WEBVTT - The Paradox Of Progress 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:04.439 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdik. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:06.920 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:06.960 --> 0:00:10.239 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:12.319 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:17.520 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.520 My scripture for this worship encounter with God is from 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.759 Philippians chapter three. That's the text I believe God wants 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.520 to speak to us through today. And if you want 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.000 to join me there and just follow along. Now usually 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.160 preach from the New International Version, the one that says 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:35.120 NIV if you're pulling it up on a Bible app 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.640 or something, and you can pull it up with me, 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:40.600 or it'll just be right on the screens. And I 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:42.839 like to read you verses seven through sixteen to get 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.840 a full context of what Paul is saying in this passage. 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:49.160 He said, but whatever word gains to me, I now 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.840 consider loss for the sake of Christ. And what is more, 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:56.920 I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth 0:00:57.280 --> 0:01:00.560 of knowing Christ, Jesus my Lord, for who's I have 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:05.479 lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:08.880 gain Christ and be found in Him, not having the 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:11.920 righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:14.720 that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.440 comes from God. On the basis of faith. I want 0:01:18.520 --> 0:01:23.280 to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection, 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.720 and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.479 and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.280 Not that I have already obtained all this or have 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.080 already arrived at my goal. But I press on to 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:40.080 take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold 0:01:40.080 --> 0:01:43.600 of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:45.880 yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.160 I do. I've got to focus on this. I've got 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:52.000 to shut some other things out and make sure that 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:54.800 I'm going after the right goal. So what I have 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.280 to do is forget what is behind, and I'm straining 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:02.920 toward what is ahead. I press on through dangers, I 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:08.120 press on through difficulties. I press on through low emotional states, 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.680 I press on through migrain headaches, I press on through 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:16.480 dysfunctional tendencies within myself. I press on toward the goal 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.000 to win the prize for which God has called me 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:23.119 heavenward in Christ, Jesus. All of us then, who are mature, 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.400 should take such a view of things. And on some 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.200 point you think differently that too, God will make clear 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:30.920 to you. Paul's like, if you don't agree with me, 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:35.920 God will straighten you out. And then verse sixteen says 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:38.280 something surprising. Only let us live up to what we 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.399 have already attained. So the title I want to give 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:47.800 this message is the paradox of progress. The paradox of progress, 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:54.839 and you may be seated, God bless you. I got 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:56.880 to do something before we go forward, is to get 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:01.360 you excited about the word paradox is. The essence of 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:06.480 the Gospel is paradox. The essence of God is paradox. 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.079 And yet it's one of those words like kind of 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.840 where you kind of know what it means. Okay, So 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.200 Abby comes up to me while I'm studying for the sermon, 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:16.560 and it was just a perfect illustration. She's like, can 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:20.240 I work alongside you? And she had some typing class 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.239 that she's taking for school and she needed to work 0:03:23.240 --> 0:03:25.960 on her typing drills, so they were giving her words 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:28.720 to type and she kept interrupting me, which I don't 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:31.120 mind it all because we're in that stage of bonding 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:36.960 where she's never an interruption to me. She's usually not 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.800 an interruption to me. She's rarely I'm trying to work 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:41.839 on my accuracy up here in front of you. She's 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.640 rarely an interruption to me. We just really really are 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:47.440 harmonized right now, and I know it might not be 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:49.040 like that forever. So I'm like, yeah, sure, come on, 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:51.400 work with me. Interrupt me. It's all good. But it 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.480 was fun because I'm a word guy. And so when 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:55.640 she was stopping to ask me, and she's in second grade, 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:57.480 so I can still handle her homework, only have like 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.720 one more year of being smarter than her, So she's like, 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:05.200 what does And she started asking me what certain words meant. 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.200 She's like, what does conditioning mean? And it was funny 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:10.920 because I know exactly what it means, but sometimes it's 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:13.920 hard to explain it even though you know it, Like, 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.039 let me ask you what does conditioning mean? So you're like, 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:23.480 it's like what you get used to. That's what I said. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.800 I don't know if that helped her understand it or not. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:29.320 She goes back to typing, and then she asked me 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.159 another one, what was it? Hold on? I wrote it 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.760 down because it was real funny the ones she said, 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.240 because they were words I knew. Oh, she said, what 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.960 does reproduce mean? I was like, well, you know, you 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:44.880 make more of something from yourself. And then I shut 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:46.560 it down because I didn't want her to really start 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:51.000 asking about reproduction in the technical sense. It's my favorite one. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:57.040 What does typewriter mean? And I felt, old, you know, 0:04:57.640 --> 0:04:59.920 I'm like, you really don't know, And so I told 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.920 about the typewriter and the brother word processor and dinosaurs 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.279 and other things. She seriously didn't know what does typewriter mean? 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:10.599 And then I was like, this is getting good and 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.840 I need to record this in case it's like a 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:15.840 sermon illustration. Uh So I pulled out the phone and 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.320 snucked this little video. Check this out. Spell it again. 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:25.239 D e f I l e n T m e 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:32.000 n t s. Spell it one more time. D e 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:37.719 f I l e like d e f I l 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:47.480 e n e n t. Defilement. It's like when you 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:51.240 take something that is clean and make it dirty, or 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:56.080 you take something that is good and make it bad, 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:00.840 or something like that, like in the Bible they put okay, 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.919 Like in the Bible, if the unclean touch the clean, 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:09.880 it would defile, defile the clean. You know, hey, you 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:19.560 know what I'm saying. Does that make sense? No? Sort of? 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:22.800 I don't know if you could hear. I said, does 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.240 that make sense? Because I knew, I really, I knew 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.279 what it meant. But I knew I really wasn't breaking 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:30.760 it down where she needed it, And so she said, 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.200 sort of, I don't want to hurt your feelings. Not 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:38.800 really sort of. People were asking me about the title 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:42.920 of this worship project. We called it paradoxology. And of course, 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.800 growing up in the Methodist Church, we sang the doxology 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:50.000 Praise God from whomoh blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.599 here below, and that's where we got the title Hallelujah 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.640 here below, Praise Him all creatures here below, like down 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.640 here on earth, not just in heaven. We need to 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.000 praise Him even in broken situations. We need to praise 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:05.320 Him even with uncertain faith. We need to praise Him 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:10.320 even in challenging times. And so the doxology is called 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:15.680 the Doxa means glory. Legia is expression oral or written, 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.000 So it's an expression of glory, giving praise to God, 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:21.160 Praise God all creatures here below, just like the host 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:25.000 of Heaven. Praise him. You can praise him better because 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:29.040 they've always been perfect, but you haven't always been and 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:33.160 you're still not. And the paradox is that a perfect 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:40.520 God desires imperfect praise from funky, messy, petty people like you. 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:45.720 So I called it paradoxology, you know, just the fact 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.320 that we can praise God even though we don't deserve to, 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.840 because of the blood of Jesus. It's mind boggling, and 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.119 it's different than a contradiction. A contradiction is two things 0:07:55.120 --> 0:08:00.400 that cannot possibly be true at the same time, cats 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.440 and dogs. There's not a cloud in the sky. It's 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:04.880 got to be one or the other. But with God 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:09.320 we find paradox, and that is that on the surface, 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.560 it seems as if both cannot be true. But He's 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:17.320 bigger than that. Nowhere is the paradox of the Gospel 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.400 has played out in the practical implications of our everyday 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:24.880 life more apparent than Philippians chapter three, where Paul says 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.720 I had ascended to the heights of the resume virtues 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:32.920 of religion within Judaism, I was circumcised on the eighth day, 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.240 like I was supposed to be I studied under Gamaliel. 0:08:36.480 --> 0:08:39.679 He was a boss. I was of the tribe of Benjamin, 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.800 where the kings come from. I was important and significant. 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:47.560 But now I've made a decision. I'm going to write 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.640 all of those things off and I'm going to reach 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.640 towards something better and bigger. And the thing about it is, 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:58.199 as I am living in Christ, I am dying to Seuth. 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:03.160 It's a paradox. And he's describing in many ways a 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:07.679 paradoxical view of progress as it relates to spiritual growth. 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.959 Can I teach and preach a little bit this weekend 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.960 the paradox of progress? It seems as if Paul is 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:21.040 saying that as I am gaining strength in God, I 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.720 am losing a sense of certainty in things I used 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:29.120 to trust in. And when he said it, whatever gains 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.520 to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.040 It got me thinking about the paradox of progress. How 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:40.080 sometimes we want to move forward in an area of 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.480 our life, but it seems like it's difficult to keep 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:47.000 everything in our life moving forward all at once. It 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.520 seems like it's difficult to apply our limited self to 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:54.640 what seems like an endless, ceaseless list of demands and supplies, 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.600 so that some days you find yourself really doing well 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:02.400 at work and really unable to give focus at home 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.520 because by the time you get home, you spend all 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.600 of the currency of your energy at work. And so 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.960 I made progress at work, but home is more important, 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.000 and yet I don't have as much to give to 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.680 what is most important. But yet it's important that I 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.160 work because I need to bring some money home, because 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:20.880 if I don't bring some money home, I won't have 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.400 a home to come home to. Then I'll be standing 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:26.160 out in the rain talking about blame it on the rain, 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.160 and I'll be lip syncing like Milli Vanilli and talking 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:31.560 about girl. You know, it's true, But the only thing 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.040 about it is we don't have any money. And that's true, 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:36.920 and so it's a paradox. It's a paradox of progress 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:39.840 that sometimes when I'm moving forward in one area, I 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:41.679 can't move forward in another. And this is the part 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:44.640 I'm excited about. I have three points. If we only 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:46.640 get to one, this is the one I want to preach, 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:51.840 because sometimes Paul shows us that what's most important is 0:10:52.000 --> 0:11:03.040 least impressive. As a society, we celebrate all the wrong 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:09.680 stuff have you noticed, as a human race, we celebrate 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:15.920 all the wrong stuff. And as somebody who manages a 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.600 ministry that has a reach that goes just beyond one town, 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:24.760 I can tell you right now, people celebrate the wrong stuff. 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.600 They think that a church is built on the preacher's gift. 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:33.319 It's not a preacher's gift. Well, you said that a 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:42.000 little too loud. I heard my feelings about that, but 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:46.160 you're right. You're right, it's not that. And people will 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:49.760 celebrate a lot of things that that are surface level. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.040 So Paul had all of that. You understand, he had 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.000 all of the all of the credentials, he had all 0:11:57.040 --> 0:12:01.160 of the bells, he had all of the he had 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:03.679 all of the things that go in a bio to 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.360 make you look significant. And yet what he said was 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.040 so powerful. He said that that I gave up what 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:16.280 was impressive in order to reach towards something that was 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:20.560 actually important. I feel like I'm about to stage dive 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.640 to preach this. And one thing you need to know 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:26.959 is that a lot of the changes that will happen 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.320 in your life that are the most important are the 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.040 ones that you won't get any compliments about. Because I've 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.640 noticed this. Once you get really consistent at something, people 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:41.160 stop complimenting you about it. Am I right? The best 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.600 way to get compliments is to only do the right 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:51.000 thing occasionally. The best way to get compliments if that's 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:55.120 your goal is to be a crappy dad who only 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.240 comes around on Christmas and only shows up to give 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:02.240 the kids what they want, disciplines them, and only shows 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:04.800 up to break the rhythm that's trying to be established. 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:06.880 If you're going to be the kind of dad that's 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.520 actually handling some of the disciplinary issues, or the kind 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.560 of mom that's actually parenting rather than trying to win 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:17.360 a popularity contest with your teenager, you will not receive 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.920 as many compliments. And people are crazy. People celebrate all 0:13:20.960 --> 0:13:23.240 the wrong stuff. If you get in shape, watch this. 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.240 Here's the one thing I have. I compliment people who 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:31.600 stay in shape, right, because usually what you have to 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.320 do to get a compliment on physical fitness is lose 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.160 a bunch of weight. And I just think that's wrong. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.760 So I don't go up to people and be like, 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.880 you look like you've been losing weight, because first of all, 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:44.560 that might sound like an insult to them, so it's 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:46.920 awkward to say. But secondly, I walk up to people 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:48.880 and I'd be like, you look, you still look good. 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:59.480 I do. I believe in complimenting consistency, you know, like 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:03.160 thanks for being on time, like you part of the 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:09.520 Red Sea. That in a miracle. But what happens is 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.960 when you get really good at something, people take you 0:14:14.040 --> 0:14:20.040 for granted. When you are consistent, you stop getting compliments. 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.600 So if people have stopped complimenting you, that is the 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:29.120 highest compliment. It means you are so consistent that you 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:34.760 have a basis or a foundation, and you can then 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:38.840 be set free from the need to be impressive. And 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.560 that's what Paul was. He said, I gave up what 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:48.880 was impressive to people to pursue what was important to me. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.360 I feel the Holy Ghost telling fifty people delete Instagram 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.720 before you take another note on my sermon, and give 0:14:56.800 --> 0:15:00.880 up what is impressive for a month for something more important. 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.160 I feel the spirit of God saying, some of y'all 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.800 spend too much money on clothes, and you are so 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.040 behind on your school loans. And if you keep trying 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.680 to impress people, you are going to impress people right 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.120 into your own depression. Trying to climb out of a 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:20.320 pit of what people see y'all don't like the preacher today, 0:15:20.320 --> 0:15:24.400 but he's on point. He heard from God, and Paul said, 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.200 all that I thought was gained and what I thought 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.280 was important, I found out that it's the interior state. 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:34.840 He said, I want a righteousness that comes from God 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.080 through faith. I want to be more focused on the 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.480 invisible stuff. So I'll take you to Palm Sunday. Since 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.120 his Palm Sunday right now, and since Jesus came into Jerusalem, 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.120 and he's entering not at Bethage or Bethany. Bethany's two 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.400 miles away. That's where he stayed at night. But he's 0:15:49.440 --> 0:15:52.040 setting up for the crucifixion, for the scene where he 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.920 will pay the price for our sins, where he will 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.760 die like a criminal, even though he reigns like a king. 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:01.680 It's a paradox, but he says in Luke nineteen, I 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.240 wish I had time to preach that passage to you. 0:16:04.560 --> 0:16:07.160 Can we look at it for one moment together, and 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:10.120 I promise I will go fast. But Jesus is getting 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.160 ready to go into the city and he stops short 0:16:13.200 --> 0:16:15.640 of the city. He's on the Mount of Olives. You remember, 0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:18.880 that's where gets Simone is that's where he will be pressed. 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.960 That's where his capillaries will burst, so that he sweats 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.600 like drops of great blood. But all that is still 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.760 in front of him, and his ministry has been exploding. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.520 And when he gets to the place where he's about 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.440 to make his entry, he makes preparations. And the Bible 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:36.960 says in Luke nineteen twenty eight. After he had taught 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:39.440 them a certain teaching about the Kingdom of God and 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:41.960 how it doesn't come all at once, but it comes 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.160 in stages, and it takes patience to see the reign 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:48.160 of God come in your life, and don't expect progress 0:16:48.200 --> 0:16:51.560 to come all at once, and don't expect proof to 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.400 accompany every step that you take in faith. And after 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.200 he had taught that, he told him something as they 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:02.760 approached Jerusalem twenty nine. Please, he said, verse thirty. He said, 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:04.840 go to the village ahead of you, and as you 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.640 enter it, you will find a cult tied there which 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:12.120 no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. Okay. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:17.520 So Jesus is giving them an instruction that sounds illegal. 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.000 I'm gonna need you to go give me a little 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:27.240 baby horse. I'm gonna take my horse an old town road, 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:33.520 I'm gonna ride, And he said, as you are untying it. 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:38.520 If they ask you, why, tell them, curios, the Lord 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:44.760 needs it. Tell the owner that the Lord needs it. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.680 Tell the one who is stewarding it that the one 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:53.800 who made it needs it. I think one of the disciples, 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:56.159 even though the disciples aren't named, it just says there 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:58.760 were two of them, had to be Peter, because Peter 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:01.159 knew what it was like to have Jesus get in 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.920 something that you own. That's how Peter's whole ministry started. 0:18:05.200 --> 0:18:08.040 Jesus just got in his boat and said, push me out. 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.000 I've got to preach. And so now Jesus watched this paradox. 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:16.200 Who created the world needs something in the world he created. 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.879 To even say that the Lord needs something is a paradox. 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:23.240 It's a crazy situation to be in. But he doesn't 0:18:23.280 --> 0:18:26.359 just need any kind of horse, not a regal horse, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.120 not the kind of horse that a human king would 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:33.600 ride in on. Remember, Jesus is fully God and fully man. 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.840 It's a paradox. It shouldn't make sense, but it does. 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.520 He's perfect and divine, but he's able to be touched 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.800 by the feelings of our infirmity. So he says, get 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.680 a cult that has never been ridden. I'm going to 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.480 ride into the city like a humble king, not like 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:53.600 a hype beast, Like a humble king. I'm going to 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:55.800 ride into the city. I'm not going to walk because 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.440 I'm a king, but I'm going to ride on something 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.959 that looks common. I'm going to ride on something that 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.000 is set aside for a special service. I'm going to 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.520 ride on something that was tied up until now. But 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:12.200 I wonder if God brought somebody to church today because 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.800 he wants to untie you and set you free from 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:20.119 ways of being and thinking and dreaming and believing to 0:19:20.200 --> 0:19:30.720 serve the purpose he created you for. Anyway, it was 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:35.359 kind of cool to me that the King rode in 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:42.800 on a lowly cult, That someone so important rode in 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:48.960 on something that wasn't impressive. Some of the changes God 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:50.560 wants to make in your life will not be the 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.720 ones that people will tell you good job about. And 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:59.159 the temptation is for us to make progress in the 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:07.239 areas that get noticed because it feeds our ego. On 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:11.560 social media, they call it vanity metrics is where Facebook 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:13.800 wants you to buy more ads for your business, so 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:15.720 they tell you how many people that you're reaching, but 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:17.680 you're not really reaching them. It's just scrolling through the feed. 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:21.520 What you really got to figure out is engagement. How 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:26.440 deep is the connection? And people celebrate all the wrong stuff? 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:31.760 Am I right? Am I? Right? Am I right? John 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.679 sou When y'all went to the Grammys, everybody was texting you, 0:20:36.040 --> 0:20:38.280 and it's cool to go to the Grammys. But the 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:41.600 Grammys wasn't the most important thing Elevation Worship did last year. 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:47.320 It was that consistent ministry, weekend week out, just showing up. Look, 0:20:47.560 --> 0:20:51.480 I go and I travel to churches all over the world, 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:53.760 and I'm privileged to do it. But the first thing 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:55.800 I do when I take the pulpit, if the people 0:20:55.800 --> 0:20:58.919 are like, hey, you know wen I guess speaker, we 0:20:59.119 --> 0:21:01.439 love you bastards, you know, because you know when you 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:03.239 come to town, when people aren't used to seeing you 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.119 and they don't know you that well, they're excited. The 0:21:05.160 --> 0:21:08.399 first thing I do is say, let's thank God for 0:21:08.520 --> 0:21:12.840 your pastor let's thank God for the people who who 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:17.800 every single week in this church, the staff members, the volunteers, 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.440 the people who were in the parking lot, the people 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:22.960 who were standing out in the rain to welcome you in. 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:29.200 Let's appreciate what's truly important, not just what's impressive. Now, 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:34.159 Paul said, I had all this impressive residue of my 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:38.719 religious accomplishment. But in order to pursue what was important 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:41.919 and to seek first the kingdom, I had to stop 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:45.160 trying sew that gum hard. That's what Paul said in Greek. 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:48.879 So that gum hard it was garbage, it was scubula, 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:53.359 it was trash. It's trash compared to the treasure of 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:57.000 knowing who I am in Christ and being connected to 0:21:57.160 --> 0:22:00.919 my source and walking in my purpose, a purpose with 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:08.639 the purpose in the presence of God. Paul said, I 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:13.160 was circumcised. That's outward. I'm from Benjamin, that's genetic. All 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:15.560 of that you can have all of that. I want 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:19.280 to fix my insides. I want a righteousness that comes 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:21.840 from God. I want peace when I lay down on 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:25.119 my pillow, to know that this day I serve something 0:22:25.200 --> 0:22:32.879 bigger than me, even if it hurt. Wow, a king 0:22:33.160 --> 0:22:38.840 on a colt. What a paradox. And remember now, the 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:43.639 crowds loved Jesus for his miracles, didn't they They're like, woo, 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:47.160 He's coming back. The guy who healed Lazarus. He's coming, 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:49.479 He's coming. It's just two miles. You want to go, 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:51.800 let's go. I'll go with you. We'll go together. We'll 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:54.280 get our e group there. It'll be amazing. You gotta 0:22:54.359 --> 0:22:56.879 sit her. We'll get together, it'll go together, we'll go 0:22:56.920 --> 0:22:58.679 see him. Of course, they were already going on the 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.480 pilgrimage for the Passover anyway, so they are already going. 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:03.160 So there are you out in the crowd, and here 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:05.919 he comes on a cult the important writing on the 0:23:06.080 --> 0:23:10.560 unimpressive this is why God can use you, because you're 0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:14.600 just as good as a donkey. In the King James version, 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:19.240 it says he sat on a and you can look 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:24.159 that up. I almost called the message cya because it 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:31.239 says they threw their cloaks over the donkey. But it 0:23:31.280 --> 0:23:35.960 also stands for change your approach and stop trying to 0:23:36.040 --> 0:23:40.200 grow in the stuff that is glamorous and noticed by people. 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:42.720 Paul said, I want to know Christ. That's one of 0:23:42.720 --> 0:23:44.600 those little phrases that I don't think we really know 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:47.879 what it means. It's like sort of I want to 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:55.080 know Christ. You know what that means? Sort of I've 0:23:55.080 --> 0:24:00.959 heard it before. It's like coulding Bible right, stop smoking 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:12.320 stuff like that, pray a lot mission strips. I am 0:24:15.280 --> 0:24:19.080 to know him, Paul said, I had to go into 0:24:19.119 --> 0:24:27.639 partnership with his sufferings to experience closeness. And this is 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:31.280 why Jesus was forsaken by those that he called love, 0:24:31.359 --> 0:24:35.440 shepherd and taught and parted into is because the closer 0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:41.560 you get, the further you feel. Wow. This is the 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:45.760 paradox of progress. And this is why you are growing 0:24:45.800 --> 0:24:47.600 in your faith at the same time that you're about 0:24:47.640 --> 0:24:51.160 to give up on it, because it's a paradox of progress. 0:24:52.320 --> 0:24:55.720 The closer Jesus got to the cross, the more confused 0:24:55.760 --> 0:25:01.080 his disciples became. And sometimes the the closer you get 0:25:01.119 --> 0:25:04.080 to God and the more you walk in His ways, 0:25:05.000 --> 0:25:08.120