Skip to content No Regrets – This is Jesus with Kenny Luck Apr 3 · 32 min ...more
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The Lion King: Running from Royal Identity 0:00 Alright. Well, welcome. This is, the session called This is Jesus. It's part of the young men's track. I see that there are few men who are don't fit that category. But it's for0:12 you too. It's for it's for all of us. And I just I just wanna start by by talking about 1 of those films that, if you're a dad, it embeds in your head because you see it0:23 575000 times, The Lion King. Anybody see The Lion King? Anybody familiar with that story? Davie Lou wrote the the story. It's actually based on the life of Moses, if you didn't know that. But,0:36 in The Lion King, you got the dad and his name is Mufasa. You have the son and his name is Simba.0:48 Right? So you got a king, you have a kingdom, and you have a son of a king, and then you have the presence of evil that's waging war against1:00 the king, the son of the king, and the kingdom. Right? And, it's an interesting play, but it illustrates very perfectly1:12 how the kingdom of God actually works. And I'm glad that the story was based on the Bible, but Simba, you know, there's that famous song, I just can't wait to be king. He wants to1:23 contribute. He wants to be great. He goes out with his dad. You know, Mufasa says to Simba, you know, this will all be yours, and you're gonna be over this kingdom. And then there's, you know, the satanic character1:35 of Scar, who is the uncle, who is the wannabe king. Right? That's who Satan is. He's the wannabe king. He wanted to be like the most high. He tried to embezzle1:47 God's glory, and he got the boot out of heaven. And so, when he got when he got the boot, he began Satan began to hate everything that God loved. And so, Scar in this story hates Mufasa who has1:59 the position of power, hates his child, and wants to seize power and seize control of the son to neutralize him and get the dad out of2:11 the way. Okay? So what happens is is bad things happen. Mufasa, the king, dies in a stampede. Scar, the evil uncle,2:22 convinces Simba that it's his fault. Because he went where he wasn't supposed to go. Dad tried to save him, you know, and then in the process died in a2:34 stampede. Well, actually, he was hanging on and was about to get to And Scar pulled his his paw away, and then he fell into the stampede. Okay. So, how does Simba respond2:46 to this tragic traumatic event where he feels the shame and guilt of being responsible for his dad's demise? Okay. He takes off.2:58 He runs away from his identity. He runs away from his responsibility. And he creates this world with a meerkat and a warthog who farts.3:10 And they sing this song. You guys know it? Hakuna Matata. Alright? Ain't no worries for the rest of your days. It's a problem free, you know.3:22 Philosophy Hakuna Matata. K. And it's just about him trying to forget that he belongs over here, but he's over here.3:34 So then they While they're singing the song, it has this silhouette, and it shows this little lion puppy, and then this puppy grows into an adolescent. And now he's an adult young male,3:46 and he's clearly out of place, but he's created this little world over here where he's comfortable, where he doesn't have to worry about being the son of Mufasa.3:58 It's a way from where evil is reigning, and he's just kinda created a compartment of his life where he doesn't have to think real hard about his identity4:10 or his responsibility to his identity. Until this baboon character, anybody know his name? Yes. You4:22 you 1000 for Disney movies. Alex. You're like on Jeopardy. Rafiki. So Rafiki is like the pride, Yoda.4:34 Right? And he sees things and he he's the spiritual guy. And all of a sudden, this wind blows and he can smell in the wind that Simba4:47 is alive. So this is years later, and he says, Simba. And then he goes and he finds Simba over here4:59 in this this this this world where he can forget who he is, no responsibilities, and he comes and he finds Simba, and he takes his little cane, and he5:10 goes, and he hits him on the head. And he goes,5:16 why'd you do that?5:18 And this was the moment in the movie where Simba now gets called out on his identity. He goes, I know who you are. You're Mufasa's boy.5:30 And in just that statement, because of the build up, because of what's happened to Simba, he runs away in fear, doesn't wanna take his identity seriously, doesn't want that responsibility. He5:42 gets called out, and and the message is, you're out of place. You're a son of the king. Evil is triumphing.5:54 You're here in your little world of your own creation, and you need to be here stepping into battle because your uncle is running roughshod in the world that you6:06 are assigned to be in and to protect. And the reason I share that story in such detail is that it's such a parable for what I see happening right now6:18 with sons of the king. I talked about it in the first session this morning. How if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you've been invited into6:30 the Kingdom of God to serve the King, to serve his rule, to serve his realm in your context, where you live, what schools you go to,6:42 your network of relationships. And with your identity comes that responsibility. Right? And so we have to take that into consideration6:54 that I'm not Rafiki, but I kind of am. I'm not gonna whack you on the head, but I'm gonna tell you point blank, I know who you are.7:06 You're a son of the king. You're a follower of the living Christ. And there is evil that is happening right now in our culture and in our world.7:18 And you are called to agent light. You are to be salt. You're to be light. You're to be in the mix. You're supposed to enter situations and move and shift7:30 those situations toward what is right and righteous and godly and good. Amen? So we're gonna look at Jesus, and we're gonna see just his7:42 identity. Because when when you look at a man living out his truest identity, don't you respect that guy? Like that guy knows who he is. That guy's the real deal. We say in man speak, that guy's the real deal.7:54 That guy talks the talk. But you know what doesn't help anybody is when you dilute who you really are and start playing Simba, where you're like half over here, and8:06 then you're half over here, Hakuna Matata. And then on Sundays you're over here, and then over here you're in your own little kingdom where you're in control. And then you're a little bit over here.8:19 That's when respect goes away, integrity goes away, and you dilute your truest identity. And it may work for a little while. You may be able to play8:31 both sides. But you know what the truest thing about you is? It's what God says is true. And in the end, his word reigns. And in the end, his word comes to fruition. So in this in this short session, I8:43 just want to talk about Jesus and how he lived out his truest identity. Okay. And really encouraging you, because he lives in you, to shove all your8:55 chips to the center of the table on your identity in Christ, to stop playing in both places, because you know I've done it. We all kind of do it. Until we we9:07 realize that that's Jesus. Jesus is in me. This is me. So, we're gonna put some slides up. The first thing we gotta understand about livingIntegrity: Undivided and Fearless 9:19 out our truest identity. Can we say truest identity together? Truest identity. Because there are false identities out there. Okay. Out in the culture, in your own head. And then9:31 there's God's voice, and that's the 1 where to rely on. My truest identity gives me the greatest integrity. That's what we learn about Jesus. Okay. His identity was the9:42 son of God. We read about it in the scriptures in Mark 12 14. It says this, they came to him and said, teacher, we know that you are a man of what? Integrity.9:54 Right? You aren't swayed by others because you pay no attention to who they are, but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. The word integrity comes from the math word integer. It10:06 means whole. It means undivided. Everybody say undivided. Undivided. So when they say, teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. They they are basically saying, you're undivided between who you say you are and what10:18 you do. Real deal. Walks the walk, talks the talk. Respect. You know who said these words? His critics.10:30 Isn't that interesting? Isn't that what the world needs? Needs sons of the king who have Jesus inside, who are living out their truest identity, and it gives them10:42 this integrity. Right? Because when you're secure in who you are, when I know who I am truly and push all my chips to the center. I'm a son of the king.10:54 I'm a child of God. I'm a man of God. Then I know what to do, and it makes me fearless. That's the implication. This means that I will be fearless. Do you know how fearless Jesus11:06 was in his culture? His culture was not unlike our culture. He lived in a culture where the broken male culture said, thank God I'm not a woman. Thank God I'm not a kid. And thank God I'm not 1 of those11:17 Gentiles. And what does Jesus do? Secure in his truest identity, fearless, right? He says, let the children come. And he touches them, and he11:29 blesses them. And his disciples are like, what are you doing? Right? He he protects and defends women. Right? Steps in between a prostitute who broke the law of11:41 Moses and the stones. And he says, let the first person without sin cast the first stone. And he steps in and he protects women, and his disciples are like, what is this guy doing? He11:53 touches the ethnically unacceptable, the morally unacceptable, the physically he starts breaking rules. He can't do that unless he knows exactly who he is.12:05 Because when you know who you are, you know what to do. Let's say that together. When I know who I am. When12:11 I know who I am.12:12 I know what to do. You see back to that parable of Simba, Rafiki chases him down. And man, Rafiki hunts him down, like whacks him on the head. Simba takes off, runs through12:24 the forest. He's like confused. He gets to the water, and he's looking in the water, and he sees his reflection, and Rafiki catches up, and he says, look closer.12:37 And then his dad's image comes up. And then you hear that great James Earl Jones voice. Right? You are my son. It is time to12:49 take your place among the kings. Remember who you are. And that just trails off. Remember who you are. You know what the message is to you right now?13:01 Remember who you are. Who are you? Is it who you feel you are? Is it who culture says you are? Or is it who God says you are? Because the truest thing about you is not what your feelings say. It's13:13 not what culture says. It's not what political pundits say. It's not your favorite podcaster. It's the God who made you. He tells you who you are. And if you're able to be secure13:26 in the Father's love and in the identity that you have in him, you will be fearless. So when you're fearless, what happens? You stop winning the battle of images and you start winning13:38 the battles for the kingdom. When Simba finally realizes, oh my goodness, he's right. He lifts his head and he's got this you can see Mufasa in him because now he's a13:50 young adult. And he says, I am Simba, son of Mufasa. And then he runs to battle to go confront his evil uncle. That has made people suffer.14:01 Men, in today's culture, evil makes people suffer. What the culture needs is men who are undivided between what they believe and how they really live and14:13 think. And when they see that, people start suffering less and prospering more, especially when you're young. Some of you are here, you're in elementary school, you're in junior high, you're in high school, you're in14:25 college. There is a recruiting war for how you will perceive yourself. Am I my father's son? Yes,14:37 you are. Am I God's son? Yes, you are. And you might have a dad here that's raising you as his son, but he's raising you to get to a point where you believe14:48 inside your heart you're God's son. And some of you were like me, you didn't have a dad, and then you become a Christian, but the greatest thing about knowing Jesus is he gives us access to his father. Amen?15:00 My wife would say, God has parented my husband, and God showed me how to love. God told me who I was. And then I The goal is to be less and less divided15:12 between who I am and how I live. Right? And so that's why we we spend time with Jesus. We be with Jesus to become like Jesus. And we get that that integrity, and that integrity, I'm gonna say a15:24 word here. Your integrity is your power. Men of integrity have power. People might not agree with you, but people respect you15:35 because you're the real deal. Secondly, my truest identity gives me the strongest liberty. K? You ever notice when superheroes,Liberty: Free to Embrace the Lost 15:47 like when they're in a situation, then all of a sudden they have to like slip in a phone booth, or they have to, you know, or they just morph, you know, the Marvel, they just kind of turn into who they're supposed to be.15:56 Or, you know, Robert Downey Junior summons his Iron Man outfit, and then it just comes on. What happens when they don their truest identity? They16:08 get kinetic. Kinetic is a military term. That's when you go from soft action to lethality. It means they are activated. And the same is true with16:19 us. In the the gospels, you see Jesus living out his truest identity. He's getting kinetic, and look at how it looks. Matthew 11 19, it's gonna be on the board. Let's read it together. Ready? The son of man16:31 came eating and drinking and they say, here is a friend of glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners, but wisdom is proved white by her deeds. Yeah.16:44 So Jesus, here he is. He's a religious man. He's the son of God. And the son of God who is doing the will of God the father is on earth. And what's he16:56 doing? He's reaching people that the religious guys aren't reaching. In fact, they're criticizing him for going to places. It's like it's a good country song. Right? I have friends in low places. Right? This is Jesus.17:08 That was his criticism. Okay? Jesus is going to people who feel least the lost and the left out. He's going to the sexually immoral. He's going to the physically, you know, untouchable.17:21 And he's going into the bars. He's going where people, listen to me, have a deep need, and they're not confused about how bad they need saving. They know.17:33 They know this isn't a quality life. You know, I'm even gluttons, drunkards, and sinners. And that was his label. And Jesus wore it proudly. But you know what this means? If you live out your truest identity and you have17:44 liberty, not only will you be fearless, but you'll be free. Write that down. This means I will be free. You know how cool it is for to bump into a guy17:56 who's fearless in terms of who he is, you know? I didn't say this in the in the big session because there were too many numbers, but I'm from the Bay Area. I'm a 40 niner fan. But you know who I love? I18:08 love that little dragon slayer Brock Purdie. The dude is fearless. Not just on the football field, 1 of his Iowa State team message. Don't don't get this kid wrong. He loves God, and18:20 he'll talk about but this kid is a cold blooded assassin when he gets on the field. But you know what I like about him? He's consistent. He's consistent. Every interview, he's consistent. Every interview says football is18:32 a platform. My purpose is Jesus. Football is a platform. My purpose is and he is so fearless, but that's because he's living out his truest identity. See, he's not splitting18:43 time between chasing cool and who he is in Christ. He's pushing all his chips to the table. Listen, under pressure.18:55 Under pressure. You know, the media doesn't media doesn't want him to talk about that. When they do interviews, they don't want they don't want him talking about his faith in God. The media doesn't want him giving credit19:05 to Jesus. The media doesn't want But man, that dude has integrity. Everybody say undivided. Undivided. That's right. When you're undivided, living out your truest identity, it gives you19:16 good integrity. You're fearless. It gives you a strong liberty. Like I know who I am. Have you ever said that? I wonder if you've ever said that. I remember I bumped into a mentor of mine, and he in the19:28 context of a conversation, he goes, Kitty, I know who I am. Why is that important? Why is it important to know who you are? Right? Because you'll live out your self perception.19:40 You are destined to live out how you think about yourself. That is a behavioral science fact. Take it from a mental health professional. I see it all the time.19:52 So, your truest identity gives you your greatest integrity. That makes you fearless. Your truest identity gives you your strongest liberty. That makes you free. Third, your truest identityEnergy, Destiny, and Revealing the Sons 20:04 should get your best energy. Okay? So say this with me. Identity. Energy. Energy. Expression. Expression. Whatever20:15 commands how you perceive yourself is going to get your best energy. Right? In the Bible, Jesus says this, John 9 4, as long as it is day, we must do the works20:27 of him who sent me. Night is coming. Finish it together. When no 1 can work. We have limited time, an unknown ending, and a scheduled meeting with the guy who said that. And you know what my20:39 job is here? My job here is to tell you that between this moment and that moment when night comes, God might call you to himself or Jesus might return. I don't know what that is. But20:51 between those 2 points, your job is to live out your truest identity on earth in the spaces and places that you are called to live. You're alive today. You're on the21:03 planet in a specific place. You have the relationships that you have. You're at the schools that you have. You have the family you have. And your job is to be God's man in those places. Now, if integrity21:15 gives us filessness, if liberty gives us freedom. Right? If energy What does energy give us? What is our best energy? Write this down. This means I will be focused.21:27 If my identity is getting my best energy, that means I'm just focused. I'm dialed in. Now think about that for a second. Integrity makes me fearless. I'm undivided between what I believe and how I21:39 live and think. Right? Liberty makes me free to serve other people and gets outside of my head and enter into God's purposes just like Jesus. Right? And my energy now is totally21:51 focused, all rooted in understanding what God says is true about me. And what God says is true about you is that you are a son of the king22:03 responsible for becoming like Jesus, and believing what Jesus says, and behaving like Jesus. Everybody everybody say this with me.22:11 This is22:11 Jesus. 1 more time. This is Jesus.22:14 This is Jesus. Jesus is in me.22:17 Jesus is in me. This is me. This is me. See, isn't that true? When you became a Christian, God's spirit came into your life. You know what his number 1 mission is? To make you like Jesus. That's what the Bible teaches.22:28 The Bible teaches that he's conforming you to the image of the firstborn son. That he might be the first among many brothers and sisters. God wants you to have the family resemblance. Like my kids,22:41 when they used to leave for elementary school, I would stop them as they had all their backpacks and stuff getting into the car, you know, carpool. I said, hey. I'll make David, I'll turn around like, oh, God's gonna say22:51 something right now. I said, you're a luck. Luck's love God and help people.22:56 Have a good day.22:59 But I wanted them to know in their identity, this is what our family's about. Our family loves God, and our family helps people. And I sunk that into their brain. And that's23:11 that's where it's like, okay. God wants you to have the family resemblance. God's Spirit lives inside of you to make you like this guy. Fearless, free,23:23 focused. Lastly, my truest identity reflects my ultimate destiny. Write that down. The Bible says this, Jesus looked toward heaven and prayed, father, the hour has come.23:35 Glorify your son, that your son may glorify you, for you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life that they23:47 know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have said. Let's finish it together. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to23:58 do, and now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. Your truest identity will be lived out if you understand your24:10 ultimate destiny. My hope is to stand before Jesus when my heart stops, however that happens. And to be able to hear something like, hey, good job. Well done. You were24:22 faithful. He doesn't say, well done good and high performing servant. He says, well done good and faithful. Faithful where? In my school, in my job, in my family, in the place where God put24:34 me. Faithful there, living out my truest identity the best I can, making decisions that come through the filter of does this show love for God and people? Does this show love for God and people? Does this show love for24:46 God and people? Does this show love for God and people? Don't complicate it. Living out your truest identity and being like Jesus is just having that filter. What decision do I need to make here, and24:58 what decision will show love for God and love for people? Now I know it's not always that clear, but most of decisions are clear. And if you if your identity reflects your ultimate25:09 destiny, like because you know where you're headed, you're living now with purpose, this means you'll be faithful. You'll be faithful. Hope in the future creates discipline and faithfulness in the present.25:21 Does that make sense? Like I know I'm going to stand in front of Jesus. If I know that here, now that's going to discipline me here because that's my hope. We always move our disciplines in the direction of our hope.25:33 You hope to get in shape? You discipline yourself to go to the gym. You wanna get paid? You discipline yourself? Just smile and dial and make calls. Right? Hope always drives discipline.25:45 So the truest thing about us is what God says about us, and that's the whole purpose of this this session. Now, I'm gonna I'm gonna get to the end here, but I want us to read a couple25:57 scriptures together. John 14 12. Let's read that together. Ready? Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I've been doing, and they will do even greater things26:09 than these because I'm going to the father. You know what that's called? A handoff. Ball's in your hands. Now it's time for you to run. Let's read first Timothy 6 11 and 12. Ready?26:21 But you, man of God, flee from all this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the26:33 faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. You know, it's easy to start something. Is it harder to finish?26:45 Thousand percent. That's why the Bible is always like, you need endurance. You need perseverance. Fight the good fight of the faith. I know it's a battle, but God is with you and you're gonna fight it. So if you're if26:57 you're tracking and you're taking notes, write this down. Living out my truest identity means being dangerous with goodness. That's our our next slide. Living out my truest identity means being dangerous with goodness.27:09 That's an identity I want. Jesus was Alpha and Omega. He was strong, and he was compassionate. He was loving, and he was courageous. That's the man the world is looking for. Where we get in27:21 trouble is when we're strong without character, and we're weak without strength. But Jesus is alpha and omega. He's the combination of being loving and strong, and that means he was27:33 dangerous with goodness. Now, how did that work out with his followers? Let's read Luke 4 18 and 19 together. Ready? The spirit of the Lord is on me. This is Jesus. Because he27:45 has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year27:56 of the Lord's favor. So God's spirit was on Jesus. God's spirit is on you. Jesus was sent in to bring his the righteousness and justice of God into the world.28:08 He's in you. This is you. And here's the challenge. We're gonna move to this last slide. The challenge for all sons of the king. Everybody right28:20 here is this. We're gonna write this down. It's on the slide. Is the truest thing about me is what God says is true. God knows who you are. God has put28:32 Jesus inside of you. But do you believe that this is Jesus? Jesus is in you. This is you. He's the model of your masculinity. And I gotta tell you28:43 guys, the world is waiting for men who know who they are, and who live out their truest identity in Christ. Last scripture, Romans 8 19. We're gonna read it together and then pray.28:57 Keep going. Keep going. Here it is. The world is waiting. Let's read this. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons29:09 of God. I believe we're in that time where God is gonna be raising up sons who will live out their truest identity. That's you. That's me. It's time. Okay? Let's bow our29:21 heads. Let's bow our heads. Father, thank you that the truest thing about every man in this room is what you say is29:32 true. He's created intentionally by you. He's created intentionally for you. He is loved by you. And29:44 he's called to be a son of the king. And we say yes. We say yes in this moment to our identity.29:56 And Lord Jesus, as sons of the king, you are Lord, our king, our shepherd, our vine. We just want to be30:08 undivided between our identity in you and the life that we live for you. Father, I pray for those who are caught in the middle right now. They're between the world and your word.30:21 They're between what you say and what their feelings say. And right now, I call down the presence of God, the presence of heaven. What they need is your presence.30:33 What they need is a is a word from you. What they need is to feel and sense your hand where you say, I know who you are. I made30:45 you. I have a purpose for you. I forgive you. And then to begin to be with you, to become like you, for the sake of their world. Lord,30:57 we know that there's evil all around us. We know that people are disintegrating, trying to heal themselves, and we have the answer. So whether we're 12, whether31:09 we're 26, or whether we're 66, as long as our heart is beating, we pray that we would be true to you alone, as undivided as we31:20 possibly can. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And God's men said, amen. Alright. Thanks for coming.In this video 0:00 The Lion King: Running from Royal Identity9:15 Integrity: Undivided and Fearless15:38 Liberty: Free to Embrace the Lost20:02 Energy, Destiny, and Revealing the Sons56K followers
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