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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 You are listening to Waters Church podcast. Waters Church is a multisite, multigeneration community of faith on the East Coast of America. Now for a message from our pastor.0:13 Today's message is called, why me God? How many times have you asked yourself, why me God? I remember when I was young and my my mother and father got0:25 divorced, and I went home and cried, and I said, why me God? Why is this happening to me? Or when my mother remarried and we moved from this apartment complex that had I had like 30 or 400:37 friends and I moved to a house on a quiet street where there were no children my age. Why me, God? Or when I was in sixth grade and I walked to the bus alone every day to0:49 get on a bus where they would actually chant and call me names every single morning. There was some eighth grader that convinced everybody that I shouldn't be liked, and I I can't say in church what they1:01 called me, but it wasn't nice. And, I asked God, why me? I didn't tell my parents. I didn't tell anyone in the school, but I went home every day, fell on my knees, and say, why God? Why is1:13 this happening to me? We often blame God for what's wrong in our lives, whether we're believers or nonbelievers. There's a a report by the Pew Research that says 151:24 percent of believers often doubt that there's even a God because of the suffering that they go through. Those are believers. Now how many times in your life have you thought or asked1:36 God, why is this happening to me? Maybe you failed a test. Maybe somebody broke up with you. Maybe you had a health scare. Maybe you lost someone you loved, and you blamed God, and you said, why1:47 me? So many times in our lives, we cry out to God when things are going tough, when things aren't going well. Why me? Why this? Why now? And sure, I can address those things1:59 through practical ministries saying, you know, that God's gonna turn your mess into a message. Or that we live in a broken sinful world and bad things happen to seemingly good people. But have you ever looked2:11 at it the other way? Have you ever asked God why he chose you considering you're a Christian? Have you ever asked God that? Because when I got saved, my why me God, why has this happened to me turned into2:23 why me God? Why would you choose me? I'm not a good person. I don't deserve it. Why me? That's what we're gonna look at today. Because why does God choose anyone at all? Why did he choose you? Why does he choose2:35 the people in the bible? It might seem like a mysterious phenomenon, but actually we can examine some of the people in the bible that God chose and find out why and how and for what purpose. The2:47 story of Jacob reveals a man with flaws, failures, and fears, but still God shows him to do mighty works. And we can talk about him here today. Why does God choose2:58 him? Why does he choose anyone? Why why did he choose Abel over Cain? Or Isaac over Ishmael? Or David over all of his brothers? Or Paul over all the other teachers and pharisees of the time?3:11 I mean, perhaps God chose Abel because he was more faithful and righteous than his brother Cain. Or Isaac because he was actually, there was a a covenant made with his father, Abraham, and God wanted to honor3:23 that. We read that David was picked because God saw his heart and picked him over all his brothers. What about Paul? Perhaps he was chosen because as a Roman citizen and3:35 a strong understanding of the Jewish law, he was uniquely equipped to bridge that gap between 2 cultures and introduce Christianity to a broader audience. God has his reasons for3:47 choosing his people, and it's not done randomly. He has his reasons why. And if you think about it, God is the creator of the universe. So that would make him what? The parent of us3:58 all. Parent of the chosen and the unchosen, the righteous and the unrighteous. He bore us all. And if you are a parent right now and you were to be honest with yourself and you have more than4:10 1 child, you have a favorite. Don't don't say who. Don't tell your partner who. I mean, Esau and Jacob, they were favorites of their parents. Right? It says Rebecca loved4:22 Jacob and Isaac loved Esau. They had favorites. You can too. It's okay. I don't have kids, and a lot of you are probably gonna look down at me and hate me for this illustration.4:34 But I do have 2 dogs, and I have a favorite. Oh, we went right to it. Okay. Those are my 2 dogs, the majestic, the lovely, Bodhi, 2 and a half years4:46 old. They're both pit bull shepherds. And then there's Jacob, I call him. His name is Bucky, the deceiver. Don't let the cuteness fool you. Move on to the next slide.4:58 2 brothers always fighting ever since they were introduced. They've been going at it. Look at that little 1. Don't worry. He gives it to him now. They're fighting every single day. I see the story of Jacob and5:09 Esau play out in my house every single day. There's Jacob, the young 1, the deceiver. Move on to the next slide. No. Don't let that face fool you. He5:21 is cruel. I give 2 bones to my dogs, 1 to each. He runs over, takes both bones, sits on 1 and chews the other. I take it. I give it back to Bodhi. Here you go, buddy. You're my favorite. Good boy. He goes over.5:33 He steals it again, sits on it, and eats it. He is a thief, a deceiver. Do not let that cute face fool you. That's mommy's favorite. Move on to my favorite. This is Esau.5:45 This is Jacob. He's majestic. He's a hunter. He's outside. He's an outdoorsman. He catches rabbits. He catches birds. He catches squirrels. And when I say he catches them, he catches them in5:57 his mouth. He's a hunter. He's a good boy. He's a quiet man. Alright. So move on to the next 1. And then finally, Jacob versus Esau. He's always trying to get 1 up on his6:09 brother. Yeah. Poor Bodie. He's just trying to lie there and rest. No. I gotta be up on you. I gotta be the famous 1. I gotta come over and get all the attention. And I don't know, maybe kids are the same, but the 1 that6:19 wants and gives the attention, you wanna give it and get it from the 1 that doesn't. That's what I see. Alright. You can take that down. So we all have our favorites. Why wouldn't God? Why wouldn't God be able to choose6:31 who he wants to choose? So go ahead and take out your notes. I know it looks like a lot of notes, but we're gonna get through it quickly. And I ask you to write this down. We ask you to take notes for a multitude of6:42 reasons, but mainly because it's a great learning tool. Look, if I'm up here, if another speaker's up here, and I know pastor Tim as well, he wants to be helpful to you. Okay? He wants you to take something6:53 away. I want you to take something away today. I might use pictures. I might use illustrations. I might use stories because people learn through different ways. But most people learn from writing things down. So go7:05 ahead and write this down. Why does God choose who he chooses? Well, he chooses through sovereign selection. It said God's choice is rooted in his divine purpose, not our human7:17 performance. You're gonna see me take a lot of sips of water because they told me I talk too fast and people don't have enough time to write things down.7:29 Alright. Let's explore that. Genesis 25 says, and the Lord said to her, 2 nations are in your womb and 2 peoples from within you shall be divided. The 1 shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the7:40 younger. Romans 9 repeats it and says it like this. Though they were not yet born and had done nothing good or bad in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because7:52 of works, but because of him who calls. She told him the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. Not even born yet and God decided8:04 who he was gonna pick. That's why we know it's not by our performance, but the grace of God why he chooses who he chooses. He chose Jacob before he was even born and decided that he loved8:16 him. Is that a phone going off? Okay. Turn off your phones. Pretend you're at the movie theater. Put it on silent. So if you've heard me preach before, you might have heard that8:27 I've been in the ministry for 10 years. I've had 2 other careers before this. The last 1 I worked with my father was a chiropractor, did physical therapy. Before that, I was trying to be an actor. And I actually went to8:39 the best acting school in America called the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. This was a performance based school. Thousands of people applied to get in. 200 people were accepted into this 2 year program.8:51 After the first year, they cut it down to 100. After that, they brought 50 back. 25 people were able to graduate out of the thousands that applied. It was 1 of the most hard, stressful9:03 times of my life. Everything I did, everything I said was judged by how I acted, by my performance. Well, before that, I actually went to a university. I went for acting9:15 as well, part of the theater program. It was a university, so I also had to take English and and math and science and all the fun subjects. But I had to audition to get into that school as well. The difference9:27 was leading up to going into the school, I got a letter in the mail that said that they were auditioning for a scholarship for the theater program. And I figured, okay, that would help. I'd like to take some money off of9:38 this big tuition. So I took the train to Long Island to perform a 3 or 5 minute monologue with 30, 40 other people there. Whole time I'm praying I get to go next. I I wanna go early so I'm not9:50 sitting around waiting. The anticipation is what always kills us. I went just about last, you know, sitting there. But I got up there, I did my monologue, and, you know, I thought it went okay. I didn't think I was10:02 good as most people. A lot of people were really good, and I was intimidated. So I went back home and about 3 weeks later I got another letter in the mail that said I earned a scholarship. I was so excited. I was10:14 I didn't think I did that good. I was like, thank you. You know? So fast forward to freshman orientation, and I start to meet all the people in the theater program. And then I found out not10:26 everybody went to that scholarship audition, but everybody that went got a scholarship. So it wasn't performance based. I didn't earn it. I didn't get it. They were testing us to10:37 see who was actually gonna show up. How much were you willing to do? This is a picture of the gospel. You just have to be willing to receive it, and it's freely given to you. I showed up and I got it. That's10:49 all it took. It had nothing to do with how good or how bad I was. It's kinda heartbroken because I I thought I, you know, maybe I did a good job, but no. Everybody gets a trophy. No.11:01 Not performance based. It's all about grace. And I'm gonna say something right now you've never heard a pastor or a preacher say. Oh, don't say it, Chris. Say it.11:13 If you are in Christ, you are a nepo baby. Everyone over 30 is looking at me like, what do you say to me? What'd you call me? You're a nepo baby. Neppo, short for nepotism, is a11:25 term that gained popularity in social media a couple years ago. Referring to people in the social media celebrities that gained wealth, gave fame, that gave money, that gained influence without earning it11:37 because of their parents. If you are in Christ, you didn't earn it. You are a Neppo baby. Right? You have peace. You have purpose. You have protection. You have forgiveness. You have righteous. You're a child of the11:49 most high God, and there's nothing you did to earn it. Hey. Say it with me so you remember. I'm a Neppo baby. Yes. You are. Told you you never heard that before.12:00 Alright. So each point also has a lesson from the life of Jacob. So write this down. Jacob was a deceiver, but still chosen by God.12:14 Genesis 27 says, so he went into his father and said, my father. And he said, here I am. Who are you, my son? Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn. Liar.12:27 Then he said, I've done as you told me. No, you didn't. Now sit down and eat of my game, then I may steal that blessing. Alright. I added that. Jesus doesn't judge us on our past or our performance, and12:38 thank God he doesn't because I am a lying thieving SOB. I shouldn't be here. Either should you. Don't judge me. When I was a teenager, all the kids at school,12:50 I should say all the boys at school were listening to this tape. It was a comedy tape. Everybody anybody ever hear the Jerky Boys? Everybody for 80 kids, 90 kids, Jerky Boys.13:02 These were 2 guys from the Bronx that were famous or infamous from making prank phone calls. It was raunchy. It was violent. It it's not nice. But I wanted to be in on the joke.13:14 Everybody was, you know, reciting all these 1 liners at school and I wanted to know what they were saying. So I went to my mom and I said, mom, can you get me the Jerky Boy CD or cassette because that's what they had13:25 back then. And she, she said, well, let me look into it. No internet, no cell phones. So my mom had to go to work and pick up the phone and call all the other local moms and say, what is this jerky boy13:37 thing? Is your son listening to it? Mom came back to me and she said, absolutely not. And rightfully so. Flash forward to 1 day, my mom and I are walking around k mart. She went and did her thing, and I'm13:49 walking, I'm looking at the toys, I'm looking at the video games, and then I find myself in the music aisle, and there I saw it. The CD and cassette of the Jerky Boys, and I had to have it. I started to formulate a14:01 plan. I could take it and put it in my mom's carriage, and and maybe she wouldn't notice that she'd check it out for me. That's too risky. That probably won't work. I do have some money on me. I could just buy it. Right?14:13 But what if she sees me? What if she catches me? I can't risk that. So what did I do? I picked up the cassette. I put it right in my pocket. I told you I wasn't a good person. Started off. Oh, actually,14:25 first, I went to my mom. I said, mom, can I get the keys to the car? I'm a little bored, I just wanna go wait in the car. You know, I'm putting on the air conditioning, some music. She gave me the keys. So I go to walk14:34 out of k mart, took 1 foot out the door, felt the hand on my shoulder, turned around. Oh, boy. Stomach dropped, heart raced, flushed in my face, and I see the security guard, big14:46 security guard. He said, what's in your pocket? I said, nothing. He said, what's in your pocket, young man? I said, Cherokee boys tape. He said, come with me. Walked through the back of the store, through a door that14:57 said employees only, to another room that said security. Sat me down in a old metal chair, grabbed 1 of those cameras, Polaroids, took a picture of me, shook it, put it on a wall that said15:09 thieves. I was branded. I was labeled for life as a thief. Oh, no. And he looked at me and said, I'm not gonna call the police because you're not 18, but you're not leaving until15:21 1 of your parents show up to pick you up. I'm like, not dad. Not dad. I so I'm like, okay. Well, my dad's working and and my mom's not at home, so you're just gonna have to let me go. And he wasn't buying that. So15:33 he said, well, you're stuck here until somebody picks you up. And I said, okay. Fine. My mom's at the store. He said, oh, really? Picks up the microphone, presses the button. Missus McEwen, would you please come to the15:44 security room in the back of the store to get your son called out for all Kmart to hear. Mom comes in, gives me that mom look that only moms can give to make me all15:55 guilty and regretful. Didn't say a word though. Walked me into the car, long car ride home. Didn't say a word the whole time. Get into the house. She looks at me and says, go to your room. Went to my16:07 room. Hour later, she came in and she said, this is what's gonna happen. We're not gonna tell your dad. Praise God. And we're never gonna speak of this again. If you16:19 promise me that you will never steal and never lie to me again. And I said, absolutely. And I meant it. And I never stole and I never lied to her again because of the grace that she showed me.16:30 Okay? That's a picture of the gospel right there. Amen. Alright. You guys, you gotta wake up a little bit. 10 o'clock service. I'll I'll deed you by miles. Let me say it like this.16:42 Maybe you'll maybe you'll like this. God's grace overrides our disgrace. Okay? Okay. Alright. I don't need phony ooze. 0.2, God chooses through16:54 surprising strategy. God delights in using the unlikely to reveal the unimaginable. And he does it time and time again, not just with Jacob. Moses was the reluctant17:06 deliverer. David was the young shepherd boy. Jeremiah was the young prophet. Rehab was the prostitute from Jericho. Matthew was a tax collector. Esther was the orphan girl who turned queen. Mary,17:18 a teenage virgin. Manessah, the wicked king who repented. Paul, a Christian persecutor. Peter, the impulsive disciple. Time and time again, God uses unlikely people17:30 to show his unimaginable plan. Genesis 27 says, and Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob? For he's cheated me 2 times. He took away my birthright, and17:42 behold, now he's taken away my blessing. Then he said, have you not reserved a blessing for me? Jacob tricked his brother twice, lied to his father, stole the blessing, stole the17:54 birthright, but still God chose to continue the covenant that he made with his grandfather and his father with him. Imagine your name's Jacob. You're growing up and people are like, hey, heel holder. Do you18:06 wanna go to the mall? Hey, deceiver, you wanna go and see if we you know, like, that's what his name was. That's what it meant. People would call him by heel holder, supplanter, deceiver. And that's what Esau's18:18 doing here. He's calling him out. He's like, is he not rightfully named, but God chose him? You think it'd be foolish. Why would God choose him? Well, check this out. God yet likes to use what we think is18:29 foolish. First Corinthians says, but God show chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God uses the18:41 unlikely, what the world would call foolish to demonstrate his power, his grace, and his purpose. There was a guy in the eighties, I love eighties stories, named John Lee Clary. And18:53 this guy grew up in a racist home. 1 day, he decided to join the Ku Klux Klan. And then he became the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. If you don't know, that's a huge racist organization.19:05 We don't hear much about it today. But back in the eighties, he would go on all daytime TV talk shows including Oprah, and he would, you know, debate this reverend reverend Wade Watts, who is a black19:17 minister of the gospel. The 2 of them would go at it, but 1 would spout hate, the other would spout love. 1 day, Johnny said to Wade, I hate you. And Wade respond with, I love you.19:29 And Jesus does too. And that planted a seed in his heart. 1 day, Johnny went over to Wade's house. He burnt and lit a cross in his yard. And what did Wade do? He walked out19:41 with a plate of food and showed him love and kindness. And 1 day, Johnny came to the end of himself, remembering all the stuff that Wade had debated and said to him. And he just gave his life to19:53 Christ 1 day in the car right there. And after that, the 2 men that would debate on national TV almost weekly became partners in ministry, spreading the gospel and20:05 reconciling people back together. God delights in using the unlikely to reveal the unimaginable. And God often works through the fearful, the insecure,20:16 the overlooked to accomplish his purposes. His strategy flips our human expectations. Next lesson to learn from the life of Jacob. Jacob was a man full of20:28 fear, but still used by God. Water breaks so you can write it down.20:41 Genesis says, and the messenger returned to Jacob saying, we came to your brother Esau, and he's coming to meet you. And there are 400 men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided his20:52 people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camples into 2 camps. Jacob ran from his father and his brother in fear to go stay with his uncle. Then he ran from his uncle in fear to go back21:04 home. And then he found out that his brother was coming with 400 men, and in fear, he took half of what he owned, half of his family, and risked half of them by dividing them thinking, okay. Well, Esau will21:16 get 1 and the other will escape. This was a man led by fear. Often, we are too. But the fear in our lives doesn't matter. It's what we do with it. If we put our trust in Christ,21:29 you can know that God brings us through the fear, through the trials, and through the temptations. That's why I love watching the baptisms because we see so many baptisms where people come to an end of21:40 themselves. They fall on their knees. They cry out to God. And let me say, on your knees is a great posture to be because when you're on your knees, all you can do is look up. And God is there to reach down, and he's21:52 gonna pull you up. So many people. Alright. Moving on. 0.3, God chooses to shape through sanctification. God calls us to surrender then transforms us through a22:04 lifelong process of transformation of sanctification. That's a long 1.22:16 All these water breaks, I'm gonna have to go to the bathroom before the end of the service. Genesis 35 says, and God said to him, your name is Jacob. No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but22:28 Israel shall be your name. So he called his name Israel. Jacob wrestled with God all night, refusing to let go. So God dislocated his hip and gave him a permanent limp. But22:39 Jacob clung to God, not wanting to let go and God showed him mercy. He blessed him and he changed his name. Now people were gonna call him 1 who wrestles with God, 1 who strives with22:51 God, or God prevails. Right? He went from a deceiver to an achiever. Amen? Amen. Oh, that 1 was worth, writing down. But God might not change23:03 your name, but he's gonna change you if you let him. We've all wrestled with God at some point. Hopefully, not physically. If you have, come tell me because that would be an awesome testimony to get. But23:15 you probably have physically I mean, not physically, but spiritually or more likely intellectually. At some point, we need to surrender. That's when sanctification begins. Sanctification isn't23:27 a moment. It's a journey. It's a lifelong practice. It's a lifelong surrendering. Jacob became Israel not by striving but by surrendering. And if you take out23:38 anything from the message today, I want you to remember the next thing we're gonna talk about. Okay? Justification happens before sanctification. Alright. Let me explain that. Justification.23:50 We are saved by our belief in what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Now we are going to get sanctified. Every every other religion says it the opposite. You have to follow the 1024:02 commandments. You have to do all these pillars of faith. You have to be a good person, and then maybe 1 day God will bless you. No. That's not how it works. You are justified. Now God's gonna sanctify you. If24:14 you forget this, if you lose this, you're gonna have a relationship with God that is twisted, and you're gonna go 1 of 2 ways. Put this up on the screen. Your relationship with God is either gonna be I'm not24:26 good enough for God. Why? Because you're not remembering that you're justified, and you're gonna say things like this. I can't do it. I'm worthless. Or the 1 thing I hate that Christians say the most, I'm24:38 not ready. I'm not ready to join a LifeGroup. I'm not ready to start serving. I'm not ready to get baptized. I'm talking to somebody right now because I I keep receipts. I know how many people24:50 that have gone to baptism class and how many people have not yet get baptized. I currently have 25 people sitting in my queue right now, and I'm looking at a couple of them. I know I am. Not calling you out by name, but25:01 what are you waiting for? Is it the testimony? If it's the testimony, sign up right now for worship under the stars in August. We're gonna do live baptisms, no testimony. Sign up for that right now. But don't tell me25:12 you're not ready because if you're not ready now, you're never gonna be ready because you didn't earn it. You don't deserve it. There's nothing to be ready for. You're justified. No. Go up and do something. So don't get25:24 stuck in that lie. God's gonna sanctify you. You're gonna get better. You're gonna get stronger. But sometimes when we've been in the faith too long, we go the other way. We say, I'm too good for God now. He'll say25:35 things like this. I am a good person. I'm perfect the way I am. I'm not as bad as those people. That's a pharaohsutical attitude. That's thinking that's forgetting that25:47 you were justified. Just because you're not as bad as you were 5, 10, 15 years ago doesn't mean that you're still not bad. Sanctification is a25:58 lifelong process. And you there's only been 1 man that's been perfect that's ever walked this world. So you might hear, I've heard on TikTok some pastors talking about, I am sinless now. I am26:10 sinning 5 or 10 years. You are lying to your sin. You just sinned. You just sinned. You lied. It's not true. No man can do it outside of Jesus. We should always be trying to get better for the26:22 good works that he has for us. Ephesians 2 10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in him.26:34 I'm not the same person I was 15 years ago. Thank God. I'm not the same person I was 5 I'm not the same person I was a couple months ago. And I'm not just talking about spiritual maturity, which we26:46 should be striving for. We should strive to be better human beings, better people. You should be a better husband, a better student, a better son, a better daughter, a better wife. Practical ways.26:58 Couple, a year and a half ago, my wife and I were house looking. I wanted the nice, new, remodeled house. She grew up in an old Victorian house, so she wanted an old, you know, style house27:10 and, you know, wife's always win. So we went house shopping and we found the house of her dreams, basically. This old historical house, 200 year old house. I brought some friends27:22 over to explore the house and kinda get their feedback, what they thought. And my friend looked at me and he said, you shouldn't buy this house, Chris. And I saw my wife's face just kinda smile.27:34 And I'm like, why? And he goes, look, you're good at some things, maybe even a lot of things. You're not handy. And I looked at my wife thinking she was gonna27:46 smile and her face just dropped because she knew it was true. We had this ongoing joke, me and my wife, that I say I'm handy because I I, you know, hung a picture. And she's like,27:57 no, you're not. You're really not. But the the shelf with all the dishes was leaning, and now I put a block of wood there and it's not leaning anymore. So therefore, I'm handy. No. You're really28:09 not. So I saw my face, the face of my wife drop, and I realized because of who I was, she wasn't gonna get the house that she wanted. And I wasn't gonna let that happen. So I28:21 looked at both of them and I said, I will be. I'll learn. I'll learn. I can do it. So I went out to do it. We bought the house. And, at first,28:33 I started to invite friends over to help me. Right? Jody can pastor Jody can do electrical work. So I had him come over, and he put some, fixtures up for me. But I was watching, and I was learning, and I was remembering28:45 what to do. I paid for some people to come over, do some work around my house that I didn't know how to do, and I watched, and I learned. I went on YouTube University, and I watched, and I learned.28:57 And then 1 day, I invited Len over to my house. I don't know if you know Len. Len's a mighty man at Waters Church. He comes in every single day, volunteers his time for free. He's retired, but he builds like everything29:08 in this place. He built this podium. He can build anything. And my wife and I were talking about this doghouse that we wanted to build. I really wanted our 2 dogs as you've seen. They're out there in the sun, not much29:19 shade except that 1 tree. So I really wanna build them a doghouse. So I went up to Len, and I'm like, Len, think you can come over on Saturday? I'll feed you, I'll pay you, and you can help me build this doghouse. And he29:30 looked at me and he said, no. I'm surprised. I was like, oh, okay. He walks to his car. He comes back with a hand saw, puts it down the table, and he says, figure it out yourself. He said it more nice than29:42 that, but to prove my point. So I said, okay. Challenge accepted. So went back to it, went to work, and then a month later, I built this. All you real29:53 carpenters, do not judge me. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know how to put a screw in a piece of wood. I made that roof myself. I was so proud. And of course, Jacob is in the tent in the house. He30:05 won't even let Bodhi in it. All I'm saying is we should be striving to get better, to do more through sanctification and through improving ourselves. Right? God wants more for you.30:17 So the next thing you write down, this lesson from the life of Jacob, when Jacob finally surrendered, God renamed and reshaped Jacob for a greater purpose.30:33 So I have people that come to my office a lot. Pastor Jody has people that come to his office and basically wanna find out how they can be better people. And 1 thing I hear a lot is I wanna find out what my purpose30:45 is, what God's purpose for my life is. And I can't answer that. I don't know what his purpose is for you. You have to figure that out. But it got me thinking, maybe I should remind the people what a30:57 Christian's purpose is. So we're gonna go through these quickly, as quick as I can while giving you time to write down, so write down quick. But a Christian's purpose in life, letter a, is to know and love God deeply.31:07 Know and love God deeply. Why do I say that? Matthew 22 says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your31:19 mind. A Christian's life begins and centers on a loving communion with their creator. And you have tools to do this. Right? You come to church to learn about God. You pray to hear31:31 from God, and you read your bible to know God's character. Right? You could take it a step further. You can serve to be more like Jesus. You can get in a LifeGroup to have community with other believers. There's31:43 a lot of things you can do, but these 3 basic if you just come to church and you're not reading your bible and you're not praying every day, you're doing yourself a disservice and you're lying that you're in a communal31:55 relationship with God. You need to be doing these things every single day, not just once on Sunday. Point b, a Christian's purpose in life is to glorify God in everything we do.32:06 Glorify God in everything we do. First Corinthians says, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Glorifying God means making32:18 his greatness known in visible and tangible ways. Right? You should make God known at work, at school. Parents hear me, at home, in front of your kids. I don't care if you're going32:30 to the store, make God known. And this one's for somebody driving on the highway. How many of you have a little fish on the back of your car, but you're going 90 and cutting people off32:42 and flipping people off as you're driving? Come on. Make God known. You know, don't be mad at me. I didn't say it. God said it in all things. My wife didn't like that 1.32:56 And point c is to be transformed through the pruning into the image of Christ. We need to be transformed through the pruning. Romans 833:08 29 says, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the first born among many brothers.33:20 Be a brother, a sister of Jesus. And John 15 says it like this, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that does bear fruit,33:32 he prunes that it may bear more fruit. Now this is a dangerous scripture right here. Why do I say that? Because some churches will teach when he says every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away.33:44 You can lose your salvation. That's not true. If you can lose it, then you earned it. But we don't earn it. We already learned that. Other people will teach, well, God's just gonna kill you if you are33:56 not fruitful. He's gonna take you out. That's what he means. He's just gonna take you away. Doesn't mean that either. Otherwise, every time we sinned, we would just go right to heaven, automatically die. Well, that34:06 hasn't happened yet today, has it for you? Also, moving on, every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes. That's a good thing. That's a healthy thing. And I it's kinda34:17 funny. I told you I picked up woodworking. Well, we also picked up well, my wife picked up gardening at our house. I kinda just buy the plants and dig the holes, but she does all the other work. But when you get into34:28 gardening, it's kinda cool how some of the illustrations that Jesus uses come more to life because he was talking to an agricultural, you know, society. So I started to look around my house and34:40 then just God gave me this. Here's a a couple trees in my house. So this 1 right here, this big mature apple tree, we came upon our house. This is over 200 years old. I guarantee it. It34:52 didn't look like that last year. Last year, it looked deceased, it looked decrepit, And I I literally pruned about 15 dead branches off of that tree. And after I did that, it all blossomed,35:04 came to life, and you can see little apples all over the ground there. That happened because we were willing to prune the dead branches. Now I'm gonna speak to a mature Christian right now that might35:16 need to hear this. You might be holding on to a dead branch in your life that used to produce fruit, and it's not anymore. And because you won't let it go, it's holding the rest of your35:28 fruit back. You are depleting nutrients from the rest of your tree. If you hold on to dead things in your life, live things can't take root. You gotta cut that off.35:40 Now this 1 right here is a 3 year old peach or apple tree. We bought 4 young trees to plant this year. And in order for a tree to produce fruit, it has to be at least 3 years old.35:52 And this is after pruning. This tree was filled with fruit. But I started to get worried because look how small those branches are. Look how thin that trunk is. Now I started to see36:04 the fruit bending, twisting, and even breaking some of the branches. Even though the fruit was good, it was harming the tree. Now I love the young36:16 adults here at Waters Church. We all do. You guys are going to, Peru on Wednesday. Keep them in prayer. But if you are young in the faith, I got a word for you that might sting right36:28 now. You want all the fruit right now. You want a tree full of fruit. But sometimes, in order for the branches to grow because the fruit is stealing the36:39 nourishment, you gotta cut some of the fruit so that the root can grow. Okay? You gotta let some things go. It's good, but it's not time yet. Wait till you mature into a36:51 sustaining tree with strong branches with big roots. Okay? I know that might hurt, but if you don't prune the fruit, you can't grow the root. Point d,37:02 purpose of a Christian's life is to love and serve others faithfully. Love and serve. Many of you do, and we love you for it. Matthew 22 says, you37:14 shall love your neighbor as yourself. Our purpose includes loving and serving in tangible ways, which leads me to our next point. God chooses for his sacred storyline.37:27 God selects us to serve in his unfolding story of salvation.37:39 Genesis 35 says, and God said to him, I am God almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to37:51 Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, And I will give the land to your offspring after you. Wow. What a promise from God. And that was to a man that had lied, that had38:03 stolen. God can do amazing things for us. Amen. John 15 16. And and here's the thing though, because I I hear this a lot too. A lot of people are like, well, when I when I chose to follow38:14 Christ, you didn't choose Christ. None of you did. So stop saying that. God chose you. That's much more powerful. It's not your choice. God chose you to be38:26 part of his family. How do I know that? Jesus said it. John 15, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit38:38 should abide. Jesus chooses us. That's so much more powerful. Sanctification than justification. Like I said, God has a purpose for you, to know and38:50 believe in Christ, to be transformed in the image of Christ, and to love and serve like Christ wherever you go. This lesson from the like of, life of Jacob is that God39:01 used Jacob to become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel. He used that man, a foolish man, in many's eyes, to start the 12 tribes, the old covenant.39:13 Now how did the new covenant start? Jesus having 12 disciples. That was a foreshadow of Jesus coming. When you look at the bible with the lens of Jesus and get in the habit of doing this, don't be afraid of the oldShow more
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