1 00:00:01,050 --> 00:00:03,210 Gregg Marutzky: Today I want to talk about who are we. 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:11,010 It's very important we know who we are because, uh, when you start losing touch 3 00:00:11,010 --> 00:00:15,780 with the reality and don't know who you are, you need someone to bring you back. 4 00:00:15,780 --> 00:00:16,410 Right? 5 00:00:17,220 --> 00:00:21,270 And so if you'd like to, you know, some of the, some of the young 6 00:00:21,270 --> 00:00:24,540 people, they're gonna wish they sat next to somebody different. 7 00:00:25,020 --> 00:00:26,580 But if you'd like to. 8 00:00:26,940 --> 00:00:31,380 You can hold hands for just a minute with a person next to you. 9 00:00:31,410 --> 00:00:35,460 'cause that's gonna help ground you in reality. 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,830 All right, go ahead. 11 00:00:38,070 --> 00:00:41,820 And then if you are sitting next to somebody that, uh, of the opposite sex, 12 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:43,590 you're a little hesitant there too. 13 00:00:43,590 --> 00:00:44,040 I know. 14 00:00:44,490 --> 00:00:46,140 So, so go ahead. 15 00:00:46,470 --> 00:00:50,070 This is following direction from the leaders, so it's, all right. 16 00:00:50,730 --> 00:00:51,690 There you go. 17 00:00:52,740 --> 00:00:56,400 We used to hold hands in the huddle every huddle. 18 00:00:56,715 --> 00:00:59,625 When I played football, high school, college. 19 00:00:59,625 --> 00:01:01,935 So it's all right guys to hold hands, 20 00:01:04,394 --> 00:01:05,474 but that's enough. 21 00:01:05,745 --> 00:01:07,275 All right. 22 00:01:10,935 --> 00:01:18,765 Today we're gonna look at who Jesus was and is, and we're 23 00:01:18,765 --> 00:01:20,365 going to talk about who we are. 24 00:01:21,855 --> 00:01:26,775 It's very important to understand your identity. 25 00:01:27,525 --> 00:01:32,085 Let me define ident identity for you for a second here. 26 00:01:32,595 --> 00:01:38,055 It says, identity refers to the qualities, beliefs, and relationships 27 00:01:38,055 --> 00:01:44,535 that make a person or thing unique, recognizable, encompassing, both 28 00:01:44,535 --> 00:01:48,015 personal and social aspects. 29 00:01:48,765 --> 00:01:49,545 Who are we? 30 00:01:49,950 --> 00:01:54,780 Identity refers to the organization of the individual's, drives abilities, 31 00:01:54,780 --> 00:02:01,470 beliefs, and history into a consistent image of self, what you see in the mirror. 32 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:02,670 All right. 33 00:02:02,670 --> 00:02:06,450 Identity is developed usually in adolescence. 34 00:02:06,510 --> 00:02:11,610 Ericsson and his stages of growth says in every stage there's a crisis. 35 00:02:11,610 --> 00:02:14,725 In the crisis when you're an adolescent or teen, or a youth. 36 00:02:15,420 --> 00:02:21,030 Is gaining your identity, and when you don't go through the crisis and get 37 00:02:21,030 --> 00:02:27,630 it resolved, then in some ways you get stuck and you won't have a full identity. 38 00:02:27,630 --> 00:02:32,579 Identity involves deliberate choices and decisions, and that's why we're gonna 39 00:02:32,579 --> 00:02:40,050 talk about today, particularly about work values, ideology, and commitments to 40 00:02:40,050 --> 00:02:44,070 people and ideas, including the church. 41 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:50,850 So identity for a church is what we decide and choose to be. 42 00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:55,470 Now if I say we are what comes to your mind? 43 00:02:58,019 --> 00:03:02,280 We are, oh, you didn't watch the same movies? 44 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:02,760 I did. 45 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:07,320 Then Marshall, we are Marshall. 46 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,780 Do you any of you remember that movie? 47 00:03:10,860 --> 00:03:13,380 Yeah, it was a great chant. 48 00:03:13,380 --> 00:03:14,670 We are Marshall. 49 00:03:14,670 --> 00:03:16,020 We are Marshall. 50 00:03:16,020 --> 00:03:17,460 We are Marshall. 51 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:18,210 Why? 52 00:03:18,510 --> 00:03:20,640 Because they had had a tragedy. 53 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:26,670 Uh, a whole team was lost, their football team was lost. 54 00:03:26,670 --> 00:03:28,290 I think it was in a plane crash. 55 00:03:28,290 --> 00:03:29,910 It might have been a bus accident. 56 00:03:30,660 --> 00:03:35,280 It really stood out to me because I had three cruel older brothers. 57 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,570 And we'd always go to Oklahoma for Christmas to visit our 58 00:03:39,570 --> 00:03:44,370 grandparents, and my mother and dad would drive over Monarch Pass. 59 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:48,960 We lived in Colorado and we'd go over Monarch Pass and get to Oklahoma. 60 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:49,829 It's before they had the. 61 00:03:50,445 --> 00:03:54,795 Superhighway and finished the, the tunnel through the Eisenhower 62 00:03:54,795 --> 00:03:56,054 tunnel, through the mountain. 63 00:03:56,054 --> 00:03:59,744 And so we'd go over the pass and my cruel older brothers would 64 00:03:59,744 --> 00:04:01,790 say, Greg, you better, you. 65 00:04:01,795 --> 00:04:06,765 You better start praying because it's on this downhill slope that the buses 66 00:04:06,765 --> 00:04:12,255 always lose their brakes and they'd go off and people die every day on this road. 67 00:04:12,344 --> 00:04:13,935 And we could die, Greg. 68 00:04:15,209 --> 00:04:15,765 And you know. 69 00:04:17,714 --> 00:04:20,863 I don't know how old I was, but it really shook me. 70 00:04:21,015 --> 00:04:25,364 And even when as an adult, when I drive on that road, I'd sort of start 71 00:04:25,364 --> 00:04:27,585 holding my breath and hyperventilating. 72 00:04:27,674 --> 00:04:30,015 Then Kathy would say, now, Greg, breathe. 73 00:04:30,435 --> 00:04:31,515 Greg, breathe. 74 00:04:32,205 --> 00:04:36,164 All right, so don't be a cruel older brother or sister. 75 00:04:36,164 --> 00:04:36,435 All right. 76 00:04:36,435 --> 00:04:38,909 You could scar someone for life. 77 00:04:40,034 --> 00:04:44,594 But when that movie came out, it, it resonated with me because it 78 00:04:44,594 --> 00:04:46,364 was about a team that had an act. 79 00:04:46,380 --> 00:04:51,840 Accident and it really forged that university and they still use that 80 00:04:51,840 --> 00:04:54,600 chant today for their identity. 81 00:04:55,770 --> 00:04:56,700 Who are we? 82 00:04:57,270 --> 00:04:58,140 Who are you? 83 00:04:59,130 --> 00:05:04,650 Some of us are spouses, some of us are parents, some of us are children, some of 84 00:05:04,650 --> 00:05:07,530 us are students, some of us are workers. 85 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,300 We're a lot of things right. 86 00:05:10,575 --> 00:05:13,905 Who are we gonna be collectively together? 87 00:05:13,905 --> 00:05:16,095 That's my question for us this morning. 88 00:05:16,875 --> 00:05:20,115 And as I was thinking about this, I thought, who am I? 89 00:05:21,015 --> 00:05:25,875 You know, and I started making a list of some things that I am, I'm the one 90 00:05:25,875 --> 00:05:28,635 that became a disciple 48 years ago. 91 00:05:28,665 --> 00:05:30,015 I had to count up. 92 00:05:30,375 --> 00:05:33,975 I thought it was less than that, but it was, it was more than I thought. 93 00:05:34,905 --> 00:05:38,715 I'm the one that became a, an evangelist 43 years ago. 94 00:05:39,990 --> 00:05:43,800 I got married 44 years ago this year in May. 95 00:05:43,890 --> 00:05:47,280 This coming year will be my 45th anniversary. 96 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:50,250 Can you believe someone put up with me that long? 97 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:51,599 Yeah. 98 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:53,400 Yeah. 99 00:05:53,670 --> 00:05:54,659 45 years. 100 00:05:54,659 --> 00:05:55,830 It's gone fast. 101 00:05:55,830 --> 00:05:57,240 It's for me anyway. 102 00:05:57,630 --> 00:05:58,920 You'll have to ask her. 103 00:06:00,990 --> 00:06:05,700 40 years ago, sorry Mandy, I'm outing you on your age, but I 104 00:06:05,700 --> 00:06:08,310 became the father of Amanda, Leanne. 105 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,390 And then Megan Beth, and it was a great day. 106 00:06:12,390 --> 00:06:17,040 I remember she was born in the Boulder Hospital and, and, uh, I took a break 107 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,550 after everything had settled down to go home and shower and come back. 108 00:06:20,550 --> 00:06:25,200 We were up all night and the first, uh, song on the radio 109 00:06:25,470 --> 00:06:28,530 was by Mary Menlow, Mandy. 110 00:06:29,505 --> 00:06:32,745 I wasn't a real emotional guy, but I just started crying. 111 00:06:32,745 --> 00:06:36,195 Maybe I was tired, but also it was just so beautiful. 112 00:06:36,195 --> 00:06:40,815 It was, it was God saying, you named her right and she's yours. 113 00:06:40,815 --> 00:06:42,195 You got a little baby girl. 114 00:06:42,974 --> 00:06:44,715 I, I think she knows that story. 115 00:06:44,715 --> 00:06:47,235 If not, I cried. 116 00:06:50,865 --> 00:06:55,815 And then 10 years ago, and, uh, Sienna just had her birthday last week 117 00:06:55,815 --> 00:06:58,185 and so I, that one was an easy one. 118 00:06:58,185 --> 00:07:03,075 I became a grandfather for Sienna and then McKenna came a Dean 119 00:07:03,075 --> 00:07:06,405 and Kensington and Maddie's here in the audience this morning. 120 00:07:07,215 --> 00:07:09,975 And it's awesome being a, a grandpa. 121 00:07:10,035 --> 00:07:14,625 I gave her a, a, uh, bottle this morning for a little while, as 122 00:07:14,625 --> 00:07:16,245 long as she could stay still. 123 00:07:16,245 --> 00:07:18,975 And then, uh, she spilled it on me. 124 00:07:19,005 --> 00:07:21,795 And so, uh, but, uh, it's awesome. 125 00:07:21,795 --> 00:07:26,745 That's something I am, I'm a professor, I'm a professional counselor, but 126 00:07:26,745 --> 00:07:28,725 most of all, I thought about it. 127 00:07:28,755 --> 00:07:34,965 What matters most is I'm a disciple, and I hope that's what you. 128 00:07:35,924 --> 00:07:40,094 Care about the most in your life, and I want to be like Jesus. 129 00:07:40,215 --> 00:07:42,794 I know when I became a Christian, I wanted to be saved. 130 00:07:43,484 --> 00:07:43,965 Frankly. 131 00:07:43,965 --> 00:07:48,554 I wanted to get control of myself, get control of my anger, get control of 132 00:07:48,554 --> 00:07:54,164 some of my issues I wanted to change, but the longer I've been, a com been 133 00:07:54,164 --> 00:07:58,664 a Christian, the more and more in love with God and in love with Jesus, 134 00:07:58,875 --> 00:08:02,745 and now there's nothing more that I want them to be just like Jesus. 135 00:08:03,705 --> 00:08:08,385 So if I could say to myself, I could look in the mirror and say, hi, Jesus, 136 00:08:08,385 --> 00:08:10,275 I'd, I'd be feeling good about myself. 137 00:08:10,275 --> 00:08:13,035 Now that sounds a little weird as I say it out loud. 138 00:08:13,305 --> 00:08:17,025 I fought it though when I've looked in the mirror, you know, be like 139 00:08:17,025 --> 00:08:20,175 Jesus today, Greg, don't be you. 140 00:08:20,235 --> 00:08:21,225 Be Jesus. 141 00:08:21,495 --> 00:08:22,185 All right. 142 00:08:22,485 --> 00:08:23,595 Be better than you. 143 00:08:23,910 --> 00:08:27,045 So we're gonna look at who Jesus said he was. 144 00:08:27,045 --> 00:08:29,175 Seven verses in the book of John. 145 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,039 He says who he is. 146 00:08:32,068 --> 00:08:33,419 He says, I am. 147 00:08:34,140 --> 00:08:35,850 I am this, I am that. 148 00:08:35,850 --> 00:08:40,530 So it's a self portrait that he paints with words for us to really 149 00:08:40,530 --> 00:08:42,990 get a good picture of who he is. 150 00:08:42,990 --> 00:08:47,460 And I think each of these things we're gonna look at are things that you and I 151 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:54,689 need from God and need from Jesus and need to imitate so we'll have better lives. 152 00:08:55,380 --> 00:08:59,640 You probably heard this sermon before, but I want us to embody these things. 153 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:05,430 I want us to really embrace them so we become like him and so that 154 00:09:05,430 --> 00:09:10,680 whatever things that he knew he needed to be for us, we can be 155 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:14,160 for ourselves and for each other. 156 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:20,790 So let's look at a list of all these things that, uh, he is all right, 157 00:09:20,790 --> 00:09:22,590 because that's what I am means. 158 00:09:22,590 --> 00:09:23,970 It's I is. 159 00:09:25,155 --> 00:09:26,954 Be all right. 160 00:09:27,015 --> 00:09:28,995 He was cool before we got Cool. 161 00:09:29,055 --> 00:09:29,745 All right. 162 00:09:30,285 --> 00:09:35,385 He said, I am, I am, I be, I are not are he wasn't Plural. 163 00:09:35,714 --> 00:09:36,344 I is. 164 00:09:36,405 --> 00:09:36,944 Okay. 165 00:09:37,395 --> 00:09:41,324 So I am, I am the way, the truth and the life. 166 00:09:41,324 --> 00:09:42,765 John 14th, six. 167 00:09:43,214 --> 00:09:46,125 And we'll have a whole sermon series about each one of these. 168 00:09:46,125 --> 00:09:48,824 We'll go into depth on each one of them today. 169 00:09:48,824 --> 00:09:52,370 I'm just gonna give a, a little overview on it, but, uh. 170 00:09:53,219 --> 00:09:59,670 There's great profound meaning to Jesus saying, I'm the way, and 171 00:09:59,670 --> 00:10:02,910 throughout the scriptures, I love reading the Book of Proverbs because 172 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,650 it starts off talking about the way, the path, which path are you on? 173 00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:09,839 Don't be on the path with bandits. 174 00:10:09,839 --> 00:10:11,760 Don't be on the path with thieves. 175 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,160 Get on this straight and narrow path. 176 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:15,959 Be on the wise path. 177 00:10:16,290 --> 00:10:17,880 Don't be on the foolish path. 178 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,689 Talks about the way that we live our lives. 179 00:10:22,500 --> 00:10:25,560 Jesus says, I'm the way, I'm your guide. 180 00:10:26,010 --> 00:10:26,910 You follow me. 181 00:10:26,910 --> 00:10:30,839 If you, you let me guide you, you can have a good, fulfilling, meaningful 182 00:10:30,839 --> 00:10:34,020 life, or you can go on your own way. 183 00:10:34,589 --> 00:10:39,390 You don't have to have a map or you can follow me and I'll be your map. 184 00:10:39,390 --> 00:10:40,290 I'll be your guide. 185 00:10:40,949 --> 00:10:42,329 I'm the true vine. 186 00:10:43,260 --> 00:10:44,699 We know what vines are about. 187 00:10:44,699 --> 00:10:45,329 Some of us. 188 00:10:46,515 --> 00:10:51,105 Anybody, well, I shouldn't push this, but anybody been to a winery? 189 00:10:52,574 --> 00:10:58,185 All that's where you see vines and great things come from vines. 190 00:10:58,545 --> 00:10:59,204 All right. 191 00:10:59,775 --> 00:11:04,155 But they're, they, they're interwoven and they're attached, and you don't see 192 00:11:04,245 --> 00:11:07,365 where one ends and another one begins. 193 00:11:07,365 --> 00:11:09,555 It's just this interconnectedness. 194 00:11:10,125 --> 00:11:12,975 So Jesus is saying, I can connect you. 195 00:11:12,975 --> 00:11:16,125 I can connect you to the source to God. 196 00:11:16,185 --> 00:11:18,375 I can connect you to each other. 197 00:11:18,525 --> 00:11:21,045 I can even get you connected to yourself. 198 00:11:21,074 --> 00:11:25,245 'cause there's a long distance between head and heart, all right? 199 00:11:25,275 --> 00:11:29,925 You can think things but not feel things, so you need to be connected. 200 00:11:30,074 --> 00:11:31,935 We need a vine in our lives. 201 00:11:32,145 --> 00:11:34,155 He says, I am the shepherd. 202 00:11:34,845 --> 00:11:36,045 I'm your mentor. 203 00:11:36,615 --> 00:11:37,305 I'm the one. 204 00:11:37,305 --> 00:11:38,145 I'm your tutor. 205 00:11:38,145 --> 00:11:41,175 I'm the one that's gonna put my arms around you and encourage you. 206 00:11:41,175 --> 00:11:41,925 I'm your coach. 207 00:11:41,925 --> 00:11:46,215 I'm gonna pump you up sometimes I'm gonna challenge you to stretch yourself. 208 00:11:46,365 --> 00:11:48,765 I'm gonna teach you the things you don't know. 209 00:11:49,065 --> 00:11:49,695 All right? 210 00:11:49,905 --> 00:11:53,025 Some of us had fathers that taught us, some of us didn't. 211 00:11:53,565 --> 00:11:55,455 Jesus says, I want to be your shepherd. 212 00:11:55,455 --> 00:11:59,535 I'm gonna be the door for the price is right. 213 00:11:59,535 --> 00:12:03,255 No, I'm gonna be the door where you get to win. 214 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:09,390 Whatever choice you make, I'm gonna guide you to the right door, the right 215 00:12:09,390 --> 00:12:15,120 place, the right choices to make, you know, life's made of, made up of choices. 216 00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:20,250 Where you choose to live, where you choose to go to school, how you choose 217 00:12:20,250 --> 00:12:27,390 to work, who you choose to marry, you know, or not Mary, you know, whatever. 218 00:12:27,599 --> 00:12:30,060 Jesus says, I'm the door, I'm the bread of life. 219 00:12:30,825 --> 00:12:34,335 I mean, you gotta eat and bring into yourself the right 220 00:12:34,335 --> 00:12:36,585 things or you won't live. 221 00:12:37,005 --> 00:12:38,085 I'm gonna feed you. 222 00:12:38,085 --> 00:12:39,645 I'm gonna feed your soul. 223 00:12:39,825 --> 00:12:41,955 And he says, I'm the light of the world. 224 00:12:43,125 --> 00:12:45,885 You ever just been in a gloomy place? 225 00:12:47,055 --> 00:12:49,485 We are so blessed living in Southern California. 226 00:12:50,715 --> 00:12:52,245 Don't ever move to Boston. 227 00:12:54,839 --> 00:12:56,849 I moved to Boston for two years. 228 00:12:56,849 --> 00:12:59,339 Happiness was Boston in the rear view mirror. 229 00:12:59,400 --> 00:12:59,849 For me. 230 00:13:02,099 --> 00:13:07,199 I grew up in Colorado, and contrary to what you see on the news and what 231 00:13:07,199 --> 00:13:13,079 most people think it is, sunshiney more in Colorado, the sun shines more, 232 00:13:13,079 --> 00:13:17,699 there's less clouds, there's more sunshine that gets to the earth than 233 00:13:17,699 --> 00:13:20,189 almost anywhere in the United States. 234 00:13:20,339 --> 00:13:21,745 And so I'm a sunshine boy. 235 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:28,770 I like the light and then I got, the second place I lived was California San 236 00:13:28,770 --> 00:13:32,490 Diego, and it gets a little cloudy in the morning there and then it burns off. 237 00:13:32,490 --> 00:13:36,600 It's a lot of sunshine and the two places I've loved to live the 238 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,170 most is Colorado and California. 239 00:13:41,550 --> 00:13:43,350 And I lived in Nebraska for a while. 240 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:45,930 Not a whole lot different than Boston. 241 00:13:47,715 --> 00:13:50,925 Very cloudy and gloomy and dull. 242 00:13:50,925 --> 00:13:53,625 I'd have to go in the house and just turn on all the lights. 243 00:13:54,465 --> 00:13:58,300 Our electricity bill was terrible because I can't stand the, 244 00:13:58,575 --> 00:14:04,095 the gloom, the gray, the dull. 245 00:14:04,365 --> 00:14:05,325 I like the light. 246 00:14:06,615 --> 00:14:07,545 I like the light. 247 00:14:09,165 --> 00:14:10,575 I like to see the beauty. 248 00:14:10,575 --> 00:14:12,525 You know, without light, there's no beauty. 249 00:14:12,645 --> 00:14:15,285 Everything's ugly and dull. 250 00:14:16,290 --> 00:14:16,980 With light. 251 00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:20,010 We have colors and we have brightness. 252 00:14:20,490 --> 00:14:25,440 Jesus is the light of the world, and the last one, the resurrection and the life. 253 00:14:27,030 --> 00:14:32,790 You know, if there wasn't resurrection, we'd die. 254 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,720 We'd be dead all over just like rover. 255 00:14:38,430 --> 00:14:40,710 I think that's funny, but you don't, all right. 256 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:42,180 You're dog lovers. 257 00:14:42,180 --> 00:14:44,250 So I, I'm not really a dog lover. 258 00:14:44,579 --> 00:14:46,560 We had lots of dogs growing up. 259 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:47,430 They'd run off. 260 00:14:47,430 --> 00:14:50,790 We lived out in the country and unfortunately some of them 261 00:14:50,790 --> 00:14:52,530 even get run over by cars. 262 00:14:52,530 --> 00:14:54,240 So I didn't get real attached. 263 00:14:54,569 --> 00:14:56,579 Some of you, it's part of the family. 264 00:14:56,605 --> 00:14:57,959 I, I apologize. 265 00:14:58,350 --> 00:14:59,970 I shouldn't have told that joke. 266 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,449 My wife will scold me on the way home, you know. 267 00:15:04,230 --> 00:15:05,939 Craig, when will you learn? 268 00:15:05,970 --> 00:15:06,839 When will you learn? 269 00:15:07,890 --> 00:15:09,270 Yeah, when I grow up. 270 00:15:09,300 --> 00:15:10,410 When I grow up. 271 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:12,900 But I love resurrection. 272 00:15:14,025 --> 00:15:15,165 I love resurrection. 273 00:15:16,185 --> 00:15:17,355 It's what converted me. 274 00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:24,345 A book who Moved the Stone really solidified my faith that 275 00:15:24,345 --> 00:15:27,405 it really answered the question that there's more to life. 276 00:15:29,084 --> 00:15:31,845 And if you don't think there's more to life than just what we 277 00:15:31,845 --> 00:15:35,985 see and what we can create and what we can imagine, then that's a 278 00:15:35,985 --> 00:15:38,954 pretty existential and dreary life. 279 00:15:39,435 --> 00:15:42,855 And I feel bad for, uh, the generations that have. 280 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:48,540 Have come in the last few generations because most of the philosophy, the 281 00:15:48,540 --> 00:15:54,540 undergirding philosophy that you're taught in school is a nihilist philosophy. 282 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,710 It's not a faithful, it's not a transcendent philosophy. 283 00:15:59,310 --> 00:16:00,330 It's a philosophy. 284 00:16:00,330 --> 00:16:03,420 It's a secular philosophy that says. 285 00:16:04,020 --> 00:16:05,730 Nothing is really true. 286 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:07,170 Nothing really matters. 287 00:16:07,170 --> 00:16:12,270 It's an existential philosophy that says whatever you think is fine 288 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,890 and it's nihilistic, it eventually the ends in a dead end road. 289 00:16:18,060 --> 00:16:21,540 And that's why the anxiety and the depression of young 290 00:16:21,540 --> 00:16:25,260 people have gone through the roofs because that underlining. 291 00:16:25,620 --> 00:16:30,750 Philosophy that your professors are com, their perspective, their worldview that 292 00:16:30,750 --> 00:16:34,380 they're coming from, they don't tell you 'cause it's too depressing, depressing. 293 00:16:34,380 --> 00:16:37,950 And they don't even want to think about it much because they'll get depressed. 294 00:16:37,950 --> 00:16:38,580 All right. 295 00:16:40,260 --> 00:16:43,230 But it, it isn't a transcendent one. 296 00:16:43,980 --> 00:16:48,665 God got kicked out of the academy, out of the universities during the enlightenment 297 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:50,580 and we're trying to bring him back in. 298 00:16:51,645 --> 00:16:53,234 But you're not gonna find God. 299 00:16:53,234 --> 00:16:54,464 You're not gonna find faith. 300 00:16:54,464 --> 00:16:56,265 You're not gonna find spiritual power. 301 00:16:56,265 --> 00:17:02,084 You're not gonna find a higher being or a higher meaning at any secular place. 302 00:17:04,335 --> 00:17:07,784 And so just realize that and don't look for it there. 303 00:17:07,784 --> 00:17:09,704 Come to church and we'll give it to you. 304 00:17:09,704 --> 00:17:10,425 Amen. 305 00:17:11,085 --> 00:17:13,365 Shameless plug, way to go, Greg. 306 00:17:13,365 --> 00:17:13,784 Amen. 307 00:17:15,105 --> 00:17:15,675 Who are we? 308 00:17:15,675 --> 00:17:16,544 We're the church. 309 00:17:16,544 --> 00:17:18,405 We're the place you can find God. 310 00:17:18,675 --> 00:17:19,395 Who are we? 311 00:17:20,085 --> 00:17:21,974 I want us to be Jesus. 312 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:23,474 That's that. 313 00:17:23,474 --> 00:17:26,805 I, I posed the question, who are you? 314 00:17:27,224 --> 00:17:32,355 And I want you to say more than anything, I'm Christlike, I'm Christian. 315 00:17:33,345 --> 00:17:34,365 I'm like, Jesus. 316 00:17:34,365 --> 00:17:35,295 He's my hero. 317 00:17:35,295 --> 00:17:36,285 He's my example. 318 00:17:36,285 --> 00:17:38,085 He's all these things in life. 319 00:17:38,085 --> 00:17:41,535 The vine, the way, the shepherd, the bread, the light, the 320 00:17:41,535 --> 00:17:42,885 resurrection and the door. 321 00:17:42,885 --> 00:17:46,425 And so that's who we are as an, as a church. 322 00:17:47,115 --> 00:17:48,405 We're a little bit fragmented. 323 00:17:49,665 --> 00:17:53,115 I have an outside perspective, so I'm not saying it critically 324 00:17:53,475 --> 00:17:56,715 'cause I'm here and I'm gonna stay here and I'll probably die here. 325 00:17:56,715 --> 00:18:00,735 So I don't wanna make any, I don't wanna be antagonistic. 326 00:18:00,735 --> 00:18:01,875 I don't wanna be ornery. 327 00:18:01,995 --> 00:18:02,745 All right? 328 00:18:02,834 --> 00:18:07,215 But I want us to be our best, and I want to be a part of something great. 329 00:18:07,514 --> 00:18:08,324 All right? 330 00:18:08,415 --> 00:18:14,504 And I want us to come together and really figure out our identity together, 331 00:18:14,534 --> 00:18:17,415 who we are, and I want it to be. 332 00:18:17,745 --> 00:18:20,745 Biblical and act like Jesus. 333 00:18:20,774 --> 00:18:26,355 All right, so before I tell you what I really hope we decide together to be, 334 00:18:26,355 --> 00:18:31,155 and if you read my article, you already know where I'm going, but, uh, I, I sent 335 00:18:31,155 --> 00:18:35,834 that out late last night, so most of you didn't have time to read it 'cause 336 00:18:35,834 --> 00:18:37,395 I want you to listen to the sermon. 337 00:18:37,425 --> 00:18:38,054 All right? 338 00:18:38,445 --> 00:18:42,344 But the, the article will follow up the sermon, but here's a 339 00:18:42,344 --> 00:18:44,625 verse and, and Steve read it. 340 00:18:45,330 --> 00:18:51,930 Just as the body's one and has many parts, but all its parts form one body. 341 00:18:52,170 --> 00:18:53,730 So it is with Christ. 342 00:18:54,090 --> 00:18:58,920 For we're all baptized, that's our birth by one spirit into the body of 343 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:04,260 Christ, the church, whether Jews or gentiles, slaves or free anybody, we're 344 00:19:04,260 --> 00:19:06,300 all given the one spirit to drink. 345 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:08,610 So we're all connected. 346 00:19:09,630 --> 00:19:11,880 But the only way you have community. 347 00:19:12,585 --> 00:19:17,504 The only way you have family, the only way you have committed relationships is 348 00:19:17,504 --> 00:19:24,645 if you make covenants with one another and covenants that mean something sacred. 349 00:19:24,645 --> 00:19:28,965 Vows in a wedding can help your marriage the rest of your life. 350 00:19:29,685 --> 00:19:34,665 I still remember, especially one thing the preacher told Kathy and I to do 351 00:19:34,665 --> 00:19:40,425 really, he didn't tell her, he just told me, he said, don't go to bed angry. 352 00:19:42,090 --> 00:19:43,890 He kept and he was looking right at me. 353 00:19:44,790 --> 00:19:46,680 And Greg, you know why I'm saying this. 354 00:19:47,730 --> 00:19:49,410 He was the father of my roommate. 355 00:19:49,410 --> 00:19:50,820 He knew me well. 356 00:19:51,150 --> 00:19:53,340 We got engaged in his house. 357 00:19:53,370 --> 00:19:55,740 Uh, well, we went to dinner first and got engaged. 358 00:19:55,740 --> 00:19:57,660 Then we went and celebrated his house. 359 00:19:57,750 --> 00:20:02,790 So he knew me, but he knew that I had anger problems at that time. 360 00:20:03,570 --> 00:20:07,920 And so he's, he's just telling me, don't ever, and Kathy and I 361 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:09,150 have tried to live up to that. 362 00:20:10,094 --> 00:20:15,314 All right, and so I want us to live up to some covenants. 363 00:20:15,645 --> 00:20:17,655 Let's define a covenant first, though. 364 00:20:17,865 --> 00:20:18,554 All right. 365 00:20:18,794 --> 00:20:19,784 Stay with me here. 366 00:20:19,844 --> 00:20:23,175 Covenants are shared commitments to one another. 367 00:20:23,534 --> 00:20:27,074 What we're gonna share with each other, we can depend on each other for. 368 00:20:27,555 --> 00:20:30,705 Covenants are like wedding vows in a marriage ceremony. 369 00:20:30,705 --> 00:20:34,815 They're based on the commands of God and they're necessary 370 00:20:34,815 --> 00:20:37,845 to define community or church. 371 00:20:37,845 --> 00:20:39,435 They're very necessary. 372 00:20:39,885 --> 00:20:44,625 Covenants create unity due to these common commitments and covenants 373 00:20:44,625 --> 00:20:47,325 are vows to God and one another. 374 00:20:47,325 --> 00:20:52,305 So let's make some covenants based on who Jesus is. 375 00:20:52,875 --> 00:20:55,245 Let's make some covenants that say we're gonna love God. 376 00:20:55,860 --> 00:20:57,540 Because Jesus is the mind. 377 00:20:58,230 --> 00:21:02,370 We're gonna imitate Jesus because he's the way, the truth and life. 378 00:21:02,460 --> 00:21:05,250 We're gonna love each other because he's the good shepherd. 379 00:21:05,460 --> 00:21:08,580 We're gonna worship God because he's the bread of life. 380 00:21:08,639 --> 00:21:12,480 We're gonna be on his mission because he's the light of the world. 381 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,370 We're gonna have one another. 382 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:19,409 Discipling mentoring relationships, deep in depth relationships because 383 00:21:19,409 --> 00:21:24,585 he's the resurrection of life, and we're going to be committed to the body. 384 00:21:25,470 --> 00:21:26,970 Because he's the door. 385 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,410 If you don't have covenants based on scripture, why even have any? 386 00:21:32,879 --> 00:21:33,629 All right. 387 00:21:34,889 --> 00:21:40,230 I mean, I use the Bible a lot when I do a wedding because that's sacred stuff. 388 00:21:40,889 --> 00:21:45,270 That's a foundation for that couple, and I know they're not gonna get it 389 00:21:45,270 --> 00:21:47,920 from the secular society that we're in. 390 00:21:48,675 --> 00:21:53,175 So that I, they need me to help 'em to have that foundation that can help their, 391 00:21:53,475 --> 00:21:55,515 their family and their marriage last. 392 00:21:55,815 --> 00:22:00,195 And we've gotta have a biblical spiritual foundation as a church 393 00:22:00,435 --> 00:22:03,435 for us to be a strong church. 394 00:22:03,975 --> 00:22:04,605 Amen. 395 00:22:05,445 --> 00:22:07,395 For us to be the OC Church. 396 00:22:07,395 --> 00:22:09,105 So these are the covenants, Simon. 397 00:22:09,555 --> 00:22:16,995 Inviting all of us to embrace, to love God, to really be lovers of God. 398 00:22:16,995 --> 00:22:17,985 Who are we? 399 00:22:17,985 --> 00:22:19,305 We're lovers of God. 400 00:22:19,305 --> 00:22:20,025 Who are we? 401 00:22:20,025 --> 00:22:21,825 We're imitators of Jesus. 402 00:22:21,855 --> 00:22:22,965 Who are we? 403 00:22:23,205 --> 00:22:25,125 We love other people. 404 00:22:25,125 --> 00:22:25,755 Who are we? 405 00:22:25,755 --> 00:22:27,315 We're worshipers of God. 406 00:22:27,735 --> 00:22:28,665 We love to worship. 407 00:22:28,665 --> 00:22:29,535 We love to pray. 408 00:22:29,535 --> 00:22:30,585 We love to praise. 409 00:22:30,585 --> 00:22:32,805 We love to see, right? 410 00:22:33,045 --> 00:22:34,545 Because that's who we are. 411 00:22:34,545 --> 00:22:36,465 We're missionaries of Christ. 412 00:22:36,465 --> 00:22:38,055 We're brothers and sisters. 413 00:22:38,625 --> 00:22:41,055 When I hug you and I say, brother, great to see you. 414 00:22:41,205 --> 00:22:45,855 I mean it, I have three ornery brothers and I have a lot of great brothers. 415 00:22:47,235 --> 00:22:50,235 A couple of my brothers have come around now, alright, so I 416 00:22:50,235 --> 00:22:52,095 shouldn't, I shouldn't poke on 'em. 417 00:22:52,095 --> 00:22:54,165 They may even watch this online. 418 00:22:54,165 --> 00:22:55,185 So I gotta be careful. 419 00:22:55,425 --> 00:23:00,105 And I have a few nephews and nieces that watch me preach, so I better be careful. 420 00:23:00,105 --> 00:23:03,735 They're gonna tell my dad my, uh, not my dad, my brothers, and, 421 00:23:04,245 --> 00:23:08,085 and they're ones bigger than me especially, so I better be careful. 422 00:23:11,475 --> 00:23:15,825 When you're the youngest, somebody in your family is bigger than you. 423 00:23:16,035 --> 00:23:16,455 All right? 424 00:23:17,025 --> 00:23:18,495 Thankfully one of them wasn't. 425 00:23:19,455 --> 00:23:24,105 All right, Johnny, time for story. 426 00:23:24,795 --> 00:23:25,845 Ready for story. 427 00:23:26,265 --> 00:23:30,855 I love reading the stories of Jesus because there's so interesting and it 428 00:23:30,885 --> 00:23:35,235 what's interesting, some of 'em, and this is just me and maybe this is bad about me. 429 00:23:35,804 --> 00:23:39,225 But some of them, there's always some conflict, right? 430 00:23:39,915 --> 00:23:42,254 There's always antagonists and protagonists. 431 00:23:42,254 --> 00:23:44,235 There's always some kind of drama. 432 00:23:44,475 --> 00:23:46,485 There's always some kind of stirring. 433 00:23:46,754 --> 00:23:51,885 And so let's read this story in John chapter eight because, uh, it can 434 00:23:51,885 --> 00:23:56,564 really teach us something about how important these I am passages are. 435 00:23:57,195 --> 00:24:01,725 Once more, Jesus said to them, I'm going away and you will 436 00:24:01,725 --> 00:24:02,905 look for me, and you will not. 437 00:24:03,584 --> 00:24:06,405 You and you or, and you will die in your sin. 438 00:24:06,465 --> 00:24:10,544 Wow, that's tough language where I go, you can't come. 439 00:24:11,415 --> 00:24:14,475 This made the Jews ask, will he kill himself? 440 00:24:14,834 --> 00:24:17,865 Is that why he says, where I go, you cannot come. 441 00:24:18,375 --> 00:24:19,395 But he continued. 442 00:24:19,875 --> 00:24:23,205 You are from below and I'm from above. 443 00:24:24,074 --> 00:24:27,705 You are of this world, and I'm not of this world. 444 00:24:28,485 --> 00:24:32,925 I told you that you will die in your sins if you do not believe what. 445 00:24:33,690 --> 00:24:40,800 If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, 446 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,880 you'll indeed die in your sins. 447 00:24:45,390 --> 00:24:46,290 Who are you? 448 00:24:46,290 --> 00:24:50,610 They ask just what I've been claiming all along to you. 449 00:24:50,610 --> 00:24:55,770 This replied, I have much to say judgment of you, but he who sent me is 450 00:24:55,770 --> 00:24:57,720 reliable and what I have heard from him. 451 00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:58,560 I tell the world. 452 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,540 They didn't understand that Jesus was telling them about God the father. 453 00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:10,980 So Jesus said, when I am lifted up, when you lift up the son of man, then you will 454 00:25:10,980 --> 00:25:14,580 know that I am the one that I claim to be. 455 00:25:15,180 --> 00:25:21,030 So believing these claims about Jesus, his deity, his divinity, are so important 456 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:26,280 and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak just what the Father has taught me. 457 00:25:26,625 --> 00:25:28,485 The one who sent me is with me. 458 00:25:28,545 --> 00:25:34,215 He has not left me alone for, I always do what pleases him. 459 00:25:34,425 --> 00:25:37,185 The rest of the story, stay with me at this. 460 00:25:37,185 --> 00:25:38,445 The Jews exclaimed. 461 00:25:38,805 --> 00:25:41,625 Now we know that you are demon possessed. 462 00:25:42,315 --> 00:25:42,675 Why? 463 00:25:42,705 --> 00:25:44,385 Because he said they were from below. 464 00:25:44,715 --> 00:25:48,795 Anytime someone's offended and they don't have a response, they get personal. 465 00:25:49,185 --> 00:25:50,610 So they got personal with Jesus. 466 00:25:51,389 --> 00:25:56,040 Said your demon possessed Abraham died and so did the prophecy. 467 00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:01,050 Yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 468 00:26:01,050 --> 00:26:03,090 Are you greater than our father Abraham? 469 00:26:03,179 --> 00:26:05,129 He died and so did the prophets. 470 00:26:05,129 --> 00:26:06,570 Who do you think you are? 471 00:26:07,199 --> 00:26:08,310 And Jesus answered. 472 00:26:08,310 --> 00:26:14,429 I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am. 473 00:26:16,290 --> 00:26:17,159 I is. 474 00:26:18,060 --> 00:26:22,320 At this, they picked up stones to ston him, but Jesus hid himself 475 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:26,100 slipping away from the temple grounds. 476 00:26:26,909 --> 00:26:28,830 Let's talk about this I am statement. 477 00:26:29,370 --> 00:26:32,220 He is always in the present tense. 478 00:26:33,870 --> 00:26:35,340 He says, I am, I is. 479 00:26:35,340 --> 00:26:38,370 I be because he's always present. 480 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,560 I was would convey that there was a time that Jesus didn't exist so to. 481 00:26:44,550 --> 00:26:46,590 That we can't use that about Jesus. 482 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:53,760 It's always I am that he is one commentator guy in woods says The verbs 483 00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:59,970 here are quite significant, that with reverence, Abraham's signify signifies 484 00:26:59,970 --> 00:27:05,790 a beginning to come to be, but that of Christ is that he evermore existed. 485 00:27:06,630 --> 00:27:12,750 Jesus claimed deity like God, Jehovah when he said, I am who I am. 486 00:27:12,870 --> 00:27:13,830 Exodus three. 487 00:27:14,250 --> 00:27:14,940 14. 488 00:27:15,270 --> 00:27:21,180 God uses the same language about himself, and then Jesus uses it here in John 489 00:27:21,180 --> 00:27:24,780 eight, verse 58, that he is who He is. 490 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:26,700 That he is, I am. 491 00:27:27,330 --> 00:27:32,760 And then in verse 21 through 23, this is what got under their skin. 492 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,280 You are from below. 493 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:35,850 Beneath. 494 00:27:36,390 --> 00:27:37,235 I'm from above. 495 00:27:37,935 --> 00:27:39,180 You are of this world. 496 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:40,470 I'm not of this world. 497 00:27:41,580 --> 00:27:43,290 You know, I was a smart kid. 498 00:27:44,925 --> 00:27:49,185 When I went to college, I wanted to figure out my life and what 499 00:27:49,185 --> 00:27:50,505 I was gonna do with my life. 500 00:27:51,375 --> 00:27:56,325 And I thought, you know, all these philosophers, all these theologians, 501 00:27:56,325 --> 00:28:01,095 all these people talk about, you know, their the way to live. 502 00:28:01,125 --> 00:28:04,485 They try to tell us young people how to live right. 503 00:28:05,505 --> 00:28:07,665 And I thought, you know, I'll read it. 504 00:28:07,755 --> 00:28:09,135 So I read a bunch of it. 505 00:28:09,135 --> 00:28:10,665 I read all these. 506 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:13,980 Philosophy books and all these theology books. 507 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:16,920 And I finally decided, well, there's two choices. 508 00:28:17,610 --> 00:28:19,320 Either I can choose to believe. 509 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,250 The guy that said he was from above, that he was from where we all 510 00:28:23,250 --> 00:28:29,040 want to go, the transcendent, the other world, heaven, eternal life. 511 00:28:29,460 --> 00:28:34,260 And he came here to tell us about it and he proved himself with his miracles 512 00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:38,010 and he really proved himself with his death and then his resurrection. 513 00:28:38,340 --> 00:28:42,060 And he says, if I can raise myself, then I can raise you. 514 00:28:42,270 --> 00:28:44,550 And that's what you're gonna want when you die. 515 00:28:44,790 --> 00:28:50,520 And so this is how you're gonna know I am who I am and I'm gonna go back up. 516 00:28:51,540 --> 00:28:56,940 And so I was there, I came down, I went back up, and everybody else is gonna 517 00:28:56,940 --> 00:28:58,860 tell you they've never been there. 518 00:28:59,610 --> 00:29:01,379 But listen to me though. 519 00:29:02,190 --> 00:29:06,810 Listen to my philosophy, listen to my religion, listen to my teaching. 520 00:29:07,725 --> 00:29:11,775 I've never been there, but I think I've figured out a way to get there. 521 00:29:13,335 --> 00:29:16,065 So follow me and let's go there together. 522 00:29:16,935 --> 00:29:23,175 I'm like, I'm not following nobody that's not been there and nobody that can't 523 00:29:23,235 --> 00:29:28,275 prove it to me, and Jesus has proven it to me through the resurrection. 524 00:29:28,275 --> 00:29:30,675 I told you that's made all the difference in my life. 525 00:29:31,695 --> 00:29:32,355 I am. 526 00:29:32,355 --> 00:29:35,985 Seems so simple and yet it says so much. 527 00:29:36,765 --> 00:29:41,895 It declares Jesus deity and Christ is divine. 528 00:29:42,705 --> 00:29:44,295 Jesus was from above. 529 00:29:44,295 --> 00:29:46,635 Therefore, we must seek the things above. 530 00:29:47,025 --> 00:29:50,835 Jesus attaches our salvation to believing this one simple 531 00:29:50,835 --> 00:29:57,255 statement, unless you believe I am, and you will die in your sins. 532 00:29:58,095 --> 00:30:02,055 And so that's why I want our covenant as a church to be. 533 00:30:02,115 --> 00:30:03,315 We are Jesus. 534 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:06,360 We are gonna be like him. 535 00:30:06,540 --> 00:30:10,410 We're gonna be binds for ourselves and for other people. 536 00:30:10,770 --> 00:30:12,810 We're gonna be the way, the truth and the life. 537 00:30:13,050 --> 00:30:14,130 We're gonna be shepherds. 538 00:30:14,130 --> 00:30:15,450 We're gonna be the bread of life. 539 00:30:15,450 --> 00:30:18,210 We're gonna be the light of the world, we're gonna be resurrection, 540 00:30:18,390 --> 00:30:22,200 and we're gonna be the gate that helps people find the way. 541 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:23,010 Amen. 542 00:30:24,165 --> 00:30:25,425 That's what a church ought to be. 543 00:30:25,545 --> 00:30:30,765 If people can't come to church and say, that's church, that's where God is. 544 00:30:31,005 --> 00:30:32,835 That's a sacred place. 545 00:30:32,985 --> 00:30:34,845 There's some holiness there. 546 00:30:35,685 --> 00:30:36,525 I went to church. 547 00:30:36,525 --> 00:30:39,405 I looked it up in the phone book as a sophomore in college. 548 00:30:39,405 --> 00:30:41,745 My first year I didn't go to go to church. 549 00:30:42,465 --> 00:30:45,885 I lived a terrible life and I transferred schools and said, 550 00:30:45,885 --> 00:30:47,085 I'm gonna change my life. 551 00:30:47,595 --> 00:30:48,975 And I looked it up in the phone book. 552 00:30:49,005 --> 00:30:50,145 My brother had gone there. 553 00:30:50,145 --> 00:30:52,045 He says, this is a church you ought to go to Greg. 554 00:30:52,889 --> 00:30:55,889 He was five years older than me, so he was long gone. 555 00:30:56,250 --> 00:31:00,629 So I looked up in the phone booth and I went there and I was observing. 556 00:31:01,350 --> 00:31:04,379 And one thing I hated was they hugged each other. 557 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:08,490 So some of you may leave and they, they make you hold it 558 00:31:09,030 --> 00:31:10,980 other guy's hands, you know, 559 00:31:13,020 --> 00:31:14,520 you don't have to, all right. 560 00:31:17,010 --> 00:31:19,949 But you know, I walked away feeling those people. 561 00:31:20,594 --> 00:31:22,274 Really are true Christians. 562 00:31:23,594 --> 00:31:25,215 That's all I want our church to be. 563 00:31:26,175 --> 00:31:29,985 When people come in, I want 'em to say they are really Christians. 564 00:31:30,794 --> 00:31:32,895 They're wild and crazy Christians. 565 00:31:33,074 --> 00:31:34,304 They're happy Christians. 566 00:31:34,395 --> 00:31:35,385 They're a little bit weird. 567 00:31:35,385 --> 00:31:38,205 Even at times, I don't relate completely to 'em. 568 00:31:38,804 --> 00:31:42,915 They hug each other and they're always smiling, and some of them 569 00:31:42,915 --> 00:31:47,925 are really happy, you know, but I think they're really Christians. 570 00:31:49,620 --> 00:31:54,930 I convinced my roommate and the kid next door to come to church that night. 571 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,940 Not 'cause I didn't want to go by myself, but because I told 572 00:31:59,940 --> 00:32:01,680 him, I think this is for real. 573 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:03,060 You guys ought to check it out. 574 00:32:05,070 --> 00:32:06,510 And one became a Christian. 575 00:32:06,510 --> 00:32:11,670 The other wanted to, his father told him he, he wouldn't pay for his school and 576 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,520 if he left the, their family's faith. 577 00:32:14,610 --> 00:32:15,720 And so he never did. 578 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:16,770 We're still friends. 579 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:18,060 I'm still working on him. 580 00:32:19,515 --> 00:32:21,945 He's an athletic director in New Mexico. 581 00:32:21,945 --> 00:32:24,285 I'm still working on him, you know? 582 00:32:24,975 --> 00:32:30,435 'cause I know the seed was planted that those guys are really Christians. 583 00:32:30,435 --> 00:32:30,975 Amen. 584 00:32:31,545 --> 00:32:36,045 That's all I want us to be, and I'm gonna go quickly here through these. 585 00:32:36,555 --> 00:32:38,715 I want us to love God with all our heart. 586 00:32:38,715 --> 00:32:40,365 Based on Matthew 22. 587 00:32:41,205 --> 00:32:44,175 I want us to commit to that and we'll go through these 588 00:32:44,175 --> 00:32:46,065 covenants over and over again. 589 00:32:46,845 --> 00:32:53,235 I want us to imitate Jesus in our daily life, to not be fake and hypo hypocritical 590 00:32:53,235 --> 00:32:58,845 Christians, that people, that that destroys the foundation of Christianity. 591 00:32:59,385 --> 00:33:03,555 When Christians act just like the world, I want us to be true Christians. 592 00:33:03,555 --> 00:33:04,035 Amen. 593 00:33:04,815 --> 00:33:07,905 And then I want us to love each other the way Jesus loved. 594 00:33:07,905 --> 00:33:09,615 I think that's what the world needs. 595 00:33:10,005 --> 00:33:12,255 It was a song when I was a young kid. 596 00:33:12,465 --> 00:33:15,945 What the world needs now is love, sweet love. 597 00:33:17,130 --> 00:33:19,470 You know, and I still believe it. 598 00:33:20,100 --> 00:33:25,440 I still believe that's all we all need, that we can get hard and crusty without 599 00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:31,500 good love, real love, that we need to love each other and that we need to worship. 600 00:33:31,500 --> 00:33:32,790 We need to come together. 601 00:33:32,970 --> 00:33:37,470 'cause so often not when I'm up here preaching, but when I'm just singing 602 00:33:37,470 --> 00:33:41,370 and sitting there or listening to someone else, or listening to a prayer, 603 00:33:41,430 --> 00:33:43,080 I get touched by the Holy Spirit. 604 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:45,420 I get touched by God. 605 00:33:46,034 --> 00:33:46,905 See he's here. 606 00:33:46,905 --> 00:33:49,364 He's wandering around and he's wanting to touch us. 607 00:33:49,695 --> 00:33:50,294 All right. 608 00:33:50,415 --> 00:33:54,344 Haven't you ever felt it Sometimes, haven't you all of a sudden got emotional, 609 00:33:54,344 --> 00:33:57,554 haven't you all of a sudden just got excited, haven't you all of a sudden 610 00:33:57,554 --> 00:34:04,665 just thought, yeah, or a peace comes over you or a good feeling or hope comes 611 00:34:04,665 --> 00:34:09,705 into your heart and it happens to be more at church than any other place. 612 00:34:09,705 --> 00:34:12,344 So we gotta love coming together at church. 613 00:34:12,375 --> 00:34:13,694 'cause this is where God. 614 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:18,360 He says, where two or three are gathered my name, that's where I'm gonna be. 615 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,480 So we can always find God on Sunday morning. 616 00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,300 Well, I like to find God out on the ocean. 617 00:34:24,300 --> 00:34:25,170 Good for you. 618 00:34:25,199 --> 00:34:26,909 You can also drown out there. 619 00:34:26,940 --> 00:34:26,969 Okay. 620 00:34:28,830 --> 00:34:30,900 I like finding God on top of a mountain. 621 00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:31,469 Me too. 622 00:34:31,469 --> 00:34:32,400 I love to ski. 623 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:33,540 I love the mountain there. 624 00:34:33,540 --> 00:34:37,500 I love the, the evergreen pine forest, you know, but you can 625 00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:38,820 also fall off the mountain. 626 00:34:39,510 --> 00:34:39,840 Right? 627 00:34:41,489 --> 00:34:43,050 It's pretty safe in here. 628 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:43,170 Right. 629 00:34:43,514 --> 00:34:45,134 It's pretty safe. 630 00:34:45,824 --> 00:34:50,324 Worship God, participate in the mission of God. 631 00:34:50,324 --> 00:34:52,154 I gotta have meaning in my life. 632 00:34:52,875 --> 00:34:55,484 I'm a sixties kid, all right? 633 00:34:56,324 --> 00:34:59,025 I, we went to the moon when I was a kid. 634 00:34:59,625 --> 00:35:05,170 We also killed our leaders, three of them, JFK and RFK, and MLK. 635 00:35:06,170 --> 00:35:09,165 You know, it was reinforced in my heart. 636 00:35:09,165 --> 00:35:11,145 This world isn't a very safe place. 637 00:35:12,015 --> 00:35:12,254 All right. 638 00:35:13,290 --> 00:35:17,040 But we can do anything if we come together in unity and in love. 639 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:19,080 And I still believe that. 640 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,740 I'm still a sixties, not hippie, but I'm a believer. 641 00:35:22,830 --> 00:35:23,340 All right. 642 00:35:24,390 --> 00:35:28,620 You know the hippies, they just, they checked out, they 643 00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:30,150 did drugs and checked out. 644 00:35:30,150 --> 00:35:34,020 We still got a bunch of them outside Boulder in Netherlands. 645 00:35:34,140 --> 00:35:36,660 They kicked them out of Boulder 'cause it's too expensive. 646 00:35:36,660 --> 00:35:37,950 They live in Netherland now. 647 00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:38,880 All right. 648 00:35:39,705 --> 00:35:40,575 That's an aside. 649 00:35:40,575 --> 00:35:41,355 Let's keep going, 650 00:35:44,775 --> 00:35:46,154 and we're almost done. 651 00:35:46,935 --> 00:35:48,705 Practice one another. 652 00:35:49,785 --> 00:35:54,975 You know, even though I was on teams growing up and I had 653 00:35:54,975 --> 00:35:57,855 brothers, I also got lonely. 654 00:35:59,295 --> 00:36:00,015 I got lonely. 655 00:36:00,015 --> 00:36:01,095 I was the youngest. 656 00:36:01,095 --> 00:36:02,535 My parents both worked. 657 00:36:02,565 --> 00:36:04,605 I'd always get out of school first. 658 00:36:04,605 --> 00:36:05,444 I'd go home. 659 00:36:06,134 --> 00:36:07,154 I was a good kid though. 660 00:36:07,154 --> 00:36:07,735 I cleaned the house. 661 00:36:08,955 --> 00:36:11,175 My honorary brothers would come home and mess it up. 662 00:36:12,135 --> 00:36:13,905 They're too big for me to smack 'em. 663 00:36:16,305 --> 00:36:17,865 I still live in a clean house. 664 00:36:17,865 --> 00:36:19,815 Ask my wife, you know? 665 00:36:20,355 --> 00:36:22,065 'cause I'm a good mama's boy. 666 00:36:22,695 --> 00:36:24,945 Any other mama's boy, you won't raise your hand. 667 00:36:24,945 --> 00:36:25,395 I know, 668 00:36:29,055 --> 00:36:30,225 but I gotta have meaning. 669 00:36:32,535 --> 00:36:34,095 I gotta have meaning in my life. 670 00:36:34,155 --> 00:36:35,775 I'm not an existentialist. 671 00:36:35,775 --> 00:36:36,620 I'm not a secularist. 672 00:36:37,485 --> 00:36:38,895 I don't believe in nihilism. 673 00:36:38,895 --> 00:36:40,545 I don't believe this is all there is. 674 00:36:40,785 --> 00:36:44,985 I don't believe all that garbage that some of my professors tried to spew on me. 675 00:36:45,285 --> 00:36:50,415 And I pray you don't listen to some of that filth and ignorance. 676 00:36:50,415 --> 00:36:51,555 It isn't knowledge. 677 00:36:51,945 --> 00:36:52,365 All right? 678 00:36:53,055 --> 00:36:54,135 And look at their lives. 679 00:36:54,135 --> 00:36:55,635 Don't just look at what they teach. 680 00:36:55,635 --> 00:36:56,745 Look at their lives. 681 00:36:56,775 --> 00:36:57,225 All right? 682 00:36:57,915 --> 00:37:02,235 But I participate in the mission of God because everybody needs Jesus. 683 00:37:02,895 --> 00:37:03,975 Everybody needs him. 684 00:37:04,185 --> 00:37:04,965 Amen. 685 00:37:05,700 --> 00:37:09,120 And we need to practice these relationships and we need to 686 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,339 participate fully in the body. 687 00:37:11,580 --> 00:37:15,569 It's not the most popular thing right now in Orange County. 688 00:37:16,620 --> 00:37:22,319 You know, there's some mega churches, but even as you're driving up here, I mean, 689 00:37:22,649 --> 00:37:24,810 roads are so empty on Sunday morning. 690 00:37:24,870 --> 00:37:25,020 Yeah. 691 00:37:25,649 --> 00:37:29,759 It's sort of sad and it really makes me sad when I go to a 692 00:37:29,759 --> 00:37:31,649 big athletic event, go to. 693 00:37:31,950 --> 00:37:37,200 Go to SoFi or somewhere, or Dodger Stadium, people get so excited. 694 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:38,760 And I'm not down on the Dodgers. 695 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:39,930 I'm a Dodger fan. 696 00:37:39,930 --> 00:37:41,010 I'm an Angel fan. 697 00:37:41,010 --> 00:37:43,620 I'm a Rams fan, not a Chargers fan. 698 00:37:43,620 --> 00:37:44,400 Excuse me. 699 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:47,730 Sorry, I'm a Bronco fan. 700 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:55,560 I'm not down on fans, but I wish there were just that much and 701 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:58,560 even more excitement about Jesus. 702 00:37:58,620 --> 00:37:59,340 Are you with me? 703 00:38:00,060 --> 00:38:00,600 Amen. 704 00:38:01,215 --> 00:38:03,075 So I have some dreams. 705 00:38:03,075 --> 00:38:05,295 I'll share those in the leaders meeting. 706 00:38:05,805 --> 00:38:07,365 But we are, who are we? 707 00:38:07,365 --> 00:38:07,935 Church. 708 00:38:07,995 --> 00:38:08,955 Let's decide. 709 00:38:09,525 --> 00:38:10,875 Let's decide together. 710 00:38:10,905 --> 00:38:16,005 I pray that you decide to commit to these seven things to be just like Jesus. 711 00:38:16,365 --> 00:38:19,005 If you're like Jesus, you're gonna be awesome. 712 00:38:19,755 --> 00:38:22,395 If you're not like Jesus, I don't know. 713 00:38:23,595 --> 00:38:24,525 Can't promise. 714 00:38:25,095 --> 00:38:26,055 Can't promise. 715 00:38:26,985 --> 00:38:27,915 So who are we? 716 00:38:28,770 --> 00:38:31,560 I pray, we're disciples, OC disciples. 717 00:38:32,399 --> 00:38:32,759 All right. 718 00:38:32,759 --> 00:38:34,350 I'm not gonna lead you in a chant. 719 00:38:34,410 --> 00:38:35,819 I wasn't a cheerleader. 720 00:38:36,089 --> 00:38:36,600 All right. 721 00:38:37,259 --> 00:38:39,390 But we are OC disciples. 722 00:38:39,569 --> 00:38:41,970 We are the OC church. 723 00:38:42,180 --> 00:38:44,370 We are brothers and sisters. 724 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,259 We are Christians. 725 00:38:46,259 --> 00:38:46,980 That's what I own. 726 00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:49,080 And I'll say it publicly. 727 00:38:49,080 --> 00:38:50,609 I'll say it loud and proud. 728 00:38:50,609 --> 00:38:51,810 I'll say it in public. 729 00:38:51,810 --> 00:38:52,620 I'll preach it. 730 00:38:52,980 --> 00:38:54,689 I am Christian. 731 00:38:55,589 --> 00:38:56,015 I am. 732 00:38:56,670 --> 00:38:57,930 A follower of Jesus. 733 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,140 I believe it with all my heart, and I pray. 734 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:06,810 My action item for all of us this morning is that you would decide who you are, 735 00:39:07,170 --> 00:39:12,870 especially in your faith, and you'd decide that you're gonna be like Jesus. 736 00:39:12,930 --> 00:39:13,529 Amen. 737 00:39:14,279 --> 00:39:19,020 And if we all do, yeah, as we all do, then we're gonna be an awesome church. 738 00:39:19,740 --> 00:39:20,460 God bless you. 739 00:39:20,460 --> 00:39:20,910 Thank you. 740 00:39:21,420 --> 00:39:21,810 Amen.