Pick Your Story | John Challinor

Well, hi. Okay, so before I forget, before I

forget, there's something really, really sweet

happening today that we have to celebrate, okay?

So our Pauldin location drove to Baghdad. To

be with the Baghdad location. And it gets better.

The Baghdad location cooked breakfast for the

Pauldin location. And they are doing church together

out there. Welcome. We love you. Some of you

are like, I didn't know that. We can go to other

locations. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. You can

go and hang out. But yeah, we love you. We're

glad you're there. We're glad you're doing that

together. Those of you online, so fun. I actually

have been online ever since I left. I thought

I would be here and then this weird social anxiety

thing hit and that's a whole nother conversation

for a different day. But I've got to sit on the

online family for my entire time. Why? Because

this is my church. I get to be a part. It's a

family. I'm like you, like I need to be fed.

And so. Online, we love you. We're glad you're

there. Miss Patty, hello, hello, hello. It's

good to see you. Okay, so I just gotta slow down

for a minute before I take off and just say,

you guys, thank you. Thank you for a gift, okay?

Thank you for being a church family. Thank you

for being a church family that goes, hey, we

really value. And there are so many things I

could tell you about sabbatical. I'm sure they'll

bleed out over the next months. We'll talk about

some today, but I just wanna say thank you to

our elders, that our elders have a vision of,

yes, we want. pastors, and we want them to do

what they do, but we don't want to just use them

and see them roll on somewhere else. We want

to see them use their gifts in this family and

have longevity for the family and build something

together for the kingdom, right? And so thank

you to the elders. Thank you to especially Pastor

Todd. Todd took on the mantle of, he picked up

extra weeks. He picked up extra weeks, but on

top of that, he also helped organize the other

communicators. And if you know anything about

Pastor Bob, he takes a lot of organizing. I'm

just kidding. Pastor Bob's amazing. I thought

Pastor Bob's message, you guys, was one of the

best. I've heard him speak a lot. We did youth

together for a lot of years. I thought what he

spoke here was one of the best I've ever heard

him do in a just mature sense, in a beautiful

way. And Pastor Ben picked up extra ones. And

it's just beautiful. It's beautiful to see the

church staff family that picked up extra roles

that were all of a sudden there. It's hard when

you have three people. So myself, Kathy Peaches

out, Austin Turner's out on sabbatical. And so

three of us gone at the same time. That's a lot

to pick up and to see the staff family do that.

And so I just want to say massive thank you to

our church family, to you, but also to the layers

that go along with that. sabbatical, people have

asked me, well, how was sabbatical? You guys,

I need about four weeks to tell you how sabbatical

was. Like, there's just so much and it's from

the beautiful to the painful and everything in

between. And we'll talk about that more, but

I just don't want us to miss something real quick,

okay? You realize what a gift this is. Where

we can come into a space with other people who,

have seen Jesus in the way he should be and stepped

into relationship with him, right? And then to

be in a space together where we get to encourage

one another, that we get to step in and go, man,

not only do I see you, but I get to see God in

you. I mean, how beautiful that we get to take

this time and be together. And hopefully what

happens is, as we open God's word and whatever,

you walk out of here and you get to see God in

a whole different way. You get to see an aspect

of him that might be new, that he wants to do.

Do you know this, right? Like right now, God

wants to do a work in you. Like that might not

sound like much. The God of heaven who is keeping

everything going, including the earth spinning,

sees you right here, right now, knows that you

are here right now, sees the very things going

on inside of you. And he goes, I want to be in

the middle of that and have a conversation with

you right now. That's unfathomable, y 'all. And

beautiful. And not in my notes. And so we're

going to be here a really long time if I keep

going on tangents. So we've been in a collection,

right? And the collection being Galatians and

walking through the book. We do this often in

the summer if you've been around. We walk through

a book intentionally. And today I got 29 verses.

Okay, so just to put it in perspective, I have

roughly about 30 minutes and 29 verses. There's

no way I'm doing this on time, right? Or we're

shifting something. But it can be really disorienting

to read sections and break them up. And so today,

one of the practices of my sabbatical has been

really anchoring in and enjoying reading the

Bible with no verse numbers, right? Like I have

a Bible that has no verse numbers, that has no

breaks with subheadings. And what I found is

that it... It puts the whole thing together in

a way that by having verse numbers and stuff,

I catch my brain like stopping or breaking down.

And so when you think about the early church,

the early church would have received this letter.

And the way this letter would have been given

to the early church is there was a copy and somebody

read that copy to the church. So I'm gonna ask

you to do something. I'm gonna ask you to not

read along. Like avoid opening your Bible to

try and track along for a minute, which you're

like, you're a speaker telling us, a pastor telling

us to not open our Bibles. Yeah, that's what

I'm telling you, right? And what I want you to

do is just let the word of God be in its entirety.

It's chapter three and let it wash over you and

just see what the Holy Spirit does and what he

shows you as we go through it, okay? And so if

you would, would you welcome Pastor Noah, who's

gonna read it to us. A reading from Galatians

3. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

Before your very eyes, Christ was clearly portrayed

as crucified. I would like to learn just one

thing from you. Did you receive the spirit by

the works of the law or by believing what you

heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by

means of the spirit, are you now trying to finish

by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so

much in vain if it really was in vain? So again,

I ask, does God give you his spirit and work

miracles among you by the works of the law or

by believing what you heard? So also Abraham

believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Understand then that those who have faith are

children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God

would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced

the gospel in advance to Abraham. All nations

will be blessed through you. So those who rely

on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the

man of faith. For all who rely on the works of

the law are under a curse as it is written, cursed

is everyone who does not continue to do everything

written in the book of the law. Clearly, no one

who relies on the law is justified before God

because the righteous will live by faith. The

law is not based on faith. On the contrary, it

says the person who does these things will live

by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of

the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is

written, cursed is everyone who is hung on a

pole. He redeemed us in order that the blessing

given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through

Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive

the promise of the Spirit. Brothers and sisters,

let me take an example from everyday life. Just

as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant

that has been duly established, so it is in this

case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and

to his seed. Scripture does not say, and to seeds,

meaning many people, but to and to your seed,

meaning one person who is Christ. What I mean

is this, the law introduced 430 years later does

not set aside the covenant previously established

by God and thus do away with the promise. For

if the inheritance depends on the law, then it

no longer depends on the promise. But God in

his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Why then was the law given at all? It was added

because of the transgressions until the seed

to whom the promise referred had come. The law

was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator.

A mediator, however, implies more than one party,

but God is one. Is the law therefore opposed

to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if

a law had been given that could impart life,

then righteousness would certainly have come

by the law. But scripture has locked up everything

under the control of sin so that what was promised

being given through faith in Jesus Christ might

be given to those who believe. Before the coming

of this faith, we were held in custody under

the law, locked up until the faith that was to

come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian

until Christ came that we might be justified

by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are

no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus,

you are all children of God through faith. For

all of you who are baptized into Christ have

clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither

Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor

is there male and female. For you are all one

in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then

you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to

the promise. Let me ask you, where does your

value come from? Where does your worth come from?

What makes you relevant? How does... Your life

matter. My sabbatical started in a way that I

didn't expect. I was so excited to have this

time. I was so intentional that I wasn't gonna

waste any of it. And I intentionally began sabbatical

going, okay, day one, here we go. And I woke

up day one. And I felt like doing nothing. Nothing

sounded good. No food sounded good. No activity

sounded good. And so I was like, okay, that's

an anomaly. I'm just tired. Like day two, nothing.

Day three, nothing. And so you can imagine, I

was a pleasure to be around. My wife was like,

I'm so glad you're home, right? And so as this

continued, I realized that What was gonna be

true was for me to be here at Watson Lake on

Easter with the church family, that was not going

to be healthy for you or for me. And so what

I realized was is I planned, I kind of left it

open. I didn't put anything on calendar really

and just went, God, as this thing goes and you

lead, I'm gonna put something on. And so I knew

kind of in the back of my head, my parents are

in Montana. I wanna go to Montana and visit my

parents. And so I also knew that God was leading

me to have times of silence and solitude, which

I realized, you know, we're really not that quiet.

I found that I'm by myself in silence and I'm

singing and whistling and all kinds of stuff.

I was like, oh, I don't do real well with this,

right? But so I go to Montana. and Easter morning

hits, right? And so I'm excited. There's a church

up there. If you're familiar with Fresh Life

Church, Levi Lusko, I was excited. I've wanted

to go forever, and Montana's a long ways away,

so never had. And I show up Easter Sunday at

their main location, and I'm just excited to

be there. I'm like a kid in a candy store, right?

And I get in their main room, and I don't know

how many it holds. I'm just guessing, but roughly

like 450 people. And if you know the influence

of that church within the nationwide Christian

circles and even beyond, I watched Levi come

into a room of 425 people and you would have

thought he was talking to the entire world, which

I realize there's a camera, I get that part.

But deep in my soul, this question bubbles up.

John, would you give your all if it was 425 in

a room on Easter? Would you be satisfied? And

I was like, oh, that doesn't taste very good.

Let's keep that one out of the way, right? And

so I planned because kind of being a church nerd,

I was like, okay, they've got another location

25 minutes away. It's a new building. I'm going

to go to that location later in the morning.

And so I go to the second location and I get

there on time and I get to their building and

it's new. And I go in and the room holds about

125. And it's a remote location, right? So it's

on screen. And I slide into my seat. And being

the introvert I am, I pick the one on the end

next to the window. The row in front of me is

empty. The row I'm in is empty. And the row behind

me is empty. I am literally alone on Easter Sunday.

And wouldn't you know, sitting there, watching

clouds roll over the mountains on this side and

church inside the room, all of a sudden my phone

starts pinging. And it's people from the Heights

family. And guess what they're doing? Easter's

amazing. And you're not here. True story, direct

quote. This is the best Easter ever. And I would

love to tell you what happened was I respond

and my responses were what? I truly believe in

my head, right? Like that's what we've been working

towards. It's not dependent on a person that

the church family and the gifts that God's given

that no matter who's where and what God's gonna

move and God's gonna work. And I wrote that back.

That's so great to hear. I'm so excited for you.

But in the moment of my lips saying something,

my heart is betraying me. My soul is betraying

me. Because inside what's happening, I'm going,

God, am I still valuable? If I'm sitting next

to a window by myself on Easter Sunday, and I'm

not using my gifts in the kingdom, and no one

can see me and no one knows, God, do I still

matter? Am I irrelevant? To the kingdom? Am I

not needed? And so as I'm sitting there and there's

this turmoil happening inside, I think there's

something that throughout sabbatical, I was reading

another book and I've kind of come to grips with

this phrasing that I found. It's in a book by

Tyler Stanton. But it's this, that the story

you live in The story you live in is the story

you'll live out. The story you live in is the

story you will live out. Hey, here's what I mean,

just in a simple sense. That if you believe,

if you believe. That the way that you become

successful is that you grind, you open the right

doors, you do the work, you put in the time,

you sacrifice everything, right? And you're going

to attain that. Then guess what? You're going

to live out. If that's the story you believe

that success is dependent on you, then guess

what's going to happen? You are going to live

like success is what? Dependent on you. And you're

going to sacrifice everything on the altar of

what? Of success. Why? Because the story you're

inside of, the story you're living inside of

is one where where it's dependent on you, right?

The story, the story that you live in is what's

going to come out. What you truly believe is

what you are going to live out. And that's the

same, that concept of the story and which story

you're living in is what Paul is getting at in

Galatians chapter three, when he starts with,

you foolish Galatians, right? Nice warm start.

I should have come back. You foolish. No, I'm

just kidding. But he starts with, he starts with,

because he wants their attention. He wants them

to know how serious this is. How serious the

story you are living in, that is going to determine

what you do with your life. And so he begins

super strong. Who, who, who has bewitched you?

That who is singular. Why does that matter? Because

what it's believed to be pointing to and what

commentaries and people that are interpreting

the Bible, what they will point back to is that

this is actually what Paul is referencing is

Satan himself. Maybe just pausing for a second,

you realize, right, that you have an enemy today?

There's an enemy of your soul today, right here,

right now. The fact that you are in church today,

the fact that you are sitting here today, the

enemy is not happy about. You're in a war. Did

you know that? Okay. A lot of heads nodding.

This is where it's important. The story you live

in is a story I'll live out. The story you live

in is there is an enemy that's after your soul.

And so you sitting here, he's doubling down on

you. The more steps you take to live by faith

in the person of Jesus, the more the enemy is

coming. And what does he say here? He is trying

to bewitch you. Isn't that fascinating? Bewitched

is this word that is to be put under a spell.

Think about the enemy for a second, right? You

go back to the beginning of Genesis. How did

he start? He changes the story. He changes the

story of what God's been writing and telling

them. And they believe this false story, and

therefore what they live out is a different story.

And it has massive consequences even to you and

me sitting here today. Why? Because we are born

outside of the Garden of Eden. We weren't supposed

to be born outside of the Garden of Eden. But

the enemy changed the story. So what is he saying

here? Hey, church in Galatia, the enemy has bewitched

you, is what he's saying. Before your eyes, the

rest of verse one, before your very eyes, Jesus

was clearly portrayed as crucified. What is he

saying? The story that you got, because Paul

knows how they stepped into faith with Jesus,

is he goes, you were given a very clear truth

about Jesus being crucified. You were given a

clear truth that he is the Messiah, the promised

one that showed up. He has rescued you. He has

saved you. He has redeemed you by the cross and

the empty tomb, right? Like this is true of you.

is your story. And so he goes, okay, that's how

you started. Who's pulled you sideways? Verse

two, I would like to learn just one thing from

you. Did you receive, did you receive, did you

acquire, did you come into possession of the

spirit by the work of the law or by believing

what you heard? Did you inherit the spirit of

God? Did you inherit the Spirit by something

you did to impress God? Did you get the gift

of the Holy Spirit because you just happened

to do the right thing? And God goes, oh, here

you go. That's what he's getting at. Or, or.

Is it what you believe? It's interesting, part

of my sabbatical, and this will probably flesh

out in weeks and months and years to come, but

part of my sabbatical, you can sum up the Bible

in one word, at least for me coming out of it,

trust. Every story in the Bible is about trust.

Everything it points to is about trust. Will

you trust God and what he says? Will you trust

God and the story he is writing? Okay, you realize

you don't have a typewriter? Or some of you are

like, what's a typewriter? Okay, you don't have

a pen in your hand. You don't have a keyboard.

You're not the author. So when we talk about

which story you're living in, God is the author

of the story that we are talking about, right?

Like that we're diving into. God's the author.

which means that if I'm going to live in his

story, then it's by trust in that story. It's

trust in what he says. It's trust in what, so

it's me, it's me giving. And so in this context,

right? Paul's going, hey, did you do something

or did you get it by trusting? Verse three, he

kind of doubles down as he goes through this.

Are you so foolish? After beginning, after beginning

by means of the spirit, you are now trying to

finish by the means of the flesh. What is the

flesh? It's what you inherited being human. What

did you inherit? Well, what you have is opposed

to God, right? Like you are born opposed to God.

How do I know that? I got to hang out with my

grandbaby an awful lot. And you know what? It

is the best season. You know why? Because you

get to enjoy cuddles. You get to enjoy laughter.

You get to enjoy all that. And then you go, here

you go. Go do the work, right? And you get to

fall asleep, it's great. What I know hanging

out with my grandson is when he doesn't get his

way, you better believe he's gonna let you know.

And he will let you know, and he will let you

know until what? Until you do what he wants you

to do. That's what we're all born with. It's

cute in an eight month old, not so cute when

we get old. Right? When we're still crying like

a baby because we're not getting our way. And

what he's saying here, that's the flesh, right?

That we're born with this. I'm born opposed to

what God wants. I'm born where it's like, I can

do this. I can pull myself up. I can just be

what I need to be, right? And God will honor

me. And what he's saying here is, wait, how did

you start? How did you start? This might be a

bad picture. I don't know. We'll do it anyways.

The idea of start and finish reminds me of a

race. And when it comes to running a marathon,

right? Which I am more than happy to cheer my

kids on doing. That's my marathon activity. You

know what I mean? Like they can go do it. I'll

cheer you on. I'll sit with my grandson. But

when it comes to a marathon, if you start running

and then as you're running, you notice people

are getting ahead of you. And so you decide,

I'm not gonna run anymore. I'm gonna get in a

Formula One car and finish this race. For those

of you that don't know, Formula One is by far

one of the fastest ways to travel on this planet

without leaving the planet, right? So what would

happen? They would not allow you to run in the

race anymore, right? So flip it because this

is actually more true. When you said yes to Jesus,

when your trust is in Jesus, you are put into

a Formula One car, right? Like you are given

the Holy Spirit. This is like, and you begin

a Formula One race, right? Like you are going

in the power of the Spirit. And all of a sudden

you decide, I don't feel like driving a Formula

One car. I'm gonna start running. Are you gonna

win the race? No, not a chance. In fact, in fact,

you wouldn't even be allowed. If you pull up

to a marathon in a Formula One car, they're gonna

be like, you're at the wrong race. Or vice versa,

if you show up to a Formula One race and you're

like, I'm just gonna run, they won't even allow

you on the track. Why? Because those are two

different events. Do you realize that those are

two different stories that he's talking about?

He's not comparing things that are alike. It's

like comparing a marathon runner to a Formula

One car. They're not even alike. And what he's

saying is when you stepped in, when you began,

you began by trust. And if you think somehow,

some way that, yes, I can come. And when I come

to Jesus and I'm so needy and I'm in like, if

you think that's how you come to Jesus, right?

Like, like we all come the same way where we

recognize we need a savior. And then somehow

you started that way. And now all of a sudden

you're like, but I'm going to switch to. I'm

gonna do the work. I'm gonna switch to, I'm gonna

gain something more. Paul's going, it's not even

comparable, you guys. It's not even the same

activity. So which then he goes on to say in

verse six, or sorry, verse four. Have you experienced

so much in vain because they were going through

suffering? Was it in vain that you went through

suffering? If now you can. Carry on by yourself.

So verse five. So again, I ask, does God give

you his spirit and work miracles among you by

the works of the law or by believing what you

heard? Does God work miracles among you? I love

that this is where he goes. You ever seen a miracle?

You ever been a part or heard a story of someone's

miracle that God did? How foolish would it be

to be like that person? They just did the right

thing. And because they did the right thing,

God gave them the miracle. That's not how it

works. And that's what he's getting at. He goes,

you've seen it, Galatian church. You've seen

God move and work. And how did that happen? It

was by belief. It was by trust in that God, that

savior, the trust that the Holy Spirit was working,

that the Holy Spirit was gonna do what the Holy

Spirit does, right? Like it was in trust in that.

And now here you are trying to switch to get

something else. Well, what were they trying to

get? Verse six says this. So also Abraham believed

and it was credited to him as righteousness.

So he now brings Abraham into it, right? Father

Abraham, if you go back to the Old Testament,

right, like you go back to the beginning, Father

Abraham had many sons, had many sons, did Father

Abraham, don't leave me hanging, and I am, and

so are, man, we, you know why this makes me happy?

You hear how many old school church people are

singing right now? Yeah? That means there's a

lot of you that have no clue what I'm even talking

about. And that's amazing. That's amazing, right?

And because here's the thing, right? Abraham,

Abraham was the father of the faith for the Jews.

And so what happens in this context is it says,

so Abraham, the father of the faith, he believed,

he trusted God. What was he trusting? God's story.

What was God's story? Hey, Abraham, through you

and your lineage, I'm gonna bring a savior that

will bless the entire world. And what does it

say that Abraham hung on to? He hung on to what?

God's word, God's promise. He trusted that. And

what came out of that is it says that it was

credited. It was added to Abraham, a right standing

with God. By faith, Abraham was made right with

God, which is then why in verse seven, it says,

understand then that those who have faith are

children of Abraham. Now to us, we might be going

like, John, why are we talking about children

of Abraham? What does this have to do with anything,

right? Well, remember, it's written to a church

in a real place at a real time. These are real

people. And they were in a church in an area

of Galatia. And in Galatia, what happened, there

was a group of people known as the Judaizers.

And the Judaizers were Jewish Christians, meaning

they had the heritage of being Jewish and they

had come to know Jesus. They were Jewish Christians.

And what the Judaizers were doing is they were

trying to say to everybody else, the laws that

we're still keeping, you need to keep. And so

just because of the context and who's in the

room and who's listening, one of those would

have been circumcision. That's all I'm going

to say about it, right? Can you imagine I come

back from sabbatical and I'm like, guys, I got

a great idea. But they also had things they were

eating. And so you had to eat those things. And

here's what the promise was. Hey, Gentiles who

aren't Jewish, who earlier were separated and

outsiders. They were saying, hey, if you want

to become the true sons of Abraham, if you want

to get a better Christianity, if you want a closer

standing with God, if you want to be on the real

inside track, then you need to do these things

to become a true child of Abraham. Which is why

Paul's writing and going, listen to his words.

They're so straightforward. He goes, those who

have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture

foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles.

He would make right the Gentiles by faith, by

trust in what he has said and in what he has

done and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham.

All nations will be blessed through you. So those

who rely on faith, those who rely on trust are

blessed, are what? What's that word? Blessed,

blessed. Who's blessed? Those that rely by trust.

Right? By belief, by faith, they are blessed

along with Abraham, not separate from Abraham.

They're blessed with Abraham, the man of faith.

So you have this one side where he's going, hey,

if you are living your life, if the story that

you are in is that you are blessed by God simply

because you put your trust in God, he goes, you're

just like Abraham. But then there's another group

of people he brings up. For all who rely, verse

10, for all who rely on the works of the law

are under a curse. As it is written, cursed is

everyone who does not continue to do everything

written in the book of the law. So now he goes,

okay, there's two stories. One story is you believe

and you receive, you acquire. Right? I believe

this to be true. I believe what God has written.

I believe what God has done. I believe what Jesus

has accomplished. I believe that. And what I've

done is I've received. The other story is this,

that I work really hard. And when I work really

hard, therefore I get more. If I do this, then

I get that. Can I just use words from scripture?

Those of you. that are living your story, living

out your story. And the living out of your story

is I gotta do more so that I get more. I gotta

do more so that I maybe get that from God. According

to Paul, that is cursed. It's cursed. It can't

work. It can't work. Why is this important, you

guys? There are good things we do that we twist.

You know what? I really wanna see a miracle of

God. So what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna pray and

I'm gonna fast. So something that should be a

spiritual discipline to draw us closer to the

relationship that we have with God, where we

hear his voice and we draw near to him, what

have we done? We've gone, if I do this and I

do this, then, then I deserve a miracle. That's

working under the law and God says that's cursed.

Let's take a generic, or not generic, but maybe

something easier to understand, right? Okay,

God is my provider. My head goes, God is my provider.

I know that, God's our provider, right? Like

we know that here, but the story I'm living out

is over here, I'm in turmoil. I'm striving everything

I can. So over here, I know God's my provider,

right? And head knowledge. But what's actually

playing out in my life is I actually haven't

believed is the story I'm inside of. And I haven't

believed that this God is my provider. And I

haven't believed this God is good. And I haven't

believed that this God will show up for me. And

I haven't believed that my needs will be met

by him because I got to go meet those needs.

You see how it works, right? Like it's so subtle.

That what I've done is I've shifted the story.

Instead of God being my provider, now I'm my

provider and I'm doing the work and I'm striving

and I'm trying to, right? Like think about it

in the sense of, this one's a sensitive one.

But sometimes when we long for healing, right?

Like we know God is our healer, but if I just

have enough faith. You see what happened? We

preached a different gospel. We're in another

story, a story where if I have enough faith,

then what? Then God will somehow do that. It's

so subtle. It's so subtle. And what Paul carries

on with then. As he said, clearly, verse 11,

clearly no one who relies on the law is justified

before God. No one who relies on the law, if

you are here and you think you got to do something,

and if you do just that, then you'll get that.

You just need to understand that no one who lives

that way, he says, clearly no one who relies

on the law is justified before God. You're not

made right because the righteous will live by

faith. The law is not based on faith. The law

is not based on faith. When you live in a way

that you have to do something to, You get something

from God. What he's saying is that's not faith.

That's work. The law is not based on faith. On

the contrary, it says the person who does these

things will live by them. Christ redeemed us.

Christ Jesus redeemed. He bought back. What did

he buy back? The false story that you got to

do something for God to like you. What did he

buy back? That you got to do something to get

something. He bought it back. He redeemed it.

How? By going to a cross, by dying, by taking

it to a tomb and leaving the false story in the

tomb and being raised to life. And what was he

raised with? The story that God always intended.

That what? That God has made a way when there

wasn't a way. That God has provided for you.

It gets even, he flushes out even more that he's

redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's redeemed

us from having to live by this. I got a due to

get for it is written, cursed is everyone who

is hung on a pole. He redeemed us in order that

the blessing, in order that the blessing given

to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through

Christ Jesus. So that, here's the why. So that

by faith, by faith, how? By trust. In what? What

Jesus has done. How do you know what Jesus has

done? God told you what Jesus has done. By faith,

by trust, by trust, we might receive, we might

acquire what? The promise of the spirit. You

guys hold up right here. right now with all of

the thoughts in your head and all of the things

that you think you don't measure up in, that

when you came to Jesus and your trust was placed

in him, he in turn, he in turn did what? Allowed

you to acquire. The Holy Spirit himself, now

the Holy Spirit, let's put it in context. How

did Jesus perform the miracles that Jesus did?

Through the power of the Holy Spirit. The same

spirit that was in Jesus has been placed into

you. And so the Holy Spirit now inside of you,

you have the same spirit, the same power right

here, right now. How? Not by anything you did.

But by simply going, I believe this to be true.

He goes on to talk about the law and you can

read that later, but basically it's this comparison,

right? Of, well, maybe the law took the promise

and he goes, that's not true. The law can't take

the promise. And he gets down to this idea that

the law is a guardian. Now, I don't know what

you think about the law, what comes to mind when

you think about the law. I know in my life, the

law was a good guardian. How do I know that?

I can't even keep the 10 commandments, let alone

the 613. I just fail. I just fail right out the

gate. Don't have any other God. I put things

in the place of God all the time. I know what

my flesh is. I know what I inherited. I know

that then within me, there's nothing good. The

only good is the spirit of Jesus and what he

is doing to renew. So in this context, what he's

getting at is the guardian came along and it

was temporary. What was the guardian? That you

would see that this due to get, it's exhausting

and it doesn't work. To bring you back to the

person of Jesus, it says, before the coming of

the faith, we were held in custody under the

law, locked up until the faith that was to come

would be revealed. So the law was our guardian.

Until Christ came that we might be justified,

made right, by what? By faith, by trust. Now

that this faith has come, we are no longer under

a guardian. Don't miss this. So, so, here's where

it's all been building to. So in Christ Jesus,

you are all children of God through what? Through

trust, through faith. Okay, okay. Here and now,

God, because some of you came in and you're like,

I don't even know if God sees me. I don't even

know if I'm known. Are you kidding? God not only

sees you, but he knows you. The Bible talks about

he knows you so intimately that he knows the

hairs on your head or lack thereof. He knows

the ones that have fallen out. They won't grow

back. He knows you so intimately that he knows

your very thoughts that you've had. That he sees

you so deeply. That while your lips may be sitting

in church betraying what your soul is actually

saying, that he knows you so deeply that he wants

to have a conversation in your soul today. And

he wants to remind you, what does he want to

remind you of? That you are a child of God. That

you're his kid. Okay, let's God -size this, right?

Because we get lost in this. Go outside the universe,

that God. Right, like outside the unknown universe,

that God. The God who is all powerful, who is

all knowing, who is all present, that God, the

creator God, that God is your father is what

he calls himself. And we can look at it, church.

You can look at it and you can put your earthly

lens on, right? And what I mean by your earthly

lens, we all got earthly dads, right? I don't

know what your lineage is, your heritage is of

your family. And it can be really easy to hear

that God is my father and it can be really easy

to get lost in that. I was reading a book over

sabbatical and one of the phrases that I've fallen

in love with is that he is the perfect father.

He's the perfect father. Everything you can imagine

a father should be, everything you could want

a father should be, and even more, God the father

is to you. I think I'm a pretty good dad. I try

to be. I love my kids. I do anything for my kids.

I try to tell them as often as I can how loved

they are, how nothing will change that. They'll

always be my kids. I don't even compare to your

father in heaven. I'm not even a shadow. And

he looks at you today and he goes, I love you.

I love you enough that I would step onto the

planet. I mean, you think how degrading for the

King of Kings to become human. We're not that

impressive, you guys. To live in the midst of

a broken and in his context, an oppressed people.

He was born into slavery. He was born into mistreatment.

Why? Why? So that he could go to a cross. To

take all of those thoughts about shame and guilt

that you let be your story. Your story is not

shame and guilt. Your story is you are a free

child of God because of Jesus. The stories we

tell ourselves that were not enough or was somehow

not measuring up or that is not your story. Who

you are, it's identity. Who you are, you are

a child of God and that cannot change. That is

who you are. And you, you are loved by God exactly

as you are right now. You guys sitting in a church,

On Easter Sunday alone, while y 'all were partying,

I'm just gonna say, right? Like while you were

all were losing your minds. I'm so thankful that

God loved me enough to have a real conversation

with my soul. I'm so thankful that my heavenly

father loved me enough to sit with me in that

row. It's a whisper. On your way in, you should

receive one of these. I got two questions for

you. First one is this, how did you receive it?

How did you receive what you have in your hand?

I don't mean how did you receive the cup? I don't

mean who gave you that. I mean what this represents.

Your salvation, your freedom, your rescue, your

standing with God, your gift of salvation. How

did you receive it? How did you acquire your

gift of salvation? Because that is your true

story. That it was by faith. It was by trust.

The second question is this. And it's more of

a conversation. than a question for you to ask

the Holy Spirit in a moment of reflection, Holy

Spirit, how am I not living in the story you

have given me? What am I living out? Reveal to

me. My prayer going to Montana was search me

and know me and reveal what's not of you. I don't

know if I'll ever pray that again, if I'm honest,

because it's pretty dark, pretty sideways. But

Holy Spirit, would you show us, would you show

me where am I not living the story you've put

me in? So the next moment's yours, then we'll

take it all together. I left that church on Easter

Sunday and the place I was staying at, if I walked

one direction, it took me to the mountains, like

just massive majestic mountain in front of me.

And I left the church beating myself up pretty

good. I wasn't kind to myself. Didn't know how

it had gone sideways. My soul felt shredded.

And as I'm walking along, All by myself. It was

in between seasons. It's not ski season, but

it's not boat season. And so there was nobody

around. And out of nowhere on this mountain,

this cloud comes down. And anywhere in scripture,

the cloud is represented to the presence, very

presence of God. And it was just enough that

it caught my attention. And so my focus was there.

My thoughts were there. And out of nowhere, I

just felt this internal voice go. John, I walked

with Moses and I'll walk with you. I'm here.

And it was a complete recentering of my soul

for me. God loved me enough to put me in a little

church on Easter Sunday to lead me to a mountain

to tell me I'm here. I believe that communion

is our recentering. It's our recentering to the

story that is true. The story that we said yes

to, that we get so sideways on. And you think

about those early disciples, right? They're gathered

around the table and chaos is about to break

loose for them. Turmoil is about to overtake

them, confusion. And what does Jesus go? Hey,

here's your anchor. Take this bread and remind

yourself that it's my body and it's given, given.

You didn't earn it. You didn't do anything for

it. I came and I laid it down. Why? Because I

love you. Do this in remembrance of me. He took

the cup of wine, cup of redemption, and he reminded

them that forgiveness, because he would take

all of the sin of every human being, both past,

present, and future, of every single human being,

and he would put it on himself, and his blood

would be sufficient to pay the price that when

we sit here and we partake of the cup, That we're

reminded you are, you are, you are. It's not

in question. You are forgiven. No more guilt,

no more shame, no more pain. It's gone. Because

you're forgiven. And he handed him a cup. He

said, take drink, do this in remembrance of me.

God, we thank you this morning. Thank you for

being so good. You are so, so good to us. God,

we don't deserve it in any way, shape, or form

that you would look our way. But God, it's not

even that you just look our way. Look our way.

You showed up. And you have made a way where

there seemed to be no way. You held your promises

when you didn't have to. You provided miracles

and worked miracles on our behalf when you didn't

have to. And so God, we just say thank you. Thank

you for being so, so good to us. Thank you for

being a way maker today. God, as we continue

to worship, as we continue to raise our voices,

would your spirit work in this place? Would you

continue to have conversation with us? Would

we leave here changed because we met with the

living God? And so we just say, thank you. Thank

you for loving us first. And everybody said,

amen.