WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Father, we are in the dark by ourselves. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:09.000 There's so much about you, about what you're doing, about the heavenly places that we don't know. 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:13.000 I pray that you would speak to us today. Open our eyes to see hidden things that we do not know. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:18.000 Open our eyes to see the glory of Jesus. 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:21.000 And we pray in his name. Amen. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.000 Alright, Anastasia. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.000 Today's scripture reading is taken from Romans 6, verses 1 to 14. 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.000 Please follow along your Bible. If you don't have your own Bible, you can grab them on the side of the stage or at the back. 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:48.000 Our passage is on page 886 of the Church Bible. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 Hear then God's word to us today. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.000 What shall we say then? 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.000 Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 By no means. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:06.000 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:13.000 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:27.000 We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:36.000 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:47.000 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:52.000 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 Now, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:03.000 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:06.000 Death no longer has dominion over him. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.000 For the death he died, he died to sin, once and for all. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 But the life he lives, he lives to God. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:25.000 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:31.000 Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:41.000 but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:46.000 and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:53.000 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law, but under grace. 00:02:53.000 --> 00:02:58.000 Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Great. Thank you, Anastasia. Let's keep that passage open. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:12.000 We'll be looking at a few passages, but it's more of a topical sermon, but mainly this one. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.000 What we're going to talk about is change. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Right? Most people in the world, they're looking for change. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:23.000 Politicians, they always complain, hey, you want change? Vote for me. 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:28.000 You go to the bookstore, there's all these books about intellectuals writing how the world should change, 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:31.000 or just self-help books, how we can change. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:35.000 Go to YouTube, everyone is telling you, do this, and you will change. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:41.000 And of course, that's very popular, because to be honest, all of us want the world to change, don't we? 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.000 All of us want ourselves to change. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:48.000 Not many of us will say, yeah, my life is perfect, everything about me is great, perfectly happy. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:54.000 We want change. But where do we find change? How does change come about? 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Well, one thing that, yeah, I could preach on whatever I want. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:03.000 One thing that I love, as you may know, is the resurrection. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:06.000 The resurrection is, I think, something that's neglected in many churches, right? 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 It's all about the cross and the resurrection. Yeah. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.000 Okay, you know, what do we do with that? 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:16.000 Of course, we say at Easter Sunday, that's when the world changed, right? 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 That's when Jesus rose from the dead. The new creation started. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.000 However, it doesn't feel like the world really changed, right? 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:32.000 If you were, you know, if you were in Jerusalem, maybe you've noticed 2,000 years ago that something happened, but the rest of the world didn't notice, right? 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.000 And what does it do in our lives? I mean, it's okay, here's a great fact. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Jesus rose from the dead, but what relevance does it have for us? 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.000 And that was 2,000 years ago. There is this other resurrection in the future, right? 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 One day, Jesus will come back and then everyone will rise from the dead. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:53.000 Those two resurrections, and Jesus is like the foretaste of that. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.000 But that way in the future, how about the present? 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 How has our lives changed because of the resurrection? 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.000 Now, of course, in some ways, it has a huge impact, right? 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:06.000 In the sense that we have certainty. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.000 How do we know there's a God? 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.000 How do we know who's the king? 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:11.000 How do we know there's life after death? 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.000 Well, Jesus rose from the dead. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.000 It tells you all those things. 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:17.000 And if you're here, you wouldn't call yourself a Christian. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:21.000 I don't know if you ever looked into the resurrection, the evidence. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:23.000 Something really happened. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 There is a God, and something amazing happened. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.000 Of course, the future resurrection gives us hope, right? 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:36.000 Hope that one day all the problems will disappear, and sin will disappear, and evil will be gone. 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:37.000 Great. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:40.000 And yet, at the moment, well, Jesus is in heaven, right? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:45.000 And he's far away, and it may seem disconnected from our lives. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:51.000 And yet, the Bible talks about a third resurrection, one in the present, one in our lives. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:55.000 It's connected, of course, to Jesus, but it's here now in our lives. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000 And so, I thought I would preach on that, because we're going to have baptisms, and I think it fits very well with that. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:06.000 As you may have heard the word baptism in the passage. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:07.000 So, that's what we're going to talk about. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.000 And what does the Bible say? 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.000 Well, we have been raised with Christ. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.000 We've been raised with Christ. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:18.000 It's a very common New Testament theme that, yeah, we were raised with Christ. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:30.000 So, Ephesians 2, for example, but God, because of the great, in his great mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:36.000 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, and raised us up with him, as he did us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:37.000 Right? 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:38.000 We've been made alive. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:40.000 We've been raised with him. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.000 A year ago, in our community groups, we did Colossians. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.000 Same thing. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:45.000 Colossians 3. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.000 If then you have been raised with Christ. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.000 Verse 3. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:54.000 For you have died. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.000 And the Bible says, you have died, and you have been raised. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.000 And this passage says the same thing, right? 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:02.000 Verse 3. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:08.000 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:12.000 We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.000 We are dead and buried and then raised. 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.000 It's in Christ. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:20.000 It's with Christ. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:23.000 It's whatever happened to Jesus happened to us. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:30.000 I don't know if you know the prefix co, like co-author, co-owner, co-operation, co-dependency. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.000 It means with, right? 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:35.000 Well, Paul, in these passages, he uses all kinds of new words. 00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.000 He says, we have been co-crucified. 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:40.000 We have been co-buried. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:42.000 We have been co-made alive. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:43.000 Those kind of words. 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:45.000 It's kind of, you were really there. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.000 Right? 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.000 When Jesus was hanging on the cross, you were hanging right next to him. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:54.000 When he was buried in the tomb, you were buried in the same tomb with him. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.000 And three days later, when he walked out, you walked out with him. 00:07:57.000 --> 00:07:59.000 That is kind of what Paul is saying. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.000 Which, of course, is very weird, right? 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.000 Because, of course, we weren't there. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.000 We weren't even born yet. 00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:08.000 And I don't feel very raised. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.000 I'm in my 50s. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:11.000 My body is very clearly not a resurrection body. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:12.000 Right? 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.000 We all know that. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Paul actually agrees with that. 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Paul knows that. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.000 So, in Colossians 3, again, what does he say? 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:20.000 You have died. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:23.000 Your life is hidden with Christ in God. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:25.000 That resurrection life, it is hidden. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:26.000 You can't see it. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.000 It's hidden with Christ. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:30.000 Because it's not yet physical. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:32.000 We're not yet physically raised. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:33.000 That will be at the end. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.000 That will be when Jesus returns. 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 But, spiritually, you have been raised. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 Spiritually, you've died. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.000 This is a spiritual reality. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.000 It happens when you believed in Jesus. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:51.000 Yeah, that's why it says, in Christ, with Christ. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:53.000 It's why it mentions baptism. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.000 I mean, it doesn't mean that the baptism, you know, does that. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:59.000 It's more baptism is, you baptize people who believe. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:02.000 It's their faith that has connected them to Jesus. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:06.000 And that's why it says, well, you've been united with him. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.000 Right? 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:08.000 In verse 5. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:09.000 You're united with Jesus. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:13.000 And so, through the faith, and now, his death and resurrection 00:09:13.000 --> 00:09:15.000 are kind of connected to you. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.000 You're connected to his death and resurrection. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.000 And that affects you. 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:21.000 It becomes yours. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:23.000 That's 25 years ago. 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.000 I was living in this world. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:30.000 But then, you know, two months later, I died and rose. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:32.000 The passage says, because I became a Christian. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.000 In August 2001. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.000 And Paul can now say, yeah, you've been raised from the dead. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.000 You're raised with Christ. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.000 It's really true spiritually. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.000 What does that mean though? 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.000 What implications does that have? 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:46.000 And that's where I want to go. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:49.000 And first of all, well, there's a new you. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:50.000 There's a new you. 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:51.000 You've died and been raised. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.000 And so, there's a new you. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:55.000 You've got a new identity. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:09:58.000 Because, well, you've died and been raised. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.000 Of course, other verses, very clear about that, right? 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:02.000 2 Corinthians 5. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:03.000 We all know that. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 The old has passed away. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:09.000 Behold, the new has come. 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.000 And the new creation and the resurrection is the same thing. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:14.000 The old is gone. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:15.000 The new has come. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 That's exciting, right? 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.000 Other passages talk about being born again. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:21.000 Like, you're a new person. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:23.000 It's not just something that happened to you. 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:25.000 It's changed who you are. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:28.000 That's how this passage talks about that, right? 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.000 I mean, Paul starts with the question, what shall we say? 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Are we to continue in sin? 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 And then verse 2, he says, by no means. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 How can we who died to sin still live in it? 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:43.000 And he says, hey, we are the ones who died to sin. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.000 We are different, right? 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:47.000 It's our identity. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.000 It's not just something that happened to us. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.000 And maybe you consider yourself, you're a lawyer or a doctor, 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:56.000 a man or a woman, you know, identity, who we are. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:01.000 Actually, Paul says, you're the one who's died and been raised. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Which is a very total thing, right? 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.000 I mean, dead people are really dead. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.000 And raised people are really raised. 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:12.000 You're not just a little bit dead or a little bit raised. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:13.000 Just like Jesus, right? 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:15.000 Jesus died and rose. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:20.000 And so, yeah, you are a completely new person, spiritually. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.000 It's a huge thing. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.000 I mean, many people don't get that. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.000 I mean, many people, they think Christianity is like a hobby. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:30.000 Like something to improve your life. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Like yoga or gardening. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:36.000 And they come and, hey, I want to try out Christianity. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.000 Maybe it will make my marriage better. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.000 Maybe it will help me be a better person. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.000 Or, you know, it will give me peace. 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:47.000 You can't, you know, just add Christianity to your life. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:51.000 You can't, yeah, just, you know, try it out. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:53.000 This is dying and rising. 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.000 You know, you can't try out being born, right? 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Being born again. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:59.000 You can't try that out. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:02.000 This is a huge thing that there's a totally new you. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.000 The old you is dead. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:07.000 And there's a new you, a new life. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.000 That's what we do in baptism, right? 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.000 Baptism is not just, you know, people go in the water. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.000 It's not just to wash some things off them, something external. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.000 It's a picture that this person actually died. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.000 Right? 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:20.000 They're in the water. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:21.000 They're drowned. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:22.000 They're gone. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.000 We won't do that, of course. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.000 But we will... 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:29.000 And then there's a new person coming out. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.000 That's what baptism symbolizes, right? 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:33.000 You die and you rise. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:38.000 There was a time that people got a new name when they were baptized. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:39.000 Right? 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:41.000 They were because you were such a new person. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:42.000 It's a bit of a hassle here, right? 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:44.000 With your Hong Kong ID and those kind of things. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:45.000 We won't do that again. 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:46.000 But you get the point. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.000 You are completely new. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:50.000 And why does that matter? 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:56.000 Well, because don't all of us struggle with the old person that we are? 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:02.000 Don't we struggle with guilt and shame and being unworthy 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.000 and the things in our past and not just the things we've done, but the things that we are? 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:09.000 You know, how many of us are happy with ourselves? 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.000 So that's why we want to change, right? 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:16.000 And we think God looks at us as, you know, this terrible person. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.000 You know, many people who say, I wish I was dead in a way. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:24.000 Well, the wonderful news is you can be dead and be new. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:29.000 The old can be gone and the new can be here if you come to Jesus, right? 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:37.000 Because you died and were raised and your guilt and your shame and the unworthiness and your past, you've died. 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:38.000 All of that is gone. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:39.000 Right? 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:40.000 No more. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:42.000 It has no more impact on your life. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:43.000 It's all gone. 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:44.000 Spiritually, right? 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.000 You're now a perfect, beloved, holy child of God, raised from the dead. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:50.000 You are completely new. 00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:52.000 And that's wonderful. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:01.000 Every other aspect about you, I don't know, your sexuality, your desires, your exam results, your job, your success, your nationality, 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.000 whatever you think defines you. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.000 And I don't know how you feel about any of those things. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:08.000 All of that, in a way, is gone. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:10.000 Physically, maybe, it's still here. 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:12.000 Spiritually, there's a new you. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:14.000 That's new. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.000 You have the new start that everyone wants. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:18.000 Isn't that good news? 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:20.000 So many of us want to be new. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:23.000 I mean, how else can this happen? 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:27.000 No YouTube video will make you new. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:33.000 I mean, sometimes I meet someone who I haven't seen for two years, and I've got this cool beard now, right? 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:37.000 And the doctor told me to work out, and they see me, and, oh, new you. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.000 Well, it's not a really new me, right? 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:40.000 Ask my wife. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.000 It's just superficial. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.000 But spiritually, yeah, you can be new in Jesus. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:49.000 And it's something you can't do by yourself. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.000 If you're here, you wouldn't call yourself a Christian. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:59.000 If you want to change, if you want to make yourself new, the only way to do it is a miracle like this, like dying and rising. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.000 You can't do that by yourself, can you? 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.000 But in Jesus, you can. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:06.000 God has given Jesus a wonderful gift. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:07.000 You just need to trust him, right? 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.000 In Christ, with Christ. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.000 You need to be connected to Jesus. 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.000 But you can be new. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:14.000 A new you. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:15.000 Wonderful news. 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:19.000 But is it just identity? 00:15:19.000 --> 00:15:20.000 It can feel like that. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:22.000 And that's a wonderful truth. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.000 It's the most amazing truth. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:31.000 But it can feel like it's just, yeah, it can still feel quite separate from us because it's not physical. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:36.000 But second, in addition to a new you, there's new power. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:38.000 New power. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.000 If you are raised with Christ, you have new power. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.000 Jesus' resurrection power in you. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:47.000 That's what we see here in Romans 6. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.000 That's where Paul goes, right? 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:52.000 He talks about how we've been united, right? 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:58.000 Don't you know, verse 3, that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.000 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, right? 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:06.000 But then, what's the parallel later than in verse 4? 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:14.000 In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:19.000 He's not talking about our physical resurrection, that will come later, verse 5, 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.000 if we've been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:31.000 But the parallel, he says, is, well, Jesus was raised by the glory of the Father, and you can now walk in newness of life. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:33.000 You can live a new life. 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:37.000 Walking is kind of the metaphor for the Christian life. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.000 I don't know if it comes from numbers, right? 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.000 The Christian life is where you're walking through the desert. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.000 And so that's why it says walking. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Yeah, of course in numbers people weren't changed. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.000 That's why they all died in the wilderness. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:52.000 But it says walking in newness of life, right? 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.000 Just like Christ was raised. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:56.000 And how was Christ raised, right? 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.000 By the glory of the Father. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:17:04.000 All the glorious power of the Father by the Spirit raised the body of Jesus from the dead. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:13.000 And the kind of parallel means, well, that all the glorious power is now at work in you, so that you can walk in newness of life. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:15.000 You can live a new life. 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:16.000 Right? 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:18.000 Or verse 6. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:19.000 Right? 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:26.000 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.000 so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:34.000 And when you were united to Jesus' death, Jesus' death that dealt with sin, 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:40.000 he says that affects you, so that your body of sin, your sinful body might be brought to nothing. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 And you would no longer be enslaved to sin. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:49.000 You'd be set free from the slavery to sin, that is the natural human condition. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.000 Something really happened. 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.000 You are dead to sin. 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.000 You are alive to God. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.000 That is what it says. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:17:59.000 I don't know. 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:00.000 I love this image. 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.000 John Calvin talks about it. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.000 How, yeah, this idea that Christ's death and resurrection kind of working in us. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:12.000 Just as the twig draws substance and nourishment from the root to which it is grafted, 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:18.000 so those who receive baptism or with right faith truly feel the effective working of Christ's death 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:23.000 in the putting to death of their sinful nature, together with the working of his resurrection 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:26.000 and the making alive by the Spirit. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.000 Right? 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.000 You know, you see this twig on a tree and it's green. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:34.000 Where does it get all its sap and nutrition and nourishment from? 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.000 Well, from that tree that it's connected to. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.000 And Calvin says, you know, Jesus' death and resurrection, it kind of flows in you. 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:43.000 Right? 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:46.000 Because you're united to him by faith. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.000 Spiritually, that's flowing in you. 00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:49.000 And so you've changed. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:50.000 Right? 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.000 Which is important. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:56.000 It's not just, you know, it's not just a theory or a principle. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.000 It's real power. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:02.000 Because sometimes, you know, our salvation can feel like a legal transaction. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:03.000 Right? 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:04.000 Like adoption. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:06.000 Adoption is a wonderful thing. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.000 Right? 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:11.000 Where you, you know, we were sinners lost in the world, but then we are adopted to be God's 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:12.000 children. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:13.000 It's wonderful. 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:15.000 But adoption is just, can be just legal. 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:16.000 Right? 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:20.000 It happens legally out there somewhere, but it doesn't change me. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.000 If you have a family and they adopt a child, that child doesn't get new DNA. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:25.000 Right? 00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:27.000 It just gets a new legal status. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.000 And of course, that's true. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:35.000 But, you know, but Christian faith is more than that. 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:41.000 I think, you know, sometimes we want to illustrate the Christian life and we do this a bit wrongly 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:42.000 here. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:45.000 When we talk about why should you live differently. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.000 I don't know if you often heard this kind of be who you are. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:49.000 Right? 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:54.000 You take this family, maybe they're an English family and they adopt a child from another country 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:58.000 and that country, well, used to be a beggar on the streets and now, well, you're a part 00:19:58.000 --> 00:19:59.000 of a new family, so stop begging. 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:00.000 Right? 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:01.000 And, you know, speak English. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:04.000 You're now, you're now English, basically. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Now, that's, in a way that's true. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:11.000 Of course, the problem is that child doesn't know English. 00:20:11.000 --> 00:20:12.000 That child hasn't changed. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:13.000 Right? 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:14.000 Right? 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:16.000 And then it's quite cruel to just say, be who you are. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.000 Like, pretend to be something that actually you're not. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:22.000 That you'll be later one day. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:24.000 But no, that's not what it says. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.000 You have power. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:26.000 You have changed. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.000 You are dead to sin and alive to God. 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Verse 11. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:35.000 Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:41.000 Not pretend, but, you know, just know, think, remember that you are dead to sin and alive 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:42.000 to God. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Spiritually, you were with Jesus on the cross when he dealt with sin and so you have changed. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:51.000 And you were spiritually with Jesus when he rose and you have changed. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.000 Yeah? 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.000 It's not just be who you are legally. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:55.000 Be who you are spiritually. 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:57.000 It's a bit like new DNA. 00:20:57.000 --> 00:21:00.000 I'm not saying the legal is not important. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.000 I mean, the legal, of course, is fundamental. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.000 Ultimately, a child doesn't want new DNA. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:06.000 He wants a new family. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:07.000 Right? 00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.000 And we don't just want resurrection power. 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:10.000 We want to be with Jesus. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.000 We want to be saved. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:12.000 Right? 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.000 That's what we really want. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:15.000 And yet, it's more than that. 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:16.000 Right? 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:17.000 God gives us change. 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:18.000 He gives us new power. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:21.000 And so how should we apply that? 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:22.000 How does the Bible apply it? 00:21:22.000 --> 00:21:24.000 I don't know what you expect. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:25.000 Resurrection power. 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:30.000 Does it mean health and healing and all your problems sorted and everything going your 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.000 way? 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Well, it says new living. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:36.000 The Bible would say new living. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:38.000 How is it applied? 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.000 Well, verse 11, right? 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:45.000 If, you know, if you are dead to sin and alive to God, verse 11, let not sin therefore 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.000 reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:56.000 Do not present your members to sin as instruments to God, as instruments for unrighteousness, but 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.000 present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:00.000 Right? 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:01.000 Live a new life. 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.000 You know, you were a slave to sin, but you've been set free. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:07.000 You're free, so no longer live for sin. 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:08.000 Live for God. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:09.000 Right? 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:10.000 Stop living for sin. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.000 Be who you are. 00:22:11.000 --> 00:22:12.000 Be the new you. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:14.000 Be who you will be forever. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.000 I think that's quite obvious in the passage. 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:18.000 It's so clear. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.000 Right? 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.000 All the other letters, you know, put off the old self, put on the new self. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.000 It's all the same idea. 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:25.000 New living. 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:30.000 Now, when I say that, I guess there's two errors that we can make. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.000 Right? 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:35.000 I mean, some people think that it means we can be sinless, but of course we're not sinless. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:36.000 Right? 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:42.000 We're no longer enslaved to sin, but we still have a sinful body that's still calling us, 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:43.000 that we often listen to. 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:47.000 I mean, Paul wouldn't say, stop sinning, if Christians would never sin. 00:22:47.000 --> 00:22:48.000 Right? 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:52.000 He wouldn't have to ask the question, hey, shall we continue to sin? 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:55.000 Clearly, Christians are not sinless. 00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.000 And yet, at the same time, we are not helpless. 00:22:59.000 --> 00:23:04.000 Sometimes Christians, okay, we were still sinners, and they feel like, oh, I'm just a hopeless sinner. 00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:07.000 I'm going to be sinning for the rest of my life. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:11.000 I sin so much more than I realize, and what's the point? 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:15.000 Christians would just feel defeated, and I can never change. 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:16.000 God doesn't expect me to change. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.000 I'll just keep living and sinning. 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:21.000 That's not it, right? 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:25.000 I think that's a person who, I think that's a misunderstanding of Romans 7. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:27.000 We'll talk about that another time. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:29.000 But no, you have changed. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:31.000 There is real resurrection power. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.000 Christians can change. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.000 Christians should change. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:36.000 Right? 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:40.000 Sometimes our standards are just too low. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:43.000 No, actually, Jesus wants you to change. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.000 I mean, if he wanted you to stay the same, why would he die for you? 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:47.000 Right? 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.000 He wants you to change. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:51.000 And so you don't have to sin. 00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:53.000 You have been set free from sin. 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:54.000 You don't have to listen. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:59.000 We can live, yeah, we can live differently. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:06.000 Because when I say that some of us are very sensitive and worried, like, oh, man, there's still so much sin in my life. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:07.000 Have I changed? 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.000 Am I in Christ? 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:10.000 Do I have this? 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.000 Well, the Bible doesn't tell us to worry about it. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:15.000 I mean, we're all different, right? 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.000 We are different personalities, different histories. 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:22.000 Sin has worked in different ways in our lives, different levels of maturity. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:27.000 There isn't the kind of standard, and if you're above the standard, you're great, and underneath. 00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:29.000 It doesn't work like that. 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:32.000 I think the best way is just progress. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.000 Is there progress in your life? 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:37.000 Compare your life now with five years ago. 00:24:37.000 --> 00:24:39.000 Have you grown? 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:40.000 Right? 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:43.000 Are you living differently from how you lived five years ago? 00:24:43.000 --> 00:24:46.000 That's a great thing, right? 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.000 Or even one year ago, right? 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:49.000 How have you changed? 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:51.000 If there's progress, that's great. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:56.000 Of course, if things have gone backwards, like, man, five years ago, I was very different. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:58.000 I was much holier. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.000 Then, of course, let's talk about that. 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.000 Maybe something's going on. 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.000 But is there progress? 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:08.000 Not, have you met a standard? 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.000 Is there progress? 00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:11.000 I think that's the way to apply it. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:18.000 But then, of course, the next question is, how do I live like this? 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:21.000 Okay, we have resurrection power. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.000 We can live differently. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:23.000 How do I do this? 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:29.000 Is this something magic that's kind of where, you know, definitely to conjure up? 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.000 It doesn't work like that. 00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:34.000 So just three things to finish, almost. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:36.000 How do we live differently? 00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:38.000 How do we live this out? 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:43.000 I mean, first of all, I hope you have seen, you should grow in your faith. 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:45.000 How does this come? 00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:48.000 It comes from our relationship with Jesus, right? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:49.000 Because we're united with Jesus. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:57.000 So if your relationship with Jesus is growing, that will, you know, that will affect your connection with him. 00:25:57.000 --> 00:26:00.000 Well, if it's a very bad relationship, that will affect you, right? 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.000 So we should generally be growing in our faith, right? 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:04.000 Abiding in Christ. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.000 Abiding in Christ. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.000 We heard that last week. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:12.000 Second thing, I think definitely pray in a moment, right? 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.000 You want to say no to sin, I guess you want to pray. 00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:20.000 You want to do something good that you feel you are unable to do. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.000 You don't have the courage or the strength to do it. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.000 You know? 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:26.000 Call out to God, right? 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:29.000 Because ultimately it's his power, not ours. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.000 But for the rest, I think we should just try it. 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.000 I mean, how do you depend on God doing this? 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.000 Well, you try it and you do it. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.000 I don't know if you understand what I mean. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:45.000 I mean, again, the doctor told me to work out. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:48.000 How do I know that I have the strength to do 20 push-ups? 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:50.000 How do I know that? 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:52.000 I don't just look at the floor, right? 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.000 That's not how I know that. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.000 I'm not waiting for a tingling feeling. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:57.000 How do you know it? 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.000 You get on the floor and you do push-ups, 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:02.000 which I'm not going to do now, but you know what I mean, right? 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.000 You just do it. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:10.000 No, we have full service, so later if you want to. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.000 But you get the point, right? 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:14.000 You just, you know, if you think you've got, 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:17.000 if you believe God is doing this in you, 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:19.000 you just do it, right? 00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:23.000 Which means if you are, okay, here's one of my favorite books, 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.000 Enjoying God by Tim Chester, 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:28.000 talking about how we relate to each person of the Trinity 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:30.000 and what they do in our lives. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.000 He talks about the Spirit's power, and he says, 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.000 well, yeah, you need to just do it. 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.000 If you want to see the Spirit at work in your life, 00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:41.000 then attempt things that you feel you can't do without his help, right? 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:46.000 You do something that you think you can't do, and you find out you can do it. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.000 Do not complain that God never does anything dramatic in your life 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.000 if you never attempt anything outside your comfort zone. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:56.000 That's great advice. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:02.000 So maybe you are, you want to say no to sin, you're tempted. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:05.000 So easy to give up. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:08.000 But how do you find the strength to resist sin? 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:10.000 Well, by resisting. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:11.000 And by going on resisting. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.000 And then, yeah. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.000 So it doesn't mean that you're not tempted. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.000 There will be temptation, but you know, you have the power when you resist. 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:22.000 That's when you find out, hey, I'm no longer enslaved. 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:23.000 God is helping me. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:24.000 Maybe living for God. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:29.000 Maybe finding the courage to talk about Jesus to one of your colleagues. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:32.000 Or having that difficult conversation. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.000 Or spending time in prayer. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:37.000 Or loving someone who is difficult. 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:42.000 You know, you do it, and then you find out that actually I can do it. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:44.000 That's, I think, how it works. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:45.000 Don't wait for a sign. 00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:47.000 Don't wait for a feeling. 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:50.000 I think it's very, I mean, otherwise the Bible would tell us, right? 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:53.000 Paul would actually give us, okay, here are the ten steps. 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:54.000 It's not there. 00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.000 Paul says do it. 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:58.000 And so try it, right? 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:00.000 So maybe that's my challenge this week. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:02.000 Do something outside your comfort zone. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:05.000 Can you try and do something out of your comfort zone this week? 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:07.000 That would be a great thing. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:08.000 And you might be surprised. 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:10.000 Because you are raised with Christ. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.000 You have changed. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:14.000 We can live a new life. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.000 Not just individually. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:17.000 As a church. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Because going back to the world change. 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:26.000 Wouldn't it be amazing if here's a whole community, all of raised people. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.000 How different would it be, right? 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:33.000 If all of us empowered by Christ's resurrection, all of us living a new life of love, wouldn't 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:34.000 that be so different? 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:36.000 Wouldn't that change the world? 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:42.000 I said in the beginning, you know, Jesus' resurrection didn't seem to change the world, right? 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:43.000 No one noticed. 00:29:43.000 --> 00:29:44.000 That's true. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:46.000 They didn't notice Jesus walking out of the tomb. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:51.000 But they noticed that within a few years there were Christians everywhere. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:53.000 People who were different. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.000 People who said no to sin. 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:56.000 People who loved. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:57.000 Who loved their enemies. 00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.000 Who loved the unworthy. 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:00.000 Who loved the marginalized. 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.000 Who lived sacrificially holy lives. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:07.000 And as the church grew, the world grew in so many ways. 00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:14.000 So how is God going to change, you know, your family, your neighborhoods, your school, your 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.000 workplace? 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:17.000 It's going to be through us. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:18.000 As we change. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:21.000 As we live, you know, by Christ's death and resurrection. 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:24.000 Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for Wong Chu Hang to change? 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:25.000 For Hong Kong to change? 00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:27.000 The world to change? 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:28.000 Why don't we? 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:30.000 Yeah, that's such a great vision. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.000 Why don't we pray for that? 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:36.000 And yeah, I'll pray and then we all will pray in song. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.000 A great song. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:43.000 Our Father, these are truths that we don't often think about. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:48.000 What you've done for us, not just in the past, in the future, but right now in our lives. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:53.000 Help us to believe these truths, to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:54.000 Thank you for doing that. 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.000 Because we are sinners. 00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.000 The only thing we deserve from you in our lives now is judgment. 00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:01.000 And yet you gave us the grace. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:02.000 You forgave us. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:03.000 You adopted us. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:04.000 And then you changed us. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.000 Please, would we be able to live that out? 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:08.000 Help us to grow. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:09.000 Help us to pray. 00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:11.000 But help us to live this out. 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:12.000 And would you use us? 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:15.000 Would you transform this city? 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:17.000 Transform the places where we are through us? 00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:22.000 Would your church be, yeah, your instrument here in this world? 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:23.000 We ask this in Jesus' name. 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:24.000 Amen.