WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:05.780 Good morning everyone. We're going to continue reading the full passage of what we just looked at. 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:12.480 So it's 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 and we're going to read all the way to chapter 2 and verse 5. 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:19.940 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 00:00:20.580 --> 00:00:23.920 but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:28.260 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:31.940 the intelligence of the intelligent, I will frustrate. 00:00:32.820 --> 00:00:35.980 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.400 Where is the philosopher of this age? 00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:42.000 Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 00:00:43.179 --> 00:00:48.400 For since in the wisdom of God the world, through its wisdom, did not know him, 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:53.500 God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:57.299 Jews demand science and Greeks look for wisdom. 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:03.899 But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 00:01:04.479 --> 00:01:11.620 But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:15.700 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, 00:01:16.219 --> 00:01:19.479 and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.359 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:28.340 Not many of you were wise by human standards. 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:30.060 Not many were influential. 00:01:31.039 --> 00:01:32.780 Not many were of noble birth. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:37.680 But God chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.140 God chose the weak things of this world to shame the strong. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.200 God chose the lowly things of this world, 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:47.260 and the despised things and the things that are not, 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:51.880 to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 00:01:51.880 --> 00:01:55.780 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:58.700 who has become for us the wisdom of God, 00:01:58.939 --> 00:02:02.080 that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:04.939 Therefore, as it is written, 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:08.159 let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. 00:02:08.520 --> 00:02:09.240 Chapter 2. 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.939 And so it was for me, brothers and sisters, 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:14.500 when I came to you, 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:18.379 I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom, 00:02:18.379 --> 00:02:22.320 as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 00:02:22.920 --> 00:02:26.260 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you, 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.040 except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:33.879 I came to you in weakness, with great fear and trembling. 00:02:34.760 --> 00:02:38.900 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:42.140 but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:47.200 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:48.819 but on God's power. 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:49.480 Amen. 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:58.360 Well, over the next few weeks, 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.420 we're going to spend some time thinking about seven different things, 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.040 which are really important for us as a church. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:09.000 Seven marks, if you like, of what church life should be like. 00:03:09.539 --> 00:03:12.560 And the first one this week is about being cross-centered, 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:14.340 and we're going to look at that passage together. 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:16.459 So let me pray as we do that. 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.219 Heavenly Father, we do thank you 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:23.539 that you have spoken through your word, the Bible, 00:03:24.340 --> 00:03:26.759 by your Spirit in our hearts as we listen. 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:29.139 And we pray, please, this morning, 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:31.699 that you might help us to understand what you've written, 00:03:32.179 --> 00:03:34.759 that we might listen carefully and thoughtfully, 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:37.000 that you might be at work in us, 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:39.919 not only as individuals, but also as a church family. 00:03:40.579 --> 00:03:42.259 And we pray in Jesus' name. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:43.399 Amen. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:49.259 Well, on June the 22nd, 00:03:49.299 --> 00:03:51.819 which I think was the week before last, wasn't it? 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:57.519 It marked 75 years since the docking of HMT Empire Windrush 00:03:57.519 --> 00:03:59.659 at the Tilbury Docks in Essex. 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:01.340 And I think there's a picture of that. 00:04:01.859 --> 00:04:05.659 On that day, 492 passengers from the Caribbean 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:07.900 disembarked to begin a new life in Britain, 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:11.060 arriving here on the invitation of Britain, 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:13.680 but finding that the country that had invited them 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.139 did a very poor job of welcoming them. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:20.600 So begins the famous story of the Windrush Generations. 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:22.879 And there's been celebrations, haven't there, 00:04:22.900 --> 00:04:26.160 around Brent and Westminster I've seen, 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:27.100 cycling around, 00:04:27.820 --> 00:04:30.160 as the significance of that story. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.020 Now, I know that that story is personal to many of you. 00:04:34.140 --> 00:04:36.060 It has a profound impact, doesn't it, 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:39.300 on the identity of many people 00:04:39.300 --> 00:04:41.180 and their experience of life. 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:44.960 Because here's the wider principle, okay? 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:46.920 Here's the wider principle. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.640 It's stories of origins and history 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:52.579 that understand how we shape our identity. 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:54.699 And I think if you can click onto the next slide. 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:56.959 Stories of origins and history 00:04:56.959 --> 00:04:59.259 that shape how we understand who we are. 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:02.360 In other words, I am who I am 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:04.500 because of where I am from 00:05:04.500 --> 00:05:06.180 or because of what has happened to me 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:07.879 or because of what has happened to those 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:09.500 who are like me along the way. 00:05:09.500 --> 00:05:11.920 Now, I want to suggest to you, 00:05:12.019 --> 00:05:13.639 if that's true this morning 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:14.819 because of Windrush 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:17.120 or because of the history of where you're from 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.040 or where I'm from 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:19.079 or where you went to school 00:05:19.079 --> 00:05:20.139 or I went to school 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:22.959 or what happened to my family before I came along, 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:24.199 then I want to suggest to you, 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:25.819 if you're a Christian this morning, 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:28.959 then there is an even bigger story, 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:31.620 a bigger history, if you like, 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:33.759 that shapes all of our identities. 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:36.500 Not because those other things don't matter. 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:38.699 They have their own significance, don't they? 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:41.639 It's because this is more significant 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:44.279 and even bigger than any of those histories. 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.600 There is an action of God in history 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:51.839 which transforms who I am, 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:54.180 shapes all of my identity, 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:56.500 something which forms the very center 00:05:57.220 --> 00:05:58.100 of the Christian identity, 00:05:58.240 --> 00:05:59.699 which is not based on what I've done, 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:00.819 but what God has done. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:02.060 And that's the cross. 00:06:02.500 --> 00:06:03.379 Click the next slide. 00:06:03.379 --> 00:06:07.879 So every week as a church, 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:08.959 we are going to gather 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:10.959 and retell the story of the cross, 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.759 the story of God the Son in human flesh, 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:16.899 giving his life in our place, 00:06:17.219 --> 00:06:18.860 bearing our sin that we might be forgiven, 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:22.459 a story of a God who is rich in love, 00:06:23.180 --> 00:06:24.839 full of grace and truth, 00:06:25.159 --> 00:06:27.459 who moves towards the world that he has made, 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:29.339 not as we might imagine 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:31.379 in an awesome display of raw power, 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:31.920 raw power, 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.439 not moving towards his creation 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:37.759 in dictating a book to a warrior in a cave, 00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:40.259 not even moving towards his creation 00:06:40.259 --> 00:06:42.740 in the silence of a meditating monk. 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:45.560 More miraculous than any of that, 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:49.560 God moving towards the world that he's made 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:51.800 by becoming one of us 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:53.480 in the person of the Son. 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:57.060 Jesus, fully God and fully man, 00:06:57.780 --> 00:06:59.200 coming not to be served, 00:06:59.280 --> 00:07:02.860 but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. 00:07:04.200 --> 00:07:05.439 Now, I want to suggest to you this morning 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:07.500 that so significant is that event 00:07:07.500 --> 00:07:09.319 and the history of it 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.259 and the message of that event, 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:13.900 that if you're a Christian this morning, 00:07:14.280 --> 00:07:16.220 before you are anything else, 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:18.580 you're a child of the cross, 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:23.819 forgiven, loved, accepted, secure, 00:07:24.539 --> 00:07:26.000 eternally alive, 00:07:26.979 --> 00:07:29.579 because in our place, condemned he stood, 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:32.659 sealed our pardon with his blood. 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:34.500 That's our shared history, isn't it? 00:07:34.939 --> 00:07:36.479 It's why when you come to 1 Corinthians, 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:39.319 and look down at that if you've still got it open, 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:40.539 when you come to 1 Corinthians, 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.879 you find a church that is struggling and divided, 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.259 and the Apostle Paul seeks to answer their struggles 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:47.819 and their troubles, 00:07:47.980 --> 00:07:50.620 not so much by addressing them specifically. 00:07:51.399 --> 00:07:52.920 It's ages before he really comes on 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:53.759 to give any clear answers 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:54.800 to the questions they're asking. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.300 Rather, he starts by retelling them 00:07:57.300 --> 00:07:58.899 the story of the cross 00:07:58.899 --> 00:08:01.719 and why his ministry is all about the cross. 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:04.139 And so for the time we've got together this morning, 00:08:04.199 --> 00:08:06.120 I want us to look carefully at what Paul says here 00:08:06.120 --> 00:08:07.399 and so that we can see 00:08:07.399 --> 00:08:09.139 what does it mean for us as a church 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:10.680 to be cross-centered? 00:08:11.139 --> 00:08:12.500 What does it mean for us as a church 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:13.980 to have this shared identity 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:16.480 of being children of the cross of Christ? 00:08:16.819 --> 00:08:19.379 What does it mean for us as a church family 00:08:19.379 --> 00:08:20.439 to be like that? 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:23.240 And I want to start with three things 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:25.000 that it does not mean 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:27.079 and then give you three things that it does mean. 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:28.319 I know that's slightly counterintuitive, 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.000 but it might keep your attention this morning. 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:32.980 Okay, so three things that it does not mean. 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:35.700 And there should be a slide for each of these, Neva, 00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:37.059 so here we go. 00:08:37.059 --> 00:08:39.639 Oh, she's chivvying me along. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.319 Being cross-centered does not mean being impressive. 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:44.939 Just look down at the passage 00:08:44.939 --> 00:08:46.379 and look at verse 17, 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:48.460 just before the section that Jen read for us. 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:50.199 Paul is describing his own ministry 00:08:50.199 --> 00:08:51.179 among the Corinthian church 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:52.699 and says in verse 17 00:08:52.699 --> 00:08:55.539 that it wasn't with wisdom or eloquence. 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.539 Literally, it was not with word of wisdom. 00:09:00.679 --> 00:09:02.220 And that's because verse 18, 00:09:02.220 --> 00:09:03.360 the message of the cross, 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.960 appears foolish and not impressive. 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:09.800 Now, it's not hard, is it, 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:10.840 to see why Paul says this? 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:11.400 Think about it. 00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:13.600 At the center of Paul's ministry, 00:09:14.180 --> 00:09:15.759 at the heart of the church in Corinth 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:16.460 that he started, 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:20.360 is the news of a man hanging naked 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:23.120 and dying on a Roman cross. 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:26.700 A man facing the most shameful death, no. 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:29.080 But a man who, Paul says, 00:09:29.139 --> 00:09:30.940 should now be worshipped as divine. 00:09:32.900 --> 00:09:35.500 There's a famous bit of ancient Roman graffiti, 00:09:35.500 --> 00:09:38.899 which is teasing a guy called Alex Aminos. 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:40.539 I don't know whether you've seen it. 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:41.460 There's a slide of it. 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:43.000 Alex was obviously a Christian, 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.879 and the person who scratched the graffiti 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.379 paints a picture of him in front of a cross 00:09:48.379 --> 00:09:50.820 where there's a man with the head of a donkey. 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:53.620 And the graffiti says, 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:56.399 which you might not be able to read the graffiti, 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:57.639 it says, 00:09:57.779 --> 00:10:00.460 Alex Aminos worships his God, it says. 00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:02.159 It's teasing it, isn't it? 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:03.980 What a foolish thing. 00:10:04.219 --> 00:10:06.639 Imagine worshipping a guy dying on a cross. 00:10:08.100 --> 00:10:09.759 It's ancient kind of satire. 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:11.600 But if we're honest, 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:14.319 it's not just the first century Romans 00:10:14.319 --> 00:10:15.679 who thought the cross was stupid. 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:17.439 It's the same today. 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:19.939 Imagine tomorrow morning, 00:10:20.019 --> 00:10:22.559 you're in a conversation with a colleague or a neighbor, 00:10:23.319 --> 00:10:26.819 and they ask you that sort of unlikely question. 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:28.159 I'm trying to think about identity 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:29.919 and what it means to be me. 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:30.819 They're never going to ask that, are they? 00:10:30.820 --> 00:10:31.960 But you just imagine that they do. 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:33.340 And you say to them, 00:10:33.400 --> 00:10:34.900 I'm so pleased you asked that question. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:37.460 We were talking about that very thing at church yesterday. 00:10:38.660 --> 00:10:41.720 My identity is all about 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:45.460 a guy who hung dead on a Roman cross. 00:10:46.020 --> 00:10:46.760 What are they going to say? 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:49.420 They're going to think you're crazy, aren't they? 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:50.580 I mean, if you say, 00:10:50.640 --> 00:10:52.140 oh, no, actually for me, 00:10:52.260 --> 00:10:54.480 it's all about living by Jesus values. 00:10:54.800 --> 00:10:56.880 Well, they might recognize that, might they? 00:10:56.880 --> 00:10:57.680 They say, oh, yes, yeah, 00:10:57.760 --> 00:10:59.400 do to others as you would have them do to you. 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:01.620 I think that's a great thing for your identity to be in, 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:02.779 a great thing for you to live by. 00:11:03.319 --> 00:11:04.319 But as soon as you say, 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:09.100 no, no, my identity is in the blood and the gore of the cross, 00:11:09.819 --> 00:11:11.220 that's a bit weird, isn't it? 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:12.360 Very impressive. 00:11:13.699 --> 00:11:15.620 And here's the rub then for us as a church. 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:17.439 We can either be, as a church, 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:18.919 we can either be impressive, 00:11:19.539 --> 00:11:21.259 or we can be cross-centered. 00:11:22.079 --> 00:11:22.860 It can't be both. 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:24.419 It can't be both. 00:11:24.419 --> 00:11:28.759 We can either choose to gather and tell the story of all of our achievements, 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:30.099 what we've done, 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:32.219 how well things are working out for us, 00:11:32.219 --> 00:11:33.279 and how hard we're working, 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:37.099 or we can choose to gather around the story of what Christ has done on the cross. 00:11:39.319 --> 00:11:40.719 So which will it be for us? 00:11:41.019 --> 00:11:43.019 Impressiveness or the cross? 00:11:43.819 --> 00:11:46.439 Now, I know, because you're all good Christian people, aren't you? 00:11:46.519 --> 00:11:48.579 And, oh, of course, we want to be people of the cross. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.299 We don't want to be impressive like that. 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:51.279 We want to be people of the cross. 00:11:51.579 --> 00:11:54.979 But how would you tell if you were people of the cross? 00:11:55.259 --> 00:11:55.859 It's easy. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:57.439 When you get home, 00:11:57.979 --> 00:12:00.259 ask yourself what you were most pleased with at church today. 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:02.919 Was it that it ran smoothly? 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:05.319 That we didn't start too late? 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:08.539 That Steve wore a shirt instead of a t-shirt? 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:10.159 That was a good thing for him to do. 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:14.299 Or is it that you were left with the very clear idea 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:17.479 that your only hope in life and death 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:19.920 is what Jesus has done for you 00:12:19.920 --> 00:12:21.340 and not anything you've done for yourself? 00:12:25.180 --> 00:12:27.139 Second thing that a cross-centered church is not, 00:12:27.180 --> 00:12:28.420 it is not logical. 00:12:28.700 --> 00:12:29.519 It is not logical. 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:30.539 Look again at the passage. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:31.519 Look down at verse 19. 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:33.100 Here, Paul, talking about the message of the cross, 00:12:33.180 --> 00:12:35.899 says that it destroys the wisdom of the wise 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:37.399 and the intelligence of the intelligent. 00:12:38.100 --> 00:12:39.840 So much so that he says, verse 20, 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:41.480 where is the wise person? 00:12:41.659 --> 00:12:42.360 He says, they've gone. 00:12:42.920 --> 00:12:44.220 Where is the teacher of the law? 00:12:44.220 --> 00:12:46.039 Literally, the Jewish scribe. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:46.840 They've gone too. 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:49.139 Where is the philosopher of this age? 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:51.159 Where's the expert of the times? 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:53.519 Where's the professor who knows what they're talking about? 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.159 Well, she's gone as well. 00:12:55.779 --> 00:12:56.779 Nowhere to be seen. 00:12:57.659 --> 00:12:59.340 Beginning of verse 21 sums it up. 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:00.300 Let me read it to you again. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.240 For since in the wisdom of God, 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.240 the world through its wisdom did not know him. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:07.379 Here's the point. 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:09.139 The message of the cross, 00:13:09.259 --> 00:13:10.720 being cross-centered as a church, 00:13:11.019 --> 00:13:13.659 is the opposite of what you would be by nature. 00:13:13.659 --> 00:13:16.959 And it doesn't matter whether you're from a religious background, 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:18.539 like the scribe, 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:20.100 or from a secular background, 00:13:20.219 --> 00:13:21.000 like the philosopher. 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:24.219 The message of the cross is so countered to the way that we think, 00:13:24.659 --> 00:13:25.240 that we wouldn't, 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:26.699 given all the time in the world, 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:27.980 we wouldn't have dreamt it up. 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:28.719 Why? 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.439 Well, because the cross defies human logic. 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:33.679 How so? 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:37.120 Well, because the cross doesn't say the sort of things that we think. 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:39.079 The cross doesn't say, 00:13:39.160 --> 00:13:39.440 do you know what? 00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:41.300 Work really hard and God will bless you. 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:42.220 It doesn't say that. 00:13:43.160 --> 00:13:43.960 It doesn't say, 00:13:44.060 --> 00:13:44.280 you know, 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:45.780 sort out your life 00:13:45.780 --> 00:13:48.120 and God might then be interested in you. 00:13:49.560 --> 00:13:50.400 It doesn't say, 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:50.660 you know, 00:13:50.700 --> 00:13:50.960 listen, 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:51.879 you've got this. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:53.300 Just dig deep, 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:54.420 be mindful, 00:13:54.620 --> 00:13:55.240 live in the moment, 00:13:55.379 --> 00:13:56.540 be the best version of you 00:13:56.540 --> 00:13:57.500 and everything will be okay. 00:13:58.860 --> 00:14:01.080 The cross-centered church doesn't even say, 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:02.460 you're a wretched sinner 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:05.360 and you spend the rest of your life feeling terrible about it. 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:06.600 It doesn't say that. 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:07.040 Instead, 00:14:08.360 --> 00:14:09.779 the cross-centered church says something 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:11.139 that we wouldn't have dreamt up 00:14:11.139 --> 00:14:12.279 given all the time in the world. 00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:12.940 It says this, 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:14.639 that at the heart of the universe, 00:14:15.540 --> 00:14:17.340 the glorious God who made us, 00:14:17.779 --> 00:14:19.340 the one who in his eternal brilliance 00:14:19.340 --> 00:14:20.980 did himself not need to be made, 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.120 that God loves sinners, 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:26.519 loves them. 00:14:27.540 --> 00:14:30.720 And not with like a kind of passing affection or pity, 00:14:31.680 --> 00:14:35.080 but in a love that willingly gives himself up for them 00:14:35.080 --> 00:14:36.220 in the person of the sun, 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:37.540 in his human nature, 00:14:37.660 --> 00:14:38.500 dying on a cross. 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:39.540 And you say, 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:40.220 when you understand that, 00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:41.860 that makes absolutely no sense. 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:43.700 Why would the God who did not need to be made 00:14:43.700 --> 00:14:45.580 become one of us in the person of the sun 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:47.980 and give himself on the cross? 00:14:49.180 --> 00:14:51.259 The people unlovely like us 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:53.139 makes no sense. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:55.660 And when you say that, 00:14:55.740 --> 00:14:56.020 you go, 00:14:57.100 --> 00:14:58.100 I'm beginning to get it. 00:14:58.100 --> 00:14:59.759 That's exactly right. 00:15:00.259 --> 00:15:01.779 The cross makes no logical sense. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:03.620 It's the opposite of what we would think. 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:04.800 Honestly, 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:05.940 I think this is one of the reasons 00:15:05.940 --> 00:15:07.779 that you can be sure that the gospel is true. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:09.300 If you're sitting here this morning, 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:10.800 I've got loads of doubts. 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:12.180 I'm not sure whether this is true. 00:15:13.259 --> 00:15:13.440 Well, 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:15.000 I think one of the reasons you can be confident 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:16.040 that this is true 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:18.980 is it's the opposite of what you would think by nature. 00:15:20.560 --> 00:15:20.779 You know, 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:22.519 when you come up with something yourself, 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:24.980 when you tell a story 00:15:24.980 --> 00:15:26.539 that's not quite true 00:15:26.539 --> 00:15:27.759 and you're inventing it yourself, 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:29.720 you always come out really well 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:30.440 out of that story. 00:15:30.500 --> 00:15:31.180 Have you noticed that? 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:35.259 The stories we make up always flatter us. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:36.220 You know, 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.399 gods that we make up 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:38.840 are ones that are like superheroes 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.100 or ones that make us like superheroes. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:42.320 You know, 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:43.960 they're distant gods 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:44.740 and they're approached 00:15:44.740 --> 00:15:47.379 by acts of great righteousness by us. 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:48.420 Oh, 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:48.539 well, 00:15:48.560 --> 00:15:50.039 if I come and pray or I fast, 00:15:50.180 --> 00:15:51.639 then God will be impressed. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.060 Those are the gods that we make up. 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:54.300 You know, 00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:56.059 if I say the right prayers 00:15:56.059 --> 00:15:56.799 at the right time 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:57.959 or I wear the right things, 00:15:58.339 --> 00:15:59.799 that then God will be pleased with me. 00:16:00.659 --> 00:16:01.639 But the God who's real, 00:16:01.740 --> 00:16:03.199 there's nothing like that at all. 00:16:03.839 --> 00:16:05.039 Because the God who is real 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.579 has an inhuman love for his people. 00:16:08.439 --> 00:16:09.579 And in the person of the son, 00:16:09.699 --> 00:16:10.679 he goes to the cross for them. 00:16:10.699 --> 00:16:11.979 And that's not logical. 00:16:13.539 --> 00:16:13.719 Okay, 00:16:13.719 --> 00:16:14.279 the final thing 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:15.559 that a cross-centered church is not, 00:16:15.659 --> 00:16:17.899 a cross-centered church is not appealing. 00:16:18.579 --> 00:16:18.939 Appealing. 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:19.779 Again, 00:16:19.839 --> 00:16:20.419 look back at the passage. 00:16:20.519 --> 00:16:21.319 Look at verse 23. 00:16:22.359 --> 00:16:23.959 What's the instinctive response 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:24.800 of the Jews 00:16:24.800 --> 00:16:25.720 and the Gentiles 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:27.600 to this cross-centered ministry of Paul's? 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:28.879 What does he say? 00:16:29.280 --> 00:16:30.660 It's a stumbling block to Jews. 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:31.480 They trip over it 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:33.480 and it's foolishness to Gentiles. 00:16:34.420 --> 00:16:35.440 Here the sentence is that the Jews, 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:37.200 they trip over the message of the cross. 00:16:37.300 --> 00:16:38.780 There's something about the gospel 00:16:38.780 --> 00:16:40.280 which causes them to fall over. 00:16:40.780 --> 00:16:41.600 We've seen it already. 00:16:42.460 --> 00:16:44.120 Religious people fall over 00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:45.180 or trip over the gospel 00:16:45.180 --> 00:16:46.259 because it offends 00:16:46.259 --> 00:16:49.040 their sense of self-righteousness. 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:50.440 Religion says, 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:52.420 do this and God will love you. 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:54.180 The gospel says, 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:55.260 God loves you 00:16:55.260 --> 00:16:56.500 already 00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:57.940 in Christ. 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:01.120 The gospel tells religious people, 00:17:01.260 --> 00:17:01.420 listen, 00:17:01.900 --> 00:17:03.600 you are way worse than you thought 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.080 because you cannot cover it 00:17:05.080 --> 00:17:05.900 with your works 00:17:05.900 --> 00:17:07.380 and tells them at the same time, 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:08.519 you are loved 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:10.299 way more than you ever dreamt 00:17:10.299 --> 00:17:11.840 because God is more loving 00:17:11.840 --> 00:17:13.460 to sinners than you ever imagined. 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:15.860 The religion of the Jews 00:17:15.860 --> 00:17:17.039 was about status 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:17.720 and heritage 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:18.620 and moral performance 00:17:18.619 --> 00:17:19.659 and the message of the cross 00:17:19.659 --> 00:17:20.599 is about humility, 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:22.179 undeserved kindness 00:17:22.179 --> 00:17:23.519 and owning up to your sin 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:24.579 and it's unappealing to them. 00:17:24.819 --> 00:17:26.399 So it is to religious people today. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:27.659 The message of the cross 00:17:27.659 --> 00:17:28.859 is no help to someone 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:29.479 who is convinced 00:17:29.479 --> 00:17:30.939 that they're able to earn God's love. 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:33.119 And for the Gentile 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:34.119 which is literally 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:35.459 the nations, 00:17:35.659 --> 00:17:36.579 the rest of the world, 00:17:37.059 --> 00:17:38.619 the gospel is unappealing 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:40.079 because it just sounds nonsense. 00:17:40.299 --> 00:17:41.199 It sounds crazy. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:42.359 Who would believe that, 00:17:42.419 --> 00:17:42.779 they say. 00:17:44.439 --> 00:17:45.359 Now there's loads more 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:46.299 that we can say from the passage. 00:17:46.399 --> 00:17:47.139 We're going to say a bit more 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:48.040 but hopefully you can see 00:17:48.040 --> 00:17:48.820 that being cross-centered 00:17:48.820 --> 00:17:49.360 as a church, 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:50.460 having the cross of Jesus 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:52.040 at the center of our identity 00:17:52.040 --> 00:17:53.420 as a church and as individuals, 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:55.580 the story that we're going to tell 00:17:55.580 --> 00:17:56.800 week in and week out, 00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:58.420 that is not a recipe 00:17:58.420 --> 00:18:00.840 for worldly success. 00:18:02.420 --> 00:18:03.140 In other words, 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:04.420 preaching Christ crucified, 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:05.700 shaping our church life 00:18:05.700 --> 00:18:06.500 around that message, 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:08.460 discussing it in small groups, 00:18:08.540 --> 00:18:09.580 teaching it to the young people, 00:18:10.060 --> 00:18:11.000 singing about the cross 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:11.900 when we gather together, 00:18:12.300 --> 00:18:13.460 praying in line with the cross, 00:18:13.600 --> 00:18:14.740 understanding our identity 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:16.120 in the face of the cross of Christ, 00:18:16.119 --> 00:18:18.199 none of that is going to make us popular. 00:18:19.439 --> 00:18:20.419 If we want popularity, 00:18:20.639 --> 00:18:21.779 we need to teach rules 00:18:21.779 --> 00:18:22.959 or self-help. 00:18:23.059 --> 00:18:23.799 Those are the options. 00:18:24.399 --> 00:18:25.500 And we need to sing things like, 00:18:25.919 --> 00:18:27.579 I am dynamite or whatever it is, 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:29.259 but not in Christ alone. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:31.979 Let me say, 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:33.319 this is why being cross-centered 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:34.739 as a church is so difficult. 00:18:35.699 --> 00:18:36.939 Being cross-centered as a church 00:18:36.939 --> 00:18:37.799 and as an individual 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:39.019 is not complicated. 00:18:39.399 --> 00:18:41.079 It's really, really simple. 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:43.799 It's difficult 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:45.220 because there's an aversion 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:47.139 in each of us against it. 00:18:48.740 --> 00:18:50.319 We will hate the unpopularity 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:50.960 that it will bring. 00:18:51.199 --> 00:18:52.079 We'll resist the fact 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:52.819 that it will bring out 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:53.599 the worst in us 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:54.519 and the best in God. 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:56.779 We will long for something 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:57.379 more palatable, 00:18:57.559 --> 00:18:58.279 easier to sell, 00:18:58.319 --> 00:18:59.199 a quicker fix. 00:18:59.639 --> 00:19:00.779 Because being cross-centered 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:01.559 is not what? 00:19:01.899 --> 00:19:02.259 Impressive, 00:19:02.539 --> 00:19:03.279 it's not logical, 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:04.240 and it's not appealing. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:06.179 So why on earth 00:19:06.179 --> 00:19:07.419 would you want to be cross-centered? 00:19:07.679 --> 00:19:08.359 Well, let me show you 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:09.159 three more things 00:19:09.160 --> 00:19:09.620 from the passage 00:19:09.620 --> 00:19:10.700 that will hopefully answer that. 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:12.400 Being cross-centered as a church 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:13.740 means these things as well. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.340 It means speaking the truth. 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:16.440 Speaking the truth. 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:17.900 Come back to verse 18. 00:19:18.040 --> 00:19:18.600 Let me point out 00:19:18.600 --> 00:19:19.600 something really important 00:19:19.600 --> 00:19:20.279 to you here. 00:19:20.320 --> 00:19:20.980 I'm going to read it again. 00:19:21.820 --> 00:19:22.820 For the message of the cross 00:19:22.820 --> 00:19:23.900 is foolishness 00:19:23.900 --> 00:19:24.980 to those who are perishing, 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:26.900 but to us who are being saved 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:28.340 it is the power of God. 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:30.500 Now, the word in our Bibles 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:32.100 that translated message here 00:19:32.100 --> 00:19:33.160 is the Greek word logos, 00:19:33.540 --> 00:19:34.660 which more literally 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:36.140 is the word word. 00:19:36.660 --> 00:19:38.380 This is the word of the cross. 00:19:39.160 --> 00:19:39.980 Which contrasts 00:19:39.980 --> 00:19:40.920 with verse 17 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:42.340 where you have 00:19:42.340 --> 00:19:44.000 the word of wisdom, 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:45.240 the logos of wisdom. 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:47.259 So here, if you like, 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:48.640 are the comparison 00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:49.920 of two stories. 00:19:50.820 --> 00:19:52.800 It's the word of the world, 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:53.660 the word of wisdom 00:19:53.660 --> 00:19:54.300 and eloquence, 00:19:54.360 --> 00:19:55.940 or it's the word of the cross, 00:19:56.660 --> 00:19:57.480 which is the power 00:19:57.480 --> 00:19:58.259 of God to save. 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:00.340 And here is the point. 00:20:00.820 --> 00:20:01.519 The message of the cross 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:02.300 is important 00:20:02.300 --> 00:20:03.500 because it's the word of God. 00:20:03.580 --> 00:20:04.360 It's truth. 00:20:05.800 --> 00:20:06.440 It's the logos. 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:09.019 Now, I think that's interesting 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:09.519 because I think 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:10.880 if you or I were writing 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:11.759 verse 18, 00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:13.180 we would say 00:20:13.180 --> 00:20:14.420 it's the cross of Christ 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:15.660 which is the power of God. 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:16.840 But it doesn't say that, 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:17.180 does it? 00:20:17.259 --> 00:20:18.080 What does it say 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:18.799 is the power of God? 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:19.900 Not the cross of Christ. 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:21.900 It's the message 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:22.840 of the cross of Christ 00:20:22.840 --> 00:20:23.960 which is the power of God. 00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:26.019 It's the word of the cross 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:27.100 which is the power of God. 00:20:27.900 --> 00:20:29.100 Paul is not contrasting 00:20:29.100 --> 00:20:30.080 the world's wisdom 00:20:30.080 --> 00:20:30.680 with sort of 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:33.140 a silent belief in Jesus. 00:20:33.140 --> 00:20:36.840 He is contrasting 00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:38.980 the word that the world says 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:39.960 against the word 00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:41.280 that God says. 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:42.720 He's not contrasting 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:43.220 just a kind of 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:44.500 religious experience 00:20:44.500 --> 00:20:46.500 with the word of the world. 00:20:46.600 --> 00:20:46.900 Instead, 00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:47.640 he's comparing 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:49.460 the message of the cross, 00:20:49.640 --> 00:20:51.460 the spoken message 00:20:51.460 --> 00:20:53.140 about Jesus Christ. 00:20:54.120 --> 00:20:54.560 Telling, 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:55.120 declaring, 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:55.800 saying 00:20:55.800 --> 00:20:56.500 what his death 00:20:56.500 --> 00:20:57.720 on the cross has done. 00:20:58.080 --> 00:20:59.340 That's the power of God, 00:20:59.460 --> 00:20:59.820 he says. 00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:01.320 Now, 00:21:01.460 --> 00:21:02.340 I hope you're thinking 00:21:02.339 --> 00:21:02.639 in your mind. 00:21:02.679 --> 00:21:03.319 There are loads 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:03.899 of implications 00:21:03.899 --> 00:21:04.240 of that, 00:21:04.299 --> 00:21:04.639 aren't there? 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.619 But one really important one 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:07.959 is that there is no distinction 00:21:07.959 --> 00:21:08.839 for us as a church 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:10.439 between being cross-centered 00:21:10.439 --> 00:21:11.679 and being Bible preaching. 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:12.720 I think I've got that 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:13.279 on a slide, 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:13.439 Niva, 00:21:13.459 --> 00:21:13.799 that says 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:14.879 cross-centered 00:21:14.879 --> 00:21:16.039 equals Bible preaching. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:16.500 There you go. 00:21:17.539 --> 00:21:19.179 You cannot be 00:21:19.179 --> 00:21:20.319 cross-centered 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:21.099 without the message 00:21:21.099 --> 00:21:21.959 of what the cross means 00:21:21.959 --> 00:21:22.639 which is the message 00:21:22.639 --> 00:21:23.339 of the whole Bible. 00:21:23.799 --> 00:21:24.779 And you can't be faithful 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:25.339 to the Bible 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:26.339 without being cross-centered 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:27.339 because on every page 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:27.899 the achievements 00:21:27.899 --> 00:21:28.759 of Christ's cross 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:30.959 are articulated for us. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:32.900 or to put the same thing 00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:33.840 in a slightly different way, 00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:35.039 you can't be cross-centered 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:36.299 without preaching the Bible 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:38.400 because it's the declaration 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:39.299 of the message 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:40.259 that's so important. 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:42.500 It's about listening 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:43.640 to the word of God 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:44.819 instead of the word 00:21:44.819 --> 00:21:46.100 of wisdom and eloquence. 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:47.759 It means, 00:21:47.840 --> 00:21:48.019 doesn't it, 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:48.720 in youth work, 00:21:48.819 --> 00:21:49.640 in Sunday school, 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:51.600 in small group discussions, 00:21:51.860 --> 00:21:53.420 two things are really important, 00:21:53.559 --> 00:21:53.819 aren't they? 00:21:54.420 --> 00:21:55.360 Two things are really important. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:57.839 One is to have an open Bible 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.339 and the second is 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:02.639 to show how that particular 00:22:02.639 --> 00:22:03.759 part of the Bible 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:04.799 points you 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:07.259 to human inability to save 00:22:07.259 --> 00:22:09.740 and God alone can save. 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:11.199 Let me say, 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:12.099 in my experience, 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:13.599 it might be different here, 00:22:13.679 --> 00:22:14.459 but in my experience 00:22:14.459 --> 00:22:15.279 as evangelicals, 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:16.679 we are better at the first one 00:22:16.679 --> 00:22:17.779 than we are at the second one. 00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:18.539 Right? 00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:19.579 We understand 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:20.539 we have to open the Bible. 00:22:20.939 --> 00:22:21.779 We know that. 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:23.839 But we are really good 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:24.639 at opening the Bible 00:22:24.639 --> 00:22:25.299 and telling people 00:22:25.299 --> 00:22:25.899 to be better. 00:22:26.899 --> 00:22:27.899 Or opening the Bible 00:22:27.899 --> 00:22:29.079 and using it 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:30.579 to give people information. 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:31.200 What you really need 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:31.579 to understand 00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:32.279 are these stories. 00:22:33.099 --> 00:22:33.299 Now, 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:34.740 being a better person 00:22:34.740 --> 00:22:35.319 and understanding 00:22:35.319 --> 00:22:35.980 the stories of the Bible, 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:36.539 both those things 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:36.819 are good, 00:22:36.879 --> 00:22:37.220 aren't they? 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:38.259 But that's not why 00:22:38.259 --> 00:22:39.379 God's word was given to you. 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:40.619 God's word is given 00:22:40.619 --> 00:22:41.839 because it teaches you 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:43.460 the message of the cross, 00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:45.299 which is what Christ has done 00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:46.200 and not what I have done. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:48.259 Open Bibles 00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:50.379 but not seeing the cross 00:22:50.380 --> 00:22:52.180 is not seeing 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:52.960 God's sovereign power 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:53.440 to save. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:55.220 We've not really understood 00:22:55.220 --> 00:22:55.760 our Bibles 00:22:55.760 --> 00:22:57.020 unless we've seen the cross. 00:22:58.040 --> 00:22:58.960 I could go on, 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:01.040 but I've got years to go on, 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:02.000 so I'm not going to do that 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:02.620 just this morning. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:04.000 Let me show you 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:04.680 a second thing 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:05.480 that being cross-centered 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:06.240 means as a church. 00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:08.380 It means we have access 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:09.260 to God's power. 00:23:10.120 --> 00:23:11.140 Access to God's power. 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:12.980 We've touched on this already, 00:23:13.060 --> 00:23:14.260 but notice verse 18, 00:23:14.340 --> 00:23:15.080 the message of the cross, 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:15.940 the declaration of what 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:16.540 Christ has achieved 00:23:16.540 --> 00:23:17.540 in his death and resurrection. 00:23:18.260 --> 00:23:19.400 The message of the Bible 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:21.200 is to those who are being saved 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:22.500 the power of God. 00:23:23.540 --> 00:23:24.380 In other words, 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:25.040 this message, 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:26.960 which is foolishness, 00:23:27.540 --> 00:23:28.240 illogical, 00:23:28.480 --> 00:23:29.900 unimpressiveness to the world 00:23:29.900 --> 00:23:31.120 is to God's people 00:23:31.120 --> 00:23:31.780 power. 00:23:32.780 --> 00:23:33.420 Now, what is it 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:34.700 God's power to do? 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:37.019 Is it God's power 00:23:37.019 --> 00:23:38.200 to give me all I want, 00:23:38.620 --> 00:23:40.200 power to have a good week at work, 00:23:40.340 --> 00:23:41.060 power to heal me 00:23:41.060 --> 00:23:41.940 from every disease, 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:43.200 power to put money 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:44.300 in my pockets maybe? 00:23:45.080 --> 00:23:46.360 Well, no, it's not, is it? 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:47.640 Follow the logic 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:48.160 of the passage. 00:23:48.259 --> 00:23:49.580 You'll see verse 21. 00:23:49.800 --> 00:23:50.900 Notice the same contrast. 00:23:51.040 --> 00:23:52.140 The wisdom of the world 00:23:52.140 --> 00:23:53.720 versus the foolishness 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:54.200 of preaching. 00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:54.980 You see that? 00:23:55.900 --> 00:23:56.720 What is it that 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:57.880 the foolishness of preaching 00:23:57.880 --> 00:23:58.820 can do 00:23:58.820 --> 00:23:59.759 that the wisdom 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:00.460 of the world cannot? 00:24:01.560 --> 00:24:03.259 Well, it's enable people 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:04.280 to know God, 00:24:04.380 --> 00:24:04.780 isn't it? 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:06.680 By being saved by God. 00:24:08.060 --> 00:24:08.400 Here then, 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:09.660 the message of the cross, 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:10.740 being cross-centered 00:24:10.740 --> 00:24:11.280 as a church, 00:24:11.480 --> 00:24:12.440 means we have, 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:13.620 listen, this is it, 00:24:14.500 --> 00:24:15.460 God's power 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:16.779 to know him. 00:24:17.640 --> 00:24:18.360 God's power 00:24:18.360 --> 00:24:19.360 to know him 00:24:19.360 --> 00:24:21.360 and be saved by him. 00:24:22.100 --> 00:24:22.940 It doesn't mean 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:23.900 that we will always know 00:24:23.900 --> 00:24:24.880 why God is doing 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:25.640 what he's doing 00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:26.259 in my life 00:24:26.259 --> 00:24:26.940 at any particular 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:27.700 given moment, 00:24:28.120 --> 00:24:29.740 but it will mean 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:30.860 that even in the midst 00:24:30.860 --> 00:24:32.519 of pain and suffering, 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:34.259 even with the tears 00:24:34.259 --> 00:24:35.799 strolling down our face, 00:24:35.860 --> 00:24:36.700 we will be able to say, 00:24:37.079 --> 00:24:39.000 even now I know God 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:41.039 and I know he's with me. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:44.639 I can experience God, 00:24:44.740 --> 00:24:45.920 I can relate to God, 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:47.399 I can delight in God, 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:48.779 I can enjoy him 00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:51.059 through the message 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:51.519 of the cross, 00:24:51.579 --> 00:24:52.259 which is the message 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:52.779 of the Bible. 00:24:54.539 --> 00:24:55.619 Think about it like this. 00:24:55.980 --> 00:24:56.279 I think I've got 00:24:56.279 --> 00:24:57.039 a picture for this. 00:24:57.420 --> 00:24:58.399 Imagine that a friend 00:24:58.399 --> 00:24:59.339 invites you out 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:00.200 to go and eat burgers, 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:00.779 okay? 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:03.180 I didn't put a particularly 00:25:03.180 --> 00:25:04.119 good picture of a burger up 00:25:04.119 --> 00:25:04.619 because I didn't want you 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:05.519 to salivate too much, 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:06.159 but imagine, right, 00:25:06.220 --> 00:25:08.319 a friend invites you out 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:08.480 and says, 00:25:08.539 --> 00:25:08.740 listen, 00:25:08.899 --> 00:25:09.839 I found somewhere new 00:25:09.839 --> 00:25:10.519 on the Kilburn High Road 00:25:10.519 --> 00:25:11.379 to eat burgers. 00:25:11.459 --> 00:25:13.240 Let's go and eat burgers. 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:13.899 It's going to be great. 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:14.199 We're going to have 00:25:14.199 --> 00:25:15.079 an awesome time. 00:25:15.419 --> 00:25:16.000 Come with me. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:17.119 I'll show you where it is. 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:17.899 So you go, 00:25:18.179 --> 00:25:18.799 you follow them, 00:25:19.199 --> 00:25:20.319 and you sit in the shop 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:21.500 and you take a seat, 00:25:22.039 --> 00:25:23.279 and all over the wall 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:23.619 of the shop 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:24.740 are pictures of burgers. 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:26.559 They look great. 00:25:27.740 --> 00:25:28.619 And you're sitting there 00:25:28.619 --> 00:25:29.599 and your friends sit in there 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:30.000 and you're looking 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:30.559 at each other 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:32.139 and you're looking 00:25:32.139 --> 00:25:33.699 at the menu of burgers 00:25:33.699 --> 00:25:34.679 in front of you, 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:36.000 and then your friend says 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:36.179 to you, 00:25:36.199 --> 00:25:36.819 should we leave now? 00:25:37.939 --> 00:25:39.059 And you get up 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:39.819 and walk out 00:25:39.819 --> 00:25:40.500 a bit confused 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:41.099 and they say, 00:25:41.179 --> 00:25:42.359 wasn't that great? 00:25:42.879 --> 00:25:45.019 Wasn't that a brilliant place? 00:25:45.679 --> 00:25:47.159 Didn't you really enjoy that? 00:25:47.819 --> 00:25:48.659 What are you going to say? 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:48.940 You're going to, 00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:49.059 well, 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:50.379 that was rubbish. 00:25:51.059 --> 00:25:52.799 I didn't even get 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:53.639 to eat a burger. 00:25:54.019 --> 00:25:55.379 I went to eat a burger. 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:56.279 I didn't even get one. 00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:57.579 What a terrible, 00:25:57.839 --> 00:25:58.639 terrible time. 00:25:58.899 --> 00:25:59.220 Now, listen, 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:00.099 it's a silly story, 00:26:00.159 --> 00:26:00.500 isn't it? 00:26:00.859 --> 00:26:02.379 But that is like church 00:26:02.379 --> 00:26:03.059 without the message 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:03.700 of the cross. 00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:07.759 Hearing the message 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:08.240 of the cross 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:09.740 is how the church 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:10.440 gets to eat, 00:26:10.900 --> 00:26:11.860 and I hope this isn't 00:26:11.860 --> 00:26:12.400 irreverent, 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:14.140 how we get to eat 00:26:14.140 --> 00:26:15.759 the burger of the delights 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:16.600 of God's goodness. 00:26:18.100 --> 00:26:19.360 This is the feast 00:26:19.360 --> 00:26:20.299 for us this morning 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:22.200 as we gather around 00:26:22.200 --> 00:26:22.940 the cross of the Lord 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:23.519 Jesus Christ, 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:24.480 hearing his message, 00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:25.580 feasting on him. 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:27.460 And it doesn't work 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:29.180 if you don't preach Christ. 00:26:29.360 --> 00:26:30.380 If you come to church 00:26:30.380 --> 00:26:30.920 and someone says 00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:31.799 something other 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:32.400 than the message 00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:33.240 of the cross of Christ, 00:26:33.320 --> 00:26:33.980 it's like going 00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:35.100 to a burger restaurant 00:26:35.100 --> 00:26:35.880 and not getting 00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:36.480 to eat one. 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:38.720 Or if you don't come, 00:26:39.540 --> 00:26:40.180 well, it's like not even 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:41.019 turning up anyway, 00:26:41.120 --> 00:26:41.560 isn't it? 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:43.300 Actually, gathering 00:26:43.300 --> 00:26:43.920 as a church 00:26:43.920 --> 00:26:44.840 around the message 00:26:44.840 --> 00:26:45.320 of the cross 00:26:45.320 --> 00:26:46.360 is how we delight 00:26:46.360 --> 00:26:46.960 in God, 00:26:47.380 --> 00:26:48.720 how we get to feast 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:49.280 on him. 00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:51.800 It's the power 00:26:51.800 --> 00:26:52.880 of God to save, 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:53.780 the power of God 00:26:53.780 --> 00:26:54.900 for us to know him 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:56.360 and delight in him. 00:26:57.540 --> 00:26:57.980 Finally, 00:26:58.580 --> 00:26:59.680 a cross-centered church 00:26:59.680 --> 00:27:01.840 means a divided church, 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:02.980 a divided church. 00:27:03.639 --> 00:27:04.819 Now, I put it like that, 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:06.159 which I think should be 00:27:06.159 --> 00:27:06.619 on the next screen, 00:27:06.659 --> 00:27:08.059 being divided. 00:27:08.139 --> 00:27:08.679 I've put it like that 00:27:08.679 --> 00:27:09.339 to make you sit up 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:09.720 and listen, 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:10.139 because I knew 00:27:10.139 --> 00:27:11.399 this was the end. 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:12.659 Surely you think, 00:27:12.759 --> 00:27:13.619 wow, division in the church, 00:27:13.699 --> 00:27:14.639 dude, that's a terrible thing. 00:27:14.759 --> 00:27:16.259 This is your first Sunday. 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:17.539 Don't stand up there 00:27:17.539 --> 00:27:18.379 and preach division. 00:27:18.799 --> 00:27:19.159 That would be 00:27:19.159 --> 00:27:20.099 a terrible thing to do. 00:27:20.179 --> 00:27:20.919 We don't want that. 00:27:21.339 --> 00:27:21.799 And of course, 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:22.899 division in the church 00:27:22.899 --> 00:27:24.139 is a bad thing, 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:24.859 but there are, 00:27:25.379 --> 00:27:26.539 or there is a certain 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:27.299 kind of division 00:27:27.299 --> 00:27:28.199 that the cross brings, 00:27:28.279 --> 00:27:29.000 which is really, 00:27:29.119 --> 00:27:29.919 really important. 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:33.140 Because a cross-centered church 00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:34.120 will expose 00:27:34.120 --> 00:27:35.560 a division in the church 00:27:35.560 --> 00:27:36.360 between those 00:27:36.360 --> 00:27:37.759 who trust in Christ 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:39.779 and those who do not. 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:43.620 Between those relying 00:27:43.620 --> 00:27:44.820 on human wisdom 00:27:44.820 --> 00:27:47.019 and those relying on God. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:49.279 As we preach Christ 00:27:49.279 --> 00:27:50.460 at the center, 00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:52.940 it will make this division 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:54.019 increasingly clear 00:27:54.019 --> 00:27:54.840 that there are those 00:27:54.840 --> 00:27:55.420 who believe 00:27:55.420 --> 00:27:56.500 and those who do not. 00:27:57.180 --> 00:27:58.279 And the temptation is then 00:27:58.279 --> 00:27:59.259 to change the message, 00:27:59.359 --> 00:27:59.539 isn't it? 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:00.399 Or to water it down 00:28:00.399 --> 00:28:01.019 just a little bit, 00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:02.039 a little bit, 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:02.599 or be a little bit 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:03.700 less focused on it 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:05.059 just to mask that division. 00:28:05.779 --> 00:28:06.500 Because it means 00:28:06.500 --> 00:28:07.359 hard things, doesn't it? 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:08.059 It means that 00:28:08.059 --> 00:28:09.220 some young people 00:28:09.220 --> 00:28:10.160 will stop coming 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:10.940 because they don't 00:28:10.940 --> 00:28:11.539 believe the message. 00:28:11.619 --> 00:28:12.519 They want the word 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:13.119 of the world, 00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:14.359 not the word of the cross. 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.700 It means some friends 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:17.079 we invite 00:28:17.079 --> 00:28:18.119 don't want to come back 00:28:18.119 --> 00:28:19.039 because they're offended 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:19.700 by the idea 00:28:19.700 --> 00:28:20.960 that God alone 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:21.559 can save them 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:22.019 and they can't do 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:22.799 anything themselves. 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:25.180 Now, don't get me wrong. 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:25.779 We don't want to be 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:26.559 deliberately offensive. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:27.359 Christians can be 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:28.119 deliberately offensive, 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:28.579 can't they? 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:29.759 I'm sure we've all 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:30.859 got a bad experience 00:28:30.859 --> 00:28:31.319 of that. 00:28:31.879 --> 00:28:32.240 It's as if 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:33.379 it takes some weird 00:28:33.379 --> 00:28:34.200 spiritual delight 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:35.059 in being obnoxious. 00:28:35.139 --> 00:28:35.679 I'm not talking 00:28:35.679 --> 00:28:36.379 about that at all. 00:28:37.059 --> 00:28:38.019 If people leave the church 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:38.879 because we are rude 00:28:38.879 --> 00:28:39.579 and unkind, 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:40.859 then that's our fault 00:28:40.859 --> 00:28:41.579 and we should repent 00:28:41.579 --> 00:28:42.179 and find them 00:28:42.179 --> 00:28:42.779 and say sorry. 00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:44.960 Well, the point is 00:28:44.960 --> 00:28:46.099 that even if we are 00:28:46.099 --> 00:28:47.799 really friendly 00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:48.759 and really warm 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:49.659 and really welcoming, 00:28:49.819 --> 00:28:50.539 even if the welcome 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:51.500 at church is amazing, 00:28:51.659 --> 00:28:52.599 the fellowship is warm 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:53.039 and sweet 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:54.539 and the food is delicious 00:28:54.539 --> 00:28:55.319 over lunch, 00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:57.220 if we preach the cross, 00:28:57.379 --> 00:28:58.559 this division will become 00:28:58.559 --> 00:28:59.299 clear in the life 00:28:59.299 --> 00:29:00.139 of the church. 00:29:01.319 --> 00:29:02.899 In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:03.779 Paul says the division 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:04.779 becomes really clear 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:05.460 as you gather around 00:29:05.460 --> 00:29:06.079 the Lord's table 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:07.019 because some people 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:07.960 are allowed to eat it 00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:09.259 and others are not. 00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:10.899 Literally, 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:12.079 as we eat the visible 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:13.099 words of the cross, 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:15.279 which means that you 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:17.079 really belong to church 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:19.119 by believing in the message 00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:20.019 of Jesus Christ 00:29:20.019 --> 00:29:20.919 and his cross, 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:22.740 not just by coming. 00:29:24.240 --> 00:29:25.300 Don't say West Kilburn 00:29:25.300 --> 00:29:25.800 Baptist Church 00:29:25.800 --> 00:29:26.460 is my church 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:27.320 because I come. 00:29:28.300 --> 00:29:29.220 You say West Kilburn 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:29.700 Baptist Church 00:29:29.700 --> 00:29:30.220 is my church 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:31.080 because I believe 00:29:31.080 --> 00:29:32.600 in Jesus Christ alone. 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:34.380 That's why I'm here. 00:29:35.660 --> 00:29:36.120 And that means, 00:29:36.220 --> 00:29:36.440 doesn't it, 00:29:36.460 --> 00:29:37.360 as we finish this morning, 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:38.300 I need to ask you 00:29:38.300 --> 00:29:39.460 and I need to ask myself 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:41.200 this really important question, 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:41.759 which is this, 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:43.120 do I believe 00:29:43.120 --> 00:29:43.980 in Jesus Christ 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:44.880 and him crucified? 00:29:45.840 --> 00:29:46.440 Do I believe? 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:48.779 Do I believe 00:29:48.779 --> 00:29:49.519 that my sin 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:50.820 is so bad 00:29:50.820 --> 00:29:52.180 that I cannot 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:53.019 save myself, 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:54.559 but my Savior 00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:55.759 is so lovely 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:57.120 that he's done 00:29:57.120 --> 00:29:57.580 all that needed 00:29:57.580 --> 00:29:58.000 to be done 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:58.779 to save me? 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:00.140 Do I believe that? 00:30:01.059 --> 00:30:01.759 This morning, 00:30:01.840 --> 00:30:02.580 have I abandoned 00:30:02.580 --> 00:30:04.400 all hope in myself, 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:05.580 every last little bit 00:30:05.580 --> 00:30:06.420 of self-reliance 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:07.140 and thrown myself 00:30:07.140 --> 00:30:07.620 on Jesus? 00:30:08.900 --> 00:30:09.920 Do I see myself, 00:30:10.059 --> 00:30:11.039 before I see myself 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:12.080 as anything else, 00:30:12.380 --> 00:30:13.320 I'm a person 00:30:13.320 --> 00:30:15.120 defined by the story 00:30:15.120 --> 00:30:15.720 of what Jesus 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:16.539 has done for me? 00:30:17.259 --> 00:30:17.980 I'm a child 00:30:17.980 --> 00:30:18.759 of the cross. 00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:22.240 That the most 00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:23.120 foundational thing 00:30:23.120 --> 00:30:23.920 is that I belong 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:24.480 to Jesus. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:25.579 He loves me. 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:27.120 He died for me 00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:27.980 that I might be forgiven. 00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:29.700 Do you believe that? 00:30:30.940 --> 00:30:31.900 Because if you do, 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:32.799 then welcome. 00:30:33.940 --> 00:30:35.120 Welcome to a company 00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:36.180 of unimpressive, 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:37.579 illogical, 00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:39.319 unappealing people 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:41.940 who have access 00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:43.559 to the truth of God, 00:30:44.100 --> 00:30:45.240 experience the power 00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:45.759 of God 00:30:45.759 --> 00:30:47.420 and know God 00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:48.579 through the thick 00:30:48.579 --> 00:30:49.480 and thin of life 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:50.920 and stretching 00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:51.660 into eternity. 00:30:52.400 --> 00:30:53.059 There's no better 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:53.700 place to be. 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:55.359 Let me pray 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:56.559 as I close. 00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:10.440 heavenly Father, 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.919 thank you so much 00:31:11.919 --> 00:31:13.819 for all that you've done 00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:14.960 for us in the Lord Jesus. 00:31:16.259 --> 00:31:17.220 Thank you for this 00:31:17.220 --> 00:31:19.019 indescribable love 00:31:19.019 --> 00:31:20.480 that you have 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:22.279 for sinful people 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:23.799 even like us. 00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:25.759 and we thank you 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:26.639 that you've saved us 00:31:26.639 --> 00:31:27.859 not by what we have done 00:31:27.859 --> 00:31:29.279 but by what Christ 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:30.379 has done for us. 00:31:31.419 --> 00:31:32.799 So we delight in that 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:34.159 and we feast on that 00:31:34.159 --> 00:31:34.720 this morning. 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:36.419 In Jesus' name. 00:31:37.139 --> 00:31:37.519 Amen.