C3 2021 - Friday Night Message

part of our heart every year at this conference is to give all of our regular people who serve week in and week out a little bit of a break so that those who are normally up here singing can can sit and can worship participate and those who are normally serving behind the scenes and doing everything that they can just experience god and so this whole service is for you and for you to be able to connect with god well tonight's gathering is as i said earlier is all about preparing our hearts for the ministry year we're obviously committed to preparing your hands and your head for the ministry year tomorrow we're going to cover all that so don't worry about it tomorrow we're going to cover all the things you need to know the information the vision the updates the training that you need to serve on a city view team we really want tomorrow to be fun to be an enjoyable time and for us to connect with each other and so you know our c3 conference called we've been talking all month about joining the team and what has god called you to do and responding to god's calling the second c is is connected that we are a family we do this together we don't do it in isolation and this last c is commission and we're going to do that on sunday morning so at the end of this conference we're going to have time for everybody who's serving to stand and we're going to pray for you and commission you to this new ministry year so really it's a it's a full weekend package friday night saturday and sunday morning but tonight tonight is about connecting with god who is the source of everything we need to serve and the one for whom we serve tonight is about slowing down enough in your lives and you know we have got six children and this week i'm sure like for many of you has been crazy it's been busy we've been getting things back to going having to schedule the routine had baseball practice last night got all this stuff that's filling up the calendar everything going on i'm sure your life is the same way but tonight is about slowing down enough to make sure that we hear god's voice listen carefully about the kinds of vessels that we need to be so that god can powerfully use us for his kingdom what kind of vessels do we need to be so that god can powerfully use us for his kingdom if we don't take time to purify our hearts and check our motives we are likely to turn into the religious leaders that jesus consistently rebuked in the gospels what's amazing to me is jesus was so gracious so gracious with sinners so loving and patient with outcast but amazingly confrontational with those who prided themselves on being the religious elite as i speak to the core of the cityview family tonight i am speaking to our most committed volunteers our most committed leaders our most committed servants and i want to remind us all that the lord jesus was the most harsh in his earthly ministry with the religious leaders of his day the core of the church of his day who did not practice what they taught he called those kind of leaders hypocrites a word he used often based on the greek word for wearing a mask matthew 23 records jesus's rebuke listen carefully jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples the scribes and the pharisees are seated at the chair of moses therefore do what they tell you and observe it but do not do what they do because they don't practice what they teach let me read that again jesus speaking of the religious leaders of his day said to the crowd listen to what they say but do not do what they do because they don't practice what they teach we do not want to be hypocrites in our ministry work do we do we how do we avoid hypocrisy and the rebuke of our god and our savior there's two important steps i want to talk about tonight first we want to prayerfully and intentionally close the gap between what we teach and who we are we want to minimize the gap this is the pursuit of godly character of integrity in our leadership christ-like character is essential for kingdom leaders this is the pursuit of personal holiness in our lives listen to me not the performance of holiness not the performance of holiness but the pursuit of genuine holiness genuine holiness is defined by who we are when no one is looking when we're not on the stage when we're not in front of the kids class when we're not serving on hospitality team when we're not working in the ministry with our name badge on but it's just us and jesus who are we in that moment and to minimize the gap we want to close the space between who we are in public and what we teach as church leaders and who we are in private and second we want to acknowledge honestly the gaps that exist we do not want to present ourselves as the heroes of every lesson we teach we don't want to present ourselves as the hero of every story jesus is the hero amen jesus is the hero we want to honestly acknowledge where we fall short and where we need grace this is an important part of the city view culture so whether you're a small group leader or a re-engaged leader or you are part of worship ministry or children's ministry listen to me it's very important that this is part of our culture we do not pretend to be somebody we are not we are honest about our brokenness we are humble and honest about our sins because we all need grace we all have shortcomings i asked the lord to help me lead this church from a place of vulnerability to preach from the pulpit about my own struggles my own brokenness my own needs because that's the culture we want to create here and i'm not perfect at it i can be tempted into presenting myself as more than i am what i'm describing to you tonight closing the gap between what we teach and who we are and acknowledging where those gaps exist all of that is wrapped up in the biblical word holiness now in my conviction holiness is undervalued and under emphasized in american christian culture today and i think i understand why there are two important streams pulling us away from biblical holiness one is an unholy culture around us that makes us feel weird and out of place when we seek holiness many of us struggle to live for christ when no one around us is living for christ we don't want to be the only one that hadn't seen that movie or hadn't listened to that song we don't want to be identified as a bigot because we hold to the christian sexual ethic we don't want to be the only one who doesn't participate in heavy drinking in the after hours party after work we don't want to seem weird and strange and so we seek to fit in and to go along and we struggle living a holy life in an unholy culture but the other reason we struggle with this is because there is this legalistic christian culture that makes holiness all about rules rather than the heart many of you are familiar with this tribe having grown up around it a culture where holiness is not about who you are on the inside holiness is not about who you are in private holiness is about all the rules that you keep on the outside we don't see r-rated movies we don't drink any alcohol we don't wear shorts on and on and on it goes this legalistic culture makes holiness a checklist of things we perform for each other but doesn't actually get to the motives of the heart many of you who have grown up in a church like that have reacted to that legalistic form of christianity that puts your personal convictions on everybody else and focuses on rules that aren't in the scriptures as the definition of holiness now why do i say all that to say that these external tensions are real this unholy culture around us this legalistic tendency within the church that's possible those battles are real but i want to bring a bigger issue to you this evening the greatest reason we struggle with holiness is not the world around us are you listening it's not the unholy culture it's not legalistic christians if we're listening to our bibles the greatest reason we struggle with holiness is because the natural desires of our hearts are not bent toward holiness the natural desire of our hearts is not bent toward holiness even as christians we battle the flesh there's a war going on inside of each one of us that we need to acknowledge and we need to fight together and that is the battle between the spirit of the living god and your flesh let's open our bibles to galatians chapter five galatians chapter five and we're going to read about this battle that we are all in the middle of starting in verse 13 reading all the way down to verse 26 galatians 5 starting in verse 13. you know if we're going to read god's word we've got to stand together you thought i'd forget i wouldn't forget preaching on holiness we've got to stand up here's what god's word says to us starting in verse 13. for you were called to be free brothers and sisters only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh but serve one another through love for the whole law is fulfilled in one statement love your neighbor as yourself but if you bite and devour one another watch out or you will be consumed by one another i say then walk by the spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh for the flesh desires what is against the spirit and the spirit desires what is against the flesh these are opposed to each other so that you don't do what you want but if you are led by the spirit you are not under the law now the works of the flesh are obvious sexual immorality moral impurity promiscuity idolatry sorcery hatred strife jealousy outbursts of anger selfish ambitions dissensions factions envy drunkenness carousing and anything similar i am warning you about these things as i warned you before that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of god but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control the law is not against such things now those who belong to christ jesus have crucified the flesh with his passions and his desires if we live by the spirit let us also keep in step with the spirit let us not become conceited provoking one another envying one another may the lord add a blessing to the reading of his word amen you can be seated tonight i want to talk about three things the command to be holy the connection between holiness and ministry and an honest assessment of where we are the command to be holy the connection between holiness and ministry and an honest assessment of where we are let's start with the command to be holy we are commanded in galatians 5 not to use the freedom that we have in christ as an opportunity for our flesh in other words our freedom that paul's been talking about earlier in this chapter it is for freedom that christ has set you free right we have the spirit of freedom that lives within us he says you've been set free from the bondage that you were in you've been set free from all these requirements of the law you've been set free but then he says but be careful don't use that freedom that you've been given as permission to sin don't use that freedom as a covering for following your flesh you see our freedom in christ is our freedom from the power of sin over our lives now that we have the blood of jesus now that we have the spirit of god we have what we need to walk in holiness that god commands and verse 24 paul is even stronger those who belong to jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its desires in other words god's desire for his people is that they would not give in to the sinful desires of their flesh but they would be holy holiness in the bible starts with god god is the standard for holiness in the bible not any person not me not the elders not the most famous christian you've ever followed not your famous author the standard of holiness is god the bible says that god is holy holy holy three times he's holy he is perfect in his holiness holiness in the bible is defined as the absence of sin and the presence of goodness god is perfectly holy and that he never sins he never does anything unrighteous and he is perfect in his goodness and his righteousness to be holy in the bible is to be set apart to be unique to be different this is why god is ultimately holy he is completely unique and different he is set apart from his creation in all of his perfections there is nothing in creation that compares to god he alone is holy the call to holiness in the bible is the call for god's people to reflect the character of god in all that they do in other words we are holy not when we are better than other people we are holy when we are more like god in our hearts our minds and our behaviors this is why god says in leviticus 11 45 to the people of israel for i am the lord who brought you from the land of egypt to be your god so you must be holy as i am holy this is why peter writes in first peter 1 15 to the church but as the one who called you is holy you also are to be holy in all of your conduct now listen this is not an old testament thing i just read you a verse in the old testament a verse from the new testament and it's the same message to god's people be holy as god is holy now we all feel tension in that don't we because none of us is holy on our own this is why we need a savior to rescue us and so we say this every week at city view in all of our ministries jesus alone was perfectly holy and he came to rescue unholy people and to make us holy but we are wrong church if we believe that jesus saved us from sin so we could go back into our sin we are wrong church if we think that jesus saving us and the spirit filling us is so we could just keep on living the way we had been living as paul writes in romans 6 1 may it never be jesus saves us on the basis of his holiness so that we can actually pursue that holiness in our lives this is not some just mystical spiritual reality we say yeah we're holy in some kind of way that nobody really understands that's not what we're talking about we're talking about actual holiness we're talking about growing in our character in christ's likeness over time to become more and more holy like jesus is holy now that's what the bible says to all christians but i want to ask the question what's the connection between our holiness and ministry because we're at a ministry conference we're here at a ministry conference talking about ministry learning how to do ministry what's the connection between the two this is really important and the heart of my message tonight our main passage tonight in galatians 5 says the spirit of god in us and our flesh are in a battle with each other now does that surprise anybody in the room this morning this this evening no we all know that right we all know that battle every single day the scriptures are just telling us what is obviously true paul says to us walk by the spirit be led by the spirit the implication is if we are not walking by the spirit if we're not listening to the spirit if we're not being led by the spirit listen to me then we will be walking in the flesh we will be indulging the flesh you see a christian can either walk by the spirit or walk by the flesh those are the only two options we're either going to walk by the spirit or walk by the flesh we can either be led by the spirit or we can be led by the flesh and the daily decisions that we make men and women are directly connected to our alignment with and our empowerment by the holy spirit for ministry you see what i want you to know at the beginning of this ministry year is that you do not want to do ministry without the empowering presence of the holy spirit this is why first thessalonians 5 19 the bible says do not quench the spirit this is why ephesians 4 30 says do not grieve the spirit the point is this when we walk in holiness we're walking in step with the spirit the spirit fills us he leads us he guides us he empowers us for ministry but when we walk in the flesh we grieve the spirit of god we quench the spirit's power in our lives he's talking to christians in this passage this is not an evangelistic text he is talking to christians and he is saying you are either going to walk by the flesh and you're going to quench the spirit or you're going to walk by the spirit and you're going to be filled with him for powerful ministry you see listen you cannot do eternally fruitful ministry in the power of the flesh let me say that again it is my deep conviction you cannot do eternally fruitful ministry in the power of the flesh now let me be clear you can draw a crowd and you can build a church and you can run a program but you will not bear eternal fruit you can recruit a team you can make it look good you can make it sound good you can do a lot of things that a lot of people will tell you is amazing ministry in the flesh but what we have seen have we not time and time again that ministry built on the flesh collapses ministry built on the flesh does not sustain and ministry built on the flesh listen to me hurts people wounds people and so we want to go into this ministry here and we want to learn how can we be in step with the spirit filled by the spirit because we know that only the spirit of god saves and transforms and draws and opens blind eyes and heals and convicts and frees people only god not us and so as you step into your new ministry year your job number one your job number one it's not to have all your handouts printed your job is not to have the white board clean your job number one is to be in step with the spirit you're job number one and we cannot do that if we are indulging the flesh feeding the flesh and walking in the flesh is like putting a kink in a water hose the water source is plentiful there's plenty of water right the faucet is all the way on but there's no water coming out of the hose because there's a kink in the hose that is keeping the water from flowing that is what that is what unrepentant sin does in the life of a believer in the life of a ministry leader it it's a kink in the hose it's quenching biblical word quenching the supernatural power of god flowing through you into the ministry you're doing saying god i don't know why i'm not seeing transformation and change and power coming through i'm doing this for you here's one of the things we just need to specifically pray about god is there something in my life where i'm indulging my flesh where i'm not in step with the spirit and it's quenching the spirit's work in my life and let me talk specifically about what's on my heart tonight pertaining to our holiness as the people of god the city of you family i think in our rejection of legalism we have lost much of the ability to be discerning and wise about what we put into our minds let's not be deceived here what we watch and what we listen to and what we read shapes the way we think and god's word is crystal clear in philippians 4 8. finally brothers and sisters whatever is true whatever is honorable whatever is just whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is commendable if there's any moral excellence if there's anything praiseworthy dwell on these things it is not that what we watch and read and listen to makes us unholy we are already unholy it doesn't make us unholy it's that it feeds what's already in us those sinful desires that are already residing in your heart the flesh remember what jesus said in luke 6 45 he said out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks you see everything we do in ministry is coming out of the overflow of our hearts but here's a new way to think about growing in discernment and wisdom on what we put into our minds is what i'm consuming this is the question i want you to really wrestle with tonight is it feeding my flesh or helping me grow in the spirit is it helping me grow in the spirit or is it feeding my flesh let me give you a couple examples based on our passage in galatians 5. paul says that one of the works of the flesh is sexual immorality you see that in front of the list sexual immorality moral impurity promiscuity now he says this is already in our hearts this is part of our sinful nature this is part of our flesh it's already there because we're sinners but if we look at pornography if we watch sexually explicit shows we are feeding the flesh aren't we we are feeding the flesh listen to me it's not that the pornography creates the lust in me the lust is already there the lust is already there but the pornography is feeding it it's feeding the flesh and it just keeps growing this is why what starts for a lot of people is soft porn turns into hard porn turns into one night hookups with people from online conversations why because indulging the flesh just makes it keep growing and it wants more and it wants more now removing porn from your life will not make lust go away because pornography didn't put it there the lust was already there but it will listen to me it will help you exercise self-control over that lust by the spirit of god and minimize that impact on your life over time do you see the point that i'm making you are either feeding that lust or you are starving that lust based on what you are putting in your mind now many of us today as christians will say well i don't want to have all these rules about what i can watch and can't watch and can't listen to and can't i'm not saying that i don't have a list of rules for you i'm asking you is what you're putting into your brain feeding your flesh or feeding the spirit look at the word jealousy in the list of works of the flesh the text also talks about envy the heart that's discontented with what you have and desires to have what other people have jealousy is something that lives within all of our hearts amen if you're not ever struggling with jealousy you're lying we all struggle with jealousy right it's within our hearts but it's a stronger temptation for some of us than others jealousy is deadly it kills friendships business partnerships church fellowships splitting up even families now think about the impact of jealousy on your heart if you already struggle with jealousy it's already in there and you spend all of your time scrolling instagram all your time scrolling facebook looking at other people's lives now listen to me it's not that social media is making you jealous it's already in there but it's feeding it it's feeding that jealousy are you feeding it are we indulging that desire within our hearts to live somebody else's life because we're satisfied with our own life you see removing social media from your life won't take jealousy totally away it was already there before social media showed up you can still see your next door neighbor's car right okay that jealousy is not going away but if you stop feeding it if you stop feeding it then that flesh is not going to dominate you the spirit's going to control you are you being wise about what you're putting before your eyes are you being wise about what you're thinking about are you feeding the jealousy are you killing it what are you doing christian notice the phrases on there outburst of anger and strife these are works of the flesh outburst of anger and strife now listen nobody has to teach you how to get angry right if you doubt that come to my house see my children right i mean they're born into the world with that capacity to get angry quickly to have these amazing outbursts where they say hurtful things to other people causes strife and division paradise full-time job is like restoring relationships in the family right because of all this you don't need to go to a class on how to get angry how to cause strife how to cause division we all know how to do that but once again some of us are a little more tempted in this space some of us our temperament our personality kind of bends this way a little bit more and so i just need you to think about it if you already know that this is an area of struggle for you and your flesh again are you being discerning about what you're putting into your mind listen to me listen to me do you think by sitting in front of the television and watching people have conflict and yell at each other day after day hour after hour do you think that's going to help you be more calm do you think that's going to help you be more peaceable are you feeding the flesh or are you feeding the spirit again it's not that listening to other people is causing you to be angry it's already in there the anger's already in there but if you're not careful if you feed it it'll just grow it will just grow and it will consume you we start to think it's morally acceptable and good to vent our anger at other people and be disrespectful and hateful in our speech we become numb to the gracious kind gentle work of the spirit and we indulge the works of the flesh if angry outbursts and causing divisions are ongoing temptations for you are you being wise about what you put in your mind is what i'm watching what i'm listening to and what i'm reading is it indulging the flesh or is it feeding the spirit you get my point through these three examples you don't need to become legalistic do not leave this message tonight said he said we can't watch tv that's not what i'm saying don't leave this place and be like the pastor said i got to cancel netflix i'm sorry baby you can't have instagram anymore that's not what i'm saying i'm not up here telling you what to do and not do but i am saying to you i'm afraid we're not being discerning we need to grow in wisdom and discernment you guys realize we have more content coming at us every day than any generation before us and we have to realize that is impacting us that what we spend our time reading watching listening to is either going to help us walk in the spirit or walk according to the flesh and here's my heart in all of this i want you to walk in the spirit because i believe when we commit to growing in holiness together we will see the power of god in our ministries and our lives and our families in ways we have not seen it's not that it wasn't there but there was a kink in the hose are you hearing me how then can we use tonight to make an honest assessment of our holiness our main passage lays out two contrasting visions of our lives i do think it's really interesting he uses two different words the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit the works of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit we've put the two lists together for you tonight for reflection for prayer for self-assessment and mostly for repentance for us to come to the lord myself included and say god i have been feeding the flesh i've been excusing sin verses 19 to 21 tells us the works of the flesh are obvious isn't that an interesting word obvious you already know what they are i already know what they are in my life you don't need a sermon you know why you don't need a sermon you know why you don't even need this message it's because remember who he's talking to he's talking to believers and the spirit is in them and he's saying to them the works of the flesh are obvious you know why because the spirit's already convicting you if the spirit's not speaking to you and convicting you you ought to be very concerned and you need to get saved i'm serious i'm serious if you are not a believer you're not feeling any conviction but if you are a believer the spirit is with you and he's already convicting you and that's why it's obvious i can give you the list but as you look you already know what it is i'm up here preaching and the spirit of god is already on you he's already talking to you he's already convicting you it's obvious what you need to die to it's obvious what you need to grow in because the spirit is working the works of the flesh are obvious immorality and purity idolatry sorcery hatred strife jealousy outbursts of anger selfish ambition dissension factions envy drunkenness carousing spirit is convicting us and inviting us to change even now he is calling you not because he hates you or he's mad at you because he loves you and because he knows your holiness is for your own good even now the spirit is calling you to himself stop comparing yourself to other people compare yourself to the savior who died for you he is inviting you to live in step with the spirit to bear all the fruit it's the fruit of the spirit is it evident in your life would people look at your life and would they see love and joy where they see peace patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control you say oh keith it's old-fashioned out-of-date this listen this is about what it means to be holy as a christian i don't care what the culture is doing i don't care what your neighbor's doing i don't care what your spouse is doing what i'm saying to you is is the fruit of the spirit evident in your life as a believer in jesus christ is your life marked by love joy peace patience kindness goodness gentleness faithfulness and self-control we need to work slowly through that list tonight and answer this question where am i walking according to the flesh and where am i walking according to the spirit this message is not intended tonight to make you feel guilty for your sin it is to inspire you toward holiness friends listen there is something better there is something better there is something better than indulging the flesh and living according to the world and running after addictions and doing all the stuff the world tells you to go after to thinking that sex and money and power and relationships and influence is going to make you happy because it won't and so we run after all that stuff and i'm saying to you listen i'm not up here i'm not mad at you and god's not mad at you we're calling you to something greater calling us to something higher to holiness in our lives friends the scripture is clear flee from sin with all your strength with all the strength of the holy spirit flee from that and run to the god who loves you and saved you and he will forgive and he will fill you with his spirit here's the good news of first john 1 9 and 10 again written to christians if we confess our sins he god is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all of our unrighteousness if we say verse 10 we have not sinned we make god a liar and his word is not in us if you tonight read this list you hear this message and you say ah i hope everybody else is listening i don't have any unholiness in my life come on let's don't play games at church tonight this is church family we are here to do business with god this is a safe place this is a safe place for us as god's people to get our hearts right for the new ministry year did you hear what i just read in first john 1 9-10 if we will confess our sins we will receive tonight tonight right when we confess that cleansing power of jesus he will forgive all that stuff we've done all that things that we've put in our minds that have gotten us distracted and we've fed the flesh jesus promises to forgive us and to wash us clean but we've got to confess it we've got to come clean with god tonight and say yes this is what i've been doing this is what's in my heart and we need to ask god that he would take control that he would fill us god is here not to punish you he loves you he is here to fill you with joy peace love patience in your heart he is here and he wants to forgive you and wash you clean listen he is that water that is coming he's that reservoir of water that is endless that wants to fill you and supply you with everything you need for the ministry year but if you've got that kink in the hose if you've got that kink in the hose straighten that baby out tonight and say lord i'm turning this over to you i'm going to stop doing the things in my life that are feeding my flesh and you know what they are i'm going to stop that and i'm going to start doing the things that are going to feed my walk with you that are going to feed my walk with the holy spirit because i want your rushing power your water to flow through my life right friends he is here to renew you and to strengthen you and to fill you will you bow with me in prayer

Channel: Cityview Bible Church

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Length: 41min 5sec (2465 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 21 2021