First (The Inside Stuff)

Well, uh, if you haven't noticed, it's January, and that means that we are in the first several days of the first month of a new year.

And first moments are really important, right?

Like firsts are important.

I'll give you guys a little confession.

I'm not proud of this, but I'm I'm happy to get it off my chest, of something that I did uh over the Christmas break.

Uh, I watched the entirety of the fourth Matrix movie over the Christmas holiday, and I hated it.

I hated every second of it.

Um the whole time.

I hated.

From like 10 minutes in, I was like, I hate this.

And then I just kept watching.

And an hour in, still hated it, and it got to the end.

And by the way, if you watched it and liked it, I'm not dogging subjective.

Everything's subjective.

If you're if you haven't, I would say don't, but whatever.

Um and then I was like, maybe at the end, it'll be great.

Nope, not for me anyway.

I was like, this was awful.

And the thing that was the worst is that I wasn't even in the theater, I was in my house, like streaming.

I could have stopped at any time.

I could have said this is a waste of time, but I watched the whole thing.

And here's here's why.

Anyone ever see the first Matrix movie?

Like the original Matrix?

Okay, I that came out when I was a freshman in high school.

And I was literally the target audience for The Matrix, right?

It was like, hey, do you feel like you're stuck in a system where you have no control and everyone else dictates your whole life?

And it's like, yes, I live in a house with parents, I'm almost 16, I can't quite drive yet, you know.

I go to school and I'm just yearning to break free.

Well, this movie was like made to inspire 15-year-old boys in 1999.

I saw the first Matrix in the movie theater with my best friend Andrew, and it blew my mind.

Like I walked out of that theater like that is the single greatest film that has ever been created in the history of the world.

You know, and as a 15-year-old version of me was like, that's absolutely true.

It was the it was the best.

The first Matrix blew my mind.

So then, college, four years later, they they showed a trailer for the sequel.

And I was like, they're making more.

This is amazing.

Like, this is great.

I can't wait for the second one.

In fact, I almost took an internship, my freshman year of college, that was a kind of an intense internship.

You had to live at a certain place, and one of the rules was that you couldn't even like go see movies for that year.

Like you had to be, and I was like, nope, not doing it.

Because the second matrix is coming out, I'll wait till another year.

This is not a good year for that rule.

I was so excited, and I went to the theater.

I mean, I'm like there, opening day, matrix two, jacked, the trailers looked amazing.

The problem, though, if you know that if you're a movie person, is the people who make trailers have surpassed the people who make movies, and so they're better at trailers than the movie people are at movies.

That's a problem.

And so the trailer was great.

The movie, I was like, ugh.

I wanted to like it.

You ever have that experience?

Where you want, and so you start convincing yourself, I know I liked it.

No, it was it was good, no, it was really good.

It was good, and then like two hours later, you're like, it was not that good.

But then the third one came out a year later, and I'm like, all right, they're gonna course correct.

It's gonna end like with a bang, it's gonna be amazing.

And I I got all hyped up again, and I went and I saw it, I sat in the theater and I paid money, and I hated it.

And I was, I was, I remember being angry walking out of the third Matrix movie.

And then 20 years later, a buddy of mine sends me a link to a trailer for a new Matrix movie.

And I, the fool that I am, forgetting that the people who make trailers have far surpassed the people who make movies, was like, this looks pretty awesome.

I can't wait.

Here we go.

Like they're gonna, they realized all their mistakes that they made in the second and the third, and they're gonna make the fourth, and they're like, we're gonna make what it should have been the whole time.

And I bought into the hype and I way misplaced my trust because I didn't enjoy it at all.

And I did it three times in my life, three times in my life, I have gotten excited about this stupid movie series, and I've spent money and I've I've sat there and I've wasted, there's hours I'll never get back.

And all because the first one hit me in a really big way.

Here's my point.

There was a point, I promise.

First impressions are powerful.

Like, because that first one was so good to me, like I just was all in for the second, the third, the fourth.

And I'll be honest, if a trailer comes out in a few years for a fifth one, I'll be probably see it.

I'll probably watch it and just be like, and I'll hate it.

But it's just, it's the first one was so good to me.

First impressions are powerful, first impressions, if they're bad, are powerful.

First moments in life, your first steps, your first few few days and a new season of life, they're very important.

There's something about the first.

And if you get the first right, it's amazing how much everything else really falls into place.

So here we are in the first moments of a new year.

And we all have this amazing opportunity to put the first things first.

And this is something that Jesus actually talks about all the time.

Jesus talks about firsts on a regular basis.

He talked about priorities constantly.

And so last week we had an online only gathering, we talked about when Jesus said, seek first the kingdom of God.

And if you weren't here last week, I encourage you to listen to that.

If you're like, what does that even mean?

We went into detail.

Seek first God's kingdom.

To give you a little preview of the next few weeks, Matthew chapter 5, verse 23, Jesus says, Therefore, if you're offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you.

Matthew 5:23

Leave your gift there in front of the altar.

Go first and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift.

I mean, he's literally saying, like, if you're at church, this would be our version, and you're sitting here and you realize, oh, I got a real beef with that person.

I'm just gonna leave and go deal with that first.

You're free to do that, by the way, if anyone ever wants to.

Well, but wait till like no one knows why.

You know what I mean?

Like, give it a few minutes.

Um, but Jesus says, no, do that first.

Matthew chapter 7, Jesus says, do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

So if someone's phone's going off in church, you don't judge that.

Like, it could have been you just as much as anybody else.

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.

And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when all the time there's a plank in your own eye, you hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Jesus says, first deal with your stuff before you worry about everybody else's.

He gives us a first.

Today, we're gonna explore this gem.

Matthew 23, 26.

Jesus said, first, wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean too.

Jesus says, first, deal with the inside stuff.

Now, we're gonna go into the full context of this here in just a second.

This is this is this is from one of my favorite uh sections of scripture, one of my favorite sections of Jesus' teaching, but I want to give some context first.

Because if if you read the main scriptures that we're gonna examine today, which is Matthew chapter 23 and Matthew chapter 15, if you're unfamiliar with Jesus, you might get the impression that Jesus is kind of a jerk.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention Matthew 15 · chapter mention

Because in both of these sections, he's like really fired up and he's very pointed in his tone.

Like it's it's accusatory.

And this is not the norm for Jesus whatsoever.

This isn't normal at all.

In fact, typically when you read Jesus' teachings, he's very calm, he's very uh loving and compassionate and gentle.

It would definitely be a word to describe Jesus.

And so uh the issue here is not that he's like moody, it's not that we sometimes read Jesus having a really bad day, it's who he's talking to.

See, Jesus is usually talking to everyday people like us who are very aware that they have issues.

Like, I don't know about you, I don't really need a whole lot of people pointing out my my problems.

I mean, sometimes it's helpful, especially if there's a relationship where there's trust, and someone, like my wife might say, hey, like, I'm noticing this, and and I'm I'm not like happy when she says that, but she has permission for sure, and I need that, it's valuable to me, but most of the time I'm pretty aware of my issues.

Like it's not it's not hard to point out the flaws.

They're very visible.

And when Jesus is talking to everyday people who are aware that they are far from perfect, he is, if you want to find some picture to describe him, he is like a gentle shepherd.

He encourages, he inspires, he teaches, he does challenge and challenge to course correct, but it's in a very gentle, loving way.

And mainly what he says is, I'll do the work for you.

Like partner with me and I'll teach you how to do this.

But then there's this other group of people that we find Jesus talking to.

And these are the religious leaders of his day, and they are self-righteous, and they are convinced that they are perfect, and everyone just needs to be like them.

In fact, we see a great example of this in Luke chapter 18.

Luke 18 · chapter mention

Jesus gives a story.

He says, Two men went to the temple to pray.

One was a Pharisee, the Pharisees were religious leaders, very fundamental, and the other was a despised tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer.

I thank you, God, that I am not like other people.

Cheaters, sinners, adulterers.

I'm certainly not like that tax collector.

I fast twice a week, I give you a tenth of my income, but the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed.

Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, Oh God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.

I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Jesus is even more direct in Luke chapter 5.

Luke 5 · chapter mention

He's having dinner with a group of people the Pharisees don't approve of, which is a pretty large group of people, by the way.

And it says, The Pharisees and teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus' disciples, why do you eat and drink with such scum?

And Jesus answered them, Healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do.

I've come not to call those who think they're righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.

Repent means to rethink, to change.

And so Jesus, he came mainly to teach and encourage those of us who know that we're not right.

Something's off.

I know I'm not exactly the way I'm I'm meant to be, but I don't quite know how to get to where I want to be.

And then that's that's probably all of us in this room.

And so the tone that Jesus takes with us is is gentle and it's calm.

The tone he takes with the Pharisees, who are so convinced that they know everything and they just need the world to be more like them, it's a different tone.

So I say all that to say, when we read what we're about to read, that the truth that Jesus is teaching is for all of us.

The tone that he's taking is probably not directed at you, but the truth, the truth is.

Okay, so with that said, let's open up Matthew chapter 23, verses 25 through 28.

Matthew 23:25–28

This is what he says What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees, hypocrites?

For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy, full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee, first wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean too.

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees, hypocrites, for you're like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity.

Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

The religious people of Jesus' day were obsessed with externals.

They were obsessed with being outwardly holy.

Holiness was a big value to them in their day.

And they were convinced that the way that they remained holy was to make sure that they they took care and they controlled all of the outward circumstances in their life.

What they ate, what they didn't eat, what they touched, what they didn't touch.

Holiness to them, being right with God, was a very external thing.

And the belief was that if they took care of all the external stuff, if they followed all the rules and they made sure to always do things the right way on the outside, then God would be pleased with the inside.

Jesus teaches on this again in Matthew chapter 15.

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

It says, Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

They asked him, Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition?

For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.

If you want to have a really boring but interesting couple of hours, Google later the ceremonial hand washing rituals of the ancient Jewish people.

This wasn't what God had told them to do.

This was just their tradition that developed over time.

It's you want to talk about washing your hands.

It's it's interesting.

It's very specific, it's kind of crazy.

But it was a big deal to them.

Why?

Because they're obsessed with outward holiness, doing all the outside stuff.

And Jesus and his disciples didn't do that.

Okay?

And so Jesus replied, Well, why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God?

For instance, God says, honor your father and mother, and anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father and mother must be put to death.

But you say it's all right for people to say to their parents, sorry, I can't help you, for I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.

In this way you say that you don't need to honor your parents.

And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.

You hypocrites.

Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is a farce.

For they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.

And then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear.

Listen, he said, try to understand.

It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you.

You are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.

Then the disciples came to him and said, Do you realize that you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?

I love that question.

I imagine Jesus was like, Yes, I do.

He's like, No, I'll go apologize.

Um but Jesus said, Every plant not planted by my heavenly father will be uprooted, so ignore them.

They are blind guides leading the blind.

And if one blind person guides another, they'll both fall into a ditch.

And then Peter said to Jesus, Explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat.

This is foreign to him.

Because again, he's grown up in this culture.

Everything is outward external.

It's external, outward holiness.

That's the key to being right with God.

And so Jesus asked, Don't you understand yet?

Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.

But the words you speak come from the heart.

That's what defiles you.

For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.

These are what defile you.

Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.

Jesus says it's the inside stuff that matters.

It's not the outside, it's what's within.

The Pharisees, the religious people of his day, they were obsessed with externals.

Convinced that if they did all the outside stuff right, inwardly that would take effect and they would be holy.

Now, we don't really live in a holiness culture like the Jewish people of Jesus' day did.

We live in like a happiness culture.

Right?

Our culture is all about being happy, feeling fulfilled.

But what's funny is that we're just like the Pharisees, as a culture at least.

We are very obsessed with externals.

And we believe that if we can just control all of the outward circumstances in our lives, if we make sure that we have all the outside stuff just right, you know, we have the right relationship, we have the right job, we have the right amount of money in a bank account, we have the right physical appearance, the right clothes, the right house, the right whatever, if we get all the outside stuff right, externally that will lead to internal happiness.

And it just doesn't.

Which is why we happen to live in a society that has more than pretty much any society has ever had, and yet anxiety, depression, those types of things skyrocket.

Because external happiness is no more valuable than external holiness.

It doesn't work outside in.

Jesus says it works inside out.

The way of Jesus is always inside out.

And so Jesus comes to these people and he turns everything on its head and he says, Hey, look, you've got it all backwards.

First, before you worry about any of the external stuff, first deal with the heart.

Deal with what is happening inside of you.

And then watch what happens externally.

He's echoing what God says to the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 16.

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Here we are at the start of a new year.

And we have this opportunity, guys, the possibilities are endless.

We have this opportunity to have a year that is the year God would have for us.

But the only way we're gonna have that is by focusing on the inward stuff first.

Now, it's very important that we realize when we talk about something like having the year God would have for us, that whatever God might have for you, we need to understand is better than what you would plan for yourself.

I mean, this is a time of year where many of us are setting goals.

And by the way, if your goals are outward, like you want to try to take care of some circumstance, you want to get in better shape, whatever, I'm not dogging all that.

That's all great.

Just make sure, according to Jesus, that you start with the inward stuff first.

But we have to understand that the goals that we set for our lives, and I'm sure many of you have dreams, you have goals, you should have some type of dream that you're shooting for.

But the dreams that we have are limited by our ability to dream.

Our dreams, our goals are always going to be limited by our imagination.

Like I can only I can only dream of whatever I'm able to imagine for my life.

But listen to what Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20 says.

Ephesians 3:20

Ephesians 3 20.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

God is not limited by our imagination.

He's not limited by our dreams.

Whatever your dreams are for 2022 and beyond, I promise you, God's gonna, he's gonna have better.

And he might look at us and say, that's a great start, but I've got something extra for you.

I've got something more for you.

And how does that take place?

How does that happen?

By the power of God at work, where?

Inside us.

Within us.

It is the way of Jesus to go inside out.

It's always been like that with him.

If you look at his followers, after three years of following Jesus, his closest disciples, they they they forsook everything.

They left their homes, they left their jobs, and they went with Jesus for three years, and you definitely get the impression in the early days especially, and even up to the end, they're having conversations with each other.

They think that the externals in their life are gonna be better.

Like it's just a matter of time before Jesus, you know, really comes into his own and they're there at the ground floor, so their lives are gonna be great.

They're gonna have authority, they're gonna have power, and Jesus has to tell them it's not gonna really work like that.

When his ministry was done on the earth, none of them had had really a better external life in any measurable way.

None of them had more money than when they started following Jesus.

In fact, almost certainly they had way less.

None of them had better connections as far as like networking goes.

They didn't have better prospects.

They did have much more powerful enemies, so that's something.

But externally, none of that got better.

They didn't have better houses and like the new model of camel or whatever, how that works, I'm not sure how that worked in those days.

Like, none of them had that.

There was nothing in their lives externally that was measurably better than when they started following Jesus.

So you might look at that and say, well, then it was like a failure.

What was it for?

Well, here's what they did have they had transformed hearts.

They had a calling on their life, they knew their purpose.

They were brought into something so much greater than themselves.

They had peace with God.

They knew where they stood with God.

They knew that God was pleased with them.

Not because they had earned it, but because Jesus had won it for them.

They were free from the fear that dominated everyone around them.

They were free from the fear of the authorities in their day that were so uh so bent on controlling their lives, they were free from the fear of death.

So while their external lives seemed like maybe less than when they started following Jesus, inside, they were completely, totally different people.

And they just so happened to change the world.

But it started inside.

Because the way of Jesus, and I'm trying to hammer this point in as much as possible, the way of Jesus is always inside first.

Even by the way, when Jesus transformed someone's external circumstances.

Like when he healed somebody, great example, Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

It says, Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Be encouraged, my child, your sins are forgiven.

But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, That's blasphemy.

Does he think he's God?

He did.

Sometimes they're like more on the nose than they realize.

They're like, yes.

Ding, ding, ding.

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?

Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven, or stand up and walk?

So I'll prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.

That's a title that Jesus used to refer to himself.

Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home.

And the man jumped up and went home.

Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen, and they praised God for giving humans such authority.

Now, this man is paralyzed.

That's why he was there.

He wasn't there to have his sins forgiven.

That was not the purpose.

His friends who brought him to Jesus didn't say, Hey, let's take him to Jesus, and maybe Jesus will forgive him of his sins.

They said, Maybe he'll walk.

And here's Jesus.

A paralyzed man is sitting in front of him, and he says, First, your sins are forgiven.

Oh, by the way, you can walk now too.

It was inside first.

That's where Jesus started.

It is always the way of Jesus to deal with the heart first.

And so here's what I'm trying to say.

We have a whole year ahead of us.

You have a whole year ahead of you.

And we can't even ask or imagine what God might have in store for us this year.

Now we can do our best to look at the world that we're in and try to guess what this year might have in store.

Like, hey, great news.

Midterm elections are going to be happening in a few months.

It's going to be political season again.

Woo! Yeah.

Makes me want to vomit a little bit.

So what do we know?

We know that things are going to get crazy and heated and you're going to get on social media and then you're going to get off, right?

Because it's just going to get crazy.

It's going to be noisy.

I'm like, I don't know what variant of COVID will be in the news two or three months from now.

But I'm sure there will be one.

You know?

Like, like, did you guys see the news stories about Flu Rona, like the flu and COVID combining together to make like?

That's what they're calling it.

It's like we're okay.

There's going to be a lot of craziness happening around us this year, no matter what.

But what's going to happen within you?

Don't allow for a moment your fixation and your thoughts this year to be pulled into all the external stuff and miss the opportunity that God has for you to do something major on the inside.

For you to have a transformed heart.

For you to have real freedom and real peace.

That's inside out, not outside in.

Now, how does that look, practically speaking?

I got a few quick thoughts as we wrap up.

Really, three three main thoughts.

This is just, if you want to use this as sort of a help to focus you on the inside stuff so that this year you have that journey with God and He changes you inside out and you watch the outside stuff change because the inside stuff changed first, this is maybe where to start.

Number one, just be aware.

Be aware.

Be aware that you are a spiritual person.

You have a spirit.

That is what defines you.

It's interesting.

Our culture as a whole used to believe that, that we are deeply spiritual people.

And many still do, most still do.

But one of the interesting things about the last 50, 60 years in our culture is how obsessed our culture has become with sex and sexuality.

Like it dominates so much.

You know why?

Because when our culture drifted from acknowledging that our spirit was the core part of us, something else had to become the core part of us.

Something has to be the most core, deep part of who we are that defines who we are.

And when our culture, by and large, said, Yeah, we're not going to talk about the spiritual stuff so much anymore, sexuality came and took the place.

So we we live in a culture obsessed with sexuality because our culture believes that that's the deepest part of who we are.

No, it's not.

We are spiritual people.

You have a spirit, but you have to be aware that you have a spirit.

You have to be aware that your spirit and its health is above all else.

Paul says this in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12 for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

Now, he's talking about like spiritual forces here.

Satan, demons, that kind of stuff.

But what he's ultimately saying is that it's not the external stuff we should be worried about, it's the spiritual stuff.

And that applies to what's going on within us.

I have found in my life that when I am most focused, fixated, and frustrated on the issues of other people, it's usually because I'm ignoring something going on within me.

Like if I'm if I'm angry at somebody and I'm all like fired up about how that they ought to be doing this or this or why aren't they like this?

You know, if it's maybe one of my kids and I'm like, they should just be, they should be so much more responsible.

Why aren't they doing X, Y, or Z?

If I just stop and look inward, I'm definitely neglecting something in my life.

It's just that's how we are sometimes as people.

When we get really focused and frustrated on what's going on outside of us, it's because we're we're ignoring what's going on within us.

And so this year, when you find yourself getting frustrated, angry at something happening outside of you, maybe take that as a sign to stop and ask the Lord what's going on inside.

Say, hey, Lord, what what do I need to deal with?

Help me out.

Be aware that you have a spirit and that the health of your spirit takes precedent.

And don't be drawn into all the distractions of everything going on around you.

It's not what happens around you, it's what's happening within you.

That's what matters most.

Because God goes inside out.

So be aware.

Number two, be hungry.

Like be hungry for more that feeds your spirit.

You know, in our faith, we talk a lot about flesh versus spirit, and that's a paradigm that we're given in the New Testament.

There's our flesh, that's the external stuff, right?

And then there's our spirit.

And a lot of times we we try to do better in life by starving our flesh.

We can use that language.

Like, I don't want to give in to those desires.

I don't want to give in to that stuff because it's unhealthy, and that's fine.

But if you starve your flesh without feeding your spirit, it won't do you much good.

But if you focus on feeding your spirit, so that you have a spirit that is full and satisfied, you might find that the desires of your flesh just aren't as loud as they used to be.

Jesus said it this way, Matthew chapter 5, verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6

You're blessed when you hunger and you thirst for whatever God has.

And so what does it look like this year to be hungry for more of God?

What feeds your spirit?

You know, maybe for you it's worship, and you're someone who just, all right, cool, worship.

And I don't mean listen to the fish.

I don't.

I mean like worship.

Take time and set time aside during your day to worship God, to get on your knees and acknowledge who he is and tell him.

Be hungry for truth, for God's truth.

And spend time.

It doesn't mean you have to read chapters and chapters of scripture every single day, although that's fine, that's that's good.

But just open up God's word from time to time and let it feed your spirit.

God's truth will feed you, it will satisfy you.

What feeds you?

What satisfies your spirit?

Maybe part of it's like coming to church.

One of the unique benefits of working at a church is that I have to be here.

I don't really get the option.

You know, I mean, like, even back when we had two services, and I've I've loved this combined thing, by the way.

It's so much, it's so much fun.

But like, I never had the option.

I'll just I'll show up later.

I never had that option.

Some of you did, and we took that away from you, and I'm sorry.

Um but we started this one a little later than the early one used to be.

So hey, you know.

But it's funny, I'm just gonna be honest, I've had many Sundays in the last 15 years, if you can believe this or not, I didn't want to be here.

Like that's happened.

There have been plenty of Sundays in the last decade and a half of my life where I have been part of this place and had responsibilities where if like given a choice, I may have just slept that day.

Because I didn't feel like it.

And I didn't want to be around people.

I love you guys.

But it's a lot of people.

And there's just times where it's like, I need like, I have a lot of people live in my house.

And then I come here, there's a lot of people, and sometimes I just want less people, you know?

And Jesus wanted the same thing, by the way.

He tried to get away, it didn't work for him either.

But like, but I've had to be here, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Why?

Because even when I'm not in the mood, by being here, my eyes get on Jesus.

And the number of Sundays that I have maybe rather not been here, which is by this, it sounds like it's all the time, it's not.

All right, it's just hundreds and hundreds of Sundays over all the decades.

But like, the number of times that I've been in that place mentally, but realized halfway through, oh, I needed to be here.

Because I needed to sing that song.

And I needed to hear that that scripture.

That was for me.

It gets my eyes on Jesus.

So be hungry, be aware of your spirit and be hungry to feed your spirit.

And finally, just be active.

Be active, like live out of your spirit, live out of it.

1 Timothy 4.8.

The Apostle Paul wrote, physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better.

Promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.

You know, when it comes to our typical New Year's resolutions, they're very often outside in type stuff, right?

Like the things that usually people say they're gonna do and the goals that they have, they're very outside in.

But it leads to activity.

Or at least we say it it will, you know.

At least it's some type of activity is you you try to make that change.

And so, what does it look like to be active internally?

What does it mean for you this year to have an active spirit?

Well, it means a few simple things.

If God tells you to do something, do it.

And just see what happens.

If God leads you somewhere, and that might be like, just even tell him.

I I would pray this on a regular basis, God, I'm listening.

Do you want me to do anything today?

If you have anything for me to do, just tell me what it is.

I'll do it.

And you feel this little tug or pull, and you're like, oh, talk to that person.

I don't I don't want to.

You know, Lord, do you have anything else for me to do today?

You know, reach out to that person and ask for forgiveness.

Yeah, other maybe, but like what else?

But but honestly, all joking aside, be active.

Live out of your your spirit.

When you have a spiritual desire, which is always gonna look like love, by the way, to love someone, to to be Jesus to someone, do it.

And if you're aware spiritually this year, just daily dialing in and recognizing that there is something happening within me, and it's not all the stuff happening outside of me.

Maybe you have a full packed agenda, you got a million things to do, and you look at your schedule and you look at your life, and you're like, I'm so busy.

What's on the agenda of your heart today?

Stop.

Just take a moment and be aware.

Oh, yeah, my spirit, what does that mean today?

Be hungry for more, feed that hunger and be active.

And I'm telling you, you do that, watch what God's gonna do.

Ephesians 3.20.

God is able to accomplish infinitely more than you can even ask or imagine, but how does he do it?

Inside out, it's his power at work within us.

So this year, let's be people who follow the way of Jesus, and we go inside out, not outside in.

I'm not searching for outward holiness, I'm not searching for outward happiness.

I want inward.

I want God to do whatever he wants to do in my heart, because that's where it all comes from.

Does that make sense?

All right, let's do that.

Let's do that.

Uh we're gonna we're gonna take words supper now, which is a great way for us to sort of close this out because this gets our eyes on Jesus.

And so if you want to grab a cup, it's got bread and juice.

Uh, by the way, if you forgot to grab one, feel free to go do that.

This is, we're very laid back.

You're not gonna mess anything up.

So, just like I said, I enjoy being at church every Sunday, no matter what, because it gets my eyes on Jesus, this moment reminds me of a very specific aspect of my relationship with Jesus.

And it's that he gave everything for us.

And I think it's really important as we we talk about all the things happening this year, all the potentials, all the work that God might want to do in our hearts for us to remember that he's done the work ahead of time.

What this meal represents is a finished work.

It's finished.

And very few things in our lives are finished, right?

Almost everything is in process.

And that should encourage you, by the way, if you're not where you want to be.

Good news, you're not finished.

You're in process.

You're a rough draft.

God's not done.

But this represents a finished work.

On the cross, before he breathed his last breath, Jesus said, It is finished.

Meaning that the work that he came to do, to give himself up as a sacrifice that would completely and totally cleanse us from all of our sin, from all of our struggles, from all of our issues, when it comes to us and God, it's done.

It's finished.

And so, as I think about this year and all the possibilities and all the things I really hope God accomplishes, even inside me, I have to remember that, like he says in Ephesians, it's by his mighty power at work within me.

So as we take this bread and we take this juice and we literally bring it within us, let's remember that the work that God wants to do, Jesus, he finishes things.

He finished the work of saving us on the cross, and he will finish the work that he starts within us.

So let's take the bread and let's pray for it.

God, thank you so much for this piece of bread.

Thank you, Lord, for what it what it means.

You gave your body up for us as a sacrifice.

You allowed yourself to be broken so that we could be healed, and you didn't do a partial healing for us.

Lord, you didn't get the process started, you finished it, you completed it.

Thank you, Jesus.

Let's take the bread.

Same for the juice.

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this juice and for what it means, what it represents, your blood spilled for us on the cross.

And you had said in your word that there could be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

And that's not because you're a bloodthirsty God.

That's because blood represents life.

And you you were basically saying that you are going to have to give your life to take care of our sin.

But you did.

And it's finished.

And so as we take this juice, as we drink this, remind us that you are the one who finishes what you start, and that you will finish the work that you begin with in us.

We love you, Jesus.

Let's take the juice.