Our Community | Think Differently

Ok, be honest, how many of you are excited about the new iPhone and Apple Watch release?

Everyone except for that disgruntled PC user sitting in the back with your arms folded.

We love you, too.

I remember my first iPhone. Everybody remembers their first.

In 2010, I had just graduated from seminary, found my first church placement, and for the first time, I was earning more than 5 grand a year from my on campus work studies.

Up until this point, I had always owned a flip phone. Do you remember texting on a flip phone? Anybody remember those struggles?

Just to text my last name, I had to click the number 7 three times for R, and the number 3 two times for E. It took me 8 clicks just to spell my last name.

Imagine what happened when I texted my wife whose last name is Tschirhart. 10 letters in that bad boy. When I texted my mom to tell her that I had met a girl named named Stacy Tschirhart, it took me 3 days!

But what Apple does better than technology is marketing. Somehow, I’ve become convinced that I need this (embrace my iPad). No, but I really do.

How could you not fall under Apple’s spell, especially with ads like this one?

***PLAY Think Different Video

In the years leading up to this ad, Apple had lost market share in technology and nearly a billion dollars on its failed ‘Apple Newton’ computer.

But The ‘Think Different’ campaign changed everything. It marked the beginning of Apple's re-emergence as a technological powerhouse, which ushered in the debut of a device that would transform how people around the world would process information: the iMac.

As of a month ago, Apple reached a one trillion dollar value mark. That’s a 1 with 12 zeros after it, and one thousand times more than what they had lost 20 years ago.

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Friends, the entire punch! of John’s first letter can be summed up in these two words: Think Different.

By the way, there’s a debate on the interwebs about the grammatical correctness of this slogan. ‘Think Different’ vs ‘Think Differently.’ I am on the “Differently” side, the right side, so

How might you:

Think differently about your life.

Think differently about your work.

Think differently about how you raise your kids, love your spouse, live single, mingle with others, rest well.

Think differently about how you use your money.

Think differently about Jesus.

And why might you think differently about these things?

Because I wonder, ‘how many people actually live satisfied lives.’

Before John wrote his letters, he wrote his Gospel about Jesus, quoting Jesus’ own words, saying:

'The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.' John 10:10

In Jesus’ own words.

‘Them’ meaning you.

The thief wants to steal, kill, and destroy you. That’s his purpose.

Jesus, however, wants to give you an abundant and satisfying life. Blessing upon blessing! Grace upon grace!

Yet, I often wonder, ‘how many people actually live that way,’ so I asked the all-knowing Google and searched ‘Are People Happy?”, and within .13 seconds, Google told me everything I could ever want to know about happiness. Here are some of the headlines that appeared on the first page of the search results:

● Happiness Index: Only 1 In 3 Americans Are Very Happy

● The 2017 World Happiness Report Shows That Americans Are Less Happy Than Ever Before

● Not only are Americans becoming less happy — we're experiencing more pain, too.

● American Happiness Is at a 10-Year Low, United Nations Study Finds

Yikes.

Google affirmed my hunch that few people ever discover real satisfaction, let alone the kind that Jesus promised to give to those who follow him.

Now, obviously, satisfaction does not mean perfection, nor does it mean a life without troubles or pain. Quite the contrary, satisfaction means fulfillment, even amidst your pain.

On the flip side, then, I wonder, ‘how many people feel like something has been stolen from them… Like they’re dying on the inside… like their life is being destroyed.’

Do these words resonate better with you?

Are your actions currently hurting someone, hurting yourself, or is someone hurting you?

Friends, if the words ‘steal, kill, and destroy’ describe your current circumstances, either by your hand or someone else’s, then the thief is winning, and you must learn how to think differently about your circumstances and behavior.

***Pause

As an aside, for anyone facing immediate hurts right now, then I want you to know that we can help you. You can either complete a connect card or talk to a ministry leader today. This is a safe place where it’s ok not to be ok. At this church, you can bring all of your hurts and failures here and not worry about condemnation.

There is an enemy to Jesus who wants to ‘steal, kill, and destroy’ from anyone standing off guard and vulnerable to temptation and sin.

Yet, also hear me say, ‘satisfactionis not a myth.’ There is a way to experience the promised satisfaction of Jesus here and now, despite whatever hardship you might encounter, and it begins by ‘Thinking Differently.”

Last week, we discussed how John opened his first letter by overstating the absolute necessity for Jesus, the incarnation of God, as the foundational belief for our Christian faith. God lived and experienced our world through his Son, Jesus Christ, to offer himself as a sacrifice for the consequence of our sin that we cannot heal on our own. God embodied human form and proclaimed a message, which John declared in his letter, stating:

God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

The light is good, and living in the light produces triangular fellowship:

My life in fellowship with Christ, your life in fellowship with Christ, and our lives in fellowship with one another.

This is the very lifeblood of our church, which only exists when we live in the light.

What is the opposite, then? Living in darkness, which leads to division and conflict, along with that which disintegrates our spirit and will eventually destroy our life.

John begins chapter 2, saying:

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.

And thereby experience separation from Jesus and one another.

I hate talking about sin. I really do. I think any Pastor who does is completely missing the point about Jesus, but we need to talk about it because we need to understand our who we are and why the incarnation matters.

I hate sin because God hates sin. Colossians 3:5-6

I hate sin because God didn't create you to experience sin. Genesis 1-2; Romans 3:21-24

I hate sin because sin keeps us separated from God. Romans 6:23

I hate sin because sin keeps us separated from one another. Galatians 5:19-21

I hate sin because sin distorts, disintegrates, and destroys. Isaiah 64:6-7

I hate sin because sin is a result of our own doing. James 4:17, Genesis 3

God did not sin against us. We sinned against God. We broke our relationship with God, and we keep it broken every time we make ourselves the very god or goddess of our own life, inviting the enemy then to steal, kill, and destroy us - sometimes little by little and other times in dramatic ways.

Friends, the purpose of John’s first letter is to proclaim the reality of the incarnation and its importance for our fellowship, which sin divides and will eventually destroy when left untreated. We must learn how to think differently about our sin.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Philippians 4:8”

Think Differently.

In another letter written by Paul to the church in Rome, he said:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

Think differently.

The key difference between being on the receiving end of the thief’s purpose and the receiving end of Jesus’ promised satisfaction is ‘thinking differently.’

All of us will continue to fall short and miss the mark, but hopefully less frequently and less significantly as our minds renew into Christ’s likeness. Yet ,

If anyone does sin, John says, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

Meaning without sin.

As a man, Jesus was right standing before God because Perfect God had entered into human form perfectly. What a beautiful mystery!

Thus why only Jesus could stand before the Father and advocate for God’s merciful forgiveness over us, for as John wrote:

He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 2:1-2

This great gift applies to everyone!

The Greek word ‘atone’ is ‘Hilasmos,’ which literally means to satisfy an angry party. It is only used twice in the entire New Testament, both times in 1 John, and both times in reference to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the penalty of our sins.

Our sin deserves death.

For the wages of sin is death, (Romans 6:23), Paul wrote.

Sin costs you something, and that price tag is your life.

Yet, Jesus offered hilasmos - atonement - on your behalf. Perfect God in a perfect man offered a perfect sacrifice to settle an infinite debt once and for all.

John’s use of the word ‘hilasmos’ gives us a profound insight into God’s character, and that is: God isn’t angry with you.

God loves you, and through his incarnate Son, God has made a way for you to come back home. God’s not out to get you. God’s out to redeem you and ransom your heart from the thief.

We’ve all done things that we hate and regret, and it’s only natural to question whether or not God could accept you - or even love you - for having done those things.

Yet, John is clear. On the cross, Jesus has made all of those who have placed their trust in him at one with God.

Atone - at one - Period.

We must think differently now about our sin, and get honest with ourselves. You don’t have to hit rock bottom in order to get honest with yourself about your circumstances.

Sin will keep you believing that you are the god or goddess of your own life and therefore keep you separated from the actual source of all life... and all freedom… and all satisfaction!

Yet, the good news of Jesus proclaims that on the cross, Jesus traded life for life! God ransomed you with his son. Paul continues in Romans 6:23, saying:

The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Think about this with me: How ironic that we have to pay for our own death, but eternal life is free?

It’s like someone who says ‘you can either live in your home for free or pay 400 grand to burn it down?!’

Which one is the better deal?

It’s time to think differently.

All of us here know so many people willing to pay an unfathomable price to burn down their own homes, whereas Jesus is simply waiting to hand over the keys to his kingdom to you for free.

It’s time to think differently, and John offers us a framework for doing so, saying:

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

The English phrasing, ‘We know that we have come to know him’ is an awkward one! It’s phrases like these that give the Bible a bad wrap. :), but it’s absolutely critical to the theological premise of John’s letter.

Jesus is real, as John has stated, and we can know this real Jesus by keeping his commands.

John used a ‘perfect tense’ form of a verb, which is difficult to translate into English. Essentially, John means to say that knowledge is the result of past experiences with ongoing present consequences. Knowledge is experiential, and knowledge only reveals itself as we obey God.

Thus, obedience leads to greater knowledge, and knowledge results in a deeper desire for obedience. It’s like a flywheel, one leads into the other.

John illustrates the flywheel in verses 4-11 by giving three tests of love, each one building upon the other:

Verses 4-5

“Whoever says …

“I know him”

but does not keep his commands …

he is a liar.

This is self-focused.

Verses 6-8

Whoever says …

“I abide in him”

ought to walk as he walked.

This is Jesus-Focused.

Verses 9-11

Whoever says …

“I am in the light”

but hates his brother …

he lives in the darkness.”

This is others-focused.

First, knowing. Your life changes the moment when you decide to ‘think differently.’ Often, renewal begins here (point to my head) and then influences this (point to the heart). As your mind renews into becoming like the mind of Christ, then your life will grow into abiding in Jesus’ life.

Abiding means “to dwell, stay, and remain.” To abide means to sustain unbroken fellowship with someone like a friend who’s always got your back.

As your life grows into abiding in Jesus’ life, then your walk will become Jesus’ walk, your words will become Jesus’ words. You will say and do as Jesus did. His experiences will become your experiences - not forced, but like two images becoming one. (Rub my hands together into alignment)

Sometimes in the mornings as I am preparing to leave for my office, my daughter, Hannah, will climb on my feet and walk with me as I make my way through the house to collect what I need.

Quite literally, she is abiding with me, holding onto me, traveling with me, experiencing what I am experiencing, and moving where I move.

Half of all of the uses of the word abide in the New Testament occur in John’s writings. Thus, according to John, to abide with Christ is absolutely crucial to how we experience our faith personally and our fellowship communally with one another, as we live in obedience and knowledge, together.

Our lives in Christ cannot remain independent from Jesus or one another.

If we think we can float in and out of our faith and community like we float in and out of our favorite cafes, then we are missing the point. In fact, it’s the exact opposite, according to John.

It is Christ who holds our lives together, as we make our dwelling in Christ, togetherwalking on his feet where he walked, seeing the world as Jesus saw it.

This is why total strangers - whether they be Jesus followers or not - can walk into a healthy, faithful church and feel a deep sense of belonging before they ever believe.

It’s a wonderful, mysterious, and compelling witness to the fellowship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, uniting us together into one community.

And friends, this is worth every ounce of energy to fight for! If there is anything worth fighting for in the church, it is this! Our fellowship with one another is what makes our community uniquely better in the world! It is our greatest witness to a world fractured by individualism and divided by power.

Only then, together, will we experience the transformation of our being from the inside out.

As you walk in the light, your being is changed. Obedience leads to knowledge, knowledge leads to abiding in Christ, and abiding results in love.

As you begin to walk on the feet of Jesus and his life becomes yours, then eventually love will begin to overflow from you toward God and others… because that’s who God is: God is love. 1 John 4:8

John doesn’t mince words. If you are not loving your brother or sister, then you are walking in darkness. Here, John’s reference to a brother or sister is not some abstract brother or sister who lives on the other side of the planet. He is referring to your brother or sister sitting next to you right here in your church… sitting next to you at the coffee shop… driving in the lane next to you on the Palmetto… sitting next to you in your home. These men and women are God’s sons and daughters, and God calls you to love them as he does.

Love is the tangible evidence of our faith. This is how all others will know that you are obedient, renewing your mind, and abiding in Christ.

How you love is your testimony.

John wrote in his Gospel, quoting Jesus, saying: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”John 13:34-35

I once heard that if you want to love the world, then the world begins right next to you.

Love becomes genuine only when it is tested. Our love is tested only when we reach beyond ourselves to love someone who we do not wish to love. This is the kind of love that John has in mind.

It’s the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated to us.

Let me illustrate this another way.

The Gospel writer, Matthew, recorded Jesus saying, “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-38

Jesus tells us to love God and love others as ourselves.

Which one is the most important command for us to obey?

Jesus said ‘Love God’ is the first and greatest, but then Jesus remarks, a second is equally important: love your neighbor as yourself.

Friends, you can’t do one without the other. We can’t love God and hate someone or hate ourselves at the same time. God created his image in you. If you hate yourself, then you are hating your creator.

John is clear: if we are living our lives in this kind of dichotomy, then we are living in spiritual darkness, walking blind to the truth about our faith, and we are living in sin.

Friends, it’s time to think differently.

Choose love. We're better together. Tell the truth, not the kind of truth that blows another person to smithereens, but the kind of truth that builds dignity and character into another person.

If you felt a nudge on Vision Sunday to get involved and take your next step here, then let us help you. There are as many ways to get involved here as there are people sitting in these seats.

Stop pretending. Get honest with yourself and others so that the light of Christ may light up your life!

“The darkness is passing, and the true light is already shining.” 1 John 2:8

Therefore, we have nothing to fear.

Obey

Know

Abide

Love

This is the pathway to spiritual maturity.

It’s at once so personal and also very much communal, so

Let’s claim our freedom and live like a freed people. Let’s claim our forgiveness and live like a forgiven people. Let’s claim our salvation and live like a saved people. Let’s claim our love and live like a loved people.

***Invite congregation to stand...

Imagine what might happen here within our community and our surrounding city if we stack our hands together and live our love out loud in sweet fellowship! This is our greatest testimony.

You are Jesus’ greatest testimony. You are his greatest storyteller.

This is how the world will now, so this week, may you:

Choose courage over fear.

Choose love over apathy.

Choose satisfaction over sin.

Choose Jesus over yourself.

And may you think differently about who you are and what you do this week...

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, like you crazy people, are the ones who do.”

Would you pray with me?

1. ***PLAY Think Different Video

“Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Think Different.

2.

3. 'The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.' John 10:10

4.

5. Happiness Index: Only 1 In 3 Americans Are Very Happy

The 2017 World Happiness Report Shows That Americans Are Less Happy Than Ever Before

Not only are Americans becoming less happy — we're experiencing more pain, too.

American Happiness Is at a 10-Year Low, United Nations Study Finds

6.

7. satisfaction means fulfillment, even amidst your pain.

8.

9. There is no better condition for sin to flare up than within inflamed prides and egos.

10.

11. God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:5-7

12.

13. My life in Christ, your life in Christ, our lives together.

14.

15. If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another.

16.

17. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.

18.

19. God hates sin. Colossians 3:5-6

20.

21. God did not create you to experience sin. Genesis 1-2; Romans 3:21-24

Sin keeps us separated from God. Romans 6:23

Sin keeps us separated from one another. Galatians 5:19-21

Sin distorts, disintegrates, and destroys. Isaiah 64:6-7

Sin is a result of our own doing. James 4:17, Genesis 3

14. the purpose of John’s first letter is to proclaim the reality of the incarnation and its importance for our fellowship.

15. “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Philippians 4:8”

16. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

17. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

18. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. 1 John 2:1-2

19. The word ‘atone’ in the Greek is ‘Hilasmos,’ which literally means to satisfy an angry party.

20. God isn’t angry with you!

21. For the wages of sin is death

22. The free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

23. We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

24. we can know this real Jesus by keeping his commands.

25. knowledge is the result of past experiences with ongoing present consequences. Knowledge is experiential, and knowledge only reveals itself as we obey God.

26. Verses 4-5

“Whoever says …

“I know him”

but does not keep his commands …

he is a liar.

This is self-focused.

27. Verses 6-8

Whoever says …

“I abide in him”

ought to walk as he walked.

This is Jesus-Focused.

28. Verses 9-11

Whoever says …

“I am in the light”

but hates his brother …

he lives in the darkness.”

This is others focused.

29. Knowing

30. Abiding means “to dwell.”

32. It is Christ who holds our lives together, as we make our dwelling in Christ, together

33. Our fellowship with one another is what makes our community uniquely better in the world!

34. As you walk in the light, your being is changed. Obedience leads to knowledge, knowledge leads to abiding in Christ, and abiding results in love.

35. Love is the tangible evidence of our faith. This is how all others will know that you are obedient, renewing your mind, and abiding in Christ.

36. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

37. “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-38

38. “The darkness is passing, and the true light is already shining.” 1 John 2:8

39. Obey

Know

Abide

Love

40. Choose courage over fear.

Choose love over apathy.

Choose satisfaction over sin.

Choose Jesus over yourself.

And may you think differently

41. “Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”