Formed to Overcome: ”The Only Way to Defeat Evil” | Romans 12

Thanks, Phil. Give him a love, too. He's

been amazing job. Um, we do want to give

a shout out to to just the school here

at Webster. They've just been incredible

to us. And, uh, we're just, uh, I think

I've just been healed from all my PUSD

um, trauma over the last year just from

one wonderful experience with this

glorious school and their leadership.

Um, so, thank you. Shout out to them.

Um, I also I'm only giving last week and

this week little devotionals for the

message. To those of you that are

looking at the time and getting hungry,

it's going to be okay. Um, I I have one

I have one other shout out for for

today. Um, today is my daughter's fifth

birthday, Arya Olive.

So, I I uh she's not in the room,

otherwise she would have already made

her way up front to let you applaud her.

My little demon hunter. She is. Um, when

that when that movie came out,

um, was it called? K-pop

Demon Hunters. And I'm like, super weird

name. Like, I don't know what's going on

with movie names. But I go, that's what

my daughter is. She's a demon hunter. I

know that because I've seen them

manifest in ways that are not going to

be like that when she gets older.

But it's also um my my wife's 45th

birthday this week. And so, massive

massive love to you. Love of my wife, my

wife, love of my wife and my life.

um 24 Valentine's Days we've spent

together and uh this will be our 20th

year anniversary coming up in May. And

it was it was uh it was 24 Valentine's

Days ago in Oxford, Ohio at a beer

smelling

holiday of love event at the Kappa Sigma

fraternity that I knew standing in a

corner talking about spiritual things

with this woman while while the while

all the other things were happening

around us

that that I knew that there was a peace

and a directive and a hand of God on our

relationship. And it was the best

decision I ever said yes to. And uh I'm

very glad that I found you, that God

found you, you said yes to him first.

And the key to our relationship is that

she loves him more than me.

>> Thank God.

I don't know how your Valentine's Day

was. I I'd like to think I have I have

three daughters, one on purpose. And um

I got them I got them all two roses. I

don't know if this is going to be a

tradition. My wife is kind of the

gardener of traditions in the family.

And when I mean that, I mean that she's

like the consistent one. I kind of

forget like what I've done and haven't

done. So every every year I start a new

tradition. But this year, my new

tradition my new tradition was uh I

didn't like the idea of giving them all

equal bouques of flowers. Um, I don't

know if those of you I hope I'm not

triggering anyone. If you didn't get a

bouquet yesterday like this, this is

going to lead back to something

hopefully net positive for us all.

I can feel the tension and it's like

some people if you didn't have a good

day. I'm I'm I'm actually going to

anchor this on Jesus. Um, it's what I

it's what I'm supposed to be doing. So,

uh, I got them I got her obviously like

a bouquet because um, if if you don't do

that, husbands, even if she says she

doesn't want that, you're a And

that's like she you have to do that. So

I got her her bouquet. But I I I felt it

was important that my daughters see that

she gets the bouquet that their love

too. They got a card and they each got

two roses each girl. And and I told them

at least and I don't know if I'll

remember this next year, but I I did

tell them this. This is symbolic. One

from from your father and one uh on

behalf of the Lord Jesus who laid his

life down for you or in your heavenly

father who gave his son for you. So

there's there's one to remember that

regardless of whether you ever have a

man that buys you f flowers, you've

you've got a perfect heavenly father and

an imperfect earthly father. Um I

learned this from the great Tony

Robbins. Um Tony Robbins, if you don't

know, he does these conferences and

every now and then I'll see a little

clip and I'll go, "Oh, that was pretty

that was pretty kingdom." And I I saw

this one clip where he's calling out

this one woman who's in the middle of I

think a divorce of some kind. And uh and

he stops her in her tracks and goes,

"Did your father

like tell you you were perfect all the

time?" And she goes, "Yeah." And

therefore she could she she was

constantly finding faults in her

husband. And he goes, "Your father

ruined you.

Told you you were perfect.

And that's that's why your marriage is

having issues.

And I I I kind of go like, well, I don't

know if that I didn't listen to the

whole clip. I don't want to give all the

context and I certainly don't want to

give glory to Tony Rob Tony Robbins

instead of Jesus. But I will say there's

something kingdom in the fact of like a

father's job is not to tell a daughter

that she's perfect. A father's job is to

tell a daughter that despite her

imperfection that she is fully loved and

that that a life has been laid down for

her regardless of anything she could

ever do. And so her worth isn't coming

from any sort of performance. Her worth

is coming from a from a place of

belonging into a family that that her

blood didn't pay for. And so what I'm

trying to communicate to my daughters

and what I want you to remember every

single one of you, regardless of whether

you got your bouquet on Valentine's Day,

is that you have a heavenly father that

laid his life down for you, that sees

you, loves you, and has given you the

greatest gift and act of love that could

ever be given to you. And so I hope that

I'm doing that as a father that I'm

reminding my my daughters that that uh I

I hope you have a husband someday that

that cherishes you and loves you and

lays his life down for you and doesn't

break your heart. But I can't control

that. I can tell you that regardless of

what happens with that and if that ever

happens, you have a heavenly father

who's covering all of my imperfections.

And I love you not because you're

perfect, but because you're imperfect

and because he saw me in the midst of my

imperfections. And and I will never tell

you that you're perfect. I will tell you

that I love you

and that's enough. Okay, so maybe you

need to hear that today. But I just want

to tell my wife I love you and thank you

for loving me despite my imperfections.

She does that so well.

All right, so here's our devotional

today. We're back in Romans 12. Last

week I just got through the first couple

verses. Today I'm going to to to do

about I don't know 20 more verses, but

very quickly.

I'm serious. 20 more verses. It's going

to be quick though. It's going to be

good and it's hopefully going to be

helpful. What we did last week, if

you're just jumping in, we we talked

about the altar.

Paul said, "In view of God's mercy,

offer your bodies as living sacrifices."

That's essentially the summary of

chapter 12:es 1-2. He means you don't

improve your life first. You offer you

offer your life first. You don't climb

onto the altar in order to earn some

kind of love. you step onto it because

mercy the gospel has come and claimed

your life.

And then he says, Paul goes, "Then don't

be conformed to the world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your

mind." So, we've been in this series

where we've been talking about the three

anchors of of Frontier that we're a

countercultural family. What that means

is we say we we trust the story that

we're part of a family. We've been

adopted and our identity is secure and

we live from that place. Secondly,

formation.

We follow the way of Jesus. Everything

in our life is about following him and

practicing his ways. And so, currently,

we're in that mode of what does

formation, transformation unto the way

of Jesus, what does that look like? And

then thirdly is renewing the beauty of

Jesus on the frontiers of modern

culture. Ultimately, our aim as a church

is that we would become that kind of

people that in our process, we go into

the frontiers of culture and we bring

and renew the beauty of Jesus in every

facet of society. That's what we're

about. Formation, family, and frontiers.

So, back to the altars.

Transformation

then where we've been the last couple

weeks is is not about

really trying as hard as we can and

having a really intense life,

forming your schedules around a perfect

orphice that you can crush your

whatever. It's it's all about what

learning what renewal looks like in a

different kind of story. It's about an

altar that leads people to not a stage

but a place where the gospel is

producing not an isolated spirituality

but it's producing a certain kind of

community. So when people look at the

church when they look at a Christian you

can't separate the people of God the

community of God with individuals.

That's difficult in a society that that

raises individualism at such a high

pedestal. And so we have to be

constantly resisting the the tension of

individualism with with communalism.

It's the answer from socialism to

individualism and somewhere in the

middle is the gospel.

And it's not even in the middle. It's

like it's in another universe. As soon

as you say the middle, it's like some

political thing where we can balance

left and right. I don't want you to

balance left and right. I want you to go

after the gospel and be constantly

speaking into the cultural idols of the

day.

Whichever one happens to be more right,

the left and right of the moment doesn't

matter because in another five or 10

years that left or that right is going

to be off in some way, shape or form.

And if you haven't been anchored on the

gospel of Jesus, you can never speak

truth to power.

If the power of the day happens to be

agreeing with your truth, just wait.

It won't.

You can't start

you can't start by your allegiance being

to a party. It has to start with your

allegiance being to this to the one that

you follow.

And then if that party agrees,

congratulations.

But our spirituality, it can never be

isolated. It's why we we have we have to

define ourselves as a community of

imperfect people that are following him.

So at the core of the gospel, the

question that we're asking today is if

the gospel is true, what kind of people

does it produce? Paul essentially says

three things. Humble, connected,

and participating. It it makes a people

that are that are always going to pursue

a humble posture, a connected people,

and people that take part in being

members and not just followers.

So, I want to just briefly define each

one. Humility, connection, and

participation.

Ultimately, what Paul is saying,

actually, let me let me read it. I'm

gonna I'm gonna read it first.

Uh I was going to read it.

There it is.

I'm going to I'm going to jump into

verse three. For by the grace, verse uh

chapter 12:3, for by the grace given to

me, I say to everyone among you, not to

think of himself more highly than he

ought to think, but to think with sober

judgment, each according to the measure

of faith that God has assigned. For as

one for as in one body who have many

members, and the members do not all have

the same function, so we though many are

one body in Christ, and individually

members one of another. Verse six,

having gifts that defer according to the

grace given to us, let us use them. If

prophecy in proportion to our faith in

service and our serving, one who teaches

and teaching, the one who exhorts in his

exhortation, the one who contributes in

generosity, the one who leads with zeal,

the one who does acts of mercy with

cheerfulness.

All right, stop there for a moment. So,

here's here's what I want us to get at

when he says humility. What is he

talking about?

Biblical humility. Again, Paul is

writing, the Apostle Paul, if you're if

you're just coming into the scriptures.

Paul is maybe the most radical

conversion in Christian history. He went

from murdering Christians to being the

most wanted man among Christians. He

then writes letters predominantly from

prison. This one to the Roman church.

The Roman church in the middle of the

Roman Empire.

And it's it is probably the most

theologically significant letter in

Christian history.

It's it can be super dense. But if

you're if you're able and what I want to

do just is to read this last paragraph

in a few minutes. What I want you to do

is just to let it wash you because it

has been so significant in influencing

the mindsets and governments of human

history that you and I tend not to

realize the significance of how these

theological underpinnings have

transformed human history and are still

there ready to transform your life. Do

not let yourself be numb to these words.

When he says humility, this is not a

virtue in the ancient world.

He's talking about concepts like yes,

sober judgment, but it's saying knowing

who you are and who you're not. It's

freedom from having to prove yourself in

a world that requires you to prove

yourself. We still get that today. We

simply say, "I don't have to prove who I

am. I'm just worthy as I am." No, you're

not. Everyone knows that. It's why all

the mantras are you're worthy because

everyone knows they're not worthy and

everyone's trying to prove their worth.

And what Paul is saying and here's how I

want you to do this. Audit your humility

right now with these few questions. I

think I have a slide.

How do you how do we audit this? Just

ask a few questions. Do I feel the need

to manage how I'm perceived by others?

The answer is yes. How much do you feel

the need to manage how you're perceived

by others? Do I subtly compare myself

when others are in the room?

Of course we do. How much? And it's okay

to go because of Jesus,

I'm progressing. I'm not where I was.

But let's not lie and pretend like I

don't manage how I'm perceived or I

don't compare myself to others in the

room. Do I feel threatened when I'm

overlooked? Do I inflate or withdraw

when I feel insecure?

If any of these touch any part of who

you are, you still need the gospel to

tell you what humility looks like.

And stop looking at just someone who's

not an arrogant jerk and saying, "At

least I'm not an arrogant jerk. I'm a

pretty humble human being." No, I'm not.

I'm not humble according to this. Why?

Because I'm following Jesus. He's the

perfect image of humility. And because I

still have issues with how my how I'm

managing my perception, how I'm

comparing myself to others, how I'm

overlooked, and how that threatens me,

and how I withdraw when I'm insecure.

And I'm still following this man that's

giving me an option to pursue humility

when the world has no idea how to

actually live it. We just settle for not

being an arrogant jerk.

What do you want your standard of

humility to be? I want to work on the

things that are tormenting me. The

gospel says

don't numb out. Don't settle.

This is possible to be a humble person.

And this is the way. This is the normal

life of a Christian.

Secondly, connection. Humility says, "My

worth is settled. I don't need to

manufacture my significance."

Secondly, connection. He says we're

members of one another. Paul says

that means the people in this room you

are actually members to them

not attenders not observers. So what

does that mean? How do we audit our

connection to this body to this

membership

and and again the beautiful thing is is

that was going to sound real jerkish of

me. I was just going to say and when

your auditions run out and you move back

to the Midwest or wherever you're from.

That's where I where I grew up.

Life is fleeting. The the beauty is is

we have we have more individual freedoms

and opportunity than ever before in

human history. We can move on a whim. We

can take risks and it's not as high a

risk as someone that had to get on a

ship and hope they didn't die on the

10-e journey or whatever it was. But but

now we are almost crushed

by the expectation to do something with

our lives to make something of our name.

And when we don't fulfill those dreams,

how will you perceive yourself and how

will others perceive you?

And we're connected to this body. And

the reality is we get to do that in a

transient city where if you're here for

a year, three years, 10 years, or

whatever, you're still connected to this

body because it's bigger than you and I,

and bigger than this room.

And you're members of something

if you follow the way of Jesus. There

something that will outlive you,

outshine you, but will sustain you in

your lowest moment. where it says your

significance isn't based on your

performance and therefore on your worst

days. You're seen, you're loved, and you

you've had blood purchased on your

behalf. And so the audit here for

connection is to simply ask these

questions. Who actually knows me?

Some of you, church hurts real. We don't

want to minimize it and we don't want to

just wallow in it. That's the only thing

I want to tell the church. church hurt.

We've obsessed about it the last decade

and we want to acknowledge it, make it

as real as possible. And then at the

same time, do you want to stay in it or

do you want to step into it and lean

into it and make sure the church doesn't

stay where it's at and that your pain

becomes a part of a process that

redeems? So, who actually knows me here?

Or are you still wallowing in the hurt

from the past?

Who knows you? Who would notice if I

disappeared?

Whose spiritual life would be affected

by my absence?

Those are the two questions where you

who knows me that puts it on someone

else.

Whose life would be affected if I

slipped out? Nobody's. So, I'm not

contributing jack all.

I'm I'm really not thinking of anybody

in particular. I'm It's

I mean, it sounds like such a

I don't know how to say this like but

this is what Paul this is his tone is

that you are so love you had any idea

how love you are you're part of

something so significant how dare you

think it's just about you and yet if you

need to hear again he died for you again

hear it and then start contributing

people should miss you if you slipped

out if you don't feel seen make sure

that you see someone else.

I promise you, if your problem is not

being seen, if you see others,

it's not possible for you not to be

unseen.

The Christian way of life is I will

never be a victim. I will see others the

way he's seen me. And I will trust the

process regardless of how immature and

broken the people around me are, even in

the church, because I'm a member. I'm a

contributor.

Who knows me? Who would notice if I

disappear? Whose spiritual life would be

affected by my absence? And am I

evaluating this church or am I carrying

it?

Connection means I don't just receive, I

belong.

Third, participation. We have different

gifts according to the grace given, Paul

says. So participation is not just being

busy. It's responsibility. If we're

going to audit your participation, it's

not as much as I would love to say and

as much as we need the body to fill our

over and abundance of children's

ministry and serving in every other

area. And of course, sir, I'm also sick

of pastors just as guilt people into

serving like that. We're also going to

be miserable if everyone's guilted into

serving. This isn't about guilting you

into serving. It's about participating

and it's a mindset

of this is my place of belonging. I'm

going to contribute, participate and

take part. But it starts with not what's

my gift that can be used on a stage.

It's what grace has God already given

me. Am I using it in my life, not on a

stage? And am I just waiting to feel

ready? What excuses are in my way? Or am

I building for some kind of moment like

high water mark adrenaline moment or am

I building for the endurance of a

lifetime?

And how to look at that is is

couple different things. The grace

already given to you. What is he talking

about? I think there's a slide for this.

Speaking truth with courage.

That's the prophetic uncction of the

people of God. Serving practically when

something needs to be done.

teaching or explaining things clear.

Some of you have the ability to break

complex things down. That gift of

teaching, it doesn't have to just be the

Bible. It starts there, but it's that's

just it's a gift of taking complex

things and making them applicable.

Encouragement and strengthening the

people that are discouraged.

Are you starting with wherever you're

at,

giving generously and quietly?

Paul points that out because there were

some loud givers. There are some quiet

ones. Thankfully, I must say, you are

some of the most quiet givers I've ever

seen. It's amazing.

Leading with steadiness and clarity,

showing mercy with patience and

compassion,

and then remember what might already be

in your hand.

That's that's something that I think

Paul is drawing out of this scripture.

You speak up when truth needs to be

said. You step in and help when people,

you know, without even having to be

asked, you're able to step in and see a

need and step into it. You make

confusing things clearer. or you notice

when someone's discouraged. You give

without needing to be recognized. You

you bring you bring in the midst of

chaos. You're the person that brings the

calm. Or you stay patient when others

will withdraw or go nuts.

That's the way of the Christian. The

true marks of a Christian. Participation

means grace moves through me. And I

don't spectate.

I take part. I contribute.

Humble, connected, taking part.

So then Paul gets to the the culminating

part.

He's essentially saying, "Choose your

altar

and then be a people that are humble

that take part."

And then he says this.

Then he says, "Let love be genuine.

Hate what's evil. Hold fast to what's

good. Love one another with brotherly

affection. Outdo one another in showing

honor." I read this this week. We're not

we're not going to go a deep dive here.

I want this to wash over you. This is

what he says. These are the true marks

of a Christian. Remember that these

things have been read over the church

for 2,000 years. And this has shifted

human history.

These were not normal. These are now

kind of the the bare minimum of what

most societies would say is moral. And

the temptation of the modern day is that

everyone can kind of agree that these

are positive moral teachings. But the

issue is that Paul is not giving these

as morality.

He's giving them as gospel truth that

has been died and paid for.

So he says, "Don't be slothful.

Be fervent.

Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be

patient in tribulation. Constant in

prayer. contribute to the needs of the

saints and seek how to show hospitality.

He's going through a list and no notice

notice when he's saying what a Christian

looks like. He's doing normal things.

He's not saying

he he takes heal the sick, raise the

dead, cast out demons. That's also

normal Christianity. But what he's

saying is the marks of a Christian is

people will know you in society

because you have genuine love. Because

verse 14, you bless those who persecute

you.

You repay no one evil for evil. You

associate with the lowly and you

overcome evil with good.

So the main question we want to land on

is this.

Everyone's looking for an answer for

good and evil.

Paul is saying, "Why can we overcome

evil with good?" Why is the Christian

story the only answer

to good and evil?

And it's this. Why we can overcome evil

with good? And he gets it. Four things.

Four things. This paragraph,

11 little verses. And if you look

closely, it's all about power, justice,

identity, and a future hope.

First, power. Culture defines power as

the ability to control outcomes and

secure yourself at the expense of

others.

Rome

prophesied that power dominates.

Modern culture says

we're also obsessed with power, but we

assert power on platforms to protect

ourselves. The gospel then redefineses

power

from Rome, modern culture. And then

there's the cross. And Jesus, he had all

authority and he used that power to

serve. He had the right to judge and he

chose to save and he absorbed evil

rather than returning it. We all know

that. But here's what I want us to to

maybe sit with for just a moment. The

cross shows us that real power is not

the ability to crush your enemies.

Before you think this is just a

political statement talking about wars

and world wars and your ability to

condemn this and prove your moral

hierarchy,

he's he's talking he never separates a

statement that he makes apart from your

individual responsibility. He builds the

community on every person taking

individual responsibility. And he's

saying you want to talk about power.

The cross is going to show you that real

power is not the ability to crush your

enemies, but the freedom that you have

to lay down your personal individual

rights.

And when people want to speak truth to

power without laying down their

individual rights, no one will ever

listen to you.

And if you want to give a solution to

what this looks like, and and when I say

individual rights,

it's not telling someone else to give up

their individual rights because of your

political preferences.

It's going deeper. Have you actually

Have you actually surrendered your life

for the sake of others?

The gospel creates people that are

strong enough not to feel the need to

survive or to dominate.

We overcome evil with good because we're

a people. We're not trying to prove that

we're powerful.

We serve a king who's already proved his

power

by laying his life down.

Everything has to start with that.

Everything. Everything.

It's a mindset.

The mindset I go back to are the

Christians

on the field

where they cannot freely worship. And

when you go to them and your act to save

them is to make them safe, they say

stop.

They say stop.

I'm not interested in my safety.

I'm interested at how my lack of safety

demonstrates the gospel.

I'll never forget, and I've shared it

before, I'll never forget the story.

Secret underground church in China. This

one missionary finds one of the the

people of peace, the leaders of the

underground Chinese movement. This was,

I think, 20 years ago or so. Finds him.

He had to literally get multiple words

of knowledge in prayers to find him

because there there wasn't a trail to

find this person. He finds him and tells

them how they're working on this and

that and the other. And he says, "Stop

praying for our safety."

That's the issue of power.

If you will confront what's in your

heart

that is keeping you from that posture,

you will have the authority to speak

into the modern politics of the day.

And people will then listen.

Justice culture says justice means

making sure everyone gets what they

deserve, especially your enemies. And of

course, Rome would preserve honor

through retaliation.

We preserve ego e our egos through

paying people back, by canceling them,

and by exposing them.

Paul says,

"Leave room for God's wrath."

essentially.

And here's here's the thing many

Christians forget. God's wrath isn't God

all of a sudden turning into an Old

Testament God versus a New Testament

God.

This Old Testament God that just kills

everybody,

which is a completely inaccurate

reality. He's the same God. If you see

the tensions and you see that Jesus is

the answer to the prayers and the

culmination of the father's heart,

we also have to remember that at the end

of time, all of this is leading to an

ultimate just God.

And it's his mercy that is holding back

in this current season where he's

released us, the church, to bring his

redeeming love. And so in the midst of

that, if we don't understand and we

don't leave room for God's wrath, his

justice to come and have the final say,

you and I will constantly be seeking

vengeance. It's how the world

is able to deal with a lack of justice.

You can't do this without the gospel.

Otherwise, you have to seek vengeance

constantly or you collapse into some

kind of despair when evil seems to be

winning.

Again, the gospel of Jesus says that

both justice and mercy meet at the

cross, which means what? God is not

ignoring evil when evil's happening.

He's not excusing sin.

He's taking the judgment on himself.

So if this ultimate justice

is there in the person of Jesus,

then you and I are freed from the burden

of playing judge.

Again, you've got to separate that from

what you post. How do you live?

It's like it's not about having the

right position.

How do you live this out? It starts with

how is your heart even right now when we

talk about the concept of justice.

You can refuse retaliation not because

evil doesn't matter but because you

trust that God takes it more seriously

than you do. That's when we talk about

future justice. It's I trust you God in

the midst of my current circumstances

that I can lay my life down.

Identity.

Again, in Rome, it was an identity

based, honorbased culture. Today, we

have an achievement-based identity

culture.

You you make it, you construct it, you

curate it, you defend it.

But the gospel gives us an identity

that's received and not achieved.

And I start with the conviction that I

am more flawed, more broken, more sinful

than I could ever dare to imagine or

believe.

And when I've been confronted with that,

I'm also confronted with the depth of

love that has picked me up, that has

covered me,

and that has dared to give me a hope

beyond my brokenness.

That's what produces in me a humility

and a confidence.

Christian humility isn't a lack of

confidence. is a confidence based in a

humility where I don't have to produce

my worth and my value.

So then I don't have to retaliate when

I'm insulted

because I don't have a fragile identity.

I didn't say I do this all the time. I

said that's what I go to when my fragile

identity is poked

and I keep moving forward towards this

aim.

I don't need to dominate to feel

significant because my worth is anchored

in someone else.

And I can bless my enemies because my

sense of self is not

violated

by my enemies. The gospel creates people

who who are not threatened emotionally.

So just analyze your heart today. Where

are you threatened emotionally? The

gospel is just inviting you back for

your heart to be purified.

And finally, the future hope. Can the

team start to come up? I I need you to

help me get close this thing down. Come

on. Our future hope

our future hope is this. Rome says, "Win

now or lose forever."

And our culture is telling us that it's

all about your life now. It's all that

you get. So take your own.

Step into it. You only get one life.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ

changes the timeline of everything. And

it says if Christ is real, if he

actually got up from that grave and rose

2,000 years ago,

every loss in your life isn't final.

Failure is never the ultimate

and evil will never get the last word.

When I when I live from a place that my

future is secure, I have a hope that's

beyond my immediate circumstances. I

don't have to panic

at whatever comes across my present.

Where are you panicking today in your

present realities? They're real. The

situations are real. Where are you

panicking? Where do you need this future

hope to sustain you?

This isn't about needing to crush evil

immediately.

This is about tapping in to a future

hope that can endure faithfully.

The resurrection gives us a hope

because it gives us an endurance that

can be patient in suffering

and in waiting.

Here's what I want to invite you to do.

Look at power. to look at justice,

identity, and future. Let the gospel

redefine them. Redefining power from

domination to self-giving love.

Let it redefine justice for you, from

personal vengeance to trusting in God's

judgment,

both now and in the future. Let an

identity from constructing yourself and

your image be transformed into a place

of security because you've been adopted

into a family that can never be taken

from you.

And let the future

not be obsessed within your immediate

survival, but that you can live from a

place of resurrection certainty.

That everything everything coming before

you,

you can release and surrender and trust

because you've got a future hope and a

justice that won't fail you.

Overcome

evil with good. That's no longer a nice

moral statement. It's the only way to

live without becoming what each of us

actually hate.

Would you stand with me? I just want to

pray and I want to lean into how we want

to practice this in the coming week.

This team's going to play and we're

going to worship a little bit. Those who

need to leave, you can leave when you're

ready. But I I just want you to look at

this slide and ask some questions. How

do we practice this out this week?

First, I want us to stop proving and

start trusting.

Notice one moment in your coming week

where you feel the need to defend

yourself or compare, whatever it is, how

managing how you're perceived, whatever

it is. Instead of just reacting, I want

you to to confront that emotion with

your identity in Jesus. simply saying

saying this prayer, my identity in Jesus

is secured. Let humility steady your

heart and push against the urge to live

from the way of the world. Lean into the

way of the gospel. Stop proving and

start trusting. Secondly, move away from

a consumer mindset into a member

mindset. Ask yourself, who depends on me

here?

What grace has God already given me?

And then act on it.

This is the same as last week. Keep

leaning in. Send that text. Encourage

somebody.

Serve quietly. Carry a burden for

someone else, not in your own strength.

Show up intentionally. Don't just attend

this church as we move into a new space.

Be a person that belongs on purpose that

contributes and participates. And number

three, choose good instead of getting

even. We don't do this. We don't do this

outwardly. Not one of you comes to

church and says, "Hey, Christian, you'd

be so impressed with how I got even this

week with this jerk boss I have." No one

says it. We have too many spiritual

Christian ways that we get around it.

What we do

is we let our hearts get bitter. And the

question is, are you fueling bitterness

with your heart? Are you adding fuel to

bitterness or are you bringing peace?

Choose good instead of getting even.

Instead of snapping back or playing the

offense or spreading frustration, can

you lean in to the way of Jesus where

you're a calm, blessing, restrained,

patient person that refuses to escalate

and you overcome evil with good.

Holy Spirit, we just ask that you are

the one we look to to free us of our

bondage this week. That we can live this

secure identity in the way of Jesus.

that you would carry us as a body, form

us into this where this feels

impossible. Would you remind us of how

you've taken absolute broken people,

murderous, horrible, going the wrong way

people like Paul

and from a letter to Rome to modern Los

Angeles, you're saying the same thing to

live secure, to carry the body, and to

bring peace. May this define us. May

this form us. May this bring us into our

next season with the right priorities,

the right God, the right King. We love

you and we honor you in Jesus name.

Amen. Just invite this team. Lead us

with all you've got.