Jesus, You, and Me

This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

Yeah.

Yeah, Lord, that's it.

If you're not at the center of this, these planets are going to collide and it's just going to come unhinged.

So, Lord, I want to be here this morning as the moon.

I have no light source of my own.

I just want to reflect the light of the sun.

I want these people that I love to understand that they play a part in what you're doing in the world.

That's what makes us the church.

So, Holy Spirit, brood over this text this morning.

Thank you for interrupting us and inviting us into what you're doing.

We hear, and now, Lord, give us what we need to respond.

I pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

We've been in a series called Life Songs.

We've been looking at different Psalms, which is a prayer book of God's people.

And we'll pick back that back up next week.

But I want to take a break from that this morning.

And I kind of got something burning in me that's been burning in me since Monday.

I don't try to read a lot of the Bible every week, like every day.

I don't like read a different chapter.

What I try to do is just to read something and just keep reading it until I feel like I understand what it's saying to me.

And then I try to live it out in my life.

And so Monday I was reading in Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, I think I'm on page 983.

I was reading this and I kept thinking about us.

And by about Monday afternoon, I sense the Lord kind of saying, Hey, I want you to preach out of this passage on Sunday.

And so right now, by the way, if you came for starting point and you're like, hey, we came for the membership class thing we signed up for, that is taking place right behind me.

So you can just kind of slip out and still join them.

You haven't missed anything.

But starting point, which is a part of our membership process where we kind of, hey, say to people, this is what we believe as a church, this is what we're about, uh, is going on this morning.

And so I thought it'd be a great day for me just to kind of pump the brakes on this series we've been in and just kind of say, hey, just for everybody, just by way of reminder, this is who we are and what we're about as a church.

This is what we're passionate about, this is what we believe, this is why we turn the lights on, this is what we labor for, this is what we love, and this is why we love it, okay?

So after the service, uh myself and and some of our uh elders would be available down front.

If you have any questions, or you're kind of like, hey, you're crazy, we're gonna go find another church.

That would make me sad, but I would bless that uh because I'm all in on what the Bible says.

And uh the guys, uh the tech guys were like, hey, do you have a title?

And I said, Yeah, Jesus, you and me.

And they kind of looked at me like, okay, you've been alone too much this week.

Uh but anyway, I want to just read Colossians chapter 1, verse 15.

Colossians 1:15

Uh Paul says this, he says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

All things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

He is the head of the body of the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which have been proclaimed in all creation, under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Now I, me, the minister, Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church, of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints.

To them God uh chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works within me.

A lot of Bible reading today, and I don't apologize for that, but I just want to break it down and make three statements, and then under each statement there'll be some points.

Uh, you don't have to try to write it all down.

They'll they'll come up and I'll I'll like the first point.

I'll simply say, Jesus is at the center of it all.

We we believe that as a church, and I'll give you like six things under that.

Don't try to write all those down.

Just pull your phone out and take a picture of the screen if you if you would like.

But I want you to let this get into your head and let it get into your heart and let it get worked out in our hands, okay?

So here's the first thing the Bible says it starts with Jesus.

Jesus is at the center of it all.

And there's six things that Paul tells us about Jesus.

Number one, Jesus is God.

He says he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Jesus came to make this invisible God visible, which is why Jesus said to people when he was here on the earth, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

And so if you wonder what God is like, you look at Jesus, and the Bible gives us big, juicy, beautiful portraits and pictures of how Jesus was, what he was about, what he what he thought, what he believed, how he lived.

And when we look at that, we see God because Jesus is God.

Secondly, Jesus is the agent of creation.

He says in verse 16, he says, For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

That means that like authorities like this is my house right now.

That means Jesus created your algebra teacher.

And I don't, I'm not crazy about my kid's algebra teacher, because my kid's algebra teacher is not a good teacher.

She yells and doesn't teach.

And I want to go to the church, to the school and yell and go, how does this feel?

Yeah, yeah, that that thought goes through my mind consistently, and I'm kind of like, Really, really?

But but when I have to step back and say, hey, Jesus created all things, that the algebra teacher and your neighbor and all these different things that are going on in your life, he created all those things.

And here's the thing that that made my mind kind of go snap this week.

It says He created all things visible and invisible.

Well, what why does it help us to know that Jesus, you created invisible things if we can't see them?

Think of it like this.

It's like they got the Hubble telescope and they're upgrading that and they got a new thing and they're able to look further and further and further into space.

Things that are invisible to us, that a hundred years from now, if they discover them, it's just another reason to praise God because Jesus is like, yeah, I made that too.

Just keep discovering stuff because I made that too.

And this is going to redound to my wisdom, and it's going to give you more reasons to praise me and to thank me because he is the agent of creation.

Let me bring it down to where we live.

This third thing is that Jesus is the reason for which everything exists.

Jesus is the reason for which everything exists.

Look right here in the Bible.

He says in verse 16, for by him all things were created in heaven and earth, uh visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And for him.

That's what I mean when I say Jesus is the reason that everything exists, which uh means that everything that is created is morally responsible to the one who created it.

Let me say that again because you're smart people.

Let's think a little bit this morning.

One of the most indicing things that the Bible ever says to humanity is the very first word in the Bible, very first sentence in the first book of the Bible, Genesis 1.1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Now, because God created everything, everything that is created is morally accountable to God.

You're like, I don't get it.

Think you're kids.

There's nothing that grates on you more, is when your kids act like they're not morally accountable to you.

Like, for example, our oldest has been off at college as a freshman this year, and she went to Austin, and I got a phone call.

Now, there's a music festival, music and arts festival called South by Southwest that takes place in Austin every year, okay?

And my kid was in Austin when that was going on.

And because my kid thinks my dad's a preacher, he doesn't know everything in the world, I get a phone call from my kid that says, Hey dad, I just had a fender bender in Austin.

I barely tapped the bumper of a guy, which by the way, that's$972 when you barely tap the bumper of a guy.

Uh that ain't a barely tap, but I digress.

And I said, Hey, babe, I just played dumb.

I said, What you doing in Austin?

Well, me and me and my friend just had a day trip.

Listen, you can't talk to Noah about the flood, okay?

And so I didn't say that.

I said, Well, are you okay?

She says, Yeah.

I said, Any damage to your car?

No, the little bolts on my license plate made two holes in the back of his bumper cover, and he's here, and the cops are here, and blah, blah.

I said, Okay, exchange information, we'll get it taken care of.

And I said, Hey, now Madison, don't let this affect your enjoyment of the concerts later tonight.

Uh-oh, uh, well, well, Dad, you know, we just, I didn't know all this was going on.

There's a lot of people in Austin, and I was wondering what the big deal is.

The big deal is called South by Southwest.

Now you got to protect yourself.

Now you go enjoy the concert and think about my dad's loving, my dad's forgiving, my dad's long suffering.

My dad kind of reminds me of Jesus, okay?

Okay, dad, that's enough.

Okay, okay, the cop wants to talk to me.

No, no, no, no.

Before you get off the phone, just maybe when you hang the phone up, look at the cop and go, my dad is so Christ-like.

Now, why am I telling you all this?

Here's why.

Because my daughter did not call Wade Burgess when that happened.

Wade Burgess is a man that goes to our church.

He's married to Amy.

They have a son, Alex.

We're friends with him.

We go to their house and eat, and we go do stuff with them.

They come to our house, we hang out.

My kids like to go to their house, we eat breakfast for supper.

If you ever have breakfast for supper, invite me.

I love to have breakfast for supper.

My kids love to go to their house.

They're like, oh, she loves, oh, I think Mr.

Wade's funny.

I'm like, don't encourage that, okay?

And but but hey, because my kid's not morally responsible, because Wade Burgess didn't create my kid.

Amen.

So my kid doesn't answer to him.

The Bible says that everybody that God created, guess what?

You answer to him.

So if you don't, you say, Well, I don't believe in God, that's okay.

You don't have to believe in God to be morally responsible to God.

You better figure out how to make peace with God because you're gonna stand before him one day and you're gonna be morally accountable to him.

And so God factors into the equation, whether you choose for him to or not, he is waiting there for you.

That reality is we're all hurtling towards that.

Why?

Because Jesus is the reason for which everything exists.

Fourthly, Jesus is before.

Look at verse 17.

And he is before all things.

He is before all things, and he goes on to say, and in him all things hold together.

By the way, the world does not depend on Donald Trump's next idea.

It just doesn't.

The world holds together.

If you're a scientist, if you're an engineer, you know that the second law of thermodynamics says that the natural order of things is from the progression of things is from order to chaos.

Things decay.

Ask yourself, why is the world?

Is it messed up?

Yeah.

Is it jacked up?

Yeah.

But it hasn't just come off the rails.

Why?

Because somebody bigger than it is holding it together.

And the Bible says he is before.

Jesus is before all things.

I don't know if you've got your Mother's Day gift picked out yet, but here's a great idea.

Take your mom and you both get a tattoo that just says, Jesus is before.

And just put it in quotes.

Jesus is before.

So every once in a while, people, you know, stuff happening, you just pull your sleeve up and just remind yourself, oh, Jesus is before.

Jesus is before my money, my sex life, my family, my kids, my ambitions, my my rage, my anger.

Jesus is before all of this.

He's before.

Fifthly, Jesus is fully God.

He's fully God.

For in him, verse 19, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

There's a reason I'm telling you this, because if this isn't true, the next thing doesn't matter.

Hear me again, church.

If this isn't true, if Jesus isn't fully God, the next thing doesn't matter.

Why do I say he's fully God?

He's not God's prophet, he's not God's messenger or his teacher sent on an errand for God.

He's fully of God, fully God.

The fullness of God dwelt in him in bodily form.

He is homoousios, which means of the same substance as the Father, which is why it drove religious people crazy when Jesus said, Have you seen me?

You've seen the Father.

Like you you claim to be God?

Well, well, I am.

And they just went crazy.

Here's why.

If Jesus is not fully God, the next thing doesn't matter because the next thing is that Jesus is reconciliation.

Later part of verse 19.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Hear that again, beloved.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.

And through him, through God, to reconcile to himself all things on earth, whether in heaven or whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus didn't come just to be a noun.

Jesus came as a verb.

He's not this holy air freshener that came to cover the stench of our depravity.

He came to do something about our depravity.

And so, because Jesus is fully God, then Jesus is reconciliation.

Paul writes about it in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 18, like this.

2 Corinthians 5:18

He says, All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

That is, translation, what is the ministry of reconciliation?

He says, that is this, that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against him, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Now hear that again, beloved.

He said, We've been given this ministry of reconciliation.

Well, what is that?

It's this that in Christ, in Jesus, who is fully God, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against him, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

There's two things you need, okay?

And here's the here's the big takeaway from this morning.

There's more sermon to come.

But if you only hear this, this is sufficient.

You need two things.

Number one, you need to embrace the fact that you have, you've, if you're a Christian, you've been given this ministry of reconciliation.

God is involving you in what he's doing in the world.

So that means whether you're a businessman or school teacher, a stay-at-home mom, a realtor, a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, you work in the oil and gas industry, you have a ministry of reconciliation because the world is separated.

People are born separated from God.

Otherwise, why would they need to be reconciled?

And the Bible says that you've been given this ministry of reconciliation.

So, first of all, you got to just get your head around that.

I get to be a part of what God is doing to change the world, to reconcile the world, to restore things to be the way He created and designed them to be.

You mean it doesn't just depend on that guy up there talking?

No.

Aren't you glad?

Church is like a football game.

You got 22 people on the field who desperately need rest, being watched by 50,000 in the stands who desperately need exercise.

And God comes along and says, Here's my equation for solving that.

You've been given a ministry of reconciliation.

And because of that, here's the second thing you need today.

You need a message of reconciliation.

So I want to ask you to walk out of here today and ask yourself, what is my message of reconciliation?

What do I tell to my friends that are just way off?

How many in this room, besides me, have friends that are non-Christians, they don't believe in God or the gospel?

Can I see your hand?

Hold it up real high.

Hold it up above your head high.

Come on, act like you're proud.

Look around.

Look around.

Put your hand down.

You've been given a ministry of reconciliation, which means God wants to use you to bring that person to Christ.

Not to manipulate them, but but you need a message of reconciliation.

And here's my question to you today.

I want you to think about is what is your message to that person?

If your message to that person is, hey man, you better become a Christian, you're gonna go to hell.

Let me ask you to do this.

Stop talking.

Just if that's all you got, just stop.

Just stop.

Because Paul says, hey, in Christ, God was reconciled in the world to himself, not counting, hear this.

Not counting man's trespasses, not counting their trespasses against them.

I said to a man this week, hey, God's not going around keeping a record of how screwed up you are.

Every time you sin, God doesn't write it down and go, I'm gonna get you.

Well, I mean, are you saying sin doesn't matter?

I'm not at all saying sin doesn't matter.

I'm saying you God knows you're a sinner by the simple fact that you were born.

And he said to me, What do you mean?

I said, Yeah, I'm the same way.

I was born the same way.

We're all born as sinners.

You're not born as good people.

Because if we're all born as good, Jesus leaving heaven and coming to earth to reconcile us makes no sense.

It's a wasted life.

It's just like, what's God doing?

So Jesus is reconciliation.

Because of that, we have this ministry of reconciliation, so you better have a message to go with it.

Second point in the sermon this morning is simply this.

We need to understand people from God's view.

We need to understand people from God's view.

Verse 21.

That's where he starts off talking about Jesus.

Look at verse 21.

And you.

And you, church people at Colossae, that's a city.

That's who he's writing to in the book of Colossians.

He says, and you, who were once alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he's now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

See, seeing people from God's perspective, what does that mean?

That means, number one, that man is by nature, not choice, separated from God.

Man is by nature not choice separated from God.

I continue to meet people in my city where I live called Sugarland, maybe you've heard of that, who boast about the fact that they don't, they're not Christians.

Well, I don't believe what you believe.

I think you're a good person and I respect you, but I just don't believe that.

And that's just who I am.

And they get all big and almost want to fight about it.

And I had to say to a guy not long ago, hey, listen, you don't get like a certificate or a trophy or an award for not believing.

You did nothing, you didn't choose to not believe, you were born that way.

And he's like, What do you mean?

I said, You need to find another way to distinguish yourself because your big thing is I don't believe.

I think religion is the cause of all the problems in the world, all the wars in the world have been fought about religion.

Look right now, you got Jews and you got Muslims and you got Christians, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I said, Hey, by the way, I think this is how you distinguish yourself down here at the flying saucer, where you sit on a bar stool and have a few craft beers and talk about spiritual things, and everybody's like, Oh, wow, you got power.

Listen, this is just who you were born to be.

You you you didn't choose to not believe, you were born not believing.

So, no cookie for you, no credit for you for not believing.

He just looked at me like I said, let me put, can I say it another way?

Say a few more things because you're making me angry.

What?

I make people angry.

Shut up.

No way.

I said, You not believing is as natural as me being a middle-aged fat white guy.

And he said, Well, I can see that.

I wasn't offended.

I said back to him, and I look at you, and I see you trying to use your unbelief to distinguish you as you know, I'm really bold.

No, you're not.

You were born.

That's all you've done.

Because why?

Man is by nature, not choice, separated from God.

Look right there, verse 21, and you who are alienated.

Who are alienated.

See, you have to embrace the fact that people are alienated, otherwise, why do you need a message of reconciliation?

Secondly, separation from God manifests itself in how people think and what people do.

That's what he means when he says, Hey, you're hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, because people by nature are hostile in mind.

Engage the mind, don't just comment on the behavior.

Engage the mind.

Christian, do you know how to engage the mind of the non-Christian?

Or do you just comment on their behavior?

Oh, you better stop sleeping around.

You're gonna go to hell.

Is that really reconciliation?

No, that's ignorance.

That's I don't know what else to say, so I just say this.

Thirdly, reconciliation changes who you are.

It changes who you are.

He says here, he says, hey, you were doing evil deeds, says he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present.

Four words that I just meditated on since Monday every day.

And every time I had an opportunity, I wasn't engaged in a conversation or reading or studying or whatever.

I just, in order to present, in order to present, I just kind of picture that in my mind.

Why?

Because it's the Greek word peristome.

Peristeme, and it means this.

It means to place beside or near.

To just kind of lay something beside or near.

It's the same prefix as the word where we get our word parable.

Like when Jesus would be teaching and he would say crazy stuff and people would be like, what?

Are you kidding me?

He would tell them a parable.

A parable means I'm laying this story down besides this truth that I just tell you, told you, to help you understand this truth a little bit better.

And Paris de May, when he says, in order to present, what he's saying is, hey, this God who has a ministry of reconciliation and a message of reconciliation, this is what he's done.

Paul says, hey, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present.

Here's what I want you to think about.

If you're here and you say, Yeah, I'm a Christian, think about what you were like before you became a Christian, and then lay down beside that who you are right now and tell me what you see.

What do you notice when you lay those two realities down beside each other?

Because the Bible says, hey, he did all this, he reconciled us in order, listen to this, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach.

When's the last time you referred to yourself using those words?

Can you imagine ladies going on a date, a first date, and the guy says, Tell me about you.

Well, I'm holy and I'm blameless and I'm above reproach.

So let's let's let that inform what we do tonight.

Okay, get out and go back in your house.

That's what the Bible says.

It said, hey, this is what he did.

This is this is the cross.

Reconciliation changes who you are.

And these aren't just words, these are realities.

I want you to understand when he says holy, it's a Greek word hagias, and it means most holy thing, a saint.

Any of you refer to yourself as a saint this week?

No, no, because we're taught in the church, well, I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

You don't understand who you are, your identity in Christ.

You're blameless, which means without fault, and you're above reproach, which means unaccused.

Unaccused.

Above reproach, unaccused.

Now let me ask you a question.

You ever been falsely accused of something?

You ever been accused of doing something you didn't do?

Remember how indignant you felt?

Remember how, like, are you kidding me?

There's no way I did not, oh my gosh, how can I make you believe that I did not do that?

Now just take all that energy and motion, emotion, and flip it over.

And the Bible says when it says above reproach, it says, yeah, we are guilty of sin.

And because what Jesus did on the cross, you can no longer be accused of any of it.

And so, what do you mean?

We use big words in the church like sanctification and forgiveness and blah, blah, blah.

Think of it like this.

How many in this room have got some episodes in your life that you pray to God that never come to light?

No one ever finds out that you did that.

Can I see your hand?

Hold it up real high, you sinners.

Yes, come on, mother.

Your kids are looking.

Put your hand down.

Yes.

You've got those things you're just like, let's just forget that time on spring.

I played in a golf tournament the other day with some guys.

I knew one of them, I didn't know the other ones.

And one of the guys was like, hey, remember this koozie?

Remember, remember that?

And the other guy said, I can't believe you survived that week.

And they started going on, regaling each other with tales about Florida.

And I was like, well, that sounds like that was a good time.

We all got situations and circumstances in our life, we're like, ugh, oh, please, Jesus, don't let that come back and get me.

Why did I make a big deal out of that?

Because when I say reconciliation changes who you are, think of it this way: think about the most heinous worst thing you've ever done.

It's kind of like if the big, like, top five worst things you ever did were like paintings in an art gallery.

And you were touring the art gallery with Jesus, which one would you be mostly afraid for him to see?

See, reconciliation means when he says you're holy and blameless and above reproach, you're unaccused, that means that you stand before that picture with Jesus and you're kind of like, uh, I am humiliated.

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, Jesus.

And he looks at you and says, What are we looking at?

I don't see anything.

Because you're incapable of being accused.

That's the gospel.

So if you're here this morning and you've done something that is horribly sinful, wrong, and bad, it was illegal, immoral, and fattening, all three.

And you're like, I just, gosh, I just hope that never, nobody ever finds out.

Look at me.

The person that matters the most already knows, and he says you can be forgiven for it.

Why?

Because to be a Christian is to be holy and blameless and above reproach.

Last thing I would say under this second point is simply this is that continuing is a consequence of salvation.

He says, same sentence, it keeps going.

Verse 23, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

If you continue, it's a consequence of salvation.

It's not a can, it's not a condition.

It's not like, hey, if you if you continue, you get the prize.

Now look at me, beloved.

You got the prize.

Here's how you know who got the prize.

Here's how you know who knows God.

They're gonna keep on keeping on.

Is it gonna get hard?

Absolutely.

They're gonna keep on keeping on.

Some days you're gonna look back and they're gonna be doubled over, like, whoo, hang on a second.

I didn't see that coming.

Oh, okay, here we go.

Why?

Because they've been reconciled.

It's not a condition, it's a consequence of salvation.

And then lastly, verse 24, Paul gets to me, to himself.

He says, Now I, I, the minister, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what it's lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known.

The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints.

To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works in me.

For this I toil, Paul says.

This is what I toil.

Here's the bane of preachers in America.

They toil for the wrong things.

They toil so they can have a legacy to leave behind.

They toil so they'll get remembered.

They toil so they can brand themselves and get themselves out there.

And Paul says, no, no, no, I for this, presenting everyone mature in Christ, I toil.

So let me finish this morning, but just by briefly just pointing out some things that you should always expect from a minister and not apologize for.

Like, number one, that being a minister is not about privilege, it's responsibility.

It's responsibility.

Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.

And in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body that is the church.

You don't do it for the sake of yourself.

It's not always convenient for your family.

But if you're called to ministry, here's how you know you're called to ministry.

You don't keep record of how often the church inconvenience you.

Yes, you gotta have boundaries.

No, you shouldn't sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry.

But these younger guys in ministry nowadays are babies.

I get sick of it.

Someone, because we're we're we're we're like, hey, we're open, we're looking, we got position available on our staff.

You know how hard it is to find somebody that is actually called to ministry that doesn't just think they're the coolest preacher anybody's ever heard, and then has a work ethic.

We're looking for a unicorn, beloved.

But we're not gonna settle.

We're not just gonna hire somebody.

Secondly, ministers have a responsibility to suffer.

That's why when we get a resume, I I ask them, hey, how are you how are you personally suffering for your church, for the sake of your church?

Oh, you know, my family's very important to me.

I didn't ask you about your family.

Stop hiding behind your family the fact that you're not really a called man.

Well, you know, I I it's really important to me that my wife not work.

Yeah, it's important to me, my wife not work too, but we can we can't afford to live on one income.

Welcome to reality, my man.

That's entitlement, that's not calling, by the way.

Thirdly, ministers should receive something from God.

He says, Hey, let me let me just read it out of the Bible.

He says, I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, there's a church of which I became a minister.

Hear this: according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you.

Hear that three-part process.

According to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you.

People that want to be your pastor, they should have received something from God.

When they stand up, whether it's myself or Don Minton or Clyde, Copeland, or Lindsay Freelick, or Jeff Witten, or anybody else that works here, you should look at them and kind of go, you know what?

That's a man or woman who's received something from God.

They got something to discharge because what comes natural runs out eventually.

You bleed and burn through your personality, and you better have some holy unction, or you're in deep weeds, my man.

I get asked all the time, hey, why do why do preachers say about three years and leave?

Because they that's they got a three-year natural game plan, but they ain't got no unction after that.

And lastly, I just say this and I'm done.

He is the object, and your maturity is the goal.

I said it a minute ago.

Let me just say it again.

Verse 28.

Him repro Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone maturing Christ.

For this I toil, struggling with all his energy, that he powerfully works in me.

For this I toil.

And so I had to preach to myself before I preached to you this morning.

Just ask myself, what am I toiling for?

I'm not toiling so we can one day build a new sanctuary.

If we do that, great.

But we're not doing the field of dreams thing where, hey, if we build it, they will come help us pay for it.

No, no.

But let me tell you something, look at me.

I won't get up in your business right now.

If if you all embraced that you have a ministry of reconciliation and you had a message of reconciliation, we would have to build a building next month.

Because that many people would show up next Sunday.

But here's the reality: most of us didn't have any reconciling conversations this week with anybody.

We just went to work and came home and fed our kids and looked at our wives and said, Yeah, no, no, I'm tired too.

Never mind.

Good, good, good, good, good.

And it happens week after week after week.

And the 50,000 that need exercise come and watch the 22 who need rest and kind of go, hey, what's the plan?

What's next?

What are we doing next?

And I have to repent of not wanting to choke you out in love.

Don't you want to belong to a church like that?

Let me just clarify what I what I got energy for.

Him we proclaim warning everyone, teaching everyone with all wisdom.

We may present everyone mature in Christ.

This is what I mean by present everyone mature in Christ, and I shut up and be done.

There's a little girl who goes to this church.

Her name is Sophie Collier.

Little cotton-headed girl wears glasses.

She's like eight or nine years old.

I don't know.

She just, you know, just a young lady, okay?

I want Sophie Collier to lay in bed when she's this age, but also when she's 14, I want her to be mature in Christ.

I don't want her to be tossed to and fro by every wind of popularity.

I want her to lay in bed.

I I hear this.

I don't want her to lay labor under the illusion that says, oh, I gotta make this right grade so I can get into the right college, so I can get out and get the right job and get the right house and work for the right company.

And because if I don't, my life's gonna be miserable.

I started to find it.

A son said to his mom this morning, Yeah, you care too much about grades.

I think Pastor Neil's talking to you.

No, I'm talking to all of us.

I tell him, my kid, I'm such a bad parent.

My 19-year-old said, Dad, my goal in the college is to have a 4.0 for four years.

And I said, Have a bigger goal in life.

Make a sea.

It's liberating.

Walk into a college class and have your professor look at you and go, Mr.

McClendon, are you a part of this class?

I don't see you that much.

And say back, I got 10 skips and I'm using every one of them bad boys this semester.

Why do you think we got them, okay?

There's a lake, and some days it calls my name, okay?

I'm on the dean's list, and if I don't make the dean's list, it's okay.

My identity is not found in my activity.

Well, Dad, I tell my friends that my dad told me to make a sea, it was liberating, and they're concerned about you.

One of her friends says, Your dad's actually a pastor?

Yes.

Yes, I am.

Yeah.

And I told my 13-year-old, I don't care what you make in algebra.

I don't care.

I don't give a hoot.

Just have fun, do your best.

Well, no one else is saying that.

Well, they're wrong.

Because back to why here's what I toil for.

I want my little friend Sophie Collard to lay in bed when she's 15 and kind of go, you know what?

And also lay in bed when she's nine and go, you know what?

God's so big.

He's so good.

He knows who I'm gonna marry and the job I'm gonna have.

And Acts 17 says he's determined the exact places I'm gonna live.

God already has my first house picked out.

He knows the first house I'm gonna live in and the last house I'm gonna die in.

So what am I worried about?

And I wanna, I want, I want, I want, on judgment day, I want to stand before God and say, hey, this is Sophie Coll here.

Every Sunday, God, I preached the gospel of everything I had in me.

I told the truth, and some Sundays they loved it, and some Sundays they hated it, but I told them the truth to make the word of God fully known.

Her life is a reflection of what she understands the gospel to be.

And she didn't just get it from me, she got it at home from her mom and dad too.

That's what you should expect from a pastor.

Now, someone came up to me this morning and they said, Hey, that sounds like you're leaving.

No, I'm not going anywhere.

I just want you to know you should expect that from us.

You should be like, hey, yeah, yeah, this person should be helping me mature in my faith.

I should be keeping on.

Now, by the way, I said a few minutes ago uh that continuing is a consequence of salvation.

Ask yourself, see, here's what's hard for some of these 20 and 30-year-olds, you 60 and 70-year-olds, is because when we get 60 or 70, we just quit and start coasting.

Ask yourself, who do you know that's more passionate, that's in their 60s and 70s, that is more passionate for God right now than they've ever been?

And so these 30-year-olds that got little kids are looking around and kind of going, hey, what what do I aspire to?

I just want you to know this is just adding myself.

This is what if you're visiting today, this is what we as a church believe.

This is why we turn the lights on, to help you understand that God has given you, if you're a Christian, God is not, you don't just get forgiveness in heaven.

In the meantime, you get to be a part of what God is doing to change the world.

And so you better have a message of reconciliation.

You better be eating your salad at La Madeline's, and one of your girlfriends from the tennis club says something crazy, nutty, new age nonsense.

And you just kind of smile like, I'm about to rock your world, girlfriend.

I hope you had breakfast today, because I got the king and the kingdom coming up in me.

Woo! I'm about to beat you down right here in Jesus' name.

But you don't say any of that.

You just kind of smile and say, Hey, I find that curious.

Can I pursue you on that a little bit?

And everybody just kind of scoots back from the table.

And somewhere on the intercommons of Madeline's they go, Houston, we have a problem.

And your friend walks out to her Lexus SUV and cries in the parking lot and says, I got nobody in my life that talks to me like this and makes me rethink what I thought my whole life.

Thank you.

Oh, gosh, thank you.

So, beloved, here's the deal.

You better figure out and find out pretty quick what is your message of reconciliation to the world.

Because the Bible says, Hey, hey, God was in the world making his appeal through you.

Let's pray together.

God thinks that it's not about me, it's about them.

It's about them.

And we are here to get them ready to be involved in what you've created them to be involved in.

That's not just work and kids and money and sex and food and grass and yards and vacation and shinerbach and all these other great things.

It is a ministry of reconciliation and a message of reconciliation.

That's what the world needs.

And a church that doesn't have people full, it's not full of people that have those two things, is a church that's just dying, that's just taking up space.

They should turn their, build their property into a community garden and get out of the way.

But God, the reality is that this church, with all its flaws and imperfections and its flawed pasture, deeply flawed pasture, is full of people like Colossians 1 talks about.

They want to be involved.

And we just say, Jesus, you're at the center of it all.

We just, every Sunday, we're gonna just set you down and say, let's start with this.

Jesus is at the center of all of this, and everything orbits around him.

Everything gets submitted to King Jesus.

And then there's you.

You saints of God, you people that are incapable of being accused of anything because of the cross.

You're not just forgiven, you're you're you're you're incapable of being accused.

You're the unaccused of God.

There's no paintings on the wall, beloved.

The blood of Jesus has washed all that stuff off.

One day Jesus is gonna just pick you up, and it's gonna be like Father's Day, and he's just gonna present you to his father and say, Hey, here's how this one too.

So just take about ten seconds and ask yourself, what do I take away from this?

God, thank you.

That you're the Bible just it it interrupts us and it invites us.

And so thanks for the for the invitation this morning to be a part of what you're doing in the world, to be a church that doesn't exist for ourselves, but to be a church that's a part of what you're doing.

We're grateful for that.

We never want to take that for granted.

So we say thank you in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

Next week we'll be back in life songs.

Just to let you know where we're going, we're gonna look at the next two Sundays, we'll look at a psalm of celebration and a psalm of sadness.

And I'm gonna talk to you about be how to be sad to the glory of God.

And I'm gonna talk to you about how to celebrate.

And then we got a couple more.

And then in the middle of July, we'll start into the Gospel of John.

And every Sunday, I'm gonna open this book and I want it to make sense to you.

And I want you to go home and I want you to look at your wife, I want you to look at your husband, I want you to look at your kids and go, I think we're gonna make it.

I think we're gonna be okay.

Alright?

If you're visiting today, I just had to get some things out of me, just burning in me.

I love these people.

And if you're looking for a church, I would welcome the opportunity to love you as your pastor.

I I think that you matter to God, so you matter to us.

Usually I speak a blessing over us, but today I'd like us to sing our benediction.

So if you would stand to your feet.

Lindsay's gonna lead us in this simple course we've already sang a couple times, but we're just gonna sing just the first part, just as kind of a reminder, okay?

So lift your voices and let's say this together.