July 25/26, 2015… ·...

Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved.

Transcript July 25/26, 2015

Flawed Hero: Final Days Jake Barker | 1 Kings 2:1-4

All right, well hey Traders Point. I hope you are doing well. I hope you are having a great weekend so far. If you are new, maybe this is your very first time—we are so glad that you are here. We’d love to meet you. We know that a lot of people move into the area over the summer. If that is you and you have questions about whom we are and what we do, we’d love for you to stop by Connection Central. There are some great people there who would love to get to know you and answer any of your questions. So, please say, “Hey.” Also want to welcome those of you who are tuning in online from wherever you are in the world. We are glad that you have tuned for this last week in our summer series called Flawed Hero. Now, over the summer our lead pastor, Aaron, has been on a sabbatical and that is an extended time away to rest, and to be with God, and to be with his family. That is coming to an end. He will be back next week. So, be excited for that. Be ready for that. We are glad to have him back. I know that you are too. Over the last nine weeks we have been in an in-‐depth study of the life of David. And if this is all new to you, if church is new to you, if the Bible is new then you need to know that David is a really important figure in the Bible. If they were to rank all of the people in the Bible he would be a Top Ten guy. Not just because he was a king, though he was. Not just because he was called a man after God’s own heart, though he was. But, in fact, the most important thing about David is that the episodes in David’s life often point us to the coming of Jesus. So, king David points us to King Jesus. And it’s often through David’s shortcomings that we see the perfect nature of Jesus Christ. So, it’s David’s imperfect obedience that illuminates Jesus’ perfect obedience to God. Jesus was obedient even to death on a cross. That’s perfect obedience. If David is the flawed hero, then Jesus is the flawless Hero. Each week over the summer we’ve been stopping in every sermon to say, “Hey, look. I know that this sounds like it is about David. We even called the sermon series The Life of David. I see how this is confusing. But really this is about Jesus. Every single moment is about Jesus. So, we’re going to do it one more time. We’re going to take another significant moment in the life of David and ask, “What does this teach us about Jesus and how should this change the way we live?” If you have a Bible, I’d love for you to join me in 1 Kings, chapter 2. If you don’t have a Bible, we’d love to give you one. You can stop by Connection Central and grab one or you can download our church app, there is a Bible on there as well. 1 Kings 2, that’s where we are going to be hanging out. Now, over our summer study of David we’ve seen him in multiple roles throughout his life. We’ve seen him as the courageous shepherd and the valiant warrior. But we also saw him as a philandering adulterer. We saw him as a righteous king, and as a wise advisor. But then we also saw him as a checked-‐out dad. David’s life had a bunch of ups and downs. That’s what makes him so relatable. Even though he lived thousands of years ago, and even though he was a king (which we are not), and even though he lived in Israel (which we do not) we can still find a lot in common with David. His life was full of mountaintop experiences and valley lows.

Flawed Hero: Final Days July 25/26, 2015

Intellectual materials are the property of Traders Point Christian Church. All rights reserved. 2

There were moments when he was on top of his game—connected to God, in constant dialogue, defending God’s honor in an antagonistic culture. That’s when he was on top of his game—on a mountain top. But then weeks, or months, or years later he would find himself in a valley experience. In the pursuit of pleasure maybe he cut a few corners or completely ignored the Law of God. And then he found himself in a valley where he was experiencing the weight of his shame, much like you and I have in our lives. Much like David, we to have experienced ups and downs in our relationship with God so we can connect with this guy named David. Now in 1 Kings 2 we find that David’s life is coming to an end. His days are growing fewer and fewer and it says that David is aware of that fact. He knows that he is about to die. And when you and I know how limited our time is that we have left here on earth, the decisions that we make from there on out take on greater significance. We do important things. When we know that we are about to die, we do not decide that this would be the appropriate time to binge watch a TV show on Netflix, right? “Hey, I have two days left, I really want to check out Friday Night Live. Let’s plow through this.” No, you don’t do that. You do things that you have been meaning to do, you say things that you have been meaning to say. So, David welcomes his son Solomon over and he’s going to impart some fatherly advice. Now, Solomon is David’s son by a woman named Bathsheba. And if you missed our sermon on 2 Samuel 12 where David and Bathsheba ended up together, let me just say that you missed a doozy. That is a very dramatic story. From a very broken beginning God redeemed that relationship to provide a beautiful baby boy who not only was going to be David’s son, but was going to be the heir to his throne. So here is David welcoming his son, Solomon, over and not only giving him fatherly advice but as the current king talking to the future king these words take on greater importance. See, it says that David has been king for about 40 years now. He had seen it all, done it all. It had been a very eventful 40 years for Israel. They had expanded, they had become a super-‐power, and David was the king over that super-‐power. So he had a lot to say. He says, “Solomon, come over. I have some advice for you as to how you should live.” Now, I don’t know if you have ever imagined this in your own life. Your own last words here on earth. What’s the last thing that you want to say? I think most of us would like to think that we would have a moment of clarity and it will be something of dignity, something of substance, something that our loved ones will remember for generations to come. None of us want it to be trivial. I don’t want my last words to be about the weather, or complaining about the food in the hospital cafeteria. I do not want my last words to be, “This macaroni is cold.” That’s not how I want to go out. I want them to mean something. So, here we have David with Solomon—parting words, they are going to mean something. 1 Kings, chapter 2, verses 1-‐4. Now, what we are going to do is we are going to read all of David’s last words, and then we are going to break the passage down into three big pieces. There are three big things that David is about to say to his son. And it really boils down to this: Who I am, what I do, and why I do it. Really simple: Who I am, what I do, and why I do it. Actually, I want this to be memorable. I want to you to take this home so I’m actually going to ask you to repeat after me. Say this after me: Who I am—who I am, what I do—what I do, and why I do it—why I do it. Those are the three pieces. I want you to look for them as I read through verses 1-‐4 and then we’re going to take our time and break each one down, okay? Here we go.



1 Kings, chapter 2, verses 1-‐4, here’s what David says to his son, Solomon, “When David's time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, ‘I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, “If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.”’” Okay, so this is David, a dad, talking to his son saying, “Son, here’s what you need to know to live, here’s what you need to rule. It starts with who I am, what I do, and why I do it.” Let’s begin with part one. Repeat after me, who I am—who I am. Okay, so David begins his advice to his son with his identity. David begins with Solomon’s identity. He says, “Son, here’s who you should be.” He does not lead with, “Here’s what you should do, son.” I think that there is a very significant difference. He doesn’t say, “Solomon, go do this, and do this, and do this and you’ll have a happy life. He begins by saying, “Solomon, here’s who you should be.” And that’s a very important distinction. David begins with this advice and he says, “Be strong and show yourself a man.” I love that because it is the most stereotypical, fatherly advice ever. A dad talking to his son and basically saying, “Man up.” That ranks right up there with, “Walk it off.” I don’t know if you had a “Walk it off” dad. I had a “Walk it off” dad. When you fall and scrape your knee, “Walk it off.” When you get the flu, “Walk it off.” I was like, “Dad, that’s not even science. That’s not even helpful. I don’t know why you are saying that.” But dads say weird things sometimes. And he says, “Hey, Solomon, be strong and show yourself a man.” Now, when we consider strength and even manhood in our culture, there’s a great variance in definition. Many people have many different ideas as to what true strength is really about and what true manhood is all about. So I want you to do this. I want you to turn to the person next to you and when I say the word “strong” or when I talk about strength I want you tell them the first person who pops into your head. When you think about strong, whose image pops into your head? Go ahead, turn to them and tell them who you think of. Go. Alright, so maybe when you think of the word “strong” you think of someone with great physical strength. You think biceps, six-‐pack, the whole deal. That’s what you think of, maybe someone like The Rock or the UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, people who have muscles that I was not born with, right? They could beat me up by looking in my direction—that kind of strong. And you think that is true physical strength. It’s just muscles, and the look, and the whole deal. Or, maybe you think of a different of strength. You think more like inner strength. You think of someone who is in a position who faces so much pressure that he has to have great inner resolve to stand up under all of the weight on his shoulders. In our country, one role in particular would be the President of the United States. That is a very stressful job. If you don’t believe so, look at a picture of inauguration day and the last day in office. You can tell that this must have been hard. The decisions that he makes affect millions of people. And people in other countries look at this person as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. It requires great inner strength to stand up under that pressure. Or maybe you have a very different definition than those previous two. Maybe you think of someone who has overcome barriers that were previously insurmountable. Someone like Jackie Robinson who, in



1940, broke a color barrier in major league baseball and faced opposition to what he was trying to do. And his step has served as a symbol of progress for generations to come—someone who had the courage to stand up in the face of what was not right. That was true strength. No matter who popped into your mind, no matter who you shared, most likely the reason that you think he (or she) is strong is because of his achievements. What he can do signals to you that he is strong. And that’s really the way that our world defines strength. Your strength is defined by what you can do. It depends upon how much weight you can lift, how much pressure you can stand, or what barriers you can overcome—that’s what defines your strength. But the Bible actually has a very different definition. In fact, the Bible is counter-‐cultural in this way. See, God’s word says that strength is defined… Strength comes from who I am, not what I do. Strength comes from who I am, not what I do—going back to that identity theme. My strength as a follower of Christ is found in who I am. Now, before this veers into one of those self-‐help, you’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and people like you kind of moments—that’s not really what this is all about. In fact, the Bible says that we are many things but the one thing that is super clear is that we are sinners saved by grace. We are sinners in need of a savior because we have this problem on our hands. Our sin, when we fell short of God’s standards, it made a gap between us and God and there is nothing that we can do to close it. No amount of good works, no level of perfection, no money given, no time volunteered could ever get us a step closer to God. There is nothing we can do. The Good News of Jesus is that even though it wasn’t God’s fault, He took the first step and sent His Son on a rescue mission to save sinners. So now I am a saved sinner. I am saved by grace and grace alone. That means that my strength is not found in what I can produce, my strength is not found in what I can do for God, my strength is found in an identity as a sinner saved by grace. No longer am I defined by my bank account, or my career trajectory, or my skill set, my intelligence, my good looks, my physical health, my youth—none of that defines me. My single identity, my definition is a sinner saved by grace. So now I am a child of God saved by the Son of God, living with the Spirit of God. That is where I find my strength. Not in what I can do but simply in who I am. Now David had mixed results with this in his life. There were certain moments, early in his life, where he was absolutely on target. And then, later in his life, he fell apart. See earlier in his life, in 1 Samuel 17, we find David on a battlefield. He was a teenaged shepherd and he showed up this day to fight a man named Goliath. David was five-‐foot nothing, Goliath was nine-‐foot everything. David showed up with a sling and some rocks and had the audacity to talk trash to Goliath. But it’s so important for us to remember what he said. David did not show up and say, “Goliath, I’m going to kill you because I’m a superior warrior.” He did not say, “Goliath, you are going down because I have superior technology.” He didn’t say any of that. David said, “Goliath, you are going to lose this battle today because God is fighting for me. I am a child of God in the army of God and, man, you don’t stand a chance. God is going to be my strength. God is going to win this battle right now.” David killed him and he knew exactly where his strength came from. It came from God.



But then later in his life he fell on his face. In 2 Samuel 24, like Petie told us last week, David took a census. And what he was doing is that he was counting all of the able bodied men in the nation of Israel. He wanted to see how big an army he could call up if he wanted to. How many men could fight? And like Petie said, what David was doing was developing a “Plan B” just in case “Plan A” didn’t work out. See, “Plan A” for us is God. We believe in God. We believe that He is strong. We believe that He is going to take care of us, but just in case… Just in case God’s busy, just in case God’s not really paying attention, just in case God’s not real I have this fall back plan which is my strength and what I can do. David had slipped from dependence upon God to independence, relying upon himself. He felt like he was self-‐sufficient. Petie said it really clearly last week “Plan Bs” are highly offensive to God. They reveal our lack of trust in Him. The nation of Israel paid dearly from David’s misstep. Our strength is not found in what we can do it is found in who we are. So, let me ask you this question. Where are you finding your security right now? Where do you find your comfort? Where do you find your confidence? Is it in your abilities? You know you’re smart. You know that you’re good at your job. You know that you have a bright future. You know that you’ve had career long success and you can rest on your laurels. Where do you find your strength? Do you find it in your health? Do you find it in your youth? Do you find it in your resources? All that stuff that we can do is fleeting and will fail us. Our strength can only be found in our identity as a sinner saved by grace. So, repeat after me: who I am-‐who I am. I am a sinner saved by grace—okay, well you can say that too. I didn’t really mean for you to say that, but fine. You guys are so locked in. I love it. Who I am, I am a sinner saved by grace. That’s my identity. It’s important to note that David started with identity, not in Solomon’s behavior, because our identity should inform our actions. Our identity should inform the life path that we take. Our identity, who we are, should make our decisions for us. So, how does the fact that I am a sinner saved by grace going to change the way I live? Look at the next bit of advice that David gave his son. It’s in verse 3. He tells Solomon, “…keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses…” So here David said, “Alright, Solomon, we’re going to transition. We’re going to transition from who I am to what I do.” Repeat after me, what I do—what I do. So David says, “Here’s what you’re going to do. Because you are this, here’s how you are to live.” And he says, “Solomon, keep the charge. Keep the charge.” What David is referring to is Solomon’s calling. What has God called Solomon to do with his life? Now, that word “calling” seems hyper-‐spiritual. Maybe it’s reserved for the Christian elite, “But I’m not really one of those people, right? Maybe missionaries are called, maybe pastors are called. But I’m not one of those. I must not be called. I’m an accountant,” or, “I’m a school teacher,” or, “I stay at home with the kids,” or, “I’m a teenager,” or, “I’m currently unemployed therefore I must not be called. I don’t have one of those super-‐Christian jobs with an ‘S’ on my chest and a cape on my back. I’m not one of those people. I must not be in the calling game.”



But what I would like to suggest to you today is that calling may not always have to do with your vocation. In fact, every single one of us—every single one of us who has received Jesus as Lord and Savior, has been a recipient of the gift of grace, all of us have been called to live our life on mission. We’ve been saying this for a few months now. All of us have been saved from something for something—from something for something. If you’re a Christian, you say, “Jesus died for me. I received that gift of grace now I am called to something.” Jesus did not come and die on the cross and save us from our sin so that we can ride the lazy river of life until heaven shows up one day. The Christian faith is not a passive faith, it’s an active faith. So we are called to live as if we were sinners saved by grace called to live on mission. Now the reason that I think that some of us have self-‐selected out of the calling game is that we become convinced that God works through the spectacular exclusively—never the ordinary, “When I read the Bible there’s all these miracles like seas parting and people walking on water, there’s all these fish. There were some fish now there are a lot of fish. I don’t know anything about that. My life is super-‐ordinary. I must not be in the calling game. “And then, these sermon illustrations—they are always unbelievable and I don’t have any stories like that so that must mean that I am too ordinary. God only works through the spectacular.” I have to break that myth right now. God not only works through the ordinary—He loves using the ordinary to eventually do the spectacular. Let me ask you this question. Is it possible that you work in that cubicle from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, not because you happened to apply for a random job that fit your skill set and they hired you? Maybe it’s not just about the paycheck that you are getting. It’s not just about you performing the tasks on your “to do” list. What if you are in that office so that you could rub shoulders with your coworkers? What if you are there to show them that, “Hey, man. Christians aren’t always weird, they’re actually kind of nice, and they actually have a point, and maybe I should consider this faith thing.”? Is it possible that you’re not just showing up to that cubicle but that you are actually called to your cubicle? Maybe you’re a student and in the couple of days or in the next couple of weeks you’re about to start a brand new school year. Can I suggest that maybe you don’t attend that school just because your parents randomly chose a neighborhood and that’s where you’re assigned to go. Are you called to your hallways? Are you called to your locker room? Are you called to the lunch room? Are you called to your social media account? Is it possible that you are not just randomly in that class, with those students, with that teacher but that it’s possible that God wants you to rub shoulders with that student and maybe even influence a teacher who is teaching you? Are you called to your school? Is it possible that the person who just moved in next door in your apartment building or your neighborhood didn’t just do it because they loved the layout next to you? Is it possible that they are there because you are supposed to interact with them, rub shoulders with them, and invite them, introduce them to Jesus? See, so often we exclude ourselves from this calling thing because we think, “I’m just ordinary. I’ll leave that to the professional Christians. I’ll leave that to the super Christians. God doesn’t want to use me.”



There was a lady here for the very first time last week. She had just moved from a very distant country. Now she’s living here. She’s away from her comfort zone, she’s away from her security, everything that she had known and now she’s trying to figure out life. And she has a lot of questions about God, a lot of questions about faith. She was really wrestling with all of those things and she came here and she heard the Good News of Jesus. She heard that there is hope for another day. She heard that God loves her—amazing things. And then she was so moved by it that she started sharing her experience with the people around her taking the next step in her faith. It is a spectacular story. But do you know where it began? It began in the line at McAlister’s. There is nothing more ordinary than waiting in line at McAlister’s. Now what she was doing is, she was starting to ask some questions that she was wrestling with. She happened to talk to a guy and he said, “Hey, maybe you should check out Traders Point. And then she’s here. And then she’s hears the hope of Jesus. Now that guy did not show up at McAlister’s that day thinking, “Oh, God’s probably going to do something spectacular.” He was trying to decide between an extraordinarily large salad and an unnaturally big potato, right? That’s what you decide when you go to McAlister’s. That’s where your head is at. But in the line, waiting for his food, he was used by God to do something big. So, is it possible that you have been ignoring multiple opportunities that God has presented to you because they just weren’t spectacular enough? They weren’t going to make a sermon illustration. You weren’t going to write a book about it. No one was going to talk about it on Facebook and so you just passed on the other side. Can I suggest that God has you exactly where you are not because it was random, and not because you’re a super Christian, but because he wants to use you in all the ordinariness of your life? Repeat after me: Who I am—who I am. I am a sinner saved by grace. Repeat after me: What I do—what I do. I now live on mission because I am a sinner saved by grace. No longer is my life about me; no longer is it about what I do. I am fully aware that God wants to use me in all of the areas of my life. Who I am, what I do—finally, repeat after me: Why I do it—why I do it. Why I do it. This is all about motivation. Why do I do the things that I do. So, do I live on mission because I’m obligated? Jesus died for my sins so now I’m going to have to pay Him back? Why do I do what I do? To wrap up David’s advice to his son, Solomon, here’s what he says, “Solomon, here’s why you should do what you do.” He says, “…that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, that the LORD may establish His word that He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’” Here’s what David is doing. David is saying, “Young man, just know that you are a part of something bigger than yourself.” See, God had made a promise to David that he would always have an heir on the throne. So is would be Solomon, then Solomon’s son, and then his son, and then his son. David’s family would reign. And that was the promise of God. So David is trying to look at Solomon and say, “Hey, son. Look up. Your life is not just about you. You are part of a much bigger plan. Look up and consider that your life isn’t just about you right now.”



I love this because it’s so familiar. It is an older man talking to a younger man and saying, “Hey, by the way, life is more than just about you.” Maybe that sounds familiar. I’m going to step out on a very shaky limb and say this. Young people often have a hard time thinking big picture, right? I don’t know if you knew that but that’s kind of true. They have a hard time thinking legacy, they have a hard time thinking about Wednesday—it’s just hard to think further into the future than right now. So David is saying, “Hey look. Young man you need to look up and consider that maybe your life is more than just about right now—getting what you want, seeking the pleasures of your whims and motives right now. Solomon, you are a part of something much, much bigger.” I don’t think that David is just saying that to Solomon. I think he is saying that to you and me, no matter how old we are. Many of us struggle with a very temporary mindset, “I have to think about today. I have to think about what is happening next.” And honestly, I think about me. I think about my schedule. I think about my family. I think about my paycheck. I think about my desires and my box is really limited to me, mine, and my—my right here. All the while I’m ignoring the fact that there are six billion other people in the world. I’m thinking about me right here. David is saying, “You’re a part of something much, much bigger.” The fact that you are a sinner saved by grace and that you are now living on mission changes the way you see what you do. Why you do what you do. See David was saying, “Solomon, not only is your son going to be the next king, and then the next king, and then the next king—it’s not just about our political dynasty. Eventually this is going to lead to God’s ultimate promise of a Messiah.” This is the part in the sermon, like we have been doing all summer, where we say that this is no longer about David, it’s about Jesus. There was David, then there was Solomon, then there was another king and another king—eventually it led us to Jesus Christ. David and Solomon were in the direct family line of Jesus. So he’s saying, “Look, Solomon, man this is not just about you. This is about getting to Jesus. If you read much in the New Testament you’re probably going to run into this book called Matthew. It’s the very first one. And in the very first chapter Matthew begins his biography of Jesus. And he begins by listing all of His relatives—his genealogy, how we get to Jesus. And if you end up reading it you may end up seeing just a bunch of names and you might think, “Wow, that’s really boring. I don’t really care about who is related to whom.” But I promise you it is important. It makes this significant. It makes 1 Kings, chapter 2 significant because when we get to Jesus our life starts and matters. See, the very first part where he begins—he begins with Abraham. Abraham was the recipient of the very first promise from God that there would be this nation of Israel that would have more descendants than the stars in the sky. So Jesus’ family begins all the way back with Abraham. And then we meet this guy named Jacob. And Jacob had a very similar up and down life with God, much like David, much like you and me but God still used him to lead his family. And then we meet a woman named Rahab. Rahab was a prostitute and despite her sordid past God still used her to save the lives of his spies in Jericho. And Rahab had a son named Boaz. Boaz was a great man. And much like David, his life was reflecting the coming of Jesus. See he redeemed his wife from a life of hopelessness and gave her hope for a future just like Jesus does with us. Boaz was the great



grandfather of David. So here we have David in the direct line of Jesus. Eventually we’re going to get to Jesus through David. What an honor. What a big deal. Now Matthew could have described David any way that he wanted. He could have said, “Here is king David the greatest king in the history of Israel. He is related to Jesus.” He could have said, “Here is David, he wrote all of these Psalms these beautiful songs about how great God is. He’s related to Jesus.” He didn’t do either of those. Look how Matthew describes David in chapter 1, verse 6 of his gospel. It says, “And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…” See David was in the family tree of Jesus but in a very peculiar way. Like I said a few minutes into our sermon on 2 Samuel 12—and if you missed it’s a pretty wild one—this is the story of David and Bathsheba. And David, in a moment of weakness, saw a woman bathing on a rooftop across the way and he wanted her, and he took her, and he used her for his own gratification and then sent her away thinking he could make a single decision that wouldn’t mess with the rest of his life. But you and I know that’s not how life works. She became pregnant and he launched this cover-‐up where eventually he had her husband killed and his name was Uriah. This is the adultery of David. This is the darkest moment in David’s life and it is forever recorded in the family tree of Jesus. That is a bummer for David. Just imagine you’re worst moment, the worst decision you have ever made, the darkest of sins forever recorded in the life of Jesus. Now, why would Matthew do that? He could have called him king David. He could have called him psalmist David, he could have said warrior David, instead he brought up the worst decision that David had ever made. Why would he do that? Was he just airing out his dirty laundry? Was he just getting back at David? No. See here’s the truth. Jesus redeemed David’s greatest failure. That is why it is in there. The Bible is not afraid to tell the truth about people and so it shows the darkness of David’s life but eventually points to the hope of Jesus. Jesus redeemed David’s greatest failure. It was through that broken relationship, that broken beginning that all of a sudden we are now family in the line of Jesus. If Jesus can redeem David’s greatest failure, then he can go the same for you and me. If Jesus can redeem the adultery of a king, when he took a woman who couldn’t do anything to defend herself, if he can redeem that relationship he can redeem you and me as well. See there’s this nasty rumor going around that there is such a thing as too big of a sin that grace can’t cover. That is just a lie. There is also this rumor going around that you can be a sinner who is too far gone to where Jesus can’t pull you back. That too is a lie. If Jesus can redeem David, He can redeem you and me. Repeat after me: Who I am—who I am. I am a sinner saved by grace. Repeat after me: What I do—what I do. Now I live on mission. Repeat after me: Why I do it—why I do it. I do it because I was redeemed by Jesus.



I don’t have anything to brag about. There’s nothing that I have ever done that I’ve earned my way into God’s love. I do not deserve where I stand but I am a sinner saved by grace and I live on mission because Jesus redeemed me. It changes everything. Maybe today is the first time you’ve ever heard the idea that Jesus came to die for you and that the offer of grace is free. And you’ve been trying to earn your way back into God’s favor, earn your way back into His good graces. No more. God has done everything He needs to do. The offer is yours today. You can receive it. Or, maybe you’ve received grace but you just thought, “I can just go through the motions. This life is a passive life. I’m just going to wait it out until heaven.” No more. You are saved from something for something. Do not discount the ordinary circumstances of your life as if you are not. You may be called to your cubical, called to your school, called to your neighborhood. Finally, maybe some of you have just been doing it out of obligation. That’s the way you were raised, that’s the way you were told—this is just what you do because Jesus did this for you and you owe Him. No longer. The fact that we know that we are sinners saved by grace—we have gratitude and great humility as we carry out the rest of our lives. However God is stirring in your heart, I pray that you will allow Him to take control, to show you His way, to show you who you are, what you are to do, and why you are to do it. Let me pray for you. Father we love You so much. We are so honored and grateful for this message. We are grateful for David’s life. We are most grateful for Jesus’ sacrifice. You change us from the inside out. You’ve given us a new motivation, a new life trajectory. You’ve given us all. We are wildly grateful. It’s in your incredible name I pray, Amen. Right now we’re going to do what we do every week. It’s this thing called communion. Communion is where we stop and we remember what Jesus has done for us. We take the bread and the juice that represents Jesus’ body and blood. This is our moment to say, “Jesus, man, thank you.” We are humble. We are grateful. We didn’t deserve this. We didn’t earn it. And now You have changed everything. So I pray that You would allow Jesus in this moment to take control, take the keys, and start directing your life again. Servers you can come.

July 25/26, 2015… ·...

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