**Well… I just wanna welcome everyone here to Embrace…
At all of our campuses…
and wherever you’re joining us from.
My name is Adam… I’m one of the pastors here…
and as always… we are so excited…
that you are with us.
Just so thrilled that you are here.
**And today… you are in luck…
because we’re starting up a brand new series…
and with Easter coming up…
which is a wonderful time… of the year…
we were looking for an upbeat name… to call this series…
just an encouraging… upbeat name… for Easter…
and well… we settled on the title…
from death.
This series is called… from death…
which is so encouraging right?
I can just feel the excitement…
And everyone… is just dying to hear this message…
(drums)
No but seriously though…
This year… in the Weber household…
we actually had 2 deaths… in our immediate family.
And one death… was our chicken named Mocha….
And the other was our chicken named… Lady.
And I just gotta say… that they were both just… great chickens… ya know
Well behaved… and they laid good eggs…
I don’t know what else… you can say about a chicken.
But with Mocha… we’re not for sure… that she died…
Unless she was raptured…we just kinda assumed it
because one day… she just disappeared.
And it was most likely… a chicken hawk…
But with Lady…
One day she just wasn’t looking good…
And over a few days… she just got worse…
Until finally she died…
And when we did… I wasn’t sure what to do with her…
I mean… do you bury a dead chicken…
in the middle of town?
And so I said a prayer for her… and put her in the trash can.
And well…. when I came into the house…
A question from my kids… that I wasn’t prepared to answer…
was dad, where did you bury Lady?
And I was so frazzled that I lied…
and I said… somewhere in the backyard…
And well… ever since then… my kids… they’ve been trying to find where Lady is at.
And no kidding… earlier this week… my daughter said:
Dad… I think I found Lady.
All I could think… is that… unless you went to the city dump…
That’s pretty much impossible.
Hashtag… worst parent ever.
No but really though… when it comes to death…
death is one of those things… that is strange to talk about…
And yet…
unless Jesus comes back sometime soon…
a physical death… is something that will happen to all of us… right?
But for today…
We’re not talking about physical death …
Instead we’re talking about… a spiritual death…
Like the death of our insides…
The death of our soul…
I mean… internally… have you ever just felt like…
you’re barely surviving?
And have you ever just felt… like you’re anxious about everything…
And you’re just struggling to sleep at night…
Like you’re carrying…
the weight of the world on your shoulders…
Like nothing really satisfies you…
and you just go from one thing to the next…
I mean… have you ever felt… like you’re spiritually dead…
In here?
Well… this right here…
is exactly what we’re gonna talk about…
in this series… called… from death.
**Now at one point in the Bible…
A guy named Paul… is writing a letter to a group of Christians…
In the city of Rome…
And in the Bible… it’s called the book of Romans.
And so if we have a Bible with us today…
I’d encourage us to open it up…
And use the Bible on our phone…
Again… open up to the book of Romans…
But once more… Paul’s writing this letter… to these Christians…
And he’s explaining to them… the basics of the faith…
The core of what followers of Jesus… believe.
And half way through this letter… in chapter 8…
He begins to talk with them… about the clear difference…
between living for ourselves…
and living for God…
And He’s just trying to show the clear contrast…
when we focus on ourselves…
and when we focus on God…
And starting in verse 5… here is what Paul says…
(READ)
People whose lives…
**Once again… Paul is trying to explain…
that there are 2 very different ways… that we can live…
And first off… he’s saying…
That we can live a life based on selfishness…
And this can also translate as the word flesh.
And he’s basically saying… that when we live a life based on selfishness…
we live for themselves…
And we do… what we want to do…
And we do… what we think is right…
And we do… what we think will make us happy.
Again… we can live a life based on selfishness…
And when we do… we think about selfish things.
and we think solely… about ourselves…
And so Paul shares that…
But then he also shares… the second option…
That we can live a life based on the Spirit…
Basically that we can live a life based on God…
And when that happens…
we do… what God wants us to do.
And we do… what God thinks is right.
And we do… what God says is good…
Again… we can live a life based on spirit….
And when we do… we think about Spirit…
and we focus… not on ourselves…
but instead… we focus on God.
Again… Paul’s explaining… that there are 2 very different ways… that we can live
and oh by the way… he tells us…
and this is really important…
that one of these ways… leads to spiritual death…
And the other… leads to spiritual life…
One way to leads to death…
And the other… leads to life.
**Okay… so that’s heavy right….
And that’s a lot to take in…
But if you’re anything like myself… it’s like…
alright… I’ll be the first one to say…
that I’m not an angel…
I mean… I am definitely not Jesus…
And so I wouldn’t say that…
But I also… wouldn’t say that I’m selfish… and that I live a selfish life either.
Again… I’m not God…
But I also wouldn’t consider myself…
to be a selfish person.
especially compared to other people…
Like I’m not nearly as bad as others are…
I mean… my sister… she’s selfish.
And my coworker… he’s selfish.
And my ex… selfish…
And my one friend… selfish…
And my mother-in-law…
Jesus, please take her now!
Right?
And with this… I’m just guessing…
that most of us… if not all of us…
would say the same exact thing…
I’m not Jesus… but I’m also not selfish either.
And well I hate to say it…
And I hate to tell ya… but that’s exactly… what selfish… people say.
I mean… as human beings…
our default… is to be selfish.
Our natural tendency… is to focus on ourselves…
On a daily basis…
we naturally assume… and we live…
like the world…
revolves around me, myself, and I.
I mean… like have you seen yourself… while driving in heavy traffic…
You’re crazy!
And have you seen Facebook and Instagram lately…
It’s all about our selves…
When we eat food… or we drink coffee…
for some unknown reason…
we post pictures of it…
to let everyone see…
our food and our coffee.
And when we work out… we post pictures of it…
And when we get our hair cut… we post pictures
And anything cute… that our kids do…
turns into a stressful photo opt
And I mean… selfies in general…
It’s like… what in the world are we doing…
and I’m not judging…
I do the same exact thing…
But once again… we are consumed… with ourselves…
And as human beings… our default…
Like what we naturally do…. if we’re not very intentional…
is to live a life… based on selfishness…
a life that is centered… and is focused…
on our self.
And this doesn’t mean that we’re horrible jerks or anything…
Or that we’re terrible people…
It just means… that we live… for #1…
again… our self…
Living how we wanna live…
Trying to manage and control our own lives…
Putting our self at the center… of everything….
instead of looking to God.
**And honestly… this wouldn’t be that a big deal…
And it wouldn’t matter all that much…
Except Paul tells us…
that living this way…
leads to death.
Like the death of our soul…
The death of our insides.
And I mean… earlier… when I asked…
have you ever just felt like… you’re barely surviving?
And have you ever just felt… like you’re anxious about everything…
Ever just felt… like you’re carrying…
the weight of the world on your shoulders…
Ever just felt nothing really satisfies you…
And have you ever just felt… like you’re spiritually dead…
inside of here?
I know for myself…
it’s like… ummm… yes… I have.
And maybe for you… you’d just say…
Well... that’s pretty much…
the story of my life.
I mean… broken… empty… miserable…
Never satisfied… That’s me.
And all of this…. can look so many different ways in our life…
And for some of us… it’s quite obvious... that we’re living for ourselves…
At another place in the Bible…
Paul tells us… that the result of living for ourselves…
are things like… sleeping around…
and doing whatever feels good…
and hate shows up in our lives…
and we struggle with losing our temper…
and jealousy… and conflict…
and partying…
And if that’s us… I just wanna ask…
Like… how is that working out for you?
Is that going well for you?
But again though…
living a life…. based on our selves…
can look a million different ways…
and it doesn’t mean that we’re doing…
anything… inherently bad….
It just means… that we’re consumed with our selves.
And we’re consumed with our own agenda…
And we’re trying to control… every little aspect of our life…
And we’re secretly hoping to get our way…
or to get noticed…
all the while… nothing ever seems to be enough.
**And what it all boils down to…
and listen to this…
What it all boils down to…
is that we were just never… ever meant to live a life…
that was based… and focused on our selves.
Because when we’re the center… of everything…
It means… we do have to be in control…
And no wonder why we can sleep at night…
No wonder why… we’re anxious.
Because we have to be in control…
and we’re terrible at being in control.
And honestly… we don’t have much control…
over things… to start with…
And when we’re at the center…
Our worth… and our identity… and happiness…
is based off of us…
and how we feel… about ourselves…
that specific moment…
which only changes… about 6 thousand times
every single day…
And when we’re at the center…
we live… and we do what we think is right…
and we do what we think will make us happy…
when the truth is…
we don’t have a clue…
and when we live this way…
it’s like watching a bad car accident…
We go from one thing… to the next… and the next…
And we might find joy… for a moment…
And it’s maybe awesome… for awhile…
And we’re maybe satisfied... for a few minutes.
Only to find myself…
empty and unsatisfied… once again.
And when we’re at the center…
We’re trying to do things out of our own strength…
And out our own love…
And our own self-control…
And it’s no wonder… why most days…
It just feels… like we’re barely hanging on…
And we’re close to going… completely crazy…
multiple times a day…
**Again… when we live a life based on ourselves…
we focus on ourselves…
and Paul tells us… that this way of living…
again… what does it lead to?
It leads to death.
Like… not spiritual sickness…
But spiritual death…
And yet thankfully though… as we said earlier…
thankfully Paul tells us… that there’s a second option…
There’s an option 2…
And we’re gonna get to the heart of option 2… next week…
Talking about life…
And what makes that possible…
And you won’t wanna miss next week.
But for today… I just wanna highlight the main difference…
between these 2 different ways… that we can live.
I just wanna make it clear…
what the main difference is… in these 2 different lifestyles…
that Paul is trying to show us.
And the main difference… is that in option 1… the first way of living…
The spirit… basically God… isn’t present.
Like in option 1… God isn’t mentioned…
Again… those who live a life for themselves…
Focus on themselves…
Like we’re present… and we’re the focus…
and we’re talked about…
but God isn’t…
Again… in option 1… in the first way of living…
God isn’t present… or even mentioned.
But in option 2…
God is not only present… but He’s at the very center of it.
Those who live a life based on the Spirit…
Those those live a life based… on God.
are focused and consumed... with God…
and everything related to Him.
And what does this way of living lead to?
It leads to life.
The opposite of death…
It leads to life.
**And so today… I really just wanna ask… 1 simple question….
Today… I just wanna ask…
On a daily basis… and with our lives as a whole…
what is keeping us…
and what is holding us back…
from putting God…
from putting Jesus…
at the center of our lives?
Again… what is holding us back?
What is keeping us back?
Is it wanting to be in control?
Like you’re just not ready to trust God… and follow Him yet.
You’re just not ready to hand control over to Him.
Or maybe it’s worry… that’s holding us back…
And our day… and our minds… are so filled with worry…
that we can’t see God…
Or maybe it’s worrying about a specific thing?
Or maybe we’re just too busy for God…
We’re just too busy… to open the Bible…
Just too busy… to talk with Him…
Just with life… and kids… and school…
We’re just too busy… and we don’t have the time…
or the room for God.
Or maybe we’re just focused on other things…
and the true God in our life… is our job… it’s our career…
the true God in our life… is relationships…
It’s our bank account… it’s our physical body.
And we’re just looking for our worth… and our happiness…
From this one thing…
and even those it’s never delivered…
We just keep trying.
Or maybe we’re just not ready to give up something…
It’s like I know I shouldn’t be doing whatever…
But I like it… it’s a quick fix that makes me feel good…
It relaxes me…
and I’m just not ready to give it up yet.
Yes, I wanna follow Jesus… but I’m just not ready.
Or maybe it’s our pride…
that keeps us from putting God at the center of our lives…
It’s like… I know God is all knowing and whatever…
But I’m pretty great too…
And I’m smart… and enlightened…
Do you know how many people report to me at work?
And I’m an adult…
I think I’ll be good on my own.
**Once more… what is holding us back…
what is keeping us…
from putting God…
from putting Jesus…
at the center of our lives?
And just to be clear… it might be one big thing that’s holding us back…
But it also might be something different each day... that does.
Also… maybe today we’re here…
and we just didn’t know that another way of living was possible…
Yes… we’ve heard about God….
But we just didn’t know…
that He wanted to be a part of our lives…
and not just a part of our lives…
but at the center of it.
Wherever we are though…
Maybe we’re following Jesus… maybe we’re not…
Maybe there’s a lot of things keeping us following God…
Maybe there isn’t…
Whenever we are….
Today… I just pray that we’d ask…
and that we’d put God at the center of our lives.
I pray… that we’d just get sick… of trying to survive through life…
I pray… that we’d just be tired…
of spiritually dying… any longer
And today… we’d just ask Jesus…
To be the center…
To be the focus…
To be the basis of our life.
And how do we do so? Just making it known…. Just declaring it…
Jesus today… would you be the center of my life.
God… I’m sorry that I’ve put other things…
at the center of my life.
But Lord, today… I’m tired of just trying to survive…
I’m tired of trying to control my life...
I’m tired of running…
And trying to find wholeness…
Only to become more broken.
Jesus today… I want to base my life off of you…
I want to be focused and consumed with you…
and things connected with you.
Starting today… Father… instead of walking towards death…
I want to find life in you.
**Well… it’s kinda random… but the last 3 weeks… it’s been crazy with the whole book…
It’s been amazing to see God use it… people honestly around the world… have sent me pics
But the added focus on myself… honestly drives me a little nutty…
I don’t like being the center of attention…
But the last 3 weeks… I just feel… like I’ve been the center… in my own personal life…
**Well… last weekend… I was at the Minneapolis airport…
and a few minutes before the plane took off… I got a call…
that a best seller list might be interested in putting the book on it.
Which should have been great right… but I was immediately stressed…
And I just started texting people…
I got on the plane… I’m still texting people…
the flight attendant tells me to get off my phone… but I maybe didn’t listen…
until finally my phone loses cell reception.
Well I didn’t even realize it… in the midst of being consumed with myself and this book…
that there was a 9 year old kid sitting beside me… and he was all alone…
It was like God showed up… and just say hey Mr Author… why don’t you focus one me…
and also on the most important person on this plane… this kid.
Kid was at bordering school for a year.
Adhd… struggled with being physical…
his name is glenn.
Immediately… my heart ached for him.
**It was crazy… I was all caught up… and focused on myself…
Focused on my book and my phone…
And whatever else… and I was miserable…
Honestly… spiritually I felt dead.
Immediately… I just prayed… Lord, I need you…
I’m so focused on myself… instead of You… God…
And I’m miserable.
**The kid slept most of the flight… as a prayed for him…
The moment… I shifted my focus to God… and also on this kid…
My day completely changed…
I was almost immediately… filled with life.
Let’s pray.
