Who We Are: #6 - Renewal

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, [00:00:03] Speaker B: you welcome you. [00:00:06] Speaker C: Hey, there. If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church, and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker A: So if you're a very astute observer, you'll recognize two things. The first is that I don't have a South African accent and that I'm not Grant Clark. I'm not Grant Clark. Yeah. [00:00:52] Speaker B: So Grant Clark, he leads our sister church, one of our sister churches down in San Diego. And he was scheduled to be here [00:00:59] Speaker A: with us this morning. And let me start my timer. [00:01:04] Speaker B: He was scheduled to be here this morning. And many of you guys know and love Grant. He is dear to us. [00:01:10] Speaker A: He's a close friend and brother to me personally. You'll know that several months ago, Grant lost his father, which was really hard, obviously. And he called me about a week ago, a little less than a week ago. Ish. And he let me know that his mom is in bad shape. His family's back in South Africa. His mom's health is actually. [00:01:37] Speaker B: It's deteriorating fairly quickly. [00:01:39] Speaker A: And she's. The doctors have said that she's kind of in the final phase of life. And so you can imagine what Grant and his wife and Michelle are. Yeah. Experiencing. And in the midst of especially being so far away here in California with family back in Durban. And so I made the decision, hey, dude, you need to be relieved of this Sunday. And so he sends his love and his wishes. We'll have him back another time. But be praying for Grant. Michelle, it stinks. It's hard. We'll talk about this a little bit today, but life is just not the way it's supposed to be. And thankfully, we have an intervening God who's a savior and a rescuer and a redeemer and a renewer. We have the gospel to lean on in times when it's tough. And we know what lies ahead for those who have faith in Jesus, this glorious resurrection to life, the way it's supposed to be, where there's no sin, there's no Satan, there's no death to torment us and to keep us bound, we get to be free eternally. And so will you please just be Praying for Grant Michelle. It'd mean a lot to me and I know it'd mean a lot to them. [00:02:50] Speaker B: That being said, you are stuck with me again this morning. [00:02:53] Speaker A: Okay, so that's my daughter. Okay, fine. Here's what we're gonna be doing. [00:03:01] Speaker B: We're gonna continue on in our series [00:03:03] Speaker A: that we've been going through called who We Are. [00:03:05] Speaker B: We've been in this series for several weeks now. This is actually our sixth Sunday going through our six core values as a church. And not just like core values of this local church, but the six core values that we share with all of our sister churches, all of the churches in the restored family of churches. I just said churches like eight times. [00:03:23] Speaker A: So hopefully you're getting the picture here [00:03:24] Speaker B: that we're talking about the values that define us as a church. What are the things that make us distinct? Okay, and so, so far we've covered the first five. We've covered gospel, we've covered family, we've covered dependence, we've covered mission, and we've covered multiplication. [00:03:41] Speaker A: Okay? [00:03:41] Speaker B: Today we're going to cover our final [00:03:42] Speaker A: one and it's renewal. [00:03:44] Speaker B: Alright, so if you have a Bible, go ahead and grab that, open it up to Genesis chapter one. [00:03:49] Speaker A: That's where we're gonna start in God's Word this morning. If you don't have a Bible with you, no problem. The team will have the words up on the screen for you. And what I wanna do is I wanna pray for us and then I wanna walk you through why this concept of biblical renewal is so important to us as a church and as a family of churches. And so before we do that, I just want to pray and I'd love for you to join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, What a privilege it is to be together. I just confess to you that so often I. I don't know, I take things for granted. I take your grace on me, your provision on me, your care for granted. And I know I'm not the only one. Life has a way of moving very quickly. But the truth is there's a lot that every single one of us carry. A lot of things that are beautiful and a lot of things that aren't. And so, Holy Spirit, would you help us this morning? Would you maybe sober us up to maybe some of the beauty that we're taking for granted in our life and maybe even just maybe some of the hard things that our brothers and sisters among us and maybe even ourselves are carrying and how it's your desire to meet us in that space and to not just Meet us there and comfort us there, but to act. So would you teach us more about your kingdom? Would you show us the beauty of Jesus? And would you help us? We want to become more like you, Lord. We pray these things in your name. And all God's people said, amen. Okay? So when you think about movies or [00:05:54] Speaker B: stories or different narratives or like, maybe even a play, like a theater play, typically narratives are broken up into acts. A, C, T, S, like, you know, [00:06:05] Speaker A: the fourth act or the second act or the first act. [00:06:07] Speaker B: And each act is kind of broken up with different scenes. So if you've watched a movie, you might be watching a movie and, you know, see this scene, and then it'll cut to the next scene, It'll cut to the next scene. And that's all part of Act 1. And then something kind of dramatic takes place, like a shift in the story takes place. And now if you're reading the screenplay or the script, and now you'll see the header, it'll say Act 2. So there's been a transition from Act 1 and the scenes that make up Act 1 to now Act 2. There's a dramatic shift in the story, okay? And that's typical of any narrative, any play, any movie, whatever. The Bible's kind of similar. In the Bible, it's made up of four acts. [00:06:49] Speaker A: Okay? [00:06:50] Speaker B: What I wanna do is I just wanna. Quickly, as quickly as I can, I wanna walk you through these four acts that are made up of a bunch of different scenes. But these four just kind of mil markers, if you will, these four acts that we see in the Scriptures. And the first one, we're Beyond Genesis chapter one. Put your finger in verse 26. That's what we're going to start. But in Genesis chapter one, we see the Scriptures opening with kind of act one in the narrative. And that is creation. [00:07:16] Speaker A: Right? [00:07:16] Speaker B: God's creating all this stuff. And how does he create it? Good. Yes, but what's he create with? Yeah, he speaks it. Absolutely. [00:07:26] Speaker A: Stay with me. [00:07:26] Speaker B: He speaks things into existence. So we see God say, let there be light. And there's light. We see God creating earth. And we see God creating land and oceans and vegetation and the sun and the moon and the stars and even animals. And then we come to in verse 26 here, God does some really profound creative work. [00:07:48] Speaker A: It says this verse 26. Then God said, notice he speaks with his word. [00:07:58] Speaker B: Then God said, let us make man [00:08:00] Speaker A: in our image according to our likeness. [00:08:03] Speaker B: They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth. And the creatures that crawl on the earth, verse 27. So God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. Look at verse 28. God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful, multiply, Fill the earth and subdue it. We talked about that last week. [00:08:26] Speaker A: If you were with us, if you [00:08:27] Speaker B: missed any of these sermons, go back, [00:08:29] Speaker A: please listen to them, they're important. [00:08:31] Speaker B: He continues, rule the fish of the sea. [00:08:33] Speaker A: Tells them, be fruitful, be multiplied. [00:08:35] Speaker B: Fill the earth, subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth. God also said, look, I have given you every seed bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth. Everything having the breath of life in it. [00:08:58] Speaker A: I've given every green plant for food. [00:09:00] Speaker B: And it was so. [00:09:01] Speaker A: Verse 31. [00:09:01] Speaker B: God saw all that he had made and it was very good indeed. [00:09:07] Speaker A: Evening came, then morning. The sixth day. [00:09:09] Speaker B: Okay, so I want you to see act one in the story of the Bible is creation. Okay, if you're taking notes, write that down. Act one is creation. God's creating all these things and it says that everything was good. Now, you don't need, you know, a Bible theologian to tell you that if everything was good, it means nothing was bad. That sounds awesome. Okay, that sounds amazing. I want you to imagine what that would look like for a second. Like everything that you need in your life would be available to you. Think of the implications of that. [00:09:45] Speaker A: Right? [00:09:46] Speaker B: And not only that, but you have this relationship between the Creator, God, right? This triune being, this community of three persons. Father, son, spirit. If you notice, it said, let us make man in our image. See the Trinity on the first page of the Bible. But you have this relationship between God and man and creation that's perfect. It's not broken down. It's things the way they're supposed to be. So just imagine that for a second. Imagine your relationship with your maker being unhindered. Like it's not hard to hear from him. It's not hard to understand him. It's not difficult. It's the way it's supposed to be. You with me and not just your relationship with God, but imagine your relationship with other people maybe being the way it's supposed to be. And not just your relationship with God and other people, your relationship with anything and Everything that's been created, I think. I don't know if we could fully even wrap our brains around that, if I'm honest. I think it's too cool. [00:10:51] Speaker A: Things the way they're supposed to be. That's act one. Two pages later, Genesis, chapter three, what happens? Act two just showed up. [00:11:00] Speaker B: A big shift in the story just happened. And the shift in the story is sin now enters into creation through Adam and Eve's disobedience, through them choosing to do things their way. Tempted by Satan choosing to do things their way instead of God's way. Now something. A big shift in the story takes place. So all the scenes in Act 1, you know, all the creative scenes, all the beautiful, cool things, now sin happens. Boom. Act two, act two in the story is what's known as the fall. [00:11:27] Speaker A: You can write that down. [00:11:29] Speaker B: The fall. Not so much like the season we're about to enter into. Not autumn. That's not what I mean when I say fall. [00:11:37] Speaker A: I mean literally the fall from grace, [00:11:40] Speaker B: like the fall of mankind. It's the curse of sin now penetrating all of creation and affecting everything, right? [00:11:50] Speaker A: Everything's cursed now because of sin. [00:11:52] Speaker B: There's something called death. And I don't know if there's something [00:11:58] Speaker A: worse in your life and in mine than death. [00:12:04] Speaker B: It's the thing that causes the most fear for people. [00:12:08] Speaker A: Not just, you know, the loss of your own life, but the loss of the life of someone that you love dearly. I was at a funeral recently for a close family friend [00:12:18] Speaker B: he knew and loved Jesus. [00:12:20] Speaker A: He lived a spectacular life, but it [00:12:23] Speaker B: was still this, like, why can't I hold back the tears? You ever been in a memorial service? [00:12:33] Speaker A: Chances are most of you in the room have. [00:12:35] Speaker B: There's something sobering about that, is there not? [00:12:39] Speaker A: It's just death. It's like the worst. I hate it. So does God. [00:12:48] Speaker B: But not only does death show up on the scene, but now, like I said, that perfect relationship between God and with mankind, man and woman, and with all of creation, now that relationship gets jacked up. Now that relationship, it's fractured. It's not the way it's supposed to be. Because that's what sin does. Sin. It separates creation from God. It separates us from God. [00:13:14] Speaker A: God's holy. The Bible says it means he's perfect in all of his ways. Okay? [00:13:18] Speaker B: He's holy. He's perfectly good. And the thing about God, if you read the Bible, is man. I feel like most of the Old Testament, even coming into the New Testament, is just really God's desire to be with his sinful people. But the problem is, like I said, he's holy. So I don't know if you know this, but a holy, perfect God in the presence of a sinner is really dangerous for that sinner. Not because God's mean or cruel or evil, but because he's so good. It's sort of like being too close to the sun. It's not cause the sun's bad, it's [00:13:49] Speaker A: because the sun is different. [00:13:52] Speaker B: And God's desire to be with his people is so significant and so strong. And so what I want you to see is the second act in the story. It's the fall. It's the curse. It's sin coming and changing things. And because of things or because of sin, things are broken that they're not [00:14:11] Speaker A: the way that things are supposed to be. [00:14:14] Speaker B: And one of the things that I love about the character of God is that like, almost immediately when sin enters the world, right, act two, fall, curse. Things are jacked up or fractured. Things are now not the way they're supposed to be. Almost immediately, God makes a promise. In Genesis chapter three. It's the first instant or the first kind of showing up of the gospel. He makes a promise that he's gonna send a savior to rescue people like me and like the people we see in the scriptures, to rescue people from sin, from Satan, and from death. Because you don't need me to tell you this, but you look around and there's plenty of sin to see. There's plenty of things not the way they're supposed to be. There's plenty of death affecting people in really powerful and painful ways. [00:15:02] Speaker A: And from the very beginning of Act 2, God goes. [00:15:07] Speaker B: He makes a promise that he's gonna [00:15:09] Speaker A: save people from that through a savior. Ultimately, no, that's Jesus. [00:15:14] Speaker B: Now from that point forward in Genesis chapter three, from that point forward in act two of the story of the Bible, we have like the rest of the Old Testament. Okay, the rest of the Old Testament. I'm gonna summarize it for you. It's basically this. Mankind continues to be selfish. Mankind continues to sin against God and each other in really painful, destructive ways, Right? Ways that are devastating. And all the while, the people of God are waiting for that promised Savior that God said he would send. That's act two of the story. [00:15:50] Speaker A: You with me? [00:15:51] Speaker B: What's act one? Creation. What's act two? [00:15:55] Speaker A: Fall. [00:15:55] Speaker B: Great, you're tracking with me. It's the fall. It's sin right Now. The story doesn't stop there. Now we come to Jesus right God putting on flesh in the person of Jesus. That's act three, big dramatic shift in the narrative. [00:16:09] Speaker A: Okay? [00:16:10] Speaker B: Act three is redemption. [00:16:12] Speaker A: Okay, you can write that down. [00:16:13] Speaker B: Act three in the story is redemption. Creation, fall. Act three, redemption. This is God putting on flesh in the person of Jesus, right? To live the perfect life that you and I never could. Totally empowered by the spirit of God, by the way. So Jesus, he lives this perfect life. He's given birth by a virgin, his mother, Mary, right? He grows up in Nazareth. He apprentices probably with his father, and he lives a seemingly normal, hidden Life for like 30 years. [00:16:51] Speaker A: And then he goes public with his ministry. [00:16:52] Speaker B: He begins teaching about the good news of the kingdom of God, the good news of the rule and reign of God in your life. If you yield to the rule and the reign of God, if you yield to his ways, it's really, really good news. And it results in human flourishing even in the midst of a dark, fallen, broken, sinful world. So Jesus comes preaching this news. He comes acting in power and signs and wonders. He's healing people. He's doing something spectacular things during his life and his ministry. And the most spectacular thing is he does it all completely sinless. He never gives into temptation. The Bible says he was tempted in every way like you and I are, but he never gives into it. He never gives himself over to letting sin rule over him. [00:17:40] Speaker A: And then, you know the story, he's executed on the cross as an innocent [00:17:43] Speaker B: man, ultimately fulfilling God's plan to take on flesh and be the kind of end all, be all sacrifice for all of mankind. The ultimate sacrifice to forgive anyone who puts their trust in him, to forgive them of their mistakes, to forgive them of their sins, to forgive them of their selfishness. [00:18:06] Speaker A: It's the gospel. [00:18:08] Speaker B: But I want you to see that in that Act 3, Act 3 redemption piece of Jesus. What Jesus is doing, what God is doing through Christ is he's redeeming people. He's forgiving people. Are you seeing this? [00:18:26] Speaker A: He reconciles them back to God. Okay? [00:18:29] Speaker B: So I want you to see these first three acts in Scripture. Creation, fall, redemption. Now here's the thing. The reason I bring this up is because some people, they live or they [00:18:41] Speaker A: believe they live as though that the [00:18:42] Speaker B: story of the Bible ends with Act 3. They live as though, you know, kind of like you live your life, you eventually die, and then because of Jesus, you go to heaven, right? A lot of people view life that way through that lens. [00:18:56] Speaker A: Now, listen, that's not actually the story the Bible tells. There's a fourth act flip over to Revelation, chapter 21, Revelation 21, starting in verse one. [00:19:12] Speaker B: Now you need to know this is the second to last chapter in the entire Bible, okay? This is written by the apostle John, personally discipled by Jesus, one of Jesus closest friends. While Jesus was on the earth during his ministry, John has this wild vision, this unbelievable encounter with God. And he records this vision in the book of Revelation. It's not the book of Revelations, it's the book of Revelation about Jesus. It's the revelation of Jesus, okay? And he writes this at the very second to last chapter in all of scripture. Look at what he says. He's describing this vision that God gave [00:19:48] Speaker A: him of what was to come. [00:19:50] Speaker B: He says, then I saw a new, underline that word. A new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven. And the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem. [00:20:11] Speaker A: Look at what it says. Coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. [00:20:22] Speaker B: Then I heard a loud voice from the throne. [00:20:24] Speaker A: Look, God's dwelling is with humanity and [00:20:30] Speaker B: he will live with them. Remember I said God really wants to [00:20:33] Speaker A: be with his people. But there's a problem. [00:20:37] Speaker B: They will be his peoples and God [00:20:40] Speaker A: himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. [00:20:48] Speaker B: Death will be no more. [00:20:51] Speaker A: Grief, crying and pain will be no more because the previous things have passed away. Verse 5. [00:21:02] Speaker B: Then the one seated on the throne [00:21:03] Speaker A: said, look, I'm making some things new. [00:21:10] Speaker B: Everything. I'm making everything new. [00:21:15] Speaker A: He also said, right, because these words [00:21:19] Speaker B: are faithful and true. Then he said to me, it is done. I am the alpha and the Omega, [00:21:24] Speaker A: the beginning and the end. [00:21:26] Speaker B: I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. The one who conquers will inherit these things. And I will be his God and he will be my son. [00:21:35] Speaker A: But the cowards, faithless, detestable murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their [00:21:50] Speaker B: share will be in the lake that [00:21:52] Speaker A: burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. He's referring to hell. There. Listen. The Bible doesn't end with Act 3. It ends with Act 4. Act 4 is the renewal of all things. Okay, Write that down. The renewal of all things. [00:22:16] Speaker B: It's all things, everything, every created thing, being made new. [00:22:21] Speaker A: Okay? [00:22:22] Speaker B: Being made new. Now I want you to notice something, what we just read. The Bible does not end with people leaving earth and going to heaven. It does not end with people leaving earth and going to Heaven. It ends with heaven coming to earth. Do you see this? This is not me making it up. This is the scriptures. It ends with heaven coming to earth. The story ends with all of creation being renewed. What does that mean? That means things becoming the way they were supposed to be in the beginning. Are you tracking with me? That's the renewal piece. Okay. Like, they were in the beginning with Adam and Eve, before sin came in and jacked everything up. [00:23:00] Speaker A: You tracking with me? [00:23:05] Speaker B: My main point for you this morning, if you don't hear me say anything else, it's this. God doesn't just redeem. [00:23:11] Speaker A: God renews. [00:23:13] Speaker B: He doesn't just redeem. He doesn't just forgive. He does forgive, but he doesn't just forgive. He does reconcile us to himself, but he doesn't just do that. He doesn't stop there. [00:23:23] Speaker C: He. [00:23:23] Speaker B: He renews. The story of the Bible is God redeeming a fallen world. [00:23:31] Speaker A: That's the forgiveness and reconciliation piece. [00:23:33] Speaker B: And then renewing everything to the way [00:23:36] Speaker A: it's supposed to be. [00:23:38] Speaker B: Like, the best way I can think to describe this. I had a hard time coming up with something, but this is the first [00:23:43] Speaker A: thing that came to my mind. [00:23:44] Speaker B: Imagine that there was a piece of furniture that was missing in your house. [00:23:49] Speaker A: Okay? [00:23:49] Speaker B: There was a. You. You needed, like, a dining room table, let's say, in your home. You really needed a dining room table. And you're like, okay, what are my options? My options, I can go out to the store and buy one, but they're too expensive, or maybe they're not what you want or whatever. I want you to imagine that you go to. [00:24:04] Speaker A: Let's just say the dump. [00:24:07] Speaker B: People come and they dump all their things that they no longer want. And a lot of things there are trash. They're in terrible condition, or else they [00:24:13] Speaker A: wouldn't be in the dump. Right? [00:24:14] Speaker B: But I want you to imagine that you go to the dump and you find this table. It's beat up, it's tore up. It's not, like, in great shape. But you're like, you know what? [00:24:24] Speaker A: I think I can do something with this. [00:24:26] Speaker B: So you go and you grab that table from the dump. You load it in the back of your friend's truck. Cause you borrowed it, and you bring it to your house and you unload it. And then you start to get to work on that table, and you start to sand it down, and you start to refinish it. And all of a sudden, the more work that you put into this thing, you're like, dude, this thing looks incredible. [00:24:47] Speaker A: And the next Thing you know, when [00:24:49] Speaker B: you get to a certain spot, you're [00:24:50] Speaker A: like, this is ready for our home. And you place it in your dining room. [00:24:55] Speaker B: And now you have this beautiful table that was once in the dump. What happened? Yeah, you didn't just go redeem it [00:25:05] Speaker A: from the dump, although you did. You renewed it. That's what God does with people. That's what God did with me. That's what God does with you. Or at least offers to do with you if you yield to his hands, the work of his hands. [00:25:25] Speaker B: Do you see the difference between redeeming that Act 3 redemption, and Act 4, renewal? [00:25:32] Speaker A: Do you see the difference? They're both vital to the story, but [00:25:36] Speaker B: that's what God does. He doesn't just redeem. God renews. Okay, look back with me really quick. Revelation chapter 21, verse 5. Then the one seated on the throne said, look, I'm making everything new. All things. Nothing's off limits to the renewing power of God. Friends, all of creation. That includes you, that includes me. That's what God's up to. He takes broken and sinful people. He rescues us from the dump, if you will. He takes broken and sinful people and he does things to us. [00:26:14] Speaker A: He redeems us, he forgives us, he reconciles us to Himself. How? [00:26:18] Speaker B: Through the cross. He demonstrates his power. He demonstrates his love, he demonstrates his faithfulness. And he's the perfect sacrifice. So he can still be just. Someone's gotta pay the debt of sin. And instead of requiring that payment from us, the guilty ones, he pays it in full, in his blood. Substitutionary. Right? So God does that. [00:26:39] Speaker A: And he doesn't stop there, though. [00:26:41] Speaker B: That same person that then you and I, that same person that he has redeemed, he then begins a process of making them new. He changes that person. How? Through that same gospel. The gospel's not just our message, although it is, it's also our motivation. It's. I'm motivated to yield to the lordship of. Of Jesus in my life because he's been so good to me. Because of that good news. That means that I'm forgiven and redeemed. I now want to delightfully yield to his lordship. Cause he's trustworthy and he loves me and he has good intentions for my life. And when I do that, it's a motivation to yield to Him. And in that process, just like the [00:27:20] Speaker A: table, he sands me down and he [00:27:24] Speaker B: does some replacement and he does some work on me. And over the course of my life, I become more like Jesus. I'm a renewed man. I'M a new creation. I want you to see the Gospel. It also empowers us to live differently than we used to. [00:27:43] Speaker A: The Bible doesn't end with Act 3. Neither does the Christian. There's an Act 4 in the story that God's written for your life, friend. Like, and it's spectacular. It's awesome. 2 Corinthians 5, 7 says this. [00:28:04] Speaker B: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, we [00:28:07] Speaker A: talk about that often. If anyone's in. [00:28:10] Speaker B: There's a difference between being in church and in Christ. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Okay? [00:28:14] Speaker B: If anyone's in Christ, he's a what? A new creation. The old has passed away. And see, the new has come. [00:28:24] Speaker A: Okay? [00:28:25] Speaker B: Being in Christ means you're becoming someone new. Like, I need you to hear this. Being in Christ means you're literally changing, like, you're becoming someone new. The Bible doesn't end with Act 3. It ends with Act 4. God doesn't just redeem. God renews. [00:28:46] Speaker A: Here's my question for us this morning. That story, that narrative arc. Act one, creation. [00:28:54] Speaker B: Act two, fall. Act three, redemption. Act four, renewal. [00:29:04] Speaker A: What act of the story are you in? Like, think about this. [00:29:12] Speaker B: What act of the story are you in? Maybe you're here. [00:29:15] Speaker A: Some of you, you're probably. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Some of you, you might be stuck in Act 2. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Here's what I mean by that. [00:29:22] Speaker B: The Bible describes people stuck in Act [00:29:24] Speaker A: 2 as being dead in their sin. [00:29:29] Speaker B: Maybe you're stuck in Act 2. Maybe you're stuck in the Fall, like you're stuck in the curse. Like, you've never yet yielded to the lordship of Jesus. You never received or embraced his grace and his forgiveness for the ways that you've sinned against him and sinned against others. Like, you haven't actually gone before God and say, I've blown it. [00:29:52] Speaker A: I've acted selfishly. [00:29:53] Speaker B: I've acted inconsistent with your ways. So I've sinned against you, and I've sinned against others. Please forgive me. I want to receive what Jesus did on the cross. That sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for sin, I want to receive that and have that credited to me. If you have not yet done that, you're stuck in Act 2. You're stuck in the curse. You're stuck in the Fall, and it's a terrible place to live. It's awful. So many people are suffering unnecessarily because they haven't yielded to Jesus forgiving grace. But you can. You can actually do that. Some of you, you might be here, you might be around church for. You might be in church for a long Time, but not yet in Christ, embracing His forgiveness, confessing your sin, and receiving his grace and his forgiveness. You might be here, you might be [00:30:42] Speaker A: stuck in Act 2. [00:30:45] Speaker B: You also might be here and you might be stuck in Act 3. Like you're a Christian, but you're not being transformed. Like you're not being transformed. You're not becoming the new you. You know what I'm talking about. It's like the same sinful patterns over and over and over and over again. [00:31:05] Speaker A: Now, don't misunderstand. [00:31:06] Speaker B: We all sin all the time. [00:31:08] Speaker A: Okay? [00:31:09] Speaker B: You're gonna struggle with sin the rest of your life, just like me. But you know, there's a difference between like, that same stuff that you're like, nah, I'm still gonna do this. I know it's contrary to the kingdom of God. I know it's not what God would have for me. I know it's harmful to me and to others. But my flesh has desires and I'm not really interested in operating in self control and putting that sin to death. [00:31:31] Speaker A: I just want to give in to what's comfortable. Okay? [00:31:33] Speaker B: We all struggle with it, but some people, maybe even in the room, you might be a Christian, and you're stuck in Act 3. You're not being transformed. You're stuck in your old ways, old sin, beautiful behaviors. Or maybe you are experiencing breakthrough in those ways. Maybe you are a Christian, but you could still be stuck in Act 3. [00:31:53] Speaker A: And here's what I mean by that. [00:31:55] Speaker B: Yeah, you might be experiencing personal renewal. You might be coming new, you might be being transformed into the new you, but you're not yet joining God in his work of renewal in all things. Yes, he might be renewing you, but you're not participating with him in the [00:32:12] Speaker A: renewal of all things through you. You tracking with me, where are you in the story, friend? Are you stuck in Act 2? [00:32:22] Speaker B: Are you maybe stuck in Act 3? [00:32:25] Speaker A: Because I'm here to tell you as a brother and as a friend and as a pastor. [00:32:29] Speaker B: There's a fourth act in the story [00:32:31] Speaker A: that God has written for all things and especially for you. [00:32:40] Speaker B: A Christian is someone who is redeemed by God. [00:32:44] Speaker A: That means forgiven and reconciled. [00:32:46] Speaker B: They're redeemed by God. They're rescued from the dump, right? So they're redeemed. They're someone who is being renewed by God means you're becoming a new person, the new you, the you that God intended, the you you're supposed to be. [00:32:59] Speaker A: And also someone who partners with God in more renewing. [00:33:03] Speaker B: That's what a Christian is redeemed, renewed, and partnering with God in the renewal of all things. [00:33:14] Speaker A: That's the kingdom of heaven coming to earth. Remember how he taught his disciples to pray? Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. That's what we're talking about here. That's from the very beginning of Jesus [00:33:37] Speaker B: teaching his disciples to engage with God. It starts with the kingdom of God coming. It starts with participating with God in [00:33:45] Speaker A: the renewal of all things, including you. That's renewal, and it's a core value of this church. It's a core value. It's one of the things that we value the most. It helps drive all of the things that we do as a community. So hopefully by now you understand, you have a decent understanding of what I'm talking about. When I say biblical renewal, what does that mean practically for you and me? [00:34:13] Speaker B: Cool. I get the narrative arc of the scriptures now, Tom. Fine. Creation, fall, redemption, renewal, four acts. I get that. You know, I have a role to play in this. Okay, but what does that practically mean for your everyday life? If you're a member of this church, you're exploring becoming a member of this church. What does that practically mean for our church? The first thing it means is this. You need to know that we as a church, as a collection of disciples of Jesus who are following Jesus together in intentional and meaningful ways. What that means for us is that we prayerfully seek opportunities to partner with God in what he is doing. We prayerfully seek for opportunities to partner with God with what he is doing. [00:34:49] Speaker A: Okay, what does that mean? [00:34:50] Speaker B: That means we're trying to partner with what God is doing in each other's lives. So not like my opinion of what needs to happen in your life or your opinion what needs to happen in her life. [00:34:59] Speaker A: No. [00:35:00] Speaker B: God, what are you up to in your son or your daughter's life? We wanna partner with what God is doing in each other's lives. [00:35:06] Speaker A: We. [00:35:06] Speaker B: We also wanna partner with what God is doing in our valley. Like, what's he up to here in this place that we all call home? [00:35:16] Speaker A: He's doing stuff. [00:35:17] Speaker B: He's got an agenda, I guarantee you. His agenda is the renewal of all things. [00:35:21] Speaker A: Why do I know? Because it says it in his word. [00:35:23] Speaker B: So we wanna seek for opportunities to partner with God and what he's doing in each other's lives. That's our church community, our valley, our region. Right. And the entire world. God, what are you up to on the earth? And how can we participate in what you are doing? Now, here's. You don't need me to tell you this, but if you look around, there is a countless, endless number of opportunities for renewal. There's so much broken with the earth right now. There's so much brokenness in me that still needs attention. There's brokenness in you that God wants to give attention to. There's brokenness all around us. Turn the news on, right? I mean, can I have time? Lindsey Clancy. [00:36:05] Speaker A: Is that her name? Horrific. [00:36:13] Speaker B: Absolutely horrific. And that's one of a billion things happening on the earth that is not the way it's supposed to be. We want to prayerfully seek the opportunities that God would present us with, to partner with him and in what he is doing, in bringing renewal, that is things the way they're supposed to be on the earth. Now, because there's an infinite amount of renewal opportunities on the earth, we can't give ourselves to every single renewal opportunity. [00:36:46] Speaker A: We can't. [00:36:47] Speaker B: There's too many. [00:36:47] Speaker A: Okay? [00:36:48] Speaker B: But that doesn't mean we can't participate. So what we do is we don't just, like, list them all out. Like I said before, we prayerfully seek God. [00:36:58] Speaker A: There's so much that needs attention on the earth. [00:37:02] Speaker B: There's so much that needs attention just in our church family. How would you have us partner with you in the renewal that you want [00:37:11] Speaker A: to see happen in each other's lives? [00:37:13] Speaker B: How can we partner with you in the renewal that you want to see [00:37:16] Speaker A: in our region, in our country, on the planet? [00:37:19] Speaker B: So the first thing that this practically means for us as a church, if we're actually going to value renewal, it means that we prayerfully seek for opportunities to partner with God in what he's doing. The next thing is that we also partner with other organizations. We partner with organizations like Careportal. [00:37:34] Speaker A: Most of you guys are familiar with Careportal. [00:37:36] Speaker B: Careportal is a wonderful organization. What they do is they facilitate practical renewal opportunities locally. Okay, so in other words, they make people aware of specific, practical, real ways to serve children and families that are in crisis. Like in our valley, like people you live next door to, children and families who are in crisis moments. There can be practical ways where people can then serve those to meet those needs. I can't think of a more tangible way to manifest the renewal of all things than just helping people in their [00:38:14] Speaker A: time of great need. [00:38:17] Speaker B: We partner with Careportal all the time. Can I just affirm you gospel community members for just a second? Dude, the ways. The reports that I get about how gospel communities are partnering with Careportal to practically meet the needs of people in crisis in our community. Like yes and amen for just a second in a holy. How do I say this in a humble way? You're allowed to take pleasure for the ways that you're partnering with God's spirit to bring renewal in tangible ways. Like, I actually want to clap for you for a second because you're doing this. Many of you in gospel community, you're doing. It's amazing. I'm hearing about the ways that you're. You're hearing about needs and you rally together at your Lord's supper gatherings to help. How are we going to do this? You do it like you're doing this. But I want you to connect the dots that it's not just doing something good, doing something loving, doing something kind. It is those things. You are literally partnering with the God of the universe to bring about the renewal of all things in tangible ways. You're yielding to God's spirit to bring more of his kingdom on the earth. [00:39:25] Speaker A: It's awesome. Bravo. [00:39:29] Speaker B: The next thing that this practically means for us is that we partner with [00:39:33] Speaker A: the Restored Care and Counseling Center. [00:39:36] Speaker B: Many of you have been blessed by the Restored Care and Counseling Center. What it is is it's a counseling [00:39:41] Speaker A: center essentially made up of a handful of professionals. [00:39:44] Speaker B: It was birthed out of our family of churches. And what it does is it provides gospel centered, clinically informed professional care that [00:39:55] Speaker A: get this is affordable. Okay. [00:40:00] Speaker B: Typically in areas of more specialized professional. Whether it's therapy or psychology or different areas of caring for people in their time of need. Oftentimes it's like pick one. It's either gospel centered or really expensive and not clinically informed. Or it's either clinically informed and really expensive and doesn't even integrate the gospel at all. But having all of those is so critical to help provide care for people. I actually want to show you something. [00:40:28] Speaker A: Will you. [00:40:29] Speaker B: Michael, you throw up that. Yes. [00:40:31] Speaker A: Perfect. [00:40:31] Speaker B: I want you guys to. This is my crass analogy. It's kind of funky, but I think it'll make sense to you. That's a four legged stool. [00:40:40] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:41] Speaker B: For you as a human being to have the support that you need as a human being in a fallen world. You need this. You need a relationship with each of these stool legs. Or if not, you're gonna have a hard time. [00:40:54] Speaker A: Okay. [00:40:55] Speaker B: The first thing that every single person on the earth needs is they need [00:40:58] Speaker A: a relationship with God. [00:41:00] Speaker B: Okay. There's a brokenness in them and a brokenness around them that if they don't have A relationship with God, they're not gonna make it, at least not spiritually, okay? The next thing that you need is you need the church. You need you, me, we all need it. People, they need a relationship with other Christians who are following Jesus, too. [00:41:20] Speaker A: They don't just need that. [00:41:21] Speaker B: They need a relationship with a pastor or pastors. This is just people who are helping, come alongside and shepherd you spiritually. Now, listen, that's not like pastors are excluded from this list. Like, pastors need to be pastored. So it's not like a hierarchy thing. [00:41:37] Speaker A: It's. [00:41:38] Speaker B: The human has needs, okay? In a broken and fallen world. And a human needs a relationship with God. They need a relationship with other Christians, the church, and they need a relationship with people who can shepherd them spiritually. And there's a fourth leg to this stool. Now, if you just had three legs, if you didn't have the professional component there, if you just had three, that [00:42:00] Speaker A: stool can still stand. It can still hold weight. But there are times, there are seasons in life. [00:42:09] Speaker B: There are circumstances that people face. There is brokenness that they find themselves either in or around, in them or around them, that requires a level of care that would take on a professional approach. [00:42:25] Speaker A: This can be therapy. [00:42:26] Speaker B: This can be psychology. This can be doctors. This is a profession. It needs more attention for a season. Now, I want you to notice that [00:42:34] Speaker A: is circumstantial and that is seasonal. [00:42:37] Speaker B: Many of you have experienced huge breakthroughs in your personal walk with God through therapy, through psychology, through different professionals that help give, like, centered care, like targeted care. And that's what human beings need. [00:42:57] Speaker A: I want you to see that each [00:42:59] Speaker B: leg of this stool, it supports a person's personal renewal. Things becoming the way they should be. A healing and a renewing, [00:43:10] Speaker A: brokenness being addressed, being healed, being mended. I want you to see this. If you don't have one of those legs, and maybe you're in a season where you actually don't need professional care, praise God. That's awesome. [00:43:27] Speaker B: But if you don't have a relationship with God, if you don't have a relationship with the church, if you don't [00:43:30] Speaker A: have a relationship with pastors, that stool's gonna fall over. You're not gonna have the support that you as a human being need. This applies to me as much as it applies to anybody else in the room. Will you go to the next slide for me? Okay. [00:43:41] Speaker B: The next thing. What does this practically mean? If we're gonna be a community that values renewal, not just on paper, but in practice, it means we prioritize our [00:43:49] Speaker A: church's strategies for discipleship. [00:43:51] Speaker B: Okay, we only have a few these things. These are the plays that we run to grow as disciples. [00:43:58] Speaker A: Right. [00:43:59] Speaker B: Sunday worship. You're doing one now. [00:44:00] Speaker A: We talked about this a couple weeks back. [00:44:02] Speaker B: Gospel community. You belong to a gospel community. Gospel community is not an event. Just in the same way you don't go to church, you are the church. You don't go to Gospel community. Gospel community is a people. You go to a Lord's supper gathering, you go to different barbecues, you go to different parties where your gospel community is present. Absolutely. But those are the people that you follow Jesus with. Not exclusively, but with intentionality. Okay, next thing, prayer room, where we come together corporately. Prayer cannot just be an individual thing [00:44:27] Speaker A: with you and God. [00:44:28] Speaker B: Okay, it must be that. But it can't just be that. [00:44:30] Speaker A: It's a question. [00:44:31] Speaker B: Corporate coming together to engage with God in meaningful ways and allow him to inform us and guide us and shape us and direct us. And then fourthly, just socials things that we do to get together, to build relationally and engage in all sorts of different things. [00:44:47] Speaker A: Okay, listen. [00:44:48] Speaker B: The reason why these discipleship strategies are so important is that each of these plays, if you will, that we run, they play an important role in both personal and corporate renewal. In other words, these strategies, they cultivate the new you that God is developing. That's his desire, that's his heart. He wants to develop you into the way that he designed and created you to be. Where sin and Satan and death are [00:45:17] Speaker A: not tarnishing you and hindering you and holding you back. You the way you're supposed to be. Really like glorious, unique, powerful, humble. God's agenda is the renewal of all things. And because it's his agenda and because it matters so much to him that he would send his son not just once, but twice. It matters a lot to us. Alright, I'm going to call the band up and I'll close. So I was reminded of something that happened to me when I was in fifth grade this week. And it was something actually kind of [00:46:19] Speaker B: formative and what felt traumatic in the moment. I was in a school play when [00:46:28] Speaker A: I was in fifth grade and I've [00:46:30] Speaker B: never been in a play since. [00:46:33] Speaker A: Why are you laughing? [00:46:35] Speaker B: I'm not like a big theater person. Although I appreciate the art form. [00:46:40] Speaker A: The creative expression is awesome. [00:46:41] Speaker B: My girls do theater. They're super gifted and wonderful. I know many of the people, the youth do theater. I'm a believer that it's a beneficial, beautiful thing. [00:46:49] Speaker A: It just wasn't My thing, but I'm [00:46:51] Speaker B: in fifth grade, and our class put on a play, and we had to go through a casting process with our [00:47:02] Speaker A: teacher and the whole thing. [00:47:04] Speaker B: And I remember there was all of these different roles and different things, and. And I remember being excited to find out what role I got. [00:47:16] Speaker A: And they did. The teacher posted on this is before they had expo markers. This was an actual chalkboard. Youth, you use chalk like you would a dry erase marker. So she posted the cast, if you will, what students got, what part on the blackboard. [00:47:37] Speaker B: And I can remember walking into class that day excited to figure out what [00:47:41] Speaker A: part in the play, what role in the play I got. [00:47:45] Speaker B: And I look at the top, and it's like the main character, and I [00:47:49] Speaker A: didn't get that one. And I was like, that doesn't make any sense. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Go to the next one. [00:47:55] Speaker A: Didn't get that one either. [00:47:58] Speaker B: And, like, it's sort of like the equivalent of, like, you know, you're waiting for teams to get picked and kickball in the playground, you know, and you're [00:48:04] Speaker A: like, no, no, no, no, no, no. [00:48:07] Speaker B: And I get to the. Literally the bottom, and it says pirate. [00:48:12] Speaker A: And it's like, Thomas Loeb. [00:48:16] Speaker B: And I remember being like, dude, the pirate. [00:48:23] Speaker A: Here's the thing about the pirate in that play. [00:48:26] Speaker B: One line. Like, one line. Not even like, you're the pirate. You walk out on stage, you deliver your line. That takes, I'm not exaggerating, 10 seconds, and you walk back, and that's your contribution to the entire play. [00:48:45] Speaker A: And I was like, I remember being bummed about it, and I'm not even a theater kid. [00:48:50] Speaker B: I'm just like, what? Like, is that even worth my time? And so I remember, you know, I remember my mom helping me put a costume together for the pirate thing. And I was like, okay, whatever. [00:49:01] Speaker A: I'm gonna put this costume together. [00:49:03] Speaker B: The play's on a Friday. I show up to school, it's gonna be that evening. I do the play, I come out, I do my one line, I walk off, I go home discouraged. I'm like, was that even worth my time? [00:49:21] Speaker A: It's Friday, right? [00:49:22] Speaker B: So I go into the weekend and whatever. Come back to school on Monday. And I forgot about it over the weekend. Come back to school on Monday. And now I'm confronted again because I [00:49:33] Speaker A: look up on the. [00:49:33] Speaker B: On the chalkboard, and there's the cast list again. And your boys, last place, right? And I'm just feeling crummy about it. [00:49:47] Speaker A: Halfway through the school day, this other [00:49:49] Speaker B: teacher, different class, she interrupts our class and she's like, guys, the play was so great. Well done, everybody. You guys all did so good. [00:50:07] Speaker A: And she goes, before she leaves, she goes, hey, who is the pirate? And I'm like, dang it, Dude, it's kidding me again. She goes. She goes, that was my favorite part of the whole play. [00:50:35] Speaker B: She goes, it was, like, so important to the story. She goes, you did it. Like, you did such a great job. She's like, what's your name? [00:50:43] Speaker A: I'm like, I went by Thomas as a young boy. I'm Thomas. [00:50:46] Speaker B: She's like, thomas, you did so good. [00:50:49] Speaker A: That was my favorite part of the whole play. And I learned, like, a really important lesson that day. I learned the lesson that every single role matters. [00:51:09] Speaker B: Like, we can compare ourselves all day long with the role that the people around us have, right? They have more lines, their costume's cooler, their parts more, you know, impactful. And we can compare ourselves to people all the time. But I'm here to tell you, in the kingdom of God, in the narrative that God has written, every single role matters. There's no insignificant role in the kingdom. Some of you, you're like fifth grade me. You're like fifth grade me. [00:51:41] Speaker A: You don't understand the importance of your role. And you look to other people, and [00:51:50] Speaker B: sometimes it makes you feel a little bit more important because you got more lines than they do. You got more resources than they do. You got a better, more impressive resume than they do. But that's just the person on your right. [00:52:03] Speaker A: And then you look to the person on your left and you're like, dang it, they got more lines than me, friend. Every single role matters. [00:52:17] Speaker B: The role that you're in right now, the role that you are in right now, it matters. In God's story of renewing all things, because he's. Guess what? He's renewing everything. Like, it's not just for, like, the people in full time vocational ministry. The pastor or the deacon or the GC leader. No, no, no. It's like you, where you are right now, it's every role matters. Your age right now, young people your age right now, it matters. It's an integral, a critical, essential role in the story. Your age right now, your stage of life right now, your situation right now. Your job, no job right now, your circumstances. Please hear me. All of it really, really matters. [00:53:04] Speaker A: Why? [00:53:05] Speaker B: Because God's agenda is the renewal of only some things that are important to him. [00:53:12] Speaker A: No, [00:53:14] Speaker B: his agenda is the renewal of all things. It's comprehensive. [00:53:19] Speaker A: Huh? [00:53:22] Speaker B: So maybe you're here and you're like, you actually kind of doubt the importance of your role right now. I'm just fill in the blank. [00:53:34] Speaker A: Can I just remind you, God cast you in that role, and there's gonna be people. Sorry, there's gonna be people who go, that's my. That had the biggest impact on me. [00:53:49] Speaker B: It wasn't the dork with the gray hair and a face microphone preaching on a Sunday. It was you welcoming me into the community. You welcoming me into the family of God. You reminding me that my past doesn't define me, that there's forgiveness in the blood of Jesus that can wash away and cleanse all of my poor choices, all of my sins. [00:54:06] Speaker A: Like, do you realize the importance of your role? [00:54:08] Speaker B: Some of you, you might be here and you might be doubting the importance of your role. He cast you in that role in its importance. Your role matters. Maybe you're here and you're stuck in Act 2. You have not embraced God's grace. You've not yielded to his forgiving nature, his unending grace for you. You can. You can be cleansed of every sin, past, present, and future. You can do it right now. You can receive it right now if you want it. It's available to you. It won't be available forever. It will not be available to you forever, but it's available to you now. Christ is coming back. And when he comes back, the door is closed. And now he's judging because he hates sin. He loves you. He hates sin. You can receive it. You can get out of Act 2 today. You can be no longer stuck in the curse of sin. Maybe you're here and you're not stuck in Act 2. Maybe you're stuck in Act 3 like we talked about. You're not becoming the new you. Something's in the way. Or you're not partnering with God in the ways that he desires you to, to bring his renewal not just in you, but through you, in the role that you're in. [00:55:22] Speaker A: Maybe, just maybe, God's still up to this agenda of renewing of all things. Will you stand with me if you're able. I want to pray for us. If you're on the prayer team this morning, would you make your way to the front and make yourself available to folks? All right. I want to pray for us. Holy Spirit, I just invite you to speak to us right now. Your voice, please, Father. Lord said some of you married couples, you don't need a podcast. You need renewal. God wants to renew you. He doesn't just redeem, he renews. Hey, Father, I'M asking you now that you would help us get caught up in your story instead of battling with you to write our own. And your story is one that doesn't just end in redemption. That culminates in renewal. Things becoming the way they're supposed to be, people becoming the way they're supposed to be, marriages becoming the way they're supposed to be, households becoming the way they're supposed to be, businesses becoming the way they're supposed to be. [00:57:16] Speaker B: School, everything. [00:57:22] Speaker A: That's your agenda. And because it's valuable to you, it must become valuable to us. And so, Father, would you have your way among us? Would you renew us? And would you guide us in the areas of renewal that you want to bring through us to environments around us. And Jesus, really quickly, I just want to thank you that what's in store for those whose faith and trust is in you is the ultimate renewal, and that is a resurrection. Just as you were resurrected to new life, those whose trust is in you will be raised to new life eternally. There's nobody like you. We honor you, and we bless you. Have your way among us. We pray. Amen. All right, friends, we have 12 to 15 minutes. Ish left of the gathering. We're gonna respond by praising God through song. Lift your voice. Bless him. [00:58:39] Speaker B: Just minister to him. Just be thankful. Give him your voice. [00:58:42] Speaker A: Give him your body. He wants to. He wants to receive that from you. He's worthy of it. So we're gonna. We're gonna respond with praise. And there are trusted men and women up here who would love to pray [00:58:50] Speaker B: for you for any need that you have. [00:58:53] Speaker A: Okay? Love you guys very much. Enjoy him. And then we'll be up to close in just a minute.