WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:02.720 So, welcome again. 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:11.759 As Dan just said, as he read the Gospels, the Gospels all tell a story, and that's a 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:19.080 story about the God who created this world and us sending His Son to die to restore this 00:00:19.080 --> 00:00:19.400 world. 00:00:19.559 --> 00:00:20.960 And it's good news. 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:23.900 Christians believe it's the best news that there is. 00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:29.359 And a way of understanding the New Testament, for those of you who may be less familiar 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:37.079 with the Bible or how to understand different parts of the Bible, the Gospels really tell 00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:38.140 the story of Jesus. 00:00:39.159 --> 00:00:45.179 And then all the letters that come after that, which we call epistles, those help us understand 00:00:45.179 --> 00:00:50.799 what the Gospel means, what it meant for the first hearers and what it means for us, what 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:52.519 difference it makes. 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:58.080 And one of the things that the Gospel means or one of the implications of the Gospel has 00:00:58.080 --> 00:01:02.500 to do with the way we understand God's work in our lives. 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.060 Christians, if you're not a Christian, if you've ever been around Christians, you hear 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:11.480 us talk about the work of God or God's workmanship or God being at work. 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:14.040 And this is one of the implications of the Gospel. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:20.120 And it's one of the things that sets the Christian faith apart from other religions, especially 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:21.540 in Jesus' day. 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:31.819 Because in the early days of the church, all of the other pagan gods, the Greek or Roman 00:01:31.819 --> 00:01:34.359 gods, they had something in common. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:41.699 And that is they needed to be invoked or awakened or appeased. 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.320 In other words, you needed to get their attention. 00:01:45.260 --> 00:01:51.020 You know, these were gods and goddesses who were sort of off doing their own thing, living 00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:54.620 their lives, you know, partying, sleeping. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:56.500 They could be out. 00:01:56.600 --> 00:01:57.500 They could be hungover. 00:01:57.939 --> 00:01:59.800 They could be chasing a love interest. 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:01.700 They could be doing any number of things. 00:02:01.700 --> 00:02:06.260 But the idea was that they may not even really be thinking about you at all. 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:12.640 And what you had to do as a human being, if you wanted that god or goddess to intervene 00:02:12.640 --> 00:02:15.099 on your behalf is you had to get their attention. 00:02:15.300 --> 00:02:20.060 And so you would cling cymbals together and you would make lots of noise and you would 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:21.080 sing and you would dance. 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:23.219 And you would do all of this to get their attention. 00:02:23.219 --> 00:02:30.280 And then you would do acts of devotion, hoping that this god or goddess would take notice 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.000 of you and then decide to intervene and to help you out. 00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:38.680 And the reason I bring this up, kind of a history lesson, is that I think that actually 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:45.280 many people today, Christians included, think of God, the God of the Bible, the same way. 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.159 In other words, we sort of functionally act as though God is kind of out there. 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:54.219 He sort of set things up, set things in motion. 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:59.620 And he's more or less kind of not concerned with our daily lives and the details. 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:05.099 And that if we want God to intervene, that we have to sort of get God's attention. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:11.620 Normally we think of just praying hard enough or praying earnestly enough or making sure 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:13.560 that when we pray, we really mean it. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.840 Or praying in the right shape or the right pattern or using the right words. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:22.479 As though there's some sort of code. 00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:25.840 And if we can crack that code, God will intervene. 00:03:27.640 --> 00:03:32.740 But what we'll see tonight is that the Bible actually paints a very different picture of God. 00:03:32.939 --> 00:03:37.580 The God of the Bible, who we've come to know through Jesus, is actually radically different. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:42.819 And what we see here, particularly in the book of Philippians, which we'll be looking at tonight, 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:45.579 is that God is always with us. 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:47.780 He's always with us. 00:03:48.199 --> 00:03:53.819 And more than that, He's always at work in our lives in the tiniest of details, 00:03:54.019 --> 00:03:58.319 regardless of whether we're aware of it or even ask for it. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:06.500 So the Christian life isn't about convincing God to intervene and work on our behalf. 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:11.500 The Christian life is actually about recognizing that God has intervened 00:04:11.500 --> 00:04:14.280 and that He is at work 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:17.839 and then what it means to respond to that. 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:23.360 So our entire life is a response to God's intervention and God's ongoing work. 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.100 And so we're going to learn more about this. 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:28.220 We're going to look at Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 18. 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:32.460 And we're going to see that this truth that God is always at work in our lives 00:04:32.460 --> 00:04:35.580 has three implications that Paul draws out here. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:39.139 Three implications I'll summarize in three words. 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.740 Transformation, illumination, and celebration. 00:04:44.900 --> 00:04:46.939 Transformation, so personal change and growth. 00:04:47.780 --> 00:04:49.720 Illumination, I'll explain a little more about that. 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:54.100 And then finally, celebration as we celebrate this together. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.660 So let's pray for the Lord to lead us as we open His Word. 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.600 Heavenly Father, we do ask that You would be true to Your Word. 00:05:03.080 --> 00:05:04.640 You promised to speak to us. 00:05:05.840 --> 00:05:08.500 We know that You do Your work through Your Word. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:10.320 And so we pray that that would happen. 00:05:10.500 --> 00:05:13.420 I pray that for myself and for all of us gathered here. 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:15.260 We pray this in Your Son's name. Amen. 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:18.140 So God is at work. 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:19.379 He's always at work. 00:05:19.479 --> 00:05:24.779 And the first implication of this is transformation for us. 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:30.419 So Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 12, he says this, 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:37.419 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:39.039 but much more in my absence. 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:44.240 So Paul's in prison, writing to the Philippians, a church he planted about ten years earlier. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:48.439 He says, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence. 00:05:48.840 --> 00:05:51.740 Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:57.759 For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work, for His good pleasure. 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:06.139 So the promise of the gospel is not only that we have hope of salvation, but actually that we have hope of transformation. 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:12.779 And when we talk about transformation, the word that Christians use is the word sanctification. 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:17.599 But these verses raise kind of a crucial question. 00:06:18.739 --> 00:06:25.639 When it comes to transformation or when it comes to sanctification, who is the one responsible for that? 00:06:27.239 --> 00:06:30.000 Who's actually doing the work of transformation? 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.439 Is it up to us? 00:06:34.779 --> 00:06:36.240 Or is it up to God? 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:37.879 Which is it? 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:47.560 In other words, you might ask the question, is the Christian life an exercise in active obedience or in passive trust? 00:06:48.660 --> 00:06:58.120 The older language that used to be used for this is, are we called to pietism or quietism? 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:01.519 Active obedience or passive trust? 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:03.959 Because on the one hand, Paul seems to be saying, 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:10.240 Obey God even more now that I'm gone because it's up to you to work out your own salvation. 00:07:10.780 --> 00:07:11.879 He's essentially saying that. 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:12.579 It's up to you. 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:13.480 It's on you. 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:20.240 And some of us, I think, tend to think of our faith in this way. 00:07:20.340 --> 00:07:22.939 We tend to think it is completely up to me. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.980 It is on me and I need to get going. 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:30.480 And maybe if you're like this and maybe if you're wired this way like some of us are, 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:35.960 if you think about your experience of your faith, you typically feel like you're not doing enough. 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.060 You know, some of you just typically feel guilty. 00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:45.360 Church, your faith, scripture, prayer, it all kind of reminds you that you should be doing all of it more. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.080 And you have this constant nagging sense that you're falling behind. 00:07:51.740 --> 00:07:53.340 And this is your experience. 00:07:53.740 --> 00:08:00.420 And I know some of you, I know your backgrounds, I know some of you are coming out of fundamentalist, very legalistic families. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:02.699 You grew up in church cultures like this. 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:04.480 And so that's a struggle for you. 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:09.580 So some of us lean in this direction. 00:08:09.700 --> 00:08:10.920 We think it's all on me. 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:14.640 But on the other hand, in the same breath, Paul goes on to say, 00:08:15.540 --> 00:08:19.240 God is the one who works in you, both to will and to work. 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:23.100 In other words, Paul in the same breath says, it's up to you, work it out on your own. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:24.860 And then he says, but you know what? 00:08:24.939 --> 00:08:27.500 Actually, God is the one who not only does the work in you, 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:31.180 but he's the one who makes you want the work to happen in you. 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:35.480 He works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:40.399 And so people who tend to think that this is the way transformation happens, 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.759 if you've ever heard the phrase, just let go and let God. 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:44.960 You ever heard that? 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:46.360 Let go and let God. 00:08:47.460 --> 00:08:54.080 This is the approach that says, you know, anything that I do, any effort that I put forward is a denial of the gospel of grace. 00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:58.080 If it's all about what God is doing for me, then I don't need to do anything. 00:08:58.220 --> 00:08:59.500 It's all about what God does. 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:06.240 If you've ever heard of what's called Keswick theology or the Keswick movement in the sort of Lakes District of England, 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:10.620 this theology sort of sprang up in the early 20th century. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.139 And this is a big marker of this way of thinking. 00:09:13.320 --> 00:09:14.740 It's the let go and let God. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:19.620 And it's a sort of a rejection of legalism in favor of a kind of mysticism. 00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:26.960 So it's a spirituality that says, it's all about my subjective experience of God. 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:30.840 That faith and growing in my faith is really having spiritual experiences. 00:09:31.060 --> 00:09:34.759 It's sensing God's presence and sensing God's love and feeling God's embrace. 00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:37.100 And there's a lot of feeling language around this. 00:09:38.700 --> 00:09:43.680 And so people say, that's the way you, but any kind of effort or discipline or spiritual disciplines, anything, 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:45.659 that's suspect as a denial of the gospel. 00:09:47.639 --> 00:09:48.939 So what does Paul say? 00:09:49.239 --> 00:09:53.979 And this is where it gets really interesting because it's very admittedly a paradox. 00:09:55.479 --> 00:09:58.599 Paul says, is it up to us or is it up to God? 00:09:59.000 --> 00:09:59.379 Yes. 00:10:00.219 --> 00:10:01.339 He says both. 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:04.979 And I don't even pretend to understand how it all plays out. 00:10:05.099 --> 00:10:07.599 I cannot chart it out for you on a spreadsheet. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:08.899 I don't, it's a mystery. 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:12.159 But in some way, what Paul is saying is this. 00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:18.720 As we cultivate spiritual discipline and cultivate virtue and cultivate character, 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:25.740 as we seek to obey Jesus, God somehow works through these things to change us. 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:31.660 Somehow in our misguided, often mixed motive efforts, God actually works. 00:10:33.220 --> 00:10:34.920 And this, by the way, is the job. 00:10:34.920 --> 00:10:36.740 This is the role of the Holy Spirit. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:44.159 To do this kind of sanctifying work in and through us as we seek to be sanctified. 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:46.000 It can be a bit confusing. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.980 So perhaps it's helpful to think of this in terms of an image. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:58.759 You know, I've heard John Ortberg say that spiritual transformation and growth is kind of like a trip across the ocean. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:01.820 It's like trying to get from one side of the sea to the other. 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:03.620 Right? 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:10.100 So some people, for the people who think it's all about my effort, I've got to work out my own salvation, it's all on me. 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:13.220 That's kind of like trying to get across the ocean in a rowboat. 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:14.960 Right? 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:22.320 And it's going to lead inevitably to burnout, to exhaustion, to frustration. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:29.260 If you think that your change and your spiritual growth all depends on your effort, then sooner or later you're going to be burned out. 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:36.280 And there are some people who sort of wash up on the shore of our church, who sort of come in and they've been bruised and battered. 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:38.520 And they've kind of come out of cultures like this. 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:47.840 And they're so burned out that they just need to sort of sit and sort of, you know, they're almost like on a spiritual gurney of sorts. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:56.300 But on the other hand, people who say, oh, just let go and let God, human effort is not a part of the equation, it's all about what God is doing. 00:11:56.660 --> 00:12:00.580 That's kind of like trying to get across the ocean, not in a rowboat, but on a raft. 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:02.180 Right? 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.120 Where you're just sort of adrift. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:05.519 Right? 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:09.540 And you sort of push out into the waves and you just sort of lay there. 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:11.160 And what's the problem with that? 00:12:11.180 --> 00:12:11.820 It's aimless. 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:14.840 There's not going to be any real progress mode. 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:17.220 You just sort of drift around in the shallows. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:25.379 So the best image, if we're understanding Philippians 2, 12, and 13, I think the best image to use is that of a sailboat. 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:31.980 Because on the one hand, there are elements we cannot control, chiefly the wind and the current. 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:35.940 God sends the wind and the current. 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:38.460 Think of the current as the circumstances of your life. 00:12:38.740 --> 00:12:40.240 Think of the wind as the Holy Spirit. 00:12:41.040 --> 00:12:43.040 God sends these things into our lives. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:44.200 We can't control them. 00:12:44.200 --> 00:12:49.860 And yet we can discern them and we can respond to them. 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:51.400 And how do you respond to the wind and the current? 00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:56.560 Well, you put up your sail and you adjust it and you take hold of the rudder. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:02.060 And this really, I think, captures what Paul is getting at. 00:13:02.140 --> 00:13:05.200 When Paul calls us, for instance, in verse 12 to obedience, 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:08.780 obedience, and then in verse 16 when he says, hold fast to the word. 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:10.520 By the way, these are really the same thing. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.480 Obedience, holding fast to the word, really the same thing. 00:13:14.900 --> 00:13:19.280 When Paul calls us to these things, what he's really saying is, 00:13:19.640 --> 00:13:24.420 this is how we respond to the wind and the current that God sends into our lives. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:25.680 This is what we do. 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:32.179 So when we are cultivating daily habits of prayer, reading scripture, things like this, 00:13:32.239 --> 00:13:33.639 we're actually putting a sail up. 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:38.379 When we put forth these efforts and seek to change and to grow, 00:13:38.439 --> 00:13:40.799 we're actually putting up the sail, taking hold of the rudder, 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:44.259 and responding to what God's already doing in our lives. 00:13:44.859 --> 00:13:46.339 So a way of thinking of it is this. 00:13:46.439 --> 00:13:50.439 Transformation happens when we adjust the sails and the rudder of our lives 00:13:50.439 --> 00:13:53.000 in response to the wind and the current of God's work. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:56.419 We have control over the sails and rudder. 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.019 God has control over the wind and the current. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:02.820 So this is the first implication of the fact that God is always at work in us. 00:14:03.419 --> 00:14:03.779 Transformation. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:05.879 God is at work. 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:09.440 And his desire is that we would grow, that we would change, 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.220 that we would be transformed, that we would become more loving 00:14:12.220 --> 00:14:15.120 and more patient and kinder and gentler 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:19.759 and all of the fruits of the Spirit would be shining through us. 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:21.740 And that actually leads us to the next point. 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:25.659 The more this happens in our community, the more we're growing in this way, 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:27.360 Paul actually says something interesting. 00:14:28.620 --> 00:14:33.200 He says that a community like that actually becomes a source of illumination, 00:14:33.580 --> 00:14:35.500 which is really interesting. 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:36.680 He says in verse 15, 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:42.180 he talks about God's people as being in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation 00:14:42.180 --> 00:14:45.820 among whom you, God's people, shine as lights in the world. 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:49.860 Now don't get all hung up on crooked and twisted. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.160 That sounds harsh. 00:14:51.480 --> 00:14:57.820 That's a biblical way of talking about people who have rejected God for themselves or their idols. 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:01.320 He says when the Bible talks about being crooked and twisted, 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:02.460 that's what it's talking about. 00:15:02.820 --> 00:15:06.320 Rejecting God in favor of yourself and the idols. 00:15:06.460 --> 00:15:07.700 Worshipping created things. 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:13.200 So God is saying his desire is that his people would be like lights. 00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:15.700 And the focus here, by the way, is on contrast. 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:20.320 God is saying I want my people to be like lights in the darkness 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:24.080 so that when people are living their lives in worship primarily, 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:28.420 like all of us do naturally of themselves or things that they worship like God, 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.540 whether it's success or family or whatever, 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:35.360 that as people are doing that, as they see these people over here 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.779 who have rejected those things and who are actually building their lives on God 00:15:39.779 --> 00:15:40.740 and on the truth of the gospel, 00:15:40.860 --> 00:15:44.459 that there would be things about their lives that are attractive and compelling, 00:15:44.599 --> 00:15:46.740 that they would provoke questions, that they would want to know more, 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:49.000 that they would be drawn to it like a light. 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:53.500 And last week, for those of you who were here, we talked a little bit about this 00:15:53.500 --> 00:16:00.219 and we talked about the early church and how amazing the early church was at being a light like this. 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:05.840 You know, the treatment and conditions for women, for children, 00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:10.259 for people who had been oppressed in society, eunuchs and slaves, 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:16.360 how they could come into this Christian community and be welcomed and loved and embraced 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:19.759 and how that was really like a light in this world. 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:25.279 We talked about how they had courage in the face of death and torture. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.620 We talked about their compassion even for their enemies. 00:16:27.620 --> 00:16:31.960 And all these things made the early Christian community a light. 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.879 And by the way, I think we should aspire to these things. 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:38.240 I think we should absolutely aspire to these things. 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:43.039 But actually, and this is interesting, Paul actually gives a very practical example. 00:16:43.360 --> 00:16:46.379 People who say the Bible isn't practical enough, this is incredibly practical. 00:16:47.060 --> 00:16:51.299 In verse 14, he says, read it for yourself. 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:52.379 He says, you want to be a light? 00:16:53.080 --> 00:16:54.680 You want to be a light in this society? 00:16:54.679 --> 00:16:54.739 Nobody? 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:56.779 Never complain. 00:16:58.759 --> 00:16:59.699 Never complain. 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:03.079 This hit me like a two by four this week. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.460 Be a light in the world simply by not complaining. 00:17:07.899 --> 00:17:11.879 I mean, think about how much contrast that would create in our culture. 00:17:12.019 --> 00:17:17.159 We really do live in a culture more and more and more of outrage and righteous indignation. 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:20.700 I mean, I've been struck. 00:17:20.840 --> 00:17:26.940 I mean, I've just been catching up on all of the news related to this horrific tragedy in Orlando. 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:30.460 It's unbelievable, breathtaking brutality. 00:17:31.660 --> 00:17:39.259 But a lot of what I'm seeing is people using this as an opportunity to shame or spew contempt onto another group. 00:17:39.340 --> 00:17:43.220 Whether it's a gun rights group or a religious group or an activist group of some kind. 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:50.740 It's amazing to see how much of a contrast would it be to have a community of people who simply don't complain. 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:53.259 And it's interesting. 00:17:53.400 --> 00:17:56.779 It says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:57.779 All things. 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:03.440 I really think, I really, I looked at this, you know, this whole week. 00:18:03.460 --> 00:18:06.400 And I really think Paul is saying that Christians should never complain. 00:18:06.660 --> 00:18:07.920 Not even at the DMV. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.200 That it just should never happen. 00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:14.860 Now, I mean, is there a place for constructive criticism? 00:18:15.420 --> 00:18:15.820 Absolutely. 00:18:16.019 --> 00:18:17.100 Especially among friends. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.360 Especially if you're with people who know you and love you. 00:18:20.800 --> 00:18:22.759 If you've been legitimately mistreated. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.620 If you've been legitimately hurt. 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:27.340 Should you speak out? 00:18:27.600 --> 00:18:28.000 Absolutely. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:28.900 You should speak up. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:30.860 So we're not talking about that. 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.099 But think about if your life is a pie chart. 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:37.459 Think about the percentage of time you complain legitimately. 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:41.619 And then all, I mean, if you're anything like me, that is a tiny slice. 00:18:42.299 --> 00:18:42.699 Right? 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:43.879 It's a tiny slice. 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:48.559 But see, here is the logic that Paul is using. 00:18:48.939 --> 00:18:51.599 If God is at work in the good and the bad. 00:18:51.679 --> 00:18:53.119 If God is always at work. 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:57.159 Then why should we complain? 00:18:58.299 --> 00:18:59.559 Even in the hard stuff. 00:19:00.659 --> 00:19:03.179 Shouldn't we at least ask, how is this or that circumstance? 00:19:03.379 --> 00:19:04.359 How is this the wind? 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:05.539 How is this the current? 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:10.379 How is this God creating circumstances for me to respond to so that I will grow? 00:19:10.939 --> 00:19:13.599 You know, we forget God's goal is not that we would always be happy. 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:16.979 But that in everything we would be becoming more holy. 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:23.220 The question arises, and I wondered about this this week. 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:24.940 Why would Paul focus on this? 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:28.940 You know, if you're going to give an example of how a community could be a light in the world. 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.079 There are a zillion examples you could pick. 00:19:31.660 --> 00:19:32.440 Why complaining? 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:37.599 I think partly it has to do with the fact that in Philippi this was probably happening. 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:40.579 And Paul's a good pastor and he's trying to call something out. 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:46.519 But I actually also think that complaining and a tendency to complain a lot. 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:48.160 And this is very autobiographical. 00:19:48.319 --> 00:19:49.539 I've been thinking about this myself. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:54.740 That a tendency to complain actually, I think, reveals something about our hearts. 00:19:57.240 --> 00:19:59.079 You decide for yourself. 00:19:59.180 --> 00:20:00.240 I'm not going to tell you about your heart. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:01.500 But think about your own life. 00:20:03.379 --> 00:20:08.480 I think that part of being spiritually and emotionally mature means realizing a couple of things. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.819 And by the way, you cannot be spiritually mature if you're not emotionally mature. 00:20:12.379 --> 00:20:13.200 Those go together. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:19.660 But being mature in these ways actually means that we realize a couple of things. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.220 For one, it means realizing this. 00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:25.100 That the world does not exist to meet your expectations. 00:20:27.600 --> 00:20:30.440 The world does not exist to meet your expectations. 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:36.319 More to the point, other people don't exist to meet your expectations. 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.419 It's not our job. 00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:47.000 And in marriages especially, this creates a lot of drama in marriages. 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:49.500 Or in dating relationships. 00:20:50.639 --> 00:20:54.379 When people are really trying to kind of live and share life, 00:20:55.099 --> 00:20:57.779 you've got to be really careful about expectations. 00:20:57.980 --> 00:20:58.659 Think about it this way. 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:00.460 You've got two columns, okay? 00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:03.759 You've got the expectations column and you've got the hopes column. 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.559 You can fill the hopes column up. 00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:10.160 You can put all kinds of stuff into the hopes column. 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:11.740 Right? 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:13.840 I hope that he affirms me more. 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:15.240 I hope that he takes more initiative. 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:17.039 I hope that she's less critical. 00:21:17.200 --> 00:21:19.960 I hope that we don't have to be late to everything we go to. 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:22.600 I hope that we agree on how clean the house should be. 00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:24.819 I hope that we agree on how much money we should spend. 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:26.519 You know, hope, hope, hope, hope, hope. 00:21:27.679 --> 00:21:31.220 But be very careful what you put in the expectation column. 00:21:33.399 --> 00:21:35.359 Here's the thing that causes a lot of problem in marriages, 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:38.279 is that you have an enormous list of expectations 00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.279 and half of them never even get communicated to your partner. 00:21:43.299 --> 00:21:46.399 So put on the list of expectations, reading my mind. 00:21:46.859 --> 00:21:47.039 Right? 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:53.859 Be very careful what you put in the expectation column. 00:21:56.700 --> 00:21:59.420 Anything that goes in there needs to be something that you agree on together. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.460 Because it's not the world doesn't exist to meet your expectations. 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:07.000 The other thing that I think we need to realize as a part of maturity is this. 00:22:07.379 --> 00:22:11.180 No one is responsible for your emotional well-being except you. 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:14.460 No one's responsible for your emotional well-being. 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:16.559 You're not responsible for my emotional well-being. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:17.920 Or how I feel. 00:22:18.159 --> 00:22:19.879 And I'm not responsible for how you feel. 00:22:20.619 --> 00:22:23.079 Now, we are responsible for how we treat people. 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:26.240 And there's a lot the Bible says about how we should treat people. 00:22:27.420 --> 00:22:30.159 But we cannot be responsible for how one another feels. 00:22:32.159 --> 00:22:33.639 Simply because we have no control. 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:37.740 And responsibility without authority is a recipe for insanity. 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:47.819 So when someone says or does something hurtful, you really only have a couple of options. 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:50.579 You can either engage that person lovingly. 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:54.279 Tell them what happened. 00:22:55.079 --> 00:22:57.259 You said or did this and this really hurt my feelings. 00:22:57.859 --> 00:22:59.620 But you cannot control how they respond. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:01.920 You can't manage how they respond. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.840 And you can't hold them responsible for how you feel. 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:10.460 Your choice is either to lovingly engage that person or if it's impossible for whatever reason, you lovingly disengage. 00:23:11.140 --> 00:23:11.840 That's about it. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:20.539 I think that usually when we catch ourselves complaining a lot, it's because we've forgotten one or the other of these things. 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:26.539 Either we're trying to operate out of the assumption that the world exists to live up to our expectations. 00:23:26.759 --> 00:23:29.619 Or someone else exists to live up to our expectations. 00:23:30.059 --> 00:23:33.699 Or we are making somebody else responsible for our emotional well-being. 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:37.559 Or we're carrying the weight of somebody else's emotional well-being. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.340 A lot of you are incredible, compassionate people. 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:47.840 And you walk around carrying the weight of your parents or your siblings or your friends who keep making bad choices. 00:23:48.019 --> 00:23:51.140 And you're the one who feels personally responsible for these things. 00:23:52.600 --> 00:23:54.340 You've got to have good, strong boundaries. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:58.920 Because what will happen is over time you will resent and resent and resent. 00:23:59.019 --> 00:23:59.539 And then guess what? 00:23:59.600 --> 00:24:00.259 You will complain. 00:24:00.259 --> 00:24:04.119 So you want to be a light in the world? 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:06.579 Trust that God is at work in all things. 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:10.920 And instead of complaining when things don't go your way, first ask how he might be at work. 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:12.400 So a couple of practical examples. 00:24:12.680 --> 00:24:14.879 The next time that you're caught single tracking on the metro. 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:18.099 Which will be tomorrow. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:24.079 The next time that happens, instead of eviscerating the transit authority in your mind. 00:24:24.579 --> 00:24:25.319 We've all done it. 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:31.539 See or attempt to see that as a gift of time. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:36.240 Listen, there's no better excuse in D.C. for being late to a meeting. 00:24:37.919 --> 00:24:39.159 You can't control it. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:40.919 You can't change those circumstances. 00:24:41.619 --> 00:24:43.439 You're trapped underground in a dark tunnel. 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:45.759 So what can you do? 00:24:45.839 --> 00:24:47.899 You can choose to see that as a gift of time. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:49.339 And here's just a suggestion. 00:24:49.539 --> 00:24:51.059 And I was thinking about this this week. 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:52.359 And I actually got stuck on the metro. 00:24:52.639 --> 00:24:53.399 And I tried it. 00:24:53.400 --> 00:24:57.400 But use that time and try to redeem that time. 00:24:58.040 --> 00:25:00.200 So pull out your phone even though you won't get any service. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:02.320 Think of somebody that you want to encourage. 00:25:03.280 --> 00:25:05.660 And just write an email that just encourages them. 00:25:06.120 --> 00:25:07.000 And then hit send. 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:10.519 And hopefully it'll send when you come into service zone again. 00:25:11.500 --> 00:25:15.400 But just do that and see how it changes your attitude in that moment. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.740 Or one more example and then we'll move on. 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:22.720 If you have recurring meetings like work meetings or small group that you go to. 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:24.359 If you're in a small group or things like that. 00:25:24.779 --> 00:25:26.920 And say that meeting runs late every week. 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:28.819 Right? 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:30.099 I'm sure that never happens. 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:36.259 Instead of complaining and criticizing the leaders behind their backs. 00:25:36.599 --> 00:25:38.640 Instead of leaving and being like, oh, it happened again. 00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:41.359 And going home and I can't believe how inefficient that is. 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:42.200 And blah, blah, blah. 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:47.640 Instead of doing all that, why don't you try going up to the leader the next time there's a moment to talk. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:51.120 And just saying, hey, thanks for doing so much for our group. 00:25:51.319 --> 00:25:52.259 I know it's a lot of work. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:53.880 Is there any way that I could help? 00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:59.539 For instance, I noticed that it might be helpful if I could keep time for us. 00:25:59.539 --> 00:26:03.299 Be the timekeeper. 00:26:04.980 --> 00:26:06.379 I've had people do that to me. 00:26:07.759 --> 00:26:09.700 Rumor has it I will tend to go on and on and on. 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:15.039 And I've had people say, hey, would it help you if I was the timekeeper the next time we got together? 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:17.200 And I was so appreciative. 00:26:18.180 --> 00:26:21.039 There's a 99% chance that that person's going to thank you. 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:25.319 Because there's a 100% chance that they're doing the absolute best they can. 00:26:25.619 --> 00:26:26.720 And they would love your help. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:30.600 So instead of complaining, ask what God is doing. 00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:32.799 So here's where we are so far. 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:37.140 The more we experience transformation, the more we become sources of illumination. 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:39.900 And lastly, this leads into the third point, which is this. 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:42.660 Paul calls us actually to join together in celebration. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:44.180 He says in verse 17, 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:48.900 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.279 I am glad and I rejoice with you all. 00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:54.519 Likewise, you should also be glad and rejoice with me. 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:58.039 He's saying no matter what happens, even if I die, I can rejoice. 00:26:58.160 --> 00:26:58.740 Because why? 00:26:59.579 --> 00:27:00.579 God is at work. 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:04.980 And then he uses the word for rejoice that means communal rejoicing. 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.139 So he's saying let's celebrate together. 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:08.960 Let's celebrate that God is at work. 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:12.200 And how do God's people celebrate that? 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:18.059 One of the best things that the church has been doing for the last 2,000 years, 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:20.819 and then Israel for thousands of years before, 00:27:21.419 --> 00:27:24.099 is simply getting together and telling stories. 00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:27.720 Just telling stories about how God is at work. 00:27:27.899 --> 00:27:31.319 It doesn't have to be the epic, I was addicted to crack and worshiping Satan, 00:27:31.679 --> 00:27:35.639 and now I'm, you know, I'm starting a non-profit orphanage in Africa. 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:36.639 It doesn't have to be that. 00:27:36.640 --> 00:27:40.560 It can be the most basic, you know, 00:27:41.320 --> 00:27:43.540 I normally lose my temper really quickly, 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:45.040 and this week, for whatever reason, 00:27:45.140 --> 00:27:47.020 I've been praying that God would help me have patience, 00:27:47.340 --> 00:27:50.460 and I felt like I was able to be a little more patient with my kids at bedtime. 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:52.320 God is at work. 00:27:53.340 --> 00:27:54.940 We should be telling these stories. 00:27:55.360 --> 00:27:57.320 You know, I was thinking just this week, 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:59.460 I talked with several couples in our community, 00:27:59.800 --> 00:28:00.940 marriages that are struggling, 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:02.740 and these people, they're having a hard time, 00:28:02.740 --> 00:28:03.420 and yet they said, 00:28:03.700 --> 00:28:05.500 we are committed because we trust God. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:07.140 God is at work. 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:09.420 All right, I talked to, 00:28:09.880 --> 00:28:12.680 there's a young guy in our community who's not a Christian, 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:14.440 who recently was asking around, 00:28:14.660 --> 00:28:16.640 is there somebody who would meet with me, 00:28:16.859 --> 00:28:18.359 and who could talk to me, 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:19.680 and help me understand the Bible? 00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:21.460 God is at work. 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:23.720 Right, I talked to, 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:25.059 I heard from a woman, 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:29.339 who left one of our worship services feeling encouraged, 00:28:29.980 --> 00:28:31.900 and she has a friend who's making 00:28:31.900 --> 00:28:33.320 some really destructive choices, 00:28:33.700 --> 00:28:34.640 and so the friend, 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:38.460 she leaves the service, 00:28:38.600 --> 00:28:40.140 and she feels like God is prompting her, 00:28:40.340 --> 00:28:41.519 so she finally gets up the courage, 00:28:41.560 --> 00:28:42.400 and she picks up the phone, 00:28:42.540 --> 00:28:43.500 and she calls this friend, 00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:45.780 and she finally confronts this friend, 00:28:45.840 --> 00:28:47.259 and says, I love you, I care about you, 00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:49.259 please stop making these destructive choices. 00:28:50.040 --> 00:28:51.240 She was terrified to do that. 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:52.180 God is at work. 00:28:53.780 --> 00:28:55.720 You know my favorite example of God at work right now? 00:28:56.200 --> 00:28:57.600 Here's my favorite current example, 00:28:57.600 --> 00:29:00.280 as of about 4.15 today. 00:29:01.900 --> 00:29:05.400 We've been looking for space for this congregation 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:07.320 since about January. 00:29:07.600 --> 00:29:09.360 This is a short-term thing. 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:10.519 We've looked everywhere, 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:13.140 and we had more or less accepted the fact 00:29:13.140 --> 00:29:15.160 that we would probably not be able to stay in Columbia Heights, 00:29:15.240 --> 00:29:17.740 that we would have to move somewhere further up north 00:29:17.740 --> 00:29:19.040 or further south, 00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:21.660 but that this area that we're endeavoring to commit to, 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:22.660 we wouldn't be able to stay in. 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:25.180 There's one church that was a possibility, 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:28.519 but we've been trying that church for about five years, 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:30.259 and not gotten much of a response from them. 00:29:30.259 --> 00:29:31.599 They don't rent to people. 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:33.799 They've never rented to anybody, 00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:35.559 and they were just not interested. 00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:39.079 Well, it just so happens that when we bought our house, 00:29:39.299 --> 00:29:44.059 we planted the church in around 2007, 2008. 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:45.359 Laura and I bought a house 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:48.160 and moved in in 2009 into Brooklyn, 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:51.319 and it just so happened that we moved into the house 00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:56.839 next to the home of the pastor emeritus of this church. 00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:59.480 He was the pastor of Canaan Baptist for 29 years. 00:30:00.379 --> 00:30:01.639 So we got to be friends with them, 00:30:01.679 --> 00:30:02.779 and we thought, well, that's kind of interesting. 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:04.259 I wonder if God's up to something. 00:30:05.339 --> 00:30:06.399 And then years pass, 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:08.419 and we've been in other spots and other spaces, 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:10.099 and still no return phone calls. 00:30:10.299 --> 00:30:12.699 And then I got to be friends with a network 00:30:12.699 --> 00:30:13.939 of African-American pastors, 00:30:14.199 --> 00:30:16.019 sort of led by a guy named T.L. Rogers. 00:30:16.220 --> 00:30:18.179 And T.L. Rogers has become a good friend of mine, 00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:20.899 and I go out to their house once every six weeks 00:30:20.899 --> 00:30:21.599 and have breakfast. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:22.659 His wife makes breakfast, 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:25.259 and a number of pastors just get together and talk and pray. 00:30:25.259 --> 00:30:27.200 It's one of the most life-giving things I do 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:30.960 in my time right now is to go to those breakfasts. 00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:34.619 And these guys found out that we were looking for space, 00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:36.539 and they found out some of the circumstances of that. 00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:39.759 And so T.L. kind of gets in touch with me afterwards, 00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:43.279 and he says, well, what are the spaces 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:44.079 that you're interested in? 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:46.279 And I tell him a couple of things, and I say, 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:48.799 but you know what would really be great is Canaan Baptist. 00:30:48.940 --> 00:30:49.819 It's right up the road, 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:51.759 and it's across the street from the house 00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:53.039 that we started the church in. 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:55.599 And that would be really great, 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:56.619 but we haven't been able to. 00:30:56.819 --> 00:30:58.619 He says, well, I'm going to take that guy out to lunch. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:02.319 So he comes into the city, 00:31:02.379 --> 00:31:03.579 and he gets a hold of this pastor, 00:31:03.639 --> 00:31:04.680 and he takes him out to lunch, 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:05.839 and in the course of that lunch, he says, 00:31:05.980 --> 00:31:07.859 you should really consider talking to Church of the Advent. 00:31:08.500 --> 00:31:09.379 I'll vouch for him. 00:31:10.279 --> 00:31:12.399 So the next day, I get a call from Pastor Owens. 00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:15.799 And we start talking, and we meet, 00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:16.700 and things look good, 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:17.799 but you know, they've never rented, 00:31:17.879 --> 00:31:18.879 and there's a lot of questions. 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:21.200 And so they really don't feel like they know us. 00:31:21.540 --> 00:31:24.320 And so they need to bring this before the congregation, 00:31:24.520 --> 00:31:25.380 and a lot of uncertainty, 00:31:25.700 --> 00:31:28.000 and we just got to see what God's going to do. 00:31:29.860 --> 00:31:32.900 Well, then, I was talking to Julie and Eric the other day, 00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:34.460 and Julie and Eric Davis, 00:31:34.540 --> 00:31:36.400 and they said, you know, this woman came by, 00:31:36.500 --> 00:31:38.460 and she's been a friend of ours in our building, 00:31:38.540 --> 00:31:40.240 and she was bringing our daughter Madeline 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:41.120 a birthday present, 00:31:41.300 --> 00:31:42.160 and we started talking, 00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:44.480 and she said, actually, it's, you know, 00:31:44.560 --> 00:31:48.440 this Sunday, I'm a part of a church, 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:49.900 and we have to decide whether or not 00:31:49.900 --> 00:31:56.440 we want to let this other church rent our space, 00:31:56.460 --> 00:31:57.620 and we've never done that before. 00:31:58.300 --> 00:32:00.519 And Julie says, are you talking about Church of the Advent? 00:32:01.500 --> 00:32:02.400 And she says, yeah. 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:03.740 And she says, you go to Canaan Baptist? 00:32:03.900 --> 00:32:05.840 Yeah, I'm a trustee at Canaan Baptist. 00:32:06.080 --> 00:32:07.620 I'm one of the ones making the decision. 00:32:07.619 --> 00:32:11.679 And then we fast forward to today. 00:32:13.339 --> 00:32:14.979 Actually, I should say, last week, 00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:16.119 a couple of their deacons visited, 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:18.899 and a bunch of you guys talked to them, 00:32:18.919 --> 00:32:20.399 and you may not have even known 00:32:20.399 --> 00:32:22.019 that they had any connection to Canaan Baptist, 00:32:22.119 --> 00:32:23.719 or that we were even interested in Canaan Baptist, 00:32:23.819 --> 00:32:24.939 but they had a wonderful time, 00:32:25.819 --> 00:32:27.079 and they said that you guys were, 00:32:27.399 --> 00:32:29.759 that everybody who talked to them loved them 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:30.479 and welcomed them, 00:32:30.500 --> 00:32:31.599 and they felt really encouraged. 00:32:32.099 --> 00:32:32.959 So praise God. 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:33.559 God is at work. 00:32:34.679 --> 00:32:36.679 And so today, just before the service, 00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:38.940 I get a text from Pastor Owens. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:41.720 He says, we just had the vote, and it passed. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:42.680 And our... 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:51.080 That would have been a really bad story 00:32:51.080 --> 00:32:52.200 if it hadn't passed, right? 00:32:52.320 --> 00:32:55.440 But it passed, and so he said, 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:56.940 our trustees will be reaching out to you, 00:32:57.000 --> 00:32:58.660 but we look forward to welcoming you 00:32:58.660 --> 00:33:00.620 to be our attendance at Canaan Baptist. 00:33:00.779 --> 00:33:02.160 And so we're very excited about that. 00:33:02.420 --> 00:33:05.160 It's actually enormous evidence of the ways 00:33:05.160 --> 00:33:06.600 I believe that God is at work, 00:33:06.680 --> 00:33:09.040 even in the mundane details of our life, 00:33:09.080 --> 00:33:12.279 like where we meet on Sunday evenings. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:13.900 So God is at work. 00:33:14.980 --> 00:33:15.700 God is at work. 00:33:15.779 --> 00:33:16.200 God is at work. 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:16.680 God is at work. 00:33:16.720 --> 00:33:17.480 The point is, 00:33:18.120 --> 00:33:19.779 I think the more we share these stories 00:33:19.779 --> 00:33:20.380 and celebrate, 00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:22.519 the more we learn how to see ways 00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:23.320 that God is at work. 00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:25.580 So whenever you gather, 00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:26.400 whenever we get together, 00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:27.200 even informally, 00:33:27.340 --> 00:33:28.400 try to make it a point 00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:30.160 to share stories of the ways 00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:31.180 God is at work. 00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:32.340 There's going to be an opportunity 00:33:32.340 --> 00:33:33.180 in our members meeting 00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:34.120 right after the service 00:33:34.120 --> 00:33:37.180 to stand up and to share stories 00:33:37.180 --> 00:33:38.220 of the way God is at work. 00:33:38.740 --> 00:33:39.740 So be thinking now, 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:41.140 what are the stories that we can share 00:33:41.140 --> 00:33:41.600 of the ways, 00:33:41.720 --> 00:33:42.380 great or small, 00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:43.200 that God is at work? 00:33:44.840 --> 00:33:46.220 So as we said at the beginning, 00:33:47.539 --> 00:33:49.620 the Christian life isn't about convincing God 00:33:49.620 --> 00:33:51.620 to intervene and to work on our behalf. 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:52.940 It's about recognizing 00:33:52.940 --> 00:33:55.000 that he has intervened in Jesus Christ 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:57.640 to save us and to restore us, 00:33:57.640 --> 00:33:59.020 and that he is at work 00:33:59.020 --> 00:33:59.940 in the Holy Spirit, 00:34:01.020 --> 00:34:02.720 making all things new. 00:34:02.800 --> 00:34:03.580 And so the Christian life 00:34:03.580 --> 00:34:04.480 is about knowing that 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:05.259 and discerning it 00:34:05.259 --> 00:34:06.640 and then responding to it. 00:34:07.800 --> 00:34:08.940 You know, one phrase, 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:09.840 just in closing, 00:34:10.019 --> 00:34:11.180 one phrase in this passage 00:34:11.180 --> 00:34:12.440 that I never quite understood 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:14.360 is where it says, 00:34:14.619 --> 00:34:15.660 work out your own salvation 00:34:15.660 --> 00:34:17.000 with fear and trembling. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:18.740 And I wondered, 00:34:18.860 --> 00:34:19.800 what does that mean, 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:20.400 fear and trembling? 00:34:20.500 --> 00:34:21.800 I know we talk about God 00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:22.780 and approaching God 00:34:22.780 --> 00:34:23.420 with fear and trembling, 00:34:23.519 --> 00:34:24.800 but why would we talk about that 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:26.320 with regard to ourselves 00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:27.440 and God's work in us? 00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:30.599 And I was thinking about that this week 00:34:30.599 --> 00:34:31.859 and I was sitting in my office 00:34:31.859 --> 00:34:34.719 and I was sitting at my desk 00:34:34.719 --> 00:34:35.579 and I kind of realized 00:34:35.579 --> 00:34:36.579 what I was looking at, 00:34:37.339 --> 00:34:39.000 which is this beautiful painting 00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:40.299 called The Wounded Healer 00:34:40.299 --> 00:34:42.379 done by a member of our congregation, 00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:43.059 Lauren Hofer. 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:44.319 If you've ever been in my office, 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:45.940 it's that big, red, gorgeous painting. 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:48.539 And I looked at that 00:34:48.539 --> 00:34:49.900 and then I kind of rotated around 00:34:49.900 --> 00:34:51.299 in my chair 00:34:51.299 --> 00:34:52.819 and I looked at my bookshelves 00:34:52.819 --> 00:34:54.879 and I have these beautiful 00:34:54.879 --> 00:34:55.719 wooden bookshelves 00:34:55.719 --> 00:34:57.079 that were made by hand 00:34:57.079 --> 00:34:58.319 by a guy in our congregation 00:34:58.319 --> 00:34:59.980 named Serge Metis. 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:03.259 And I looked at this painting 00:35:03.259 --> 00:35:03.860 and I looked at it 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:04.519 and I thought, 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:07.500 these things are so precious 00:35:07.500 --> 00:35:08.579 and they're so beautiful 00:35:08.579 --> 00:35:09.719 and I thought about the last time 00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:11.239 I had to hang that painting 00:35:11.239 --> 00:35:14.420 and when I put those shelves into place 00:35:14.420 --> 00:35:16.860 and I thought, you know, 00:35:17.019 --> 00:35:18.440 how did I handle those things? 00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:20.019 I handled them with fear and trembling. 00:35:21.420 --> 00:35:21.860 Why? 00:35:21.860 --> 00:35:23.599 Because they're precious 00:35:23.599 --> 00:35:24.700 and the reason they're precious 00:35:24.700 --> 00:35:26.640 is because somebody lovingly 00:35:26.640 --> 00:35:27.840 made them by hand. 00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:31.280 And then it sort of clicked in my mind, 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:32.460 that's what we are. 00:35:34.300 --> 00:35:36.380 That's why he says fear and trembling. 00:35:37.640 --> 00:35:41.000 Because we are like works of art. 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.719 The good news of the gospel 00:35:43.719 --> 00:35:44.960 is that in Jesus, 00:35:45.159 --> 00:35:46.239 God intervened 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:47.260 and through the Spirit, 00:35:47.420 --> 00:35:49.219 God works to transform us, 00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:51.360 to enable us to illuminate the world 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:53.760 and to celebrate God with our lives. 00:35:53.860 --> 00:35:54.179 And so, 00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:56.960 we ourselves are like pieces of art 00:35:56.960 --> 00:35:58.460 and yet the amazing thing is this. 00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:00.079 Believe it or not, 00:36:00.139 --> 00:36:01.820 we are infinitely more valuable 00:36:01.820 --> 00:36:03.139 even than that painting, 00:36:03.500 --> 00:36:04.699 even than those shelves. 00:36:04.699 --> 00:36:08.239 We're infinitely more valuable 00:36:08.239 --> 00:36:10.879 because God himself is the artist 00:36:10.879 --> 00:36:15.239 and as Scripture says again and again and again, 00:36:15.500 --> 00:36:18.179 we, we are the work of his hands. 00:36:19.460 --> 00:36:20.199 Let's pray. 00:36:21.939 --> 00:36:24.099 Our Father, we thank and praise you. 00:36:24.879 --> 00:36:26.460 We know that actually even now 00:36:26.460 --> 00:36:29.980 through the prayers that we pray, 00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:31.399 the word that we hear, 00:36:31.879 --> 00:36:33.239 the songs that we sing, 00:36:33.439 --> 00:36:34.599 through the meal that we share, 00:36:35.460 --> 00:36:36.639 through even the, 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:37.159 the, 00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:39.879 the malfunctioning microphones 00:36:39.879 --> 00:36:41.039 and sirens, 00:36:41.539 --> 00:36:42.980 the disruptions, 00:36:43.919 --> 00:36:44.399 that Lord, 00:36:44.480 --> 00:36:45.219 through all of this, 00:36:45.279 --> 00:36:46.500 that somehow mysteriously 00:36:46.500 --> 00:36:47.899 and amazingly you're at work. 00:36:48.739 --> 00:36:50.219 We pray that we would have the eyes 00:36:50.219 --> 00:36:52.299 to see your handiwork, 00:36:52.799 --> 00:36:56.579 to recognize your fingerprints on our lives. 00:36:57.359 --> 00:36:58.619 We pray this for our good 00:36:58.619 --> 00:36:59.379 and for your glory. 00:36:59.500 --> 00:37:00.359 In your Son's name. 00:37:00.779 --> 00:37:00.980 Amen.