"Master Builder" Pt.4

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

Well, hey, Evolved Church family.

What a gift that I get to be able to hang out with you and share part four of this Master Builder series.

My sincere hope over the last few weeks is that you've got a better understanding of what we're a part of.

Not just at Evolve, but connected to what Jesus is building across our city, in our province, across our nation of Canada, and around the world.

Jesus is building his church.

God's building a home.

Jesus, our cornerstone, using each one of us, stone by stone, brick by brick, to build what's in his heart.

And if you need to go back and listen to parts one, two, or three, you can do that at any time on our audio podcast or on YouTube, on Facebook, if you want to watch.

But uh we're gonna dig into part four today, the fourth and final message in this series, but I want to pray and then we're gonna get started.

Father, in Jesus' name, we ask you to just be evidently real and present.

As we go to your blueprint today, as we go to the Bible and look at some verses, share some ideas about what it means to uh be a stone in the home that you're building.

Would you speak to our hearts?

Would you be close and real as we spend these next few minutes together?

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

So we've been in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 20 to 22 in the message translation.

Ephesians 2:20–22

Here's what it says: God is building a home.

He's using us all, irrespective of how we got here in what he's building.

He used the apostles and the prophets for the foundation.

Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together.

We see it taking shape day after day.

A holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

On week one of this series, I shared four questions that you could just ponder, discuss with your spouse or partner, or with your small group, or with friends.

And maybe you took some time to kind of talk through those four questions that I shared, but I'm gonna look at one of them today, and it's today's big question.

If you're taking notes, you can write this down.

It'll be on the screen below.

Today's big question: how do we invite the Holy Spirit to transform us into a temple where God can make himself at home?

So, what's the Holy Spirit's connection?

How do we invite Holy Spirit to transform us bit by bit into this temple where God's quite at home?

Last summer we took a whole month to just to talk about the gift of Holy Spirit.

And if uh if Holy Spirit isn't some someone that you're well acquainted with or know a lot about, I want to encourage you to go back and revisit that series.

It's called Things Are Strange.

We taught it in July last summer at Evolve.

But if we're to meant if we're meant to keep coming back to the living stone, uh we read in 1 Peter 2, keep coming to him, though he was rejected and discarded by men, chosen by God, come and be his living stones.

This beautiful invitation, if we've been invited to just keep coming back to Jesus, keep coming back to this invitation to be a living stone, connected to Jesus, continually being assembled, then how do we invite the Holy Spirit to transform us, to continually assemble us into the temple where God can make himself at home?

As we get started today, I wonder if there are any geologists watching.

If you are a geologist, or maybe you're just like a geology geek and you you nerd out about rocks and minerals, I want to know about it.

So do me a favor, if you're into geology, just type your favorite mineral into the comments below.

Uh, if you're watching on Facebook or on YouTube or on Church Online, just quickly, you know, type your favorite mineral into the comments section.

A couple of weeks ago, we were out hiking as a family, and uh my son, and uh both of my sons actually were kind of picking up some rocks along the way and admiring how beautiful and how cool these rocks were.

And and usually when we go for a hike in the woods, if we find some cool rocks, we end up bringing a few home.

And sure enough, that day, these were the rocks that Riley brought home.

And on the table before me is um a few different rocks and their different shapes and different colors, different kinds of rocks, and they're beautiful.

But I can't help but wonder, can can you just can you look at a rock and determine how it came to be?

Can you look at a stone and determine how it was made?

And if you're a if you're a geologist, maybe the answer is yes, but most people probably look at a stone and aren't going to be able to come up quickly with a clear plan of how that stone was created.

Um, well, and it's a bit of a trick question because there are three different kinds of rocks, basically, and you might have learned this in school.

There's igneous rocks and sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks, and they're all kind of formed and fashioned, assembled in different ways with some common.

But let's take a look real quick.

So igneous rocks, this is where there's intense heat and pressure because of volcanic activity, and and the volcanic heat and the volcanic pressure creates above granite, it creates lava, below the earth it creates magma, and then lava and magma, when they when they cool down, they become stone.

And we see stones like granite or pumice or obsidian formed.

So that's igneous rocks.

Lava and magma get cooled and they become stones.

Sedimentary rocks, on the other hand, over a long period of time, we see layer upon layer of sediment form, and then again, intense heat and pressure pushes down on that sediment, and boom, rocks are formed.

And we see rocks like sandstone, limestone, and shale.

And lastly, metamorphic rocks, you can probably guess it, this is where there's a transformation over time, a lot like a butterfly, metamorphosis.

Um we we talk about what it means to evolve, to develop gradually over time, right, as spiritual sons and daughters of God.

But a metamorphic rock is a stone that's undergone change.

And that change is usually because of some kind of collision or, you guessed it, intense heat, intense pressure.

And then we see stone like marble or soap stone or slate being formed.

So, those of you watching, whether you're watching Facebook, YouTube, Church Online, wherever you're viewing from today, here in Edmonton or maybe a different city in Canada, maybe even another country around the world, I want to ask you, what kind of stone are you?

Are you slate?

Are you granite?

Are you pumice?

Are you shale?

Are you marble?

Are you are you elegant and strong?

Are you graceful and gorgeous?

Are you a gem?

Are you rough around the edges?

What kind of stone are you?

Well, here's the thing, it doesn't matter what label you wear, it doesn't matter what kind of stone you identify as.

And I love that we've been reading in Ephesians 2 as irrespective of how we got here, in other words, it doesn't matter what label we wear, God wants to build us into his home.

And labels are a big thing, especially in Christianity.

Earlier this week, I was sitting on a coffee shop patio and I got chatting with this beautiful couple from up north.

They were down in Edmonton visiting their son.

They might even be watching today, but uh he identified as being Jewish, and she identified as being Seventh-day Adventist.

And as a Jewish person, he shared with me his confusion over why Christianity has so many labels.

Christians are sure known for their dividing labels, aren't we?

We're a curious bunch.

Baptist, Lutheran, United, Catholic, Coptic, Pentecostal, Anglican, Reformed, Seventh-day Adventist, Anabaptist, Apollistic.

It doesn't matter.

What label you wear, it doesn't matter.

What kind of stone are you?

It doesn't matter.

Here's what matters.

If you're taking notes, write this down.

Are you, bit by bit, evolving, being transformed into the image of Jesus?

Surrendered to the leadership of Christ, the truth of God's blueprint, the Bible, and the gift of relationship with Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of Christ, whom we have received.

Are you growing?

Today's big question: how do we invite Holy Spirit to transform us?

How do we invite Holy Spirit to continually assemble us into a temple where God can make himself at home?

1 Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

So keep coming to Him, the living stone.

God's invited us to come and be His living stones, to come and be continually assembled into a sanctuary.

So keep coming back to this idea, to this truth, to this family.

Keep coming back, even if you straight away, even if you've wandered, even if you feel distant, keep coming back to this invitation.

Be it igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, all stones have this in common.

Heat, pressure, and time are required in the process of their formation.

Heat, pressure, and time are required to form rocks.

It's a process.

It's bit by bit, length by length, stone by stone, over time.

The living stones that God is using to build his home are all in process.

I've seen people during COVID feel like they're going through such a difficult process that they remove themselves from Christian community.

They feel disqualified.

They're going through process.

I'm like, welcome to the club.

If you are committed to a life surrendered to Jesus, if you've invited the Holy Spirit to work in your life, if you've leaned into the blueprint of the Bible, you are in process.

That's okay.

We're all being formed differently.

But that's the point.

Prioritize formation.

Prioritize being formed.

It's not that we have stuff in our lives that feels like heat or pressure or too much time that defines us.

It's not the weight of the situation that we're sitting under or the length of time that we've endured or the pressure that we feel.

That's not what defines us.

It's not important that we're not as strong as that other stone or more complicated than that other rock or less pretty than that other gem or more cracked than that other boulder.

None of that matters, church.

Ephesians 2, God's building a home.

He's using us all, irrespective of how we got here, to be built into his home.

What's important is this: are you bit by bit evolving, being transformed into the image of Jesus, surrendered to the leadership of Christ, the truth of God's blueprint, the Bible, the gift of relationship with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ whom you have received?

Are you prioritizing formation?

As we look at different rocks, I found this quote from wonderopolis.org, and I'm going to read it to you.

Although they might seem rather permanent, rocks actually change over the course of many years as part of what scientists call the rock cycle.

For example, a volcano erupts, spewing lava that turns into igneous rock.

Over time, weather erodes igneous rock, turning it into small pieces of sediment.

You guessed it.

In turn, those pieces of sediment become layers of compacted sediment that turn into sedimentary rock.

Over more years, sedimentary rock gets buried under other rocks, ends up deep underground.

You guessed it.

Heat and pressure turn that into metamorphic rock, and then the cycle starts all over again.

Rocks, even these hard, beautiful, messed up, assembled pieces of mineral are changing over time.

Here's my point: it's a fully redemptive circle.

And the story that we've been invited into, the home that we're helping build, the process that you're currently undergoing, it is a fully redemptive circle.

The cornerstone Jesus, he's flawless.

That's why we have to stay connected to him.

We, on the other hand, are always in process, always looking to the flawless cornerstone, Jesus, as our example.

1 Peter 2, I'm going to read it again, verses 4 and 5.

So keep coming to him who is the living stone.

Though he was rejected and discarded by men, but chosen by God and is priceless in God's sight, come and be his living stones who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God.

It goes on to say, For now you serve as holy priests.

Everybody watching right now, I just want you to pause, repeat after me, raise your right hand.

I am a holy priest.

Does that feel a little weird?

You are a holy priest offering up spiritual sacrifices that God readily accepts through Jesus.

This invitation to come and be living stones is also a step into what it means to be a part of this priesthood, this sacrificial way of living life.

So how do we invite Holy Spirit to transform us?

Well, 1 Peter 2 teaches that God accepts us, makes himself at home when we live lives of servitude and sacrifice filtered through the lens of Jesus.

The living stones that God's using are all in process.

We're all being formed differently.

Are you prioritizing formation?

If our world right now feels like a lot of heat, then let me ask: are you living a life of servitude and sacrifice connected to Jesus?

Are you prioritizing inner spiritual formation?

If your life right now feels like a lot of pressure, are you living a life of servitude and sacrificial living connected to the cornerstone Jesus?

Are you prioritizing formation?

If your stuff right now in life just feels like, man, it's too slow, too much time, it's taking too long, Pastor, let me ask you, are you living a life of servitude and sacrifice filtered through the lens of Jesus?

Are you prioritizing formation?

Ephesians 4, verse 20, and on.

Ephesians 4:20

If you've got a Bible with you, I actually want you to just open up to Ephesians chapter 4, because in the few minutes we have left, we're just gonna kind of hang out there.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

But starting in verse 20, it says, This is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you.

If you have really experienced the anointed one and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life.

For we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus.

In other words, he's the flawless cornerstone.

And if we're connected to him, it's going to be seen in how we live our lives.

Not the chaos, not the pressure, not the heat, not the struggle, but the embodiment of how Jesus lived will be seen in our lives.

Goes on to say, and he's taught you to let go of the lifestyle of the ancient man, the old self-life, which was corrupted by sin and deceitful desires.

Now it's time to be made new by every revelation that's been given to you, and to be transformed as you embrace the glorious Christ within you as your new life and live in union with him.

Verse 28, a little later on in this chapter, says, If any one of you has stolen from somewhere else, here's where it gets practical and really good.

Never do it again.

Instead, be industrious, earning an honest living, and then you'll have enough to bless those in need.

I love how here's this fully redemptive circle.

If we're going to talk about the thief in verse 28, Jesus says to the thief, stop stealing.

But he doesn't leave the thief there.

He tells the thief, You have value, you have worth, you have talent.

Let's go find a job.

But he doesn't leave the thief there.

You've made a little bunny, you've made a little bit of money, pay off some debts, begin to save a little bit of money.

But he doesn't leave the thief there.

He says, Step into a life of generosity.

You used to be a thief.

Now you could use what you're bringing in to be a blessing to other people.

It's a fully redemptive circle.

That's what it means to allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives.

Not just come to a point of decision and stay there, but be committed to formation.

I love this.

It goes on to say, never let ugly or hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others.

So, in other words, don't just stop saying terrible things.

Recognize that your words have strength, your words have power, your words have life.

And then begin to speak words over other people to bring encouragement.

It's a fully redemptive circle.

It's not enough that you cease or modify a behavior as a follower of Jesus.

It's about who you're becoming on the inside and how that's seen in your life.

Verse 28: the thief stops stealing, finds a job, saves some money, begins giving away to those in need.

That's a picture of a living stone.

Living a life of servitude and sacrifice filtered through the lens of Jesus and prioritizing formation.

Ephesians 4, but this is not the way of life that Christ has unfolded within you.

If you have really experienced the anointed one and heard his truth, it will be seen in your life.

For we know that the ultimate reality is embodied in Jesus.

And then in verse 30, the Holy Spirit of God has sealed you in Jesus Christ until you experience the fullness of salvation.

So never grieve the Spirit of God or take for granted his holy influence in your life.

How do we invite Holy Spirit to transform us into a temple where we can make himself at home?

Well, 1 Peter 2 teaches that God accepts us, makes us makes himself at home when we live this life of sacrifice and servitude, connected to Jesus.

Ephesians 4 teaches us not to take for granted the influence of Holy Spirit in our life.

But as we close, I want to get real practical.

I want to share just one concept with you as we close out this series today.

One of the greatest sacrifices that you can make spiritually is by inviting the Holy Spirit to lead and influence whatever words you're speaking to your own soul.

We looked earlier about the words that we're speaking to others, but I want to pick on one thing as we close out this series.

What words are you speaking to your own soul?

A few weeks ago we were in the vehicle as a family, and in the backseat, I heard one of my kids singing a song that I'd never heard before.

And the lyrics were a little weird, and I Nicole and I both kind of looked at each other and then were listening.

And the lyric of the song kind of had words like, I'm a loser.

And one of my kids was singing this song.

He'd heard it somewhere and singing these lyrics.

So guess what?

This is a teaching moment for dad.

Right?

Here's why.

As a father, helping build our home, I'm saddened when my kids speak things with their own mouth about their own life, with their own, with their own heart that just aren't true.

None of my kids are losers.

So this is a teaching moment for dad, a coaching moment.

Did you know that whatever words you speak with your own mouth, that your soul pays attention to, that your mind, your will, your heart, your spirit, your brain, when you speak, who you are on the inside pays attention and absorbs the words that come out of your mouth as truth.

What are you speaking to your own soul in connection to being a stone that God's building into his home?

As God the Father, stone by stone, life by life, is building each of us into his home, connected to the cornerstone Jesus, who models how to live a life of sacrifice and servitude, influenced by Holy Spirit, what are you speaking to your own soul?

Your mind, your will, your emotions, they all sit up and pay attention whenever your mouth speaks.

And in in this moment in history, in this pause in our culture, with everything going on in the world around us, the spiritual discipline of speaking life to your own heart is going to carry you through.

I'm grateful that you lean in here on Sundays and spend this time with us.

I know that many of you have actually engaged in the homework that I've assigned in this series and participated in reading through some of the Bible plans.

But what does your own mouth say about your own life?

What are you speaking to your soul?

Are you listening to your soul only, or are you speaking to it?

And this might feel like a weird tangent, so I want you to hang with me as I close out today.

When we don't speak to our own soul, we actually forget the goodness of God.

Some of you are wondering why God feels distant, why God feels quiet, why you're fearing, why you're falling, why you're fainting, why why am I failing?

Why?

It's because you've been listening to your soul more than speaking to it.

You wonder where God is, and He's saying, Would you use your mouth to declare my goodness in your life?

Would you use your mouth to speak my truth of what it means to be a part of the home that I'm building?

Prayer and worship are still the best ways that I know how to speak life to my soul.

And so we've prioritized Bible plans and reading the blueprint over the last few weeks, but I want to call to remembrance the gift of using your own mouth out loud to speak to your soul as a stone that's being built into God's home.

In Psalm chapter 42, this is actually gonna be part of your homework assignment this week.

Psalms 42 · chapter mention

David says, So I say to my soul, Don't be discouraged, don't be disturbed, for I know my God will break through for me.

Then I'll have plenty of reasons to praise him all over again.

Yes, living before his face is my saving grace.

David writes in Psalm 42, So many, I sing, I speak, I declare.

What are you speaking to your soul?

If something about the last four months has allowed you to slip into a season of just feeling the heat, feeling the weight, feeling the pressure, and you've forgot to be committed to formation under those things, the way out of darkness for you today, the way into light, the way back into the presence of God is begin to use your own mouth to speak to your own soul, to remind yourself of how good God is.

And it's gonna feel weird if you've never done this before.

Some of you meditate, some of you pray internally, but this week, your homework is every day to go to Psalm chapter 42 and read it out loud.

Psalms 42 · chapter mention

If you've got the audacity, I want you to stand in front of a mirror and look yourself in the face and read it out loud to yourself.

I triple dog dare you.

That's right.

Pastor John just triple dog dared you to read the Bible out loud to your own self.

Speak to your soul.

Five days out of seven this week, read through Psalm 42 out loud.

And then five days out of seven, I want you to work with us, engage into this Bible plan.

Again, you can scan the QR code right here, but it's called Tune In.

God speaks and wants to speak to you.

If you've been struggling to hear from God, if you've forgotten to speak life to your own mind, will, emotions out loud, I can't think of a better way to stay connected to Jesus, to grow in our journey, step by step, flourish as a living stone being built into the home that God, the master building builder, is making his home.

I can't think of a better way than to use your own mouth to remind your own self of what you're a part of.

Use your own mouth to speak life to your own soul to remember the goodness of God.

This is your homework today.

As we bring this series to a close, maybe this last section caught you off guard.

But it was too important to not state that as we think about Holy Spirit transforming us, a life of sacrifice, a life of servitude, a life connected to Jesus.

Holy Spirit will remind you and encourage you and speak to your gut to give you that reminder, that prompt that you get to control what comes out of your own mouth, what's being said over your own life, what's being spoken into your own soul as you stay connected to Cornerstone Jesus.

And I want it to be real practical and a little bit funky and weird for you this week.

I want you to get in front of your mirror and I want you to read Psalm 42 out loud to yourself five days out of seven this week.

And then I want you to follow along with us in this Bible plan.

Tune in how God speaks and wants to speak to you.

More than anything, let's stay connected to the cornerstone Jesus as we allow Holy Spirit to form us, assemble us together, fit us into the home that God is building.

In Jesus' name.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit EvolveChurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.