September 26 | Practicing to Partner | Kristi McLelland

good morning everybody let's all stand up [Music] holy spirit coming out of your way lord we know you're here god we we pray that you had just come close to us as we lift your name high you're worthy jesus jesus name amen all right let's sing [Music] is [Music] i was lost what he brought me in always [Music] yes i [Music] is [Music] he died for me [Music] yes [Music] house there's a place [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you are [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] there's a place for me i'm the child of god yes i am [Music] i'm a child of god you have chosen me though [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i am [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] this house there's a place for yes [Music] hey madam man hey well good morning everyone i want to introduce you to paige lewis paige is one of our high school seniors and she is on our city students worship team and she leads almost every wednesday so if you are a student in the room or you have a student uh she leads them so well every wednesday she's amazing we love paige earlier this year we wrote a song with paige and it's called alleluia and we've been singing it over the summer at city students we sing it at summer camp we sing it on wednesdays and it's kind of become an anthem for our student ministry it was born out of the student ministry and uh we invited paige here to lead it can we teach you guys the song this morning awesome it goes like this [Music] lord i know that [Music] and i will choose to see your way every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] my [Music] of [Music] jesus yeah you can do anything [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i know you're closer [Music] [Applause] that [Music] [Music] you're oh than it feels oh jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] you're worthy [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i love you oh lord mercy never fails me all my days i've been held in your head from the moment that i wake up until i lay my head i will see of the goodness of god [Music] all my life and all my life you have been faithful [Music] all my life you have been so told [Music] i love your voice [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] you have is faithful all my life you have been so so good [Music] with every oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] is [Music] me [Applause] [Music] yes it is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i will sing but the goodness of god [Music] [Music] why would i worry when giants come calling my name my god is so much bigger than troubles i face [Music] then why would i hunger for power which is or faint my god is so much better than all of these things [Music] so i speak to the [Music] mountains my god [Music] cause they know [Music] is [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] that's impossible [Music] he doesn't already know there's no problems too strong there [Music] no [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] i won't be moved [Music] my god is faithful his promises so i speak to the mountains oh it's time to move [Music] cause my god is bigger stronger greater than me [Music] let's pray together to god we lift our voices today and join with other followers of jesus around this city and around this country we join our voices with christians throughout history for thousands of years who have said that our trust is in you we think of the words of the psalmist who says some may trust in horses and some may trust in chariots but we your people will trust in the name of our god we join our voices with those throughout history who have said i lift my eyes to the hills where does my help come from my help comes from the lord maker of heaven and earth some of us have come into this place god with mountains in front of us that are challenges and i'm thankful that when we worship we remind one another of your faithfulness you are a faithful god and you are bigger and better and stronger and greater than any mountain that we could come across and so we speak your character back to you today and we say that our trust is in you may you receive our worship we offer it to you in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit and all god's people said amen amen amen hey paige i just want to say to you we're so thrilled you represent so much of what god is bringing up in the next generation i just want to affirm god's call on your life [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we are seeing god do some beautiful things among the the students among the next generation that is rising up with a passion for god and it gives me great hope about the future of the church can we thank the band for leading us today love you guys [Music] all right you guys can go ahead and take your seats if we have not had a chance to meet my name is darren whitehead and i'm one of the pastors here and we are thankful that we can gather together and we can lift up the name of jesus i want to thank you for your faithfulness in financial worship and financial giving to our church taking what the world worships and joyfully sowing it into the kingdom of god if you are new to our church you are among a generous people who take seriously the things of god in the kingdom of god and i just want to affirm your faithfulness in giving in tithes and offerings if you would like to worship the lord through giving you can do that online cotc.com give or you can give on on the way out a couple of quick things before we jump into god's word today we have a gathering for men that is coming up on october the 3rd it's going to be sort of a fire pit environment it's it's a way for men to meet other men and we're going to be talking more about what we have coming for men's ministry and serving the men in our church it's going to be up near the the small white house on our property up in the corner there if you uh would like to join us that night there's more information on the website but bring a camping chair and and know that you're going to be around fire pits and all that kind of stuff on october 10 we have another sunday evening prayer and worship night every time we do these i think gosh we should do this so much more it is so powerful to decisively and intentionally cultivate the presence of god like come into the presence of god in extended time of prayer and extended time of worship and october 10 is going to be the next time that we do that and it's always always a powerful time and so i would invite you to be a part of that now if you have a formation journal with you i want you to hold it up in the air you are the ones going to heaven i just want you to know that okay no it brings this pastor's heart great joy to see formation journals in hands if you don't know what that is you're welcome to get one today we'll give it to you as a gift we have now given away 6 000 formation journals and it is not just for the adults i want to say to the students i want to say to the teenagers this is for you too we want to encourage you to develop a habit of being in god's word do you know that uh a research shows very very comprehensive research that was done a few years ago about bible engagement those who engage the bible in a devotional time four times or more a week have dramatic impact on the way that they live the the the the distinction point four times or more a week uh it has a a great impact on your sanctification process on on on just your access to the word of god we talked a few weeks ago about the formation of people romans 12 do not be conformed to the world but be transformed the world is discipling people christians better than the churches are and this is our battle cry this is us waging war against the discipleship of the world to say we must increase the frequency in which we are spending time in god's word there's got to be so much more than a gathering on sunday morning and so uh we are encouraging people to be in god's word there is a a way for you to to join us there's an on-ramp every single day some of you got one of these a couple of weeks ago and you haven't done it one morning and there is no shame there is no shame join us tomorrow morning with a fresh on-ramp to join us tomorrow morning at 6 00 a.m about 6 000 people right now are getting that text and if you want to join you want to get that text at 6am cotc daily text cotc daily to 94090 and we'll include you among those there is something about engaging in god's word knowing that there are actually thousands of your church of the city family who are engaging the same passage at the same time a lot of people say to me you know when it comes to studying the bible or being in the bible they open it up they don't know where to begin we have a place for you to begin every single day and um as we look at the next four months we're going to be making our way through the four gospels matthew mark luke and john and uh our sunday mornings is going to be we're calling this series formation and we're going to be referencing this every single week and the way we're going to be making our way through this is we're going to take one of the readings from the previous week and we're going to do a deeper dive and so i would encourage you as you are spending time in the word this week think about maybe what is the one that we're going to be doing a deeper dive in when it comes to the following sunday now if you've got your formation journals you can open it up to sunday service and there is a section there i promise you there will not be enough room for the amount of notes that you're going to be taking today because we have on our teaching team one of the finest and my favorite one of my favorite bible teachers in all the world and um the message that we just heard at nine o'clock was not just insightful it was anointed and i would encourage you to get your bibles open get your formation journals open and would you please welcome our very own kmac christie mcclellan to open god's word [Applause] oh good morning church family who is loving this fall weather absolutely it's my favorite time of year it's so good to see you all this morning you're looking gospel gorgeous just look to your neighbor and say you look good this morning yeah just encourage each other a little bit nothing at all wrong with that i am so excited to be with you this morning as we kick off our brand new series called formation and we are going to be walking our way through all four gospels and we are going to be doing it together there's an ancient african proverb that goes like this if you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go together and we are taking a long view as the people of god the new testament church has existed for 2 000 years plus and counting and we are depending on the faithfulness of the living god to walk us through to the new heaven the new earth until we reach the shores of the new jerusalem amen and so we are committed together as a church family to eating the four gospels together over the next several months i do want to encourage you to take out your formation journal open it up to the page that says september 26th church service and to take out a pen we have an opportunity to collect some pearls together this morning and string them together as we make our way through and this commitment to daily bible reading i want to frame it for you with the hebrew word when the living god opened up the door for me to go study the bible in egypt and israel back in 2007 i learned this word and i think about it every time i open my bible it is the hebrew word seem love everybody say that with me seem love i'm going to spell it for you it's s i m l l-e-v lev is the hebrew word for heart and sim is the hebrew word for set upon so seem love means to set upon the heart and in the rabbinic jewish tradition of jesus this is the purpose of reading the scriptures over and over and over again we want to set the word of god upon our hearts and there was a student of the middle east who asked his rabbi rabbi why do you say that we want to set the word upon our hearts why don't we want to hide the word in our hearts we think of king david saying that in the bible i have hidden your word in my heart that i might not sin against you and the rabbi responded with this answer he said my son the human heart tends to be hard so we set the word upon our hearts so that as life breaks our hearts the words can fall right in i want you to think about what is hurting your heart this morning as we get ready to begin this new series called formation together what is it that you need what is it that the word of god needs to fall into your heart and touch this morning we want to be a people of god who practice seam loving the scriptures where is the word of the lord we want it set upon our hearts we want to be a people informed by the word of god empowered by the spirit of god to walk the way of god in the earth amen and this morning as we begin our new series we are going to be walking through all four gospels the first gospel in the new testament is called the gospel of matthew and i wanted just to give you a quick survey of that before we come to our principle text of scripture this morning but it's interesting that matthew is the first gospel given to us in the new testament because it was not the first gospel that was written scholars will tell us it was the gospel of mark that was written first both matthew and luke will borrow a lot of content from the gospel of mark into their gospels matthew and luke and some 30 years after matthew mark and luke were already in circulation john will write his fourth and final gospel now matthew mark and luke the first three they are what we call the synoptic gospels because they all tend to see the story very similarly john's gospel which comes 30 years later it's known as a universal gospel and when we think about the gospel of matthew where we are beginning as a church family as we enter into this new series called formation the gospel of matthew is the most jewish gospel of the four and scholars believe this is why it's the first one in the new testament because it's picking up right where the old testament or the hebrew bible the bible that jesus knew would pick up matthew 1 begins with the genealogy of jesus tracing his lineage all the way back to father avraham we call him abraham showing that he qualifies to be the messiah the son of god and the savior of the world and so we have jewish matthew one of the original 12 disciples walking with jewish jesus in their jewish world 2000 years ago and he gives us a very jewish gospel in the gospel of matthew now with that overview provided for us it is time to come to our key passage for today which is going to launch our entire series if you have been following along with us last sunday we were in matthew 6 it took us all the way to matthew 12 yesterday how many of you woke up this morning and read our matthew 13 passage yep i see those hands out there and so i have picked what i believe is the most encouraging passage in all of the chapters that we read this week it is a very very encouraging passage to begin our series and who needs some encouragement this morning amen so i want to invite you to stand with me for the reading of god's word we do want to practice more and more being a church family and so i want to invite you to read this passage out loud with me this morning it is found in matthew chapter 10 verses 1 through 4 this very very encouraging passage here we go church family let's read it together jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness these are the names of the 12 apostles first simon who is called peter and his brother andrew james son of zebedee and his brother john philip and bartholomew thomas and matthew the tax collector james son of alphaeus and thaddeus simon the zealot and judas iscariot who betrayed him who feels encouraged right now everybody's going christy that's just a bunch of names well we're getting ready to walk through them together and i tell my students all the time the first step in bible study is never to read the bible the first step in bible study is always to pray that we might posture our hearts before the living god that we might ask him to tune our hearts to his grace that we might catch every word that he wants to give us how many of you don't want to miss one word that the lord wants to say to you this morning so would you bow your heads with me as we quiet ourselves as we posture ourselves before the lord this morning father thank you for the word of god and thank you for the church thank you for the inheritance of the saints and that you have not only called us to seem love your word but to set it upon our hearts together father you alone know each and every heart each and every story in this place this morning and father right now i pray that you would just clear the deck for us that you would help us to be fully present wholehearted full-throated leaning in posture to receive your words this morning lord would you tune our hearts to your grace like am fm radio would you put us on the frequency would you align us with who you are and what you're like this morning father would you say what you want to say to us this morning and would you do what you want to do in us this morning and we pray these things in jesus name amen amen as you take a seat church family as we begin to make our way through here at the beginning of our new series i want to raise a few thoughts for you today as we come to our matthew 10 passage and this is a thought that i hope to seem love upon you and that we will be talking about it over the next several months and it's simply this there is a world of difference between being a believer in jesus and a follower of jesus being a believer in jesus is actually a very passive posture you can sit on your couch and believe you can sit on your couch and make a list of all the things you don't like about the world oh but i believe in jesus but when you decide to become a follower of jesus that is a very active posture it is going to generate different things inside of you it's going to set you in motion it's going to set you on fire holy fire is going to invite you into walking with jesus not just knowing jesus there is a world of difference between being a believer and a follower now i want to ask you a question this morning i am a visual learner i learn by what i see and by what i touch and i want you to think about when i say the word discipleship what comes up in your mind what image when you hear me say the word discipleship what image comes up in your mind well if we could go back 2 000 years to the jewish world of jesus with his disciples i can show you exactly what it looked like and what it can look like today it looks like this when you walk with your rabbi in jesus's world it is very much a relationship that is on the move it is as you go there's a rabbinic phrase that you want to walk so closely to your rabbi that the dust of his sandals gets all over you because you don't want to miss any of his words how many of you don't want to miss any of the words that the living god has for you and it comes through walking with him because rabbis are on the move they don't teach behind a lectern like this with a dry erase board or a screen no jesus is walking through a field of mustard seed with his disciples and all of a sudden he says what shall i compare the kingdom of god to it's like a mustard seed so if you want to walk with jesus you've got to be ready to walk with jesus because jesus is on the move and he is doing things in the earth to this very day right here at the beginning the truth about you would you say that sitting here this morning just an honest assessment assessment that you've been more of a believer in jesus or have you been living more like a follower of jesus and whatever the answer to that is we're going to move forward the interesting thing about the rabbi disciple relationship for jesus in his jewish world 2 000 years ago is you don't just want to know what your rabbi knows you want to be just like him you want to be an icon an embodiment when someone tastes your life they should taste your rabbi when somebody listens to you they should be hearing the teachings of your rabbi to spend time with a disciple is one of the ways to know that disciples rabbi it is much stronger than just believing now our mission here at church of the city is darren has laid out for us over the past several weeks is simply and yet powerfully we are asking the living god to shape us into a people who are practicing the way of jesus not a people who simply know it but a people who are living it the faith is meant to be embodied in who we are and how we live not just in what we know and if you're taking notes this morning i want you to jot this down because it is going to work all the way through all four gospels when we practice the way of jesus we are partnering with jesus practicing is partnering walking with jesus is partnering with jesus and if that is true our next question becomes partnering in what or for the jewish people they call it the tikkun olam say that with me tikkun olam and it means for the repair of the world we are being invited to partner with jesus in repairing the world how many of you that's exciting for you that's exciting for me think about jesus's line in the lord's prayer thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven what's interesting about the jewish people is the jewish people rarely talk about heaven they talk about bringing heaven down to earth that eternal life the good life the life of tove we don't have to wait to experience it we can experience the fullness of walking with jesus now in this life how many of you want the full life the good life the lahaim life now you don't want to wait until you die to know it this is being promised to us as a people who practice the way of jesus who are followers of him and not simply believers and when we think about partnering with jesus and the tikkun olam it makes me think about a story that i learned about 10 years ago i was in israel with a team and part of what i love about taking teams to israel are the meal times together because i'm an extrovert i never run out of words i love hearing people's stories and we're studying the bible in the land where it happened but at meal time that's where we share our stories i get to know a little bit more about you you get to know a little bit more about me and one night in israel we were having dinner and there was a grandmother an older woman on our trip and she started telling us the story that her and four of her friends all grandmothers all seasoned women retired that they had been getting together on friday nights to study the bible together and they had been doing that for a few years how many of you love it that you live in a world where grandmothers are getting together on friday nights to study the bible there's just something lovely about that right and as they were studying the bible they had the thought you know we get together every friday night we're retired our time is kind of our own and we're studying the bible but as we're studying the bible it seems to be inviting us to get out there until i actually go do some things with the things that we're learning so they started praying and i can't remember all of the details but these five grandmothers decided that they were gonna start taking two of the four friday nights and they were going to get together and they were going to put care packages together and they were going to visit all the local strip clubs go into the strip clubs to the back and meet with the girls who were working there and give them the care packages pray with them just seek to love on them be the love of jesus how many of you love it that you live in a world where grandmothers are storming strip clubs i love this that's the tycoon alarm dad is partnering with jesus in the repair of the world and i can just imagine she talked about over the years of them doing that they got to know all the bouncers names so hey frank hey fred your mama raised you better than this guy's got a better plan for your life they'd go back they would minister to the girls and something that was so beautiful to me she kept sharing this story and she talked about after a few years of them doing that there were two women that left that profession they started coming to church with them accepted jesus neither of them had a college education and they wanted to go back to college they wanted to earn another kind of a living in this new life in christ and i need you to know that it was those grandmothers that helped them get enrolled for college and helped fund their tuition that's partnering with jesus in the repair of the world when we gather together in this room this is just the beginning jesus is inviting us to walk out the doors with him into a world and for light to move into darkness and to partner with him in repairing the world we are practicing the way of jesus that we might partner with him you know something that's really interesting to understand about jesus and how he views spiritual formation which is our emphasis over the next several months as we make our way through the four gospels is in the first century world you chose your rabbi the lesser reached for the greater you would walk around you would listen to different rabbis teaching their corpus of teaching is known as their yoke and eventually you would choose your rabbi which rabbi's teachings you felt like he has a handle on who the living god is what he's like what it's going to mean to walk with him and you would go up to that rabbi and you would ask him if you could become a follower if you could become a disciple and it was a big deal for a rabbi to accept you as one of his tall medium or disciples in that world jesus comes on to the scene and he does it exactly the opposite way rather than waiting for the lesser to reach for helm is a holy rabbi of israel he starts walking around doing the choosing he starts choosing his disciples the greater is reaching for the lesser who loves jesus right now he's a chooser [Applause] i mean this would be like in our world you shooting free throws in your front yard and michael jordan in his prime driving down your street seeing you pulling the car over and saying you've got a really nice free throw i think you can become just as good at me at basketball would you like to come play basketball with me who would have said yes to that raise your hand i see that hand i see that hand it'd be like tiger woods in his prime same thing it would be like the late aretha franklin pulling her car up next to yours with your windows down singing at the top of your lungs and her looking at you and saying you have a great voice i think you can sing just as good as me do you want to come go on tour with me who would have done that raise your hand yes now we're in church so let's tell the truth none of you sing as well as aretha franklin she's the queen but you start to get a sense of what that would have actually meant in that world for a sage of israel a holy rabbi of all the people to find you and say oh you right there come follow me i think you can be just like me imagine the life that that would have breathed into his followers but this is who jesus is and this is what he's like now we understand jesus's words in john chapter 15 verse 16 when he said this to his disciples you did not choose me but i chose you and appointed you so that you might go everybody say go and bear fruit everybody say bear fruit fruit that will last he didn't say i chose you to believe in me he said no i chose you to go to go where to go and bear fruit fruit that will last i want you to partner with me in the repair of the world come follow me come walk after me i think you can be just like me this is what practicing the way of jesus is all about practicing is partnership in the repair of the world well if jesus is going to choose some disciples to walk around repairing the world with him now we are ready to take a look at the list of the 12 that he principally chose and if the tikkun olam is on the line if the repair of the world is on the line then surely jesus is going to pick the strongest surely he's going to pick the smartest surely he's going to pick the fastest surely he's going to pick some people who have already managed to get their lives together so that they can be more effective at partnering with him in repairing the world and what i want to contend for this morning is that is actually the way of empire and not the kingdom empire likes to swallow up all that is strong and mighty you want to know who jesus is and what he's like let's see who he chose to partner with him in repairing the world and the reason i begin our series with this passage is we're getting ready to see if he chose them he'll choose you and if he chose them he'll choose me and the repair of the world has been underway for 2 000 years and it carries on and y'all it is our turn we are the current living generations of the church being invited to practice the way of jesus that we might partner with him in the repair of the world let's go back to our matthew 10 passage together verses one through four and let's take a look jesus called everybody to say chose jesus called slash chose his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness these are the names of the twelve apostles first simon who was called peter and his brother andrew james son of zebedee and his brother john i want us to just stop right there we're going to pick it up in a moment these brothers james and john in the bible they are actually called the sons of thunder what a nickname and jesus is actually the one who gave them this nickname we read the story in mark chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 so the question become what gets you called the son of thunder in jesus's world 2000 years ago well jesus and his disciples james and john being too they are up in the region of the galilee and they want to travel all the way down to jerusalem but there's a problem they have to go through a region called samaria and who lived in samaria samaritans and at the time of this story the jews and the samaritans have a 700 year beef going on can you imagine being mad at somebody for 700 years i mean it is a strong multi-generational disagreement that's going on in history tells us that that trip from galilee down to jerusalem fights would break out between the jews and the samaritans stuff could go down on these journeys from north to south and from south back up and one of these stories one of these trips is going to earn james and john the nickname sons of thunder i'm getting ready to read it for you but i'll just set it up for you jesus and the disciples are going through samaria the samaritans decided to not extend hospitality to jesus and his disciples now this in the middle eastern world where hospitality is one of the highest virtues of honor if you refuse hospitality to a stranger in that world this is not like a slap in the face this is a throat punch in that world it's a severe diss in that world and we're going to watch james and john respond to this so as we come to the story it's given to us in luke chapter 9 verses 51 to 55 james and john two of the twelve that are called by jesus and the story says this as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven jesus resolutely set out for jerusalem and he sent messengers ahead who went into a samaritan village to get things ready for him but the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for jerusalem everybody go uh oh there's the throat punch now let's see how james and john respond when the disciples james and john saw this they asked lord do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them this is an amazing story to me when i look at this story my first question is they ask the question like they actually think they can do that like have they actually tried before and their response as disciples of jesus when samaritans do not want to extend ancient hospitality to them is to call down fire from heaven and destroy them how many of you when you didn't get invited to a birthday party your thought is i'm going to get my guys and girls together and we are just going to go burn their house to the ground and these are two of the twelve and i love jesus's response the very next verse in verse 55 it says but jesus turned and rebuked them what do you think that even sounded like guys were not here to burn villages to the ground that's not part of the tecunolam that's not repairing the world we've come to save the world we love the samaritans like no you can't fall down call down fire from heaven and destroy them but if you want to know who jesus is and what he's like he calls sons of thunder to follow him sons of thunder find a seat at his table because jesus knows this and hear me plain spiritual formation in the end it's less your work it's more his work the question is will you agree to let him do the work of formation in you this is the hope and the message of the gospel that jesus is not only here but he is transforming are we aligned with that are we in agreement with it well let's go back to matthew 10 because we're not just done yet let's pick up where we left off next it lists philip and bartholomew thomas and matthew the tax collector james son of alphaeus and thaddeus simon the zealot and judas iscariot who betrayed him now i want to highlight for you a tax collector and a zealot being two of the 12 because in jesus's world 2000 years ago tax collectors and zealots did not get along they were on the opposite end of the spectrum tax collectors were collaborators with the roman empire what rome would do is they would overtake a region and they would appoint indigenous people in that region to be their middlemen to collect taxes to give it back to rome how many of you love the irs think about that when you think about somebody clapped lord have mercy okay that was awesome so they're these middlemen and oftentimes tax collectors would be dishonest for example if rome required 10 percent they would charge you 12 they would send 10 to rome they would pocket two and the people despised them you have another group at that time the zealots they are on the opposite end of the spectrum they can't stand the roman empire they believe that the kingdom of god is going to come with a sword they want to fight the romans they want to overthrow roman power they want to re-establish jewish independence and there was even a certain sect of zealots they were known as the sicari and they were assassins they carried a little knife that was hooked like this and they would walk around with it concealed and they would walk up in the marketplace or in the agora or in the forum and they would find a collaborator with rome or a roman or somebody that they felt like was not helping them overthrow rome and they would pull it out they would stab the person in their sternum turn it up puncturing the heart pull it out conceal and make their way away they are assassins in that world did you just read in matthew 10 that of the 12 one was a tax collector and one was a zealot and the question becomes what did that actually look like on a day in day out basis how many of you think matthew and simon did not get along how many of you could envision matthew sleeping with one eye open every night and always knowing where simon's at how many of you think simon just punched him in the back of his head while they're walking down the street it's like how many times did jesus have to separate them simon you go to that corner matthew you go to that corner but if you want to know who jesus is and what he's like he calls sons of thunder tax collectors and zealots to follow him because he knows that in proximity to him comes real life change and comes transformation yes he chooses them just as they are i want to show you one more passage in matthew chapter 11. it's one chapter later and matthew is still talking and writing this is very interesting to me in matthew 11 19 matthew writes this the son of man meaning jesus came eating and drinking and they say here is a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and sinners now i want to stop and pause because i never really noticed this myself until i was prepping for this teaching it is interesting to me that matthew in matthew 10 and here in chapter 11 he mentions being a tax collector and what i want you to notice is matthew is naming his shame not his strength he doesn't say matthew the son of alphaeus matthew the good sibling to my brothers and sisters matthew the good neighbor no matthew has learned something about what it is to walk with jesus and in matthew 10 when he is listing the apostles and he is writing about himself under the inspiration of scripture he writes matthew the tax collector how many of you when you meet somebody for the first time you say hello my name is so-and-so and then you name the worst thing about you who does that hello my name is christy i have road rage and that's not the worst thing about me it's just there's a lot of you in here and i don't feel that safe to go any deeper but this is matthew being very vulnerable he doesn't name his strength he names the shame we see it in matthew 10 and we see it in matthew 11 and this is where i think this is going as we begin this series together by god's grace as we mature from being believers in jesus to followers of jesus as we move from being more passive to more active actually walking around with jesus partnering with him in the repair of the world we are going to start to notice the differences in our orthodoxy in our orthoproxy orthodoxy is right thinking or the proxy is right living in other words we're going to start noticing the things that we say we believe that we aren't actually living out and i want to raise this for you right here at our very first sunday because if we take this adventure together if we begin walking through the gospels together every morning bit by bit two things are getting ready to happen and i just want to name it so that when you feel it it's like oh somebody talked about this and you'll find your place in it number one we are getting to experience the gift of conviction of our sin trust me you don't want the living god to ever stop telling you the truth about yourself because that which he names he seeks to transform he doesn't name your sin to judge you he names your sin to meet with you in that to forgive to atone and to transform death into life conviction of sin is a gift get your mind right we're going to know that together as we go through the second thing that we're getting ready to experience is a deeper invitation into our own stories as we read the gospel stories we're going to keep finding and feeling this invitation to go deeper into our own stories because this is what matthew 10 is showing us with sons of thunder tax collectors zealots i don't even have time to touch judas iscariot yet but there's even more in the list but i have a question for you and it's a rhetorical question and it's something i've been pondering this whole year this is part of me practicing the way of jesus in 2021 i would ask it to you this way what if the seed of the kingdom lies in your womb not your strength what if the seed of the kingdom lies in your wound and not in your strength i had never noticed this until this week but do you want to know what matthew the tax collector was doing when jesus called him like what he was actually doing i want to read it for you it's found in mark chapter 2 beginning in verse 13 hear the word of the lord once again jesus went out beside the lake a large crowd came to him and he began to teach them as he walked along he saw levi son of alphaeus that's matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth so matthew is doing the thing he is doing the very thing that is bringing him a sense of cultural exclusion and shame follow me jesus told him and levi got up and followed him if you want to know who jesus is and what he's like he is coming for you in your thing he's going to meet you in that because in proximity to helm comes transformation if you're taking notes i want you to write this down if not write it down your arm because we need to bite down on this jesus is not afraid of you jesus is not afraid of the absolute most shameful part of your story in that chapter that you don't read out loud he knows it because he knows all things and what if it's true that he comes there to meet you matthew is being a tax collector when jesus walks up to him and says hey you right there i think you can be just like me come follow me and the bible says that matthew got up and he went you know this means something to me in this year because covet's been hard next month is october it'll be two years since i've been in israel israel is home for me my address is franklin but jerusalem is home to me the last two years i feel like i've been living in exile and i came across a quote earlier this year and i want to raise it for you now it's by a man named joseph campbell and he once wrote this the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek you know i came across that back in the spring and it's just been a time for me of actually getting back in therapy this year and doing a deeper work a deeper work than i have ever done in my own story i am in my fourth season of counseling slash therapy whatever you want to call it and i walk chester all the time through my neighborhood and there was a little old lady that lives in my neighborhood and she knows me somehow i think she follows me on instagram but we see her all the time and when i see her we will stop and talk and she's always telling me oh christy i'm praying for you i'm praying for you keep going i'm praying for you and she's a sweet little old lady sometimes she gets a little nosy but i don't freak out because i know i can outrun her so and soak in chester and so one morning i'm walking chester and i see her come and i'm like here we go and she's like oh christy you know how are you doing how can i pray for you and i was feeling kind of open and safe that morning so i decided to like go there a little bit i said well you know pray for me i'm actually back in therapy i just feel like god wants to repair some things in me because y'all the thing i realized is i keep trying to repair the world without letting jesus repair me and god just showed me you can't go any further till we do some work and as scary as that's been i got in and so i told her i was like yeah i'm back in therapy it's like my fourth time and she looked right at me and she goes oh honey what's so wrong with you it's taking four times she does not have the gift of encouragement no she doesn't what's wrong with you that it's taking four times you know the shame i felt in that moment because right what is so wrong with me that it's taking four times but i'll tell you this by god's grace i'm walking in the cave that i fear to enter and it indeed holds the treasure i see because what i'm learning is i don't go in it alone he goes with me and he is repairing my soul repairing my life which is better equipping me to partner with him and repairing the world church you can't give what you don't have what's your cave what's the cave that you fear to enter the living god meets us right where we are he never leaves us there where are you today here at the beginning of this series we are being invited to courage up and to lean in because we're going to feel that conviction of sin that gift we are going to feel that invitation to go deeper in our own story to receive the repair of the lord that we might partner with him in preparing the world as we come to a close this morning i just want to wash you with this scripture it's another one that gets at everything that we're talking about this morning is actually found in first corinthians chapter one and i just want to speak this over you the word of the lord for us this morning it says this brothers and sisters think of what you were when you were called not many of you were wise by human standards not many were influential not many were of noble birth but god chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and god chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong god chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him it is because of him that you are in christ jesus who has become for us wisdom from god that is our righteousness holiness and redemption and this is what i am taking comfort in these days i may be a mess but i am god's mess and my life is in his hands and he will do me no harm it is not to say that it won't be hard but he will do you no harm put yourself in his hands we are couraging into maturing from being believers to followers we don't just want to know it we want to walk with jesus we want to receive the repair and we want to be part of the agency of it in the world as we close this morning my last thought is this we are practicing the way of jesus to partner with jesus in the tikkun olam the repair of the world we are practicing to partner and our best days are in front of us when i heard darren say that we've given out 6 000 formation journals how much repair do you think franklin tennessee will experience with 6 000 of us unleashed i don't know about you but i say let's go find out let's go find out i want to invite you to take your communion elements this morning this practice of sharing together as a church family and communion this practice given to us by the lord jesus himself on the night of the last supper communion is all about remembering jesus's life death burial and resurrection on your behalf and mine and as you take your elements if you will stand with me church family and i want us together i want us to practice doing things together as much as we possibly can but in this time of communion i don't want us to read a passage about us i want us to read a passage about jesus it is one of my favorite passages in the entire bible all about jesus so we want to fix our eyes upon him we want to look to the son of god the author and the perfecter of our faith as we hold these communion elements which represent his body and his blood given and shed for us the passage is colossians 1 15 to 20 and i want to invite you to read it with me as we remember jesus here we go the sun is the image of the invisible god the firstborn over all creation for in him all things were created things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities all things have been created through him and for him he is before all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body the church he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead so that in everything he might have the supremacy for god was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through his blood shed on the cross and as we take our elements this morning the bible says that on that night jesus took bread and broke it and said this is my body given for you when you eat it eat it in remembrance of me let's remember him together and on that night jesus also took the cup and he said this is the cup of the new covenant whenever you drink it drink it and remembrance of me let's drink together [Music] church family we're going to remain standing and we're going to sing one more song together to the one who is repairing us and repairing the world i am excited to grow with you i'm excited to partner with you and with jesus in the repair of the world falling on my knees and worship giving all life to seek your faith lord our lord is [Music] [Music] in your presence at your throne [Music] cause i caught and you came to my rescue and i wanna be where you [Music] god mercy [Music] [Music] [Applause] and you came to my rescue and died [Music] and you came to my rescue [Music] my life be lifted in our world [Music] be lifted let's sing this out as a prayer this morning in my life [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is [Music] [Applause] [Music] he lifts me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] lifted [Music] [Music] high [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] and you came to my rescue and i wanna be where you [Music] be where are are [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's just sing this one more times in my life [Music] take did anyone else run out of room in their formation journal with all the notes that they were taking yeah hey i just want to give you permission on any of the days that you skipped this week use that space okay can we thank christy again for that word thank you [Applause] at the front of the formation journal there's three questions where we're guiding you every sunday and i would encourage you to spend your lunch time discussing this with your family or your friends or whoever you're with the three questions of this what is god saying to me second one is what is he asking me to do and then thirdly when and who will i share this with so at lunch maybe you'd be diving into what god is saying to you what did you hear from him today and then what is the result of that what is he asking you to do i mean i was rocked by the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek anyone else rocked by that tomorrow morning we're going to be jumping back into matthew 13. if you've been with us on this journey of formation or you've not been with us at all the invitation is fresh tomorrow morning let's be people of the word let's build these rhythms into our lives and allow the word of god to renew our minds let's have a mind renewing strategy and be serious about it you ready for this formation here we go now may the grace and peace of jesus be with you amen [Applause] you

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Length: 98min 10sec (5890 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021