Heavenly Father Lord this morning we are expectant to hear a word from you Lord I pray that this morning you would help us to quiet the noise of the world the distractions the um even the noise of our own hearts Lord that you would give us a special attention that we can give to your spirit Lord and I pray for pastor Cameron and the preparation and the prayer and the spirit leading Lord I pray that you would give him uh the words to say and the wisdom to uh omit the words that he's not supposed to say this morning Lord that your Holy Spirit would be active through the preaching of your word Lord I ask that you would build us up that you would give us a vision to behold you and to know you more in Jesus name we pray amen amen good morning conduit how are you morning good good it's good to see you this morning I've been uh talking with uh Pastor Luke and we'll just kind of feel in this a little bit that I um I almost feel like it's my first Sunday preaching here again even though I've been preaching here for like almost 10 years um but we haven't really we haven't between stories of conduit and Christmas services and all that it's been like over a month since we have uh done any type of like traditional preaching um and I'm uh I'm eager to get back there uh eager to uh jump back into the Roman series here in a few weeks um and to pick up where we left off if you remember as Pastor Luke said that we had been studying in the Book of Romans and I think we're about uh we're a little bit less than halfway through it and so we're going to jump back in in here in a few uh in a few weeks but um sometime at the beginning of the year every year uh I think it's important for us and I like to uh take this kind of uh a a necessary and intentional step uh to return to or be reminded of uh the kind of the the center of our life as a worshiping community and and to get oriented make sure that we're orienting ourselves towards the what what is the proverbial North Star for our communal life together why why exactly we exist as a community why why we are here why we worship and while we come and now while we we try to do that Pastor Luke and myself we we we do take make an intentional effort in every sermon that we bring or every message that we have or every Sunday that we're here we do try to make an an intentional effort to remind to remind you to remind ourselves to be reminded as a community of why uh of why we are here and why we exist and what it is that we're all here for um you know it's not uh it it is it always it it always is important to return back to that place once again and to say all right just in case any of us forgot you know I know like the beginning of the year you get through the holidays and the beginning of the year sometimes can be like a fog like what day is it what year is it where am I is it have are we did we really flip the calendar did we really start over and is anything significantly different about my life or about my direction this year than it has been in the past and I would say in some ways like yeah we use the opportunity for a new year and a new start to maybe make some uh resolutions to St step back down onto our core values and say okay this is the direction that my life or my family is traveling this year but um there are some things that never change and so uh we want to return to it always and if I um if I preached if I preached a sermon that spoke of our Unapologetic and forever commitment to glorifying the name of Jesus and following him in all we do if I preached that sermon every single week I am confident that I would run across the finish line of this race that I has been marked out for me with Jesus himself saying well done good good and faithful servant and so and so in in case that there was if in case there was any confusion about that in case there was any confusion about what we are about here at conduit what we desire to be about as a community of people gathered together um hopefully this begins to bring some clarity to any confusion that we might have or anything that we might have forgotten about in the past 11 or 12 12 months and that is we are unapologetically 100% unapologetically And Forever About glorifying the Name of Jesus and following him in all that we do if you're new to conduit this morning if you're old to conduit this morning hear that really really really loud and clear our desire and our heart and our direction is to be about Jesus in every decision that we make in every message that we preach in every song that we sing in every small group that we have in every Sunday school class that we have in every Bible study that we host every time that the food truck goes out any Community event that we have we want to be all about Jesus and if people leave our presence as a community of Faith thinking that wow that was all about conduit conduit is a great place and we have failed we have failed because because our our goal our goal is not to build a name for ourselves it's not to make a name for ourselves either as a church or as individuals our our goal is to make the name of Jesus great to to see him be lifted up right because when when Jesus Christ is lifted up He will draw all men women and children to himself right it is it is in the lifting up and glorifying of the name of Jesus Christ that people's lives are transformed you're not transformed through um through the ministry of your pastor you're not transformed by the person that's sitting next to you right you're not transformed by reading the greatest book or listening to the greatest podcast like we are we are transformed through the ministry of Jesus Christ by faith and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit by the sanctifying power of the in the truth of God's word in the context of a Community of Faith of others who are walking with Jesus seeking to follow him and be obedient to his commands that is how we are transformed and that is what we want to all be about Now understand this um listen I I know I know the flaws of conduit Ministries better than any of you right I I know where we miss the mark in Greater detail and I say this with no no amount of pride right it's not a fun thing to know okay right not not saying n n boo boo right but listen I know I know the ways and the times and the opportunities that we miss the mark in that better than anyone right it is the thing of my nightmares right is the thing that keeps me up at night okay so what I am not saying is that what you will see in the life of the community here is always 100% Perfection towards what we're talking about tonight but what I am saying is that as a people we also desire to have a sufficient amount of humility and surrender to the Holy Spirit to say in every opportunity that we have Lord would you make us more faithful to the task of glorifying the name of Jesus not thank you for perfecting us more than all of the other churches because that's garbage right but Lord would you make us in humility more faithful to the task to glorify y the name of Jesus and to serve him Faithfully so that Those whom you have entrusted to us might have an incarnational experience with the Son of God that's our desire okay um when we say things like we are all about Jesus or we're unapologetically about glorifying and magnifying the name of Jesus and following him in all that we do um there there is a moment here there is a qualification or I think a a a a piece of caution that we must also kind of wrestle with and this is a matter of our this is a matter of personal and communal spiritual humility right uh we have to be careful about this when we say we are all about Jesus um because we are we are not we are not about Jesus the Jesus that we make in our own image we're not about the Jesus that we make with our own in our own image meaning meaning we are not about glorifying the the Jesus that agrees with everything that we agree with in everything that we think it's a very it's a very you should you should be walking um on proverbial eggshells or very very carefully when you come to the conclusion that Jesus agrees perfectly with everything that you

believe or that if Jesus was here he would believe exactly like you he would act exactly like you he would think exactly like you he would go to the same places that you go he would hang out with the same people that you hang out with he would say the things that you say he would think the things that you think when we when when we come to a place of believing or saying like yeah I I Jesus and I were like lock step together right of course we we we want to be following Jesus as Faithfully as his grace enables us and we are capable of but when we come to a place of saying yeah you just need to like making Jesus in our own image we we we end up we end up in kind of a dangerous place um because the Jesus of scripture constantly consistently and with just about every person he interacted with had to destroy their expectations of who he was and what he came to do and the ministry which he came to bring he had to destroy their expectations so so that he could actually show who he was and what he came to do how he came to treat people what he came to say how he came to act how he came to live and how he came to die right because everyone wants to follow Jesus in power right very few people want to follow Jesus in his

death because when when Jesus calls us to come and follow him what does he call us to he he calls us to come and die right come come and pick up this cross not not not some feel-good nostalgic religious symbol for you and I but an instrument of death to them and so even the words of Jesus come and pick up this carry your cross and follow me to follow me Jesus says essentially is to follow me towards

death death and surrender to yourself death to your own life Death to Your Own dreams death to your own goals and plans and vision so that you might rise to new life in the life that I have given to you through faith in my

son and so we do have to ask the question like all right we we intend to follow the Jesus that has been made in our own image the Jesus that is full of power and gives us only our best life or the Jesus that actually sometimes calls us to come and die to ourselves to lay down everything to give up everything for for his cause and his sake in our lives it is the it is the discipleship of surrender rather than the discipleship of a a linear path to personal

Prosperity Jesus had a conversation with probably the closest person on Earth to him about this the three synoptic gospels Matthew Mark and Luke all record this conversation John doesn't record it but he records similar ones where Jesus came to his disciples in Matthew chapter we'll read out of Matthew Chapter 13 um where where where Jesus kind of starts a conversation with the understanding and the knowledge of his awareness of people making him to be in their own image in their own idea with their own plans for him Jesus knew that this was happening and so in in um in in the classic way of Jesus that create a teaching moment by asking some questions he asked uh Peter and the disciples around him this question Peter was the one that

answered don't look at Matthew Chapter 13 because that is not the correct

reference look at Matthew chapter 16 and you'll find the right

one yeah Matthew chapter

16 sorry whoever's up there on the computer my bad Matthew chapter 16 starting at verse 133 just going to read three short verses here it kind of illustrates this point for us right that that people had an idea of who Jesus had come to

be when Jesus came to the region of cesaria Philippi he asked his disciples who do people say that the son of man is was asking them hey um are people talking about me and what are they saying about me this is a little bit into his ministry right they had heard his teaching they had seen some of his miracles they had seen the way that he had um interacted with the religious leaders of the day Pharisees Sadducees High priests they they were they were aware of the stirring about around Jesus right and so he was like hey what's the um um what's the word the kids use these day what's the te

Kathy how do you know

that uh what's the tea I don't even know what that means like what are they saying what are they saying about me and so what does Peter say he says well um some say that you're John the Baptist oh others say that you are Elijah uh still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets and so there was this idea there was not just the idea there was lots of ideas about who Jesus was and what he had came to do and what his ministry among them would be because all of these people had I would say similar types of Ministries but they were all very different they they they were all different and and and so you know I Think Jesus he's I think he's going to be like Elijah call down fire burn up the false um the false priests right like come with power or like John the Baptist the weird guy out in the wilderness calling people to repent right some other Prophet maybe and then Jesus asks this question after Peter's response okay well uh that's what everyone else is saying but who do you say that I

am I think the the implication here is that Jesus knows that Peter has been witness to the things and Ministry of Jesus life based on what you have seen Peter who do you say that I

am this is the one time that Peter got it right okay this is like the one time where he doesn't doesn't just absolutely stick his entire sandal in his mouth okay and he says you are the Christ you are the son of the Living God now now it's impossible nearly impossible for us today um who speak Cent 21st century English who use words like tea and aren't speak talking about a drink right um to un to always understand the the depth of that statement that Peter proclaims in that moment you are the Christ the son of the Living God an extraordinarily profound both confession and proclamation of who he knew Jesus to be the long promised the long awaited Messiah the one who would come to save his people from their sins to set them free from the Yoke of bondage to bring them into the kingdom of God promised to the ancestors of Abraham and Not only was he the one to do this himself but he wasn't just some gu some some nice guy with high ethical or moral standards who was just like firing on all eight cylinders all the time super good guy that Jesus right but that he was the son of the Living God that he was God of God that he was in himself the Incarnation of the father on earth a profound statement and confession that despite even his mistakes Peter's mistakes later in life earlier in life in all of his ministry reoriented Peter's life and transformed the way that he lived because because he he in that moment was able to confess with his mouth as he recognized in his Spirit who Jesus actually was that all others around him or a good portion of those around him were creating these expectations or ideas of who Jesus was oh maybe he's like John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets and there was this sense that the crowd right that where these confessions were coming from just was not grasping onto who Jesus actually was was not was not walking in the intimacy of true relationship with him well when Peter was able to see through the expectations of the world for Jesus to see who Jesus actually was confess it with his mouth Proclaim it with every inch of his being it was at that moment in Peter's life that everything turned right because then Jesus says to him you are right Peter no one has revealed this to you except my father and now I declare your name will be Peter and on this rock I will build my church it's an interesting little play on words here that Jesus uses because the word Peter means Rock okay and so you might you you we might think that Peter walks away with like oh okay it is on me that Jesus will build his church I mean that might be comforting to um those of us who have a tendency to put our foot in our mouth all the time like Peter does right but um but we we should think a little bit wiser than that right because because the the indication here is not that Jesus is going to build his church Church Upon A man Peter but that Christ is going to build his church upon the proclamation of the man who says that Jesus Christ is Lord that the church is built on the confession of who Jesus is not on the one who speaks it from their mouth any more than the church is built upon a p or a staff or an elder team or whoever and is built solely and completely upon the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord we will unapologetically glorify the name of Jesus and follow him with every fiber of our being that is who we are that is what we are

about so the important question the appli able question here similar to the question that Jesus asked Peter after his after the in this conversation hey Peter well okay I know what they say but what what do you say what do you see and what does it make you believe about me the question maybe remains for us the same as it did for Peter is who do you sitting in this room 120 Delaware Avenue nice cold day Bills game on at 6:30 right who do you say that Jesus is I would dare say that there is not a more important question that there there is not a more important question who do you say that he

is and and

and do you have do you possess the both intellectual and spiritual maturity to ask Jesus himself if you have been making him to be in your own image a lot rather than allowing him to be who he actually is

because making Jesus in our own image does not require us to

change it does not require us to consider how Jesus may like to sanctify and burn Away the Dark recesses of our souls so that we might come into the fullness of intimacy and relationship with him in the father because if Jesus and I are are so alike then why would I need to change right but but like we said before if I find myself saying well I know that everything that I believe Jesus believes everything that I say Jesus would say everyone that I am in relationship with Jesus would be in relationship with everything that I am doing Jesus would do it exactly the

same you have likely created a Jesus that looks exactly like you and I don't like listen I don't want a Jesus that looks exactly like me I want a Jesus that looks exactly like Jesus like him and that requires that is going to require that something here or something here or something here in my life Chang changes almost always almost always right you will you will you will arrive spiritually in heaven right when you see Jesus face to face when he comes to make all things

new um but interestingly enough Jesus doesn't leave us to guess about who he actually is and what he actually came to do and so we don't actually have to be afraid that we are inadvertently or without any without any guidance we don't have to wonder whether or not we are creating a Jesus in our own image because because Jesus Jesus actually came and said hey um this okay who do you say do you want to know what I'm all about I'm happy to tell you what I'm all about I I I am here to proclaim the kingdom of God and the kingdom of God is like the kingdom of God is like there's virtually there's virtually whole gospels built upon Jesus declaring describing what the kingdom of God is like but there are also some very specific places where Jesus gives us or the word the word of God gives us both Jesus and Paul gives us some like all right you want to know who Jesus is um Jesus is like this is what this is who I am this is what I've came to um come to do Paul this is who Jesus is this is where he sits on the proverbial scale of Spiritual Authority and Supremacy in the world and in the cosmos okay they they they don't leave it up for imagination right it's important for us to I think hear these words okay um the first place that we're going to look about this is uh a place uh early in the Gospel of Luke okay I'm going to get this reference correct right it's Luke chapter

4 and a really quick background to this um

um in Luke's gospel Jesus the first like two or three chapters is like the background the genealogy um Nativity Story Christmas right Jesus goes into the Wilderness in or he's baptized then he goes into the Wilderness in Luke chapter 4 he's tempted by the enemy um when he when the when the Temptation in his period of solitude and fasting is over for 40 days he comes out of the Wilderness it seems as though that like that period of Temptation and fasting was a uh was was a period of consecration for Jesus where he set himself apart to be prepared for the ministry that would go forward because then in the beginning of or in the middle of chapter 4 right Jesus um uh Jesus kind of just like steps on the stage and is like uh here I am uh here's what I'm all about and uh take it or leave it which is essentially what Jesus says to us right right follow the real me or follow a Jesus of your own making but here is who I actually am take it or leave it and what's interesting is he walks it says in um uh Luke chapter 4 the a little bit of uh a little bit of background Jesus returned this is 14 uh Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the spirit and the news about him spread through the whole Countryside he taught listen he taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him so this guy rising in Fame and power teaching in the teaching in the the religious places of Judaism he teaching in their synagogues people wondering who is this guy teaches with such great Authority we see people say in other um gospels here he went to Nazareth where he had been brought up and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue there as was his custom and he stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him unrolling it Jesus is like oh thank you Isaiah perfect this is a perfect scroll for me to read unrolling it it says he found the place where it was written it's almost like Jesus like oh Isaiah perfect give me that just got to go to Isaiah 61 because I got someone to read for something to read for you because the prophet Isaiah back in the history of the Israelite people was considered the Messianic Prophet the one that spoke about the coming of the Messiah the coming of the Christ the coming of the Son of God and so by no coincidence was Jesus handed The Scroll of Isa isah hey hey buddy it's your turn to read um stand up and read from this scroll does he open it up to Isaiah 61 and reads this from Isaiah 61 1-3 the spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor

and if he just like put the scroll rolled the scroll back up handed it back to the guy sat down and kept his mouth shut they might be led to believe that oh very good very good reading of Isaiah 61 Jesus guy good good job you read well you read

well then he rolled up the scroll gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of the every everyone in the synagogue were fastened on on him and he began saying to them this uh today this scripture is fulfilled in your

hearing and so Jesus in front of all of the religious leaders in the middle of the synagogue after reading Isaiah 61 which had historically and forever been about the coming of the Messiah and what the Messiah would come to do and who he would be and what he would be about and what he wouldn't be about right hey job description from the Messiah Isaiah chapter 61 Jesus opens it reads it sets it back down and says that's

me everything that you've been waiting for the person that you've been praying for the one that you have been waiting for you all have been looking and waiting for the Messiah I am telling you right now Isaiah testified to it then and I am standing in your presence now to tell you that is talking about

me and so Jesus himself in front of all of the people especially the the religious people were like do you want to know who I am and what the Messiah is all about well Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me he has anointed me to preach good news to to the poor he has sent me to Proclaim freedom for those captive recovery of sight for the blind to release the oppressed and to proclaim the year of the Lord's

favor this of course is not the only place where and and listen we could I I could preach 52 sermons all in 2020 before about all the things that Jesus said about himself all right I'm not saying that this is a comprehensive list of all don't don't email me and said why didn't you talk about this um if you want to be here past the Bills game we can talk about it right but what I'm saying is here is like we are not without we are not without places in scripture where Jesus himself was like set aside your expectations of who you want me to be and hear for yourself from my own lips and from the words of scripture itself who I actually am and folks it is in that moment where we must choose whether to align ourselves with the proclamation of Jesus himself about who he is or continue to follow what Jesus made in our own image that loves the people that look like us talk like us Act Like Us believe like us think like us live next to us but couldn't give a rip about anyone who was off to the

side because every PL virtually every place in scripture where the religious people pushed people to the

margins that's where Jesus went

that's where Jesus went that's where he spent his time that's who he was in communion with that's who he was in Ministry to even if you just look at Isaiah chapter 61 the words of Jesus here you can come up with all your spiritual gymnastics to say well um po the poor is really uh spiritual metaphor for those who were poor in spirit because of their sin and uh the oppressed were those who were kind of oppressed by their sin but not really like socially poor or economically poor or socially or economically oppressed or any anything that we think of when we think of Oppression or poverty anything like that it's all a spiritual metaphor like and I would say that the gospels show us that that is completely

false I would say that the gospel Els show us an actual demonstrated response of Jesus life and Ministry that every time the world built a wall Jesus put another seat at the

table that every time that every time a group of people tried to close the door on someone else because they were too sinful or too dirty or they lived over here or they believed this Jesus kicked the door

down listen we build walls Jesus builds

tables John chapter 3 we will go from Luke 4 to John 3 right still staying in the gospels self-proclamation of who Jesus Is Right Jesus was speaking here to one of the teachers of the law a man named Nicodemus who came to him late at night to ask him some questions right presumably because you couldn't ask him these honest questions in the company of the other religious people in the you know the world because what would they think if I was talking to that Jesus guy he's weird and he eats with Sinners he touches those who have leprosy he is unclean he heals people on the Sabbath like oo how dare he and so Nicodemus the teacher of the law comes to Jesus at night and he's like hey um uh teacher what must I do to be born again and Jesus maybe a little snarky I don't know I'm I'm kind of reading in the tone of Jesus words I want to believe it's snarky but maybe that's a Jesus in my own image um I want to believe it's snarky but Jesus is like you're the teacher of jerus or of all Jerusalem and you don't know these things you come to me to ask me what it means to be born again you're the one that are teaching people you're teaching our people and you don't know what this is and they have a little conversation here right you must be born of water and The Spirit Well how can I be born if I born again if I was only born once you you get the idea right and then we come up to to to uh chapter 3 verse 16 and we have you know again okay okay here Bill's analogy you're GNA probably see it on a piece of poster board in the endzone of the Bills game today John 3:16 right great love it love it right love it um because it is a self-proclamation of who who Jesus came to be and what he came to do right for God so loved the world John 3:16 that he gave us one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal

life but wait there's more right because because John 3:16 is not Disconnected by anything either theologically or literarily in the text from John 37 okay for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes beles in him shall not perish but have everlasting life listen this is this is Jesus declaring the one of the purposes for which the father has sent him into the world this is the Jesus as he actually is not the Jesus of our own image for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him whoever believes in him is not

condemned that that the that that one of the self-proclaimed self-confessed purposes of Jesus coming into the world was on a mission from the father itself to destroy the spirit of condemnation that the world brings upon that the world brings upon people and to save them not just from their own sins right but to save them in a certain way that lays condemnation and shame

aside because we we myself you us the world people we have this tremendous tremendous I'm not going to call it a gift curse I'm going to call it right to try and condemn and shame ourselves and others into the Saving Grace of Jesus it is the most backwards an upside down from the actual Ministry of Jesus that there could possibly be to use to use condemnation and to use shame in order to draw people into the grace of God what like it we needed to do like a flip it and reverse it there

right you don't know where that came from right um is that it is the grace of God right it is the grace it is not condemnation and shame from the world that brings us into the grace of

God it is the grace of God that eliminates the condemnation and shame that the world describes upon or prescribes upon us or that you and I walk around carrying all the time God doesn't love me because of who I am God is angry with me because of what I've done I am not faithful enough I am not good good enough right I need to work harder I need to be more faithful I need to say more right things and avoid more wrong things and uh because of what I've done in the past I don't know like I I'm surprised that the roof isn't caving in on me right now because so many people have told me hey look just get your life in order and just stop doing all the bad things and start some doing some of the good things and then come to church and um and and and we'll make you we'll clean you up right we'll clean you we'll clean you up we'll make you look like us and talk like us and be like us and act like us gez don't do

that because listen the very work of God even right from the very beginning was to take every bit of Shame and condemnation that we feel from our sin that we experience from one another that we experience from the world that we experience internally to ourselves and make provision through his son Jesus Christ to cover over all of our shame to eliminate any condemnation that we're experiencing so that we can fully embrace the love of God rather than the condemnation of the world this goes all the way back into the Genesis account where Adam and Eve in the midst of having eaten of the apple and have sinned it said that they that they they took a bite of the Apple they recognized then right that they were what naked and they felt what shame and what did they do when they felt shame they ran and hid and the word to them at that time was like hey come out of the bushes clean yourself up get it figured out go back to God right go back to God and it will be okay but the Genesis account is very clear it's not Adam and Eve that went looking for God in the midst of their shame it's God that came looking for them God came looking for them saw them in their shame why did you hide from me this is not who we are this is not what we do this is not the ba shame is not the basis of our relationship fear is not the basis of our relationship why did you hide well we saw that we were naked and we were afraid so we hid who told you

that who told you to hide from me who told you to run

away run to me don't hide from me run to me and so in an act of extraordinary compassion in a foreshadowing of what the father had done in the son on the cross what does the father do in that moment for Adam and Eve he creates garments right it says not to cover their bodies but to what he makes garments of animal skin unless God the father had a Tannery around the corner right there's an there's an implication that something had to die in order for those clothes or those coverings to be made something died so that the father could to could take what had died and cover up not the nakedness but the

shame so the very the woven into the very fabric of the creation story all the way through the biblical narrative landing at Jesus Christ himself is this reality is that Jesus Jesus comes to take away your

shame that Jesus does not come to leverage condemnation on you for what you have done for what you haven't done for what you have said or for who you are Jesus comes so that you may be

saved and come away from a spirit of condemnation and

shame finally one more one more scripture in this vein that we're going to look at who is the who is Jesus who is the Jesus of scripture not the Jesus of our own image one of the places in where the Apostle in uh which the Apostle Paul speaks of who Jesus is

Ephesians chapter

1 Paul is praying for the Ephesians here one of the churches in which he

planted starting at verse um 18 in Ephesians chapter 1 he said I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you the riches of his glorious inheritance in the Saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe that power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead listen listen this is Paul's proclamation of who God has made Jesus to be all

right which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead seated him at his right hand in the Heavenly Realms far above all Rule and Authority power and dominion and every title that can be given not only in the present age but also in the one to come and God placed all things you know what the um the Greek word for all means all um all things right means all things meaning like there's there's nothing that escapes the supremacy of Jesus okay just as a clarifying you know write that down in the margin of your Bible right all means all far above all Rule and Authority power and dominion and every title that can be given not only in the present age but also in the one to come and God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills everything in every way that now in this very moment as I speak these words Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the father in the place of authority exercising his spiritual Dominion his spiritual authority over all things that have been made will be made could be made are created all power and Dominion is his in heaven and on Earth and in the church forever and ever amen he is the king of the world he is the king of the church all authority is his

forever Jesus self-proclaimed his ministry to the poor Jesus self-proclaimed his ministry to eliminate shame through the salvation of his body Paul proclaimed the supremacy of Jesus over everything in everyone in every time in every place forever and

ever if we read more in if we read more in the scripture we could read about how um Jesus was the firstborn of all creation right that uh that he is fully God that he is the image of the invisible God right we we could like I said we could read for days and

hours about everything that the scripture proclaims Jesus to be both by his own words and through the witness of the rest of scripture but here here's the point okay um or here's one of the points is that this is that we as a church as a community as pastors right as Ministry leaders as not even just that as brothers and sisters if you're sitting next to someone right now listen we we desire that all of our hearts would be aligned towards the same goal in the same direction in the same vein all the time as a foundational and fundamental part of who we are here as the body is that we want to lead you to Jesus so that he can transform your life that's our number one

goal and I shouldn't even say it like that because to say the number one goal would to assume that there would be a number two goal there isn't a number two goal there isn't that's plan a there is no plan B right plan a is to take the person next to me and the person next to me like all right we're getting close to Jesus today we're getting close to Jesus today we're getting close to Jesus today because the in the presence of Jesus that our lives are

transformed a few areas that Jesus will transform okay not all the areas again some of the

areas when we talk about transformation what does that

mean um number one Jesus will transform the things that we love and that we passionately

pursue sometimes I talk about this in the like the language of that Jesus transforms our affections the things that we desire the things that we strive after the things that we run after the things that we place that we that we Sprint after that we we we put effort after what are the things that you love what are the things that you are uing what are the things that you are Desiring what are the things that you are striving for when Jesus begins to transform our hearts both immediately or progressively in the p in the in like in the process of our sanctification you will find or you should find that the things that we desire and the things that we pursue are also transformed I no longer want this this is no longer important to me I'm no longer I'm no longer pouring um 60 hours of my week into this I'm no I'm no longer I'm no longer seeking that dream or that Vision I'm no longer totally oriented all of my all of my physical resources towards attaining that goal or that dream because the Lord has changed my affections he has changed in his transforming the things that I love and the things that I desire and the things that I want and this includes our desire to pursue to

him that we will know that the Lord is Transforming Our Hearts when we have a building hunger to pursue him more that our that our lives are no longer marked by a casual patty cake with the Lord on one day a week for a few hours but now deep down inside of who we are there is a hunger that cannot be satisfied by anything of this world and the only thing that satisfies it is the bread of life that comes from

heaven we know we're being transformed when the things that we are pursuing begin to change and one of those things is him Jesus said in the Beatitudes Matthew 5:6 blessed are those who hunger and who thirst for righteousness for they will be

filled another thing that begins to be transformed right when we get closer and closer to Jesus he transforms our affections right as we closer and closer to Jesus now he begins to transform our thoughts he transforms our minds right we begin to see our thoughts shift from whatever I want whatever ever I desire whatever I want to think about whatever is important to me to now as Paul says it in Philippians chter 4 verse 8 this is um fantastic and extraordinarily convicting okay extraordinarily convicting because what I'm going to be honest with you what I find is one of the places where I'm most slow to allow Jesus to transform me is in my thoughts I'm holding on to things of the flesh I'm holding on to thoughts I'm holding on to words I'm holding on to opinions and preferences I'm holding on to things that are of me and so you know why I I know that that's true because when I read something like Philippians chap 4:8 I'm like G I feel the I feel the weight of the inconsistency between the call of God's word and the things that are filled up in my mind and so and so I know that that's the conviction of the Holy Spirit Levering down on me pressing onto me Desiring transformation working towards transformation because you come to Philippians 48 and Paul is like uh finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is Noble whatever is right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is excellent or praiseworthy

those are the things we should be thinking about think about such

things whatever makes you

angry whatever whatever keeps you distracted from the reality of your

life whatever that person said to you or did to you whatever ever pain you're holding on to from the past think about those things don't worry when you feel your mind with all of those things the rest of your life would will go just fine

right I mean it it it I don't want to say it like this I trust you know my heart but like it's almost so simple that it's stupid and it's something that we say to our kids sometimes right is that garbage in what garbage out right whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is excellent whatever is Noble whatever is trustworthy think about such things whatever is negative whatever is shameful whatever is condemning whatever is depressing whatever is X Y or Z think about such things and then the fruit is born from that Jesus desires to transform not just our spiritual condition but also our thoughts because we are holistic and connected beings he says in Romans or Paul says in Romans 12:2 which we'll study here again in just a few weeks right do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will number three we're going to kind of end here we're Landing the plane I promise Jesus Will how do I know when I'm being transformed how do I know when I'm moving closer to Jesus and the real Jesus is beginning to transform me is that Jesus will transform our heart towards other

people Jesus begins to transform our heart towards other people this of course is the greatest commandment is it not the teachers of the law they come to Jesus in Matthew chapter 22 hey teacher what is the greatest commandment to love the Lord God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself that he these two things cannot be separated right that Jesus weaves them together with one another that the way in which we love God is intimately connected with the way in which we love others and they cannot be ripped apart we cannot claim to love God and hate others at the same time right those th those two things are are inconsistent with one another and they created a discontinuity of our souls and so when Jesus is transforming us he's also transforming the way in which we our heart towards others that that our love for other people is now informed not by their conduct towards us or who they are but our love for them how we see them we see them in light of what God has done for us I no longer see them for who they are I see them for what God has done in me

well if you have known who they are and what they've done and what they said and the type of Life they live or how they go about their life or what they're all about you wouldn't think that about them right the reality is over here right if there's this like the voice of the Holy Spirit right speaking the truth of God into our hearts I loved you when you were worse than

that and so we begin to treat other people not in light of who they are but in the light of who God and what God has done in me the extent and magnitude for which Jesus Christ himself gave gave himself up for me is now the basis for which I love others with complete AB abandon for myself in surrender of all things that have been done to me or for me or through me or in me knowing that it is in the grace of God that I am transformed to love people fully we are eager to forgive we are eager to show compassion we are spiritually inclined to see through the way that they present themselves in our lives in short we become more

loving we become people who are marked by 1 Corinthians 13 not a passage that's read primarily at weddings right but as a passage that informs who we are as people who follow Jesus we are more patient we are more kind we are not self-seeking we are not envious we are not rude we are not easily angered we we are keeping a record of wrongs we are rejoicing with the

truth we are becoming more loving people because we're getting closer to Jesus and he's transforming our heart towards

others listen here's where we're going to go next week okay and I want you to mark this down okay because the question is is well I want to be transformed but it ain't happening or it feels like it's not

happening here's the main point for next week okay to be transformed you must abide with Jesus to experience transformation you must abide this comes from the words of Jesus himself right in John chapter 15 and what I'm asking you to if you if you plan if you plan to come back next week or even if you don't that that spend spend your time in the word this week in John chapter 15 specifically verses 1 through 17 because our um because the the the converse to that thought to be to be transformed we must abide with Jesus is this if you're not experiencing transformation in your life or in your relationship with Jesus you may be disconnected from

him what Jesus is going to say in John chapter 15 is that when you remain connected to him as the vine the true source of life that fruit will be

produced but if you are cut off from the vine then you will wither and die makes sense right practically speaking and so and so the question here is now what does it mean to abide how do we abide in Jesus so that we can experience the source of life that comes from intimate connection and relationship with him that's next week all right let's

pray Heavenly Father we desire to be moved not by a Jesus of our own imagination or image but Lord we desire to be moved by

you the Jesus of scripture the Jesus who sits now on the throne in heaven

author of all things Supreme Above All Things father we want to experience the transformation of life in Jesus transformation that comes from abiding in him remaining connected to the source of Life the vine father would you by your grace speak the truth of your word into our hearts this week as we wrestle with John 15 and other passages to know TR truly what it means to abide in Jesus name amen I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through your spirit through his spirit in your inner being so that you may dwell in your hearts through faith and I pray that you being rooted and established in love may have power together with all of the Saints to grasp how wide and how long and how high and how deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with to to the measure of all the fullness God

Amen