"I'm Not Enough" (Matthew 19:16-26, Romans 7:18, Col. 1:21-22)

Music.

Into the Generations Church podcast. If you've ever felt like you're not enough,

today's message is for you.

Today, Pastor Jeff brings a standalone message entitled, Not Enough.

Next week, we will return to our current series on the book of James.

Grab your Bible, a pen and paper, and open your heart to receive from the Lord.

And now, Pastor Jeff's message, Not Enough.

As I was praying and studying, I just felt like the Lord was saying,

you know what? This is not for now.

And so Thursday afternoon, I decided, you know what?

We're going to go a different direction. And we are going to put everything

from that series on the table and just say, Lord, what do you want?

Because I really believe that you want to speak to people today about something. thing.

I believe that God wants to speak to each and every one of you.

How many of you struggle with not being enough?

Come on, raise your hands. I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you.

I'm not, you know, when God called us to plant Generations Church,

I ran for three years. I said, no, I'm not good enough.

That was me. And so, like I say every week, I'm preaching to you,

but I'm preaching to quiet here.

These are things that I struggle with as well.

If there's something that we need to focus on in the Christian walk more,

I think the word would be vulnerability.

We like to wear masks as if we're coming to a charades party and we get dressed

up or we come, hopefully you showered or you, you know, good job,

everyone seems to be fully clothed here this morning.

So you come and you're ready and you're ready to worship and you're ready to hear from God.

And we tend to wear these masks as if to say, I've got it all together.

How many of you know it's okay, it's completely okay to not have it all together?

It's been said that we're only

as sick as our secrets. How many have heard that before? That's right.

That is a really famous phrase that they use in AA and other recovery programs.

You're only as sick as your secrets. It means that a secret kept in the dark

will grow and grow and become more and more harmful.

But then once it's exposed to light, its power over you is lost.

Let me give you another word that we just said. Vulnerability.

Think about it for just a moment. Vulnerability. When I throw out that word

to you, what is the first thought that comes to your mind?

The word that I thought of and the word that when I studied it,

most of us think that if we say that we're going to be vulnerable to one another, then guess what?

I'm showing them my weakness.

My weakness.

In the recovery world and especially in the church, where we're doing our best

to live in community, to encourage one another,

to motivate one another, to live more godly lives, to have faith and then good works.

As a believer and a child of God, vulnerability is really valuable.

It's valuable.

Vulnerability is valuable and it leads to a connectedness within the body of Christ.

And it's the process of growing more and more into the image of Christ.

And it's directly related to our willingness to become vulnerable with one another.

You see, the problem with vulnerability in the church and among Christians a

lot of the time, and I would say historically,

is that sometimes we think that if I share my secrets, if I join a connection

group and I'm here and I share my secrets with you, I'm opening myself up.

And they're going to take it. They're either going to judge me.

They're going to think badly of me, when in reality, they're going to encourage you.

They're going to help build you up. They're going to lift up your arms.

If we're going to live in freedom, we've got to be vulnerable with one another.

We've got to be real with one another.

It's interesting to note that as you look at the story of God.

You see that God is a God of vulnerability.

Think about it for just a second. God was totally and completely vulnerable

when he sent Jesus to live here on earth.

He lived a sinless life. He was up on the cross.

And I would argue with you that Jesus hanging on the cross was the most vulnerable

action anyone could ever do.

Paying the price for your sins and mine, mind, thereby allowing us to know God through Christ.

It's only when we're vulnerable enough to admit the truth of our struggles,

the depths of our pain, and our secret battles that we can turn to God for help

and that we can turn to each other for help.

How can we help each other if you don't tell us, if we don't tell each other

what we're going through, what you're walking through?

And so today's message, the name of it is I'm not enough. I'm not enough.

We all have areas in our lives where we believe that lie, don't we?

We believe that we are not enough. I'm not tall enough.

I'm not rich enough. I'm not smart enough.

Girls, I'm not pretty enough. How many of you have wrestled with that growing up through school?

I'm not successful enough at work. I'm not patient enough. I'm not created enough.

I'm not educated enough. I'm not talented enough. I'm not organized enough. I'm not brave enough.

And the list goes on and on and on.

And this morning, we're going to talk about the biggest one that says, I'm not good enough.

I'm not good enough. No matter who who you are.

Everyone in this room at one time or another has said or thought that phrase, I'm not good enough.

Some of you might not want to read the Bible because I'm not good enough to understand it.

I don't want to pray because I'm not good enough. People are going to think

if I come to prayer meeting on Wednesday night, they're going to ask me to pray.

And if I pray, they're going to hear me.

And then if they hear me, they're going to think I'm not good enough.

It's a lie. It's a the life from the enemy that we believe in so many areas

of our lives. Moms and dads, what about you?

Maybe at work, I'm not good enough. I didn't get that promotion.

I must not be good enough.

And we walk through life carrying that baggage just like the last few weeks. I'm not good enough.

I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough.

Listen, when it comes to our standing before God, good isn't even good enough.

You should have been handed some notes when you came out here.

I don't have a copy, but if you don't have a copy, would you raise your hand? We'll be sure.

Jeff, can we get these guys some? We want to make sure that you have these.

But the first point there in your notes is this, that good will never be good enough.

And listen, this is not something that should depress you, okay?

It's something that should ease your burden. It should ease your mind.

It should ease your heart.

It should bring you freedom because if you're aiming at being good enough,

you're not running the race that God has for you.

You're running on a treadmill.

Now, I love to run. I know I don't look like it, but I run all all the time.

Why are you laughing? I love to run. I do not like running on a treadmill.

I don't go anywhere. I just stay in the same spot.

And yet when we believe lies from the enemy, we're on this spiritual journey.

And instead of running through life and running the journey that God has set

for us, we're standing there.

And we're in the same spot when we got done. So you can tell I'm a runner because

I'm not really out of breath, Beth. Just saying.

It's impressive to no one.

Listen, some of you are running through life and you're on a treadmill.

And you're not getting any victory in your life because you're on the treadmill,

believing the lies that you've told yourself or maybe the lies that other people have told you,

and you'll never get anywhere until you understand that good will never be good enough.

Good will never be good enough.

When we believe that we can be good enough.

We start dealing with things like with depression and with anxiety.

I want to be good enough. I want to be good enough. I'm not good enough.

We play this blame game, don't we?

Man, if they can do that, I should be able to do that. If he can do that, I should do that.

We feel that our goodness can be attained.

I'm here to tell you this morning, God wants you to stop trying to attain something that is unattainable.

It's time to get off the treadmill this morning. If you have your Bibles with

you, I want to invite you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

And we're going to read through Matthew 19, 16 through 26.

16 through 26. The words will be up here on the screen also. Verse 16 says this.

Just then someone came up and asked him.

They're asking Jesus, Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?

Life in other words how good is

good enough jesus like is there

a place if i do enough good enough can i be good

how good do i have to be verse 17 jesus says why do you ask me about what is

good there's only one who is good if you want to enter into life keep the commandments

verse 18 which ones? He asked him.

Jesus answered, do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal.

Do not bear false witness.

Honor your father and your mother and love your neighbor as yourself.

Now, this guy had been really religious, right?

He says, Jesus, he's thinking, I'm pretty good here. Verse 20, I've kept all these.

The young man told him, what do I still lack?

Verse 21, If you want to be perfect, another word for that is complete.

Jesus said to him, go, sell your belongings, give to the poor,

and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.

When the young man heard that, he went away grieving because he had many possessions.

Jesus said to his disciples, truly, I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person

to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle

than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

He's not saying it's wrong to have well. That's not what he's saying.

Verse 25 says, when the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and

asked, then who can be saved?

Verse 26, Jesus looked at them and said, with man, this is impossible.

In other words, It's impossible to be good enough.

It's impossible. But with God, all things are possible.

So here we have this foundation teaching that Jesus teaches us about humanity

and the true nature of who we are.

Verse 17 says, there's only one who is good.

And I've got some news for you. It ain't me, and it ain't you, okay?

There's only one, and that's Jesus Christ.

Number one, there's only one who is good, and that's Jesus.

It's Jesus. Here, the rich ruler in Matthew 19 says, Jesus, I've kept all the

law, and Jesus said, it's not enough.

But Jesus, I've been doing all this stuff. I've gone to church. I've served.

I tithe. I read my Bible. I do YouVersion reading plans with my spouse.

It's not enough. And the disciples ask him, Jesus, if you can't ever be good

enough, then who can be saved?

See, they believed that they were responsible for being good enough,

that their eternal destination was determined by being good enough,

by following laws and tradition.

And Jesus responds in verse 26, with man, this is impossible,

but with God, all things are possible.

He's saying, get off the treadmill.

You'll never be good enough. It's impossible for you and I to ever be good enough.

Possible. If you're here and your goal is to be good enough, I'm sorry.

You'll never, ever be good enough.

Over in Romans, Paul addresses the same issue in Romans 7, 18.

He says, for I know that good itself does not dwell in me.

This is the guy that wrote tons of the New Testament, right? Right?

If anyone is good enough, if anyone is good, it's got to be Paul.

But Paul says, I know that good itself does not dwell in me.

Then he's got this preface, that is in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Isn't it true that when we come to Christ, we have this desire. We want to be good.

We want to be better. We want the world to look at us and know that we're Christians.

I know what is good, but I can't do it. I can't.

Why can't we? Paul says, because you and I, we have a sinful nature at war against us.

So number one, there's only one who's good. But number two, the only good in

me comes from from Jesus.

The only good in me comes from Jesus.

James 1.17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above.

It's from God. Everything good in your life, let me tell you,

it's not self-earned as much as you think it might be.

It's been blessed to you and given to you from the Lord. Therefore,

every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,

who does not change like shifting shadows.

If you and I can understand that goodness comes from God and that everything,

every spiritual gift comes from God, then we'll stop living the comparison game.

We'll stop playing the comparison game, and we'll be able to get off the treadmill

mill of trying to be good enough because our goodness comes from Jesus Christ.

When he imputed, that's the spiritual

or theological word, he imputed his righteousness to you at the cross.

His righteousness.

Can your righteousness because he knows you're not good enough.

I'm not good enough. I needed his goodness and I needed his righteousness to

make me appear good enough.

You once weren't good enough, but now Christ's righteousness is your righteousness

so that when God looks at you, he looks at you through the blood of Jesus,

and he sees you as pure and perfect and good.

Not because it's your goodness, but because it's been given to you through the

work of Jesus on the cross.

You're reconciled to him, and he's given his kids all the characteristics of the Father.

So when you hear in your mind, I'm not good enough.

I'm not pretty enough. I'm not strong enough. I'm not brave enough.

I'm not friendly enough. I'm not whatever.

When you hear those things, speak truth.

Speak truth to yourself.

Break the lies of the enemy me and replace them with truth.

Out at the Welcome Center, there's this print off.

I came across this last week as I was studying declarations of your identity in Christ.

Take one. Replace the lies of the enemy and the lies that are going through

your head with scripture.

As you read this, it says, one of the most practical ways we can renew our minds

is by regularly speaking and agreeing with God's word.

Use this list to renew your mind and remind you who you are in Christ. Speak it loudly.

It says God has a lot to say today about how he sees you.

And I would encourage you, grab one of these on your way out today. I'll print more off.

When you're believing you're not good enough, when you're believing you're not

enough, it says, I'm a child of God.

And it's got references for all of these. I'm a child of God.

I'm Jesus's friend. I'm no longer a slave.

I'm a son. I'm a daughter. I've been adopted into his family.

I'm an heir of God, a joint heir with Christ, sharing his inheritance with him.

Did you know you get to share in the inheritance in heaven?

You're rich, Beth. You're rich.

I am united with the Lord. I'm in one spirit with him. I'm saved by grace.

I have peace. Are you struggling with peace in your life?

Are you struggling with an anxious mind?

I have peace. Speak it over yourself.

Speak it over your life. Speak it over your kids, your grandkids.

Take these. Renew your mind with the word of God.

God, God shattered the distance by sending Jesus to reconcile us to God through

what he did in the most vulnerable act in history.

How many of you guys have been to a circus?

I'm not talking about your house. Some of you parents are like.

Family circus. Wasn't that a comic strip?

I loved when I was a kid going to the circus. Now, Now they don't have circuses

like they used to. Now it's all like acrobat stuff.

And I'm talking lions, tigers, and bears.

Yeah, my people.

Remember going in the excitement and there was a guy with a top hat and he'd have a whip,

before pita god bless pita

my favorite my favorite was

not the lions or the tigers or the bears my favorite was the elephants i'm just

saying they were they're so huge and they're so powerful and then you look over

at them and they're tied there like all the the monkeys they got steel bars and in cages.

Elephant. They got a little string, a little rope, and a little piece,

like a twig, just sitting there. Have you ever noticed that?

Let me tell you why. As a baby elephant.

Now, I did not go to school for this. I am not a zoologist.

I can't even say it. I'm not an animalologist, but when they're babies,

they use a heavy chain and a steel post that goes into the ground.

And as a baby, they learn that they can't move it, that they can't pull it out.

And so in their mind, they start believing as a baby that they will never be

able to move that stake. and as they learn that, they lose their identity.

You with me? You seeing the correlation here? Somewhere along the line,

you and I have lost our identity and we've forgotten that we're the child of a king.

But because we've lived lies, we've been told lies by maybe our parents or coworkers

or school kids or classmates, teammates, the world, social media.

Guys, social media tells you lies about who you are and who you aren't.

It will steal your identity.

And so now you're living this life and you're in bondage and you're chained

in one place and you feel like you can't do anything.

You've lost your freedom. You've lost your peace.

You've lost your value because you believed a lie that says,

I've got to be here and I'm stuck.

And today, some of you need to

make a declaration in your life and remind yourself who you are in Christ.

Can I tell you who you are today? day.

You are a saint and a child of the King. Number three, we are saints.

Lisa, you're a saint. Adam, you're a saint. Troy, you're a saint.

Dean, Dean's raising hell. I want to be a saint. Okay, Dean, you can be a saint too.

You're listening online, you are a saint as well.

Recognize your sainthood. That is your new identity.

Ephesians 1 says this, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will to the faithful, who?

To the faithful saints in Christ Jesus at Ephesus.

Who's he writing to? He's writing to all the Christians there in Ephesus,

in the city. And he says, you're saints.

The Bible teaches us that all Christians are saints.

If you've decided to accept God's free gift of salvation, you are considered

a saint, not because of your own goodness, not because of your own righteousness,

not because of anything that you have done, but because God's goodness and God's

righteousness has been imputed to you.

You don't realize who you are. And so you live with a false identity.

I'm someone who struggles with anxiety. I'm struggling with fear.

I'm struggling with depression.

I'm struggling with suicidal thoughts. I'm struggling with this.

I'm struggling with that. And we forget that we are saints of God and we are

not to be tied down by a string and a twig any longer.

And today it's time that we break free from being in bondage to the sin,

yes, sin of false identities.

Breaking it today. I want to remind you who you are. We're going to continue reading in Ephesians 1.

And then in just a minute, the band's going to come up and Jen's going to sing a song.

And while she's singing, I'm going to challenge you to reclaim your identity,

to reclaim your identity.

So let's read this. It's a big chunk, 14 verses. You up for it? This means yes.

This means I'll do it anyway.

Here we go. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will to faithful saints in Christ.

That's you, right? Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blessed, say blessed, is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has

blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.

He has blessed you with every spiritual blessing, every single one. Claim it. It's yours.

Verse four, for he chose.

Say, I'm chosen. I'm chosen. I'm chosen.

He chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy. Say holy.

You're holy and blameless. Say I'm blameless in love before him.

Verse 5, he predestined us to be adopted as sons. Say I'm adopted.

I'm adopted through Jesus Christ for himself according to the good pleasure

of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that That he lavished on us.

The beloved one. In him, we have redemption.

We've been redeemed, guys, through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.

We're forgiven according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out

on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Verse 9, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure

that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time to bring everything together in Christ,

both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

Verse 11, in Him we have also received an inheritance because we were predestined

according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of His will,

so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring Him praise to His glory.

Verse 13, in Him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

Say, I'm sealed. I'm sealed. When you heard the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.

Verse 14, the Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until the redemption

of the possession to the praise of His glory. You've been given the Holy Spirit.

When you feel that you're not enough. From this day forward,

you remind yourself that God has imputed, given you his righteousness,

given you every blessing from above.

You are a child of God.

And if you have Jesus, he's enough.

If you are a child of God, you are enough.

Can you say that? I'm enough. I am enough.

I am enough. Would you pray with me? The worship team is going to come now.

Father, we thank you. We thank you so much for sending Jesus to die for us.

There is no good in us. We could never be enough apart from you.

You have given us your righteousness, your holiness.

You've given us everything that we need. But Father, so many of of us, we still struggle.

We come to you and we struggle.

We struggle with so many things.

And I just ask that you would intervene today, that you would move,

and that you would encourage.

Lord, we love you. Help my friends to speak truth over their lives,

to speak truth over their children, to speak truth over their grandkids, that you are enough.

You've been listening to the Generations Church podcast. Be sure to check back

next week as Pastor Jeff continues our study on the book of James.

If you'd like more information about Generations Church, feel free to get in

touch with us at info at generationschurch.us or head over to our website,

generationschurch.us.

Thanks for listening.