Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the Karima Church podcast.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Okay, can we stand for just a moment and just close our eyes?
Just put out our hands in front of us. Jesus, we love you.
We are here for you this morning. Lord, we come for your presence. We acknowledge that we are not alone this morning, but that you are with us, that heaven is present.
Holy Spirit, would you open the scriptures to us and would you teach us your ways that we might know you? Would you reveal Jesus to us this afternoon?
In Jesus name, amen.
We can be seated. I actually felt so much faith as Pastor Steve was talking about your building. I just want to share a testimony. We actually in a very similar season of church. I'm a part of a church in Portland, Oregon, and when God told us to buy a. A building, we're only four or five years into this, which is pretty early, and we broke a lot of the rules. People like, don't buy a building so early. It's not a good decision.
But when God told us to buy a building, he also said, I'm going to pay for it in cash with no loans.
And that's impossible for our church. It's impossible for us to do that. We have a young church. There's no way. We have about eight or 900 attendees, and the church total was about $12 million for everything we had to do. But the whole community gathered around this word that God would provide for it. And one of our biggest beliefs was not equal giving, but equal sacrifice, that everyone would come and bring something that God would provide for this house.
[00:01:33] Speaker C: And can I tell you, we have.
[00:01:34] Speaker B: To pay the whole 12 million by the end of February. And we already have 10 out of the 12 million in cash.
Not a loan, not from the bank. That's 12 million in the bank and 10 million in the bank account. And we're believing that by the end of this month, God will pay for it completely. And I just want to release that over this house, that God, that's the same God who provided for us, will provide for you.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: It looked impossible to us.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Then suddenly God speaks to somebody who's not even a part of our church and says, give this, do that. And as everyone's praying together, God suddenly provides. I release that over this house. And I believe that's going to happen, that miracles are going to happen in your finances.
I'm so excited to be here. I told Pastor Steve earlier, seven or eight years ago, when Ben Fitzgerald first came, he came home and I was living with him at the time, and he said, you have to go and experience What God is doing at this church, how God is showing up, how they host him in excellence, how the presence of God just manifests himself. And ever since then, it's been a dream of mine to come and just be in the room. So I'm coming hungry this morning, I'm coming expectant this morning. And I'm coming believing that God is going to touch us and transform lives this morning. Like Joel said, who threw in the single thing unnecessarily. But I do love Joel. He's become a dear friend of mine. And you get to do ministry with a lot of people and then every once in a while you find something that you really enjoy.
So Joel happens to be one of those I really enjoy being around. And it's such a privilege. I love you, bro. I forgive you too.
We're going to get into the scriptures this morning. If you have your Bibles, you can turn to Luke chapter 14.
That's where we're going to start out. In Luke chapter 14, I believe that God is restoring dependency to the body of Christ.
[00:03:21] Speaker C: What I mean by that is in the natural. As you grow up and your parents are providing for you and caring for you, the end goal one day is that you would be independent of your parents.
[00:03:30] Speaker B: All the parents said amen, right?
[00:03:32] Speaker C: That you wouldn't be providing for your kids for the rest of their lives. And eventually they get a job, they move out, they become dependent.
But my worry is that oftentimes in the church, we can put that same metric into the church. But the reality is for us as believers, maturity is not becoming independent.
The moment I become independent, I've actually not progressed into maturity.
I've actually backslidden to. To me, the Christian walk, there'll never become a day that I'm not dependent on God.
And that's quite a harsh reality to come face to face. I remember years ago, one of my leaders prayed for me and said, I pray that the road would get narrower and narrower. In the beginning, I was like, amen.
[00:04:11] Speaker D: I was like, hold up.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: What does that actually mean?
[00:04:14] Speaker D: And I realized there will never come.
[00:04:15] Speaker C: A day where I'll be comfortable.
[00:04:18] Speaker D: There'll never come a day where more won't be required of me, where dependency.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: Will not be required of me.
That dependency on God we will never mature out of. Can I get an amen?
[00:04:32] Speaker D: So God is restoring dependency in the room. If you're in the room and you're in need of God, you're in the right place.
The most worried about the person I'm most worried about in the room is.
[00:04:41] Speaker C: The one that is not aware of their need for God.
Let's look at Luke chapter 14. What happens here with Jesus?
Firstly, he's sitting at a table in verse seven.
And he goes on to tell this.
[00:04:54] Speaker D: Parable, which is a parable, but it's.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: Clearly he's preaching to the people at the table.
[00:04:57] Speaker C: I'm going to paraphrase it, but everyone.
[00:04:59] Speaker D: Sits down and the Bible notes that.
[00:05:01] Speaker C: He'S actually sitting, watching everyone sit at the table. So you can imagine Jesus like sitting there watching.
[00:05:06] Speaker D: And then he goes, I'm going to tell you guys a parable about a feast at a table.
[00:05:10] Speaker C: Your heart drops like, he's probably talking about us. And then he goes, and at this.
[00:05:14] Speaker D: Feast, someone came and took the highest seat. That's mad awkward. If you took the highest seat at.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: The table, he's clearly talking about you.
[00:05:21] Speaker D: He's like, and at the feast, that guy got put in the worst seat and the worst seat got put in the best seat. And it's probably just getting mad awkward.
And can I tell you, even as we read that, a side note, this is for free, that God is still.
[00:05:32] Speaker C: The God that exalts the humble.
[00:05:35] Speaker D: We live in a time of self promotion where everyone's trying to promote. Can I tell you, God is still the God that finds the shepherd boy.
[00:05:40] Speaker C: And makes him king.
[00:05:42] Speaker D: So self promotion is not needed. Can I remind you, God knows where you are.
If God wants to find you and promote you, he will do it.
[00:05:50] Speaker C: You will never have to self promote.
[00:05:52] Speaker D: People are often like, well, why am I not the one on stage? Why am I not the one preaching, God knows where you are?
He exalts the humble and often that question is the proof that we are.
[00:06:03] Speaker C: Not ready yet for what he's called us to.
Because often he's found that other person trustworthy.
[00:06:10] Speaker D: So you never have to self promote. And then he goes on.
[00:06:13] Speaker C: And actually one of my favorite verses Here is verse 15.
[00:06:16] Speaker D: Like Jesus is correcting him and some guy at the table is like, one.
[00:06:20] Speaker C: Day we will eat bread in the kingdom of heaven. It's like, bro, stop trying to change the subject. You with me. Like, it gets awkward.
[00:06:25] Speaker D: He throws this out like, one day we'll eat bread in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus goes on to a new parable, a new sermon here in verse 16 he says, There was a certain man that gave a great meal and invited many and sent a servant at.
[00:06:39] Speaker C: Suppertime to say to those who were invited, come, for all things are ready, but they all with one accord Began to make excuses. The first said to him, I've bought a piece of ground. I must go and see it.
[00:06:51] Speaker D: I ask that you have me excused. And another said, I bought five yoke of oxen and I'm going to test them.
[00:06:57] Speaker C: I ask that you have me excused.
[00:07:00] Speaker D: Still another said, I have married a wife and I therefore cannot come.
[00:07:05] Speaker C: I've heard that one before.
[00:07:07] Speaker D: Then the servant came and reported these.
[00:07:11] Speaker C: Things to his master, and he said.
[00:07:14] Speaker D: Go out and invite other people. What's unique to me is. So then he goes and finds people that want to come. The three examples Jesus uses there seem like valid examples.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: To not show up to something like.
[00:07:26] Speaker D: I bought a piece of land. Okay, fair enough. He has a business plan. Jesus, like, he has a business meeting. Let him go and have that business meeting. Or, hey, he has five yoke of oxen. Like, that's business. That's not really inappropriate to miss something that looks like good stewardship.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: Are you with me?
[00:07:39] Speaker D: Like, in its right place, it could be healthy. But sometimes even things are right in the right place when they get in the way of being at a feast with Jesus, they're holding us back. And oftentimes I worry that we often hide behind good stewardship and don't live a radical life God's called us to.
Can I tell you, the radical life God has called us to will be inconvenienced. Like, there'll be things that we might have to lay down or exceptions we may have to make to walk in what God is calling us to walk in.
Because it reminds me of the other story where the man comes to Jesus and goes, hey. Jesus goes, hey, come with me. Follow me. Lay everything down. Follow me. What an invitation to be a disciple of Jesus.
And the man goes, hey, like, I have to bury my dad real quick.
You would think that's valid. Like, it's just the guy's funeral. Like, let him go and bury his dad and follow me. And Jesus has a very strong response, like, if you aren't, wink, leave everything and follow me. Like, you can't come with me.
[00:08:34] Speaker C: And you're like, well, that's extreme.
[00:08:37] Speaker D: So most Jewish scholars would teach us that that man's dad wasn't dead.
He's essentially saying, like, hey, like, I'm going to go and wait for my dad to die. And then I thought, I'm going to go and wait for a more convenient time to follow you.
And I haven't been in ministry for very long, but I've been in ministry long enough to hear similar things. Often in the church, like, I speak to the teenager and they're like, well, I'm really going to set out for God after high.
And then it's like, well, well, well, actually, after college.
Well, actually, once I get a job, no, I'm going to be radical and sell out. Once I get married, like, I'm going to go all in.
[00:09:18] Speaker C: Once I have a kid, I'm going.
[00:09:21] Speaker D: To all go after the second kid, I'm going to go in after the kids finally in school, I'm going to go all in after high school, I'm going to go all in after college, I'm going to go all in after I've retired.
Can I tell you, there will never be a convenient time to follow Jesus.
It will always inconvenience us.
Jesus doesn't consider our comfort when he calls us.
That's one of the reasons the Holy Spirit is called the comforter, for a reason. You don't need a comforter in your comfort zone.
Everyone's like, I want more of the Holy Spirit. He's going to call you out of your uncomfortable life.
It's like, no, I want him here. You don't need him to do nothing.
You can. I can do nothing by myself.
We all want to walk on water, but, like, am I willing to get out of the boat?
And Jesus actually goes on right after this. There's many with him. It's like a cultural moment even in America right now. Being a Christian is cool, so this kind of applies to it.
Thousands are walking with Jesus and he stops and turns to them. And this is what he preaches to the multitudes here in verse 25. If anyone comes after me and doesn't hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
That's intense.
Like, that's a terrible church growth model.
Thousands are walking with him like, hey, guys, unless you hate everyone, including yourself.
[00:10:55] Speaker C: You can't be my disciple.
Everyone's like, hey, hold up. We were just with you for the miracles and like, the loaves and the fish and like.
But now, like this, we didn't sign up for.
[00:11:06] Speaker D: And in the original language, when he says hate, the word there just means to love less than.
So he's essentially saying, like, if you love your family more than me, you.
[00:11:14] Speaker C: Can'T be my disciple.
[00:11:16] Speaker D: But then he goes on to say, even if you love your own life.
[00:11:19] Speaker C: More than me, you can't be my disciple.
[00:11:24] Speaker D: And then he gets more extreme.
And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple.
[00:11:31] Speaker C: He is saying this before the resurrection and the crucifixion.
[00:11:35] Speaker D: So what do they hear? He's like, unless you bear a cross, the cross was the most humiliating thing.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: That could happen in culture.
[00:11:40] Speaker D: It was punishment. It was humiliation. You would give up reputation.
So he goes, not only do you have to love everything less than me, you also have to be willing to. To even be maybe humiliated for my sake if you want to be my disciple.
So he's giving an invitation. He's explaining the cost of not just.
[00:12:02] Speaker C: Being saved, but becoming a disciple of Jesus.
[00:12:07] Speaker D: And I believe God is inviting us into discipleship.
What does it look like to be a disciple of Jesus?
And then he goes on to say, who building a tower doesn't consider the cost first? Or who going to war doesn't consider who they're going to war against.
Which I look back at my Christian walk, and no one really explained the.
[00:12:29] Speaker C: Cost of following Jesus to me.
[00:12:32] Speaker D: No one really explained what Jesus is saying here. There is going to be a cost.
There might be some hardships, there might be some humiliation. You might have to give up reputation.
Things might get really hard.
So considerate.
And then he goes on in verse 33, so likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.
So he makes the doorway to discipleship very clear.
What is it? What is our cross?
[00:13:05] Speaker C: Inconvenience.
[00:13:07] Speaker D: Things that bring me to the end of myself.
So he invites us into true discipleship. And what's beautiful is sometimes we think the end destination is being uncomfortable or inconvenienced.
And he's going, no, no, the doorway.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: The start of this journey is an inconvenienced, uncomfortable lifestyle.
[00:13:26] Speaker D: It's not an end destination.
It's the very start. Like this is going to be uncomfortable, and it's going to unconvenience us, and there's going to be a cost.
I remember for me what really provoked.
[00:13:38] Speaker C: My heart years ago. I was sitting in a room and there was a panel at a service. And on the panel, some of the.
[00:13:45] Speaker D: Heroes in the faith were on the.
[00:13:46] Speaker C: Panel, including Bill Johnson and Benny Hinn.
[00:13:49] Speaker D: And both of them were talking about how they, in their time, have never.
[00:13:54] Speaker C: Seen what they experienced in Kathryn Kuhlman's meetings.
And these are two men that have seen a lot. Stadiums and arenas filled with the glory of God, miracles breaking out.
[00:14:04] Speaker D: And both of them said, since we.
[00:14:06] Speaker C: Were in her meetings, we've never experienced what we experienced in her room.
Now, to me, that's heartbreaking because that Means I've never experienced the measure of glory that were in those rooms. It provokes me to want more of God, to learn his ways.
And then the question became, why do you think that is?
[00:14:25] Speaker D: Why do you think that they.
[00:14:26] Speaker C: That she saw it and they saw it corporately, but we haven't seen it yet.
[00:14:31] Speaker D: And Bill went first and he said.
[00:14:32] Speaker C: Because we move on too quickly.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: We'Re too distracted.
[00:14:37] Speaker C: One day it's his presence, the next day it's something else. One day it's the cross, the next day it's something else.
What if a people just did what Paul said? Like, I determined to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified for the rest of my life. That's what I'm after.
Everything else is peripheral.
The main thing is Christ and Him crucified.
[00:15:00] Speaker D: And the day that doesn't move my heart.
[00:15:03] Speaker C: I haven't matured onto or progressed onto a new subject. I've backslidden in my heart.
If he doesn't move our heart, what will?
If he doesn't satisfy the human heart, nothing else will.
Your dreams won't satisfy you.
Only he moves the human hard enough to satisfy it.
[00:15:24] Speaker D: And then Benny went next, like, why.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: Have we not seen what Kathryn Kuhlman saw?
[00:15:27] Speaker D: And Benny's response will forever change my life.
[00:15:29] Speaker C: And he said, because no one preaches death to self anymore.
No one teaches us to deny ourselves.
The Gospel says, deny yourself daily and pick up your cross.
There's something about learning to deny myself.
[00:15:50] Speaker D: To be with him. And the best picture is there's a.
[00:15:53] Speaker C: Picture where Jesus in the Gospels goes.
[00:15:55] Speaker D: The kingdom of God is like. Is like a treasure hidden in a field.
And when a man finds it, for the joy set before him goes and sells all that he has to buy the treasure. Because sometimes in a sermon like this, I'm like, this sounds so intense. Debt to self, pick up your cross. Like, that's not very encouraging. But when you experience the treasure, the cost per. Pales in comparison.
Pales in comparison. So is there a cost? Absolutely. But step one is experiencing him. Like when you come to service and you experience him, you go, I will do anything to protect that measure of.
[00:16:28] Speaker C: Presence in my life.
[00:16:30] Speaker D: Hardship comes. No, no, no. I found the treasure. Yes, I'm going to sell some things and lay some things down. But it's because I found the treasure. See, dead religion tries to get you to sell everything, to buy a treasure you never experienced.
First I experience it in a room or a setting or bedroom, and God's grace calls me and I go, I Have to lay some things down if I want to live with this.
[00:16:58] Speaker C: A few months later, after that moment.
[00:17:00] Speaker D: Or a few years later, after that.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Moment, I was in a service preaching. And I'd been doing. I turned in ministry already for four.
[00:17:07] Speaker D: Or five years at this time. And I was in a youth group.
[00:17:09] Speaker C: And we were at a youth camp preaching.
[00:17:11] Speaker D: And honestly, every night at the youth camp, I was kind of annoyed because.
[00:17:14] Speaker C: The worship was going too long.
If I'm honest, I used to be the guy that's like 22 minutes is plenty of worship. I don't think God was bored. I just don't think my heart was really being moved. Can I get an amen?
I look back, I'm like, thank God that no one listened to me about.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Shortening it because it wasn't a them problem.
[00:17:33] Speaker C: My heart needed to be moved.
[00:17:35] Speaker D: And I was sitting in this worship in the service. And I kid you not, the worship leader was like an hour and a.
[00:17:40] Speaker C: Half into the service. I was so frustrated. I was like, I'm going to go to my room. I'm going to teach them.
Like, they flew me out here to preach. And now she's just leading worship. I'm like, imagine being in worship, worshiping God, and somehow it's about you.
I know you've never been there.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: Just me.
[00:18:00] Speaker D: So I'm like, when are they going to wrap up like this, everyone's attention span. Like, they aren't going to be like, when I preach, they aren't going to be listening. They're teens. Like, what about their attention span? I'm like, if God shows up, who.
[00:18:10] Speaker C: Cares about the attention span?
[00:18:12] Speaker D: So we end the service and I'm sitting there frustrated at the back.
[00:18:15] Speaker C: Like, when are they going to wrap it up?
[00:18:17] Speaker D: And suddenly I feel the room shift.
And if you know the Holy Spirit, you know what it feels like when a room shifts where he manifests himself.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: And we have a lot of people.
[00:18:27] Speaker D: That are like, God's omnipresent. He doesn't manifest manifest themselves.
[00:18:30] Speaker C: I'm like, explain the upper room to me.
Like they drunk with wine.
[00:18:36] Speaker D: Homie's not drunk with wine. He's not experiencing anything. But they somehow are. So is he omnipresent? Yes. Or what about the holy of holies? This side of the veil, you're alive, that side, you're dead.
Was he omnipresent then? Yes.
So just, just because he's omnipresent doesn't.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: Mean he can't manifest himself somewhere.
[00:18:56] Speaker D: He can't show up in a room with his glory and people that learn his ways learn to facilitate him showing.
[00:19:02] Speaker C: Up in a space.
[00:19:05] Speaker D: So I'm in this room, and I feel the room shift, and this worship leader starts to cast out demons.
[00:19:11] Speaker C: And you feel the presence of God.
[00:19:13] Speaker D: And then there's a wrestle.
[00:19:14] Speaker C: I'm supposed to be preaching, and I'm like, bro, get over yourself.
[00:19:20] Speaker D: And I made a decision that night because I. It was a sobering thought. I stood in the back of that room frustrated. But in the moment when he showed up, I knew that somebody else had.
[00:19:29] Speaker C: Paid the price for him to come that night.
There was a woman that learned the ways of God, that had learned how to surrender, that had learned how to deny herself and obey the presence.
That's why Kathryn Kuhlman would get on stage and say, I died a thousand deaths before this, because she knew the life of going low and surrendering and yielding led to glory, led to more of him, led to his presence. I think God is raising up a humble people again that are willing to obey what he's telling us to do.
[00:20:04] Speaker D: Even in the midst of hardship. Because can I tell you, hardship is coming in this life, and God will.
[00:20:10] Speaker C: Use it to form you.
Some of you aren't sure. Okay, turn to 2 Corinthians with me.
[00:20:18] Speaker D: I want us to read this passage.
[00:20:20] Speaker C: 2 Corinthians, chapter 12 is a passage.
[00:20:23] Speaker D: That is so divisive at times. People fight over because they fight about what is the thorn in the flesh.
And my worry is that we've become so concerned with arguing about what the thorn in the flesh is that we've missed the point of the passage.
Let's look at what Paul is actually saying. Second Corinthians 12, verse 7.
And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of revelation, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
[00:20:57] Speaker C: So if we pause there for a second, what is he saying?
[00:21:00] Speaker D: He's saying, I had so much revelation and was so close to being perfected that God had to give me a thorn to help me from, like, being too prideful because I'm, like, so close to being perfect.
So, number one, if somehow we get a thorn, it's a privilege.
[00:21:17] Speaker C: You are so close.
[00:21:18] Speaker D: So people always like, brother, I have a thorn in the flesh. I'm like, no, no, no.
I know your lifestyle. You don't need a thorn from God.
[00:21:24] Speaker C: Yet you with me like, people, like.
[00:21:28] Speaker D: I got a thorn. Like, bring me your spouse if they confirm you so perfect that God has To help humble you, I'll believe you. Like me, I got plenty of areas I know God needs to work on me. You know what I'm saying?
[00:21:40] Speaker C: Like, I'm already dependent.
[00:21:41] Speaker D: So Paul, he's like, I was so close that God had to help me.
[00:21:44] Speaker C: By giving me something to make me dependent on him.
[00:21:47] Speaker D: So it's very specific. But look at what God's response is.
Well, he says, I pleaded with him three times.
And God says in verse nine, my grace is sufficient for you.
So, meaning that hardship, I'm actually not going to take it away because my divine empowerment is enough for you.
My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast.
[00:22:14] Speaker C: In infirmities, boast that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[00:22:20] Speaker D: That reminds me of James chapter one, where James says, consider it all joy.
[00:22:25] Speaker C: When trials come, and be patient, because.
[00:22:29] Speaker D: Patience will have its perfect work completing you.
Meaning that trials actually form Christ and complex. If I don't know the role of trials in my life, I'm saying no to being complete and formed into the image of Christ.
So why is this important to me? Because I fear for the church worldwide. We don't have a grid for hardship. So we think when hardship comes, something's wrong. I'm like, have you read what Paul went through?
[00:22:54] Speaker C: Shipwrecked, beaten, killed, stoned, whipped naked, fasting. I love how he throws fasting into the list of what he went through.
[00:23:04] Speaker D: But.
And he wasn't like, I'm out. Christianity got hard. I'm out. Because he's like, no, no hardship is going to come. And it's a gift because it causes me to be weak and to need God. That is a gift.
And then he goes on to say, I will actually boast in infirmities and needs and persecution for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, he is strong.
See, I. What. What does this look like practically? Like, when somebody hurts me, when. When I need to be humble. Like, what does it look like for us to be humble?
[00:23:37] Speaker C: How do we obtain it?
[00:23:39] Speaker D: What does it look like to be humble believers? Like, how does it look practically so to me, when somebody hurts me, when somebody does me wrong, I behold Christ crucified.
Like God became a man, put off reputation, humbled himself, became obedient, and died. And when I behold the crucified Christ, I walk out his death in my body.
And that weakens me beautifully.
What does that mean? So if somebody hurts me, for instance, I often think about this in community. If somebody hurts me and pride rises up, like, I'm going to cut them off. I'm done loving them. They've hurt you, or somebody close to you hurts you, like, I'm done. They have to apologize. I'm not going to love them. I go and I look at Christ crucified and I allow, I walk out his death in my body. What does that look like? Well, when he came and died. Think about Peter, for instance.
[00:24:35] Speaker C: Like, Peter, I'm going to build my church on you.
That's incredible. What a privilege. For three and a half years, he sows into Peter. He molds Peter. He's slow with Peter. He encourages them, he disciples them, he corrects them.
[00:24:48] Speaker D: And in Jesus, time of need, when everyone turns their back on him.
Here's another side note. If Jesus did life in imperfect community.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: I can do life in imperfect community.
Some people are like, this community is not perfect.
[00:25:02] Speaker D: I'm like, if you went and found a perfect community, they wouldn't accept you.
[00:25:05] Speaker C: Because you aren't perfect.
[00:25:07] Speaker D: Hey.
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:25:10] Speaker C: Like you want perfect community?
[00:25:11] Speaker D: Well, then they wouldn't accept me. I'm imperfect too.
You're like, well, I was hurt by community.
[00:25:16] Speaker C: That's my point. I know someone else who was hurt by community.
I know someone else who is rejected by community.
So Peter turns his back on Jesus.
Jesus doesn't resurrect and come back like Peter, I'm done with you.
[00:25:32] Speaker D: He's perfect. He could do that.
He's never wronged anyone. I'm imperfect.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: And God's still been loving, gracious and kind to me.
[00:25:40] Speaker D: So once I understand that, suddenly I walk out his death in my body.
I'm like, this is really hard. I'm going to love you.
[00:25:47] Speaker C: Because Dylan needs to be weakened.
Amen.
[00:25:53] Speaker D: So in those moments, I'm allowing the pride to die in me by choosing to walk out the death in my body. And it weakens me beautifully.
This is what he means by picking up our cross. We aren't running from hardship. We're running to Jesus with the hardship and going, allow this to mold me, Jesus. I want to be more kind. I want to be more loving.
I want to be more long suffering.
I want to be more like Jesus. But Jesus carried a cross.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: We carry our hardships.
[00:26:29] Speaker D: We walk out as death.
So when the world looks at us, they see a gentle and kind church.
Or, what about this? I'm fixating on the cross. What about when someone comes after your reputation or says a lie about you?
You remember that Isaiah 53 says, he was like a sheep led to the slaughter. He was silent.
And you know how Hard it is to be silent, but I need to be weakened.
Why do I need an opinion on everything?
If Jesus can keep quiet, Dylan can keep quiet.
You see what I'm saying?
So suddenly community or people around you begin to form me, and somebody hurts me in community. I'm like, okay, I need that.
My favorite author, Henry Nouwen, says, this community is where the place where the person you like the least often lives.
[00:27:21] Speaker C: You need people to rub you the wrong way.
[00:27:24] Speaker D: It teaches you to go low. Can I tell you when Jesus says, come to me, all you who are tired and weary, it's such a juxtaposition. Like, if you're tired, come to me and I'll give you rest.
But we all think, restful way is the highway. I hold on to my rights. I'm offended. I'm not going to apologize. That's the way to rest. He goes, no, no, you come to me. I'll give you rest. We go low.
[00:27:48] Speaker C: Are you with me?
[00:27:49] Speaker D: Like, you want peace, Learn to go low.
You want holiness, learn to humble yourself.
Andrew Murray says this, the holiest will always be the humblest.
So what does that look like? It means, like, if you want peace, learn to go low. Like, can I tell you, I felt this in worship. God wants to heal marriages in the room this morning, but it's going to start with somebody apologizing, not when they apologize.
You can go low.
[00:28:20] Speaker C: I'm sorry I did that.
[00:28:22] Speaker D: You know what I've learned from men of God? Any of the men of God I.
[00:28:25] Speaker C: Look up to, they'll call me and go, hey, an hour ago, when we were on the phone, I'm so sorry I said this.
[00:28:33] Speaker D: No one confronted them.
[00:28:35] Speaker C: They're living before an audience of one. They humble themselves because they have learned.
[00:28:39] Speaker D: What the Bible says.
[00:28:40] Speaker C: Where he says he gives grace to the humble.
You fall in love with the low.
[00:28:45] Speaker D: Road because the low road, there's peace.
You fall in love with confession because.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: I feel his grace come.
[00:28:52] Speaker D: You fall in love with apologizing. The Bible is radical. You know, the Bible says, if you come into worship and you know someone else in this room has something against.
[00:29:01] Speaker C: You, go and talk to them.
[00:29:04] Speaker D: The humility that requires to go, hey, I'm not offended at you, but I know you're offended at me. Can we work this out?
Sometimes I'm so tired of holding onto my rights, it's tiring to be like, I'm offended.
[00:29:18] Speaker C: They have to apologize.
That's tiring.
[00:29:23] Speaker D: See, our crosses or these hardships become our enemies when they're actually Meant to be a gift to weaken us beautifully.
What do I mean? Like, often I'll be like, hey, bro, how's community? Well, none of them do this, none of them do that.
[00:29:35] Speaker C: They all this. They all that.
[00:29:36] Speaker D: I'm like, it's amazing how community, that was a gift. Became your enemy. Instead of you sharing your need for.
[00:29:41] Speaker C: God in community, everyone else has become the issue.
[00:29:45] Speaker D: Well, how's your marriage?
[00:29:46] Speaker C: Well, she doesn't.
[00:29:47] Speaker D: She doesn't do this. I'm like, we run from our own.
[00:29:50] Speaker C: Shortcomings when they were actually always meant to be an invitation into more of God.
[00:29:58] Speaker D: So God is calling us to pick up crosses. Why? Because death is the road into resurrection life. Death is the doorway into resurrection life. In our kingdom, kings carry crosses.
So this sounds super strong, but it's the kindest thing I could do because this is the roadmap to walking in resurrection life. Now, this is how we do it. The Bible says, like our brother read so beautifully, Jesus humbled himself in Philippians 2 and became obedient.
So humility always leads to obedience. People often ask, like, why? Why do you think? What holds this generation, you and I, back from seeing revival, we've enthroned ourselves.
The whole world is teaching that the way to happiness and contentment is you discovering you, making your life about you.
One of the most sobering verses is James 3:16.
It says, where envy and self seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing is there.
I propose that's why we have such.
[00:31:03] Speaker C: A confused generation, because we've been told the way to contentment is making this life about you.
When the Bible promises that just leads to confusion and every evil thing.
So we pick up our cross in the midst of hardship. We love. We allow it to mold us. So it says he humbled himself and the outcome of humility, he became obedient.
[00:31:27] Speaker D: Which means you give up your rights. Like I read mark 16, go into all the world and preach the gospel. I no longer have the right to say that doesn't apply to me. I'm not the Lord of my life.
Go to your brother. That's hard. Well, what did Jesus do when things got hard? Can this cup pass before me?
[00:31:45] Speaker C: No. Okay, I'm going to go and pray.
It's humble to have a prayer life.
It shows you aware of your need for God.
Are you with me?
[00:31:56] Speaker D: The humble pray?
I don't know what else I would do. I'm confronted with shortcomings.
[00:32:01] Speaker C: I go, God, I need you.
[00:32:02] Speaker D: Don't get me wrong. I know I'm loved by God.
[00:32:04] Speaker C: I know I'm righteous, but I'm also beautifully aware of my need for God.
[00:32:10] Speaker D: So I go to him.
[00:32:11] Speaker C: God help me.
[00:32:12] Speaker D: This is hard, but that's the beauty of it.
[00:32:15] Speaker C: You begin to experience the freedom that comes with it.
[00:32:18] Speaker D: So when he says, hey, my road is lowly, my yoke is light, he's saying, like, I will carry it with you, but you got to get down to my level. Then I'll carry it with you.
[00:32:28] Speaker C: Are you with me?
[00:32:29] Speaker D: So, like, if you want him to carry your cross with you, you go down low.
See, as persecution and stuff comes.
Why do Christians do so well in persecution? Because of how we handle it.
[00:32:42] Speaker C: We go low. We love.
[00:32:49] Speaker D: God is asking us, would we pick up our cross at the end of Luke 14, he says this in verse 35, no one puts the two together. He says, salt is good, but if salt has lost its flavour, how will it be seasoned?
It's not good for anything. Can I tell you that? He's saying that those Christians that are.
[00:33:09] Speaker C: Salt of the world are those that carry crosses.
That when people look at our lives, they don't just see power and anointing, they see humility when they look. And there's something different about us.
[00:33:23] Speaker D: We all want to see Acts Chapter.
[00:33:25] Speaker C: Two, which is like, we all in.
[00:33:26] Speaker D: Homes and revival and it's breaking out. I'm all for it, but can I tell you, Acts Chapter two says that no one was in need because they sold everything they had and distributed it.
[00:33:36] Speaker C: That is radical humility.
[00:33:39] Speaker D: Think about how radical of a lifestyle that is. Like, no one's in need because we so generous and thousands are being added and everyone's in each other's homes and there's revival breaking out. Can I tell you that we can't have Acts 2 without Philippians 2.
If we want that, we have to learn the humble life. Because sustained revival comes through cruciform community.
Community that's been modeled after the cross.
Community that loves others. And this life is not about me. You get saved, come to my table.
[00:34:08] Speaker C: I'm going to be inconvenienced by you.
[00:34:11] Speaker D: You know what provokes me? That Jesus takes three and a half years for 12 people.
[00:34:15] Speaker C: That's so slow.
[00:34:18] Speaker D: I'm like, what about the thousands?
[00:34:19] Speaker C: He's just like, just you and me.
Cruciform community. That's what God's looking for. People that carry crosses and become the salt of the earth.
God's calling us to be inconvenienced and uncomfortable.
[00:34:33] Speaker D: It's the best place you could be.
[00:34:35] Speaker C: It's the Most joyful, free place is carrying your cross.
The cross is not just something we admire. Someone can jump up on the keys as I slowly wrap up. I'm an evangelist, so I have three closings. This is the first one.
The cross is not just something we admire or sing about or preach.
It's not just a symbol to look at. It's something to be conformed to.
It's something to be conformed to. When Paul says, I labour that Christ be formed in you.
[00:35:15] Speaker D: I used to think that was just.
[00:35:16] Speaker C: Healing the sick and casting out demons. And that's a part of it, but it's also his nature.
In Revelation, John says they look up.
[00:35:26] Speaker D: And he says, behold, there's a lion.
[00:35:28] Speaker C: And it's fascinating if you read in Revelation, I believe it's Revelation 5.
[00:35:32] Speaker D: He says, When I looked up, there was a lamb slain.
[00:35:36] Speaker C: Did he get it wrong? Did he see the wrong animal?
I doubt it.
[00:35:41] Speaker D: I think he was declaring favor that.
[00:35:43] Speaker C: The clearest definition of Jesus's character is a slain lamb.
I believe he's molding us into that image of humble people that obey him, that walk this out with him, that live inconvenienced lives.
[00:35:58] Speaker D: We behold him and allow it to weaken us beautifully as we walk out his death in our body.
So I ask you, who do you have to apologize to? Where do you have to go low in your life? What crosses have you maybe been running from? The God actually used, wanted to use.
[00:36:13] Speaker C: To form you, but they became your enemy.
God's calling us to inconvenience lives.
One of the quotes I've been meditating on is Ignatius of Antioch, who was actually discipled by John. Who wrote John, John the Beloved?
Imagine being discipled by John.
[00:36:32] Speaker D: He.
[00:36:33] Speaker C: He was on his way to be martyred in an arena by wild animals for being a Christian.
[00:36:41] Speaker D: And the Church tried to get in the way of him being martyred. And he writes them a letter and you can read in his writings. He says, don't you dare stop this, because I'm finally going to begin the journey of discipleship.
Maybe he understood what the Church wrote in the Gospels when they said, he who loses his life will find it.
This is not a radical call. This is the original version of the faith that we are a part of. This is not new.
If anything, I'm saying, let's go back to the original.
Our king carried a cross, and then he taught, I will give you one. Mother Bachelor Schlink says, God meets you at the cross and then gives you a cross.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said he meets you at the cross then bids you come and die.
That's the Christianity we were a part of.
That's what it looks like to be a salt on this earth. Can we stand if you deny yourself and come after me?
This is the way to freedom. This is the way to life. The lowly road is the way to life. The humble way is the freeway.
Psalm 37:11 says, the humble will be given peace.
Some of us are so restless because we've been holding on to rights that he never had.
If he didn't possess those rights, I don't want to possess them.
So this is not by works this morning. It's by first beholding him, Jesus, we look to the cross.
We see the Son of God high and lifted up like a sheep led to the slaughter.
We thank you for your love, Lord, that even when we didn't deserve it, you would die for us. Even when we were enemies of Christ, you died for us. I'm a reminder of what Paul writes where he says, God forbid I should boast except in the cross of Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified and I to the world.
Lord, we have one boast. It's your cross, Lord.
[00:38:57] Speaker C: We repent for times running from an invitation into grace.
[00:39:04] Speaker D: We say yes to picking up our cross, Lord. We count the cost. We say, no matter what comes, I'm following you.
No matter what comes in this life, I'm following you, knowing that you will mold and form Christ in me.
Holy Spirit, form Christ in us.
[00:39:28] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to the Chroma Charge podcast. If you enjoyed this message, you can like and subscribe.
You can also join us in person or online every Sunday at Cromer Church. For more information about us, including our ministries, events, worship and how to donate, visit our website at Cromer Church.
