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May 5, 2020 9:00 am
Hi everyone, before we jump into today's broadcast. Let me tell you about an exciting opportunity that we have for you to extend helped Hill of our churches in the thick of the coronavirus today is getting Tuesday now a new global day of giving unity as a response to the unprecedented meaning caused by coveted 19. We are partnering with two of our Summit collaborative churches in Brooklyn New York and hundred percent of gifts given to Summit life today will go to crossroads Christian church in Park slope Community Church.
They will be able to use the funds to care for the physical needs of those in their congregations who have been most affected by our current crisis as well as help provide a stronger presence for their online services ultimately sharing the gospel more people in their community. In return for your generosity towards these churches will not only send you our current insured 10 day devotional will also send you the digital version of the books that you can share with family and friends and as an added bonus will send you a digital version of Pastor JD's brand-new pandemic prayer guide just released my life way that's for all gifts given today, Tuesday may@j.crew.com or call us at 866-335-5220 now enjoy today's program today on Summit life JD Greer talks about what it means to be a Christian. One shows up because I was more intelligible part of the upper-class God set his grades on the when I was spiritually brought about a natural site.
I'm a spiritual prostitute made a saint by the gift of righteousness of Christ. The Bible teaching ministry of pastor and author JD Greer. I'm your host Molly benefits currently in a series called I am an alien all about our identity in Christ. JD's been explaining that as Christians were supposed to be different than the world around us were outsiders and facts. He calls as aliens so what does that look like practically speaking, Pastor Jay answers that question. Today he's talking about who we are, where we come from and what we do as Christians. So let's get started. Here's Pastor Janie. Specifically, the personal going to be looking at that verse right there following the question addressed today is what role the church should have a lot to have in the world. I recently read a copy of a book that my BFF Tim Keller is releasing in the book he gives four different attitudes that Christians have when it comes toward culture and in politics up to the art number one is workable.
We got what we call pietistic space writer like you know what brought us to be enraptured anyway and everything is going be burned up. In the end. So our main focus really audibly unjust converting as many people as we can as fast as we did get a lot of the world is perishing in end of the church because hey what uses rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. And you know it's a safe race but all time messing around with the bills we know it's going down just to people into the lifeboat. What's that's that's the boy that's the pietistic space second group the comments on what he calls the conservative activist group. This group believes that the problem with our culture may problem the world is that our culture is lost its moral absolutes experience.
We need to do is recover Christian worldview in our government and in education. We need to make our society more Christian. So we need to get for example prayer back in schools. We need to get God back in the government. Jerry Falwell, Glenn Beck, both the more TV programs and that got us. That's for the second group. The third group that he he he highlights is what he calls the evangelical relevance, evangelical relevance. Now these are guys usually have a lot of piercings a lot of tattoos they were short a grudge team to my safe reckon a lot okay that's for this business personality on the problem is that the church is to remove the culture and when we do speak were always hostile to culture role was talking about how wicked Hollywood is and how depraved the music is what we really ought to be doing instead of messing around politics and speaking about what we ought to be doing instead of speaking up for the poor and the marginalized.
Try to get guys like Bono to write more songs and where Tom's shoes and on about obit by Rob Bell for president. That's that would be this group by evangelical relevance is your fourth rupee, he highlights, it's what we call the countercultural list group countercultural is not notice group says we really don't need to be concerned with making the world what the church all or trying to reformulate what we need to do is meeting the marginalized, where they are in shaping a new Christian society in the church God to read is not the world, God arenas the church.
That's what we ought to be focusing is this countercultural sort of thing in the church is my question for groups which one is the right one careful trick.
The answer is this truth really all and all of them can find some biblical support, and there's a sense in which in which none of them really capture the role of God's people were supposed to have in the world. Now I am not going to answer that question fully. Today it becomes very much of the text talk about that begins to form how you should think about these things. This passage will give you the central framework to begin thinking about what role the people of God and the church, and you ought to really have in the world.
Okay, so you don't think I want to answer this question fully because I would probably take a couple hour lecture of its own, but this passage gives you the essential components we begin to think about it the right way. Okay. First Peter chapter 2 verse nine Peter discusses the identity of the people of God, and what there to be doing in the world. As a result of their identity and he does so by giving you several different word pictures several different word pictures were to look at those and what they mean for you vice versa not here's our first one but you are a first one shows certain rights you're not step in your Bible underlined that write it down chosen race, every race has certain characteristics that define it correctly rattle me just in: a sort of things but cultural things. Every race has distinctions every culture at the stages this race. Peter is going to show you this race has distinctions how you live what you do with your money.
How you respond to people who wrong you the joy that you have been paying to be the subject of his talk about the next two or three chapters reported a study together right but here is the irony here is the iron whereas the distinctives of other races often lead to pride in division the distinctives of the gospel. Do not believe. In fact, the opposite direction again. Whatever you think that you distinctives you take pride in it and you look down on people who don't have it as much as you do not even say that's it's bad or a bad statement understand that we all got values.
We have things that we thought the final group. When we look down on those who don't have everybody see everybody has these defining characteristics that tend to separate the good and the bad. The forward from the backward, the distinctives of the gospel. However, they don't need to pride daily to humility explained is a little bit you everywhere.
These things appear says goes back to the description that God did to Israel in the Old Testament.
Every single one of its right, so the chosen race will work.talk about that Israel was in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 7 God explains to Israel why he shows and so all God you chose not to call. What's special. What is it about us, why just use me got a bigger question. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own treasured possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. Shows you what is a because were also good for good-looking is because we are great skill.
It was not because you were more number than any other people, but the Lord set his love on you and shows you most of all the peoples that had nothing to do with how strong you were to judge you want that's wrong with that impressive. You want that smart. You know that much you accomplish that watchers.
You oh I know God, maybe even the work that the cop was. Maybe it's because we were so righteous, or some such good morals are families or social.
That's why you chose us desirable among us to rethink that. But know therefore that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land possessed because of the righteousness because you are a stubborn people say in the you like, hey, what was it about me that made me chosen will what what caused me to be chosen is I got nothing about you that that would never work.
For example on my wife write what you know once you fall in love with me was not because you pretty because you're not feel that way on to say, you know, it's not because it's not because you're smart because you're kinda dumb. It would never work that way now.
Now I want to get this in the 10, 11, 12 years we been in love with. That way, by the way, because the love of her longer than she has me I think I have developed a love for her that goes beyond her beauty and her intelligence. I think if for some reason those are taken away.
That would take away my love for her. But that's not how it works. The beginning you're attracted to somebody because of some characteristic.
Now I do think I have this kind of love for my kids even got my kids and I have a selector size at night sometimes I'll ask Bobby like you know this daddy love you girls because your because you're pretty and I will start will say no and I will suggest that he think you're pretty and also yes it was that why love to set up the dead. Love you because you're smart no, but we are smart and I'm like yes we are smart with us, that he loves you why this daddy love you and my oldest daughter will say you love us because were your children.
I have set my love upon them. It is not something that really is. As a result of their being special God save it in your chosen race. You're not your chosen because you're special you're special because your chosen to hold together different Baltic that's not just a play on words. That's the essence of the gospel. In fact infected but he says is what this verse nine. God shows us to proclaim the excellencies of him who is not a hard question so it's right there it's underlined. God wants us to proclaim the excellencies of him not excellently. That's what other races do they proclaim their excellencies were writing the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light makers understand this what you were not a people, but now you are God's people what you would not receive mercy, but now you have received mercy, by the way, that's a quote from Hosea, the book of Jos�.
Jos� had probably what I think the worst assignments ever given to a man of God, the prophet in the Bible, God told him to go marry a prostitute and her sales. I will come again a prostitute that you question what you may prospect for summer. Christian checks, godly girls no sooner prostitute because I want to give everybody a picture of my relationship with my people. So Jos� goes emergent prostitute she's faithful to him for 2 to 3 years and then she goes back to life of prostitution and God tells Jos� to take her back 20s doing is not courting us applying this to the people of God save that's where you were when God shows you it was because the beauty wasn't because of moral perfection. God shows you when you work ugly before spiritually a prostitute. There was nothing about you that made him set his love on you. By the way, didn't even choose him. He chose you.
Your heart was so wicked and evil and deformed. They would never have love God unless God wound it first and drew us to himself. That leads not to division pride that destroys division and pride. I wouldn't chosen because I was more moral and more intelligent part of the upper-class God said his grace on me when I was spiritually a prostitute. I'm not a natural state. I'm a spiritual prostitute made a saint by the gift righteousness of Christ. And so the gospel has produced the most radically diverse and inclusive community. But the world has ever known. You see that the Peter it and got in the and the people that Peter is writing to Rodney Stark when my favorite historian says says one of the distinctive characteristics of the early church was the sheer diversity of it in the Greco-Roman world, the rich and the poor would never mingle together.
But in the church. They did it in the Jewish world the Roman world. The Romans and Jews would never mix racist but in the church. They did.
That's because the Christians taught that we were all poor. When Jesus came and poured himself out for us and there's only one race, the simple condemned human race in Jesus Christ the righteous came to die for all people and was not raised as a Jew or Greek or rich man report and a black man a white man or Hispanic or Asian. He was raised as the Lord of all humanity's blood is given for the forgiveness of all people like you got produced a radically different kind of community so people say to me while Christianity is exclusive like every group is exclusive. Every group has defining characteristics, but whether you're in or you're out. So yes, Christianity is exclusive, but it is the most radically inclusive exclusivity. There has ever been, because it has nothing to do with accomplishments or characteristics that has to do with grace that is given to all people in all kind without measure. Right. So there a chosen race, here's the second thing, a royal priesthood, you're a royal priesthood, now son of a priest there for a minute, please represent God to people and they represent people to God. That's the role of a priest.
The Old Testament community preach the Jewish people. That's they stood in the place of God, and they were to communicate God's word to people and reflect.that's one of the things that when we think about that role that provides a pretty opium pressure because I realize a lot of times people come into here, and they make up their mind about who God is, based on their experiences with us. That's what were so were so adamant about having the right kind of people out of the parking lot because the sermon starts in the parking lot. We want to demonstrate generosity out there want to take care of kids here in such a way that they put on display the beauty of Christ. What we do with our money how we give it away we went.
All that to be reflective of God because we represent God to people not thought about this the other night when I spoke out at you would see on Wednesday night they had a thing where those several hundred students in I was there to take questions and answer questions of people had about Christianity is the pressure of of something like that.
Not because I thought you know the answers, but realizing that Misty does know that I'm not God but at least for this time, representing God and my going to make up their mind about what God says of the way that I carry myself. Here's Jesus who was in John 117, full of grace and truth. Never back down from telling people the truth, he would say what Sam was a civil right wasn't wrong with but he overflowed with such grace that he was a magnet for prostitutes and tax collectors and people who were criminals a bit thrown out by society and it's a question that we often ask yourself all the time.
All we really reflective of the attitude of God toward our community.
Are we generous like he is. We got one group of people in church were all the same age, same rate, say music preferences and styles, but that it does not reflective of who God is, because God didn't create one strata of society. He created all parts of society all parts of culture are we reflective of God to people now priest not only represented God to people priest represented people to God right.
They would go before God, and they would take the cases of people and they were present in the God is a great picture this of the Old Testament of the priesthood where: E Fahd, which is, like a 9090 okay and and on that he thought they would were 12 stones are represented the 12 tribes of Israel.
Every time they went into the presence of God. These people were on the heart and they were praying for them.
Jesus our high priest. Hebrews says now has our names written on his heart and even on his hands so that he is standing in the gap interceding for us.
Okay that is what we now do with the communities that we live in. I representing people to God. God puts me in situations because I am the one who knows him he puts me between his infinite compassion and somebody's great need and bridges the gap between those things you do a study sometime go through the Gospels count up the number of miracles that Jesus does and then count up the number of those that began not with his initiative, but was somebody else's initiative. You don't mean by that but but Jesus initiatives and more about him and he'll you bear right some else's initiative is when Jesus is like going one direction and somebody gets his attention as I did you come over here and help with the number miracles started that way under the what happens in the Gospels watches is that Jesus often responds to the faith of somebody who stands before him and says Sir Mike talks die and Jesus quit talking this way first walk that Wayne goes over and heals that that's were you when I replace right now at the concept we teacher all the time called intercessory faith the idea that I am placed somewhere to stand between Jesus, compassion, and when Jesus does appear to be going this direction I come up to him as a.here's what's on my heart and I believe on behalf of this other person and I think Jesus power. That way that's how I want to start reading the Gospels we see these miracles, I want you to read them as you coming up to Jesus to interrupt him and cause him to do what he and I'm putting all this in quotes always knew what he wasn't intending to do because that's what it means to be a priest is to represent people to God. I want one more thing on priest here because I thought we are looking at is this all the time priest primary responsibility don't get this was not anything in relation to people there primary responsibility was something in relation to God. When God called these priest out one of things he did as they offered sacrifices continually to God.
Therefore focus was loving and adoring God. This was only back to the Exodus. But I tell you that there are two things that we always get along with the Exodus by writers. The Exodus story. Mr. blue did enjoy your about the first thing is we got this image of Moses be about a 6 foot five football player with a deep baritone Charlton Heston S Voice stands up and says God says let my people go, and your mother will reside in the letters we will go I told you that's wrong because first of all, one thing we know about Moses will know much, but we know that he had a speech impediment which he spoke with like like a starter or a list.
He was effeminate or something but it didn't sound like Charlton Heston you know that that that would be like to people now or something like that. Something I did not move everyone to fear the second thing we know is that he didn't say God says let my people go. He says God says let my people go, now so that they might worship me. This whole point was, I want to people that are going to be for me which means that the first thing that a priest dies is that has nothing to do what people have to do with God. They offer sacrifices to God.
I went through the New Testament in preparation for this message and listed out all the things that the New Testament says we do a sacrifices to God example Romans 12 wanted to is our bodies that we offer sacrifices to God because we love him because the world has a need just because we love them but does have in the first and foremost, it is for God. Here's another when Hebrews 1316 our money flipping 14 also poses your money is given. There's a lot of motors Christians have for forgiving the money right. Once motors we have forgiving what we want to give because they're poor people who need help would give because of loss.
People who need Jesus also motivations. I don't want to dampen them at all. But there's a higher motivation. Motivation is just as a sacrifice of Jesus in response to say I love you because I'm giving this up as an offering to you. Hebrews 1315 the praise of our lips, is a sacrifice to God, which means that when we come in here and we lift our voices and our hands and we worship were offering a sacrifice up to God. Americans have such a this this view of worship is so self-centered how I feel that I feel like raising my hand. The point is not how you feel. The point is what is worthy of it so we give a sacrifice of praise that is befitting the king of all the universe who died for us. It's a sacrifice if it's first God focus even the people we went to Jesus.
Romans 1560 Paul says that the people we went to Jesus. Romans 1516, or a sacrifice of praise to God what is the motivation for what you do with the motivation I think about the woman who came to Jesus with the alabaster flask of perfume breaks every Jesus feet. Jesus didn't need that other disciples look at. It was like what waste is poured out 10,000 perfume of the ground that could've insulted me to bore Jesus cares about the poor. We know that all kinds of commands on but in that moment.
He said she did the better thing because ultimately that offering was about love to me. This is where the Gospels preaching to be talk about because that's the essence of all this I caught a people for me and when they worship and they love me brings joy to my heart. What is the motivation for what believers do why we can master this audit we go over the world.
When churches want to give her money at Christmas time so the people can tend to pour can be empowered and the loss can be saved. Why yes it compassion. Yes, we are hard to break. When we see people without Jesus and in the there's a higher motivation that is just a sacrifice of Christ Jesus our career is curling true worship today.
I am an alien and all other previous messages are available to stream or download.
When you visit JD Greer.com. We have such a special treat this week. Not only do we have Pastor JD with this that he brought his mom with him. Mrs. Carol Greer, thank you so much for joining us, Mrs. Greer, thank you for having me and happy Mother's Day to both of you. Happy Mother's Day week two Molly is a newer mother and to my mom who had an exceptionally difficult challenge and mother and I take it now since it such a special treat to have your mom here. I want to hear all the dirt easy easy easy Molly did have a story not like to avoid taking never want to call anybody his girlfriend Tina stating some on last Christmas time. He got on Christmas present because he wasn't sure what this girl was great to and he decided that he didn't think anything special because she at this point was not special so he bought her neck for well she wanted to give you her Christmas present for she went and got a Christmas present. She came out. I knew that and it was. Not warmer than it was seven family a very nice sweater.
JD sent why didn't have your kids tear set will have to get past again since she counted the door. He got me on a corner and he said did he have anything that I could get a soft timeout. Well there is something that of the Christmas tree. I took the name off of it put her name on it and gave it back to JD and he gave it to the girl. Now, take bad to tell the same kind of stairway bent over in a different direction. JD was getting ready to go to and reach people good. A few weeks before he was to late for that. He was a speaker at one of the camps, and Veronica was Diane canceling their heat decided that there something special about Veronica. They went to Janice for some time together and then JD And He Says I Have Met the Girl That I'm Going to Marry so Was He. When I Asked My Job Became to Look over Everybody's Email Offer to Give Us a Letter That I Sent an Email She She Got Him Back after about a Year. JD Says Mom You Don't Need to Bury Veronica's Emails Anymore. She Says Okay to Decide on the First Day, Mary. You Know You Know Right Side and Asked Her down That Way.
The Systems Insight into the Life of Pastor JD 74 Week. I Wanted to Remind You That This Is the Last Week to Get a Copy of Pastor JD's New 10 Day Devotional Title Short Video Copy with Our Thanks Again I Calling 866-335-8665. Get a Copy When You Donate Online. JD Greer I Molly for Events Invite You to Join Us Wednesday. We Will Learn More about What It Means to Be an Alien and His Mom on Senate Life with Your Ministry