. And you stop and listen for a

    second and they're all bragging. And one kid's like, "I got a quarter. I got a quarter. Look

    how awesome I am. I have a quarter." And then the little girl beside him is like, "I got a quarter.

    You think you're great. I got a quarter. I'm awesome. I got a quarter." And then the next kid's like,

    "I got a quarter." And like, wouldn't you be like, "What are you guys bragging about? Like, Jeff just

    gave you all a quarter. Like, how does that... Why are you so boastful?" And that's what Paul's saying

    here to the Corinthians. You're like a bunch of kids bragging because somebody gave each a quarter.

    Knock it off. We're all equal in God's eyes. And equal does not mean the same, but equal does mean

    equal. You're never going to humble yourself until you get to the place where you recognize

    every single thing that you have was given to you. All right? Humble yourself and here's

    four truths that will help you. Number three, this is a hard truth. All right?

    Number three is God wants to show everyone how I suffer.

    God wants to show everyone how I suffer. Pick up in verse 9. Paul says, "For I think

    that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death,

    because we have become a spectacle to the world to angels and to men." Paul says,

    "God put us on display." He says, "We're like the lowest people on the earth." You see the picture

    there? Paul says, "You know what we're like? We're like men on death row being escorted to the electric

    chair while TV cameras all around recording us for the entire world to turn on the TV and watch us."

    Like, hey, look, there they go. Off to be killed. Look at them. Everybody watch.

    He says, "That's how God put us on display."

    And you see in verse 10, Paul gets back into some more sarcasm.

    He says, "We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong.

    You are held in honor, but we in disrepute."

    What's he talking about here? It's more sarcasm.

    See what Paul's saying? Paul's like, "We're out here suffering serving the Lord. We're out here

    actually suffering and you're sitting in your little pews patting yourselves on the back."

    Like, what's going on? Like, well, suffering how? How are you suffering, Paul? Well, he tells us

    to the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless.

    And we labor working with our own hands.

    What is there to brag about again?

    Paul's reminding them the following Christ means suffering.

    I don't really care what the health and wealth church down in the street says about that.

    And I don't really care what the prosperity preacher on TV says about that.

    All I care is what the Bible says about that. And do you know what the Bible says?

    The Bible says if you follow Christ, you are going to suffer.

    Jesus himself said this, John 15.20. Jesus said, "Remember the word that I said to you,

    a servant is not greater than his master." Jesus said that a bunch.

    A servant is not greater than his master. What are you saying, Lord? If they persecuted me,

    they will also persecute you. See what Jesus is saying?

    God allowed his only begotten Son to suffer. So you think as an adopted child of God that

    you're exempt from that? You think that because you're adopted that you get a pass on suffering?

    Listen, God doesn't keep you from suffering. He puts you on display in suffering.

    Why would He do that? Why in the world would God do that? Are you telling me

    that God is allowing me to suffer so everybody can watch me suffer? That's what He said.

    Like why would He do that? He tells us.

    Continuing verse 12 here, He says, "When reviled, we bless. When persecuted,

    we endure. When slandered, we entreat."

    So why in the world would God lead us to suffering?

    So God can show everyone who's watching how we suffer.

    So He talks here about being reviled and persecuted and slandered. Have you ever

    seen worldly people react to those things all the time? Right? What does the world do when

    they're reviled or persecuted or slandered? The world reactions are on display everywhere.

    It's retaliation. It's temper tantrums. I'll get even with you. You can't do this to me.

    It's pity parties. And oh, what was me? And that's how the world reacts. Listen,

    God wants you to walk through the same kinds of suffering so that you can exhibit the life of

    Christ. Do you realize how awesome this is? That God is going to allow you to suffer so the world

    can watch, so God can point to you and say, "Look at how my people suffer." Oh, you see how the world

    suffers and how they retaliate and how they're bitter and how they're angry. And look at my people.

    When they suffer, they reflect the character of my son.

    Look at my people. When they're reviled, they turn around and they look for ways to bless the

    people that hate them. Do you see my people do that? God says, "Look at my people." When they're

    persecuted, they don't pack it up. They don't boohoo. I quit. I can't take it anymore. Look at my people.

    When my people are persecuted, they endure. They are not going to give up.

    God says, "Look at my people." When they're slandered,

    they don't slander back. They don't hate the people that speak negatively about them. God says,

    "Look at what my people do." They entreat. They're trying to reach the people that hate them with

    the gospel of my son. Look at my people. This guy sounds familiar, doesn't it?

    Probably because Peter said something almost identical. Look at 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21.

    Look at this. Same thing. Exact same truth. For to this, you have been called because Christ

    also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might fall in His steps.

    Here's the example. Jesus committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in His mouth.

    When He was reviled, He did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten,

    but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.

    You're going to suffer. The only real question is, how are you going to suffer?

    Meaning, what is going to be your attitude during your suffering?

    You're going to lash out because your pride was hurt? You're going to humble yourself

    and show them the example that Jesus gave you.

    But you'll never humble yourself until you understand that you are called to respond to

    suffering like Jesus. One more slice of humble pie, are you full?

    You're like, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I think I'm just the right amount of humble.

    Can we sing and get out of here? There's one more.

    Number four, something to tell yourself when you start to think that you're so important.

    Number four, the world thinks I'm scum.

    Look at the last part of verse 13. We have become

    and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

    Yeah, we're scum. We're garbage. You know that. We are garbage people.

    To the lost, they think our message is foolishness. You realize that.

    You realize that to the lost, they would come in here and hear what we're doing,

    see what we're doing, and they would say, literally, what a bunch of morons.

    Look, if you're here for a little ego boost, I'd just like to remind you what the Bible says,

    you're trash. We're all just trash in the world's eyes.

    You know, when I was a kid, my dad used to say that he had this little saying that he said all

    the time. And as a kid, I never understood what it meant. It was this, anytime somebody was acting

    untowardly, somebody was acting like a hog or insulting you or being cruel towards you or

    speaking perversely or anytime somebody was acting like that, my dad would just say,

    well, you got to consider the source. I never knew what that meant until I became an adult. Now I'm

    Oh, I get what he's saying now. And I think that little saying of dad certainly applies here.

    It's like, hey, hey, you know, the world thinks you're scum.

    Now consider the source. The brilliant world crucified Jesus Christ.

    This world who was giving their opinion of me took God in the flesh and publicly executed

    him in the most humiliating and painful way. All they think I'm scum, huh? Well,

    I guess I should just consider the source. You're never going to be popular with the world. If you

    follow Christ, you're never going to be popular with the world. It's not going to happen. They

    think you're scum. And the truth is, I'm actually much worse than they think I am.

    I am. My sin is so bad it took the blood of the spotless Son of God to wash my sin away.

    That must mean my sin was pretty bad.

    So it takes us back to point one, right? God's opinion is really the only one that matters

    anyways. But you're never going to humble yourself until you're okay with the world regarding you

    as scum. All right. So if our worship team would make their way back to the platform,

    I just want to leave you with this. If you're ever a contestant on jeopardy,

    not likely for most of us, or you start to think that you're pretty important,

    which is actually very likely for all of us, I'm going to give you your speech.

    When someone says, "So, tell me a little bit about yourself. If you want to be biblical,

    here's your speech." Like, my name is, I'm only here to please God. Everything I have has been given

    to me. God wants me to suffer so that the world can see Jesus. And the world thinks I'm scum.

    Tell me a little bit about yourself. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I just ask again that you would

    use your word to humble all of us. Our sin is so self-exalting, and we start to

    think that we have things figured out, or we reached a level that other people should aspire to

    when your word says that we should humble ourselves. Father, remind us of these truths

    that someday we're going to stand before you, and on that day,

    we will learn the truth that it is only your opinion that means anything.

    Increase our faith, Father. Give us the drive to humble ourselves. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Don’t Lie to Yourself

Introduction:

Get a Grip! (1 Corinthians 3:18–23)

  1. You are not as wise as YOU THINK YOU ARE. (1 Cor 3:18–20)

  2. You are not lacking IN ANYTHING. (1 Cor 3:21–23)

    John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read
1 Corinthians 3:18-23

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. In what way do you need to “get a grip” on reality in this season of life? What lies about God, yourself, and others are you tempted to believe?

  3. What does it look like to be wise according to worldly standards? How do you see yourself falling into worldly wisdom right now?

  4. What does Paul mean by “all things are yours”? How should this truth change your thinking and living?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

  • 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 18 through 23.

    As Pastor Jeff admitted in a sermon a few weeks ago, we try to stay up to date on the

    latest lingo since we worked with the youth group.

    Emphasis on try because new and nonsensical words and phrases seem to be invented on a

    daily basis.

    New slang always sounds ridiculous to older generations, even though your slang wasn't

    that much better back in the day either.

    Do you ever wish a certain slang word or phrase stuck around a bit longer than it had that

    caught on a bit more?

    I know I miss saying things like big whoop or cool beans or I'm disgusted by something.

    Gag me with a spoon or when someone says something really obvious I say no duh or how about whenever

    someone's annoying me I lift up my hand and say talk to the hand because the face ain't

    listening.

    Another one of my favorites someone asked you to do something that you really don't want

    to do.

    Yeah let's not and say we did.

    But you know which phrase I miss the most?

    It's somewhat said today but not nearly as much as it used to be.

    Get a grip.

    Who's ever said that or heard that at some point?

    Get a grip.

    You say get a grip when someone is being unreasonable and is in desperate need of a reality check.

    This person believes something that is not true and this bad belief leads to a bad action.

    It leads to an overreaction.

    This person needs to let go of the lies that he or she is believing.

    This person needs to get a grip on reality.

    In 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 18 through 23 Paul gives the Corinthians a much needed

    reality check.

    He tells them to get a grip because they are believing some things that are not true and

    these bad beliefs are leading to bad decisions, erratic actions and massive overreactions.

    They are tearing the church apart with their selfish pride, with their worldly thinking

    and their destructive division.

    The unity and purity of the Corinthian church cannot be promoted and maintained until they

    get a grip on some essential truths from God's Word.

    Yeah we've been studying 1 Corinthians for almost two months now.

    Now let's be honest.

    As you read this book, as you listen to these sermons, it's really easy to look down on

    the Corinthians, isn't it?

    It's easy to think, "Oh man, these people are insane.

    They're just wackos.

    Go get them Paul.

    They really need to talk into."

    What if you are more like the Corinthians than you think?

    What if you are believing some things that are not true?

    What if you are making some bad decisions right now?

    What if you are negatively affecting your family, your coworkers and this church?

    What if you need to get a grip?

    All of us, myself included, need to be grabbed by the shoulders and shaken back into reality

    because we all tend to live in a fantasy world of our own making.

    A fantasy world of lies, excuses and self-justification.

    You and I need the same exact reminders that Paul gives the Corinthians in this passage

    that we're about to read because you know what?

    We're far more like them than we care to admit.

    You and I need to get a grip and remember some essential facts from God's Word.

    So before we get a grip, let's go to the Lord and ask that He would get a grip on us.

    Please pray for me that I will faithfully proclaim God's Word and I will pray for you

    that you will faithfully receive it.

    Father, it's so easy to come into this room every Sunday and just pretend.

    Just to go through the motions, to put on a show where I pray against all of those things.

    I pray against pretending.

    I pray against stuffing down what we're really dealing with.

    I pray against hiding our sin.

    This morning we asked that you would reveal what we struggle with.

    You would reveal the sins that we need to deal with by your grace.

    I pray you'd help us to deal with these things in a biblical way.

    We ask all these things in Jesus' name.

    Amen.

    Get a grip.

    You are not as wise as you think you are.

    That's the first blank on your outline.

    Get a grip.

    You are not as wise as you think you are.

    Let's read chapter 3 verses 18 through 20.

    The apostle Paul writes, "Let no one deceive himself.

    If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he

    may become wise.

    For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.

    For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their craftiness.'

    And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile."

    Have you ever noticed that people who are the most confident tend to be the least competent?

    The most confident tend to be the least competent.

    That guy who praises his own handiness and fixes everything at home tends to make a lot

    of obvious mistakes.

    He does stuff around his house that no one would hire him to do around their house.

    That woman who praises her driving tends to be a really bad driver herself.

    She's looking down at her phone while she's driving.

    She's applying makeup.

    She's running red lights.

    She's not using turn signals when she's going through lanes.

    That guy who talks a big game in the golf cart tends to have zero game when he's driving

    or putting.

    Or how about that person who says, "Yeah, I'm really calm under pressure."

    And then when something bad actually happens, they're just totally manic and panicked.

    And all of these examples overconfidence causes someone to overestimate his or her ability.

    And that is what Paul is talking about in these verses.

    A human sense of confidence in yourself makes you incompetent when it comes to spiritual

    matters.

    Those who think they are wise by worldly standards are foolish by heavenly standards.

    They may appear to be brilliant in the eyes of the world, but what are they in the eyes

    of God?

    Stupid, dumb, foolish.

    When you're impressed with your own wisdom, you become a fool.

    And that rule is without exception in Scripture.

    Paul is crystal clear on this.

    He quotes the book of Job in Psalm 94 when he says, "God catches the wise in their craftiness

    and again the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile."

    And earlier he says, "The wisdom of this world is folly with God."

    You cannot outsmart God.

    You cannot trick Him.

    If you try, He will beat you at your own game.

    And again, we see this all throughout Scripture.

    Here are just two examples that spring to the top of my mind.

    In the book of Esther, Haman hatches a scheme to kill God's people and to hang his enemy

    Mordecai on gallows that he had specially made.

    How did that turn out for Haman?

    Anyone remember?

    He ends up hung on the gallows that he had made for Mordecai.

    Yeah, not great as Pastor Jeff said.

    What about King Absalom?

    Well, he tried to be king.

    Didn't really work out for him.

    He rebelled against his father.

    He had this long, beautiful hair like Fabio that he really prided himself in.

    He tried to steal his father's throne.

    How did that go for him?

    He ended up caught in a tree branch by his own prided hair with three spears through

    his heart.

    He ended up as a human pincushion.

    Both men thought they were smart, but God caught them in their craftiness.

    They were both competent.

    Actually, they were confident in their own competence, but they ended up being incompetent.

    They had their own thoughts and plans that were proven to be useless by God.

    They were not as wise as they thought they were.

    Are you confident in your own competence right now?

    Are you trying to outsmart God?

    Are you trusting in your own human wisdom?

    Your own faulty understanding.

    You know exactly what God thinks about that sin you're indulging in, but you think that

    you can escape the consequences.

    And without even realizing it, you are bearing the consequences of your repeated and unrepentant

    disobedience.

    You are dulling your conscience.

    You are pushing down the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

    You are pushing away faithful friends because you don't want to be found out.

    You know exactly what God thinks about giving of your time and treasure to the church and

    those who are in need.

    But again, you think those rules don't really apply to you because your schedule is way

    too busy.

    Your bills are way too high.

    Your stress is off the chart, so you can't do those things.

    You know exactly what God thinks about your need to humble yourself and submit to others.

    But once again, that doesn't really apply to you because you're always right and those

    other people are always wrong.

    I mean, yeah, sure.

    Unity and all that jazz is really important, but you're the only one who really knows what

    you're doing.

    So if you don't get your way, everything's just going to fall apart, right?

    You know exactly what God thinks about how you should treat fellow believers and handle

    conflict in the church.

    But surprise, surprise, once again, you're a special case.

    You have been too mistreated to talk it out.

    You have been too hurt to forgive.

    Please stop elevating your importance because you will be humbled if you don't.

    Stop thinking that you can outsmart God because you will get caught in a trap of your own

    making.

    Stop highlighting your wisdom because you are simply shining a spotlight onto your foolishness.

    You become a fool by thinking that you're wise.

    You may be wondering, okay, so how do I actually become wise?

    Well, Paul gives us a very simple answer in verse 18.

    Look at that again.

    He says, "If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool

    that he may become wise."

    You become wise by submitting yourself to what the culture around you thinks is foolish.

    You willingly swallow the pill that most people willfully spit out in God's face.

    You passionately believe that God not only knows better than you, he knows what is best

    in any and every circumstance.

    You sit under the authority of God's word rather than standing in authority above it.

    You care way more about the never-changing commands of God than your ever-changing opinions.

    You are far more concerned with meeting the needs of others than satisfying your own personal

    preferences.

    Do you know what the greatest threat to harvest Bible Chapel is?

    It's not ungodly politicians.

    It's not ungodly public policies.

    It's not other religions.

    It's not persecution of Christianity.

    It's not even social media or secular entertainment.

    The greatest threat to this church is you.

    The greatest threat to this church is me.

    The greatest threat is you and I thinking that we know best.

    You and I insisting it's my way or the highway.

    That leads to stiff-arming one another.

    That leads to division.

    That leads to disunity.

    Do you know what the greatest unifier in the church is?

    A mutual agreement that God knows best and we don't.

    A mutual submission to the Word of God.

    A mutual agreement that we will do whatever the Bible says in regards to every subject,

    every issue, every problem.

    When a financial issue arises in this church, we deal with it in a biblical way.

    When gossip is being shared, we deal with it in a biblical way.

    When disagreement breaks out in a small group, we deal with it in a biblical way.

    When problems arise with the building project, we deal with it in a biblical way.

    How does that biblical plan sound to you?

    Are you on board with that?

    Are you willing to go down that path and do whatever this book says?

    Let me warn you, it's not going to be easy.

    If you are committed to that, you have to lay aside your temptation to show off, to prove

    yourself.

    You have to be unwaveringly committed to obeying the Word of God, even when it hurts, even

    when it's hard, even when it smashes your ego to pieces and it will.

    You need to stop saying, "I think, I think, I think," it starts declaring the Bible says,

    the Bible says, the Bible says.

    As Pastor Jeff said a few weeks ago, what you think doesn't really matter.

    What God commands is of supreme importance.

    You need to stop deceiving yourself.

    You need to get a grip.

    Get a grip because you're not as wise as you think you are.

    Please do not resist this reality check because it is so freeing to admit that you don't have

    all the answers.

    What God does.

    Get a grip.

    You are not as wise as you think you are.

    Get a grip.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    We've already seen that this unity and Corinth cannot be solved until all the members of

    the church put aside their pride and stop deceiving themselves.

    Each person must have an accurate understanding of himself or herself.

    But that's not enough.

    Each person must have an accurate understanding of others, especially those who were leaders.

    Paul talks about this at the beginning of verse 21, "So let no one boast in men."

    For the third time in this letter, Paul is talking about the favoritism controversy in

    Corinth.

    Some think that Paul is the best pastor around.

    Others believe that Peter is the goat of the apostles.

    Most believe that Apollos is the MVP of preaching and teaching.

    At this point in the series, you may be thinking, "Why do we keep talking about this over and

    over again?

    I get that this favoritism thing is bad, but why is it such a big deal to Paul?"

    Well, imagine it with me this way.

    Imagine that all the seating sections in this church are dedicated to one of the pastors

    on staff and his specific groupies.

    On the left side is Pastor Jeff's section.

    You all sit there.

    Are you guys the best section?

    I guess you can prove my point for me.

    On this section, you sit here because you love Pastor Jeff's conversational preaching

    style.

    You love his sense of humor.

    And to show your support, you eat funyons.

    You wear bright neon shoes.

    You hold up "I hate Mayo" signs.

    The middle section is Pastor Rich's section.

    He's not here right now, so we won't give him a big head today.

    I guess he has the most people.

    You sit there because you're enthralled by Pastor Rich's intelligence and his in-depth

    knowledge of God's word.

    And to show your support, you tell puns.

    You drink kombucha and you garden in your spare time.

    And the right side is my section.

    For the life of me, I can't figure out why you're all sitting over there.

    Over lunch, you can decide why you're sitting there and what you would do to celebrate me

    because I have literally no idea.

    Let me ask you, what's the problem with that seating chart?

    The church is literally and metaphorically divided.

    One section is boasting in Pastor Jeff, another is boasting in Pastor Rich, and a third is

    boasting in me.

    In that scenario, who is not being boasted in?

    God, the only one who is worthy of our boasting.

    God deserves the praise, not the leaders he put into place.

    Leaders are a window and God is the view that you see through the window.

    When you are watching a beautiful sunset from inside your house, you don't praise how clean

    and efficient the window is that you're glimpsing through.

    You praise what you're getting a glimpse of.

    Godly leaders are a blessing, but God is the source of that blessing.

    Only leaders are a gift, but God is the ultimate giver.

    You need to have an accurate understanding of yourself.

    You need to have an accurate understanding of others.

    You also need to have an accurate understanding of all God has given you in Christ.

    Paul talks about this at the end of verse 21 and in verse 22.

    He writes, "For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or

    life or death or the present or the future, all are yours and you are Christ and Christ

    is God."

    That statement is absolutely staggering.

    I could preach a series for an entire year just on that one statement.

    There is so much to unpack here, so let's just slow it down and take a small bite at

    a time so we can savor all the flavor in this passage.

    For all things are yours.

    Maybe you don't feel like you have very much.

    When you pull up your bank accounts, your retirement accounts, you're not really happy

    with the numbers that you see.

    Your house is way smaller than you would prefer.

    Your car has way more miles and way more issues than you would like.

    When you compare yourself to others on social media, it really seems like very little is

    actually yours.

    But that couldn't be any further from the truth according to the apostle Paul.

    The poorest Christian is wealthier than the richest non-Christian.

    Jeff Bezos may be one of the most successful businessmen in the entire world.

    As of this morning when I checked, he is worth $235 billion, far more than all of us if we

    combined our net worths.

    Let me ask you, does Jeff Bezos own all things?

    No.

    Elon Musk, he owns X, Tesla, and he's even taking on space now, I guess.

    As of this morning, he has a net worth of $460 billion.

    Because even Elon Musk owns all things.

    He's not even close to owning all things.

    If you have trusted in Christ, you are far better off than either of these men who seem

    to be so far beyond you.

    All things are not theirs, but all things are yours.

    You may be wondering, "Okay, Taylor, I believe you because the Bible says so, but I just

    don't get it."

    Well, let me show you because Paul gives us a detailed list of everything that belongs

    to you and belongs to me.

    First up, Paul or Apollos or Cethus.

    As they already said, all three of these men are gifts to be appreciated by the Corinthians.

    Each man serves, each man gives something that is unique to the church.

    And the same can be said for the pastors and elders here.

    We are here to glorify God by serving you.

    We are here to obey God by equipping you for the work of the ministry.

    The pastors and elders at harvest belong to you.

    We are here for you.

    And the same is true for every godly leader who pours himself or herself into your life

    and other avenues of life.

    Why play favorites when all of us are here to bless you and increase your spiritual health?

    It's like being gifted a house, only utilizing one of the rooms and blocking off the rest.

    Instead of doing that, enjoy the entire house.

    The kitchen can do things that your basement cannot.

    The closet provide a function that your dining room doesn't.

    Each room has a place and function in the house.

    In a much greater way, each leader, pastor, and elder in the church has a place or a function.

    Next up, the world.

    One day Jesus Christ will return to rule and reign over this earth.

    And do you know according to Scripture, you will rule and reign along with Him?

    How's that going to look?

    How's that going to work?

    I have no idea, but it sounds awesome.

    This may be a shock for you to hear, but there are a lot of ungodly people in authority

    and power right now.

    When you notice, a lot of ungodly people are in charge of communities, cities, and countries

    across the face of this planet.

    And it may seem like they have more power than you do.

    But again, does the world belong to those ungodly leaders?

    Does the world belong to you?

    Yes.

    But once again, you have far more.

    All our apostles are seephis the world, life or death.

    When you trust in Christ's perfect life, His finished work on the cross, and His victorious

    resurrection, you are given eternal life.

    And as Pastor Jeff often says, eternal life isn't just something you'll experience.

    Someday eternal life is something you experience right now.

    Jesus makes this clear in John 17.3.

    And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom

    you have sent.

    You have God as your Father.

    You have Jesus Christ as your personal friend, both now and forever.

    You no longer need to fear death because Jesus took the hell that you deserve upon Himself.

    Death can no longer lead you away from God.

    It can only lead you closer to God.

    For a believer, death is a homecoming.

    The present or the future.

    Once again, maybe your present doesn't seem very good right now.

    Maybe your present is a place you don't really want to be.

    But recognize every gift that you have is from the hand of God.

    Your friends, your spouse, your kids, your church, the clothes on your back, the food

    in your stomach, even the difficult circumstances in your life are used by God to mold you into

    the image of Jesus Christ.

    Every difficulty, every pain, every sickness is used to make you more like Him.

    God loves you like His own Son.

    But the Bible tells us that God not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.

    We also will have to go through hard times.

    We will also struggle.

    One day the pain of this world will give way to the glories of heaven.

    Please know your God is so good to you right now.

    Because your appreciation of His goodness will exponentially increase in the future

    when you stand in His presence.

    Finally, Paul provides a summary statement of what has been given to every Christian.

    All are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's.

    Doesn't this statement kind of sound like one of those complex word problems on a math

    test or on the SATs?

    So break it down, understand it, let's reverse the logic of this text.

    Because this is an awesome math equation that adds up to an infinite sum.

    What does God own?

    I'm going to try that again.

    What does God own?

    Who is God's Son?

    If you were a believer, who do you belong to?

    Jesus.

    Therefore, if you belong to Christ, what belongs to you?

    Everything.

    I usually hate math, that's math even I can get behind.

    You own all that God has.

    You own literally everything.

    Your net worth cannot be calculated.

    You and I so often get sidetracked for our desire for more and more and more of what

    this culture has to offer.

    We get obsessed with accumulating more stuff that we cannot even take with us when we die.

    You and I lose touch with the spiritual realities of this text.

    You can lose track of all that has been given to you in Christ.

    You can grumble.

    You can complain.

    You can act ungrateful.

    There are some Saturdays where Kate and I pull out all the stops for the kids.

    We have a great breakfast.

    We go to the park.

    We go see a movie so they can stuff their face with popcorn, icees, and candy.

    We come back with them ride bikes.

    We round out the day with a delicious dinner.

    But then one of my kids is sulking, walking around upset.

    And I'll ask Sam or Amy, "What's wrong?"

    And one of them will respond by saying, "Oh, I'm just having a hard day."

    And I'm just blown away by that response.

    "How in the world are you having a hard day?"

    Well, you and mom are being mean to me and you didn't let me have the second pack of

    pirate's booty that I wanted.

    Are you serious?

    We gave you everything today and you're belly aching about one small thing that you don't

    even need.

    In those moments, I want to give my kids a reality check.

    I want to give them a loud and clear message.

    Get a grip.

    You are so blessed.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    And Paul is giving you the same exact reality check.

    He is shaking you by the shoulders and saying, "You are so blessed.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    What do you want that you really need?"

    The answer is nothing, nothing.

    You may be struggling with your job or your roles as a stay-at-home mom, but you must

    remember that you have been given the greatest calling of all, telling others about what

    you have received in Christ and what they can receive in Christ.

    You may feel lonely right now.

    You may feel isolated like no one cares about you.

    But you must remember that Jesus has gifted you with the Holy Spirit who lives inside

    of you and he will never leave you or forsake you.

    You may have a very broken and dysfunctional family or come from a very broken and dysfunctional

    family, but you must remember that the Lord himself has taken you in and he has given

    you brothers and sisters in Christ who love you.

    You may not like your house very much.

    You may think it's the worst house on the block, but you must remember that Jesus himself

    is preparing a place for you in heaven.

    You may not receive the biggest inheritance from your family, but as you read earlier

    in Romans, you are an heir of God and a fellow heir of Jesus Christ.

    You may feel cursed right now when life is hard and it's just one thing after another,

    but you must remember that you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly

    places.

    Get a grip.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    If you choose to get a grip and remember these essential reminders, you will experience

    a sense of joy like you've never known before.

    You will stop trying to build up more and more stuff and accumulate a kingdom for yourself.

    You will no longer be envious of what other people have because you are content with what

    you have.

    You will enjoy true unity in the life of the church because you're no longer in competition

    with other believers.

    Yes, all things are yours in Christ, but all things are also theirs in Christ.

    You own what they own and they own what you own.

    God doesn't play favorites with His children.

    We're all on the same equal footing.

    In the body of Christ, we all own all things.

    For most of this message I've been speaking to Christians, those who are Christ.

    I know there are people in this room who are not Christians, who are not Christ.

    I want to talk to you for a minute.

    First of all, I want to let you know that I'm so glad that you're here.

    It's my greatest desire that God would get a grip on you so that you can get a grip on

    the reality of your situation.

    No matter how much you think you have, you have nothing that lasts.

    All things are not yours.

    But I have great news for you.

    Jesus offers you all of Himself.

    He offers you all that belongs to Him.

    And to receive it, you must let go of the garbage of this culture that you're holding

    onto so you can grab ahold of His infinite riches.

    Come to Him empty-handed.

    Come to Him asking for forgiveness.

    Come to Him admitting your need for His grace.

    Why settle for nothing, both now and forever, if you can have all things for the rest of

    eternity?

    The worship team can now make their way forward.

    You ever since childhood have had to deal with night terrors.

    I have very vivid dreams where I think things are not true and see things are not there.

    And this crazy thinking leads to some crazy behavior.

    I'll yell things out.

    I'll walk around the room.

    I'll even jump on the bed.

    Then all of a sudden, I'm snapped back to reality.

    I come to my senses.

    And every single time I feel so foolish.

    I think to myself, "How could I have thought those things?

    How could I have done those things?

    Why did I act that way?

    How can I stop this from happening in the future?"

    Maybe the Holy Spirit has done something similar for you this morning.

    I hope He has snapped you back to reality so you can stop living in that fantasy world.

    I pray that He has caused you to come to your senses so you will stop believing the lies

    of the enemy.

    Brothers and sisters, let me just say this one final time with all the love and care I

    have in my heart for every single one of you.

    Get a grip.

    Get a grip.

    You are not as wise as you think you are.

    You are not lacking in anything.

    Until you get a grip, your relationship with God will not be as strong as it could be.

    Until you get a grip, harvest Bible chapel will not be as strong in unity and purity

    as it could be.

    Let's pray.

    Father, we come to You, and we all admit that we all struggle with believing things are

    not true.

    We all struggle with an inflated opinion of ourselves.

    Even when we think very little of ourselves, we are still focused on self.

    We all admit that we so often complain and grumble about what we don't have, and we fail

    to remember all that you have given us in Christ, which is everything.

    For those who are discouraged this morning, help them to walk out of here encouraged by

    the truth of your word.

    By those who came in here hard-hearted, may they walk out soft-hearted, Lord.

    For those who came in with their arms crossed not wanting to listen, may they come out worshiping

    You and glorifying You for all that You have done for them and all that You continue to

    do for them.

    Lord, we thank You for who You are.

    We thank You for what You've done, what You are doing, and what You will do.

    We ask all these things in Jesus' name.

    Amen.