**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.