WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.580 Well, good morning. 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:09.120 How many of you have read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott? Anybody? 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:09.120 00:00:09.120 --> 00:00:09.120 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:10.839 How many of you have watched the movie? 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:18.300 I am not particularly a fan of either one. 00:00:19.580 --> 00:00:23.100 I don't think I was the demographic that she was writing for. 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:29.800 But listen, there's a quote from that book. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.780 That I think most of us can relate to. 00:00:33.859 --> 00:00:38.240 She wrote, I keep turning over new leaves and spoiling them. 00:00:38.539 --> 00:00:41.840 And I make so many beginnings, there never will be an end. 00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:45.980 How many of you have maybe made a big change? 00:00:46.299 --> 00:00:48.140 Made a new beginning, a fresh start? 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:54.460 And maybe you moved to a new place or you started a new job or started a new relationship. 00:00:54.460 --> 00:00:57.519 Or maybe you came to church. 00:00:57.620 --> 00:00:59.840 Maybe you gave your life to Jesus and started something new. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:10.140 And you realize that the problem with the new phase or the new thing is that it's still the same you in the new location. 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:13.579 It's still the same person working the new job. 00:01:13.579 --> 00:01:21.739 The problem usually is we take the same self with us wherever we go, whatever we're doing. 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:31.519 And I think the ancient philosopher Confucius was on to something when he said, no matter where you go, there you are. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:36.199 It's still you, right? 00:01:39.199 --> 00:01:41.659 It's one thing to change your location. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:46.579 It's another thing entirely to change your nature. 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:48.340 To change you. 00:01:49.199 --> 00:01:50.280 To change me. 00:01:50.280 --> 00:02:02.060 For every one of us in the room today, whether you have been a follower of Christ for many years or you're just exploring your faith. 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:06.340 This is the reality of the Christian life. 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:07.460 And it can be frustrating. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:10.800 We know we're what we call saved. 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:16.060 Saved from the curse of sin, the punishment of sin, the effects of sin. 00:02:17.340 --> 00:02:21.759 By the work of Jesus Christ that he did on the cross through his resurrection. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:23.240 We have that power. 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:24.740 We have that identity in Christ. 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:25.740 I'm a child of God. 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:27.439 I'm no longer a slave to fear. 00:02:27.500 --> 00:02:28.640 And that's what we're going to talk about today. 00:02:29.480 --> 00:02:33.719 But oftentimes we don't feel that way. 00:02:33.900 --> 00:02:39.480 We don't see it take shape in our Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:52.100 So Paul is writing in Romans chapter 8 to show us how God gets us out of the wilderness of never being able to change who we are. 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:58.719 And he starts with a massive foundational principle to the Christian life. 00:02:58.859 --> 00:03:00.299 It's called justification. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:04.579 Would you turn with me to Romans chapter 8 verse 1? 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:06.780 Romans chapter 8. 00:03:06.840 --> 00:03:10.439 We've been in Paul's letter to the churches in Rome for many weeks now. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.599 We started at the back of the epistle. 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.240 We're working our way to the front. 00:03:15.659 --> 00:03:18.079 Kind of doing it backwards to shake it up a little bit. 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:21.459 And we get a slightly different perspective when we do it that way. 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:26.439 So Romans chapter 8 beginning in verse 1. 00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:33.480 Some of the greatest words Paul probably ever wrote most impactful for child of God are these in verse 1. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:39.659 So therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in the Messiah, Jesus. 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:43.280 Church, I know we don't stand for every reading of the scriptures. 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:46.860 Would you mind joining me in standing on this first section here? 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:50.020 Romans 8 verses 1. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:52.680 If you're able to, join us in standing. 00:03:53.320 --> 00:03:57.660 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ. 00:03:57.780 --> 00:03:58.280 Why not? 00:03:58.680 --> 00:03:59.140 Verse 2. 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:05.600 Because the law of the spirit of the life in the Messiah, Jesus, released you from the law of sin and death. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:14.219 For God has done what the law, in parentheses being weak because of human flesh, what it was incapable of doing. 00:04:14.859 --> 00:04:18.459 God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:22.959 And as a sin offering and right there in the flesh, what did he do? 00:04:23.159 --> 00:04:24.639 He condemned sin. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:25.899 Verse 4. 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:36.860 This was in order that the right and proper verdict of the law could be fulfilled in us as we live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:04:37.219 --> 00:04:38.039 Would you join me in praying? 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:44.219 God, we thank you for these words, which you gave to your servant Paul so many years ago. 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:48.759 He passed them on through Phoebe, the message carrier to the church in Rome. 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.180 And they needed this at this time. 00:04:51.259 --> 00:04:53.699 They needed to be reminded who they were in Christ. 00:04:54.339 --> 00:05:00.599 Jew, Gentile, rule followers, struggling with traditions. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.800 All of them were under this grace. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:06.659 And there was no condemnation now that could be held against them. 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.980 And God, I thank you that we find ourselves in the same standing. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:11.519 With the same identity. 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:12.579 With the same promise. 00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:15.560 I pray that we would hold on to it tightly. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:16.699 That we would never let it go. 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:22.699 And that we would use it to remind ourselves who we are in you and the great purpose you have for us. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:23.920 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:24.259 Amen. 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:24.979 You may be seated. 00:05:25.099 --> 00:05:25.699 Thanks for standing. 00:05:27.979 --> 00:05:38.000 This is a bedrock doctrine or long-held, firmly-held, concrete belief of the Christian life, of the Christian faith. 00:05:38.579 --> 00:05:39.899 It is called justification. 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:44.980 It is a legal verdict handed down to us from God himself. 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:47.520 You are safe, secure, you're forgiven. 00:05:47.980 --> 00:05:53.700 But Paul then immediately pivots to say, God doesn't just want to change your legal status. 00:05:54.080 --> 00:05:56.960 He also wants to change your daily reality. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:58.980 He wants to change your nature. 00:05:59.860 --> 00:06:03.879 So he reminds us that our security in Christ is absolute. 00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:04.460 It's final. 00:06:04.780 --> 00:06:06.300 No one can condemn you. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:12.379 Now, I'm sad to say that religion has often done a lot of condemning. 00:06:13.460 --> 00:06:16.639 We've gotten a reputation for that, so to speak. 00:06:17.100 --> 00:06:19.860 You go to church and you're going to hear about all the things you shouldn't do. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:25.180 And then you're going to get looked, somebody's going to look down their nose at you or look at you cross ways or shake their finger at you. 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:32.360 If they catch you doing something they feel you shouldn't do, Christ says there is no condemnation. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.500 Through his servant Paul, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:39.720 Why? 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:47.519 Because we have been released by the spirit of life found in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:51.780 We have been released through that spirit from the law of sin and death. 00:06:51.779 --> 00:06:53.799 What law are they talking about? 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:56.819 The law that was given by God to his people. 00:06:57.719 --> 00:06:58.879 Read about it in the Old Testament. 00:06:59.039 --> 00:07:03.079 You've got the Ten Commandments, the most famous summary of this law. 00:07:03.739 --> 00:07:07.000 But so many laws were given by God to his people. 00:07:07.379 --> 00:07:09.639 He said that law could never free you. 00:07:10.799 --> 00:07:14.979 That law was there to show you how you cannot measure up. 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:19.099 That law was there to show you this is how perfect God is. 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:21.900 This is what he requires his people to be. 00:07:22.100 --> 00:07:24.160 You're never going to be able to be that. 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:30.640 So when you get Pharisees or keepers of the law who says, I've kept the law. 00:07:31.260 --> 00:07:32.280 No, you haven't. 00:07:33.820 --> 00:07:35.379 You have been selfish. 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:42.860 You have held other things above God and above what his heart is for, which is people. 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.520 So no one can truly keep the law completely. 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:55.699 God gave it to us as a guideline, ultimately to keep us from unnecessary evil in this world, 00:07:55.819 --> 00:07:58.979 but ultimately to drive us back into his arms. 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:01.159 Say, God, I can't do this on my own. 00:08:01.299 --> 00:08:02.000 I need you. 00:08:02.159 --> 00:08:03.000 I need your grace. 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:11.659 So the law of the spirit of Jesus, life in Christ, releases us from that law of sin and death. 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:14.480 So this is where we're going today. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:19.060 From Romans 8, we read 1 through 4. 00:08:19.140 --> 00:08:20.720 We're about to pick it up in verse 5. 00:08:20.780 --> 00:08:22.300 We're not going to do the entire chapter today. 00:08:22.380 --> 00:08:23.920 We're going to save some of that for next week. 00:08:24.260 --> 00:08:28.440 But we have this theme before us. 00:08:28.960 --> 00:08:33.000 We are no longer slaves to the law. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:41.940 And even more than that, we're no longer slaves, not just to the law, but to the sin that the law reveals. 00:08:44.019 --> 00:08:52.279 So we don't have to be slaves, not just to the rules, but also we don't have to be slaves to our own inability to keep the rules. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:53.960 You understand what he's saying? 00:08:53.960 --> 00:08:57.660 If it's not clear yet, I pray that by the end it will be. 00:08:59.180 --> 00:09:01.340 We've got some doctrines here that we're looking at. 00:09:01.900 --> 00:09:04.800 Throughout this passage, what do we say doctrines were? 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:09.340 It's these long-held concrete beliefs of the faith of Jesus Christ. 00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:13.080 So the first doctrine that we're looking at is this doctrine of justification. 00:09:13.980 --> 00:09:16.700 I've heard a definition of justification. 00:09:17.379 --> 00:09:21.100 Somebody said it's that you're made just as if you never sinned. 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:25.300 And there's an essence of that in it, but it's so much more than that. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:33.879 It is a legal standing before God that says, not only has it been made just as if you never sinned, that's not quite it. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:38.779 It's more that God has freed you from the curse of sin. 00:09:41.920 --> 00:09:44.580 That's more what justification is implying. 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:53.120 That as long as you were under this curse of sin, and we're going way back to the very beginning, Adam and Eve and the fall of man. 00:09:53.320 --> 00:10:01.379 And, you know, even before that to the rebellion in heaven and Lucifer, the angel being cast out with all the demons. 00:10:01.660 --> 00:10:06.200 And we go way back to this origin of sin or going against God. 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:10.440 Justification is freeing you from that. 00:10:10.520 --> 00:10:13.040 We're all born under this curse of sin. 00:10:13.780 --> 00:10:15.379 Somebody has to free us from it. 00:10:15.700 --> 00:10:18.580 Otherwise, we're slaves to it. 00:10:19.920 --> 00:10:26.720 So justification is being freed from slavery to sin. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:42.600 So, number one, verses 5 through 11 highlight this theme, changing our focus. 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:46.779 If we want to understand what Paul is writing about in verses 5 through 11. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:48.899 By the way, let me just jump in here real quick. 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:59.220 Romans chapter 8 is arguably the most impactful writing that Paul ever did. 00:11:00.319 --> 00:11:04.919 It is the central theme of the book of Romans, the letter of Romans. 00:11:06.379 --> 00:11:09.779 It's what he used to illustrate the point that he was making. 00:11:09.899 --> 00:11:16.079 Way back in the first couple of weeks of this series on Romans, we understood what Paul was trying to accomplish with this church in Rome. 00:11:16.179 --> 00:11:17.199 They were a divided church. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:20.660 You got the old long-standing Jewish Christians. 00:11:20.800 --> 00:11:22.500 Now, listen, they were all followers of Christ. 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:27.640 Jesus was not that long in the tomb, then risen from the dead and gone back to heaven. 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:32.540 He'd given his command to his people to go across the world and preach the gospel. 00:11:33.180 --> 00:11:38.780 And not long after this, still fresh in their minds, 00:11:38.779 --> 00:11:43.819 these long-standing historic Jewish Christians, 00:11:43.819 --> 00:11:47.799 now believing that Jesus was their long-promised Messiah. 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:53.299 And then these new Gentile Christians were trying to make it work together. 00:11:54.339 --> 00:11:55.819 The Jews had had to leave Rome. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.459 They'd been cast out by the Emperor Claudius, 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:00.319 and then they got to come back. 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:01.240 And now, 00:12:01.779 --> 00:12:04.059 they're trying to mesh together. 00:12:04.059 --> 00:12:06.879 Well, yes, we all believe in Jesus. 00:12:07.059 --> 00:12:08.319 We all want to follow Jesus. 00:12:08.959 --> 00:12:09.759 But wait a minute. 00:12:10.299 --> 00:12:13.379 You also got to keep all these laws that were given to us by God. 00:12:14.259 --> 00:12:17.939 Let me break out the Torah and start reading you some of these laws that God told us to keep. 00:12:18.599 --> 00:12:20.539 You Gentiles have to keep those too. 00:12:20.619 --> 00:12:21.379 And the Gentiles were like, 00:12:21.459 --> 00:12:21.839 Wait a minute. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:25.040 We weren't signing up for all your Jewish laws. 00:12:25.160 --> 00:12:25.980 We believe in Jesus. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:27.080 What are you talking about? 00:12:27.600 --> 00:12:29.120 So they're trying to make this work. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.740 So Paul's trying to accomplish this by reminding them who they are in Christ, 00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:35.500 what it's really all about. 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:38.519 And Romans 8 is the pivotal moment. 00:12:38.660 --> 00:12:41.480 It's where it all turns right here in Romans 8. 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:42.960 So let's pick it up in verse 5. 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:44.700 Look at it like this. 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:47.259 People whose lives are determined by human flesh 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:51.040 focus their minds on matters to do with the flesh. 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:55.700 But people whose lives are determined by the Spirit 00:12:55.700 --> 00:12:58.860 focus their minds on matters to do with the Spirit. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:01.220 So verse 6, he gives instruction. 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:04.480 Focus the mind on the flesh and you'll die. 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:09.259 But focus it on the Spirit and you'll have life and peace. 00:13:10.840 --> 00:13:12.500 Well, that's a dichotomy there. 00:13:12.500 --> 00:13:14.540 You want death or you want life and peace. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:16.420 Everybody's pursuing life and peace. 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:21.500 Whether you're in the medical profession or whatever you're doing, 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.620 your ultimate goal is life and peace. 00:13:26.560 --> 00:13:31.379 He says, focus your mind on the Spirit of God 00:13:31.379 --> 00:13:33.340 and you'll have life and peace. 00:13:33.540 --> 00:13:37.920 Verse 7, the mind focused on the flesh, you see, is hostile to God. 00:13:38.420 --> 00:13:40.060 It doesn't submit to God's law. 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:41.500 It can't. 00:13:41.500 --> 00:13:46.360 In fact, it cannot submit to God's law. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.039 Those who are determined by the flesh cannot please God. 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:54.360 Verse 9, but you're not people of the flesh. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:56.539 You are people of the Spirit. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:13:58.639 If indeed God's Spirit lives within you, 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:03.000 note that anyone who doesn't have the Spirit of Jesus does not belong to him. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.740 But if the Messiah, if Jesus Christ is in you, 00:14:07.059 --> 00:14:10.220 the body is indeed dead because of sin, 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:15.679 but the Spirit is alive because of covenant justice. 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:17.860 Verse 11, so then, 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:23.820 if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you, 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:30.020 the one who raised the Messiah from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies too 00:14:30.020 --> 00:14:32.680 through his Spirit which lives within you. 00:14:32.760 --> 00:14:33.600 What's he talking about? 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.700 He's hearkening back to Exodus 14. 00:14:38.100 --> 00:14:39.080 Ready for this? 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:41.220 You don't have to turn there right now. 00:14:41.620 --> 00:14:46.120 It stretches way too long of passages for us to dive into it all this morning. 00:14:46.120 --> 00:14:49.179 But in Exodus 14 all the way through Exodus 17, 00:14:49.460 --> 00:14:52.259 we read about the wandering in Egypt, 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:53.860 the wandering in the desert. 00:14:54.279 --> 00:14:55.560 After being freed from Egypt, 00:14:56.100 --> 00:14:58.000 God miraculously parts the Red Sea. 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.039 He delivers his people out of slavery in Egypt. 00:15:01.379 --> 00:15:02.639 They were legally free. 00:15:03.299 --> 00:15:05.580 They'd been justified in some ways. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:08.759 But then if you read in Exodus 16 and 17, 00:15:08.899 --> 00:15:09.460 what do they do? 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:12.259 Do they praise God for his freedom? 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:15.940 When things get tough in the desert, 00:15:15.940 --> 00:15:16.400 what do they do? 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:16.900 They grumble. 00:15:17.040 --> 00:15:17.600 They complain. 00:15:19.140 --> 00:15:20.000 They blame. 00:15:23.260 --> 00:15:24.980 Because they'd been pulled out of Egypt. 00:15:26.260 --> 00:15:29.040 But you could say that Egypt hadn't been pulled out of them yet. 00:15:30.420 --> 00:15:31.480 You ever felt that way? 00:15:33.160 --> 00:15:36.180 God saved me from sin, 00:15:36.900 --> 00:15:40.720 but he hadn't saved all the sin out of me yet. 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:42.920 Anybody identify with that? 00:15:42.919 --> 00:15:43.959 God saved me from sin. 00:15:43.959 --> 00:15:44.379 God saved me from sin. 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:44.959 God saved me from sin. 00:15:44.959 --> 00:15:48.819 So Paul's using this as an example to show you 00:15:48.819 --> 00:15:51.839 that God is interested in changing your nature, 00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:53.559 what he calls the flesh. 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:59.799 When we try to live according to the old Egypt way of thinking, 00:15:59.939 --> 00:16:02.119 the old slavery way of thinking, 00:16:02.599 --> 00:16:03.519 the old, 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.199 this is how I've always done it, 00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:07.779 this is how I've always learned it, 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:10.119 I have to get what's best for me. 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:11.319 I have to be selfish. 00:16:11.539 --> 00:16:13.199 I have to look out for my own interests. 00:16:13.719 --> 00:16:15.959 This is being a slave to sin. 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:18.539 It's thinking with the flesh. 00:16:18.539 --> 00:16:22.740 Paul says God is trying to change that in you. 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:34.139 Psalm 106 verse 21 talks about the children of Israel wandering in the desert. 00:16:34.319 --> 00:16:36.819 They forgot the God who saved them, 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:39.939 who had done great things in Egypt. 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:41.139 Yeah, he had. 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:46.419 All the miracles, the plagues that got Pharaoh's attention 00:16:46.419 --> 00:16:48.659 and finally let him free the people 00:16:48.659 --> 00:16:52.580 and then he changes his mind as they're just about to get out of town 00:16:52.580 --> 00:16:54.519 and sends his soldiers after him 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:58.240 and God miraculously delivers them with the parting of the Red Sea. 00:16:59.220 --> 00:17:02.480 God did great things freeing them. 00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.119 God did great things freeing you from sin. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.859 God did miraculous things freeing me from sin. 00:17:09.859 --> 00:17:15.000 He sent his only son, Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, 00:17:15.699 --> 00:17:21.379 lived among us, took off his heavenly royal robes 00:17:21.379 --> 00:17:24.179 and lived among us, humbled himself like a man, 00:17:25.159 --> 00:17:27.079 performed great miracles, healed people, 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:29.740 incredible things that no one else could do 00:17:29.740 --> 00:17:34.139 and then he willingly laid down his life to free us, 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:37.339 to conquer, to pay off our sin debt 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:41.599 and then in God's power raised him from the dead. 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:48.019 Great things, miraculous things God did to free us from sin. 00:17:49.419 --> 00:17:51.480 But are we like the children of Israel 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:54.819 who we then forget what he's done? 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:56.579 Oh, we know it in our heads, 00:17:56.579 --> 00:18:00.740 but that doesn't translate to our nature 00:18:00.740 --> 00:18:03.319 and we go running back 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:05.939 to slavery, to sin. 00:18:06.019 --> 00:18:07.179 What did the children of Israel do? 00:18:09.419 --> 00:18:11.039 Immediately, they started thinking, 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:13.500 man, at least we had enough to eat in Egypt. 00:18:14.220 --> 00:18:15.240 Yeah, we were slaves. 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:16.240 Yeah, life was terrible, 00:18:16.399 --> 00:18:18.839 but at least they provided for our basic needs. 00:18:19.059 --> 00:18:20.480 We're out here wandering in the desert. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.000 We don't know where our next meal is going to come from. 00:18:24.180 --> 00:18:25.420 And they blamed God 00:18:25.420 --> 00:18:27.640 because they forgot the one who had saved them. 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:35.440 The flesh that Paul's talking about in Romans 8 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:38.779 is not this flesh, our physical skin, right? 00:18:40.860 --> 00:18:44.740 It's the old, stubborn, me-first attitude. 00:18:45.420 --> 00:18:47.620 It's the default human setting. 00:18:47.619 --> 00:18:50.199 It's what we were programmed with 00:18:50.199 --> 00:18:51.959 under this curse of sin. 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:55.719 It's what the prophet Ezekiel calls a heart of stone. 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:57.579 And God's looking at his people 00:18:57.579 --> 00:18:59.359 and he's speaking through Ezekiel, his prophet. 00:18:59.659 --> 00:19:03.119 He says, I will remove from you this heart of stone 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:05.639 and I will give you a heart of flesh. 00:19:05.699 --> 00:19:07.339 This is a different kind of flesh. 00:19:07.539 --> 00:19:08.819 This is a soft heart. 00:19:09.979 --> 00:19:12.759 So what Paul is calling flesh in Romans 8, 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:14.959 Ezekiel is calling a heart of stone 00:19:14.959 --> 00:19:17.219 back in Ezekiel 36. 00:19:18.619 --> 00:19:21.819 God is saying he wants to change your nature. 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:24.519 Verses 5 through 8, Paul says, 00:19:24.679 --> 00:19:26.639 a mindset on the flesh, Romans 8, 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:28.219 is hostile to God. 00:19:28.459 --> 00:19:30.159 It's this old slave mindset 00:19:30.159 --> 00:19:32.779 that relies on self-preservation and fear. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:34.839 How many of y'all think slavery is wrong? 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.439 Can we agree on that? 00:19:36.619 --> 00:19:37.559 Is everybody, or can we? 00:19:38.299 --> 00:19:39.399 Not every hand is raised. 00:19:39.500 --> 00:19:40.619 I'm a little worried right now. 00:19:40.619 --> 00:19:45.500 So if slavery is wrong, 00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:48.500 then why do we subject ourselves 00:19:48.500 --> 00:19:50.579 to being slaves to sin? 00:19:51.299 --> 00:19:53.739 Jesus came to free us from that. 00:19:54.439 --> 00:19:57.479 We read about how he came to set the captives free. 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:02.220 Yes, he's interested in justice on this earth. 00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:04.680 Yes, God hates human slavery. 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:07.240 God also hates slavery to sin. 00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:11.299 He came to free us from its shackles. 00:20:11.299 --> 00:20:15.279 So these are also some doctrines 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:16.259 that we're looking at here. 00:20:16.619 --> 00:20:17.440 This is regeneration 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.940 and progressive sanctification. 00:20:20.099 --> 00:20:21.720 What does regeneration mean? 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.619 Regeneration means you're re-gened. 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:27.759 Like new DNA. 00:20:28.119 --> 00:20:29.000 Yes, thank you. 00:20:29.259 --> 00:20:29.960 God bless you. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:32.519 Harlan's a hero. 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:36.079 Thank you, sir. 00:20:36.460 --> 00:20:38.460 So regeneration means that, 00:20:38.700 --> 00:20:40.759 yes, we were born under the curse of sin. 00:20:40.859 --> 00:20:41.259 Thank you, sir. 00:20:42.279 --> 00:20:42.759 Perfect. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:47.319 God, through Jesus Christ, 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:48.900 rescued us from that. 00:20:49.099 --> 00:20:51.000 But it's more than just being freed. 00:20:51.339 --> 00:20:54.200 It's that you're now brought into, 00:20:54.420 --> 00:20:54.980 what he says, 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:57.039 grafted into the family of God. 00:20:57.379 --> 00:20:58.900 So how special is it 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:00.839 that you and I can say, 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:04.099 yes, God wants me in his family, 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:06.179 but he wants me as his child. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.899 Regeneration means. 00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:12.859 It's not just that we become a friend of God. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:13.779 That's part of it. 00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:16.579 But it's also that we become part of God's family 00:21:16.579 --> 00:21:19.059 that he's bringing us out of the curse of sin 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:22.359 and bringing us into his royal family. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:25.259 So regeneration is a special thing. 00:21:25.539 --> 00:21:27.679 That's why he says he wants to change our nature. 00:21:28.059 --> 00:21:29.339 It's natural for us 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:30.779 to want to go do the things of the flesh. 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:32.759 It's natural for us to want to go back 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:34.139 and live as though we're slaves to sin. 00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:36.679 He says, I want to change what's natural to you. 00:21:37.500 --> 00:21:39.559 So if you say that's just who I am, 00:21:39.659 --> 00:21:41.339 that's never an excuse with God. 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:43.639 Isn't that sad? 00:21:44.159 --> 00:21:45.379 He takes away our excuses. 00:21:46.419 --> 00:21:48.220 Well, I just don't like doing this. 00:21:48.299 --> 00:21:49.579 Or that's just not who I am. 00:21:49.639 --> 00:21:51.839 That's just not how I tick. 00:21:52.459 --> 00:21:54.779 God wants to change what makes you tick. 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:56.779 He wants to change you. 00:21:57.019 --> 00:21:58.980 I've seen God change people's personalities. 00:21:58.980 --> 00:22:02.819 I've seen God take jerks and make them nice. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:05.940 I've never seen him do it the other way around. 00:22:07.380 --> 00:22:09.519 But God wants to re-gene you. 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:12.559 A lot of things are passed down for us, 00:22:12.700 --> 00:22:14.920 to us from generation to generation. 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:17.279 Proclivities to certain things. 00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:19.019 You know, just the way we're wired 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:21.120 and we're prone to this, we're prone to that. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.099 God can change all that. 00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:27.239 He's the one who ultimately programs all of us anyway. 00:22:28.019 --> 00:22:31.079 So regeneration is how God changes our nature. 00:22:31.500 --> 00:22:32.879 And then progressive sanctification 00:22:32.879 --> 00:22:35.799 is God changing us over time. 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:37.659 What does sanctification mean? 00:22:37.699 --> 00:22:39.500 To set apart, to make holy. 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:41.619 That doesn't happen all at once. 00:22:41.959 --> 00:22:43.159 When you choose Jesus, 00:22:43.959 --> 00:22:45.759 and he comes in and takes up residence 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.160 in your life by his spirit, 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:50.759 he does instantly transform you 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:52.599 into 100% different than you were before. 00:22:52.879 --> 00:22:53.819 It takes time. 00:22:54.259 --> 00:22:56.539 That's what we call progressive sanctification. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:58.839 It's progressing slowly over time, 00:22:59.579 --> 00:23:03.220 God changing you into more and more of his image. 00:23:03.680 --> 00:23:06.359 So, number two, changing your status. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:08.779 Thankfully, we only have two points today, 00:23:08.819 --> 00:23:09.940 and we're on the last one, okay? 00:23:10.820 --> 00:23:12.680 So first, changing your focus. 00:23:13.400 --> 00:23:16.080 Second, changing your status. 00:23:16.539 --> 00:23:18.700 If you change your focus from the things to the flesh 00:23:18.700 --> 00:23:20.660 to the things of the spirit, 00:23:21.100 --> 00:23:24.960 then you recognize how God has changed your status. 00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.220 Has anybody ever updated your status on social media? 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:33.340 What about your relationship status? 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:36.620 I'm talking more to the younger people in the room. 00:23:36.619 --> 00:23:38.819 If you're in a relationship, 00:23:39.179 --> 00:23:42.099 or there's the fun, it's complicated thing, 00:23:42.579 --> 00:23:45.119 you don't know exactly what your status is 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:46.119 with your relationship. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:49.019 But look, God wants you to understand 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:51.519 that your status is what he says it is, 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:52.919 not what you feel like it is. 00:23:55.139 --> 00:23:57.119 There might be times when you feel like, 00:23:57.199 --> 00:23:58.179 man, God loves me. 00:23:58.679 --> 00:23:59.699 God's the best. 00:24:00.019 --> 00:24:01.959 He's pouring out all these blessings on me. 00:24:01.959 --> 00:24:04.039 And there might be other times in life 00:24:04.039 --> 00:24:06.459 when you don't necessarily feel that way. 00:24:06.939 --> 00:24:08.979 That's why your status update 00:24:08.979 --> 00:24:11.559 should not depend on how you're feeling in the moment. 00:24:12.139 --> 00:24:16.039 Your status with God is what he decrees that it is. 00:24:17.179 --> 00:24:19.000 So let's look at verse 12. 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:23.299 Romans 8 and verse 12. 00:24:24.679 --> 00:24:26.019 So then, my dear family, 00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:27.739 we are in debt. 00:24:28.539 --> 00:24:29.299 Isn't that great? 00:24:29.299 --> 00:24:30.879 You came to church this morning 00:24:30.879 --> 00:24:31.919 to hear that you're in debt. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.440 He says, 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:35.720 but not to human flesh 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.200 to live our life in that way. 00:24:37.580 --> 00:24:38.980 If you live in accordance with the flesh, 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:39.759 you will die. 00:24:40.700 --> 00:24:41.559 But if by the spirit 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:43.740 you put to death the deeds of the body, 00:24:43.820 --> 00:24:44.320 you will live. 00:24:44.400 --> 00:24:44.960 Verse 14. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:47.500 All who are led by the spirit of God, 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:47.860 you see, 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:48.940 are God's children. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:50.700 You didn't receive a spirit of slavery, 00:24:50.860 --> 00:24:51.180 did you? 00:24:51.360 --> 00:24:53.580 To go back again into a state of fear. 00:24:54.259 --> 00:24:56.660 But you received the spirit of sonship. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:58.860 This is slavery versus sonship. 00:24:58.859 --> 00:24:59.859 Which would you rather be? 00:25:00.019 --> 00:25:01.379 A slave or a son? 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:04.259 You receive the spirit of sonship 00:25:04.259 --> 00:25:05.639 in whom we call out, 00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:07.299 Abba, Father. 00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:09.000 When that happens, 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:10.959 it is the spirit itself 00:25:10.959 --> 00:25:12.259 giving supporting witness 00:25:12.259 --> 00:25:14.279 to what our own spirit is saying 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:15.959 that we are God's children. 00:25:16.219 --> 00:25:17.819 And if we're God's children, 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:20.079 we are also heirs. 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:23.279 This is where that regeneration comes in. 00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:24.959 What does it mean to be an heir? 00:25:25.139 --> 00:25:26.879 You're in line to receive the blessing. 00:25:26.879 --> 00:25:28.619 You're in line to receive the inheritance. 00:25:28.859 --> 00:25:32.119 Because you have been re-gened 00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:33.279 into his family. 00:25:36.939 --> 00:25:38.419 And if we're heirs of God, 00:25:38.539 --> 00:25:40.039 we're fellow heirs with Jesus, 00:25:40.179 --> 00:25:40.659 the Messiah, 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:42.699 as long as we suffer with him 00:25:42.699 --> 00:25:46.199 so that we may also be glorified with him. 00:25:46.299 --> 00:25:47.599 That's where we'll stop for today. 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:48.659 But listen, 00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:49.479 I want to draw your attention 00:25:49.479 --> 00:25:50.939 to a couple things before we close. 00:25:53.819 --> 00:25:54.979 In the Old Testament, 00:25:55.299 --> 00:25:58.439 God called Israel his firstborn son. 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:00.019 The people of Israel, 00:26:00.099 --> 00:26:00.699 the Hebrew people. 00:26:01.479 --> 00:26:03.099 He rescued them from Pharaoh 00:26:03.099 --> 00:26:06.799 back in Exodus 4 and verse 22. 00:26:06.939 --> 00:26:09.639 He calls them his firstborn son. 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:11.519 I think we've got it on the screen here. 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:12.759 This is what the Lord says. 00:26:12.959 --> 00:26:14.699 Israel is my firstborn son. 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:16.059 So he loved them. 00:26:16.379 --> 00:26:17.679 What did we learn a few weeks ago? 00:26:18.199 --> 00:26:20.279 You have the Israel of the Old Testament. 00:26:20.279 --> 00:26:21.720 Well, then you have the church, 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:23.000 which God calls his people, 00:26:23.319 --> 00:26:24.220 of the New Testament. 00:26:24.500 --> 00:26:25.019 Here we are. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:25.859 We are the church. 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:27.099 There are many more churches 00:26:27.099 --> 00:26:28.220 all around this globe 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:31.660 full of God's people. 00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:32.559 So how do you... 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:32.779 What? 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:34.259 Did Israel go away 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:35.480 and now it's the church? 00:26:35.619 --> 00:26:35.940 No, no, no. 00:26:36.200 --> 00:26:38.559 God does not get rid of his son. 00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:40.139 He doesn't change his promise. 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:41.420 He doesn't break his covenant. 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:45.859 The church is the expansion of Israel. 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:45.939 Israel. 00:26:46.819 --> 00:26:48.859 It's not just the Hebrew people. 00:26:49.019 --> 00:26:51.219 God also brought in Gentiles. 00:26:51.479 --> 00:26:51.979 Thank God. 00:26:52.619 --> 00:26:54.179 They were the forerunner. 00:26:54.439 --> 00:26:55.559 They were the first edition. 00:26:56.099 --> 00:26:58.740 And then God brought in all of us. 00:26:58.899 --> 00:27:01.199 So we get to be part of his Israel. 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:03.459 We get to be part of his people. 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:09.740 So Israel broke their relationship with God. 00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:11.659 They rebelled against him. 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:14.740 But now through Jesus Christ, 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:18.880 God has instituted a new, 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:21.720 a true and unbreakable sonship 00:27:21.720 --> 00:27:24.380 for any of us who trust in him. 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:28.259 And this gets us to the doctrine of adoption. 00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:30.460 Adoption. 00:27:31.019 --> 00:27:33.980 We can be adopted in to God's family. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:37.019 And he does it on a concrete level 00:27:37.019 --> 00:27:38.380 through regeneration, right? 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:40.839 It's not something that can be revoked in court. 00:27:41.500 --> 00:27:42.079 God can't say, 00:27:42.259 --> 00:27:42.980 well, I adopted you, 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:44.240 but now I'm going to renounce that. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:46.779 It is concrete. 00:27:47.299 --> 00:27:48.220 It's set in stone. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.299 It's sealed in blood of Jesus Christ. 00:27:52.279 --> 00:27:53.900 Galatians chapter four and verse seven, 00:27:54.059 --> 00:27:55.559 Paul writes this and he says, 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:57.440 you are no longer a slave, 00:27:57.660 --> 00:27:58.759 but a son. 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:00.680 And if you are a son, 00:28:01.099 --> 00:28:03.460 then you are an heir through God. 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:06.940 How many of you want to receive an inheritance? 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:11.680 Like you get a magical rich uncle 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:12.779 that you never knew about 00:28:12.779 --> 00:28:14.720 and he died and he left you a million dollars. 00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:15.000 Anybody? 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:16.539 Yeah, that sounds great. 00:28:16.600 --> 00:28:17.620 I've been waiting for that to happen. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:19.539 I feel like I'm going to keep waiting. 00:28:20.600 --> 00:28:23.539 Far better than that kind of earthly inheritance 00:28:23.539 --> 00:28:26.140 would be an inheritance from God himself. 00:28:26.340 --> 00:28:27.880 And he says, you've got it. 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:30.060 You are an heir to it. 00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:32.660 You are an heir to everything, 00:28:32.860 --> 00:28:33.700 all the life, 00:28:33.840 --> 00:28:34.620 all the peace, 00:28:35.340 --> 00:28:36.720 all that I am, 00:28:36.840 --> 00:28:37.840 all that I have 00:28:37.840 --> 00:28:39.960 is available to you 00:28:39.960 --> 00:28:41.960 because of Jesus Christ. 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:45.079 you're no longer a slave to sin. 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:47.460 You are a son of God, 00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:48.440 a daughter of God. 00:28:48.519 --> 00:28:50.980 You are a child of God. 00:28:51.660 --> 00:28:54.840 And then in Romans eight and verse 15, 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:55.680 he says, 00:28:55.779 --> 00:28:57.360 you receive the spirit of sonship 00:28:57.360 --> 00:28:59.720 and you are able to now cry out, 00:28:59.900 --> 00:29:00.880 Abba, Father. 00:29:00.940 --> 00:29:03.519 We're not talking about the Scandinavian pop man 00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:04.740 from back in the day, Abba. 00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:09.480 We're talking about this endearing, 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:12.680 personal, intimate term 00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:13.700 for a father 00:29:13.700 --> 00:29:15.720 that a child would use. 00:29:16.620 --> 00:29:17.680 Old Testament Jews 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:20.559 would never refer to God as Abba. 00:29:21.360 --> 00:29:23.160 Be way too familiar for them. 00:29:24.299 --> 00:29:26.259 You could say it's kind of like daddy 00:29:26.259 --> 00:29:27.339 in today's world, 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:28.920 probably a little different from back then, 00:29:28.980 --> 00:29:30.400 but it's probably the closest thing we have. 00:29:32.680 --> 00:29:33.420 Paul says, 00:29:33.420 --> 00:29:36.539 you can now call God Abba. 00:29:39.480 --> 00:29:40.700 He's personal for you. 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:43.180 You don't have to be terrified 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:45.759 of this king of the universe 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.000 and hoping you get an audience with the king. 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:50.140 You can run right into the throne room. 00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:53.220 You can access him anytime you want. 00:29:53.860 --> 00:29:55.579 You have 24 seven access 00:29:55.579 --> 00:29:57.519 to the God of the universe 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:00.640 because he is your Abba Father. 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.039 You're his child. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.860 You're not a slave. 00:30:04.859 --> 00:30:06.979 You don't have to live in fear. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.939 So those are our doctrines. 00:30:11.219 --> 00:30:12.279 Justification, regeneration, 00:30:12.639 --> 00:30:13.619 progressive sanctification, 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:14.939 and adoption. 00:30:15.179 --> 00:30:15.979 Here's where we're finishing. 00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:17.959 We are no longer slaves, 00:30:18.099 --> 00:30:18.799 but we are children 00:30:18.799 --> 00:30:21.019 of our heavenly father. 00:30:22.899 --> 00:30:24.159 We've been reading Romans 00:30:24.159 --> 00:30:25.359 from the back to the front. 00:30:25.459 --> 00:30:26.819 We've been working through 00:30:26.819 --> 00:30:29.199 what Paul was trying to accomplish 00:30:29.199 --> 00:30:31.159 with this powerful, 00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:32.500 influential letter that he wrote. 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.200 If we want to be a church 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.920 that is like Jesus, 00:30:37.019 --> 00:30:38.059 that loves like Jesus, 00:30:38.059 --> 00:30:39.380 we have to stop living 00:30:39.380 --> 00:30:41.440 like spiritual slaves, 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:43.660 like orphans wandering 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:45.079 in the spiritual desert. 00:30:47.619 --> 00:30:49.740 We have to lean into our identity 00:30:49.740 --> 00:30:53.240 as adopted, regenerated children. 00:30:54.259 --> 00:30:56.759 And as we live out this identity, 00:30:58.059 --> 00:31:00.819 let's think of it in the context 00:31:00.819 --> 00:31:03.799 of what I believe God has set 00:31:03.799 --> 00:31:05.519 before our church for 2026, 00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:07.700 which is a year of direction, 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:08.399 not perfection. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:09.019 What does that mean? 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:11.439 Things aren't always going to be perfect. 00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:13.119 We're going to have hiccups. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:17.759 Sometimes you're not going to like the song. 00:31:18.659 --> 00:31:19.899 Sometimes the words on the screen 00:31:19.899 --> 00:31:20.679 are going to mess up. 00:31:22.899 --> 00:31:24.879 Sometimes somebody's going to walk by you 00:31:24.879 --> 00:31:25.799 and they're not going to say hi. 00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:29.899 Sometimes you're going to let somebody down. 00:31:30.519 --> 00:31:31.940 Sometimes you're going to let yourself down. 00:31:33.619 --> 00:31:34.919 Sometimes we're not going to do 00:31:34.919 --> 00:31:35.579 what we should do. 00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:37.319 Sometimes we are going to do 00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:38.000 what we shouldn't do. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:41.500 This is not going to be a year of perfection, 00:31:42.139 --> 00:31:44.039 but it is a year of direction 00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:46.159 that God has laid before us 00:31:46.159 --> 00:31:49.180 a direction to recenter our church 00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:51.799 on the person and work of Jesus Christ, 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:55.200 to remind us that we are not a social club. 00:31:55.940 --> 00:31:58.460 We're not just a group of people 00:31:58.460 --> 00:32:01.119 who maybe think alike or look alike 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:02.119 or act alike. 00:32:03.079 --> 00:32:05.339 We should be a very diverse 00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:08.799 from economic statuses, 00:32:08.859 --> 00:32:10.200 from race, from age, 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:12.940 from every dividing factor. 00:32:13.579 --> 00:32:15.440 We should be across the board, 00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:18.799 a group of people from all those spectrums 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.339 that get together 00:32:20.339 --> 00:32:23.539 under the brand of Jesus Christ, 00:32:24.139 --> 00:32:25.200 his love for us, 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:26.980 his sacrifice for us, 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:30.180 and that he has brought us in 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:31.619 and called us his own. 00:32:32.299 --> 00:32:33.819 Jews, Gentiles, 00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:36.659 young, old, rich, poor, 00:32:38.399 --> 00:32:42.919 Filipino, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:44.960 whatever your background is, 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:48.419 whatever labels humanity has put on you, 00:32:48.799 --> 00:32:50.500 God says you, 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:54.379 you, you are no longer a slave to sin. 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:56.899 You are a child of mine. 00:32:57.700 --> 00:32:58.700 Would you bow your heads with me? 00:33:05.919 --> 00:33:07.000 I don't want to assume 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:08.019 that everyone in this room 00:33:08.019 --> 00:33:09.819 is a child of God. 00:33:10.720 --> 00:33:12.399 Not everyone has made that choice. 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:15.440 Just because you're sitting in a church 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:18.080 doesn't automatically mean 00:33:18.080 --> 00:33:19.680 that you have chosen Jesus Christ 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:20.519 for your life. 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:22.539 Just because I go to a football game 00:33:22.539 --> 00:33:23.980 doesn't mean I'm on the Dallas Cowboys. 00:33:26.220 --> 00:33:28.240 Just because you're around the environment 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:30.600 doesn't mean that you've chosen Christ 00:33:30.600 --> 00:33:32.019 as your Savior, 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:34.000 as the forgiver of your sins, 00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:35.600 as your only hope. 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:38.400 So I encourage you, 00:33:38.480 --> 00:33:39.600 if there's someone here today 00:33:39.600 --> 00:33:41.400 who's been sitting here and says, 00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:42.380 yeah, that's interesting, 00:33:42.539 --> 00:33:43.240 and that sounds good, 00:33:43.240 --> 00:33:44.759 or I'm not even totally sure 00:33:44.759 --> 00:33:45.559 what you're talking about, 00:33:46.019 --> 00:33:47.839 but you feel the Spirit of God 00:33:47.839 --> 00:33:49.180 calling out to you today, 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:50.839 then please don't walk out these doors 00:33:50.839 --> 00:33:51.740 ignoring that. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:54.900 God, by His Word, 00:33:55.299 --> 00:33:58.120 can cut through a heart of stone 00:33:58.120 --> 00:33:59.380 and make it a heart of flesh. 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:03.380 We have a hard time changing ourselves, 00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:04.880 but God, by His Spirit, 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:05.940 can do what we cannot. 00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:08.079 So I'll ask this question 00:34:08.079 --> 00:34:08.860 with your heads bowed 00:34:08.860 --> 00:34:10.139 and your eyes closed for privacy. 00:34:10.139 --> 00:34:13.699 If maybe you feel the Spirit of God 00:34:13.699 --> 00:34:14.759 drawing you and say, 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:16.839 I want to give my life to Jesus today, 00:34:16.859 --> 00:34:18.099 I want to put all my faith in Him, 00:34:18.379 --> 00:34:19.460 would you slip your hand up now 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:20.159 and I'll pray for you? 00:34:22.799 --> 00:34:23.359 Thank you. 00:34:24.299 --> 00:34:25.440 Let me ask this question. 00:34:27.739 --> 00:34:29.019 There's somebody who says, 00:34:29.259 --> 00:34:30.539 I needed a reminder 00:34:30.539 --> 00:34:32.019 that I'm a child of God. 00:34:33.759 --> 00:34:35.500 Maybe too often I go back 00:34:35.500 --> 00:34:36.699 and live like I'm a slave 00:34:36.699 --> 00:34:37.559 to the old ways, 00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:38.159 the old me, 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.259 and I need God 00:34:40.259 --> 00:34:41.279 to change my nature. 00:34:42.339 --> 00:34:43.460 Would you pray for me as well? 00:34:43.539 --> 00:34:44.679 Whatever's going on in my heart, 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:45.259 my life, 00:34:45.759 --> 00:34:46.440 my relationships, 00:34:46.659 --> 00:34:47.500 would you pray for me as well? 00:34:47.579 --> 00:34:47.920 Thank you. 00:34:48.659 --> 00:34:49.179 Thank you. 00:34:50.179 --> 00:34:50.699 Thank you. 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:52.759 Thank you, God. 00:34:52.839 --> 00:34:54.639 There's hands all over the room. 00:34:54.759 --> 00:34:56.440 Some people aren't going to lift their hands, 00:34:56.539 --> 00:34:57.920 but they know in their heart 00:34:57.920 --> 00:34:58.619 what's going on 00:34:58.619 --> 00:34:59.379 and you know 00:34:59.379 --> 00:35:01.099 more intimately, 00:35:01.279 --> 00:35:01.879 more accurately 00:35:01.879 --> 00:35:03.059 exactly what's going on, 00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:04.000 exactly what we need. 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:05.019 I pray for your Spirit 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:05.960 to have free reign 00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:06.980 to move in our hearts. 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:09.179 to move in our minds, 00:35:09.440 --> 00:35:10.659 to defeat the lies 00:35:10.659 --> 00:35:11.760 that Satan tells us 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:12.219 that says, 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:13.619 no, you're still bound to this. 00:35:13.699 --> 00:35:14.400 This is who you are. 00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:15.280 This is what you do. 00:35:15.719 --> 00:35:17.019 And Jesus steps in 00:35:17.019 --> 00:35:18.400 with his resurrection power 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:18.800 and says, 00:35:18.880 --> 00:35:19.079 nope, 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:20.840 I can put that to death. 00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:23.460 I can raise something new to life. 00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:26.579 You can have power 00:35:26.579 --> 00:35:27.780 that you never dreamed of. 00:35:29.679 --> 00:35:31.559 I pray that you would make that real 00:35:31.559 --> 00:35:32.460 in us. 00:35:32.460 --> 00:35:36.000 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:36.360 Amen. 00:35:36.519 --> 00:35:37.960 Just for the next two minutes or so, 00:35:39.179 --> 00:35:40.000 would you keep your seats? 00:35:40.099 --> 00:35:40.860 Jared's going to lead us 00:35:40.860 --> 00:35:41.920 in just that chorus of, 00:35:42.420 --> 00:35:44.220 I'm no longer a slave to fear. 00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:45.320 I am a child of God. 00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:47.760 You guys can skip ahead 00:35:47.760 --> 00:35:48.559 to the chorus of that. 00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:51.780 You can sing it along. 00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:52.360 You can listen. 00:35:52.500 --> 00:35:53.000 You can pray. 00:35:53.139 --> 00:35:53.860 You can stay in your seat. 00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:54.760 You can come down front. 00:35:54.860 --> 00:35:55.519 You can kneel here. 00:35:55.780 --> 00:35:56.599 If you'd like to talk about 00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:57.699 joining our church as a member, 00:35:57.920 --> 00:35:59.240 please come have that conversation. 00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:00.419 If you have something else 00:36:00.419 --> 00:36:00.939 on your heart, 00:36:01.019 --> 00:36:01.779 if you'd like to give your life 00:36:01.779 --> 00:36:03.079 to Jesus or whatever it is, 00:36:03.419 --> 00:36:04.859 use this next couple minutes 00:36:04.859 --> 00:36:06.439 to do business with God. 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:10.919 I'm no longer a slave to fear. 00:36:14.819 --> 00:36:19.619 I'm no longer a slave to fear. 00:36:19.619 --> 00:36:46.799 Do you believe that? 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:52.300 I am a child of God. 00:36:52.300 --> 00:36:58.900 I'm no longer a slave to fear. 00:37:00.460 --> 00:37:05.920 I am a child of God. 00:37:05.920 --> 00:37:17.180 Church, would you pray with me? 00:37:19.619 --> 00:37:20.639 God, we love you. 00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:22.820 Thank you for your goodness to us. 00:37:24.220 --> 00:37:26.659 We don't deserve being your children, 00:37:27.619 --> 00:37:29.059 but you didn't do it because we deserve it. 00:37:29.740 --> 00:37:31.019 You did it out of your great love. 00:37:32.940 --> 00:37:35.440 Thank you for not leaving us in slavery to sin. 00:37:35.920 --> 00:37:40.980 Thank you for placing this reminder in the scriptures. 00:37:41.880 --> 00:37:44.840 It tells us who our identity is, where our focus should be. 00:37:46.200 --> 00:37:49.039 Help us to leave this place changed by your spirit 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:51.519 and go out and attack this new week 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:54.039 as a child of God, not a slave of sin. 00:37:54.139 --> 00:37:55.039 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:37:55.720 --> 00:37:56.159 Amen.