Living Out Faith: Sowing, Community, and God's Approval

### Summary

In today's sermon, we explored the profound truths found in Romans 8 and Galatians, focusing on how our beliefs should translate into our daily lives. We began with a light-hearted discussion about the Olympics, emphasizing the extraordinary abilities of athletes and how their dedication sets them apart. This served as a metaphor for the spiritual race we are all running, highlighting the importance of living out our faith authentically.

We delved into the concept of sowing and reaping, as discussed in Galatians, to illustrate that our actions have consequences. Whether positive or negative, the seeds we plant today will yield a harvest in the future. This principle is crucial for understanding how our daily decisions impact our spiritual journey and relationship with God.

We also discussed the importance of community and accountability in maintaining spiritual self-awareness. Just as athletes need coaches and teammates, we need a community to help us stay on track and grow in our faith. This led to a conversation about the role of family values and how they shape our children’s future. We emphasized the need for consistency between what we teach and how we live, as hypocrisy can cause significant harm.

Finally, we touched on the idea of living from God's approval rather than for it. Many Christians struggle with the notion that they must earn God's love and acceptance. However, the gospel teaches us that we are already accepted and loved by God through Jesus Christ. This understanding should liberate us to live out our faith with joy and confidence, knowing that our salvation is secure.

### Key Takeaways

1. **Sowing and Reaping**: Our actions today have long-term consequences. Whether we sow seeds of righteousness or sin, we will eventually reap the results. This principle reminds us to make decisions that align with God's will, knowing that both positive and negative actions will yield a harvest. [07:16]

2. **Community and Accountability**: Spiritual growth requires a supportive community. Just as athletes need coaches, we need people who can speak into our lives, hold us accountable, and help us stay focused on our spiritual goals. This mutual accountability fosters genuine growth and self-awareness. [09:59]

3. **Consistency in Family Values**: The values we instill in our families should be consistently lived out. Hypocrisy can cause significant harm, so it's crucial to align our actions with our teachings. This consistency helps our children understand and embrace the values we hold dear. [18:57]

4. **Living from God's Approval**: Many Christians struggle with the idea that they must earn God's love. However, the gospel teaches us that we are already accepted and loved by God through Jesus Christ. This understanding should liberate us to live out our faith with joy and confidence. [29:08]

5. **Incremental Spiritual Growth**: Just as financial stability requires incremental steps, so does spiritual growth. God is faithful to complete the work He started in us, but it takes time and consistent effort. We should extend ourselves grace and trust in God's ongoing work in our lives. [35:46]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[02:17] - Olympic Breakdancing and Competence
[02:49] - Appreciating Olympians' Skills
[03:46] - The Need for Normal People in Olympics
[05:17] - The Crown Jewel of the Bible
[06:21] - Living Differently Because of Our Beliefs
[07:16] - Sowing and Reaping: Positive and Negative
[07:59] - Compound Interest in Spiritual Life
[09:31] - The Importance of Self-Awareness
[09:59] - Community and Accountability
[10:50] - Engaging in Life Groups
[11:22] - Evaluating Priorities and Investments
[13:44] - Misinterpreting Scripture
[14:27] - Jesus Knocking at the Door
[15:19] - Recognizing Flesh vs. Spirit
[16:48] - Parenting and Spiritual Leadership
[18:13] - Family Values and Consistency
[19:34] - Establishing Family Values
[22:46] - Being Authentic as Parents
[24:08] - Avoiding Hypocrisy
[26:05] - Boundaries and Idolatry
[28:07] - Countering Legalism in Faith
[29:08] - Living from God's Approval
[30:27] - Misconceptions About Salvation
[31:22] - Romans 8:32 and God's Provision
[32:18] - Compound Interest in Spiritual Choices
[35:46] - Incremental Spiritual Growth
[36:33] - Demystifying Bible Study
[37:47] - Spiritual Diet Beyond Sermons
[42:13] - Menlo Next: Community and Growth
[42:54] - Conclusion

### Bible Reading
1. **Romans 8:32** - "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"
2. **Galatians 6:7-8** - "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."
3. **Philippians 1:6** - "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

### Observation Questions
1. What does Romans 8:32 suggest about God's willingness to provide for us? How does this relate to the concept of living from God's approval? [31:22]
2. According to Galatians 6:7-8, what are the consequences of sowing to please the flesh versus sowing to please the Spirit? [07:16]
3. How does Philippians 1:6 assure us about the process of spiritual growth? What does it say about God's role in this process? [35:46]
4. In the sermon, what metaphor was used to describe the importance of community and accountability in our spiritual lives? [09:59]

### Interpretation Questions
1. How does understanding that God has already accepted and loved us through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:32) change the way we live our daily lives? [29:08]
2. What practical steps can we take to ensure that we are sowing to please the Spirit rather than the flesh, as described in Galatians 6:7-8? [07:16]
3. How can the assurance in Philippians 1:6 help us to be patient with our own spiritual growth and the growth of others? [35:46]
4. Why is it important to have a supportive community for spiritual growth, and how can we cultivate such a community in our own lives? [09:59]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your daily decisions. Are there areas where you are sowing to please the flesh rather than the Spirit? What changes can you make to align more with God's will? [07:16]
2. Think about your current community. Do you have people who hold you accountable and help you grow spiritually? If not, what steps can you take to build such relationships? [09:59]
3. How consistent are your family values with your actions? Identify one area where you can improve to avoid hypocrisy and better model your values to your children. [18:57]
4. Do you struggle with the idea of earning God's love and approval? How can you remind yourself daily that you are already accepted and loved by God through Jesus Christ? [29:08]
5. What incremental steps can you take this week to grow spiritually? Consider setting a small, achievable goal that aligns with Philippians 1:6. [35:46]
6. Identify one specific way you can live out your faith authentically this week, inspired by the metaphor of the spiritual race discussed in the sermon. [06:21]
7. How can you incorporate the principle of sowing and reaping into your decision-making process at work, home, or in your personal life? [07:16]

Day 1: The Principle of Sowing and Reaping
Our actions today have long-term consequences. Whether we sow seeds of righteousness or sin, we will eventually reap the results. This principle reminds us to make decisions that align with God's will, knowing that both positive and negative actions will yield a harvest. The concept of sowing and reaping, as discussed in Galatians, illustrates that our actions have consequences. Whether positive or negative, the seeds we plant today will yield a harvest in the future. This principle is crucial for understanding how our daily decisions impact our spiritual journey and relationship with God. [07:16]

Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV): "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Reflection: Think about a recent decision you made. What kind of seed did you plant with that decision, and what kind of harvest do you expect to reap from it?


Day 2: The Importance of Community and Accountability
Spiritual growth requires a supportive community. Just as athletes need coaches, we need people who can speak into our lives, hold us accountable, and help us stay focused on our spiritual goals. This mutual accountability fosters genuine growth and self-awareness. The importance of community and accountability in maintaining spiritual self-awareness cannot be overstated. Just as athletes need coaches and teammates, we need a community to help us stay on track and grow in our faith. [09:59]

Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV): "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

Reflection: Who in your life can you turn to for spiritual accountability? How can you strengthen that relationship this week?


Day 3: Consistency in Family Values
The values we instill in our families should be consistently lived out. Hypocrisy can cause significant harm, so it's crucial to align our actions with our teachings. This consistency helps our children understand and embrace the values we hold dear. The role of family values and how they shape our children’s future is significant. We emphasized the need for consistency between what we teach and how we live, as hypocrisy can cause significant harm. [18:57]

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (ESV): "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Reflection: Reflect on a value you teach your family. Are your actions consistently reflecting this value? What changes can you make to ensure alignment?


Day 4: Living from God's Approval
Many Christians struggle with the idea that they must earn God's love. However, the gospel teaches us that we are already accepted and loved by God through Jesus Christ. This understanding should liberate us to live out our faith with joy and confidence. Living from God's approval rather than for it is a transformative concept. Many Christians struggle with the notion that they must earn God's love and acceptance. However, the gospel teaches us that we are already accepted and loved by God through Jesus Christ. [29:08]

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV): "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you feel you are trying to earn God's approval? How can you shift your mindset to live from His approval instead?


Day 5: Incremental Spiritual Growth
Just as financial stability requires incremental steps, so does spiritual growth. God is faithful to complete the work He started in us, but it takes time and consistent effort. We should extend ourselves grace and trust in God's ongoing work in our lives. Incremental spiritual growth is essential for a sustained and deepening relationship with God. Just as financial stability requires incremental steps, so does spiritual growth. God is faithful to complete the work He started in us, but it takes time and consistent effort. [35:46]

Philippians 1:6 (ESV): "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

Reflection: Identify one area of your spiritual life where you desire growth. What small, consistent steps can you take to nurture this growth?

So before I say that, I would just say, if you have not watched the Australian breakdancing... If you haven't seen this, I just feel like this was like, if someone said to me, "Phil, we have a ticket for you to go to the Olympics. There is a sport you are not qualified to do at all." Yeah. But we need you to just sell out to it. Basically. That's what it would look like.

Yeah, exactly. It was so shockingly incompetent. And if she's listening, I'm sorry, you're creating the image of God with infinite dignity. Thank you. But like, you were put on this earth to do something different than that.

Yes. And I think it may be this, because I've heard that they're not doing breakdancing in the next Olympics.

No, it was the first and last time.

Which is like, she... Ruined this.

Yeah. Like, there were people that were great at it.

Yeah. And it's going to LA next time. Like, LA would have been the place to do breakdancing. Let's just put that to rest. This is why we can't have nice things.

So, anyway, I think if I could, I just think the... What I... So I'd like to be an Olympic sprinter.

Okay.

I think that'd be fun. They have great personalities. They are incredible. But I think just in general, have we talked about this? I think that it's hard to... I think it's hard to appreciate how good these Olympians are, because they're all competing against other, like, 1% of 1% athletes that have ever lived.

Yeah. So, I think that either before they go, or at the same time, there needs to be a completely normal person doing the same event. So, like, one of the swimming lanes is just, like, Sally from the carpool lane, you know?

Yeah. Or in the Olympic runner, like, in the sprinting race, it's like, "Oh, there's Ted. Is he wearing New Balances? Did he just finish cutting his grass?" You know, like, I want to see that to just show how shockingly different these human beings are.

I would be either one. I'm fine either way.

Yeah. I could actually be the second one.

Yeah. I mean, I'd pull a quad or tear an ACL or something, but for the Olympics, I'm in. Let's go.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Well.

What about you?

That's not it.

That's good. Great. What, what Olympic event? Do you... You can't be the Australian break dancer?

No.

You can't be Snoop Dogg.

Yeah. If he had done anything to improve his performance, do you think he gets gold or do you think he like misses entirely?

I think, I don't know.

Yeah. I mean, scholars call it the crown jewel of the whole Bible.

Yeah.

So it's because it's such... I mean, Romans. Romans itself is the most comprehensive description of the gospel that we have in the entire Bible. It's a whole letter.

And then in addition to that, like Romans 8 is just this like, yeah, the crown jewel, the thing that's sort of the fulcrum holding you between two sections, two massive sections of the letter.

And I think it's easy in a series like this to primarily think about how do I think differently or how do I believe differently? But I really wanted to try and land this weekend and how do we live differently because of this?

All that stuff is really important and our worldview is critical and our beliefs are important. You know, but I regularly think to that passage, "Even the demons believe and tremble," right? Like we can have good theology and bad lives.

And so how do we make sure on the other side of a series like this, if we all is so helpful, I learned so much. I hope that's true. But to be able to say, "Hey, are these lessons that I'm learning impacting how I'm living?"

And so, yeah, I kind of borrowed this metaphor because I did this balance back and forth between Romans and the book of Galatians, which sometimes gets called the cliff notes of Romans, but it's directly addressing a heresy.

So Paul's got a little bit more heat in the way that he's talking about some of these conversations. So I was kind of showing parallels and I took this idea of like, God's not going to get mocked, whatever you sow, that's what you actually will reap.

And so bringing that principle to the positive and negative today to say, "Hey, some of us, we have decisions that are accruing interest on a bill that will come due that we will have to pay. We think we're getting away with it. It's not a big deal, but like, you're not getting away with it. God sees it. Other people will eventually see it. It will bring about negative results in your life."

And honestly, if it hasn't yet, it's the grace of God for you to still turn. And then on the other side, there are people who are making decisions. They're making choices that are in step with the Holy Spirit, that are according to the plan that God has for your life, that honor God, that demonstrate integrity.

And you're experiencing, hopefully, interest. And we talked about kind of compound interest, growing interest over the course of your life, where people look at your life and go, "Hey, everything's not perfect. You still have hard things you have to deal with. We're still in a broken world, but like, wow, your life is so much different than mine."

And I think to be able to say, "Yeah, yeah, it's because I don't just have theology that reflects God. I'm, by the grace of God, trying to incorporate my theology into my everyday living."

And so hopefully this week was a good week for people to think about whether they're a Christian or not, church person or not, "Hey, are the decisions that I'm making connected to the outcomes that I want?"

And I think sometimes we can slip into making some very lazy decisions without realizing that the consequences are coming, whether we like it or not. I think a lot of times the challenge that we have is we just have really terrible self-awareness.

Mm.

So, like, nobody can justify bad decisions for me more than I can.

Yeah. Like, you know, like...

Yeah. It's a funny dynamic. Like, I've heard it described. You walk into a store and there's an item that you want. Most of the time, the salesperson, like, actually shouldn't do anything. Like, you're gonna talk yourself into it.

If you have a thing that's, like, your thing, for Mark and me, it'd be like, we're gonna go look at bikes.

Yep.

Like, I don't need a salesperson to tell me that a great bike is great. I know. Like, it's... I'm gonna talk myself into it.

And I think that really one of the supreme antidotes to that kind of lack of self-awareness is community of people where I can see how they're living their life, they can see how I'm living my life, and we are close enough to one another that we can speak into those things of, like, "Hey, this is what's going on in my life, and like, oh, man, that's a lot. Like, how is that area over here still going? Like, how is your marriage doing? Hey, tell me about what's going on at work. Tell me about what your regular spiritual rhythms are," and help you connect the dots in a way that maybe you wouldn't be otherwise.

And I think sometimes that's just natural relationships, people that we know that it would be easy to say, "Hey, let's hang out, let's grab coffee," whatever. I think sometimes it takes choosing... You know, like at Menlo. We talk about life groups. It takes choosing to engage in a life group if you're not, because you're gonna put yourself in a sphere where you're not gonna have that relationship with everybody in the group.

But who knows? Maybe one of those relationships will get cultivated that way. So there's ways. Look at your calendar. Where are you spending your time? If you looked at that and you pretended it wasn't yours, you were looking at somebody else's time, what would you say the biggest priorities of their life are?

Look at your spending. Do the same thing. Look at your relationships. If the future you is largely shaped by the influence of the five closest people to you, how do you feel about that investment? Those are just some tangible ways.

But I think one of the ways that can cut through that, at least from my perspective, is community. But I'd be curious for you, running a million miles an hour, trying to do a whole bunch of stuff in life and family and career.

I'm sure that... I mean, most humans, maybe you're superhuman.

Most humans.

Most humans, we kind of drift and then you realize, "Oh shoot, I didn't realize I've drifted." What is it for you that shows you, "Hey, I have drifted a little bit. I do need to recalibrate my focus on what God's doing in me and how I show up in all these spaces?"

Yeah. Jesus wept.

That's true. I think that there's... We pull lots of passages out of context. It's like a sport. It's a sport for Christians, but you're talking about, "Hey, we all, sometimes it's easy to forget that we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us."

One of those passages that we rip out of context is, "I stand at the door and knock," and it's from the book of Revelation. And we will rip it out of context and use it evangelistically. But it was actually written as... So the apostle John is on the island of Patmos, exiled, writing this apocalyptic book about the end of the world.

And he's writing to these seven churches. And that actually is to one of those churches. So it's as though Jesus is saying to this group of people who are followers of Jesus, "Hey, would you let me in?"

And I think sometimes, whether we want to admit it or not, I'll personalize it. I am going so fast with good stuff. I'm not going and doing cult sacrifices. I'm doing things that I think are good things.

And I wonder how many times in my life God has been standing at the door knocking and saying, "Hey, can I come into your decisions? You want to know what I think about this?"

But I do think that that idea of... I would say probably for most of us, the flesh is more naturally loud as an inner voice than the spirit is. And I think that's a great call out. What are those things that are counter to the fruit of the spirit?

And what are those personalized things? Like, hey, if you're somebody that's more materialistic and you're like, "I really feel like this impulse to go buy something, I don't need it, but I want to go get it." Like, oh, that's probably a little bit of that clue that you're talking about.

Or if you're somebody where contentment with where you are is really hard and you all of a sudden start to get the itch to change where you live or change your job or change your spouse to go like, "Hey, hey, hey. This is a..."

And how do we... To your point, how do you catch that stuff? Because the earlier you catch it, the easier it is to address it. So I think that's a good word.

Yeah. It's the other way.

Yeah. I mean, it's really humbling. It's really humbling to go, "God, you've trusted me with this. Way beyond my capacity, way beyond my control."

For me, my home life growing up was a mess. So the notes that I was taking as a kid about the kind of parent I wanted to be were basically like, "Not that, not that, not that, not that."

And so you bring some of that with you. I think the hardest thing as a parent from my perspective is you want your kids to behave a certain way.

Yeah.

Yeah. That's like the... There's a book called The Smart Step Family that I used to lead kind of blended marriages and families through. And he would use this phrase, "quick fix parenting."

And it's like kind of selfish. We're like, "I just don't... Can you just not be so loud?" We rationalize it. You need to not be loud later in life, but you're like, "My five-year-old is gonna be loud. He's five. He's a loud five-year-old."

So how much of this am I parenting to my convenience versus his character? And I would say my flesh... My flesh wants to lead to my convenience, wants to parent to my convenience. The spirit of God in me wants to lead to his character.

And I think that the thing that's hard is every kid is different and then every stage of life is different. And so what that looks like for a four and five-year-old that really doesn't have abstract thinking yet is so different than what it is for my almost 15-year-old.

And so I think understanding, "Hey, my kids are all different. They need different things and they need different things at different times." And then as they, Lord willing, become Jesus followers themselves, God's talking to them too.

And so then you're like, "Okay, this is like three-dimensional chess all of a sudden."

So yeah, I think if you're a parent listening to this and you're going like, "Well, what does that mean for me?" I would say starting with what is the value set that you hope your kids will leave your home with?

Yeah.

It's not gonna be... You can't make it be that they're Jesus followers. It'd be awesome. It'd be awesome if they were, but that's not actually up to you.

So for our family, we talk about four values that we want you to live one life, which is like God's created you to be the same in all the contexts that you are, that you're a consistent person, that there's not a church you and a school you and a home you, there's just a you you.

That's right.

And that you learn life. Knowledge has never been easier to find, but wisdom has never been more rare. We gotta learn life. Lessons are gonna be hard. They're gonna be expensive, but they're worth it.

That you put others first. We say that one a lot in our house. A lot. That we don't think of ourselves more highly than we should, but in humility, we can put others before ourselves and that we wear our faith so we're not secret agents for God.

And so those four have been our four family values since before our oldest was born. We're not saying them every day, but I would say that's just a sort of underlying operating system of our family.

And so for you, maybe you're like, "Hey, we want ours to just be these two things," or "We really want our guiding value of family to be this." But I would say your family has some of these values that can probably shape this.

If you spend some time, and if your kids are a little older, let them participate in naming some of those things, because they probably already exist in your family.

That's great.

Asha, what about for you?

And I think too, if you are listening to that and you're like, "Aisha is incredible," which is true. And you're like, "I don't think that I could articulate it that way."

I'd also say as just a parent in general, but a parent trying to instill values, you got to be yourself.

Mm-hmm.

Because for some people it's going to be, "Hey, this is a pretty easy conversation to have. I enjoy having it. I'm going to talk to my kids about it." Some of your kids are going to love that. Some of them are going to be very off-put by that at different stages, probably both.

But be yourself. Like we have some friends where the mom is like very thoughtful, very articulate, will articulate lots of their family values and the dad's like really quiet, but he is a very godly man, like genuinely a very godly man.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And most of our values are more caught than taught anyway. And so you watch this like kind of beautiful complimentary relationship between the two of them where she's probably more vocal and externally setting that stuff, but he's really modeling it and sort of showing it.

I think where we get into trouble and where most of the time if I hear people talk about the pain and trauma of church hurt or the pain and trauma of dealing with this schism in their home life, it's the hypocrisy.

It's the hypocrisy of, "Hey, I heard that we were supposed to do this or I heard we were supposed to look like that, but what was really going on in my home was anything but that."

And so I think you want to aspire to greatness as a family or aspire to greatness for your kids, that's fantastic. But if the distance between what you're saying and how you're living is too great, it honestly doesn't even matter. They will default to the lowest common denominator.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

If you want to tackle what you hope to replicate, I think that's a gift that will carry to the next generation.

Yeah.

There's a, I don't know if I've shared it on the podcast before, but Jackie Hill Perry, author, speaker. I love her. Great. Unbelievable.

She, don't tell anybody. I'm trying to get her to come preach for us, actually.

Hey.

She has a quote that was just like on a social media thing. Like it wasn't even in a book. But she just had this quote that was like, "Oh, that's going to infect my brain."

She said, "Anything in my life without boundaries is an idol."

And so you're like, "I don't like that. I like that. I don't like how that feels."

Yes. Because like we live, I mean, we live with this illusion culturally that we can live without limits. And actually like kind of everything in our life, our goal is like, how do I live without limits?

How much coffee do I need? One more cup, right? Like how many more glasses of wine do you need? Oh, just one more glass of wine. How many more Netflix shows? Like we literally call it bingeing.

And like how many things in my life, like even for me, it's a church thing, but like work can easily become something that has no limits in my life. And by that definition, it's become an idol.

And Tim Keller, he would say our hearts are idol factories. Like they're just constantly generating more.

And I just think it's been a helpful thing for me to go, even with our kids, to be able to say, I don't even care what the time is. But our kids would give up all other forms maybe of life. But definitely of technology for YouTube.

Like YouTube is the thing they want to do. And so they're like, "Dad, can I watch YouTube?" And so I've just gotten in the habit of I don't just say yes or no. I give them a specific time.

And it doesn't matter what the time is. It literally doesn't matter. They're like, all of them are like, "Oh," because they just know, "Hey, there's going to come a time that I have to stop doing that."

And I just think like, man, I think I need that in my life, not just for my kids.

So anyway, let that infect your brain like it's infected mine.

Well, did you see what Mark Ditch did, by the way?

That's Mark's superpower of segue. You can be off the road. We can be somewhere in the woods. He's going to get us back onto the highway.

So great job.

Yeah. I mean, I think some of where I was pulling our teaching from this week in Galatians, it's really important to note that the underlying teaching of Judaism that Paul was trying to counter, if we're not careful, it actually sounds a whole lot like what we do in church.

We don't tell people they need to go get circumcised, thank God. But we have this idea that we communicate that the gospel, this good news of Jesus dying on your behalf, coming back from the grave, now you can turn from your way, believe he is who he said he is, and choose to follow him to experience a better life today and an eternal life waiting.

That becomes like the starting blocks, not the finish blocks. And so you're like, "Cool, you did it. Glad you did that. But if you like really, really want to be saved, here are the things you have to do."

And I think Paul is regularly trying to help people understand in Galatians specifically, you can grow your faith, but growing your faith from grace through faith is way different than for grace and faith.

And so what does it look like to say, "Hey, when I make a decision to follow Jesus, it's done. Like I'm good. God and I are good. I'm justified."

And that the pathway of my sanctification, like campus pastors talked about, that pathway is secured forever. And so now, like as I'm walking that out, I flow from knowing who I am in God to actually continuing to embody that and living out of that identity, rather than kind of striving for the approval of God.

I'm living from it rather than for it. And so I think a lot of it comes down to in our own lives, like are we in the back of our minds going, "God, are you proud of me? God, are we okay? God, did I do enough?"

I think that like an uncomfortable amount of Christians have a fairly deistic structure in their mind of salvation where they've prayed a prayer. They've even come to church.

But in their head, if someone just like read their mind, the way that they think about salvation is I'm going to stand before God one day, and there's going to be like all the bad things that I've done on one scale and all the good things that I've done on one scale, and like hopefully the good things weigh out.

And like if I've done a lot of good things and I like really love Jesus, maybe he like puts a foot on the scale for me. But like it's kind of up to me.

And what the Bible says is if that was the paradigm, the good scale wouldn't register any weight for us.

Yeah. None of us are good. No one is good. Not one. Like all of us have gone our own way.

And so I think coming from just this understanding of, "Hey, we've been given the gift of salvation," that one of the verses that will stick with me from preaching through Romans 8 this time, that I think as we think about our retirement account, like what is God giving me? What am I living from? Verses living for was Romans 8, 32.

He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

And so to your point, I feel like if as a parent, I know I can give my child that, but I can give my child something that they want, but I know is bad for them. That's not a loving act.

It might be parenting towards convenience, but it's not a loving act. And so I think living in light of if I knew everything, everything that God knew, I would be praying for the situation that God has placed me in.

He's allowed me in it on purpose. And so I think being able to sit with contentment in the season that I'm in, work from my acceptance, approval, and love of God, I think those are all things that every season of life carries a different center of gravity about how we do that.

But I think the compound interest of our choice is either way, right? Like maybe you're listening and you've gotten into a spot. Maybe you were young. Maybe it's right now where you just watched your interest rate go from like 1.2 on your credit card bill to 24% on your credit card bill.

And now you're like just struggling to make minimum payments and you feel completely trapped. Some people, that's the decision-making that they're trying to do. And they're living in light of that for eternity.

So they're going like, "God, I'm trying to make minimum payments into my relationship with you." And then other people, I think they're going like, "I know what God's done for me. I know I could never do it on my own. So I'm showing up every day working from God's approval, not for it."

And I've been doing that. I mean, we have people at Menlo that have been doing that for decades. And their life is just compounded interest on the positive side of the ledger.

And they have mountains of faithfulness that they will pass to the next generation. And I think it's never too late to look at which one of those I'm generating and make a different choice.

Well, and you know, what we regularly get shown in culture is that the, how do I go from zero to a hundred in my personal life, that actually never works.

Right? Like we're all like seeing MLMs on our social media of somebody that experienced that milestone or did whatever. Every January we see people talk about their resolutions.

And it is easy, I think in other areas of our life to understand, "Oh, there has to be a plan." Like I'm not through sheer, through sheer, uh, force of will going to pay that credit card off next week or to get my house paid off next week or to have my retirement fully funded or to take care of that business debt.

I understand that there are incremental steps. And I just think to your point, we often don't extend ourselves any grace, which is ironic because God has extended us infinite grace.

We don't extend ourselves any grace that just like there are incremental steps of development, to take care of that stuff out here. There are certainly incremental steps that God's going to do in here.

You know, the book of Philippians says that, uh, God is faithful that he will finish the work that he started in us.

And the language that sits underneath that, that we read in English, it has this idea of like, "God, you didn't save you. God saved you. And he's going to keep working on you until the day that Jesus returns."

And, uh, I think we have this idea of like, "Yeah, but what if I could, what if I could knock it out this week? You know, like what if I was reading, studying the Bible, praying, never sinned or struggled?"

Yeah, man, that'd be amazing. Uh, it's going to take more than this week.

I mean, I hope that, um, you know, we tried out this like new tool, uh, on stage over the course of the series. Um, and I hope that what the whole series did and that tool is just like demystify, right?

That maybe for you, you feel like there are observations you're not going to make as you study the passage. Don't let the fact that you don't know everything mean that you don't know anything. Cause it's just not true.

Yeah. And so a good study Bible. Uh, or a Bible with an online commentary, um, you can open the text and do the same thing that we did together yourself.

And, uh, you know, Paul, he talks about this idea, uh, in one of his letters, he says, "Look, it's not a problem for me to keep reminding you, but you're drinking milk and you should be, you should be chewing solid food."

And, uh, I understand what people mean when they say, "Hey, I either got felt like I got fed at this church or whatever. I wasn't fed at the..." I understand what they mean.

Um, but I, I just think that, um, if your entire spiritual diet is a 32-minute message, when you are able to make it to church, the creator of the universe has secured eternity for you at the price of his son's life.

It's going to take more than 32 minutes a week for you to be reminded of that and for that to calibrate your choices.

So I hope more than anything, any individual lesson in Romans chapter eight, that God put a spiritual appetite in you and maybe demystified how you might meet that appetite on your own.

That's right. 100%.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's three weeks. We'll give you a meal. You get a chance to hang out with others.

And I would say like when I've had a chance to lead Menlo next at one of our campuses, uh, I get to do this cause it's me a little bit, but I'll say, "Hey, we have an agenda for you. Like at Menlo, we have, you know, some places are like, we have no agenda. Just like, no, no, we have an agenda."

Uh, we believe God's calling us to help shape you into the image of his son. And, uh, at Menlo, we pair, we have a paradigm that's like kind of four ideas that everything we do at Menlo is going to feed into one of these four ideas.

And we just felt like you should probably know what those four are. Like you should, you should be able to say, "Okay, that I kind of want that."

Yeah. And then an invitation towards, uh, not just, um, you know, is Menlo a safe place where I can be, but are my people here? Is there a place where I can be needed and known?

And Menlo next is a great conduit of three weeks where you get kind of a micro expression of a group just around a table. You get to learn those things, learn a little bit about other people's stories, and then...

1. "I think it's easy in a series like this to primarily think about how do I think differently or how do I believe differently? But I really wanted to try and land. This weekend and how do we live differently because of this, all that stuff is really important and our worldview is critical and our beliefs are important. You know, but I regularly think to that passage, even the demons believe and tremble, right? Like we can have good theology and bad lives." [06:21] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Some of us, we have decisions that are accruing interest on a bill that will come due that we will have to pay. We think we're getting away with it. It's not a big deal, but like, you're not getting away with it. God sees it. Other people will eventually see it. It will bring about negative results in your life. And honestly, if it hasn't yet, it's the grace of God for you to still turn." [07:16] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "I think that really one of the supreme antidotes to that kind of lack of self-awareness is community of people where I can see how they're living their life, they can see how I'm living my life, and we are close enough to one another that we can speak into those things of, like, hey, this is what's going on in my life, and, like, oh, man, that's a lot. Like, how is that area over here still going? Like, how is your marriage doing? Hey, tell me about what's going on at work. Tell me about what your regular spiritual rhythms are, and help you connect the dots in a way that maybe you wouldn't be otherwise." [09:59] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "I think sometimes, whether we want to admit it or not, I'll personalize it. I am going so fast with good stuff. I'm not going and doing cult sacrifices. I'm doing things that I think are good things. And I wonder how many times in my life God has been standing at the door knocking and saying, hey, can I come into your decisions? You want to know what I think about this?" [14:27] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "I think the hardest thing as a parent from my perspective is you want your kids to behave a certain way. Yeah. Yeah. That's like the... There's a book called The Smart Step Family that I used to lead kind of blended marriages and families through. And he would use this phrase, quick fix parenting. And it's like kind of selfish. We're like, I just don't... Can you just not be so loud? We rationalize it. You need to not be loud later in life, but you're like, my five-year-old is gonna be loud. He's five. He's a loud five-year-old. So how much of this am I parenting to my convenience versus his character?" [17:30] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "I think a lot of times the challenge that we have is we just have really terrible self-awareness. So, like, nobody can justify bad decisions for me more than I can. Yeah. Like, you know, like... Yeah. It's a funny dynamic. Like, I've heard it described. You walk into a store and there's an item that you want. Most of the time, the salesperson, like, actually shouldn't do anything. Like, you're gonna talk yourself into it." [09:31] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "I think living in light of if I knew everything, everything that God knew, I would be praying for the situation that God has placed me in. He's allowed me in it on purpose. And so I think being able to sit with contentment in the season that I'm in, work from my acceptance, approval, and love of God, I think those are all things that every season of life carries a different center of gravity about how we do that." [32:18] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "I think some of where I was pulling our teaching from this week in Galatians, it's really important to note that the underlying teaching of Judaism that Paul was trying to counter, if we're not careful, it actually sounds a whole lot like what we do in church. We don't tell people they need to go get circumcised, thank God. But we have this idea that we communicate that the gospel, this good news of Jesus dying on your behalf, coming back from the grave, now you can turn from your way, believe he is who he said he is, and choose to follow him to experience a better life today and an eternal life waiting." [28:07] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "I think we have this idea of like, yeah, but what if I could, what if I could knock it out this week? You know, like what if I was reading, studying the Bible, praying, never sinned or struggled? Yeah, man, that'd be amazing. Uh, it's going to take more than this week. I mean, I hope that, um, you know, we tried out this like new tool, uh, on stage over the course of the series. Um, and I hope that what the whole series did and that tool is just like demystify, right?" [36:33] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "I think a lot of times the challenge that we have is we just have really terrible self-awareness. So, like, nobody can justify bad decisions for me more than I can. Yeah. Like, you know, like... Yeah. It's a funny dynamic. Like, I've heard it described. You walk into a store and there's an item that you want. Most of the time, the salesperson, like, actually shouldn't do anything. Like, you're gonna talk yourself into it." [09:31] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)