Jesus Story | 1x1x1=1

if you're new to canvas welcome and thank you for joining us today if you have any questions or need help with anything at all simply ask a team member wearing a red lanyard we want to make sure you have a great experience here at campus [Music] [Music] [Music] in case you don't already have it be sure to download our canvas app you can get the link by simply scanning the qr code on the seat back in front of you that page has a lot of great information as well so be sure to check it out also if you would like prayer for anything at all head out to our prayer room in the breezeway at any point today we have a team of people that would love to pray with you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it's almost time for our gathering to begin if you're in the lobby you should probably head towards the auditorium again we're excited that you're here let's have a great gathering [Music] hey good morning everybody welcome to camera search would you stand gonna be a great great day welcome to kickoff weekend here let's worship our god come on everybody put your hands together [Music] [Music] it was [Music] [Music] all right come on everybody we see [Music] glorious days [Music] [Applause] [Music] see your glories [Music] did i know [Music] because [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Applause] until your glory is come on we all needed rescued at some point in this life we all needed jesus christ in our life come on we sing [Music] my sin was heavy but jesus i was an orphan now you call me a citizen of heaven [Music] is [Music] is [Music] come on all right welcome to kickoff at campus church how we doing that's that's pretty good nine o'clock was louder though let's try one more time welcome to kickoff how we doing there we go hey we're so excited to have you here my name is justin and this is so much fun we love getting together on kickoff week and just celebrating what god is doing and it's been fun i see a lot of different jerseys we've seen some hockey jerseys i saw a lot of ugly 49ers jerseys oh just kidding i'm a bandwagon seahawks fan so you can make fun of me so anyway uh it's awesome we love it here and so i don't know if you noticed but out in our lobby here at the cosmo campus there's been a lot of neat things that are going on that's crazy out there so i got nate he's our new connect pastor out there nate are you are you out there buddy justin i'm out here man how you doing doing good i can't believe you decided to wear that jersey hey man i'm just rocking the vikings jersey for all the packers it looks forward to connecting with them what's going on at the lobby out there buddy hey man kickoff weekend is all about connecting and so we're super stoked to connect with you my wife jillian and i are here to connect with families with kids but if that's not you man we have a table for you stop by the lobby after the gathering we've got breakfast burritos we've got a photo booth find your table for your stage of life and we're looking forward to connecting with you yeah it's great and we actually are just making that transition we got a few breakfast burritos left but after you guys walk out of this gathering we got a bunch of hot dogs and brats out there so make sure you get out there get connected there's every stage of life is covered out there so get out there and let's hang out after this gathering here but what we want to do right now is we want to celebrate that this week marks the one year anniversary of our billings campus it's been so amazing to see what god has been doing there's been a whirlwind of a year there at billings so check out this video from pastor jared and his wife caitlin [Music] hey canvas we are celebrating here in billings montana because we are coming up on one year of existing as a campus and it has been incredible to see the ways that god has moved in this last year [Music] we've seen people commit to jesus for the rest of their life baptisms have been happening we've watched children come to know jesus and develop their own personal relationship with him community has been built friendships have been born in this place and we're so excited for all that's to come with that our worship culture is simply amazing people are coming in and flooding the doors on sunday ready to experience god in a life-changing way and as awesome as this first year has been and we're going to celebrate it big because god's done amazing things we can't wait to see what he does with 10 years with 20 years if he's packed this much into one year we can't wait to see what's next [Music] come on our king is so amazing he's on the move let's continue to worship and celebrate who he is and what he's done come [Music] i've seen a glimpse of [Music] how [Music] glory is [Music] [Music] no one is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] but to your name we lift them oh praise come on this is what we're called to not to us but to your name we lift them up we lift them oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] not to us but to your name [Music] uh [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] your love is like the wildest ocean oh nothing else compares thank you lord thank you jesus come on church let's give him praise come on father we thank you thank you father enough to not change your life thank you jesus this morning we're going to learn a new song called um called authority i i'll remember it once i start singing it um but it's a song that you know give it all authority over to god and believing that with one word god can change the atmosphere in this place god can change the atmosphere in our valley that god can change the atmosphere in our schools in our job places because we know church we know that we all need a relationship with jesus christ beyond a shadow of a doubt there's nothing that we can do on our own power there's nothing that we can do on our own accord we need the power of jesus working in her life each and every day and as we sing this song and all it takes is one word to believe and know that god is gonna move so as we sing this out lift your hands take a step in worship this morning god has done so many great things in our own life he's brought us out of so much he is worthy of our worship he's worthy of our attention in this moment so i encourage you worship our god our all-powerful god let's pray together god we need you we need you in this place in this moment we recognize lord that this life we cannot do on our own but we need your power working through us so god work in us now we surrender to you we surrender to your power to your authority our god you are all [Music] the breath that brought the dust to life seeing the stars to form [Music] the darkness [Music] although the night is long i know your life will drive you back once more one word [Music] your work is [Music] the flag is [Music] [Music] your is is true [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] my foreign is for me the one i've had to fear and i will not deny the glory that is [Music] [Music] but if my god is born [Music] [Music] is [Music] you is [Music] [Music] is [Music] would you just close your eyes everybody across this place just a moment of reflection and a moment of worship we believe and know that he is god all authority belongs to him all power belongs to you let's just sing this chorus again and if you feel comfortable i want everybody across this place just to lift our hands towards heaven as an act of surrender through our own authority and that's our god in heaven come on let's just sing the sound come on one word from you things change on your earth oh come on his word your word is true things change oh come on let's sing that again come on let's lift our hands we sing [Music] [Music] his [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] there ain't no darkness now has ended in the kingdom of life in the kingdom of lights [Music] you're the king of my life you're the king of my lack of all that's lifted up we sing it out your aim above [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] just to give us [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] space [Music] is [Music] is [Music] wait [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] jesus what's up [Music] [Applause] [Music] over the universe jesus [Music] jesus [Music] it's pretty awesome as we're singing that song and worshiping to to see that seahawk people can worship with pittsburgh steeler fans and patriot fans can actually worship and i noticed that you covered up your huskies jersey here's the thing we all come and bow before jesus regardless of how different we are you know i wonder could we be the same if our jerseys were our political parties today where we wore the republican jersey or the democratic jersey or the green party jersey because the reality is we are such a diverse group but what brings us all together what unifies us all regardless of our where we're from what state we came from what nationality what color our skin is the one thing that we all have in common we have fallen short of the glory of god we're all sinners and yet we bow our knee to the one who reigns over it all jesus the greatest unifier there is [Applause] canvas i implore you let's always be united as a community in jesus let let not the enemy divide us on things that he would try at the end of the day jesus reigns above it all father we glorify you as a church we acknowledge that you are the way the truth and the life that you are our savior and so we acknowledge that and father as we open up your word that you gave to us so that we could know you i pray that you would give us ears to hear today what your spirit would say to us father would you touch our heart that there's an excitement within us to know your truth to be comforted by your truth and then father i pray you'll touch our feet that we will not just know it and we'll not just believe it but father when we leave this place we'll live it with all of who we are we bow our knee towards you we lift our hand towards you in jesus name and everybody said amen hey find a seat and only high five seahawk fans i'm joking you guys did not like that hey i am i am so glad you're here today um this is a a big day kickoff weekend is a big day we like to launch lots of cool stuff and today um one has been a year in the making a year in the making so excited to announce this team behind me this is our connections team and we have been hiring and putting this team together and changing our offices over this with some construction to be able to have this team equipped be able to be able to serve you that you will be able to connect with somebody else and and to explain and introduce this team um the team leader phil wilson is going to come up and introduce the team as we do what we can to make our church a church of connection take it away phil we are so excited about this team and uh we have uh we know this that in our community and in our culture there is a disconnect in community and people need connection right and uh you may be here and you're like i need connection uh we all do we're we're born for it we were designed that way and this team is gonna help you connect and if uh if you're out there like yep nope nope yeah we're coming after you okay and uh right now is i'm gonna get ready to introduce them they're gonna they're scouting you out right now to see who you are and where to find you after this gathering but we have broken this team down in stages of life and uh i'm gonna introduce the team and this is rick zeiger he's going to be working with empty nesters and empty nesters in the house this is mary kay working with seniors they have a lot of time and a lot of money on their hands so they're going to be able to connect that way we got kristen quinones she's going to be working with young adults and young marrieds uh her and her husband mateo married this about a year and a half now i guess and uh super excited to have them she's new to the team we have jessica todd and eleanor craig these ladies let me tell you they are connecting with women all through canvas like every week they're in coffee shops hanging getting them plugged in they're the support staff to the rest of this team from an administrative standpoint the brains behind the team they like to hear me say that and uh you met nate out in the lobby uh working with families with kids and uh so if you have elementary age and younger uh that's going to be uh nate you want to connect with myself uh i'm gonna be working with families with teens i'm losing hair up here and gaining gray right here so uh that's how you can identify if you're a teen parent um i got three of them and it's pretty scary right now so here's the deal for those that are single we have singles groups that are different age brackets and we have those available in the library to sign up after this gathering in the lobby we have booths come see us come grab some food it's free it's awesome you don't have to pay for lunch after church that way and come hang out with us we're out there to really build connection this fall we're launching connect groups connect adventures connect events and just ways to bring community to canvas church making the large church small awesome we are excited about this yeah come on we can clap about it you know one of the things that's so exciting is that you continue week after week after week to invite your friends to come and they're coming and they're staying and they're finding jesus and we're growing as a church and one of the keys to continue to remain healthy is we got to grow smaller in community you grow larger in in large community but we go deeper in relationships small ways and this is how that happens so very very pumped about that so we're launching that today and then the other thing that we're launching and i'm pumped about this is we're starting a brand new series it's going to be a long series and we're calling it the jesus story in the beginning i was there we created life we created man in the image of ourselves we looked upon all that was formed and called it good [Music] i stood with the man of the garden i brought him companionship i saw when they were tempted when they fell and i cast them out for the darkness within them could not live with our glory i was there as they descended into darkness shedding the blood of their kin and living in curse of evil i was there when we purged the world of depravity drowning all but one family for the lineage of humanity i was there when the great city was built we confused their language and i watched as the people scattered across the earth waiting for the day that they would return and be reunited with us [Music] i was there in the garden about nine years ago when i moved here i had a dream to do a series that would take us from genesis all the way through the word to revelation i'm all the way through the bible and um we have been working on this and we are excited today to begin this journey we're calling the jesus story now the bible is full of stories but all of those stories are actually telling one simple story and that story is who is jesus and why is he so important and we're going to take our time to work our way through it and and it's going to be broken up into many different stories while the the overall arching theme is called the jesus story today we begin the first series of the jesus story called the garden we're going to camp in the garden for a while and we're looking through the the book of genesis of who is and why is jesus so important and how does this entire story wrap around him one of my goals is that we can grow in biblical literacy that we can understand when we talk about the bible that you can go i understand what that is all about i get how it all works that's one of the things that we're going to be doing and i don't know how long it's going to take us we're just going to take our time and work our way throughout the scriptures in in a logical order and we're going to take breaks like come christmas time we'll take a break from the jesus story even though everything is the jesus story and then we'll have a christmas series and then then we'll jump back into the jesus story then we'll take a break i gotta in the new year i got a series that i want to do on vision that we're going to be doing vision for your life vision for our church and we'll take time for that at easter we'll we'll take a break as well and then we'll jump back into the jesus story and i'm pumped pumped to start it today um as as we look at the very beginning of the scriptures um in in genesis and i guess where do you start where do you start the jesus story well you got to start in the beginning and so we're going to grab your bibles if you have it go to genesis chapter one we'll have it on the screen up here for you but in genesis chapter one this thing starts and and here is the beginning and it says this right here in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth now i want you to see that's the very first verse of the bible genesis 1 1. like if you were to go to find you skip through the table of contents and when the bible starts there's the first verse that's where we start in the beginning now i want you to see what word i highlighted god created the heavens and the earth i also want you to see what words i didn't highlight like well all of them but one true that is important but there's one key one that i did not highlight in the beginning god created i didn't highlight the created word i highlighted the god word and the reason i did that is because genesis is not a book on how god created the earth we got to take the w at the end he got to put it at the beginning genesis is a book on who created the earth i'm going to say that several times as we work our way through this that we got to remember as we're looking through the story here it's about who created the earth not how the earth was created in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth but i will say i want to know how he did it you ever get there you ever go like well yeah yeah i know god you created it but but how did you do it and i don't think there's anything wrong to question how he did i don't think there's anything wrong to wonder how he did in fact i think it's healthy to look at it i think it's healthy to study it i think it's it's healthy to read it because as you discover the intricacies of creation it reveals the power of who god is so i think it's healthy to ask the question how god created the earth but you just have to remember that really it's a genesis is about who created the heavens and the earth look at psalms chapter 19 psalm 19 says this the heavens proclaim the glory of god and the skies display his craftsmanship anybody recently gone outside in the evening like around 66 degrees and you look up the stars are just amazing right now uh it's been beautiful outside i love to look up and it's it's beyond what you can imagine sometimes when you look at all the stars because the heavens proclaim the glory of god if you go to psalms chapter 95 it says he holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains the sea belongs to him for he made it his hands formed the dry land too in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and yet even when i say that let's be honest inside of you is this wrestle of like but how how did he do it i want to know and the focus is on the who but how what we're focusing on who but how you know anybody experience that little wrestle going on inside of you okay so what i'm going to do is because i need to answer that question i'm going to tell you how how did god create the heavens and the earth here's how i don't know i don't know how he did it but i'll give you some theories you want some theories nobody you want some theories okay good because i was about to go home okay here goes i got three theories of the how just so we can wrestle with the hell and then i got a point i want to make on it but but but here are some good questions on how maybe god created the heavens and the earth i'm going to give you these three theories and they're really they're big buckets that a lot of different opinions fit into and then we're gonna vote and you can decide which one you think is accurate okay and then we'll be a divided church and then there'll be an awesome moment okay so that that that would be fun okay here's three theories on how god could have created the earth okay the first one probably leans a little bit more of the mainline evangelical church and that would be that the it's called the young earth creation that means that the earth is only about 6 000 to maybe 15 000 years old and in the reading of the bible in genesis you would read it in a literal way it's a literal reading what do i mean by that it means that when it talks about a day it's a literal 24 hour day that'd be a literal interpretation of the book of genesis um you would of the young earth often believe that there is a canopy that uh that surrounds the world until the flood and it was a it created a high density upon the earth that's where dinosaurs could be um where they were at and then when god um through noah when he sent the flood we're going to talk about that in a few weeks and that water vapor collapsed onto the earth and it changed the world um and that's where dinosaurs died out and all of that took place and um all that craziness and people didn't live as long because everything changed in the world that the flood um that would be sort of a young earth creation um belief and a big theologian that would land on the young earth creation theory would be an individual named ken ham and he leaves the creation institute things and in fact this is a this is a side note but in glendale montana of all places there is a phenomenal creation museum a young earth creation museum right there so if unfortunately you ever have to go to north dakota um you can stop at the glenda um creation museum and it's like it's like i don't even know why it's there it's phenomenal um in glendale anyway so um that that would be a young earth creation viewpoint then on the other side of the pendulum swing um there is old earth creation theory um this is the the belief that the earth is millions if not billions of years old um that the um that god spoke the big bang and bang big bam it happened big bang it happened and um and the world began to evolve in that way in fact the the term there would be a theistic evolution that god started this idea of evolution and and as as it became being over the millions and millions and millions of years there was a species of bipod humanoids that the holy spirit spoke into breathed life into and that became adam created in god's image and and we're gonna actually talk about the image of god next week but that became the the human race and um one of my favorite theologians lands here um and that would be a theologian named n.t wright i love his writings very powerful thinker a great theologian he lands on an old earth kind of interpretation in fact he that you would read then um genesis in more of a symbolic poetic it was written in a poetic way but more of a poetic kind of way when you read or symbolic kind of way when you read the book of genesis there and then the third theory that you could look at is what is sort of called the combo theory or maybe the gap theory um and that is where the the earth started millions and millions of years ago it's more of a literal translation that was created this way but when man was created then the days went to 24 hours and then you interpret it out this way um and um the the person that really um supports this theory is her name is well there's a lot of people that do but the lady that i that introduced it to me her she's an astrophysicist named dr sarah salavander and um she was an atheist that began to study the stars and along her journey she realized that there was an intentional and in intelligent design and as she looked at the intelligent design she realized the intelligent design had a name and that name was jesus and in her process of studying creation she gave her life to jesus and um you can she has a great website that explains that whole concept um you can go to what's it called six day science.com um and you can see some information on their perspective is there here's what i know about ken ham nt wright and dr sarah salavander they all love jesus all three of them and yet they all have different opinions on how the earth was created and that's okay because genesis is not a book on how the earth was created genesis is a book on who created the heavens and the earth but just for fun let's vote how many of you by raising of your hand how many of you would land in the young earth category raise your hand okay okay how many of you would land in the old earth category raise your hand okay how many of you would land in the latter one the gap theory one the raise your hand on that one okay about a third a third and a third and then there's another third that didn't raise their hand but you don't count so we get a hole okay there's how it works isn't that fascinating so even just among us right here we have all different opinions on how the world came to be and guess what that's okay at one point in my life i believe this one and then i believe that one and then i believe this one and now i've gotten so educated i know i don't know but i love to study it and i love to read about it but i do know who created the heavens and the earth because in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth but i do think there is a lesson that we can take away with that i think is important that we understand this as a group of christians because one of the things that we have to be careful that we don't do is we take our absolute truth flag and we stick it in places it should not be at don't ever put the absolute truth flag in how god created the earth and we want to do that because we live in a culture where absolute truth doesn't exist absolute truth is going away in fact i'm reading a current book it's the most boring book i've ever read in my life it's on how to write a research paper and um for for my doctor and i'm just like oh narp celebrity just hits me the minute i open it and um but i'm reading through how to do this research paper and in the in it it says the goal of research is to find the truth and maybe even the elusive absolute truth and then in parentheses every time it has the word absolute truth in parentheses it says if it even exists not interesting even if it even exists and so because our culture is moving away from absolute truth what christians tend to do is we're like no no no you have an absolute truth because we believe in jesus and so what we do is we overreact and then we take the absolute truth flag and we start sticking it in places that are not absolute truth so you might have some young earth people go you have to believe in young earth or you're wrong and your overreaction has really watered down all of your truth and we have to be careful that we don't do that or old earth person goes no this is the only way to think and you and no because what you're saying you're making something that should not be absolute truth absolute truth make sure that you don't call something that is not absolute truth absolute truth because then when that's questioned and turned out to be wrong then everything that you've ever said about absolute truth is questionable as well now is there absolute truth absolutely the bible declares it this is where we find it we just spent seven weeks talking about absolute truth statements that jesus made that the bible shares jesus is the way the truth and the life absolute truth jesus is the resurrection and the life absolute truth no one comes unto the father except through jesus absolute truth though there is truth that we have to put our our flag on and say as a believer in jesus this is truth and it won't change because jesus doesn't change he's the same yesterday today and forever this is truth but make sure that what you put your flag in is truly absolute creation opinion or how it was created that god created it absolute truth in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth let me give you a sort of the genesis overview of how this was created in a sense or how who did it um and we it could be young earth old earth we don't know but we do see a layout here um and it's in genesis chapter one verses three and five and we start with day one where light was was created and in in six in uh verse eight um day two we see the firmament and then on nine through thirteen day three you see dry land and vegetation again young earth 24 hours a day 24-hour day 24-hour day old earth millions of years millions of years millions of years um for 14-19 day four the two lights what were the two lights everyone the sun and the moon yeah very much i'm on 2023 day five you have water and air animals on day on day six very important day this is when the seahawks were created and you have land animals and you have humanity was created you and i um and then on verse one and three of chapter two the seventh day there you have rest but i put this before you again one more time to consider and that's this quote right here the question is not how while it's okay to wrestle with it the point of genesis that we are studying is who created the heavens and the earth every verse that i've read today emphasizes the hoop genesis 1 1 emphasizes god psalms 19 the heavens declare the glory of god psalms 95 his hands hold it together this is a place to be absolute god is the creator because the word of god declares it to be true and so it's absolutely true that god is the creator and then one of the things that we have to watch ourselves and and guard ourselves when it comes to creation especially for us who live in montana we have to be careful that because what we like to do is we like to get out into creation oh it's nice to go out and go out and enjoy and now that a lot of the tourists have left we can actually go into glacier and and we could go up there and we need to enjoy the the majesty of it all and sometimes what we have to be careful is that we don't shift and drift and begin to worship the creation instead of the creator always guard your heart on that see creation points to the creator creation worships the creator creation reveals the creator and i think that's important to understand because i am created which means my life should point to the creator i am created so my life needs to worship the creator i am created so my life needs to reveal the creator creation is not to be worshipped creation is to worship it's important that we get the who and not get lost in the how genesis 1 1 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth so this is where jesus began or is it there's an interesting text in the new testament in john that john is writing here and john writes a very fascinating text because he uses genesis 1 1 to launch his story or his writing of who jesus is check out john 1 1 it says this in the beginning do you see the correlation everybody connect the dots there you need to connect that dot or this is gonna get real boring okay genesis 1 1 says in the beginning john 1 1 says in the beginning now here's what it says in the beginning the word already existed the word was with god and the word was god he existed in the beginning with god what okay let's read that let's let's read that verse again and see if we can understand it because it's important that we get it here it is in the beginning the word now the greek word that john is using here is logos which which is a powerful word it means word and and here's what's powerful about it the way john is writing it he's saying everything that's been written before in the old testament jesus is the fulfillment of it that's what it's saying right there all the torah or the pentateuch all the old testament jesus is the fulfillment it's a it is a powerful way to start the book of john he's drawing for all of his readers the the the to understand the one that we have been talking about that said was gonna come boom is the word and then he describes the word so every time i read this verse i'm gonna take out now the word and put jesus there because that's who he's referring to so watch this in the beginning jesus already existed so so you're not going to get an origin story of jesus which is sort of a bummer one of my favorite things in the marvel universe is origin stories you know one of the things i love about like batman the the oh man he's that's the best superhero in dc comics i mean like he's not marvel i know that i'm getting there be patient with me dc comics oh i love origin stories let me tell you this you're not gonna get an origin story with jesus because we don't know it he always existed in the i'll read it to you in the beginning jesus already existed there's your origin story now watch this next part jesus was with god and jesus was god and you're like john make up your mind was he with god or was he god like like come on you read that and you're like what i don't ever read something and go what well you should okay and so we're gonna do that i'm gonna read it and when i get to right here i think all of you need to go what okay that will help me be a preacher okay let's try it okay here you go do your part in the beginning jesus already existed jesus was with god and jesus was god oh come on this is good stuff right here what is going on there let me finish the text he existed jesus existed in the beginning with god well what is going on right here like how do you how do you understand this text and here's how it is jesus was at the beginning jesus was with god but jesus is god and the concept there is called the trinity the trinity consists of three god the father god the son god the holy spirit they're three but one they're like three but they're one but they're three but they're one okay i could just do this all day and they would be right every time they're three but the one god the father god the son and god the holy spirit and the more we study the bible as we work our way through the jesus story you're going to see this idea of the trinity come up again and again and again and again that's why i'm starting with it because the god is three but one oh okay i'll give you a mathematical equation that explains it one times one times one equals that was the homeschoolers okay good job seriously flat head's going wait what sorry glacier's going see spot run see swallow just joking i'm just teasing whitefish like well we wear masks okay i'm just teasing okay don't get ticked you know big force like are we in montana i don't even know oh so funny columbia falls is like we're not the little sister town okay it's fun to rip on people in jesus name okay i'm just having fun so if you're ticked off welcome to church but but here it is that equals that it's amazing that even this mathematical equation can explain god that that there's this trinity there there's three but there's one this is who god is who created the heavens and the earth we we see it by the way all throughout scripture i'll give you a couple places you see it at creation well we'll talk about this next week when when god said let us create man in our image you see the plurality of god there and yet it's one god you see it at the conception of jesus um where where the father with the angel declares that mary will be with child and this isn't the origin story of jesus because jesus was already at creation this is the time when jesus left heaven and came to earth the idea is called the incarnation where jesus became fully man that god became man and it says there that the father will send his son the son will live within you by the power of the holy spirit that you see all three in action there you see all three in action at the baptism of jesus when when jesus was in the river jordan and he was being baptized the heavens opened up the bible says and the father spoke and he said this is my son in whom i am well pleased and there was jesus in the in the river and then the holy spirit descended like that of a dove you see it um at the great commission when when jesus sends his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel baptizing them and catch this in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit it's three but one in fact even the way we pray we pray to god but what we're taught to pray is to the father that so jesus said how do we pray the disciples asked him he said our father who art in heaven but jesus also said ask anything in my name and if it be according to my father's will in heaven it will be granted to you that that no one comes into the father unless the spirit draws them through the son of jesus so we pray to the father in the name of the son jesus by the power of the holy spirit that the holy spirit leads us to pray the holy spirit guides us on how to pray and and what to pray about and so you see this beautiful imagery of the trinity god the father god the son and god the holy spirit all the way through and to be honest with you i'm gonna run out of words describing the trinity to you in a way that you can understand because the english language falls short of declaring the complexity of the trinity but even if i was fluent in german the german language would fall short of declaring the complexity of god even if i was flewish in the romantic language of spanish see i'm not even fluent in english even if i was in the by the way the spanish word for fluent is fluish that's not true some of you from big fork are like i didn't know that okay i'm just having fun here's my point a finite language cannot explain an infinite god that's the point i need you to know let me say it this way your finite mind cannot comprehend an infinite god we're going to do our best to explain it but we will always fall short to completely understanding it and honestly i take comfort of that because if i could completely understand god i might as well be god anybody want me to be god okay thank you you don't have to be that strong about it like you guys are louder about that than the what no okay i won't be it's powerful i'm glad i i serve a god that my mind can not comprehend in fact when you look at john 1 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god here's the conclusion that you come to jesus is my creator that leads me to verse three and verse three says this god created everything through him being jesus this referring to the father and nothing was created except through jesus jesus gave life to everything that was created and his life brought light to everyone the beautiful thing about the trinity is you see this interwoven intertwined i like to call it a cosmic dance of the father and the son and the holy spirit moving in a beautiful community in a in a beautiful unity in this way where they serve and love and work with one another in in this in this way that blows my mind three but one and we see that jesus is my creator the father and the son and the holy spirit and the dance for us starts with in the beginning god three but one created the heavens and the earth so today here is what i know i am not god and i am not creator i am creation that's a life-changing perspective that each one of us need to have i am creation and when i understand i'm not god and i understand i'm not creator but i'm creation i live life out of that perspective i live life out of that absolute truth that i anchored to i am creation so also what does that mean well what is what does creation do creation points to the creator like when you look at a beautiful piece of art like that that one that van gogh did has the circling stars on it that i guess looks a lot better if you're on drugs i've never done that but um the the um this you know what that that art does that art emphasizes the name of the artist van gogh we are creation we point to our creator so so i need to live my life in a way that points to my creator i wanna tell people about who jesus is i wanna i wanna point out his absolute truths i wanna i wanna point out his love for me i want to i want to point out that that jesus left heaven and came to earth so i wouldn't have to die a sinner's death he died a sinner's death in my place he i want to point out how wonderful he is to me why because i am creation i point out my creator i'm also creation so i worship the creator creation worships the creator in everything i do i want to bring glory to god that's what i love about psalms 95 that says the heavens declare the glory of god the heavens worship god i want to worship my creator in the way that i love my spouse in the way that i raise my children in the way that i preach in the way that i lead in the way that i drive okay let's not go too far and everything i do i want to worship my creator we are created every one of us we are created to worship and in our worship point to the creator in fact one of the things that we're doing here at campus church and in your church is we are emphasizing worship we are we are we are pushing people to engage in corporate worship now now the the worship is is how we live our life and then we come together and that's corporate worship when we when we when we sing songs together and one of the areas of emphasis really coming in the middle of this pandemic but coming out of of where we were a year ago we felt the leading of the spirit to really engage our church into um into corporate worship into experiencing and participating in corporate worship and so you'll hear the the the worship leaders and and john are our key worship leader emphasizing us to lift up our hands in worship that's a point of emphasis that we have currently in our worship con culture here at kalispell we want to be people who worship god we want to be people who lift up our hands unto the lord in fact over a hundred times throughout the scripture it says lift up your hands unto the lord so we're not just drawing the two kinesthetics here where we're really wanting to be a church that that lives out the word of god that worships the lord and it lifts up the hand unto the lord and i know some of you you're like well you know i'm on the disc i'm a c my personality is it's just not that way um who cares what your personality is your creator says worship you're like yeah but i'm a three on the enneagram you know or i'm a one on the enneagram and some of you are like what's the enneagram who cares worship the lord lift up your hands in the holy place the bible says unto your lord and maybe you're like yeah but i'm an infj and you're like what's an iron of j i'm an enfp so i'm just like here's my heart god created you with the personality that you have he also created you to worship you have to connect the dots find who you are and then do what he calls you to do and one of the things i want to see in our church is we are unashamed of the gospel of jesus christ for it is the power of salvation and we lift we lift our hands to the one who saved us we declare the truth of who he is why i am creation i worship my creator and then my third final thought is i am creation i reveal my creator there's a difference between revealing and pointing pointing is something that i intentionally do i point out my creator revealing is when somebody watches my life but they discover jesus in me by the way that i live that the holy spirit god who lives within me is producing in my life the fruit of the spirit love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control that when people watch me and the way that i live in the way that i talk in the way that i do life they discover my creator because my life reveals jesus can i ask you a question does your life reveal your creator by watching you does your life reveal your creator i didn't do this in any of the other gatherings but i'm gonna do it in this one this is why suicide is so hard and my suicide is never an answer to a heart problem suicide is never an answer to a relational problem because you are creation and you are loved by your creator and so when your thoughts lead you to a conclusion that is not right or healthy or good pause and say and declare over your life i am creation and i am loved by god and i know sometimes mental health can be so loud in our ears and in our heart but that's why worship is so important because when you lift your hands and you sink with your mouth and you declare worship to the lord it dumbs down those voices that want to lie that want to steal that want to destroy canvas let's be creation in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth and since i am creation let us point to the creator let us worship the creator and let's live our life in a way that reveals the creator for we are creation will you grab that connection card i encourage everyone to fill this out there's a qr code in the seat back in front of you or even a paper one and a seat back in front of you if you're here and you don't know jesus maybe the first step you need to take is i choose to follow jesus i i wanna i recognize i'm creation and i wanna worship my creator maybe it's the second one here i don't understand but i'm open to learning maybe that's where you're at maybe you're like i don't even get what this guy is talking about and he's weird that's okay i'm created come on the journey with us come on the jesus story journey and learn more about who he is it's a great place to be maybe it's the third one i believe in the creator who is beyond my understanding and lastly i am committed to the jesus story journey would you stand with me here's what we're gonna do i'm gonna pray i'm gonna pray over us to the father in the name of the son by the power of the spirit and then we're gonna end this gathering worshiping we're gonna sing a worship song and i want you to be creation i want you to worship listen to the words if you don't know the words of the song concentrate on them meditate on them think about them and maybe at some point just go i'm creation and let's worship the one who created us father we love you thank you so much for sending your son jesus to die a sinner's death in our place that you loved your creation that much it blows my mind it's unfathomable to think about father thank you that you care so much that you gave us the holy spirit to live within us to shape us to guide us to comfort us to remind us of truth you love us so much we worship you for you are good in jesus name amen come on let's worship him let's worship our creator [Music] [Music] your hidden glory in creation now we're building you a christ what a beautiful name it name is is the name of jesus christ what a beautiful name it is this what a beautiful name it is [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] what a wonderful what a wonderful day it is the name of jesus christ what a wonderful name it [Music] wonderful is it is [Music] that you demonstrated oh god but by becoming one of us oh we love you we worship the kingdom the we were made for this we were made to give you glory [Music] we lift [Music] for [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] is [Music] thank you so much for joining us today if you'll take a moment to fill out that connection card this is a great way to respond to the truths we heard today there are four ways we can take next steps the first is i choose to follow jesus the second is i don't understand but i'm open to learning the third is i believe in the creator who is beyond my understanding and the fourth is i'm committed to the jesus story journey you can find all that is happening right here at canvas through our canvas church app you can give through the app to the ministry of canvas church or through the website at canvas.church i'm praying that this week god will continue to move in our lives may you not miss a beat and find your rhythm with god canvas we love you we're praying for you and i look forward to being with you next week [Music] you

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Length: 88min 8sec (5288 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021