Rediscovering Our Story in Christ

[0:00] Who remembers going on holiday as a little kid? And the excitement and the fun, knowing that you're climbing in the car and you're off to somewhere fun and exciting.

[0:13] Maybe you still do it, mom and dads, you pile the kids into the car and off you go to your favorite part of South Africa or maybe even go further afield. Everyone chatting, everyone laughing, everyone getting on.

[0:29] Maybe you went camping. Maybe you went for a hike. I remember once going to Namibia. It was so exciting. I saw for the first time live lions roaming around, not in the circus, not in the zoo.

[0:48] And then my dad asking us to stampede a herd of buffalo so he could get an action shot. And it was scary, but you felt so alive. It's really fun to go on an adventure, especially if you're a kid, but it's fun for the parents as well.

[1:06] One of the things that stops us from having fun and going on an adventure is when you're not feeling well. For example, if you've got a bad back. Maybe you've had that in your life or maybe you've got that in your life.

[1:18] A bit of sciatica. I don't know if you've ever had sciatica. It's a sciatic nerve that runs down your back, down to your legs, and it can be really, really painful. So much so that you wouldn't be able to climb up these steps if you've got it badly.

[1:30] But our modern lifestyle does something to our backs. I don't know if you've noticed this, but many of us will be working at computers. Even if it's not at the workplace, we've got a computer at home.

[1:42] And how do we look when we're working on a computer? You get that hunched over... Like this thing that your back does like that.

[1:54] Very, very not good for you. Get this hunched neck and shoulders. And so the modern lifestyle lends itself to this sort of curved spine syndrome where many of us have got bad back problems.

[2:09] And it stops you from enjoying life and going on these adventures. And what happens is you become focused on yourself and your needs. A bit like getting cold.

[2:21] In the weather this morning, you know what happens when you get cold? You just bend over and you just concentrate. And if you have a cold and it's cold, it's even more you're just concentrating on yourself.

[2:32] Well, this sort of spinal curvature that we've got is one of the best pictures of our spiritual condition.

[2:45] And it was a metaphor used by one of the great theologians of the church, St. Augustine, writing in the 400s. And I want to give a quote on what he saw as the problem of the human heart and the human condition.

[2:58] We started looking at this last week and we're picking it up again now. And he said this, Pride is the beginning of sin. Pride is the beginning of sin.

[3:10] In pride, there's a turning away from God and a curving in on oneself. We were created by God to love him supremely.

[3:23] Yet in sin, we've curved ourselves inward. We get this internal spinal curvature, rejecting God and giving our greatest adoration to the almighty self.

[3:39] So one of the problems of sin, it takes our focus away from God and makes us focus on ourself, thinking that we are now the sum total of all things that are good.

[3:58] And everything revolves around me and my feelings and my comfort and my fears and my worries and my concerns. They all come first. And what that does, though, is it spoils the adventure that God had originally planned for us.

[4:14] And like a real physical curvature of the spine, it's not a problem you can fix on your own. Many of us, if we've had a bad problem, know that you can't just, if it's really bad, you can't just wish it away, panados and that.

[4:29] You need to go see someone, a chiropractor or a physiotherapist. You'd see a physiotherapist first, obviously. We've got lots of them in our congregation.

[4:39] You can't fix a problem on your own. You need a skilled expert who knows what they're doing in order to fix you. And so today we're going to look at how Jesus has come to fix our spiritual spinal curvature, this thing where we bend inside and look at ourselves all the time, instead of looking at God and looking at the world that he's created and how we're to live in it.

[5:09] And we're going to do that so that we can get back to enjoying the adventure, the story that God had planned for us. So we're going to rediscover together our story in the story of Jesus.

[5:21] We're going to see how he fixes our spiritual curvature of the spine. But the big problem is that pride gets in our way of getting fixed.

[5:34] Pride gets in the way of us getting fixed. It's just like, you know, we all know guys, especially husbands, seem to be prone to this for some reason.

[5:45] They won't go to the doctor because it'll be okay. We'll just keep, we'll handle it ourselves. And it just gets worse and worse and worse.

[5:57] I had a friend who did have sciatica. And he was in the same position. No, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. And until his wife found him literally crawling on all fours on their bedroom floor.

[6:10] And she asked him, you know, what are you doing? He says, no, I need the bathroom. But he couldn't walk at that point. And he was, no, I'm fine. I'll just make it to the bathroom and I'll come back again. And she realized, she managed to convince him that walking around on all fours is, there's a better way of doing things since I went to go to see a doctor.

[6:30] We'll be okay. We'll fix it ourselves. But the problem is we continue getting worse. And what we find in the scriptures is that God looks down on the mess of our lives that we've created.

[6:47] And this amazing wonder, this amazing grace of it all is that although we don't look for God, God comes looking for us.

[6:59] And that is what our passage today is all about, Philippians chapter 2. So I'm just going to read it again and just pick up one or two things and then we'll continue on our way. So Paul is writing to this young church in Philippi, in what's today, modern Greece.

[7:21] And he's got some good words for them from verse 3. He says to the church, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

[7:36] Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also the interests of others. And then your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Now, a little background of the church of Philippi might help us here.

[7:48] So Paul and the apostles went there. And the first convert they met was a lady called Lydia. She was a very rich, very wealthy businesswoman.

[7:58] She made purple cloth, purple dye. And that you only service the kings and the emperors with purple clothes. And it was only done in very certain small areas. You had to know what you were doing.

[8:09] And so she was a very well-connected lady. Anyway, they preached there for a few months. And as what normally happened or often happened, the community was riled up and they were thrown in jail.

[8:21] And you can read this in the book of Acts. And then God springs them out of jail with this miraculously earthquake and angels. And the jailer comes to faith because of this.

[8:33] He sees what's happening. And so what you've got in this church of Philippi, you've got this rich, wealthy businesswoman. And this Greek jailer.

[8:44] Now it's not like our jails in the modern world where they actually trained and educated. You were a jailer in those days because you weren't that educated.

[8:56] You beat people up for a living. And so now these two people have to mix. And what Paul is saying is to this rich business lady, in humility, consider others like this jailer equal to and better than yourself.

[9:16] And he'll say to the jailer, don't look down on someone who's wealthy just because they're wealthy. You guys have got to learn to get along now. And the reason you must do that is because Jesus did that for you.

[9:27] And then he uses amazing, one of the most amazing portions of scripture. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

[9:39] Who being in very nature God, I'm just reading from the NIV. Basically, who's God. You've got this being that is God. Doesn't consider equality with God something to be grasped.

[9:52] He doesn't expect us to go up there. He says, no, to fix what's happening down there, I need to come down there and fix it. So he makes himself nothing.

[10:03] He sort of divests himself of his glory and power and authority. Not of his divinity as such, but of these things that... The trappings of the power and authority that God has, the glory, make himself nothing.

[10:24] And becomes a slave. Becomes a human.

[10:36] Becomes a man. Now, my version has the word servant. Your version might have the word servant. Growing up in South Africa, many of us would have had what we would have called servants.

[10:52] Housekeepers, house help. The Greek word can be translated slave. And in the old ancient world, the last thing you wanted to be, if you were a free man, is a slave.

[11:11] It was the lowest of the low. You wouldn't make a free man a slave. And here the God of the universe comes down to human level and then goes down below normal human level.

[11:24] Below this lady Lydia. Below this jailer. Down to a slave.

[11:35] And then he keeps going lower. And allows himself to get crucified on a Roman cross. Became obedient to death.

[11:46] Even death on a cross. Why did he do that? Well, he did it for you. And me and us.

[11:59] So that our spines could be uncurved. We could start living the life we're supposed to live again. This amazing humility of Christ.

[12:10] This incredible thing that he did. Is the only thing that is able to fix our spiritual brokenness. It took that level of God's intervention in the world.

[12:24] To make you stop looking at your own self. And to make you realize again. There's something else out there. There's something more important than me and my own feelings. And my own wants.

[12:34] And my own desires. But this humility of Christ. And the service. So he humbles himself. And he becomes a servant. So he humbles himself. And he becomes a servant. A slave.

[12:45] We need to look at those two aspects. Of who he is. And so we're going to look at the example of his humility. In his life. And what his death accomplishes for us.

[13:00] We look at Jesus' life as an example. Jesus' life as an example. So as a man. He showed us who we were meant. How we were meant to live.

[13:10] Who we were meant to be. Not living for ourselves. But living for God. And living for others. And totally trusting him for everything. All of the time. And yet.

[13:23] Christ's humility. In no way diminished who he was. Instead it actually. It magnified him. And it drew people to him. It's his humility that makes us love him.

[13:33] Because it means he came to help people like us. So Jesus says for example in Matthew chapter 20. Even the son of man. Didn't come to be served.

[13:45] But to serve. And to give his life. As a ransom for many. In fact.

[13:58] In Jesus' life. He broke all sorts of taboos. To reach the many. He accepted those who knew they need him. Regardless of their background.

[14:08] And so. When you read through the gospels. You get these sort of vignettes. These pictures of who Jesus hangs out with. And you've got things like the Samaritan woman. Who's living an immoral life.

[14:19] You get a poor old lady. Bent over from. From years of bleeding. You get a Roman centurion. Enemy.

[14:32] Whose slave girl is dying. And needs help. You get a tax collector. That climbed a tree. To see him. And you get a man with leprosy. That came back to thank him. And you get. A host of other stories.

[14:43] Of Jesus interacting with people. People. Ordinary. Everyday people. Struggling. Struggling through their everyday lives. But. Desperate to have God.

[14:54] Somehow. Come into their life. And help them. And save them. And change them. They knew that they had to reconnect with God. And start life over. But they. And they knew that Jesus could do that for them.

[15:09] And so. As low as Jesus was. There was something in him. That drew people to him. That didn't push them away. And in fact. In some sense.

[15:20] They knew who. Not they knew he was. In the sense of. God incarnate. Come down. But the indications. I mean. All these miracles. They knew there was something special about him. We know that he is the king.

[15:33] And it is that king. With the most common. Touch. If you think of the modern world. And how. We. We enjoy.

[15:44] People who are high up. Who've got. Who mix with us. If I can put it like that. And you know. Remember. Princess Diana was known as the people's princess. Now. You can say that.

[15:57] You can say that. You've got the new King Charles. The third whoever. Walking around in England at the moment. And. And. Yes. They've got the common touch. But. But it's always very staged. Like. They'll never walk in here.

[16:08] They'll never invite us for tea. And if you invite them to your house for supper. You. They'll never go. And Jesus. Walking. He just like. People would like. Hey. Come have supper. He's like. Cool. I'll come have supper.

[16:19] Fair. It doesn't matter who was there. He would often stop and do stuff. On the way to doing something else. People need help. So. I'll come and help you.

[16:33] This God of the universe. This high king of heaven. Just opening his life. To have other people come and get help from him. But just because he was humble.

[16:46] Doesn't mean that Jesus was a pushover. He helped those who wanted. And needed help. And he wasn't. Fooled by those who. Who in their pride.

[16:56] Figured. Thought that they had figured it all out. It wasn't a pushover. He knew people's. Thoughts and feelings. And if you.

[17:10] Didn't think you needed him. Then. He. Just left you. Wouldn't bother with you too much. There's one story that illustrates.

[17:20] Jesus attitude. To people like this. I'll just read it. It's from Luke 18. Jesus tells a story. Two men went up to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee.

[17:31] And the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed. God I thank you that I'm not like the other people. Robbers. Evildoers. Adulterers. Or even like this tax collector.

[17:42] I fast twice so we can give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector. Stood. At a distance. He wouldn't even look.

[17:52] Up to heaven. But he beat his breast. And cried out. God. Have mercy. On me. A sinner. And Jesus.

[18:05] Verdict on those two people. He says. I tell you that this man. The tax collector. Rather than the other. The Pharisee. Went home justified. Before God. Because all those who exalt themselves.

[18:19] Will be humbled. And those who humble themselves. Will be. Exalted. Jesus does this.

[18:31] Upside down. Value. In God's kingdom. Let me ask you at this point. How are your humility levels. Doing.

[18:41] You can't answer that well. Can you? Oh my. Humility levels are doing really well. But it's worth checking in.

[18:55] Are you still focusing too much. On yourself. And making sure that. You. Are lifted up. That you get the respect. You think you deserve. Fighting for every little.

[19:07] Kind of morsel. And you know. That you're fighting. That kind of a fight. When you must always have. The last word. When you must have. The first word. And the last word.

[19:18] And lots of in between words. When you're not happy. With how people. Respond. Find yourself. Grumbling. And upset. Easily. That's you.

[19:29] Getting in the way. Of. Good relationships. Or. Are you trusting. God. Like Jesus did. Putting yourself low. And humbling yourself.

[19:40] Before God. And before others. Offering to serve them. Offering to help. More than what you expected to do. So that God can be glorified.

[19:56] And then you just let God exalt you. In his time. And in his way. It doesn't matter if it doesn't happen in this lifetime. We're going to face judgment day.

[20:10] And actually it'll be quite cool on judgment day. To see all the good things you did. That you weren't rewarded for in this lifetime. There's parables about that in the scriptures. So Jesus' life is a great example for us to follow.

[20:29] But the problem with examples. Is that we should follow them. But we don't. We find it really difficult to follow examples. And lots of religions fall into this trap.

[20:41] Of following leaders' examples. But leaders don't really have the power to change you. And that's because. None of their leaders have died.

[20:53] For you. Jesus is the only one. Who lived. And died. And lived again. And can change people.

[21:06] The leader of Islam. Is dead. And he didn't die for his people. He killed for his people. But he didn't die for his people. The Buddha. From the east.

[21:17] He didn't die for anyone. He just died. And so Jesus and Christianity is unique. They're the only one. He's the only one. Whose death actually achieved something.

[21:30] And so we're going to look at. Jesus' death. And our life. Jesus' death. And our life. Jesus' death. Is the thing that changes. Everything for us.

[21:43] And Jesus' death does two things. That brings us back into God's story. First it pays for our actual sins. And secondly it kills the power of sin.

[21:57] In my life. Because sin. Is a thing that's causing our spine. Sin is like a cancer. Sin is a thing that causes our spine to.

[22:09] Our spiritual spine to turn away from God. And turn in on ourselves. And he. Jesus doesn't just deal with the symptoms. The things we've done wrong. He deals with the cause.

[22:20] Like a good physician. Like a good doctor. Now. Jesus pays for our sins. We don't like to think of. Of how guilty we are. Before God.

[22:31] But. You need to know that the. Bible says that you're. In case you didn't know this. Your life. Is forfeit. Because of the way. You've lived. Your denial of God.

[22:47] And life of selfish sin. Even as Christians. Our sins deserve our death. And the only way out.

[22:58] Is to have someone make that payment for you. It's blood level serious. Sin is blood level serious things. That God has to deal with.

[23:10] And Jesus is the only one. Who can make that payment. Acceptable to God. And for you to stay alive. You can make that payment yourself. And many will make that payment.

[23:23] But then you don't. Stay alive. You stay. Dead. It'll cost you your life. It's going to cost a life.

[23:33] The payment for sin. Is going to cost a life. And it's either going to cost you yours. Or if you humble yourself. And trust in Christ. You get to live. The whole point.

[23:47] Of Jesus being sent by God. Is to tell us that God loves us. And our sins are paid for. If we trust in Christ. So Paul writing in. In Romans 5. Says this.

[24:00] Telling the church. About this gospel. That they believe. And what Jesus has done for them. You see. He says. At just the right time. When you were still powerless. When you couldn't actually make any change.

[24:13] You couldn't do anything for yourself. Christ died for the ungodly. That's. That's us. That's the church that Paul was writing to. And it's. It's still us to this day. He says.

[24:23] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. But for a good person. Someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we are still sinners.

[24:37] Christ died for us. Christ took the bullet. That was aimed at our hearts. And our lives. Our lives are forfeit. And Christ said. You know what. They need my help.

[24:49] If you. If you're going to count every person's sin against him. No one is going to stand. On judgment day. I'll take it. So that they can live. Friends.

[25:02] This is an amazing truth. For us to hold on to. The things that you've done. All the bad things you've done. All the bad things you've thought. All the bad things you've said. All the good things you haven't done.

[25:17] You know. When you think about. I don't know about you. But when. When I think about my sins. I always go to things I've done wrong. I mean. I don't even begin to think about the stuff that I haven't done right.

[25:28] Can you imagine that long list? And Jesus says. No that's fine. I've taken it on my shoulders. He's a free man.

[25:40] He gets to live. I'll die for him. Imagine you're fighting a war. And. There's three of you.

[25:51] There's a couple of you in the trench. Take like some noble people. That we can think of. Let's say for some strange reason. Mandela's in the trench with you.

[26:05] Nelson Mandela. Right. He's like one of our shining examples. Or Garcia Colise. Or someone cool like that. And then. There's you.

[26:16] No great shakes. And then there's some. I don't know. Someone from the street. Just someone. Who was caught stealing. I don't know. Caught making nonsense with someone else's wife.

[26:28] Just a. Just a. And then. They're going to get shot. You're all getting shot at.

[26:44] Who. Who would you take a bullet for? If you had to. You know. Okay. Well. I'll try and save. The cool guys. They can reward me.

[26:56] And Jesus is like. Nah. I'm going to save that guy. I'll take the bullet for him. Because he needs it the most. But if someone did take a bullet for you.

[27:07] Man. You would. You would love that person. Oh man. You would be. You are. You and him are going to be best friends forever. And you're always going to be thankful to him. And that's what Jesus has done for us.

[27:22] It's one of the things that changes us. But. As amazing as that is. It's not the only thing that Jesus' death does for us.

[27:36] It pays for our actual sins. But it also. Deals with the power. That sin has over our lives. One of the old hymns puts it.

[27:47] He breaks the power. Of cancelled sin. And so Jesus' death. Kills the power. Of my sin in my life. Of sin in our lives. Jesus' death kills the power of sin in our lives.

[28:02] The big problem with sin in our lives. Is it's. It's stronger than we are. There's an interesting story. In Genesis 4. Where Cain.

[28:13] Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve's first sons. They bring a sacrifice. And Cain is letting his feelings. Of frustration and anger.

[28:24] Get the better of him. He wants to go kill his brother. Just because. He had a better sacrifice. Would differ. Yeah. Nevertheless. But God says these interesting words to Cain.

[28:37] He warns him. He says. He calls. He says. Cain listen. I can see that you. I see that you're upset. I know what you're going to do. You're not to do that. I know you want to go kill your brother.

[28:49] But you remember he's made in my image. So you're not allowed to do that. But he phrases it in this way. He says. He says to him. Sin. He's talking to Cain. He says. You need to watch out. Sin. Is crouching at your door.

[29:03] It desires to have you. But I want you to control it. You must control it. Sin is crouching at the door. It desires to have you. And it's a.

[29:13] It's a horrifying picture really. Of what sin is like. It's this deadly monster. Wanting to control. And ruin us. It has this beast like hunger.

[29:25] For our mind. Our emotions. For our very soul. And it's too strong for us. We cannot kill it by ourselves. We're too weak. I mentioned the trip that we took.

[29:37] Up to Namibia. And I saw lions roaming around. Well we did. But we were on the highway. We got a flat tire. And so we had to pull over for the night. And we just pulled over.

[29:49] On the N7 on the way to Wintok. And there's just farmland. There's nothing. And so we pulled over. And we didn't know. But now there's lions. Roaming around. And it's. It's not fun.

[30:01] Because. What's going to happen if a lion gets hungry? You can't do anything. You can't fight against a lion. Unless you've got a gun. And we didn't have a gun. That lion's going to eat you. Sin is like that.

[30:14] It's just this. Thing. That is too strong for us. To control. And so. There's this life and death struggle.

[30:24] Between sin. And us. God. The people. Everyone on planet earth. It's a life and death struggle. In each and every one of us. Either it is going to win.

[30:38] And kill you. Or you're going to win. And kill it. But you can't do it by yourself. You need a champion. You need someone stronger than sin. And there's only one person stronger than sin.

[30:52] And that's Christ. Christ. I saw a meme. It's a Homer Simpson meme. And he says. You know. He's talking to Bart.

[31:02] For some reason. I think it's like a Christianized version of Homer. I don't think it happened. But he says. You know. Listen. I've read the Bible. Everyone's a mess. Except for this one guy.

[31:15] And that's Christ. Christ. So this explains the imagery. This is why Jesus had to die. This is the imagery from Isaiah 53. And the imagery from Philippians chapter 2.

[31:28] Of being nailed to the cross. Of being marred and disfigured. Of being pierced. Of being slain. Of being beaten. And being bruised. And being nailed.

[31:38] To a tree. Because. The thing.

[31:51] That. Something has to die. And there's a moment on the cross. When all the sin of the world. There's. All the sin of the world.

[32:04] Is attributed to Christ. In a sense. He becomes sin. He becomes a curse. I'm going to give you two Bible verses. Just to see what.

[32:16] Jesus went through for us. What he achieved for us. 1 Corinthians 5. God made him who had no sin. God made him who had no sin.

[32:28] To be sin. For us. So that in him. We. Might become the righteousness of God. God. And Paul again writing in Galatians.

[32:41] Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. By becoming. A curse for us. For it's written. Cursed is everyone. Hung. On a tree. And so Jesus gets killed there.

[32:54] He gets nailed there. He gets ripped. Torn. And beaten. Sin. But what happens at the same time. Is that that sin monster.

[33:04] Because all the world's sin is poured onto Christ. That sin monster that kills us. Gets killed. As Jesus was pierced and slain for sin.

[33:20] So the sin monster was killed and slain with him on the cross. And what that means for us. If you trust in Christ. His death frees us from sin.

[33:33] From the power and control of sin. Not just actual sins. But actually from its power and control. Because it's been broken. It's been beaten. It's been killed actually. He kills the thing that kills us.

[33:47] And then he makes us alive. So that for the first time. We can start living our lives free of being chained to ourselves. Of being slaves to sin.

[34:00] And so Jesus says in John chapter 8. I tell you everyone who sins. Is a slave to sin. And the slaves.

[34:10] We all know what slaves look like. They're bent down. They can't escape. Their slave master is stronger than them. Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. It's a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family.

[34:22] But. A son. Belongs to the family forever. And so if the son. Sets you free. You'll be free.

[34:34] Indeed. So friends. In Christ. We've got this new freedom. We've got freedom. We've got freedom from our past mistakes. From our past guilt. From our old ways of doing things.

[34:47] And we're free to live a new life. Not curved in on ourselves anymore. But. Standing upright. Not proud. Not proud. But just strong.

[34:57] With a good solid foundation. Looking. Realizing now who God is. And what Christ has done for us. In fact. Looking there.

[35:07] For help and salvation. Because you can't find it here. This. All of this is now dead. Looking to God. For all good things. And being upright. Being guilt free.

[35:20] Before him. And before others. Walking tall. And not letting our past. Pull us down. Drag us down. Trip us up. So I just want you to know.

[35:32] That. It doesn't matter. What you've done. It doesn't matter. What has been done to you. There's freedom. And healing. And hope.

[35:43] If you turn to Christ. But to get there. You need to humble yourself. Pride looks to yourself. For the answers. Humanity says. I can't do this on my own.

[35:55] I need help. You only go to the doctor. When you're sick. And you realize you need help. You only call on Jesus.

[36:05] If you realize your need for salvation. And when you realize. What a desperate situation. That you're actually in. Do want to say. That if you reject the cross.

[36:16] If you reject Jesus. And you're saying. You don't know. You don't need what he offers. You're okay. You can do it. You'll be making the biggest mistake. Of your life. It's like being in a rescue situation.

[36:28] You're up on the mountain. You've gone on your adventure. You've got a broken back. Nothing is working properly. But you're going to go on this mountain hike. And you get up there. And you take a tumble. And you're lying there.

[36:40] All bloodied. And broken. And bruised. And they say. Well. Let's send some help. And they get there. And you go. Oh no. It's cool. I can do it by myself. Okay.

[36:52] And then they turn around. Walk away. And then you're going to die. In a few hours. Or days. No thanks. I've got this. Me and my broken body can do this thing. But.

[37:04] Well. You can do it for a little bit. And then you're going to die. And there's hope. If you were humble enough. To receive it. Come to Christ.

[37:18] And receive the healing. And the freedom. Restart your life. Restart this adventure. That God has offered you. With a clean slate. And new.

[37:31] With God on your side. New adventure that God has called you to. But also for Christians. Well. Maybe you've come to Christ.

[37:42] And you're living. How God wants you to. You. But what we're picking up in this passage today. Is that we're not saved just for ourselves.

[37:55] We're not saved to sit around. And have nice feelings towards God. Well we are. But not just to sit around. And that's not the goal. Like Christ.

[38:06] We are saved to serve God. And to serve others. We. In a sense. We join God's rescue team. And that. That's a. That's a real adventure.

[38:18] But this new adventure. That God puts us on. It's not for the faint hearted. See. We tend to be protectionistic. Towards our time. Our resources. Our money. Our energy. God wants us to go out.

[38:29] And have this adventure. But it's. It's really a rescue team. Because the world isn't a mess. And. What he's done. Come to rescue us. He's like. Cool. Well I've fixed you. Now there's lots of other people out there. That need help.

[38:39] Go and help them. No. No. No. No. I can't. I don't want to. I can't. I don't want to. We keep our stuff.

[38:51] Our money. Our time. Our energy. For ourselves. But Jesus. Sort of. Pushes us. Beyond our boundaries. He's like. No guys. I'm with you. You can do this.

[39:06] Sounds scary. Maybe you don't want to do that. But maybe. Serving others. One way to think of it. Is it's going on. Is being an explorer. Explorers go beyond the boundaries.

[39:17] Always like. What's wrong. What. It's exciting going on an exploration. Can see what's going on. Find new things. They go beyond the boundary.

[39:27] To see what's there. And we've all done that in our lives. At some point. Whether it's learning to ride a bicycle. As a kid. Going rock climbing. Maybe in your teens. Or whenever. Learning a music. An instrument.

[39:38] Whatever skill you've learned. You've pushed your boundary. Somewhere in your life. And we all know what it's like. It's not easy. It's hard. You take a tumble. There's bumps. So. And. Are you dead?

[39:48] Because you learned to ride a bicycle? No. And you remember that feeling you got. When you mastered something. That was. Especially difficult.

[40:00] When you go hiking. It's most exciting. When there's. Crazy storms. And you get to the top. It's very exciting. To make it to the top. It's way more exciting.

[40:10] Than just a normal everyday. Occurrence. And the Christian life is like that. If you've come to Christ. And he's cleaned away your sins. And he's killed the thing. That kills you.

[40:24] Your backbone is made straight. Straighter. There's an ironing out process. And we're going to look at that next week. But you've become an adventurer. In the story of God.

[40:35] You've become a rescuer. And as you learn more about him. And more how Jesus works. And how he wants you to work. It's actually. There's this. A thrill. And a joy. And an excitement. That same feeling you used to get on those trips.

[40:47] When you were a kid. On those camping adventure holidays. That's what the Christian life. Is about. I'm saying it's adventure. And fun all the time. I'm not saying that. But. God sent Christ.

[41:05] So that you could. Restart. The story that he wanted for humanity. And it wasn't for us to be turned in on ourselves. It's to look to him. To trust him.

[41:17] And to help others. But like any adventure. It's better when you do it with others. And not alone. And so come back next week. And we'll learn how to live this. New adventure called the Christian life.

[41:29] Together. Let me pray for us. The Lord Jesus.

[41:46] I'm so humbled by. What you came to do. Giving up all that glory. To come to earth. Live as a slave. To help people like us here.

[41:58] At St. Mark's. And Lord. We are so thankful that. You've died for our sins. Saved us from our sins. Picked us up.

[42:09] Dusted us off. And given us this new. Lease on life. And Lord. We want to live life well for you. We want to trust God more.

[42:20] We want to serve others. Better. Just like Jesus did. And. By doing that Lord.

[42:31] Receive blessing. Be exalted. As you say. You'll lift up the humble. And exalt those who are humbled. So Lord. Help us to do these things. In Jesus name.

[42:42] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[43:09] Amen.