**Automated Transcription** Kevin O'Dea: Good morning. It's a good day to be in the house.

Kevin O'Dea: If you're joining us on livestream, thank you for joining us today.

Kevin O'Dea: Well, I think it's Super Bowl Sunday. I had to get that out of the

Kevin O'Dea: way because, I mean, you know, at some point, I Ghost, you have to say

Kevin O'Dea: that. And I'm not gonna tell you who I'm going

Kevin O'Dea: for. Alright. Stand with me. Actually, don't stand with me yet. Let me

Kevin O'Dea: get through these quick business things. We've got a

Kevin O'Dea: Spirit house conference coming up, March 7th through 10th. So we hope that your

Kevin O'Dea: calendar is marked, for that. I wanna draw your attention specifically

Kevin O'Dea: though to this on March 9th, during the conference,

Kevin O'Dea: we're gonna have something called the business collective. This is gonna be a

Kevin O'Dea: group of people who gather together, who own businesses, Who are

Kevin O'Dea: managers of businesses, leaders of businesses, aspiring owners, and

Kevin O'Dea: managers of of businesses. If that fits you and you're in that demographic,

Kevin O'Dea: we'll invite you to come to a very special gathering That morning, there's gonna be

Kevin O'Dea: a free breakfast. Tim Hooper's gonna be here to speak. There's gonna be a couple

Kevin O'Dea: other speakers as well. But I wanna invite you to be a part of this

Kevin O'Dea: As a collaborative and an opportunity for, those who are

Kevin O'Dea: in that demographic to be able to come together and worship and also

Kevin O'Dea: be able to be ministered to at that level. So If that you make,

Kevin O'Dea: a point to come on on March 9th. Seeing

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus, I said in the early gathering, we're gonna seeing Jesus on Thursday. That

Kevin O'Dea: didn't sound right, so that's not what we're doing. We're gonna continue to see Jesus,

Kevin O'Dea: but pastor Wayne Berry is gonna continue to teach our last,

Kevin O'Dea: Thursday night in our 6 week series this week, and I encourage you to come

Kevin O'Dea: and be a part of that. If you come this Thursday night, we're actually gonna

Kevin O'Dea: be meeting in the Fellowship hall as opposed to meeting in here

Kevin O'Dea: because this coming weekend, Jane Eyre opens. And so want you

Kevin O'Dea: to make plans to come and be a part of Of that, I know that

Kevin O'Dea: the the the cast has been working very hard, and it's going to be a

Kevin O'Dea: great show. So come and Jesus coming next weekend and the weekend,

Kevin O'Dea: after and then, of course, we're gonna continue to travel through the New Testament. I

Kevin O'Dea: pray that you are reading with us 5 by 5 by 5. If you need

Kevin O'Dea: this resource, it is on our website. It is on planning

Kevin O'Dea: center, our church center as well. And we just want to be Abigating

Kevin O'Dea: through the New Testament together as a church. And so I encourage you to

Kevin O'Dea: be reading, in the New Testament. If you haven't started or maybe you've

Kevin O'Dea: lapped up, Start this week. It's not too late to

Kevin O'Dea: to start or to start again. Does that sound good? Alright.

Kevin O'Dea: Lastly, Theatre is a meeting for those who are going on a mission trip today

Kevin O'Dea: at 12:30 in the fellowship hall. Alright. Got all of that information out

Kevin O'Dea: of the way. Alright. Now would you stand with me? We're God read a very

Kevin O'Dea: short verse. We're gonna take a beat from what John the Baptist,

Kevin O'Dea: learned in his life. So Let's read this with some Ghost, shall we? Here

Kevin O'Dea: we go. He must increase and I

Kevin O'Dea: must decrease. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank

Kevin O'Dea: you that it gives life, and I thank you that the most profound

Kevin O'Dea: truths are very simple. Let us lean into it today in Jesus'

Kevin O'Dea: name. Amen. And you may be seated.

Kevin O'Dea: Well, last week, we began, our new section of

Kevin O'Dea: our 3 part series, His word, his life, and his church.

Kevin O'Dea: And I have since had multiple people contact me about them

Kevin O'Dea: giving up their Netflix account and Having people stop paying for

Kevin O'Dea: their Spotify and things like that. And, and if that's you, praise

Kevin O'Dea: the lord. And if you still haven't gotten that conviction, I pray that it sets

Kevin O'Dea: in today. And, but we're we're continuing down the

Kevin O'Dea: road in this series, his word, his life. And last

Kevin O'Dea: week, we were uncovering the truth About

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus and his purpose here on earth, and what we what we

Kevin O'Dea: learned was that Jesus was always about his father's business.

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus was always about his father's business. When we look in scripture, it's as

Kevin O'Dea: if Jesus woke up each day and said, dad, what do you wanna do today?

Kevin O'Dea: Dad, what do you want today do today? Oh, that we would be a people

Kevin O'Dea: who would wake up each moment, in every encounter,

Kevin O'Dea: In every business meeting, in every relational conversation,

Kevin O'Dea: in everything we put our hand to, would we be a people that say, god,

Kevin O'Dea: what do you want me to do in this moment? What do you want me

Kevin O'Dea: to say in this moment? How do you want me to respond in

Kevin O'Dea: this moment? Jesus was always about his father's

Kevin O'Dea: business. Ought to be about the father's business as well. Well, if Jesus

Kevin O'Dea: is about the father's business, it begs the question, what is the

Kevin O'Dea: father's business? And god's is in the business of loving

Kevin O'Dea: people. He's in the business of loving people, and the problem is is

Kevin O'Dea: that we're not very good at this. And so we need the Holy

Kevin O'Dea: Spirit to give us the strength To love the unlovable. Have you

Kevin O'Dea: encountered anyone unlovable this week? This morning,

Kevin O'Dea: sitting next to them. We need the strength of the

Kevin O'Dea: Holy Spirit to help us to love people

Kevin O'Dea: we don't want to love Because god is in the

Kevin O'Dea: business of loving people. Aren't you glad that god did not give

Kevin O'Dea: up loving you? Despite your challenges, despite you act,

Kevin O'Dea: Despite how you respond, aren't you glad that the heavenly father, the God

Kevin O'Dea: who breathes stars, continue to pursue you relentlessly, and

Kevin O'Dea: he pursues you today? God is in the business of loving

Kevin O'Dea: people. And in that same vein, isn't this crazy?

Kevin O'Dea: God uses people to accomplish his purpose.

Kevin O'Dea: He uses messed up people like you and me to

Kevin O'Dea: accomplish his purpose. Can you just think about that for just

Kevin O'Dea: a moment? Think about how Flawed and messed up you are?

Kevin O'Dea: Well, I am. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty messed up. And and

Kevin O'Dea: and well, Kurt, you're in the spotlight here. So it's just like a just Kurt,

Kevin O'Dea: how messed Dubbed you are.

Kevin O'Dea: But you're a mess, and the god of the universe

Kevin O'Dea: Desires to use you to fulfill his purpose here on earth.

Kevin O'Dea: How humbling is that? How amazing, how magnificent

Kevin O'Dea: is that? And so as Christians, which the word

Kevin O'Dea: Christian means to be like Ghost, if we are Christians, we have a

Kevin O'Dea: commission to be like him and so we need to know him over. In Ghost

Kevin O'Dea: John, it says this, whoever claims to live in him must live as

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus did. Well, in order for us to live like Jesus did, we need to

Kevin O'Dea: be In the word, understanding how he lived. What did he do?

Kevin O'Dea: How did he respond in situations? What did he

Kevin O'Dea: say? What was his life like? And so we're just

Kevin O'Dea: doing somewhat of a flyover of over these next few weeks, but I

Kevin O'Dea: encourage you to get into the word. If you are wanting to be like Christ,

Kevin O'Dea: you gotta get into the word to know What Christ was like.

Kevin O'Dea: We are to be like Christ. And so as a church, we've been

Kevin O'Dea: talking about being Refined. And if you remember last week,

Kevin O'Dea: I've sifted out a few of these things. And so often,

Kevin O'Dea: we we end up choosing the things that are

Kevin O'Dea: Sparkly and shiny and momentary

Kevin O'Dea: and and feel good, taste good, look good in the moment

Kevin O'Dea: because they draw our attention. They They catch our attention, and

Kevin O'Dea: we end up picking these things as opposed to the things that

Kevin O'Dea: are everlasting. The flesh counts for nothing. The spirit counts

Kevin O'Dea: for everything. And when we choose to live by the Spirit,

Kevin O'Dea: he will do extraordinary things in our lives. Guys, I

Kevin O'Dea: believe that salvation is just the Starting point to a

Kevin O'Dea: pathway toward complete healing in your life. God

Kevin O'Dea: wants you to be whole. He wants to use you. He

Kevin O'Dea: wants to See you perfected and completed.

Kevin O'Dea: You don't have to stay in the mess that you're in. You can be

Kevin O'Dea: liberated. You can be set free, But you have

Kevin O'Dea: to choose the spirit over the flesh. And today, as we

Kevin O'Dea: continue to step into leaning or lean into, Who

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus is and how he lived his life, today, we're gonna talk

Kevin O'Dea: about living a selfless life. Living

Kevin O'Dea: a selfless life. Jesus lived a selfless life. And I have to tell you guys,

Kevin O'Dea: I'm a bit scattered this morning because I think the lord chose the most selfish

Kevin O'Dea: person in the room to deliver a message about selflessness.

Kevin O'Dea: Because I'll tell you right now, Kevin O'Day is pretty selfish.

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus desires us To be selfless and it's not a far

Kevin O'Dea: stretch if you know anything about Jesus to know

Kevin O'Dea: that he is selfless because it is this selflessness That drove him to the cross

Kevin O'Dea: of Calvary on your behalf. The sacrifice that

Kevin O'Dea: he made. And so many examples in scripture where

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus Was acting in a selfless posture.

Kevin O'Dea: Don't, children, bother Jesus. He doesn't have time for you. No. Let

Kevin O'Dea: them come to me. Let them be a distraction to my

Kevin O'Dea: schedule. Jesus, selfless.

Kevin O'Dea: The beggars And the blind men who are sitting on the road, Jesus passes the

Kevin O'Dea: people passing them by. Jesus sees them and renders dignity

Kevin O'Dea: to them. Jesus, selfless.

Kevin O'Dea: Are you living a life that is selfless? When people look

Kevin O'Dea: at your life, do you look like him?

Kevin O'Dea: Do you look like him? So

Kevin O'Dea: the question that I want us to kind of war with, at

Kevin O'Dea: least initially here, It's a simple question that

Kevin O'Dea: may have a complex complex answer. And the question is this, who or

Kevin O'Dea: what is at the center of your life?

Kevin O'Dea: Who or what is at the center of your life?

Kevin O'Dea: Make it personal. Ask it with your name. Who or what is at the center

Kevin O'Dea: of Kevin's life. Well, when I examine my life, I think of

Kevin O'Dea: a lot of things that at times have taken the center place of my

Kevin O'Dea: my life. And if you've been here for quite some time, this is gonna be

Kevin O'Dea: a little bit of a repeat, but that's okay because we need to probably hear

Kevin O'Dea: this again, and it's true about about me. And so

Kevin O'Dea: many of us put these things In the center of our life, you know, I

Kevin O'Dea: really love to travel. Anybody like to travel? If I get a chance

Kevin O'Dea: to travel, man, sign me up. I love to experience new

Kevin O'Dea: places. I like to meet new people. I like to experience new things.

Kevin O'Dea: If you're close to me, you know the very best gift, I think, is the

Kevin O'Dea: gift of experience, new experiences. And I really love to

Kevin O'Dea: travel. And there could be a time in my life or periods where travel is

Kevin O'Dea: at the center of my life. Everything

Kevin O'Dea: revolves around the opportunity to go go and travel. But it's

Kevin O'Dea: not supposed to be in the center of my life.

Kevin O'Dea: You know, my wife and I, we up operate a school here in town,

Kevin O'Dea: and it takes a lot of Hours and a lot of energy

Kevin O'Dea: and a lot of time to to to to operate the school,

Kevin O'Dea: and and there's times when the school could be the

Kevin O'Dea: Theater, of my life. But but it's not the center

Kevin O'Dea: of my life. It's not supposed to be the center of my

Kevin O'Dea: life. Spring house.

Kevin O'Dea: There's a lot of hours and energy, emotional

Kevin O'Dea: investment, Spiritual investment, mental investment in this place.

Kevin O'Dea: But if I'm honest with myself, this is not supposed to be the center

Kevin O'Dea: of my life. It's an important part of my life, but it's not the

Kevin O'Dea: center of my life.

Kevin O'Dea: Now this 1, I struggle with a lot.

Kevin O'Dea: I am a foodie. I love I don't love food. I love good

Kevin O'Dea: food. Right. Right. I love good food. And,

Kevin O'Dea: there are people that food is the It's the

Kevin O'Dea: center of their life.

Kevin O'Dea: And if I'm not careful, I could easily slide that right in there.

Kevin O'Dea: But It's not the center of my life. It's not supposed to be the

Kevin O'Dea: center of my life. God has gifted me and and Ghost

Kevin O'Dea: just so blessed me with friends, Multiple friends,

Kevin O'Dea: colleagues, ministry partners. And while they are important

Kevin O'Dea: to me and and it's important that we invest in each other's lives, they are

Kevin O'Dea: not the center of my life nor should they

Kevin O'Dea: be. These are my daughters.

Kevin O'Dea: Hadassah, Lucia, Ruby and Nora.

Kevin O'Dea: And there are many people who will spend their listen to me,

Kevin O'Dea: will spend their lives putting their kids at the center of their

Kevin O'Dea: life. And I'm here to tell you that your kids are not supposed to be

Kevin O'Dea: at the center of your life. They're important. They are

Kevin O'Dea: very important. These girls are I mean, they are just life breath to me,

Kevin O'Dea: but but they are not at the center of

Kevin O'Dea: my life. On March 13,

Kevin O'Dea: 2012, the lord gave me the gift of my spouse. Beautiful,

Kevin O'Dea: wonderful, talented, incredible Sherry. And as

Kevin O'Dea: wonderful as she is and as much as I love her,

Kevin O'Dea: Sherry's not the center of my life. And so many

Kevin O'Dea: times we put our spouse at the the

Kevin O'Dea: center of our lives.

Kevin O'Dea: So if none of these people, including your family, Kevin, and your spouse is not

Kevin O'Dea: the center of your life, who in the world is the center of Your life.

Kevin O'Dea: Well, you know what the answer is supposed to be. But if I'm

Kevin O'Dea: honest with myself, this is the person who's at the center of my life

Kevin O'Dea: most often.

Kevin O'Dea: This is the person who is at the center of the control,

Kevin O'Dea: the center of decision making, the center Of actions,

Kevin O'Dea: recourse responses, I'm at the center of

Kevin O'Dea: my life most of the time, and here is the issue. Jesus will

Kevin O'Dea: let me be at the center every single time when I take it.

Kevin O'Dea: But on the same token, the minute I surrender and give him

Kevin O'Dea: the center spot, he'll take it. And every time

Kevin O'Dea: I've driven my car into the ditch,

Kevin O'Dea: literal literally and figuratively,

Kevin O'Dea: God has met me there every single

Kevin O'Dea: time. Because god knows how to right The

Kevin O'Dea: wrong that you've made. He knows how to right the wrong choices that you've

Kevin O'Dea: made. He knows how to take away the shame and the guilt that you felt

Kevin O'Dea: for the bad decisions you've made, And he knows how to write your course

Kevin O'Dea: every single time. Because at the end of the day,

Kevin O'Dea: friends, as Rick Warren puts in the first line of purpose

Kevin O'Dea: driven life, It is not about you.

Kevin O'Dea: It's not about you. And the minute we

Kevin O'Dea: begin to make it about us, that's when we start to get off Of

Kevin O'Dea: course. And boy, I have a propensity to make it about

Kevin O'Dea: me so many times. Your life is not

Kevin O'Dea: about you. When you Ask the lord Jesus Christ to be

Kevin O'Dea: the lord of your life. He has a commission for

Kevin O'Dea: you to advance his Kingdom. And it is all about

Kevin O'Dea: exalting his son, Jesus. It is all about exalting

Kevin O'Dea: his son, Jesus Christ. And so

Kevin O'Dea: most of us as Christians, we begin to ask the question,

Kevin O'Dea: especially right when, Possibly right when we get saved,

Kevin O'Dea: we ask the question, god, what is your will for my life? Lord, what do

Kevin O'Dea: you want me to do? But when

Kevin O'Dea: we look for god's will, if we are at the center, we'll never find

Kevin O'Dea: it. Because at the center of god's Will is always going to

Kevin O'Dea: be exalting Christ and not exalting yourself.

Kevin O'Dea: And so Times that means he's gonna ask you to lay down something

Kevin O'Dea: that you've been carrying for a long time. That thing that you like, that

Kevin O'Dea: thing that you perhaps love, that thing that you've invested so much Tymon. He

Kevin O'Dea: says, I actually want you to render control of that. Well, god,

Kevin O'Dea: if I I'm scared if I let that go. Yeah. I want you to trust

Kevin O'Dea: me above trusting yourself.

Kevin O'Dea: Do you trust me? Because finding god's will for your

Kevin O'Dea: life should be more about his will than your life.

Kevin O'Dea: Finding god's will for your life should be more about his will

Kevin O'Dea: than it is about your life. And at

Kevin O'Dea: every turn, every juncture in his will, his son Jesus

Kevin O'Dea: is honored. His son Jesus is exalted.

Kevin O'Dea: So Paul gives us some great instruction in his letter to

Kevin O'Dea: the Philippians. And he says this in chapter 2 of that

Kevin O'Dea: letter. He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain

Kevin O'Dea: conceit. Rather, In humility, value

Kevin O'Dea: others above yourself, not looking to your own interest but

Kevin O'Dea: each to your the interest of others.

Kevin O'Dea: Each to the interest of others. That humility word sometimes

Kevin O'Dea: tricks us because we tend to look at the word

Kevin O'Dea: And we tend to define it as us cowering

Kevin O'Dea: away from the things that god has actually called us to

Kevin O'Dea: or that we're gifted in or that we're Really good at do you know that

Kevin O'Dea: you're actually good at some stuff? Cole, you are actually good at some stuff,

Kevin O'Dea: buddy. Ben, you are good at some stuff. God has wired you

Kevin O'Dea: at some sedan. You're you're good. There are some things that god has wired

Kevin O'Dea: inside you that you are actually God. I'll dare say excellent in

Kevin O'Dea: Because he's placed them there. And then there's some things

Kevin O'Dea: that you're just rotten at, that you're not good at.

Kevin O'Dea: And sometimes we like to be posers and say that we're good at things that

Kevin O'Dea: we're not good at.

Kevin O'Dea: But humility is simply confidence

Kevin O'Dea: in knowing what you can and cannot do.

Kevin O'Dea: Humility is being confident in what you can and cannot

Kevin O'Dea: do. I am a good administrator. I'm a

Kevin O'Dea: good administrator. The lord has given me that gift. I am not good at

Kevin O'Dea: playing golf yet.

Kevin O'Dea: One day, but not yet. What

Kevin O'Dea: are the things that god has placed in your life and wired you

Kevin O'Dea: to lean into Theater you're good at.

Kevin O'Dea: When you say, well, Kevin, what does this have to do with being selfless? Has

Kevin O'Dea: a lot to do with being selfless because The gifts he's given

Kevin O'Dea: you are not for you. The gifts he's given

Kevin O'Dea: to you are to be used as a sacrificial offering

Kevin O'Dea: to him. It's not to advance the world in

Kevin O'Dea: its agenda, but it's to advance the kingdom

Kevin O'Dea: and god's will and agenda and purpose,

Kevin O'Dea: And ultimately, to exalt Jesus Christ.

Kevin O'Dea: And so Jesus modeled this. And in and in Paul's

Kevin O'Dea: letter to the Philippians in chapter 2, he continues, and he

Kevin O'Dea: says this. In your relationships with one another,

Kevin O'Dea: In your relationships with one another in your

Kevin O'Dea: relationship with one another, Have

Kevin O'Dea: the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Okay. So what is the mindset of

Kevin O'Dea: Christ Jesus? Here it is. Who being in very nature

Kevin O'Dea: God, Did not consider equality with God something

Kevin O'Dea: to be used to his own advantage.

Kevin O'Dea: Rather, He made himself nothing by taking on the very

Kevin O'Dea: nature of a servant being made in human

Kevin O'Dea: likeness. God almighty coming in the form

Kevin O'Dea: of man. Ponder that. Think about that.

Kevin O'Dea: And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled

Kevin O'Dea: himself. It's one thing to say I'm appearing to you as you

Kevin O'Dea: are, But then I'm going to humble myself,

Kevin O'Dea: says Jesus, to the point of

Kevin O'Dea: serving the the one who's going to nail me to the cross.

Kevin O'Dea: That's who I'm here to serve, by becoming

Kevin O'Dea: obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Kevin O'Dea: And because of Jesus's obedience

Kevin O'Dea: to his selfless posture here on earth, here's what God

Kevin O'Dea: did. He exalted him to the highest place and

Kevin O'Dea: gave Jesus the name that is above every name. That at the name

Kevin O'Dea: of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven And on earth and under the

Kevin O'Dea: earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Christ Jesus is lord to the

Kevin O'Dea: glory of god the father. God is in

Kevin O'Dea: really, he has this uncanny knack of rewarding those who

Kevin O'Dea: will humbly serve him. But the

Kevin O'Dea: motivation is not the reward. The motivation is the lord.

Kevin O'Dea: The motivation is the lord. And

Kevin O'Dea: so when it comes to being selfless, when it comes to

Kevin O'Dea: having a selfless Posture about our lives, we have to understand

Kevin O'Dea: a few things about selflessness. The first thing is this, selflessness

Kevin O'Dea: requires sacrifice. If you're

Kevin O'Dea: going to live a selfless life, if you are in Christ Jesus,

Kevin O'Dea: and you are about living a life that is like Christ, Then

Kevin O'Dea: you have to understand that your selflessness is going to

Kevin O'Dea: require you to sacrifice. Now we, like little

Kevin O'Dea: children, many have more than 1 kid? I've got more than 1 kid at home.

Kevin O'Dea: And when it comes to them having something that belongs to them, it is very

Kevin O'Dea: hard for them to pry their claws off of it To allow another kid the

Kevin O'Dea: theater sister to have it. Anybody ever struggle with that? Hello. And if there

Kevin O'Dea: are moments whenever one of the siblings will Freely and

Kevin O'Dea: liberally render that toy or that thing to the other sister, but I

Kevin O'Dea: tell you what, it makes my heart explode.

Kevin O'Dea: Because when my children sacrifice for one another, it's an expression of

Kevin O'Dea: love. Selflessness is a derivative of love.

Kevin O'Dea: Sacrifice is required when it comes to selflessness, and

Kevin O'Dea: that will mean that it's going to take some of your time.

Kevin O'Dea: It's gonna take some of your energy. It's gonna take some of your money,

Kevin O'Dea: your resources. It might even take some of your desires.

Kevin O'Dea: But selflessness requires sacrifice.

Kevin O'Dea: And selflessness is rarely convenient.

Kevin O'Dea: It's rarely convenient.

Kevin O'Dea: Over in Galatians 2/20, it says, I have been crucified with Ghost,

Kevin O'Dea: And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives

Kevin O'Dea: in me. When we are crucified with Christ, that means we wake up

Kevin O'Dea: Every day when we say, not my life, not my agenda, not my

Kevin O'Dea: plan, but yours, lord.

Kevin O'Dea: So as people who desire to be like Christ, is your prayer

Kevin O'Dea: each morning that you wake up crucified with Christ

Kevin O'Dea: so that you can look like him in the ensuing conversations with your

Kevin O'Dea: spouse, with your kids, with your coworkers, with the people you

Kevin O'Dea: encounter. Because God is in the business of loving people, and it starts

Kevin O'Dea: with you at your home. It starts before you even get out

Kevin O'Dea: the door. But you have been crucified with

Kevin O'Dea: Christ. You are no one. And guys, this is a daily,

Kevin O'Dea: daily, daily prayer Because my flesh likes to rear

Kevin O'Dea: its head every single morning when I wake up. Kevin, what do you want to

Kevin O'Dea: do? What's your agenda for today?

Kevin O'Dea: Don't worry about what that person needs or what that person has asked you

Kevin O'Dea: to do. What do you want to do today?

Kevin O'Dea: Every day I want my desire to be to serve

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus Christ. Every day I want my

Kevin O'Dea: life to look like him. And part of my

Kevin O'Dea: looking like him is to operate my life in a

Kevin O'Dea: selfless manner. In a way that doesn't

Kevin O'Dea: have People looking at me has people

Kevin O'Dea: looking at him.

Kevin O'Dea: Selflessness requires you to pay attention.

Kevin O'Dea: Requires us to pay attention. Guys, if there's anything we don't do,

Kevin O'Dea: it's pay attention. We are not good at paying attention.

Kevin O'Dea: You ever been in a conversation with somebody and they're saying something to you, and

Kevin O'Dea: there are all types of context clues of what they need you to do and

Kevin O'Dea: what they need from you, but you are just oblivious to it? And you just

Kevin O'Dea: look at them and go, Or actually, I guess the one who's giving all the

Kevin O'Dea: context clues, you're like, they're not getting this one bit. Right? Then the

Kevin O'Dea: person would say, well, just shoot straight with me. Stop making me

Kevin O'Dea: try to figure it out. Right? But even if we figured it out and

Kevin O'Dea: even if we shot straight with him, the question still remains, would we be in

Kevin O'Dea: a selfless posture be able to execute what the other person is needing.

Kevin O'Dea: I think the most missed opportunities are simple because we don't pay

Kevin O'Dea: Attention. Jesus is always paying attention to the needs of the

Kevin O'Dea: people around him. People are on Ghost those disciples,

Kevin O'Dea: Those those selfish disciples, who's gonna be the greatest in the

Kevin O'Dea: kingdom, god? Who's gonna come out on top? Who's gonna sit at your

Kevin O'Dea: right hand? Guys, we are so often like that. We are so fickle. We

Kevin O'Dea: are so easy, Lord. What am what is the what is in this for me,

Kevin O'Dea: god? Because my

Kevin O'Dea: selflessness to you, god, only is going to come if I get rewarded.

Kevin O'Dea: But true selflessness in the kingdom means that he gets the

Kevin O'Dea: acknowledgement. He gets the he gets the highlight. He gets the

Kevin O'Dea: exaltation and not us. And so like I

Kevin O'Dea: said last week, I think the biggest culprit in us being about the father's business

Kevin O'Dea: and living in this way Is that we have a limited availability to

Kevin O'Dea: him. And I believe god wants our availability

Kevin O'Dea: to be wide for him. That our yeses, when we put them on the

Kevin O'Dea: table, are Holy spirit yeses that we are able to lean into and fully

Kevin O'Dea: commit to. And that's what I wanna talk about for just a second here. You

Kevin O'Dea: know, we All have lives in this room, every one of us. And our

Kevin O'Dea: lives are comprised of all types of different

Kevin O'Dea: things. And and and the things that are are comprised in

Kevin O'Dea: our life aren't necessarily bad things. In fact, I think the lord's put a lot

Kevin O'Dea: of the things there. But If you look at this, you know, we've got devotions.

Kevin O'Dea: We got kids. We have spouses. We have responsibilities.

Kevin O'Dea: We have friends. Do you know god's put your friends in your life? You spent

Kevin O'Dea: a community in your life? Guys, fun is not a bad thing. You should

Kevin O'Dea: have fun. Fun is a part of life. Me, having some

Kevin O'Dea: time just For you, what does that mean? That sounds really self serving

Kevin O'Dea: and selfish and kinda opposite of what I'm just saying here today. But what I

Kevin O'Dea: mean whenever I put me here is me is your mental health. Being

Kevin O'Dea: being in a place where you can ask the lord to show you things about

Kevin O'Dea: yourself so that you can grow and become more like him. Everybody needs the capacity

Kevin O'Dea: to do that. Family, work, Your ministry, god has called

Kevin O'Dea: you to do something. We talked about that last week. Recreation,

Kevin O'Dea: rest, all of these things, and there's more, All a part of life, and

Kevin O'Dea: here's what we end up doing when we're not if we're not careful. We go

Kevin O'Dea: and we build this life, and we pray, here's my life. These are all the

Kevin O'Dea: things that I'm involved with. These are all the things I want to do, and

Kevin O'Dea: I don't mind living a selfless life, lord, as long as none

Kevin O'Dea: of these things are affected.

Kevin O'Dea: I will be selfless when that need comes my way, but don't

Kevin O'Dea: take any of my recreation away from me. I will be

Kevin O'Dea: selfless when, lord, you bring somebody into my path but

Kevin O'Dea: don't take any of my my work time or my Responsibility or

Kevin O'Dea: my ministry time away, these are too important to me. Lord, don't you know I

Kevin O'Dea: have built this life here, god?

Kevin O'Dea: I have put this stuff together, god. Look what I have

Kevin O'Dea: built, god. Please don't mess with my life, god. I will give you the

Kevin O'Dea: left dovers instead of the Ghost fruit.

Kevin O'Dea: But what God would desire Would be for you to wake up

Kevin O'Dea: each day and say, god, you have gifted me with all of these things. But

Kevin O'Dea: if you wanna take every one of them away, be your will done.

Kevin O'Dea: Because I am after what you want, not what I want. You

Kevin O'Dea: must increase in my life. I must decrease. And I recognize that

Kevin O'Dea: I wouldn't have any of these things had it not been for you, god.

Kevin O'Dea: And so we have this life that's built here, we have this wall, Oh, and

Kevin O'Dea: and we're going fine. Everything's going great. I've got my ministry going. I God

Kevin O'Dea: recreation going fun. Family, friends, my spouse, everything's great. I got

Kevin O'Dea: my plan. I got my agenda. And then all of a sudden out of nowhere,

Kevin O'Dea: you show up.

Kevin O'Dea: And now you are a part of my life.

Kevin O'Dea: You are somebody who is broken, Who needs something,

Kevin O'Dea: who needs me to serve you, needs something from me.

Kevin O'Dea: And here you are in my life And initially, my flesh

Kevin O'Dea: sees you as a disruption to everything else that I've got going on.

Kevin O'Dea: But when people come into your life, the first thing that you ought to

Kevin O'Dea: do is ask the Holy Spirit, god, what am I supposed

Kevin O'Dea: to do with this person? Is this person

Kevin O'Dea: supposed to be somebody that I'm going to help? Because

Kevin O'Dea: not every good opportunity is a god opportunity.

Kevin O'Dea: Not every good opportunity is a God opportunity. And listen to

Kevin O'Dea: me, church, this is what I want you to understand. It is

Kevin O'Dea: very selfish and self serving when we make commitments

Kevin O'Dea: to help people and we renege on our promises. It is very

Kevin O'Dea: selfish when we commit out of a vein of feeling bad in the

Kevin O'Dea: moment without consulting the Holy Spirit, and we say, I'm gonna walk with you brother

Kevin O'Dea: through this. I'm God be there for you. I'm gonna do all this. It is

Kevin O'Dea: a mark toward Christ when you make a commitment and you

Kevin O'Dea: renege on that promise. And so

Kevin O'Dea: our mouths get ahead of what the spirit is actually saying because

Kevin O'Dea: every you that walks in my life, I'm not supposed to be the one to

Kevin O'Dea: minister to. And so I get

Kevin O'Dea: in trouble I get in trouble because when I'm trying to

Kevin O'Dea: minister to the you that's not supposed to be On my path

Kevin O'Dea: to the you who comes into my path, and I just said yes because it

Kevin O'Dea: might make me feel good or I feel like I've got the answer for you,

Kevin O'Dea: all of a Sudden, the people back here, the things that God has called me

Kevin O'Dea: to, all of a sudden, I start to sacrifice.

Kevin O'Dea: And all of a sudden, You become bigger than

Kevin O'Dea: any of these things in my life.

Kevin O'Dea: And God says, it never was supposed to be that way because you're operating on

Kevin O'Dea: your own Strength. And here's the

Kevin O'Dea: thing, you were never supposed to be the hero. You were never supposed to

Kevin O'Dea: be the shero.

Kevin O'Dea: When somebody brings when God brings somebody into your

Kevin O'Dea: life and he wants you to minister to them, He is the one that's

Kevin O'Dea: going to do the change, not you. He's using you as

Kevin O'Dea: a vehicle. He's using you as the pathway, And here's

Kevin O'Dea: the thing, when he has given you someone to minister to,

Kevin O'Dea: you don't have the privilege to walk out of their life. It doesn't matter

Kevin O'Dea: how they treat you. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they

Kevin O'Dea: do. It doesn't matter when they poo poo on everything you've done because here's the

Kevin O'Dea: thing. We are called to be doormats for Christ Jesus when he's called us to

Kevin O'Dea: people. We are called to serve. We are called to be

Kevin O'Dea: present. What are you gonna do? Tell the lord, no, I'm not gonna be there

Kevin O'Dea: anymore because they didn't give me the accolade that I needed when I helped them?

Kevin O'Dea: They didn't recognize me for the gift that I gave them? When God

Kevin O'Dea: has called you to walk alongside somebody, you better do exactly what god

Kevin O'Dea: tells you to do no matter what they say, no matter what they do. Because

Kevin O'Dea: here's the thing. The man left the 1

Kevin O'Dea: left the 99 to go after the 1, and you were the

Kevin O'Dea: 1 at some point. And

Kevin O'Dea: sometimes when we are the 1 or when they are the

Kevin O'Dea: 1, they don't necessarily want to be rescued.

Kevin O'Dea: But we have a God who is an ever present help in times of trouble.

Kevin O'Dea: And sometimes when we get into that place of trouble,

Kevin O'Dea: It's then when we call out on the name of Jesus for salvation.

Kevin O'Dea: And you might be the person the Lord wants to use when they actually cry

Kevin O'Dea: out for help. And if you are thinking about

Kevin O'Dea: yourself and you abandon the person the Lord has put in your

Kevin O'Dea: life, then you will not be there when they call out.

Kevin O'Dea: He does the work. He does the change, but you are the vehicle. Are you

Kevin O'Dea: being obedient to him? You are not called to

Kevin O'Dea: help every person on this planet. And church,

Kevin O'Dea: may I just say that there are people here that God has placed

Kevin O'Dea: somebody in your life, But you are so distracted that you don't

Kevin O'Dea: see it right in front of you. One of the most

Kevin O'Dea: liberating things that I have un I have come to realize over the last two

Kevin O'Dea: and a half, 3 years Is that it is

Kevin O'Dea: much better it's far better to listen to the Holy Spirit and go deep in

Kevin O'Dea: the relationships he has called Me too. As opposed to have a bunch of

Kevin O'Dea: shallow relationships and he's not a part of it.

Kevin O'Dea: As the body of Christ, as people who are supposed

Kevin O'Dea: to be like Christ, everyone should have

Kevin O'Dea: Someone that that they can go to, that god has placed in their life because

Kevin O'Dea: there are a multitude of people that could be used. The question is, are we

Kevin O'Dea: listening? And are we doing the things that God has told us to

Kevin O'Dea: do? Are we selflessly serving in the areas he has

Kevin O'Dea: asked us to? Not the areas that we want to, not the areas that we

Kevin O'Dea: feel responsible for, but in the areas that he has told us

Kevin O'Dea: to. If somebody comes into your life and says I need Holy,

Kevin O'Dea: And you asked the Holy Spirit, holy spirit, am I supposed to help this person?

Kevin O'Dea: What am I supposed to do? And the answer is no. Might I encourage you

Kevin O'Dea: to instead of hey. I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna be there for you.

Kevin O'Dea: All this stuff. Instead of all those lies, that's what they are.

Kevin O'Dea: Instead of all of those things, look to them eyeball to eyeball, pray with

Kevin O'Dea: them, and say, I'm going to believe that God is going to bring somebody in

Kevin O'Dea: your path. Somebody in your life who's gonna minister to your need.

Kevin O'Dea: And more times than not for me, the Lord brings somebody to mind.

Kevin O'Dea: And I go and I introduce them and and then it takes off

Kevin O'Dea: from there. Guys, God does not need

Kevin O'Dea: you to be the hero of the story. He wants you to serve selflessly so

Kevin O'Dea: he gets the honor, so that he gets the glory.

Kevin O'Dea: You're not supposed to be Superman or Superwoman in everybody's life. In

Kevin O'Dea: fact, you're enough of a mess. You're enough of a mess that you

Kevin O'Dea: don't have what it takes clean up everybody else's mess.

Kevin O'Dea: Not every good thing is a god thing.

Kevin O'Dea: And lastly, worship team, you can come back. And lastly,

Kevin O'Dea: selfless love requires nothing in return.

Kevin O'Dea: If God has called you to be in somebody's life to

Kevin O'Dea: serve them, to help them, to minister to

Kevin O'Dea: them, It does not matter what they do or what

Kevin O'Dea: they say because you weren't doing it for them in the 1st place. You were

Kevin O'Dea: doing it for the lord. You were doing it out of obed can you imagine

Kevin O'Dea: Jesus god saying, I want you to go to the cross and Jesus saying, well,

Kevin O'Dea: look what look how they're treating me, god. Look what

Kevin O'Dea: they're saying about me, god. Dad, look

Kevin O'Dea: look look how they're treating me. And

Kevin O'Dea: instead, he said none of that matters because

Kevin O'Dea: I'm not doing it for them. Dad, I'm doing it because you told me to.

Kevin O'Dea: So selfless living. Do we look like Christ's

Kevin O'Dea: church? I want us

Kevin O'Dea: to be the hands and feet of Christ To each other and to a

Kevin O'Dea: dying world. But it starts with

Kevin O'Dea: us having the ability to open our ears and hear from the Holy

Kevin O'Dea: spirit. About which area and who we're supposed to be ministering

Kevin O'Dea: to. Because when we

Kevin O'Dea: listen to him And he brings somebody

Kevin O'Dea: into our life and we serve them fully

Kevin O'Dea: selflessly. God will do extraordinary

Kevin O'Dea: things through you, in you, and I will

Kevin O'Dea: even say for you in the process.

Kevin O'Dea: And many people will come to

Kevin O'Dea: know him Because of your obedience and the Holy

Kevin O'Dea: Spirit's work through you, and you get to experience

Kevin O'Dea: abundant life. You're not stressed.

Kevin O'Dea: You're not stressed. You're not overwhelmed because all of

Kevin O'Dea: these things back here are still intact. All these things that god has

Kevin O'Dea: asked you to or given in your life, and, yeah, it might require a

Kevin O'Dea: sacrifice here and there, But you haven't sacrificed everything. You

Kevin O'Dea: haven't given up everything because god didn't necessarily ask you to. God, you're asking me

Kevin O'Dea: to abandon my family a 100% of the time for this joker over here.

Kevin O'Dea: Well, if he tells you to do that, then do that. But likely

Kevin O'Dea: not. Likely not.

Kevin O'Dea: We've Ghost stop having people be the heroes and let the Lord do his

Kevin O'Dea: job, and we need people to step up and actually recognize that God

Kevin O'Dea: has placed you to be in people's lives as well.

Kevin O'Dea: So is your yes on the table? Do you look like him? Are you living

Kevin O'Dea: a life about you? Are you in the center of your life or is he

Kevin O'Dea: in the center of your life? When he's in control, he'll take here's the thing.

Kevin O'Dea: I don't have to try to get people to come in my life who who

Kevin O'Dea: need help. I don't have to look for them. They just they just they show

Kevin O'Dea: up. There's there they are. And I go lord,

Kevin O'Dea: Help me here. And I'll dare even say, guys,

Kevin O'Dea: maybe this isn't true. I don't know. This is how I feel. I think the

Kevin O'Dea: lord sometimes puts somebody in my life I'm not supposed to help to test me

Kevin O'Dea: to see what my answer will be. And the

Kevin O'Dea: other side of the coin, I pray this person in your life,

Kevin O'Dea: and it's the last person you want to help, Kevin. But I've placed you in

Kevin O'Dea: your life because you've got a gift and a calling in your life That they

Kevin O'Dea: are supposed to benefit from. So

Kevin O'Dea: what you God do, Kev? You're gonna get in control

Kevin O'Dea: And dismiss them, are you God embrace them the way that

Kevin O'Dea: I embraced you? The last thing I want

Kevin O'Dea: to say today, and we'll stand in worship, is this.

Kevin O'Dea: There may be somebody in here who you feel like you are the one,

Kevin O'Dea: the sheep of the 99.

Kevin O'Dea: And you have had too many Christians come up to you and break their

Kevin O'Dea: promise to you. Can I just tell you that people will always

Kevin O'Dea: let you down, but the lord Jesus Christ will never let you down?

Kevin O'Dea: He sees you. He knows you. And the fact

Kevin O'Dea: that you are here this morning is the gift and the grace of the Holy

Kevin O'Dea: Spirit saying, I have not forgotten about your life.

Kevin O'Dea: And I ask on behalf of those who have lied to you, unintentionally

Kevin O'Dea: or intentionally, who were supposed to be here, I apologize on their behalf

Kevin O'Dea: because it is a mark And a scar to Christ Jesus, but don't let that

Kevin O'Dea: define who he is because he is so much bigger and so much greater than

Kevin O'Dea: the person who failed you or let you down. So

Kevin O'Dea: if you're here this morning and you are the one who has is

Kevin O'Dea: feeling lost and you're the one who is out there and you you're dealing with

Kevin O'Dea: Shame and guilt and you felt like body gonna be there but they failed you,

Kevin O'Dea: I would ask this morning that you might open your heart to the

Kevin O'Dea: possibility that god is raising Somebody else ought to be in your

Kevin O'Dea: life, to really show

Kevin O'Dea: the love of Christ, To be there

Kevin O'Dea: and to shine for him, but ultimately, he's the one that's gotta

Kevin O'Dea: do the work. Would you stand with me this morning?

Kevin O'Dea: So here's 3 things that we're gonna pray. If you're gonna pray, come on up

Kevin O'Dea: with people. Come on up. Ghost thing is this.

Kevin O'Dea: If you're that lost sheep and maybe

Kevin O'Dea: you're abandoned god, maybe you're running from god because some person has hurt

Kevin O'Dea: you, I I want you to come and ask the lord to heal that wound.

Kevin O'Dea: The second thing is maybe you're a hero, a shero, a superman, a

Kevin O'Dea: superwoman, And you need to repent and ask God,

Kevin O'Dea: lord, I have filled my schedule. I have filled my life. I

Kevin O'Dea: have gotten too many people On my on my

Kevin O'Dea: agenda, on in front of my face, and I'm not supposed to be the 1,

Kevin O'Dea: god, for all these people. Would you give me clarity So that I

Kevin O'Dea: don't cause hurt and pain and shame. And then lastly,

Kevin O'Dea: some of you are just here and you have needs. And just like somebody said

Kevin O'Dea: earlier, I think Jonathan, the book of Hebrews tells us that because

Kevin O'Dea: of Christ Jesus, we can approach his throne of grace in our time of

Kevin O'Dea: obedience mercy for us. So you come today, if that's you, any

Kevin O'Dea: of those 3 things. Today is a sweet day in the presence of the lord.

Kevin O'Dea: He is god and he is good all the time. Let's worship.