Trending - Week 3 - The CORE - Pastor Mike Novotny
Trending
Week 3 - The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Good morning. Happy Sunday, and welcome to week three in a sermon series I'm really excited about called “Trending”. Quick review, just in case you're jumping in for the first time today. If you're watching at home, and you missed the last two weeks, we kicked off this series by talking about the phrase, “science is real”. Pastor Michael preached that. I think it's one of the best sermons he's ever preached at this church. And if you struggle with the relationship between faith and science between the Bible and human reason, you got to go online and listen to that message.
Last week we tackle the phrase, “God told me”. I feel like God is leading me. I think this is a sign from God. How do you know exactly when God is communicating with you? And when he isn't interview here last week for this tournament. I'm calling that officially the Cardinal sermon. So when he wrestled with Duke does God, send Redbirds into your garbage to communicate with you, a quick story. Guess what happened to me all week. Number one, like a thousand of you send me pictures of cardinals. Just a mess of met a woman who is here for the very first time. A young woman came to church exploring, the Christian faith had coffee with her. So the pastor, you're not gonna believe this and she shows me a picture of a tattoo. It's, it's big on her arm and guess what? It's of, all right, a Cardinal when yesterday, I go on a run at five separate occasions. I see Cardinals, I come back a shower. I'm sitting there reading a book, kind of that a picture window on my couch and we have this little, what's it called? A shepherd's crook, we’re hanging flowers off and I looked outside like wouldn't that be crazy if a cardinal landed there? And 30 minutes later, she can't make this stuff up, a cardinal. And its tail feathers are pointing towards the window and I'm watching this, like one of the odds and it just lifts up the tail feathers and boots right in front of me. So I get it. Okay, I'll stop making fun of your birds, God. So we got do that. I think so, but I'm not sure. So you got to check out that message. God told me which brings us today to week number three.
So what do you know the movies, Moana? Mulan? Monsters Inc.? The Greatest Showman, Coco, Aladdin, Brave, & Beauty and the Beast all have in common.
All of them. If you watch and take notes, and listen carefully, all of them actually have the same moral and the same message, and that message is, “Be You”,
I get your parents might want you to fit the mold of, you know, what, your family does, your culture. Your community might have these expectations that you're going to be like this. But if you find something different within your hearts, the only way for us all to live happily ever after is, if you be you. If you are true to you. If you're honest with yourself and live out, your genuine authentic identity that at the end of the movie, you should be. You should be a girl who's also part of everything cocoa before. Like Miguel you're not just a shoemaker from a Mexican family, you are a musician so I gotta to get your guitar and play. Well be you and everyone will see. It's beautiful. When you do, I've seen Monsters, Inc. I can sell. You don't hate children, you don't want to scare them. You're here to entertain them. So we need to flip the scripts, you need to be, you have
The stories of Jasmine and Merida and Mulan. You're not helpless princesses needing to be arranged in some marriage by your father. You are book reading Kingdom running bow-and-arrow firing sword-swinging. Warrior princesses. “Be You”, Bearded lady Eddison the greatest Showman. You're not a circus freak. This is you, don't hide. Don't be embarrassed. Don't be ashamed, world. This is me. I'm going to live it out with confidence and joy only then will life be worth living in movie after movie. This is the essential plotline. The tension is what I find inside is different than the expectations that people have and there's conflicts and my parents don't get it and my culture isn't get it. But if I'm bold enough, and if I'm brave enough to live out what I find inside of, if I'm authentically me.
The story ends. Well, “Be You”, so let's think about this message in the universe. Works message in the universe. Somewhere in between everyone. Give me your vote. “Be You” authentically. You live your truth, good thing, bad thing, little thing. I got a little bit of everything that I'm looking at right now. Yeah, it's actually good question. Right? Because you are different than your parents.
And you are unique from your neighbors. And what you're good at, what you're bad at, what you're passionate about is distinct from your brothers and sisters. What you find inside your heart isn't the same as what's in your best friend's heart, where I thrive, and where I don't is distinct from you. So really what should we do when people say be like this and do this and we feel something differently. Should we give in? Should we submit and be like a round peg in a square hole? Or should we try to convince someone that were unique? And we're different, and we’re divinely designed in a special way by God. Should we try to convince our parents and our friends, and our community, in our culture, and our elders to repent and change their minds. Or should we be the ones to do that? Tough question. I'll put it another way when you think about your kids or your friends. For the president of this country or your boss. Do you want them to just do what they feel?
You want them to be themselves?
It's a bit complicated, isn't it?
If interesting thing, I've been digging into the Bible trying to examine the number one message of modern times because it's not just for little kids watching, animated movies and films. This is what we are. It's the water we swim in in modern American culture. So what does God think?
About “Be You”, does he want you to be true to yourself to look inside and to live that out?
Why don't you grab a pen? If you're watching a whole bunch of grab a pencil, because here's the answer that I found in the Bible that I want to unpack for you today. According to the scriptures. Here's What God Says. “Be You” exclamation point. Asterisk.
That's my theme for today. B“Be You” guys says that with an ellipsis or a period or a question mark. Now I put an exclamation point on that. God wants you to be you. And terms and conditions, do apply. So today, let's unpack those two parts. Well, how does God say? Where does God say “Be You”? And where does he say? But let's talk about this first. Let's tackle that first part, B. You the Bible says, Little bit embarrassing to admit, but I think to be honest with you, it took me about 35 years. To figure out me. You think spending every second of every minute of every day with myself. I would have come to the conclusion earlier, but it took me a really long time to figure out who I am and who I'm not.
What I do well and what I don't. The situations where I'm really a gift to people and situations where I'm a curse. Things that I tend to help people and the areas where unintentionally, I tend to hurt. People took me 35 years to figure that out. Two quick stories. Speaking at this big event. I'm in front on stage, all eyes on me. It's like a big fundraising events for ministry I'm connected to and I'd ask people in the crowd, hundreds and hundreds of people to just shout out their favorite Bible passages, which of course the extroverts in the room, loved. All right, so people are shouting out Bible passages. And as soon as they would shout out like a phrase from the Bible or even just a reference from the Bible, a chapter in a verse, I would shout back where it came from.
So I love Psalm 23 Pastor. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. In all things, God works for the good of those who love him. Pastor who Romans eight verse 28. That's a classic. I can do everything through Jesus who gives me strength or what? That's Philippians 4 verse 13, almost as good as Philippians, 4 verse 6, don't be anxious about anything. Be still and know that I am God, one person said. Psalm 46 verse 10. One of my favorites.
And we're going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. They're shouting. I'm connecting the dots. And I remember looking out of the corner of my eye and seeing this guy whispering with eyes wide open to the person next to him like that. This is super impressive to that guy. To me, it was like, It's like walking like my brain would just process at super fast speed. My experience with the Bible, could capture it all and I could give it back in a. I've kind of realized that God has made me uniquely gifted to learn things like a sponge to soak in knowledge and podcasts and documentaries and chapters and verses. And then at the right time to just squeeze them out if people need a truth from a specific part of the Bible, I'm really really really really good at that.
Number two. They're my first year at this church. I was counseling this young woman. Scratch that. I was attempting to console this gentleman and things are not going well. Scratch that things were going about as well as the Titanic's journey across the Atlantic Ocean. I was thinking a Bible passages like turning to the right page. Reciting them off the top of my head and it was not the right time for that. In fact, at one point. The counseling was so bad. She just looked at me. She shook her head and she asked “Pastor, didn't you ever have to take a counseling class?” And you should not be mad at her because if you would have been in the room you would have been thinking the exact same thing. The answer is. Yes. I did. Yes. I got an A and I did make me a good counselor. And I've kind of learned over the years that not everyone reaches out to the Pastor because they want to chapter and verse. All right. My brain is just instinctively wired to think like, oh, Philippians 4 Loop, Psalm 23 Loop, Romans chapter 8, who book? That's all I'm thinking in my head, but sometimes people don't want that.
Sometimes they want advice and sometimes they don't. Sometimes people don't need like the right answer from the Bible. Sometimes, they just need to be understood. They need someone to say that, that's terrible. I'm so sorry. You're going through that. And I've just learned from my experience that when things are really complex or they're really emotional. I'm really not good at that. I try to be. I want to help people as best I can. It's not like, I'm saying sorry, you're out of luck. This is just me. I once you but rarely, does anyone come back years later. It's a pastor. You know, when you console me to that tough time. You were such a gift.
No one. No one says that. And so I'm starting to realize. Okay Mike. This is you and this isn't this is where you should just like step up and volunteer, and these are the times where you need to get help or people are going to get hurt.
So, how about you? Have you figured out who you are? And who you aren't? Did you think back on your own history? Can you kind of see those times when you've really helped people?
For those times when you frustrated or hurt people.
In other words, do you know you?
Because God wants you to, I'm sure this amazing passage from Romans chapter 12, as the Apostle Paul a Christian reading soon, early church, and he says to the members of that church. For just, as each of us has one body with many members different parts of your body. Your arms, your eyes are yours and these members are parts. Do not all have the same function. So in Christ, we the people though, many form one body and each member belongs to all the others. We have is a big word for today. Different gifts.
According to the grace given to each of us. Lookouts either. We have different gifts. You don't expect your ears to see well, you know expect your eyes to hear. Well, you know, expect your belly button to kick a soccer goal and be interesting different parts of the body have different purposes and strengths. And the Apostle Paul says that's the same for Christians. We have different gifts.
These members do not all have the same function. God is saying in a sense, but you We don't yell at our ears to start smelling better. We let them beers. We have your Ash expectations of them. And the Apostle Paul makes this beautiful now give it's actually so practical and helpful and he says, people are like that too. You would not say to a sumo wrestler. What do you think about track?
We'd say be you. So here's my big question. Who are you?
Like, some of you have a gift of teaching, If it was that teachers aren't just like the smart people. They're not people who are great at memorizing things. They're the people who can communicate something clearly and understandably to others.
And if you when you were new to the church, did you ever go to the Bible class and ask a question and someone really smart like raise their hand and they like rambled on for seven minutes? And at the end you said, you didn't answer my question, but some people have the ability to teach
And the answer it in a clear way, with words that you can understand. They have a gift from God and some of you have that gift. And you don't need to become a pastor to use it. Some of you with your little kids, you're going to, you're going to teach them the values. Why you believe what you believe you're going to be really, really good at that. So you're going to be at the factory, you're going to be the nurse at the hospital, and someone new is going to be there with wide eyes and zero experience. And you're going to be the one to help them get comfortable and learn the ropes. You can teach some of, you are the answer, the uncles, the grandparents, who can take little kids and you can teach them how to fish and you can teach them how to change the oil in the cars. They get older and you can teach them these things. We love about Jesus. You cannot just teach them the words of the Lord's Prayer, but what it means if that's your gift, you don't got to say to you today.
“Be You”, The world needs. You don't be like everyone else be you.
And some of you have the gift of compassion.
I need you. It's just come by every counseling session with me. Right? Maybe don't have the Bible memorized but you just naturally feel big and that jazz. That's so important. I sometimes get jealous of that gift because I see the good that it does for people. All right, if that's your gift, if you just instinctively resonate with people on an emotional level asking to you. You have to eat the ACT. You don't have to teach the class be there for people in their time of need. They need you. We need you to “Be You”.
And if you get a fix on things like so tinker here, whenever something goes wrong in my house. I just call like some people I know from church because it's not know what end of the hammer to hold. It was over, you don't get overwhelmed by complex situations. You're curious about them. And you want to take the thing apart, you want to figure out what's wrong with the computer. You want to solve the complex problem. You love. So I love working with Pastor Michael. He's brilliant at this, right? When I get into complex counseling. I'm like, I don't know what the problem is, but he does.
All right, so that's you. “Be You”. Right. So you get my point, right? You got, you got to figure out what your gift is and then God wants you. And we actually need you to be you. I can't do what you do. He can't do what you do. You can't do what she does. So the Bible says, we have different gifts. Let's use them together. So, how do you figure this out? Have I figure this out? I want to give you three quick resources that might help in your journey to discover you you might write these down, a number one is a sermon series. We preached a couple years ago called “Some Assembly Required”.
And lots of you are new to our church or you're watching at home. So we spent four whole weeks kind of breaking down Bible passages like this helping people to figure out who they are and how we work together. Number two. My second favorite book of all time. Is the first one?
Here's the second one. It's called strength finders. Have you heard of it before? I honestly did not get who I was until I took the survey, read this book and dug into its wisdom too. Did not understand that the woman I was married to until she took the test and I said, that's why we fight. All right, I'm this. And your this and there's strings to each of those but I didn't. I didn't get you and you didn't get me that I cannot recommend. This book. Highly enough strength, finders. You can find it online. Take the quiz or read the book or best of all if you want a Christian flavor, here's a book that some of you can grab in our lobby for free Time of Grace has donated. I think, 50 copies called “Gifted for More”. If you're watching at home, just go to “Time of Grace” start or click on the store type in “Gifted for More”. And if you get these copies pretty cheap. This book is an overview of what the Bible has to say about our differences in gifts. It ends with a ninety five question quiz, that will help you figure out who you are.
Because the Apostle Paul knows we need you. You might not be the one to stand on stage, but you are necessary in the body of Christ. And so with an exclamation point at the end, God is saying to you. “Be You”,
As I wrap up our one here. Do you know what David did before he fought the giant named Goliath? Right? Before you picked up those stones and grabbed his slang and ran off to go to war and drop the giant. It's a shop in the kids Bibles. They don't happen. He decided to be himself.
King Saul. The king of Israel was shaking in his boots. He didn't want to fight the giant but this little Shepherd boy, David steps for, I'll fight him. With faith, in his heart and saw was thinking. You got to die. So he took his armor, the best armor, the Royal Armory. He put it on David Bible actually says, you can read this. In first Samuel 17 by David starts walking around in Saul's armor and doesn't fit. It doesn't work.
David said to the king, this isn't me.
Like when I fight, when my flock is in trouble and some lion comes out of the thicket. I don't reach her a sword, and a shield, and some shiny armor. I grabbed a stone and my sling and I defend my flock. And so David took off Saul's armor. He grabbed what he knew. And he ran to fight the Giants. And the rest is history. So, what should you do? Our one God says Be You.
Asterisk. All right, we're moving apart to the Bible's emphatic. “Be You”, you're uniquely gifted but There are some terms and conditions that apply.
That woman on the Amazon review, certainly remembered them?
In my research, on the topic of “Be You”. I found out that there was a children's book written not too long ago called. Do you super popular book? It had 1740 reviews on Amazon. When I checked in a vast vast majority were five star, huge praise for the encouraging message of this kids book. The, in fact, out of 1740 reviews. Only three of them were one star reviews. Harsh, critiques. And out of those three, two of the three, love the message of the book. Just something went wrong with the shipping and the cover was damaged, whatever, which left out of 1740 reviews. Just that one.
You wanna know what it said? Because I want to tell you the subject line was. Delusional view of human nature. Here's just a snippet of what this woman said. I picked up this book knowing that I probably won't like it. But I was hoping you would surprise me.
Didn't the constant message of “Be You” exclamation point great upon my soul. Why should you be you with no sense of direction or guidance outside of your own thoughts and feelings. After all, Hitler was true to himself. Hitler, followed his dreams. What have you are wrong? What if you are misguided? What if there's information that you don't have information, you will never get because you are not willing to listen to anything, but your own heart.
It's important for children to have self-esteem to express their feelings, maintain a sense of honesty about who they are, but in shining their feelings, as the guide to all goodness is a superhighway to disappointments and relational dysfunction.
Boom, like that. That is so true, isn't it? Be you without any checks or balances without any terms or conditions without the asterisk? Basically, says, whatever you feel is the most important thing in the world.
I'm at work. Okay, if you live on an island by yourself.
But we don't.
As my daughter. So succinctly says it, when I asked her Maya, do you think you should be true to your heart? She says Dad, what if my heart wants to punch you in the face? Have you ever felt something that wasn't true?
My kids were just in a production of Frozen, Junior. Famous musical, you know, what happens to Hannah. She meets this guy. She falls for Prince Hans. She wants to marry him and everyone thinks this is a crazy idea, but she's being true to herself and it's a train wreck. Right, ever known someone who battled an eating disorder. And the real Sin but they think they’re fat. Do you say to them, but you do you come from outside of them and you speak truth to their hearts because our hearts aren't always, right.
The reviewer, although she's in a very small, minority is spot-on, when she said, if there's no if there's nothing on the outside to speak to you, it's a superhighway to disappointments and relational dysfunction. And that's why the Apostle Paul in this very same chapter of the Bible, puts an asterisk on his encouragement, to be you. Here's what he says, in the first verses of Romans 12. Starting with verse 2. Paul writes, do not conform to the pattern of this world.
But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
We read that one more time. Do not conform to the pattern of this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Only then, will you be able to test and approve Circle? This what God's will is his good pleasing, and perfect will. For by the grace, given me I say to everyone of you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. But rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith that God has distributed to each of you.
And don't think of yourself more highly than you ought. And a sense of sober judgments that your hearts can be tricked or misled or deceived or selfish all the time. Instead don't just conform to what the world tells you “Be You”. No, instead be transformed. Let God renew your mind. I love this line because only then can you test and approve? What God's will is what is God wants? Because what God wants is good, and it's pleasing and it's perfect.
Explain in this metaphor. Where Paul says, you're an important parts of the body of Christ. Guess who's the head of that body? Jesus. We can lose you and be okay, but chop off the head. And the body's dead. So bu, but just make sure that Jesus comes first. Now, what does that look like in practice? I'll let me give you three really practical questions. You can ask yourself to make sure you're not stepping over that line and forgetting the asterisk first question.
My humble. Yes, I think of what makes me Mike different than you. As I kind of figure out. Well, Pastor Michael’s like this, but I'm like this and my wife's like this, and I'm like this and you're like that, but I'm like, this, the big question. I have to ask myself. Am I maintaining a sense of humility about that?
Seminary Professor who said, I pray more about my strengths than I do my weaknesses. And I think that's wise. We have a really straight, you know, when God gives you a gift and you're really really good at it. It's really easy to be frustrated with people who just don't do it. Right. Super organized people here. You look around at some of your kids are your friends, your boss. Like what is happening? Just clean up. It's not that hard. There's hooks in the closet for the jacket not here in the middle of the floor. Just do it. It's so easy, isn't it?
And that's all of you if you had like a camera. Well, I was counseling and I'm grabbing my Bible, looking for the chapter in the verse. He said, come on, Jasper might just be compassionate, just put it, just put a hand on their shoulder and tell him it's gonna do it. So easy, isn't it? And extroverts like me who love people are going to make laps around this church space. Before the service begins talking to strangers introducing myself. And if I would say that the some of you introverts say just do it. It's easy. Let's say it is not easy. All right. So the big question is, when you notice the difference, do you have the humility to say? The only reason this is easy is because God has given me a gift.
It's like I got my master's degree in mingling or memorizing. I just it's me and you're you. So, when you notice a difference before the Temptation makes me frustrated and angry. I have a gift and I get this from God. I'm a humble question. Number two, a my selfless.
In my opinion, this is what most modern movies Miss. Is this about me? My heart, my dreams my goals. My self-actualization or is this about the greater good of people?
I do have something to offer to the world and you do too, but can we use that to make sure we're serving other people in love?
Here's I think you can do that. It's selfless when you recognize your gift and try to do as much of it as you can. In the business world, they call this putting the right person in the right seat on the bus. Right. So if you notice something at church in your family at work at school, we're like that's really easy for you. As often as you can as much bandwidth. Is you have feel that selflessly serve. The people with the gift that you have.
And there's a hard part. If you know, you're bad at something. It is on your shoulders to ask for help.
You can throw up your hands and selflessly. Selfishly, say, I'm sorry. That's just not me. I can't said people up in our churches. Same, am not the compassion guy, find someone else. My job is to say, okay. How can my lack of strengths? Not be a liability to this person that God cares about.
So if you're not organized, if that's has come instinctively to, that's okay, but people are going to suffer by your disorganization unless you have the humility to ask for help. My things are going to be rushed. They're going to fall through the cracks. Good. People are going to be hurt, unless you say everyone like this isn't my jam. Can anyone help? But to be selfless enough to ask for it. So the body can function as the body needs to function, right years, don't need to see, but the need to make sure the eyes are working. So this ends up for the good that God wants instead of the damage that it can cause my selfless.
Last question. It's a big one in my obedience.
It's, you're looking inside of your hard, figuring out how you feel. What drives you what you're passionate about, how your oriented, what your desires are. The biggest question, the Bible wants you to ask is, is this obeying God?
When it comes back to this and in future weeks, as we try to figure out our own Hearts, should I follow my dreams? Should I give in to what I find inside? The question I was always asking is it obedience? It's not cool with it. Like, he doesn't want you to follow your heart. He wants you to follow Jesus. And the Lord's Prayer, you didn't teach us to pray Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be my name, my will be done and my kingdom come. No, it's what your name God. It's about your will that that's what matters most at the end of the day. And so look inside your heart. Yes, and then filter what you find there through the Bible so you make sure your obedience. That's how you keep the asterisk on. Keep it special instead of sinful.
And this is what makes Jesus so incredible.
Big idea for today. Bu exclamation point asterisk. Which is the perfect description of Jesus, isn't it? Ever thought of how unique Jesus was. There's a lot of people who have been human and Jesus was human. And the father and the son and the spirit are all God, but Jesus Is God. But no one has been uniquely God and humid in one person.
Just Jesus. In his family, didn't get that. Number the part of the Bible. Like she's on Mom and his siblings try to take hold of him because he's just being too much himself. You got to come back home. Jesus. This Messiah things, going to be a bit much. He was the unique Son of God. The Father did not die on the cross for you and the Holy Spirit. Did not rise on Easter morning from you. Only Jesus. Did that get a unique Mission. A unique gift, a unique calling from his father in Heaven. He unashamedly live that out. You didn't let the Pharisees or his own family. Stop him from being himself. I think about the questions was he humble as it did?
Please selfless. If you obey his father in Heaven.
That we share one last passage with you Philippians chapter 2. Says have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. So here's what was in Jesus's mind. Who being in very nature. God did not consider equality with God, something to be used to his own advantage?
Rather, Jesus made himself Nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance. As a man, Jesus, humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Was he humble? Yeah, he didn't use his divinity to his own Advantage, was he selfless? He took on the very nature of a servant was healed. Mediant.
Even if it cost him his very life. He would obey the will of his father in Heaven.
Friends, the reason why we magnify the name of Jesus. The reason that we follow him isn't because he knew it all, and could do it all. But it's because he used his unique gifts, as the Son of God, to serve us. Forgive us, and save us. So that you and I at the end of every day, could know that we are good with God and God's, not mad or disappointed, but instead cherishes us as his own children. The reason we are Christians is because Christ decided to be you.
And so beautiful. And we do too. It's not easy, but when we get this, right? When we humbly selflessly, obedience serve because Jesus inspires us to do so beautiful things happen.
Let me show you a picture of one thing.
You see you.
It's a picture. Someone took a couple weeks ago at our Palm Sunday worship service. Did you see? Uniqueness.
It should be gifts. Parts the functions.
We call that sermon Palms up.
As we worship Jesus together, but do you see our friends, our brothers and sisters in this picture? You can probably see the musicians here on stage with unique gifts, that many of you could not do serving humbly selflessly. You see our friend Tom in this picture, though.
Thomas, one of the more disorganized people I've ever met my whole life.
And he's one of the most brilliant people I've ever worked with. He's the man who hand-built the cross that you see, on the right side of that, picture of the cross that hangs in her church. I don't care if his office is clean, if he does stuff like that, but you, you see Leslie in this picture. Leslie would die if she had to stand on stage and talk to. But she's the one who week after week produces. These slides that are organized and crisp and clean that the grammar is, right. The words aren't misspelled, so that when you put your palms up to Jesus, nothing distracts, you that's her gift.
See Amanda and Brian and Logan and Parker and Miles and Lincoln and Sawyer the seven members of the same family. They're the ones who helped me out. So I could prepare for my sermon that they put palm branches on every one of the seats that you could pick them up and use them. You see rich? If you're watching at home, do you see him? He's actually the guy in the green shirt back there. You can see a little snippet of his camera there as he and people just like him allow worshipers at home to put their palms up and worship thee. See what happens when the people who know the buttons on the cameras or can craft sermons or play instruments, or help behind the scenes when we work together, what happens?
So good, so good. That's how about me. And it's not about you. It's about us lifting up. Our palms to worship. The one who saved us from our sins. That's when the church is good. And that is when life is great. So my brothers and sisters as you walk out the doors today, here's what I want you to know, be you.
You, amen? That's great Hawkeye. Thank you for for crafting people. Some of us are amazed when we pull out a new phone from its box. And we just see how something brilliantly designed can function and bless us.
Really unwrapping, the layers of a person's gifts and personality is even more exciting. The see that these people that you made in your image through Adam and Eve that you've restored through the blood of Jesus Christ, at the spirits has uniquely gifted to see who they are to see them in a spot that you intend them to be. It's not just throwing for them. It's beautiful for us. God, the devil loves to mess with good things. I know back in Bible times and even in our times there's in patients and their selfishness and there's ego, and there's jealousy. So protect us from all of that.
Deliver us not into those temptations, but deliver us from that evil? That is we work together. We would be humble enough to know that we need each other. That we would be grateful people who see each other. And that in the end, all of us together would lift up our palms and especially, lift up our hearts to recognize Jesus as the head of this church. The most perfect Savior, and the one who makes us good with you. I got a few uniquely blessed working with the people that I work with at this church.
I sense that people see it. Even if they don't know the names that you're doing something special here. I said the same at time of Grace. And so, I pray not just for us. But for every church, for every family for every soul, God, help parents recognize this in their children, spouses recognize this in one another God. Help us to do this, well, for your glory and for our good. We pray all these things. As unique Christians who gathered together as one in Jesus name, it's in his name that we pray. God's people said “Amen”.
