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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

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Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.

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Speaker 2: I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope

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Speaker 2: this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it

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Speaker 2: gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.

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Speaker 2: Enjoy the message.

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Speaker 1: Come on, church, how about we put our hands together.

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Speaker 1: How about we open our mouth. How about we release

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Speaker 1: a phrase. How about we lift up the name above

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Speaker 1: all names, is that the name of Jesus. Every tongue

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Speaker 1: would confess, every knee would vow that he is Lord.

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Speaker 1: He's Lord in my heart, He's Lord over your life,

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Speaker 1: He's Lord in this place. Let's magnify, let's lift up.

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Speaker 1: It is right that we would raise it in this

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Speaker 1: place today. Oh my soul, what a beautiful time of worship,

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Speaker 1: worshiping the name of Jesus, the name of Jesus, and

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Speaker 1: every single one of us will receive a war reward

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Speaker 1: one day when we get to see him face to

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Speaker 1: face and he speaks over you, well done, good and

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Speaker 1: faithful servant. That's the goal of our life, to run

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Speaker 1: after Jesus to just And I'm seeing people in the

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Speaker 1: faith running after him. I know you don't feel like

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Speaker 1: you're moving fast. It's all about their direction. You're moving

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Speaker 1: towards Jesus today, and as we move towards Christ, there's

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Speaker 1: some voices from your past telling you do you know

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Speaker 1: what you did? They're trying to tie you to your

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Speaker 1: past like a shain, But your future is in front

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Speaker 1: of you with Jesus. The apostle. Paul talks about that

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Speaker 1: in Philippians. He calls that trash, say trash, those thoughts

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Speaker 1: of your past, those things that you're shackled to. As

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Speaker 1: you move into the future, you're tied back to it.

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Speaker 1: What's your it? What's that thing that you feel like

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Speaker 1: you left in the past, but it's in the car

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Speaker 1: with you this morning. What's that thing that's intimidating you,

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Speaker 1: making you feel like you got to slow the pace

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Speaker 1: because you're not worthy to run after Jesus. The devil

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Speaker 1: can't steal the direction, but he can get you to

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Speaker 1: forfeit the speed. What's what's the it? Paul tells us

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Speaker 1: to forget it? What's the it you need to forget today?

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Speaker 1: An unnamed enemy will never be defeated. What's the it?

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Speaker 1: What's the it? What's the it? Some of you the it.

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Speaker 1: You hope nobody sees the it is the browser on

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Speaker 1: your search history. You hope you cleared what is the its?

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Speaker 1: And Paul says we need to forget it and run

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Speaker 1: into the future towards Jesus. That's we need to forget

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Speaker 1: what's behind, move into the future. But Paul just doesn't

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Speaker 1: talk about the trash being the it he needs to forget.

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Speaker 1: He talks about the trophies because some of us feel

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Speaker 1: like if I could just have it, then I would

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Speaker 1: be good. Any other it than Jesus is not it?

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Speaker 1: What's your it? If I could just marry it, if

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Speaker 1: I got a little more of it in my bank account,

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Speaker 1: if I could just everybody would praise me for it.

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Speaker 1: What's your it? A theologian said, Jesus plus nothing equals everything,

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Speaker 1: but Jesus plus anything equals nothing. I wonder what you're

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Speaker 1: it is today? And I want to give you a

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Speaker 1: verse before we sit down. Out of Philippians, chapter three,

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Speaker 1: verses twelve through fourteen. This is what Paul has to

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Speaker 1: say about it. Say it. It just isn't the trash.

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Speaker 1: It is also the trophies. Because Paul said, man, I've

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Speaker 1: got a lot of things that I've been running after

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Speaker 1: the goal of my life, wish to be noticed, to

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Speaker 1: be a person of fame. He lists his inheritance and

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Speaker 1: his accomplishments, and that used to be it, and then

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Speaker 1: he had is such a profound encounter with Christ it changed.

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Speaker 1: I wonder how God wants to upgrade You're it today?

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Speaker 1: The of putting in your pocket is the thing you've

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Speaker 1: been motivated by. I wonder if somebody else's praise, who

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Speaker 1: might not even be watching, is the it you're working for.

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Speaker 1: And Jesus is over here saying I'm it. I'm all

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Speaker 1: you need. I'm all you need if you just run

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Speaker 1: towards me. But you gotta forget it. Paul says this.

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Speaker 1: He says, not that I've obtained all of this, or

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Speaker 1: have already arrived at my goals. But I press on

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Speaker 1: to take hold for that which Christ, Jesus took hold

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Speaker 1: of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself

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Speaker 1: yet to have taken hold of It's but one thing

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Speaker 1: I do forgetting what is behind and straining toward what

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Speaker 1: is it. I press on toward the goal to win

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Speaker 1: the prize for which God has hal called me heavenward

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Speaker 1: in Christ Jesus. What's the it you need to forget today?

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Speaker 1: And here's the title that I want us to consider

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Speaker 1: for the next few minutes we're together. It is this.

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Speaker 1: Say it out loud, Say see it differently. Now you

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Speaker 1: didn't say it like you meant it. Say you're coming

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Speaker 1: from your deep in your soul. Say see it differently.

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Speaker 1: A high five someone on your way to your seat.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, worship team. Tell me welcome all of our locations.

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Speaker 1: We're honored to have you with us today. Normally you

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Speaker 1: would see Pastor Stephen or Pastor Holly in the pulpit,

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Speaker 1: but today you get me. I am l B. I

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Speaker 1: am one of the pastors here at Elevation. My wife Janet,

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Speaker 1: and I had the privilege of having a front row

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Speaker 1: seat of one of the greatest moves of God on

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Speaker 1: the planet for the last twenty years. And I look

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Speaker 1: out and I'm like, Holy cow, Lord, you did immeasurably

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Speaker 1: more than we could ever ask or imagine. God. You

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Speaker 1: are that good, you are that kind. And I would

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Speaker 1: be remiss if I didn't take a minute to celebrate

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Speaker 1: our pastors, Pastor Stephen and Pastor Holly. Help me thank

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Speaker 1: them for twenty years. They've faithfully preached the Word of God,

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Speaker 1: and they're incredible on the platform, but they're even greater

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Speaker 1: off the platform, the way they love their family, the

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Speaker 1: way they lead this church, the way they pray for

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Speaker 1: you and intercede for us. You are led by some

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Speaker 1: incredible pastors. Pastor Stephen, pastor Holly. We honor you, we

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Speaker 1: love you, we thank you. Ah, such a joy to

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Speaker 1: be with you. I get the privilege of opening up

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Speaker 1: God's Word with you. We're gonna be in the Book

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Speaker 1: of Philippians. My hope is to pull on a thread

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Speaker 1: to show you one theme that runs through this incredible

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Speaker 1: Book of Philippians. But I didn't own a Bible until

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Speaker 1: I was twenty seven, and I remember getting my first Bible,

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Speaker 1: ripping a cellophane off it and smelling it. I was like,

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Speaker 1: it's my Bible. I'm so proud of it. And I

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Speaker 1: went to a Bible study the next day with some

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Speaker 1: people that were theologians. They were doctors, and they're talking

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Speaker 1: about provenient grace and propitiation and oh but die, and

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Speaker 1: I'm like, oh my, and like and they're flipping to

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Speaker 1: these books in the Bible, and I was so excited

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Speaker 1: about my Bible the night before, but sitting in that space,

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Speaker 1: I didn't even open my Bible because I felt too

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Speaker 1: dumb to engage with the word of God. Whether you're

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Speaker 1: a seasoned saint or you just tore the cellophane off,

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Speaker 1: God has something for you from his word today. Every

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Speaker 1: other book you read, this is the only book that

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Speaker 1: reads you. I might have some motivation to get you

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Speaker 1: to the parking lot, but the Word of God will

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Speaker 1: sustain you, It will fill you, it will challenge you,

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Speaker 1: it will encourage you. And I want to be in

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Speaker 1: this book of Philippians. And because I think the thing

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Speaker 1: I want you to help you see today is to

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Speaker 1: see it differently. Whatever you're it is because a lot

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Speaker 1: of times we'll see scripture and we conform it into

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Speaker 1: our image rather than being conformed into its image. I'll

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Speaker 1: pull a verse out of Philippians, and there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of verses that we will like shoehorn to make it

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Speaker 1: fit our situation. Philippians, Chapter four, first four thirteen. It's

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Speaker 1: this verse that everybody uses. I'm five foot seven on

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Speaker 1: a good day, but I can use this verse. I

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Speaker 1: can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me to

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Speaker 1: say I'm going to play in the league one day,

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and I will make the verse see what

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Speaker 1: I want to see from it. And I need something

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Speaker 1: to look at me and say, you're short and you

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Speaker 1: cannot jump. You will never in the NBA. You need

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Speaker 1: to see it differently. Some of you have this career

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Speaker 1: of wanting to sing, and someone just needs to look

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Speaker 1: at you and let us see this differently. I wonder

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Speaker 1: how God wants to upgrade your imagination today. I wonder

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Speaker 1: what it is you need to see differently. I want

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Speaker 1: to look at Philippians four six is where I want

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Speaker 1: to like begin this thread from the Book of Philippians.

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Speaker 1: It's this passage that if you've been around church, you've

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Speaker 1: heard it preached, you've said it, you might have even

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Speaker 1: had someone say it to you. Philippians four to six.

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Speaker 1: It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in

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Speaker 1: every situation, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your

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Speaker 1: requests to God. And yes, it says, do not be anxious.

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Speaker 1: But maybe the author Paul sees it a little bit differently,

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Speaker 1: because I think sometimes in our context will use it.

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Speaker 1: And I remember the first time I heard this. First

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Speaker 1: I walk up to a mentor, and I'm like, I'm

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Speaker 1: kind of struggling with some anxiety and he's like, the

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Speaker 1: Bible says don't be anxious. Well, thank you, Captain obvious.

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Speaker 1: That really helps me here. I'm coming to you to

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Speaker 1: help me learn how to not be anxious. Well, just

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Speaker 1: don't be anxious. That's what I got for you. It's

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Speaker 1: what the words. And it's like, is that all that

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Speaker 1: Paul saw when he looked at that passage? I don't think,

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Speaker 1: so I want to kind of tee off on that

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Speaker 1: because I think sometimes we'll use that. And I was

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Speaker 1: talking with one of our youth team the other day

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Speaker 1: and Rachel was sharing about one of the youth that's

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Speaker 1: struggling with anxiety because it's a present reality. And sometimes

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Speaker 1: when I don't see the verse accurately, I beat people

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Speaker 1: over the head with it and make them feel like

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Speaker 1: they're failing. It's like looking at me and saying, if

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Speaker 1: you had more faith, you just be taller, ilb, Well,

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Speaker 1: thank you. It's like I got a broken arm and

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Speaker 1: it's sticking out ninety degrees and I go to a

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Speaker 1: doctor like, yep, it's broken. I come for you to

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Speaker 1: help me, not just to tell me it's broken. Some

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Speaker 1: of you were standing out in the rain and people

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Speaker 1: look at you like you're wet. How about you get

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Speaker 1: an umbrella and help me. I think there's something for

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Speaker 1: us to see in this text that we often do

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Speaker 1: not see in our perspective. And Rachel's talking about this

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Speaker 1: youth who's like, I'm struggling with anxiety, and she says,

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Speaker 1: I feel like God's mad at me because the Bible

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Speaker 1: says don't be anxious, and I just don't know how

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Speaker 1: to do that, and I feel like I'm failing God.

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Speaker 1: Some of you, maybe that's your it today. If I

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Speaker 1: could just be free from it, then I would blank

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Speaker 1: blank plain. And I think there's something from this Book

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Speaker 1: of Philippians that God wants us to see today. This

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Speaker 1: is a letter that Paul the Apostle, he writes to

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Speaker 1: the Philippian Church, and it's unlike any of his other letters.

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Speaker 1: Paul had planted about twenty ish churches up to some

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Speaker 1: people saying, we have twenty churches here at elevation. It's

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Speaker 1: pretty amazing physical locations. And obviously you know which one

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Speaker 1: is my favorite. It's like my kids, which everyone is

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Speaker 1: in front of me is my favorite. But I think

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Speaker 1: the Philippian Church was Paul's favorite, and I'll prove it

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Speaker 1: to you from the text, because the Philippian Church, they

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Speaker 1: hear that Paul is in prison, so they gather an

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Speaker 1: offering and they send it to him in Rome. All

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Speaker 1: twenty churches heard about it, but the Philippian Church is

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Speaker 1: the only one to do something about it. He says this.

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Speaker 1: Of the Philippian Church, he says, they are my joy

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Speaker 1: and my crown. This is not a letter of rebuke.

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Speaker 1: It's not a letter of correction. It's not a letter

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Speaker 1: of getting better theology. It is a thank you note.

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Speaker 1: They initiated the gift, and the thank you note is

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Speaker 1: the book of Philippians sent back in response. Some of

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Speaker 1: you got married five years ago and you still have

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Speaker 1: not written the thank you notes for those gifts you

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Speaker 1: were given. Paul writes that kind of letter and he

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Speaker 1: wants to thank him, thank him for your extravagant love.

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Speaker 1: And I think the Philippian Church is his favorite, because

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Speaker 1: Paul also says this because the Philippian Church, they see

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Speaker 1: it differently. All other nineteen churches heard that Paul was

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Speaker 1: in prison, and they all felt bad about it, but

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Speaker 1: none of them did anything about it. Here's what it

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Speaker 1: says of the Philippian Church. Fourteenth verse, chapter four, verse

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Speaker 1: fifteen and sixteen. It says, moreover, as you Philippians know,

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Speaker 1: in the early days of your acquaintance with the Gospel,

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Speaker 1: when I set up for Macedonia, not one shirt shared

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Speaker 1: with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except

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Speaker 1: only you. For even when I was in Thessalonika, you

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Speaker 1: sent me aid more than once when I was in

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Speaker 1: need in order. Hey, Philippian Church, you're my favorite. Now.

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Speaker 1: I won't tell all the others, but he writes them

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Speaker 1: this letter to thank them. It's absolutely beautiful because the

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Speaker 1: Philippian chirts saw it differently. I wonder if we're that

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Speaker 1: kind of church that would see in need in the

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Speaker 1: community differently. It's one thing to hear about it and

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Speaker 1: feel bad. It's a whole other thing to get up

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Speaker 1: and do something about That is the kind of church

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Speaker 1: we are. We've always been that kind of church that

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Speaker 1: gets up and does something about it. But he also

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Speaker 1: wants to say, hey, hey, I know you feel bad

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Speaker 1: that I'm in prison. Maybe they're getting like a defense fund.

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Speaker 1: We need to get Paul good lawyers to get him out.

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Speaker 1: Of prison, poor Paul, I feel so bad for you.

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Speaker 1: He's like, no, no, no, you need to see it differently.

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Speaker 1: Because Paul says this. He says, I want you to know,

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Speaker 1: brothers and sisters, what has happened to me really has

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Speaker 1: served to advance the Gospel, and it's become a parent

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Speaker 1: throughout the whole palace. Guard that I am in shame's

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Speaker 1: for Christ, and all the brothers and sisters are encouraged

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Speaker 1: to preach the Gospel more boldly. You need to see

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Speaker 1: it different The man is in prison, and he says,

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Speaker 1: you don't feel bad for me. I need you to

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Speaker 1: see it differently. I wonder what you're sitting in that

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Speaker 1: you need to see differently. Because he pends this letter

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Speaker 1: from prison. Paul would write about five letters prison Epistles,

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Speaker 1: this and Colossians and Ephesians, and a few others. But

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Speaker 1: in the beginning of this letter, he starts with this

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Speaker 1: in chapter one, verses three to five, and he writes

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Speaker 1: this letter to the Philippian Church, this extravagant group eight

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Speaker 1: hundred miles from him, as he is in and he says,

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Speaker 1: I thank my God every time I remember you in

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Speaker 1: all my prayers for all of you. I pray with joy,

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Speaker 1: say joy, because of your partnership in the Gospel from

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Speaker 1: the first day until now. Joy. That is a weird

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Speaker 1: word to put in a prison letter. The man is

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Speaker 1: looking at prison walls, and he's got four guards on

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Speaker 1: four hour shifts around the clock as he's waiting to

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Speaker 1: go to trial. Here he is looking at his circumstances

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Speaker 1: and he writes a letter, and the first word that

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Speaker 1: comes out of his mouth is joy. Say Joy. Paul

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Speaker 1: teaches us a lesson to see it differently. He's looking

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Speaker 1: at his circumstances and realizing, my joy does not come

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Speaker 1: from my circumstances, but my joy determines my circumstances. And

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Speaker 1: he sits there and he thinks about this because he

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Speaker 1: will use the word joy or rejoice sixteen times in

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Speaker 1: this letter. The letter's only four chapters. It's one hundred

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Speaker 1: and four verses. It's not a long book. About every

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Speaker 1: seven or eight verses the word joy makes an appearance

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Speaker 1: on the scene. I wonder if I were to pluck

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Speaker 1: every seventh verse that comes out of your mouth and

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Speaker 1: paining a story with that, what would I show the world?

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Speaker 1: I wonder what is leaking out of you? Because you're

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Speaker 1: letting what's around you determine how you see it. Paul

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Speaker 1: is in a physical prison, but he has been the

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Speaker 1: presence of Jesus some of you. The prison is not

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Speaker 1: the walls around you. It's the perspective of your mind.

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Speaker 1: That's the prison you're shackled to today. And he says, joy,

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Speaker 1: say Joy, Joy, because and he thinks about this. This

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Speaker 1: is not a willy nilly kind of Pollyanna faith of

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Speaker 1: all just God's gonna work it all out. No, it's

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Speaker 1: a real faith that he keeps his eyes wide open.

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Speaker 1: He says, I know the reality, but there's a greater

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Speaker 1: truth because my savior, Jesus took on flesh. He is

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Speaker 1: full of God, and he crawled up on the cross

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Speaker 1: and he gave up his life and he defeated death.

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Speaker 1: And because he defeated death, I do not have to

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Speaker 1: fear death. So prison guards, what you got? He is

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Speaker 1: one thought away from joy. I thought about this old

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Speaker 1: song and I think about this, it says, when I

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Speaker 1: think about the Lord, how he picked me up and

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Speaker 1: he turned me around, how he placed my feet on

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Speaker 1: solid ground, and makes me want to shout hallelujah, Thank

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Speaker 1: you Jesus. You know you've got joy when you're thinking

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the circumstances, not when he gets

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Speaker 1: you out of it. Some of you are deferring joy

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Speaker 1: because it determines your joy and it is not jesus Ah.

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Speaker 1: I love how Paul is preaching, write out the get

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Speaker 1: go on this thing, joy, say joy, and then he

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Speaker 1: goes on to say joy because of your partnership in

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Speaker 1: the Gospel. That's a beautiful word to write down in

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Speaker 1: your notes if you're a note taker. He talks about partnership,

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Speaker 1: say partnership. What it means is it means fellowship, he

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Speaker 1: means intimacy, it means partnership. He will use that word

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Speaker 1: to only describe the Philippian Church. None of the other

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Speaker 1: nineteen get that label. He didn't call any of them partners.

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Speaker 1: There's something key for us to zoom in on this

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Speaker 1: Philippian Church. It is extravagant because they realize we're a partner.

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Speaker 1: Not in paul missions trips, but in the Gospel. I

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Speaker 1: love it. Purpose is discovered through partnership. Some of you

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Speaker 1: are playing a solo sport and you will never find

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Speaker 1: purpose on your individual flight. Purpose is only discovered in

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Speaker 1: partnership when we link arms to the person to our

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Speaker 1: right and purpose to our left, and we let the

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Speaker 1: business be all about the Gospel going forward. That's where

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Speaker 1: we find purpose, and that's why I love the church

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Speaker 1: God's redemptive plan. So uses that word to talk about partnership.

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Speaker 1: He will use that word three times, partnership once in

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Speaker 1: chapter one, once in chapter two, once in chapter three,

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Speaker 1: and all of these are key for someone to understand.

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Speaker 1: How do I see it? Differently? In Chapter two, verse one,

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Speaker 1: he talks about partnership with the Holy Spirit. He says,

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Speaker 1: is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ, any comfort

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Speaker 1: from his loft, any fellowship together in the spirit? You mean,

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Speaker 1: I'm just not called to be in fellowship in intimacy

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Speaker 1: with people. I'm called to be an intimacy with the

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Speaker 1: Person of the Holy Spirit. Yes, if you have placed

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Speaker 1: your faith in Jesus, if you have received the gift

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Speaker 1: of salvation, the Person of the Holy Spirit comes to

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Speaker 1: dwell in you as you are the new Tabernacle. You

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Speaker 1: are the new dwelling place of God, and he lives

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Speaker 1: inside of you. He's not a power, he's a person,

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Speaker 1: and he's speaking to you, and he wants to have

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Speaker 1: fellowship with you, and you find purpose when you listen

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Speaker 1: to the person of the Holy Spirit. Some of you

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Speaker 1: are listening to your person, and you wonder why you're

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Speaker 1: getting into accidents because the person of the Holy Spirit's

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Speaker 1: trying to drive, but you keep holding on the wheel.

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Speaker 1: What does it mean for you to have purpose in life?

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Speaker 1: It's when you partner with the Holy Spirit, and when

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Speaker 1: that person gets your order wrong at the coffee shop,

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Speaker 1: rather than you're blowing up in your flesh, the Holy

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Speaker 1: Spirit says, how about you extend some extravagant grace to

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Speaker 1: the Barissa who's in a really dark place right now

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Speaker 1: and has sent you there an assignment, and I strewed

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Speaker 1: your order up so that you would be a blessing.

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Speaker 1: But when you're led by the flesh, you'll blast them

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Speaker 1: and you won't bless them. What does it mean to

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Speaker 1: be in partnership with the Holy Spirit the person of God?

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Speaker 1: And then in chapter three he says this, it's not

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Speaker 1: just it's not just in partnership with people, not just

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Speaker 1: the person of the Holy Spirit. But in three verse ten,

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Speaker 1: Paul says this. He says, I want to know Christ, yes,

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Speaker 1: to know the power of his resurrection. And the fellowship

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Speaker 1: of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

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Speaker 1: We're called to have partnership with people the Holy Spirit,

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Speaker 1: but the very person of Jesus. Yes, Jesus wants to

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Speaker 1: partner with you. Yes, he wants to communie with you

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Speaker 1: and have intimacy. Yes, in that place of suffering. And

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Speaker 1: when I look around this room, I see people that

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Speaker 1: I've known for all these years, and I see stories

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Speaker 1: and people who have gone through significant suffering. And I

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Speaker 1: look around him like sometimes there's a suffering that come

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Speaker 1: that only the person of Jesus can minister to you.

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Speaker 1: And I see my friend Manuel here and he lost

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Speaker 1: his daughter a couple of years ago to cancer, his

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Speaker 1: sixteen year old daughter, and then just a few months

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Speaker 1: ago he loses his wife to cancer. And known this

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Speaker 1: man for more than a decade. And when you sit

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Speaker 1: with him and you see the suffering he's walked through,

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Speaker 1: he talks about getting to a place that Jesus sat

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Speaker 1: with him and Jesus wept with him. There is a

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Speaker 1: suffering that you and I go through that only the

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Speaker 1: person of Jesus can occupy that space. It says of Jesus,

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Speaker 1: he was a man of suffering, familiar with sorrow. And

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Speaker 1: Paul would say in the Book of Romans that there

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Speaker 1: is a pain that happens on the earth that there

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Speaker 1: are no human words for, and the holy spiritual of

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Speaker 1: the innercy but just groans. And I'm so glad that

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Speaker 1: my friend Manuel tells me about meeting with Jesus in

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Speaker 1: that place, and you ask him, how are you getting through?

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Speaker 1: It's because I'm Jesus. But purpose is discovered through partnership.

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Speaker 1: Some of you have a suffering and you felt like

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Speaker 1: God is punishing you, and rather than inviting the person

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Speaker 1: of Jesus into it, you've closed the door on it.

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Speaker 1: Without inviting the person of Jesus in, it will only

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Speaker 1: be pain. But when you invite Jesus in, who war

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Speaker 1: our suffering by a stripe, swear healed. It doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: he answers all my questions. But I can find purpose

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Speaker 1: in it. And now I see people in this room

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Speaker 1: become a part of a club you never wanted to join.

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Speaker 1: And the relationship you get with Christ you would never

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Speaker 1: trade away. But you you wouldn't have choosen that way

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Speaker 1: to get there. But now, as soon as somebody else

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Speaker 1: goes through what you went through you immediately identify and

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Speaker 1: you step in and you partner with them in their pain.

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Speaker 1: That is called the church. I was suffering. Were not

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Speaker 1: a part of our condition, but God enters into it

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Speaker 1: with us. He wants to partner with us. And this

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Speaker 1: Church of Philippi has partnered with Christ and it's just beautiful.

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Speaker 1: And they're separated by eight hundred miles. Paul is in Rome.

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Speaker 1: The Philippian Church is eight hundred miles away. And here's

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Speaker 1: the thing, partnership, fellowship. It's not about being in the

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Speaker 1: same building, it's about being in the same spirit. That

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Speaker 1: is one of the reasons I love this ministry here

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Speaker 1: at Elevation because we are not limited by location. We

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Speaker 1: got somebody watching in Cambodia. You're a part of this

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Speaker 1: ministry just as much as somebody else sitting in the room.

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Speaker 1: Because Paul is in a different room than the church

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Speaker 1: in Philippi, and they're sharing in the partnership of the Gospel.

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Speaker 1: And I love this Philippian church. Let me kind of

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Speaker 1: illustrate what this church would have looked like. It would

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Speaker 1: have been one of Paul's smallest churches, because you read

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Speaker 1: in the Book of Acts three thousand were added to

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Speaker 1: the Church of Jerusalem. One day he would launch churches

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Speaker 1: in Ephesus that would be hundreds to thousands, in Corinth

428
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,920
Speaker 1: the same thing. But Philippi, this is probably the smallest church.

429
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: It would have been dozens. It would have been this

430
00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,760
Speaker 1: little section over here in about five rows back one

431
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: that would have been about the size of this ministry.

432
00:23:02,760 --> 00:23:05,440
Speaker 1: And here we are, two thousand years later talking about

433
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,200
Speaker 1: a partnership with the smallest thing. Significance is never determined

434
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:16,960
Speaker 1: by size. It is always demonstrated by sacrifice. And this church,

435
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 1: why would they respond in such an extravagant way, say

436
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,920
Speaker 1: we've got to do something about Paul in prison. Could

437
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,399
Speaker 1: you hand me that bag run nunderneath you there? So

438
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 1: they sit together like we got to do something. We

439
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 1: just can't talk about it, feel bad about it. We

440
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:30,479
Speaker 1: need to do something. We need to take up a

441
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,040
Speaker 1: love offering. Being around church in your length of time,

442
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 1: you've heard about love offerings. Sometimes they'll guilt you into giving.

443
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,840
Speaker 1: They had the guilt nobody into giving to this thing year.

444
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 1: But they said, our man is in prison, he's shackled,

445
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:45,879
Speaker 1: he's waiting trial, and we've got to do something about it.

446
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: So what are we going to do. We're going to

447
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,440
Speaker 1: gather our reserves. Underneath your seat there, could you reach

448
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:54,600
Speaker 1: and grab? Yeah? It didn't make it easy. And some

449
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 1: he says, I got I got a new cloak. How

450
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 1: about we send that to Paul because he's probably going

451
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,520
Speaker 1: to be cloak because sometimes we think about giving Oh,

452
00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: I got the thing I don't use anymore. I said, no, no, no, no,

453
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: we're gonna we're gonna have send him extravagant love. We're

454
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,040
Speaker 1: gonna give him the best becky underneath your seat right there?

455
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:12,720
Speaker 1: Could you grab me that? And so he says, I

456
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,679
Speaker 1: know Paul's like a like a writer, and I just

457
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: got this new parchment, So how about we send that

458
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,399
Speaker 1: to him as well? And they put it in the

459
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 1: bag because we need to send something to Paul. We

460
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: just don't want him to feel bad. We want to

461
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,400
Speaker 1: do something about it. But I got some new parchment.

462
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,719
Speaker 1: But underneath your seat, you've got some pens, and you've

463
00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 1: got some ink. Would you put it in the bag.

464
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:36,479
Speaker 1: I wonder what you're sitting on today. I wonder what

465
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: you're sitting now. God said, I need to release and

466
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,639
Speaker 1: underneath your seat he had some because we need to

467
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 1: send him money because he's in prison. They give no food,

468
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,880
Speaker 1: no clothes, no doubt. They put it in the bag. Yeah,

469
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:57,159
Speaker 1: so yeah, yeah, why don't you put it in the

470
00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 1: bag because I want to keep it in my pocket.

471
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,119
Speaker 1: How did they see it different? This is either something

472
00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 1: I worship or something I use to worship. It changes

473
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 1: once you encounter Christ. You serve with it. And now

474
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,560
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, we got eight hundred miles, we got

475
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 1: the gift collected, we got some money, we got some stuff,

476
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,239
Speaker 1: and now we need to get it to Pall eight

477
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: hundred miles away. We can't call ups, there's no courier service.

478
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 1: So at this point in Christian circles, whenever you talk

479
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,640
Speaker 1: about we got an opportunity, this is where every starts

480
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:39,920
Speaker 1: looking at the ground. And because what I picture the

481
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,680
Speaker 1: Philippian Church, I'm picturing people like, no, pick me, let

482
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: me go, Let me go, because the only way you'll

483
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:47,760
Speaker 1: see it differently is when you don't see self in

484
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:55,920
Speaker 1: the picture. One person agreed in the back, thank you. Now,

485
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 1: now you keep telling God, would you change it? And

486
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,480
Speaker 1: he says, no, no, I need to change the way you

487
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,239
Speaker 1: see it. You need to see it differently. And so

488
00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: they picked a guy named Apaphroditis. Say Apaphroditis, as it's Hellward,

489
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,200
Speaker 1: we'll just go with e if if you're pregnant looking

490
00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,879
Speaker 1: for a name, I can just submit to you a Paphroditis.

491
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 1: So Epaphroditis is going to be the guy to deliver

492
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 1: the thing. He's got to go three hundred and fifty

493
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:20,880
Speaker 1: miles of land, one hundred miles of ocean, and three

494
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,560
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty miles of more lands just to get

495
00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:24,880
Speaker 1: the roam. It's gonna take him six weeks with good weather,

496
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,880
Speaker 1: up to three months with bad weather. And someone's like, absolutely,

497
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,560
Speaker 1: and we got our own e right here. You don't

498
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:37,119
Speaker 1: know this guy, but this is Chris Everett. When I

499
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 1: think about it, Phaphroditis, this is right here, this because

500
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: what you don't know about this man is he represents

501
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 1: the generosity of our house. Because that's what Epaphroditis got

502
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,560
Speaker 1: to do. He got to be the one to show

503
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,040
Speaker 1: up at the prison and represent the people of Philippi

504
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 1: with an extravagant love offering. Oh my soul, this is Chris.

505
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: He's a part of our outreach team. He gets to

506
00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: take offerings collected by the House of God and show

507
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: up in places and let us bless you on behalf

508
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: of elevation. This is a paphrodidocey, this is this is

509
00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:13,119
Speaker 1: thank you Chris for doing that. I like to think

510
00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 1: aspirationally I would sign up for that, but in reality

511
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 1: I kind of like take a back seat to that.

512
00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 1: Why because I'm all about me Jesus. Wait now, the

513
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 1: song is all about you, Jesus. But I paphroditis is

514
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 1: like I will inconvenience myself. And if we think about

515
00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 1: Chris Everett e going being gone, because you're not just

516
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,400
Speaker 1: going to deliver it. You're going to stay with him

517
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 1: because he has no capacity to go by groceries. So

518
00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,880
Speaker 1: you're going to stay there meet his needs. And you're

519
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:41,680
Speaker 1: gonna come back whenever the prison said. And so you're

520
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: gonna hit pause on your life dot dot. I want

521
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,160
Speaker 1: to follow you, Jesus, but we've done by four o'clock.

522
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,760
Speaker 1: If it's on Tuesdays after nine am, but before ten am,

523
00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,720
Speaker 1: and it's got to be between sixty eight and sixty

524
00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,160
Speaker 1: nine degrees. We have a conditional calling. If it means

525
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:02,199
Speaker 1: the right conditions, then we'll sign up for it. The

526
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,040
Speaker 1: Philippian Chirts did not carry a conditional calling. And the

527
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,119
Speaker 1: reality is when God comes to you and the Holy

528
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,239
Speaker 1: Spirit is saying I want to partner with you, you

529
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,920
Speaker 1: treat Jesus like a silent partner in a business. A

530
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 1: silent partner has no voice in the organization, but they

531
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: get to enjoy all the benefits. I wonder how many

532
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:22,280
Speaker 1: of you have turned down the dial of the Holy Spirit.

533
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,600
Speaker 1: You're not even listening to it. And the Holy Spirit

534
00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 1: is trying to tell you give that up, take it

535
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: out from underneath your seat, Quit building your stone on storehouses.

536
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,120
Speaker 1: How about you start serving somebody else rather than serving

537
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 1: your self. But I got the dial turned down, and

538
00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,880
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit isn't even speaking. I guess he just

539
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,520
Speaker 1: doesn't speak to me. No, I've made him a silent

540
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: partner and a paphroiditis it says this. So paphriditis delivers

541
00:28:48,080 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 1: the offering. And here we come in chapter two, verse

542
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,160
Speaker 1: twenty five and twenty eight. Paphorditis gets there. Now, Paul

543
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:55,480
Speaker 1: writes in his letter, because the offering shows up with

544
00:28:55,480 --> 00:28:58,400
Speaker 1: the paphorditis, he gets it. And then Paul writes this

545
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,680
Speaker 1: letter back. And if Paphrriditis I actually delivers the letter back,

546
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,440
Speaker 1: he says, but I think it necessary to send back

547
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: to you. A paphroditis my brother, coworker, fellow soldier, who

548
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,720
Speaker 1: is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care

549
00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 1: of my needs for He longs for all of you

550
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed

551
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: he was ill, and he almost died. I'm sorry, Ericris,

552
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: but God had mercy on him, not only on him,

553
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: but also on me to spare me. Sorrow upon sorrow.

554
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 1: The most interesting verse there. I thought Paul was the

555
00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 1: man of joy, and here he's talking about sorrow. To

556
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 1: be fully human doesn't mean you don't have suffering. To

557
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,840
Speaker 1: be fully human means both can exist in the same space.

558
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 1: Maturing in our faith is to have joy and suffering

559
00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 1: and sorrow in the presence of both of each other,

560
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 1: and neither one disqualified the other. And some of you

561
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 1: don't feel like you have permission for joy because you

562
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,760
Speaker 1: have some sorrow. Here we have Paul illustrating I've got sorrow,

563
00:29:57,880 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: and here's the reality. This next verse will flip you.

564
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 1: Some of you, you've read the Bible your whole life, and

565
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: you've never seen this verse. He says. They're twenty eight. Therefore,

566
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 1: I'm all the more eager to send him to you,

567
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,560
Speaker 1: so that when you see him again, will I may

568
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:17,280
Speaker 1: have less anxiety? Now does anybody see the apparent contradiction

569
00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: that Paul has posed to the people in Philippi? Chapter four,

570
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: verse six is do not be anxious about anything? And

571
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,840
Speaker 1: we only preach chapter four verse six. Have any of

572
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:32,240
Speaker 1: you ever read chapter two twenty eight? Have you even

573
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,320
Speaker 1: even know that verse was in the Bible? He says,

574
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 1: I want to send this sick guy to you so

575
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:41,480
Speaker 1: I will have less anxiety. Here's what I want to

576
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 1: have subtitle for this sermon, upgrade your anxiety, because we

577
00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: translate the same word in the English, but it's two

578
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 1: different words in the original language. In chapter four, verse six,

579
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 1: it is the concerns of self, he says, do not

580
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 1: be anxious about yourself? Who can add a day to

581
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:06,600
Speaker 1: their life by worrying? In chapter two, it is the

582
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 1: concerns of others who be anxious. That's the subtitle about

583
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,960
Speaker 1: the right thing. There is an anxiety that somebody else

584
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,600
Speaker 1: has that you were called to carry. But the reason

585
00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: I can't carry their anxiety is because I'm consumed with mine.

586
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,560
Speaker 1: How do I see it? Differently. So Paul is speaking

587
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: to the Philippian church and he's giving them this lesson

588
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 1: and how to see it differently. And when I take

589
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:42,720
Speaker 1: a group photo of all of us, and so I

590
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 1: take a group photo, and who do you look for

591
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: first in the photo? We're all narcissistic. We all start

592
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 1: with selves. That's the problem is we stop there. We

593
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,240
Speaker 1: only ever see ourselves in the scene. I'm gonna sound

594
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,719
Speaker 1: like an old man for just a minute, as one

595
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,720
Speaker 1: of the elders of this church. How do we handle anxiety?

596
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,720
Speaker 1: It all depends on which anxiety you're caring. Is it

597
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: yours or somebody else's. What does it mean to upgrade

598
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: our anxiety and consider somebody else's. We live in a

599
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 1: world that worships self. We're in a world and the

600
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,080
Speaker 1: mind of the flesh, and what we're going to contradict

601
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 1: right now is very practically the mind of the flesh

602
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 1: in the mind of the spirit. The mind of the

603
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,840
Speaker 1: flesh is what you're born into the world with. The

604
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 1: mind of the flesh is telling you trust yourself, look

605
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:36,080
Speaker 1: out for yourself, discover yourself, find yourself, defend yourself, indulge yourself.

606
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 1: And it's all about self. Promotion, self protection, self fulfillment,

607
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,680
Speaker 1: self gratification, and being true to your self. And we

608
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:48,400
Speaker 1: live in a world that idolizes self care. And I

609
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 1: have searched the scriptures. I cannot find anything in the

610
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 1: text that talks about self care. And what I do

611
00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,560
Speaker 1: read in the text that Jesus said, if anyone would

612
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 1: come after me, he must pick up his cross daily,

613
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 1: deny himself and follow me. How do you see it differently?

614
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,680
Speaker 1: I like self care, I mean, get your protein, get

615
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:19,760
Speaker 1: your workout. But self care without self denial is self

616
00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:27,760
Speaker 1: indulgence and it leads to self worship. If you look

617
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: hashtags for self care, you'll see one hundred and one

618
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:35,480
Speaker 1: million hashtags. Do you assert your self denial about twelve thousand?

619
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 1: Paul said, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,

620
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:46,160
Speaker 1: but in humility consider others better than yourself. Denying the

621
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:51,800
Speaker 1: flesh doesn't mean you deny that anxiety exists. It means

622
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,280
Speaker 1: that you don't let it dominate your thinking and drive

623
00:33:55,360 --> 00:34:00,160
Speaker 1: your decisions. And what I want to contrast is the

624
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,520
Speaker 1: mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit.

625
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,280
Speaker 1: When we are born into this world, we are hardwired

626
00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 1: with the mind of the flesh. The flesh is self seeking,

627
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: self serving, and it is wicked. And we're living in

628
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:18,080
Speaker 1: a culture that's all about ubu and the scriptures are

629
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:21,240
Speaker 1: all about no, no, no. That's the problem. We need to

630
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,360
Speaker 1: deny that. What you see in the Philippian Church is

631
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,840
Speaker 1: the Philippian Church was concerned about Paul. Paul was concerned

632
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,240
Speaker 1: about the Philippian Church, and then then Epaphroditis was concerned

633
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 1: about Paul. And then Paul became concerned about a paphroditis,

634
00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,560
Speaker 1: and then the Philippian Church learned that he was sick,

635
00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: and they became concerned about a paphrodised and you see

636
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,400
Speaker 1: everybody else. The reason they saw differently is they weren't

637
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:50,440
Speaker 1: seeing self. What does it mean for us to deny

638
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 1: ourselves in Philippians because the question here is not what

639
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,440
Speaker 1: do you see, but it's how do you see? A

640
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:00,719
Speaker 1: little bit of trivia about me. I've had corny transplants

641
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,280
Speaker 1: on both of my eyes, so I have donor tissue

642
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 1: in both of my eyes. In my early twenties, says,

643
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,839
Speaker 1: I was legally blind in both eyes, and I had

644
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,920
Speaker 1: a genetic condition that deformed my corneous and we couldn't

645
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:14,120
Speaker 1: fix it with contacts. We couldn't fix it with lasik.

646
00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:16,360
Speaker 1: We couldn't fix it with with all the king's horses

647
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,280
Speaker 1: and all the king's men. Couldn't put it back together again.

648
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,360
Speaker 1: And no matter what I tried in my human effort,

649
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,440
Speaker 1: I would always have a distorted picture. That is the

650
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,120
Speaker 1: mind of the flesh. And it is so prevalent and

651
00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 1: so pervasive that we had to cut it out and

652
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:37,400
Speaker 1: give me a whole new surface to see things through.

653
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: And the mind of the flesh is You're hardwiring. If

654
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:47,600
Speaker 1: Paul says this in chapter three, verses eighteen and nineteen,

655
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 1: he says, for I've often told you before, and now

656
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,120
Speaker 1: tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies

657
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 1: of the Cross of Christ. And what he's talking about

658
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,400
Speaker 1: is people who have relegated the Holy Spirit to a

659
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:03,239
Speaker 1: silent partnership. He's not talking about people trying to destroy Christianity.

660
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 1: He's talking about people claiming Christianity yet living in a

661
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,640
Speaker 1: very different way. I will come on Sunday, I will

662
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: wear the bling, but I will do my own chin

663
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,960
Speaker 1: kajing kaching. I was really bad, but I liked it.

664
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 1: It was good because here's what he says in verse seventeen,

665
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,640
Speaker 1: he says, again, this is the mind of the flesh.

666
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:31,680
Speaker 1: Their destiny is destruction. Their God is their stomach. They're

667
00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 1: being driven by flesh, by the carnal nature, trying to

668
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 1: satisfy yourself. And he says, and it becomes and their

669
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:43,719
Speaker 1: glory is in their shame. And eventually that gluttony becomes

670
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 1: their glory. And now they start posting it for everybody

671
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 1: to see the depravity. And he says, their mind is

672
00:36:52,600 --> 00:37:00,359
Speaker 1: set on earthly things. The mind of the flesh is

673
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 1: caught up in earthly things. The it is, if I

674
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: could have it, how do you see it differently? I've

675
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 1: got to have a different mind. What you think in

676
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,040
Speaker 1: your mind is what you see with your eyes. Paul

677
00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,320
Speaker 1: contrasts that with the mind of the spirit in Philippians

678
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: chapter four, right after he talks about do not be

679
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,880
Speaker 1: anxious in anything but everything. With prayer and petition, present

680
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 1: your request to God, and the peace of God will

681
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 1: guard your heart and mind. In Christ Jesus, he goes

682
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:36,280
Speaker 1: right into this. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever true, whatever

683
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

684
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,480
Speaker 1: whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praise worthy,

685
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:47,760
Speaker 1: think about such things. That's the mind of the spirit.

686
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:55,359
Speaker 1: And it's amazing how Paul is saying the anxiety in

687
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,279
Speaker 1: yourself to deny that means I'm not going to let

688
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,480
Speaker 1: that dominate my thinking. But the way I deny myself

689
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: is by serving somebody else. This is the upside down

690
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:08,279
Speaker 1: part of the Kingdom. Because the world tells you to

691
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:12,000
Speaker 1: get ahead, you've got to store it up to get ahead.

692
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:15,319
Speaker 1: You've got to be concerned about yourself. But the mind

693
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:20,400
Speaker 1: of the spirit the Kingdom, the greatest will be the least,

694
00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 1: and the least will be the The first shall be

695
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: the and the last will be the Those who are

696
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,520
Speaker 1: fresh others will they themselves be. Some of you have

697
00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:35,319
Speaker 1: an anxiety that you're trying to satisfy through self care

698
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:41,960
Speaker 1: that will never be filled. It will leave you empty,

699
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: drinking salt water, and you wonder why you're parched. But

700
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,120
Speaker 1: the currency of the Kingdom is very different. You see,

701
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,080
Speaker 1: the currency of the world is it's all about self,

702
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 1: and we borrow that currency from the world, and we

703
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,759
Speaker 1: wonder why we're spiritually bankrupt because that will not work

704
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:02,520
Speaker 1: over here in the Kingdom. The way you get filled

705
00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:10,759
Speaker 1: up is by being poured out. That's the kingdoms. That's

706
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:16,960
Speaker 1: the kingdom. So you want to see it differently. How

707
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:18,960
Speaker 1: about the very thing you want you go find someone

708
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:22,920
Speaker 1: to serve. Some of you feel like you're not noticed.

709
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: How about you notice somebody today. Some of you have

710
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 1: a whole day of self care with getting all the

711
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 1: nails done. Praise God, get your nails done. But I

712
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,640
Speaker 1: wonder if there's a fourteen year old drowning and anxiety

713
00:39:34,640 --> 00:39:37,640
Speaker 1: in the space, what would it look like for you

714
00:39:37,719 --> 00:39:41,359
Speaker 1: to invite them along and just pour into somebody else

715
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,560
Speaker 1: what you want poured into you. Some of you, men,

716
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,360
Speaker 1: your partnership with Jesus is a private entity. It's all

717
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,560
Speaker 1: about you building and accumulating trophies, and it's not a

718
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:58,360
Speaker 1: public corporation meant to bless everyone. And my sanctuary is

719
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 1: the golf course. I wonder if there's a twelve year

720
00:40:01,120 --> 00:40:03,120
Speaker 1: old little boy who doesn't have a father that would

721
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 1: love for you to just how about you come out

722
00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 1: golfing with me, and the very thing you want you

723
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,960
Speaker 1: give away and from that God brings it back to you.

724
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 1: And then four verse nine, he says, think about love

725
00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: these things. It's a thinking thing. How as you think

726
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:28,480
Speaker 1: in your mind is what you see with your eye.

727
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:31,239
Speaker 1: You will only see it differently when you have a

728
00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 1: different mind. An old mind will not have new thoughts.

729
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:40,720
Speaker 1: You cannot upgrade an outdated operating system that is defunct.

730
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,360
Speaker 1: It will not work. You will not see it differently.

731
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,240
Speaker 1: And he says this in verse nine. He says, whatever

732
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,279
Speaker 1: you've learned to receive from me and seen in me,

733
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:52,880
Speaker 1: put it into practice. Say practice. You sound like Alan Iversoni.

734
00:40:52,920 --> 00:41:00,000
Speaker 1: We talk about practice man. Practice means repetition, because Paul

735
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 1: would also pen do not conform any longer to the

736
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 1: pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing

737
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:14,880
Speaker 1: of your You've got such ingrained patterns about self. Unless

738
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,640
Speaker 1: you're intentional, you'll just fall into the patterns. And the

739
00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 1: difference between a road in a rut is one gives

740
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:22,840
Speaker 1: you direction, the other one you can't get out of.

741
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:31,280
Speaker 1: And he says it's in the mind, it's in the space.

742
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 1: But you need to put it into practice. All of

743
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,960
Speaker 1: you are going back to it, and you're look at God.

744
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,040
Speaker 1: If you just change it, then I would be happy,

745
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 1: I guess, says no, no, no, I need you having a

746
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,719
Speaker 1: new mind looking at it. If my husband would just

747
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:52,799
Speaker 1: get his it together, it says, no, if you would

748
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,640
Speaker 1: get it in your mind, you would see potential where

749
00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:02,279
Speaker 1: you've only seen problems. How on earth can I be

750
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:06,680
Speaker 1: in a prison and have purpose? It's because I reasoned

751
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:11,360
Speaker 1: in my mind Jesus defeated death. I don't have to

752
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:15,319
Speaker 1: fear death. Now what you got prison guards? And where

753
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,040
Speaker 1: Paul closes this whole thing, his central treatise, right in

754
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:23,839
Speaker 1: the middle of this amazing book, is in Philippians, chapter two,

755
00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 1: verses five through eleven, and he says this. He says,

756
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:34,880
Speaker 1: in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset

757
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:38,040
Speaker 1: as Christ Jesus. You see the battle in the mind,

758
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:40,360
Speaker 1: the mind of the flesh, the mind of the spirit.

759
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:42,480
Speaker 1: And he says to you, if you want to see

760
00:42:42,480 --> 00:42:45,160
Speaker 1: it differently, have a different mind, have the mind of Jesus,

761
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 1: because when you have the mind of Jesus, you will

762
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:53,520
Speaker 1: see it differently. And he says, this is of our Savior, who,

763
00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:57,120
Speaker 1: being in very nature God, did not consider equality with

764
00:42:57,160 --> 00:43:01,399
Speaker 1: God something to be used for his own. You see

765
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 1: he's throwing shade on the first atom. Adam thought he

766
00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:07,320
Speaker 1: would be like God, and he trusted his own wisdom

767
00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:09,240
Speaker 1: and he looked at something that says, oh, it's pleasing,

768
00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:10,560
Speaker 1: and he ate it. And he didn't see that it

769
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,440
Speaker 1: would kill him. Some of you are eating your own wisdom,

770
00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 1: and you wonder why you're dying. It's the mind of

771
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:22,480
Speaker 1: the flesh. It's what I think is right, it's what

772
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:25,360
Speaker 1: I'm justified in doing. It's what I think I deserve.

773
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,279
Speaker 1: And it says of Jesus, he deserved all of doubt.

774
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 1: Yet he didn't use it for his own advantage. In

775
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,280
Speaker 1: the garden, he said, do you not know my father

776
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:39,120
Speaker 1: would release twelve legions of angels, seventy two thousand angels

777
00:43:39,120 --> 00:43:41,319
Speaker 1: could come. He says, no, I'm not going to take

778
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:43,840
Speaker 1: advantage of what is mine. He was fully God and

779
00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: he's fully human, but he's not just fully human. He

780
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:48,359
Speaker 1: shows you the true human that you and I were

781
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:53,120
Speaker 1: made to be. Self care will never conform you into

782
00:43:53,120 --> 00:44:01,279
Speaker 1: the image of Christ self denial will. It says, he

783
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:04,480
Speaker 1: made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.

784
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 1: You mean he seated in glory and he takes on

785
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:12,560
Speaker 1: the form of a slave. Yes, he humbled himself and

786
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:14,279
Speaker 1: being and found in the appearance as a man. He

787
00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:18,760
Speaker 1: humbled himself and became obedient to death. Death wasn't giving

788
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 1: the orders. He was telling death what to do. He

789
00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:24,120
Speaker 1: was being obedient to Father that led him to death.

790
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,200
Speaker 1: And some of you will not listen to the Holy

791
00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:29,600
Speaker 1: Spirit because you don't like the destination. And what I don't

792
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:30,960
Speaker 1: want to tell you. When you look at it through

793
00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:33,280
Speaker 1: the mind of Jesus, he will give you the grace

794
00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:35,759
Speaker 1: to take another step and another step. I don't want

795
00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:38,200
Speaker 1: to do it, deny it, but I'm gonna follow the

796
00:44:38,200 --> 00:44:42,560
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit as he leads me. Became obedient to death,

797
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:46,080
Speaker 1: even death on a cross. You see, the world saw

798
00:44:46,080 --> 00:44:49,680
Speaker 1: the cross and as an instrument of torture and death

799
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:54,239
Speaker 1: and justice. And Jesus looked at that same cross, and

800
00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:58,440
Speaker 1: he saw deliverance, he saw healing, he saw wholeness. He

801
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:05,479
Speaker 1: saw it differently. What prison are you? In the mind

802
00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:09,120
Speaker 1: of the flesh will not see anything different. But the

803
00:45:09,160 --> 00:45:12,360
Speaker 1: mind of the spirit can bring me joy in the

804
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:17,400
Speaker 1: middle of a prison cell. Therefore God exalted him to

805
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:19,840
Speaker 1: the highest place, and he gave him the name that

806
00:45:19,960 --> 00:45:23,040
Speaker 1: is above every name, that at the name of Jesus,

807
00:45:23,120 --> 00:45:26,080
Speaker 1: every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and

808
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:29,800
Speaker 1: under the earth, and every tongueing knowledge that Jesus Christ

809
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,319
Speaker 1: is Lord to the glory of God, the Father, that

810
00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:37,080
Speaker 1: is our Savior, that is our King, that is our Redeemer,

811
00:45:37,320 --> 00:45:41,360
Speaker 1: that is our Manuel. God with us. He came to

812
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:44,960
Speaker 1: walk on this earth for you, for me, to forgive

813
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:48,680
Speaker 1: you of our sins. He came to make you hold

814
00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:55,839
Speaker 1: everyone standing in all of our locations. Because when you're

815
00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:58,120
Speaker 1: born in this world, you're born dead in your sin,

816
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,359
Speaker 1: and it's so pervasive that Jesus needed to die so

817
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:07,440
Speaker 1: that you could be forgiven. And for some of you,

818
00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:10,520
Speaker 1: God is knocking on the door of your heart right now,

819
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 1: and he's saying, would you let me in? Would you

820
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:18,200
Speaker 1: choose to receive the gift of salvation by confessing your

821
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:21,360
Speaker 1: sinner in need of a savior. Some of you, you

822
00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:24,880
Speaker 1: have tried to do everything in your human strength, in

823
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,839
Speaker 1: your human power, and it will not satisfy what could

824
00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:32,319
Speaker 1: only be satisfied through Jesus. And when you receive the

825
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:36,960
Speaker 1: gift of salvation, you also receive the person of the

826
00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,719
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit who comes inside you and he dwells within you.

827
00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,840
Speaker 1: Would you buy your heads, would you close your eyes?

828
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:48,240
Speaker 1: Would you open your heart to consider? Have you trusted

829
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:53,359
Speaker 1: in Jesus, and at the name of Jesus, every knee

830
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:56,520
Speaker 1: would bow and every tongue would confess. And this is

831
00:46:56,560 --> 00:47:00,680
Speaker 1: the moment for someone to bow their knee and to

832
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:04,400
Speaker 1: confess with their mouth that they're a sinner and you

833
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: need to save your church family. We're going to say

834
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:09,480
Speaker 1: a prayer together out loud for the benefit of somebody

835
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 1: who's recognizing I need to be rescued from my sin.

836
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,080
Speaker 1: Pray this with me, church family. I believe that Jesus

837
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:21,759
Speaker 1: Christ is the Son of God who died on the

838
00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:25,799
Speaker 1: cross and rose from the grave to forgive me of

839
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,799
Speaker 1: my sin. I give you my life, I give you

840
00:47:29,840 --> 00:47:34,560
Speaker 1: my sin, I give you my shame. Forgive me, and

841
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 1: I'll spend my life following you with your heads to

842
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:40,200
Speaker 1: a boudying your eyes to close. If you just place

843
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,600
Speaker 1: your faith in Jesus, I am going to count the

844
00:47:42,640 --> 00:47:45,160
Speaker 1: three and when I get there, without hesitation, you are

845
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:47,600
Speaker 1: going to boldly shoot your hand into the air on

846
00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:50,520
Speaker 1: the counter of three, one, two, three. Come on, shoot

847
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:53,520
Speaker 1: that hand up. Come on, all across the auditorium, all

848
00:47:53,560 --> 00:47:56,400
Speaker 1: across all of our locations. Come on, if you're online,

849
00:47:56,480 --> 00:48:00,680
Speaker 1: let us know you just made that decision. This decision

850
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,239
Speaker 1: you will ever make a decision no man can take

851
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:07,640
Speaker 1: from you. Come all us worship the name of Jesus.

852
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Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of

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Speaker 2: you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of

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Speaker 2: you that this ministry is possible. You can click the

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Speaker 2: link in the description to give now, or visit Elevationchurch

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Speaker 2: dot org slash podcast for more information and if you

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Speaker 2: enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can share it

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Speaker 2: with your friends. You can click the share button, take

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Speaker 2: a screenshot and share it on your social stories and

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Speaker 2: tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God

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Speaker 2: bless you.