The Jesus We Don't Talk About | Viny Costa

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Good morning, you watching online.

My name is Vini.

I am part of staff here at Celebration Orlando, and I consider a privilege to be here this morning.

Open up your Bibles together and receive what God has for us.

I believe one word from God can change our lives forever.

That's the way I try to approach Scripture with the expectation that He will do something supernatural inside of me.

And He will do something supernatural in us, in you as well.

I've been blessed to be part of this beautiful community, and my heart is full of joy to stand before you this morning.

This is the first time I will be preaching what we call here a stand-alone message.

First time preaching a standalone message here at Celebration.

All the other times we have been together, I have shared messages that was part of a series.

Well, a couple weeks ago, Pastor Keith said to me, Hey Vinny, this is a standalone message Sunday, so you can preach about whatever is in your heart.

And then I got very excited.

I was like, Okay, this is awesome, but a few days later he hit me differently.

Because I was like, Oh gosh, I have so many options, so many things I would love to talk about.

I wanted to talk about David and Absalom, I wanted to talk about the Exodus and the Israelites, and I wanted I wanted to talk about Esther.

It was so hard to choose one, very hard.

Well, our theme for 2023 has been my life, God's way, our story.

My life, God's way, our story.

Our idea has been to teach about spiritual disciplines and the importance of spiritual disciplines.

So this morning I would love to talk about three or four of those disciplines that I would consider very powerful.

So we're not talking about David, we're not talking about Absalom, unfortunately, we're not talking about Esther or the Israelites.

We're going to talk about Jesus.

And then Nate told me the other day, what a great idea.

Talk about Jesus at church.

And I couldn't agree more, so I would love to invite you to open up your Bibles or turn your Bibles on Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

We're gonna start on verse 13.

I know it's cold, I feel it as well.

Are you guys here with me?

Matthew chapter 3, starting on verse 13, it's a well-known passage.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

The Bible says, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him.

But Joan tried to prevent him, saying, It is I who need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?

But Jesus replied to him, Permit it just now, for this is a fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then Joan permitted it and baptized him.

After Jesus was baptized, he came up immediately out of waters.

Behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased and delighted.

Very known passage of the Bible.

If you're taking notes this morning, I have titled this message The Jesus We Don't Talk About.

Thank you for your presence in this place.

Thank you because we already worship you.

And now we are so ready to receive something fresh from you.

This morning.

Amen.

Amen.

Alright, if I were to step out into the streets and pop into the church or right now, right here among all of us and throw out a question.

Hey, tell me a little bit about Jesus.

If I ask you this question, what do you know about this dude?

I think we would get lots of different answers for the same question.

Someone very spiritual would say, Well, Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus is the desired of all nations.

Jesus is the one promised by the prophets.

Maybe a pregnant woman would say, Well, Jesus is the one who was miraculously conceived by Mary.

Someone very hungry, ready to order a mackfish, would say, Jesus multiplied loaves and fishes.

Someone skeptical would say, Well, Jesus is the one I guess who walked on water.

A pastor, a pastor would say, Jesus entered the temple and caused a commotion.

Well, a preacher would say, Jesus preached the most powerful sermons ever heard.

I think we would have have many different answers about who Jesus is.

But the question I really want to start with today is how many Jesus we find in these short chapters of the four gospels?

How many versions of Jesus we see in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

Because yes, this morning we can talk about Jesus the great preacher.

Or we can talk about Jesus the great leader.

But also this morning we can talk about Jesus, the one who healed Peter's mother-in-law.

How many Jesuses we find in the four gospels?

It is very interesting to me.

Because here in Matthew chapter 3, the one we just read, we see a version of Jesus that perhaps no one would mention if I asked.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

No one would say, Oh, Jesus of Matthew 3.

It is the Jesus who came before all the fame.

Jesus who came before all miracles, the one who paved the way for everything he's now famous for.

Reading Matthew chapter 3 is catching a glimpse of a behind the scenes hero, the unsung beginnings of his incredible journey.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, he's just a young man from Nazareth, just a dude full of challenges, full of dreams, a 30 years-old guy called by God, an illustrious unknown.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Here in Matthew chapter 3, he's not yet the man of the crowds.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

In Matthew chapter 3, he hasn't yet formed a team.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

He has not yet spoken to the 12 apostles.

In Matthew chapter 3, he has not yet confronted the religious people.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

In Matthew chapter 3, he's not yet the man known as the one who would change history.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, there are yet not thousands of songs about him.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, there are not yet thousands of books about him.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3 is the prelude of the legendary Jesus.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

So I have titled this message, The Jesus We Don't Talk About, because I want us to focus on Matthew chapter 3 and have an encounter with this Jesus before the fame, before the miracles.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

This guy, just a 30 years-old Nazarene, he has not begun his public ministry yet.

The ministry that is the most powerful and successful in the world.

Think about this.

In 10 years, we're going to celebrate 2,000 years of Jesus' ministry.

2,000 years of his ministry.

The most powerful ministry in the history of the world.

Well, in Matthew chapter 3, it has not begun yet.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

No.

Matthew chapter 3, it's all about Jesus before the results.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, it's all about Jesus before the jaw-dropping moments.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 3, he's just an ordinary man living his life with God.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

And as I look at the pages of my Bible in Matthew chapter 3, observing this interaction between Jesus and John during his baptism, before his public ministry, I ask myself a couple of questions like, what did Jesus do before he became the Jesus we know and talk about?

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

Before the fame, before the achievements.

And maybe this is a bit of an uncomfortable conversation because in today's fast-paced world, we don't want to talk about principles or seeds.

We want to talk about results, results, results, results, results, results, results, and more results.

The pressure of having a great performance at work, making more and more money, having more and more followers, meeting more and more people, and chasing numbers after numbers after numbers after numbers.

It seems like we're caught in a never-ending race to achieve more and more and more results.

The world puts us on out of pilot to chase results and we associate results with success.

But this morning, I would love us to draw our attention to the fundamentals.

The things he prioritized before the results.

Come on, take a look on the books we read.

10 skills you need to blah blah blah, seven habits of highly effective yada yada yada, 25 rules for blah blah blah, 425 keys to unlock, 11 secrets to blah blah blah.

And don't get me wrong here.

We all love results.

We all love results and methods.

There is nothing wrong with them.

Listen, nothing wrong with them, but they can take place of principles.

Absolutely.

We will rejoice in our accomplishments and strive, strive for outcome, for positive outcomes, but our results won't be our God.

Our results won't be our idols.

When I was a teenager, I used to take classical guitar classes.

And at that time, I fell in love with this beautiful, very complex to play song called Astudius.

I was fascinated by it.

My best friend at the time used to take classes as well.

So I showed him the song.

Hey, take a look on this one.

And he fell in love with the song as well.

Three months later, out of nowhere, this friend of mine called me and said, Hey Vinnie, can I stop by?

I really wanted to show you something.

I said, sure.

He stopped by, he took his acoustic guitar out of his case, and he played the first movement of Asturias beautifully.

And I was like, oh, I was in shock because it was such a hard song, but inside of me, I was like, tomorrow I'm gonna have a conversation with my professor.

And that's exactly what I did.

Next day I went to the class, and then I told my professor, hey, I want to learn a studious, and he's and he laughed at me pretty much.

And he said, Before you learn that one, you need to learn a couple of songs that will prepare you to get there.

Also, you need to develop a couple of skills to take you there.

And I was I was like, sure, sure.

But inside of me, ignoring everything he was saying.

When class was done, I went to the school library, I printed out the music sheet of Asturias.

I went back home with my acoustic and I was like, I'm going to figure out this.

It was very frustrating.

No.

And then two weeks later, I went back to my professor and said, I know what you said, you know, I know what you said, but I thought I could.

Can you help me?

And he said, No, I'm not helping you with your song.

I can help you with things that take you there.

And what he was telling me is, Vini, you are so obsessed with your result that you are ignoring the principles that will take you there.

Results, good, but what about the principles?

Let's ground, come on, let's ground ourselves in Jesus.

Let's understand what are the principles of a successful life in God's eyes.

Because I don't want to be someone so consumed with achieving results and neglecting principles.

Matthew chapter 3, I see Jesus trying to teach us four principles.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

If we learn one this morning, amazing.

But I think it's four.

And all these principles precede any focus and no results.

So since this is an expository sermon, I would love to go back to Matthew chapter 3, and I would love to read with you with you verse 13 that says, Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan River to be baptized by him.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

John who?

John the Baptist.

John the Baptist, who was already preaching about Jesus.

Come on, this is Matthew chapter 3, verse 13.

Matthew 3:13

But chapter uh 3, verse 1, it says that John the Baptist, he was already preaching about Jesus.

And he was preaching something like repent for the kingdom, kingdom of heaven has come near.

His sermon was all about, hey, repent because Jesus is coming soon.

You better figure this out.

So now, Matthew chapter 3, verse 13, John saw Jesus, the guy he was preaching about.

Matthew 3:13

And John goes, No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

I I can't baptize you.

I can't baptize you.

No way.

I'm not doing this.

I'm not doing this.

This is what John says.

It is I who need to be baptized by you.

And do you come to me?

But Jesus replied to him, permit it just now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.

Then Joan permitted it and baptized him.

The first principle I want to talk with you about this morning is before the results, Jesus honored who came before him.

Jesus honored who came before him.

But Jesus, conscious of his identity, knowing who he was, he said, Yep, you are going to baptize me.

Because right now I submit myself to you because you came before me.

There is a justice, there is a teaching, there is a lesson on this.

Jesus is honoring someone who came before him.

A principle of honor.

Now, listen.

This is getting excited.

I need to pause for a second because I think in our church culture we have a very wrong understanding of what honor is.

So let's talk about this for a second.

Honor is not flattery.

Honor is not flattery.

Honor is not a blind obedience.

Let me tell you something.

Twelve years ago, out of the blue, our Brazilian pastor called myself and Juliana, and he said, Can I meet you guys tonight at church?

I really want to talk with you.

And we're like, Okay, sure.

So we went to church that night, and we were not expecting what he said.

He said, I believe in God's calling on both of you guys.

You guys have been a blessing for this church.

It's been a pleasure to serve God alongside you guys, and because of this, I want to send you guys to launch a new a new campus in a city one hour away from here.

And I want you guys to be pastors there.

And and we were like, what?

You just say that you don't prepare us for a for something like that.

And then of course we start asking questions.

And we said, Pastor, we are 23 years old.

We're just kids.

We know nothing.

We're just kids.

Pastor, we just got married six months ago.

We don't even know each other.

Pastor, we don't have a car.

And it's one hour away driving.

So what you're saying is we're going to work on our jobs from 9 to 6.

It was a voluntary position, okay?

So we're going to work from 9 to 6 on our regular jobs.

We're going to take a train that will take us to Junjayi.

We're going to get there around 7:30 p.m.

Start the service at 8 during the week.

End the service around 9.30.

Get the train back at 10 and go back home at 11:30 p.m.

We appreciate your offer.

But our answer is no.

Thank you.

I have a couple of names to recommend, by the way.

A couple of people asked us a couple days later, did you say no to your pastor?

How dare you?

Yes.

I said no.

Because honor has nothing to do with the blind obedience.

We thought it was not for us at that time.

We said no.

We stay at the church, being a blessing for people.

We were doing, we we kept doing what we were doing, and all good.

Jesus honored who came before him, but honor has nothing to do with blind obedience.

Are you here with me?

Honor has nothing to do with submitting to a toxic ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Honor has nothing to do with agreeing with everything.

Let me tell you something.

It's me, Nate, Rachel, Hope, Pastor Keith, Pastor Megan, Lindsay.

We don't agree with each other 100% of the times.

But we honor each other.

Let me shock you for a second.

I don't agree with Pastor Keith 100% of the times.

But I honor him.

Honor has nothing to do with agreeing with everything.

So, Vinnie, you said that the first principle is Jesus' honor who came before him.

And you also said that honor is not a blind obedience, honor is not flattery, honor is not agreeing with everything.

So, what is honor?

I'll tell you what it is.

Honor for me is understanding that we are not the beginning of anything, we are the continuation of something.

We are a continuation of something.

Hey John, you were doing this before me, you were preaching God's word for a while.

Now I've come here, I'm going to surrender because I am not the beginning of this.

I am the continuation.

I am part of something.

Honor is understanding the importance of submitting to something that is already happening.

In your job, in your family, in your church.

You are not the beginning of anything.

You are just part of something.

Think about this with me for a second.

I feel so privileged and honored for being here this morning.

I would never imagine, not even in my wild dreams, that I would be here in Orlando, downtown, preaching in English.

Crazy.

But I think one of the reasons that I am here this morning, it's because when I was 17, I was crazy enough to tell my dad, I'm not going to college.

I feel God is calling me to the Bible seminary.

And my dad was crazy enough to say, sure.

So I enroll myself into the seminary.

But the only reason I was able to do that, it's because God brought someone from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jason Wilson, to be the director of the seminary.

Jason got the invitation to be the director because a pastor in Brazil decided to open up his church to host the seminary.

Now this pastor just opened up his church to host the seminary that I enroll myself to get trained, graduated to be here this morning because someone 30 years ago preached the gospel for him.

Do you understand what I'm getting?

The fact that I am here today, this morning, is not the beginning of anything, it's a continuation of something God has done in the past and God will do beyond me.

So honor is understanding this process, understanding this purpose, and submitting myself to the great plan of God.

Yes, Joe, you are going to baptize me.

You were here before me, you're preaching about me.

I submit myself right now.

We all like to be honored for the right reasons in the right way.

But honor in our lives, it needs to be, before being a fruit, it needs to be a seed.

The very first principle that I see in this version of Jesus, Matthew chapter 3 is I am not the beginning of anything.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

I am just part of something, and I'm going to honor who came before me.

Are you guys here with me?

You're so quiet.

The second principle I want to talk about is before the results, Jesus chose humility.

Because think about this.

Jesus here in Matthew chapter 3, he never placed himself in a position of superiority.

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

And let's be honest, John is a very weird guy.

First thing, he is Jesus' cousin.

Two, his diet is weird.

The Bible says he eats honey and grasshoppers.

Probably he never had a haircut.

So think about this.

He lived in a desert.

He wore weird clothes.

John.

Jesus is the Son of God.

Yet Jesus submitted himself.

No competition of any kind.

Because Jesus was humble.

Jesus chose humility.

Let me tell you something, we can be very successful in all areas of our lives.

Work, marriage, church, relationships.

But if we lose humility, we lose everything.

We lose everything.

Let me confess a sin for you.

One of my favorite TV shows is The Apprentice.

Or sorry, The Apprentice.

Sorry.

Sorry.

The Apprentice.

You guys know what I'm talking about?

The day the Donald Trump.

Yeah.

We have a version of that in Brazil.

And I we used to love watching it.

And the Brazilian Donald Trump is very annoying.

But myself and my wife watching it, it was funny for me and annoying for her because every time he said something that it was not in the Bible, I was like, that principle is no.

No.

And I remember one specific episode that he said, when I get into a place, I need to make sure everybody knows I am the guy with authority.

And I need to make sure everybody knows that everybody I say needs to be obeyed.

And when I walk to a place, I need I need everybody to understand that I am the best in a room.

And watching that with my wife, I was just like, this is so opposite of what Jesus did.

So opposite.

Because Jesus was humble, Jesus washed the apostles' feet.

Colossians chapter three, verse twelve.

He says, Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness.

Humility.

Clothe yourself with humility.

What the Bible is doing here is to challenge us to exercise humility.

I have found a great way to exercise humility in my own life.

That's serving.

When I serve my wife, when I serve my friends, when I serve my boss, when I serve my church, when I serve my colleagues, I am exercising humility.

The second principle is Jesus was humble before achieving any results.

Are you guys here with me?

Principle three, before the results, I like this one.

Before the results, the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 3, verse 16.

Matthew 3:16

After Jesus was baptized, he came up immediately out of the waters, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, biting on him.

The results Jesus achieved was the overflow of our relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Was just an overflow.

The presence of the Holy Spirit is non-negotiable, friends.

No negotiable.

We talked about this two months, three months ago in our whole on our during our Holy Spirit series, but much more than just an experience, experience with the Holy Spirit.

What God has for us is a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine the challenge of raising children without the Holy Spirit?

How to have a successful marriage without the Holy Spirit.

How to be a good leader, a good friend, a good employee without the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

There are books teaching methods for having a happy marriage, raising children, being a good employee.

But none of these good methods replace the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit.

Look what the Bible says in Acts chapter 10, verse 37.

Acts 10:37

Acts chapter 10 talks about Matthew chapter 3.

Acts 10 · chapter mention Matthew 3 · chapter mention

It's interesting.

But Acts 10, 37 says, You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil.

Before doing anything, Jesus made sure the Holy Spirit was upon him, and then results.

And then results.

That's Jesus.

Now we being weak, broken, bad, we tend to run like crazy after results, and we forget to invite the Holy Spirit to be part of our daily lives.

When I look back at the the balcony season of ours, what an interesting season.

No teams, no drums.

Crazy.

When I look back and look at us today, as a church, we have done some very good things.

I am proud of us of us.

But I don't want to be a church full of results.

I want something more than that.

I want to be the church filled with the Holy Spirit.

Filled with the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is vital.

That's the third principle.

Jesus had the Holy Spirit act with him.

And I'm gonna close like this.

Point four, principle four, before the results.

Matthew chapter 3, verse 17.

Matthew 3:17

It says, and behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and delighted.

Do you understand that?

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and delighted.

God didn't say that to Jesus when he was on the cross.

God didn't say that to Jesus when he was performing miracles.

God didn't say that to Jesus when he rose Lazarus from the dead or when he walked on water.

Jesus heard these beautiful words from God before the results.

Before the results.

Acts chapter chapter 13 is mind-blowing to me.

It's one of my favorite verses in the Bible.

Acts chapter 13, verse 22.

Acts 13:22

It says, After removing Saul, God made David their king.

God testified concerning him.

Pay attention.

Pay attention to the verbs.

I have found David.

A man after my own heart.

This is the only time in the Bible we see God calling someone like this.

A man after my own heart.

I found David, past tense, a man after my own heart.

He will do future.

Everything I want him to do.

I found David and his heart.

First, he will do everything I want him to do.

God did not say, I found someone who does all my will with a great heart.

No.

Because God wants the heart first and then the fruits.

Everything David will do is just an overflow of who he is.

Folks, we all love results.

What if we go after our results, but we do that honoring who came before us?

What if we do that choosing humility?

What if we do that full of the Holy Spirit?

What if we go after results understanding that God values who you are more than what you do?

We all love results, and I am sure we will achieve them together.

But I pray that we make principles our compass.

Our compass.

Imagine the greatness of achieving results while honoring who came before us, embracing humility as passionately as we pursue our goals, and involving the Holy Spirit in every step.

How wonderful it would be if we recognize that God values who we are more than what we do.

My life, God's way, our story.

May God take care of results while we take care of principles.

Do you receive this word this morning?

Let's pray together.

God, we're so thankful for your word.

We're so thankful for this time together.

We all love results.

We all love fruits.

But I do believe that this morning you want to draw our attention to principles, and we want to learn from you.

We need to honor who came before us.

We learn from you that without humility it's impossible.

We want to learn from you that having a Holy Spirit with us is a non-negotiable.

His presence is vital.

We want to learn from you that you are more interested in what we are than what we do.

We ask you to take care of results.

As you help us to put our attention on principles.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks again for listening.

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