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Elevate Christian Network :: Ministry Outreach TV

Elevate Christian Network :: Ministry Outreach TV

Video Transcript

hey welcome to Flatirons everybody we’re really glad you’re here we’re diving into our Sermon on the Mount series called times are changing and if you have any questions through this process you can always go to Flatiron Church calm and let us know what questions do you have your thoughts anything like that again thanks for joining us let’s dive in [Music] well hey how are you hey long time no see thousands of you intimidatingly from a stage I’m glad to be here I haven’t counted the days but I’ve had a long break from teaching if I were to take like a ballpark estimate like guess it’s been 76 days since I’ve been able to do this so I’m excited to be here with you today oh okay thanks this is weird to applaud for myself that’s rude thank you uh-huh but so hi I’m glad to be back it’s been a long break from teaching probably the longest break I think I’ve had from teaching since I started the first time back in student ministry years and years ago so it was kind of weird at the same time it was kind of cool cuz I got a bunch of stuff done that wasn’t teaching which is kind of abnormal so let me kind of fill you in on the last few months of my life and if you’re new here I’m sorry hi I’m Ben I’m the teaching pastor so yeah last couple months I thought the echo series that was four weeks straight right and then after that I immediately took vacation time got some good time in with Allie and with the kids I also got to hike a couple sections of the Colorado Trail with my brother-in-law Nick who’s my best friend that was awesome and that was all great even at work like when after vacation got back to work I got like to leave at five o’clock on most days you know like go home and be home for dinner so I had time to get important stuff on my to-do list done all right I read some books I’ve been wanting to read I saw Mission Impossible in the theaters with the cush seats and all that stuff I got upper respiratory bronchitis like all the stuff I’ve been meaning to do and I never had time for I got it done I was also able to get moving on all the brighton campus stuff because early next year we’re launching the campus in brighton and i’m gonna be the campus pastor in brighton but since I have a stage and I have a microphone okay they’re they’re nice today you guys are so nice you’re really nice people other services are like whatever just move on I like you I like the 11 but so let me I have a stage I got a microphone let me clear some stuff up real quick okay I’ve had some confusion I’ve had lots of conversations and emails about this so the Brighton campus pastor thing won’t take me out of being the teaching pastor also so I’ve had several people you know who come up and they’re like oh yeah we’re just gonna miss you know we’re gonna miss when you teach when you off to Brighton and I explained it to them kindly but in my head I’m like I’m just going to Brighton not Bangladesh you know I’m just in Brighton yeah I’m not going to some distant collapsing violent place with no means of communication like Greeley that’s a good one I’m just going to Brighton so hopefully that kind of clears everything up I’ll be doing the Brighton campus thing I’ll also be teaching alright so over the last few months I got a lot of stuff done that wasn’t teaching but if I’m being honest with you the best thing I did the best use of my time was I memorized the Sermon on the Mount all right I’m gonna explain to you how that happened all right so I’m in the middle of teaching the echo series and I have a meeting with Jim and Jim pulls me into his office and goes hey so after this four weeks straight I’m gonna give you a good break from teaching you should take vacation time you should go spend good time with your family and then you’ll be able to teach again but only after you memorized the Sermon on the Mount when I kind of nervously chuckled and he gave me one of those like Mari laughing looks and then I laughed loudly and nervously and then I was just like who are you and I left the meeting and when I’m you know finished that series went on vacation fast-forward I get back from vacation naturally I go into Jim’s office and I’m like so show me the calendar like one of my up again what am i teaching what am i teaching and he goes well how much of the Sermon on the Mount of you memorized and that’s when I’m like oh you’re being serious about this you know and I was like for God so loved the world he gave no I’ve worked to do so I got to tell you I’m terrible at memorizing stuff I am awful at it okay I’ve two always been this way I can memorize the gist of a sermon that I’m giving you know like I still want my notes up here like as a safety you know but I can memorize the just of it but it leaves my head on Monday completely if I don’t keep practicing it you can test this if you carry if so you can come up to me on Monday be like what you teach yesterday I’m like I’ve got no idea I hope it was ok I can’t memorize stuff dates important dates and numbers and stuff I’m hopeless like I have I have these weird mathematical equations I have to do to figure out my kids birthdays and my anniversary and all that stuff bad at memorizing all right but so I’m obviously nervous about having to memorize three whole chapters the Bible but I sat down and I got to work and I have to tell you I got to tell you that not only was a strangely easier than I thought it would be and I bet it would be the same for you if you tried not only was it strangely easier than I expected but also spiritually it’s one of the best things I’ve ever been a part of and I mean that because I got now I got the Sermon on the Mount which is the basis of this whole series it’s where we’re parking as a church for the foreseeable future I got Matthew five through seven locked up in my head and it’s amazing how often it pops into my brain just in everyday life in like applicable scenarios it’s also amazing how the whole thing ties together it’s a great sermon I don’t think I ever realized how great it is it’s got the beginning in the middle and the end and the gut-punch and all the stuff Jesus was a master at doing what I’m trying to do right now it’s also amazing how much of the Bible ties back into just these three chapters Matthew five six seven I all that is to say that I love this sermon in a whole new way and I’m reading it in a fresh way and it’s playing out in my life in a fresh way and so I’m very excited to be able to share some of the stuff I’m learning about the Sermon on the Mount with you especially some of the stuff today so let’s get started so in order to kind of teach continue teaching on it we gotta remember two things there’s really only two things that we got to remember from the last four weeks of this series the first one is we got to remember the crowd that Jesus is speaking to okay and like Jim has been talking about for four weeks now the crowd he’s speaking to is made up of the honor women the AH knowing that’s an old Hebrew word and it can basically be translated throw away people this is who Jesus is talking to now he’s talking to throwaways there are people who are throw away by the standards of society and culture and govern he’s talking to the down-and-out he’s talking to people who have been given up on and have given up on themselves he’s speaking to the poor and the weak in the UH negated and the unemployable he’s talking to single parents he’s talking to people who are working on their fourth divorce he’s talking to the addicted in the depressed in the oppressed now he’s talking to the people with PTSD and the people with OCD that’s who Jesus is talking to he’s talking to people like us all right the rough crowd the people who who view themselves as throwaway and disposable and worthless and useless all right as we keep marching through the Sermon on the Mount for the next few months that’s one thing we can’t ever forget Jim has been saying saying it and it’s the truth context is king and in the context of the Sermon on the Mount we can’t forget that Jesus is speaking to the on oween all right that’s the first thing we got to remember so Jesus was speaking to these down-and-out throwaway people and he gives them really good news and the good news he gives him is this he says throwaway people are welcomed in the kingdom of heaven throwaway people are welcomed in the kingdom of heaven and this is the second thing we gotta remember in order to keep moving we got to remember heaven as Jesus understands it all right so according to the way Jesus himself understood the kingdom of heaven heaven wasn’t some faraway place out in outer space that you go to when you die and is filled with gold streets and pet dinosaurs and everything else you had ever hoped for right it’s not that the kingdom of heaven is a reality that is present in here and now and the kingdom of heaven is the reign and rule and mission of God here on earth including Colorado in 2018 and when a person enters into the kingdom of heaven according to Jesus it means this a person who is living in the kingdom of heaven is living their daily life in a conversational relationship and friendship of gotten isolettes the two things we got to remember in order to keep marching on we can’t forget that he’s talking to the AH knowing and we can’t forget what heaven the kingdom of heaven means in jesus’s context and so to kind of summarize all of this recap here’s how Matthew 5 starts here’s how the most famous sermon in the world starts Jesus gives some really good news to some people who are really desperate for some really good news and the good news is that throwaway people are welcomed in the kingdom of heaven or in simpler terms throwaway people are welcomed into a with God kind of life you may have counted yourself out you may have been counted out by others but Jesus has never counted you out and he’s gonna walk through this life in relationship with you and that’s great news all right but okay but to wrap this series up I want to jump to the next logical question in my mind at least which is this how do you throw away people change when we walk into the with God kind of life what happens to us does anything change should anything change are we still throw aways or are we something different now and Jesus like any great communicator he just goes ahead and he answers the question that he knows you’re asking in your head you don’t have to ask it he’s gonna answer it for you alright and so after saying blessed are the poor in spirit in the morning and the meek and the obsessed and the persecuted after saying hey on a whim I want you to hear that you are welcomed into a with God kind of life after making that great announcement Jesus says this and this is what happens to throwaway people in the kingdom of heaven he says this he says you are the salt of the earth you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again it’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men so when throwaway people like us enter into the kingdom of heaven into a with God kind of life Jesus says that we become the salt of the earth I asked the first thing I’ll explain what that means in a minute let’s see what he says next so he says were the salt of the earth he also says you are the light of the world you’re the light of the world a city on a hill can’t be hidden right and he says neither do people light lamps and put it under a bowl that’d be absurd that would be ridiculous instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house and so in the same way let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and then ultimately praise your father in heaven all right so to go back to my original question which is this how do you throw away people change when we walk into with God kind of life Jesus’s answer to that question is you become the salt of the earth in the light of the world what was that mean ah he’s obviously speaking in metaphor so let’s unpack the metaphor all right let’s start with salt what is salt all right back in Jesus’s day salt was incredibly valuable much more valuable than today and it was valuable for a lot of reasons but the thing that’s important to know for the talk today is that it was valuable because salt was a preservative all right so in a culture where smart fridges and gety coolers had not been invented yet salt kept people’s food from decaying kept people’s food from going bad so that’s the first thing we need to catch it’s this salt is necessary because salt keeps things from decaying you are the salt of the earth you are going to keep things and people from decaying and then light light of course is every bit as necessary today as it was back in Jesus’s day right like maybe you’ve had the thing where you have a really good thunderstorm I love when this happens you get a good thunderstorm and all the power gets knocked out right and it’s fun for like 15 minutes you know you like candles you got flashlights the kids think it’s fun but then eventually you have a thought and you won’t admit it but you do you have a thought where you go but what if the power never comes back on you know how old life go on if our entire country were to lose power forever well that would be bad news we’d all be eating crickets out of the backyard and doing rain dances within a week it’s a guarantee light is absolutely necessary whether it’s 2018 or it’s 2000 years ago it’s necessary if the Sun doesn’t come up tomorrow you and I aren’t going to be able to find our way out of our bedrooms and we would immediately and forever become lost and confused and isolated and hopeless so again here’s what we need to catch light is necessary because light keeps the darkness out you are the light of the world you’re going to keep the darkness out and if we’re not careful if we breathe right past the salt and the light stuff then we’re gonna cheat ourselves out of more really great news from Jesus because here’s what just happened all right Jesus has already looked at the on a whim the throwaways and he said hey you’re welcomed into the kingdom of heaven into a with god kind of life and then with the salt and light stuff the good news just gets better because Jesus is saying that not only our throwaway people welcomed into the kingdom of heaven but also when throwaway people enter the kingdom of heaven they become critical players in God’s mission like that you become a critical player Jesus is making an identity statement he is redefining the people that society and culture have labeled as throwaways and Jesus is saying that within the kingdom of heaven in a with God kind of life throwaway people become necessary we become critical players in the mission that God wants to accomplish on this spinning rock called Earth we are necessary now in what ways are we necessary who needs us does Jesus need us does God need us no we are the salt of the earth we are the light of the world what Jesus is saying he’s saying this he’s saying the world needs you now if anyone has the ability to stop people from decaying like salt does and if anyone has the ability to bring light into the darkness of people’s lives it’s only going to be Jesus working in and through us and I do want to be real clear here alright because if we misunderstand this will misunderstand the rest of the thing and if I’m not clear I’ll get a bunch of justified angry emails okay so let me be clear at the end of the day Jesus is the only one who can stop death in its tracks but we are the salt that he is going to do that through and at the end of the day Jesus is the only source of light that we have to offer but we are the lamps that are going to shine that light to an entire world in the kingdom of heaven in a with God kind of life in the rule and reign and mission of God’s kingdom you are necessary you are a critical player and the world needs you now you are not pointless or meaningless anymore when Jesus talks about salt and light he’s making an identity statement and if I were to kind of sum this identity statement up in been terms it would be this we are God’s plan a we are God’s plan a I mean even though God is all-powerful right he’s so powerful he could accomplish his will on earth as the same way it is in the heavens we talked about that a few weeks ago he could do that any way he wants but for some reason God thought it would be best to accomplish that mission only by Jesus working in and through us we are God’s plan a and he doesn’t have a plan B we are it which means if there’s any hope of the light of Jesus being present with us in this room today it’s only gonna be through you sitting in your chair or through me standing on the stage and if there’s any hope of Jesus being active and present in your family your company your school your friends whatever whatever it’s only gonna be through you we are the salt in the light of an entire world us the honor we the throwaways the rough crowd we are his plan a and he does not have a back-up plan and in my opinion this is one of the coolest and greatest things about the with God kind of life because there’s nothing better than to know you matter you actually matter I mean how many of us have had seasons of life maybe we’re in this season now were you truly you genuinely believe that your pointless right we don’t matter we’re not making any sort of impact in our friendships our families our companies wherever and that feeling that we don’t matter it’s awful it’s hopeless but then Jesus is looking at us going what do you mean you don’t matter you are it the world needs you now you are the salt of the earth you are the light of the world you are my plan a in the kingdom of God throw away people are anything but throw away we are necessary now and I know the arguments we have in our heads right I got I got all the same arguments in my own head all right we’re saying stuff like you don’t know me you don’t know my story right you don’t know my past my past has turned me into a throwaway that’s all I’ll ever be and you don’t know my marriage my history like I got too much baggage I’m useless I’m purposeless I’m meaningless and Jesus says nope I can work with that Jesus says you’re not pointless in the kingdom of heaven and in a way if we can step out of our story and our mess and look at it objectively in a way this does make sense and we know it as a random example all right so outside the kingdom of heaven outside the kingdom of heaven PTSD is just PTSD cancer is just cancer it’s suffocating it’s meaningless it’s pointless but then inside the kingdom of heaven who better to be the salt of the earth than you you’ve tasted death and you’ve survived you still taste death every single day and you still survived how could Jesus find a better person who worked through who better than you to halt the decay that you see in people’s lives you are it you are the salt of the earth what about this outside the kingdom of heaven depression is just depression this one hits close to home for me I have that and it’s been a rough season of it so outside the kingdom depression is just hopelessness it’s meaningless it’s pointless but inside the kingdom of heaven how could Jesus find better people to work through than you and I we know the darkness and the only reason we’re holding on is because we know where the light is who better to guide people out of the darkness and into the light than us we are it we are the light of the world Jesus is making an identity statement he’s redefining the ahh knowing and he’s saying that within God’s kingdom throwaway people are not throwaway anymore we are necessary now we are critical players we are God’s plan a for bringing life and light to the entire world there is no pointless person in the kingdom of heaven now let me just call something out all right so here’s what a lot of us might be doing okay so in our heads were going oh that’s cool I’ve never you know I’ve never heard salt light that way and as a whole new way of thinking about it I like that and but we’re right now we’re in danger of doing something we do all the time I do this all the time all right we’re in danger of blowing right past the oh I’ve never thought about it like that stage and going right into the okay so what do I do about that stage what do I do right where are my five steps what are the five things I need to do when I get home in order to be good salt and to be good light and honestly whenever we skip past the identity stuff and jump right into the action planned stuff I really do think Jesus is going no no no no stop can you just sit in the identity stuff for just a little bit I’m trying to redefine you right now I’m trying to explain who you are as a totally new creation in the kingdom of heaven I was listening to a seminar from from Dallas Willard a couple days ago and he said something great I want to share it with you so he says that he thinks most people in the American church culture people like us most people like us would struggle sitting through an entire sermon from Jesus back in the day and that’s because jesus never gave the five steps he never had like the rhyming catchy phrase that you go home with and try to apply never did it instead Jesus was reality he was and so he would explain reality to people in this case the reality that you’re not pointless anymore and he would explain reality to people and then he would just keep walking he would explain reality to people and then we had to go home and just think on that and there’s this thing inside of us that triggers and we immediately go okay I’ll think on it but what am I supposed to do what do I do for example what do I do to fix my marriage starting today listen I’m not entirely sure I mean those details different for different marriages here’s what I do know I know that if you ask and you seek and you knock which we’re gonna talk about more in a few weeks if you spend enough time with God trying to fix your marriage with God your action plan will become clearer it’ll become strangely clear but here’s what else I do know I know that if Jesus is going to heal your marriage if he’s going to breathe life and light into it it’s only gonna be through you cuz you are as plan a see I think the bigger question that I need to and probably most of us need to wrestle with more often actually is not what do I do what do I need to do to fix my marriage instead I think the bigger question is do you actually believe that you’re gonna be the one he’ll do it through or are we praying for a miracle are we praying for some third party stranger angel to show up and fix things overnight Jesus never go read it Jesus never put the cart before the horse alright we’re gonna spend a whole series talking about this he never put the cart before the horse he never put rules and laws and action plans in front of identity because he knew the truth he knew that you doing things differently does not have the power to change who you are it’s always got to be the other way around here’s an example from everyday life that I hope makes sense of this whole identity comes before doing stuff thing all right it’s been when I became a dad or when any of us became dad’s or mom’s or husbands and wives for that matter all right but for me becoming a dad I could have prepared myself on the front end I guess right I could have learned to change diapers that would have been specifically helpful you know I could learn to do that ally and I could have taken up babysitting for families every single weekend to get used to it I could have read every single book on parenting that had ever been published I could have done all of that stuff and done it perfectly but it still wouldn’t have made me a dad the only thing that transformed me into a dad was absolutely horrifying experience we call birth alright there are people who are like isn’t it beautiful and I’m like I was there three times and it’s terrifying but there was a moment in the Kaiser hospital that changed my identity forever in a split second I became dad in an instant it changed my identity and then all the rules right all all the right and wrong ways to be a dad all of that stuff followed and it’s still following right I’m in the middle of a lifelong process of trial and error right the first diaper I ever changed in my life literally was my daughter Emory Grace’s in the hospital I made a mess of the both of us but after time and living out of my new identity I make less messes now when it comes to parenting I’ve done a lot of stuff well and I’ve done a lot of stuff very very poorly but there is one thing that has not changed and the thing that has not changed and will never change is the fact that my kids call me Dad I am dad it will never change I am their plan a when it comes to dads and there is no back-up plan and I can abdicate my identity and I can abdicate that responsibility as much as I want and I’ve done that you know those moments with most parents know this where you real that you like wake up in a daze on the couch and you realize you’ve brainwashed your kids with Netflix for like three weeks straight because you’re tired you know I can abdicate it all I want but even in those moments where I’m being a poor dad I’m still dad it won’t change I’m the only dad in the house and for the rest of my and Micah and Chloe’s lives if anyone is going to show up as dad it’s only ever gonna be me I’m the only dad that they’ve got and it’s the same with the salt and light stuff I think that we typically we want to develop these there’s something in us that we want to engineer these action plans these spiritual to-do lists so that we can earn an identity that was handed to us all right we try to create the spiritual to-do list because we’ve convinced ourselves that if we don’t do things well then Jesus is gonna go oh you’re bad salt and you’re bad light and I don’t want to be around you anymore and he’s gonna stamp our passport and send us to hell and that’s not how it works Jesus himself says we already are the light of the world and the salt of the earth it’s not a matter of you doing the right things in order to earn that identity we have been changed that’s who we are now it happened in an instant when you put your faith in Jesus and now that that’s who we are he says it would be funny it would be absurd to live out of any identity other than the reality and he brings that up he says it’s absurd and he’s funny about it is another thing after memorizing the Sermon on the Mount I’ve realized that he’s funny like he’s really funny more often than we think you know even stuff that we read and we think always being mean no he’s being sarcastic he’s being funny I get to teach in a couple weeks a dissection of the Sermon on the Mount where he has like middle school boy humor and I can’t wait cuz that’s my niche that’s my thing I’m like so pumped that he brought it up in a talk the most famous sermon in the world but he’s funny he’s funny in this moment where he says he’d be absurd for you two to think that you’re anything other than the salt of the earth and the light of the world he’s being funny let’s look at it again he says this he says you are the light of the world you are you already are can’t change that city on a hill cannot be hidden you can’t hide from that identity he was neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl that’s absurd that’s silly cuz instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house he goes in the same way let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and then point to your father in heaven and I like it because he’s being funny and he’s getting his point across alright but I do think it needs may be modernized a little bit and so let me try to modernize it and give you the the absurd picture that Jesus is trying to give us right now okay so it’s like this Jesus is going okay so picture you just whatever you just moved okay you got married um you moved in with your buddies you got a new place or whatever you need some furniture okay so you head down to Ikea and you find this cool it’s super cool and it’s hip and it’s this funky lamp that you bought all right the kinder tooten or whatever but dumb name they’ve given it you know okay so yeah so you take this lamp that kyndra tootin home and you put it in your living room alright and you screw in the light bulb and you plug it into the wall and you turn it on when you turn it on suddenly you have a lamp in your living room a working lamp and it’s doing what lamps are designed to do it’s spreading light into the darkness of your living room alright but then Jesus says okay but then also let’s imagine that when you were at IKEA you found just this cool it’s super cool hip funky salad bowl right called the hunter sharks umm whatever okay and you take this thing home and you take the lampshade off of your lamp and you put the salad bowl on top of it now I’ll hand it to you that’s a weird scenario okay I I’m assuming there’s no one in here who’s like oh I’ve been there bro but it’s ridiculous but this is the scenario he gives us and so I got some questions for us alright in this scenario where you took a lamp and you put a salad bowl on it and you gave it a thumbs up all right in this scenario here are my questions is the lamp still a lamp yes didn’t transform into something different here’s my next question is the light still on the answer is yes alright but my last question is this is this working lamp behaving like in operating as if it believes it’s a working lamp and the answer is no and it’s the same for us if you put your faith in Jesus which means you believe he is who he says he is and he’ll keep all of his promises to you that’s what faith is if you put your faith in Jesus you are now his light you are his lamp that’s never gonna change you will never not be his lamp and he will always be shining from within you the light bulb is in the socket the plug is in the wall the light is on all right in all possible meanings of the phrase Flatirons Community Church is lit this place is lit we’re lit all right that was a slow burn we’re lit all right the only difference and the only question is whether or not we believe it and operate out of that place as if it’s true and if we come to grips with the reality of Jesus’s identity statement his redefinition of Who throwaway people become when they enter into a with God kind of life if we believe that and live out of that place Jesus says that we’re gonna light up the world in such a way that people will look and go that can’t possibly be bent foot and so they’ll give glory and honor and praise to my father got in heaven if we live out of that identity we become working lamps who finally just realized we are working lamps and if we do that the Bible says that not even the gates of Hell will stop us from shining light into the darkness but if we do not live out of this new identity then we’re still working lamps right the light is still on okay you’re still saved still gonna go to heaven when you die all that stuff but we’re just working lamps that don’t believe we are all right here’s the thing I want you to walk away with if we don’t live out of this identity we are in reality very necessary people that have convinced ourselves that were still throwaways in the kingdom of God and at that point we’re just a bunch of kinder Teutons with hunter sharks sins on our heads which is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever said in church all right but that’s because it’s ridiculous and it’s absurd and that’s what Jesus’s point was he’s kind he’s a kind teacher he could have put the finger in our chest right and said you need to do this better or whatever I could have been disappointed in us instead he’s kind he gives us an opportunity to just laugh at how absurdly we’ve been living right and we laugh at ourselves and then when the chuckling dies down with a smile he leans in and says it would be just as absurd for you to believe that I view you as pointless and meaningless and worthless in the kingdom of God he’s a good teacher he’s a kind teacher and so here’s where I want to land this plane today all right the action plans will follow whatever you got to do for whatever the thing is you need to fix they’ll develop naturally but only if we first understand who we actually are now and so we’re gonna take a page from Jesus’s book and we’re going to encounter reality and then we’re gonna go home and think on that one specifically we’re gonna go home and ask ourselves do we really believe that we are God’s plan a for bringing life and light to the entire world do we really believe that and then this week as you’re thinking on that you’re gonna ask yourself a question if you take a picture of any screen take a picture of the next one this is our only homework for this week all right as we’re thinking through this plan a stuff we’re gonna ask ourselves what stops you from believing that you are God’s plan a what makes you go that he couldn’t possibly see any worth in me there’s nothing I could possibly have to offer the earth in the world what are you telling yourself is it your past is it your present is it your family history is it your addiction depression obsessions what keeps you from believing the truth that you already are the salt and light of the entire world what stops you from believing that because it’s a lie we’re gonna go home and think on that we’re gonna go home and wrestle with that and next week I promise for kicking off a series and the whole series is the action plan stuff that we’re all addicted to all right we’ll talk about it we’re gonna talk about what salt and light looks like in everyday life but we can’t put the cart before the horse Jesus never did we can’t put the plan before the identity and so we’re gonna start here this week we’re gonna identify the lies in our heads and we’re gonna call out the truth and the truth according to Jesus is that the world needs you now you are God’s plan a and there is no back-up plan you are it there are no pointless people in the kingdom of heaven oh but but the world’s gone to pot alright society and economy and government that’s all falling apart in in culture and you don’t know my family my family and my friends everything is falling apart Jesus what are we gonna do about this Jesus what is the plan and he’s going you’re looking at it every time you look in the mirror there are no pointless people in the kingdom of God we’re on a mission throwaway people are no longer throwaway in the kingdom of heaven we are now indispensable in a world full of darkness we are vitally important invaluable in a world that is decaying and our lives now have eternal purpose an impact that is our reality it is not changing the only question is whether or not we believe it and operate out of that place so we’re gonna go home and we’re going to think on that and we’re gonna wrestle through that and then next week we’ll talk about what to do with it pray with me God thank you for being exactly who you are and God thank you so much for bringing people like us into rooms like this and bringing people like us into relationship with you I thank you for being exactly the way you are and I thank you for taking us in exactly the way we are God I’m thankful for for this idea of I mean we got a list we have a hole I got my own personal list of reasons why I’m worthless and meaningless and purposeless we all have our own lists we keep adding to them every single day and you just throw the list out the window and say I can work with you and then not only that not only do you put up with us or tolerate us but you move into our lives and you say I cannot wait to partner with you you are the salt of the earth you were the light of the world you’re completely other than you are completely better than and more powerful than us and at the same time you give us your mission and your task to be the salt of the earth in the light of the world and you trust us with that because you we’re not going alone you’re going with us and it’s just incredible and I thank you for that God what I’m praying for today is the ability to just understand that identity and live out of it God’s a throw away the lie that there’s a possibility of being pointless in your kingdom God please help that reality to sink into our hearts so that we can March out into every single day of life knowing in confidence that we’re the salt of the earth and the light of the world and you’re going with us there’s a world who needs us we just didn’t know that God I thank you for who you are I thank you for everybody in all these rooms at all of our different campuses and I mostly thank you for Jesus our Lord and Savior who made all of this possible for us and it’s in his name that I pray amen

  • Times Are Changing Series: We are God’s “Plan A” for bringing life and light to the entire world.

 

Flatirons Community Church

Jesus talked a lot about His love for those who are poor, hurting, broken and forgotten. Because Flatirons exists to bring the awesome life of Christ to a lost and broken world they choose to serve and love those in their community simply because God loves them.

Flatirons is a church meeting in multiple locations in the Denver-Boulder area, online, and around the world. You’ll find a group of people that may look a little rough around the edges but expect to be welcomed and comfortable.

Local Outreach

Flatirons ministries include: Men’s, women’s, young adults, students,  kids, children with special needs, deaf and hard of hearing, community service and Thrive workshop.

Global Outreach

Flatirons has developed meaningful relationship with these organizations for global outreach: Globalscope – International Campus Ministry; Afghanistan – Sozo international; Mexico – Urban Mosaic; Uganda – Musana Community Development Organization; South Sudan – Life In Abundance International; and Boulder, Colorado – iEmpathize .

Campuses

 

 

Flatirons Community Church - Lafayette Colorado

The vision of Flatirons Community Church is “To bring the awesome life of Christ to a lost and broken world”. | Image courtesy: (Flatirons Community Church)

 

Flatirons Community Church Channel | Local & Global Outreach Ministries

 

Photo Gallery:

Ben Foote teaches on the Anti-Hero series at Flatirons Church

Ben Foote teaches on the Anti-Hero series at Flatirons Church. | Image courtesy: flatironschurch.com

 

 

Gretchen Foster delivers a message on freedom in Christ at Flatirons Church

Gretchen Foster delivers a message on freedom found in Jesus Christ at Flatirons Church. | Image courtesy: flatironschurch.com

 

 

Flatirons Church Food Drive provides food to people in need in their surrounding communities

Flatirons Community Church Food Drive provides food to people in need in their surrounding communities. | Image courtesy: flatironschurch.com

 

 

More resources:

Flatirons Community Church Lafayette Campus – Home | Facebook

Official page for Flatirons Community Church’s Lafayette Campus. Who or what you put your confidence in to best take care of you in your greatest moment of need (Hebrews 11:1).

Flatirons Community Church – Lafayette, CO – yelp.com

Reviews of Flatirons Community Church “This was the 1st church on a list of many my husband and I planned to check out when we first moved to CO almost 5yrs ago, and we never looked back! This church has been extremely instrumental in deepening…

Flatirons Community Church in Lafayette, Colorado – Local …

Flatirons Community Church offers a wide variety of programs to make their church of 13000 weekly attendees feel smaller. They are separated by age demographic and marital status and they try and make it easy for people interested to find a group that works for them.

In this video Tori shares her testimonial about how the Thrive program has transformed her life. She said that she had never been sober for this long.  Tori went on to say that she didn’t think a person like her could have a new chance at life. Her Thrive coach helped her transition to a new life of sobriety, finding employment and setting goals for her life.

Thrive helps people overcome barriers and work their way to self-sufficiency and stability through employment. Thrive was created to offer a holistic approach to eliminating poverty through relationships, employment support services, skills development, and education.  Learn more… Thrive Workshop

 

See also: Christian News Updates and Christian Music & Bookstore at Elevate Christian Network

About 

Cee Harmon is the founder of Elevate Christian Network and Elevate Your Potential Magazine. He enjoys helping people improve the quality of their lives - spirit, soul, and body.
 
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