Speaker 1: 0:06

Let's pray together as we come to the word. Father, we thank you and praise you for today. Lord, we thank you for your kindness that you expressed to us. God, you didn't try it, you live it, you are it, you are kindness, and Jesus is love incarnate, walking around and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, empowering us by your Spirit to live out that kind of kindness. God, we thank you that, whether in life or in death, whether asleep or awake, we are with you because of what Jesus did. Father, we thank you that, no matter what we're struggling with, the things that we're dealing with behind closed doors or in full view of everyone who loves and cares about us, in all those things, god, you're not only faithful, but you're intimately caring for each of those things. So, as we come to the word, help us, lord, to put to death anything in us that is keeping us away from closeness with you. Small or big burden or huge, massive issue, we just release it into your hands. Your word says cast your burdens on the Lord and he will sustain you. Well, here we are. Here's our burdens. Help us, sustain us and help us to be in touch with you, as we hear from your word In Jesus' name amen.

Speaker 1: 1:38

Death, that's a funny thing, right, death. It's funny because it's peculiar not so much ha-ha, I mean, depending on the death. There's an old series that used to I think it was A Thousand Ways to Die. Did you ever watch that before? Man, some of the most bizarre ways people have passed away. There is one moment in my own life where I should have died and I didn't. No, it wasn't when I was run over by a car or choked on a spaghetti noodle. That one time, at the age of four, it was another time. It was when I was a relatively new driver. It was like you know, this is like 10 years ago. Okay, I'm driving around. I think I might be 18 years old.

Speaker 1: 2:14

I'm driving down this hill that's called the Quinpool Hill. It's near Quinpool Road. It's a very, very steep hill. Now at the top of this hill, you're thinking, oh, this isn't going to be bad. The speed limit is 80 kilometers per hour, it's going to be fine. But as you get going, you realize you're going to put a lot of tension on your brakes and on the person in the passenger seat, the faster that you get into this decline at this hill. So, as a teenager, once I got out of having my permit and I was able to drive around, I realized that it's just easier to lean into it. Enjoy your need for speed a little on the Quinnpool Hill. You know what I'm saying. Now, I did mention this is a near-death experience, so you know where this is going.

Speaker 1: 2:56

So, anyway, here I am, I'm on the decline, I'm going relatively quick and usually at this point I would gear down, you know, go to third, try to, you know, ease into it a bit, maybe go down a second. If I'm really freaking out, listen to that transmission, just purr, you know. But no, this isn't what I did Today. I was like you know what, I'm just going to go for it. So I start leaning into the speed. I see just enough around the corner to know that there's no other cars on the road, or no, that there's no other cars on the road. No was a relative term, it was assume. I assumed there was no cars on the other side of the road.

Speaker 1: 3:32

And so I'm getting down this hill and I'm like, wow, we're getting quick now. We're going 100 kilometers an hour, we're going 110. And I, by the way, I'm all by myself. I say we, it's just me and whatever came out of me at that moment. And I'm coming down the hill and I realize that there is in fact a Ford F-150 coming on really close to the line and by close I mean not in his lane at all and I also realize there's gravel on the road, coming out of the tiny Quinnpool Road that's at the bottom of this, this hill, and so I realized there's this perfect storm. Not only am I driving really quickly, but I'm also realizing that there's something actually shoving me closer to something similar to marbles on the road and I start to drift at the, the point at the hill where you actually get to the very bottom of the valley, which is actually a bridge, so it's even narrower and I'm going way too fast. And then I'm going even faster Because these breaks of mine are not doing it anymore, and I start swerving this way and that way and I'm like I'm screaming at the top of my lungs. I don't know what music is playing, but it's sort of something with a guitar solo in it, you know. And finally the turn screen, I think. At some point in my mind I'm like God, help me, you know, help me. And at some point this fishtail ends, the speed decreases.

Speaker 1: 4:54

I'm at the other side of this and I'm like, oh, I really felt something empty out of me. I don't think it was anything I drank that day or anything, but I did feel like it was something like you know, that feeling of just that, that dropping feeling, you know, and I don't know what. I couldn't really pick it up. So I was just like you know, and the song that happened to be playing was not anything like ACDC, you know, it wasn't Thunderstruck, it was Chris Tomlin's Amazing Grace. And so I'm coming up and it's like amazing grace, and I'm like how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, you know.

Speaker 1: 5:36

So I get to the top of the hill and, by the way, I'm really close to my family home at this point I pull into the driveway. I don't tell my dad what happened, of course. Who would Dad, if you're watching, anyway? So I pull into the driveway, I get out, I'm like this is awesome, I'm alive and I never felt happier in my life, I think. And that moment, up until that point.

Speaker 1: 5:57

You see, I might have mentioned it before in another sermon, but by the time I was eight years old, I'd started to struggle pretty significantly with anxiety, with depression. You know ideations of, you know things that are similar to murder, but for more, for yourself. And at that moment I just forgot all about that because I just stepped really close to death, or drove close to it anyway, and as I got up onto the porch and I'm holding myself together, looking out over the beautiful countryside vista before me, I realized that my life was just handed back to me. That's kind of dramatic, because there's plenty of other times where I had to, you know, taste death a little and I'm like, yeah, whatever, it's another Tuesday, but for this time in particular, it was a reminder, a very stark reminder, that my life is not actually in my hands, that the thing that's actually holding me together is grace. And I thought I should praise the Lord and I did. I sang really, really loud like how great thou art, or whatever, out of key, because all I wanted to do was like say thank you, god for giving me back my life, which very, very easily could have just slipped out of my hands right then.

Speaker 1: 7:11

And there Some of us forget not some of us, all of us, at some point or another, forget that we're not invincible At some point our life is going to be at an end, that at some point we're going to have to face up to the reality that our life is not meant to be our own. And I find, whether you're reading a near-death experience or experiencing a near-death experience or something similar, what the takeaway often is is I better redefine how I live my life from this moment forward, because I realize just how short-term that this offer really is. So this sermon to death is to help us to kind of get back into a mindset, as Christians, that, especially for those of us who follow Jesus, we ought to remember always that our lives are not our own, that we were bought at a price, that in fact, it was someone else's death who paid the price for us, and it is to death that we must live. So next, slide there. Tracy, you are today put to death, you're put to death. You were put to death when you put your faith in Jesus and now, as an active follower of Jesus, you are put to death. Live like it. Live like it.

Speaker 1: 8:37

How often are we in situations where we forget that our lives are not in our hands? How often are we complacent with the culture and the comfort of our day to the point where we forget that the life that we live is not just temporary, but it's meant to be purposeful, it's meant to be intentional. The other day I was thinking about the idea of wasted years. You know, when you get closer and closer to older age, you start to look back on your life. I'm not so much an older age, but I do often look back on my life and I think am I on the trajectory that I want to be if I was sitting on my deathbed tomorrow? Because you can't really control what value you add to the world in the end. What you can control is what you're going to do with the life that you have.

Speaker 1: 9:28

And you think, let's say, you have 90 minutes on earth. A lot of us maybe might live to 75, 80, maybe 90. So let's just imagine you have 90 minutes of a day. That's about the size of a kid's movie. You know About the length of a Veggie Tales classic? Maybe you know If you were to miss two minutes of that, how big a deal would it be for the overall story? Let's say 14 minutes.

Speaker 1: 9:56

How disoriented do you feel coming back into that movie theater, or coming back into that task or coming back into that 90-minute period. By the time you get to the end, maybe you're at minute 84, you're starting to feel like you're rounding the plate of this particular story. But that's the idea is that all of us are living out a story and a lot of times we feel that, coming out of wasted years or difficulties or sin or even just the Christian life, wishing that we would have put our faith in Jesus sooner, that we would have put our faith in Jesus sooner, we come into our life as if we're halfway through a movie, disoriented and struggling to figure out what's the purpose here. Who are the major characters supposed to be? Am I in this movie?

Speaker 1: 10:35

Like what's going on and there's confusion for us if we don't have the whole picture in front of us on a regular basis, the thing that adds so much more of the value of focus is the understanding that the big picture is that you have only one life here on earth to live, and then the judgment, and then when Jesus returns, and then when you stand before the Lord. And my question that I want us to explore is are you on a trajectory today that you would have genuinely no regrets? Not before the world, not before a bucket list, but before the Lord and even yourself. Would you say that right now you're on a trajectory, no matter how old or young you may be, that you would have no regrets standing before the Lord as Christians? Beyond that point, we are put to death in that, whatever life we thought we were living, whatever life we thought was in our own hands, that's over now.

Speaker 1: 11:38

When you get married, whatever thought you had of having the single life, bachelor living or bachelorette living, that's over now. You might have every once in a while. You know your spouse goes away for a bit, you get to watch Netflix all by yourself with some Cheetos or something, and they don't need to bark at you about not doing your diet or something like that. But I mean, by and large, your single days are over. You have to think about your life as oriented around your spouse and it's similar with our devotion to Jesus and our relationship with God. Whatever life you thought you had before you knew Jesus is over now and every once in a while the enemy wants to sow this seed that actually our life is in our own hands. Actually our life does belong to us. Actually, you know you do want to do whatever you want to do and you don't have to worry about it, because God is totally going to support you in your Christian freedoms. But the reality that Paul and Peter and so many other gospel writers and Jesus himself affirms is that, no, when you put your faith in Jesus, you died. And your life now is not here. Your stock, your investments, your desires, your preference, your future, it's not in this life, it's not in the things you think you can get by your own strength. It is, in fact, in Jesus and in him alone.

Speaker 1: 12:57

So we're going to read from Colossians, chapter 3. Now, before we're not going to get into the slides, okay, I'm going to challenge us all to just take a moment and pause and just hear from Colossians, chapter 3. Just hear it. Fix your gaze on a particular point in the room, do whatever you got to do. Maybe look at that guy's eyes as he's staring at Jesus and being like you know, whatever you got to do. Just focus on something in the room, close your eyes, whatever you have to do.

Speaker 1: 13:22

But I want you to really pay attention to what Paul is saying in Colossians, chapter 3, verses 1 to 14. It says this not on earthly things, for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature sexual morality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, but now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips.

Speaker 1: 14:41

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all. Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another. If any of you has a grievance against someone, forgive, as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues, put on love which binds them all together in perfect unity. Jesus, we just receive this word and I just pray that for whatever we need to hear from this. Highlight it to us, show us what you want to show us, convict and correct, encourage and comfort. Comfort in Jesus' name, amen. So we'll go on to the next slide there, tracy.

Speaker 1: 16:19

So Colossians, chapter 3. It's one of my favorite passages in scripture and a lot of the people that I read about spiritual formation whether that's Dallas Willard or, you know, john Mark Comer, a few other names you may or may not have heard of these guys consistently bring up passages like this. Colossians, chapter three Paul basically really reiterates this exact message over and over and over again, whether it's in the book of first Corinthians or in other parts of the new Testament. It's echoed even further the book of Hebrews, even Peter kind of notes on this sort of thing, this idea of virtues being built into us. But this is something that is not new to the New Testament ethos of what it looks like to be a Christian and follow Jesus. There's a lot of things going on here. One of the things that's going on is it's a completely different set for your mind, a mindset. It's a completely different paradigm, if you will, a way of thinking about life, because you notice that Paul isn't talking about one particular, small, specific thing. He is completely broad stroking the life of faith in front of this Colossian people. Now, here's the thing. One of the other reasons why I love this passage is that Paul is a genius. He is absolutely brilliant in his ability to communicate, specifically in the Greek language, to a very, very Greek audience. Now, this city, the book in Colossae, were filled with intelligent people who would have been aware of what Paul was doing here when he started setting this tone of death and life and also landing on clothing.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Let me ask you a question when you are dead and buried, what covers you? When you are in a coffin, you're lowered down or, you know, you get thrown into a shallow grave somewhere in the backwoods. When you die, what covers you other than you know, your clothing, or that weird like epoxy fill that they put into your body at the funeral home, like, what covers you? Dirt, right, you're covered with dirt. Six feet of it, ideally. Or you know less in other situations, but in other situations okay. So if you're dying, if you're dead, if you're put in the ground, you're done, your life is over, you're covered with dirt, that's that. But if you're alive and you're well and you woke up this morning. What covered you? Clothing, ideally, hopefully, because we are that kind of church that does that. You know, we wear clothes to church.

Speaker 1: 18:59

This is the thing is that, like Paul sets up this whole idea, this contrast between death and life and nakedness and being clothed, and we miss it if we don't pay attention to the whole thing as a whole, as we don't look at the big picture, if we don't pay attention to the whole thing as a whole, as we don't look at the big picture, we miss it. But this idea of being dead versus being alive, he's like you're dead but also you're alive. So don't live like people who are dead, but remember you're dead to them, so they might be alive, but like you're dead. So it seems really confusing if we don't look at it the way. But when you look at the original language, you look at the original language, you look at the way that Paul formulates all of this. It is absolutely brilliant.

Speaker 1: 19:34

So he in the middle of this book of Colossians, which, by the way, he's trying to correct philosophy here. Now, I'm not sure if you guys went to university, remember philosophy class, but it was kind of a drag for people that are not into philosophy, okay, but just to sum it up, there's ideas that are starting to invade the church at Colossae, ideas that are deceptive, ideas that are actually very strictly opposed to the message about Jesus. And Paul makes it very, very clear no, no, no, no, no. Jesus, fully God, fully human, came to earth, lived a perfect life and everything centered around him before and everything centered around him now and everything will always center around him forever. And he finishes on that thought and leads into since then you have been raised with Christ, this supreme figure at the center of all the universe, who is preeminent before every other thing in the world, who existed with God forever, eternally, before the created universe even was a thought in any of our minds. Because you've been raised with that Christ, at Christ set your hearts on things above, on things that are eternal, on things that are consistent with this risen Christ whom we serve, because it's absolutely insulting to do anything less, it's insulting to the heart of God to do anything less than focus on him. These political issues, these difficulties that we're experiencing in our day to day life, all things that, because we care about them, god cares for us in them. And yet, at the same time, when you really look at the big picture, it's one political leader now and another one 10 years from now. It's one difficulty today and it's another one Tuesday at 2 pm. And the reality is that, yes, it's important to God that he care for us in the nitty-gritty details and yet, at the same time, he's always trying to call us upward, to focus on things above things overall, things that are the part of the big picture, not just the nitty-gritty stuff that gets us distracted. And so he says since you have been raised with Christ. He didn't say since you live a life like Jesus. Specifically, he said since you are raised with him, meaning you are dead and you are raised to life.

Speaker 1: 21:59

In Ephesians, chapter 2, he has this idea Because of God's great mercy, we who were dead have been raised to life in Christ and seated with him in the heavenly realms. Well, christ is above and we're apparently seated with him in the heavenly realms. Well, christ is above and we're apparently seated with him at the right hand of God. So, set our hearts, set your hearts on things above and your hearts being, like you know, the center of your emotional life, your desires, your preferences, your decision-making, your will. Set that on what's above where christ is. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. So okay. So here's your emotional life, your desires and preferences. Put that above. Okay, now that we've got that covered which, by the way, is interesting that he focuses on that first doesn't start with the intellect first.

Speaker 1: 22:47

Too many of us, especially in West, focus so much on the intellect that we miss the heart altogether. What a tragedy. God doesn't live in our brain. Jesus didn't come to set his throne in you know, that part of your brain that remembers like calculus. Jesus came to set his rule in you, in your heart, in your decisions, in the things that you most care about in life. Set your heart and then set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, in your thinking, in your feeling, in the things that you care about. Set them Intentionally. Take the action step of setting them on things above where Christ is, for you died. You died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Speaker 1: 23:43

Who here has ever seen Weekend at Bernie's before? Has anyone ever seen that movie? I haven't even seen it. I just know the concept. So it's okay for me to talk about it. Okay, I've never seen the movie. I have no idea if it's inappropriate or not. I don't know. I don't know and I don't care, because the idea is this this these guys, they have this. I think their their friend is dead and they pick them up and they put sunglasses on them and they host a party at his house because they're like well, for Weekend at Bernie's. Bernie's passed away, he's gone, but too many of us are trying to live out a Weekend at Bernie's thing where we start to wear the clothing put on the attire, let our friends tell us and label us and tell us what we're all about, and then play it out as if we're really part of the thing. We're dead, even if we do try and participate with these things.

Speaker 1: 24:32

I hope and pray that you feel absolute, complete misery and emptiness in those contexts, because you should. And if you've ever wondered online listener why maybe that weekend party just doesn't sit right with you anymore, it's because you're a follower of Jesus. You died to that stuff. It's done now. It's just not the same now, and it shouldn't be because you're dead to that. Stuff is done now. It just doesn't. It's just not the same now, and it shouldn't be because you're dead to that.

Speaker 1: 24:55

Have you ever gotten tired of the political arguments that are constantly happening, whether on your socials feed or in your family? Is it possible that you're tired of those things because you weren't supposed to indulge in them that much to begin with? Is it possible that the concerns that we had, whether it be about COVID-19 or a presidential election which, by the way, isn't even in our country or anything, even when faced with wars and rumors of wars, you know what Jesus says about that stuff Don't worry about it. Party what? See who play? Don't worry about it. It's a war. People are dying. Jesus Don't you care, he does.

Speaker 1: 25:35

But you understand that the big picture, god is over all of those things. He is. Even though he doesn't cause those awful pains to children across the world, even though he's not intending to hurt people in other nations, he is sovereignly superintending it all to work towards his greater purpose. He calls us to pray for and invade into those situations, not with a political agenda, not with an ideology, but with the gospel and with the heart of Christ, which, by the way, is where our hearts are set right. So maybe what we need to do with those particular things is remember that we are seated with Christ, literally the center of the universe. Maybe we have better things to think about. Maybe we have better things to discuss. Maybe we have more grace to offer in those conversations, because ultimately, we know that someone else is in control, not us to offer in those conversations, because ultimately, we know that someone else is in control, not us, and it's not bad to talk through those things. In fact, it can be helpful and needed. It's about your heart and your mind. What is it set on? Is it set on Christ in that stuff, or are you set on it while you're in Christ? Because you're going to see a consequence come out of either of those two options.

Speaker 1: 26:54

Your life is now hidden. With Christ and God, the stuff that you're really looking forward to is Jesus. It's in Jesus, it's from Jesus, it's through Jesus and it's for Jesus. All the things, as Paul says in Colossians 1, were made by him, for him and through him, and then he lands not long. This at Christ is all. Christ is in all. Your day-to-day life is not to be found in the things that this world takes delight in, but in the things that God's heart takes delight in your life, the things that you care most about in the world, and not only that. Also the energy from which you live is drawn from Christ and in fact, it is hidden with Christ in God.

Speaker 1: 27:43

Notice, okay, so there's this idea of hiddenness being covered, being almost clothed. People aren't always going to see every area where you have a conviction about Jesus. Right, that's hidden with Christ in God. What comes out of that stuff, what comes out on the outside, what we do clothe ourselves with, what people do see, should not be our constant red-blooded convictions about this or that thing, Even if it's based on Jesus. What people should see is Jesus All over you, all day, every day. That's what the world needs. That's what you need to just live well and thrive, because your life, raised with Christ, is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. There's a lot that could come into that, but I'm not going to touch on that too much.

Speaker 1: 28:40

We're going to move on to the next slide there, tracy, because Paul moves on to talk about the stuff that is meant to be put to death. You know the thing that the message is titled about Put to death. So, first of all, you were put to death and for some of us, publicly. How many of you are baptized in this room Right are baptized in this room, right? Yeah, I'm glad you raised your hand. I was like, oh, that's surprising. No, we're good, we're a Baptist church. I thought what If you were baptized? Then you publicly declared and enacted that you are dead and you are alive in Christ. You publicly declared that you were basically executed, spiritually speaking, and everybody should, by this point, know that you're put to death to this world and this world is put to death to you.

Speaker 1: 29:29

As Paul says in other places, I am crucified to the world, the world is crucified to me. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature. So the earthly nature here, this Greek word that he's using, is actually just one interesting phrase, which just means dirt. It doesn't mean nature. The English is trying to help us understand the meaning here, so it's not a bad, bad translation. But also it's like what Paul is trying to say is something metaphorical, not direct. He's trying to say put to death everything that belongs to this land. Put to death everything that belongs to your dirt. If you're dead to this world, then you're buried in it and you don't need to live out the things that are consistent with the stuff that you're always all around, all the time. You are meant to be living a life that is altogether different, even though you're covered in a sense with the world. The world is all over us. We, like worldly secular people, designed our clothing. Probably People who don't know Jesus sewed it together. People who don't know Jesus sold it to us. But Paul says put to death everything that's connected to this land in which you're buried, because one day you are going to be revealed in glory. So put to death anything that is putting to death that hope in you. Put to death anything that is attempting to put that hidden life in Christ to death in you. Put to death anything that's connected to this life that you've left behind. It's no longer yours. Let it die. And I wish I could get more into all the different things.

Speaker 1: 31:11

The whole sermon series could come out of Colossians 3, but don't worry, I won't do that today. Today, sexual morality, impurity, lust, all these things, things that are connected to idolatry, things that are actually image worship. It's making something else other than God, god. Let's move on to the next thing, the next slide there. Tracy, you used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived, in the life you once lived the life you once lived. You don't live this way anymore. But if we take that on and we make that mistake, god isn't trying to condemn us, but he is trying to cleanse us of those things that are consistent with that old life. Amen, on to the next slide, tracy.

Speaker 1: 31:54

And the same thing with those things anger, rage, malice, slander. Is that consistent with the jesus we serve? No, moving right along, do not lie to each other. Same thing with those things Anger, rage, malice, slander. Is that consistent with the Jesus we serve? No, moving right along, do not lie to each other. Why? Because we literally serve the God of truth. His law says that he always tells the truth and he never lies.

Speaker 1: 32:10

So why does it make sense for people who are literally living in him not just in his household, but literally having our life built up in him? Why does it make sense for us to be liars? Why does it make sense for us to deceive one another or tell each other something, to make each other feel better about something, or even to make ourselves look better than we would like to? Why? Because we put on the new self. Notice this putting on thing. He's moving on into clothes now. At first he was talking about dirt, now he's talking about clothes. It's very confusing, I understand, but it's also very clear in that our day-to-day living in this world in which we're buried, we ought to be clothed with the Christ in whom we find our life. So he goes on. It's being renewed in knowledge, in the image of its creator.

Speaker 1: 32:55

That word renewed just means updated. It's like when you get a new computer system or a phone and it just updates hey, an update's ready, the other one's going to be obsolete. Everything you've been used to up until this point is all going down tubes, okay, and at some point that's not going to be supported anymore. You're not going to need to go back there. It's going to be updated, it's going to be renewed.

Speaker 1: 33:13

How many of you guys are frustrated by the way Windows has changed over the years? Come on, give me something, or Apple or any of that. It's frustrating because you get so familiar with how a thing works, but God says that it's the same with us. Sometimes we actually need to let go of a way that we've lived and survived in Christ even, or in order that we might be renewed, updated, continually living more into the life that God has called us to live. We're being renewed in intimate knowledge, in the image of our creator. Instead of worshiping images, instead of giving ourselves over to idolatry and sexual immorality and so on and so forth, we are giving ourselves over to the image of God in us and the image of Christ that is constantly being worked into us like yeast into the dough.

Speaker 1: 34:00

Go on to the next slide there, tracy. Why? Because Christ is all and is in all and therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves right. So I want you, as we are rounding the plate here, I want you to take a look at some of these virtues on the screen. Now we see you know holy and dearly loved. Okay, that's your identity. You're already that. By the way, you don't have to be compassionate to be dearly loved. You don't even have to act gentle to be holy. You are already holy. God has set you apart as holy. Now he's making you into the image of holiness. He's set you apart. You are his special people. You are his chosen one. You are holy and dearly loved. Now, as a result of that identity, clothe yourselves Now.

Speaker 1: 34:50

Take a look at this list? Is there anywhere on this screen or on the page, as you're looking at it, that you're thinking that's not really me at all, because there's a few for me and there's probably some in your life that you're doing great maybe, and it's not about performance but like, is it present? It's not about performance, it's present. Is this present in me? Are you consistently gentle? You're like, yeah, of course. Are you gentle on the Trans-Canada Highway? Are you gentle with your dashboard on Gunningsville Boulevard? You know, that's the question. Are you gentle with the kid that stresses you out? Are you patient with waiting, not just for annoyance to be removed from your life, but are you patient with God bringing something good into your life you believe he's promised you, and so on.

Speaker 1: 35:53

This is not meant to shame us, but it should alarm us a little if it's not present. But it should alarm us a little if it's not present, not because God wants to condemn you, but because God wants to cleanse everything off of you. That isn't this. And if you see the opposite of these things making its way into your life, as contrasted in the verses before anger, rage, malice, slander, gossip, whatever filthy language from your lips it's not meant to condemn you but to challenge you. And, yes, it's okay for your emotions, set on Christ, to feel disturbed and alarmed that these are not present in you, so that in that, god will meet you and impart it to you. God says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just, not only to forgive us our sins but to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Anything that's not this.

Speaker 1: 36:56

So identify what's going on this week, what's going on with you right now, in this hour, that you are not compassionate or gentle or patient, that God really wants that for you because he loves you so much and maybe you really want it. I pray you have such a deep desire for this that you forget about the stuff you used to think was valuable. A deep desire for this, that you forget about the stuff you used to think was valuable and what binds them all together, except love Agape. It's the same word, by the way, that's used here for dearly loved Agapeo. Not just agape strictly, but like a love of delighting in. You're loved. And you're dearly loved, you're dearly delighted in, you're dearly adored. God just wants to wrap you in his arms and just fill you with his delight for you, and that's what he wants us to do for each other.

Speaker 1: 37:57

All of us are quirky, whether it's at New Hope Community Church or anywhere else in the world. I think a person who's a follower of Jesus is a little quirky and we just, you know, sometimes we just have to forget about the grievance and think about the God, who loves us, who shows us this delight, looks at us as sons and daughters and treat one another with that kind of delight, and it binds them all together in perfect unity. By the way, in Greek that's just one word, it's telios, maturity. It puts everything back together, all the things that you're trying to working on here and there and figuring that out, repenting of this and confessing that. Well, love, it's going to put all that stuff together in one big ball called perfection. Not a perfection of flawlessness, but of being fully grown up.

Speaker 1: 38:50

So the question is here are you going to grow up to live in that perfect unity, bound together by love? Are you going to grow up? You might be 85 years old today and there's some part of you that is not gentle or impatient, that's not in touch with God, but that means you need to grow up and that's good. Let God tell you to grow up in the most loving way that he possibly can, which is hey, I love you so much. I love you as if you were the favorite. He loves all of us as if we're the favorite child. You might have lost that along the way, but he delights in you so much and that's why he wants you to grow into who he is already making you. So next, slide there.

Speaker 1: 39:48

Tracy, you are put to death. Live like it. There's something in your life like just get the word stop, just stop. If there is something in your life and I know it's not that easy always but make a commitment today and a commission to yourself that you will stop, that you will rest, that you will put to rest anything in you that is putting you to shame, what is that secret thing that you hope nobody else finds out about? And today I was in prayer and I really got a sense that the Lord was really showing me that everything that has put me to shame will be put to death. Everything that is putting you to shame right now, even if nobody else knows about it, will be put to death. Knows about it will be put to death. The question is are you going to wait until another time when your life is spent and there is no more time? Or are you going to start today to stop, to put to rest those things that are putting you to shame, to put them to death through Christ? As Paul says, by the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body. Repent of your sin, confess Jesus is the only way to receive life and salvation and joy and hope. Jesus Christ is the only way.

Speaker 1: 41:18

So why are you entertaining any other avenue? Some of you watching online. Maybe you're only just checking out the church for the first time, maybe it's the 17th time. That's totally cool. We live in Moncton, by the way, if you want to come see us Now, here's the thing. Well, moncton area, you know Steve's Mountain, whatever, we're here, we're local. But here's the thing. Maybe you just are scrolling through and you're just watching this.

Speaker 1: 41:37

Today I'm going to speak directly to you and tell you Jesus Christ is the only other way, and you kind of already know that, don't you? And the only reason why you tuned in today was because God wanted you to hear these words, which is that Jesus Christ is the only way to live the life that you've been longing for, and his love for you is deep enough and the power that Jesus exalted by dying on the cross for you is enough to bring you into the folds of love. It's enough. Is it enough for you? Is it enough for us? Are we going to grow up and live the way that God has called us to live today?

Speaker 1: 42:12

You're put to death. Will we live like it? Father, we thank you and praise you for your presence, and we thank you. We thank you for your constant love for us. We thank you for your intimacy with us, whether it's just that little shoulder pain or some of the deep hurts that are completely ripping our guts apart right now. Maybe it's a sickness that a spouse is enduring, or it's a sin that we need to overcome. God, we confess Jesus is the only way. Help us not entertain another avenue. We are put to death in Christ. Let us live like it In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.