Transformative Generosity and Relationships in Christ

1) "One of the things that I want to celebrate with you this morning is we partner with a lot of different organizations and one of those organizations is Convoy of Hope and so when you give here we want you to know that you're not giving to us you're giving to TC3 you're giving through TC3 and as a result of your giving we were able to send $10,000 to Convoy of Hope last week as they helped with Hurricane Helene and so one of the ways that Convoy is on the ground they have given out so far 793,000 pounds of product they have served 41,500 people so far and that means in 30 communities and in 5 different states they have served and so we're so thankful that we get to be a part of that and that is a credit to your giving and your generosity." [38:37] (52 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "We also celebrate life change in this place it's our mission connecting people to the life changing power of Jesus Christ and last weekend we watched 37 people connect to the life changing power of Jesus Christ and so we are celebrating that in a huge way it's one of the things that we never want to get desensitized to in this place we never want to get desensitized to seeing people go from darkness to light and so as we celebrate here on the ground also know and understand that heaven is celebrating with us when people connect to Jesus and so we want to continue to do that it's not something that we ever want to forget or just get used to that is not a normal thing to do and so we celebrate that." [39:31] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "Paul begins to advocate for God's ideals standard within these most three valuable relationships and he understands that they these Colossians that he is writing to were all rescued by Jesus and they were rescued by Jesus from sticky situations from messed up family relationships and those things don't magically disappear when we connect to the life-changing power of Jesus Christ and Paul gets it and he's like, our circumstances your circumstances, Colossians are being redeemed and they're being turned around so that they can go from messy to testimonies of God's grace he's like, God is doing that he's like, you're being refined more and more into the image of Jesus Christ as you connect to him and as you walk with him and that doesn't make your situation go away but it does enable Jesus to redeem your situation and to use it for transformation for his glory and for his purpose and so I'm here to tell you this morning that God can use your mess for his glory and that's the whole point that Paul is trying to get across to the Colossians he's like, God can use your sticky situation for his purpose and his glory but first he wants to begin to refine you and not change your situation and I know that's hard, right? because often times we want God to do something about it instead of doing something in us and God is like, I'm going to do something in you first before I change your situation so that when I do change your situation you give me glory." [42:47] (92 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "Submission to any human is always conditioned by the ultimate submission that we all of us owe to God. So that's first. In any relationship we must understand that God is at the top of the chart. He holds supremacy. And the only one in charge ultimately is Jesus. Understand that. Which is why Paul tells both wives and husbands in Ephesians that we are to submit to one another. So this is not subordination. This is about unity. This is what Paul mentions right before this. If you were to read Colossians right before this passage this is not about subordination. This is about unity. This submission, this submission that Paul talks about is humility, it's loyalty, it's loving respect, it's cooperation." [47:12] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "Our value is not based on our performance. I need you to hear me. If you don't hear anything else that I say today, I think this value based on our performance is one of the oldest lessons in the text of scripture. And it's one of the most important ones. When we look at the book of Genesis, Moses is writing the book of Genesis to these Israelites that have just left Egypt. They have now been free from Egypt and they have been for hundreds of years creating bricks as slaves to the Egyptians. And Moses is writing Genesis inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. And he communicates to them the seven days of creation. And he communicates to them rest at the last day. He communicates to them that God has rested these Israelites, these kinfolk that he is writing to get to experience this rest. Our God rests. And what God is trying to communicate to the Israelites that have created bricks for their entire life, their value has been based upon how much they can produce. If you can no longer produce bricks for Egypt, we're just going to kill you. You are no longer valuable to us. You are no longer valuable to us. For hundreds of years, what has been communicated to them is your value is based off of your performance. And then God inspires Moses to tell them that God rests. And what God is trying to communicate to the Israelites and to us is that our value is no longer based upon how much we can produce in what we do. He's like, that's why Sabbath is so important. That's why he teaches them the lesson of Sabbath. On the seventh day, God rested. He wants us to know and to understand you need to rest for a day. Sabbath isn't built for you. You just need to understand that your value is not based on how much you can do. Your value is based in the fact that you are made in the image of God. And that's what he's trying to communicate to the Israelites. And he's trying to communicate that to us. And he wants us to communicate that to our children. Your value is not based on your performance. It's not based on how good you are. It's not based on whether you get A's or C's. It's based on the fact that you are made in the image of Almighty Creator. And so my encouragement to you is make sure that your kids understand that. Make sure our children get that. Their value isn't based on how good they are. It's based on the fact that they're made in the image of God. And so assure children often that they are loved, accepted, and valued for who they are, not what they do or what they don't do." [54:36] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "Paul is ultimately saying that our view of God as master recognizes that Jesus purchased our freedom and also established his ownership of our lives. That's why 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20, it literally says, do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. He's like, you are not your own. You are Christ Jesus's. He owns you. And so Paul's instructions for slaves and masters change their perspective of their respective positions. And he wants us to focus on our roles and our responsibilities in the workplace as service towards Jesus. And so as Christians, Paul is directing us to work with integrity, to turn our job, ultimately into an act of worship. Paul is like, is your job, is your place of work an act of worship? For all of life is worship for us followers of Jesus. Everything that you do is called to be worship. And so when we take this perspective, we begin to see our marriage as an act of worship. Our marriage, you know, you know, the main purpose and function of your marriage, the main purpose and function of your marriage is not your happiness. You know that, right? Some are like, I know, I know, I know. Don't, don't do that right now. Especially if you're next to your wife. That's not the main purpose and function of your marriage. The main purpose and function of your marriage is to be an image of the gospel so that the world could see. That's why the Bible says like husbands love your wives. How? As Christ loved the church. The picture of your marriage is so that the world would see the love of the father reflective in your marriage and how you serve and love your wife or your spouse. Your marriage is an act of worship. Our marriages are an act of worship. Our relationship with our kids, they are an act of worship. Even how you discipline your children in public is an act of worship. I know that's not even popular nowadays. Our job is an act of worship." [01:01:04] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)