WEBVTT 00:00:00.380 --> 00:00:04.720 If you turn with me in your Bible to two Romans, chapter 14, that's where we're going to be at together today. 00:00:05.180 --> 00:00:07.500 And I want you to know, I didn't prepare a mother's Day message. 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:08.000 All right? 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:09.360 I can tell you this. 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:15.000 This can relate to mothers because we're talking about being a help rather than than a hindrance. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:22.100 And I think as a mom, sometimes you might figure out how in the family dynamic, how to pick your battles in order 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:24.840 to help your children and your family to succeed. 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:29.130 So I think this will be very much practical, but I promise we're going to end with the mother's illustration. 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:29.680 All right. 00:00:29.740 --> 00:00:31.980 So we're going to we're going to tie it all in a beautiful way today. 00:00:32.680 --> 00:00:39.960 But Romans chapter 14, if you remember where we are in the story of Romans, the first 11 chapters of Romans deals with your 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.040 relationship to the Lord, Right? 00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:43.720 What Christ has done for you. 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:48.590 It's really not about what you've done, because the only thing you do for your salvation is all the sinning. 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:53.670 Christ does everything else right, which is not a good contribution that you're making to this. 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:55.820 But Jesus does everything else. 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:00.410 Jesus comes and He redeems us and His life is sufficient for us and everything He's done, He gives us a new identity. 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:07.890 And in that new identity, we find new purpose, new value worth, and what our life is called for in Christ. 00:01:08.100 --> 00:01:11.720 And then in Romans chapter 12, it's the practical outworking of that. 00:01:12.240 --> 00:01:16.720 And what we discover is our love for God is demonstrated in the way that we care for others. 00:01:17.240 --> 00:01:24.280 And so when we want to live out our faith, it's very much a relational experience where first, our vertical relationship with 00:01:24.280 --> 00:01:27.220 God then impacts our horizontal relationship with others. 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:34.300 I think it almost said horrible relationship with others, but horizontal is what I mean, horizontal relationship with others. 00:01:34.460 --> 00:01:41.620 And Paul's bringing this to the to a place now that sometimes we recognize we come from different walks of life, different places and 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:46.500 where we've been different cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds, educational levels. 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:47.650 It's just it can vary. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.820 And so when we come into the body of Christ, we're different. 00:01:51.060 --> 00:01:54.420 And God created this diversity for a reason. 00:01:54.440 --> 00:01:56.000 I think it's honoring to the Lord. 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:01.130 But also at the same time there is a unity that God desires for us to experience in that diversity. 00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:08.600 And to what degree do we hold to the tenets of our faith and what really for us becomes tertiary 00:02:08.600 --> 00:02:11.420 issues like how do we find common ground to move forward in? 00:02:11.420 --> 00:02:16.060 And this is what Paul's discussing in Romans chapter 14 and Romans chapter 15. 00:02:16.320 --> 00:02:22.080 And today he's talking about how we can be a help, not a hindrance, on our journey together. 00:02:22.920 --> 00:02:25.800 Certainly God wants to journey with you in a personal way. 00:02:26.220 --> 00:02:29.620 Jesus came for a very personal reason in your life. 00:02:29.720 --> 00:02:33.940 But God doesn't just leave it there that he also calls us into community. 00:02:33.940 --> 00:02:39.460 And so this Christian life that we're on, you're on a journey and your walk with the Lord that should impact the world around you. 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:43.840 But it's not an individualistic journey that he calls us to do this as a community. 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:51.180 In fact, in Romans 14, you're going to see this idea of not putting any hindrances before one another on this journey. 00:02:51.940 --> 00:02:58.460 In Hebrews Chapter 12, he tells us to run with endurance, the race that's before us and Galatians Chapter five. 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:00.860 He talks about walking in the spirit. 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:01.040 So. 00:03:01.160 --> 00:03:08.180 So this idea of the Christian life being a journey that we're on as God's community together is a is an important idea 00:03:08.180 --> 00:03:09.400 to Scripture. 00:03:09.940 --> 00:03:17.080 And in Romans 14 and verse 13, Paul starts off this section of Scripture by really giving us this key idea of what he's going to focus 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:20.590 on within these next few verses to end this chapter. 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:22.560 And the way that we know that is he comes to this word therefore. 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:28.900 And you know, if you read scripture, you've always got to ask, what therefore is there for when you're when you're interpreting the Bible? 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:36.400 But he gives this summary idea of what his thought is towards God's community as we move forward, recognizing 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.400 that we're a collective group of people coming from different walks of life. 00:03:40.440 --> 00:03:47.580 He says this therefore, let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:51.160 a stumbling block or a hindrance in the way of a brother. 00:03:52.220 --> 00:03:53.720 This word for stumbling block. 00:03:54.040 --> 00:03:57.320 He uses it in verse 13, verse 20, verse 21. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:04.700 And again it's this idea of we're on this path together and we don't want to create any hindrances or encumbrances to prevent 00:04:04.700 --> 00:04:07.530 someone from enjoying the journey as God's community. 00:04:08.200 --> 00:04:15.340 And he goes on and describes in verse 20 and 21, he talks about the idea of destroying the work that God is doing among his people, that God's doing 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:21.740 a beautiful thing and He doesn't want us to come in and tear it down, but rather build up what God desires to do. 00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:26.460 The same picture that you might have for being a mother within the context of your home. 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:32.800 How can I leverage where I am in life to help my family become what God has called them to be? 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:35.060 Both physical family, spiritual family? 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:41.140 I think God's desire for us, as Jesus has given himself completely for us to fill our lives in Him. 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:48.300 So he now calls us to mimic that in the world that we now being filled in Christ, have something to give in to this world to help others become 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:50.930 who God has called them to be. 00:04:51.140 --> 00:04:54.840 Now, there is a degree to this passage that is not healthy. 00:04:55.220 --> 00:04:59.830 And what I mean is it is not your responsibility to. 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:03.290 Force other people down a path, right? 00:05:03.640 --> 00:05:06.460 What people choose to do with their lives. 00:05:06.460 --> 00:05:08.520 Is there going to be accountable for it? 00:05:08.520 --> 00:05:11.360 You're not accountable for what someone else chooses to do. 00:05:11.840 --> 00:05:19.020 However, we can provide the opportunity to invite them on that journey and allow that path to be removed 00:05:19.020 --> 00:05:20.640 of hindrances or encumbrances. 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:26.890 And what I mean is when Paul's talking about this journey, he's very much discussing it in a in a relational way. 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:33.840 He's using a picture of clearing a path, not expecting that you physically go out and clear someone's path. 00:05:33.840 --> 00:05:40.920 But what he's saying is the way that we interact with someone in the community of God's people is what really 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:45.020 provides that platform to enjoy that journey together. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:52.860 So the responsibility for us as God's people is not to force someone on this path and not to not 00:05:52.860 --> 00:05:53.880 to feel guilt. 00:05:53.960 --> 00:06:01.180 If someone chooses to walk away from the Lord or to walk contrary to what God calls us to do, I 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:07.000 think we can always encourage people that when they air in their relationship with God or head down a bad path. 00:06:07.900 --> 00:06:15.140 But what God is calling us here in this passage is to simply open up the opportunity for people to know Christ better and 00:06:15.140 --> 00:06:18.140 to walk with him more deeply in his community. 00:06:18.580 --> 00:06:20.280 And he uses this word judgment. 00:06:21.300 --> 00:06:21.620 Right. 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:23.400 Therefore, let us not pass judgment. 00:06:23.420 --> 00:06:30.480 And I think it's important just to remind us in terms of judgment what we're discussing here, because in our culture today, we like to take this 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.290 word judgment and say things the Lord does not mean with judgment. 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.120 A lot of times people like to say, thou shalt not judge. 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:40.860 Thou shall not judge as if to say, You can't look at what I'm doing and call it wrong. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:41.420 Right. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:44.130 And I want you to know that's not biblical. 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:49.760 It's completely okay to judge right from wrong. 00:06:49.760 --> 00:06:50.200 Right. 00:06:50.340 --> 00:06:53.040 As God's people, we you certainly should discern. 00:06:53.100 --> 00:06:54.610 I think a better way of saying that is discernment. 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:57.430 There are things in your life that are healthy. 00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:05.080 There are things in your life that are not healthy and you should be able to discern what is right, what is good, what is wholesome, what is healthy, and to 00:07:05.080 --> 00:07:06.920 walk down that path and what is not. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:10.760 So in terms of judgment, Scripture does not refer to it that judgment in that way. 00:07:10.780 --> 00:07:12.540 He's not saying, look, never judge at all. 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:14.020 That would be ignorant, right? 00:07:14.080 --> 00:07:19.040 I mean, you think you've got to make good choices with your life because you care about life and life is sacred. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:25.620 And you should encourage other people when they're making choices that's going to destroy their lives to talk about those things. 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:33.080 But what he does mean in terms of judgment is to look down on someone else as if their value 00:07:33.080 --> 00:07:34.210 is depreciated. 00:07:35.760 --> 00:07:40.840 And what this reminder is for us is that everyone is made in the image of God. 00:07:40.900 --> 00:07:47.600 Just because someone makes poor choices or just because they might choose to do something a little different than you. 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:48.860 Doesn't make them less than you. 00:07:49.940 --> 00:07:57.160 In fact, in Romans chapter 14 and verse one, the way that Paul referred to this discussion, he said he encouraged us to stay strong 00:07:57.160 --> 00:07:58.690 in the faith in Romans 14 one. 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:06.060 But he said in matter of opinions and matter of opinions, which these are tertiary issues, these might be cultural 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:10.840 distinctions of which how one people group lived versus another. 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:18.240 And we'll talk a little bit more about that in the Jew and Gentile dynamic among the Roman Christians there was there was some some 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:23.690 things unique to the Jewish culture that the Jews would have done that may not have been unique to the Gentile culture. 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:31.260 And yet they're called to be one in the body of Christ and to live out this mission for which God has called his people to do collectively in 00:08:31.260 --> 00:08:31.660 him. 00:08:32.760 --> 00:08:39.860 And so culturally, there are these distinctions, matters of opinion, but they are not issues to divide the body of Christ over because God 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.780 wants us to walk together in him. 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:50.000 So in terms of judgment, discernment is important, but never to the degree of looking down on someone else and trying to force everyone to live 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.680 exactly as you live in matters of opinion. 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.660 So Paul today wants to give us a few key thoughts. 00:08:57.660 --> 00:09:02.460 And we're going to we're going to remind ourselves of these answers he's going to give in the term of a key question. 00:09:02.540 --> 00:09:08.680 The key question is this How do we help people on their journey with Jesus rather than hinder them? 00:09:09.180 --> 00:09:11.730 And Paul, in these passages, he's going to give us four points. 00:09:11.900 --> 00:09:15.020 And I want to look at verse 14 is where this first point comes from. 00:09:15.080 --> 00:09:16.190 But this is what the apostle Paul says. 00:09:16.400 --> 00:09:23.400 He says, I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in 00:09:23.400 --> 00:09:25.000 itself. 00:09:25.740 --> 00:09:29.800 What Paul is saying here is this number one in your notes is be confident in the Lord. 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:30.340 And you see this. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:32.960 You see this in Paul's statement here, Right. 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.960 If you want to live for God's glory, to the benefit of others in this world, number one, what you need is to be confident in the Lord. 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:44.960 And Paul is outlining this one in his persuasion in the Lord, and then how that has brought him to a place where he recognizes there is 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.140 nothing unclean in itself. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:54.780 His heart is established, persuaded, confident in Christ, in the faith that he holds to, and 00:09:54.780 --> 00:10:00.300 therefore, in that confidence, he recognizes that nothing in this world is unclean in and of itself. 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:02.950 And we'll talk a little bit more about that in just a minute. 00:10:03.420 --> 00:10:08.120 But people that are not confident, they want to hold to a position, but they're not confident. 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:15.420 They tend to be defensive, sometimes aggressive, and they like to make things personal in order to 00:10:15.420 --> 00:10:19.110 grab hold of those things they may not feel very confident in. 00:10:19.800 --> 00:10:23.660 But people who are confident they may be passionate. 00:10:25.040 --> 00:10:32.540 In fact, because you're so confident in a conviction that you may carry, you should be passionate depending on the degree of importance of 00:10:32.540 --> 00:10:33.720 the thing that you're standing on. 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:39.840 But at the end of the day, their confidence is not determined on what people do or don't do. 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:46.960 If you reject what they say or what they're doing, being confident in their position will not determine how they choose 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:53.580 to live because they're resting in something different than your opinion of what they are or what they're saying. 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:57.760 They've established themselves on something greater. 00:10:57.780 --> 00:11:01.400 And so they're not deterred, deterred by what other people do. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.930 They have a deeper conviction. 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:10.640 And so Paul says it like this, that in shaping our identity in Christ, having these deep convictions. 00:11:10.640 --> 00:11:12.810 I love what Paul does in these passages. 00:11:12.920 --> 00:11:20.080 He talks about he's going to talk about food and drink as a way that the body of Christ is being divided 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:22.770 right now in Rome and he's encouraging them to walk in unity. 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:25.660 Don't separate over over what you think about food. 00:11:25.680 --> 00:11:33.160 That's a silly issue to separate over but he's acknowledging here that some people may call certain foods unclean and 00:11:33.160 --> 00:11:34.060 he's acknowledging here. 00:11:34.060 --> 00:11:35.280 Well that's not entirely right. 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:36.270 There's nothing in itself unclean. 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:38.900 So Paul is certainly making a stand. 00:11:38.900 --> 00:11:40.000 He is confident in that. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:42.620 He repeats this very phrase again in verse 20. 00:11:43.060 --> 00:11:50.440 But while he's confident in that, he's also recognizing different people are coming from different places and they're needing to shape their conviction in 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:51.260 the Lord as well. 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:54.840 And so be sensitive to their conscience. 00:11:56.060 --> 00:12:03.560 As they as they want to align their hearts with Christ, because nothing in itself is unclean. 00:12:05.160 --> 00:12:07.160 And what Paul is encouraging us to think through is. 00:12:08.380 --> 00:12:08.740 How do. 00:12:08.780 --> 00:12:11.090 How can we redeem things in this culture? 00:12:11.140 --> 00:12:17.260 Just because someone takes something and uses it for evil purposes doesn't make the thing itself bad. 00:12:17.580 --> 00:12:20.530 It just makes what people do with it as bad. 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:27.300 And because someone may use it for the wrong reasons doesn't mean you cast it aside and can never use it again. 00:12:27.980 --> 00:12:31.820 In fact, made by God, it means all things are made good. 00:12:31.820 --> 00:12:37.200 Just because people use things for good and bad reasons, it doesn't make the objects itself moral. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:38.280 It's what you do with it. 00:12:38.280 --> 00:12:45.320 Therefore, as God's people, anything in this world that God has created, God has made for good, and you have the opportunity to redeem 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:46.400 it for his purposes. 00:12:47.560 --> 00:12:54.880 Now, there are certain things in your culture that I will say, like as you think about how to show the story of redemption and the way you live your life, 00:12:54.940 --> 00:12:57.510 there are certain things in culture that you just can't redeem. 00:12:58.180 --> 00:13:02.220 There are certain things that you just we need to push aside. 00:13:02.220 --> 00:13:09.580 Like I could get extreme in some of those thoughts, but like things like pornography, like, that's not you don't redeem that, right? 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:14.560 Like people that are trapped in that industry, you certainly want their hearts transformed in the Lord, right? 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:16.320 People that might be addicted to things like that. 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:20.040 We care about them because Jesus's life was given for our sins. 00:13:20.040 --> 00:13:20.340 So. 00:13:20.400 --> 00:13:21.320 So we care about the people. 00:13:21.400 --> 00:13:28.880 But the thing in itself, not redeemable when you think about, I don't know, things like drugs, crack cocaine, 00:13:28.920 --> 00:13:29.880 not redeemable. 00:13:29.880 --> 00:13:30.640 Right. 00:13:30.680 --> 00:13:31.560 Certain, certain. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:37.710 I would say certain things being taught now in school and in sexual education as young as it's getting ridiculous right. 00:13:37.900 --> 00:13:44.940 Things like that not redeemable that's there needs to be lines drawn and understanding the age of children and how we bring them about 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:52.060 and your responsibility as parents to do most of that education and nurturing the hearts of your children and not just handing it over to someone else. 00:13:52.130 --> 00:13:59.700 There's certain things in this world that we just we understand that the use of is just downright evil. 00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:02.890 But then there are other things. 00:14:04.260 --> 00:14:07.980 That while it may have been used for the wrong purposes, are completely redeemable. 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:09.860 And how do I know that? 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:14.500 Because this morning you're worshipping in a bar. 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:16.360 You worship in a bar. 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:19.800 If anyone should understand this passage more than anyone else, it's. 00:14:19.960 --> 00:14:21.100 It's us, right? 00:14:21.100 --> 00:14:23.800 I mean, it's the story of redemption, of what God has done. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.540 And, some people may think about that and look at that and say, well, what's the big deal? 00:14:27.540 --> 00:14:28.000 Who cares? 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.040 But I even know in our in our own history, when we were first looking at this building, we had members of our church, just a 00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:39.060 couple people that came to me and they said, we can't worship there. 00:14:39.060 --> 00:14:39.660 And why? 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:40.840 Why can we not worship there? 00:14:40.840 --> 00:14:41.440 It's an empty building. 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:42.190 We need a building. 00:14:42.560 --> 00:14:46.130 And the answer is, well, because it was a bar, because it was a bar. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.840 And, things that happen in a bar, we can't worship there. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:53.720 And, I found it a little bit interesting, but we still pursued the building. 00:14:53.820 --> 00:15:01.100 And as I started to talk to this individual, I found that the hesitation wasn't so much that it was that it was necessarily a 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:01.550 bar. 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:06.100 But rather it was a bar they had been in frequently. 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:14.240 And they remembered the consequences of the path that it took them on. 00:15:15.900 --> 00:15:19.080 And walking back in that building was something that they wanted to avoid. 00:15:21.280 --> 00:15:24.000 But being able in that moment to take that story and say. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:28.360 It may not have been a good a good beginning here. 00:15:31.260 --> 00:15:33.640 But God is going to redeem it for an incredible ending. 00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:39.580 It's a beautiful picture of the way God transforms our life. 00:15:41.020 --> 00:15:43.020 It's what the story of redemption is all about. 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:48.280 Jesus doesn't wait for us to fix ourselves before he welcomes us in. 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:51.160 He meets us right where we are. 00:15:52.520 --> 00:15:54.300 And in the ugliest parts of our life. 00:15:55.680 --> 00:15:59.120 In order to transform us in him, he forgives us. 00:15:59.940 --> 00:16:00.530 In that darkness. 00:16:03.040 --> 00:16:08.520 And Paul is encouraging us in this passage to be confident in the Lord. 00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:16.560 I to understand that story of redemption is the way that God wants to move in this world and in recognizing that the way that we can 00:16:16.560 --> 00:16:18.980 empathize and sympathize with other people. 00:16:20.800 --> 00:16:22.480 Having gone through difficult things. 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:29.780 Sometimes when we make bad choices in life, it's hard for us sometimes to figure out how to move forward. 00:16:29.780 --> 00:16:36.160 And there's things that we experience that we may be free in Jesus to enjoy as a body of believers, but because of our past, we just can't go there. 00:16:36.880 --> 00:16:43.720 Or sometimes maybe it's not something that you've done, but something that someone's done to you and you just feel shamed by it. 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:45.160 And you may be free in Christ, but whatever. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:52.720 There may be something that in your freedom in Jesus, even though there may be freedom in Jesus, you just can't you can't go there and experience it because of the heartache that 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:54.520 something represents to you. 00:16:54.560 --> 00:17:02.060 And so as a body of Christ, we want to empathize and with one another and sympathize with our struggles as we go on this journey together, 00:17:02.160 --> 00:17:09.300 even as a church, understanding the story of redemption, like as a church, we've gone into Uganda and we've purchased a couple properties that 00:17:09.300 --> 00:17:10.900 we're still finishing paying on. 00:17:10.900 --> 00:17:16.700 But we, we've got a couple properties that they were used for awful purposes. 00:17:17.800 --> 00:17:22.660 And we purchased it to give it to a ministry, to use it as a story of redemption, to bless the people there. 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.520 It's beautiful the way that God does that the things He created in this world. 00:17:27.520 --> 00:17:34.540 It doesn't mean that we have to treat it all as taboo, but to but to think wisely in our mind how we can use it for the benefit 00:17:34.540 --> 00:17:35.080 of God. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.920 God's excuse me, the benefit of others and the glory of God. 00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:39.260 Point number two in your notes is this. 00:17:39.260 --> 00:17:41.820 Then consider your motivation. 00:17:43.220 --> 00:17:48.080 Consider your motivation and your freedom in Christ living together as a body of believers. 00:17:48.360 --> 00:17:51.690 Consider your motivation the way that you interact with God's community. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:56.220 He goes on and says, But it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:04.360 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love by 00:18:04.360 --> 00:18:05.200 what you eat. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:09.460 Do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 00:18:10.660 --> 00:18:15.280 And so you see this idea of this word being used as destruction again. 00:18:15.280 --> 00:18:18.120 But he's carrying this idea of Christians. 00:18:18.120 --> 00:18:25.200 If you carry the heart of Jesus, that the heart of Jesus is being mindful of where others are coming from and helping them become 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:26.860 what God has called them to be. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:34.080 I've seen Christians live their lives so selfishly that it creates heartache for other believers that it endures in 00:18:34.080 --> 00:18:38.300 their life for years because their focus was just simply on them. 00:18:39.360 --> 00:18:46.700 But God's desire for us is to walk in love and understanding of how I can help one another become who God's called them to be. 00:18:46.700 --> 00:18:49.410 And it doesn't mean you need to live your Christian life on eggshells. 00:18:50.520 --> 00:18:52.060 You want to stand in your convictions. 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:59.120 But it does encourage us to be considerate in how we stand in those convictions. 00:19:00.100 --> 00:19:06.090 You know, even the apostle Paul and giving these statements that he's talking about in this passage, that there's nothing unclean. 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:07.080 Right. 00:19:07.080 --> 00:19:09.940 The apostle Paul to make that kind of statement. 00:19:10.620 --> 00:19:16.270 There's an understanding of how God has even had to shape his own heart because Paul came from a Jewish background. 00:19:16.580 --> 00:19:22.260 And to the Jews, they had all sorts of laws in which they were to follow regarding what was clean and what was unclean. 00:19:23.280 --> 00:19:30.440 And Paul is finding his own freedom in the Lord, and he's becoming an encouragement to others that are coming from that walk of life to consider 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:33.680 how God transforms and redeems things. 00:19:35.300 --> 00:19:42.500 Even in this section of scripture and dealing with Jews and Gentiles, we talked about in Romans 14 theologians 00:19:42.500 --> 00:19:48.280 aren't entirely sure exactly the people group and the situation that's being addressed in the Book of Romans. 00:19:48.600 --> 00:19:55.900 All you can do really, is simply speculate, knowing a little bit about first century church, that there were Gentiles 00:19:55.900 --> 00:20:03.380 who they worshiped, false gods, and they dedicated things to those false gods, including meat and drinks. 00:20:03.380 --> 00:20:06.260 They would go to these altars and lay down that meat. 00:20:06.260 --> 00:20:10.320 And then and then that meat would be often taken to the meat market and sold at a cheaper price. 00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:14.900 And so as a Christian, you may not even care, that God is not that false. 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:17.350 God is not real, but you can get the meat really cheap. 00:20:17.760 --> 00:20:21.330 And so not thinking about it, you can just buy the meat and eat cheap meat because you've got a big family. 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:23.770 And well, the bills are bills are piling up. 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:29.780 But to walk in the home of a of a gentile who just became a Christian who may have worshiped that false God. 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:37.880 Something to consider how they might receive it or to the Jews who had who had certain dietary restrictions, though 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:38.950 they're now free in Christ. 00:20:39.420 --> 00:20:43.300 The way that Gentiles may have prepared the meat they may not have found still appetizing. 00:20:44.360 --> 00:20:46.320 And what they've where they've come from in life. 00:20:46.320 --> 00:20:50.540 And so they don't want to partake just because it might violate their conscience. 00:20:51.520 --> 00:20:54.660 And they may even go so far as to say, I know Jesus is enough. 00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:57.800 But culturally I've been raised this way. 00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:05.560 And so because it's been so much a part of my life, I just don't feel ready or feel the freedom to partake of this yet. 00:21:06.280 --> 00:21:13.560 In fact, to watch other people indulge, it affects me in a way that it hinders how I view people and my relationship 00:21:13.560 --> 00:21:14.340 with the Lord. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:19.540 And so Paul is talking to believers and saying, Look, in Christ, you're free. 00:21:20.980 --> 00:21:21.960 You have liberties. 00:21:23.580 --> 00:21:29.540 But be mindful of how you use those liberties for the sake of people around you. 00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:35.280 And if knowing I just used the illustration of a bar, let me let me just bring up one for fun. 00:21:35.280 --> 00:21:35.790 How about alcohol? 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:42.670 Is a is a Christian free or should I say, is it wrong to drink alcohol? 00:21:42.700 --> 00:21:44.820 You answer this personally and not out loud. 00:21:44.820 --> 00:21:46.040 Just hold on to it for just a minute. 00:21:46.080 --> 00:21:52.940 But is it wrong to drink alcohol if you just make a dogmatic statement, it is wrong to drink alcohol. 00:21:53.020 --> 00:21:53.320 Right. 00:21:53.460 --> 00:21:55.660 You've got a problem with like, say, I don't know, John. 00:21:55.660 --> 00:22:03.450 Chapter two Jesus turning water into wine or First Timothy Chapter five, verse 23, where Paul literally says to Timothy, 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:04.220 Drink wine. 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:05.200 It'll help your stomach. 00:22:05.400 --> 00:22:06.540 Right? 00:22:06.540 --> 00:22:11.620 When Welch's didn't take the fermentation out of grape juice until the 1800s. 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:18.880 So for all the centuries before this, anytime people are drinking some wine, there's some fermentation or some grape 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:20.700 juice, there's some fermentation involved. 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:22.400 Jesus in the upper room with his disciples. 00:22:22.660 --> 00:22:26.780 The night in which he was betrayed, he took bread and broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you. 00:22:26.840 --> 00:22:28.580 And this is the drink, right? 00:22:28.620 --> 00:22:29.920 It would have been wine. 00:22:30.760 --> 00:22:30.920 So. 00:22:31.260 --> 00:22:35.660 So look at the Bible and say, the Bible says you can't drink alcohol. 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:36.600 Completely wrong. 00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.750 But in Ephesians chapter five, verse 18, it does say. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.430 Don't be drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. 00:22:48.780 --> 00:22:55.930 And it carries this idea, this idea of debauchery is spilling your life out and just wasting it, that God has made you for a reason. 00:22:56.020 --> 00:23:03.240 And rather than dedicate your life to him, your heart to Him, you've dedicated your life to a substance and you're just spilling it out. 00:23:04.080 --> 00:23:04.840 It's being wasted. 00:23:07.100 --> 00:23:12.290 And rather be filled with the spirit is an encouragement to let your life be controlled by what the Lord desires. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:19.620 Now, in that then there are freedoms as a believer, to think through what you're doing and how you're living your life. 00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:27.580 And I'm going to say as a as a as a pastor, I've come to realize, like I have yet to meet a family that has said to me, 00:23:28.060 --> 00:23:31.600 our family is so much better off because of alcohol. 00:23:32.040 --> 00:23:35.220 It has been it has been such a blessing to our world. 00:23:35.220 --> 00:23:36.480 What a gift this is. 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:37.060 Right? 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:44.880 Like you don't instead, you meet people in opposite scenarios where the substance has created destruction. 00:23:46.080 --> 00:23:50.350 And not knowing where people come from and what they've gone through. 00:23:51.860 --> 00:23:52.680 My family. 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:53.800 We choose not to drink. 00:23:55.820 --> 00:23:57.200 We care about other people. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:04.220 And that's not to say because you drink, you don't care about other people, but it's to say there is wisdom in how you choose to walk in 00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:04.440 this world. 00:24:05.520 --> 00:24:07.220 Alcohol is not the only thing. 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:15.500 But it is something it becomes a platform to consider how you demonstrate your love towards 00:24:15.500 --> 00:24:16.340 others. 00:24:17.760 --> 00:24:19.640 If it's a weakness for other people. 00:24:20.900 --> 00:24:28.100 How you partake of things in this world could be determined by the people that you interact with because you care more about what Jesus wants to 00:24:28.100 --> 00:24:30.200 do in them than your personal freedoms. 00:24:31.780 --> 00:24:38.860 I mean, it's like for you, if I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but if you were to live somewhere in the world where you might 00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:46.960 be a minority as a Protestant or evangelical or whatever, you label yourself Christian in the way that you follow 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:47.880 after Jesus. 00:24:47.920 --> 00:24:54.940 If you're a minority as a Christian and you care about the people around you and you think through how others are perceiving you, not not 00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.070 because you're worried about their opinion of you. 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:01.460 But rather you're concerned about their walk with Jesus. 00:25:02.760 --> 00:25:09.900 And you don't want to put any hindrances before them in representing Christ, but to create a path for them to know Christ 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:12.450 and to walk with him. 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:20.180 Being conscious about their need means surrendering your freedoms for their benefit so that they can 00:25:20.180 --> 00:25:23.300 see the Jesus Jesus modeled within you. 00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:29.340 And so Paul encourages us in that and consider your motivation. 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:30.340 What's driving you? 00:25:30.340 --> 00:25:37.480 Is it selfish or selfless and how are you living that out even within the cultural context 00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:39.180 of just the United States? 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:42.470 Like in churches, people typically they come from two backgrounds. 00:25:42.560 --> 00:25:49.810 Either this system of legalism where they feel like they've got to perform under these certain standards in order to make God happy, 00:25:50.140 --> 00:25:56.020 or people come from this place of liberalism where they think, as long as you believe something, right? 00:25:56.020 --> 00:25:58.940 That's all that matters, as long as you just trust in something. 00:25:58.980 --> 00:26:04.060 Because the sensor in the universe is all about you and God just exists to make you happy. 00:26:04.070 --> 00:26:06.560 And what is it that you desire and what is your truth? 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:11.220 I mean, people come from one of those two positions, the place of legalism or a place of liberalism. 00:26:11.520 --> 00:26:16.440 And the problem with both of those is that the focus of both of those systems is on self. 00:26:17.820 --> 00:26:18.580 It's all about you. 00:26:19.760 --> 00:26:26.400 What you do or don't do or what's most important to you because you think you is what matters most of all. 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:30.060 But what we want people to see. 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:35.180 Is rather than focus on you, is to look at Jesus. 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:40.690 In fact, I would say one of the biggest problems within our culture is we think too much of ourselves. 00:26:42.760 --> 00:26:43.780 And not enough of him. 00:26:45.540 --> 00:26:47.520 Worship is what transforms the heart. 00:26:49.240 --> 00:26:52.440 And to provide people the opportunity to connect to the Lord. 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:57.940 And so point number three then, is this Consider the kingdom you represent. 00:26:59.800 --> 00:27:01.140 Consider the kingdom you represent. 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:08.580 And he goes on in verse 16, He says, So do not let what you regard as good be spoken 00:27:08.580 --> 00:27:09.860 of as evil. 00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:17.300 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy 00:27:17.300 --> 00:27:18.500 in the Holy Spirit. 00:27:19.560 --> 00:27:26.870 So he's saying in this passage, look, don't let people regard as good what God made as good be spoken of as evil, 00:27:27.300 --> 00:27:28.180 represent the kingdom. 00:27:28.280 --> 00:27:33.340 Well, that's what he goes on to say in verse 14 or excuse me, verse 17, you want to represent this well. 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:37.820 And then he goes on to show us really where this confidence comes from in us. 00:27:37.820 --> 00:27:44.580 Sometimes we get materialistic in the way that we focus on what people are doing or don't doing without any concern for where their heart is. 00:27:44.780 --> 00:27:51.800 And that's what he's saying in this passage, is like you're looking at the outward of drinking and eating, but what God is interested in is what he wants to 00:27:51.800 --> 00:27:52.380 do in your heart. 00:27:52.760 --> 00:27:58.100 And if you want to be confident in where you are in the Lord, this idea of what the kingdom represents becomes that place. 00:27:58.220 --> 00:28:02.520 And He gives us these words of righteousness and peace and joy. 00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.400 You want to know how you can walk confident in this world, regardless of what people do or don't do. 00:28:07.580 --> 00:28:14.900 It's to rest in those thoughts about the kingdom, to know how you find yourself aligned with Jesus in this world, this righteousness and 00:28:14.900 --> 00:28:16.170 this peace and this joy. 00:28:16.760 --> 00:28:23.960 This idea of righteousness is that God has come into your life and He's forgiven you of your sin and He's made your relationship to him righteous 00:28:23.960 --> 00:28:24.660 in Christ. 00:28:24.660 --> 00:28:25.160 You've been justified. 00:28:25.800 --> 00:28:27.140 Therefore you're connected to God. 00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:32.600 And because you're connected to the Lord, you have peace with him, peace in your relationship, to enjoy that journey together. 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:37.360 And because of that, because you are connected to Creator God who has made you righteous and brought you peace. 00:28:37.360 --> 00:28:44.500 There is ultimate joy in all of that because you know, whatever happens to you in this world that your future is secure in 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:51.740 Christ, no matter how adverse it may seem, no matter how difficult relationships may look, no matter what the challenges are in front of you in 00:28:51.740 --> 00:28:53.940 Jesus, it endures forever. 00:28:53.940 --> 00:28:59.040 So no matter what circumstance you're going through right now, you know that you are secure in Christ. 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:07.010 So that when you interact in this world because you represent His kingdom and not simply systems of this world that are fading away, 00:29:07.080 --> 00:29:09.980 you're confident in secure in Christ. 00:29:11.520 --> 00:29:12.390 You can move forward. 00:29:14.320 --> 00:29:21.950 You don't have to have the validation of others, but rather you have what you need in Jesus. 00:29:23.840 --> 00:29:30.880 One of the things that gives me I think the greatest hope is I think about this idea of Christ's kingdom and what God 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:35.420 has done in us and this righteousness and peace and joy that he brings to us. 00:29:36.060 --> 00:29:39.760 I realize within the body of Christ we are diverse, right? 00:29:42.120 --> 00:29:44.640 But as long as we have a godly posture. 00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:48.320 The Lord can work out the details. 00:29:50.360 --> 00:29:54.860 And what I mean is the way that Romans 12 starts us on this journey. 00:29:56.660 --> 00:29:58.820 If our hearts are humble before the Lord. 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:07.100 And we're willing to say, Lord, I'm coming to you with baggage, and I know what some of the baggage is, and I'm not even aware of all 00:30:07.100 --> 00:30:09.900 the baggage that I might have, but I'm coming to you with some. 00:30:11.720 --> 00:30:14.720 And God in that, though. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:18.340 I'm laying all of myself down before you. 00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:20.440 Your Lord, not me. 00:30:22.060 --> 00:30:23.020 You're a king, not me. 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:25.140 And God. 00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:26.900 So whatever it is that you desire for my life. 00:30:28.100 --> 00:30:28.340 God. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:28.800 Show me. 00:30:30.060 --> 00:30:30.520 Teach me. 00:30:32.100 --> 00:30:33.460 Direct me in your way. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:39.640 As long as you have that heart of humility with a willingness to surrender. 00:30:41.320 --> 00:30:48.320 God, whatever I'm holding on to, whatever idol I carry, whatever I'm cherishing that you don't intend for me to cherish whatever I put before 00:30:48.320 --> 00:30:48.620 you. 00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:51.700 God, I want the light to shine on that. 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:56.900 So my relationship with you can be something I delight in all of my days. 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:03.820 As long as you carry that posture, that place of humility in God's people, God, God can work out the details. 00:31:05.080 --> 00:31:09.980 God, whatever it is that you say in your word, I'm willing to follow. 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:17.580 Teach me that position gives us this place of rest and encouragement that 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:22.340 no matter the diversity in the body of Christ, there is still unity, not uniformity. 00:31:22.340 --> 00:31:26.120 We're not looking for uniformity, but unity in walking with him. 00:31:26.120 --> 00:31:30.520 And so, Paul, then in light of that, he gives us some more verses just to spur us on. 00:31:30.520 --> 00:31:37.640 He says, he says, verse 18, Whoever thus serves Christ is accepted to God and approved by men, meaning your 00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:38.960 life surrendered to him. 00:31:39.020 --> 00:31:40.680 It becomes a blessing to others as well. 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:41.440 In verse 19. 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:45.650 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:47.660 God is honored by one. 00:31:47.660 --> 00:31:53.780 He's saying in this verse who shows love towards him, a surrender towards him and cares for others. 00:31:53.780 --> 00:31:59.140 That's God's desire for us in this world as Jesus fills us up by giving His life for us. 00:31:59.140 --> 00:32:00.540 So we would do the same. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.370 And then he goes on in verse 20, he says this. 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:05.860 He goes, Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. 00:32:06.260 --> 00:32:08.060 Everything is indeed clean. 00:32:08.100 --> 00:32:10.380 So here's Paul once again taking a stand. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:15.280 He knows not everyone is ready to receive this statement, but he also knows what's true. 00:32:15.280 --> 00:32:16.700 And so he's staying true to that. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:21.060 But he's also being kind to others, knowing they're coming from a different place in life. 00:32:21.520 --> 00:32:24.100 Do not for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. 00:32:24.100 --> 00:32:25.520 Everything is indeed clean. 00:32:25.900 --> 00:32:31.000 But it is wrong for anyone to take to make another stumble by what he eats. 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:37.860 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:46.000 You know, I thought about we don't necessarily if we had maybe a larger Jewish community where we live, this might be a little bit more of a of an issue. 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:53.200 Or if we had meat sacrificed to idols and temples today in the area we live, this might be more of an issue related to 00:32:53.200 --> 00:32:54.620 21st century America. 00:32:54.980 --> 00:32:56.000 Trying to figure out how this relates. 00:32:56.280 --> 00:33:03.140 The only thing I could think of is some of my brothers and sisters in Christ who may not choose to say eat meat. 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:08.860 Like I would look at them and say, Man, you have a stronger walk in Jesus than I do. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:14.440 Because one of the ways that I say you can very plainly prove that God is real is carne asada. 00:33:14.800 --> 00:33:15.300 All right? 00:33:15.300 --> 00:33:16.740 Like tacos. 00:33:16.740 --> 00:33:18.080 You can't you can't beat that. 00:33:18.100 --> 00:33:23.040 There is not a person on earth, I don't think that's ever been into a carne asada and thought, man, God is so good. 00:33:23.040 --> 00:33:23.480 Right? 00:33:23.480 --> 00:33:26.380 Like that's the that should be the immediate thought within your mind. 00:33:26.500 --> 00:33:31.360 So for someone to not partake of that and still have faith in Jesus, you're stronger than me in Christ. 00:33:31.600 --> 00:33:33.900 That's about the only way I can make immediate application. 00:33:34.540 --> 00:33:40.040 But again, you see this concern for where people are and trying to meet him in that need and love them. 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:42.000 And so point number four then, is this. 00:33:43.420 --> 00:33:45.900 Do not compromise your conviction. 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:50.280 Do not compromise your conviction. 00:33:52.540 --> 00:33:53.920 That's true. 00:33:53.980 --> 00:33:56.080 I think in both cases here that Paul is talking about. 00:33:57.520 --> 00:33:59.010 Paul has certainly laid out. 00:33:59.140 --> 00:34:04.340 There is nothing that is unclean, that is a biblical conviction that he's shaped in the Lord. 00:34:05.540 --> 00:34:07.610 I think it's more in line with what Scripture teaches. 00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:15.020 But then but then there are some within the body who have come in and maybe for cultural reasons, they just they're not ready to eat. 00:34:15.139 --> 00:34:17.739 Just anything that someone throws on a plate in front of them. 00:34:19.780 --> 00:34:21.699 And Paul is encouraging both of them. 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.260 To walk in that. 00:34:25.300 --> 00:34:26.840 And if you're not sure about it. 00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:29.800 Let the Lord shape that conviction in you. 00:34:30.739 --> 00:34:34.719 That's one of the things that we love and appreciate doing as a church here. 00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.520 Just because I say something. 00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:45.420 I don't want you to believe simply because I tell you something that's shaping your conviction on someone else. 00:34:46.820 --> 00:34:51.360 Rather, my encouragement and hope for you is that you shape your own conviction in the Lord. 00:34:52.540 --> 00:34:54.179 That your walk with Jesus becomes personal. 00:34:55.719 --> 00:34:59.820 And one of the ways that we encourage you to do that as a church is to say this. 00:34:59.820 --> 00:35:01.880 Look, there's no question that's off the table. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:04.640 If you're hungry, you have questions. 00:35:04.820 --> 00:35:06.540 That's how you learn and how you grow. 00:35:07.540 --> 00:35:09.660 We're not going to tell you to put it on the shelf and forget about it. 00:35:10.780 --> 00:35:18.000 We're going to tell you, ask and let's learn and grow and let God shape that conviction in you for where you stand in Jesus. 00:35:19.380 --> 00:35:26.540 And so Paul goes on and he says this in verse 22, He says that the faith that you have keep between yourself 00:35:26.540 --> 00:35:30.900 and God blesses the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:33.380 But whoever has doubts is condemned. 00:35:33.380 --> 00:35:39.400 If he eats because the eating is not from faith, for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. 00:35:40.420 --> 00:35:44.060 So he's saying, look, their conscience feels a certain way about this. 00:35:45.020 --> 00:35:50.600 And because their conscience, your conscience may feel a certain way about certain things don't violate your conscience. 00:35:51.600 --> 00:35:54.360 But rather he goes on and talks about because it's not from faith. 00:35:55.560 --> 00:35:56.800 There's a place there. 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:03.980 If you're seeing other Christians exercise freedom in something that you may not think is right, maybe those Christians aren't right, but maybe there's a place to 00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:07.240 examine your conviction to let God shape that. 00:36:07.260 --> 00:36:10.180 But before that's being shaped, don't sear your conscience. 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:15.150 Think through your own personal convictions and do not compromise. 00:36:17.120 --> 00:36:21.270 The theme of Romans 14 is to remind us you're calling life. 00:36:22.720 --> 00:36:29.720 Is one that models Jesus in that you your acts are selfless for the benefit 00:36:29.720 --> 00:36:30.540 of another. 00:36:31.540 --> 00:36:38.820 Because you follow a Jesus who selflessly gave his life for you and you want to 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:39.960 connect to him. 00:36:41.320 --> 00:36:48.560 And one of the best ways to connect your walk with God is seen in how you honor God through the way that you treat others, 00:36:49.640 --> 00:36:55.830 because God made people in his image and Jesus gave his life for others. 00:36:56.780 --> 00:37:03.980 Perhaps today, if you if you think where you might see such selfless living, perhaps one of the best places for us to 00:37:03.980 --> 00:37:06.400 reflect on is the heart of a mother. 00:37:08.160 --> 00:37:11.680 One who lays down her life for the service of her family. 00:37:12.620 --> 00:37:14.140 Abraham Lincoln said it like this. 00:37:14.160 --> 00:37:18.980 He said, No, no man is poor who has had a godly mother. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:22.020 It reminds me of a story of this guy. 00:37:22.040 --> 00:37:24.420 And I'll close with this David Lloyd George. 00:37:24.560 --> 00:37:28.600 He was Winston Churchill before Winston Churchill. 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:33.180 David Lloyd George was a Welshman. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:35.760 He was born during the Civil War. 00:37:36.540 --> 00:37:40.880 He became the Prime Minister of the UK during World War One. 00:37:41.500 --> 00:37:43.400 And he died during World War Two. 00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:45.200 I mean, this guy, he lived through it. 00:37:45.220 --> 00:37:45.860 Right. 00:37:46.140 --> 00:37:53.440 But leading the UK during World War One, he is known as the Welshman that won World War One in the way that he operated 00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:55.940 in the UK during during that battle. 00:37:56.660 --> 00:38:01.300 And what's interesting about David Lloyd George, he wasn't a perfect leader. 00:38:01.380 --> 00:38:04.220 So I'm not trying to say this guy is the second coming of Jesus or anything like that. 00:38:04.300 --> 00:38:07.620 If you study, if you look at his life, he made some political mistakes, too. 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:13.120 But his leadership was praised to a degree like Winston Churchill during World War One. 00:38:14.160 --> 00:38:18.140 And what's interesting about his life is that his life almost never was. 00:38:19.940 --> 00:38:23.140 The story of his life is when he was just a baby. 00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:32.340 His mother was going on a walk to another home during the winter, and she was walking over the hills of Wales and 00:38:32.340 --> 00:38:33.820 she never arrived to the destination. 00:38:34.080 --> 00:38:41.320 She got caught in a blizzard and after the blizzard had subsided, they went out into the cold 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:45.320 and they put a search party on for David's mother. 00:38:46.540 --> 00:38:47.800 And they eventually found her. 00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:56.080 And as they uncovered her body under the snow, they found out that just before she had passed away, she took off all of her outer garments 00:38:56.080 --> 00:39:01.900 and she wrapped her baby and she hovered over her baby to keep her baby warm. 00:39:02.960 --> 00:39:05.640 And she gave the ultimate sacrifice so her child could live. 00:39:05.640 --> 00:39:13.360 And as they pulled her body out and they opened up what she was holding on to, they began to realize as they took those layers of clothing off that 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:15.320 David George was inside. 00:39:17.020 --> 00:39:21.100 It was the sacrifice of a mother that made a difference. 00:39:22.940 --> 00:39:26.580 Guys, when I when I think about what it took for you to be here today. 00:39:28.100 --> 00:39:28.580 It. 00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:32.040 All of our stories happen because of sacrifice. 00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:36.280 It happened because of Jesus's loving sacrifice for you. 00:39:37.620 --> 00:39:44.780 And if you think about it, within your story to get here, you've encountered others along the way who took interest 00:39:44.780 --> 00:39:45.380 in you. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:52.560 Who showed a loving devotion towards you to share the truth of Christ in your life. 00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:54.740 That you could know him to. 00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:58.860 The way God's people move forward. 00:39:59.740 --> 00:40:00.360 It's not selfish. 00:40:02.060 --> 00:40:02.810 But it's selfless. 00:40:04.180 --> 00:40:11.120 And in that selflessness, the world has the opportunity to hear and see the goodness of Jesus. 00:40:11.120 --> 00:40:16.220 We remove the hindrances to provide the place that we may journey with him together.