0:03 I walked into a grocery store and I was
0:06 on an assignment from
0:09 Amy my assignment was simple get a
0:16 milk but as you know in today's culture
0:19 that's not as easy as it
0:21 sounds because way back in the olden
0:25 days when I was a kid milk was mostly
0:29 milk anybody remember your options whole
0:31 milk SK milk 1%
0:34 2% I always wondered about 1% and 2%
0:35 milk I always wondered what's the other 98
0:36 98
0:42 99% who knows but today is so much more
0:44 confusing then there was no such thing
0:47 as plant-based lactose-free vegan non-
0:49 GMO milk today not only do you have
0:51 cow's milk which you got goat milk and
0:54 oat milk and rice milk and soy milk and
0:56 coconut milk and almond milk and I'm
1:00 wondering like how do you milk an almond a
1:01 a
1:04 coconut I can see that an almond how do
1:07 you do that and so I walked into the
1:09 grocery score I'm scanning the aisles
1:12 from a distance looking for the exact
1:15 type that my bride desires and I saw one
1:17 and when I say one I mean only one
1:19 there's only one gallon left of the
1:22 exact right kind and as I took a step
1:24 forward I looked over to my side and I
1:25 saw another
1:28 gentleman very likely on an assignment
1:32 from his wife eyeing my very same gallon
1:36 that Amy wanted so what do you think I
1:40 did as a man of God as a as a Christian
1:44 as a pastor I said sir you take this
1:46 last gallon of milk for your wife so she
1:48 can be proud of you and my wife can be
1:50 disappointed in
1:54 me of course not what do you think I did
1:57 I pushed a 5-year-old out of the way I
2:00 fast walk down put my shoulder down into
2:02 him nudged him in the name of the father
2:03 Son and the Holy SP out of the way
2:06 grabbed the milk and walked away
2:09 Victorious you say are you exaggerating
2:11 at all Craig just a little bit I didn't
2:12 push the 5-year-old but all the rest is actually
2:14 actually
2:17 true why did I do
2:20 that why do we do things like that the
2:22 answer is because putting ourselves
2:25 first is one of the most natural things
2:28 that we do raise your hand if you agree
2:30 raise your hand online type in I agree
2:32 type it in right now I agree if you
2:34 don't agree I can prove it to you
2:36 because anytime there is a group photo
2:37 with you in
2:41 it and five other people who do you look
2:44 at first you look at yourself don't you
2:45 and how do you determine if it's a good
2:50 photo or not if you got one old boy like
2:52 blinking and another girl has hair in
2:54 her face and some guy staring off in the
2:57 distance but it's a good photo of you is
3:00 it good or bad it's a good photo
3:02 because putting yourself first is the
3:05 most natural thing that we do and I
3:07 can't speak for you but the world
3:10 encourages my
3:12 self-obsession over and over again
3:15 culture tells me do what's best for me I
3:19 deserve my me time my needs come first
3:21 therefore I'm going to focus on myself
3:25 right now yet God's word tells us in
3:28 Philippians chapter 2 that we are to do nothing
3:30 nothing
3:32 out of selfish
3:35 ambition pause on that for a moment no
3:38 Behavior no action should ever be done
3:41 from selfish motives or vain conceit but
3:43 rather in
3:46 humility we value others we consider
3:48 others better than ourselves we value
3:51 others above yourselves scripture says
3:54 not looking to your own interests but
3:58 each of you to the interests of others
4:00 think about that for just a moment
4:03 God's word tells us do nothing out of
4:07 selfish ambition and culture preaches
4:08 the exact
4:11 opposite putting myself first it it
4:16 sounds good it feels true but it's not
4:21 good it's not true it's almost true and
4:23 what's interesting is there's kind of a
4:26 very common and almost popular teaching
4:27 today that people will tell you well you
4:30 can't truly love
4:33 others until you love yourself so you
4:36 have to put yourself first treat
4:40 yourself you deserve it self-care is not
4:43 selfish because you can't pour from an
4:46 empty cup so what should you do you
4:48 should live for yourself you don't need
4:51 to justify your actions to anyone and
4:53 cut anyone out of your life that doesn't
4:56 add value to your life CU you don't owe
4:58 anyone anything and don't feel guilty
5:03 why because you come
5:06 first and this is a heartbreaking and
5:09 very popular and pervasive message from culture
5:10 culture
5:14 today we have become for the most part a
5:23 ourselves and what does God say about
5:26 that 2 Timothy chap
5:30 2:3 but Mark this scripture says
5:34 there will be terrible times in the last
5:37 days are we living in the last days I
5:40 don't know scripture says this people
5:47 selfies doesn't say that exactly but I
5:49 think in the Greek it might say selfies
5:51 people will be lovers of themselves do
5:53 you see that raise your hand if you see
5:56 it type in the comment section I see it
5:58 they will be lovers of money do you see it
6:00 it
6:02 they will be boastful do you see it
6:06 they'll be proud watch this they will be
6:09 lovers of
6:12 pleasure rather than lovers of God
6:15 having a form of godliness but denying its
6:16 its
6:21 power having the illusion of being
6:24 Christians but not walking in the
6:26 spirit there is a phrase and I'm being a
6:28 little bit sarcastic but part of the
6:30 reason is because it's it's so pervasive
6:32 there's a phrase that just haunts me
6:34 it's unsettling to me uh they will be
6:37 lovers of themselves the reason I that's
6:39 hard for me to read is because like I am
6:42 a lover of myself I can be very obsessed
6:44 with myself like what's in it for me
6:45 what do I have to do what am I going to
6:46 get out of this what are they going to
6:48 think of me and if we're not careful and
6:51 I just want to say this this selflove
6:54 can creep into the culture of our
6:57 churches and before long we can start
6:59 serving what I would call a self centered
7:01 centered
7:03 Christianity where we may know in our
7:05 heads that we're called to love God and
7:08 serve God and lay down our lives to love
7:11 him and to love others but we live as if
7:19 us and we may believe in God but it's
7:21 often this self centered
7:25 belief where we claim to love him but in
7:27 reality we really love
7:30 ourselves if God doesn't doesn't do what
7:33 we think he should do then God I'm not
7:35 going to have anything to do with you it
7:38 becomes a self centered version of
7:39 Christianity and what's interesting is
7:41 it's really mind-blowing when you think
7:43 about it I mean think about this we are
7:45 we are a generation we are a culture
7:48 obsessed with self-care we're going to
7:50 prioritize ourselves and we're going to
7:52 guard my me time and we're going to
7:54 protect our mental health and we're
7:57 going to do what's best for us and we do
8:00 yet we're more anxious
8:04 we're more stressed and we're more depressed
8:09 why
8:11 maybe our problem isn't that we don't
8:14 love ourselves
8:17 enough maybe our problem is that we love
8:25 much and you can gently
8:28 clap amen because you're not sure if you
8:30 want to stick with me on this one or not
8:33 not cuz if I haven't stepped on your
8:35 toes hard yet I'm about to jump in your lap
8:37 lap
8:41 okay I'm stepping on my own toes uh what
8:44 what do we do when we find ourselves
8:46 completely opposite of what Jesus says
8:48 we we look to the words of Jesus when
8:50 someone asks Jesus hey what's the
8:51 greatest command of all this is what
8:54 Jesus said at Mark 12 Jesus said there's
8:57 two things how many are there there's
8:59 two things online how many are there
9:01 there's two things type I want you to
9:02 make sure you know how many are there
9:05 there's two things the first one is what
9:07 what is number one love the Lord your
9:09 God that's number one with a part of your
9:10 your
9:12 heart with whenever it's
9:14 convenient whenever the football game's
9:16 not on or the Olympics not no no no no
9:17 no okay love your with all your heart
9:19 and soul and mind and Sh that's number
9:21 one the second is what love your
9:23 neighbor there's two things two commands
9:25 love Lord your God and love your
9:27 neighbor how do you love your neighbor
9:29 you love your neighbor as yourself there
9:31 is no command greater than these the
9:34 first one is what the first one is love
9:37 God the second one is love your neighbor
9:39 how do you love your neighbor as
9:42 yourself here's where it gets weird some
9:45 people conclude that Jesus is commanding
9:46 you to love
9:49 yourself and the self-centered version
9:51 of Christianity will preach a false
9:53 gospel that goes like this you can't
9:56 really love others until you love
9:59 yourself so if you can't love others
10:01 until you love yourself you have to put
10:03 yourself first you have to focus on
10:06 yourself and I want to remind you Jesus
10:08 didn't tell you to love
10:11 yourself why because loving yourself is
10:15 not a command it's an
10:17 assumption Jesus said love your neighbor
10:18 as yourself because he assumed you
10:20 already do love
10:23 yourselves you guys are
10:26 quiet we love ourselves a
10:29 lot okay I I love myself Jes Jesus
10:32 didn't have to tell me to love myself I
10:36 already do it's crazy my my buddy John
10:38 one time we were out looking to buy a
10:40 rent house together and we were looking
10:41 at this house we were in the backyard
10:43 kind of looking at the house from the
10:45 outside and this dog most ferocious
10:49 looking man and dog came charging
10:55 us what I would like to tell you that I
10:58 did was said John I love you I honor you
11:00 you've been a good friend to me you step
11:02 out of the way I'll Stand between you
11:05 and the dog and I will give my life
11:08 because greater love hath no man then he
11:10 gets eaten by a dog for his
11:13 friends what do you think I did he have
11:14 man for
11:17 himself I took John John was here the
11:20 dog was coming at us I pushed off him
11:22 pushed him toward his
11:25 death and ran the other
11:28 way thankfully I didn't know at the time
11:29 the dog was on a chain and the dog
11:32 didn't have far to go but I pushed my
11:34 friend toward his certain
11:37 demise if you're wondering we did not
11:39 buy that house together on that
11:42 day when when Jesus says love your
11:44 neighbor as yourself he's not saying
11:47 love yourself prioritize yourself
11:49 because he's assuming that you already
11:51 do now some of you may say okay I'm kind
11:53 of with you a little bit but there are
11:55 things I don't like about myself how
11:56 many you would agree there are things
11:58 you don't like about yourself so you
11:59 maybe I don't love myself I don't like
12:00 certain things like you may say I don't
12:01 like my wrinkles or I don't like my
12:03 Pooch or I don't like my thicker legs or
12:06 my thinning hair whatever it is we all
12:08 have those things I'm not a massive fan
12:12 of my nose and my
12:17 toes thankfully Amy does like my nose
12:20 but no one including probably
12:24 God they're like I have a size 12T truth
12:26 of the matter is I'm about a size 5 foot
12:28 and then the rest is toes and it's just
12:31 like I can type books with them I can
12:34 throw baseballs with them and is I don't
12:36 like them um whenever I'm at my house it
12:38 look say let's say I'm just sitting
12:39 around on my shorts I'm a regular guy
12:41 when I'm not being a preacher reg
12:43 someone knocks on the front door Amy
12:45 never says quick put on your shirt she
12:47 never says that she says put on your
12:50 socks quick now do it
12:54 okay I don't like those things so does
12:56 that mean that I don't love myself think
13:01 about it uh what we don't like about
13:04 ourselves usually isn't due to a lack of
13:08 self-love it's usually a result of
13:10 self-obsession I'm obsessed with myself
13:13 therefore I don't like this about myself
13:16 so let's just talk straight if you want
13:20 to be a disciple of Jesus he doesn't say
13:23 whoever wants to be my disciple must pamper
13:24 pamper
13:27 himself culture says that Jesus doesn't
13:30 whoever wants to be my disciple must
13:33 live for himself whoever wants to be my
13:36 disciple must put himself first now I'll
13:37 show you what Jesus says and let me give
13:40 you the context he explains that he's
13:41 going to go to Jerusalem and he's going
13:43 to suffer horribly and he's going to die
13:44 on a cross and three days later God's
13:46 going to raise him the from the dead and
13:47 Peter says no that's not going to happen
13:48 we love you too much that's not going to
13:50 happen and Jesus says Get Behind Me
13:53 Satan he calls Peter Satan on a side
13:55 note whole different sermon but one of
13:58 your goals is not for Jesus to call you Satan
13:59 Satan
14:03 okay this is another thing and so Jesus
14:06 responds in Matthew 16 and he says this
14:08 to his disciples Jesus says to his
14:11 disciples whoever wants to be my
14:12 disciple must do what say it aloud he
14:17 must deny themselves and take up their
14:22 cross and follow me if you want to me be
14:24 my disciple you deny yourself take up
14:27 your cross and follow me now when we
14:30 read that in our culture today we just
14:32 kind of blow by I I do like deny
14:34 yourself take up your cross kind of like
14:37 try to be nice go to church if you can
14:38 and watch your favorite YouTube preacher
14:40 whenever you're on the treadmill the gem
14:42 deny yourself pick up your we just read
14:43 it like
14:47 that whenever Jesus said deny yourself
14:49 and take up your cross let me tell you
14:52 right now the disciples probably
14:56 gasped they're probably like no he did
14:59 not just say that like is he serious
15:01 and I'll tell you why if you understand
15:04 the context they would have been they
15:06 would they would have been besides thems
15:08 and the reason that it would have been
15:10 shocking is because they were hyper
15:14 aware of the most bloody Uprising in
15:16 Jewish history is actually mentioned in
15:19 Acts 5:37 but for context um less than
15:23 30 years before the Jews revolted
15:24 against the Roman government like their
15:27 taxes are too high so this guy named
15:29 Judas not the Judas to betray Jesus
15:30 another Judah said hey let's go in
15:32 charge a Roman government and we're
15:34 going to take them over big big big
15:37 mistake sadly hundreds of Jews were
15:40 slaughtered and the remaining people
15:42 were captured and the Roman soldiers
15:44 said to them and this is where the
15:46 phrase became FR famous take up your
15:50 cross and these Jewish people had to
15:52 take up their cross drag it across the
15:54 city street in front of other Jewish
15:56 people and then the Roman soldiers would
15:57 say lay it down wherever they'd lay it
16:00 down they would crucify
16:04 publicly hanging naked before the other
16:06 Jews their fellow Jews to say if you
16:08 ever come against Rome again this is
16:09 what's going to happen to you then it
16:12 got crazier the Roman government
16:15 prohibited forbid the soldiers from
16:18 taking the dead bodies down and so the
16:22 Jews saw their relatives hanging on the
16:25 cross as their bodies were rotting
16:27 historians other historians tell us they
16:30 left them there for years some Scholars
16:33 say it's very very possible that when
16:37 Jesus said these words you must deny
16:39 yourself and take up your cross it's
16:41 very very possible that he said those
16:46 exact words near the exact spot where
16:48 some of the disciples relatives were
16:53 very likely crucified on a cross and it
16:56 all started with the words take up your
17:00 cross and so Jesus said Hey listen to
17:07 disciple you deny yourselves you don't
17:09 pamper yourselves you don't put yourself
17:12 first you you you you don't say you I'm
17:15 treating my you deny yourself you take
17:19 up your cross and then you follow Jesus
17:21 when you come to Jesus you don't
17:24 celebrate look how amazing I am you
17:27 don't celebrate yourself you don't
17:29 promote yourself you don't indulge
17:33 yourself you actually die to
17:36 yourself and Paul said it this way the
17:38 Apostle Paul the guy that at one time
17:40 was like persecuting Christians but was
17:42 changed by Jesus he said this he said
17:45 I've been crucified with Christ in other
17:47 words the old me died he said I've been
17:50 crucified with Christ and I no longer
17:53 live now he said Christ lives in me and
17:57 I live by faith in the Son of God who
17:59 loved me and gave himself for me he said
18:03 I no longer live my old life died he's
18:06 dead he's gone now Christ lives through
18:09 me in other words life isn't about me
18:11 it's not about my wants and my desires
18:14 and my hopes and my dreams and my wishes
18:18 I'm dead to that sinful selfish nature I
18:21 die to myself now Christ lives in me in
18:23 fact my pastor Pastor Nick who's an
18:24 amazing preacher he used to do this
18:26 illustration I can't do it the way he
18:29 did but he would say whenever selfish Rises
18:30 Rises
18:35 up I look at Nick and say Nick you
18:38 died you're dead you're a dead man I
18:41 don't listen to dead men self you're
18:43 dead I don't listen to dead men and then
18:47 you say Christ lives in me I the way he
18:48 said it you remember it was so amazing
18:49 he did it was amazing so I wrote a
18:51 sermon based on that it was based on
18:53 Romans chapter 6 why am I telling you
18:55 this because I just remember Romans 6
18:57 says uh shall we go on sinning that
18:59 Grace may increase by no me we died to
19:02 sin I called the sermon are you dead
19:05 yet I preached it at my church and it
19:08 was good then I got invited to my first
19:10 Revival I was in cemeter I was in
19:12 seminary and I got invited to do a
19:14 Revival in Pond Creek Oklahoma
19:17 population 893 at First Christian Church
19:19 in Pont Creek Oklahoma I drove over
19:21 there to do the Revival I looked at the
19:23 crowd there were probably 20 people
19:25 average age
19:27 80 and I announced the title of my
19:34 yet and I've never been back to pawn
19:36 Creek in my
19:40 life shall we go on
19:43 sinning and living for ourselves that
19:46 Grace may increase Paul said by no means
19:49 we died to ourselves I am crucified with
19:52 Christ nevertheless I live but it's not
19:57 my life my desires is Christ Living in me
20:05 what's really cool is that you're
20:08 clapping for this because most of us
20:09 aren't living
20:12 it when I say most of us I'm including
20:14 most of us like most of
20:17 us because I protect my time like nobody's
20:19 nobody's
20:22 business and so what I want to do is I
20:23 want to give you a moment for the Holy
20:26 Spirit to work in you and I'm going to
20:28 ask you a question and I want you to I
20:29 want you to let this question kind of
20:31 settle in your soul and I want you to
20:33 talk about it in your life groups and if
20:35 you're not in a life group I want you to
20:38 get in a live group and talk about it in
20:40 your life group and I want you to talk
20:42 about it with family or with friends
20:44 over lunch or dinner whatever it is for
20:46 you and I I want you to let God do a
20:48 work in this the question I want you to
20:52 answer is this in what area of your life
20:55 are you loving yourself more than loving
20:57 God and loving
20:59 others I want you you to ask yourself
21:01 that question and just be really really
21:04 honest and see what God shows you in
21:07 what area of your life are you loving
21:11 yourself more than loving God and loving
21:14 others and then ask yourself what is God
21:18 calling you to do about it in what area
21:22 of your life are you loving yourself
21:25 more than you're loving God and others
21:30 and what is God calling you to do about
21:33 it it's never a real good message unless
21:35 I'm honest about how God is working on
21:38 me and Amy can tell you this is true my
21:40 uh Office Team they'll tell you this is
21:42 true I am one of the most selfish people
21:46 ever with my time like you my schedule
21:49 is stupid intense and so nothing gets on
21:51 my calendar unless I want it on there
21:53 and I walk fast I don't I don't
21:54 understand people that walk slow like
21:56 when you walk slow I'm like going don't
21:58 you have anything going God bless you so
22:02 slow I'm I walk fast everything is
22:05 urgent there's I'm always under pressure
22:08 and so whenever someone says hey Craig
22:11 can I whatever I go oh I wasn't planning on
22:12 on
22:16 this and then I studi Jesus and when I
22:18 look at the life of Jesus I actually
22:20 noticed that he did take care of himself
22:22 like I want you to hear this like he did
22:25 disconnect from the crowds and he did go
22:27 and spend time with the father he did
22:30 that he disconnected himself and went
22:34 away to spend time with the father but
22:36 when he did that it wasn't for selfish
22:42 reasons he went away to fill up so he
22:44 could give
22:47 out and then as I watched Jesus it's
22:48 like every time something special
22:51 happened like he'd pray for somebody or
22:53 he'd heal a woman or he would or he
22:54 would let little kids come up and hop in
22:56 his lap you know or he would cast down a
23:00 demon or he'd pray for some dad's son or
23:02 he had raised a dead person it was never
23:03 planned it was like never on the
23:05 schedule it was always when he was going
23:08 somewhere else almost every single time
23:11 and then I realized that some of the
23:13 most special
23:16 moments with God and with God's people
23:17 love the Lord your God with all your
23:19 heart mind and soul and strength and
23:22 love your neighbor as you love
23:26 yourself most of the special times are actually
23:27 actually
23:29 interruptions so so Amy will tell you my
23:31 team will tell you I'm working really
23:35 really hard to slow down be in the
23:37 moment someone stops and I'm I'm going
23:40 to give you my full best I'm going to be
23:43 present I'm going to find joy in it pray
23:46 with you listen to you maybe even walk
23:50 slow with you for a minute or
23:54 two because honestly the most important
23:57 thing I do isn't what I
23:59 accomplish but how I
24:03 love let me say it again some of you
24:05 need to hear this type a
24:08 mom busy student the most important
24:11 thing we do is not what we accomplish
24:14 but how we love I don't want people to
24:16 go around say yeah Craig he accomplished
24:19 and produced a lot what I want them to
24:21 say is he loved sincerely he loved
24:23 deeply he loved
24:27 well think about what Jesus called us to
24:31 do and think about what Jesus did not
24:34 call us to do let it sink in let it sink
24:36 in because culture says treat yourself
24:38 put yourself first it's all about you
24:39 don't let them get in the way of your
24:41 schedule cut them out if they don't add
24:43 value to your life this culture said
24:45 over and over and over and over and over
24:48 again and this is not the gospel what
24:50 did Jesus call us to do a not let me put
24:52 it all up here so you can see it Jesus
24:58 did not call us to promote ourselves
25:00 but to Humble
25:05 ourselves he didn't call us to pamper
25:09 ourselves but to deny
25:14 ourselves Jesus didn't call us to serve
25:16 ourselves he called us to serve others
25:19 the greatest are those who serve Jesus
25:23 never told us to put ourselves
25:27 first but to put ourselves last and
25:30 Jesus didn't tell us to seek our
25:35 pleasure he told us to pursue God's
25:37 purpose church we I mean we got to take
25:40 the words of Jesus seriously if if we're
25:44 not fighting against the The Lure of
25:47 culture we'll be serving the devil in
25:48 the name of
25:51 Jesus we'll be we'll be doing what what
25:54 our enemy wants and still pretending
25:55 like we're fine because we go to church
25:59 every now and then our calling the
26:02 calling of those who follow Jesus it is not
26:04 not
26:07 self-love it is not
26:09 self-affirmation it's not
26:11 self-justification it's
26:14 self-denial this doesn't mean and please
26:16 hear me doesn't mean we don't take a day
26:18 off doesn't mean we don't take care of
26:21 ourselves Jesus was not teaching that
26:23 you shouldn't take a nap or play a video
26:25 game or go get you a sweet
26:28 treat if I do good I will eat for four
26:31 M&M's not five but four okay but here's
26:34 the deal if if the motive of
26:39 self-care is only yourself you are being [Music]
26:40 [Music]
26:43 selfish listen to listen to the Holy
26:46 Spirit not me let him say it to you
26:49 better than I can if the motive is only
26:52 for you it's selfish but if the if the
26:55 motive of self-care is to be mentally
26:58 healthy and emotionally strong and phys
27:01 physically honoring to God and
27:05 spiritually healthy so that you can love
27:07 the Lord your God with all your heart
27:10 mind soul and strength and so that you
27:14 can love others then self-care isn't
27:17 selfish here's what's crazy let's just
27:19 call it what it is everybody I know in
27:24 culture is prioritizing self my time me
27:26 time don't get in my way you're not
27:29 adding value to my life and and
27:30 everybody's more
27:33 miserable and more depressed and more
27:35 anxious because our problem isn't that
27:37 we don't love ourselves enough I would
27:38 submit to you our problem is that we
27:41 love ourselves too much and what I hope
27:43 you'll realize is you can't love
27:46 yourself into happiness and you can't
27:50 self-care your way into meaningful
27:53 relationships and daily purpose in inner
27:56 peace because
27:59 selflove is all always about
28:02 self and Jesus told us to deny
28:05 ourselves self-love will never ever fill
28:07 us like God's love
28:10 so in view of God's
28:13 mercy I offer my body as a Living
28:16 Sacrifice I die to myself to love the
28:18 Lord my God with all my heart mind soul
28:20 and strength and love my neighbor as
28:23 myself what is love love is patient and
28:25 love is kind and it doesn't envy and it
28:28 doesn't boast and it's not proud and and
28:31 it's not rude and it's not
28:33 self-seeking it's not easily angered and
28:35 doesn't Delight in evil but it always
28:37 rejoices in the truth and love always
28:39 hopes and always trust and always
28:43 protects and love never fails so
28:46 therefore not going to love myself I'm
28:49 going to deny myself I'm going to be a Living
28:50 Living
28:52 Sacrifice I'm going to love God with
28:56 everything in me and love my
28:58 neighbor as myself
29:00 because I already do love
29:03 me so question for reflection and let
29:06 the Holy Spirit work in what area of
29:08 your life are you loving yourself more
29:11 than loving God and loving others and
29:19 it father speak to
29:22 us we thank you for your loving
29:29 correction God I know there's no way I
29:32 can I can overcome the force of of
29:33 culture in the lives of the enemy but
29:36 you can your word can so do it God do it
29:39 do it do it in us God do it in your
29:49 Christianity God in view of your mercy
29:52 may we be living sacrifices holy and
29:55 acceptable to you as the perfect act of
29:58 worship all I'm going to ask super
30:00 simple is um will you
30:03 sincerely just pray that prayer and see
30:05 what God shows you if you'll do that
30:07 today um all of our churches would you
30:08 just if you're going to do it and listen
30:10 don't don't give me the whole like
30:11 half-hearted yeah yeah yeah if you will
30:12 do it and you really listen to what God
30:14 has to say would you lift up your hands
30:15 right now our churches lift them leave
30:17 them up if you will online type that in
30:19 the comment section I will pray that
30:21 prayer just just I will pray that prayer
30:22 why don't you leave your hands up just
30:24 make it an act of worship to God right
30:27 now God show us speak to us God show us
30:29 show me just tell say God show me just
30:34 say that show me show me any area I'm
30:38 putting myself before you and before
30:41 others now show me pray that show me
30:43 what you want me to do about
30:46 it father help us to hear you and to do
30:47 what you show us to do you can put your
30:49 hands down now just wait for God to
30:51 speak to you as you keep praying and
30:52 nobody looking around let me just talk
30:56 directly to you for a moment uh I am
30:58 I've been a pastor for um
31:02 three three decades and I am um I am
31:04 concerned honestly there's a lot of
31:08 people that watch Christian message and
31:11 go to church and have a selfish view of
31:14 Christianity like God's here for us we
31:16 need to we need to we need to adjust
31:17 that we're here for him we're here to
31:20 glorify him to be a disciple of Jesus
31:22 doesn't mean we add Jesus and don't subtract
31:24 subtract
31:26 sin when we surrender to him we
31:28 surrender everything we step step away
31:29 from our sinful nature we die to
31:32 ourselves Jesus said it very simply you
31:33 want to be my disciple what do you do it
31:35 starts with you deny
31:38 yourself when he says take up your cross
31:39 what he's saying is like you're
31:41 literally dying to yourself then you
31:44 follow me in other words from now on
31:46 it's it's not about us we're going to
31:48 glorify him in All We Do does that mean
31:50 we're saved by being good and by not
31:52 being bad no no no really really clear
31:54 we're not saved by any Works we're Saved
31:56 By The Grace of Jesus his work on the
31:59 cross was perfect Jesus went to the
32:00 Cross they told him hey take up your
32:03 cross he did he gave his life on the
32:07 cross his death paid the penalty for our
32:09 sins God raised him from the dead so
32:11 that anyone who calls on his name would
32:14 be saved and that's why Romans 12 says
32:16 in view of God's mercy in view of what
32:18 he did in view of who Jesus is what do
32:19 you do you offer your bodies as a Living
32:21 Sacrifice you're still alive but you
32:22 sacrifice you're dying to yourself daily
32:24 it's no longer about me I want to follow
32:26 Jes there's some of you you're you're
32:28 hearing the gospel for the first time in
32:30 a way you've never heard it before it's
32:32 not about you we turn from our sins we
32:35 repent we call on Jesus when we do he
32:38 forgives our sins then guess what then
32:40 he starts like the big word is
32:42 sanctifying he's changing us he's making
32:44 us more like
32:46 Jesus we're denying ourselves we're
32:47 going to follow him today at all of our
32:50 churches some of you going to recognize
32:51 you you you got a self-c centered
32:53 version it's not the real thing and
32:54 today it's going to be the real thing
32:56 the real thing I'm denying myself I'm
32:58 turning for my sins I'm calling on Jesus
33:01 when you do that good news Heaven goes
33:04 crazy God forgives your sins you're born
33:06 a new you're no longer the same because
33:08 of the perfect work of Jesus on the
33:09 cross today all of our churches those
33:12 who say I need that I'm not playing to
33:14 sit and pretend this is in churchianity
33:16 this is all in full on I want to know
33:17 Jesus I want to follow him I'm denying
33:20 myself I'm dying to myself I want to
33:22 know Jesus I give my life to him that's
33:23 your prayer lift your hands high right
33:25 now all over the place and say yes
33:27 that's my prayer right back over there
33:29 God bless you guys others today saying
33:31 right back up here praise God for you
33:34 others Jesus I want to know you I want
33:35 to start you lift your hands and say I
33:38 surrender my life to follow Jesus right
33:40 back over here thank God for his work
33:43 and you online just type in the comment
33:46 section I'm denying myself and following
33:49 Jesus I'm denying myself and following
33:50 Jesus church would you pray aloud nobody
33:53 prays alone pray heavenly father father
33:55 I deny
33:58 myself it's not about me not I turn from
34:02 my sins and I turn toward you and I ask for
34:03 for
34:06 forgiveness I receive your forgiveness I
34:10 don't deserve it but I receive it thank
34:12 you for your grace thank you for your
34:16 love thank you for salvation in view of
34:19 your mercy I offer my
34:22 life as a Living
34:24 Sacrifice I give it all to
34:28 you because you gave it all for me
34:32 take my life fill me with your spirit I
34:35 choose to follow you in Jesus name I
34:38 pray and the saints went wild and the
34:40 people praised God and the church
34:44 shouted thank God we praise God come on
34:47 Church wasn't that an amazing message
34:49 you know this Our Lives can feel so
34:51 rushed that it seems like we're just
34:53 going through the motions and running on
34:55 empty but Jesus calls us to live
34:57 differently tap here to keep the
34:59 learning more from our series a better way
