Way to go, Einstein!

You can all have a seat. Do you like my artwork? ChatGPT made that. It’s pretty amazing. I just told it what I wanted and it did it for me. So I thought I was like, this is great. So I changed a little bit. I threw one two-shirt on him and I’m happy. So we are studying through the book of First Corinthians on Sundays. What’s up, JR? Nice to see you. It’s great to see all of you guys. I’m just I’m overwhelmed. I’m tickled to death. I’m so happy to be here with you guys. So yeah, it’s yeah, thank you. Thanks. Love being here with you guys. So um, and I love studying the word of God. So we’re just gonna dive right into it and and see where the Lord takes us today. Father, we we receive your yes, amen. We love that’s cool. We we uh love that um you love us, we celebrate your love. Uh we celebrate that we were lost, and then now we are found, that you reached into the dirtiest, grossest part of our lives and part of this world, and you rescued us, and so we celebrate it. We we respond to that love with surrender and humility and love responding back to you. Uh God, we we want to give you our all. We want our hearts to not be holding, withholding our own will, our own, our own plan, our own kingdom. We want to be partnering with you and living with you and and uh surrendered to you. That’s uh that’s where life is found through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We just we uh we want to understand what it means to be your children, to be your people. So I pray that you’d give us revelation today. Help us understand who you are and what you really care about. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. All right. The title of today’s sermon is called Way to Go Einstein. And I have a picture to go with the title. Ready, set, go. Isn’t that the best picture of all time? I just absolutely love that picture. Because Einstein, he was like smart, right? Like really smart? You guys know that? Okay. So why is it an insult to someone’s intelligence to call them Einstein? You know, has someone ever said way to go, Einstein, to you? Well, it’s like a sarcastic insult, right? So I think that’s funny. You know, you think you’re so smart, right? So you think you’re like Einstein, right? Well, this is kind of the vibe that Paul is giving in the in this part of First Corinthians chapter one that we’re gonna be studying. Is we’re basically gonna see Paul draw a line in the in the sand, like picture yourself out of the beach, he’s drawing a line in the sand between the way of the world and the way of God. Okay, or with our with our like image of like putting the grace glasses on, he’s like, he’s gonna show us grace and it’s gonna completely change the the way that you see the world. He’s gonna he’s drawing a line between the kingdom of self and the kingdom of God. Or you could say he’s drawing a line between the life of pride and the life of humility, and that’s where we’re gonna see this uh this sermon go and and what Paul is teaching us today in 1 Corinthians, okay? So the world thinks that their way is so much better than God’s way. Like if you if you talk the word, they think they’re so smart. But let’s see what God’s word reveals to us today. So beginning in verse 18, uh, we’re gonna start, and it says, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Again, we saw we saw this last week, but we’re gonna dig in a little bit more to it. That um the message of the cross for us is the message of grace, or we call it the gospel. You know, you hear gospel music out there and you think you have a thing in your mind when you hear gospel. Well, the word gospel just means in Greek good news. And so this is the good news that we have. The cross speaks, actually, it it more screams to us this truth, okay? A couple truths. First, it screams death. So Jesus died, and the gospel says, You died with him. Amen. That is an amen. Because I deserve to die. My sin deserves to die. All sin deserves that, but we died with him, and then the gospel screams life at us. So Jesus rose from the dead, and so you are given, this is the good news, the same resurrection life that Jesus has, he shares with you. And that is the yeah, that is an amen for the gospel as well. So, what happened to him happened to you, and you’re gonna hear me say that over and over and over again because you don’t believe it yet. Because I don’t believe it yet fully. There’s areas, little dark areas, corners of my heart that are in there deep down in this area, that don’t believe yet. Because when the and and I can tell you I don’t believe it yet fully, because when the enemy comes and says, You’re an idiot, you are a sinner, you want to go this path, my heart is tempted to believe those things. Instead of believing what Jesus says about me, which is that I’m a child of God, I’m righteous, I’m holy as he is holy, and he shares his life with me. That’s where I need to believe. And this whole battle of temptation is won and lost on whether we believe what Jesus simply says about us. That’s what it is. So that’s the message of the cross. What happened to him happened to you. His cross, your cross. His tomb is yours also. His new life is transferable to you. I used to not understand what the resurrection was all about. I was like, yeah, it’s important. It proves that Jesus was God, it proves that Christianity is the right religion, it proves all these things, but I didn’t know why it mattered to me. And this is why it matters to me, because Jesus has every intention of sharing his resurrection life with me and with you. That’s the purpose of all this. He did not want you to live a human existence, he wants you to live a divine existence. Not that you become God, but you share the life of God. You share his life, and that’s his every intention. That’s the message of the cross. And that is foolishness to this world because this world’s like you can only be a man. The pinnacle of this world’s existence is man. What can man accomplish? If you’re a big, strong man, if you’re a really smart man, that’s the pinnacle of existence. But God’s way is so much different. He says there’s a life that’s not just man life, there’s a God life that he is offering to us. So the world doesn’t get that. The world has its own plan, its own plan based on four letters. That’s the entire philosophy of the world. And where do you think they were inspired to that philosophy? Who do you think inspired them? 40 Jesus points are up for grab here. Lucifer? There you go. You get them. Well, 39. Because it’s you, you had some other Jesus points, so I took some away. Okay. Jesus points are fake. You all know that, right? Okay. They’re fake. I just make them up. They don’t matter. All right. So the world has this philosophy of self, which is satanically inspired, because he is all about take for self, take for what I want. God is all about the opposite, which is love, which is giving of self. God is always giving of himself. He literally keeps every atom in motion by his own power, constantly giving to keep everything in his creation going. He cares about the antelope giving birth, the Bible says, and all kinds of other nature things. Turtles. I don’t know who cares about turtles, but he does. Just kidding. I love turtles. Who doesn’t love a turtle? It’s like R Speed on this island, right? They’re the mascot of South Potra. Okay. But the world thinks they’re so smart because they have this self-centered philosophy. But the problem is we’ve bought into it. Who’s the first person you think of when you wake up every morning? Yeah, I think about me most of the time. But I’m we’re being set free from that as we get to know Jesus, as his life starts to flow in us, and we start to realize that his way is not the world’s way, we start to be set free from this. But they think they’re so smart. But the Bible says, you know, they think it’s stupid, which is the Greek word foolishness, is stupid in our world, to not trust in self. They’re like, you guys are dumb. Why do you think you need Jesus? You go to church every day, you go to church on Sundays, you you why? That’s dumb. You could be spending time doing something for yourself. And so they it’s really a philosophical, like, bedrock difference going on here. And so much of the church has actually bought in to this lie as well. This is the greatest temptation that the enemy has in the whole world, especially in the church, that you don’t need God’s grace because you have you. And so some churches, many churches, say you don’t need to worry about God’s grace because if you do these things, you will be accepted and you will have what you need. Whether they are go to confession or tithe or whatever their thing is. It’s a works-based righteousness that has infected the church. And it’s been different at different points in church history, but it’s still out there today, all over the place. So, um, but that’s the lie. Paul is gonna destroy this philosophy by handing you a pair of grace glasses to put on. Okay? And then the the illusion will be gone. So look what he says in verse 19. For it is written, so Paul is quoting uh a verse from the Old Testament, he says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. So the world’s idea of wisdom is all centered on self. Take care of number one, focus on yourself, love yourself, care for yourself. You know, that’s that’s the message you get from kindergarten, well, really from like the womb, all the way, that’s the world’s message to you. Care about yourself. And then Jesus comes on the scene, and his message is if anyone wants to follow me, you must deny self. Ooh, he even goes further. He says, pick up your cross, and then follow me. So that says no to self, deny self, and then death to self, pick up your cross, and then follow me. And what do you get for following Jesus? You get life, you get life. There is no life outside of the teachings of Jesus, outside of not just the teachings of Jesus, but the life of Jesus. He is the source of life. When he breathes into a dead carcass, what happens? It comes to life, and when he sees a heart that he can breathe into, that is humble and says, Fill me, God, he breathes life into that heart so quickly and so thoroughly. It’s really beautiful. So that’s what we got here. Jesus gives life to those who follow him. He so he destroys the wisdom of this world at its base, kind of like knocking down the tower. Anybody play Jenga? Yeah, so the best way to knock down is go at the very bottom. That’s how you’d be real sneaky to win. You pull the bottom piece out, and and it knocks down the whole tower, if you’re trying to knock it down, I guess. Which is not how you win, but go with the illustration. But if you wanted to knock it down, that’s what Jesus does. He knocks down their Jenga tower. Okay. So verse 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? So Paul asks this question how well are they really doing at this whole life thing in the world? Are they just killing it? How are those marriages of all the celebrities doing? How’s their parenting and their children? Are they doing great? Have they found the solution to depression and anxiety? Is the world thriving in joy and abounding in peace? When we watch the news, is it just story after story of never-ceasing victory of love and peace that flows from our self-sourced philosophy that Satan has sold us? No, it’s not. That’s what Paul is saying here. The world is mightily screwed up. And anyone who’s honest must recognize that whatever we’re doing as a human race is failing. Why? Because God cannot let this self-centered philosophy be a success. He’s not fighting against humanity, he’s fighting against the cancer that has poisoned humanity, which is this self-centered philosophy. Because that’s this satanic attempt to steal his glory. God is glorified when people love, when people honor his son, when people are alive in their spirit and sing praise to God and honor God with their lives and their words and their actions. That’s how God is glorified. And Satan comes on the scene and he’s like, you know how I can stop God from being glorified? Put on red pajamas and a pitchfork. No, it’s nothing to do with that. He wants to inspire people to believe that they don’t need God and so they don’t live with God, but they separate themselves from God. And that’s what happens when we sin is we separate, we have been separated from God. Verse 21. For since in the wisdom of God the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So he says here, no one can know God through a self-centered philosophy. And this is the whole idea behind the New Age movement. Okay? It’s a total racket. Right? Total racket. You cannot know God through knowing yourself, okay? Or that whole thing. God has eliminated self from the equation of salvation. God has set up a system where self, God has only one prescription for ourself. This world is like, how do I fix myself? How, how, what is the solution for my self problem? God has one prescription for your self problem, and it is death. There is no other solution. But here’s the great thing: it doesn’t have to be you that goes through the physical death, it was Jesus, and we share in his death, and so we share in his life. We’ll figure out how that happens here in just a minute. But God has eliminated self through Jesus’ death on the cross from the equation of salvation. And so we’re gonna read Galatians 2, 20. It says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So where’s self in that equation? Where’s self in that? He’s dead, right? He died with Jesus. And the life which I now live, because I get to keep on living, I live in this flesh. I get to live in this flesh, right? I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So that’s the new equation. That’s the gospel that we preach, that we talk about, that we live in, is that Jesus lives in us, and our self was not part of the equation. But the world doesn’t get that. And so that’s what the that’s what he’s talking about here. So salvation, which is God’s philosophy and plan, world’s philosophy, self, God’s plan, salvation, is 100% accomplished by faith or belief in Jesus, not in self. This is the opposite of self-trust, is Jesus trust. So you can either live by faith in self or faith in Jesus. You’re gonna live by faith. But it’s either faith in yourself or faith in Jesus. Those are the only two options. That’s where life is divided. That’s this line in the sand that Paul is saying is so vital for us to understand. Self or Christ, faith in self or faith in Jesus. All right? For 20 verse 22, for the Jews request a sign, but the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. Okay, so he brings in two different uh groups in the world. You had the religious Jews and you had the secular Greeks. So the Jews were very religious, Greeks very secular. The Jews, the religious people were looking for God. In fact, they thought they knew God. They were looking for someone in the Messiah, they were looking for Jesus. They thought they were, but they were looking for someone who had power and glory. Like Moses in the Exodus leading the children out of Israel, they they were conquered by Rome and they wanted a Messiah to lead them out of Rome, and so they were very, very much thinking that God was going to deliver them in this mighty, powerful way and send plagues and frogs and probably turtles to destroy the Romans. But they thought they had God figured out because that religious people are always like that. Religion is not helpful to a relationship with Jesus. Let me tell you that right now. We are not religious, but we have a relationship with Jesus that is awesome and it gives life. But religious philosophy says, I have God figured out and I have expectations that I know He will meet. Now, Greeks, on the other hand, they represented all the secular world, and they were just looking for what makes sense. They were looking for someone perfect with the perfect self-focused life. So they wanted this philosophy of the perfect man. So that’s what Greeks were all about. Who’s the hero of the Greeks? Hercules, right? Probably, I’m guessing. I’m not really into but he’s like the perfect man with big muscles and stuff. Um so they were looking for this perfect man. But what we Have in the gospel it pisses off everybody. It makes religious people mad because we say you can’t put God in a box. God gives grace to terrible people, and then God transforms them by sharing his life with them. And so you can’t be racist and you can’t be ageist and you can’t be sexist and you can’t be anyist at all. Because we’re not religious. We believe God loves everybody, no matter what they’ve done, or who they are, or anything. But at the same time, we’re not this worldly secular where we think that life is found from me pleasing myself. So if I have a philosophy that I want that, I need that, that’s the only thing that will make me happy. God says, I’m sorry, you’re not gonna find life there. Whatever that thing is, whether it’s drugs or something that’s socially acceptable, even, like fame or power or a relationship, God says it will be poisoned until you bring it under my authority, until you see that self will not bring you life. Only the Spirit of Christ can give you life. So what he says here is that we preach something that makes everybody mad called Christ crucified. Now we say that, and you guys have grown up in America, most of you. And so we we don’t understand how weird those two words together are. Christ means Messiah, which was power and splendor and triumph and king, basically, is what that means. Crucified means weakness, defeat, and humiliation. So Christ crucified is the ultimate oxymoron, contrasting two completely polar ideas that makes everybody mad. Because we’re saying, yes, Jesus is God, Jesus is to be honored. We should all bow down and cast our crowns at his feet, and every single person in the world must do this because he is the creator. So we do believe that. And those two things make everybody mad. Because if you’re religious, you don’t want Jesus to be humiliated, and if you’re a secular person in the world, you don’t think that the path of life is found in humiliation either. How is this possible? Verse 24 but to us who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. He is the power of God and the wisdom of God. So we have been called out of this world system of self. We’ve been called out. If you have heard his voice calling you in your heart to know him, saying, My child, come and know me, you have been called out of this system, and we’ve been called out of the kingdom of self and into the kingdom of Jesus. And he says, Jesus has the power to save and the right way to know truth. Both. Jesus is full, it says in John chapter 1, Jesus is full of grace and truth. So he’s full of the grace that which is the power to save us and change us, and he’s full of the truth that we need to really know who God is and what the truth is about us and God and the world. He’s full of all of it. So you don’t need anything besides Jesus to be able to be right with God and live right in the world. You don’t need religion, you don’t need anything but Jesus. Your Bible’s helpful because it will teach you about Jesus. Your church is helpful because it will help you understand the Bible, which will teach you about Jesus. And the body of Christ is helpful because we are all one body connected, and that’s how we exercise the life of Jesus to love each other and take care of each other. Like we’re all gonna go help Alan lift a big heavy thing because we love him. Okay. Verse 25. Because of the foolish the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So the cross seems foolish and weak. Okay, so when someone was crucified, it it was the ultimate display that they were wrong and weak. They were to be destroyed, right? But it proves to be wiser and stronger when we put on the grace glasses. So when we put on the grace glasses, we see with these new eyes of faith that he can save everyone who is united with him through faith. So anyone who chooses to believe and put their trust in Jesus, he is able to take into himself and save them. So look at verse 26. For you see your calling. There’s that word calling again, okay? You see your calling, brethren, that not many were wise according to the flesh. Not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen, so called and chosen. Those are real important words for us right here. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty. And the base things of the world and the things which are despised, God has chosen and the things which are not to bring to nothing things that are. Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. That is the key. Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in his presence. So God has called and chosen based on his own way. Okay, this is the wisdom of God and the power of God. God has a way and is different than the world’s way of self. That’s always the world’s way. But God’s way that he has called us into and he has chosen this way is all based on humility. Always. Everything about God’s kingdom is based on humility. How would you describe humility? Not wise, not mighty, not noble, foolish, weak, base, despised, and nothing are not, is the last phrase that was used. If we read James 4, 6, it says, God loves to give more grace. How much grace does God give? More. Just more. And and he says, therefore, he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is the entire foundation of God’s gospel, God’s kingdom, this whole way of God is all based on humility. Why? Because verse 29, back in 1 Corinthians 1, that no flesh should glory in his presence. God wants to share life, he wants to lavish us with forgiveness so that he can get glory. Because when God loves you, he’s glorified. When you receive his love, you glorify him. And that’s the way the universe was designed to work is that we were to glorify God. So God’s way of humility is what Paul is talking about here. This the line in the sand. And the world thinks they’re so smart, like Einstein. In uh the Westminster Catechism, which in the I don’t know, 1600s, 1800s, 1400s, I don’t know, somewhere in the hundreds years ago, the Church of England developed this like school of like what theology was. They like studied the Bible super, super hard, and they were like, This is this is what the Bible says. And it’s pretty good, actually. They did a really good job. But one of the the first question is, what is the chief end of man? So the first thing you would learn when you go to catechisms were like Bible school was, what is the chief end of man? And their answer was, man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I love that. They did a great job with that. How do we do that? That’s the part the church has sucked at for a while, is teaching how to do that. Because if I were to go ask a hundred Christians randomly, how do you glorify God and enjoy Him forever? Most of them would say something like, I gotta do good things. I gotta tithe. I gotta help old ladies across the street, and I gotta not vote the wrong party. Other than that, like I’m free, but no, just kidding. It’s like the church doesn’t know how to glorify God, and the Bible is like super clear. We’ve read an entire chapter of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and it has been like Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, it’s his grace, and his way is humility, and the world’s way is self. And if you want to glorify God, live with humility, saying it is not about me, but God fills me with value and glory and identity and so many wonderful things. The Bible’s so clear about that humility and faith are the way to walk with Jesus. But I fear in the church today that has gotten lost because of building projects and our programs to reach this or to do that or whatever the color of our carpet. There’s so many things that the church has gotten just super distracted in. When the simple, simple, simple truth is that humility is all that matters. Am I going to walk with God? Am I gonna humility? Let me just give you a real quick definition. I gave you a complicated one earlier. It’s this I need God. Does your heart believe that you need God? Well, do you pray? Because that’s the number one symptom of someone who believes they need God. It’s the number one thing. If I have the disease of self infecting my heart, the first symptom is prayerlessness. Why do I need God? I have me. Why do I need God? I need to get busy. I need to do what I need to do instead of God. I need you. That rhymed. I could make a rap out of that. Pride doesn’t work with grace at all. God’s gospel. Pride doesn’t work at all. So humility is the way of God. It’s the way of salvation, it’s the way of grace, it’s the path that we walk, it’s the path of life, is saying, God, I need you. Really believing, God, I need you, not just saying, God, I need you and giving you empty words, but really believing in your heart, God, I need you. So I’m gonna pick up your Bible and I’m gonna seek you. And I’m gonna pray because I desire to honor you. And let me tell you something. For everyone in here that truly believes, you don’t need to try to muster this up. You don’t need to try to become more of this. You already have it. Your deepest desire is to know your father and to depend on him. But the world’s philosophy, we fight against it and we’re tempted to believe the world’s philosophy. So that this is all won and lost based on what we believe. Do we believe that we need God? Do we believe that Jesus is there to be dependent upon? Or do we believe we have to earn his favor or just earn our own happiness in life by making our own choices and doing what we want? Instead of waiting for our joy and blessings to come from him, we try to get them for ourselves. And that’s that’s our problem. Amen. Verse 30 says, But of him, now that’s weird in English, so I want you to put in the word because of him. That helps me understand it better. Be verse 30, yeah, be but of him, because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. Okay, so instead of self, what do we have here? We have God’s life. When we simply believe in Jesus, we receive grace upon grace upon grace in our lives. And all of it is of him or because of him, not ever because of something you do or who you are, nothing of you. All you bring to the equation is faith in him. He earns grace for you and he gives grace to you, and you are now credited with all of his good stuff that he did. It is given to your account for free. And we sit there like, oh, yes, I believe. And I’m still depressed. Oh, celebrate. This is God’s grace that has been given to you. We simply believe, and then all of this comes from him, through him, because of him. Why? So that he can be glorified. Jesus has the is the accomplished the greatest glory for God. And how does he do it? By taking horrible people like you and me and loving us and blessing us and transforming us. And God says that is more beautiful than all the stars of the galaxy put together, than every animal, than every atom, all the glorious things that we have in this universe. A changed life, a child of God, is more beautiful to God than any of that stuff. I’m gonna read this verse to you in the New Living Translation because they do it, they just nail it. It says, God has united you with Christ Jesus for our benefit. God made him to be wisdom itself. God made us right with God, he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. They did a good job with that. It’s beautiful. You are in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? You have been united with him, you are one with him, you are in union with him. What does that mean? What happened to him happened to you. You guys remember that? So you were in him when he died on the cross. Well, how can that be? I wasn’t even alive yet. It was 2,000 years ago. Well, we gotta remember, Jesus is not a time-dimensional being. Doctor Who fans here. Jesus is outside of time. He’s God. So if you’re in him, you were in him in the past, present, and future all at the same time because he’s outside of this. So we we see time like a parade where we’re we go. Is there any parades on the island? Yes? When? Christmas. I didn’t know there was a Christmas parade. Is there floats and stuff? Oh, that sounds fun. And what?

unknown 41:13

Halloween and Fourth of July.

Halloween and Fourth of July. Awesome. I dig a parade. Okay. Well, when you think of a parade, think that’s how we see time. We sit in our sidewalk of our life, and time passes by, and we can’t see the future, we can’t see the past, we can only see what we see. But Jesus is like in the in the drone, in the blimp above, and he can see where the where the parade starts over here and where it ends over here, all at the same time. And it’s all present to him. There is no past, present, future. It’s all now. And so in Christ, that’s what when we’re in Christ, we were crucified with him, and we’re buried with him, and we’re resurrected with him. Seated in heaven with him. It says, we are seated in heavenly places in Christ right now. It says that in uh Ephesians. We in him, he in us. As you walk around on earth, Jesus is in you. Because you are in him, he is in you. Now, how does what is a good illustration for that? Well, the only one that I can really think of is a sponge, a sea sponge. You guys know what sea sponges are? Okay. Where are sea sponges? In the sea. But when you pull a sea sponge out and you squish it, what comes out? C. Because C is in the sea sponge, which is in the sea. Same as Jesus is in you, as you are in him. Not a perfect illustration, but it’s fun. Okay. So as you walk around this world, Jesus is in you, you are union with him, which means you are a saint, you need nothing else. Remember, when God lived on the earth in the temple, there was one building that he could he lived in, and his glory was there, and it was amazing. But what did they have to do to that temple all the time? They had to do sacrifices and cleanse it because God wanted them to understand I don’t live in Rifrath. I am holy and I have to be in a pure and holy place. So they did sacrifices every day, just slaughtering animals left and right to cleanse the temple of sin. But now we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, so God chooses to not live in buildings anymore, which is why we meet in a bar. And God is perfectly fine because God cleanses people, and it’s not over and over and over cleansing, it’s one time forever when you believe in Jesus. Your body is now cleansed, and this is really important because some people have done some stuff with their bodies in this room, maybe this week. But God says He has cleansed you, all of you, including your body, so that he can dwell inside you. And if you mess up, His blood still cleanses you. You have no shame. You can always run to God and say, God forgive me, and you’re already forgiven. And he accepts you back. And he never puts you in time out and says, wait till you’ve learned your lesson. No. He has open arms and he says, Come back to me. Run to me. Don’t run away from me. This is why it’s so important to believe in God’s way of humility and not the world’s way of self. Because self says, I have to earn God’s approval. I have to, I should feel shame. And Jesus says, No. I have cleansed you. Believe in my way. Just come to me in humility saying, God, I need you, Jesus, I need you. And you get it all. You get it. You get me. And it’s done. So you never have to walk in shame ever again as a Christian. Amen. You need wisdom, right? Do you need wisdom in this world? I mean, we’ve been talking about the world’s way of wisdom is care about yourself. So what is the wisdom I’m supposed to have? Well, it says he has become your wisdom. So if you want wisdom, it’s in him. Everything we’ve been given is from Jesus. And everything that Jesus gives us is accessed by one thing, which is called faith. James says, if you need wisdom, simply ask God and he’ll give it to you. It’s that simple. So how do I get it? Paul says, all you have to do is have faith. Well, what does that mean? Well, Romans 5, 2 says, By faith, we have through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. So everything God ever wants to give you, He’s already given you. But you have a key that opens the box to get it, and that key is faith. Do you believe that God’s given it to you? That’s how wisdom works. I don’t know what I should do in this situation. God says, um, if you want to ask me, I’ve already given you wisdom. It’s in Jesus, so ask Jesus and He will give you the wisdom. And the wisdom is his way, which is humility, depending on God, and trusting in God. That’s Jesus’ way. Denying self, taking up your cross, no to self, death to self is wisdom. That is the definition of wisdom. The world says that’s stupid. Jesus says it’s wisdom. Do you see the difference? Man, it’s so mind-blowing when you when you get it. Wait a minute. All I have to do is not follow my self-desires, which are really dead, and instead follow him and love people, pour out love instead of demanding that I get love. Because that’s self. You need righteousness. Well, guess what? It says he is your righteousness. There’s no shame. There is no shame. Guys, for a Christian, there is no shame. Everything you have ever done, you can proudly proclaim, I did it and I’m forgiven. You don’t have to hide it because there’s no shame. You don’t have to be ashamed because there’s no shame. You can enjoy being forgiven and loved because of Jesus. That’s what He’s given you. That’s what His wisdom is. You need sanctification? You get the idea. Jesus has given to you. What is sanctification? That’s change. I need I need to change. I’m doing, I have patterns in my life that are not good, that are not godly. I need to change. How do I change? Jesus has already changed you. How do I get it? Believe that he’s changed you. Learn his ways. Learn what patterns you are following that are self-centered. Why do I get drunk every night? To glorify God. Why do I treat people poorly? Why do I walk in my flesh? It’s simply because we believe a lie for a moment. That’s not really who you are. That’s not who you are in Christ, and Christ is in you. That is not who you are. You are holy. You want to love people, but the world is so tricky, and the devil just just has this little twist he puts on and he says, Hey, hey, what’s in it for you? Oh, I’m not gonna go lift this heavy table at renew because what’s in it for me? I’m really nailing that today. You’re gonna get so much help. Hopefully. All right. So you get wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification all given to you. What are the things that the church is just struggling with so much where the church is always like, I don’t know where to get these things, and I’m I just want to scream at them. Guys, it’s in Jesus. You don’t need to figure out some mystery, you don’t need to try to get smarter, you don’t need to be stronger, you don’t need to be perfect. It’s all in Jesus, and he gives it to the humble, and we access it by faith. So that’s our side of grace is humility and faith. His side is giving us everything that we could possibly need or be called to become. He’s already given you sanctification, which means being set apart for his kingdom use. He wants to use you, he wants you to serve him. You belong to him, and you have a real reason for living. To serve your father’s kingdom and not your own. That’s your purpose for living. Anything that isn’t focused on that is something we’re simply not created to be. Every church should proudly proclaim, we preach Christ crucified. That’s what we do, that’s what we talk about. And I’m gonna tell you a story. There was this once this strong church that that uh inscribed these words, we preach Christ crucified. An archway leading to their church courtyard, okay? And over time, two things happened. The church lost its passion for Jesus, and Ivy began to grow on the archway. And so the ivy started to cover the message, and it it should, it illustrated the spiritual decline of the church. Originally it’s like we preach Christ crucified, but then as the ivy grew, it went down to we preach Christ. So the church started preaching, you know, Jesus is a great man, Jesus is a moral example instead of Christ crucified. Then the ivy kept growing, and soon you could only read, we preach. So then the church had even lost Jesus in its message, preaching only religious platitudes and social graces. Finally, all you could see was the word we, where the church had become just a social gathering place, no relationship with God, no interest in God, no care for the things of God. Well, guys, at One Two Church, we are gonna be a church that is focused on Jesus, and we’re gonna put on our grace glasses every day, because it’s his grace that has given us all that we need for life and to live a life that honors God, our Heavenly Father. If we live for ourselves, there’s only one thing I have to say to you. Way to go, Einstein. All right. Okay. Um, my friends, let’s let’s all stand up. So I wanted to let you know, well, I have new business cards up on the table over here. So uh we do have a new like church phone number. It’s like a Google number, it just you know it rings to me. So if you you can send text messages and stuff. So if you want to get in touch with me, I am your pastor, and so I am here to serve you. If you have any questions, if you have any, you you need hospital visits, you need prayer. We are gonna um the first big thing that we’re gonna do is we’re gonna establish a prayer focus here at our church. So I don’t know what that looks like yet, whether it’s gonna be like a meeting that we get together on like Wednesdays, or if we are gonna do a Zoom thing, or I don’t know what makes sense yet. So if you have ideas, please let me know. Um, but that is gonna be a very important thing. But I want you to know that I’m here to serve you. Me and my wife both we’re here to serve you. And so, whatever you need, please reach out, even if you just want to get to know us, and we are trying to connect with each of you and and do dinner. So we want to do dinner or or like a meal or spend time with every single person in this room, everybody. So please uh be patient with us because we’re only here on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays right now. Um I’m here next week, and then um I just want to let you know I’m gonna have three special guests, three of my best friends, pastors who I’ve discipled and raised up. They’re gonna be flying in for uh three weeks in May, and then we’ll be officially moved here May 26th, 7th, and 8th. We’ll be driving down here. Um, so and they’re all gonna tell you stories of how grace has transformed their life. And I’m really excited for you to get to know them. And they all said they’re gonna wildly embarrass me and tell you stories that they should not ever hear the light of day. But it’s probably gonna happen. So I’m preparing myself. I just want to give you a heads up of what that looked like. But I’m your pastor, I love you, and I’m praying for you by name, every single one of you that I can possibly remember. And if you have anything at all that you need prayer, I am here for you. Um, my wife and I, we always we go to churches and we’re like, that was lame. Because what we want is a church that it that loves each other so passionately and the pastor is there for you. I want to be here for you. So please reach out and share anything that’s on your heart, on your mind. Also, I’m going to be doing leadership training. So if you would like to uh serve in the church and you you would like to get on the same page and and be used by God in that way, I’m happy to sit down with you and I have a whole thing that I’m ready to go through with anybody who’s wanting to serve the Lord with our church and be in kind of leadership, okay? So we’re gonna be doing that. Um, and I think that’s what I wanted to say, and I’m very excited about it. So these beautiful people here are gonna lead us in a song. Um, let’s pray. Father, we love you, but not nearly as much as you love us. And I pray for every single person here, Lord, that we would um in that line in the sand, we would choose the life of humility and faith. And we reject and we renounce and turn away from the life of self. And Lord, that’s a daily battle. This is not something that we just automatically get victory from. That’s a real temptation that the devil wants to uh tempt us in every day. And so, Lord, I pray that you’d help us to choose your way so that we can walk in your grace. In Jesus’ name we pray.

unknown 57:10

Amen.