"Healthy Homes" Pt.2

Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolve Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

I want to read from Colossians three, this short series, last week's Sunday, um, part one of a healthy home series.

And I just want to read uh Colossians chapter 3, verses 1 through 4, and then verses 12 through 17, and that's kind of where we're gonna hang out today.

Colossians 3:1–4

Is that all right?

If you have a Bible with you, cool.

If you don't, that's all right.

Maybe you're a Bible app person, you've got it on your smartphone, and we always put it up.

Hey, look, there it is, already, ready for me.

So um, this is what we're gonna be spending time talking about today.

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And this chapter is actually titled Living the New Life, which is kind of cool.

So, since you've been raised into new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all of his glory.

Beautiful.

Verses five through eleven are also incredible, but I'm gonna skip ahead to verse 12 where it says, Since God chose you to be the holy people that he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.

Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

If only it were that easy.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace.

And always be thankful.

Let the message about Christ in all its richness fill your lives, teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

We did that together today.

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Amen?

Amen.

Let's pray.

God, we we just choose for the next minute or 30 minutes to invite your voice and your spirit and your prompt and your truth and your life to be the to be the most important thing.

Already, God, I just sense in this room that you're breaking through some fear, you're breaking through some lies in people's hearts.

Already I sense a shift of just somebody kind of exhaling and remembering that they're safe, that they belong, and that you are a God worth trusting.

And so as we go to your word today, as we talk about what it means to live in family, to live in a healthy home, would you just take my thoughts, the words that I've shaped, and would you surround it with your truth and your grace, with your compassion, with your love, and allow it to just do something in our hearts today that we ask in Jesus' name.

Amen?

Amen.

So good.

Last week, part one, uh quick recap.

God's plan, God's design is for family.

You were created for family.

You were created to exist within a sense of home, a sense of family.

We leaned into a verse that God takes orphans and places them into family.

That's that's his heart, that's his nature as a good father.

God's plan and his design.

You identify as a biological son or daughter, and that begins at birth.

We talked about how the only title you carry for your entire lifetime is daughter or son.

From the moment you're born to the moment you die, you will always be a son, you will always be a daughter.

And whether there's life and joy attached to that, whether there's pain and sorrow and brokenness attached to that, it doesn't change the fact that that is what you are, who you are.

And then we talked about what's called a rebirth, a new birth, those that begin a faith journey.

I want to surrender my life to the reconciliation of Jesus.

I want to call Jesus my Redeemer, my Savior.

Those of us in the room, some of us, whether that was sitting with a friend and saying, I want to do this, or sitting in a gathering like this and praying a prayer.

But at some point you've made an intentional decision, or maybe you're here in the room and you're kind of in process, kicking the tires of the Christian faith.

Is this for me?

Is Jesus really who he says he was?

And at some point, maybe you will make this decision, but the Bible calls the point of decision like a rebirth.

And so we talked about spiritually speaking, when you say, God, I'm all in, I'm yours, he calls you son or daughter.

And there's like a spiritual awakening when it comes to our identity as sons and daughters.

And we talked about how healthy homes come out of us staying in that identity, staying in that worth as God's kids, and that we get to choose in all the voices playing into our scenario, playing into our narrative, we get to choose which voice to affirm and to build that identity on.

We talked about the voice of the accuser, the voice of the deceiver, the voice of the enemy.

His MO is steal, kill, destroy.

All he knows is lies.

We talked about how that's his native tongue.

Deception is the enemy's native tongue.

And so he wants to try and convince you the same way he tempted Jesus.

Are you really his son?

The enemy wants to try and convince you that you don't deserve or qualify for the father's love, that somehow you're an orphan or a slave in the kingdom of heaven when other people get to experience what it means to be a daughter or a son.

And so we unpacked the voice of the Father as saying that he loves you and that you bring him joy and that he's pleased with you, and that you're marked by his love, and that you're the pride of his life, you are daughter, you are son, and he's placed you in healthy family, healthy home, and together we're going to learn how that works.

So, what if instead of looking at the Father and looking at our home and looking at our church family through the lens of our past, through the lens of our hurt and our brokenness and the hard things we've come through?

What if instead of looking at home through that lens, we looked through the lens of Christ and allowed God to do something new in our lives?

Today's big question: how does living as sons and daughters translate into us experiencing healthy homes?

And as an exercise in community, all of you watching online, all of you here in the room, just close your eyes for a moment and I want you to use your imagination.

Here we go.

Close your eyes, use your imagination.

Think about your home right now, whatever that means.

If you're a teenager living at home with a parent or both parents, maybe there's some siblings involved.

Maybe you're in an older season of life where a marriage ended and your kids have aged out and you you live by yourself, but you have adult children, maybe some grandchildren?

Wherever you're at, think about your home, your family.

And then I want you to say, just to kind of think through this idea, this question.

What's one way that I want to see greater health right now?

Or what's one relationship that I desire to see healing in right now?

What's one piece of my family?

Maybe a relationship with a grandparent or an uncle or a nephew or a son or a mother.

What's one relationship that if God could do a miracle, I'd sure love that.

Can you just hold on to that for a moment?

And I just want to pray into that and say, Holy Spirit, thank you that you show us areas to grow.

You show us relationships that we can steward and we can invite your power and your healing into.

And that's what we want today.

As we look at this question, God, of what it what does it mean?

How does how does living as healthy sons and daughters translate into experiencing a healthy home, restoration of relationships?

Would you help us learn today in Jesus' name?

Amen.

In uh, well, a long time ago, 25 years ago, I met my wife at a second cup.

And I've shared this story before.

She hired me and we began working together, and then we began dating.

And uh, if anybody in the room is curious whether or not dating the boss is a good idea, I just want to tell you it's a great idea.

It's a great idea.

I just say, if you're wondering, should I should I become romantically involved with my boss?

I just say, go for it, take the plunge.

And uh I started working as an employee, as uh as an employee for Dave and Cindy Broadfoot, my mom and dad in love, and uh their eldest daughter, Nicole, uh, was my manager, my boss, and uh that's how I got to know Nicole in the context of working together.

And it didn't take long for us to you know stand behind the counter at second cup and feel the burn.

It didn't didn't take long, it didn't take long.

And uh, you know, I was amazed actually.

We met, it would have been September.

And a few months later, in December, my boss and his wife and their kids left Winnipeg to travel here to Edmonton to experience Christmas with some extended family.

And I just met them a few months prior, but they left me in charge of their store while they were gone.

So that either speaks to their intelligence or something else.

Like, I don't know, I don't know what it speaks to.

I just want to say, I just felt like they handed me the keys to the kingdom and said, hey, you've been working for us for a couple of months, we're going away, you're in charge.

That's kind of crazy if you ask me.

Um, or maybe I just have reputable character, I'm a hard worker, I don't know.

There could be some, I don't, I digress.

But um, I remember, you know, that that feeling of being trusted was something that I hadn't really fully earned.

And it was it was wild.

And then over the course of a few years, uh, I mean, obviously we fell in love, we got married, we opened up our own store, and now we're not just like working for mom and dad, but we're boss.

We have our own second cup franchise, and and we're in charge, and there's a sense of ownership, right?

And there's a really big difference between being an employee and being an owner.

There's a huge difference between being, uh, I work for you and this is my J-O-B versus this is my baby and I'm gonna steward it as such.

And I kind of compare that to the same difference of doing life without Jesus, where the Bible says you're a slave to sin, you're blinded by something, you're deceived, and then you are when you make a decision to follow Jesus, you're moved into relationship with the Father, and he calls you son, he calls you daughter, and you you move from being slave to son.

It's it's a very similar parallel between being just I work for you versus this is my thing.

And the Holy Spirit in the room today is inviting us to consider, as a son, as a daughter, wherever I'm at in home, in family, what does it mean for me to take ownership over what God's given me?

What does it mean for me to take a sense of ownership over what He's trusted with me?

To be an owner means that there's higher expectations, there's greater responsibilities, there's consistent evaluation of your authority and how you're stewarding it.

You're not just buddy buddy anymore.

Um, you're you're in charge, and there's a greater responsibility.

And I think when it comes to healthy homes and growing and healing relationships with family, both biological family, adoptive family, foster family, church family, I just sense this week that there's a deeper sense of ownership, a sense of expectation and responsibility.

When it comes to our relationship with God, Jesus did all the heavy lifting, did all the work.

We don't have to worry about that.

When it comes to how we live, that's on us.

When it comes to how we steward the gift of the Spirit, that's on us.

And that's what I want to talk about today.

Colossians 3, 1 through 4 again.

Since you've been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

Because you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ.

And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed, you'll share in his glory.

Newsflash, we are new creations.

When we invite the Spirit to make all things new, yes, it takes time, but there's a miracle that takes place when we surrender our lives to Jesus, and God says, You're mine, uniquely mine, restored to relationship because of the finished work of Jesus.

I call you daughter, I call you son.

We are new creations, we're no longer slaves.

N.

T.

Wright, in his uh writings about this passage, he says this they, meaning you, they have entered the new age, and belonging there by right, do not have to struggle to attain the status of membership in God's people.

They already have it.

You already have the keys to the store.

You've already been entrusted with a hundred percent of ownership of God's kingdom, God's family.

They must now simply allow its life to be worked out in them.

Whew, that's the hard part.

Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on, literally meaning simply seek after, seek the things that are above.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

This is so good for us as we practically look at what does it mean to be a good steward?

What does it mean to have a sense of ownership in my healthy home?

Healthy home begins with a healthy identity, but it continues with a priority on where are we gonna focus?

What are we gonna look at?

What are we gonna look to to build our home?

Think about the things of heaven.

Accept Jesus?

Yes, absolutely.

And then continue to follow him, continue to steward your relationship with him, continue to be a reflection of him each new day, each new morning, deepen your roots, build your life upon Jesus, allow the life of Christ to be worked out within you.

Seek the things that are above.

That's our response.

Colossians 2 puts it this way and now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.

So at one point, for the first time, we say, Jesus, I follow you.

And then the next day we have to say it again, I still follow you.

And then the next day when things are really hard, we say, I still follow you.

And 12 years later, when we're in a season of despair, we say, I still follow you.

And six months after that, when we're on a mountaintop and everything's as good as it's gonna get, we say, I still follow you.

There's a continual that is required of us.

You must continue to follow him.

Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him.

It's not enough to be reborn.

It's a beautiful starting point, but it's not enough.

It's not enough to just know our identity as sons and daughters.

It's a beautiful starting point, but it's not enough.

There is a continuum required, an ongoing, an allowing for our roots to keep going down in Him.

I can't go much lower than that.

A building of our lives, literally, actually meaning live Jesus.

Living Jesus.

That's what we're invited into.

That's what we're being asked to have a great, healthy sense of ownership over today, to live Jesus.

I love the message translation of those two verses, Colossians 2, 6, and 7.

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward.

I love advice that is simple and straightforward.

And here's the advice just go ahead with what you've been given.

You've received Jesus, the master.

Now live him.

That's good advice.

You're deeply rooted in him, you're well constructed upon him, you know your way around the faith.

Now do what you've been taught.

School's out.

Quit studying the subject, start living it, and let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

And I can read that.

And some of you that have been following Jesus for a long time, you're like, hey man, that's good.

And others of you that second guess your place in the kingdom, already the lie of the enemy is you actually don't know that much.

You actually haven't been doing this for very long.

Maybe you can't live this.

No, you get to steward where you're at today.

You get to live this faith out where you're at today.

Sure, keep learning.

Sure, keep growing.

Sure, keep putting down roots.

But that doesn't mean you can't be a healthy owner, have good stewardship over the season that you're currently in.

Now live him.

This is how we commit to building healthy homes.

A daily commitment to living Jesus.

Do you want to create greater intimacy with your spouse?

Uh-huh.

Nobody said yes, so I had to do something.

Those of you that are married in the room, do you want to create greater intimacy with your spouse?

Now, when I say intimacy, keep your head in the game.

Intimacy means like depth of relationship, right?

It also means other things.

But uh when I asked that question, do you want to create greater intimacy with your spouse?

Here's here's how.

Live Jesus.

That's how.

Do you want to foster deeper grooves of real communication with your kids?

Here's how.

Live him.

Live Jesus.

Do you want to discover a richer sense of community with other believers in this faith home?

Yeah, I do.

Want to know how?

Live Jesus.

Live him.

Do you want to restore a strained relationship with an aging parent?

Some of you do.

Here's how.

Live Jesus.

So how?

What does that mean?

How does living as sons and daughters translate into us experiencing healthy home?

Because it's not enough to be reborn, it's not enough to know our identity.

There's a continuum required.

And a daily, I follow you, and I follow you today, and I follow you deeper today, and I follow you greater today, and I follow you more today, and I'm more consistently, and I want to learn.

There's a daily surrender required from each one of us.

So what does that look like?

Well, in the context of uh working for Nicole and then standing at her side and having staff together, you know what didn't change?

The uniform.

We still had to wear those nasty polo shirts.

The second cup shirts.

The uniform didn't change, regardless of our season.

Like we didn't have a special fancy shirt, we just had the same black second cup polo shirts.

Whew, Gidea.

And the same aprons, right?

We put the same aprons on as everybody else.

And I want to end today by just talking about the uniform that we get to wear.

In our daily surrender to Jesus, in our daily commitment to live Him, in our daily choosing to invite His power and His grace and His healing into our home and into our family to continue to make all things new.

My first thought today of three thoughts is simply this.

Number one, get dressed.

Get dressed.

You're not gonna build a healthy home naked.

Colossians 3, 12.

Since God chose you for the online audience, I just have to say, somebody in the room, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna tell you who it was.

I said, you're not gonna build a healthy home naked, and somebody said, Maybe you're not.

So thank you.

Fair enough.

Um, since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, focus, people.

You must you must clothe yourselves.

The invitation to being his people, to being his holy people, to being a part of the kingdom of heaven, the invitation to I want to live as a son or as a daughter, starts with you must clothe yourselves.

Get dressed.

As healthy sons and daughters committed to building healthy homes, we have to every day get dressed.

We have to choose it.

Romans 13 puts it this way instead.

Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus.

The early church leaders began to teach Jesus followers that every day you get to choose to clothe yourself with the presence of Jesus.

Every day you get to remember, oh, right, I'm a daughter, I'm a son, there's something, I gotta get dressed today.

In the New King James, that same verse says, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for your flesh.

I love that.

There's a daily choosing.

Am I gonna am I gonna surrender today to putting on Jesus or am I gonna slide back into who I used to be, my old nature?

When do you typically get dressed?

Morning?

Or if you're a shift worker, whenever your day starts, okay?

At the beginning of your day is when you typically get dressed.

At the start of each day, unless you're a 10-year-old boy, and then it's really just whenever your parents say, put some clothes on, or get out of your pajamas, right?

Sometimes 2 p.m., sometimes 9 p.m., whenever that is.

But if I'm on if I'm honest, and I want to be, and so I'm gonna be, if I'm honest, home always feels less healthy when I've neglected to put on Jesus.

If I'm honest.

My home, it always feels off when I've neglected to put on Christ.

I'm far less understanding, I'm far less patient, I'm far less kind when I neglect to remember, when I neglect a daily surrender to his power and his authority, and his voice and his leadership and the heart of the Father.

Our identity as sons and daughters requires a complete inside-out transformation of our soul, our mind, our will, our emotions, our habits, our thinking.

And I wish, I wish that that was one and done.

I wish that I could just pray a prayer, lay a hand on you, and in faith say, be renewed completely.

But that's not how it works.

When I make a decision to surrender my life to Jesus, my spirit is completely transformed.

My physical body and my soul, that's where the work lies.

That's where the daily surrender lies, that's where the tension lies, that's where the dis-ease happens, within my habits, within my thinking, within my routine.

That's where I fall off course.

But this surrender, inside-out transformation, it certainly begins the day I surrender my life to Jesus, but it also occurs over a lifetime of surrender.

It's a daily dying, a daily picking up my cross, a daily surrendering to the power of Jesus, a slow and consistent transformation that happens over a lifetime of long obedience in the same direction.

2 Corinthians 3, 18.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.

And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we're changed into his glorious image.

You don't have that verse for the screens, but it's 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18.

2 Corinthians 3:18

And there's this like, I've made the decision, my eyes have been opened, the veil's been removed, Jesus, I'm all in.

And then it says there's this, I can see and reflect Jesus, and he, by his spirit, makes me more and more like him as I'm changed over time.

One day, bit by bit.

Are you pausing to get dressed in him, to put on Jesus?

Are you pausing each new day?

Are you bringing to remembrance a deeper awareness of his presence?

It's not that God's spirit has left us.

No, it's just that often we forget to remember and to be aware of his presence.

Are you beginning each new day with a conscious, intelligent choice to reflect to the image of Jesus?

I want to be an image bearer of Christ today.

I want to reflect who he is, asking the Spirit to make you more and more and more like him.

Get dressed.

Second thought don't disrespect the uniform.

Don't disrespect the uniform.

I've been thinking a lot about a uniform lately.

I'm tired of having to pick out what I have to wear every day.

You know, it's exhausting.

And I was just talking to Kathy about this.

Was it you?

I was talking about this last week, Kathy, about like maybe choosing an outfit and just like buying.

Yeah, we were talking about this.

I was thinking maybe I'm gonna pull a Steve Jobs.

Right?

Does anybody know who Steve Jobs is?

Does anybody not know who Steve Jobs is?

In the chats online.

Somebody, like if you're willing to admit that you don't know who Steve Jobs is, don't disrespect the uniform.

From like forever ago until the day he passed away, Steve Jobs wore the same thing every day, which is kind of cool.

I have a photo.

Uh, there it is.

The Steve Jobs.

And so here's a continuum, a timeline that goes from 1998 all the way to 2011.

Um, through all his seasons, he just like one of the decisions he refused to make every day is what I'm gonna wear.

He just like put on the same thing, so he didn't have to think about it.

I'm thinking about doing this, by the way.

Um, I'm so you know, if it happens, um just go with it.

But um he wore a black shirt, but not just any black shirt.

It was a black mock net shirt by Issi Miyaki.

It was like the same specific black shirt.

He wore blue jeans, but not just any blue jeans, Levi's 501.

He was a classic 501 Levi's guy.

Those are the those that and he wore gray sneakers, but not just any gray sneakers.

He wore gray New Balance 992s.

And he wore the same thing every day.

And he never got tired of it.

Maybe he did, but it was irrelevant because it's what he wore, it's what he chose to put on every day.

And there's something from our text today that God says, put it on, get dressed, and here's what to wear.

Don't disrespect the uniform.

Wear this every day.

Don't you you might get tired of it, you might get bored with it, but it's too important.

You won't have to think about the other things if you just start your day with putting this on.

And and scripture teaches us every morning, get up and get dressed, but don't disrespect the uniform.

Here's what you're gonna put on every day: tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Dang.

Do I have to?

No.

Will you have a healthier home if you do?

Yes.

And that's the obedience factor.

That's our response.

Well, if you don't wear this every day, will it change your spiritual state between you and the Father?

No.

But will it mess things up with you and your kids?

Absolutely.

With you and your spouse?

For sure.

With you and your coworkers, better believe it.

With you and your church family?

100%.

Colossians 3, 12 through 17, since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves.

Clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Dallas Willard, I heard this quote this week the greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as Christians, the greatest issue is whether Christians will become disciples, students, apprentices, practitioners of Jesus Christ.

The greatest issue pushing at your faith journey and how that translates into the home that you live in is will you today choose to be a student, an apprentice, a practitioner, a follower of Jesus, steadily learning from Jesus how to live the life of the kingdom of heaven into every corner of your human existence.

That is the greatest issue that you will face in the world that we live in.

Will today, today will I choose to surrender anew?

Today will I sacrifice what I need to.

Today will I not only remember that God calls me son or God calls me daughter, but that he invites me into a practice of how to live and to put on a uniform, a uniform called tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

How does it living as sons and daughters translate into us experiencing healthy homes, healthy family, get dressed, and don't disrespect the uniform?

It's not enough to be reborn.

Hey tender-hearted mercy.

Would you get up today and just put on some compassion?

In your home, in your family, in your spiritual tribe, can you get up this morning and just put on compassion?

Put on some tender-hearted mercy.

What that means is a deep sensitivity to the needs and to the sorrows of other people.

Within the family, your family context, whatever that is for you, the people that you do life with have needs and they have sorrows.

And as a Jesus follower, we get to rise in the morning and say, Today I will be aware of those things.

I will respond with tender-hearted mercy.

I will be compassionate to the needs and the sorrows of those I do life with.

Luke 6, Jesus puts it this way: you must be compassionate, just as your father is compassionate.

That's pretty simple.

That's pretty straightforward.

That's pretty bold.

Reflecting Christ daily in healthy homes has us being a people who ooze and exhibit tenderhearted mercy, compassion, a deep sensitivity to the needs and sorrow, to the needs and sorrows of other people.

That's the first thing we're gonna wear as a part of the uniform.

Don't disrespect it.

Put it on, get dressed, put on your tender-hearted mercy.

B, kindness.

I like that kindness is an essential attitude.

It's also a very Christ-like attitude towards other people.

Kindness is a daily choosing to how we respond to other people.

It's an outworking of our faith.

Will I be kind?

Matthew 5, God blesses those who work for peace.

And I just, I just know when we operate from a place of tender-hearted mercy and compassion and kindness that we're working for peace in our homes.

We're working for peace in our relationships.

When we choose to be kind, those who work for peace, they will be called the children of God.

And there's a connection to our identity again.

Family, children of God, sons and daughters, are you working towards peace in your home?

And specifically I want to say, are you working towards peace in your home through being kind?

Maybe you're in a season where you've developed a language of sarcasm or poking.

You know, the longer I stay married and choose to build marriage to Nicole, the more I have the ability to like poke or dig, as she does to me.

Right?

The longer you know somebody, the more you actually know somebody, the more you see their flaws.

And are you settling in for a language of sarcasm or uh humor where one person never laughs, but others do?

Are you settling in for a routine of just like um stoic cold towards one another?

The silent treatment.

No.

The outfit we're meant to wear is supposed to be marked by tender-hearted mercy, compassion, a deep value and ability to see the needs and the sorrows of those we do life with, but also kindness.

Kindness.

Are we reflecting Christ daily in healthy homes by being a people who ooze and exhibit kindness?

There's no margin for being mean in healthy homes.

There just isn't.

And as Jesus followers, if you've settled into a routine or a normalcy of meanness, I just want to invite the Holy Spirit to not convict, condemn, make you feel ashamed of that, but to actually just turn a little beautiful, warm light on that to say, hey son, hey daughter, let's grow, let's learn, let's become a people of kindness.

See, humility.

This is also an essential attitude, a Christ-like attitude, but it's an attitude towards yourself.

Kindness is an attitude towards others.

Humility is how you choose to see you.

Humility is how you choose to look inward and say, God, who are you asking me to become?

Am I thinking too highly of myself in home right now?

Philippians 2, 5 through 8, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus Christ, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

And this is powerful.

Jesus stepped out of every right and privilege as God's Son, all the benefits of kingdom of heaven, and he stepped into planet earth to model what it means to live with humility.

And then he invites us to do the same in our relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ, not thinking too highly of ourselves, making ourselves nothing.

And in this the pendulum swing of humility, I also want to speak to those of us that have swung way too far to the other side, that you only ever think of yourself as nothing.

And that self-worth self-image of like, oh, who am I?

I've got nothing to offer, I'm nobody, and all you live in is your brokenness and what you can't do.

And you live in this constant state of comparison to other people in your home.

That's not what I'm talking about when I'm talking about humility.

That I actually think we need to invite the Holy Spirit to continue to redeem and bring us back to center.

No, no, daughter, no, no, son.

Come on, you're mine, you're worth something, you're beautiful.

I made you, I've placed beautiful gifts inside of you.

This isn't about like, oh, I'm so awful, thinking poorly of ourselves.

This is about humbling ourselves and preferring others ahead of ourselves.

A love that's marked by what we give, not by what we get.

And this is what Jesus modeled for us.

Reflecting Christ daily in healthy homes has us being a people who ooze and exhibit humility.

D, gentleness.

Gentleness, when when we walk, when we put on humility and when we put on tenderhearted mercy, when we have those two things on first, let's call those socks and underwear, okay?

When we put on humility and when we put on tender hearted mercy, then we then we become gentle.

These work together.

So gentleness is the outworking of a humble heart and a desire to see the needs of others, an ability to be gentle.

Colossians, sorry, Philippians 4, verse 5, let your gentleness be evident to all.

Philippians 4:5

The Lord is near.

That's a powerful scripture.

And in our home, in our marriages, in relationship with our kids, with our aging parents, with our estranged nieces and nephews, within our church family.

Can I just encourage you to let your gentleness be evident to all?

The Lord is near.

Let's put on gentleness.

Let's ooze and exhibit gentleness as a people of faith.

And e patience.

This is how humble kindness allows us to react to other people.

When we choose to be a people of kindness and a people of humility, it influences how we respond and how we react to people and allows us to be more patient and increasingly more patient.

Colossians 1.11, we also pray that you will be strengthened with all of his glorious power so you will have all the endurance, all the patience that you need.

And I pray that over this room today, when it comes to us building homes together, building a sense of health and revitalization and healing in our homes, that our tender-hearted response, a kind response, a humble response, would allow us to be more gentle and more patient.

Amen.

Get dressed, don't disrespect the uniform.

So that's what we put on.

And then there's one more response I want to close with today.

And it's this when it comes to the uniform, wash it often, keep it clean.

Wash it off and keep it clean.

And we get dressed, we choose what we're gonna put on, and then we wash it often and we keep it clean.

And I'm gonna give you homework right now.

If you have a smartphone, pull it out.

If you don't, uh nudge the person you're with and say, Hey, can you text me this?

Because I'm giving you homework this week.

Sound good?

How no?

I'm giving you homework.

I'm giving you homework.

How does living as sons and daughters translate into us experiencing healthy homes?

Maybe this is a conversation that you pray about over the next few days and then and then discuss at a breakfast table or a dinner table on Good Friday with people.

Because it's not enough to just be reborn, it's not enough to know that God calls me daughter or calls me son.

There's a continuum, a choosing that's required, a response that comes out of us, a daily dealing, a daily surrender, a daily building our lives, literally a daily put on Jesus.

So how do we make this happen?

Colossians 3, 12 through 17.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Get dressed, don't disrespect the uniform.

But here's how we wash it and keep it clean.

Are you ready?

Make allowance for each other's faults.

Forgive when somebody offends you.

Because remember, God forgave you, so you must forgive others.

This is a daily practice, by the way.

This is daily dealing.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

And you can see a continuum in scripture if you read 1 Corinthians 13.

Love is patient, love is kind, love doesn't envy.

Like you can read the definition of love there, right?

When it comes to how we love, love binds us together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your heart today.

For as members of his body, you are called to live in peace and always be thankful.

This is how we this is how we wash the out form.

Like we're gonna allow the outworking of tender-hearted mercy and kindness and gentleness and patience to love well, to forgive quickly, to be a people of peace, to always talk with the language of gratitude.

And then let the message about Christ, in all of its richness, let it fill your life.

Don't just roll in on Sunday, allow the truth of Jesus to fill your home each and every day, fill your lives, teach and counsel each other.

I love that it doesn't say sit under teaching.

Our response as kingdom, sons and daughters, in building healthy homes is to talk about scripture, to teach and encourage other people with what we're learning.

Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom that God gives.

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and whatever you do or say, whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus.

In healthy homes, we choose in faith who we're gonna be for today.

Daily dealing.

Can I steward the reflection of Christ just for today?

I'll let tomorrow take care of itself, but can I reflect Jesus today?

God, would you give me the courage to do this today?

Father, would you give me the grace and the favor to do this today?

And when we come through our day and we've missed the mark, we're quick to say, I dropped the ball.

I wasn't as patient as I know Jesus invites me to become.

I wasn't as tenderhearted as I know Jesus.

And so daily dealing where we look at these practices, when we reflect Christ daily as sons and daughters, when we ooze and exhibit tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, it changes the atmosphere of our homes.

It changes the atmosphere of our homes and allows us to be a people who make room for faults, forgive offenses, wear love, are governed by peace, are always thankful, are filling our lives with the message of Christ, teaching one another, singing with gratitude, and then whatever we're saying and doing, allowing it to be shaped with thanksgiving.

So there's that list that we're going to invite the Spirit to work out in us as daily practice, daily dealing.

And then I want to close this, and your homework is whether it's the NLT, I also love these verses in the message translation.

And as I close this message today, I just want you to close your eyes for me and just hear these words as an invitation from the Spirit to build something new in your home.

Build something new in your family, build something new with your kids.

Grandkids, your spouse, build something new this week.

We pray, Jesus.

Colossians 3.

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it.

Pursue the things over which Christ presides.

Don't just shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you, but look up and be alert to what's going on around Christ.

That's where the action is.

See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead.

Your new life, which is your real life, even though invisible to spectators, is with Christ in God.

He is your life.

When Christ shows up again, you'll show up to the real you, the glorious you.

Meanwhile, be content with obscurity like Christ.

So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you.

Compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, patience.

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense.

Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you.

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love.

It's your basic, all-purpose garment.

Never be without it.

And let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.

None of this going off and doing your own thing.

And cultivate thankfulness.

Let the word of Christ, the message of Christ, have the run of your house.

Give it plenty of room in your lives.

Instruct and direct one another using good common sense and sing.

Sing your hearts out to God.

Let every detail in your life, words, actions, whatever, be done in the name of the Master Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Father, we invite your Spirit to seal this word in our hearts and just restore in us a renewed sense of what it means to steward today.

When it comes to the homes that we find ourselves in, the season that we're in with family, marital family, biological family, adoptive family, foster family, family, church family, whatever that means.

We just want to steward today.

We want to reflect your image today.

We're all in.

We've made the decision.

Our hearts are settled.

We want to build our lives on the foundation that is Jesus and Jesus alone.

We want to step into our identity as healthy sons, healthy daughters, but we don't just want to stay there.

We choose to put on Christ each new day, to get dressed, to not disrespect the uniform, to keep it clean.

And as we've gone to Colossians 3 today, there's been just some beautiful aha in the room.

I've sensed some people's hearts just like, oh yeah, that's for me.

And Father, you know, you know my week.

You know, even as writing these words on paper, the lie of the enemy, the whisper of the enemy, always reminding us of our shortcomings and where we've failed.

And so I just surrender that lie publicly in the room today to help other people surrender that same lie.

That when the enemy whispers and deceives and attacks us with, see, you're not really who he says you are, that we would quickly process that as what it is, a lie.

And remember, we are daughters, we are sons, we are part of the finished, whole, complete, redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Does that mean we're perfect?

No, but it means we're submitted and surrendered to inviting your spirit and your word every new day to transform us from the inside out, spirit, soul, and body, bit by bit being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

We submit to that today.

We surrender to that today.

Not to be a people of perfection, but to be a people of peace, to be a people of patience, of kindness, of gentleness, tender-hearted mercy, compassion, forgiveness, love.

It's who we want to be.

It's who we see in the person of Jesus.

And so we choose to find ourselves in his story, not in our own.