A Resurrected Life Pt. 2 | Kurt Petersheim

[SPEAKER_00]: My name is Aaron Winston, this morning I'm going to be reading from Romans 12 verses 1 and 2.

Romans 12:1

[SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is your true and proper worship.

[SPEAKER_00]: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

[SPEAKER_00]: Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks, Peter God.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, yes, have a seat.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, Erin.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've been going through the book of Ephesians for several months now, I guess.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll be back in Ephesians next week.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've taken a little bit of a break from it just for these few weeks with Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday.

[SPEAKER_01]: And actually today, I'm going to do a little bit of a part too.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a last week's message I didn't intend on doing this originally.

[SPEAKER_01]: my plan was to go back into Ephesians today, but you know the Lord honestly this week just kind of impressed upon my heart to walk back through a little bit of some of the things we talked about last week.

[SPEAKER_01]: I was thinking there may have been, you know, this probably just me overthinking in some ways, but maybe just the Lord given me some encouragement about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, after a preach message sometimes I'm thinking back through like how did that?

[SPEAKER_01]: come off.

[SPEAKER_01]: How was it received?

[SPEAKER_01]: How did you hear that?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, we're questions.

[SPEAKER_01]: People may maybe had about that and I'm even asking my own question.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, what I want to do just for a few minutes is to kind of clear up a couple things that I thought maybe could be some misconceptions from last Sunday.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you were here last Sunday, obviously it was Easter Sunday and we walked through Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_01]: 24 and I just helped us, I think I hope I helped us to see as Luke was sort of walking through these things with the apostles as they began to understand the resurrection and believe in the resurrection that it began with even Peter and the ladies and Thomas and these other disciples doubting that it even happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: They moved it to wonder like curiosity and wonder and just sort of like what's going on here?

[SPEAKER_01]: Let me go check this out.

[SPEAKER_01]: and then honestly got quickly to believe in faith in Jesus and then even moved beyond that to worship him and bow to him and praise him for who he is and what he's done and then we got into the book of Acts and looked at just this newly devoted life that they had in Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so really what I want to do for a few minutes, like I said, is just do my best to kind of give us a couple of thoughts on these five things because I didn't want it there really there to be any confusion about a couple things in particular.

[SPEAKER_01]: The first thing is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's a question.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, as you look at these things because again, last week, we were just talking about, hey, let's take a step.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's take a step from if we're in a place of doubt and disbelief, maybe you don't even believe in Christ, you're not a Christian, you don't believe the resurrection, whatever that may be.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you could just take a step to curiosity, take a step to ask in some questions, take a step to look into some things.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then if you could take that step to man, I actually see that there is validity to the claims of the scriptures and the apostles and the witnesses.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I believe in Jesus and moving to worship and devotion.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's a question though.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where is an in our Christian life?

[SPEAKER_01]: Where is on this continuum?

[SPEAKER_01]: Where is salvation?

[SPEAKER_01]: Where does salvation begin in here?

[SPEAKER_01]: Just shout it out.

[SPEAKER_01]: right in the middle.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, believe, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: We are justified by fake.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you could use the word justification, use words salvation.

[SPEAKER_01]: Salvation, salvation is kind of the umbrella term in scripture.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: Salvation is used very much throughout the New Testament to be past, present, and future salvation kind of includes all that we're talked about as having been saved and the past we're talking about as being saved.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the present, we're talked about as continuing to be saved on into the future.

[SPEAKER_01]: So the word justification really means sort of that moment of, I was made right with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: When was I made right with God by faith?

[SPEAKER_01]: Right by faith, and we're going through Ephesians right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to get to Ephesians 2 verse 8, where he says, this is by grace, you have been saved through faith.

Ephesians 2:8

[SPEAKER_01]: And the word faith, the word belief, really translated both ways throughout the New Testament.

[SPEAKER_01]: from the same Greek word.

[SPEAKER_01]: So belief faith, this is where salvation begins.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, one one misconception I wanted to clear up was this that it really isn't this idea that, okay, I have faith and it's really like, okay, I can kind of stand here and live here by faith and never really move there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, what I wanted to clear up for just a minute is is the reality that when we're talking about the Christian life, this is where it begins, but this is not where it stays without ever moving.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, that's not how Christianity works and so Aaron read for us Romans 12 on a read it for us one more time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Romans 12, 1 in 1 through 2.

[SPEAKER_01]: says this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters and view of God's mercy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, when he says in view of God's mercy or in view of the mercies of God, however, your scripture, your particular translation says it.

[SPEAKER_01]: In view of the mercies of God, in view of God's mercy, he's speaking of Paul has just spent 11 chapters explaining to us the mercies of God, explaining to us the gospel,

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, if you've never read this, go back and read Romans 1 through 11.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's deep and it's going to rock your world.

[SPEAKER_01]: But Romans 1 through 11 is all about the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the mercies of God, in Christ Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: They got us put forth Jesus his son to be the what he calls the propitiation for our sins.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is the wrath bearer of God for our sins to remove God's wrath from us and bless us with righteousness, justification.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what has happened.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he explains this Romans 1 through 11.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now he says, I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he's saying, okay, if you believe that

[SPEAKER_01]: If you believe this, if you have faith in Christ in the gospel and urging you, if you have God's mercy now, to do what?

[SPEAKER_01]: To offer your bodies.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, as a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: This, he says, is your true improper or spiritual worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so really, we have in that one verse, all three of these things.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is really the way I want us to understand the Christian life.

[SPEAKER_01]: that it's honestly not this like, okay, here's a step of belief and then like later at some point God will maybe lead me to worship Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then if I'm really committed at some point, I'm gonna begin to devote myself to him.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, instead, he really like all throughout the New Testament where we're told that all of this flows from belief.

[SPEAKER_01]: Belief is the beginning of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Belief is where the start's faith is where this begins.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then it moves like my life is a constant abiding in the worship and the devotion to Jesus to offer myself to him as a living sacrifice.

[SPEAKER_01]: Holy in pleasing to God, as my true improper worship He says,

[SPEAKER_01]: don't be conformed any longer to the pattern of the world.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says be renewed, be renewed, right, transformed, and the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve God's will, his good pleasing and perfect will.

[SPEAKER_01]: So he's just speaking of this.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're really all always now.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is where we live.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, belief being the foundation, but worship and devotion being our constant, our constant lifestyle in Christ, abiding in Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, does any of us do this perfectly?

[SPEAKER_01]: Does any of us always just constantly have this heart of zealous worship in this life of passionate devotion to Jesus where we're just now we're just on fire 100% doing it.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, none of us do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: None of us do that.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's that's real.

[SPEAKER_01]: But what we always rely on is the foundation of man.

[SPEAKER_01]: I do trust in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: faith in him, I believe in him, and now he by his spirit who lives within me, says this is your spiritual worship, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: The spirit who lives within me is producing in me the knowledge and the desire for worship and devotion in my life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Day by day, bye, day by day, bye, day by day.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, this is how this happens.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so I just wanted to sort of clear that up.

[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want us to think more of like this is a this is a continuum like a linear thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is more of man.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, this is just how I this is the abiding that Jesus talks about in John 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's abiding in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I believe in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I worship him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm devoted to him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, yes, I'm I'm growing in the degree of how this flesh is out in my life constantly.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there are days when this doesn't look great, okay, for me.

[SPEAKER_01]: And for you, but this is always who we are in Christ, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's one thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Number two is this, what are we talking about when we talk about worship?

[SPEAKER_01]: What are we talking about when we say worship?

[SPEAKER_01]: In John chapter four, John chapter four, Jesus meets this woman at a well.

[SPEAKER_01]: You guys know that story.

[SPEAKER_01]: And in John 424, he tells her this, that God is seeking true worshipers who worship in what?

[SPEAKER_01]: Two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: Spirit and truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: You guys know this.

[SPEAKER_01]: God is seeking true worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now y'all can see devotion, worships here in the middle.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we talk about worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just going to move this out of the way.

[SPEAKER_01]: We talk about worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what we're talking about, worshiping the Lord as he prescribes that we worship him in spirit and in truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, that spirit is not capital S Holy Spirit, that's not exactly what Jesus was talking out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's just really saying, spirit and truth, he's talking heart and head, so he's talking up.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Here and here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where do we worship the Lord?

[SPEAKER_01]: We worship the Lord with our affection and with our intellect.

[SPEAKER_01]: We worship the Lord in love and desire and passion and with knowledge and rationality and logic and thoughtfulness and intentionality and all of those ways, the head and the heart, the affection and the intellect, the love and the knowledge.

[SPEAKER_01]: So to worship Jesus, not just wanted to clear this stuff more thing about worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think we often put definitions on words and aren't really the biblical definitions.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's why I'm doing this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: is to fall into legalistic religiosity.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is a cold and heartless and empty form of worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: And for worship, in quotes there.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because some people think to worship God just means to know things about Him and even like, yeah, we can sing the songs and sing them, like a scent to the trunus of the doctrines that we're singing about, but have no actual affection for Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: No actual desire to walk with him and abide in him and have a relationship with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at Matthew 15 with me real quick.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matthew 15 verse 7.

Matthew 15:7

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus specifically says this to some of the Jewish leaders.

[SPEAKER_01]: Matthew 57.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says, you hypocrites talking to some of the Jewish leaders.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a good way to start it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You hypocrites.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says Isaiah was right.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's speaking of Isaiah the prophet and the Old Testament.

[SPEAKER_01]: When he prophesied about you, you would never want this prophecy to be about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they didn't think it was about them.

[SPEAKER_01]: But Jesus is letting them know,

[SPEAKER_01]: When Isaiah, this guy that you know, Isaiah, who wrote this prophecy that you'll have been reading in the synagogues for a lot of years, it's actually about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Listen to what he said, these people honor me with their lips, but they're what hearts are far from me.

[SPEAKER_01]: They worship me in vain.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their teachings are but rules taught by men.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's, that's to worship Jesus with truth and no spirit.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what he's saying.

[SPEAKER_01]: Newers re-indulips, saying the truth, no spirit, no heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't actually love me.

[SPEAKER_01]: You don't actually love the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: But also, we must be careful that we worship the true Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we can have spirit as well.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can have zeal.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can have passion.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can have forever for the Lord and love for Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if we don't worship the true Jesus, who He truly is, what He truly done, what He truly says in His Word, then that is idolatry.

[SPEAKER_01]: And let me explain exactly what idolatry is.

[SPEAKER_01]: Idolatry is really two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is worshiping a false God, or it is worshiping the true God falsely.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you know that there are actually two categories there?

[SPEAKER_01]: Think about the first couple of commandments.

[SPEAKER_01]: You shall have no other gods before me, worship the true God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you shall make no grave and image of me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Worship me rightly.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's both idolatry and here's a good example of that, the golden calf in Exodus 32.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know who they were worshiping with the golden calf?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yahweh!

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what they say.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is the God that led us out of Egypt, the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: They call it the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yahweh.

[SPEAKER_01]: They are worshiping Yahweh.

[SPEAKER_01]: Falsely.

[SPEAKER_01]: So idolatry is not just a false God.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's even to worship the true God with a heart to worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: So there's where they have the heart, they have the Spirit, but the truth is not there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're worshiping the right God, but they're worshiping them in the wrong way.

[SPEAKER_01]: They're hard as there, but they're not doing it correctly.

[SPEAKER_01]: Many Christians, I believe, are in danger of worshiping Jesus falsely.

[SPEAKER_01]: Um, adding anything to Christ, and this does go with our doctrine.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have no, some people just, man, you know what?

[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to show up.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to sing the songs.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not so concerned about that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Heady stuff, that doctrine stuff, that theology stuff, Amy, I saw your shirt.

[SPEAKER_01]: Theology, what matters, theology matters.

[SPEAKER_01]: It does matter because when people just get this in their mind, they get to really doesn't matter.

[SPEAKER_01]: I would have been like, as long as I love Jesus, it's just about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: I love Him and I want my question is, who is he?

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, theology, who is he?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you even know him?

[SPEAKER_01]: You actually know that Jesus that you're singing to.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I mentioned that even just because listen, I'll be real with you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not gonna harp on this, but a lot of Christian music today that we listen to.

[SPEAKER_01]: Very poor theology and a lot of it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Pay careful attention to what you sing.

[SPEAKER_01]: It matters.

[SPEAKER_01]: I think it matters to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: So much as that golden calf matter to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Their hearts were there.

[SPEAKER_01]: but they were worshiping God wrongly.

[SPEAKER_01]: He told them a way to worship him.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're supposed to be in spirit and in truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: The woman at the well, in John 422, he tells her, you worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: So again, she had the spirit.

[SPEAKER_01]: You worship what you do not know.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what he told her.

[SPEAKER_01]: John 422, you worship what you don't know.

[SPEAKER_01]: So your spirits there, your hearts there, the mind, that the truth is not there.

[SPEAKER_01]: The epistles of Paul are full of this, the Romans, he speaks to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, about a few different prayers that he prays.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ephesians 117, Paul prays that the Ephesians would have a spirit of wisdom and revelation to know him better, know him better, mind, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: In Philippians 1, 9, 10, he's prays that their love, spirit, their love would abound with knowledge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Head and heart, that your love at a bound with knowledge, Colossians 1, 9 through 10, he prays that they would be filled with knowledge and increase in the knowledge of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Romans 10, 1 through 4, actually turn there with me, Romans 10.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're already on Romans 12, just go backwards.

[SPEAKER_01]: Romans 10, 1 through 4, listen what he says.

[SPEAKER_01]: Brothers, speaking to the church and Rome, brothers, it is my heart's desire and prayer to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: For the Israelites, for the Israelites,

[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, this is a salvation issue here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like whether or not we truly know who Jesus is, the Jesus that we claim to worship, do we really know Him?

[SPEAKER_01]: Like honestly, truly right doctrine, good theology, know Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is salvation issue to Paul, that they may be saved.

[SPEAKER_01]: Verse two, he says, for I can testify about them, that they are here to us.

[SPEAKER_01]: They are zealous for God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Spirit, heart, they are zealous for God.

[SPEAKER_01]: But their zeal is not based on knowledge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he's saying, yeah, I get that you wanna worship God.

[SPEAKER_01]: I get that you want to worship, even Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can say that name, but do you really know who he is and what he's done, you have correct understanding.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is why we need to hear preaching all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is why I need to hear preaching all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I would need to be in our Bibles all the time.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I would need to go to groups and study the word together all the time so that we can get our eyes and our hearts and our minds and the word of God to see what it really says so that the God that we love and have zeal for is the true God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that we're truly worshiping him as he tells us about himself and prescribes that we worship him in spirit and in truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: So my question is this, is God after our head or our hearts?

[SPEAKER_01]: Does he want our heads or our hearts?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, good answer.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, love the Lord, we're your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength with all of ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be disciples of Jesus without true belief that bears fruit in worshipful.

[SPEAKER_01]: This how I would praise all of this.

[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be disciples of Jesus without true belief that bears the fruit of worshipful devotion.

[SPEAKER_01]: We cannot be disciples of Jesus that doesn't bear the fruit of true belief, bearing the fruit of devoted worship, or worshipful devotion, however you wanna phrase those things.

[SPEAKER_01]: This what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I won't talk a little bit about discipleship, just as a wrap up here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Cause tonight, again tonight at four, I'm gonna talk a little bit more about this and it's kind of practically what that looks like here at Eastridge and what we're praying through and aiming towards here, what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus living on mission for the glory of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: What is discipleship?

[SPEAKER_01]: discipleship is the process of us growing in our faith in Jesus, growing in our worship to Jesus, growing in our devotion to Jesus is the process of growth.

[SPEAKER_01]: of growth, of learning, of drawing near to Christ, of a Bible again.

[SPEAKER_01]: John 15 he talks about abiding in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's sort of the process of just becoming more Christ-like and a better follower, and a better learner, and a better worshiper, and more faithful, and more sacrificial, and more serving, and more giving, and just being everything that Christ is calling us to be, we start somewhere in that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You start somewhere in that, but discipleship is the process by which we grow in those things.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the process by which we go from unbelievers to these fully devoted followers of Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at Matthew 28 with me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Most famous passage here on discipleship, Matthew 28.

[SPEAKER_01]: 18 through 20.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus says this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Last thing he says before he ascends back to his throne.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus came to them and said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of his resurrection, Jesus has just proven his status as Son of God as just a fire of the

[SPEAKER_01]: as the alphanio mega by dying and rising back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: You just proven that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now he says, all authority and heaven and earth has been given to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's mine, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Therefore, because I have authority, that's the therefore, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because I am in charge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's my charge to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Go.

[SPEAKER_01]: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And surely I am with you always to the very end.

[SPEAKER_01]: of the age.

[SPEAKER_01]: A couple of things about being disciples here, disciples who believe in Christ, disciples who worship Christ, disciples who are devoted to Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's really calling out that devotion now.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's calling out that devotion He's saying, I want more worshipers, I want more believers, I want more worshipers.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you who are devoted to me now, you who are disciples of me now, you who call yourself followers of Jesus, you do two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: You go,

[SPEAKER_01]: And he says, you baptize and you teach.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now I would kind of put that in two categories.

[SPEAKER_01]: The baptizing and the teaching, that's ministry.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the going, that's missions.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's calling all disciples of his, all who claim belief and worship and devotion in the name of Jesus to be ministers and missionaries.

[SPEAKER_01]: all of us.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the call.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that like we're going to talk more about that this evening.

[SPEAKER_01]: So I encourage you again come this evening and we're talking more about this.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that is what I want for Easterage community church that we would be a church full of ministers and missionaries, ministers who are doing ministry, ministers who are serving inside the church, serving one another when I want to say inside not necessarily the walls here, but serving each other.

[SPEAKER_01]: serving the brothers and sisters serving the saints.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's that's ministry.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ministry really it means that the technical regret I love the word minister.

[SPEAKER_01]: The technical regret deoconoss.

[SPEAKER_01]: It means to kick up dust.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what it means.

[SPEAKER_01]: Like to just do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Go like do something.

[SPEAKER_01]: Get to work.

[SPEAKER_01]: Right?

[SPEAKER_01]: That does mean to do anything just to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It just means.

[SPEAKER_01]: Man, I'm always looking for opportunities to serve.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what a minister is, right, serving one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: Listen, giving, giving, that's a part of our ministry.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a part of our ministry that we give to the ministry of church.

[SPEAKER_01]: We give to one another.

[SPEAKER_01]: God, I'm so encouraged all the time, by the way, of how this church gives to each other.

[SPEAKER_01]: I see it all the time and I love seeing that.

[SPEAKER_01]: I love getting to be part of that.

[SPEAKER_01]: My job and my goal here is a pastor is to continue to equip y'all.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's best I can't just encourage you guys and pray for you guys and teach you guys it's best I can to help you be those ministers.

[SPEAKER_01]: giving and building and edifying one another and edifying the church.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then missionaries, that's more about what?

[SPEAKER_01]: It's more about going, it's more about outside of the church, going and doing evangelism, sharing the gospel with others.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus told his followers who began to be doubters and then were wonders and then became believers and fully devoted followers.

[SPEAKER_01]: He told them to do what?

[SPEAKER_01]: Go be my witnesses.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, witnesses that I have risen from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: You believe this to be true?

[SPEAKER_01]: Go tell people about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: go serve the lost, go love people with the love that I have shown to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: You didn't deserve it, know that I don't either, but I want to give it to them if you would go show it to them and tell them about it, let them know of my love, let them know that I've come that I've died that have risen back to life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ is died.

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ is risen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ will come again.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not just a mantra we say on Sunday.

[SPEAKER_01]: That should be our life.

[SPEAKER_01]: That should be everything we talk about all day long.

[SPEAKER_01]: in so many ways with so many people.

[SPEAKER_01]: Again, I shared last week, Acts 2, I'm not going to read it right now, but Acts 2, verse 42 to verse 7, where it describes that early church, after three thesis, three thousand become believers, that first day through one sermon of Peter, and then there's this new church created in Jerusalem.

Acts 2:42

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, just go read through that and just look at their devotion.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look at how their lives were centered around, one thing, the resurrection of Christ,

[SPEAKER_01]: He said, all authority is mine.

[SPEAKER_01]: I died in arrows again.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's mine.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if that's true, then what else is more important than that in your life?

[SPEAKER_01]: What is more important than Jesus dying and rising again?

[SPEAKER_01]: Nothing, I would submit nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so when I read Acts chapter two, it's like, I can just imagine the conversations they must have had.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, Joe, what do you want to do today?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I don't know Jesus rose from the dead, so maybe something like that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Something around that.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where are we going on vacation?

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure.

[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus rose from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: So wherever we go, it better be oriented around that.

[SPEAKER_01]: You picked a career yet?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, but man, Jesus rose from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: So, right?

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is just how they lived.

[SPEAKER_01]: and I'm being a little bit funny, I get it, but the seriously though, if we really embrace that as reality, does that inform and shape and guide everything else?

[SPEAKER_01]: it should.

[SPEAKER_01]: It should.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to live my life for however many years the Lord has me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here on the surface left, then just trying to collect stuff and get richer or more comfortable.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't want to live my life.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to give my life to proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus with words and with deeds and everything that I do and I'm going to make it my goal

[SPEAKER_01]: As I passed through this church, as long as the Lord gives me to do that, to help all of us do the same.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're going to cut off frills if we need to cut off frills and we're going to focus in hone in our lives and our ministry on Christ is died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again, I believe that we're going to live that out, so don't be a nominal

[SPEAKER_01]: Look right here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Don't be a nominal Christian, nominal means by name only.

[SPEAKER_01]: Don't be a Christian that just that's the t-shirt you wear.

[SPEAKER_01]: I got believer, but I'm not there is no worship.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is no devotion.

[SPEAKER_01]: Really the Bible knows nothing of that type of Christianity.

[SPEAKER_01]: There really are only Christians who are disciples, ministers, and missionaries.

[SPEAKER_01]: giving their lives to Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so two things.

[SPEAKER_01]: On the connect card, you guys have.

[SPEAKER_01]: I told you not to not to put them in the basket yet we're going to have people at the doors as you guys leave that you can drop these in.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to give us an opportunity.

[SPEAKER_01]: specifically for this that if you are you know what if you're just thinking you know I want to give to the church in some way like of my of my gifts of my abilities of my time we already took a ball from i'm not asking for your money right now okay

[SPEAKER_01]: not trying to be manipulative on that.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if there's someone which you're looking that you'd like to serve, that's what I'm saying.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you'd like to serve, you can just write on that card.

[SPEAKER_01]: Either just write, hey, I'd like to serve somewhere, maybe you don't even know what that looks like right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Or just check one of those boxes, whatever.

[SPEAKER_01]: If there's any kind of next step on there, I just really wanted to give us an opportunity here at the end of the service to hear this, think through this a little bit.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to take a minute to pray right here.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you want to put something on that card and no but look I'm not judging you nobody's looking around looking at if you're writing okay just if you feel the Lord just going you know what hey want you want you put this on here and let's see where I can take you in this right if he's kind of pricking your heart that way I just encourage you put that on the card this morning

[SPEAKER_01]: We have a lot of ways you can serve and just kind of start doing that here at the church and even encouraging you outside the church to serve.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you anything like that you can write that on the card you can check a box if you need to let us know and then the other thing again is just.

[SPEAKER_01]: come back at four today and we're going to continue this conversation and just talk a little bit more about specifically what that looks like here at Eastridge for us to be these kinds of disciples and how we're going to really double down on this and moving forward, make it all about that, just discipleship here at Eastridge.

[SPEAKER_01]: Growing in our faith believers worshipers fully devoted to disciples followers of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's take a minute here, just want us to be quiet and let's bow our heads and let's pray like I said before you leave you want to put some on that card and then there'll be there'll be there'll be usures at the doors that you guys can drop them off in there okay, let's pray.

[SPEAKER_01]: She want to give us a quiet moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to talk just let y'all pray right where you're at just just go to the Lord just seek the Lord wherever he's leading you right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just pray to him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lord Father, I thank you that you have blessed us with a wonderful church family.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we really do and I'm so thankful for this church family.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you that we do have so many here already right now that are ministers and missionaries.

[SPEAKER_01]: be these true worshippers who worship you in spirit and in truth.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God, yeah, just to every day, surrender our lives to you, day by day by day so that you would lead us to truly live lives devoted to your Son Jesus and discipleship, both here and within the context of the church and outside of it in our everyday other lives,

[SPEAKER_01]: God, whatever we're doing, wherever we are, we are your disciples.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so Laura, I just pray over this church family that you had got just lead us to take.

[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever step we need to take today, each one of us individually and collectively as a church that we would be a church that is just biblically devoted to the teachings of Christ,

[SPEAKER_01]: follow Christ Jesus, that we are led by your spirit every day, that we are at church that is living in fellowship with one another around the resurrected King, giving our lives to him, because he has died, he has risen, he will come again and until that day, we want to be a church that makes a kingdom difference, impact in this world, not for our glory for yours.

[SPEAKER_01]: So lead us or lead us and if there's any particular step you want anybody in this room to take today just give them that encouragement to take it to ask the question to put it on the card or to reach out to somebody.

[SPEAKER_01]: Lord, thank you so much for your goodness to us and your grace every day we love you in Jesus name.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_01]: All right.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey guys, prayer room is open.