The Family Business

I'd like to welcome everyone to Bridge Gospel this morning.
I'm glad that you're here with us.
If this is your first time, I'd especially like to welcome you.
I know it can be weird and awkward to walk into a new church,
so I just want to welcome you and make yourself at home,
enjoy some coffee with us after service.
If you have any questions about the church,
I'd be glad to answer any questions you may have.
I'd also like to welcome everyone who's watching with us online.
I know that some of you are traveling,
or you just can't make it to church because of whatever reason,
but I believe that God will bless you right where you are.
So I don't have any announcements this morning.
All our events are on the website at bridgegospel.org.
I'll just pray for the offering.
We're not going to pass a plate or a bucket or put any pressure on anyone.
We have a box in the back.
You can make your check out to Two Rivers Church if you're writing a check.
They're the ones that helped us to get this church started.
Or you can give online with a little barcode thing.
So dear Heavenly Father,
Father, we just thank you that every good and every perfect gift comes from you, Lord.
We thank you that you sustain our lives through jobs,
through businesses,
through other opportunities, Lord,
that you put into our lives.
And we thank you for those things.
And how could we not want but to give back?
So Lord,
I thank you for each and every person that's choosing an act of worship as giving, Lord.
We thank you that you will honor that, as your word says.
And we thank you that you are advancing the gospel in Apache Junction and around the world.
Amen.
So we've been in a series called,
talking about the supernatural world that we live in.
It's called Living in a Supernatural World.
I think we're in week three now.
We've talked about just the nature of the fact that we live in a world that is every bit as supernatural
and every bit as spiritual as it is physical.
And that there is a world that is unseen.
So that's what we're studying right now.
And today's passage, if you want to kind of get there in your Bible,
I won't be to it immediately,
but we'll be studying Genesis 1,
starting at verse 26.
So if you just want to keep that open for a moment,
we will get there.
If you want to follow along.
So I just, I want you to imagine a man who started a construction business.
And, you know, it started in his garage.
And over the years, it became a multi-million dollar business.
He was building skyscrapers.
And, you know, he became quite successful at what he did.
And he had a son.
And his son went to college.
And his son graduates college.
And he walks into his dad's office.
And he's expecting, you know, a corner office and a big title.
And his dad, instead of all that,
he hands him a hard hat.
And he hands him a broom.
And he says, I want you to show up at 6 a.m.
And I want you to start cleaning up these construction sites.
And the son, he's offended.
He's offended.
He feels rejected.
He feels let down by his dad.
He feels unseen.
But in spite of that,
he works his way up through his dad's own company.
And he frames walls.
And he pours concrete.
And he deals with difficult people
and difficult contractors
and the city and vendors.
And, you know, he thinks his father's punishing him.
And he thinks, you know,
my dad is the owner of this.
Why am I having to do all of these things?
But 10 years go by.
And his dad calls him back into the office.
And he says, son, he says,
I want you to understand that I didn't make you do all this
because I don't love you
and I don't care for you.
But I wanted you to have compassion
for the people who work here.
And I wanted you to understand
what they're going through
and understand what it's like to work here
and to do hard work.
And then he gives him the business
and he retires.
And his dad didn't need to give him anything.
Remember that.
But he chose to involve his son in this way.
So I want to kind of keep this story in mind.
And I want to talk about God's family business.
Now, before we talk about
all the different things that God created,
I want to talk about an attribute of God
that I think is really important.
You see, God never changes.
And God's not lonely.
He's not tired.
He's not overwhelmed.
He's not worn out.
So he didn't create people
because he was alone or lonely
or he needed our help.
Acts 17 says,
the God who made the world and everything in it,
who is the Lord of heaven and earth,
does not live in temples made by human hands,
nor is he served by human hands
as if he needed anything.
Because he himself gives life and breath
and everything to everyone.
So God is self-sufficient.
He can take care of himself.
So any authority that he chooses to give away
is an act of love and it's an act of grace.
It's not because he needs us to do anything.
So I want you to see the point here
is he's choosing to involve us.
He doesn't have to involve us.
So God's sovereignty is usually taught
as God's controlling, God's doing everything.
God is pushing every molecule in place.
But I think that biblical sovereignty
is really God ensuring that his will is done
through whatever means he chooses to use.
Psalm 115, I just pulled out a couple verses.
Verse 3, it says,
Our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he pleases.
How many know that's true?
And then verse 16, it says,
The heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind.
And it's kind of like a landlord
and a tenant relationship.
You know, the landlord owns the house
and then, well, you want to move in?
Well, he comes and he gives you the keys
and you move in the house.
But he says you can live there
and he delegates that.
So we kind of see this pattern
with Adam and Eve.
We see Adam naming the animals.
And I think this is a really clear picture
of God's leadership.
Genesis 2, it says,
Verse 19, it says,
The Lord God formed out of the ground
every living animal of the field
and every bird of the air.
He brought them to the man
to see what he would name them.
And whatever the man called
each living creature,
that was its name.
So God is the creator.
He has the right to do whatever he wants.
He has the right to name the animals
whatever he wants.
But instead he stands back
and he says,
Well, how about Adam?
How about you do this?
I want to see you do it.
And you notice,
God wasn't over his shoulder.
God wasn't editing Adam's list.
You know, he wasn't saying,
Well, that's stupid.
He wasn't sitting there criticizing Adam.
You know, whatever the man called it,
it says that was its name.
Now, I think that means
that man had real authority
and the real power
to make a real decision.
And you know,
God didn't just say,
Well, why don't you just go
and clean up after all these animals I made?
You know, it isn't grunt work.
There's a real thing here.
And God bound himself
to Adam's decision.
And what I think is really interesting,
he never even sat there
and said good job.
But I think that this proves
that God wants us
to have a genuine say
in how our reality is working.
I think it's fascinating.
You see,
micromanagement really shows weakness.
You ever had a boss
who was a micromanager
and they showed up
and this and that
and this and that
and this little thing
and that little thing
and you'll go out of your mind
working for someone like that
because really it shows their weakness,
doesn't it?
and their insecurity.
But sovereignty,
you see,
God has so much power
and so much wisdom
that he can delegate
real authority to us
imperfect beings
and he can still guarantee the outcome.
Now, I think that's a more powerful view of God
than a God that controls people
and controls their thoughts
and controls everything.
I think it's more powerful
to allow people
to get in there
and mess things up
and still get his will done.
You guys with me?
All right.
So let's get to the main text here.
Genesis 1, 26 through 28.
It should be familiar to a lot of you.
It says,
Then God said,
Let us make humankind in our image
after our likeness
so they may what?
So they may rule
over the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air,
over the cattle
and over all the earth
and over all the creatures
that move on the earth.
God created humankind
in his own image.
In the image of God,
he created them.
Male and female,
he created them.
God blessed them
and said,
Be fruitful and multiply.
Fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air
and every creature
that moves on the ground.
Now,
for centuries,
people have thought
that being made
in the image of God
meant that we had a soul
or that we were rational
or that we had emotions
and those are things
that differentiate us
from the animals.
Now, that's all true.
But I think that being created
in God's image
is more than just
having those things.
It's more than just
intellect or emotions.
You see,
in the ancient world,
an image,
an image was a statue
that would represent
a king
and it would represent
his territory
and his authority
and his power.
I have a picture
if you guys could put that up.
So this was a statue.
It was discovered in Syria
in the late 70s
and it was from about 850 BC
and there's an inscription on it
and it says,
basically,
in so many words,
I set up this statue.
But it doesn't use
the word statue.
In Aramaic,
it uses
the words image
and likeness.
And they're the exact same words
that God used
in Genesis 126
to describe
what was going on here.
You see,
in an ancient world,
a king couldn't be
everywhere at once.
Right?
So when they would
conquer a territory,
they would set up
these statues
or these images
of themselves
and it was a proxy
for their authority
and their dominion
over that territory.
So when Genesis says
you're created
in the image of God,
it isn't just talking
about the mind,
the will,
the emotions.
It's talking about
a function
and a delegated authority
which goes right back
to the scripture
where it talks about
they were made
in the image of God
and then it talks about
them ruling
and subduing
over the earth.
So there's more going on
than just,
well,
we have these attributes
but we also have
this delegated authority
and I think it's amazing
to think that God
created the world
and he placed us here
as his representatives
and we were created
in his image
and I think,
well,
how could Jesus
have become human
without the image of God?
He wouldn't have
had any authority.
So God didn't create humans
just be subjects
or pets
or he actually created us
to be his partners
and God could have dealt
with all this
on his own.
God could have dealt
with naming the animals,
he could have dealt
with making the earth
the way it is today
but he chose
to let humans
do it
because he wants us
to participate.
So that's what's
happening on earth.
That's God delegating
his authority
and his power
on earth.
But what about
the spirit realm?
We've been talking
about that.
So before I get
into that,
I want to emphasize
one thing.
I really want to emphasize
the supremacy of Christ.
I brought this scripture
in here.
It's Colossians 3
verse 15.
It's talking about Jesus.
It says,
He is the image
of the invisible God,
the firstborn
over all creation.
So we're seeing
this language
from Genesis 1
all over again.
The image
of the invisible God,
the firstborn
over all creation.
and it says,
For all things
in heaven
and on earth
were created
in him.
All things,
whether visible
or invisible,
so now we're talking
about the natural
and the spiritual world,
whether thrones
or dominions,
whether principalities
or powers,
remember that
from Ephesians 6,
all things
were created
through him
and for him.
He himself
is before all things
and all things
are held together
in him.
So I imagine
a family,
right,
and they have
a baby on the way
and, you know,
they have this nursery
they're setting up
and they're painting
the room
and they're setting
up the furniture
and, you know,
what happens
if there's older kids
in the house, right?
They're watching
this happen, right?
They're watching
this room get set up
for this child
that's coming.
So I pulled
this passage
out of Job
and I think
it describes this
really well.
It's Job 38.
So God and Job
are having this
little conversation
and Job
is kind of
questioning God
and it's not
really going
the way that Job
thought it was
going to go.
It's a good story.
You should read it
sometime.
This is out of Job 38.
So here's God
talking to Job.
He says,
Where were you
when I laid
the foundations
of the earth?
Tell me if you
possess understanding.
Who set
its measurements
if you know
or who stretched
a measuring line
across it?
On what were
its bases set
or who laid
its cornerstone
when the morning
stars sang
in chorus
and all the
sons of God
shouted
for joy.
So what this
passage is showing
us is that
there were
spiritual beings
watching this
happen.
The morning
stars is a
synonym for
the sons of God.
It's kind of like
saying firefighters
and maybe the
heroes in red
or something like
that.
But these spirit
beings were created
first and they
were watching
all of this
happen.
And they watched
God form the
earth.
They watched
him plant
the garden.
We see all
of this happening
here in this
story in Job.
And Psalm 8
kind of reinforces
this whole thing
that we're talking
about the family
and preparing
for this new
baby.
Psalm 8 says,
O Lord, our
Lord, how
magnificent is
your reputation
throughout the
earth.
You reveal your
majesty in the
heavens above.
From the mouths
of children and
nursing babies you
have ordained praise
on account of
your adversaries
so that you may
put an end to
the vindictive
enemy.
That's the devil.
When I look up
at the heavens
which your fingers
made and see the
moon and the stars
of which you have
set in place,
of what importance
is the human race
that you should
notice them.
Of what importance
is mankind
that you should
pay attention
to them.
You made them
a little less
than the heavenly
beings.
You crowned
mankind with
honor and
majesty and you
appointed them
to rule over
your creation.
You have placed
everything under
their authority
including all the
sheep and cattle
as well as the
wild animals,
the birds in the
sky, the fish in
the sea, and
everything that
moves through the
currents of the
seas,
O Lord, our
Lord, how
magnificent is
your reputation
throughout the
earth.
Amen.
It's a beautiful
passage.
So why does this
matter?
So what if you
had three kids
and they shared
a room?
And then the
middle child got
their own room
and the oldest
had to share a
room with the
other, what
would they say?
They'd say,
it's not fair.
I'm the oldest,
right?
And I think
that explains the
root of the
conflict.
You see, I
think that this
is the root of
Satan's rebellion.
You see, the
older siblings, the
spirits, they were
stronger and they
were smarter.
And God was
preparing to put
this more lowly,
weaker sibling, the
humans, in charge of
his kingdom.
So if you ask the
question, why does
Satan hate you?
It's the type of
sibling rivalry.
You see, the
older spiritual
brother refused to
serve and submit to
the younger, weaker
brother, which is us.
You see, the spirits
were created first.
We see that in this
passage in Job.
It's talking about the
morning stars, the
sons of God.
And then humans were
created later.
They were created on
day six, right?
Because it said they
were watching the
whole earth being
created.
That's why the
scriptures say the
last shall be first
and the first shall
be last.
I usually think that's
just about being
humble at the buffet.
Something I need to
work on.
But on the scheme
of things, this is
God's management plan,
right?
You see, the last, the
humans, are destined
to rule over the
first.
Imagine the firstborn,
you know, Satan,
watching God hand all
this over to these
humans.
And Satan refused to
accept that.
He refused to serve the
younger, weaker
brother.
And I'll talk more
about that later.
See, Satan wanted to
remain first.
And he wants to keep
you last.
Now, how many Bible
stories can you think
of where that
happened?
You see, God chose
Isaac over Ishmael,
right?
He chose Jacob over
Esau.
He chose Joseph over
Reuben.
He chose David over
all of his older
brothers.
You see, in God's
kingdom, status is not
earned by just when you
showed up or when you
got born.
It's earned through
faithfulness.
And that should
encourage anyone, I
think, who feels
inferior or slighted in
anything.
So we saw that God
let Adam name the
animals.
But we also see that
he gave the spirits
jobs as well.
And there's this
passage in Daniel that
talks about this.
Daniel 4, 17 says,
this announcement is
by the decree of the
sentinels.
This decision is by
the procurement of
the holy ones.
So that those who
are alive may
understand that the
Most High has
authority over human
kingdoms.
And he bestows them,
so we see this giving
of authority, he
bestows them on
whoever he wishes.
He establishes over
them even the
lowliest of human
beings.
I think that's
interesting.
So the context to
this was, you know,
King Nebuchadnezzar,
he's about to be
humbled by God.
It's never a good
place to be.
But who decided this?
Is it God or is it
this council?
And it seems like in
this passage it's
both.
You see, God sets the
agenda.
He says, Nebuchadnezzar
needs to be judged.
It's basically what he
says.
So the holy ones that
he's given this
authority to come up
with a plan and it
happens.
And I think what all
of this shows in the
natural and in the
spiritual world that
God is treating
everybody that he's
created like an
adult.
He lets them make
real decisions.
And I think that God
desires partnership
and our participation.
He doesn't just want,
you know, people
bowing down and just
being pushed around,
but he wants a
partnership.
And I believe that's
why we were made in
the image of God.
And I think that all
of this shows that the
things that we do,
they have real
consequences.
They have positive
and they have negative
consequences.
But I think more
importantly that your
choices, they impact
eternity.
They impact it for
yourself.
They impact it for the
people around you.
And I think that we're
going to be really
amazed when we get to
heaven and we see the
impact that our
decisions have had.
That makes me want to
obey God.
And I want you to see
that God is not trying
to keep things from us.
He's not telling us
that we shouldn't do
this or shouldn't do
that because he wants
to keep it from us,
but he's trying to get
something to us.
And I believe that God
is training us for
reigning with Jesus
for all of eternity.
You see, God's plan for
humans isn't just, you
know, sit on a cloud and
sing forever, but it's
really to resume everything
that he asked us to do in
Eden, which was to
represent him.
1 Corinthians 6,
verse 2 says,
And if the world is to be
judged by you, are you
not competent to settle
trivial suits?
And get this, do you not
know that we will judge
angels?
So why not ordinary
matters?
And in this context,
judge means to govern or
to steward or to make a
moral decision about.
So this passage is
telling us that one day
human believers will
actually be judging and
outranking and have
authority over the
angels.
You see, God's not
training you to just be a
worker or a slave.
He's actually training you
to be an heir and to
manage his kingdom, the
family business, right?
And, you know, if you
can't manage your temper,
your money, your
integrity now, how can
God trust you with that
authority and those true
riches that come later?
2 Timothy 2.12 says,
if we endure, we will
also reign with him.
And you see, we have an
enemy.
His name is Satan.
And he wants us to get
us basically fired, right?
He isn't just trying to
make your life difficult.
I think we have to
understand this, that
Satan isn't just out to
make our life difficult or
to cause us pain.
He'll definitely do those
things.
The Bible says that Satan
is the accuser of the
brethren, right?
But more importantly, I
believe that he is trying
to prove to you that you
are unfit to participate in
God's kingdom.
That is really what he's
trying to teach us.
The devil is trying to
convince us that we are
unfit.
And there's a number of
tools that Satan will use
to do this.
I just want to talk about
three of them.
You know, the first one is
distractions.
You know, Satan will
distract you from the role
that God has given you.
And, you know, we can so
easily confuse activity and
movement and projects and
all that with progress and
with obedience.
How many of you have
projects that aren't done?
Right?
And you can stand in one
place and move, but if
you're inside of a hamster
wheel, where does it go?
It goes nowhere.
Right?
And I feel that it's so
easy in our world to get
tangled into so many
issues and arguments and
opinions and they keep our
emotions and our time and
our energy so far from the
goal that God has set before
us.
And if Satan wastes your
time and just diverts your
attention, he doesn't have to
send demons.
He doesn't have to send fire.
He doesn't have to really do
that much.
He can just distract us.
And we can be distracted with
activity that feels like
following God sometimes.
And he can distract us with
activity that feels like,
well, this is really smart.
This is intelligent.
And he'll get us to go down
this narrow path of some
idea or some philosophy or
some agenda or whatever it
may be.
And then we think, well,
this is what the government
should do or this is what's
really going on and this is
what's going to happen next.
Nothing will make you stupid
like feeling like you have
all the answers.
When you think you know
everything, you're in
trouble.
You see, and nothing has the
power to destroy your
inheritance and your
participation in the kingdom
into thinking that you're
following God when you're
not.
You see, and every temptation
that the devil sets up is so
clever.
And every one of them is an
attempt to disqualify us and
draw us away from that seat,
that rightful place.
And that's exactly what
happened in the Garden of
Eden.
The serpent came in and
distracted them and drew
them away from their
proper place.
And when you resist sin,
you're holding your ground.
You're holding your ground.
The other tool that Satan
uses is our identity.
Now, I don't like to come up
here and tell people that
they need to change.
Understand this.
I want to come up here and
tell people who they are.
Because everything that we
think and everything that
we do comes out of who we
are, right?
As a man believes in his
heart, so is he.
And if you don't know who
you are, and people come
along and just tell you they
want you to change, you don't
even know who you are.
So why should you change?
Right?
People can't even tell you who
you are.
But I want to tell you the
truth that with Jesus, you're
a son or you're a daughter of
God.
You see, most people will look
at the past, and they look at
it with regret, and they look
at it with shame.
And they think, you know, they
can't believe what they did.
They can't believe that people
saw this thing happen, that
people saw them do this
shameful thing.
But I want to encourage you
to get to a place where you
are so forgiving of yourself
that it's just, it's not
rational, it's delusional.
But you see, that's how Jesus
sees us.
He is so delusional when it
comes to dealing with our
past.
And when your faith is in
Jesus and God looks at you, he
sees the righteousness of
Jesus that was given to you,
that was purchased for you on
the cross.
It's crazy, you guys.
It is so scandalous to our
human sensibility that God
would forgive us for our past.
That is scandalous.
So I believe that you can get
to a place where everything's
fine.
And you can get to a place
where the past has no power
over your future.
I believe that.
And I've made so many
mistakes.
And I've had so many things
happen to me and I've done so
many things that were just,
I don't know how else to put
it, they were embarrassing,
you guys.
And let me tell you, the devil
will come along and he will
remind you of those mistakes.
Do you remember when you said
this?
Do you remember when you did
this?
Do you remember when you
slipped and fell on the
playground in third grade and
everybody watched you from the
classroom window and laughed.
And I'm telling you, this is
the biggest lie we're told.
That our past determines our
future.
It is the biggest lie.
And if you allow it to, it
will ruin every moment of your
life.
Now, if you read the Gospels and
you read about Jesus, you see
that Jesus, he wasn't there to
really lecture people about what
they did.
He knew what they did.
There's times where you can
obviously see that coming
through.
But that wasn't what he was
about.
That wasn't what he was there to
harp on.
You know, he was there to just
love people and he spent time
with them.
And, you know, the world is so
quick to find fault and
criticize and remind us of all
of our mistakes, isn't it?
And, you know, I think people
were around Jesus and Jesus made
them feel safe and he made them
feel valued.
And I think Jesus just had a lot
of fun with people.
And you can't, you can't buy
that, you guys.
You can't buy that.
Now, you can spend a fortune,
Valentine's Day is coming up,
right?
All you guys, it's time to get
your plans together.
But let me tell you, you can
spend a fortune on a romantic
weekend, okay?
And you can come home and fuss
and cuss and yell and argue with
each other and still not be happy.
Or, you can go somewhere in a
broke-down car and end up on the
side of the road and put some
music on and just laugh and
stretch.
This is our life.
And I love it.
You can't buy that, you guys.
You cannot buy that.
But there is this lie that we
believe that maybe we could.
I went to this art exhibit this
week.
And I saw this charcoal drawing of
the Last Supper.
And it was dark and maybe it was
a little shadowy and gritty.
And it was kind of messy.
And, you know, Jesus' hands were in
the air like he was maybe telling a
story.
His disciples are all kind of
leaned in.
I thought, wow.
This is, I think, what it was
really like to be there.
I mean, this thing just drew me in.
And I think if Jesus was here, well,
I think we'd set up some folding
tables and we'd have a potluck.
And we'd talk like friends and we'd
have communion together, right?
And amongst all that, he knew that
one of them that was sitting there
with him was going to betray him.
Right?
He was okay with that.
It wasn't messing him up.
And I think that when they were
seated at that table, they felt like
the most important people in the
world.
And it was at that table that Jesus
made the new covenant.
You can't earn that kind of
relationship with God.
You can't do it.
But there's this lie that we believe
that maybe we could.
You see, Jesus sees us, each and
every one of us, if we're in Christ,
in a state of redeemed innocence.
And that can be such a hard place to
get to in our minds.
But I'm telling you, everything that's
happened in the past, it's fine.
It's fine.
You can forgive yourself.
See, if you believe in Jesus, he
already forgave you.
So if God forgave you, why can't you
forgive yourself?
See, I believe that God wants to set
people free and maybe have them
experience joy for the first time this
morning.
And by faith, you'll be able to say,
well, everything's fine.
And it's in the past.
The other tool that the devil uses is
shame.
You see, I think that today is a
great day to be free from shame.
Free from the past.
Free from anxiety.
Free from the bars and the bottles
and the pills and the porn.
And there's a confidence.
Confidence.
There is a confidence that comes
with that freedom.
And I believe that people that have
that freedom are the most stable
people you'll ever meet.
They don't get wound up about what
they see going on in the world.
Their mood isn't all over the place.
And they can just walk into the room
unapologetically themselves.
They're comfortable in their own skin.
And you can get to a place where you
know who you are.
And that's not up for debate.
It's not up for discussion.
It's not up to negotiation of who I am.
I know who I am.
And I'm not willing to betray my
identity and my Heavenly Father.
You see, I belong to Him and I know
that I'm enough because of what
Jesus did on the cross.
So I'm very clear about that in my
mind that I belong to Him.
And what does that mean?
It means I'm not a people pleaser.
I'm not for sale.
I don't have a price tag.
And I think that we have to stop
training the next generation to have
a price tag.
And I believe that if we don't want
our kids to be people pleasers,
we have to stop telling them,
oh, you did a good job.
You did a good job.
You did a good job.
And we have to start asking them
how they feel about what they did
and talk about it.
You notice how God, when Adam named
all the animals, He never,
oh, good job, Adam.
There was never this sense of
external perspective and approval
that came upon the whole thing.
It just, Adam did it and it was
established and it was done.
There was no opportunity for it
to be judged or to be good enough.
You see, being a people pleaser
means that I fit in the way
that other people want me to
at the expense of betraying
my identity in myself
and in my Heavenly Father.
And I belong to Jesus
and I will not betray Him.
Nobody can say I'm not enough.
Nobody can shame me.
Nobody can embarrass me.
But what if I believe those people?
Now, we live in a time
where I feel like it's kind of
becoming okay to publicly humiliate
and publicly shame
and publicly drag people
onto the carpet
and to embarrass
and to disrespect people.
I feel like we're living in a time
where that's happening
and to abuse people
and to use violence
to solve things.
And we have people
in entertainment
and business
and leadership
disrespecting and abusing people
that they outrank in power
and in privilege.
And they're people
that lack the influence
to respond or to fight back.
And humiliating
and disrespecting people
has trickled down
through our culture
because they felt like
they had permission.
You see, the Pharisees
humiliated people
who didn't have the ability
to respond
or to fight back.
But Jesus was always
on the side
of the weaker party.
He was always
on the side
of the outcast.
He was always
on the side
of the misfit.
He was never
on the side
that held the power.
You see,
this is why
I don't believe
in this honor culture.
The problem
with living in an honor
and a shame culture
is that when you mess up
and you will mess up,
you don't get honored.
You get shamed.
But Jesus was shamed
for me.
Jesus was embarrassed
for me.
And you can always
find people
who make you feel
like you don't belong
or that you're inadequate.
And the devil
will use shame
to disqualify you
from everything
that God has called you to.
He'll disqualify you
from the family business.
But people who know
God as their father,
I mean,
the sky could be
falling down
and they're just,
they're unflappable people.
You see,
being calm
is so powerful.
You know,
Jesus was calm.
The storm was going on.
Peter's walking out.
And Jesus is so calm
because he knew.
You see,
God isn't going
to use your weakness
or your past
against you.
So why do you?
You see,
God says
he'll turn it around
for good.
Everything that happened
in the past,
God says
he will turn it around
for good.
And God's word
is filled,
absolutely filled
with promises
of blessing.
Filled.
And I'll tell you
that a future
version of you
already has
those promises.
a future version
of you
already has
every promise
of God.
And the person
who lives in shame
will see the promises
and they'll think,
well,
I can never have that.
I can never have this
because of this,
because of that,
because of what was done,
because of what I did,
what they did,
what they said.
And you might think,
well,
that's because of how
they see themselves.
But it's really about
how they think
God sees them.
And the Bible says
to delight yourself
in the Lord
and it's he
who will give you
the desires of your heart.
But a future version
of you
already has
the promises of God.
So don't be robbed.
Don't be robbed
by the devil.
The Bible says
that Jesus came
to destroy
the works
of the devil.
And I'm here
to testify
to all of you
that God
is faithful in us.
He isn't,
he isn't punishing us
and he isn't,
he isn't out to get us.
He isn't out to shame us.
He isn't out to say,
well,
you could have did better here.
You could have did better there.
But he is,
he's giving us
the opportunity
to participate
in what he's doing.
And maybe that looks
like getting a broom
and a hard hat
like this,
this young man did
because the father's
trying to teach you something.
He's trying to show you something.
He's trying to give you
an understanding
that,
you know,
maybe you could read about it
but you probably really
just have to feel it
for yourself.
But he's training
each and every one of us
to reign with him.
So don't believe the shame.
You have to believe
what the father says.
That you're in the family business
of advancing
the kingdom of God
and that you're adequate.
That you're enough.
And that the opinions
of other people
are just that,
their opinions.
But never be trapped
by shame.
Never be trapped
by the past.
Faith is always
about the future.
And I think
this is a hard thing
to believe
when what we're experiencing
in life
isn't what we wanted
or expected.
You see,
we suffer.
We suffer
when what happens
to us
or what we experience
or our circumstances
are not what we hope for.
Right?
That's when we suffer.
We think,
wow,
I thought it was going
to be like this.
But it was really like that.
And there's times
in our life
where we have to just
stand there
almost prophetically
and say,
well,
this isn't over yet.
This isn't done yet.
But God's still in this
and this can change.
And we do suffer
in those times.
Like this young man
suffered,
but he was being trained
and equipped
and he was given
an understanding
that he could have
never had
had he not experienced
what he did.
And,
you know,
I just want to thank
each and every one of you
for believing
what God is doing
in this place.
Because this is,
this is a prophetic act
to stand in a building.
Well,
this isn't fancy.
We're in a strip mall
in Apache Junction.
I've known this.
I've always known this.
Right?
But here's the thing,
you guys.
God isn't done yet.
And if all we do
is we show up
and we look
at the circumstances today
and we say,
well,
I don't like
where this is going
or I don't like
what this looks like
and we walk away from it,
we miss what God
is getting ready
to do in the long term.
And it takes
a person of faith
to walk into a situation
and say,
well,
this isn't everything
that it could be,
but that's okay.
I'm going to stand here
with God
and with these people
and we're going to see
this turn into something
that God intended.
And eventually
it will happen.
And it takes
a person of faith
to do that
when there's pain.
It takes a person
of faith to do that
when there's a need
for healing
and it hasn't happened yet.
or,
you know,
when the conflict
in the house
isn't resolved yet,
it takes a person
of faith
to stand there
in strength
and believe
that God
is going to turn
this thing around,
that he's going to
work it out
for my good.
But the person
who doesn't believe
will walk away.
The person
without faith
says,
well,
God can't do anything,
I'm out.
But I encourage you
to see
the power of God
in every circumstance
that you face
and in every situation
and every difficulty
and every bit
of pain
that you face
that God
has the power
to turn it around
and the devil
will show up,
he will lie to you,
he will shame you,
he will say
this is how
it's always
going to be.
That these people
will never change,
that you'll never
get better,
that this will never
work out,
that your business
will never take off,
and it was all
a big,
fat lie.
The devil
is a liar,
thank you.
That's a good scripture,
I like that scripture.
The devil
is a liar.
So I encourage you
to create a space
and imagine,
well,
what could God do?
You know,
God put me here,
he gave me this authority,
what could God do?
What can we do
with God?
Instead of just
looking at the
circumstances today,
what could God do
if he just breathed
on this thing?
Where is this going?
That's the question
that faith asks.
And if you've never
experienced the presence
of God in your life,
I want you to imagine,
well,
what could God do
if he was a part
of my life?
That,
what if I just said,
well,
I'm going to continue
my life journey
with God from here.
From today,
it's going to be
a new life
that I walk
with God.
And the possibilities,
we operate
in a system
where anything
could happen,
where any problem
could turn around.
So I encourage you,
if you've never placed
your faith in God,
today is a great
day to start.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you
for each and every person
that came here
this morning,
that got out of bed
and said,
I'm going to come
to the house of God.
And Lord,
I just pray that you
bless their week
this week.
I pray that the things
that they set their hands
to are successful.
And Lord,
I pray that
we can never lose
sight of who
you made us to be.
That we were made
for so many greater
things than what
we see before us.
Lord,
we thank you
that you have
delegated authority
and that you desire
our active participation
in your world.
So Lord,
I pray that
each and every person
here can feel
your presence
and your love.
That they can
experience your
forgiveness for the past.
that the tools
of the devil
are rendered
ineffective
that no weapon
formed against them
shall prosper.
Lord,
I pray a blessing
over each and every
household here
that you can bring
peace
and understanding
and love
and forgiveness
for the past,
Lord.
So Lord,
we just thank you
that we can know you
and love you
and that we can know
that our names
are written in heaven.
In Jesus' mighty name.
in Jesus' mighty name.
Amen.