Contend by Preaching

We're going through the last year 1st Corinthians for taking about a 4-week break from 1st Corinthians to talk about this idea of contending so you can open up to Jude. I'm just going to read first three they're going to pray and get into this. It says in verse 3 of Jude beloved. Although I was very eager to write you about our common salvation. I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints in Lord. We ask for right now for the presence of your spirits are working our hearts specifically around the idea of contending and what it means to contend for the faith. To contend in prayer to contend in preaching. Can you contend with your people? So God work in us work through US teach us grow Us in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Hey, so a couple of days ago. My kids were all in the front yard and they were playing and my wife and I had just finished up a movie in the living room and we were in the kitchen talking while the kids were still out front and all of a sudden we hear this just horrific sound of glass breaking now, we have this hundred pound puppy and he's got a tail that's like this long and he's been known to swipe several glasses off of tables with his tail and I thought bummer or maybe one of Justice bases fell or something like that. I'm like not that big of a deal we walk into the living room to one. Old paned Windows completely just shattered through it and what a my children who shall be named. No one at this point to save his, you know part I just gave it away, huh? Comes in with tears in his eyes and his he's coming in. My wife sees me and I'm not happy. I am so angry and frustrated. I take a deep breath and I walked out of the room and she's sane Brett. It was an accident it so Jessica begins to talk to his child and then I got to swallow it in and have a brief shorts nippy conversation with this child and the next morning. I'm spending time actually finishing up the Gospel of John. And Jesus the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart said what kind of Grace would you have shown yourself? If you were the one playing with your child and broke the window? I don't want it. Because I would have told everybody it's not a big deal. We can get it fixed. We can make that happen real quick and God speaking to my heart said show your child the same Grace. No, the reason I present this to you this morning is because my desire and teaching through contending and prayer contending preaching contending with people is to have this and Michael's been sharing this concept and idea with me at the moment of obedience to aubaine being shortens to when I hear from God, I begin to quickly walk in and in that moment when that happened to my child, I was not very quick she wants you to preach the gospel to my child or to even preach the gospel to my self and this morning. We happened to be talking about this idea of contending in the face through preaching the gospel. Now what we discussed last week is all entered into if you are a follower of Jesus whether you like it or not this site just Cosmic more that's going on around us before knowing Christ before Becoming a follower of Jesus. You are at War within yourself fighting for an evening type of life. You want you want comfort you want security and so you do all sorts of things in arranging your life in order to obtain whatever Eden will use that as a metaphor this morning looks like for you and so you were at War if you are not a follower of Jesus with striving for finding peace. when Jesus shows up Unveils your eyes you respond to the gospel and you step into a radical piece, but also a new war a new war. Things you used to love you. Don't necessarily love those anymore in the things you didn't love your now loving those but they're still just flash this till this battle that happens within sides each and every follower of Jesus and we are at War and we are contending and so the question is what does it look like to contend? You can turn over 2 - 20 vs 17 Polish speaking to these leaders at a church in Ephesus. And he knows he's leaving them behind to go to Jerusalem to ultimately be bounced and whether he knew this or not, he would be taken care about giving many opportunities to write letters to these churches. But this is his words to this church at Ephesus. He said now from my leaders, she sent you Ephesus and called the Elders of the church to come to him when they came to him. He said to them you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia in the Lord with all humility with tears and trial that happened to me through the plots of the Jews. How did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable notice serving and speaking is what he's talking about here. This is how I contend. This is how I spent time with you keeping you in public. From house to house testifying to Jews to Greek a repentance towards God of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Now Behold. I'm going to Jerusalem constrained by the spirit not knowing what will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment in Affliction await me. I do not count my life of any Value North precious to myself. If only I may finish my course in the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of grace of God and now behold I know that none of you among whom I've gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. Therefore I testify to you this day. I'm innocent of the blood of you. All right. I do not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God take careful attention to yourselves to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you over scene ever Sears to care. For the Church of God, which she obtained with his own blood. All the Claire's this is the mission that I stepped forward to each and everyone of you. You can go on our website that we are working on redoing and changing some language and we kind of grabbed some of this ideology from a Polish saying about the very mission of our church the idea of contending contending through speaking contending through preaching is this idea that the proclamation of the gospel for all people. It's a minute. We're going to Proclaim resulting and they're becoming a Disciples of Jesus then then the transformation of those disciples character into the character of Jesus himself that is our mission redeemers that we would preach proclaim the truth of the Gospel that contend for the faith sharing the good news of Jesus and his two things that this entails one is that those who do not know Jesus would become followers of Jesus and then it would be discipled in the ways of Jesus. Do the same Berry preaching of the gospel? Paul says, you know how I lived among you declaring to you all that was profitable teaching public house to house to pay careful attention to your stuff when we preach. Publicly house-to-house one to another or even to ourselves. We are glorifying God and edifying the church body. If idea of glorifying God John Piper who has some great things on the glory of God wrote this specifically preaching is not conversation right now. We are not having conversation preaching is not discussion preaching is not casual talk about religious things preaching is not simply teach preaching is the heralding the message permeated by the sense of God's greatness and majesty and Holiness when I use this term preaching this morning, it's just idea bringing glory to God making much of him will I make very little of myself diverting any and all attention from me and placing it all on him and this definition needs to carry through in every moment of Our Lives. We're to make much of Jesus in our preaching glorifying God also in Reaching it brings about the edification or the building up of the church body. Now, there's many ways to beatified that the New Testament teaches about you can be a certified through fellowship with one another. Speaking the truth in love to one another. Coming together and seeing the Holy Spirit use spiritual gifts to build one another up as we'll see in 1st Corinthians in a few weeks from now through different Church Ministries. Mutual love and encouragement of church members and through the preaching of God's word. Redeemers we sat around the not happening fire pits cuz it was way too hot out on Wednesday night with the other team and we talked about when our church name goes out and is talked about in the community. What do we want to be known about and what do you think we're known about and obviously this idea being a gospel Center Church that proclaimed the name of Jesus, but also a church that is family-oriented in the sense that we're building one another up spending intentional gospel time with one another is what our hearts desire. Step through serving and speaking. We would edify the body of Christ of God in our eyes fixed upon this great. And who he is that's really teaching in the scriptures in the New Testament with the Epistles in the letters that we have that would be built stop and do what it actually looks like to be followers of Jesus and flushing that out in our community and our contest in which we live in and preaching is a way that this flushes out. We look at this idea of contending for the faith. So with that said we finished 1st Corinthians, we're going to go through the gospel of Matthew which is going to teach us discipleship and what it means to be a follower of Jesus is so we're going to look at that in large and I'm hoping on the 18 months, but we'll see how long that takes to get us through but for us today, I want to specifically talk about the idea of preaching the gospel to yourself. preaching the gospel to yourself Did you know? The you both talk and listen to yourself more than any other person. We giggled we can handle a staff that didn't you know, you are the most influential person in your life because no one talks to you as much as you do. True you're in this unending incredibly important conversation with yourself. And with your soul of every moment of every day at is not just about what should I wear this morning? What should I eat this morning? What should we do this weekend, but even Sue surprise you are about how angry you got over a window being broken and I should not have been upset about that call yourself examining the conversation you had with the family or friend last night when they came over for dinner and you want I wish I didn't say that and you're talking to yourself and you're reliving conversations that didn't go well and you're constantly involved in his internal conversation. We talk talk talk talk to ourselves constantly and believe it or not that talk acts actually shapes you it does something to you you interpret you organize you analyze What's going on outside and what's going on inside of you? You talk to your son about the past the present and the future in about what you're experiencing right now. Obviously, this is an internal conversation. Otherwise, you're getting locked up pretty quick. Right or it's one of those like in the car back country road hoping nobody sees you as your jabbering on to yourself.

What are you saying to yourself? Please be more specific when you drove here today. Or when you woke up in the morning and had a few moments of quiet. What did you preach to yourself kids are going to be preaching something to yourself. The self-help book shelf that movement that happened talks about the power of self-talk. We all understand this. We all are real I use is not just some religious concept and we're talking to ourselves recognize you have this informs us and our beliefs, but the movement of just self-talk and the self-help it fails to achieve true salvation deliverance and peace. You can't simply talk to yourself and think I'm a really great person and actually believe it. Doesn't work. We need something or someone outside of ourselves to validate us. Cheap this morning is the first time I put on jeans in like 2 months. I looked in the mirror and I went actually made a difference today. But I went I don't know. Do I really look? Okay, and then my wife goes Brett you look great today and I don't care what the rest of you think that's all I needed to validate me. All right, so I know if my wife would have said yes and where that I would have changed real quick why I need someone or something outside of me to validate me. Where we going to get that from? Proverbs 4:23 How does idea of what are you telling your heart? Cuz I read this verse keep your heart with all diligence.

Vigilance. Sorry for from it flows the Springs of Life. The Battleground that were in is one of meditation and don't think of some Eastern mysticism kind of meditation meditation is what your mind rest and Wells five. And that's what you talk to yourself about. What's capturing your ideas your thoughts what's sparking fear our courage what's instilling? Hope or what is breaking you in this moment and you listen to yourself and you can listen to the talking and you're letting your concerns shaped you form you and are they formed around who God is and what God has done. This is not simply a call to speak. Affirmation to look in the mirror and try to boost your self-esteem. It's a call to be careful how you think because our thoughts

Go to actions which then have reactions sometimes for good or sometimes consequences. And in Jeremiah 17:9 realizes humans are heart have this natural disposition a bed towards wickedness. Even though got it saved us was in us we wrestle with this Flash. Positive self-talk the discounts reality like things aren't really that bad out there, and I'm going to have a hippie Skippy day. Get them encouraging words. When we all know reality says something different that's not what we need to get out. But talk that speaks the truth in love of who we are speaking to our situation is the kind of talk. We need to build ourselves. What kind of talk is that? I left out Keller defines the gospel. He says we are more sinful and flawed and ourselves, and we ever dared to leave yet in the very same time. We are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared. Hope. incredible Play slip and slide fail. I respond poorly. But I'm also so incredibly loved and accepted and built up because of what Jesus has done for me. Here's the question. You speak the gospel to yourself. Or what do you preach to yourself?

Since eating and humans being removed from Eden the help is always been to get back to Eden by Eden was this place. It was really a microcosm of the cosmos for the temple of God himself dwelling in that place with Adam and Eve were there is peace and security and safety and rest and work that lets you healthy production and fruitfulness unlike work that leads to fruitlessness at times in our lives that idea of seeking from fruitless labor and entering into fruitful labor existed in the garden and we all have implanted in our hearts desire to get back to Eden or she drippin eighties and nineties Christianity this idea of whatever eternity was painted app. That's what we want to get too. And it was humans have done as they created their own ideas of Eden in their own ideal eating at their trying to find And we treat yourself. This is the thing that's going to make me happy when I finally get this I will be satisfied another account. Finally get married a better job a new friendship and we're constantly trying to get back to a place of peace and rest security and safety and we take pictures of Eden farone wise that we desire. Get time and time again. We either can't obtain it more depressed. Are we get it and get bored with it? Because it's just a shadow is substance of the real thing. What narrative are you going to preach to yourself in the highs and the lows? Keep you rooted and grounded?

Receive to the scriptures. It's the reality of the good news of Jesus. Preach the gospel to ourselves know that's different than just reading the scriptures in the morning. If you read the scriptures, you're going to get to Jesus trust me or don't listen to the Bible project at 195 episodes. It'll tell you that right they will tell you as one unified story leading to Jesus. You read the scriptures and you can read about Jesus. Then you paint that and you preach the good news to your current context. This is who I am in Christ. This is who God says I am so when I'm depressed or lonely or down-and-out I can be uplifted not just as I read scripture, but I say brats. This is what God says about you. I understand that you think this is what others are saying about you and how others feel towards you and that's okay because I've been in the same situation. This is how I love you care for you. This is what I determine who you are that is different than just reading a Bible verse. It's taking it and preaching it into my life answers doubts and fears When was kill mice in condemning me? Jesus has covered me when my worst feel like they fall in shorts, Jesus righteousness is counted as my own. This is the idea of preaching the gospel to herself Milton Vincent. He wrote a book called a gospel primer said God did not give us his gospel just so we can embrace it and be converted actually offers it to us every day as a gift that keeps on giving to us everything we need for life and godliness the wide believer learns mystery early and becomes proficient in extracting available benefits from the gospel each day. We strapped these benefits by being absorbed and the gospel speaking it to ourselves when necessary and by daring to reckon it true in all that we do. Yes, he admits and cries out. There is a moment in which you believe and you're safe. And that is a good news of Jesus. But then he says we continue to walk and not good news by preaching at yourself every single day and most of us need this recovery rediscovery of what it means to preach the gospel to ourselves. Amanda Brittain flash something up on the screen we get that done Britain. As for things but I think we can practically do daily to remind ourselves. Preach the gospel to yourself. Number one pencil Psalm 27:4. We were the days on the beauty of Christ everyday. I would encourage you each morning to stop and toss my best understanding of that word. Say law in the scriptures. When you read through the Psalms it stop pause. Think about that. Think about what I just wrote to put the song is too sane and here were told you days on the beauty of Christ to pause to stop to think too quiet yourself to close your eyes. I just sit still before God and look at his Beauty number two comes from Psalm 42 for to remember. Remember all that God has done it seems in the song whenever the psalmist is discouraged. He didn't begins to recall the faithfulness of God in his life over and over and over again at specific points real as a whole that God came through like their backs were against the sea are they were hungry in the wilderness are they needed something to drink or may have been such smaller moments for the psalmist themselves, but they remember all that. God has done then Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want we rest. We rest it doesn't matter if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. It doesn't matter if I'm beside Still Waters. It doesn't matter if I don't get what I want. Where I get something that I don't want I will rest that God is good and his provision is there and then listen this is important. Then I act on the reality of those trees. I will face my day knowing that God is good. God is faithful as I've looked to him. How does the psalm is practically do this for the song 42 and then we'll check out in about 5 minutes. Samus rides in Psalm 42 first one

as a deer pants for the flowing streams so pants my soul for you. Oh God, my soul thirsts for gods of the Living God When shall I come and appear before God? It's astounding so great. This guy's just Desiring God to check this out. My tears have been my food. Very poetic. We get what he saying. I have been crying all night life is not good. It is difficult. It is painful. I'm literally eating those tears and my pain and while they say to me all the day long. Just what its cure say. Where are you God?

You don't have to raise your hand, but it was utter those words. You can raise it in your heart. Where are you coming? There's been a moment in my life where I've wondered that same thing. So hopefully the song This raises out of Despair, right? No.

Is he sings I remember is I pour out my soul how I go to the throng and leave them in procession to the house of God with a glad shallots and songs of praises and multi to Cuban festivals. Why are you cast down? Oh my soul. Why are you at turmoil within me? This is crazy. Who is he talking to stop talking to his neighbor? He is talking to himself. Why are you cast down? Who's cast down in here?

Who is Lord bummed out broken in here who resonates with this he speaking to himself and he says why are you cast down? This is my old heart is in this place of meditation sinking on everything is falling apart. And I remember the good but this is what's going on in my life. Funny saying here's the bad news. Here's the bad news. Here's the bad news.

Does my soul is cast down within me? I remember you from the land of Jordan and Herman not Missouri deep calls to deep the roar in your waterfall all your Breakers in your ways of going over me by David Lord Commander steadfast. Love at Night. The song is with me a prayer to God of my life. I say to my rock. Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go morning? Because of the oppression of the enemy as a deadly wound in my bones. My adversaries taught me how to say to me all the day-long. Where is your God then he said the den. Why are you cast down? Oh my soul. Why are you turmoil within me? Hope in God or I shall again praise him myself ation and my God. Is he speaking about his life and working through the problems and difficulties he ends with that question. Why are you a war within yourself? Why do I feel cast down? I know talk to you I'll remind myself of a God has done for me. He is by reaching the very good news that God is with him. So who can stand against him? That when things are difficult and problems arise this is how I'm she respond to them. If we can't grasp this redeemers living this life is going to be incredibly difficult and and here's why and this is something that you can just take home with you and think about someone wrongs you. You have two options beat yourself up. I'm terrible. I deserve that. Nobody likes me. Nobody cares about me. That's why bad stuff happens to me or what. Can you do? Beat them up. They're horrible their awful. They're the worst. I'm going to hold this over their head Forever Until eventually gets paid down and some sense of urgency that you finally feel like we can move past this or brush it under the rug. That's it. That's all we have. When we preach the gospel to ourselves, what can we do? They runs me? But I bring you many others. And I'm still love and forgiving are The God Who died for me there for I can love them even though they aren't lovely right now. The gospel actually begins to creep into our life in the present moment and gives us the power outside of ourselves to do something that inwardly we would never be able to do without inflicting harm on someone else but it just wasn't working the realm of forgiveness, but you can think through it in terms of greed or power people want Power. They want to be in charge. They want to be the man. They want to be the one you want to feed the one where when Jesus comes to feed able to give away power. Is a very powerful move in and of itself to find himself the gospel writer Theory shapes how we think and how we process. Church, where you at? What message have you been preaching to yourself? Hope in God, praise God and remember what he has done. Let's pray Jesus. Thank you for your love and forgiveness your kindness and the truth and the reality of The Gospel Four Hearts, cuz we need it daily to be changed by you. thank you for salvation that you that we are saved and then you that we're growing in that may this be powerful tool that the Holy Spirit has given us to encourage Us in Jesus name. Amen.