Good morning, church. Good morning. Good morning to those of you on our online family. We're so glad that you're with us. Jennifer, that's you in Buckeye this morning. We have Thomas in Denver visiting his family, so welcome to you as well. And then all of you, wherever you happen to be on the online family, just welcome. We're glad you're doing this with us. Paulden, I hear Sue's in charge today. So Mike had something he had to do, so Sue is hosting. So welcome to you. You're in great hands.
Sue is the best. So there you go. And Baghdad, welcome to you. If you're new in the room and you're like, what is this? Where are we? You have joined us in the middle, the middle of what we call Global Month. And so you just got to meet JJ, who is amazing. And if you were here a couple of years ago, you remember JJ was here a couple of years ago.
And so it's fun to, one of the things we get to do in October is slow down and go, OK, what global partners can we spend time with and what can we kind of see what God's doing around the world? But one of the important things with global partners is it's exactly that. It's a partnership. This isn't we just have these people who are connected to heights, that are out there doing mission stuff or they're out there kind of doing their own thing.
But the idea is taken from scripture where it says that we are partners in the gospel, that we are to link arms together to see the good news of Jesus not only stay together, not only stay in Prescott, but go around the world. And so we have opportunities with people like JJ. If you were here a couple of weeks ago, you got to see the DR team. And that was drastically different from who JJ is. And then last week, you got to see J from Japan, J Greer.
And so it's kind of this beautiful expression of all these partners are so different, but they're all doing the same mission. They're all living out the same purpose. It's to see Jesus and see this gospel go global, which you know this, right? Like the gospel was never supposed to stay here. The gospel was never supposed to just be for Prescott. The gospel is global and should be global and we should be a part of that. So all we get to do is we get to celebrate that.
And so meeting people like JJ, I hope that you're encouraged. I hope that you get to chat with him after. He's got some amazing stories and I hope that you just get to hear more about what God's doing. But I would hope this, that if you're sitting here and you're beginning to feel like God is stirring something in you, like I don't know what this is and I just need some discernment, JJ can help you with that, right? JJ, that's what he does.
And so I would encourage you to partner with him and kind of bring him in on what God's up to. Along with that, where we're heading today has kind of been modeled over the last weeks. Here's what I mean. The DR team here, the Dominican Republic team was here and you got to see all different kind of ages, stages of life within that team. And they are at a point where they are going, I want to put Jesus center of my life.
And so within the collection of talks that we've been about, that Jesus is the center of all things, we've kind of had these models where we've seen people go, hey, I want Jesus at the center and here's what it looks like in the local context where I am, which for us is a global context. And so then with JJ, we got to see it, right? I don't know how you felt, but like to hear the story again of JJ shows up and he's like, hey, we're just going to trust that the gospel actually saves people.
And so we're going to sit down and talk to people and that's grown into all these churches now throughout Japan. It's this beautiful expression of what God's doing. But it's JJ going, JJ and his family and the people that are gathered around him and his team going, hey, we're going to put Jesus at the center. And then you got to see it with JJ today, right? And another person that's going, hey, I'm going to step out by faith and even write a book.
I'm hoping to have this impact that's much larger than me, by what? By just putting Jesus at the center. And so today we're going to lean into this idea that there is a me-centric life and there is a Jesus-centric life. And within that, right, there are many opportunities to live it out. If you were here last week, you got to hear us talk about, we're in the election season, right? And so all the election season is an opportunity. And as elders, we just wanted to encourage you.
We started last week, we're continuing this week with, hey, we've been given an opportunity of freedom. But in that freedom goes, hey, your voice matters. And so we're just saying, would you use your voice? Right, use your freedom that God's given you. But within that, kind of tying into today, as elders, we're encouraging you, please make your voice Jesus-centric, right? Because there's way too many people that are me-centric with a whole bunch of opinions.
But for us as believers, it's okay, how do we keep Jesus at the center even in our voting? And that carries on to multiple other opportunities, right? Where every single day we get to live me-centric, or Jesus-centric. And so here's what I wanna do. I brought a mirror. Now this mirror has significance in my life, right? Because this mirror belongs to my 13-year-old, okay? And if you are 13, your mirror matters. I'm just gonna throw it, you're nodding.
Your mirror matters, I'm gonna throw it out there. Now here's what's interesting. If you're 13, why does the mirror need to be this size? Because you need to see how much? All of it, right? If you're gonna know if the fit is good, you gotta be able to see all of it. And so as a 13-year-old, like, I gotta make sure my look is good because it matters, right? But here's what's interesting about mirrors.
Mirrors reveal that when you stand in front of a mirror, what happens is the mirror reveals what's in front of it. And so the mirror is telling you something. It's teaching you something. It's showing you something. It's revealing something. Like sometimes, I don't know how you feel, but when I get in front of a mirror like this, the older I get, I'm like, I don't need to see that much anymore, right? Like I'm just fine, I'm just fine. We can make a smaller mirror, right?
Or you ever had that moment, the older you get, you get in front of it and you're like, why is hair growing there? I don't understand. And when did this start? And so with a mirror, what it does is it engages us. What I wanna do today is I wanna create a maturity mirror. And here's what I mean by that.
That by the end of today, as we walk together, we can stand in front of the mirror and have the maturity mirror reflect and reveal something about the maturity of who I am in this whole journey of me-centric and Jesus-centric. We're gonna be in the book of Philippians and here's what's interesting. The stage we're at in our journey of the center of all things, Paul, if you were with us a couple of weeks ago, the apostle Paul, he wanted to go to Jerusalem.
They're like, don't go to Jerusalem, he's leaving the elders and he ends up going to Jerusalem and he gets arrested and then he gets put on a boat and that boat ends up shipwrecked and they end up on an island. And so if it's not bad enough that you're in jail and now you're shipwrecked, he's now on the island and he gets bit and he's like, on the island and he gets bit by a viper and you can read this all in Acts, it's quite the journey, right?
He gets bit by a viper and the natives to this island go, wait a minute, wait a minute, why is he not dying? And so they're stunned that he's not dying, that the snake has no effect on him and then a whole bunch of healings break out, whole bunch of people are cured, they put him back on a boat, they haul him off, continue their journey to Rome where he ends up a prisoner.
And the prison looks a lot like house arrest, like he's allowed to have a house that he rents, that he pays for, but a soldier is put there in charge of him, so he's not free to go as he chooses, he's under arrest. And Paul's at the stage of his life where he's lived a whole bunch of walking with Jesus, the person who was zealous over here is still zealous over here. But the person that maybe would do things differently here, over here is now matured.
And so what you get is you get Paul sitting in essentially prison, and he's got nothing but time and paper and pens. And he starts to write, and sometimes it's to an individual, and we covered that a couple of weeks ago, he wrote a letter to Timothy, and he said, hey Timothy, here's some stuff you should know. And then this one, the letter to the church in Philippi, he writes to an entire group of people.
But what I hope to do is as we walk through this is to grab some of the things out of this that help create this maturity mirror for us. So he starts in verse 20. Paul says, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death, for me to live as Christ and to die as gain. If I am to go on living in this body, it will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose?
I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body convinced of this. I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. So that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me. So I mean, you got the highlight reel, right?
Where he's like, man, I wanna live by courage that Jesus would be exalted in my body, that this life would be about exalting him. Then you have the home run hit of like to live as Christ and to die as gain. And then he ends out with like that my life would be and results in more boasting about Jesus. And it doesn't take long to read that and go, man, that sounds really Jesus centric. That if you were to define a life, you go, that sounds Jesus centric.
So I got to wondering, what would it sound like to write, rewrite this passage through a me centric lens? Which just may sound like heresy. So you can do with that what you will. So I sat down and I just took it and just started writing. It says this, I expect my shame to keep me in hiding, my embarrassment to overwhelm me. I don't have the courage needed to live by faith. So this means I can't let others see Jesus because it may cost me too much. For me to live is good for me.
And to die at this point in my life is loss and waste. If I can keep on living, it may mean that I create the life I have been hoping for that my efforts will get me what I want. I know that heaven is on the other side, but I am not ready. Even though I know Jesus is there, that feels lesser than what I have been. In this life, and so I must hold on. If I get to stay here, I'm putting all my effort into getting what I want. It will also benefit you too, maybe, when my life has everything.
I know I'm going to remain here. So I'm going to work hard, take this second chance and not end up in jail again, but pursue everything that brings me here. I'm going to pursue everything that brings me progress in this life and faith. Hopefully, that may bring good for you by being around me. And if it happens, then just maybe Jesus will benefit too. I don't know how you feel hearing that, but that's hard to write.
Because there are parts of it that as I write it and read it now for the third time live, that hit way too close to home. That I would love to go, man, I don't resonate with that at all. And yet what we find is we find this comparison that when me is at the center versus Jesus at the center, there are drastic comparisons. And so with Paul then, what I want to do is go through this and just pull words out. So in verse 20, he says this, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed.
So maybe the first word that we'll just kind of put up here is ashamed. And some of you are like, I can't read it. It's okay. The point isn't that you can read it. It's that we journey it together and we create a mirror. But the idea is that Paul goes, hey, I don't want to be in any way ashamed. Now, why would Paul have any inkling of being ashamed? Why would shame be a part of his struggle?
Well, remember he's in jail and part of being in jail meant that rumors and conversations and going, excuse me, going out into the churches, people were beginning to doubt who Paul was. People were beginning to look at him and go, well, how could you end up in jail if you were following the Lord? How could you end up in jail if your message was really what you said it was? You must have done something else. And so the credibility of Paul is in question.
So for Paul, that's a natural space to what? To shrink back and become ashamed of where he is in life and what the circumstances have brought. I wonder how many of us today sit here and shame is having a louder voice in your head because you know where you've been, you know what you've done, you know who you are. And so what happens is you begin to go, hey, I can't step out. I can't live Jesus-centric because I know who I am. I'm not worthy. I'm not enough.
And so what happens is shame begins to speak louder. So which is why then Paul then says, and the next part he says, but we'll have sufficient courage, sufficient courage. So the next word is courage. Why courage? Well, if you and me and Paul are ever going to live beyond shame and shame having the last word, it's going to require courage. What is courage about? Courage is about faith. You can't live by faith if you don't have courage. And so Paul goes, I want to have sufficient courage.
Then a mature view of this is that I would walk by courage. A mature view of having Jesus at the center is that by faith, I will do the things that I'm supposed to do, that by faith, I will take Jesus at his word, that by faith, I will step in to what God's calling me to. And so what Paul's saying is for him to not be ashamed, requires that he has the courage to take the step of faith that's needed. I wonder today in your shame, what step of faith, what courage is God asking you to take?
And so he carries on then. Why does he need courage? What's it for? Because he goes, so that now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body. So Jesus exalted. What does Paul know? Paul knows that the purpose of this life is that Jesus would be exalted in your life. What's the reason for existence? If you want to get down to, hey, John, why am I here? Why are you here? There is one reason you are here.
And it's that your life, your life, would actually live to something bigger, that your life would point to something bigger, that any interaction with you would mean that people see Jesus in you. Right? It's kind of like my kids. Okay, so it used to be that when I would introduce myself, I'd use my name and then I had kids. And then when you get introduced, it's no longer your name that's introduced anymore. It's their name. Right? All I'm here for is a billboard to promote you. Right?
And now you show up and you go, oh, you're Rylan's dad. Oh, you're Sierra's dad. Oh, you're Bailey's dad. Nice to meet you. Right? And all of a sudden, you're just a billboard for your kids. And what happens is in our Christian life, what Paul's saying is, hey, your life, when you step out by faith, he goes, the reason I want to have the courage to not live under shame, but live by faith is this, that Jesus, Jesus would be exalted, that Jesus's name would be seen before mine.
I mean, church, this is monumental. You know why this is such a big deal? Because when it comes to why we exist, why High Church exists, we exist that Jesus would be exalted, but we don't like that. You know why? I learned when we did Park Collective in Prescott Valley. You know how I learned? Some of you are still mad that Heights Church isn't on the wall. Some of you are still frustrated that the Heights Church name isn't on the building. But here's the thing. It's not about Heights Church.
What's it about? It's about the person of Jesus being exalted. So you know, my favorite stories about Park Collective is when people come in and they're like, who would do this? How did this get here? And somebody starts to tell them, there's this group of people, they love Jesus. They started to band together and go, hey, the community really needs this. And now you see it. And they start to go, wait, they did this because they follow Jesus. Yes, because they follow Jesus.
And what happens is whose names left higher? Jesus's name. You realize that anything we do as a church, anything we do as a church, so on an individual level, but also on a grand level, anything we do, if they are left with, wow, look at Heights, we have missed the point. If they are left with, wow, look at fill in the blank with a name, we've missed the point, unless fill in the blank is, wow, look at Jesus and look what he's done. And so Paul gets it. He goes, I don't want to be ashamed.
I want to live by courage. Why? Because for me to live, for me to live, it equals Jesus. The idea is this, what Paul's getting at is he goes, hey, if I have any more breath in my body, if I have any more breath in my body, it's for Jesus. So he knows his existence. His existence is what? That God would be, that Jesus would be exalted.
And then he goes, hey, so if I have any breath in this body, there is one reason for the breath and it's for Jesus to be known, which here's how it shakes down to our day, right? You ever have that day where you're like, I need to go to the grocery store. I don't feel like getting changed. So I'm going to go in my sweats. I'm going to wear that old sweatshirt with a stain on it. My hair's not done and I don't really care who sees it. Or maybe you're the beanie person. You know what I mean?
Like you put your beanie on because it at least covers it all. And then you go to the store and you're literally there just going, hey, I just want to sneak in and sneak out. What Paul's getting at is that moment because you're still breathing is about Jesus. So when that person sees you and you're dressed in your favorite sweats and your old baggy whatever, and you're just having a day, that that moment is actually in Paul's language.
He goes that to live, to live any moment of this life, it is for Jesus. He goes, that's how the mature view this. That's how somebody who takes their faith and puts Jesus at the center, they go every single breath is for him. How do I live it that way? And then he also goes a step further. He goes to die, oh, to die equals gain. To die equals gain. Thanks. You ever been around somebody who is one, one step or half a step into heaven? Like they've lived a great life.
They're older and they know, they know anytime, anytime God's going to take them. And they got one foot, one foot in heaven, one foot on earth. You ever sit with them? You ever have a moment with them where they go, I can't wait for the streets of gold. Said nobody ever. Where, where you sit with them and they go, oh, I can't wait. I'm going to get a mansion. I can't wait to see how big it is. That's incorrect theology. And we'll talk about that another day. They don't talk about that.
You ever meet somebody who is in love with Jesus that is one step in heaven? What do they talk about? I can't wait to be in the presence of Jesus. I can't wait to be with Jesus in face to face in person. I can't wait to be in the relationship that I was always intended to be where sin and brokenness and shame is no more. I can't wait to be with him.
And what Paul's saying is the mature, when we mature in our faith, what we start to go is this life is not worth holding onto because to die in this life is actually gained because I will be with Jesus who is my savior, the way it was intended to be all the way from the beginning. And all this stuff will be gone. And so the mature, the mature create, the mature create a mirror that when you look at it, you start to go, I start to challenge myself.
Hey, John, are you starting to hold on to this life more than you should? Are you starting to make this life about more things than it should be? Am I starting to, I'm not ready to leave yet. It's so good. Because according to Paul, he goes, Hey, those, those that are Jesus centric have learned to let it go. He carries on to say, if I'm going living in this life in this body, this will mean verse 22, this will mean fruitful labor for me.
So the idea of fruitful, you know, you know, that God packed you, God packed you with gifts and abilities for the kingdom of God. You are so special. Do not miss how special you are in the kingdom of God. The God has put into you and your life, things that he needs you to do. This is so true that JJ is giving his whole life to what help people bring out and help steer and push forward. What the gifts that have been put inside of them that they would live for the kingdom.
And here's the thing you today sitting here, God has packed you full with things that he wants to get through you. And Paul calls those fruit, right? You ever thought about a fruit tree? Fruit trees are interesting. You ever see an apple tree stand next to one? And as you stand next to it, it goes, I will make an apple. Never happened ever. You know what an apple tree does? It just bees an apple tree. Have you ever been around an orange tree and the orange tree is like, apricot, wrong one.
Never happened. Why? Because what does an orange tree do? It just bees an orange tree and it produces fruit. You by Almighty God have been packed full of gifts and abilities for the kingdom of God. And what does he want? He wants you to have a fruitful life. He wants you to produce fruit. But here's the thing that Paul connects to it. Right? He says, yeah, what shall I choose? I do not know. Verse 23, I'm torn between the true two. I desired it apart and be with Christ, which is by far better,
but it is more necessary. It is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Here's the key about a fruitful life. It's about you, not me. It's about you, not me. Here's the thing about gifts. Every gift that God has given you, every ability that God has given you, everything that he has in you for the kingdom of God. Guess who it's not for? You. Right? Think about fruit. You ever seen an apple tree eat an apple? Nope. Because it's not for them.
It's for everybody else. So Paul's getting at it. He goes, Hey, if my life is going to be fruitful, if I stay in it's fruitful, here's who it's got to be fruitful for. You. It has to be fruitful for you. What does it mean that it would be fruitful for you? He carries on in verse 25. It says, convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with you all for your progress and your joy. What is it about? It is about your progress. And your joy in the faith.
What is he saying? That his life to be fruitful, to use all those gifts and abilities, it is for you. And what is the end goal of that? That you, you would progress. You would have progress in your faith and that you would have joy in your faith. What is joy? To know that God, to know that God, his face shines towards you today. And he is completely happy with you today. He goes, I want you to know that. And so my life is going to be given why so that you would progress in your faith
and in the joy. And here's how it works. Right? That we all have this. This is why we're all needed. And it's so important. Because if I'm the only one that uses gifts and abilities, right? Then you may be progressing your faith and have joy, but it will be limited. But the goal is that I use mine for you. And what do you do with yours? Use yours because for me to progress in the faith and enjoy.
What does it need? It needs you to take your life and go, I will be Jesus centric and make it fruitful for you. I mean, think about it. You get, you ever been in a life group and you got people in there and you know they're me centric and they're just sucking the life out of the life group. You ever had that? Versus a life group where you sit in it and everybody goes, Hey, I'm here for you. And you're here for me. I'm going to pour everything I have out towards you.
And you do the same for me. And it's life giving. And there's this, there's this growth in the faith together. And Paul goes, that's what this is about. That's what the mature get is that my life isn't about me. It's about you. And I will give it away. Why? Because every life, every breath that I have, every moment I'm alive is what so that Jesus would be seen. Jesus would be seen to who? To you. And then he has one more thing that he adds to it.
Verse 26, so that through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound that the end result of this is that we would. Boast Jesus. That's the end. What's the end? That as you progress in your faith and joy, as you grow to be more like Jesus, what happens? You boast more about him. And that I progress in my faith and my joy. What happens? I boast more about Jesus. So, so the end result is what? That Jesus would be known more. Why?
Because we chose to set me aside and to live in a spot where Jesus is center. But I told you it's a mirror that reflects maturity. And here's how this maturity mirror works. Is that when you stand in front of it, it forces me to ask a question. Am I ashamed today? Am I living from a me centered space where my shame is too much that I can't get past? Because according to Paul, he goes, Hey, I'm not going to be ashamed. How am I not going to be ashamed? I'm going to live by courage.
Am I struggling today to live by faith? Because I don't have the courage to believe the gospel that Jesus really sets us free. That Jesus really is bigger than my shame or is what you did last night bigger than the cross? Because it's by faith that I accept that Jesus has set me free. It's by faith that I accept that I'm no longer a slave to who I was. And so he says, are you going to have courage? Why? That Jesus would be exalted. So when you live, it's going to equal Jesus.
Does my life, every moment of my life, does it equal Jesus? Does my marriage, does my relationships, do my kids, do my friendships, do the way I handle my finances, do the way I steward the things that God's entrusted to me. Do they speak Jesus? And do I really believe that to die is gain? Because being with Jesus matters that much. If I stay in this life, is it fruitful? Not for me. Are you just taking every ounce of what God has given you and using it for you?
Am I progressing in my faith in joy or think I am because I'm just focused on me? And at the end of that, guess what you get? A me-centered life ends up boasting me. Who does your life boast more about? Jesus or you? Because according to Paul, here's how the mature live. That I will not be ashamed because I will have courage to live by faith. And as I live by faith, Jesus will be exalted. And so this life will equal Jesus for me and die is gain. The mature go, I will live a fruitful life.
Why? For you, for you so that you progress in the joy and the faith. Why? That we would all boast Jesus. That every single one of us, all of our life, you could not be around us. The Jesus-centric life means you cannot be around you and not get that Jesus has changed you. That Jesus has completely moved you forward. And so here's the thing. I love, I love that we're doing communion today. Because I love that we, we come to a table.
Yeah. You ever notice, depending on your context, how you eat dinner, or if you go out for a meal with somebody. That when you go to a meal, you bring everything with you. That was that day. You ever notice that? That if you've had a rough day, the rough day goes to the table with you. If you've had the best day, the best day goes to the dinner table. And I love that, that today we get to go to a table that reminds us of the person of Jesus. This centers us on the person of Jesus.
That pulls us back to this is why, this is why we are different and we can live a different life. As you look in the maturity mirror, is it with a twinge of pain? Where you go, man, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I see so many areas where I'm putting me before Jesus. And if that's you, I just encourage you, bring that to the table. Where there is grace and there is forgiveness and there is mercy and re-center yourself back on God.
I want to lay down where I've been and I want to pick up anew the gospel. For some of you, you may see this maturity mirror and you're like, I'm encouraged, John. I see growth. I see steps forward. Then celebrate those as you go forward. But what I would also say at the table, remind yourself who it's for. Remind yourself that as you mature and now it's outward and you're giving it away, who is it for? Who does Jesus have you to carry to the table?
So the next moments are yours for a conversation with God and then we'll take it all together. I love what Paul makes when he's writing to the church at Corinth and he's talking about communion.
And I love that what he tells them is this, that when you partake, so when you take the bread and you take the wine, in our context, the cracker and juice, and you are reminded of who Jesus is and what he has done, that your physical action of taking it declares, it boasts that the story is true, that Jesus came, that he died, that he rose again, that he has conquered death and sin, that life has come and it's come more abundant. You declare that when? Until he comes.
And so you also declare that he's coming back. And that's all that happens when you take, partake in the meal at the table. And so Jesus gathered his friends around the table and he took ordinary bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body and it is given for you. You take, eat, do this in remembrance of me.
Jesus took a glass of wine and he compared or he connected the reality that his blood was going to be shed and the wine represented his blood and what was in his blood, it was a new covenant and new covenant was by grace. It was him doing for you what you could not do for yourself. And in that there would be forgiveness, that there would be freedom, that there would be wholeness. And so he handed him a cup and he said, take drink, do this in remembrance of me. God, we thank you this morning.
We thank you for who you are. God, thank you for being good to us. Thank you for being so good that you crossed space and time to show up. God, that you would take our sin and our brokenness. God, that you would take the very things that are tearing us apart. And you would put them to death on a cross so that we can have life today. And so God, we say thank you for that life.
Thank you that we have a choice that we do not have to live me centric, but God, we have a choice to put you at the center of our lives. And so God, would you help us to let go of shame, to live by faith and have courage to live by faith. And Jesus, would you be exalted that as we stand and we sing and we declare again that you are worthy of it all may be a prayer from our hearts, a declaration of boasting that you and you alone are worthy. Thank you for loving us first.
And everybody said, Amen.