Life Unlocked: Review

Title: "Life Unlocked: Review | Pastor Joel Mason (Sunday Service)"

URL: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSmM-F_B-VI"

Transcript: "(00:01) Have a seat. And I'm going to ask Well, before I do that, uh, last weekend we had our retreat. You probably are well aware of that. We had an awesome time and it was a lot of fun. This year it was better just because Analise behaved herself and so that that worked better. U Yeah, no, we had a great time. Weather was fantastic. (00:26) The group of people was fantastic. and we saw God do a lot of just uh fun things and relationships being built. So I if you weren't able to be there, we mi ssed you. And there's stuff on the back table to give you kind of a p a glimpse into what took place. Um yeah, there were a lot of things. (00:45) I went um fishing with Thaad and Jesse and I noticed both of them are not here today. That guilt must really be settling in heavy upon them. uh because I was the one that ended up rowing the boat the whole time uh for I don't know what was that 5 hours or so. So anyway, um but you know, God will forgive them if they um but I hope they seek repentance anyway. Um no, we had a a wonderful time all the way around and that's just a little plug. (01:11) Next year I hope you can go. Uh it will be hopefully we'll be back there at Trout Creek. But we did have a wonderful time this year. I should ask Megan, how are the hot dogs? Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay. Yeah. If you need camping uh instruction, like how to do food at a retreat uh or anything like that, going camping, talk to Megan. (01:30) She's pretty much got it narrowed down to one food, hot dog s. Um breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That'll cover everything. So, it's good. But hopefully, like I said, putting the plug in already for next year. It was a lot of fun. So, I hope you'll be part of that. And while we were up there, as we tried to do every year, if that if it is part of what God is doing in our church midst, we uh had a baptism in the river and the water was much warmer this year, so that was nice. Um, but I want to invite the Fi F. (02:03) Did the kids leave? No, they're right t here. Okay, Evelyn's there. Is Hudson here, too? Okay. Oh, there's Hudson over there hiding over there. And we have a young Watson here. Elliot, come on up here, too. These five were baptized up at the retreat. So as they're [Applause] I think it's important we talk about um baptism is part of our church community. (02:31) It's not something you do as an in just as an individual but as a church family. It is a commitment to follow Christ first and foremost. And then as your church family as witn esses to that that we're supporting you in that journey that you are making. And so that is what took place. (02:49) So I wanted to recognize them this morning too because some of you weren't able to be at the retreat and I wanted you to know that. And then I also have baptism certificates for you guys. Elliot, well done. Proud of you. And just so you know, another side note here for Elliot, she brought Baby Cakes up there. And if you want to know about Baby Cakes, you can ask her who Baby Cakes was. (03:07) But Baby Cakes is at the fair today and big competition going on. So, we need to be rooting for baby cakes. So, Misty. Yep. Adam, thank you. Yeah. Evelyn and Hudson, I'm very proud of each of you and the step that you're making in your journey with Christ. And it's exciting. I'm excited you guys as a family. That's so cool. (03:32) And it's awesome that uh Elliott, you were part of that. just we talked at the retreat, the influence of the Watson family with you guys and bringing yo u here and just that journey. So, it's been fun and enjoyable to watch that and uh as your pastor, as part of your church, we're committed to continue to help you grow. So, well done. Yep. Thanks for Thanks for coming up. (03:59) And now the kids can head out to their classes. I have to say I love the retreat every year. It can be a fair amount of work, but it's a lot of fun. All right. This morning, I'll tell you exactly what I'm going to do, and I'm going to tell you what I want you to get fro m what we're going to do. Um, and I'll start with what I want you to get. (04:28) I have several friends who are um of different uh faith backgrounds, different faiths and I have found with them in conversation that what they say they are and I'll I'll uh speak specifically here. I have some friends who are Catholic and I have some friends who are Mormon. (04:56) And with both of them in conversations, uh it has come up. They know what they are. I'm Catholic. I'm a Mormon. I'm solid in that. But then when we start to push into the area of uh belief, things get a little they know what they're supposed to hold and believe. But then when it comes to the question of what difference does it make other than you have been told certain things you're not supposed to do, what difference does it make? How does your uh faith inform your life? And that has been a source of a lot of questions for a while. I was meeting with a a couple of with a group of three uh Mormon (05:35) friends walking throug don't know the belief. And therefore, it doesn't inform. (06:48) " That was one of the reason we were having these meetings is because they wanted to think through what faith was and wanted to see it in point of contrast to what I believed as a follower of Jesus. And uh I've had that same conversation with and again here I'm not trying to be offensive to somebody of another belief. (07:07) I want to is we're going to talk about today if we are followers of Jesus I want us to know what we believ th him, our lives begin to unlock in the presence of our living God. Hopefully that makes sense. (08:27) That's why we've done the series. Now, uh we've covered the first 10 chapters of that book, Believe. We're using that as kind of our outline for this series just so we have a kind of a process to work through. And in that, uh it's kind of the first break point. Uh we had retreat last week and then uh Renee and I are leaving this week for Europe. (08:48) And uh side note on that, please be pra d so I'm excited about that. He's doing a three-part series that he's entitled, it's on Romans 6, 7, and 8. And it's entitled Good Riddance. I'm still curious if he's talking that that some has something to do with us, but we'll figure that out. I don't know. I'll listen carefully from a distance and see what he's telling you. (10:16) Um but uh in all seriousness it is he has entitled good riddance getting rid of the uh let me see what did he tell me getting rid of the sinful baggage in our live God of the Bible. I believe that Jesus died for me. I believe that God sent the Holy Spirit." We can go through all of these things. (11:35) We say we believe but somehow human I don't know what it is human nature or whatever we do we go for we say a belief system but it doesn't have uh it's like we're really hard soil and the moisture of it doesn't see sink down into our lives and so there isn't produced fruit as a result of what we say we believe and so I'm not saying that from a negative I'm ght and I want to say, "Yeah, I believe that." See, there's my belief. I'll read that. I believe it. But what difference does it make? Oh, I need to pray harder. No, I actually think and the more I was meditating on this, I realized I think I'm missing what uh James is telling us. Um, this isn't our message for day. (13:24) This is the bonus message before we get into the rest of it here. Um the uh context of what James is talking about is is prayer within the church. And he's talking about if y is standard. So, if I am going to be a righteous person, I was thinking as I'm meditating on that, I want my prayers, I don't know about you, I want my prayers to be powerful and I want them to be effective. I really honestly truly want my prayers to be effective. (14:58) I want to know that when I'm praying for Luke and all the struggles that he has, many many many struggles that he has as I'm praying that my prayers are effective for him. Why? Because I care for Luke and I believe the God who hich I determine what is right and good and and allows for me to be a person who lives powerfully and effective in the (16:39) lives of other people. Okay, why did I go through that whole story? One, I like to share where I am. Two, this is an an example of being person who lives by faith. I want to live my faith. And if I I don't pray just to meet a requirement. I don't pray because good Christians pray. (17:02) I don't pray because I get brownie points in heaven and God's going to say, "Look a ned so far. (18:16) And I'm just going, like I said, I'm going to give you a highlight, a main point, give you a verse, so we remember where this is coming from. It's coming out of God's word. You ask yourself the question, how is this evidently how is it evidently making itself clear in my life? Fair? Here we go. Chapter one was on God. (18:35) The God of the Bible has revealed himself as the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We talked about this uh when we open that first chapter. We hanged, not only lives that have been transformed. (19:53) I will show you how the miraculous has occurred when it was thought to be impossible. I will show you how faith will move mountains when you know the living God. The God of the Bible is father, son, and holy spirit. He has has presented himself as that. Do I have to fully understand it? Do I have to be able to break it down from a physics standpoint or any kind of an argument? No. That's how God has presented himself. (20:22) God's ways ip of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Just a simple expression where all three are mentioned in a personal impactful way. What difference does it make to you that the God of the Bible can be known has revealed himself and is personal? And that really leads us to the second one, the aspect of the personal. Chapter two, we talked about not only has God made himself known by his power and his promises, and that's (21:54) one of the things we talked about, God has revealed himself through his pro p verse we looked at was Psalm 121 1-2. I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. (23:26) You may wonder why the psalmist, and I talked about this at the time, said there, I lift my eyes to the mountains. What does the mountains have to do with anything about getting help? In a in the um writings of Psalms and in the concept of the culture of the day, the mountains were seen as as the dwelling the meeting place wit race through faith in Jesus. So God can be known. God is personal. (24:58) God wants a relationship and that relationship comes through faith in Jesus. It is through grace of God expressed in Jesus that I can have a relationship with him. Uh we talked about how in uh Adam and Eve we as human beings rebelled against God. Uh we talked about in so far in this series we talked about the fact that we in Genesis chapter 3 it talks about how humanity was created in the image of God but we walked throug spent time on this that it is important to recognize that with the resurrection of Jesus and with his ascension he uh commissioned his church as his body here on earth that the church and we're going to talk about this in just a second became the main means by which God is working. (26:47) We need to understand what also was taking place within the church. It is the restoration of the image of God in the lives of those who follow Jesus. Because what? To be in the image of God is to be created f areas of your life that are lacking the perfection and presence of God. (28:08) and you use the uh community of believers and James talks about this as the means by which to draw you closer and to remove the effect of sin in your life. We have done a poor job in western Christianity of uh building on this concept of confessing our sins to one another. (28:31) The Catholic Church made it confess to your priest and you put somebody between you and God. That is not the concept of confession that Ja ng powerful and effective. (29:44) Do you see why the church should be so so influential and powerful not only in the lives within but in our communities without we are called to be the presence of God. Ephesians 2:8:9, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own yourself. It is a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast. (30:11) There is so much in there we we did talk about and we could talk about, but it comes down to that personal relationship. 18) I believe that's a question that Jesus would sit down with you and very lovingly go, I know everything. Tell me, is your salvation affecting every part of your life? Well, uh, no, no, no. Remember, I know everything. Okay, let's be honest about it now. Is it affecting every part of your life? Well, no, Jesus, it's not. No, it's not. Let's start working on that. (31:41) How about we do that together? You see, salvation is not a religion. Salvation is not a uh wrote process. It is a life surre like, how it's lived out. And I give you my word so you can know who I am and how to live in relationship with me. (33:00) The Bible is the only book that initiates. We talked about this. This is the only book that initiated with the breath of God. That and enough should be enough said. The only other time where we have that is God breathed into humanity his presence and we were created in the image of God. We messed that up. We talked about that. (33:23) So God breathed into his word so that fr in my job, with my neighbors, at the gas station, my thought life, my computer life, God can break down and become present in everything that I do. verse or the fifth chapter. When we put our faith in Jesus, we not only have received a new life, we also receive a new identity. And this is one of the things that we we talked about the whole identity in Christ. Um we were adopted into the family of God. (35:17) We were not just uh given a little pat on the back and sent on our way, but we have a w o wrote the epistle that we have later uh 1, second and third John. And in there we read what is it the third chapter. (36:38) Oh what love the father has lavished on us that we should be called the children of god and that is who we are. He doesn't state it as a well, I hope that's who we are and that might be. No, he states it as a very one-time fact it set can't be changed. We are the children of God. But I love how he starts it first with, "Oh, what love the father has lavished on us." Not j the opportunity to come into relationship with him. (38:11) So what difference does that belief make? That belief better inform the way that I treat my neighbor. We looked at the example of the good Samaritan. And he, though not of the right religion or the right race, demonstrated what it was to be righteous because he believed in God. You see, often times it's easy to have a belief and let that belief determine a list of dos and don'ts and we line people up against it and believe me, they fal ecute you? But wait a minute, Jesus, that's no. Uh-uh. that that no, I won't do that. (40:05) Ah, but you're missing if you say you love me, then you'll keep my commands and you'll love your neighbor like you love me. You see, that's a life transformed by a personal God, knowing him and allowing your faith to inform everything you do. I um not to take a long time off on this, but I I've said told some of you before, I worked for Safeway for about 15 years, and there was uh a guy that worked ther eded somebody to really bail him out in a thing that had gone wrong. and he called me and asked if I would help him. (42:00) And he asked or he asked me at the point in time he said, "Uh, do you ever wonder why I was doing all those things?" And there were multiple other things I could tell you that he did he thought were hil thought was hilarious. Um, he goes, "I just wanted to prove that your faith didn't make a difference. It didn't matter." And he talked, he just mentioned, he said, 'I I rea ng. I am part of the church. I need to act this way. (43:38) We as a church as a whole need to act in a way that loves people and values people for uh and in the means in the way that God loves them. We look to John 3:16. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (43:57) And that led us into where we were talking about how do we then respond to injustice in the world. And uh I was pleased that we were able to ng it one step at a time. And I think that's one of the as Christians that we have is we want to tell others how to solve problems in their lives and how to culturally solve problems. (45:20) We need to be those who are first living out answers to the problems in this culture and doing and responding to injustice in what that we see in our sphere of influence and asking God work through me in this area. Allow part of your change. Allow me to bring justice where there is none. Speak up for those this is injustice." And but we don't stop to look at what's really going on even just in our own uh neighborhood. And we get used for that which is really not trying to solve injustice, but to accomplish somebody's agenda. We have to be careful. (47:11) Let's love God first. Live out our relationship with him. View our neighbor as ourselves in a way to worship God. And when we see someone being mistreated or an injustice, treat it there where you can do what you can. We were looking there at Jo . It's not. (48:38) We looked at the parable of the talents and and with that with stewardship all three of the guys mentioned in there in that story all three of them were given with the intent that they respond based on knowledge of the master. It's all about how well you know the master and the last guy who got won and Barry didn't do anything with it and it comes out in his response he didn't know the master and the things that he said he did know about the master didn't make any difference s will return to judge all people to establish his eternal kingdom. Those things we know to be true as they've been revealed in the Bible. There is a heaven and heaven starts today. Those who have a relationship with God. (50:28) So that when the time comes when I depart from this uh earthly life, I just step into the presence of eternal life with God. And then on the other side of that just by the existence of heaven and what we know of what as scripture reveals there is also a hell. Those who who know him live with a hope. Not a hope I hope Jesus comes back. I hope. I hope. I hope. It's a hope that is solid. It transforms how I think, act, live, love, laugh. You see, Jesus is coming back. So, nothing in this world can shake me. They couldn't stop him on the cross or coming out of the tomb. The world can't discourage me in knowing he's coming back. He promised it. (52:16) Goes clear back. God is a personal God. And he reveals himself as we said in the very first thing powerfully to t to the answer that somebody the response somebody gave to me, I'm going to give it right back to them. (53:31) Or I'm going to go, "Yeah, you want me to be a righteous person? What response do you want?" You see, our faith has to inform. And if you're at all like me, there are still some pretty hard spots in my life that the truth of my belief needs to really break up the soil. So, the world sees Jesus rather than me. I think we can do it. (53:58) I want to see what difference it makes. So, I'm ifference in my life. (55:16) I want to be a righteous person whose life whose prayers powerfully affect my brothers and sisters in Christ. We give you praise. Jesus, may you be glorified and in your name we pray."