WEBVTT 00:59.515 --> 01:01.919 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I want to run a little experiment with you if you don't mind. 01:02.199 --> 01:06.546 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to ask if you would all hold your hands out like this for a minute. 01:06.586 --> 01:08.989 [SPEAKER_00]: Just extend your arm, hand up out like this. 01:09.370 --> 01:10.331 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's the question. 01:10.392 --> 01:15.499 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about how much of your vision is blocked by your hand right now. 01:15.980 --> 01:17.482 [SPEAKER_00]: And what percentage do you think that is? 01:17.562 --> 01:19.145 [SPEAKER_00]: What percentage of your vision is blocked right now? 01:22.230 --> 01:24.493 [SPEAKER_00]: I've got a shout out loud, or I'm not going to hear it. 01:25.840 --> 01:28.683 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm here in 12, 10, 5, yeah, I don't know what it is. 01:28.703 --> 01:29.645 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what the answer is. 01:29.965 --> 01:35.792 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want you to take that same hand and I want you to move it right in front of your face like where you're touching your nose. 01:36.473 --> 01:38.575 [SPEAKER_00]: How much of your vision is blocked right now? 01:40.398 --> 01:44.563 [SPEAKER_00]: A whole lot more, 50%, 75, 55, yeah, especially if you go like that. 01:44.643 --> 01:47.166 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it's like 90% that's blocked, okay? 01:47.687 --> 01:55.476 [SPEAKER_00]: When you take something out here and you move it in here, way more of your vision is blocked, but did this size of your hand change? 01:56.131 --> 01:59.274 [SPEAKER_00]: Know your proximity to your hand, change. 01:59.294 --> 02:01.976 [SPEAKER_00]: The closeness of your hand, change. 02:01.996 --> 02:12.886 [SPEAKER_00]: This little experiment or illustration is meant to show us that certain things, when they're not that big of a thing, can feel like they're a really big thing if we hold them closer to us. 02:13.507 --> 02:26.138 [SPEAKER_00]: And the really dangerous thing about that is that when we have something small that we keep really close and it looks really big to us, it can obscure everything that's behind that. 02:26.118 --> 02:27.159 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, that'd be okay. 02:27.420 --> 02:27.920 [SPEAKER_00]: You could do that. 02:27.940 --> 02:29.262 [SPEAKER_00]: You couldn't look around at all that. 02:29.542 --> 02:31.465 [SPEAKER_00]: But can you imagine driving around like this? 02:32.426 --> 02:33.427 [SPEAKER_00]: Not very safe. 02:34.028 --> 02:51.130 [SPEAKER_00]: You would very quickly Run into something or miss a red light or something like that because the most important thing to you in that moment is Driving it's the thing you're supposed to be doing and yet something relatively small that would not be a big deal if it was out here becomes a really big deal if it's over here 02:51.363 --> 03:03.536 [SPEAKER_00]: little things can seem like big things based on our closeness to them, our proximity to them, and sometimes those little things can actually obscure the more important thing that we're dealing with at that time. 03:03.577 --> 03:13.928 [SPEAKER_00]: This can happen in our families, it can happen in our workplaces, it can happen with our friend groups, it can happen at churches. 03:14.431 --> 03:19.902 [SPEAKER_00]: I saw a post this week from someone that used to be involved in a ministry that I led. 03:19.962 --> 03:27.979 [SPEAKER_00]: And she explained online why she left her church and why she doesn't go to any church anymore. 03:28.079 --> 03:29.161 [SPEAKER_00]: She still believes in God. 03:29.181 --> 03:35.815 [SPEAKER_00]: She believes in Jesus, but she does not involve with any kind of church right now. 03:36.183 --> 03:52.752 [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason she gave her that was kind of heartbreaking, because what she found was that in the church that she was going to, as she started to wrestle through some questions and wonder about certain things and want to dive into things, it wasn't just that they didn't have any answers for her, it's that they didn't even want to engage in the conversation. 03:52.792 --> 03:57.280 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, she was maybe looked down on a little bit for even asking the questions. 03:57.513 --> 04:03.964 [SPEAKER_00]: for wanting to talk about it, for wondering, and she concluded that this isn't the safe place for me to be exploring these answers, so it's better for me to just leave. 04:04.765 --> 04:06.367 [SPEAKER_00]: And she never found a place. 04:06.408 --> 04:11.937 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how hard she tried, but she never found a place that it was a good place to wrestle with and explore some of those issues. 04:11.957 --> 04:14.661 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I've seen this in church as personally. 04:14.641 --> 04:33.813 [SPEAKER_00]: I have seen those times where a church doesn't want to or the people in the church, the leaders of the church, sometimes the pastors of the church, don't want to deal with a question about something for a lot of different reasons, but a lot of times it's because we're afraid that maybe our tradition doesn't actually match the Bible and we don't want to deal with that. 04:33.833 --> 04:35.215 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't want to talk about that. 04:35.347 --> 04:44.060 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes it's because a church leader or a pastor is afraid that if they come across like they don't have all the answers or don't know the answer, it's going to be embarrassing. 04:44.580 --> 04:48.626 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's going to look bad for them to say, you know, I don't know, but let's look into that together. 04:48.726 --> 04:50.569 [SPEAKER_00]: Or I'll look into that and get back to you. 04:51.250 --> 04:59.041 [SPEAKER_00]: And so out of embarrassment or sometimes out of pride, church leaders might say, well, don't even ask that question. 04:59.962 --> 05:03.868 [SPEAKER_00]: I have seen the comments of, well, because the Bible says so, don't worry about it. 05:04.237 --> 05:11.665 [SPEAKER_00]: or even this one because the pastor said so, as if that's the authoritative final word on the issue. 05:12.522 --> 05:14.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes this can happen with really important stuff. 05:15.606 --> 05:18.510 [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of times it happens with not so important stuff. 05:19.030 --> 05:33.729 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, in my experience, most of it has been with really non-essential things, not unimportant, but not essential, not the core issues of the faith, but rather than deal with it together and address the concerns and study it and get into it. 05:33.749 --> 05:38.175 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes people just get the impression, well, I'm not even allowed to ask questions. 05:38.155 --> 05:43.558 [SPEAKER_00]: Or else it's like I'm questioning the faith, or I'm questioning the pastor, or I'm questioning the church. 05:44.467 --> 05:45.228 [SPEAKER_00]: and so people leave. 05:45.248 --> 06:00.590 [SPEAKER_00]: And a lot of people that go through that do something that's called deconstructing their faith, which can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing, but it's where they reassess everything that they learned often in their church or in their family, and they take some time to question it all and go, is any of this true? 06:00.650 --> 06:01.451 [SPEAKER_00]: Is any of this legit? 06:01.671 --> 06:10.744 [SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes that leads to people building back their faith in a better way and a stronger way than before, and sometimes it leads to people saying, I want nothing to do with this. 06:10.724 --> 06:14.408 [SPEAKER_00]: either I'm done with faith all together or at least I'm done with church. 06:15.569 --> 06:16.290 [SPEAKER_00]: It's tragic. 06:17.331 --> 06:32.387 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not the way it's supposed to go, but that's what can happen when we take something that should actually be out here and we hold it here and let it distract us from the most important things that we are supposed to focus on. 06:32.407 --> 06:36.732 [SPEAKER_00]: What I want you to know is that this is 06:36.712 --> 06:38.655 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is not at all unique to the church. 06:39.356 --> 06:43.382 [SPEAKER_00]: This problem of letting little things cloud our vision to the things that really matter. 06:43.642 --> 06:44.623 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not new. 06:44.643 --> 06:46.145 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus talked about it in Matthew 23. 06:46.246 --> 06:50.251 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, what sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law. 06:50.271 --> 06:58.483 [SPEAKER_00]: And you Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are careful to tie even the tiniest income from your herb gardens. 06:58.463 --> 07:07.391 [SPEAKER_00]: but you ignore the more important aspects of the law, the tiniest little thing from your herb gardens to then write up here. 07:08.271 --> 07:15.918 [SPEAKER_00]: And the more important things that they couldn't see, the more important aspects of the law, justice, mercy, faith. 07:15.938 --> 07:20.142 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, you should tie, yes, it's not that this is unimportant. 07:20.762 --> 07:23.505 [SPEAKER_00]: This is important, but it's not the most important thing. 07:23.525 --> 07:27.508 [SPEAKER_00]: So don't neglect the more important things. 07:27.742 --> 07:35.200 [SPEAKER_00]: When this happens in our families, it often looks like little annoyances that just get on our nerves over time. 07:35.501 --> 07:42.358 [SPEAKER_00]: And a little thing that's really not that big of a deal becomes bigger and bigger and bigger and it clouds out the more important things. 07:42.457 --> 07:50.352 [SPEAKER_00]: And so you get these little annoyances, this little friction that develops in a family and it blows up into this huge argument and this big deal when it was really just about a small thing. 07:50.372 --> 07:51.594 [SPEAKER_00]: And you know what's interesting. 07:52.115 --> 07:59.489 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever there's a major disaster, tragedy, some big issue that happens, somebody gets really, really sick or there's an action of some kind. 07:59.830 --> 08:03.216 [SPEAKER_00]: All of a sudden those little annoyances they go right back down into their spot again. 08:03.517 --> 08:06.160 [SPEAKER_00]: And you realize, oh, that actually wasn't such a big deal. 08:06.681 --> 08:14.629 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes in families, this looks like household rules that were meant with good intentions, but get enforced in a way that's really harsh and unloving. 08:14.830 --> 08:32.950 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the main purpose is to train and to have unity in order and get along together, but because of the harshness that with which it is enforced, we lose sight of the main mission, which is love and training and togetherness, and instead, we can actually create a lot of strife and friction in hurt. 08:32.930 --> 08:35.134 [SPEAKER_00]: because of how those rules might get enforced in a family. 08:35.354 --> 08:41.383 [SPEAKER_00]: This happens in companies, it happens in non-profits, in those cases, we call it institutional drift. 08:41.403 --> 08:45.630 [SPEAKER_00]: Where there was an initial mission that was really good, and that was great. 08:45.790 --> 08:54.504 [SPEAKER_00]: And then over time, we just sort of drifted away from that, because we let other things that aren't as important get in front and get close to us and cloud our vision to the things that really matter. 08:54.524 --> 08:58.110 [SPEAKER_00]: So a company might start off with a phrase like, don't be evil. 08:58.090 --> 08:58.972 [SPEAKER_00]: We go, that's really good. 08:59.412 --> 09:04.361 [SPEAKER_00]: And then over time, they look more and more like the evil companies that they thought they were better than it first. 09:04.942 --> 09:15.441 [SPEAKER_00]: Or there was a company that started because it's founder said, I want to make photography as easy and useful for the everyday person as using a pencil. 09:16.298 --> 09:18.782 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we started a company and that was the mission and they did it. 09:19.203 --> 09:34.066 [SPEAKER_00]: They made photography so easy because before you know you had to take the film and put it in a dark room and do all this exposure stuff and go through the whole development procedure if you were going to be a photographer and they changed all of that and brought photography easy photography to the masses in a very useful way. 09:34.948 --> 09:41.378 [SPEAKER_00]: And then one day one of their employees invented a new kind of camera, a digital camera. 09:41.695 --> 09:49.623 [SPEAKER_00]: Digital cameras would go on to become the most useful and most easy to use camera that would make photography way better for the everyday person. 09:50.283 --> 09:53.386 [SPEAKER_00]: But this company had experienced institutional drift. 09:54.067 --> 09:59.452 [SPEAKER_00]: And their real mission was no longer to make photography as easy and useful for the everyday person as a pencil. 09:59.792 --> 10:07.720 [SPEAKER_00]: Their mission now technically speaking was, keep the profits going, protect our film-based business. 10:08.020 --> 10:12.605 [SPEAKER_00]: And so Codex ceased to be the most dominant figure in photography. 10:12.966 --> 10:13.246 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 10:13.947 --> 10:30.827 [SPEAKER_00]: Because of institutional drift, because they allowed something that was actually small the how of our mission, film-based photography, to become the big thing in a lost sight of a big thing, which could have kept them relevant and a major player in that industry for years to come. 10:31.808 --> 10:37.555 [SPEAKER_00]: When we lose sight of what matters most, 10:38.210 --> 10:43.337 [SPEAKER_00]: Whenever we lose sight of what matters most, it's because we've elevated things that matter less. 10:43.357 --> 10:49.444 [SPEAKER_00]: And it can happen in groups, it can happen in families, it can happen in companies, it can happen in churches. 10:49.505 --> 10:56.373 [SPEAKER_00]: And when it happens in churches, it can be especially hurtful because faith is such an important thing to us. 10:57.215 --> 11:00.459 [SPEAKER_00]: It is such a deeply personal and spiritual thing to us. 11:00.539 --> 11:05.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we have to protect unity in our church. 11:05.598 --> 11:07.060 [SPEAKER_00]: in order to make sure it doesn't happen to us. 11:07.100 --> 11:09.482 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to protect against institutional drift. 11:09.502 --> 11:12.426 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to protect against little things being treated like big things. 11:12.446 --> 11:17.631 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to protect against traditions becoming idols and sacred in our church. 11:17.651 --> 11:19.734 [SPEAKER_00]: Or else we will have the same problem. 11:19.754 --> 11:28.163 [SPEAKER_00]: Now churches have dealt with this for centuries, which is why we have phrases like major on the majors and minor on the minors. 11:28.328 --> 11:29.089 [SPEAKER_00]: or how about this one? 11:29.109 --> 11:30.251 [SPEAKER_00]: This has been around for a long time. 11:30.532 --> 11:43.013 [SPEAKER_00]: In essentials unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity, or they're very simple, keep the main thing, the main thing. 11:43.364 --> 11:46.870 [SPEAKER_00]: But of course, all of this means we have to know what are the essentials? 11:47.511 --> 11:48.372 [SPEAKER_00]: What's the main thing? 11:48.633 --> 11:50.476 [SPEAKER_00]: What are the majors that we want to major in? 11:50.536 --> 11:56.686 [SPEAKER_00]: Because unless you understand that, then you don't recognize, okay, what's not in that group that we don't need to argue over. 11:56.987 --> 11:59.010 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not unimportant. 11:58.990 --> 12:02.920 [SPEAKER_00]: but it's not most important, and that's what we want to talk about today. 12:02.941 --> 12:14.772 [SPEAKER_00]: Now last week, we introduced this concept of the buckets of belief, and this is how we keep track of how we're supposed to prioritize our beliefs, so that we don't give them the wrong value. 12:14.752 --> 12:20.257 [SPEAKER_00]: and end up making a smaller thing, a bigger thing that divides us and creates this unity in the church. 12:20.317 --> 12:29.646 [SPEAKER_00]: When we treat a preference like a doctrine or a conviction like it's dogma, we're bringing that closer to us and treating it as a bigger thing than it is. 12:30.307 --> 12:35.232 [SPEAKER_00]: And when we do that, we inevitably get distracted from the more important things. 12:35.452 --> 12:38.014 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus warned about that, Paul warned about that. 12:38.034 --> 12:43.780 [SPEAKER_00]: And so today is all about the most important things. 12:43.760 --> 12:46.165 [SPEAKER_00]: The dogma bucket is the most important things. 12:46.445 --> 12:48.269 [SPEAKER_00]: One dictionary defines dogma like this. 12:48.950 --> 12:57.967 [SPEAKER_00]: The word dogma means a principle or a set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. 12:58.348 --> 13:01.554 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, you all probably know what incontrovertibly means, but I had to look it up. 13:02.075 --> 13:02.796 [SPEAKER_00]: So here's what it means. 13:03.517 --> 13:07.084 [SPEAKER_00]: In an obvious and provable manner, 13:07.385 --> 13:12.391 [SPEAKER_00]: So, dogma, if we take the key elements of the dogma definition and incontrovertibly, here's what it's saying. 13:12.631 --> 13:18.698 [SPEAKER_00]: There's an authority that is established some principles and they are obvious and they are provable. 13:19.399 --> 13:21.281 [SPEAKER_00]: Dogma can be good or bad. 13:21.321 --> 13:23.364 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just the core of what you believe. 13:23.764 --> 13:26.347 [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone has an authority in their life. 13:26.587 --> 13:28.790 [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone has scribed to some authority. 13:29.311 --> 13:34.877 [SPEAKER_00]: And it might be a person, it might be a book, it might be an institution, it might be you. 13:34.857 --> 13:41.587 [SPEAKER_00]: But everyone has an authority that they look to and everyone's authority establishes some kind of principles that we live by. 13:42.088 --> 13:44.231 [SPEAKER_00]: And what we want to know is what are the most important ones? 13:44.492 --> 13:50.200 [SPEAKER_00]: What are the ones that are obvious and provable, the core essentials of what we believe? 13:50.701 --> 13:54.246 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, as Christians, what is our source of authority? 13:55.648 --> 13:56.169 [SPEAKER_00]: You can answer. 13:56.810 --> 13:57.711 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a trick question. 13:58.573 --> 14:00.055 [SPEAKER_00]: What is our source of authority? 14:01.975 --> 14:05.699 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm hearing a mix of two words, which are both accurate by the way. 14:05.739 --> 14:09.462 [SPEAKER_00]: One is God, true, good answer. 14:09.502 --> 14:11.104 [SPEAKER_00]: The other is the Bible, why? 14:11.144 --> 14:12.725 [SPEAKER_00]: Because that's God's word. 14:13.406 --> 14:30.042 [SPEAKER_00]: And so our ultimate authority is God, but the way he's chosen to communicate with us is through his word, and so God's word becomes our authority for how we know the principles that are obvious and provable from his word that we need to live by. 14:30.022 --> 14:39.583 [SPEAKER_00]: and we are convinced as followers of Jesus that the Bible is our ultimate source of information from God about God, how He wants us to live. 14:39.723 --> 14:40.925 [SPEAKER_00]: It is our authority. 14:40.945 --> 14:47.760 [SPEAKER_00]: And I thought today about going into a whole section about why we trust the Bible as our authority. 14:48.230 --> 14:50.935 [SPEAKER_00]: But then I realized that would make all of this way too long. 14:50.955 --> 14:54.360 [SPEAKER_00]: And I also realized, I mean, I had the slides done and everything I was ready to go. 14:55.021 --> 14:56.965 [SPEAKER_00]: And then I went, oh, that's like a whole extra message. 14:57.325 --> 15:04.157 [SPEAKER_00]: And then I realized, wait a minute, we're in a 10-year sermon series on our statement of faith and the very next one for next year is on the Bible. 15:04.417 --> 15:07.262 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're just gonna save all of that and consider half a message done. 15:07.282 --> 15:12.531 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're gonna next year do a whole series on why we trust the Bible and learning all about God's word. 15:12.892 --> 15:14.254 [SPEAKER_00]: Before today, 15:14.234 --> 15:24.873 [SPEAKER_00]: What we want to do is dive into the Bible and say, okay, what does our authority give us as principles that are obvious and provable, the essentials of our faith, and we're going to start in first Corinthians. 15:24.893 --> 15:26.616 [SPEAKER_00]: We spent a lot of time in First Corinthians lately. 15:27.457 --> 15:31.063 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's First Corinthians 15, verse 1, and here's what process. 15:32.225 --> 15:33.728 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me remind you, 15:34.585 --> 15:43.459 [SPEAKER_00]: Dear brothers and sisters, of the good news I preached to you before, you welcomed it then and you still stand firm in it now. 15:43.519 --> 15:44.941 [SPEAKER_00]: Why do they need to be reminded? 15:44.981 --> 15:51.531 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, for the first 14 chapters of First Corinthians, Paul is talking all about the 15:51.511 --> 16:00.440 [SPEAKER_00]: of a variety of secondary issues that were causing problems in the Corinthian church in chapters 1 through 4, it was the different leaders they were following. 16:00.841 --> 16:03.243 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember they had some that said I follow a palace, right? 16:03.504 --> 16:05.426 [SPEAKER_00]: Follow Peter or I follow Christ. 16:05.906 --> 16:10.611 [SPEAKER_00]: And so they were following these different leaders and forming some divisions between them because of those. 16:10.912 --> 16:13.675 [SPEAKER_00]: And chapter 6 it was arguing over legal disputes. 16:13.695 --> 16:16.978 [SPEAKER_00]: And chapters 8 through 10 it was arguing over food offered to idols. 16:16.958 --> 16:19.482 [SPEAKER_00]: in chapter 11, it was over the Lord's supper. 16:19.762 --> 16:22.567 [SPEAKER_00]: In chapter 12 through 14, it was about spiritual gifts. 16:22.607 --> 16:24.450 [SPEAKER_00]: They had different views on these things. 16:24.750 --> 16:29.117 [SPEAKER_00]: And so Paul was giving them instruction to help them navigate some of those secondary issues. 16:29.338 --> 16:30.740 [SPEAKER_00]: But then he gets to chapter 15. 16:31.461 --> 16:36.469 [SPEAKER_00]: And he says, now, I want to remind you dear brothers and sisters of the good news I preached to you before. 16:36.709 --> 16:37.591 [SPEAKER_00]: You welcomed it then. 16:37.831 --> 16:39.053 [SPEAKER_00]: You still stand firm in it. 16:39.113 --> 16:42.358 [SPEAKER_00]: And then he says, it is this good news that saves you. 16:42.338 --> 16:52.153 [SPEAKER_00]: If you continue to believe the message I told you in less, of course, you believe something that was never true in the first place, I passed on to you what was most important. 16:53.074 --> 16:54.677 [SPEAKER_00]: And what had also been passed on to me. 16:54.697 --> 16:58.683 [SPEAKER_00]: Now remember, this is right after Paul dealt with all those other issues, the secondary issues. 16:59.364 --> 17:02.970 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, I want to remind you what's most important, church leadership is important. 17:02.990 --> 17:03.891 [SPEAKER_00]: This is most important. 17:05.322 --> 17:07.366 [SPEAKER_00]: How you handle yourself during the Lord's Supper. 17:07.406 --> 17:08.208 [SPEAKER_00]: That's important. 17:08.228 --> 17:09.610 [SPEAKER_00]: This is most important. 17:10.332 --> 17:13.598 [SPEAKER_00]: What you do with what you eat and how you treat one another and all of that in the spiritual. 17:13.618 --> 17:14.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Because those are important. 17:14.920 --> 17:16.423 [SPEAKER_00]: This is most important here it is. 17:16.483 --> 17:20.010 [SPEAKER_00]: Verse three ends with Christ died for our sins. 17:20.711 --> 17:27.364 [SPEAKER_00]: Just as the scripture said, he was buried and he was raised from the dead on the third day just as the scripture is said. 17:27.985 --> 17:30.793 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what Paul says after dealing with all those other issues. 17:30.813 --> 17:33.200 [SPEAKER_00]: He says, but remember, this is what's most important. 17:33.220 --> 17:34.684 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm reminding you about this. 17:35.305 --> 17:38.414 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I already shared this with you before, but I want to draw your attention back to it. 17:38.715 --> 17:43.007 [SPEAKER_00]: The most important thing is the good news about Jesus. 17:42.987 --> 17:44.149 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what we call the gospel. 17:44.469 --> 17:48.775 [SPEAKER_00]: Gospel means good news, and this is a brief summary that Paul gives of the gospel. 17:49.075 --> 17:51.739 [SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't share the whole thing because it's a reminder. 17:52.019 --> 17:54.643 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just a little summary to say, hey, I shared all this with you. 17:54.923 --> 17:57.968 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to remember despite all the other stuff that you're arguing about. 17:58.648 --> 18:00.932 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what is most important. 18:01.552 --> 18:02.734 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the gospel. 18:03.305 --> 18:11.112 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, the word gospel and the concept of the gospel can be a little bit ambiguous and confusing for us. 18:11.132 --> 18:13.535 [SPEAKER_00]: Because that word gets thrown around in a lot of different ways. 18:13.915 --> 18:19.880 [SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of lovely people that throw that word around in a lot of different ways that makes it kind of unclear what they're talking about. 18:19.901 --> 18:24.004 [SPEAKER_00]: We talk about gospel leadership, when we talk about gospel centered parenting, we talk about gospel rhythms. 18:24.024 --> 18:27.468 [SPEAKER_00]: We can add the word gospel to anything to make it sound really biblical. 18:28.849 --> 18:30.030 [SPEAKER_00]: Gospel driving. 18:30.611 --> 18:32.232 [SPEAKER_00]: We can add gospel to anything. 18:32.887 --> 18:43.982 [SPEAKER_00]: But we want to distinguish, what are we talking about when we mean the essentials of our faith, the core of what we believe from some of the extra ways that we might apply this word gospel. 18:44.422 --> 18:45.484 [SPEAKER_00]: What are the main things? 18:45.504 --> 18:50.070 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want to give you three categories of gospel that will help us draw that distinction. 18:50.110 --> 18:51.912 [SPEAKER_00]: The first one is gospel essentials. 18:52.753 --> 18:58.000 [SPEAKER_00]: Gospel essentials are those things that you've gotta believe to be a true Christian. 18:58.132 --> 19:04.162 [SPEAKER_00]: with if you take away any of those essentials, then you're not believing a true gospel. 19:04.222 --> 19:05.685 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a false gospel. 19:06.366 --> 19:08.529 [SPEAKER_00]: Number two is gospel context. 19:09.030 --> 19:13.517 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the things that are related to the gospel, but they're not the core beliefs of the gospel itself. 19:14.018 --> 19:15.060 [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, 19:15.040 --> 19:19.370 [SPEAKER_00]: How exactly God works out salvation behind the scenes? 19:19.750 --> 19:20.412 [SPEAKER_00]: What that looks like? 19:20.432 --> 19:26.846 [SPEAKER_00]: There are all sorts of theological debates around that that are gospel context, but they're not the gospel itself. 19:27.147 --> 19:29.091 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's important that we distinguish between the two. 19:29.833 --> 19:32.779 [SPEAKER_00]: And three is gospel application. 19:32.759 --> 19:43.375 [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people in ministry and a lot of speakers use the word gospel in ways that they're actually referring to gospel application, not the essentials of the gospel itself. 19:43.415 --> 19:48.943 [SPEAKER_00]: Gospel application is how do you live out as a result of the gospel in your everyday life? 19:49.244 --> 19:59.239 [SPEAKER_00]: How does the truth of the gospel that we believe make a difference in how you treat people and how you live and how you function the things that you do, the things that you don't do, the things that you say? 19:59.219 --> 20:03.168 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is what a lot of believers don't actually think about on a regular basis. 20:03.930 --> 20:08.801 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a direct chain that goes from the core of the gospel to the way you live your life. 20:08.862 --> 20:11.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Every minute of every day and we don't often think about that. 20:11.408 --> 20:14.595 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about that later on today. 20:14.575 --> 20:17.724 [SPEAKER_00]: But what first one I want to get to is the gospel essentials. 20:18.265 --> 20:22.417 [SPEAKER_00]: What is the core of what we believe that makes us followers of Jesus? 20:22.477 --> 20:26.007 [SPEAKER_00]: And for some of you, you may have never heard all of this before. 20:26.649 --> 20:29.597 [SPEAKER_00]: You may have only understood a portion of this before. 20:29.577 --> 20:30.278 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's okay. 20:30.699 --> 20:36.050 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we can be confused about things and not understand them fully and still believe in the core of the message. 20:36.070 --> 20:42.063 [SPEAKER_00]: But the big thing is we can't reject any of these and actually be believing a true gospel. 20:42.083 --> 20:43.225 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want you to think of it this way. 20:43.606 --> 20:50.961 [SPEAKER_00]: What beliefs are so important that if you reject them, you cannot be a genuine Christ follower. 20:51.059 --> 20:54.043 [SPEAKER_00]: Paul gave us just a little reminder of it there in 1 Corinthians 15. 20:54.164 --> 20:58.890 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to look at the whole of Scripture to find out what are those core beliefs. 20:59.091 --> 21:01.895 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're not just relying on Scripture here, although that is enough. 21:02.235 --> 21:10.227 [SPEAKER_00]: But we also have the benefit of a couple thousand years of church leaders and scholars and theologians and authors who have gone before us. 21:10.287 --> 21:14.974 [SPEAKER_00]: And even though their words are not infallible, they are not inspired when we look at it. 21:14.954 --> 21:26.198 [SPEAKER_00]: all of that amazing wisdom throughout history, we can see that generally speaking, all the followers of Jesus have agreed on these core things as being essential for the gospel. 21:26.218 --> 21:33.553 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to use the analogy of a building, because I like to have some kind of an illustration with structure to help us remember what's going on here. 21:33.533 --> 21:35.556 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to start that building with a foundation. 21:35.816 --> 21:39.362 [SPEAKER_00]: That foundation we've already said is the authority of God's Word. 21:39.682 --> 21:41.785 [SPEAKER_00]: It is where we get our information from. 21:42.106 --> 21:46.032 [SPEAKER_00]: If we find it in the Bible and it's a principle that is obvious and it's provable. 21:46.072 --> 21:47.855 [SPEAKER_00]: It's clear, it's essential for the faith. 21:47.875 --> 21:49.357 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what we're talking about today. 21:49.737 --> 21:52.321 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we're going to add six pillars on top of that foundation. 21:52.602 --> 21:55.166 [SPEAKER_00]: The first pillar is going to be God. 21:55.787 --> 21:58.090 [SPEAKER_00]: The first pillar is God. 21:58.475 --> 22:02.498 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible teaches us all about God, but here's some of the most important things. 22:03.039 --> 22:04.080 [SPEAKER_00]: He created the universe. 22:04.360 --> 22:08.243 [SPEAKER_00]: He created all people, and He created them good, not bad. 22:08.784 --> 22:12.847 [SPEAKER_00]: Genesis 1-1 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 22:13.528 --> 22:15.629 [SPEAKER_00]: So God created human beings in His own image. 22:15.950 --> 22:17.291 [SPEAKER_00]: In the image of God, He created them. 22:17.371 --> 22:18.692 [SPEAKER_00]: Male and female, He created them. 22:19.753 --> 22:28.380 [SPEAKER_00]: Then God looked over all He had made, and He saw that it was very good. 22:29.272 --> 22:35.281 [SPEAKER_00]: unless you believe there is a creator God who made this world and He is perfect and He is good. 22:36.222 --> 22:41.951 [SPEAKER_00]: You cannot say that God doesn't exist, but also believe that God's made away for you to be safe. 22:41.971 --> 22:42.712 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't work that way. 22:42.752 --> 22:44.775 [SPEAKER_00]: This is an essential of the faith. 22:45.576 --> 22:50.503 [SPEAKER_00]: But it's also essential to believe that He is one God, the creator of everything. 22:50.737 --> 22:58.604 [SPEAKER_00]: Because if there were other gods, then those other gods could have created other ways to be saved from your sin, to be made right before God. 22:59.304 --> 23:01.846 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, the Bible says that he is God alone. 23:01.886 --> 23:03.287 [SPEAKER_00]: There is no one else like him. 23:03.308 --> 23:04.809 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the creator of everything. 23:04.829 --> 23:11.214 [SPEAKER_00]: If there were another authority or power above him, then that authority could create a different way that would overrule God's plan of salvation. 23:11.234 --> 23:12.035 [SPEAKER_00]: There could be another way. 23:12.255 --> 23:15.398 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, the Bible says there is only one way to be right with God. 23:15.718 --> 23:20.642 [SPEAKER_00]: And so this is an essential of the gospel. 23:21.483 --> 23:23.246 [SPEAKER_00]: The second pillar is people. 23:24.468 --> 23:25.550 [SPEAKER_00]: God created people. 23:26.532 --> 23:29.958 [SPEAKER_00]: He gave them the ability to reject him or choose him. 23:30.398 --> 23:38.993 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why he placed the tree in the garden with a fruit and said don't touch it and it seems a little strange why would God do that but he wanted people to freely choose to obey him. 23:39.013 --> 23:40.656 [SPEAKER_00]: He didn't want to create robots. 23:41.007 --> 23:49.420 [SPEAKER_00]: And so he did that knowing that they would ultimately reject him, knowing that he would create a way for millions and millions of people to choose to trust in him. 23:49.961 --> 24:00.938 [SPEAKER_00]: He knew it would happen, but Adam and Eve, believing a lie, believing something that goes against the first killer that they could be like God went ahead and ate the fruit. 24:01.018 --> 24:02.480 [SPEAKER_00]: That was the lie that they were told. 24:02.520 --> 24:03.522 [SPEAKER_00]: The Eve was told. 24:03.839 --> 24:05.782 [SPEAKER_00]: If you eat this, you'll become like God. 24:06.443 --> 24:15.716 [SPEAKER_00]: There are faiths today that preach a distorted version of the gospel that includes the original lie you can be like God. 24:16.817 --> 24:23.687 [SPEAKER_00]: There is a group of people, there's a bunch of churches that will teach a lot of the same stuff we do. 24:24.022 --> 24:34.848 [SPEAKER_00]: And they love the Bible, and they love Jesus, and they love the prophets, and they teach a lot of the same basic things, but they also teach, yeah, you've got to do a bunch of stuff to be saved, and you can be like God one day. 24:35.349 --> 24:36.211 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a false gospel. 24:36.793 --> 24:41.203 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why it's so important that we know what are the essentials of what we believe. 24:41.403 --> 24:43.946 [SPEAKER_00]: So people were created by God. 24:44.587 --> 24:46.008 [SPEAKER_00]: They disobeyed God. 24:46.629 --> 24:49.412 [SPEAKER_00]: And a boundary isn't a boundary without consequences. 24:50.113 --> 24:53.657 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't mean anything unless there's something bad that's going to happen if you cross that boundary. 24:53.998 --> 25:01.126 [SPEAKER_00]: And so in Romans chapter 5, we read, when Adam's sinned, sin entered the world, Adam's sin brought death. 25:01.386 --> 25:03.669 [SPEAKER_00]: So death spread to everyone for everyone's sin. 25:04.170 --> 25:07.073 [SPEAKER_00]: Adam was the representative of the entire human race. 25:07.053 --> 25:17.428 [SPEAKER_00]: When he's sinned and when his wife sinned, sin entered the world, and because of Adam's sin, it got passed on to all of his children, and so everyone enters the world in a sinful state. 25:17.448 --> 25:19.952 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is the third pillar, the third pillar is sin. 25:20.452 --> 25:23.196 [SPEAKER_00]: We have God, we have people, and we have sin. 25:24.218 --> 25:26.962 [SPEAKER_00]: Sin is the reason there's so much pain and suffering in the world. 25:27.483 --> 25:28.845 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not because God made it that way. 25:29.586 --> 25:32.610 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because God made people with the ability to reject them. 25:32.630 --> 25:36.756 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's the crazy thing. 25:37.968 --> 25:40.011 [SPEAKER_00]: He respects their decision. 25:41.633 --> 25:42.314 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about it that way. 25:42.515 --> 25:44.678 [SPEAKER_00]: When people say, I don't want God in my life. 25:45.118 --> 25:46.100 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to follow him. 25:46.160 --> 25:47.702 [SPEAKER_00]: God says, okay, then I won't be in your life. 25:49.124 --> 25:50.266 [SPEAKER_00]: And they won't have the blessing of God. 25:50.286 --> 25:51.547 [SPEAKER_00]: And they won't have the hope that comes from God. 25:51.568 --> 25:53.250 [SPEAKER_00]: They won't have the eternal life that comes from God. 25:53.270 --> 26:00.420 [SPEAKER_00]: When people die heavy, not trusted in Jesus and not knowing God, they have made the choice to say, I don't want to follow God. 26:00.440 --> 26:05.848 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't want God in my life and God respects their decision. 26:07.027 --> 26:09.613 [SPEAKER_00]: God didn't create robots, and he didn't create things in the bad way. 26:09.633 --> 26:12.178 [SPEAKER_00]: He created things that was good, but people rebelled against him. 26:12.199 --> 26:13.742 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's why we have sin in this world. 26:13.762 --> 26:16.007 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why everything is so messed up. 26:16.067 --> 26:19.836 [SPEAKER_00]: But God does want people to be in his family. 26:20.697 --> 26:24.546 [SPEAKER_00]: The problem is, to be in God's family, you can't have any sin. 26:24.728 --> 26:26.630 [SPEAKER_00]: Being God's family, you can't have done any bad stuff. 26:26.950 --> 26:31.896 [SPEAKER_00]: And yet, the Bible says in Romans 3, as the Scripture say, no one is righteous, not even one. 26:32.597 --> 26:34.058 [SPEAKER_00]: That word righteous means no sin. 26:34.599 --> 26:35.460 [SPEAKER_00]: No one has no sin. 26:35.780 --> 26:36.861 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's done bad stuff. 26:36.982 --> 26:38.023 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's thought bad stuff. 26:38.043 --> 26:39.084 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's said bad stuff. 26:39.244 --> 26:41.587 [SPEAKER_00]: And then in verse 23, it says, for everyone has sinned. 26:42.127 --> 26:45.791 [SPEAKER_00]: We all fall short of God's glorious standard. 26:46.712 --> 26:48.154 [SPEAKER_00]: And because everyone has sinned, 26:48.775 --> 26:50.678 [SPEAKER_00]: No one can actually be with God. 26:50.718 --> 26:56.426 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus says in Matthew 25, they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life. 26:56.807 --> 27:03.877 [SPEAKER_00]: And the problem with that is, the Bible says only the righteous will go into eternal life, which means life with God forever, and there's no one righteous. 27:05.299 --> 27:05.940 [SPEAKER_00]: Not one. 27:06.612 --> 27:07.874 [SPEAKER_00]: no one can be righteous. 27:07.914 --> 27:09.976 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we have a big, big problem. 27:10.677 --> 27:12.900 [SPEAKER_00]: This was a tremendous mystery. 27:13.661 --> 27:16.284 [SPEAKER_00]: How any of this worked until Jesus came along. 27:17.065 --> 27:26.657 [SPEAKER_00]: And many people got confused and to thinking that the reason God gave the law was so that if you could keep the law really, really well, that might be good enough for you to get into eternity with God. 27:26.717 --> 27:28.219 [SPEAKER_00]: That God might be able to accept that. 27:28.279 --> 27:31.523 [SPEAKER_00]: But was that was never the way it was meant to work. 27:31.543 --> 27:33.666 [SPEAKER_00]: And the fourth pillar is Jesus. 27:34.591 --> 27:40.881 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus came to be a bridge across him possible divide between us and God. 27:40.901 --> 27:43.985 [SPEAKER_00]: There was no way that we could be righteous without Him. 27:45.067 --> 27:52.598 [SPEAKER_00]: Romans 5 says, but God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 27:53.339 --> 28:01.071 [SPEAKER_00]: And since we had been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation. 28:01.338 --> 28:15.043 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus came into this earth, as the son of God lived a perfect life, died on the cross for us in a very public way, so lots of people would see it, so that he could save humans. 28:15.496 --> 28:16.537 [SPEAKER_00]: So that he could represent us. 28:16.577 --> 28:19.201 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says the Adam was the representative of the human race. 28:19.421 --> 28:20.422 [SPEAKER_00]: The took us all into sin. 28:20.762 --> 28:24.387 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus becomes the new Adam, the new representative of the human race. 28:24.407 --> 28:26.710 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the only human who never inherited sin. 28:27.030 --> 28:27.531 [SPEAKER_00]: Never sinned. 28:27.571 --> 28:29.253 [SPEAKER_00]: He was tempted in every way like we are. 28:29.273 --> 28:31.495 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says, but he did not sin. 28:31.515 --> 28:34.799 [SPEAKER_00]: So he's the only one who could be righteous and pay the price. 28:34.819 --> 28:35.721 [SPEAKER_00]: But he's also God. 28:37.162 --> 28:38.924 [SPEAKER_00]: So he's a perfect, sinless human. 28:38.965 --> 28:40.987 [SPEAKER_00]: And he's God, he's infinite. 28:41.007 --> 28:45.132 [SPEAKER_00]: And so his payment is infinite, which works out really, really well for you and me. 28:45.770 --> 28:48.114 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a one-to-one sort of relationship. 28:49.056 --> 28:54.165 [SPEAKER_00]: Even if I could be completely perfect and die, that sacrifice counts for one of you. 28:55.347 --> 28:56.629 [SPEAKER_00]: But he's got, he's infinite. 28:56.649 --> 28:59.254 [SPEAKER_00]: So his sacrifice covers everybody. 28:59.534 --> 29:01.478 [SPEAKER_00]: He dies once for all. 29:02.299 --> 29:04.643 [SPEAKER_00]: But it doesn't stay dead. 29:04.663 --> 29:08.089 [SPEAKER_00]: The gospel requires the resurrection of the Savior. 29:08.530 --> 29:10.714 [SPEAKER_00]: And the fifth pillar is life. 29:10.981 --> 29:14.601 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus came back to life when he rose from the dead. 29:15.165 --> 29:18.443 [SPEAKER_00]: And when that happened, he defeated death. 29:18.625 --> 29:22.791 [SPEAKER_00]: And he made possible life real life for all of us. 29:22.871 --> 29:24.734 [SPEAKER_00]: Look at Romans 6, it says, we are sure of this. 29:25.515 --> 29:27.798 [SPEAKER_00]: Because Christ was raised from the dead. 29:28.038 --> 29:29.040 [SPEAKER_00]: And he will never die again. 29:29.340 --> 29:33.686 [SPEAKER_00]: Death no longer has any power over him over us, either if we trust in him. 29:34.067 --> 29:37.332 [SPEAKER_00]: When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. 29:37.572 --> 29:39.054 [SPEAKER_00]: And so it was by Jesus' death. 29:39.134 --> 29:43.841 [SPEAKER_00]: And then his resurrection that proves he has power over sin and death. 29:43.901 --> 29:47.586 [SPEAKER_00]: He has conquered both of them, life defeats death. 29:47.785 --> 29:51.571 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks to what Jesus did for us on the cross and in His resurrection. 29:51.812 --> 30:11.886 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's His new life that allows us to have new life because we now have a representative before God the Father who says on our behalf, this one's mine, my payment on the cross paid for all of His sins as bad as they are, and my righteousness, the only way he can get into eternal life, my righteousness is His ticket. 30:13.199 --> 30:17.904 [SPEAKER_00]: and Jesus gives you His righteousness so that you can be a part of God's family forever. 30:19.066 --> 30:20.447 [SPEAKER_00]: A dead Savior wouldn't be enough. 30:21.208 --> 30:24.712 [SPEAKER_00]: The gospel requires the resurrection of Jesus. 30:25.533 --> 30:30.319 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we get to the sixth pillar, which is peace, peace with God. 30:30.959 --> 30:35.044 [SPEAKER_00]: Because of all of this, God created us, He created people. 30:35.505 --> 30:37.587 [SPEAKER_00]: Everything was good, people sinned. 30:37.718 --> 30:39.965 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus came to be the bridge for us. 30:40.447 --> 30:41.751 [SPEAKER_00]: He died and rose again. 30:41.791 --> 30:43.697 [SPEAKER_00]: He has life and he has life to give us. 30:44.118 --> 30:45.703 [SPEAKER_00]: We can have peace with God. 30:45.743 --> 30:47.509 [SPEAKER_00]: Romans 5 says therefore. 30:47.725 --> 30:56.777 [SPEAKER_00]: Since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 30:57.497 --> 30:59.180 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because of what Jesus did on the cross. 30:59.981 --> 31:04.486 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because He came back to life that we get to be made right with God. 31:04.526 --> 31:07.070 [SPEAKER_00]: We have peace with God when we deserve judgment. 31:07.570 --> 31:09.733 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not just for now. 31:09.950 --> 31:11.394 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we take this for granted. 31:11.434 --> 31:13.078 [SPEAKER_00]: It could have been that God just said, you know what? 31:13.479 --> 31:18.913 [SPEAKER_00]: For your life on the earth, before I do away with you completely, you get to have a relationship with me. 31:19.074 --> 31:20.297 [SPEAKER_00]: No, it's forever. 31:20.716 --> 31:22.679 [SPEAKER_00]: He lets us have eternal life with him forever. 31:22.779 --> 31:35.939 [SPEAKER_00]: Second Corinthians five says, so we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies, we are not at home with the Lord for, we live by believing and not by seeing, yes, we are fully confident, and would rather be a way for these earthly bodies. 31:35.959 --> 31:38.783 [SPEAKER_00]: For then, we will be at home with the Lord. 31:38.803 --> 31:42.048 [SPEAKER_00]: Our new home, if we've trusted in Jesus, is with God. 31:42.769 --> 31:47.696 [SPEAKER_00]: This is why, when a follower of Jesus dies, it's really only a tragedy for us. 31:48.497 --> 31:50.200 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't feel bad for them. 31:50.433 --> 31:51.334 [SPEAKER_00]: They're in a better place. 31:52.095 --> 31:52.735 [SPEAKER_00]: They're with God. 31:52.996 --> 31:56.079 [SPEAKER_00]: They're in their eternal home with their heavenly Father. 31:56.579 --> 32:00.083 [SPEAKER_00]: We feel bad for us, and it's appropriate in those times to grieve and to mourn. 32:00.163 --> 32:05.669 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says there's a time for mourning, but we're really mourning for our loss of relationship with them. 32:05.969 --> 32:12.155 [SPEAKER_00]: Their relationship with God just got a whole lot cooler that we look forward to experiencing one day. 32:13.096 --> 32:19.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Eternal peace with God. 32:21.010 --> 32:29.262 [SPEAKER_00]: And those six pillars, based on the authority of God's Word, are the gospel in a nutshell, the gospel essentials. 32:29.362 --> 32:32.466 [SPEAKER_00]: God, people sin Jesus, life, peace. 32:33.388 --> 32:38.475 [SPEAKER_00]: But there's two important details that I really wanna highlight and point out that are a part of all of this. 32:39.356 --> 32:46.386 [SPEAKER_00]: The pathway to peace is all because of what Jesus did, not because of anything that we can do. 32:46.466 --> 32:49.110 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we say it's by faith alone. 32:49.630 --> 32:55.300 [SPEAKER_00]: is only by faith that this happens. 32:55.320 --> 32:58.526 [SPEAKER_00]: Ephesians 2 says, God, save you by His grace when you believed. 32:58.867 --> 32:59.488 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the faith. 33:00.410 --> 33:01.892 [SPEAKER_00]: And you can't take credit for this. 33:01.912 --> 33:03.475 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a gift from God. 33:03.796 --> 33:07.362 [SPEAKER_00]: Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. 33:07.462 --> 33:10.127 [SPEAKER_00]: So none of us can boast about it. 33:11.490 --> 33:13.393 [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people think. 33:13.947 --> 33:17.431 [SPEAKER_00]: that the way to salvation is Jesus plus some stuff that I do. 33:18.092 --> 33:18.933 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's how I get there. 33:19.353 --> 33:23.297 [SPEAKER_00]: And there are churches that teach, yes, Jesus died on the cross. 33:24.499 --> 33:25.420 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, he rose again. 33:25.460 --> 33:27.262 [SPEAKER_00]: You gotta believe in that. 33:27.622 --> 33:29.244 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, here's some other things you need to do. 33:29.284 --> 33:32.007 [SPEAKER_00]: And together, they will help you be made right with God. 33:32.027 --> 33:34.110 [SPEAKER_00]: Together, they will get you into heaven eternally. 33:35.251 --> 33:38.014 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is a false gospel. 33:38.905 --> 33:45.913 [SPEAKER_00]: That crosses the line, that's not preference, that's not conviction, that's not doctrine, that is dogma, that's the most essential core things. 33:46.954 --> 33:55.883 [SPEAKER_00]: You cannot say it is Jesus plus anything, because as soon as you do that, as soon as Jesus plus something else, you have cheapened the sacrifice of Jesus. 33:55.904 --> 33:59.928 [SPEAKER_00]: You've said, well, what Jesus did for me is helpful, but it's not enough, God wants some stuff from me too. 34:00.128 --> 34:03.992 [SPEAKER_00]: And the message of the Bible is, God doesn't want anything from you, other than your faith. 34:04.633 --> 34:05.554 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's not a work. 34:06.412 --> 34:11.217 [SPEAKER_00]: The message of the Bible is all of your righteousness, Isaiah says, is like filthy rags to God. 34:11.857 --> 34:14.279 [SPEAKER_00]: All the good stuff you do could never make up for the bet. 34:14.300 --> 34:19.444 [SPEAKER_00]: It is only by trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus that you can be made right with God. 34:19.665 --> 34:27.072 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you trust in that plus some stuff that you do, then you have now said I don't actually fully trust in the sacrifice of Jesus. 34:28.013 --> 34:29.174 [SPEAKER_00]: Because you've added something to it. 34:29.194 --> 34:30.775 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a false gospel. 34:30.815 --> 34:32.337 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what Paul warns about. 34:32.357 --> 34:33.718 [SPEAKER_00]: And so it's by faith alone. 34:34.694 --> 34:38.958 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, there is no other way, but through Jesus. 34:39.659 --> 34:43.924 [SPEAKER_00]: There is no alternate path that you can take and so we say it's in Christ alone. 34:44.744 --> 34:47.768 [SPEAKER_00]: It is by faith alone, and it's in Christ alone. 34:47.848 --> 34:51.632 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus Himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 34:52.292 --> 34:55.255 [SPEAKER_00]: No one can come to the Father except through me. 34:56.036 --> 35:02.743 [SPEAKER_00]: There are churches out there that teach a different version of the Gospel that says, Jesus is one way. 35:03.314 --> 35:04.556 [SPEAKER_00]: but there are lots of other ways. 35:05.737 --> 35:08.761 [SPEAKER_00]: That is a false gospel. 35:09.763 --> 35:23.922 [SPEAKER_00]: There are issues where we would divide and say, we can't actually be together in the same family of faith in an organized way because of how different those beliefs are. 35:24.813 --> 35:29.761 [SPEAKER_00]: Now people that are struggling with this and want to learn more are welcome to be here and attend our church and be involved. 35:29.781 --> 35:33.427 [SPEAKER_00]: But if they disagree on this stuff here, they can't be in leadership. 35:33.447 --> 35:34.268 [SPEAKER_00]: They can't be a member. 35:34.308 --> 35:36.692 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the stuff where we say, we don't believe that here. 35:37.373 --> 35:38.796 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the things we will divide over. 35:39.016 --> 35:40.679 [SPEAKER_00]: These are the things we will die for. 35:40.739 --> 35:48.812 [SPEAKER_00]: If someone were to come in here and say, I'm going to shoot you if you don't deny the fact that Jesus is the only way, then I would hope that a whole lot of us would say, here I am. 35:48.792 --> 35:49.673 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not denying that. 35:49.954 --> 35:52.758 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the most important thing that we believe in. 35:53.198 --> 35:56.803 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the stuff that we cannot let be clouded out by the other issues. 35:58.185 --> 35:59.667 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we treat as more important. 35:59.687 --> 36:04.153 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember, Paul spent 14 chapters on all the secondary issues and then said in chapter 15. 36:04.194 --> 36:06.757 [SPEAKER_00]: But remember, this is most important. 36:06.777 --> 36:08.860 [SPEAKER_00]: What Jesus did for us is most important. 36:09.920 --> 36:22.954 [SPEAKER_00]: If you use our discussion guides and your small groups, you will see that one of the sections that we have for you is actually a look at a different passage of scripture that's not in the message today, but it's all about the false gospels. 36:22.974 --> 36:26.663 [SPEAKER_00]: This was a major thing that Paul dealt with and it's still a thing today. 36:27.487 --> 36:41.091 [SPEAKER_00]: So we have to know what we believe, the core of what we believe, and we have to make sure we understand those are the things that matter most, and we have to be certain that the other things, the preferences, the convictions, even the doctrines don't make us lose sight of the dogma. 36:41.111 --> 36:49.305 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's why, as important as our other doctrines are, the dogma's more important, because there are other churches out there who believe the same dogma we do. 36:49.505 --> 36:52.110 [SPEAKER_00]: They believe the message about Jesus, they believe He's the only way. 36:52.090 --> 36:53.974 [SPEAKER_00]: They believe it's by faith alone and Christ alone. 36:53.994 --> 36:57.161 [SPEAKER_00]: They believe all of that stuff, but they do disagree on some doctrine with us. 36:57.442 --> 36:59.286 [SPEAKER_00]: And we would not say, well, then you can't be Christians. 37:00.308 --> 37:01.631 [SPEAKER_00]: We have to understand that distinction. 37:02.593 --> 37:05.560 [SPEAKER_00]: We would say, you're wrong on some doctrine. 37:06.147 --> 37:08.469 [SPEAKER_00]: But we're still members of the same faith. 37:09.150 --> 37:10.812 [SPEAKER_00]: We're still followers of Jesus together. 37:11.412 --> 37:13.814 [SPEAKER_00]: And we can still serve together and be involved in things together. 37:13.855 --> 37:17.018 [SPEAKER_00]: We're just, we're gonna go to different churches because we have some different doctrine. 37:17.038 --> 37:18.459 [SPEAKER_00]: And we think that doctrine's really important. 37:18.819 --> 37:27.308 [SPEAKER_00]: But we have to have that fourth bucket so that we can understand what really makes you a follower of Jesus even if we think you're wrong about some important other beliefs. 37:27.348 --> 37:30.170 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the distinction between the dogma and the doctrine. 37:31.091 --> 37:34.855 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, it could be that there are some people here today 37:35.543 --> 37:40.689 [SPEAKER_00]: who after going through that presentation of the gospel are recognizing, I didn't really understand that before. 37:41.951 --> 37:46.196 [SPEAKER_00]: There may be some people who are thinking, you know, I didn't really get the fact that Jesus is the only way. 37:46.857 --> 37:51.763 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I didn't get the fact that it's only by trusting to him, I thought I had to do some other stuff along with it. 37:52.744 --> 37:56.809 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to tell you today is the day to get that right between you and God. 37:57.548 --> 38:15.392 [SPEAKER_00]: And I would encourage you, after the service today, we'll have prayer team members up here, we'll have pastors around, you'll see people with landiers walking around the church, talk to somebody, or if you were brought by somebody, talk to them about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus that includes the true gospel message. 38:16.473 --> 38:27.488 [SPEAKER_00]: Believe in what God did for you, experiencing that freedom from your sin, that forgiveness that God gives that new life and Christ, 38:27.670 --> 38:30.215 [SPEAKER_00]: And so if that's you today, I want you to know, we are here for you. 38:30.396 --> 38:32.961 [SPEAKER_00]: You could even scan the QR code and let us know there. 38:33.282 --> 38:34.685 [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll follow up with you and we'll talk. 38:34.725 --> 38:36.228 [SPEAKER_00]: If you don't want to talk to somebody today, that's fine. 38:36.689 --> 38:43.623 [SPEAKER_00]: But we want to help you understand what it means to really follow Jesus and the good news about Jesus. 38:44.024 --> 38:48.193 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, chances are for most of us here in the room, watch online, everybody. 38:48.528 --> 38:51.772 [SPEAKER_00]: that we believe this message, a lot of us anyway, a lot of us believe this. 38:51.792 --> 38:54.034 [SPEAKER_00]: But here's where we get in a little bit of trouble. 38:54.535 --> 39:01.282 [SPEAKER_00]: We believed that one time, a long time ago, maybe for some of us, and it doesn't quite have the impact in our lives that it once did. 39:02.223 --> 39:10.432 [SPEAKER_00]: As we get some distance from it, other things get closer to us, and they sort of cloud out our vision of the things that matter most. 39:10.452 --> 39:11.133 [SPEAKER_00]: It's nothing new. 39:11.393 --> 39:12.274 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what Paul dealt with. 39:12.494 --> 39:15.177 [SPEAKER_00]: It's what Jesus dealt with, but we've got to be aware of it. 39:16.051 --> 39:22.802 [SPEAKER_00]: when are we allowing these other things to become big deals to us and we're losing sight of the gospel in our lives? 39:22.983 --> 39:28.732 [SPEAKER_00]: It should still be just as meaningful to you today as it was the day you first trusted in it. 39:29.934 --> 39:33.560 [SPEAKER_00]: And one way to think about that is through the gospel application. 39:33.580 --> 39:35.764 [SPEAKER_00]: We've talked a lot about gospel essentials. 39:35.980 --> 39:43.991 [SPEAKER_00]: There's gospel context, which is other related questions and theological things about the gospel theories about how it works behind the scenes. 39:44.292 --> 39:45.614 [SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk more about that in the future. 39:46.275 --> 39:51.322 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want to touch just on gospel application for a little bit, because that's really, really relevant for us today. 39:51.362 --> 39:53.905 [SPEAKER_00]: If we're going to keep the main thing, the main thing. 39:54.747 --> 39:58.352 [SPEAKER_00]: Believe us, we've got to know how the gospel impacts our lives. 39:58.392 --> 40:01.536 [SPEAKER_00]: We use a phrase around here called Jesus is the difference. 40:01.616 --> 40:03.018 [SPEAKER_00]: One of our distinctive values. 40:03.078 --> 40:04.300 [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is the difference. 40:04.735 --> 40:05.797 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's what we mean by that. 40:06.319 --> 40:08.043 [SPEAKER_00]: It's all about the gospel, what he does in our life. 40:08.303 --> 40:12.333 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the difference between a life of guilt or grace. 40:12.353 --> 40:14.057 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's because of the gospel. 40:14.077 --> 40:18.407 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the difference between a life of the emptiness or fulfillment because of the gospel. 40:18.607 --> 40:21.290 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the difference between wandering and purpose. 40:21.451 --> 40:22.412 [SPEAKER_00]: It's because of the gospel. 40:22.652 --> 40:26.617 [SPEAKER_00]: He's the difference between discouragement and hope because of the gospel. 40:26.838 --> 40:31.784 [SPEAKER_00]: He is the difference in our lives and that should make a difference every day in the way we operate. 40:31.804 --> 40:35.769 [SPEAKER_00]: But let me give you a few more examples of how the gospel should impact your everyday life. 40:36.730 --> 40:37.191 [SPEAKER_00]: Forgiveness. 40:38.352 --> 40:41.336 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says that you should forgive others, why? 40:42.858 --> 40:44.260 [SPEAKER_00]: Why should you forgive others? 40:44.932 --> 40:46.634 [SPEAKER_00]: because Christ forgave you. 40:46.934 --> 40:47.855 [SPEAKER_00]: What's he talking about? 40:47.875 --> 40:48.396 [SPEAKER_00]: The gospel. 40:49.397 --> 40:54.383 [SPEAKER_00]: When you forgive someone this week for something they did, that is your obedience to the gospel. 40:54.864 --> 40:57.647 [SPEAKER_00]: Because Christ forgave you, you should now forgive others. 40:57.927 --> 41:00.010 [SPEAKER_00]: Wholeheartedly, not holding on to bitterness. 41:00.771 --> 41:02.413 [SPEAKER_00]: Just freely offering that forgiveness. 41:02.493 --> 41:02.733 [SPEAKER_00]: Why? 41:02.793 --> 41:03.754 [SPEAKER_00]: Because Jesus forgave you. 41:03.935 --> 41:05.837 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the gospel at work in your life. 41:06.357 --> 41:07.699 [SPEAKER_00]: Humility. 41:07.679 --> 41:09.041 [SPEAKER_00]: comes from the gospel. 41:09.621 --> 41:12.104 [SPEAKER_00]: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. 41:12.644 --> 41:18.311 [SPEAKER_00]: He did not hold on to His divine privileges, but He humbled Himself even to the death of the cross. 41:18.751 --> 41:23.216 [SPEAKER_00]: You should have that same mindset that Jesus had, the mindset of humility, why? 41:23.957 --> 41:25.399 [SPEAKER_00]: Because He humbled Himself to the cross. 41:26.219 --> 41:29.143 [SPEAKER_00]: Because of the gospel, you should have humility, not arrogance. 41:29.964 --> 41:32.546 [SPEAKER_00]: That's how the gospel impacts your every day, life. 41:33.287 --> 41:35.830 [SPEAKER_00]: Mercy comes from the gospel. 41:36.637 --> 41:40.142 [SPEAKER_00]: God was so merciful to us so we can be merciful to others. 41:40.503 --> 41:43.166 [SPEAKER_00]: Hard work comes from the gospel. 41:44.148 --> 41:47.633 [SPEAKER_00]: As believers, we should work hard because of the gospel. 41:48.234 --> 41:49.476 [SPEAKER_00]: Is that how does that check out? 41:50.377 --> 41:56.466 [SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says, work hard at whatever you do as working for the Lord and not for men. 41:57.367 --> 41:58.729 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lord is your Savior. 41:59.063 --> 42:02.826 [SPEAKER_00]: He became your Lord when you trusted him, when you believed the gospel. 42:02.846 --> 42:06.850 [SPEAKER_00]: Because of the gospel impact in your life, you should be a better employee. 42:07.591 --> 42:08.171 [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that crazy? 42:08.892 --> 42:10.453 [SPEAKER_00]: You should be a more diligent hard work. 42:10.493 --> 42:22.464 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not talking to workaholic, but I'm just saying you should be an employee that has the utmost integrity and character and diligence and working hard and intentionally in what you do because you're working for God now and not for people. 42:22.664 --> 42:25.106 [SPEAKER_00]: At whatever you do, he was actually talking to slaves. 42:25.847 --> 42:27.248 [SPEAKER_00]: He was not talking to pastors. 42:27.953 --> 42:29.756 [SPEAKER_00]: But that's the gospel, I'm glad you liked it. 42:31.418 --> 42:33.061 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the gospel that work in your life. 42:33.862 --> 42:40.473 [SPEAKER_00]: For goodness, humility, mercy, we could go on a justice, working hard, all of this, you can trace it back to the gospel, so believers. 42:40.533 --> 42:49.126 [SPEAKER_00]: This week, as you're thinking about how you live, as you're thinking about how you respond to people, as you're thinking about how you engage and interact with your family, your spouse, your children, your coworkers, all of these people. 42:49.326 --> 42:53.573 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to be asking yourself, how what difference does the gospel make in my life right now? 42:54.464 --> 42:55.205 [SPEAKER_00]: because it should. 42:55.986 --> 43:02.696 [SPEAKER_00]: And the Bible actually teaches of all of these threads of connection that go right from the gospel message to how we live today. 43:03.477 --> 43:10.186 [SPEAKER_00]: And so we have to keep that the most important thing in our lives. 43:10.847 --> 43:23.745 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't allow the little things to become big things that cloud our vision of how the gospel is at work in our lives every single day. 43:25.463 --> 43:36.257 [SPEAKER_00]: Heavenly Father, you have provided for us such an incredible guidebook for life that is so much deeper and richer than we often understand and appreciate. 43:37.059 --> 43:54.542 [SPEAKER_00]: And just to think today about the impact that the gospel message has on everything we do and how it is just integrated all throughout Scripture, what you did for us, it's not just fire insurance, it's not just a one time event, it's something that should make a difference 43:55.433 --> 43:56.414 [SPEAKER_00]: God, you created us. 43:56.895 --> 44:04.425 [SPEAKER_00]: You created people, people sinned against you, but you gave Jesus to die for us so that He could come back to life so that He could give us life. 44:04.445 --> 44:09.832 [SPEAKER_00]: So that we could have peace with you and all of that is not some stagnant fact from our past. 44:10.113 --> 44:12.456 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not some formula that we once believe. 44:12.496 --> 44:14.679 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the thing that is still saving us, Paul says. 44:16.281 --> 44:18.084 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the thing that still impacts us. 44:18.144 --> 44:20.507 [SPEAKER_00]: It is the thing that should still change the way we live. 44:22.389 --> 44:25.153 [SPEAKER_00]: And so my prayer God is that you would help us to do that. 44:26.028 --> 44:38.763 [SPEAKER_00]: I pray that your Holy Spirit would remind all of us of what it looks like each and every day to live out of the gospel, not as just some thing that we believe, but as a living, breathing presence in our lives every single day. 44:39.844 --> 44:46.992 [SPEAKER_00]: Remembering the difference that it makes for us and God if there's anybody here, who has not believed the true gospel, I pray that today would be to the day. 44:47.693 --> 44:55.782 [SPEAKER_00]: I pray that you would show them how much you love them, how much you want them to be part of your family, how you've made a way for them, 44:56.555 --> 44:58.025 [SPEAKER_00]: so that they can have peace with you. 44:59.112 --> 45:01.165 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's in Jesus' time, we pray this, amen.