Pastor Bryan Grant | Our Homecoming Journey | March 14th, 2021

Welcome to church.

My name is Brian.

I'm one of the pastors here.

Just want to have a big uh welcome to all of our KCC church, our Lake Country campus as well.

And if this is your first time ever seeing our service, we're so glad that you're able to tune in and watch from wherever you're watching.

It means a lot to us.

Let us know where you're watching from in the comments.

So we're just also at this time take a second and just share the stream, let people know that church is happening this morning.

So we have been on a journey these last few months with our homecoming journey series.

It's all been about sonship and about the orphan heart and the spirit of slavery and how do we break through with those things.

And it's all based on the grace of God and not on our performance.

It's on our uh based on a relationship that we have that we actually can experience that time with Christ.

So Pastor Brody last week he spoke on how do we mature in our faith.

And he provided some keys from the Word of God about how we actually can do that.

And we believe as a team, as a church, that one of the most important things that you can do to mature and grow in your faith is actually understand your position of sonship.

Uh being a son or a daughter of Christ.

What does that actually mean?

Not only to know who you are, but also know whose you are.

And so we believe that as such an important part of the Christian walk is knowing your identity in Christ.

And in that talk last week, Pastor Brody showed us uh some of the obstacles that can sometimes get in the way of us maturing.

And one of those things for me, and I'm really excited to be able to share about this, is I love, love teaching and preaching on identity.

It's such an important part of who we are as believers.

And so my job today is really just to dissuade you, to persuade you from the notion that you are a slave or that you have an orphan spirit.

Because it's already been accomplished at the cross.

When Jesus died on the cross for your sins, all of those things were taken care of.

And I just want to say right now that God loves you in spite of your performance, of how you think you did last week, the sins that you committed, the things that you thought, God loves you in spite of all those things.

So today we're just gonna dig into something that you've heard us talk about quite a few times.

We've said the words like we've talked about an orphan spirit, we've talked about a spirit of slavery, we've talked about performance.

And this is something I, like I said, I'm really passionate about.

So I just want to take a minute and just pray before we get going.

Lord, thank you for your Holy Spirit.

Thank you for what we're gonna hear today.

Thank you for your word that this provides us with a with the truth that we need to hear.

So, Lord, we're excited that we get to be here.

Lord, that your spirit would go ahead and our hearts would be open, our minds would be open to hear what you have to say this morning in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So, what I want to do is I really want to break down what it means to be a son.

And I want to contrast that with what it means to have an orphan spirit.

Our, as believers, we believe that we've been purchased by Christ on his death on the cross.

We give our life to Jesus, we become a new creation.

Now, you may have heard me say this before.

When we become a new creation, he made us righteous.

It's not that we wear the coat of righteousness, it is who we are now.

It's not in situational righteousness, that's who we are.

And so we're righteous because of what Christ did on that cross.

And so I want to start with some scripture.

So turn with me in your digital Bible or your paper Bible, turn with me to Galatians chapter 4, verses 4 to 7.

Galatians 4:4–7

And I want to camp here just for a little bit.

So when the fullness of time came, God sent out a son born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those under the law, in order that we might receive adoption.

And because you are sons, God sent out the spirit of a son into our hearts, crying out, Abba Father, so that you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, also an heir through God.

Now I just want to back up to verse 5.

It says, To redeem those who are under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

When it says under the law, the law itself innately isn't sinful.

It's not as sinful.

What the purpose of the law does is it shows us where we fall short, shows us where we're not able to reach, and it shows us our need for Christ and a Savior.

Romans 3.23 says, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

In Ephesians it says we're saved by grace, grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and not by our own efforts, not by our own works.

Grace alone means that God loves, God forgives, and saves, not because of who we are or what we do, but because of the work of Christ.

So if we move down to verse 6, it says, Because you are sons, God has spent has sent the Spirit of a Son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father.

I thought this was really interesting.

The term Abba Father is found only three times in the Greek translation of the New Testament.

All three times were in the New Testament, and each one was a reference to God our Father.

First time we read it is when Jesus is sitting there, he's saying, Abba Father, all things are possible for you.

Remove this cup from me, yet not what I will, but what you will.

He's talking about he had to go to the cross.

He knew that.

And he's saying, Is there any other way?

But he understood of his position in God's kingdom, what his job and what his purpose was as a son of God.

He knew that he had to go to the cross, and that's what the will God's will was for us.

Now, this is a really amazing revelation of the Spirit of God that's in us.

And it lays out the foundation.

We see that in Mark, and there's only three other times, so we're going to read those today for what how we call God our Father and why we do what we do.

He was willing to send his son for us so that we could be free and that we would believe in him.

So when we believe in him, we are set free.

That orphan spirit is no more.

That spirit of slavery is no more.

So verse 7 says this, you are no longer a slave.

Just like I said, you're no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son through an heir of God.

You've heard us many times in this series say an orphan spirit, a slavery, just like I've been talking about.

I'm doing this on purpose to drill home the point.

And performance.

You've heard us say those three things.

The reason we say that is that all three of those are actually wrapped up into the same type of spirit, the same type of attitude.

We can replace the word slave with orphan or orphan with slave or orphan with performance.

We no longer have to live the life of performance trying to make God happy because of what he did on that cross.

It's through grace that we're saved.

But as the Son of God, as an heir to the kingdom, we have the same standing as Jesus.

Now, Galatians chapter 5, verse 1 says it this way.

Galatians 5:1

For freedom, Christ has set us free.

We stand firm therefore and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

So we've walked through those scriptures.

We've given our life to Jesus.

We have become sons and daughters of the Most High God.

Jesus died for us so that we're free, but it's also saying we don't have to go back into the way of slavery.

There's a scripture in Luke that says we are under no obligation to sin.

We don't have to go back into that place once we've already given our life to Jesus.

He sets us free, he gives us, he makes us righteous because of what he's done, and that's already taken care of.

We don't have to go back into that yoke of slavery.

Now here's a second time or another time that we hear about Abba Father.

Romans 8:15.

Romans 8:15

The spirit you have received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again.

Rather, the spirit that you have received brought about your adoption to sonship.

And by him we cry Abba Father.

Now the truth is about the orphan spirit, the spirit of slavery, the spirit of performance, is that we know that they're all the same thing.

If we put them all together, that's at the core is a slave mentality or an orphan spirit.

You work for the approval of God and and and others, but mostly God or mostly God in hopes that we're deemed worthy enough.

And sometimes this orphan spirit can be linked to the bondage or the walls or the whatever you want to call it that's around our heart that actually doesn't help us and pushes us in a way of behaving separate from God.

And it actually becomes an obstacle in how we approach that deeper relationship with Christ.

An orphan, and here's something that I wrote down just yesterday, so an orphan heart drives you to performance, which leads to slavery.

And because we are bound in slavery, if we continue to drive to perform, and because of our heart condition and we're not moving forward into sonship, we are still, we never come out of that performance which leads us to more slavery.

It's just a never-ending cycle.

We constantly are trying to find approval, and when we don't find it, we push harder.

And when we can't, when we don't push hard enough, we seem we have to push harder, and we never ever get to where we need to with our relationship with God.

And so below I have some statements.

I'm gonna read these statements, and I actually want you to maybe apply them to yourself, not about your spouse, not about someone else you know.

These are sometimes things that we do as believers, instead of uh accepting who we are in sonship, maybe sometimes we're carrying this orphan spirit with us.

So the orphan spirit will settle for less than God's absolute best for us because we tire ourselves out in trying to attain something that only comes by grace.

The orphan spirit will run ahead of God's timing, making the assumption that God's not for me, that God's not in this, and he's not gonna do it on my timeline.

And if you've been a Christian for a while, being impatient oftentimes, I know in my own life, if I'm doing something outside of what I feel God's telling me, and because I think he's not gonna do it my timeline, I try and do it, I don't get the outcome that I thought I should have gotten.

The orphan spirit is a life of comparison to others, and because of that, comparison to others that often leads to pride and often leads to depression.

The orphan spirit life is a life that is always subject to fear, fear of not measuring up, fear of failure, fear of not doing enough to make God happy with you.

The orphan spirit is a life of continual identity crisis, and this is this is big.

This is we don't know who we are, we don't know whose we are, so we spend our lives trying to prove what we're worth.

And here's something I want you to understand.

The orphan spirit oftentimes just confirms how we see ourselves because of those negative thoughts, because of the things that are happening.

It often confirms how we are seeing ourselves, but not how God sees us, and that's a massive distinction.

And this is how Jesus sees us.

This is just one scripture on how Jesus sees us.

It says in John chapter 15, verse 15 No longer do I call you servants.

John 15:15

For servants do not know what their master is doing.

For I have called you friends.

For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you.

He no longer calls us servants or slaves, he calls us friends.

Before we knew Jesus, we were really far from him.

And sometimes even after we know Jesus, we can become really far from him.

And so, what I want to do is I I want to further break down the slavery or the orphan mindset and the orphan spirit and compare it to what sonship says.

So the orphan spirit says, I'm a victim, woe is me.

I'm powerless, I'm absolutely helpless.

But the sonship mindset says, I'm an overcomer, I'm more than a conqueror, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

The orphan mindset says, and has an expectation of lack or of poverty.

Take what you can get because you don't have a father that's looking out for you.

Whereas the sonship mindset says, I have all the riches of Christ, I have a generous father, and the spirit inside has unlimited wisdom and resources for me.

An orphan spirit says, My value is based on being more or less than someone else.

I'm comparing myself to someone else all the time, which leads to pride.

I'm either I'm really awesome or I'm just a big loser.

Whereas if you have a sonship mentality, he gives me value and affirmation, therefore we can celebrate in that.

The orphan spirit says, I need to be the best to be blessed and have more value.

Whereas the spirit or the sonship spirit says, I'm with you and for you, and win or lose, we're gonna be in this together.

The orphan spirit says, I'm striving because my worth is based on how well I do.

The pressure is on me, but right works don't produce the right heart.

And our relationships in the orphan mindset are often driven by performance.

Whereas if we're in a sonship mentality, it is finished.

We can rest in that.

You have been made righteous and enough in Christ.

And this is such a great thing.

His yoke is easy.

Just say yes and obey and let God handle all of the results.

A right heart produces right works.

Relationship is driven by love.

If we have an orphan heart, God is distant.

He tolerates me in my weakness and in my perfection and my imperfection.

Whereas if we have a spirit of sonship, God is near.

Father loves being with me, and I get to delight in him as being his child.

If we have an orphan, uh orphan spirit, we always fall short.

We always feel like we always fall short.

I don't measure up and I deserve all the punishment.

Whereas God says, in sonship, always in line for blessing, God fully measures up, or Christ fully measured up and gave his right standing.

By his merit, Father wants to bless me.

An orphan spirit says, I'm condemned.

I am bad and I need to keep a distance until I improve my performance.

Whereas a sonship, in a spirit of sonship, I am always drawing you closer and I'm committed to removing everything in your life that hinders knowing him deeper.

An orphan heart says it's a slave, you're gonna be a slave until you by your performance.

You're accepted by his performance.

You work for someone as a son and a son and the spirit of sonship, because I am someone, I am a son with favor, resources, influence, and I'm gonna make a difference because of Christ in me.

Orphan says, I'm alone and without help or protection, I'm tolerated at best.

Where a sonship, being in the spirit of sonship, is I have confidence in who Christ is.

You are with me and for me, and will see me through.

I'm at home in your love, Father.

I am celebrated by you.

Such a drastic difference between the orphan or the slavery or the performance mindset versus being a son and daughter of the Most High God.

I just want to read through Ephesians.

Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 and 8 says this Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 1:3

Even as he chose in him before the foundation of this world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons to Christ Jesus, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise and the and of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the beloved.

There's a few things I want you to see just in that passage of scripture.

One, your adoption is cause for praise.

When you give your life to Jesus, and when you make that choice to serve him, and he know knowing that he died on the cross for your sins and you are free and clear, that's a cause for us to celebrate.

Because he is adopted, he's an adopting God, and because out of that moment he shows us his grace and his mercy, he is worthy of our praise.

And that's enough for us to celebrate.

That you gave your life to the God of the universe who is willing to have a relationship with you.

The second thing is your adoption means you lack nothing.

You read that scripture at the top, so you have received every spiritual blessing.

There's no longer anything that you need before you had Christ.

Because you have him now, you have all that you need.

Your adoption is deliberate.

And this is something that we see or hear a lot of time when people are operating out of the orphan spirit.

You're not a mistake.

What you're doing and the things that you've gone through, you are not a mistake.

It wasn't a casual choice that he adopted you, that he chose you.

It was the deliberate action that God chose you.

When you give your life to him, he's saying, Yes, I want you.

You're not in action.

It wasn't a casual decision for God to send his son to die on the cross for us.

It was deliberate action knowing what the outcome would be.

Before the foundation of the world, God set his sights on you.

That's amazing.

Your adoption is through Christ.

It's through Christ in Christ alone.

Your adoption culminated or was all came together in the in the not in the gavel of judgment, he's judging you, but in the with a cross.

He died on the cross for us.

And it's through the cross that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ became our Father.

Your adoption and your sonship and your who you are as sons and daughters in Christ is evidence of God's love.

No longer do we need to be afraid of sin, trapped by loneliness or anxiety or depression or pride or unsure of your salvation.

Because you are sons, God has sent his spirit of his son into our hearts again, crying Abba Father.

In Galatians chapter 4, verse 6, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son through an heir through Christ.

Galatians 4:6

That's another scripture that we see.

The third one about speaking about Abba Father.

And the thing is to be adopted into God's kingdom, to be adopted into be a son and daughter of God means that it's a plan, it's a big plan, it's a plan that's been here forever, and he believes in us to move church forward so people know who Christ is.

And so even as I was I was reading this, there's some scriptures that as I was going through them, it read to me like an invitation.

And so this is an invitation to you.

If you know Christ, and this is maybe the first time you've you've heard about sons and daughters, or you're struggling with that orphan spirit, in Jesus' name it's broken.

That's just the truth.

When Jesus died on the cross, that spirit was broken.

So you don't have to have that orphan spirit in your life.

If you're not knowing Jesus, and this is your first time ever really hearing the gospel, and you feel right now the tug on something, there's something happening in your heart as you're hearing this.

I want to tell you that's the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

And these are four things, the four invitations from the Word of God that invites us into His kingdom and invites us to know Him deeper.

Our Father's invitation is to place an unconditional acceptance and rest in our unique, God-given ability.

He accepts you in.

You are unique in his kingdom.

He's given you an identity.

We are a brace, we embrace strengths and weaknesses across all sides, and we come together to work together.

There is no condemnation.

Another word for condemnation is disapproval.

There's no disapproval in the kingdom of God for what he because of who he is.

Our father's invitation is one of welcome, embrace, a place of belonging.

You have a place.

We embrace community, and you've heard Pastor Brody say this many times.

Many people just want to be fully known and fully loved.

So we get to celebrate and be together and as a family and be part of this big family of sons and daughters of God.

Our Father's invitation is to place security in his love, care, and constant oversight.

That's in Matthew.

Sons and daughters have nothing to fear.

We're already secure in the Father's love.

We're already secure.

We can trust in God's faithfulness that we have enough, that we have what we need, even when trials um uh occur in our life.

I heard it say this way from a friend of mine.

He said, So we can learn to trust God even when we can't comprehend the full weight of the circumstances.

You get to that place of trusting God, even in this situation.

Maybe this pandemic has been really challenging for you.

We get to this place where we can trust God even when we don't understand the full weight of what we're going through.

We just know that it's weighing us down.

We get to that place because he has embraced us.

We have security in his love, in his care, and his and his watching over us.

The next one is our Father's invitation is to experience the fullness of his undeserved grace and favor.

We can extend grace and mercy and favor to others because we experience grace and mercy and favor from God.

This is because we know the fullness of grace that was extended to us.

And ultimately, the Father's invitation is in John verses 1 and uh 1, verse 12.

Yet to all who did receive Jesus, to all who believed in his name, he gave that right to become children of God.

There is a huge difference between being someone who lives in a slavery mindset, an orphan mindset, and a mindset of performance versus being a son or a daughter of Christ.

Maybe today you've been watching this for you've been watching this, or you've been a Christian for 20 years, and you're just feeling something in your heart today.

Maybe you've not heard the gospel, and this is your first time, or your first time tuning into this.

But all I can tell you is that the gospel is this, it's about sonship, Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

He wants to know you, he wants to show you favor and grace and love.

The orphan spirit holds us back, just like Pastor Brody was talking about last week.

That's an obstacle to us maturing in our faith and us to maturing and knowing Christ is even more.

So even as we we move to closure on this, if you don't know Jesus and you're watching for the very first time, I want you to bow your heads wherever you are, and I want you to repeat after me.

I'm gonna walk you through a prayer.

Father, I want I believe that you want me to live a life of freedom.

Lord, I want to know you.

Lord, I want to be in your kingdom, I want to be your son and your daughter.

Lord, I know I have sinned, I know I have fallen short.

Lord, I confess with my mouth that you are Lord today.

And for those that are are here and you're just feeling the tug of the Lord uh today on your hearts as we we have talked about this, I just want to pray for you as well, Lord, that you just fill all those people's hearts with your love to know that they don't have to exist in the place of an orphan spirit, for that in their lives it's broken in Jesus' name, for that they can step past the performance and step into a place of knowing you deeply, knowing you well, knowing that you love them, and even in spite of some of these things that we do that are wrong, that you still love us, that you offer forgiveness freely, that you offer that care freely, that you're watching over us and you're giving us plenty, Lord.

We know that you are watching us and loving us, or that we can break through that today in Jesus' name.

In Jesus' name.

If this is your first time and you gave your life to Jesus today, we want to celebrate with you.

Let us know in the comments.

Reach out to us on social media, on Instagram, and Facebook.

You can find us there, but we want to celebrate with you, just like the word says, we want to celebrate with you that you gave your life to Jesus and that you're on a new path that's gonna change your life forever.

Thanks so much for joining us.