Capital City Christian Church | Podcast

Jesus claims that everything … everything you can think of … every ounce of authority we can find strewn throughout this world … is subject to Him. Jesus says, "ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." How much is … ALL? And what do we do about it? What’s the appropriate response? What am I supposed to do with that information? What does Jesus deserve from me? Since He has ALL authority, does He deserve my all?

So, Jesus looks at these 11 guys and says, “All authority … ALL authority … both in heaven and on earth … all authority has been given to me.” … So … How much is “all”? Seriously, how much is “all”? We use that word so flippantly. Do you think Jesus was using the word flippantly, or do you think he meant it? And if Jesus has “all” authority, how much does that leave you, or me, or anyone else?

That idea may challenge you. Maybe you've always thought of religion as being restrictive, full of extra rules, tying you down with all these ways you have to live. Maybe you've thought of church as being like that. According to Paul, if you're a follower of Jesus, you should have … more freedom. Paul suggests our freest self is when we live most like Jesus because it's not about having fewer rules; it's about being more in line with who we were created to be. It's not about more rules; it's about being in our sweet spot. A bird is most free when it flies — not because there are fewer rules, but because it's doing what it was created to do. It's living in the fullness of who it is and what it's been made to be. A musician is most free, not when they strictly follow the rules of their instrument, but when it becomes so natural to them that they use their instrument to its fullest potential. The musician is most free when they become one with their instrument. Doc has told me about learning to play the cello. He claims he used to be technically proficient. He also tells me that he played without heart or emotion. He was too focused on the technical. He was a limited musician because he focused on the rules – not the freedom. Anyone who masters a craft could say this. We could talk about a woodworker, a painter, a mechanic. Freedom isn’t found in the absence of rules – freedom is found when we become comfortable with what we were made to be.

Our relationship with God is based on our willingness to submit to Him. But our relationship with God is built on the fact that God was willing to submit to us, that God became man, and that He submitted to His creation for our benefit because our needs were more important than His needs. Jesus chose self-imposed limitations. God became man—and lived like a man—and died like a man—for us. So, can you submit to one another? Will you care more about the benefit of others before yourself? Will you shift your attention from yourself to the others around you? Will you lower yourself? Will you elevate others?

"Do you know why Jesus washed our feet? Do you know why he died for us? He thinks we’re special. He really does. For some crazy reason, your Creator God thinks you are special. And if someone is that special to you, you’ll figure out a way to serve them, right? If you love someone as much as you love yourself, you’ll figure out a way to serve them, right? Do you remember the two great commandments? Love God with all your heart, and love your one anothers as much as you love yourself. A loving husband will serve his wife. A loving wife will serve her husband. A loving parent will serve his kids. A loving neighbor will serve his or her neighbor, right? You get it. God tells us to serve our one anothers, because he calls us to love our one anothers, as much as, or more than, we love ourselves … kind of like he does." Stephen "Doc" Pattison

You see, we have a faulty view of what it means to teach our “one another’s.” We make it into something it doesn’t have to be, and I believe those verses that we started with really, truly do apply to all of us. We are all responsible to teach our “one another’s.” So, I want to reset us to an appropriate perspective of what it means to teach. I want to break down what we think it is – the lies we’ve bought into – and reset what teaching truly is.

So, what do you think God thinks about words that kill? Proverbs says, “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.” (Proverbs 18.21) Does that mean God sees them as equal choices? What do you think God thinks about destructive criticism, gossip, sarcasm, gaslighting, broken confidences, bullying, or other … discouraging words? How big a deal do you suppose this stuff is with God?

The word "burden" shows up a few different times in the New Testament, and it starts with this one moment with Jesus in Matthew Chapter 11. Jesus is teaching to a community that hasn’t accepted him; they’ve pushed back against him, and Jesus decides to challenge them. But he also reaches the point where he softens. He looks to this crowd and knows there are individuals who may be interested in him. So, he says: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I find this teaching from Jesus to be really quite fascinating—really, really interesting. Jesus starts by telling people who are weary and burdened … people who are tired … people who are carrying heavy weight, to bring it to him. He will take their burden from them. What kind of burdens are we talking about?

"Peace and unity are connected. Unity exists around a big idea — something significant and powerful that pulls us together. And it exists in all sorts of contexts and organizations. We could be talking about the church, but we could also talk about your school, your family, your community, your town, your state, or your country. We could talk about all sorts of different groups that exist. The unity of those groups, even if it's a Facebook group that you're a part of for your favorite team — the unity, the shared big idea of that group, is what pulls you together. It's what makes unity exist. And … it's so big that it protects us from what pulls us apart. Because within those groups, you're going to find little subordinate issues that you will inevitably disagree over. Within whatever community you may be a part of, you won’t agree on every point with every person. Unity is agreeing about what is most important for the sake of that group. Peace is about allowing those smaller disagreements to stay small and not interfere with the unity around what's most important. Peace is refusing to let our differences separate us." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

This kind of hospitality, this offering of a friendship-love to strangers was kind of a big deal in a culture with all these nomads. A lot of people kind of moved around, they weren’t citizens of a town, or a country, and hospitality was a really big deal. And then there were the widows and the orphans, and others who were flat-out poor. And there were no governmental safety nets in that world. Without hospitality from good people, they’d be hosed. After all … that might be your wife someday, your kid someday, maybe even you someday. So, do for others, because someday you may need them to do for you. You see, hospitality was a really big deal in that world, but it was not always … “selfless.”

"Now, that word in Romans 12, where we started—that word "honor"—it's a Greek word. It looks like the word "time," but what it means is "prize." It can mean "value," it can mean "respect." It can mean "honor," and it can mean "recognition." I really like that word recognition because I think that gives us a good perspective of what honor is. Recognition is an important piece of honor—it's recognizing the value of another person. That's an act of honor, and it can be done in all sorts of different ways. It can happen in the form of gifts, it can happen in the form of words, it can happen in the form of service. And because honor is an act of recognition, honor doesn’t make something true; it’s a recognition of what is true. Honor is saying out loud – whether in word or in action – what is true. It’s acknowledging what is true." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"When Jesus says, “Love one another,” who is my one another? You see, this “agape” kind of love wouldn’t be so painfully difficult if the people in your life weren’t so painfully difficult. But you are surrounded by a bunch of sinners. If I got to pick my “one another,” maybe loving my “one another” wouldn’t be so hard. But … I don’t. If all my “one another” were thoughtful, and peaceable, and patient, and kind, and selfless, and self-controlled … maybe I’d be better at it, right? If all my “one another” liked bacon, and the Cowboys, and SciFi … If all my “one another's” believed what I believed about God, about the church, about politics, about vegetables … would that be easier? Well, who’d make your cut? Or maybe better, who would you exclude from your basket of “one another”?"

This message is for everyone, but it is about our responsibility to help others, not about helping ourselves. Here is the big question: “What is your responsibility in helping someone who struggles with mental health?”

"Now, not everyone who is depressed will feel all of these descriptors; but they probably feel some of them. You feel down. You’re irritable, maybe. Maybe a sense of hopelessness. You’ve lost a sense of purpose. Those things you used to enjoy, you don’t enjoy them anymore. There’s this oppressive pessimism – everything is half-empty. Sadness, dejection. Some people eat when they are depressed. Some don’t eat. Some people sleep when they are depressed. Some can’t sleep. You may feel constantly tired and listless. You may have a hard time thinking clearly, concentrating, and processing. You may have this self-loathing, maybe feeling like a failure. You may even … you may even have thought about ending it all. Does any of that stuff ring a bell with any of you? And if this stuff settles in, if it stays too long, after a couple weeks, they might label it as a clinical depression. Ever been there and felt that?" Stephen "Doc" Pattison

"Anxiety and worry exist on a spectrum. At one end, you have worry and anxiety that are present but manageable … and even beneficial. They press us and push us to fulfill our responsibilities. They act as a prod to do our jobs well. But that's not the complete picture. I think that's a small piece of the picture. Anxiety and worry are usually not good. Most of the time, anxiety and worry are irrational or vague. They paralyze us instead of motivating us. The most often outcome is that anxiety and worry make our lives worse." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"When we let that lie take root, it grows and grows until, eventually, we say, "You're unlovable." It's not that you're never going to be loved; you lie to yourself and think your problem is that you aren't worth loving. No one’s ever going to find you lovable. Eventually, that grows until you begin believing that you don't even love yourself. How is it possible for anyone else to love you, right? These lies are like digging a hole. And you tell yourself that you are trying to dig yourself out of the hole … but it's only getting deeper and darker. Our pain gets deeper and deeper, and our hope gets smaller and smaller. And we find ourselves unhealthy. We find ourselves in a very dangerous place. People who don’t feel loved are likely to struggle with anxiety and depression, as well as many other mood disorders. We're talking about moments in our mental health where we've accepted these lies: that life has no meaning, that I am ruined, or that I am not loved. They begin to destroy us. We accept them as true, and it puts us in dark places. These lies especially destroy us when we don't recognize them as lies. The best way to identify a lie is to know the truth." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

It’s a word we all understand – “ruin.” Something was beautiful once, but no longer. It was useful once, valuable once, but no longer. It has been damaged and wrecked. It has been spoiled. You can ruin a shirt; you can ruin a phone; you can ruin a vacation; you can ruin a career; you can ruin a relationship; you can ruin a person. Have you ever ruined someone or tried to? Have you ever felt ruined? I’ll bet most of you know the feeling.

"So, a lot of us … in fact, most of us, maybe … kind of put on these masks. And our masks usually look better on the outside than we feel on the inside, right? And we kind of fear that everyone around is as good on the inside as their masks look on the outside. So, when we compare our insides to their masks, we don’t look too good, we don’t feel too good, right? … Listen … Bottom line, the reality is, you are not alone. Chances are you either have in the past, or are now, or someone you care about deeply is struggling with some mental health issue. Especially … especially … if you are around kids because they’re struggling, guys. … We’ll see. And too often, when we have some kind of mental or emotional problem … we respond by hiding, isolating, disconnecting … which damages our relationships with the people who care for us. We disconnect in marriage, we disconnect from our parents, our kids, our friends; we disconnect from our church family … and we wither … alone … as our mental, emotional, and even spiritual health deteriorates. Do you get that? Do you feel that? Do you do that?"

"We talked about raising godly children – which is hard work and requires discipline. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about money – which requires hard work and discipline to handle well. It wasn’t groundbreaking information. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. We talked about our hurts, and we talked about friends. All these things take work and discipline. Wisdom says to listen to God. Fools despise discipline. And today we’re going to talk about marriage." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"I don’t care whether you are a Boomer, a Gen Xer, a Millennial, a Zer, or even Gen Alpha … the questions are the same: Does your work life matter to God? Does how you work affect your life with God? Does God care? And if he does, should you? What do you think: Is work a necessary evil? Should our goal be to do as little as possible and get past it as soon as possible? Do you think heaven will be about sleeping in, playing golf as often as you want, hanging with friends by the pool, and doing what you want when you want, never having to worry about a timecard? Would that be the perfect life? Randy, my preaching partner for about 20 years, asks it like this. He says, Your attitude towards work reflects how much of your soul belongs to God."

It's dangerous to be in a place where no one cares for you spiritually because it's incredibly easy to drift away from God. We need people in our corner to help pull us toward God. It's that together part of what Doc always says. We've got this saying that we use a lot around here. We're all about doing life with God, for God, God's way … together. There's something significant about us doing life … together. There's another thing Doc says. We all have this responsibility to drag each other to heaven. And if you're alone … you're in a very dangerous place. It means you don’t have anyone dragging you towards heaven. But I don't think that this is the biggest problem. We’re talking about friendships today, but I don’t think loneliness is the biggest issue we face. I think all of us know intuitively that we need friends. You may experience loneliness – we may experience loneliness – but nearly all of us are working on resolving that already. We crave relationships. And we naturally work to foster them. I think the bigger issue is that we're all so desperate to not be lonely … we're so desperate to not be lonely … that we will take friendship anywhere we find it. Is that your story? I guarantee you know someone who has that story.

"How many of you have been wounded? Not physically, but emotionally? … Yeah, that’s a universal, right? Emotional pain, spiritual pain, relational pain? Anger, sadness, bitterness, despair, remorse maybe; you are wounded, you hurt. It's pretty much universal. How many of you are hurting somehow right here, right now? A bunch of you, probably. Because hurt happens. Hurting is universal. Healing … not so much." Stephen "Doc" Pattison

"Paul says, “I've learned the secret … to being content.” That feels a little bit like a letdown. Like, really? Is that a secret you've been trying to discover? Have you been actively pursuing contentment? Look, I think that we all want contentment. But we don't live like it. We live like contentment is right around the corner … and we never quite catch up. Every time we come around the corner, it's just around the corner. And instead of ever becoming content, we learn to crave more and more. After all, that is the American dream, right? More – bigger – better. It’s the American dream. There's a crisis on our border right now with people trying to get into our country because of the American dream. They view us as wealthy … they view us as a success story. The rest of the world is watching us, and they want contentment like we have contentment. Except that, we know we don't have contentment. I think we've become content in our discontentment. We’re satisfied to keep chasing the next thing."

“Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.” There are times we fear that God has a sense of humor, right? But what if … what if he is serious? What if God meant them to be so? And what if there was a way to make it so? Not a guarantee but a strategy. What if there was a strategy for raising kids you can be proud of, for raising kids who would be proud of you? Would it be worth it to listen to some tips from our Designer, our Creator? I think so, don't you?"

"How do I live like Jesus when it comes to disagreements? How do I live like Jesus when it comes to the ways in which we don't agree? And then, here's the big idea. Here's the answer at the end of the message. I’ll give it to you on the front end. Here’s the big idea: live in unity and peace with one another. The answer – which feels like it's lacking a little bit – but we're going to find that difference of opinion is not an excuse for division. It's not an excuse for division. Again – this is so weird. We live in unity and peace with one another even if we have different opinions … even if we have different ideas and different conclusions. We don’t have an excuse to divide." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

Let’s start with the word of the day, the question of the day, and the attitude of the day. • The word of the day is “agape.” There it is in the Greek: ἀγάπη. It means “love,” … but it’s a very special kind of love. We’ll get there. • The question of the day is, “What would agape do?” As Jesus followers, we need to ask this question: “What would agape do?” • And the attitude of the day: We use these verses as a mirror, instead of binoculars. You’re going to be thinking, “I hope my husband, or my wife, hears this!” Or “I wish my twit neighbors could hear this!” Don’t be thinking about who else needs to hear this; think about whether maybe the Holy Spirit is nudging you. Okay?

“'Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow man has fulfilled the law.' Guys, I want you to hear it: overcome evil with good. Be a good citizen. Give what is owed, whether that's taxes or revenue, respect or honor. You give what is owed. And everyone is owed love. I promise you that if the church lived like this, it would stand out like light on a hill. This is how we change the world. And the darker our world gets, the more valuable we become. If we take this seriously, there is no limit to the impact we could make in this community. Right now, give up your craving for rebellion. Replace it with a desire to honor your God."

"So, we’re kind of like a family, right, a family of Jesus followers? It’s kind of like God is our dad, and we’re his kids. So, we’re going to treat this kind of like a family meeting this morning. Did your biological family ever have family meetings? Maybe your dad or mom laid down some of the family rules … You know, where you could go, what you could do, who you could hang with, how you were to treat each other, what kind of words you could use … that kind of stuff? Well, it’s kind of like we are going to go over some of the CapCity family rules this morning … because we are a family of Jesus followers. Now, Dad’s not here physically, but He has given us guidelines as to how he expects us to behave … as Jesus' followers. And some of those guidelines sound pretty weird to our twisted little minds. It’s kind of like Dad is telling us … “Do it anyway. First, because I am like … God. And second, whether you understand it yet or not, my way will make your life better and make you better at life.”

"We’re going to walk through the first few verses of Romans 12 and see what they say about you, what they say about me, and we're going to see what they say about our responsibilities to each other. But it starts with this word, “Therefore …”. When I was in high school, my youth minister taught us that whenever you come across the word “Therefore” in the Bible, you have to ask, “What is the therefore there for?” It's so cheesy, right? But … that word means that we are starting in the middle of an idea. It means you're picking up an idea while Paul's in the middle. When he says, “Therefore,” it means that he's made some sort of a case before this word, and now he’s transferring that idea into something else going forward. Romans 12 begins some practical teaching, but it's based on deeper theological teaching before this verse."

Do you ever doubt God? Jesus? I mean, some guys doubt Jesus even existed...which is crazy. But, have you ever doubted Jesus went around working all those miracles, raising the dead, and raising from the dead? Although, if there really is a God, it's kind of weird to deny the possibility of a resurrection, isn't it? But, have you ever wondered if Jesus was "God in a bod" like He claimed to be? What would it take to convince you? What would it take for you to acknowledge Jesus as THE Son of God, your Savior, and your LORD... all of which He claimed to be.

So, don’t forget where we started. The quality of Jesus as guest is directly related to your quality as host. Meaning, the way in which you welcome him will determine the level of impact he's able to make. Have you welcomed him simply as a guest … or have you made him ruler of your home? Have you welcomed him? If so, you should see him welcoming you back. Has he welcomed you at his feet as a disciple like he did Mary? If he's welcome, he will. Has he rebuked you like he did Martha? Has he called out selfishness in you? If he's welcome, he will. Has your sin been disturbed? Are you dealing with your own stench like Lazarus? Is he making dead things come alive in you? If he's welcome, he will.

"Jesus—The I AM—is the true vine, he says, and we are kind of like branches created to be connected to the vine. And God is kind of like the gardener. And, like a gardener … Well, have you ever pruned bushes or trees? What do you do if a branch is dead? You know, it’s flat-out dry, brittle, and dead. You cut it off, right? Throw it away; burn it up, maybe...how about what you think or what you fear. Would you honestly expect the Gardener to prune you or to cut you off? I’m not asking what you deserve. None of us deserve grace. That’s why it’s called grace. None of us deserve to be saved, redeemed, rebirthed, forgiven, acquitted, sanctified, made righteous, made new. It’s not about what we deserve. Do you think your life gives evidence that you are attached to the vine, that you are drawing life from the vine, that you are being transformed by the vine, that the Gardener would choose to prune you, rather than cut off? In another place, Jesus says, “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7.16) By your fruit, do you see evidence that you are “in Christ”?" Stephen "Doc" Pattison

It's something that we struggle with because we love having options. The ability to choose is something that God gave us in the very beginning. He gave us free will. He gave us the ability to choose. And it may be the biggest gift that God gives us. It's one of the things God gives us that make us distinctively human. It's one of the things that separates us from animals. But it is also maybe the most dangerous gift that God gives us. Because when we have the right to choose … we can choose what is right and what is wrong. We have the opportunity to choose God … or not God.

Philippians 1.21, do you remember it? Can you say it with me? … “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Yeah, there it is: “To me, to live (living, life to the fullest) is Christ, and to die is gain.” We’re getting there. Let me come at it this way. Ben and I are drawing some of the big ideas for this series from a book called, “Jesus Manifesto,” by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. And, in chapter 6, they pull out a tweet from Twitter. That still sounds funny to me: “Tweeting on Twitter.” Anyway, this guy says, “There is no greater cause that you can give your life to than the cause of Christ.” Now, do you buy that? I know, you feel like you are supposed to, here in church; but do you actually buy that? Is it true? And, is that what Jesus is to you … the greatest cause you can give your life too. Kind of the king of causes? … Is that … enough?

"Which version of this Jesus should I follow? Because while we can say that we ought to imitate Jesus, there is a wide spectrum of what our world believes Jesus to be. A few weeks ago, when we started this series, I shared a host of different versions of Jesus in a somewhat humorous way. We live in a culture where there is a wide spectrum of different Jesus’. I mentioned Republican and Democrat Jesus. Therapist Jesus and Starbucks Jesus. Open-minded Jesus. Touchdown Jesus. Martyr Jesus. Gentle Jesus. Hippie Jesus. Yuppie Jesus. Spirituality Jesus. And Platitude Jesus. And Revolutionary Jesus. Guru Jesus and Boyfriend Jesus. Good Example Jesus. And … I got a text from a few of you afterward to point out that I'd skipped past Ricky Bobby's 8 lbs. 6-ounce newborn baby Jesus, right? Whether you understand what each of those Jesus represents or not, we can recognize that there are lots of versions of Jesus, lots of ways that he has been manipulated. So, when we say that you ought to imitate Jesus, what are we actually talking about? What does that actually look like? Which version of him are we going to follow? Because the reality is that it's easy to get it wrong. It's easier to get it wrong than it is to get it right."

"Now, sometimes it’s not your choice who you will imitate, right? You can’t choose your parents, but you’re going to imitate them … especially when you are little. And sometimes, even when you’re older, right? Have you old guys ever said something or done something, and you’re like, “Holy cow! That was my dad or my mom.” If you haven’t, you will. “Like father, like son,” right … even when we’re not trying. Because listen – this is huge: did you know that intimacy evokes shared behaviors and values? Let me say that again: Intimacy evokes shared behaviors and values. We become like those we do life with. Do you buy that? It doesn’t matter if you buy it; it will still work that way." Stephen "Doc Pattison

The truth is, God is writing your story … but you don't have to accept it. You don't have to accept it. God will actually let you write your own story. One of the more shocking things that God does is that he allows free will, which means that we have the right to hijack the story. That we can take the pen from his hands, and we can begin writing our own story. We can make ourselves the central figure – the lead character. God has ways in which he thinks we ought to answer and do things … he has his will … his story line of what should be … but we have the authority to do what we want.

"It means that creation rebelled against the Creator. It means that what God created as good fell; it broke; what it became was not what God meant it to be. It means that the Creator watched his creation fall, and it broke his heart! He cared! He watched us fall, and it broke his heart ... he cares! Do you get that? And do you know how much he cares? He cared so deeply that he took the form of a Galilean peasant and went to a cross to purchase our peace with his blood. Do you get it? A God who is infinitely powerful and infinitely smart, a God supreme over a creation unimaginably vast … cares for those as insignificant as us so deeply that he would take a form like ours so he could take the punishment we deserved for the mess we made … That means God is not only infinitely powerful and infinitely smart … it also means he is unfathomably good. How cool is that! ... For those who reaffirm the supremacy of Jesus."

Every generation has had to answer this question: “Who do you say that I am?” Who do you say that Jesus is? We answer those questions in lots of different ways … and if we get it wrong, we get everything wrong.

You see, we believe God meant it to be this way from the beginning. This is what God meant for his church to look like. Let me show you two weird verses: weird in that world and still weird in ours. The apostle Paul says, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one … in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3.28) Those were the kinds of polarizations that caused wars back then. But not in God’s church! The Message puts it like this: “In Christ’s family, there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us, you are all equal (all of you). That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.” You see, God thinks our common allegiance to Jesus is way bigger than anything – anything -- that separates us. In another place, the apostle Paul puts it like this. He says, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. (That stuff mattered a lot in Paul’s world! But not in the church! No, he says:) Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” (Colossians 3.11) Now … do you buy that? Do you really? Are you willing to try to live it out? Because that’s what we’re about.

"What do we need to grow spiritually? Last week we used this verse over and over, Ephesians 4:15. It says, “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Plants physically need space, temperature, light, water, air, and nutrients. Humans physically need food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep. At CapCity we've identified the growth catalysts that every human needs – we believe that if you want to grow spiritually, the things that you need are worship, connect, grow, and serve. Now that growth word … I know it’s redundant … we’ll get to that. But these are our catalysts for spiritual growth. If there's any part of you that wants to have a better relationship with God or even just a better life, these are the catalysts. These are the things that you're going to add to your soil of your heart to give you a chance to grow."

Now, whether we understand the importance of spiritual maturity or not, we are Jesus followers, right? We believe there is a real God. And we believe that the real God is revealed in and through Jesus. And we want God to be … God. And … And … God expects us to mature spiritually. He thinks it’s good for us. He thinks it makes for the best life possible. Do you?

What is our purpose as Christ-driven, 24/7 Jesus followers?

"Is there a God? This is our starting point. This, I believe, is every human … every person's starting point. " Ben Webb, Associate Minister

"What if Easter is true? What if the one who claimed to be the Son of God actually predicted his death and resurrection and pulled it off? What if … what if you really are the mess God thinks you are? And what if … what if God is right and you can’t fix your mess? And what if Christmas is about God providing a way out, a way back? What if Jesus really is … Emmanuel, God on earth to dwell with us, God on earth to save us, God on earth to give us a way to do life with God … the kind of life our Creator meant for us? If all that is true … then wouldn’t it be fair to say that any excuse we might have for marginalizing Jesus or pushing him away fades away into absurdity? What possible excuse could we concoct for marginalizing God or pushing him away?!"

One of the reasons Jesus shows up in a manger in Bethlehem is so that the mystery around God would be removed. Jesus would demonstrate to us who God is, who God likes, what God wants, what God values, and what God does. All those questions that we may have. This mystery around God is revealed in Jesus.

"To really understand the Christmas story, you have to go back even further … to the first chapters of Genesis … to the creation story … and the fall. You see, we learn from the creation story that we humans are special … we bear the “the image of God,” somehow. We are designed so we can do life with God, somehow. And, we learn that we humans rebelled against doing life with God … God’s way … and in so doing, we made a mess we can’t fix. We are messed up. And I’m not just talking about just Adam and Eve messing up; all of us mess up, all of us are messed up, all of us are broken … and we can’t fix us. That’s what the Bible says, and … I’ve never met the exception. Have you? But, instead of blowing us off or snuffing us out, our Creator decided to give us a way back. Because, for some crazy reason, he loves us anyway … go figure. For some reason, God treasures us anyway … go figure. So, somewhere around 4000 years ago, our Creator God somehow made a deal with this really old twit named Abraham. God said, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will (… barak) bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a (barak) blessing. I will (barak) bless those who (barak) bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be (baraked) blessed through you.” (Genesis 12.1-3) What does that even mean?"

"Marriage calls us to become servants of each other’s welfare. And that's not why you got married. In fact, you got married for the opposite reason. If we told people that's what marriage was all about, I think less people would get married. When I got married, it was because I thought she was going to bring some good stuff to my life. I got married because I thought that she was going to bring value to my life … that she was going to do good things for me. It wasn't about what I was bringing to her. Oftentimes that's the way we see it. And when we realize how selfish the other person is, we quit. Oftentimes we step into marriage with these selfish reasons because our motivations for getting married are selfish. It's all about what we think we can get. That's not what service is. Marriage calls us to become servants of others each other 's welfare. And service costs you something. Service costs you something and benefits someone else. If it doesn't cost me something, if someone else doesn't gain something, then it isn’t service. Sacrifice isn't sacrifice until it costs something, right? If it hasn't cost me something, if I haven't had to pay something for it, then it really isn't sacrifice. Same with service."

This … big G God invented marriage, the coupling of a man and a woman till death do us part. Because our Creator, our Designer, thinks that model will work best … He thinks it will work best for your spouse, your kids, your clan, your community. And, our Creator, our Designer, thinks it will work best for you … it will help grow you into what you were meant to be … if … if you do it his way. And his way is hard. God tells us about a kind of love that will make it work, and it’s a tough love. The kind of love that makes is work, he says, is “patient and kind.” Those are hard. The kind of love that will make it work is not jealous, or boastful or proud or rude, he says. Every one of those is hard. The kind of love that works does not demand its own ways, he says. And it is not irritable … How many of you guys love like that? How many of you guys practice that kind of love with your husband, or your wife? And then he says … “It keeps no record of being wronged.” “It keeps no record of wrongs.” It doesn’t maintain a database of your spouse’s failures. How many of you guys … practice that? In other words, God’s kind of love – the kind of love that will make it work – forgives … Is it worth it to you?

"I'll tell you the best funerals that I have ever been to have been for those who are Jesus followers. It may be weird to you, but it's true. At the end of life, having hope is so incredibly valuable. It changes the dynamics of a funeral. But … I've also seen people who were great Jesus followers have a significant burden at their funeral. I've seen people who had Jesus enter their lives late, and there were consequences, regrets, and pains from their previous lives. I've seen people who loved Jesus for much of their life but walked away late. There was an emptiness and hollowness in their service. They had Jesus … but there were signs of great dysfunction. There was celebration … but there was also lingering sorrow. Is there something more to it than just simply saying Jesus? Do the best lives have a secret to them that goes beyond simply knowing Jesus? What if it's perseverance? I've seen people who've persevered through life with or without money … that doesn't tell their whole story. I've seen people who've persevered through life with or without good relationships … and it doesn't tell their whole story."