Mentality In Christ

Thank you for joining us on the CCW podcast.

Make sure you connect with us on social media to stay up to date on ministries and events happening at CCW.

We hope you're encouraged, inspired, and motivated by today's message.

To find out how to connect with us, keep listening after the message ends.

Happy Memorial Day weekend.

I am glad we're having church on Sunday and y'all are here because uh we know a lot of people go out of town.

But I do want to say this that we are thankful and grateful for people that have gone on before us and served and given their lives so that we could maintain and uphold the freedoms we have.

Is there anybody here today that by a raise of your hand you've served in our military?

Y'all take a look around.

Thank you.

Amen.

It is a privilege to live in this country and uphold the freedoms we have.

So thank you so much for that.

And um, it's a big day for CCW.

I don't know if you pulled in, many of you that came through and walked children over to the new building.

Uh man, how exciting! Upon the very first meeting, when CCW called me as pastor, I met with the council.

The very first thing on my agenda of that meeting was we are going to need kids' ministry space.

Very first thing.

And so we've been working on that since March of last year, and praise God.

It's overwhelming to look at it.

Amen.

I want to say with that a big thank you.

Uh, there's been countless amounts of people who have come out from the church.

Um, and we had a work day on Saturday.

There was, I don't know, 40 people out here.

There was some with Darren's crew outside getting our land in shape, and then there was between you know the beginning of the week to the end of the week, lots of people coming in and putting in hours.

It's some really sweet things to see.

Dad and son putting together tables in a kid's room, and I thought, one day that kid is gonna be able to say, every kid that comes to this kid's ministry, I helped put together that table in that room.

And just seeing the people of God work together was a blessing.

But I have to say this, I wouldn't ask to say this whatsoever, but I need to tell you, church, so much goes unnoticed.

But that building from start to finish could not have been put together and completed without the work of Benji Wilson.

So, Benji, I don't know where you went.

He's probably over there.

There he is.

Benji, thank you for your work on the Kids Mystery Building.

And and Nick Campfield was his right hand man there from start.

Nick is over here, so we can give Nick a clap.

Um, the Wilson team works with media and oh, thank you, Dale.

In case I need a shirt, he got me an extra.

We'll talk about that later.

But the media team, you know, they they they did all this work and it's at no profit to them.

Their team is in there, and I understand that, and it's to help this church, and so there's countless amounts of guys day and night, and I just know, and and Benji's been in there every night.

Sarah was in there all night pulling wires with them.

Our our families have been there.

My wife has been cleaning nonstop, and I'm just so thankful.

This is how the church of God should be, right?

Amen.

Let's give God one more clap offering.

So if you're visiting, you have no idea what I'm talking about.

If you take a left out of the lobby before you leave, there's a brand new building.

You know, we're so excited to see it filled with children.

Turn your Bibles, though, to Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 3 this morning.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

We're continuing our study rooted, and this morning it's our mentality in Christ.

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Let me read the first verse and we'll get back and forth to that.

But it says, If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.

And we'll just the first part of the second verse, set your mind on things above.

When you think about a mentality of Christ, I got thinking about working on vehicles.

I don't do much of it, but I do understand a small bit of working on vehicles.

Every vehicle has filters.

They have filters.

You have a fuel filter, you have oil filters, air filters, transmission filters, and the purpose of a filter is to enable the right flow and catch all outside impurities.

Am I right?

Okay.

I ask a mechanic before I go on.

If your air filter gets clogged and air then gets trapped, it negatively impacts the temperature of your vehicle.

And then you get a filter that looks dirty.

And so this is what you get.

Alright?

When you become a person in Christ, Paul says, if, there's a if then, if you're this, then this should happen.

If you become a Christian, the Bible says all things are new.

It changes the air, church.

It changes how we run.

Look, I'm not even getting started yet, but but listen, it changes our drive.

Are you with me, church?

To have a clean system.

And so I want you to be thinking about that as the filter is right here.

Our mentality in Christ runs through this filter, our mind on things above.

Let me pray.

Father.

We thank you so much today for the word of God and this guide that we have.

And Lord, I pray for our church.

I'm so, so elated about this new building.

Lord, I'm I'm so excited.

Lord, you have done uh far above and beyond the things that we've asked or see or could see.

And God, we praise you.

We pray, uh, God, that your blessing would be in the services there with our children.

We pray your blessing on the hearers here.

God, allow us to feel your Holy Spirit moving in Jesus' name.

Amen.

The first point this morning is this a mentality fixed on things above.

On things above.

It says, if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above.

Verse 2 says, Set your mind on things above.

And so we see letter A is shifting our direction to eternal things.

What's that mean, Pastor?

We have to take a shift.

If you become a Christian, you shift to eternal things.

This is what Paul says to this group of people.

He's trying to explain to them what it means to be now this new set of believers at the Church of Colossae.

If it's a big if, a big if, if ye be risen with Christ.

If, Colossians, you have surrendered to Christ, then there's a cause and effect.

Stated another way, if not, if you are not a Christian, then don't expect a shift in your direction.

If not a Christian, then you're solidified in earthly things.

Don't expect to change your view on eternal things.

You see, if you're not a Christian, you focus on what I say lots of week is the three P's pleasure, possessions, and power.

But Paul said, if risen, risen from what?

What does it say?

If you're risen, you're raised with Christ, you're risen from that old man.

You've taken a shift.

I was walking this direction and my life changed, and there was a shift.

Now I'm focused.

Everything else was here.

It was level ground.

It couldn't get very high, couldn't get very excited.

And now my shift has taken me to things above.

You know, I've I never started my job as a pastor.

I've never came in here ready to work the old job.

I had a shift.

And so when I became a pastor, I never once came in here in roller skates.

I used to work at a roller skating rink.

Okay.

Never once have I come in here in my roller skates.

Now, Dale, thank you.

A few times I have had to put this baby on right here.

Y'all, some people had my help moving some furniture.

Okay, I did some moving this week.

I didn't get out my old shirt.

Look, I've had this since I was 20, y'all.

Isn't this beautiful?

This is a classic.

I love getting I get private, anyhow.

I'm sorry you had to deal with that.

But I don't show up as a pastor expecting to do the old things.

Y'all with me?

I had a shift.

If you know Jesus Christ as Savior, you are able to make a shift to things above.

Christianity means there's a shift in our will.

Have you had that shift?

2 Corinthians 5.17, he said it to the church at Corinth this way if any man is in Christ, he's a new creation.

Old things are passed away.

Behold, all things are become new.

Now, I could get on a boat boarded, headed toward Canada.

I don't even know if you take boat to Canada, but I could get on a boat headed toward Canada and say, I'm going to Texas.

And you'd say, Well, that's weird, because it looked like the boat's headed to Canada.

And by mouth, I can say, I'm headed to Texas.

I could be wearing a shirt.

Can't wait to be in Texas.

I could have in my pockets tickets to the rodeo and say, I can't wait for Texas.

But you know what?

That boat is still headed toward Canada.

Are y'all catching my drift?

He says, You can't be a Christian.

If a Christian, then there's a shift.

But a lot of people today, they say, they say, Oh, I'm a Christian.

I'm headed to heaven one day, but they're mired in earthly things.

You see, the shift never took place.

They thought they were on a boat headed the right way by mouth, but their actions say a lot of other things.

The exciting thing I want to tell you today, church, Jesus is calling.

He's calling right now.

He wants to give you a shift in your life.

Well, there's a shift in direction, but letter B is this a shaping of our affection.

It says in verse 2, set your mind on things above, not on things in the earth, for you died and your life is hidden with Christ.

And so there's a shaping.

That's what we've been talking about these weeks, this rooting.

As a Christian, we should be shaping and we should be rooting ourselves.

Our affection becomes towards eternal things.

Well, what does that mean, Pastor?

Our affection and our direction are different.

So because I got saved, yes, there was a shift, but my affection should keep pulling me towards the things above.

The thing that can happen is I can have this shift become a Christian, and I can begin to go like this.

Because there's things back here that my flesh, it just continues to pull.

It doesn't stop pulling.

And so my affection has to also be shaped.

My affection for things that exist here.

It retains this idea that you can be shifted, but still be drawn backwards by your inclinations, your proclivities.

Men.

Do you remember when you figured out that she was the one?

Y'all remember this?

Do you remember what happened to your affections?

Do you remember?

Probably before some of you said, I got a lot of affections for there's plenty of women, there's plenty of me.

But then you figured out she was the one and your affection began to shape differently.

I remember, Heather, it's like my words started coming out totally different.

It was like I spoke in RB.

I said things like, Are the stars out tonight?

I don't know if it's cloudy or bright.

The moon may be high, but I can't see a thing in the sky.

I don't know if we're in a garden or in a crowded avenue.

There may be millions of people go by, but they all disappear from my view because I only have eyes for you.

But you know, in my Christian walk, ever since my life changed, my affections went walking with my life.

I'm living a new direction.

It shaped everything.

Everything that happens since then has stayed this course.

I'm not saying I haven't fallen.

I haven't messed up.

But my affections are new.

And I want my life now, all that I want for my life.

I'm not distracted or pulled by the draw of affluence or the three Ps.

What I want my life to count for is that my life and legacy has impacted eternity.

I hope one day, when Heather and I are old, that our legacy is to say that our children are living for Christ with all that they are.

I hope to say one day when I show up in the gates of heaven that there are people in droves impacted by the gospel that was shared.

That's what having a mind affected and shaped by eternal things means.

So have you set your mind and shaped your affection on things above?

Look at verse 3 and 4.

Says this for you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The second thing is a mentality focused on the appearance.

On the appearance.

When one Friday afternoon I got this great idea, this romantic idea.

I was going to take Heather, and uh, you know, we we didn't have a whole lot, but I came across some information.

I said, Heather, won't this be great?

Let's get let's get our stuff together and let's go to Indianapolis.

It was about an hour and a half away.

We're gonna go to Indianapolis.

This is gonna be a romantic afternoon, it's gonna be awesome.

We'll go there, and there's this UFC fighter who's signing autographs.

We'll get in line and we'll get Matt Hughes, the 155-pound champion's autograph.

I've got his biography, I've read his book, and you know, she was overcome with the idea.

And we went into that line.

I can't believe she went with me.

Holding Callie in the car seat, Heather pregnant.

An hour and a half were in this line and waiting, and the line shrinking and shrinking, and about ten people away, they said the most dreadful words I'd ever heard on a romantic date in my life.

We're finished! The line shut down.

I could see Matt Hughes.

This was gonna be a beautiful ending of this romantic date, and they ruined our romance.

Done.

I couldn't wait for that appearance.

I was so excited about that appearance.

I want you to understand what scripture says here.

That when we have fallen in love with Christ, we're waiting on a return.

One day there's gonna be an appearance.

And it says this this takes a lot of our struggle off the plate.

It says this that our present, when we when we came to Christ, our present time, we become invisible.

Let me explain what that means.

That's letter A this morning.

Our present is invisible.

We become dead to sin as in the fleshly part of life.

So therefore, sin doesn't have to have dominion over us.

The lost person has no other recourse, by the way, church.

They are not dead to sin, they're very alive in sin.

So they have to live a life without Christ.

But we now have a pursuit against our sin nature.

Every spring we have hydranias pop up.

These are beautiful flowers, and they're like this crest that's white and full and bursting in color and spring, they're regal almost.

They almost look like something meant for a king or queen, royalty.

And then, as summer passes by, dehydration comes and spoils them.

At best, they rot, they turn into a wilted rust color.

And I thought about that with the Christian life.

The Christian life is one that has had a death to the flesh, and then has been reborn.

And when you're reborn as a Christian, this is what it says.

Our life that was before is invisible, and now we become a child of royalty.

It carries regality.

We're born on this earth with a sin nature, but our sin nature, Romans 5.12, as by one man, sin entered the world, and death by sin, it's given to us all.

But when we're born again, that shift takes place.

That old man is invisible.

And now I'm a child of a king.

Heaven is one day my address.

My father is not here.

He sits on a throne.

His street is paved in translucent gold.

On his thigh is a sash that says, King of kings and lord of lords.

I've been reborn to that.

Can I get an amen?

I don't have to live up to this present.

You see, a growing rooted Christian must become invisible to the old flesh, to that sin.

And again, I'm not talking a slip-up.

I'm not talking a mess-up, but the ongoing character of your life is characterized by a shifted direction, a shaped affection, and the old man should become just barely noticeable.

Those fruits of the Spirit should be characterized of who we are.

My mind is no longer set on the flesh.

I don't live for right now.

Church, I don't want you to miss this gift today.

That is so freeing.

Because a lot of people are living for right now, for this world, for what is so temporal.

Listen to me, I have no obligation to the comparativeness of other men.

I'm not obligated by what the world thinks I ought to be.

I have to not, I don't have to hold one ounce of political correctness.

You know what I need?

Just biblical correctness.

I need not fear, scripture says the snare of man.

I don't have to fear what man can do to me.

Why?

Because I'm a stranger from this world.

I'm a stranger.

I'm on a pilgrimage.

I'm passing by one day to get to a kingdom of my father.

This is invisible.

Track with me.

So about nine years ago, Heather and I went to Florida.

Okay.

I don't recommend it.

This is the second time to Disney.

I'm just joking.

Some of the moms here.

My babies.

They gotta see them.

Anyhow, we went to Florida for the second time, carried the kid on my shoulders for the second time in the heat of Orlando for the second time.

And we're going through that.

But now, if I went that second time, we stayed in this condo, timeshare talk and all this.

They thought they had me, I got them.

Okay.

I mean buying time.

Sorry if you own it.

It's good.

It's good for you, not for me.

Anyways, and so I just couldn't afford it.

So we're there, and and if I would have gone to the local furniture store while we're there, and you know, we're in the condo and picked up a recliner, and then I picked up a couch, and then I got a fridge, and I said, Heather, I got a meeting to go to.

I know we're on vacation.

Um, and I showed up at City Council, and I'm looking for a spot, thinking I can maybe get in city council, or you know, maybe just because it was a week, I I'll try to get into the HOA at the condo association.

Or if I said, Heather, I signed up for presidency of the Mickey Mouse Club, you all say, Rick is losing it.

And I say, No, I want to be recognized in Florida.

When I come to Florida, I want recognition.

I can be important in Florida.

And you say, That's senseless, Pastor Rick, because you live in Alabama.

Matthew 6, 19 through 21 says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on this earth where moth and rust does corrupt, where thieves can break through and steal.

But instead, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.

Are y'all with me?

You would say, Why is that man doing all that for Florida?

He has another home.

But yet, the problem, listen to me, church, so many people act like this is final home.

Like this is the best there is.

This calamity filled earth, this polluted filled earth, this sin filled place is the best there could possibly be.

And their hobbies show forth that they believe this is the best.

And their money shows forth that this is the best.

See what has happened?

Their mind has never had a reset for things above.

Paul said, if you're a Christian, if, big if, then set your mind on things above.

It is so freeing.

You don't need, listen to me, this is going to free somebody today.

You don't need to make a name for yourself.

You need to make a name of Jesus Christ.

That's such a freeing truth.

Letter B is this his presence is imminent.

He said he was looking for that appearing Christ who is our life, is that phrase there.

Because Paul also said in the Philippians, Philippians 1 21, let's turn there for a moment.

It's just a few pages back.

Paul says to the church, verse 21 through 24, we'll read.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor.

Yet what I shall choose, I can't tell.

He says, I'm hard-pressed.

This is difficult between the two, having a desire to depart, to be with Christ, to go to heaven is far better.

Nevertheless, to remain here in the flesh is more needful for you.

Paul says, I can't wait to go to heaven.

The presence of God is way better than this sin-filled, earth-polluted, this planet.

He says it's way better.

He says, to die would be gain.

If you go through that scripture and you see how heard Pastor Danny preached this funeral sermon time after time, but he said, when we go to heaven, it's a better home, a better body, and a better inheritance.

And W.A.

Criswell said it this way: He said, if to live is Christ, if for us to live is Christ, then if for me to live is money, then to die would be a loss.

How are you spending your days?

If for me to live is for self, then to die would be a loss.

If for me to live is my job and ambition, then to die would be a loss.

But if for me to live is Christ, one day to die is gain.

Are you with me, church?

He said to the Thessalonians, He said, Comfort one another with these words.

The Lord himself would ascend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel.

He's coming, and with the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain shall meet him in the clouds and the be with the Lord in the air, and we shall always be together with the Lord.

He said, Comfort one another.

Looking for his appearing.

Are you living like that?

Are you looking up?

Or are you looking out?

Are you looking out?

Are you looking up?

Have you set your mind and affections on things above?

Well, let's get back to Colossians 3.

Look at verse 5.

He says, Therefore, put to death.

If then, therefore, put to death your members which are on earth.

We're going to pause on that part.

He says, third point this morning, it's a mentality freed by alteration.

Put to death.

Alteration.

He says, if you're a Christian, set your mind, shape your affections, and then put to death.

He says, it's not going to stop.

This back here is not going to stop.

He says, but Colossian church, I want you to be rooted deep.

CCW, I want you to be rooted in Christ, and you're going to have to alter some things so that your mind and affections stay on me.

What are those things?

Now it's important that we see this.

Verse 5, it starts with therefore.

And I need to teach you something, class.

Anytime you see in the Bible, therefore, you need to know what is it therefore.

He's saying, if this progression, if then you're a Christian, this sanctification, if you want to be rooted, if you want to be clean, it's in cooperation with what the Holy Spirit is doing.

Now the Holy Spirit doesn't come in a Christian and go dormant.

Okay?

I want you to understand.

If you, if, that if is huge, because there's some people here saying, Oh, I don't know why I'm struggling.

It's a big if.

And I know we live in the Bible belt, and I know we're in the South, and I know grandmama taught Sunday school, but it doesn't mean you're a Christian.

It's a big if.

If you're a Christian, then these things can be put to death.

Paul said, I die daily.

I'm crucified with Christ.

That flesh is put to death, and we're freed mentally because of it.

Next point is this freed of sin-filled steps.

And we're going to read the rest of verse 5 and go down through verse 10.

What does he say?

We have to put to death.

Look at what it says.

Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourself once walked when you lived in them.

But now, keep going.

You yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, since you've put off the old man and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him.

This is a lot, church, and I'm going to spend a little more time on this list, but this is what it says.

We must put off sins if we have had our minds changed, if we've had our direction changed.

If you're a Christian, this has to be true.

And he says the list starts, and it's a list of sexual immorality.

There's a generic term, pornea, and it's any sexual sin, but it includes, our English word derives from the term, and it includes lust and desire, and the connotation is sexual greed or perversion.

The Greek word includes immorality, incest, bestiality, homosexuality, and pedophilia.

Alright?

And I want to just focus on the word itself because in the past few weeks, in talking to some people in struggles of their own, I need the church to know today that pornography is killing.

And I'm tired of acting like it's just supposed to be kept secret.

Like this is a hush, hush thing.

Church, it's someone's wife.

It's someone's daughter.

For that matter, it's someone's son.

And it's not objects.

There's 42 million pornography sites.

They make more money than the Major League Baseball, NFL, and NBA combined.

The average age of someone subjected to it is age 11.

So hear me parents.

11 years old.

Your 11-year-old is hearing it and they're aware.

And youth ministry reports that one or more student has it's become normal for one or more students per year to ask for addiction help.

We're not talking about an occurrence, an addicted person in the sixth through twelfth grade come, and that's people willing to come.

I view pastored it through a generation of it, and I'm gonna admit something.

We were not ready.

We were not ready for the phone to internet change, the internet to phone.

We were not prepared for the whirlwind that was to come and the amount of young men I've sat across from.

We were not prepared, and I'm telling you right now, parents, do not hear me.

I'm gonna say this pastor, he's legalist.

Do not let your kids have their phones in private places.

Hear me.

Needs to be in the open.

And if that makes a hard conversation on the way home, this is the reality.

It cannot be in private places.

It's killing teenagers, it's killing marriages.

It's a secret sin.

And so, therefore, to maintain a secret sin, you have to maintain a secret set of lives.

And therefore, young people, young adults are living a separate life to maintain their lives and maintain their status, and they're walking around, never feeling the feeling of being free and clean.

They're wallowing in guilt.

I'm saying this, church, because I want us to be clean.

57% of pastors have stated that there's porn addiction running through their churches, and that the most damaging issue in their church is that addiction.

Over half.

69% say that it's adversely impacted their church.

Immorality is an infection.

It's an infection, and somebody has to be saying the truth.

You have to start the conversation to wellness.

That's not it.

That's one part, pornography.

One out of every three men in marriages experiences a marital affair.

One out of every six women.

So if I can give just a brief don't flirt.

Don't flirt.

Men, women, be careful the way you look at somebody.

Be careful with these gates, the way that you look at somebody.

Men and women, be careful how you look to somebody.

Are you with me?

Don't prostitute yourself out there.

Don't send a pick.

Don't send a snap.

Don't send an insta.

Listen to me, I'm gonna tell you.

You are never gonna find this pastor sending a pic out.

Rick at the gym, Rick taking out the trash, Rick feeling cute.

If I do, leave the church because I have lost it.

I got one lady.

I got one lady.

By the way, married folk, give your spouse the affirmation they need.

Because the truth of the matter, that's a joke, but the truth of the matter is we all like the thumb up.

We all like the like.

We all want to know that we're loved.

And if you don't give the affirmation, they might just be bold enough to go looking for it.

They need it from you.

They need your affirmation, your affection, your love.

It's probably background noise.

But I tell Heather all the time that she looks good.

I tell her all the time that she looks good.

And she does.

I'm not, she just does, okay?

But at least if it's background noise, I'm the background.

Y'all hearing me?

She cooks something, I tell her every time.

I know she, you know, it is always good.

And I try to every time make a comment, thank you.

That was good.

I don't care if it's just I'm the background noise.

I may not do great all the time, but I try.

I want to be the background.

Matthew says to look on someone with lust in your heart is to commit adultery.

Don't incur it by the way that you look, and don't be looking.

You were not washed in the blood, church, to live in the mud.

Take a Bible bath, get cleansed.

Paul said it this way: mortify, put it to death.

That's how he starts.

Put this to death.

Now, this is a big issue, and he hits several areas of it, but you can get it clean.

That's the hope and restoration in Jesus Christ.

You have to take a step, though.

So if you're strong with that, this is not out of judgment, whatever.

We all have struggles with lust in different ways.

Take a step today.

Talk to a pastor, talk to a trusted mentor, talk to a mental health counselor, talk to somebody today.

We have to put off sins that enslave.

Well, you like good grief, Paul.

If Paul just was in a fight with us, he hit us in the gut, and while we went down to grab our gut, he comes with an uppercut right to the teeth.

Look at what he says next.

Literally, he does, because everything else is about your mouth.

But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

So we're catching our breath.

Paul hits us in the mouth.

You could do an entire sermon series on the tongue.

So I'm just going to try to hit a few of the highlights about this, or lowlights, whatever you want to call it.

Anger, wrath, malice is all about your temper.

James said, the tongue is a world of fire.

And I do know this about your tongue.

You can take somebody's day with your words and elevate them in a way that they might not forget for that day.

They might not forget for that year.

They might go back to ten years from now and say, that teacher, that girl, that somebody said something to me, and man, it did something in my heart.

And with that same tongue, you can take someone and you can absolutely crush their world.

In a way that you look back in a month, six weeks, ten years, and you go, They said this about me.

This mouth, Paul said, if you're a Christian, that's gotta be behind.

He says, Your mouth ought to look like this.

Words matter.

And it's evident Paul felt Christian words were paramount.

And he says, we ought not be characterized by angry words.

It's not wrong to be angry at the right things.

But how are you using your words?

Negative words.

Are you quick to let someone know this is just how mad they made me?

And you're dramatized like gasoline on a fire?

Or are you able to pour cold water on situations?

He says you shouldn't be quick to rage.

Now I've only yelled a few times in my life at my kids' situations, but not long ago, I raged, and I'm confessing, okay?

I'm confessing.

Y'all forgive me.

They're here, one of them.

Wyatt was aggravating Weston.

And I brought him here to the church, and I was gonna work on a sermon.

You know how easy it is to work on a sermon with two kids playing basketball.

So I'm gonna work on a sermon, they can have something busy to do.

And they were aggravating each other, and I came in, and I came in the second time, and I came in the third time.

And working on a sermon is like painting a picture or trying to write a song.

If you get started somewhere and your train gets stopped, you're like dead.

And so the third time I come back in, and Weston is crying over here, and I rage on Wyatt.

And I'm sorry again this day.

I run to him, this boy's crying, and all he wanted was a balloon.

And why?

And he's over, and I'm like, Why?

Give him the balloon! All he wants! And you're willing to make him cry.

And I lost it in his face.

And I thought about myself a few minutes, and I'm like, I just lost my mind on my child.

I mistreated my child for mistreating my child.

What an example I was.

I know this, church.

I should not, as a Christian, be getting more and more brash.

Y'all with me?

I shouldn't be getting more and more.

I don't care.

I'm setting my ways.

I'm gonna get in that in a second.

Ain't nothing gonna change me.

I am who I am.

Setting that is the most ungodliest phrase a person can say.

If you're here today, I don't care if you're 95.

If you're setting your ways, then there's no way that the shaping of your affections can keep pulling you.

If you say, this is just who I am, this is the way I feel, that is wrong.

I said, God never let me be set.

I tell my kids all day, for all the time, forgive me.

God's working on me.

And I mean it.

Have you ever thought this?

Am I the problem?

When you're going back and forth, have you ever had that thought occur?

Am I the problem?

Right now.

Do I need to change?

Because I should not get more and more brash.

But you know what the fruits of the Spirit is?

Gentleness.

I should respond more and more gentle.

Kindness.

Patience.

Come on, Paul.

Why do you got why do you have to hit me right in the lips, Paul?

I should become a better listener.

I struggled with that in the last week.

I'll cut Heather off.

She'd be talking about something, and I've caught myself.

God's working on me.

Listen, gossipers.

If you have the guts to go speak about somebody else to somebody else, why don't you take them guts and go speak to the somebody that the problem is about?

That's what Matthew 18 says.

It's wrong.

How do we use our mouth?

And then he gets into filthy communication and lies, and we can't even hit them all.

But can I tell you a way that I know I love Jesus a little more than before?

Work with youth all these years.

I'd do anything for a laugh.

Sometimes too much, Darren.

Heather, am I right?

Sometimes too much.

I've had to apologize to people because I I'm not going to do something unchristian, but I get close to that line just because I can get a laugh.

And I've had to apologize.

And more and more I know this God's working on my heart because I see the pitch.

And it's nope.

Don't swing the bat, Rick.

That's the way God's working on my heart.

Don't do that.

I'd rather anymore just keep my mouth closed than taint Christianity.

I'd rather keep my mouth closed than complain.

I got an ongoing battle.

Little things.

Stop lights, long lines, waiting in a restaurant.

God help me.

Just help me to be quiet.

Help me to be quiet.

I'd rather keep my mouth closed.

I'd rather keep my mouth closed than talk about a person who God loves.

That's right.

It's natural in this flesh, though.

This flesh goes, you know you got something to say about them because they irritate you too.

Oh, you could add to this and it'll be good, right?

I'm not saying I always win that battle, but I'm working on it.

You see, the closer I see Jesus in my life, the more the word hmm comes out.

Hmm.

So and so, so-and-so, this and this.

What you think, Pastor?

Who I don't want to say it though.

Paul said, put it to death.

He said to the Ephesians, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is edifying for the use of building up for the hearers.

Anything that should come out of this mouth should build somebody up.

Let's read verse 11.

Paul, you're hurting us.

Verse 11, he says, Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbian barbarian, Scythian slave, nor free, but Christ, hear this.

Christians, Christ is all and in all.

Last point today, we're freed of sinful superior superiority.

Superiority.

To summarize, if then, if you're a Christian, if you believe Jesus is God, there is a continuity of these previously stated things in all of the Christians.

If you're a Christian, we all are unified.

And this is what he said.

There's no separation.

There's not Jew, there's not Greek, there's not Scythian, there's not.

We are all one acting like this.

Our bond is in our Father, and we're all the same.

Again, I don't have to live up to a whole lot of world things because it's all level right there at my Father's feet.

He says, It's not, you're better, they're better, this, better, that, better.

He says, You're right here.

And if you're a Christian, these things should be behind you, and we're all right.

Their level.

I used to wonder when I was a kid why the people in the church place always calling everybody, hey brother Rick, hey sister so-and-so.

I'm like, I ain't their sister, brother.

What are they talking about?

There's people in the church today, in this church, that can't not call me brother Rick.

You know what?

They're right.

We all brothers and sisters in this bond together.

As people told me, I try, but I just can't not call you brother Rick.

It's okay.

They're not wrong.

You see, the culture we live in today, though, it has all these invisible walls drawn.

Them walls are based on ethnicity, social status, wealth.

You know what Jesus prayed for before he was arrested in the garden?

Last prayer he had before he was arrested.

Father, make my people one.

Psalms 133 says, Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.

So how do you make this practical?

How do you wrap it up, Pastor?

Alright, I'm glad you asked.

Romans 12, 1 and 2 is Paul's biblical answer.

He says, I beat you, beseech you, brethren, by the mercy of God that you present, how do you how do you do this?

How do we set our affections in the right thing?

Shape.

He says, I beseech you by the mercy of God that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice through this 70, 80, 90 years.

Presented a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, that's rooted, getting deeper, growing, which is your re reasonable service.

And then he says, verse 2, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of this mind.

Practical.

How do I do this?

A few things God spoke to me about.

How do I reset my mind, Pastor?

Number one, find where God is at now.

Find where God is at right now.

Church, in worship, in a conference, in his book, classes, in a prayer time, in a connect group, find where God is at and be where that is.

Number two, find heavenly ways to impact the earth.

How do we get past my mind being on all those things of the past, those hobbies, those things that pulled me, those sins that we talked through?

Find ways to impact the earth.

Speak to people that need help, that are lost.

Give to people in ways that will enable the gospel.

Go on missions trips.

Practical ways.

Third thing, serve the Lord.

So I said, go on a mission trip.

Serve the Lord here means be on a mission trip.

If you've joined this local body, listen to me.

You can't be continually in church, and we don't have a lot of this, so praise God.

You can't continually be a part of this local body and not be serving.

You should have an area of ministry, a place of responsibility where you are needed because I promise you, you are.

And let me tell you, this building just opened up, and I don't mean to be bringing a commercial, but we're about to start Sunday school in the fall, and I need some people who care about young children.

Man, there's some people in here that can give to that ministry.

And whether it's one to twos or toddlers or it's fifth grade, whatever it is, we need people who are willing.

We need people to serve.

There's all kinds of other ministries.

There's things we're not doing, that's your giftedness.

We need that too.

How do I set my mind and my affections on things above when I don't have any more time for this stuff back here?

The fourth thing that we went over, according to Paul, we have to put off lust, sexual and worldly things, and loose lips.

We have to actively be working on putting off those things that pull us.

Well, I was reading up this week on detoxification.

During detoxification, new research shows that it takes at least two weeks for the mind.

We've been talking about resetting the mind.

It takes at least two weeks for the mind to start returning to normal.

This is the point which the alcohol stops having an impact on the recovery.

Recovery timeline starts after about two weeks.

In 1982, a gentleman had developed a problem gambling.

He would get drunk, and he was a nice drunk, but he would give away paychecks, gambling.

He was given an ultimatum from his spouse.

Either check into a detox program or the marriage was done.

With that marriage in disarray and estranged from his wife and two kids, he went into that program, and one day a man came to visit him in that program.

And this man was different.

This man was carrying a Bible.

This man had an unforgettable message, a powerful message that not only could reset this other man's mind from alcohol, but change his life.

That man heard the gospel that day.

And because of that day, that man who checked in with a mind set on things on the earth, because of his reset that day, because of that day, I never once came home to a drunken father.

Because of that day, my dad gave his life to Jesus.

And I was brought up going to church.

He checked into that place in 1982.

I was born in December of 1981.

I never met that other man during that time.

My 18 years at that house.

I'm so thankful for God's sovereign hand in my life and story because I have no doubt today I'm here before you because of a reset.

When I met my daddy for the first time, he cared about Jesus when I knew him.

See, this isn't an uncommon thing to need a mental reset, church.

David cried and wept through scriptures.

Elijah went running because he got a letter from a lady, hid in a cave, wanted to die.

Jonah was angry at God.

Job had been afflicted by all kinds of things and means.

Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet.

They all struggled with a mentality in need of a reset.

And Paul said, set your mind today.

May 28th, 2023, Paul said, if you've been risen with Christ, then you can reset.

We're excited you joined us for today's message.

Our heart is to connect with others in our community to grow with one another and build a bigger kingdom.

If you accepted Jesus today, we want to hear about it.

Take a moment and text CCW Connect to 94,000.

Thank you again for joining us on the CCW podcast.

We hope you'll make plans to join us in person on Sundays.