Upgraded | Ps. Keith Pittman

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.

We put our hands together for Pastor Eileen.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you're joining us online via podcast, can we put our hands together and join those who are joining us online and in our community there?

I also want to take an opportunity just to thank you guys.

We got our brothers from Fresh Start in the building.

Man.

My wife and I were walking in today and I saw the Fresh Start van almost run me over.

And then when I I don't know who was driving, um, but but I but I saw that and and then I looked over, but I was so excited.

Like it always fills me with so much joy when you guys are here.

I'm grateful that that you guys come and worship with us.

Um also, man, I want to also thank you guys for choosing our nine o'clock service.

It really does make space for our 1030.

Like a look around this room.

If only if all of you showed up at our 10:30, we wouldn't have enough room.

So actually showing up at the 9 o'clock is an expression of ministry because it really does help and create space for the the next service as well.

Plus, everybody knows this.

The 9 o'clock is my favorite service.

It's the most lit, it's the most energy, it's the best one.

So, but don't tell the 1030 I said that because I say the same thing to them as well.

Anyway, I'm so I'm so excited about this series that we're jumping into.

And I realize that if you come to church, um you hear that a lot.

You hear us talk about, oh man, groups, we got all these different things going on, we got this, and and and so if you're a part of celebration, then you know that every Sunday I get up and I'm like, oh, I'm excited to share.

So it could kind of sound like white noise at this point, but but I really am excited.

And and the reason being is because I I recognize my life has been transformed as a result of the kingdom community.

My life has been transformed as a result of God's word.

So every time we have an opportunity to come together and we get a revelation of what God is speaking and what God wants to do, I'm always excited about what it has the potential to do for some of us.

The book of Romans was that book for me.

I had a radical encounter with God that changed everything.

But but as I began on this journey and trying to make sense of the what it meant to be a follower of Christ, how do I live with Christian discipline?

All these things that I was walking through and reading and trying to process through books I was reading.

But but when I got to the book of Romans, somehow it pulled it all together.

Somehow it took all these different scriptures and ideas and things that I thought I knew about God, and somehow Paul and his brilliance is able to synchronize all these different thoughts and experiences in a beautiful way that literally transformed my life.

So for me, this is uh a series that I'm a little bit biased about.

It's almost like um when you have a great experience, whether you went to a great restaurant, you you want others to experience the same thing that you did.

So, my hope and my prayer is that this series can be that for you.

It can add on or it can show you where to build.

So, if you have your Bibles, I would love to invite you to join me in the book of Romans.

And we're gonna start in chapter number one.

Chapter uh number one.

Our our theme scripture for today um is gonna be found in Romans uh one, verse number seven.

That's the foundation of the series, and then we're gonna have another passage that we're gonna look at that kind of center our discussion for today.

But but starting it off, here is what Paul is writing to.

This is a letter, and I want us to have proper context when we read the scriptures.

Like when Paul wrote the letters of the Bible, he's responsible for for two-thirds of the New Testament.

This is his longest and most succinct um thing that he's ever written.

But we must understand it was written as a letter.

He didn't write it as a book, he didn't have chapters for Paul.

This was a singular thought that he was reinforcing.

And so now we have the benefit of taking this that was a singular thought, and we break it up into sections and we can dissect the varying things.

But in the mind of Paul, Paul had a very single thought that he was reinforcing through the book of Romans.

And that thought is found here in Romans chapter 1, verse number 7.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

And this is what it says it says, To all who are in Rome, this is a community.

This isn't for an individual, this was for a community of people.

For all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints, grace to you, and peace from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, now that that's a greeting that was very typical for Paul.

In fact, in some of Paul's letters, he's he's actually used that same phrasing.

But but what we are able to learn when we unpack the book of Romans, we actually see that this was not only just a greeting, but it was an impartation and an outline of what he was going to be addressing in the sections that follow.

A couple things worth noting is that he says, To those that are loved by God.

He starts off by simply saying, For the people that are hearing us, for the people that are engaging us, I want you to understand that you are loved by God.

There's somebody in here who just needed to hear that.

Because we live in a world where it seems to be devoid of love.

We we live in a world where there's brokenness and suffering and the lack of kindness.

And so maybe today the baggage that you brought in here with is that you have not been able to recognize love anywhere.

Let me put this to you the way that Paul put it to the Roman church.

You are loved by God.

And to build onto that, he says that you are also called by God.

I want us to get this into our mind.

We are not called because we are saints, we are saints because we said yes to the call.

You weren't a saint first, but you God saw you, and he said, You answered the call, and now that makes you a saint.

We're going to spend some time unpacking that.

But then the last line he says, Grace to you.

He he mentions that grace is something that comes to you, it comes in you and works through you.

Grace to you.

And then he follows that up with peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What he is explaining here is this idea that when grace comes into our lives and we embrace it, it comes on us, it goes through us, it comes out of us, it literally transforms us.

What I want you to understand is that Paul's primary thought is that grace is a transformational expression of the love of God.

And throughout the rest of this book, no matter what the topic and theme is, it's written with the undercurrent of grace, and it's meant to transform us from the inside out.

So over the next couple of weeks, we're gonna be unpacking varying passages scriptures and themes, and you're gonna be surprised at some of the most popular verses that you've ever probably heard quoted, possibly out of context, but that you've ever heard, a lot of them originated from Romans.

And we're gonna spend some time looking at those themes.

In addition to that, we also are making another resource uh available to us as a church community.

We have our After the Message Church podcast, and it's amazing, it's very discussion-driven, and what it allows us to do is to expand on certain topics and conversations in a way that we just sometimes don't get a chance to do on a Sunday morning.

It's conversational, it's led by Pastor Nate.

Who doesn't love Pastor Nate?

Give it up for Pastor Nate.

He has such a gift at being able to tackle complex ideas and scriptures, but breaks them down in a conversational way.

So we want to include you and encourage you to check that out.

So follow us on social media.

If we don't have your email address, make sure we get it because we'll send out notifications on when those things are posted, and it'll be available every week for the next six weeks to really, I believe, enhance your growing and your learning of what God is communicating to us through the book of Romans.

But now for our primary thought for today.

That's going to be found in just a few verses down, found at Romans 1, 16 and 17.

Yes, all of that was just the introduction.

That was just a fluff.

Well, now we're about to get into some meat.

Okay, so what it says here, this is Paul communicating.

He says, I am not ashamed of the gospel.

I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

He starts off by making sure that he understood that being a Christian then was harder than being a Christian now.

But yet he was not ashamed.

Let me say that again for those who didn't catch it.

Being a Christian then was harder than being a Christian now.

Because being a Christian then cost you your life, literally.

Being a Christian then cost you your family.

Being a Christian then meant maybe not even be able to get a job.

But yet, even in spite of all these challenges, Paul says, even with all of this, I'm unashamed.

Here's what that means simply.

Paul wouldn't be embarrassed to communicate that he goes to church.

Paul wouldn't be embarrassed to post a scripture on his Instagram.

Paul wouldn't be concerned about what people thought.

Paul was unapologetically unashamed.

And this is why he says that he's unashamed.

He says, I'm unashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and then also for the Greek.

He understood that the gospel and its message, it literally changed his life.

So how can I be ashamed of anything that changed my life?

How can I be ashamed of anything that is making me better?

Paul says, I'm not ashamed.

And then he says this, for it is in the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

This is a power-packed passage of scripture that we're going to spend the next 20 minutes or so.

Well, let's be honest, it's me, 30 minutes.

We're going to spend the next 30 minutes unpacking what I believe God is communicating to set the tone of where we're going for this series.

If you're taking notes, and of course at Celebration Orlando, we do because it gives us a fast pass into heaven when we do take notes and we can go back and look at those notes.

I believe it.

And there's a scripture somewhere, I'll find it.

It's probably in the message translation.

Our message title is this Upgrade It.

Turn to somebody next to you and say, upgrade it.

Turn to the person you ignored and say, upgrade it.

For the introverts who came by themselves, just yell it out loud.

Say upgrade it.

Come on, we're about to get upgraded in the house of God today.

Let's pray and let's see what it is that God wants to speak to us today.

Lord, we thank you so much for your transformational grace that upgrades every area of our lives.

Lord, I pray over the next few moments that you give us open eyes to see you, open ears to hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you want to do in us today.

Holy Spirit, you're welcome.

We invite you to transform us.

Continue the work that you were doing in worship so that as we finish and allowing our faith to be built off of the word of God, we can walk out of here transformed and upgraded.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen and amen.

If I can get you guys to help me with a very impromptu, not very scientific, but it's going to help me survey, I would be greatly appreciated.

Online, you can participate in this as well.

By a show of hands, or for those online, you can just type it in the chat.

How many of you guys are iPhone users?

Look around, you are not alone.

Keep those hands up, keep those hands up, because I'm trying to get a sense of what we're working with.

I see a room, and um, Nate, you do the numbers, man.

If I look at this, what are we looking at?

Like two-thirds?

I mean, I know your hand's not up, Nate.

We're gonna address that in just a moment.

But we're we're we're probably we're looking at it like what 75, 80 percent?

So 80% of our church is saved.

Um I digress, but but but since and all sincerity, I I am unapologetically a fan of Apple project products.

I I really am ever ever since I can remember, I've always been captivated at how intuitive they are, how how genius it is, how it integrates with so many different things.

I I love the way the operating system works.

I was sharing with Megan just the other day.

I said, look, I said, when you have all these systems linked together, I can actually be reading something from my phone, copy it, then pick it up on my computer and paste it.

I'm like, just the fact that all of these things are connected is absolutely amazing.

I've always been a significant fan of the way that things are integrated.

I love that when I'm part of a group chat and I can see that all of us are on the same page because we can all text back and forth without the people with the green bubble messing up the dynamics of the conversation.

See, Paul was talking to the Roman church about saying, man, you guys just need to get on board with Apple.

I'm just kidding.

But but here but but hear me with this.

I I love Apple products, I've always have.

And so I remember there was a season when I actually got a job at Apple just so I can get a discount on the products.

Remember that, Megan?

It was it was ridiculous.

But I was like, I was that into it.

I'm like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get a job there just so I can get a discount.

And so I remember while I was working there, and and the new iPhone was about to come out.

And I was so pumped about this iPhone, I was so excited about it.

So as I'm working there, I'm getting my I'm getting acclimated with everything.

So I'm talking to one of my coworkers, and as I'm talking to him, I say, hey man, are you are you excited about the new iPhone?

And he's like, he said, Yeah, but I'm I'm not gonna get it.

Which didn't make any sense to me.

I said, Help, help me to understand, like, why are you not going to get it?

He said, Oh, the reason I'm not gonna get it is because 90% of the features are gonna be provided in the new update that's coming.

I said, say more.

He said, Yeah, yeah.

Like he said, you know, the the every now and then a new iPhone will come out, but but you really don't need to get it if you have a previous iPhone because the software will provide you with all of the features that you need.

I had never heard this before in my life.

And in that two-minute window, he began to break something down to me regarding the iPhone and even other softwares.

And this is what he said.

He said, you know, with software, and when you have a device, there's hardware, that's the actual physical device, and then you have software, that's the way that you interact with it, but there's something else called firmware.

Let's let's get into this.

And what firmware is, firmware is the software that tells the hardware how to function.

Let me say it this way our phones have cameras on them.

So the camera is its own physical item.

Firmware is the software that tells the camera how to function.

So that means that you can update the software, that software to communicate to the hardware, and functions of the hardware that were always hidden inside of it will be activated as a result of that download.

I was blown away because up to this point, I thought in order for me to access some of these new functions, I needed to get a new phone.

I thought that in order for me to successfully be able to engage some of the new features that were going to be available, that it was going to require me to get rid of the old thing and purchase something new.

You can only imagine the savings to my bank account when I learned that there was actually software that I can download, so I didn't have to get rid of the old thing, I just needed to download something to activate what was already on the inside.

What I realized is that for many of us, we live our lives in such a way that we are always looking for the new thing.

We we live our lives in such a way that we always believe the new thing is going to be the best thing, and we think that we have to get something new in order to be truly fulfilled.

We we're always looking for that opportunity, and we think that, man, like if I'm uncomfortable right now, then maybe I need to get into a new environment.

Man, if my if my marriage is in vibing right now, well, maybe I just need to get a new marriage.

If my if my job isn't working well right now, maybe I just need to get a new job.

And and I'm not saying that that may not be the case in some instances, but what I've come to believe is that there's many instances I don't need to get rid of what's old.

I need to download something new to activate what's already on the inside of me.

There's some things that are already on the inside of you that we haven't engaged because we haven't got a fresh download of the grace of God.

I'm here to encourage somebody in here.

There's some things on the inside of you that haven't been activated, but if you can get a fresh download of the grace of God, you will seize the dimensions that you can go through that doesn't require you to shift into new environments.

We see this very practical thing play out with John the Baptist.

John was very intimately familiar with who Jesus was, but when he found himself in prison, you know what he says?

Are you the one or should I find another?

Is this where I'm supposed to be or should I find another?

How many of us have been at the place that we've prayed for, and now that we're there and it's uncomfortable, we're asking God, is this the place I'm supposed to be or should I find another?

I've I've prayed for this marriage, but this marriage isn't feeling good right now.

So so is this the marriage or should I find another?

God, I prayed and I asked you for this job and you've given me this job, but these people here are crazy.

So so is this the job or should I find another?

Have you ever found yourself in a place where the things that you prayed for become the things that you're praying about?

Is this the one or should I find another?

And a lot of times, in order to find another, it means that we have to discard the very thing that God gave us.

What if I were to tell you that you don't need another, what you need is a fresh download?

What if I were to tell you that when we have an encounter with the grace of God, it has an ability to upgrade our lives in ways that getting another thing just isn't going to do?

What if I were to tell you that God's grace has the ability to transform where you are and you don't have to move a single foot?

What I want you to understand is God's grace can upgrade your marriage, is that God's grace can upgrade your finances, is that God's grace can upgrade your mindset, but we gotta be willing to get a fresh download of the grace of God.

We got to get this download.

So, so how do we have a healthy definition of what does grace mean?

If you ask anyone in Christendom, you may get a different response.

So, so let me give you a simple definition of God's grace.

God's grace is defined as God's unearned favor.

God's unearned favor, favor that is given to us that we didn't earn it.

Let me put it simply to some of the parents that are in the place.

Your children, respectfully, have done nothing to earn the love that you give to them.

They've done nothing.

I'm saying that from my soul.

My kids have done nothing.

They're watching online.

To earn, to earn the love that's extended.

That extension is not based off of behavior, but it's based because of we're family.

Just just yesterday, just yesterday, this is fresh.

Just yesterday, I had plans to sleep in a little bit, to pray, to process, and then we had uh a next gen gathering with our parents of next gen community.

Everything was lined up.

Seven o'clock in the morning.

I get a phone call from my son.

And I'm like, okay, I thought you were upstairs.

Like, why are you calling me?

And he's like, hey dad, um I I don't know what to tell you, uh, but but my friend's tire blew out.

I'm like, okay.

And he said, and and I came out here to come and help him, and I hit the same pothole that he just hit, and my tire blew out too.

And I said, What are you saying to me right now?

Are you telling me that your friend hit a pothole, called you, you then drove to help said friend, and you hit the exact same pothole?

And I need to come out, change your friend's tire, change our tire, and pay for the repairs.

Son, you have you don't deserve me.

That's grace.

That's that's grace.

There's nothing he's done to deserve me getting up.

There's nothing he's done to deserve me going after it, but it's the love that motivates me to do it.

That's the grace of God.

The grace of God is you haven't done anything to earn or deserve what God does in our lives.

What grace is, is grace is God's work through Christ.

Grace is God's work through Christ.

I can say it this way: that grace is Jesus.

Jesus is our grace period.

Jesus is our grace period.

He is God's power extended to us.

Grace isn't a concept, grace is a person.

But here's what I understand.

With any gift, which is how grace is defined, it's really hard to embrace what it is if we don't understand what it does.

It's hard for us to embrace what it what it is if we don't understand that we actually need it.

So so some of us may be saying, Why is it even necessary?

Like I come to church, I hear about the goodness of God, I hear you say that we need to worship, I hear all these activities that we're doing, but I still have not wrapped my mind around why is it necessary in the first place?

Well, well, the thing about the gospel, that word means good news.

Remember, Paul is writing this to a culture of people that were bound in Rome.

This was a very oppressive environment.

So they understood the language that Paul was speaking.

Gospel is not exclusively a Christian term, it's just a phrase that says good news.

So what would happen is whenever a general would go off to war and they were successful in the war, they would come back with a gospel message.

Good news that we have got the victory, and you guys can rest well tonight, knowing that you have nothing to worry about.

So that's the context that Paul is using when he communicates this idea of the gospel of grace.

He's communicating with a group of people that were used to hearing that word gospel connected with, we won the war and I don't have to fight for victory.

Now let's let's shift that over to what that means for us.

What that means for us is that when we hear that the gospel of grace is available, that means that Jesus has won the war and we didn't have to fight for the victory.

But the war of what?

What are we celebrating that this victory has done?

The truth of the matter is the victory is the victory over sin.

Let's let's talk about sin.

Sin was the problem.

Sin continues to be the problem.

And if we don't understand the problem, we will not embrace the solution.

In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth and he planted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he gave them a simple choice.

You can either trust me and allow me to order your steps, or you can eat from the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil.

What that ultimately means is that you can live life on your own terms, that you can define what's right and wrong based off of how you feel.

You ever heard that phrase, you got one job?

Adam and Eve had one job.

One job.

Trust God and experience eternity and bliss, or don't trust God and experience death and despair.

From my perspective, it's pretty simple.

From my perspective, it seems like a pretty clear way that I need to make my decisions.

But for Adam and Eve, they they got tripped up.

The enemy came in, he he convinced them that God was holding something out on them, and so they end up engaging the very thing that God told them to avoid.

That gave birth to sin.

That gave birth to the broken environment that we still experience today.

We now be was introduced to death.

We were introduced to murder.

We're introduced to um inequality, we were in we were introduced to suffering, we were introduced to sickness, we were introduced into brokenness that is now running rampant in society.

And the reality is we still are dealing with it.

We're still dealing with the ripple effects of the original sin.

It's almost like the toothpaste is out of the tube.

Once it's out, you you can't get it back in.

So now we have an opportunity that even though the toothpaste of sin is out of the tube, we can make ourselves distinct from it so that when God comes to clean it up, we don't get swept up in a judgment of it.

That is indeed the good news.

That because of Adam and Eve, and they were serving as our parents of humanity, that we then inherited brokenness and sin in the world that we are now living in right now.

I can say it this way: that sin was a setback.

That that sin caused us to downsize God's vision for our lives.

Have you ever had to downsize before?

Where you once had this, but but now you had to downsize.

Maybe you had to downsize into a smaller house.

Imagine all of that, but magnify it by a million.

That's what sin was.

Is that God had this huge, beautiful life plan for us, but because of sin, it's gotten reduced down to this small box.

And the sad thing is many of us don't even recognize it.

Many of us believe that the life that we're living on our own terms is the best that our life is going to get.

So when Paul responds, he says, I want you to understand that God wants to move you to another level.

This is why he uses that phrase, it moves us from faith to faith.

He was saying that if you can put your faith in this, it's going to move you to the next level.

That if you can embrace this idea that Jesus came to deal with sin, it's going to upgrade every area of your life.

Sin downsized us, but the grace of God upgrades us.

And there's a couple of upgrades that I want to share with us that I think is worth writing down.

Here's the first thing that we get with the upgrades that God gives us.

We get a new status.

New status.

See, sin broke our fellowship with God.

We inherited that as a result of Adam and Eve.

However, the grace of God restores the broken fellowship.

It gives us unbroken fellowship.

The sin payment was paid.

I I remember that there was a young lady who had a very ailing daughter.

And what we understand is that that the debt was continuing to build, so much so that not only was it debilitating for her, but she wasn't even able to provide services for her daughter because she was in such the negative balance.

Her account was not in good standing.

But there was a moment when she was getting all these phone calls, she was getting all this information about like, hey, if you if you don't pay this down, you're not going to be able to experience the services that we want to provide for your daughter.

Then one day she called in to say, like, hey, I just simply want to make a payment so that way we can still be seen by the doctor.

And they said, I'm sorry, like, there's no payment to be made.

Your account is in good standing.

Your account has good status now.

She was confused by this, as in understandably any of us would.

But she found out later that there is an individual who would go through and ask the hospitals, like, whose account is the most and negative, and they would pay it off.

Like, would just pay it off.

That that is mind-blowing to me because I'm like, man, I got some bills.

I would like to okay.

Anyway, um, but she she received this free gift that paid off her negative debt.

That is what Jesus did for us.

The truth of the matter is no matter how good we are, no matter how much we smile at people, even when we go to the grocery store and we put the cart back into the spot, no matter how good of effort we are, sin still was a barrier between us and God.

So when Jesus came, he came to remove the sin debt off of our lives so that our account is in good status with God now.

Sin absolutely upgrades our status, it moves us from one place to the next place.

This is why Jesus paid the price.

Sin is often communicated to be a debt.

So when it says that Jesus nailed the debt to the cross so that we now have an upgraded status.

Let me tell you about some of the upgrades that we didn't that we experienced.

We once were unrighteous, but now we are righteous.

We got upgraded.

We we once were sinners, but now we are saints.

The blood of Jesus upgraded us.

We once were unholy, but now we are holy.

Thank God for his upgrade.

We once were lost, but now we are found.

God upgraded us.

That we once were broken, but now we are whole.

God upgraded us.

Let us not forget it was the free gift of God that upgraded us to a place where our status is now in good standing with us.

This is why when we come to church, we see people that are extravagant in their praise.

This is why when we come to church, we see people they lift their hands up to God.

This is why when we come to church, we see people that give and they serve.

They're not doing this out of obligation, but it's a response of gratitude because they recognize that on my own, on my own, I could never live the life that God wants for me.

On my own, I was a broken down sinner.

On my own, I was unrighteous.

On my own, my righteousness was as a filthy rack.

But because of the grace of God, I am now in right standing with God, and I don't have to carry the negative balance of the things that I've done in the past.

Even as I continue to make forward, God's grace continues to move me forward.

What I want us to understand is that this was not a handout, but it was the hand of God.

And sometimes we can celebrate that if God put his hand to me, I can certainly lift my hands to him.

This is why I praise God.

This is why I worship God, this is why I serve God, this is why I prioritize the house of God because I understand that the grace of God transformed everything, it upgraded my life, and I surrender it as a result of that.

Grace upgrades our status.

The other upgrade that we get is we get a new family.

We get a new family.

Paul is communicating with a group of people that were divided on two fronts.

One, because the community they were connected to was both Jew and Gentile.

I want us to understand the seismic, the seismic challenges that were connected to that.

Because our Jewish community, they had certain rituals and routines that they did in order to make themselves right with God.

And then our Gentile community, they had a lot of false gods.

So when you bring them all together and you're telling them that Jesus paid the price, so you don't have to do those things.

It's okay if you want to, but you don't have to.

But also for the other people that have all these false idols, hey, Jesus is Lord, you can only imagine the conflict that would happen as a result of that.

They were it would it would cause confusion.

But but Paul comes in and says, like, I need you guys to understand we need to figure this out because the world is watching us.

There has never been a community that has such diversity that still has unity.

We have an opportunity to change everything when people look into us.

We got work to do.

But also, the other side that Paul wanted to communicate is that for people that were making the decision to become a follower of Christ, it could often cost them their family.

That them saying that they were going to be a follower of Christ, it would somehow communicate to people that were entrenched in the Roman culture that they were anti-Caesar, which could be very problematic for a family.

So now you have individuals that lost their family because they pledged their allegiance to Jesus.

They were also dealing with conflict.

So Paul is saying, I need us to be united and recognize that you're part of a family.

Now, for some of us, when we hear the word family, we may have a different reaction to it.

Some of us may have good family where we were raised with traditions and cultures and things that we can pass on down to our children, but but others of us, we may not have had that privilege.

Maybe we came from broken families and instability.

So I know that when we hear the concept of family, we can have a different response to it because often we define things based on our experiences.

But but Paul is trying to help them to wrap their mind around the kingdom context of families.

Because if you think about it, typically every family has some form of culture connected to it.

You ever go into someone's house and it's like, hey, in this family we encourage one another, in this family, like you ever see like those lists of things that people have.

We laugh, love, we lead.

Like those statements, those, those, those statements that you get from Hobby Lobby.

We have this.

This is what our family does.

This is who we are.

Like the Pittman's, we we don't have that.

We don't have that.

But but I I would absolutely say that we have these cultural values, and and some of the things that that we value, Megan, correct me if I'm wrong, we we value food.

Food.

And that's all we value.

No, I'm kidding.

We we value, we value, we value food.

We we we value generosity, we we value being passionate.

We we have these things that really are values, that really are a representation.

And so even as my daughter-in-law came into the family, she said, okay, I see how this family operates.

I understand the values that are in it.

But one of the things that I am so passionate about in our family values is kindness.

It's so important to me that we're kind to one another.

That's the one thing that I'm always pushing for our family.

Yes, we're gonna have tension, yes, we're gonna have conflict, but be good to one another.

In fact, every time I go on a trip, anytime I go on vacation, whether I'm traveling for work or personal, the thing that I say to my kids as I'm leaving, be good to one another.

I my my hope would be that if the Lord would provide, that if I'm able to have one of those powerful speeches on my deathbed, similar to how Joshua was, you know, when Joshua was like on his deathbed, he said, as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord.

Accept me into your hands, Jesus.

And he like that would be awesome.

If that were, if that, if I was graced to have that, I would simply say, be kind to one another.

Accept me into your hands now, Lord.

Like that that would be my parting words.

Be be kind to one another.

It's so important that we are kind to one another.

Because here's what I know you just never know what someone is going through.

You you literally never know what someone is walking through.

You you never know what someone's struggle is.

Even when I'm out in society and I'm seeing someone driving down the road and they cut me off, my initial reaction?

Okay, so so but I'm like, man, I I don't know what I don't know what they're going through.

When when I'm in stores and I see somebody say something rude, like, I don't I don't know what they're going through.

What Paul is trying to help them to understand is that when you are part of a family, you extend the benefit of the doubt.

When you're part of a new family, you know how to extend kindness because it's so important.

So Paul lays out some things that are important to know about being part of a kingdom family.

Paul is saying, like, maybe in your family, you guys talk about one another, but in the family of God, we pray for one another.

That that maybe, maybe in the world you have you you have ways to talk down to one another, but in the family of God, we encourage one another.

In the family of God, we shoulder one another's burdens.

In the family of God, we work hard to be at peace with one another.

In the family of God, we're tolerant of one another.

In the family of God, we serve one another.

In the family of God, we express humility towards one another.

In the family of God, we accept one another.

What Paul is saying is that we're now part of a family, and we have to understand that we are part of the one another's.

There are over a hundred passages of scripture that speak about the one another's.

And it's not always being at one mind with one another, but it's understanding that even when there's differences, we are still part of one another.

These passages are meant to help us to understand that when I'm part of a new family, that means I have access to a new strength.

Because now when I'm going through hardship, I can go to my kingdom family and they can pray for me.

That when I'm going through setbacks, I can go to my kingdom family and they can help me.

That when I'm going through struggles, my kingdom family can give me perspective.

I have been a part of multiple communities.

I have friends who are in the world, I have friends who are in the kingdom of God, and I love my friends that are in the world.

But can I tell you when I'm going through something in my marriage, I'm not talking to the guy who has no value of marriage.

I'm talking to that person that's been married for 45 years and I'm saying, I'm going through a valley right now, but can you help me?

But because we're part of the family of God, they can speak life even to a lifeless situation.

In the kingdom of God, you have a new family.

The third thing that you get with this upgrade that Christ provides is you get a new future.

You get a new future.

Paul is talking to a group of people that are embedded in the Roman context, and the Roman context was oppressive, it was brutal.

The citizens were in terrible conditions.

So that present reality could certainly make it feel as if they have no future.

So Paul brilliantly comes in and says, like, hey, I know that you're currently walking through some things right now, but it's not going to stay like this always.

I I know that it's uncomfortable right now, but but but what you see today is not what you're gonna see tomorrow.

Because you're part of the kingdom of God, understanding that he moves us from faith to faith, that means that God is always moving us forward.

In the world, you have to strive and figure it out for yourself.

But in the kingdom, the grace of God begins to move you forward.

That what you're walking through right now, you are not gonna always be walking through.

We we familiar, are most of us are familiar with Jeremiah 29, 11.

I know the plans that I have for you, plans to prosper you, plans to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah wrote those words to the children of Israel while they were in Babylonian oppression.

And he shows up to say that what you see today does not mean that that's what you're going to see tomorrow.

Be encouraged.

You have a new future.

You're part of the family of God, you're part of the kingdom of God, and what you're walking through today, you will be standing on tomorrow if you can know how to stay the course.

There's some of us that are in here right now, and we are part of the family of God.

We have accepted the fact that I am righteous because of the blood of Jesus.

But if we're honest with ourselves, we don't have any hope.

We we don't feel inspired with our current situation.

We we look at where we currently are and we feel like this is as good as it's ever going to get.

But I feel like God has sent me here to tell you that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

That those who come to Christ, not only do they get a new status, not only do you get a new family, but you get a new future.

That what you see today is not what you're going to see tomorrow if you can keep on walking.

Where you are today is not where you're gonna be tomorrow if you keep on walking.

I love how Paul says it this way in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

We'll get there in a couple of weeks, but I gotta get to it right now.

He says this I see the suffering that we're experiencing right now is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in you.

That what you are walking through right now is not worthy to be compared to what the glory that's gonna be revealed in you.

The disappointment that you feel right now is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in you.

The suffering that you have right now is not worthy to be compared to what God is gonna do.

Help me, church.

I want you to understand that God is not done with you.

That God is not done with you yet.

That if God is not done, then that means He's working it all together for the good.

I know you don't feel it, but God is not working.

I know that you're struggling, but God is not working.

I know you feel the pain, but God is not working.

It's not worthy to be compared to what God is gonna do in your life if we can keep on the pain.

Can we give God some praise in here in church?

We're gonna go into worship in just a moment, and I want us to lean into this because here's what I want us to understand.

Going back to my iPhone, when my friend shared with me the amazing features that came with the iPhone, I learned that every single one of those features was free.

I can download it for free.

It literally cost me nothing.

You know what I needed to do?

All I needed to do was have capacity and connection.

What that meant was in order to receive the download, I needed to make space for it and I needed to have a steady connection in order to receive it.

Every single one of us, grace to you, grace is for you, grace will work through you.

But the choice we need to make is am I going to make room for God's grace in my life, and I'm gonna stay connected to it so I can see it activated in my life.

That's all we gotta do.

Receive it, make room for it, stay connected and watch me experience the transformation that can happen with grace.

Paul he does not mince his words when he says, We are without excuse.

Some of us are believing, I need to see more proof, I need to see more evidence.

And Paul is saying, We are without excuse.

Those of us that have not embraced this grace, what he says is we're suppressing it.

You know what suppression is?

Here's the image it's literally imagining a beach ball and trying to hold it under the water.

That takes effort.

God has already shown you everything you need to see in order to embrace the grace that He has for your life.

Stop suppressing it, make room for it, receive it, and see it activated in our lives.

As we go into worship, every one of us in here has a next step.

Every one of us has a surrender that we need to do.

But as we lift our hands, as we declare the goodness of God, let's lean in, knowing I'm gonna make room, I'm gonna stay connected, and I'm gonna see the goodness of God activated in my life.

Let me pray for us.

Lord, I thank you.

I thank you for your goodness, I thank you for your grace, and I thank you for the miracle of your presence.

And God, as we go into this time of worship to seal in what you're doing inside of us, I pray in the name of Jesus that we can make room for the grace of God.

I pray in the name of Jesus that we can stay connected to you as our source.

I pray in the name of Jesus that we can get a fresh download from heaven.

We don't need a new life, we need a fresh download from you.

God, shower us with your grace in Jesus' name.

Church, let's worship together one more time.

Thanks again for listening.

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