1 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,480 Welcome to Heaven Earth Church. My name is Ross Stackhouse. 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:13,720 I'm the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church. From the beginning, 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,960 our heart was to be a church for people who don't fit neatly into 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,080 church. Our heart is to meet people where they are, to learn their 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,680 stories, to honor their stories. Because in every human story 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,080 is God's story. In this podcast, you'll hear more about the 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,480 people who now call Heaven Earth Church home. Their stories, 8 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:37,640 in many cases of misfits who are discovering or rediscovering 9 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:41,560 faith. If you want to know more about us, you can go to heavenorthchurch.org 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,080 Otherwise, we invite you now into the story. 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,800 Hello, good people. Brad Miller here, the producer of the 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:55,960 Heaven Earth Church podcast. One of the main benefits of being 13 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,630 a part of the Heaven Earth Church community is our Sunday morning 14 00:01:00,710 --> 00:01:05,590 conversations taught by founding pastor Ross Stackhouse. 15 00:01:06,470 --> 00:01:11,270 You can watch and participate in the Sunday morning conversation 16 00:01:11,830 --> 00:01:20,310 this Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern time at YouTube.com heavenerthchurch. 17 00:01:21,270 --> 00:01:26,160 The audio version of the Sunday morning conversation is available 18 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,880 here on the podcast, which you can find at Apple Podcasts, Spotify 19 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:39,760 and on the website, which is heaven earthchurch.org let's join 20 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,840 now Pastor Ross Stackhouse and the Heaven Earth Church community 21 00:01:44,320 --> 00:01:51,210 for the message. God already made images of himself. 22 00:01:54,330 --> 00:01:57,610 Wow. We did it. All right, let's pray and then we're going to 23 00:01:57,610 --> 00:02:04,090 have a conversation. Lord, thank you that your spirit is moving, 24 00:02:04,330 --> 00:02:07,690 just like it hovered over the waters in some mystery long, long, 25 00:02:07,850 --> 00:02:13,770 long ago. It's available to us now to hover over the chaos and darkness 26 00:02:13,770 --> 00:02:19,240 in our lives, to prepare us for light. Help us to see you this 27 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,400 morning. Help us to hear you through this conversation. In Jesus 28 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:31,280 name, amen. So the slide game again gets me. It's just my eternal 29 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,640 struggle. Paul said he had a thorn in his side. The thorn in my 30 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:39,840 side is propresenter. Take out the second to reflect. Don't repeat 31 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:47,730 to reflect twice, but read that statement. Go now. Say it like 32 00:02:47,730 --> 00:02:59,410 you mean it. Do it again. And one more time for good measure. Now 33 00:02:59,410 --> 00:03:11,980 let's do a P.S. do it again. Now. Pss. Do it again. Today we're 34 00:03:11,980 --> 00:03:14,340 going to talk about how everything is made to reflect the 35 00:03:14,340 --> 00:03:19,340 glory of God. We're carrying forward the energy of Easter. We 36 00:03:19,340 --> 00:03:23,300 asked, we talked a lot about this theme of glory leading up to 37 00:03:23,300 --> 00:03:29,140 the Easter se season, to the celebration of Easter, how we talked 38 00:03:29,140 --> 00:03:34,110 about this thing called the inflationary period, where and a 39 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:37,070 billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second, there was 40 00:03:37,070 --> 00:03:40,950 nothing and then there was something the universe expanded at 41 00:03:40,950 --> 00:03:45,310 a rate of 10 to the 26th power when the Big Bang happened. So like 42 00:03:45,310 --> 00:03:49,750 God says, let there be light. And all of a sudden, God's glory 43 00:03:49,990 --> 00:03:56,950 is racing and expanding, piercing this darkness. All the makings 44 00:03:56,950 --> 00:04:00,950 for God's glory to be reflected in all things is now just 45 00:04:01,270 --> 00:04:06,030 pushing out because everything is made to reflect the warmth and 46 00:04:06,030 --> 00:04:11,710 beauty and brilliance of God. We're starting a new series today 47 00:04:11,710 --> 00:04:15,230 called Growing what is Good to carry forward Easter. And it goes 48 00:04:15,230 --> 00:04:18,270 along with our community garden that's launching your garden 49 00:04:18,270 --> 00:04:21,390 at home, that we're going to bring the fruits of which we're going 50 00:04:21,390 --> 00:04:25,110 to bring them back for distribution. I'm going to come up 51 00:04:25,110 --> 00:04:29,640 with the simplest definition of good, but it's still not so simple 52 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,000 because you might. Well, I don't know exactly what God's glory 53 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,480 is. I'm defining good in this series as simply something that reflects 54 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,960 God. That's it. I'm defining something good as something that 55 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,200 reflects God. Why am I saying that? Well, when you look at Genesis 56 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,280 1, the very beginning, Genesis is a word that means beginning. It's 57 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,880 the first book of the Bible, when God began to create the heavens 58 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,100 and the earth. You've seen this everything. There was darkness, 59 00:04:57,330 --> 00:05:01,170 there was deep. And God's wind, or spirit. In Hebrew, the word 60 00:05:01,170 --> 00:05:05,930 for wind, breath, spirit is the same ruach. God's wind swept 61 00:05:05,930 --> 00:05:11,570 over the waters. And God said. What did God say? And so light appeared 62 00:05:11,810 --> 00:05:16,450 right off the bat. When God is creating, the first things that get 63 00:05:16,450 --> 00:05:23,560 created reflect God. And so what does God say? God saw the how. 64 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:30,400 What? Because it reflects God. And then sky. God's like, you know, 65 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:36,560 let's do this too. Yep, yep. And then God named the dome sky and 66 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,880 so on. God named the dry land Earth, and he named the gathered 67 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,640 water seas. God saw how it reflects God. When you're. When you're 68 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:49,160 sitting in front of the ocean, right? How many of you, like, the. 69 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,160 The ocean is your centering place above all things, like the 70 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,320 beach in the ocean, it's your centering place. My wife would be 71 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:01,680 like two hands up cartwheel. That's where, like, for her, God 72 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:07,440 is. Is obvious, right? The mystery, the chaos, the power is 73 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:13,200 reflective of God. It is good. Keep going. Let the earth grow. Plant 74 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:18,080 life, this diversity of fruit, all this stuff. And that's what happened. 75 00:06:19,290 --> 00:06:23,770 It produced all these things. And God saw how. Because God is like 76 00:06:23,770 --> 00:06:28,290 a multiplying force. Good are things that just reflect God. There 77 00:06:28,290 --> 00:06:33,210 was evening, morning, the third day. Let's do some more light. 78 00:06:33,290 --> 00:06:39,850 God says, let's do It. That's what happened. Stars, stars, stars, 79 00:06:39,850 --> 00:06:45,120 stars. God loves light. Loves light. And God saw. How are you get. 80 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:50,000 Are you getting a theme here? All these things just reflect who 81 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:56,320 God is. Creativity, diversity. Diversity isn't an accidental part 82 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,280 of our existence. It's part of who God is. Right. All right, now 83 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:05,440 let's skip forward. Well, then there's this part. Let us make humanity 84 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,960 in our. Ross, we're always talking about God's image around 85 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,160 here. Can we talk about something else? Well, when we start 86 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,370 believing that God's image is in all people and like, never doubt 87 00:07:16,370 --> 00:07:20,850 it, we'll stop talking about it. Every human being originally 88 00:07:21,410 --> 00:07:25,850 good. No, wait. Sorry, I missed it. My bad. Divine image. 89 00:07:25,850 --> 00:07:29,290 God created them. He said, take care of the earth, Manage it 90 00:07:29,290 --> 00:07:34,250 with me. Let's see, where did I miss it, guys? Oh, nope. I need 91 00:07:34,250 --> 00:07:37,770 the supreme goodness slide. Where are we at, guys? Somebody help 92 00:07:37,770 --> 00:07:43,860 me out. 31, my man. Thank you, Pastor Charles. God saw everything 93 00:07:43,860 --> 00:07:51,500 he had made and it was. It was. Human beings are God. Human 94 00:07:51,500 --> 00:07:55,460 beings are. Everything is made to reflect the glory of God. Did 95 00:07:55,460 --> 00:07:57,940 I tell you we're going to talk about that today? We're going to 96 00:07:57,940 --> 00:08:01,140 talk about it for the next, like six weeks. And we're going to 97 00:08:01,140 --> 00:08:06,100 talk about how our entire purpose in life is to grow what is 98 00:08:06,100 --> 00:08:11,270 good with. With God, to steward what is good with God. And 99 00:08:11,270 --> 00:08:16,270 it starts with you. The thing that you steward above all each and 100 00:08:16,270 --> 00:08:21,630 every day is what you see in the mirror. Right? But first I want 101 00:08:21,630 --> 00:08:25,750 to talk about, like, it's easy to believe that everything is made 102 00:08:25,750 --> 00:08:31,230 to reflect the glory of God. When you're like, here. I had a retreat 103 00:08:31,230 --> 00:08:34,820 at Clifty Falls State Park. Have you been there? Who's been there? 104 00:08:34,820 --> 00:08:37,900 Yeah, show me. I had a retreat there. It was my five. It's my five 105 00:08:37,900 --> 00:08:40,740 year anniversary of being ordained in the United Methodist 106 00:08:40,740 --> 00:08:44,940 Church. So they invite you on this renewal journey. And I went 107 00:08:44,940 --> 00:08:48,500 into it kicking and screaming. I don't got time for that. And it's 108 00:08:48,500 --> 00:08:51,620 what I need the most. Of course, the things that are the best 109 00:08:51,620 --> 00:08:54,220 for our soul, those aren't the things we do, the things that keep 110 00:08:54,220 --> 00:08:58,660 our soul quenched, those are the things we keep doing. So I went 111 00:08:58,660 --> 00:09:03,810 here and, and in the morning and I hiked down to this creek and 112 00:09:03,810 --> 00:09:07,650 just walked down the creek. That's how I spent my morning on 113 00:09:07,650 --> 00:09:11,210 Friday. How hard was it, do you think, in this moment to believe 114 00:09:11,210 --> 00:09:14,490 that everything is made to reflect the glory of God? Not hard. 115 00:09:14,810 --> 00:09:21,210 Not hard. Not hard at all. However, then we go back out in life 116 00:09:21,370 --> 00:09:25,970 Right. For whatever reason, somewhere in the history of humankind, 117 00:09:25,970 --> 00:09:29,130 we decided that we had declared war against dandelions. 118 00:09:30,150 --> 00:09:34,590 Somebody somewhere said, we will eradicate them. And what happens? 119 00:09:34,590 --> 00:09:43,110 Every year, that little thing comes up and is like, hi, you lost. 120 00:09:45,030 --> 00:09:49,310 Which is why one of my mentors, every Easter, he would preach 121 00:09:49,310 --> 00:09:54,710 on dandelions. He called it the resurrection flower. So it's 122 00:09:54,710 --> 00:09:57,430 easy to believe everything is made to reflect the glory of God 123 00:09:57,430 --> 00:09:59,710 when you're. When you're Clifty Falls, you're staring at this 124 00:09:59,710 --> 00:10:01,340 creek, you're hearing the creek, you're hearing the birds. 125 00:10:01,810 --> 00:10:04,890 The wild turkey that I was not gonna trail, and I was walking through 126 00:10:04,890 --> 00:10:08,770 the woods, and this big wild turkey jumped up. Boom. Scared me 127 00:10:08,770 --> 00:10:12,370 to death. Easy to believe everything is made to reflect the 128 00:10:12,370 --> 00:10:15,450 glory of God. Not so easy to believe everything is made to reflect 129 00:10:15,450 --> 00:10:19,090 the glory of God. When a neighbor in your neighborhood, on 130 00:10:19,090 --> 00:10:23,650 the Facebook group for your neighborhood, makes a veiled message, 131 00:10:23,890 --> 00:10:28,010 what can we do? What can the HOA do about our neighbors who have 132 00:10:28,010 --> 00:10:32,660 an insane amount of weeds in their yard? Who do you think he was 133 00:10:32,660 --> 00:10:39,420 talking about? You would have thought on the side of my house, 134 00:10:39,420 --> 00:10:43,220 I had a dandelion farm. Do you want to add it to two trees, Jill? 135 00:10:43,220 --> 00:10:47,660 I got dandelions. I can grow them, baby. And this guy was like. 136 00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:53,460 I mean, his house. And like, there's only one yard that looks 137 00:10:53,460 --> 00:10:57,450 like dandelions were made to grow here. They're about a foot and 138 00:10:57,450 --> 00:11:02,970 a half high. And so I. What did I want to do? I want to get on 139 00:11:02,970 --> 00:11:08,890 there and be all sanctimonious about how I don't value putting toxic 140 00:11:08,890 --> 00:11:11,970 chemicals in my. Which is act. I mean, that's somewhat true, but 141 00:11:11,970 --> 00:11:14,450 actually, I just haven't been taking care of my yard. I want to 142 00:11:14,450 --> 00:11:16,450 get on there about, like. Well, our values are just different, 143 00:11:16,450 --> 00:11:22,330 bud. It's easy to believe everything is made to reflect the 144 00:11:22,330 --> 00:11:25,910 glory of God when, like, you're in a state park or you're 145 00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:29,750 around people you love, you're around your friends. What? Around 146 00:11:29,910 --> 00:11:32,670 what. What happens when you get around everybody else, the people 147 00:11:32,670 --> 00:11:36,430 who call out the weeds in your life. Not so easy, right? Not so 148 00:11:36,430 --> 00:11:41,150 easy. When you jump on BBC.com first thing in the morning, you saw 149 00:11:41,150 --> 00:11:46,870 there was another. Another bomb and another. Or when you hear 150 00:11:46,870 --> 00:11:51,670 that, like, people were deported without due process. Hard 151 00:11:51,670 --> 00:11:57,070 to believe it. And yet. Can you read it again? You didn't repeat 152 00:11:57,070 --> 00:12:00,470 it the. To reflect twice. I appreciate that. There are my weeds 153 00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:05,830 right there. It just keeps. Keeps popping up. Everything. It 154 00:12:05,830 --> 00:12:10,110 is our destiny. And so my Challenge. Right. Is when my neighbor 155 00:12:10,110 --> 00:12:14,750 calls out my weeds in the group chat on Facebook is to see 156 00:12:14,750 --> 00:12:18,750 that and act on it and not, like, start to preach at him and 157 00:12:19,170 --> 00:12:23,490 expose him. I'm gonna. I'm gonna expose this fella right now. 158 00:12:23,490 --> 00:12:31,050 Some other people in my neighborhood did it for me. Poor. 159 00:12:31,050 --> 00:12:36,290 He had a rough day after that post. But here. Here's why. Well, 160 00:12:36,290 --> 00:12:38,690 actually, I'll go over to you for a question, then we'll come back. 161 00:12:38,850 --> 00:12:43,570 What for you makes it hard first to believe this about yourself. 162 00:12:45,260 --> 00:12:52,460 Like this truth. It's the most basic truth about humankind from 163 00:12:52,460 --> 00:12:56,220 the Bible. It is the most basic, fundamental truth that every 164 00:12:56,220 --> 00:13:01,140 human being is made in the image of God. Made to reflect God's 165 00:13:01,140 --> 00:13:07,100 image, made to reflect the glory of God. Every human being originally 166 00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:09,660 Good. What makes it hard for you to believe that about yourself? 167 00:13:16,390 --> 00:13:19,990 Yeah. Yeah. There's just so much hate circulating. Like hate 168 00:13:19,990 --> 00:13:23,750 is just in the water. Yeah. What else? What makes it hard for 169 00:13:23,750 --> 00:13:26,390 you to see this about yourself, believe this about yourself? 170 00:13:26,950 --> 00:13:32,710 Early childhood messages. Yeah, yeah. Early childhood messages. 171 00:13:32,710 --> 00:13:36,470 Sure. They stay with us, don't they? Early childhood messages and 172 00:13:36,470 --> 00:13:42,020 experiences. What makes it hard to believe this about yourself? 173 00:13:42,260 --> 00:13:44,820 And so you got to dig in right now because you're like, no, I believe 174 00:13:44,820 --> 00:13:48,380 this about myself. You believe it right now. The fact that I'm a 175 00:13:48,380 --> 00:13:57,420 sinner. Thank you for sharing that. So we have this idea that it's 176 00:13:57,420 --> 00:14:01,020 something that we are to live up to. Okay. Yeah. So it's something 177 00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:04,780 we earn. It's not something that has already been declared and 178 00:14:04,780 --> 00:14:08,150 we just. And we receive. That's also in the water. Our whole 179 00:14:08,150 --> 00:14:16,270 lives. Everything's merit based. Our whole lives. Grades, promotions, 180 00:14:17,230 --> 00:14:25,670 raises. Everything is merit based. This is not. It's something 181 00:14:25,670 --> 00:14:30,550 that. Is, the Holvorson family, a broader religious culture 182 00:14:30,550 --> 00:14:34,340 that says the exact opposite. Which is what, Emily? And what's 183 00:14:34,340 --> 00:14:39,980 the name for that? Total depravity. Original sin. Right. Anybody 184 00:14:39,980 --> 00:14:44,860 heard of original sin? Heard that, Ross. We're talking about this 185 00:14:44,860 --> 00:14:50,420 again? Yeah. Because those messages stick. We started out the 186 00:14:50,420 --> 00:14:56,980 story of Christianity always with Genesis 3 instead of with Genesis 187 00:14:56,980 --> 00:15:02,580 1. The story always and forevermore starts with is about 188 00:15:02,580 --> 00:15:11,380 original goodness. Yes. I'm with your name again. Paul. Sorry. 189 00:15:11,380 --> 00:15:15,540 Paul. Good to see you again, man. I'm with Paul. I'm a sinner. 190 00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:19,260 I am. That message stuck with me, and I'm okay with it because 191 00:15:19,260 --> 00:15:25,860 I know me. I will have thoughts and probably while I'm talking 192 00:15:25,860 --> 00:15:30,070 to you, that don't reflect God's goodness. While I'm talking 193 00:15:30,070 --> 00:15:33,790 to you, I'm Thinking about my neighbor, probably, and I'm gonna 194 00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:37,750 prove him wrong. But then he's gonna win. I'm gonna go around to 195 00:15:37,750 --> 00:15:40,390 every dandelion and squirt something on it. Be like, do you 196 00:15:40,390 --> 00:15:43,990 see this, pal? And he's gonna be like, I do see it. Good job. In 197 00:15:43,990 --> 00:15:46,550 my mind, I'm winning. In his mind, he's like, I got him to do 198 00:15:46,550 --> 00:15:52,590 what I want him to do. I'm good at this. Right. It's possible 199 00:15:52,670 --> 00:15:57,450 to be originally good and also prone to do the very thing I don't 200 00:15:57,450 --> 00:16:05,970 want to do. Yeah. What else? This. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, 201 00:16:05,970 --> 00:16:18,410 online people. Charles. Yeah. Yeah. Huh. Interesting. Yeah. We're 202 00:16:18,410 --> 00:16:21,330 gonna transition on Charles comment like. So this is what we're 203 00:16:21,330 --> 00:16:25,030 talking about. Many of us can say, I'm with this in theory. And 204 00:16:25,030 --> 00:16:30,270 that's the problem. That's the problem which. Which, like, religion 205 00:16:30,270 --> 00:16:33,470 is trying. That's what we're trying to solve is. Is move it from 206 00:16:33,470 --> 00:16:38,710 theory to truth in our hearts. Not just about us, but about every 207 00:16:38,710 --> 00:16:42,310 person we meet. Right? It's core value number one of heaven, 208 00:16:42,310 --> 00:16:47,270 earth, church. We want to meet people where they are and see them 209 00:16:47,270 --> 00:16:51,750 as gods. Do you know this? And see them as what? God's masterpiece. 210 00:16:52,230 --> 00:16:56,390 We get that from Ephesians 2:10. The word is like God's handiwork. 211 00:16:56,870 --> 00:17:01,550 The Greek word is poema. Like every human being is a work of God's 212 00:17:01,550 --> 00:17:04,950 poetry. That sounds so beautiful in theory, doesn't it? 213 00:17:05,270 --> 00:17:09,510 But then, like, you go to work, right? Or you see somebody's 214 00:17:09,510 --> 00:17:13,390 Facebook post, or you look at yourself in the mirror, and that's 215 00:17:13,390 --> 00:17:18,600 the challenge, right? This is what Paul says. Everything is made 216 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:23,400 to reflect the glory of God. But now he says in First Corinthians 217 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,440 13. You know what this chapter is about, don't you? It's out of 218 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,400 every four out of ten weddings, this gets read. Yes. I 219 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,160 just made that statistic up, by the way. Don't go quote it. Like, 220 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,640 I heard at church that 4 out of 10 weddings quote this. That's 221 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:42,450 not true. I just made it up. It's accurate. Thank you. He's done 222 00:17:42,450 --> 00:17:47,490 this whole thing, all these people in Corinth. It was like the 223 00:17:47,490 --> 00:17:51,890 Las Vegas of Greece. All kinds of crazy stuff going on. Would have 224 00:17:51,890 --> 00:17:55,850 made great reality tv. And they're fighting with each other 225 00:17:56,170 --> 00:18:01,570 so much. We act like divisions and polarization are a new thing. 226 00:18:01,570 --> 00:18:05,130 It was the minute the church was born, polarization and division 227 00:18:05,130 --> 00:18:09,110 were born. Too. Why? We are originally good, and we're also good 228 00:18:09,110 --> 00:18:13,630 at sinning. That's pretty accurate. People started dividing 229 00:18:13,630 --> 00:18:17,830 into camps, saying our camp is the camp that's reflecting God's 230 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:25,350 image. That camp over there, Satan is over there. And Paul, like, 231 00:18:25,350 --> 00:18:29,950 he has this whole letter where he's like, hey, I gotta bring you 232 00:18:29,950 --> 00:18:35,620 back. And this whole chapter is like, no matter what we do, the 233 00:18:35,620 --> 00:18:42,420 one thing that we're trying to be about is love. That's why he says 234 00:18:42,420 --> 00:18:47,100 all this stuff. He's trying to restore what is good. He's trying 235 00:18:47,100 --> 00:18:50,660 to get these people to grow what is good rather than continue 236 00:18:50,660 --> 00:18:57,860 to grow what is divisive and toxic and of hate. He said, but the 237 00:18:57,860 --> 00:19:01,340 issue now is, like, what's hard is now we see a reflection in 238 00:19:01,340 --> 00:19:05,940 a mirror. That's. He talks about how we look in this mirror. 239 00:19:05,940 --> 00:19:08,940 His. His analogy is that we look into it and it's like a dim 240 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:13,540 reflection we're not seeing clearly right now. That's what makes 241 00:19:13,540 --> 00:19:16,700 it hard about our human existence. We look in the mirror. 242 00:19:16,860 --> 00:19:19,860 We don't look in the mirror first thing in the morning and go 243 00:19:19,860 --> 00:19:25,100 like, man, look at that image bearer right there. More like, man, 244 00:19:25,100 --> 00:19:29,070 my hair looks really bad right now. My dad had the best morning 245 00:19:29,070 --> 00:19:31,910 hair ever, every day. Looked like a mad scientist growing up. 246 00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:40,270 Looked like he was nuts. You know, you look in the mirror and 247 00:19:40,270 --> 00:19:44,190 you see your faults, you see your. Your ugliness. But not just 248 00:19:44,190 --> 00:19:47,230 in the morning. You see it throughout the whole day. The way 249 00:19:47,230 --> 00:19:50,510 you talk to yourself, the way you evaluate yourself, the way that 250 00:19:50,510 --> 00:19:55,800 you're giving yourself an examination, right? And then you 251 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,880 project that onto other people. Hurting people, hurt people, 252 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:05,720 Right? It's the story of humankind hurting, suffering, traumatized 253 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:11,040 people. Hurt and traumatized people. Paul says the challenge is 254 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,560 like, we're looking into a mirror. And right now, in this existence, 255 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,360 it's like the mirror is cloudy. We can't see clearly what's 256 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:22,790 really true. And so that's why we create all these idols. The Bible's 257 00:20:22,790 --> 00:20:26,710 obsessed with idols. It's just something to which we give our trust 258 00:20:26,710 --> 00:20:30,430 in our allegiance. That's not worth it. It's not worthy of it. 259 00:20:31,070 --> 00:20:34,910 We create these things that we worship to feel better about ourselves. 260 00:20:35,390 --> 00:20:38,670 We're acting out of our shame. We're acting out of our insecurity. 261 00:20:39,310 --> 00:20:44,670 And we create idols because we don't believe that everything that 262 00:20:44,750 --> 00:20:48,940 we need is already established. I don't need to hustle 263 00:20:48,940 --> 00:20:53,020 for worth. I'm rich in God's eyes. But we hustle, hustle, hustle, 264 00:20:53,020 --> 00:20:58,020 hustle, hustle to get what we believe we don't yet have. But Jesus 265 00:20:58,020 --> 00:21:01,820 says, what you already like want in the depths of your soul you 266 00:21:01,820 --> 00:21:05,540 have because God has declared it. I watched a video on Bible Project 267 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:09,180 that was about the image of God. And they just saying that God 268 00:21:09,180 --> 00:21:13,220 commands us not to make images because God already made images of 269 00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:19,140 himself. I'll say that again. God says for you not to make images 270 00:21:19,860 --> 00:21:24,780 because God has already made images of himself. Do you know who 271 00:21:24,780 --> 00:21:30,340 that is? Raise your hand. Go on. Come on, participate along with 272 00:21:30,340 --> 00:21:36,180 me. You're the images. Jesus came very simply. You are good. You 273 00:21:36,340 --> 00:21:42,990 are good in God's eyes. Jesus comes to restore it, to redeem it. 274 00:21:42,990 --> 00:21:47,230 And he sends the Holy Spirit into your life. He ignites you to 275 00:21:47,230 --> 00:21:50,510 grow what is good, so that on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 276 00:21:50,590 --> 00:21:55,310 Friday, Saturday, you're acting out of the restored image 277 00:21:55,870 --> 00:22:00,990 and you are helping others to believe it too. Dave, Job one is 278 00:22:00,990 --> 00:22:06,000 to let Jesus transform you so you believe it about you again. And 279 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:12,400 then Job two is to go out and grow what is good with Jesus. But 280 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,880 it's hard, isn't it? But we're made. Our entire destiny, folks, 281 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:20,840 our entire destiny is this. We have been like, Jesus is calling 282 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,320 us to start working a harvest. He says it in so many ways. This 283 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:28,280 is Paul, not Jesus. Jesus says, the harvest is ripe, it's ready 284 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:32,430 to be worked. I just don't have enough workers. All my workers 285 00:22:32,430 --> 00:22:36,070 are doing something else over here. They're working on their careers. 286 00:22:36,710 --> 00:22:40,350 They're working on their getting a raise. They're working 287 00:22:40,350 --> 00:22:44,150 on hustling for their worth. They're over here doing their living 288 00:22:44,150 --> 00:22:52,190 life. And Jesus, like, over here is life. You are made to work 289 00:22:52,190 --> 00:22:55,990 the harvest of the new creation. Your entire joy is in it. 290 00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:01,320 Your purpose is in it. Paul is telling people in another. Another 291 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,320 group of people that were running amok after he visited them 292 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,560 in Galatia. He's trying to bring them back to like, remember 293 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,400 what your life is for. It's for growing what is good with Christ. 294 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,480 The chapter before this, he said, like, let the Spirit dwell 295 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,880 in you so that you grow the fruits of. Let's see how many we 296 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,760 can name. There's nine of them. He says, grow these fruits. 297 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:33,560 Come on. There's one. Love, joy, peace, patience. Ah. Hey, really 298 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,200 quick. Do you notice how patience is number four on the list? 299 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,560 Paul's like, attacking us. Love, joy, peace, patience. Keep 300 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,760 going. Goodness, do you see? Goodness is in there. Keep going. 301 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:53,180 Self, control, faithfulness. Gentlemen, we did it. Give yourselves 302 00:23:53,180 --> 00:24:00,980 a round of applause. Yeah, you know them intellectually. The question 303 00:24:00,980 --> 00:24:04,740 is, can you, can you cultivate them spiritually? That's the entire 304 00:24:04,740 --> 00:24:09,020 journey of the Christian, you can recite the verse Paul's saying, 305 00:24:09,020 --> 00:24:13,580 like, don't give up, though this world is filled with hate, this 306 00:24:13,580 --> 00:24:18,640 world is good at making people forget they are made in God's image. 307 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:23,880 This world forms people in growing what is not good. Let's not 308 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,280 get tired of doing good, because in time, we'll have a harvest 309 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:33,360 if we don't give up. So over the next weeks, one, we're inviting 310 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,960 you to grow some fruit at home. Everybody. If all you got is 311 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:43,050 one tomato plant at home, good. Everybody do it. One tomato 312 00:24:43,050 --> 00:24:47,570 plant or one basil plant, and all you bring is one bag of basil, 313 00:24:47,570 --> 00:24:51,490 fine, that's fine. But we want to invite you on a journey the next 314 00:24:51,490 --> 00:24:55,610 several weeks throughout this gardening season to grow some literal 315 00:24:55,610 --> 00:24:59,650 fruit that you bring back to the community, but also grow some 316 00:24:59,650 --> 00:25:03,010 fruit that you eat at home. And as you do it, you think about, 317 00:25:03,010 --> 00:25:07,210 like, how, man, this is what I'm made to do. I'm made to cultivate 318 00:25:07,210 --> 00:25:11,420 and harvest fruit with Jesus. I'm made to grow what is good. What's 319 00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:20,820 this stirring in you? PT PT Once had a rabbi say that the difference 320 00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:25,099 between Christians and Jewish folk is that a fundamental Jewish 321 00:25:25,099 --> 00:25:28,340 belief is that we always have God's breath in us. And so we are 322 00:25:28,340 --> 00:25:31,340 good. We're sustained by God's breath. Next week, we're going to 323 00:25:31,340 --> 00:25:36,110 look at Genesis 2, where God breathes into the human being to 324 00:25:36,110 --> 00:25:39,430 make them alive. Sometimes the story that's dominated Christianity 325 00:25:39,430 --> 00:25:42,470 is that we've lost it and we have to do something to earn it back. 326 00:25:43,750 --> 00:26:01,990 Adam. Yeah, right. Yeah, sure. Yeah. So. So maybe part of what you're 327 00:26:01,990 --> 00:26:05,310 saying is, like, believing that we're originally good doesn't 328 00:26:05,310 --> 00:26:08,430 mean that we just don't care at all about the weeds that can grow 329 00:26:08,430 --> 00:26:11,950 up in the garden. Yeah. It's not just like, all like, hey, everything 330 00:26:11,950 --> 00:26:14,150 will work out if we just believe we're originally good. No, 331 00:26:14,150 --> 00:26:19,550 there. There really are some legitimate kind of threats to our 332 00:26:19,550 --> 00:26:22,590 life of cultivating and harvesting fruit that we kind of 333 00:26:22,590 --> 00:26:26,430 have to grow in wisdom about discernment. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. 334 00:26:26,430 --> 00:26:29,500 What else? What's astern in you? This is making you think, feel, 335 00:26:29,740 --> 00:26:35,340 want to do, makes you want to dance. When you're dancing, you're 336 00:26:35,340 --> 00:26:39,180 not, like, thinking, yeah, it's like the wedding conundrum. 337 00:26:39,340 --> 00:26:42,140 People are like, I'm not going out and dancing on that wedding floor 338 00:26:42,140 --> 00:26:44,900 because all the people sitting at the tables are going to watch 339 00:26:44,900 --> 00:26:49,220 me and see that, like, I'm not a great dancer, you know? And so, 340 00:26:49,220 --> 00:26:52,980 like, we've forgotten the points we're up there like wondering 341 00:26:52,980 --> 00:26:56,100 who's evaluating our dancing skills. The point is to celebrate 342 00:26:56,100 --> 00:26:59,630 the wedding. Who cares what you look like? Yeah, what's a stern 343 00:26:59,630 --> 00:27:01,910 in you? What's it make you think? Sorry, I just told you what 344 00:27:01,910 --> 00:27:04,750 I think. At weddings, maybe that's not how you are. I have to 345 00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:07,350 be like, oh wait, nevermind, I don't care. I'm just here to celebrate. 346 00:27:08,150 --> 00:27:11,950 What else? Anybody else? Let's not get tired of doing good because 347 00:27:11,950 --> 00:27:17,270 in time we'll have a harvest if we don't give up. Let's talk about 348 00:27:17,270 --> 00:27:20,710 the next several weeks, about growing what is good. Let's pray. 349 00:27:22,150 --> 00:27:26,080 God, thank you that you've gathered us here today. But more 350 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,720 so thank you for creating life in some mystery. We believe this 351 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:36,320 idea, this truth that we're made in your image to reflect your 352 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:41,520 beauty and glory. Help our unbelief in the coming weeks. Help 353 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:48,120 us to walk with you and to grow in the spirit and to cultivate 354 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:54,170 fruit that is good for us and good for others. In Jesus name, amen. 355 00:27:55,450 --> 00:27:59,970 Thank you for participating in the conversation happening at Heaven 356 00:27:59,970 --> 00:28:05,090 Earth Church. Your next opportunity to do so live is this 357 00:28:05,090 --> 00:28:10,650 Sunday morning, 9:30am Eastern Time, either at the main campus at 358 00:28:10,650 --> 00:28:16,480 309 East Main in Whiteland, Indiana or online at YouTube Live. 359 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:24,400 That's@YouTube.com heavenerthchurch the audio podcast 360 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:31,040 is always available at Apple Podcast and on Spotify. You can help 361 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,520 others find out about the Heaven Earth Church podcast by going 362 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:40,320 to Apple Podcast and or Spotify and leaving a five star rating 363 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,930 and your review. Instructions on how to do just that and links 364 00:28:44,930 --> 00:28:50,050 are in the show notes. You can always find out more by going to 365 00:28:50,050 --> 00:28:53,730 the church website heavenearthchurch.org. 366 00:28:55,810 --> 00:28:58,890 We want to thank you for spending time with us today. My name 367 00:28:58,890 --> 00:29:02,850 is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church and you may 368 00:29:02,850 --> 00:29:06,210 think out there that your story is over, but in fact your faith 369 00:29:06,210 --> 00:29:10,350 story may just be beginning. If you want more information about 370 00:29:10,350 --> 00:29:12,750 our church or you're interested in the next step, you 371 00:29:12,750 --> 00:29:16,910 can go to heavenorthchurch.org otherwise we look forward to being 372 00:29:16,910 --> 00:29:19,950 with you next time at the Heaven Earth Church podcast.