Leftovers - Children of God

Happy Monday, we are back in with the ERC leftovers.

I'm Pastor Matt. Pastor Chris.

Is here as well. Here we go.

Bringing all his math problems. Get it?

It's a pun. Oh, Oh, well played.

Problems with math. Do I?

I mean, maybe, maybe you might want to explain what you mean by

that. Well, during the first service,

and I was, I was just here attending church yesterday

because I was supposed to be gone, supposed to be off, but I

was back a day early. So I just came with my family to

church and wasn't working, wasn't doing, wasn't doing

songs, wasn't preaching. We just got to be a part of

church with y'all and it was great.

But during the first service, your batteries died in your

headset microphone. We'll get to that later.

That wasn't, that wasn't the math part of it.

We'll, we'll explain some of the jokes later why we're doing

that. But during the, the beginning,

you were kind of, you gave us your, your outline like you

usually do of where of where we're going.

But you only had two points this week.

But part of your rationale was that last week you usually do

three points, like that's the classic format for a sermon.

And last week you said last week you did 5, so you did just two

this week to average it out? Did I say average or balance?

I don't know. I, I, I'm pretty sure you, you

said average, average it out. And, and like, I don't know what

sort of new age math they got going in schools right now, but

like when I was growing up, the average, the average of 2

numbers, like you got to, you got to get it to six.

If 2, the average of 2 numbers is going to be 3.

So you're, you're 5 + 2 seven and average 3 1/2 points a week.

I just, well, it got me a little distracted.

It's just like the American family, you know, the average

American family has 2 1/2 children and it's like, what?

How does that work? Perfect.

So, you know, I'm just doing American American average math.

So there you go. That's that's how I justify

that. It just, it got me distracted.

So, but that's usually what we what we do here on the Leftovers

podcast. We're just, yeah, highlighting

the distraction. So there we go.

Anyway, we got a couple segments on the show today, in addition

to reviewing the weekend message, you closed out our

maiden His Image series. We talked, we preached on

manhood and womanhood and now just being children of God, the

posture of childhood for all of us to our Heavenly Father.

So you wrapped us up real well yesterday.

Good work on that. Thank you for that.

And so we're going to get to we're going to get to that and

some more thoughts on oh, I left my notes.

Where did my Oh no, I left my question somewhere.

It's out there. I'll get it.

We have we have some listener submitted questions, follow-ups

to the message and we're going to do our top five top five

jokes. I'm going to say top five dad

jokes because they're going to be groaners, but because you

also later on in the message, in addition to your math snafu

later on in the message, your your batteries died in your

headset. And you said in the moment you

and I appreciated how you like you saw read a little bit.

You were like, oh, no, I need to like I need to pump the brakes.

I need to not do things while while this is being fixed.

But you said to everyone you're like I'm not just like a walking

stand up show. I don't I don't have any jokes.

I have nothing to fill this time as as JT is swapping out here.

You know, and that's the thing, part of me wanted to just like

honestly, I would, I would have been comfortable, although I

know it wouldn't have been great.

I would have been comfortable just keep going and using using

what I call gym teacher voice which even like without trying I

think the people in the back of the room can hear me without a

microphone. You're pretty loud.

Yeah, so here we are. But then I quickly realized I

was like, Oh no, we probably shouldn't do that.

So then I just got to kill time while JT like, you know, kind of

casually Saunders up to go get new batteries.

Yeah, yeah. It's fine.

You, you, you saved it and you saved the moment.

Well, also yesterday, just thanks for listening in and

supporting the show and just kind of, yeah, tune it in for

your goofy pastors on a Monday, decompressing after the weekend.

But it's funny to me how many of you are listening to and not not

only listening to and consuming the show.

I'm going to give a shout out to to John Owen because he stopped

me. He stopped me at the door

yesterday. He was serving as a as a greeter

yesterday. And he stopped me at the door

after we had walked in with the kids from the van.

And he points back to the van and he says there's a socket

fill out of your van. Just like razzing me, razzing me

about our sock conversation last week and how I can't deal with

them not being in Paris. What he didn't realize, though,

is like that's he he was he was poking fun and reference in the

podcast like John, that's AI wasn't surprised at all.

Like that's a pretty standard that could happen like that

could definitely be we get out of the van and one of the kids

just like there's a random sock on the ground.

So like I thought he was dead serious because that's like very

easily just be my life. So anyway, that's.

Pretty legit, I like that. He also brought my son Oliver.

Are we getting is there purple crush in the pop machine?

Is that happening? I I will make sure that goes in

this week, but I have to take something else that's not quite

empty out but. I will do it.

We got to sell that on and this wasn't like a pressure thing.

I'm just letting you. There are now two different

family units that have brought Oliver a 12 pack of crush.

So, and and this was also John dropped that off.

Wow. Well, good on him, yeah.

So anyway, Oliver's purple crush in the pop machine campaign is

is alive and well, going successful.

Yeah, thanks. He feels feels like he has power

and influence, so that's good. Apparently he does, so that

worked out. Yeah, so anyway, crazy good

Sunday. Thanks for being a part of the

community and jumping in on the the podcast The Leftovers.

Here we're going to jump into some dad jokes we each have, we

each have 5 that we're going to run down.

So we kept them, we kept them clean, kept them, kept them

appropriate as we do on the show, So.

And here's the thing, maybe maybe I can actually remember

some of these. So that way the next time

something goes sideways and I have to wait and fill time, I

can actually like, have some material available that will

just make people either really happy or just groan in their

seats, I'm not sure which. That's what we're going for.

We're trying to give you give you some material for the next

time the batteries die. So here we go.

All right, Why don't you? Why don't you start us off?

Sweet. Well, friend, I actually told my

doctor I broke my arm in two places.

What did he say? He said stop going to those

places, Of course. That's what he told me.

Of course, of course. All right, my, my #5 why did the

old man fall down the well? I don't, I don't know.

Because he couldn't see that well.

Really. You don't say?

All right, all right, touché. Here's my next one.

I made a belt out of watches recently, but it turned out to

be a waste of time. I love that one.

That one's so good. I love that one so much so bad.

All right, I'm reading a book on anti gravity.

It's impossible to put down. Oh, come on.

Come on, man. Come.

On OK these are so bad. I like that one a lot.

OK, well my wife told me to stop impersonating a Flamingo.

Did you? Did I stop?

Why are you? Impersonating I'm.

Sorry, ultimately I just ultimately I just had to put my

foot down. Yes, yes.

OK, well I have one about my wife too.

Not really my wife, but it's a wife joke.

I told my wife she was drawing her eyebrows too high.

She looked surprised. Yes.

OK, my wife does not draw. But that might win the day I

love. That that's your favorite?

I love that one of all the things we've said so far, I

actually love that one. All right, all.

Right, we've got two more. OK, well, what's a skeleton's

least favorite room? I don't know.

The living room. I wanted to say the closet.

Like what? Because you keep skeletons in

the closet and they don't like it, but there's nothing.

It's not the living room. That makes a lot more sense.

They'd be very uncomfortable in the living room.

There we go. All right, why can't you hear a

pterodactyl go to the bathroom? What?

Because the P is silent. That's a you made a pee joke

you. Made a dinosaur joke.

You made a dinosaur pee joke. I didn't know that exactly.

All the five year old boys are very pleased right now.

There you go joke for them. I'm.

Pleased by that one. All right, so there you go.

OK, my last one is a biblical one.

Oh, OK. Why couldn't Jonah trust the

ocean? Why?

Because he knew there was something fishy about.

It OK feel like you could know that without being eaten by a

whale, but that's fine. Probably.

All right, last one. And I've heard this one so many

times in my life and it gets me every time.

But what's brown and sticky? Oh girl, what?

A stick. Duh.

Sticky OK, OK, you clearly had my brain going in a different

direction. On that one, that's what that

one does yeah, so good if you need any yeah, if you need any

little zinger one liner funny jokes, there's there's 10 for

you. There's a 10 pack only on the

ERC leftovers. We are creating high quality

content all of the time. So good.

Oh my goodness. We also have a listener

submitted set of questions directly in response to your

message yesterday. Now it's not.

Oh, it's not about the part of the message that you might

think. OK, but where are we going?

The questions are about your admission of of how much you

love your snooze alarm and how much you overslept yesterday.

The king of the snooze button line.

Yes, Yeah, yeah, yeah. 42 minutes I think.

Yeah, it was. It was crazy.

I mean, on a Sunday, on other days of the week that might be

normal ish for me, but on a Sunday that's pretty rare.

So I really missed it. But it was all fine.

It was OK. This is kind of going to be a

combination of listeners, submitted questions and and

adulting with Pastor Matt. We're not going to play the

music, but like I have thoughts about your snooze alarm habits

so. We're not going to play the

music. I love the adulting with Pastor

Matt. It's like not a full-fledged

adulting though. I don't, I don't have a huge

rant. I just, it's more of a personal,

I just need you to get your life together sort of thing.

Believe me, you won't be the first person who's tried and

failed. So in response to your setting

42 minutes worth of snooze alarms, this this listener

asked, Do you set an alarm? Indeed I do.

OK, so like walk me through that on a Sunday morning you're

preaching. Do you have a routine?

What is when do you get to church?

So what time is the alarm set? OK, so getting to church varies

between anywhere from 6:00 AM all the way up to 7:00 AM?

Even on a preaching Sunday. Even on a preaching Sunday.

Now, if I show up at 7:00 AM on a preaching Sunday, it means I

did in fact do something wrong prior to arrival.

Because ideally. Something went wrong.

Something went wrong, like hitting the snooze button a

bunch of times and over sleeping by 42 minutes.

That's what went wrong yesterday and I think I did arrive at like

I don't know if it's 659 or 7 on the dot yesterday.

So that's a little late for me on a preaching Sunday.

On a normal Sunday that's perfectly or on a non preaching

Sunday that's perfectly fine. But preaching Sundays, I like to

have a little bit more prep time.

So you were on, you were on track relative to when your

alarm was set. You were on track for about a

6:18 arrival yesterday morning. What time is the alarm set then?

Typically, like on Sundays, it's more like, I don't know, I, I

kind of feel that out between 5:30 and 5:45 somewhere in

there. Again, I'm really working this

down to the absolute last moment.

All right, further question because I have more questions

actually on this. Just knowing your non morning

person proclivities, do you set an alarm?

What days of the week do you set an alarm?

Only the days I have to it's a. Very diplomatic answer.

Sir. Excuse me.

So I'll name the days that I absolutely have to Sundays,

obviously. Mondays we have staff meeting.

Elder board meetings on Saturdays.

Oh my God. Once a month, that's your worst

day, right? 7:00 AM.

That hurts my soul so badly to set that early of an alarm on a

Saturday. Like it.

It breaks me every time. There's at least half the people

listening there. Like that's, that's not early.

I know, I know. Well, the two kinds of people

thing right and well, but here's the thing.

Maybe it's easier if I say it this way.

Like on Wednesdays, I basically work what I would call like a

second shift. So I'll come in around noon

knowing that I'm going to be in the building till closer to 9:00

PM Sure, right. OK, great.

I don't set an alarm on Wednesdays.

Sure. Because I.

Will wake up. Yeah, I'm not sleeping till

noon. Come on, friends, that's not

happening. So, you know.

But yeah, typically Saturdays, Wednesdays, there's no alarm.

Why would there be an alarm? An alarm is to rouse me to a

waking state, which I don't want to be if I don't have to be.

OK. There we are.

So OK, you do set an alarm. That was the answer to the

three-part question. So you do you do set an alarm on

select days when you need to? OK, so if so, if the answer is

yes, should an adult use this news?

Very pointed. I'm reading this verbatim.

I didn't edit this. Oh my God.

The question is, should an adult use this news?

And I do have a bit of a follow up on that.

I I feel like the adult part is interesting.

Is a child, I guess children use alarms sometimes.

Like what? I mean teenage phase.

Do they, they're acting like an adult, but they're still a

child. So I yeah, OK.

Should a person? I feel like it should be Should

someone use this news? Let me push back on this a

little bit. Like the snooze button and

shouldn't even be used at all. I mean, come on, man.

Sometimes I'm just, I'm just being very honest here.

Sometimes that thing hits and I'm like, if I attempt to become

a human and awake human right now, it is going to go very

badly for me and for everybody else.

I need like a few more minutes, like I need to wake up to the

idea of waking up. Do you know what I mean?

I don't know if that makes any sense to you, but that's how I

operate and how I work that through.

I hear what you're saying. I would push back with a little

bit of like what I would say is reality.

Chris, you are not living in. Reality you're not snoozing is

like one of the most unhealthy things you can do for your

psychological and biological rhythms throughout the day.

Once you're but what, because you don't really go back to

sleep like you don't really fully go back to sleep and you

start immediately messing with circadian rhythms and and things

like that. So I'm just saying what's what's

healthier? And yes, you might justify it

with AI need to wake up to the idea of waking up.

But what would be better is say you say you set your alarm at

5:30 and you didn't actually get up until 615.

Biologically, psychologically it it would have been better for

you to just set one alarm at 6:15 and actually get up.

Oh wow. Like that's significantly

measurable that yes. I had no idea, I just learned

something new. To using is not a healthy habit

so that would like I hear your rebuttal that it helps you ease

into waking up, but you've clearly established is not

something that you want to do or be be a part of doing.

But that would be that would be my critique of I would say no,

an adult should not use the snooze to to this question.

You should it would be better to plan your absolute worst case

like if that that would be what I do push if you are planning

when you're setting your alarm based on yeah, but I'm going to

snooze and be in a relatively comatose state for 45 minutes.

No, you should just, you should just skip that and put your

alarm for your drop dead moment because would you bolt awake at

6:15 like? I mean, yeah, and.

That's something like so. So that's the thing when, when,

when I realized what I had done, I was like, I got to go.

And so then, then like we're, we're moving quick now.

Right. So that's what I would encourage

you just for your for set the alarm for your last minute

moment that will get you up and start getting some healthier

habits there. So yeah, you're well, actually.

That's actually great. I I like that I learned

something today. That that was why we didn't play

the full music. It was just the little the

little adulting nugget there for you.

So OK, follow up question about the snooze.

Oh here we go. This feels like it got personal.

Follow up question, Is hitting the snooze button considerate of

your sleeping spouse? It feels very pointed.

And again, I'm reading this. I'm reading this verbatim.

Oh my gosh. Well, that's.

A red that's. So harsh.

That's so harsh. OK, that's fine.

Someone's looking out for your wife.

Apparently. But here's the thing.

And, and maybe she would push back on this, but she has never

once brought it up to me in our very long lives together that

that is bothersome to her. Now maybe she's just an

incredibly patient and kind person, but she has never once

brought it to my attention that hey, you know, your alarm going

off like 4 times before you actually, you know, fall out of

bed. That's not good for me.

She has never said that to me and.

And you've always been this way, so it's.

Always. Oh my gosh, I yes.

It's always been something she could have said was a problem.

Yes, well, maybe now after hearing this, she will.

She'll be like, you know what? I've been waiting to say this to

you for 25 years. Oh my gosh.

Can you admit did this and submit these questions?

That would be funny that actually I don't think she did.

You said it's not her handwriting, so we know that

it's not, but that's. But that would be really funny

if she had like. This is her roundabout way.

Someone else to write the question so you wouldn't

recognize her handwriting. She is at the connections desk.

She's right there. I wonder.

Oh my gosh, now I've got a conspiracy theory.

Wow. Yeah, so there we go.

Little Yikes. We got to turn to the word of

God here. We're just we're poking fun of

Pastor Chris this morning, I feel like.

It's OK, I don't mind. You had us in John chapter 8 and

John 8 · chapter mention

one for there's plenty of passages on childhood and

children of God. These are the these are the two

that you focused on and you came right out of the gate with the

passage from John 8 and your your, one of your first points

was that Jesus says there are only two spiritual families.

You are either children of God or children of the devil.

Yeah, and if you think about this logically, find elsewhere

where Jesus says I am, the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

Therefore there is no middle ground between heaven and hell.

Again, I think I maybe mentioned it yesterday.

It's not as though if we die and where we weren't quote UN quote

bad people, but we also weren't believers in Jesus, that we just

kind of float in this weird middle ground.

That's that's not a thing that happens.

And so therefore there are only two spiritual families.

And it's interesting in this text that in the midst of people

who had been kind of following him or believing in him, the

conversation goes in this direction.

And he just, he just names their heart.

Because, you know, as we learned throughout the New Testament,

some people were following Jesus just because, for lack of a

better phrase, they wanted to see the show.

They wanted to see the next miracle or they wanted to be fed

or whatever, you know, physically fed.

And so, you know, Jesus, he has certain breaking points with

groups of people where he's just, he's going to name their

heart position. And, you know, some people hear

that kind of law and they'll repent and they they can, they

can still have that relationship with Jesus.

Other people, they get highly defensive.

And you know, Jesus has clearly pushed a button on where they're

placing their identity. And certainly this is one of

those things. And so it was just a really

interesting moment to to dive into.

Yeah, there's not really an allowable like I'll get around

to it. When it comes to knowing the

truth about Jesus, like you, you either you either know and have

heard what Jesus has done for you and you've and you've

accepted it and living your life in such a way that is a response

to that, or you've heard this truth and you've rejected it.

There there isn't. And it can be.

So it can also be that instantaneous that there there

isn't this waiting period. It's not, it's not like you're

sending in your Christian application and we'll get back

to you in three to five business days on whether like no, you can

respond to the good news of, of what Jesus has done for you in

that instant and be on team Jesus, be child of God in that

moment. But up to and until the point

that you are, you're not you're you're, you're on, you're on the

other team. You're, you're child, that child

of the devil, child of the father of, of lies.

And you, you said it, you said it less harshly than I would

have yesterday, But but but like it was, it was still, it was

still pointed. And I think the more, the more I

thought about it, it actually made me think about Matthew 5

where Jesus talks about love your enemies and pray for those

who persecute you, those of us who are children of God.

I'm not saying that we should look upon with hostility those

that are not children of God. But when it comes, if we're

following this line of logic, they are an enemy like the the

Father God and the devil are enemies.

So thereby their, their children, like again, there's,

there's not this like they're, they're fine that like they're,

they're OK. No, like we want, we want them

to be on team Jesus. So what?

So where does that, that that should give us a sense of

urgency of like, OK, if, if God isn't their father, Well, we, I

want you to know God is your father, like, and, and I and I

want that to happen today because right now the devil is

your father and we and we want to fix that, but it should also,

I think, give us I, I also don't think we take it that seriously.

The influence is either on ourselves or may or maybe on our

children or our family or our friends that aren't of God.

Because the other part of this passage is it's, it's either

from God or it's from the devil. There's not this middle neutral

ground that you're not being pulled one way or the other.

And that goes for the everything we can encounter in this life.

It's either pulling you closer to God or pulling you away from

God. There's not just like you're in

in a holding pattern here. So I, I, it made me think about

just like with the urgency again, not that not that we

should be hostile of people, but maybe the guardedness that we

should have of the influence of people on our lives, people who

are not children of God. Again, I'm not saying we treat

them as less than or that that we openly fight against them or

treat them as enemies, but I do think we should, I mean, have,

yeah, have a little more guardedness about that and, and

prioritize kind of like you talked about last week.

Well, who is my mother and brother and my sister?

Well, it's, it's those that it's those that have faith in God

that that Jesus talked about. This is this is our family first

based on relationship with God. So.

Well, you're correct. In response to some of that, I

would have to say, you know, the Sermon on the Mount, for

example. What does Jesus say to do to

your enemies? So that's.

True love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute.

You, yeah, love your enemies. Pray for those.

So in the sense that, yes, is the devil, is Satan an enemy to

God? Absolutely.

Because he's trying to tear down what he's created, primarily US,

made in his image. He is trying to tear us down and

to draw us into or rather away from a relationship with God.

Now, as we talk about that, then how then do we treat our quote

UN quote enemies? Well, we're to love them, pray

for them. And so it's not so much an US

versus them. It's us and let's bring them in

US and bring them in. And so as we've even talked

about around this building now for almost a year, who's your

one more? Well, you can't have your one

more isn't somebody who's already a Christian.

You're one more is somebody who doesn't yet know Christ.

Who can you bring into the fold? Who can you be disciple and who

can you be drawing to that relationship with the Father?

Now all this to say too, I understand because I have been

in this world 45 years and for 25 of those I wasn't a

Christian. So I understand that to a high

degree how grading this is. I do like how seemingly

unnuanced it seems because again, that kind of leading out

with the there's two kinds of people.

Again, some of that just doesn't work.

But Jesus says, I don't care if you think this works.

This is the way it is. And again, I understand how

grading that is. And in a, in a former, you know,

in a, in a previous life before I was in a Christian, I would

have felt extremely like that would have, that would have

really hit me in the face. And I would have had one of two

options. I would have either had to have

struggled through thinking about that as a potential truth, or I

would have just outright rejected it and said, this is,

this is baloney there. There has to be if, if God is

all loving again, not knowing him, if God is perfectly loving,

he'll know that I'm a pretty decent person and that will be

fine, right? I've tried.

I'm a pretty decent person. It's going to be fine because I

tried and I'm not as bad as so and so.

So I can absolutely see from a non Christian perspective how

Jesus's words here, how his, I said it, capital T truth, man,

that that's going to hit hard. And you can either accept that

or reject that at any given point.

Yeah. So let's jump into the Scripture

here. John 8.

They answered him. I was starting at verse 39.

They answered him, Abraham is our father.

And Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you

would be doing the works Abraham did.

But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth

that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.

You are doing the works your father did.

They said to him, we are not born of sexual immorality with

one father, even God. Then Jesus said to them, if God

were your Father, you would love me for I came from God and I am

here. I came out of my own accord, but

he sent me this one. One of one of your early points

to that the loving Jesus as the first Test that also struck me

in the moment and thinking about it yesterday morning and and

since then today like that is our biggest downfall.

The things we choose to love more than Jesus or the things

that we choose or decide that we think we can bear better than

Jesus can. We don't have the humility to

express our need or even accept the gift right?

And and that, and that's what he that's what he's at whatever

point here, you've put something before God.

You're not submitting to the words that I'm saying.

You're saying you love God, but you can't do both those things.

I think it's so funny how often in Scripture, Jesus, just like

he points out how they've answered their with their own

logic. Well, like you said, you say you

love God, but God standing right in front of you and you don't

love him. You're not you're not loving

him. So what are you doing?

And that's so sad. I, I think about that those

people who got to meet Jesus in person, who saw miracles, who

heard him teach and they just look at him dead in the face and

say, Nope, not you. And that's, I don't know, I

don't know how, I don't know how you deal with that, you know,

and, and I think that's, that's pretty rough.

You would like to think, and I think most modern people would

like to think, and we talked about this.

Well, I would believe if God just showed up and told me who

he was. Well, he did do that.

And there's still hundreds, if not maybe thousands of people

who heard him, saw him and just said, Nope, not me, not for me.

I've got a different path I want to go.

And he doesn't sound like he's preaching the path that I want

to walk down. And that's wildly unfortunate,

but that's where that that truth.

Can we bear his word? Do I?

And I think I I don't know if I said it during both services,

but the Bible reads us. The Bible reads us.

Yeah. We think we're reading the

Bible, but God is reading us when?

When we're in his word. And are we allowing the Bible to

read us and to examine us and to ask us questions about our lives

and our priorities? Because as much as we want to

learn and all that kind of stuff, are you letting the Bible

read you? Yeah.

That's really good in that you talked about bearing God's word.

Where do you find it hardest to let Scripture confront you?

Was one of your one of your discussion questions?

I think that's a really good thing to to reflect and and just

consider, especially in our in our in our own lives.

We don't like being confronted by truth that exposes our

weakness, right? Nobody does, even even the play

the playful jab about your rounding error of averages like

or. Hitting the snooze button or.

Right. It's that's we we don't we don't

like that we don't we don't like the truth exposing weakness, but

it is an important part of the Christian walk to to bear God's

word as Jesus talks about here. But ultimately understanding

that it's that he's the perfect fulfillment of the law.

The things that point out our weakness is is why he came to

save why he came to fulfill those things in our lives.

So, yeah, just want to encourage you all in that, that being

confronted by truth, by guilt, whether it's in your reading of

God's Word or from a message on Sunday morning, that's not, and

it shouldn't be an immediate turn.

I know it doesn't feel good, but it shouldn't be like an

immediate closed door to things. God's Word is there to convict

and teach and train up in righteousness.

And Proverbs talks often about, you know, this wisdom literature

talks often about being able to receive critique.

You know, the the wisest people in the world's are the constant

learners who don't become immediately defensive when

confronted about something. Because quite frankly, if there

is in fact good solid biblical reason to be doing XYZ thing or

not doing XYZ thing, well, then you'll be able to say that.

And then you can actually correct your brother or sister

who brought the criticism. And if you can't justify that in

a meaningful way, well, man, now you have an opportunity to learn

and to grow. And, and I think that's we have

to be lifetime learners because if we're, if we're not, what

are, what are we really doing? You know, I just, I, I've always

felt that way. Even before I was a Christian

and I was in public education, I always believed that there were

ways and possibilities for me to get better at what I was doing

every single day. And, and part of that certainly

was receiving critique from trusted people.

So when my principal came in and I thought it was a big deal and

the first time he came into my classroom to observe, I went

back to his office thinking, man, I crushed that thing.

This guy is going to be so happy.

He hired me and he had five pages of notes 5 and he just

rattled it off and I was just, I was blown away.

It actually like again, it, it hit me hard.

I was like, maybe I shouldn't be a teacher.

That was the first thing I went to because I knew everything he

was saying was true. Everything, every critique he

had about how I was running my classroom, it was true.

And I thought, man, maybe I shouldn't be a teacher.

But that's not what he was trying to get to.

He was trying to make a version of Chris Hartley as a public

educator that he could see. In other words, think about an

artist who sees a rough block of stone.

They can see something special inside, but it's going to have

to be shaped. It's going to have to be

chiseled down. Or as Jesus would talk about

sometimes we've got a, oh, what's the word I'm thinking of?

We've got to cut back the Bush a little bit so it can actually

grow better. Right.

Trim. Prune.

Yeah, we've got a prune and that principle, he was critiquing me.

He was pruning me so that I could become what he knew I

could be. And in the same way, as we

interact with other Christians, as we interact with God's Word,

God's word, and those well meaning Christians, when they

give us something, criticism or whatever, I believe that is an

opportunity to be pruned and to grow better than what you were

before. Now every person who critiques

you, is that something you have to take on?

No, because not every person who critiques you has the right end

in mind. So then there's some wisdom in

weighing out, do I receive this critique or do I reject it?

And so any sense of rejection ought not to come from our

pride. It ought to come from.

Does this line up with where God is taking me?

Right. And that's why it's important

that we go through this process that you just described.

It's a great metaphor analogy for how it worked in your, in

your professional life. But that principle had this

standard of like, if, if you did this, if you corrected this, if

you refined this, this is how it's going to go better for you.

That's God's word in, in our lives.

And your posture, what I love about that story is you had a

posture of humility. You you had a you had a posture

of openness to correction in that.

And that's essentially you talked about Keller's quote.

The gospel is not primarily something you do.

It's something you receive paired with Augustine's

reflection of Christ is received by the humble.

We have to have that posture. We have to hold to that I am, I

am not enough and it's OK and that that hits some of you.

You don't like you don't like saying those words either that I

am not enough. You like to think that you're

enough. I like to think that I'm enough.

There's a lot of freedom in the realization that I am not

enough. But Christ has done it all that

there. There's a lot of relief in that

so. You know, I think it's

interesting that you and I, we, we have these careers called

ministry. You know, I think somebody else

has once said you're a professional Christian, which I

actually kind of find amusing, but OK.

But anyway, you know, yes, I get, we get to teach and

proclaim a lot, but man, if I ever think I'm the teacher and

the Bible is not the teacher, I'm the one receiving from God's

Word and then just kind of disseminating this information

out. But I'm being taught by God's

word every single day. I am not the teacher.

I am the one who just parses out and gives the relevant

information. But the Bible, God is the

teacher, not me. So I need to be able to receive

that critique all the time. Yeah.

And it's ironic that we need to as preachers, teachers, we need

to faithfully hold to that humble posture that I'm not, I'm

not adding to God's word. God's word isn't all of a sudden

made powerful because of my interpretation or my application

to your life or this real life story analogy that I worked at.

No, like God's word and truth is enough to work in and through

you to work redemption and reconciliation in the in the

darkest fissures of your life and and to do that on its own.

But we all need we need to constantly be in a submission to

that, that that's if that's what that capital T truth says.

If it says jump, I say how hot, like that's awesome.

That's that's what the truth of God has to be.

And it's so I really think that posture of humility was really

what was on my mind this week too, because we just get, we get

caught up in, in the things we make, we make excuse and we

don't receive grace humbly. And that's and that makes it

difficult, which is kind of your final point on belief that we

tend to overcomplicate belief. Oh, big time.

It drives me crazy. It's a it's a simple process in

the Bible, he who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,

right? So why, why do we hold so

tightly to that? Why?

Why do we, why do we overcomplicate?

I think, I think sometimes we do think there is like.

A a holding period, a waiting period, a review period of where

we're good enough to have received the gift.

And it's not it's, it's literally an instantaneous

thing. Or can be right?

Well, and here's the thing. We we teach our we teach our

students, particularly in confirmation.

I teach them and I hope they remember that justification.

In other words, just as if I'd never sinned.

So now I am righteous before the sight of God.

That is a instantaneous and it's B either one or the other.

Again, getting down to that two things.

I am either justified or I'm not.

There's no like, well, I'm working towards no, you were

either justified by the blood of Jesus Christ because you believe

or you are not. There's no in between.

And and I love the instantaneous nature of it because we have

again, we draw on him often, but this unnamed thief on the cross,

instantaneous salvation. He had moments to live, begged

Christ, believed in Christ for his salvation, done

instantaneous and fully justified, no in between.

And we don't have any account of the other person on the other

side of the cross from Jesus receiving that also permanent,

instantaneous, you know it. It's all there.

And I just don't know why we make that so complicated.

It drives me crazy. And that's, and that's why I

know it feels like an unnatural posture sometimes a posture of

dependence. But as children of God, that is

our posture to him. We we sung the song the past

couple weeks. I'm the branch, you are the

vine. Like that's our that's our

source of strength. Our source of direction is is

God is his word and and Jesus as our advocate in that so.

By the way, I did not look at the setlist.

I typically do, but I did not look at the setlist before I

went up on stage yesterday. And I, I continuously am just

blown away by the response worship that we get to do after

hearing God's word. And that was just such a perfect

way to really kind of wrap that up.

And and it was so even even for me personally like to be able to

sing to the Lord. I depend on you.

That was that was amazing for me and I hope that moment and being

able to share those words together with God's community

was also powerful for other people.

I suspect it was. Yeah, I think so and that so

that song abide that we closed with I think has just yeah, has

reflected the the season that we're in as a body of believers

and is also a a declaration we can share in.

I I just think yeah, our that song has our people and their

and their testimony all over it. So happy to happy to share that

with you all and share in worship with that.

OK, before we get out of here, do you have do you have a nice

clean cut summation for not as a professional Christian, but as a

as a mere mortal? Do you?

Do you have a summary of the sermon for Mere Mortal Monday?

Well, if we could do it anyway, let's do it this way.

Jesus teaches that there are only two kinds of family, those

who belong to the family of God and those who belong to the

family of devil. That creates a spiritual DNA.

And how do you test that? Well, do you love Jesus?

Do you bear His word? Do you submit to God's desires?

And do you stand in the truth? Now, as we receive and believe

Jesus, God then comes in through the power of Jesus Christ

rewrites our DNA as children of God.

Boom. Awesome.

That's it. Well, it is that simple.

That's great, man, Well done. It was, it was a little more

than the the average 3 1/2 points.

You had four. So you're you're up in the

you're up in the average of 3 1/2 on that.

But it was good. You still, you still said it

well. So this has been fun.

Thanks for taking it a little more from God's Word with us on

this fine day. Love you growing in community

with you all church. Thanks for being a part of how

God's working and moving into it and the surrounding communities.

This has been the ERC leftovers. Until next time, have a blessed

week.