My Identity in Christ - Part 2

Thank you for joining us for this broadcast from The Ninth Avenue Church of Christ in Haleyville, Alabama. We hope that you will subscribe and we'll share our broadcast with others. Now. We take you to the pulpit of the Ninth Avenue Church of Christ into this place. This morning to bring us to this time that we have had to open up our hearts and song. And and and worship already today, God. We thank you for the opportunity that we've had to gather around the table of communion of the table of thinks of Blessing by this morning, to remember, your son's sacrifice that makes all of this possible to make our hope possible. Our Salvation possible, that makes the grace that we receive possible. God. We are so grateful that every week we get to just stop and pause and, and be United in that moment of remembrance. Thank you for that today. God, now, as we open up your word. Help us to. Help us to be honest, help us to be real with their own lives. Help us to be convicted. Help us to be pushed help us to grow God. In this moment, as we study from your word, help us to be true to it. Be understanding of it. It's in your son's name. We pray. Amen. So last week, we opened up into the book of 1st Thessalonians, and I'm talking about my identity in Christ. And we have spent time through the first part of this year through. I probably the longest kind of group in in Tom's of lessons that we're going to have together talking about Jesus, talking about his wife, talking about his teachings, and his ministry and all the things that surround that in the hoping to go that's holding the golf goal is as we spend more time, talking about Jesus that those things other, Jesus become more and more in us and our life. I love the song symbolize great song. Beautiful song. We have a habit and I don't know why. We why we have this habit. We kind of talked this happened as song leaders. Sometimes that it's okay to leave verses out of songs. And if it's a, if it's a song with Ford versus, if you're leaving that on a c, Night or something. It's just kind of habit about me to get up and leave. Send the light and I'll go 650. Send the light. I'll be singing the first and last verse first and last verse. Why do we sing the first? And last verse of songs? I think one of it is because we're scared to death to be up leading the song anyway, and if I seen the first and last verse, that's just less of a song that I've got to lead to take us so much time, but I have One time I led singing in Savannah for a. Of time. Is there kind of Maine song leader? And I was the same way first and last verse first, second last verse always, skip a verse in there so we can sing more songs and she came. She was a self-proclaimed poet. I never read any of her poetry but she got after me one Sunday and she said, I see said you're a great singer and I don't like the way you lead singer. And I have been told a lot of things in my life and had never had anybody. Tell me if they didn't. Like the way that. I led singing that just kind of hurt my feelings. Anybody ever had their feelings hurt by people. I have just joined the club. I said, well, why don't you like the way that I leave thinking she goes, you don't sing all of the song. And I'm sure I had some reason it was probably smart alec cuz at that point in my life, that was my default position and had it not been for Blair that would still be my default position most of the time. She said, these people are poets and they've written something that only makes sense. If you read, or sing all of it, and I went and got to literally reading some of those verses that I always leave out and they're just as beautiful just as wonderful and just as powerful and yet, we leave them out for a lot of different reasons, but this morning, while we did not leave out a single verse and send the lights. Matter of fact, you tried to add a few in there along the way, but y'all did great and kept on going and Nathan. He actually admitted, it was his fault and not your fault this morning. So we're moving in a positive direction together. Verse 3, really is about what we're talkin about through this study of 1st, Thessalonians transitioning, from a study in the Life of Christ into a study of the church and US individually. He says, let us pray that Grace May everywhere of Bounce in the lights in the light. And here it is and a Christ spirit in everywhere. Be found. A craft spirit in everywhere. Be found if I was riding that for us and making it fit our lesson. I would ride in a Christ spirit and everyone be found. That's our goal that the more we learn about Jesus the more his Spirit, God, Spirit, the Holy Spirit lives and dwells within us. And when people look at us as individuals and as the church, I don't see us but they see Jesus. That my identity is no longer mine, but rather my identity is who Jesus is Christ. And that's what we're trying to do here. That's what we're trying to end in the first one. I can church here. If that's the only ensure they had gotten that, they had understood that they had head, really kind of grab ownership of that. And they were living this in a great. Wonderful and Powerful way. Now, as the scripture reading kind of ties in it, really sets up the whole story. Here is Paul wanted to go in one place. And God says, no, I want you to go somewhere else and any went to to the this part of the world and he began to preach and teach the gospel. They are even though it's not what he had planned. He wanted to give in to what Christ 12 when it crashed spirits to be the one that rains and leaves and directs. Okay, and I love and we talked about this last week that because they went there that church, especially the Thessalonian church because of what they did and because if they went there, they began the message began to ring out from that place. The message began to ring out from that place. Really and truly, I believe that maybe he knew that, if you go hear the messages going to ring out further than if you went and tried to do it your own way and I love that idea. I love that he win and did what God wanted him to do and because of that, he was able to have the word of God ring in a way that he never could have spread it on his own. Let's go to the next slot police. Last week. We begin talking about this idea. We began talking about our identity, and we looked in chapter one at some different things that that we're trying to live in our life. And in chapter one, he kind of goes through this list of things that these people were, we talked about that last we talked about, you know, we talked about love and we talked about endurance and hope we talked about our faith that these are things that have to be strong about being deeply convicted. We talked about being imitators of all these things and then letting our life ring out. Okay, and then serving God and then go to the next line. After we talk about these things. We ask this next question. What keeps us from becoming this type of Christian. We said three things are relationships are routines and Desiring blessings from God. More than God himself. We also talked about how those things which were the first two. If we really focus on those things in the right direction, then did they become a strength and not a weakness. OK. Google. How does this transition into the next chapter? Well, Let's just look at the next one.

The next fly. The next start here, that we're going to look at it through the first part of chapter to its next steps in becoming a ringing out church, not ringing out in a bad way. We've been running out before some of us and it's not always been a positive thing. Right? But in a positive way and in a way that we Echo this sentiment of the church in 1st Thessalonians. The way we said, Echo, the sentiment of sending the white from the song that we sung before the lesson together and I read the first couple of ideas here and it is very much goes back to something that I mentioned last week and I think that it meant it did. That comes up because it all ties together. I said last week that sometimes we get too wrapped up in the idea of preaching. The idea of preaching and what I meant by that is, is not that preaching is not important. But if we want to be a loving church, we have to live. That. Just preach that, that they go hand-in-hand and I think we see in this next section how these things go hand in hand in the idea that he he's going to talk about our message that which we must reach that which we must each. But he's also going to talk about the method in which that happened. So let's begin here with the message as we think about being a church that is ringing out for God. What is our ultimate message? Because churches can be about a lot of things can say, they can be about this thing and they can be about that thing. But Jesus says it has to start with our message. So he talks about in The Great Commission. So what does Paul say about our message? I'm going to read for my Bible. If if if Nathan if you don't mind keeping up with us here as we go through this first section. Let's go to chapter 2 of 1st Thessalonians. And let's read the first 7 versus together was not without results. We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously and Phillipi, as you know, but with the help of God, with the help of God, we dare to tell you his gospel, in the face of strong opposition. Let's stop right there. If you're if you ride or or underline things in your Bible, in this particular verse underlined his gospel. OK, Google. I'm his gospel. For the appeal, we make does not spring from error or in pure motives nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary? We speak is those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. There it is. Again. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts, you know, we never use flattery nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed? God is our witness. We are not looking for praise from people not from you or anyone else, even though it's Apostles of Christ. We could have asserted our Authority. Instead. We were like your young children among you, he mentions their message twice in this particular chapter in this particular section. What was their message, the message of what? Set out loud. The message of Jesus Christ of, he has gospel at the core of everything. We teach at the core of everything. We say, the core of everything, we do the message of Jesus Christ to be the most important. So what is the gospel? There's a lot of different different definitions that I've heard through the years. I've heard people say that the gospel is the story of Jesus in the life of Jesus. The gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I've heard a lot of different things to me. The gospel is, by definition, the good news, the good news of what those of Jesus. But what about Jesus in particular? I'll take you to Romans 6:23, to me. This is the gospel summed up in a single verse, in a single moment that tells us the most important thing that we could ever know in our life, for the wages of sin is white death. Then, what is it? We were talking about this in our Sunday night class back a few weeks ago and we broke this down. If you remember it, and we were talking about this idea of what is seeing and this and that and the other pain. And David Pickard came up to me after class and he said, you know, he's a dude is my definition of sin. He said seeing is all the things that you do that. You enjoy that has to change. Sam is all the things that you're doing and enjoying away from God outside of church that has to change. And, and, and I'm like, well, that that's obvious. He goes. Yeah, it's obvious. He said, but it's the hardest thing to do when you're living outside of a relationship with God, all of the fun stuff that you're doing for the most part.

It's the things you're doing with your friends, with things that you're going out and being a part of. He said those things usually revolve around sinful things, but he said they also in the moment or some of the most fun things. But why does he say he says, even some of the most fun things that you enjoy doing in your life, the cost of that is death. Outside of God and not just death physically, but death spiritually. It's a separation to gap between you and the most important thing that has ever existed, that has ever been the creator of our universe, the creator of the world that the god that sent his son and says, this is sacrifices for you. The god that sent his spirits and says, this is your comforter. This is your counselor. You are separated from all of that when you live in a life of sin, but but, and here's where the gospel plays in. This is the gospel. The gift of God is what? Eternal life. In Christ, Jesus, our lord. In Christ Jesus, our lord, Jesus came and lived and lived a perfect life so that he could be the ultimate sacrifice. So that his death, his burial and his resurrection would have the power of Bridging the Gap from life of sin to laugh with God, from a life of death to living life, eternal. And that is the gospel is that Jesus came and lived and died and was buried and was resurrected for you so that you could have this gift from God and a gift is something free. Correct? A gift is something that you do not learn. It's not something that you deserve that. You've heard me talk about this. And it's kind of, my my gift to Joe. Cuz, you know, we all go through these things on on Christmas, where I have to buy you a $10 gift and you have to buy me a $10 gift. It's just kind of, you know, something that we feel obligated to do. And and and really what's my time. But now we've just kind of exchange $10 bills along the way. And yeah, I've got something but, you know, if you ever gotten one of those guess, when those $10 gas or $20 gas, and you just like, man, I really just rather had the $20 bill, you know, I got a gift from someone one time and it was spice peanuts. And I'm like, why did you get me spice peanuts? Like I don't like spice peanuts, but they felt obligated to get me a gift and we were obligated to get them a gift to me. That's not really a gift. It's an obligation gifts or what. Free they come with no strings attached. They come to call someone loves you, okay? In our eternal life through Jesus is just that it's free of charge. Nothing. You can do will ever learn it. Nothing you ever do. Can repay God for it. It's just for you because he loves you. Now. There's a lifestyle that we had. We, we submit to, as we come into that. But I want you to know this morning that that has to be our message to the world. But has to be our message to the world. That there is a God that loves us and sent his son as a gift so that we could have eternal life and that we could walk away from a life of sin and that lead to death and a lot of people in the world are not going to want to hear that message. And that's not on you. It's not on you. If they don't listen it's on you if you don't share but it's not on you if they don't listen, so don't think just because someone doesn't listen doesn't mean that you're not living your life as a disciple of Christ, share the gospel. Let this message ring out of this place, whether it's ringing of individual Bells as we leave here on a Sunday and on Wednesday or whether it is a communal Bell that we ring when we are all together. This was the message of Paul. This was the message of Peter. This was a message of all the gospel writers in the apostles, as they spread the word in the first century and it must still be our message today. But then the question becomes how do we share that message? What is our method? And that's what I was talking about last week was that if we're not careful we get so wrapped up in letting someone else. Do all the work letting someone else do all the work for me. Ask you a question this morning, and I don't mean this ugly. Anyway, please, please don't. Don't think that I'm trying to to be ugly at anyway in any way, but just just be real with me this morning. How much work did you put in for this lesson this morning? How much effort does it take for you to sit right here right now and listen to me for 30 minutes. Some of you may be like, it takes a lot of effort to listen to you, you know. You seem we like it when other people do the hard stuff, don't we? We like it when I don't have to be as committed, I can come. I can be a part. I don't have to be as committed. But I want some discipleship is about commitment in about action. It's not about just coming in listening to Matthew, or, or David, or, or, or whoever maybe teaching, meals teaching in here on Sunday morning. And I just coming and letting the teachers, teach me and talk to me about love. It's actually going out and what loving other people. What's easier listening to me? Talk about love or going out in loving other people, which one's easier. Just sitting and listening, right? Which is easier listening and talking about the gospel being spread or going out and spreading. The gospel is sitting and listening and Paul uses the word preaching in this particular passage, but it's not the focal point. It's not the core of his method. I don't believe, but let's see what he says that his method is. It's go to this next section here. Starting at 8.

I got to get back to the right spot here. Starting the first eight, just as a nursing mother cares for her children, singing the 7th. So we cared for you because we loved you so much. You were delighted to share with you. Not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well. Surely you remember, brothers and sisters are toll and hardship. We work night and day in order. Not to be a burden to anyone while we preach the gospel to. You. See, they did preach. That is an important part, but it's not the entirety verse to, you are witnesses. And so is God of how holy righteous and blameless we were among you for you know, that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children in Courage comforting and urging you to live lives. Worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and Glory. There's a lot of different words in here that that I wish we had time to break down and talk about in a lot of detail. But what I see here in this particular passage is all go preaching and teaching was a part of Paul's method. It wasn't the entirety. What I also see was equally important, and even talked about more in this section was the relationships and how he dealt with individual people. Go back in the splits during the first eight. Look at these words. He says,

So we care for you because I love this phrase. We loved you so much. We loved you so much. Does it feel good to be loved? How many of you love being loved? So Vance? I love Vance and have loved to Vance his whole life. There's a. That's why I said, he didn't love me. You believe that there was a period in Vance's wife that he did not love me for about a year after he started to learn how to say, I love you or responded that I would look at him and have him. I'll a, I'll be like, hey then I love you man. And you know what his response was every time. I love mom so bad.

And I tell him dance. I love you. I love mom so bad. And this went on for a year like and I've never been like, really like just genuinely like what's wrong with my kid, but I'm like, what's wrong with my kid? Why does he not love me with Mom? So much more than me. Like, what am I doing wrong? And man, that day, I remember I was sitting on top of the steps in our house. And I was sitting there talking to him about something, and I looked on my Covance. I love you because I love you, too. Y'all. I cried. I'm not a crier by any stretch. I said on that TOP Step and I'm like, my son loves me and it felt so good to hear him. Say I love you Dad and not help Mom, so bad. Like a broken record. He still loves his mama more than he loves me, but he does love me.

What if we felt that way, every time we walked in this room? That when I walk in this room, I know. I'm loved so bad. I love so bad and it doesn't matter what I'm dealing with. It. Doesn't matter what I'm struggling with. It doesn't matter how bad I messed up. It doesn't have matter. How big of a fool that I've been. I know that when I walk in this place. This isn't a place of judgment in a place of condemnation. This isn't a place. I'm going to get preached at. It's a place that first and foremost. Everything else. I'm going to be loved. I'm going to be Loft. Our world is doing a fine enough job of judging each other right now, aren't they? You turn on the news and it's just one side judge in the other one side mad at the other one side, accusing the other. It's back and forth republican-democrat that matter which side you fall on. They are all just as bad about blaming and fussing and judging the other side. You know, what? Jesus says, we're not supposed to be in the judging business. That's not us. What business are we supposed to be in? The loving business. I love you so bad. He said for we loved you so much that not only do we share the gospel with you. Why did he say? We shared our what? Our lives with you as well. We shared our lives with you as well. We are living in a generation in a generation in time where there is more connectivity. Then there has ever been at any other time in our life. I know more about complete strangers than I do about my next door, neighbor sometime because of social media, I mean, You all know what I cook for supper half the time if I turn my smoker on those of you that follow me on Facebook, you know, every time I put food on my smoker, don't you, you know, every time. Eddie I know everytime you catch a fish. I do every time he put something on his smoker. I do. Every time he changes the light bulbs in his backyard.

But are we sharing our lives with each other? We feel like we are, aren't we? The boy gone are the days. I was listening this comedian the other day, boy, he hit the nail on the head. He said there used to be a time. Someone comes to your door, knocks on your door, and you're prepared for company. You're glad someone showed up and you walk in, and my great-grandmother was this way. If you showed up at her house at 2 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon, midnight, you know what you were. You're going to eat something. She was going to bring you, and she was going to cook something for you. And you were going to sit at her table. You were going to eat you a bit of. Welcome you in that way. Now someone knocks on our door, this comedian go, someone knocks on the door in the dads like everybody from the floor. Nobody move.

Maybe they didn't see us. All your cars are parked in the driveway. Every light in the house is on. Maybe they think we're not here. Because we don't want that interaction. We don't want to share our lives anymore, the way we did just a generation ago.

You know, what our world is? It is hungry for. Our world is hungry for loving relationships.

When our news media buses. And argues over everything when our society gripes about everything. when social media turns into nothing, more than a rumor who will of Lies after lies and he said after she should said,

What people hunger for?

It's not a church that looks like the world. The church that lives with the spirit of Jesus.

I'm a firm believer. That people don't pick churches because of Doctrine anymore. And I'm not saying doctrines not important. And I'm not saying we shouldn't teach correct Doctrine. And when people come, that should be something, we should teach them the gospel and we should teach them the corresponding things that go along with that life. I believe that what I'm saying is we don't live in a society anymore. We're people are picking the Ninth Avenue Church of Christ because we have the right Doctrine. That's not the society that we live in anymore. Okay. It used to be you rewind, 50 years ago. And what does Christianity, what Define Christianity was your Doctrine? I was listening to a preacher, the other day. He went through. His undergrad is masters in the late 70s and early 80s, and he said I went through these these college classes. He said I got my degree in New Testament theology. He said my job was as a minister was to teach proper Doctrine so that I could convince you to come to my church instead. The other church because we have the right Doctrine day again. I'm not saying that doctoring isn't important, but I'm saying in the year 2022.

That's not why young adults. That's not why young families. That's not why people that were trying to reach or go to walk in our doors. Go to walk in our doors. We show them first and foremost how much we love them.

Because we're not going anywhere.

They're not going to church every Sunday, a lot of them and they're not worried about what your doctor in is. What they're worried about is when they walk in this room. Are they going to be Loft? Are you going to be willing to share your life with them go down? He said, he said that, that's what, that's what we did. And then, and then he kind of wraps up this idea.

Inverse wasn't first 11 for you know how we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children. How does he say he dealt with them? With encouraging comforting and urging you to live lives. Worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and Glory. He says, as we walked this walk together, when the moment was appropriate, we encouraged you, we pushed you in the moment was appropriate that we we we conferred you comforted you when that was what you needed. And then when it was urgent, when it was something that that had to change, we are urged you to do that. It was a process. But our method today in this generation, Our method to day needs to be first and foremost around relationships. Make relationships with people so that they know you care about them that you love them. And we talked about this as a generational thing and Millennials vs this group versus bad girl out in a while. They're called. I just know what the Millennials are called and you know, it everything's the Millennials fault these days of something that goes wrong. What they say? I don't know. But you know what? I think, you know what I think. It really may not matter. A two thousand years ago. Paul says, it's about relationships about sharing your life with each other. And my guess is really and truly even though we've gone through cultural. She cultural shifts a lot over the last two thousand years. I think it's always been about relationships. Give me about relationships with Jesus. It's about relationships with the apostles. It's about relationships within the churches. People, you can have the right doctor and all day long, but if you don't love someone and not going to listen. So let's make sure that we understand our message or message is Jesus. Our message is his death, his bear go, his resurrection and the gift that comes along with that. If we so choose to accept, but the method, the method is not let one person. Do all the work. The method is let me go out and share my life with other people and love them so much that I want to share my life with them in the effort that I can encourage them and comfort them in them to walk in the steps of Jesus. That's our next steps of becoming a ringing out Church.

Cause of the word of Prayer in the last, it'll be years.

God. We thank you so much for this passage. And we thank you for Paul. And his willingness in his life to accept. His calling.

To be convicted of of knowing that he was living a life that you thought was for you, but was in the opposite direction of you. God and and changing those things. Giving us an example to follow us, something to imitate. Of allowing himself to just be filled of nothing, but you helped us to be that way guy. So that we live this life. As we walk in this world. We can be ringing out, Christians. We can be a ringing out Church. So that we make a difference. Everywhere we go. So let people know that we love them, help us to just not talk about being a loving church. God to help us be a loving church. That's easy for some of us and for some of us. It's a struggle as long as we continue to walk in a way. That leads us to grow. In the things that we are challenged with the most.

Help us to make a difference in our community and God. If so be it at bless us with growth in a numerical way, as we focus on growth in the spiritual way, help us to plant into water and we pray for you to give the growth in the most amazing way. We thank you for Jesus in his life and his sacrifice. We thank you for his willingness to empty himself. To give his life for us. It's in your son's name. We pray. Amen. Is this program has been beneficial to you, please consider subscribing on YouTube Apple podcast or your favorite podcast. Provider also would love for you to leave us a 5-star review, which will greatly assist us in getting the message of God's love and salvation to others. Would love even more for you to join us in person. We are located at 2309 9th Avenue, in Haleyville, Alabama. You can also check us out on Facebook.

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