But You, Who Do You Say That I Am
First B Jackson
2022-09-25

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Hey, here it is. I don't know what's going on. Let's sing them in. Would you would you stand with us and we'll see if we can sing them in from the vestibule out there. Wonderful words of life.

Sing them over again to me. Wonderful words of life.

Thank you, Florine. Welcome and I'm glad you're here. Sing them over again to me. Wonderful words of life. Let me more of their beauty see.

Wonderful words of life. Words of life and beauty. Teach me faith and beauty. Beautiful words, words wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life Christ, the blessed one, to all wonderful words of life. Prometh this to the loving call, wonderful words of life.

Words though freely given, wooing us to heaven. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life. Sweetly echo the gospel call, wonderful words of life. Offer pardon and peace to all wonderful words of life.

Jesus only savior sanctify us forever. Beautiful Amen.

Amen. How about blessed assurance? Hymn number five seventy two.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Thing meant salvation purchased of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood. This is my story. This is my song, praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now pursed on my side.

Angels descending, bring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. This is my story. This is my song praising my savior all the day long. This is my story.

This is my song praising my savior all the day long. Perfect submission, all is at rest. I and my savior am happy and blessed watching and waiting, looking above, filled with his goodness, lost in his love. This is my story. This is my song, praising my savior all the day long.

This is my story. This is my song praising my savior all the day long

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements this morning. Let's see what they are. If you would like to, you can communicate with these little cards in front of you.

We we didn't have those for a couple of years. They're back in front of the chair in front of you. There should be a little card. If you'd like to communicate with the church, you can do it that way or hey, you can stop us afterwards and talk as long as you want to. We'll we'll be here But if you have a prayer request or you wanna connect or you just wanna communicate something, that's a good way to do it.

You can drop it in the offering plate when it goes by. Connect hour is what we call the time between services. We have a 09:00 and 11:00. The 09:00 is the music is kind of an Americana band playing a mix of hymns and stuff. And then this one is more traditional with piano.

We have a our what would you call? Pianist? No. We have have our gypsy pianist filling in for Judy right now, but we usually do, hymns in this service. Connect hour happens to keep the services together so we don't become two different churches.

Free food and a chance to connect down the hall. Monday nights at first b is happening. Carl is being the deliverer of the message, but there's meal, music, and a message every Monday night, 06:00 down the hall in the fellowship hall. Carl Clemmer will be bringing a message from Philippians two. So good.

So meal music and a message tomorrow night at six, and that's last week. This is coming up. Rummage sale is happening on October 1. Saturday, October 1 from eight to two. Nancy Toracciano has asked and she will be the administrator and the leader of any volunteers she might get.

Friday and Saturday, she's going to receive the donations on Friday. Set the sanctuary or fellowship hall. Set the fellowship hall up as a little store and then on Saturday, she'll be in here. If you would and you have some things to donate, nice, clean items, you can bring em in. Volunteers will be needed for Friday and Saturday.

You can talk to Nancy. That's her number. 699-9789. Sisters Saved by Grace is a Bible study that's happening on Thursday evenings. That's a tight knit little group and they're not an inward facing group.

They are always ready to have others join. So if you would like to join the Sisters Saved by Grace so a lot to And And Deb so so Buckingham has been teaching the lessons that you're invited to that if you'd like. If you have any technical abilities whatsoever and you feel led to be in the most That's the most difficult position in this church. Lead pastor is one thing, but being the guy in the sound booth, my goodness. Blake does a great job with it, and he'd be glad to train you to do that or to be able to fill in from time to time.

If you would like to do it, let us know. And Awana is back. So I started to mention this with Monday nights. We have Awanas happening on Monday nights. Starts 05:45, six right here.

We'll spread out in this room. Starting tomorrow, we'll put the Awana game circle down on the floor. And this will be the place to be. Monday evenings at six, Monday nights at first b is happening down there, and Awana starts off in this room and then spreads out over the rest of the church. Glad to have it back.

It has taken a lot of volunteers to get it rolling, but that starts tomorrow night. Pray for Thursday nights, I got a lot of these. This is the fall. This is when things start back up. So Thursdays, it is a Jackson Hole Community High School Ministry.

Our youth group and the youth group from Tribe and probably several other churches will be meeting together, kind of a community alliance of high school youth meeting at Tribe Ministry Center. That's across from Mad River, across from Whole Grocer, across Broadway there. If you need directions on how to get there, we'll get them to you. But Tribe Ministry Center is where it's gonna be on Thursdays at six. If you need more information, let me know.

Precept. Jane is facilitating a precept Bible study on Isaiah. I wandered through the other morning and I said, oh, y'all are just starting Isaiah. And one of them closed the book and said, nope. We just finished it.

I said, you did not either. There's a lot in Isaiah, and they just started this September. So it was last week that started. 9AM in the fellowship hall. Bring your colored pencils.

It'll be a fun inductive Bible study. And I think that's it. Did I forget anything else? So do y'all know Anders Olson? Y'all know Kevin and Olson?

Anders is his son who's grown up in this church. He and his wife, Brooke, are attempting and going for it. They're in a deputation phase of raising funds to go and be missionaries to to the youth. The j zone youth ministry is what they're getting started. So would you just be praying for Anders and for Brooke as they get rolling?

Youth ministry these days it's always been hard, but youth ministry these days are is very, very difficult. So would you have given the prayer support that they need for that? Anybody else? Anything else? Alright.

Would you stand with us, and we're gonna keep on keep on singing.

I know whom I have believed. I know not why God's wondrous grace to me he hath made known nor why unworthy Christ in love redeems me for his own. But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against the day. I know not how this saving faith to me, he did impart nor how believing in his word brought peace within my heart. But I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.

I know not how the spirit moves convincing men of sin revealing Jesus through the word broaden. But I know whom I have believed and then persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. I know not when my lord may come at night or noonday fair nor if I walk the veil with him or meet him in the air. But I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that

day. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord, that you reveal yourself to us. As we follow you, we come to be closer and closer to you.

We don't have to know it all, but lord, put our trust in you. Amen. May we long for it as the deer panteth for the water.

The waters so my soul longeth after thee. You alone are my heart. Desire and I long to worship thee. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone, May my spirit you alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship You're my friend, and you are my brother even though you are a king.

I love you more than any other so much more than anything. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone, may my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship beyond the last. I want you more than gold or silver only you can satisfy this fire.

You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye. You alone are my strength, my shield. To you alone, my spirit.

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I'm gonna invite the ushers to come forward. And would you pray with me this offer to our prayer? Lord, thank you.

Thank you God for the beauty of the day, for the beauty of this assembly, for people gathered in your name, Lord. I thank you that you are here in our midst. Lord, I pray that you would reflect your love for the world off of us. Your willing servants, Lord. May we be humble and obedient and carry the message of the gospel forward in every action.

But Lord, able to defend the peace and the joy and hope that is in us. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that we would be living and moving and having our being, that we would be, Lord, on mission every day, all the time. Would you show us your way, Lord, and allow us the strength by your spirit to walk it out. Amen. Jesus

was a master of communicating love and personal acceptance. He did so when he blessed and held little children. But another time, his sensitivity to touch them was even more graphic. This was when Jesus met a grown man's need for meaningful touch. A man who was barred by law from ever touching anyone again.

To touch a leper was unthinkable. Vanishing lepers from society, people would get within a stone's throw of them, and they would throw stones at them if they came their way. With their open sores and dirty lineages, lepers were the last persons anyone would want to touch. Yet the first thing Christ did for this man was touch him. Even before Jesus spoke to him, he reached out his hand and touched him.

Can you imagine what that scene must have looked like? Think how this man must have longed for someone to touch him, not throw stones at him to drive him away. Jesus could have healed him first and then touched him. But recognizing this man had a greater need, Jesus stretched out his hand even before he spoke words of physical and spiritual healing.

Amen. Thank you, Bob. Thank you, Crystal and Florine. This morning, I've admitted to the first service I was more nervous than normal. I'm a little nervous all the time, but I was more nervous than normal this morning.

We are going through this study that we've been in for ten years virtually. I had a seminary professor that said, never do a sermon series more than five sermons long. And we've been doing this for ten years. Actually, though, what we've been doing is chronologically going through. When I first got here scared to death and very nervous, I thought, what are we gonna do but study the life of Jesus?

So we studied the life of Jesus in the book of John. I know that that's a later book written, but I studied Jesus in John. And then we used Acts, and we went through all of Acts. And since then, we've been going in this chronological study where we went through all of the epistles, all the way up through Revelation, then and we're going back and picking up the synoptic gospels. We've been doing it in the harmony of the gospels approach.

So today, we'll cover a section from Luke nine and Mark eight and Matthew 16. It's all the same story told by the three different gospel writers. But I want you to concentrate on a personal thing right here. This is an open question. This is, but you, who do you say that I am?

I wanna emphasize that it's y'all. When Jesus asked the question, he said, but y'all, it's emphatic. Y'all, these are his disciples who are walking with him. Y'all, who do y'all say that I am? Now, we know Peter stepped up and it was an individual that answered the question, then he started speaking individually to Peter there.

But who do y'all pronounce Jesus to be? In the world, with your words and with your life, who are you saying that Jesus is? That's the overwhelming thrust of this message, I hope. Matthew sixteen twenty seven to 35. Mark eight twenty seven.

That's not right. Somewhere in there. I was thinking Mark I've got Mark twice. I knew that didn't look right this morning. I've got Mark up there twice.

Matthew's quite a bit longer, and Luke is the shortest. We're gonna start off here with Mark. Now Jesus went out along with his disciples. When we left him last, he was at Bethsaida Julius just on the northern shore of the Sea Of Galilee just across the River Jordan. And Jesus went out along with the disciples to the village of Caesarea Philippi.

So he has walked about 25 miles north to Caesarea Philippi. There are all kinds of geological formations around there. The city was fairly recently revived. Matthew, I think, says exactly the same thing. Now, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, Philip the tetrarch, one of the Herods of the New Testament, had rebuilt this city that was known by the Greeks as Panaeus.

Panaeus is a place that was dedicated to the worship of the God pan in Greek society. Philip kinda rebuilt the city and renamed it Caesarea after the Caesar Tiberius, the emperor, but he also named it after himself since he's a Herod. He could do that. Caesarea Philippi, not to be confused with Caesarea Maritime. When Jesus came into this region, it's a spiritually charged place.

There are geo like I said, geological formations all about. And as they're walking, Jesus begins a conversation with his disciples. Mark says, and on the way, he questioned his disciples saying to them it's interesting that the rabbi is asking the questions. Do you think he doesn't know the answer? Who do people say that I am?

Do people say that I am? Mark says it that way. Matthew says, who do people say that the son of man is? Now, the son of man is Jesus' favorite self designation. He calls himself that quite a bit.

It might surprise some of you. Don't know. But he does not often, hardly ever call himself Messiah. Hardly ever does he call himself the Christ. Or not often does he call himself by other names.

This is the most common. 80 something times he calls himself son of man. Who do people say that the son of man is? Who do people say that I am in Luke? It happened that while he was praying alone.

So apparently, he'd been walking, peripatetic teaching, and praying. His disciples were with him, Luke says, and he questioned them saying, who do people say that I am? And they told him saying, well, John the Baptist. If you think back to about three weeks ago, Herod Antipas had heard that Jesus was doing all these miracles and that his disciples were doing all these miracles. And he got to be a little afraid because he had had John the Baptist killed, and he was worried that John the Baptist had been resurrected and was super powerful.

So that's some of the people, maybe Herod Antipas is in that group, and others might have been. Some say John the Baptist and others say Elijah. The Pharisees especially, but others too, expected that before the conquering Messiah would come, that someone would come in the spirit of Elijah or Elijah would be revived. Now, Jesus kind of pointed out that John the Baptist was that spirit of Elijah guy. You know, that's not what the whole populace believed, but some others would say Elijah.

There was an expectation for Elijah revivas, that Elijah would revive and that he would be a forerunner of the Messiah. Others say one of the prophets, Mark says. One of the prophets. Now, Matthew gets more specific with one of the prophets. Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah.

And still others say Jeremiah. Oh, to examine the ministry of Jeremiah. God had given him a message, and he went out and faithfully proclaimed the message, and he was pilloried for it. He was thrown in a pit. He was beaten up.

He was dragged through the mud metaphorically. They threw the message in the river. They burned the message up. They didn't listen the message and he received all kind of opposition. It's no wonder that Jeremiah, the crying prophet, some people would think that Jesus was Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.

Luke says, John the Baptist and Elijah, one of the prophets of old has arisen. There's no doubt something is different about Jesus. And his disciples said that people recognize that fact, but they were hitting all around it but not really getting close. I'm gonna go ahead and admit it. So the reason I'm more nervous is because somebody left last week and they said, I'm bringing a seminary president with me next week.

And I went, oh, I wish I didn't know that. I will wrestle with wanting to look smart all week long. And I know that he didn't want that. I didn't want to mention it in this service, but I'm sitting up here and my heart is pounding through my chest. This is the point of this service.

Who do y'all say that I am? This is where he gets he's putting a sharp point on this. I know everybody else what they think. And y'all know what everybody else thinks. But y'all, the ones who've been following me for two and a half years.

Y'all, who do y'all say that I am? It's emphatic. It's more emphatic in Matthew. And Peter answered and said, the Christ of God. Like, boom.

Right there. Yeah. Yeah. Bible drill. Peter, you win.

Yeah. Mark says, and he continued questioning them. He's asking them a series of questions and he says, who do you say? Actually, it's who do y'all say that I am? It's an open question for everybody that follows him to answer.

And Peter answered and said to him, you are the Christ, Christ of God in Luke. You are the Christ, anointed one. Usually, Greek way of translate messiah. Jesus spoke Aramaic typically. So you're the Christ, the anointed one.

Who do y'all say that I am? Peter answered and said, the Christ of God. But he warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone. So Luke is the shortest right here. He says, Peter confesses that he is the Christ of God and then he says, don't tell anybody.

That does that sound weird to you? It feels like to us, we're supposed once we know Jesus, tell everybody. Well, we've got the great commission. We've got the cross. We've got all kinds of stuff that they had not seen yet.

They still even though Peter had it right that he was the Christ of God, that's a charged term. The pharisees were looking for messiah, hopeful that he would conquer Rome. Sadducees more upset about it because they were in a pretty good position under Rome for themselves. He warned his disciples and instructed, don't tell anybody. And Mark says the same thing.

He warned them, tell no one about him. Now they're in a Gentile area, Caesarea Philippi. All these geological formations. There's even a place that's this deep cave that they called the Gates Of Hell. It's still we had a guy between services that sent me pictures that he took last week while he was in Israel of this formation known as the Gates Of Hell.

He warned them though, tell no one about him. This is a Gentile area. It's not likely that the Pharisees or the Sadducees were in close proximity. It's not likely that there were a whole lot of Jewish folks in the proximity. If you think back to John chapter six, just recently after the feeding of the 5,000, it said that there was a segment of that group that Jesus recognized.

They said, this is the prophet. This is the one that Moses told us about. And Jesus recognized that they were going to, by force, make him their king. And it says he walked away from that. He walked away from worldly power.

He warned him to tell no one about him. That seems odd to us in a marketing society. If you've got a good message, why wouldn't you get it out there? He said to them, But who do y'all is y'all selves a word? Who do y'all yourselves?

It's an intensifier. Right? Who is it that y'all say that I am? This is important, and it's an open question. Simon Peter.

Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. That's the most ample version of it that we've gotten. You are the Christ, the anointed one, the son of not just God, but the living God. He's active and he's working and you are the anointed one, anointed by him to do a special task. You're it.

And Jesus said to him, blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah. That's his old name. Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah. Blessed are you. Why?

Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. You've gotten this because the father is drawing you. You've gotten this because you're paying attention in humility, as proud as Peter was. And we see as impetuous as he was, he's the first one to answer the question. You're the Christ, son of the living God.

Blessed are you Simon Bar Jonah because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. But my father who's in heaven, you're paying attention to God. And you got it right. It goes on from there. And Matthew's the only one that tells us this portion.

And I also say to you individually that you are Peter. That's his new name, Simon Bar Jonah. Peter, rock. And upon this rock, will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. God and the devil are not equal powers.

Amen. God is almighty. The devil is a created being. In this cosmic battle, it's not good and evil yin yang. God is almighty, and the gates of Hades will not overpower what God is doing.

Jesus the Christ is saying this, and upon this rock now right here, y'all walked into a Baptist church this morning. You hear my accent, and you think he's immediately gonna start right here saying why this is not the Catholic version of this. I've heard the sermon a thousand times, and it's always a defense based on this is feminine, and this is masculine, and this is that, and that's the other. He says, I'll give you. This is individual.

But certainly he's representative. Right? Just because of that confession. Maybe it's the confession of Christ. Think about Peter and Jesus.

He had an open question for everybody, and the guy who answered it was Peter. And his response to the guy who answered the questions, I'm gonna build my church. The gates of Hades will not overpower. I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. You can open that gate for someone else.

But this is the gospel message. Right? I'll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Now there is Catholic doctrine has built Peter's the first pope. Everything comes down from there. All of the hierarchy of the structure starts at this place. It happened several hundred years after the fact that anybody claimed that. But then we, Protestants in general, have opposed that rendering with our own opposition force.

Right? And the two opposing forces battle, battle, battle till the argument gets completely stale. It's an impasse. The red team and the blue team are opposed to each other. They're designed to oppose each other.

Anything you say, I'm gonna say the opposite. Think about Peter. You're the Christ. I'm the living God. I know everything, but I know that.

Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah. You got that right. It comes from God. In humility, you have believed it. There's another place where Peter falls on his face before him and says, back away from me.

I'm a thoroughly sinful man. He recognized his need. He recognized Jesus' lordship. It's good. It's personal.

Then we get to where everybody else has already gotten to. He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that he was the Christ. Why? Why not? Why not go out and make sons?

Why not go out and march? Why not go out and proclaim? They didn't know who he was yet. I mean, Peter had that part right, but he hadn't been to the cross. He didn't understand what he's about to tell him, which we'll get to that in a minute.

When he sent them out two by two, he sent his disciples out and went them out to the village. He says, don't even go into the Gentile area. You all not ready for that yet. There would come a time where he says, go into every tribe, tongue, and nation for sure, but they weren't ready for it. He's been training them.

The Canaanite woman, healing that Canaanite woman's daughter and teaching his disciples that this message really is for everybody. Feeding the 4,000 in Decapolis over here on the other side of the Sea Of Galilee, this message really is for everybody. He warned them and instructed them not to tell anyone saying this, the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and raised on the third day. Now Jesus walking away from those people who were seeking to make him king, who thought he was the prophet that they were expecting, wanting to raise him up on their shoulders and taking him into victorious battle. Jesus walked away from that.

And when he recognized in Peter's confession, he starts this. Luke just tells us what Jesus started teaching. Mark says, and he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and by the chief priests and by the scribes and be killed and after three days rise from the dead. And he was stating the matter plainly. Like, yes, you're right.

He's the Christ. There's not any doubt about that. But Christ as a term had so much political charge to it. So much was already imbued because of the expectations. Even his disciples were still arguing over who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom.

Who gets to sit on the left? Who gets to sit on the right? They still didn't get it. And he's speaking plainly. It's not in parables.

This is not for people seeing they will not see, hearing they will not understand. He's saying it flatly. Matthew. From that time, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary day in the Greek. It must happen.

There were steps that Jesus had not yet taken to fulfill the anointed one's role. He was it, but it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. He was stating the matter plainly, Mark says, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Okay. Rabbi disciple, the disciples rebuking the master here.

Right after that disciple told him who he was, you're the Christ, son of the living God. But turning around and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan. For you're not setting your mind on God's purposes but on man's. Your understanding of this is still clouded. I just said I must do this.

It's got to happen in order to fulfill all righteousness like he told John the Baptist. It's got to happen. And you're not setting your mind on God's purposes but on man's. Remember last week where we talked about Jesus in the boat with the disciples and they forgot bread, and they were like, oh, he's already fed 5,000 over here. He's already fed 4,000 over there.

13 guys in a boat. Come on. And Jesus says, beware of the leaven of the pharisees and the sadducees. Beware of the legalists. Also, beware of the libertines.

Beware of the isms. Beware of the sides. Beware of the sides of the argument. If you are reading scripture for proof texts, stop it. Stop it.

Get behind me, Satan. You're stumbling block to me for you're not setting your mind on God's purposes but on men's. That's Matthew. There was a research survey done just in the last few weeks by LifeWay. And I don't usually get into those.

I read them, but I don't usually get into them. Lately, asking just questions that orthodox Christian belief. What is Jesus? Who is Jesus? Who do you proclaim me to be?

More than half of people who call themselves evangelical Christians say that he's a created being. More than half. More than half deny the doctrine of original sin. Way more than half actually. The the traditionally held truths of who Jesus is have eroded to the fact that people who call themselves Christians don't even know what they are, but they know where they stand on all of the political situations.

They know which team they're on, whether it's a red team or the blue team. They know which team they're on. Jesus is asking who he is. And honestly, if you're answering the question and you don't know who he is, don't answer the other questions or don't tell them who you are. That seems to me to be I'm I'm adding a little bit there.

I admit it. But he they don't have a full understanding of who he is. And there's an aspect of Jesus saying, you need to understand this fully before you start proclaiming. You need to understand who I am because I'm not on that side, and I'm not on that side. I'm the answer for both sides.

He summoned the crowd together with his disciples. This is in the Gentile area. And he said to them, if anyone wants to come after me if anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself. There are some things that you just feel to the very nth of your being, all the way down, that you're convinced of. He's saying, you have to deny that.

You have to deny that part of yourself and take up your cross and follow me. Lord, I don't know how I feel about that situation. Follow me. Pay attention to me. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself.

Take up his cross and follow me. Boy, Jesus' path was the Via Dolorosa, the painful path. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. When he was crying over Jerusalem, he looked down and said, oh, if only you had known the time of your visitation, but you have none of it. In recovery, like addiction and recovery, there's an emphasis placed on today.

This is from Luke. It says, and he was saying to them all, if anyone wants to come after me, he's gotta deny himself. You don't try to turn Jesus into who you want him to be. You allow him by his word and by his spirit to transform you into the person he wants you to be. This is take up his cross daily.

Every day. We are susceptible to fall away. And in the passage where Peter says, you're the Christ, son of the living God, the next paragraph, Jesus says, get behind me, Satan, Because we are just that apt to go off when we rebuke God for what it is that he's trying to do. Through redemptive suffering in some cases. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels.

The good news of the gospel is you can be set free. You can be set free from all of the world's endeavors. You can be set free from worldliness and sin, and you can walk forward in the good news, hope, joy, mercy, love, grace of the gospel. Living our lives after that is the way to save them. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, this is the one who will save it. It has to be all about Jesus. It has to be. Clear understanding of who he is, not who we want him to be is important. I'm stopping right there.

It's in the middle of a paragraph. I almost never do that. But I want this to rest until next week, and I will pick it up next week. It's going to go into, you know, whoever's ashamed of me. And I think that that has been used to bludgeon us for so long to get us to make some bold statement.

But I think wrestling through, Lord, what is your way? I thought I had it figured out. Will you show me what you want me to do? And he will. Will you help me to see the next step?

Will you help me to live out this life, Lord? And the answer is yes. Lord God Almighty, would you help us to know who it is that you are? Would you show us your way, Lord, and give us the strength to walk in it? If our struggle is ego and looking smart, if our struggle is wanting to always be right rather than be righteous, God, may we learn a lesson from you.

From Philippians, from Philippians two particularly. There's consolation in love. There's hope. There's comfort in the love of God. And so would you, Lord, allow us unity in the body of Christ?

Would you allow us to stop arguing our point just to be right? But would you allow us to sharpen iron and to understand better and better who you are from your word. Would you transform us, Lord? Show us your way. Make us different from the world around us.

May we stand out, Lord, in humility, God. I pray that you'd transform us. Amen. Would you stand with me? And the altar is always open.

I don't know that this is a message that I just bring them all down. But the altar is always open. And if if God is moving in your heart, I I pray that you just allow him to do that. That any preconceived notions or any decisions you flat set made that are not of God, that he'd start pulling those things away. We're gonna sing my Jesus, I love thee.

For the all the follies of sin I resign my gracious redeemer, my savior, art thou. If ever I love thee, my Jesus for wearing the thorns on thy brow if ever I love thee my Jesus with the glittering crown on my brow. If ever I love thee, The

re revelation of who Jesus is to his disciples is always an interesting thing. In John 14, he's speaking to Philip and says, don't you don't you know me, Philip? I've been with you so long. This is the upper room discourse. Right?

Even after I've been among you for such a long time, anyone who's seen me has seen the father. How can you say, show us the father? Did you not see him? Do you not see him in me? Believe me when I say that I am in the father and the father's in me.

Or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I've been doing. May we be about Jesus's business, really. When he is steadfastly going forward towards the cross, he is also walking away from a whole lot of unnecessary stuff. God, would you help us not to fall into the pitfalls of either side?

Would you help us to walk it out, Lord? Would you show us the opportunities for transforming lives? Would you show us opportunities for having our life transformed? Would you show us, Lord, how we may be of assistance to the advance of the good news of Jesus Christ? In Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen.