Grace Haven Church

0:00 Today, I want to speak to you about what should I believe, what should I believe.

0:05 You actually got to figure out your beliefs, because your beliefs is actually what you live from.

0:12 Your behavior is seeing your beliefs or not.

0:21 When people see your behavior, if they're watching it with a diligent eye, they will be able

0:31 to understand that your behavior is coming from your beliefs.

0:36 That's why you don't want to go on a date with a psychologist.

0:46 But we've got to remember that behavior is being driven by beliefs.

0:53 And so you have to actually figure out what do you believe.

0:56 I often would get into conversations with people about sometimes when it touches on beliefs, and I would literally repeat back to them, so you believe.

1:04 And I would repeat what they think they believe.

1:07 And sometimes people, when you repeat back to them what they believe, they're not even sure if they believe that.

1:12 Did I just say that?

1:14 Yeah, you just said that.

1:15 So you've got to remember, believing is something that's going on all the time.

1:20 The challenge for you and I is, have we taken time to ask ourselves, what do we really believe?

1:26 And so this message is about understanding, if someone asks you, why do you believe in God?

1:33 Can you confidently answer that in a way that is interesting and illuminating and encouraging and helpful?

1:46 It doesn't help when you say, well, I just believe.

1:50 Well, why do you believe?

1:51 I just believe.

1:53 My mom and dad believed, my grandparents believed, and I just believe.

1:56 It doesn't help.

1:58 And so if I want to talk to you today about going into the summer, the rest of the year, realizing that people need help with the gospel.

2:06 If you're going to help anybody, help someone with the gospel.

2:11 Help someone with the good news.

2:13 If you want to help the world, you're going to have to help the world change what the world worships.

2:19 You don't like the way the world is.

2:21 You won't change the world until you change what the world worships.

2:28 It's never going to get better without God.

2:33 And so we've got to realize if you're going to help people, help them with the good news.

2:39 Before you help them with the good news, help yourself with the good news.

2:44 I remember years ago being on a plane and they always do a safety brief.

2:48 You know the brief on the safety brief, you know, if they did it in the name and if the mask comes down, put it on yourself before.

2:54 And I used to really not like that.

2:58 But I'm thinking, you know, like the truth is, you can't help anybody if you're,

3:05 you know what I mean?

3:05 Put the mask on you first so you can help someone else.

3:10 And I did, I wrestled with it because I kind of felt like you're supposed to put the mask on.

3:14 I'm very high, if on a spectrum, I'm very high on altruism.

3:18 If you don't know what that is, forget it.

3:20 The point I'm making is though, I realize I need to put the mask on myself if I'm going to help someone else.

3:28 You've got to learn the gospel is not just for salvation.

3:32 It's for every day.

3:34 It's for every moment.

3:37 And yet whereas as believers, the challenge for all of us, many of us in the room today that are believers, followers of Jesus, we love God.

3:47 We consider ourselves believers and followers of Jesus, Christians.

3:53 But I wonder how many of us are acting like flatmates with God.

3:59 You know what a flatmate is?

4:05 Two individualistic people living in one space.

4:09 They've got their room.

4:11 You've got your room.

4:13 Maybe you share the fridge.

4:15 Maybe you share cleaning duties.

4:19 Who's lived in a house where someone loves to put little notices up on everything?

4:23 The toilet, the sink.

4:25 Oh, I rip them down if I see them.

4:27 I hate that culture.

4:31 But I think sometimes we get into a relationship with God and we've turned into a flatmate with God.

4:37 God's over there and I'm over here.

4:39 Come on somebody.

4:42 I'm not asking you to put your hand up, but I'm asking you to understand the gospel is not just for salvation.

4:47 It's for everything in between.

4:51 It's what puts fuel in the fire.

4:53 It's what keeps you on your toes.

4:55 It's what keeps you energized, alive to the presence of God.

5:00 I think a lot of people love God, but they don't know God.

5:08 You might like your flatmate, but you don't know your flatmate.

5:11 You don't know their fears, their dreams, their aspirations.

5:16 Very rare do you get to that detail with a flatmate.

5:19 Sometimes flatmates just convenience.

5:24 As long as they pay the bill, it just means I don't have to pay all of it.

5:29 If you don't realize it, we shrink our lives sometimes down to these pragmatic things.

5:37 I believe in pragmatism, yes, in certain aspects of life, but don't build a pragmatic life with God.

5:43 Build a gospel moving life with God.

5:47 Amen.

5:48 You'll only enjoy God through the good news.

5:53 Good news.

5:55 And our world desperately needs some good news.

5:59 So let me read some of the verses and then I'll break it down into how the gospel or how the good news can change us.

6:05 And then I'll break it into a little bit more on how we live our lives.

6:09 Is that okay?

6:11 Romans chapter 1 verse 16 says this,

6:24 So the good news is for salvation for all of the world.

6:31 Romans 1 verse 17 says this,

6:40 As the scripture says, but those who are right with God will live by faith.

6:45 So you've got to remember, it's the good news.

6:48 You live it by faith, but don't ever think your faith is blind.

6:53 Your faith is built on the good news.

6:56 And the good news from the word of God.

7:00 And the word of God, if it's a man-made manufactured thing, it's not going to have the power.

7:06 But if it's God speaking to sons and daughters, it's going to have the power.

7:12 And the author of God's word, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, is able to breathe into us new revelation, new perspectives.

7:24 Not our own interpretation, but understand what it is.

7:28 It's life-giving.

7:30 I'll tell you now, you'll dry up like everyone who doesn't nourish themselves on the good news.

7:37 I think there's a lot of people who have started with the good news, but they've just forgotten it.

7:41 I hear today, Mark, start with protein.

7:45 And make sure you get your fiber in.

7:48 Well, the gospel is protein.

7:50 The gospel is fiber.

7:52 The gospel is everything in between.

7:55 It's your potassium.

7:56 It's your chemicals that you need for your brain and your body and your functionality and your mobility.

8:14 It's for everything.

8:16 Inside and out.

8:18 I should be in kids' shirts.

8:19 You know that.

8:21 But the point I'm making is we talk about all these things we need.

8:25 Get your protein in.

8:27 Get your magnesium in at night so you can recover.

8:31 You know, we talk about, get your lemon water in the morning.

8:33 If you can do lime even better.

8:34 I'm like, I'm doing my lime.

8:42 But the gospel is exactly that.

8:45 It's your lime.

8:45 It's your lemon.

8:46 And it is all of that in between.

8:51 So physically being well is one thing, but spiritually being well, you know what keeps you spiritually alive?

8:57 The gospel.

8:58 The gospel.

9:00 The good news.

9:02 And we can all forget the good news if we stop reading it.

9:07 Stop drawing from it.

9:09 Stop practicing it.

9:11 We proclaim the gospel.

9:13 We practice the gospel.

9:14 And we represent the gospel.

9:16 This is what we do with our lives.

9:19 So I really want to encourage you with this.

9:20 It says in Colossians chapter 1 verses 4 to 8.

9:24 You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the good news.

9:30 The gospel, this same gospel that came to you is going out all over the world.

9:39 It bears fruit everywhere by changing lives.

9:43 Just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's kindness and wonderful grace.

9:55 The gospel is going out all around the world, changing lives.

10:03 The good news will work anywhere with anyone

10:09 at any time.

10:10 In other words, it's God's good news coming towards humanity.

10:18 When Jesus was alive, and the Apostle Paul is one of the main influences in the New Testament and others as well, but there was always three responses to the good news.

10:28 Number one, people believed.

10:31 When Jesus was alive, in the small area that he existed in,

10:40 people believed him.

10:41 But there was a second response.

10:44 People wanted to know more.

10:46 This is the same with Paul.

10:47 This is the same with Peter.

10:49 This is the same with you and I in Berlin today.

10:51 There's some belief, but then there's some who want to know more.

10:55 But there's a third category which we have to accept, and that is some rejected, some rejected, some rejected.

11:02 There are people who are going to believe the gospel, but they're not believing blindly.

11:07 They're believing because of the story and the testimony of your life.

11:10 They're believing because of the good news and the Word of God, and they're believing because of the Spirit of God working deep within their heart.

11:17 You don't get saved.

11:18 God draws you and you respond.

11:23 So you've got to accept there are people that will reject God's love.

11:27 There are people that will reject the truth, and they will live at home with a lie.

11:35 The truth will always outlive a lie.

11:38 So you have to understand the power of the gospel.

11:40 Our world is naturally divided.

11:42 We are not natural friends.

11:46 We have boundaries.

11:47 We have geographical boundaries.

11:49 We have barriers.

11:50 We have obstacles culturally.

11:53 If you can see that just in the news this week, two different cultures, protocols being followed, behaviors on display.

12:02 But what you don't see is what's underneath.

12:05 Diplomacy has to operate on a seeable, tangible, touchable, understandable, predictable way.

12:11 But what you don't understand is what's underneath.

12:14 The deep fears, the deep belief systems, and the deep things that people are holding onto for their own well-being.

12:22 And so it's complicated all the time.

12:25 So what I want to show you here is when it comes to believing, believe the good news.

12:30 Help people to believe the good news.

12:32 But make sure you believe it for yourself first.

12:35 So three ways the gospel changes us.

12:38 Three ways.

12:38 There's lots of ways, but these are three strong ways that I want to share with you.

12:42 The first thing is the gospel creates a new identity.

12:46 A new identity.

12:48 I believe that's the biggest issue behind everything that's going on.

12:51 I don't know who I am, and I don't know who God is.

12:55 As a child, you come into the earth, and you always look at your mom and dad.

13:01 A lot of children today, they actually don't know who their biological father is.

13:06 And so they have later on a challenge to face because there's a deep something inside of them that still wants to know who is my biological father.

13:18 I know who this man is who's now become my father.

13:21 Sometimes people can say I love because they've cared for me.

13:26 But what I am trying to say to you is that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

13:30 And so you can't just machineize us or automate us or scientifically just categorize us in certain ways and think that we're going to have an acceptance.

13:44 We've got to understand that.

13:46 It's not like that.

13:47 Identity is the big one.

13:49 And a child will look at mother or father.

13:52 Sometimes children don't have a mother.

13:54 They only have a father.

13:55 Sometimes children only have a mother.

13:56 In many cases, a no father.

13:58 And so children are always looking.

14:01 It's the mirror concept.

14:02 They're always trying to look, you know, they want to identify who they are by looking at who they belong to or who they... And there's so many things that goes with that.

14:12 And when it's not good, it's damaging.

14:14 When it's good, it's rewarding, enriching.

14:18 But what I want you to see here is that the gospel gives you a new identity.

14:22 Maybe you didn't have a good relationship with your parents, but you can now have a brand new relationship with your heavenly father.

14:28 What restored me to my father, earthly father, my biological father, was my relationship with my spiritual heavenly father.

14:36 I haven't told you my story in detail, but I haven't got anything that's not really crazy.

14:41 It's just a normal story that most people would probably have in their lives.

14:45 But I just know this.

14:46 When I got right with my heavenly father, he helped me to navigate how to get right with my biological father.

14:52 And I'm a 23-year -old man.

14:54 I had a lot of anger, a lot of rage inside of me.

14:56 I was against all forms of authority.

15:00 Any form of authority.

15:01 I was, argh!

15:02 I was never a bad person.

15:04 I was just a normal person, but I just didn't respond well to authority.

15:09 But it started at my own father's authority.

15:12 And God knew that if he doesn't get me right with authority, I'm going to wreck my life.

15:17 And so he got right with me.

15:18 I got right with him.

15:20 And that was the turning point of me beginning to realize how I can coexist meaningfully, even in a broken world.

15:28 But I had to get the gospel for me first.

15:32 So the first thing the gospel does, it gives us a new identity.

15:37 You're a son.

15:38 You're a daughter of the Most High.

15:40 You're a child of God.

15:42 And this is huge.

15:45 Because we borrow our identities from everywhere else and everyone else and everything else.

15:50 I've got to dress the right way.

15:51 I've got to look the right way.

15:53 I've got to behave the right way.

15:54 And we really struggle.

15:56 In school, it's a war zone for children in school, especially if you're different, if you dress differently.

16:04 You know, if you, you know what I'm talking about.

16:08 So the identity, the identity, the identity.

16:10 The good news is the gospel gives us a new identity.

16:14 It changes us on the inside and begins to get outworked on the outside.

16:18 Your beliefs are on the inside.

16:21 Your behavior is on the outside.

16:24 So the good news works deep within our hearts so it can be seen in the world in which we live with.

16:30 Number two, it creates a new position.

16:33 A new position.

16:35 I am free from the power of sin.

16:38 What does that mean?

16:39 The power of sin has got me.

16:43 Now Christ has got me.

16:45 Does that mean I still sin?

16:46 Yes.

16:48 But I am free from the power of sin.

16:50 What does that mean?

16:51 It means that you are now in Christ and you have a new nature.

16:55 Your nature is righteousness.

16:58 But if you keep feeding the sin nature, you're going to live in a conflicting way.

17:10 That's like going to passport control.

17:13 And instead of giving you your current passport, you keep giving your old passport.

17:19 And you walk up and you say, you know, there's my passport, and they look and they check and they look and then they scan and they do it and they're like, excuse me, this is an old passport.

17:31 And what would you do there right then and then?

17:33 You'd like, new one, new one, new one.

17:39 Why?

17:39 Because you'd have a panic and you'd realize you've handed the old one when you need to give them the new one because you're not going anywhere with an old passport.

17:48 And why do we tell ourselves that we're going to have a better life?

17:52 Keep throwing your old passport up.

17:54 You have a new passport in Jesus' name.

17:56 You have a new name in Jesus' name.

17:58 You have a new identity in Jesus' name.

18:01 And you have a new position.

18:04 Come on somebody.

18:07 Rock up.

18:08 Berlin, this week, here's my old passport.

18:11 You're going nowhere.

18:14 And it's interesting when you want to go somewhere, you're going to pull out the new one, aren't you?

18:20 Because you want to go somewhere.

18:22 That's exactly what it's like with the gospel.

18:25 The gospel gets you going.

18:26 The gospel lifts you up.

18:28 The gospel keeps you moving.

18:30 The gospel.

18:33 The gospel.

18:35 I love going to airports with my wife because there's two lanes.

18:40 There's this lane for all the other passports.

18:44 And then there's the EU lane for the anointed, blessed by the Lord, passports.

18:52 And I walk to the airport and I'm holding my hand of my dear one.

18:57 And I'm like, I love you.

18:58 And she's like, I love you too.

18:59 We're like, yay.

19:01 I'm like, bye bye.

19:02 I'll see you on the other side.

19:04 And she goes to the sin bin, the criminal corner where the convicts are being sent to.

19:12 And I waltz through into the land of freedom and joy.

19:17 All I have to do is scan and smile and go.

19:21 Anyone know what I'm talking about?

19:24 Which one are you?

19:28 This is the gospel.

19:29 This is the gospel.

19:31 This is the gospel.

19:33 It's a new passport.

19:35 It's a new identity.

19:36 It's a new position.

19:39 You should hold it up in Jesus' name.

19:41 It's not a fake.

19:43 It's not a fraud.

19:44 It is legitimate.

19:47 It was bought with the grace of God and the mercy of heaven and the thankfulness of a heavenly father, amen.

19:53 This is the courage you get when you feed on the gospel.

19:57 So don't just use it for salvation.

19:59 Eat it daily.

20:01 Draw from it daily.

20:03 And it will keep you where you need to be.

20:05 The third area that the gospel changes us is it also creates a new value system, a new value system.

20:13 You begin to live with different values.

20:16 If you weren't a giver, you become to give.

20:18 You start to learn how to give and practice generosity.

20:21 If you're promiscuous, you stop being promiscuous.

20:24 And yes, you're tempted, but now you've got a different value system.

20:28 I'm not going to give myself away so easily.

20:30 Why cheapen what God has declared expensive?

20:32 Come on somebody, help me preach.

20:35 I remember a guy come up to me and he said, I want to meet you.

20:37 I want to ask you a few questions about the Bible.

20:39 I said, sure, let's meet.

20:40 Had a coffee, sat down.

20:42 I said, what's the question?

20:43 He said, where is the Bible?

20:44 You can't have sex.

20:46 Don't you want a coffee like that?

20:49 And I said, well, before I answer the question, can I actually, I said it does and it doesn't, but before I answer the question, can I ask you a question?

20:59 And he said, okay.

21:01 So I said, well, if I could show you when black and white do not have sex, what would stop you?

21:10 Ah, he was smart like you.

21:15 Because he knew what I was asking.

21:17 Just because it's written doesn't stop you.

21:20 Because if everything has to be written to stop you, what kind of life is that?

21:25 It is written.

21:27 Maybe not the way you want it, but it is written by the grace of God and the blood of God and the blood of Christ in Jesus' name.

21:34 You don't belong to you.

21:35 You belong to him.

21:40 And so you've got to have something bigger.

21:42 Something better.

21:45 It's not just the urge to merge.

21:47 It's something deeper than that.

21:48 And that is this deep desire that I will keep myself because I don't even belong to myself.

21:55 I belong to God.

21:57 And you can go all directions with this, but you cannot beat this because at the end of the day, if you keep living the old passport life, the old value system, you break you.

22:07 You keep yourself broken and you will never turn brokenness into healing.

22:12 Because the main thing that's broken when you begin to engage sexually is trust.

22:18 It's gone.

22:19 It's like an apparatus.

22:21 It is broken.

22:22 It's like an Ikea glass and it is falling to the floor and breaks very easily.

22:29 That's why I called it Ikea.

22:34 You understand what I'm saying?

22:35 You can do that.

22:37 You can go there.

22:39 It's not enforced.

22:41 It is welcomed.

22:43 Because there's different values of the kingdom.

22:47 It will save you.

22:48 It will protect you.

22:49 And if you haven't done that and you have gone in the direction maybe, and you've got a choice.

22:56 And so I had to make a choice.

22:58 What values am I going to live my life?

23:01 And many of us as followers of Jesus, the good news gives us a new value system.

23:08 And you begin to live eternal values, kingdom values, values that reflect the king and the kingdom.

23:15 And it's not that it's a struggle.

23:16 It is.

23:17 It's not that there's temptation.

23:19 There's abundance.

23:20 It's just that you've got a strength called values.

23:25 And when they break, the good news still brings you back.

23:29 And when you forget, the bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.

23:34 But what happens if you don't make the turn and you crash?

23:37 The gospel helps to crash and to turn us.

23:41 You can make the bend and get it right.

23:43 The gospel will work for you.

23:44 If you crash, the gospel will work for you.

23:47 The gospel is good news.

23:49 Even if you get it right, and even if you get it wrong, it's good news.

23:55 But you learn because the gospel keeps you learning.

23:59 You see, sometimes we have people that love God.

24:03 They believe in God.

24:06 They're faithful, but they're not fruitful.

24:11 One of the ways you know someone is living a good way is not their faithfulness.

24:19 It's their fruitfulness.

24:21 Now stay with me because you have to listen to what I'm about to say.

24:25 Faithful people that have no fruit often are living a life of fear with God, not faith with God.

24:33 But faithful people who are fruitful people usually are living a life of faith.

24:40 And this is what you've got to understand.

24:42 The evidence is in the fruit.

24:44 Oh, they're just so faithful.

24:46 Show me the fruit.

24:47 Show me the fruit.

24:49 Because a lot of people who are faithful actually are living a life of fear.

24:54 They are actually scared of God.

24:57 And I'll explain this in a moment, but you've got to understand the gospel changes us in three ways.

25:02 New identity, new position, and new values.

25:06 And by the way, these new values are not downloaded instantly.

25:10 They are embraced, they are welcomed, and they are slowly practiced, practiced, practiced.

25:16 But you've started with the inside first.

25:18 It's fixed on the inside, and then you practice it.

25:22 It's like going to a new land.

25:24 You find out where all the coffee shops are.

25:26 You find out where everything is.

25:28 When you go to a new city, you have no idea.

25:30 But when you've lived in that land of grace and plenty and blessing for a few years, you know where to go, where not to go.

25:36 You know what to do, and you know how to do it.

25:38 Come on, everybody.

25:39 This is how God works.

25:41 So let me finish with this.

25:42 The origins of the gospel is not just the cross.

25:47 The gospel deals with creation, our beginning.

25:51 It deals with the fall, our separation from God, our disconnection from God.

25:56 It deals with the great exchange, our redemption with God.

25:58 It deals with the miracle and the resurrection of Christ rising from the dead.

26:04 And it also deals with God's original intentions, the restoration of all things.

26:09 So let me tell you, the gospel is the way we do everything when it comes to our Christian faith.

26:17 The gospel is how believers live their lives in this broken world.

26:23 So as I come to an end here, I want to just show you three ways

26:28 that we end up living our lives.

26:30 And the gospel is one way.

26:33 But there's two other ways that we can live our lives.

26:37 And I want to highlight this because I think we need to listen to it and ask ourselves, which one is me?

26:43 Which one is me?

26:44 So there tends to be three ways to live our lives.

26:47 The religious way.

26:49 Say it with me.

26:49 The religious way.

26:52 The secular way.

26:54 Or the non-religious.

26:55 And the gospel way.

27:00 You said that one with confidence.

27:03 The religious way is interesting.

27:05 It's a mindset.

27:07 Let me read it and see how this fits with you.

27:11 Don't raise your hand.

27:12 Don't do anything that would draw attention, okay?

27:15 But the religious way tends to control community by devaluing uniqueness to get conformity.

27:23 Let me say it again.

27:24 The religious way tends to control community by devaluing uniqueness to get conformity.

27:33 The religious way is I need God, but I need to follow the rules to be accepted by God.

27:39 The fruit is fear, not love.

27:43 So this is what a religious mindset tends to look like.

27:46 There's lots of them, but let me just read a few of them just to see if you're maybe a little bit on the religious side.

27:54 I'm not saying it to make anyone unpleasant or feel unpleasant.

27:58 I'm just saying we all need to wrestle with this.

28:01 The religious mindset tends to be I need God, but I have to keep the rules.

28:07 Do good, get good.

28:09 Do bad, get bad.

28:11 And often that's a mindset that's deep within us and you can see it in people's behaviour.

28:17 It's great when people serve on team and they're going for it, praying and going for it, and then something happens and they're gone and you're like what happened to so-and -so?

28:27 No one knows.

28:28 What happened to so-and -so?

28:29 No one knows.

28:31 Well, I thought you guys were friends.

28:32 So did I. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

28:39 I still have to earn my salvation.

28:41 Really?

28:42 That's what the religious mindset is.

28:44 They don't actually believe they've got it.

28:47 It's like getting the new passport and they're still holding on to the old one.

28:52 Really?

28:53 Really?

28:54 It's like getting citizenship.

28:55 Really?

28:56 It's like passing your exam.

28:57 Really?

28:58 Really?

29:00 Come on somebody.

29:03 You still don't believe you've got it.

29:05 You're still behaving like it's not really yours.

29:09 I rely more on my effort and morals.

29:13 You're trading on effort and morals.

29:15 It's your energy, your effort.

29:19 And it looks amazing while you're serving.

29:22 It looks amazing while you're worshipping.

29:24 It looks like amazing when your hands are in the air.

29:28 But this is what you've got to remember.

29:30 Everybody can look at it on the outside.

29:31 Behaviour, behaviour, behaviour.

29:33 It's like a performance.

29:35 If I perform, everyone will leave me alone.

29:40 And this is where we get really uncomfortable.

29:43 What happens if I stop performing?

29:45 Authentic me.

29:47 What a load of rubbish.

29:51 Authenticity doesn't mean permission to be a slob or to pull back and to play a low game.

29:58 Authenticity literally means author.

30:01 Get back to the author of your life.

30:04 Authenticity.

30:05 It's the only way you can honour the Word is because it's connected to an author.

30:09 You want to be authentic, get back to the author of your life.

30:15 And he can handle when we're a mess.

30:20 But have you lived your life performing?

30:22 Performing, performing, performing, performing, performing, performing.

30:32 Until the day you stop performing.

30:40 And this is why the religion is so strong across the earth.

30:44 Because most people are religious.

30:48 And what drives religion is fear, not love.

30:51 I don't really believe I'm loved and accepted because I still sin.

31:02 I'm more fearful when things go wrong.

31:07 I can't get it right.

31:08 I can't get it right.

31:09 I can't get it right.

31:10 Oh, what's the point?

31:13 I don't measure up.

31:14 I'm not really good enough.

31:16 I'll just give up and I'll go back to my old passport.

31:19 I'll go back to the old ways.

31:24 I'll go back to the old habits.

31:25 I wonder if the ex-girlfriend's still in town.

31:30 No response to that one.

31:32 It's amazing how people hit rock bottom and then they start searching.

31:37 I told you, don't put your hand up.

31:39 Look straight ahead.

31:47 I put on an outward performance to get approval and acceptance.

31:50 I wonder how long I can keep this up.

31:52 I wonder how long I can keep this up.

31:53 I wonder how long I can keep this up until I can't.

31:56 It's exhausting.

31:58 Anybody exhausted today?

32:00 Anybody in the room exhausted today?

32:02 I wonder how can I keep this up?

32:04 How long can I keep this up?

32:05 How long can I keep this up until I can't?

32:08 I'm telling you that's not the right way to live your life.

32:11 The gospel doesn't do that to you.

32:13 The gospel doesn't exhaust you.

32:15 It energizes you.

32:16 It liberates you.

32:17 It tells you you're going to be okay.

32:19 It gives you a way forward.

32:21 Whereas when you keep putting the masquerade on, oh, we all talk about masks.

32:26 Yeah, because we can't handle not having masks.

32:29 If I took my mask off before you today,

32:40 are you going to show mercy or are you going to judge me?

32:44 People already have that conversation in their head and they come to their own conclusion.

32:48 And do you know what their conclusion is?

32:50 Most times, if I take my mask off, judgment, judgment, judgment, judgment.

32:56 They're not going to love me.

32:57 They're going to hate me.

32:58 They're going to hate me.

33:00 It's all internal.

33:02 It's all internal.

33:03 It's all internal.

33:04 Religion, fear.

33:05 Religion, fear.

33:07 Religion, fear.

33:12 I struggle with inferiority.

33:13 I struggle with superiority.

33:15 With you, I'm inferior.

33:17 With you, I'm superior.

33:19 It's like a yo-yo life.

33:21 I follow you and I'm like, oh, look at them.

33:23 Look at them.

33:24 Their life's better than mine.

33:25 Why is their life better than mine?

33:32 We don't realize we're actually undoing ourselves.

33:36 We're diminishing ourselves.

33:40 I find it easier to judge others.

33:42 Oh, my goodness.

33:44 I find it so easy to judge.

33:48 Why do I do that?

33:49 Why do I do that?

33:56 This is one for all of us because sometimes when you've been on a team, a church like ours and someone comes and someone goes, someone comes, someone goes, someone comes, someone goes, and you're still here and someone comes and they're like, I'm ready to go.

34:08 And you're like, yeah, sure.

34:11 Just like all the others.

34:13 So you're a bit standoffish in the person who's just come ready to go.

34:16 They're like, what's wrong with her?

34:18 What's wrong with him?

34:19 I'm like ready to go.

34:20 And they're like giving me attitude.

34:22 Yeah, because five other people said exactly what you said.

34:28 I'm ready to go.

34:29 I'm ready to go.

34:30 And then they go.

34:35 And then you're still here faithfully serving the Lord with a beautiful attitude.

34:44 We need the gospel.

34:45 We need the gospel.

34:46 We need the gospel.

34:47 If you stayed around, you need the gospel.

34:49 If you just turned up, you need the gospel.

34:51 If you're going to go for a long run, you need the gospel.

34:53 If you're going to go for a sprint, you need the gospel.

34:57 We all need it.

35:01 The secular way is interesting.

35:06 I'll have to wrap this one up quick because we're running out of time.

35:09 But this is what I want you to see here.

35:12 This is the thing about judging.

35:14 We struggle to live up the same standards that I expect of others.

35:19 The standard I expect you to live up, Jules.

35:21 And why is it that I struggle to live up to that same standard?

35:24 Oh, I expect you, Jules, to be a follower of Jesus.

35:29 Forgiving, showing mercy, faithful and loyal and consistent.

35:34 The problem is, can I do that?

35:37 So why would I even consider you?

35:42 And this is the challenge for all of us.

35:43 We have such expectations for others, but so low expectations for ourselves.

35:48 And I just find that the religious way always, always robs people of the joy of an intimate relationship with God.

35:57 The secular way or the non-religious way, it tends to divide community by placing individualism above others.

36:06 Listen to this.

36:07 The secular way tends to divide community by placing individualism above others.

36:13 I don't need God and I will find my own way and I will decide what works for me.

36:21 I replace God with my own version of God.

36:24 I've got a Jesus that would put up with me.

36:27 I've got my own version of Jesus.

36:29 It's the gospel that brings healing.

36:32 It's the gospel that brings transformation.

36:36 Stay with me on this.

36:37 I replace God with my own version of God.

36:38 I'm at the centre of my life and I will choose which morals work for me.

36:43 I will find meaning and purpose with my achievements and my performance.

36:49 I get my identity from creation, Mother Earth, instead of creator, father of the universe.

36:56 I will try to create an Eden without God.

36:59 I struggle to comprehend pain, evil and suffering.

37:03 And when these things happen, I always judge God that I don't believe in.

37:12 Now Will got ugly and now God's got it wrong.

37:15 Well, how can he be loving in all of this happen?

37:18 And I don't mean to be mocking because this is deeply, deeply enrooted in our society.

37:23 But the gospel actually gives us an understanding of evil, suffering.

37:28 He suffered so we don't have to.

37:30 And even if we do, we have a greater plan than the moment that is temporary.

37:35 Temporary right now, but in the long run, blessing comes.

37:40 Amen.

37:41 Weeping in the morning, but joy is in the afternoon.

37:44 God gives us a promise even when we face the greatest hardships.

37:48 But when you remove God, you can't handle the slight nuance of adversity.

37:55 Because you think the life owes you.

37:58 You think everybody owes you.

38:00 You're entitled.

38:01 It didn't go my way.

38:02 How dare you?

38:03 I'm going to sue you.

38:07 How dare you do that?

38:08 How dare you look at me this way?

38:10 This is the anger of today.

38:14 And you're not going to solve this

38:18 with your articles in the United Nations.

38:24 You're going to solve this with the good news.

38:33 The gospel is our food and it is our medicine.

38:38 The gospel creates a new kind of community by connecting to Christ and salvation, by producing uniqueness and unity.

38:48 You are an individual, but you're a unique person.

38:53 Uniqueness builds unity.

38:58 Individualism divides community.

39:03 Individualism isolates.

39:06 Uniqueness unites.

39:08 I need God and I want him more than anyone else or anything else.

39:11 Whatever it is I'm trying to meet a need in my life, I want God more than that need.

39:16 I want God more than that person.

39:18 I want God more than that place.

39:20 I want more.

39:21 I want God more than anyone or anything.

39:24 That's the good news.

39:28 I go to God for my needs and wants instead of going to people and places.

39:32 I accept that only Jesus can do for me what I cannot do for myself.

39:36 I am willing to let go and surrender because of his deep love for me.

39:41 I believe I'm totally loved by God, which continues to transform me, impacting community and society.

39:47 I find God's love for me helps to motivate me towards serving others.

39:53 I can live my life from acceptance, not for acceptance.

39:56 I can live from identity, not for identity.

40:01 I can live as a son or a daughter, not as an orphan.

40:05 I live connected, not disconnected.

40:07 Because of Jesus, I now belong.

40:10 Because of Jesus, I now belong.

40:12 Because of Jesus, I now belong.

40:15 The only way we're going to heal the world, people,

40:19 is a double dose of the gospel.

40:21 In Jesus' name, amen.

40:23 And if you need it for yourself, let him pour in the good news into your life.

40:28 You're no longer a slave to fear.

40:30 You are a child of God.

40:32 You're no longer a slave to sin.

40:36 You are now a child of God.

What Should I Believe.

Find your way.

Start with the teachings.