The Danger of the ‘Decision’: Why Raising Your Hand Isn’t Salvation

• Walking Humbly with God 00:02:33 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the concept of walking humbly with God as the central theme, citing Micah 6:8 and Philippians 2.
• Selfish Ambition vs. Humility 00:05:40 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines selfish ambition as a drive for recognition and popularity, contrasting it with humility, which he defines as thinking about oneself less, not less of oneself.
• Personal Journey of Humility 00:04:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares his personal struggle with pride and his journey of learning to 'be' in God's presence rather than just 'doing' for God.
• Imposter Syndrome and Fear 00:10:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the fear of being exposed or looking foolish, linking it to imposter syndrome, and how God used this fear to break his pride.
• Humility and Pride 00:13:30 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines humility as getting over oneself and contrasts it with pride, which leads to judging others, using his own experience with a phone failure as a lesson in breaking pride.
• Judging Others 00:14:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor discusses the danger of conceit and judging people, citing Jesus' refusal to judge while on earth, and illustrates this with a story about a worship leader's attire.
• Counting Others as Significant 00:17:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the command to 'count others as more significant than yourself,' illustrating this with practical examples like tracking prayer requests and showing interest in others' lives.
• Looking to the Interests of Others 00:18:50 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor exhorts the congregation to look not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others, using the example of a wedding cake layer to show intentional care for others.
• The Mind of Christ / Self-Emptying 00:20:49 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor analyzes Philippians 2, explaining that Jesus did not grasp for equality with God but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, which is the ultimate model for believers.
• Servant Leadership 00:25:00 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor concludes by defining the Christian identity as that of a servant, citing Jesus' statement that He came to serve, not to be served, and His act of washing the disciples' feet.
• The Jesus Mindset and Servanthood 00:25:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor defines the 'Jesus mindset' as asking 'How can I serve?' and identifies servanthood as the primary identity for believers, contrasting it with grasping for position.
• Christ's Humiliation and Exaltation 00:29:46 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references Philippians 2:8-9, explaining that Jesus humbled himself to death on the cross and was subsequently exalted by God, serving as the ultimate example for believers.
• Divine Promotion and Reward 00:31:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor teaches that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, asserting that God is the one who promotes, rewards, and provides in difficult times.
• Personal Testimony of Humility 00:32:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story of being humbled in Uganda, where God broke his pride and taught him to rely on the Holy Spirit rather than his own preparation.
• The Gospel Message and Evangelism 00:34:02 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor presents a simple gospel message used in Uganda, emphasizing Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and the evidence of his living presence, urging listeners to confess and believe.
• Gospel Sharing 00:36:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the method of sharing the gospel, noting it started one-on-one and expanded to larger groups.
• Evangelism 00:36:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor expresses a prayerful desire for those set aside by God to respond to the gospel message.

• Sermon Illustration 00:08:19 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his time in Uganda, describing the poverty he witnessed, including a pregnancy center with no supplies and nurses without stethoscopes, which broke his heart and pride.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes a specific moment in Uganda where God commanded him to share the gospel with 50 pregnant women, despite his fear and lack of preparation, resulting in many coming to faith.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about being asked to speak to 500 people in a village with no preparation, no phone signal, and no time, which God used to break his pride and reliance on his own abilities.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:58 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his phone failing while traveling in Uganda, which he interprets as God breaking his pride and reminding him that ministry is not about his performance or image.
• Sermon Illustration 00:14:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts visiting a church in Cleveland started by a former life group leader, Josh Miller, where the worship leader wore a crop top to connect with strip dancers, illustrating the need to avoid judging others based on appearance.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:03 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a wedding cake with a hidden carrot cake layer to illustrate how his daughter-in-law intentionally cared for his preferences, demonstrating looking to the interests of others.
• Sermon Illustration 00:25:24 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet as the ultimate example of a master serving his followers.
• Sermon Illustration 00:25:53 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts a story about a man named Paris at a football game in the mountains who stayed behind to pick up trash, earning recognition from the announcer and impacting the pastor's family.
• Sermon Illustration 00:27:32 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares the story of Jim Gowen, a church member who served others through building and home repair, which led to his family and neighbors coming to Christ.
• Sermon Illustration 00:32:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes his experience in Uganda where he was overwhelmed by speaking engagements, prayed for guidance, and received a simple gospel message to share with students.

• Pastoral Charge 00:10:49 ▶️ 📄
  > Share the gospel with others.
• Pastoral Charge 00:25:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor expresses his personal commitment to serve God and people, modeling the desired attitude for the congregation.
• Pastoral Charge 00:36:15 ▶️ 📄
  > Confess faith in Jesus, receive Him, and place personal faith in Him immediately.
• Pastoral Charge 00:36:39 ▶️ 📄
  > Respond to the gospel by receiving Jesus.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Have a seat.
[00:00:01] Thank you, thank you.
[00:00:02] I love you guys, man.
[00:00:04] It's so good to be back up here.
[00:00:06] People say, where you been?
[00:00:06] Well, I've been sitting right out over in this area, you know.
[00:00:10] But all my mentors, I checked with them, and they said, Mike, 25 years founding pastor, you gotta get out of there.
[00:00:15] You gotta make way for the next person.
[00:00:18] And so that's where I've been.
[00:00:19] It worked because, man, this church is on fire.
[00:00:23] Can I get an amen?
[00:00:25] Whoo!
[00:00:26] You guys have baptized about 200 people in the last 12 months.
[00:00:30] I mean, it's great.
[00:00:31] It's amazing.
[00:00:32] I love this church family.
[00:00:34] It's a family.
[00:00:35] That's what I love about it.
[00:00:37] And I get to serve on Wednesday night.
[00:00:39] I've been hanging out with the students, checking that out.
[00:00:41] I see kids get saved, students get saved every single Wednesday night.
[00:00:47] And this church is on fire.
[00:00:50] So good.
[00:00:52] I love you guys.
[00:00:53] I love my family.
[00:00:54] I love my life group.
[00:00:56] God put me in this amazing life group.
[00:00:58] Right when I retired, it was just like his answer to my next season.
[00:01:03] And these goofballs, I mean, these guys, they came to my retirement wearing these ridiculous shirts, and I see one of them here.
[00:01:11] They're sitting here on the front row.
[00:01:12] I'm gonna make them stand up.
[00:01:13] If you're in my life group, that's you too, Beth.
[00:01:16] Go ahead and stand up.
[00:01:17] Is there anybody else?
[00:01:18] Some of them are out here.
[00:01:22] Yeah.
[00:01:25] It's the most ridiculous shirt ever.
[00:01:28] So people have been asking me, Mike, this is the number one question, what are you going to do?
[00:01:33] And that's my number one question, too, for myself.
[00:01:37] What am I going to do?
[00:01:38] I still don't know.
[00:01:40] God, what do you want me to do?
[00:01:42] And so I've been on this journey of trying to find out what God wants me to do.
[00:01:47] And maybe I'm talking, maybe I know I'm talking to somebody.
[00:01:51] You're asking that, too.
[00:01:53] Maybe you're a brand new believer.
[00:01:54] You've been a Christian for a while.
[00:01:56] or you're in a different season of life or you're just now really starting to focus on that and you're like, God, what do you want from me?
[00:02:07] We're gonna be talking about that and there's a really great verse of scripture that happens back in Micah in the Old Testament, chapter six and verse eight, where God says, he asks a question, God, what do you want?
[00:02:20] And Micah answers it, this is what God says, do justice, like do the right thing,
[00:02:25] and to love kindness.
[00:02:29] We need kindness today, right?
[00:02:31] To be all about that.
[00:02:32] But here's the big one.
[00:02:33] To walk humbly with the Lord your God.
[00:02:37] Now this theme of walking with God is all throughout the Bible.
[00:02:43] The first nickname the church got was The Way because Jesus said, come follow me.
[00:02:47] And all through the Bible we see people that
[00:02:50] are walking with God.
[00:02:52] But I especially want us to focus on this idea of walking humbly with God.
[00:02:57] So I want you to take your Bible and turn it on if it's your phone or take it out if it's paper.
[00:03:05] And I wanna encourage you to go to your YouVersion app.
[00:03:08] If you haven't downloaded that, you can download it.
[00:03:10] I see you got that, Mike.
[00:03:12] Go to Events.
[00:03:14] It's down in your bottom right corner.
[00:03:16] It says More, then you go Events.
[00:03:19] And you can see all the verses I'm gonna use, even the ones that I just read and they're not on the screen.
[00:03:26] And you're gonna get more if you can look down at this verse and you can see in context what we're talking about.
[00:03:32] But I wanted to start out and look at verse five because it talks about having the mind of Jesus Christ, have this mind among yourselves that
[00:03:47] which is yours in Christ Jesus or have this mindset.
[00:03:51] I wanna talk to you about having this Jesus mindset of humility because the number one thing that God wants from us is to learn how to humbly walk with him daily.
[00:04:06] You know, as I was asking God, what do you want me to do?
[00:04:09] What do you want me to do?
[00:04:10] I prayed for, this went on for months, maybe the better part of a year.
[00:04:17] And finally, God said, he answered me, I could hear it very distinctly, not out loud, but in here.
[00:04:24] He said, Mike, you've done enough.
[00:04:27] I want you to learn to be.
[00:04:30] I was like, be what?
[00:04:32] He said, be in my presence.
[00:04:36] And that has really been a super big challenge to walk with them and just try to be there present with them.
[00:04:47] So I started out with that.
[00:04:50] And after a few months of doing what I thought was a little better on my quiet time, a little bit here and there and everything, I started back praying, God, okay, what do you want me to do?
[00:05:00] What do you want?
[00:05:01] I went right back to the same thing.
[00:05:03] And he said, well, you haven't done the first thing yet.
[00:05:06] Really, that's what I feel like you said.
[00:05:07] You haven't done that yet.
[00:05:08] Let's work on that some more, right?
[00:05:11] So that's kind of still where I'm at.
[00:05:12] That's kind of still there.
[00:05:13] So I want to share with you where I'm at and how.
[00:05:17] And Philippians chapter 2 tells us.
[00:05:19] So backing up a couple verses.
[00:05:23] Jesus is our example in this passage, in this paragraph here.
[00:05:29] Jesus is, we're supposed to be like Jesus, his mindset.
[00:05:33] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others more significant than yourself.
[00:05:40] Selfish ambition is that drive that I have to win at everything, that attitude of life.
[00:05:47] It's the me first, life's all about me and mine.
[00:05:51] Now, ambition's okay, healthy ambition's great, but with so many things, they're good up to a point that they become bad.
[00:05:58] So selfish ambition is when I am longing for recognition and admiration and acknowledgement and popularity.
[00:06:09] I have this desire to be noticed, to be seen as beautiful or handsome and to be promoted.
[00:06:17] And if you'll think about it, most of our time is spent thinking about things that surround the kingdom of me, what I like,
[00:06:28] What I want, what I'm gonna wear, my hobbies, my goals, my diet, my workout, my job, my classes, it's the kingdom of me.
[00:06:38] My challenges, maybe how I was hurt, how I was overlooked, but it's me, me, me.
[00:06:45] Humility is not thinking less of yourself.
[00:06:48] That's not what this verse said to do.
[00:06:51] It's thinking about yourself less.
[00:06:54] Now if you're taking notes, that's a write down right there, okay?
[00:06:57] Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.
[00:07:03] Now when I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to do, I evaluated every opportunity based on me.
[00:07:12] Is this a good fit for me?
[00:07:14] Is this a good use of my time?
[00:07:16] Is this a good use of my skills and abilities?
[00:07:20] Can anybody else do it?
[00:07:24] and do I really need to be the one to do this?
[00:07:26] And so the answer consistently came back no because I think my heart was in the wrong place because it's not about my legacy, it's not about my purpose or even my productivity.
[00:07:40] Walking humbly with God is just walking along and when Jesus points at something, then you go do it.
[00:07:50] And so I'm still learning to get over myself and develop this Jesus mindset of humility.
[00:07:57] You know, God really began to crush me.
[00:08:00] He just, when I went to Uganda, God just broke me and is like, he just, he'll do this to you, man.
[00:08:07] You don't think, he just drove me into the dirt.
[00:08:11] And one of the things that God used is just the poverty situation in Uganda.
[00:08:19] We were working with a little school of about 300 students.
[00:08:23] They're meeting in what would be very bad, run-down sheds, is what you might say.
[00:08:30] Just, you know, they don't even have walls.
[00:08:32] 300 students.
[00:08:35] This is the place where we would visit in homes.
[00:08:38] It would be like the babies that you see on TV with no clothes, flies buzzing around, open sores.
[00:08:44] And it just broke my heart.
[00:08:47] We went to one of these pregnancy centers, which really was just a couple of empty buildings.
[00:08:53] They had no supplies.
[00:08:55] All they had was this bed for labor with the hole in it for the baby to drop through, I suppose, and a little table over here with a scale to weigh the baby in that doesn't even work.
[00:09:09] I looked in the closet.
[00:09:10] I walked around.
[00:09:10] There's nothing.
[00:09:12] The nurses don't even have a stethoscope.
[00:09:14] They have nothing.
[00:09:16] Like if you don't show up with some money so someone can run out and buy...
[00:09:21] I said, what if you have no money?
[00:09:22] And the phrase that came back was, no money, no stitches.
[00:09:26] If you have a problem, they go out of the dirt road there and try to flag down somebody with a motorcycle.
[00:09:31] It's usually a motorcycle.
[00:09:32] You have a problem with your pregnancy, put you on a motorcycle and take you two hours to hospital.
[00:09:38] And so...
[00:09:40] God just broke me down.
[00:09:41] And so we were there and about 50 pregnant women arrived because we were gonna give them this bag of supplies for when they deliver.
[00:09:48] And so of course they showed up and they brought their friends.
[00:09:51] And so we just introduced ourselves, our team, and we were kind of done with that, about done with that, and God said, Mike, I want you to share the gospel.
[00:10:01] And I hate when he does that, you know?
[00:10:04] because I'm afraid.
[00:10:05] I'm like, God, you gotta give me something.
[00:10:08] Where do I start?
[00:10:08] What do I do?
[00:10:09] That's a big thing.
[00:10:10] Where do I get into this?
[00:10:13] And it's fear, the fear of looking foolish, of being embarrassed, of being exposed.
[00:10:19] I looked this up on WebMD.
[00:10:20] Have you heard of imposter syndrome?
[00:10:22] It's like a thing.
[00:10:24] It's when you doubt your own skills and success, and you feel you're not talented or worthy as others believe, and you're scared that one day people will realize that.
[00:10:35] You have that fear of being found out, that fear of being exposed, and God was putting me in that situation to break my pride.
[00:10:43] And in that moment, sure enough, God came through and he gave me the simple gospel message.
[00:10:49] I want you to share the good news about Jesus.
[00:10:52] And so that's what I did.
[00:10:53] The Holy Spirit just stepped in, and our team members ended up just spreading out, and we prayed with, I believe, every single person there, every team member.
[00:11:03] We had four or five people just lining up, and people came to faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:11:09] And so God was using this.
[00:11:12] And so the next day, driving out to the village where we were working, we would stay at a hotel, and then we would drive out to the village,
[00:11:21] Two and a half hour drive on the bumpiest road I've ever been on in my lifetime.
[00:11:26] And we're going along, and Alicia Gibson, who is over at Global here at the Cove, she turns around in the van and she says, hey Mike, I need you to speak, they want you to speak at a couple of places tomorrow.
[00:11:39] There'll be about 500 people at each event, and I want you to talk about raising a family in Uganda.
[00:11:47] Like, what do I know about raising a family?
[00:11:51] Besides that, I can't even start looking on my phone.
[00:11:54] I call my wife when we get some reception.
[00:11:58] Send me any old message you can find, you know?
[00:12:01] I call Will Kranz, you know?
[00:12:03] I reached out to him.
[00:12:05] You know what I got?
[00:12:06] Crickets.
[00:12:09] Because my phone was jacked up.
[00:12:12] Something happened.
[00:12:12] I thought it was something in Uganda.
[00:12:14] I think it was God.
[00:12:15] He just cut me off.
[00:12:17] And I was freaking because we're going two and a half hours out.
[00:12:20] We'll be in the village all day, two and a half back, because this is how far you gotta go to find a place to sleep.
[00:12:27] And then it's like shower, eat, and sleep, and go do it again.
[00:12:31] There's no time.
[00:12:32] And then again, it's gonna be, hello, you know?
[00:12:35] And I'm just freaking out about this.
[00:12:38] And I'm so worried.
[00:12:40] God is just, really, he's just breaking my pride.
[00:12:44] And as I started praying about this and saying, God, help me, he began to point out every thought about me that I had in my mind.
[00:12:55] And he was saying to me, this is not about you looking good.
[00:12:57] It's not about you bringing a great message.
[00:13:00] It's not about your next season in retirement.
[00:13:03] It's not about what you want to be or how you perform or you preach.
[00:13:08] It's not anything about you.
[00:13:10] It's about what I want to do.
[00:13:14] It's what I'm up to.
[00:13:17] I gotta say, still today, even this week, every time I have those me thoughts related to preaching, I get butterflies because I remember that now.
[00:13:26] And you can only do so much when pride is here in your heart.
[00:13:30] Humility is when you really get over yourself completely.
[00:13:36] and realize that life and walking with Jesus is not about your time.
[00:13:41] It's not about your ability.
[00:13:43] It's when you get over yourself.
[00:13:46] And so verse three said, do nothing from selfish ambition, but also selfish conceit, which is like selfish ambition, but it's different.
[00:13:56] Conceit is when I think I'm better than you.
[00:14:00] And the danger for us as Christians is judging people.
[00:14:03] Pride does that.
[00:14:04] Jesus never did.
[00:14:06] He said a curious thing in John chapter 12.
[00:14:08] He said, if anyone hears my words and they don't keep them, I don't judge them because I didn't come to judge the world but to save the world.
[00:14:18] There's a judgment day coming.
[00:14:20] But Jesus said, that's not what I'm doing while I'm here on earth.
[00:14:24] And that ought to be our mindset too.
[00:14:27] I'm not going to be at that place of selfishness where I entertain this thing of judging other people.
[00:14:38] My wife and I got to go to Josh Miller's church in Cleveland.
[00:14:42] Josh was our life group leader here at the Cove Church.
[00:14:45] And then he went back to his home area
[00:14:47] And he started a church, just walking down the streets of Cleveland, and he wanted to be in the roughest area, and he found the roughest area.
[00:14:55] I mean, when we showed up, there were bullet holes in the church door.
[00:15:00] But you go in, and it's amazing.
[00:15:03] It's like you're back in North Carolina.
[00:15:06] It looks just like the Cove Church.
[00:15:08] They have the same core values that we have.
[00:15:12] It was just so encouraging.
[00:15:14] I love Josh.
[00:15:15] He's an amazing guy.
[00:15:16] We're waiting there.
[00:15:17] The service starts.
[00:15:18] The worship team comes out, and the worship leader, a tall young lady, is wearing a crop top.
[00:15:29] For those of you old school, that's bare midriff.
[00:15:32] That's like a whole lot of real estate right here, you know?
[00:15:36] And I was just like blown away.
[00:15:39] I didn't know what to think.
[00:15:40] And I was just like,
[00:15:42] What in the world?
[00:15:45] As a matter of fact, Josh asked me, he goes, what world do people show up like that?
[00:15:50] I said, in the world you've created here, Josh.
[00:15:54] That's the world.
[00:15:56] Josh talked with her.
[00:15:57] He told me that he had talked with her, and here's why she did that.
[00:16:03] Her ministry is to the strip dancers in the area.
[00:16:08] You see, right next door to them was a strip club.
[00:16:11] We bought that.
[00:16:11] You guys bought a strip club, did you know that?
[00:16:14] It's like, I bought a zoo, you bought a strip club.
[00:16:17] And somebody said, no, they're not still stripping, okay?
[00:16:22] Come on, stay with me, okay?
[00:16:26] They're not still stripping.
[00:16:27] And so she's over at the strip club ministry,
[00:16:31] And so she had invited this young lady, and when she thought she was gonna come that weekend, she wanted to make sure she would feel comfortable, she thought, I'll wear this.
[00:16:42] And here is someone, a new Christian, so innocent, with such a wonderful intention, in an inner city area, reaching people for Christ, and I'm judging based upon their clothing.
[00:16:58] Humility says, I'm not better than anyone.
[00:17:01] I'm just saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and trying to walk like Jesus, amen?
[00:17:07] Now, instead of pride or judging or conceit, verse three, if you look at it again, it says,
[00:17:14] In humility, count others as more significant than yourself.
[00:17:18] That doesn't mean they are more, but act and think like they are.
[00:17:21] Act like they're created in the image of God because they are, they're valuable, they matter, they count, and actually count.
[00:17:27] You know, we count things that matter.
[00:17:29] We count our money, we count our vacation days, our days off, because they count.
[00:17:34] Count people.
[00:17:35] And actually, you can actually count, count the things in their life that really matter.
[00:17:40] Like when your friend is sick, put them on a prayer list and keep track of them.
[00:17:44] Count down the treatment weeks that they're going through.
[00:17:49] Like in my life group, you know, I'll be overhearing a couple of people talking and they'll say, well, how's your mother doing?
[00:17:56] Did she get out of the hospital?
[00:17:58] I'm like, I didn't know that.
[00:18:00] My wife's like, yeah, you did.
[00:18:02] You forgot, right?
[00:18:03] Right, guys?
[00:18:03] You never forget?
[00:18:06] How's that going?
[00:18:06] How's that graduation?
[00:18:07] I think, you know, and so,
[00:18:09] I've learned I've got to take some notes.
[00:18:12] When things count, you write them down.
[00:18:16] It matters.
[00:18:17] And one thing that we do in our life group is we use Google Keep on our phones so you can just make a list of those prayer requests.
[00:18:26] Everybody's got them.
[00:18:26] You can go online or just pull your phone out.
[00:18:29] Every morning I start out praying and I pray through that list.
[00:18:33] And when you start the day that way, you are starting the day with the attention off of yourself and onto other people.
[00:18:39] Sometimes I'll text folks.
[00:18:41] I'll say, hey, I haven't forgotten.
[00:18:42] Encourage them.
[00:18:43] Don't give up.
[00:18:45] Keep praying.
[00:18:46] I'm praying.
[00:18:47] And so humility means that life's not all about you.
[00:18:49] Look at this next verse.
[00:18:50] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
[00:18:57] Be interested in others, not just yourself.
[00:18:59] And of course, we are already interested in ourselves.
[00:19:02] I think we do that naturally.
[00:19:03] We're gonna get that covered.
[00:19:05] But think about what your friend is interested in.
[00:19:07] What are their hobbies?
[00:19:09] What do they love to do on the weekends?
[00:19:11] How are their kids doing?
[00:19:12] What school do they go to?
[00:19:13] What sport or activity are they in?
[00:19:16] Where were you born?
[00:19:18] Don't only think about yourself.
[00:19:20] And we naturally do.
[00:19:22] You know, you can tell this.
[00:19:24] If someone shows you a photo, you know, maybe on their phone or something, and you look at it, they say, look at this photo, it's a great photo of our group we got together.
[00:19:32] And you look at it and you say, no, that's a horrible photo.
[00:19:35] Because what'd you do?
[00:19:36] You looked at yourself, didn't you, first?
[00:19:38] I mean, the Grand Canyon's in the background.
[00:19:40] Every other person looks wonderful, and you're like, oh, it's horrible, delete that, get that off of there.
[00:19:46] No, make it a habit.
[00:19:49] This is like a drill you could do.
[00:19:51] No, don't look at myself.
[00:19:53] I wanna look at others first.
[00:19:55] I wanna think about other people first.
[00:19:57] I wanna think about their interest.
[00:19:59] When my son and daughter-in-law got married, her wedding cake was beautiful.
[00:20:03] It was white on the outside, but when you cut into it, there was one layer there that was carrot cake.
[00:20:10] Why?
[00:20:11] Because she knew that that was my favorite.
[00:20:13] and still today she's an amazing daughter-in-law.
[00:20:16] It could have been all about her, her perfect day, her wedding day, but she was thinking about other people.
[00:20:22] Now here's the thing, it may seem like a sacrifice, but you'll be happier when you give your attention and your best to others.
[00:20:30] Jesus said it's more blessed to give than it is to receive.
[00:20:34] Now he was talking about money.
[00:20:36] But it's true of every area of our lives.
[00:20:40] And when you give people your care, your time, your attention, you're gonna be blessed by it.
[00:20:46] And we started out with verse five.
[00:20:47] Let's look at it again.
[00:20:49] We've come up to it.
[00:20:50] Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
[00:20:54] Have the Jesus mindset.
[00:20:56] Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
[00:21:03] Now it's clear in Philippians,
[00:21:06] and in scripture that Jesus is God.
[00:21:09] But while on earth, he didn't make a big issue out of that.
[00:21:13] He didn't make a big deal out of that.
[00:21:15] He didn't go around telling everybody, hey, I'm God.
[00:21:19] And you can see how that might be kind of a hard start, right, to a conversation.
[00:21:23] He didn't grasp for attention or recognition or popularity.
[00:21:27] In fact, often when he would heal someone, he would tell them, hey, don't tell anybody about what happened.
[00:21:34] Why?
[00:21:34] Because he wasn't grasping for fame.
[00:21:37] He wanted to remain available and approachable to everyday people.
[00:21:42] I catch myself doing just the opposite.
[00:21:46] I catch myself grasping for attention and wanting to
[00:21:53] Let's take a look at some of the things that we're going to talk about today.
[00:22:12] Deal with that and really just be better at conversations and that kind of thing and deeper friendships.
[00:22:18] I've been reading books like The Art of Conversation and one of the biggest helps I've seen is stop trying to be interesting and start being interested in that person.
[00:22:27] Just like these verses, just like they're saying.
[00:22:30] Instead of thinking about what you're gonna say next, listen intently.
[00:22:36] Because what I'm usually doing is thinking about the story I'm gonna follow this up with, right?
[00:22:41] Have you ever seen, you've been in a group and you're talking about somebody like, I caught a fish and somebody, oh, I caught one too.
[00:22:47] I mean, mine was a little bit bigger.
[00:22:48] And you go around story-topping.
[00:22:50] And so the last person says, I caught a 350-pound mackerel that jumped out of the boat.
[00:22:59] You know, everybody hates that guy.
[00:23:02] Can I get an amen?
[00:23:03] That's like, oh, man, you know what you're doing?
[00:23:05] Stop.
[00:23:06] But everybody does that, too.
[00:23:08] I mean, I do that.
[00:23:09] Or somebody will share something, and they're going somewhere with this conversation, but you kind of find your time to interrupt, and you hijack and say, I had something similar like that happen, and you take it way over here, and by the time you shut up, they lost their track.
[00:23:25] They lost their train of thought and what they were trying to share.
[00:23:28] Here's what to do instead.
[00:23:30] Ask follow-up questions about what they just said.
[00:23:33] You'll not only become a better conversationalist, you'll become a better friend because you'll be more like the mind of Christ.
[00:23:40] Jesus asked people questions all the time.
[00:23:42] I was looking and it looks like everybody could debate when, but it looks like between 200 and 300 questions.
[00:23:50] And then just listen.
[00:23:52] Jesus asked questions all the time.
[00:23:54] Pastor Will was telling me about how important it is when you're working with students, he worked with them about 10 years, to listen to what they say.
[00:24:02] Even if it feels like trivial to you, they broke up, their hearts are broken, they were dating for two weeks.
[00:24:09] But it matters to them and they realize that you care.
[00:24:13] And it gives you the passport the next time when you have something to say.
[00:24:18] And so instead of grasping for position, look what Jesus did, the exact opposite.
[00:24:22] He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men.
[00:24:28] He emptied himself out of his,
[00:24:32] God power, he operated through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.
[00:24:36] He emptied himself out of his place in heaven, out of the comfort of heaven, out of his position on the throne with untold numbers of angels surrounding him and worshiping him.
[00:24:49] And he took the form of a servant and that is a life assignment and a purpose and goal for you and I.
[00:24:57] To become a servant like Jesus did.
[00:25:00] He emptied himself and took the form of a servant.
[00:25:04] That's the Jesus mindset.
[00:25:05] How can I serve?
[00:25:06] Even if you're the boss.
[00:25:08] Jesus said, I came to serve and not to be served.
[00:25:12] That was his identity.
[00:25:14] That's to be our identity.
[00:25:15] We're to be like him.
[00:25:17] The number one way we should think of ourselves is as a servant.
[00:25:21] I want to serve God.
[00:25:22] I want to serve people.
[00:25:24] because we serve a master who emptied himself out so that he could wrap a towel around his waist and wash his disciples' feet.
[00:25:33] He emptied himself out and was willing to touch the unclean leper.
[00:25:37] He emptied himself out so that he could lift up the woman who was thrown down in the dirt because she was caught in sin.
[00:25:48] And so I'm trying to change my identity to a servant.
[00:25:51] And it makes an impact.
[00:25:52] People notice.
[00:25:53] I was at this football game up in the mountains.
[00:25:57] My grandson's on this team.
[00:25:59] They're in a little community.
[00:26:01] It's just a small community.
[00:26:03] He's 13.
[00:26:03] And they were going over to Asheville to play this big school.
[00:26:07] I mean, it's huge.
[00:26:08] You come in, and on the stadium, they've got these five huge posters about the state championships the senior high team has won.
[00:26:18] And so it's David and Goliath.
[00:26:21] And nearing the end, the announcer came on and said, hey, Paris, before you leave, please pick up all the trash.
[00:26:27] It'll really help us out because it's mostly Paris.
[00:26:32] And then she came on just a few moments later and said, oh, and by the way, I want to shout out, thank you to the guy from Bethel who's been picking up trash.
[00:26:42] And everybody knew who she was talking about.
[00:26:45] This is a big stadium.
[00:26:46] It's surprisingly large.
[00:26:47] But this guy had been going all over, picking up trash all throughout the game.
[00:26:52] Everyone noticed because he was the one person who was there being the servant to all of us.
[00:27:00] He came over to my area in my family group.
[00:27:03] He said, are you done with that?
[00:27:05] I said, yeah, looks like a bunch of raccoons have been here, you know?
[00:27:07] I started giving him the bottles.
[00:27:09] Everyone noticed he was serving me.
[00:27:12] It impacts people.
[00:27:14] But you know what?
[00:27:15] It impacts your heart, too.
[00:27:17] And this is the key to relationships.
[00:27:19] It's the key to success in every area of our life, the key to happiness and the joy that you're really looking for.
[00:27:24] And the significance that we're looking for is found in serving.
[00:27:30] That's what Jesus showed us.
[00:27:32] Jim Gowen was like a legend for many people here at the Cove Church.
[00:27:39] I just did his funeral on Thursday.
[00:27:43] had this gift of serving people.
[00:27:45] He helped people with their homes.
[00:27:47] He would fix things.
[00:27:48] He was a builder.
[00:27:49] His last job was as a general contractor for the government installing Patriot missile sites.
[00:27:57] Can you imagine?
[00:27:57] He had more in his mind than you could ever imagine.
[00:28:01] And he used that as a builder.
[00:28:04] You know, we do these big build-outs for movies at the Cove, if you haven't been here to see that, or for Christmas at the Cove.
[00:28:11] and Jim was always involved in that, right on the front lines of that.
[00:28:16] In fact, in 2017, he told his daughter, you gotta get our grandson to church.
[00:28:22] They weren't in church at that time, the whole family.
[00:28:26] You gotta bring him and see this Batmobile, he'll love it, he's into Batman.
[00:28:31] And so his daughter's family came to Movies at the Cove.
[00:28:37] A year later,
[00:28:38] His daughter got baptized.
[00:28:40] The whole family have come to Christ.
[00:28:42] They're all in church because of an invite, because when you serve, it gives you the platform to invite people.
[00:28:51] I always called him Big Jim.
[00:28:53] He was a big guy.
[00:28:55] Big Jim invited his neighbor, across the street neighbor, who's a big guy, too, and his name is Jim, too.
[00:29:00] He's not as big, so I call him Little Big Jim.
[00:29:05] Little Big Jim started coming, and again,
[00:29:08] He just followed Jim's example.
[00:29:10] He started helping out, building at the Cove, helping people with their homes.
[00:29:15] You can see him almost every weekend out here parking cars.
[00:29:19] And people noticed that.
[00:29:23] It's a game changer.
[00:29:24] It's a life changer.
[00:29:26] Jim was a servant that gave him that ability to reach people for Jesus Christ.
[00:29:31] And so the Jesus mindset is, how can I help someone else, how can I serve them, and how can I put that first?
[00:29:38] People notice that because it matters.
[00:29:44] He emptied himself out.
[00:29:46] Look at verse eight.
[00:29:48] And being found in human form, he humbled himself, there's that word again, he humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross.
[00:30:02] Let's keep this in context.
[00:30:03] This is Jesus as our example so we can learn from watching him how we should live.
[00:30:10] He humbled himself and died on the cross for you and I.
[00:30:13] Why?
[00:30:14] To show us how much he loves us.
[00:30:17] One act done throughout all history, you can know that Jesus Christ loved you because he died on the cross for you.
[00:30:26] He emptied himself out and took on the form of a servant.
[00:30:30] God said, I want you to do that also.
[00:30:34] Look at verse nine.
[00:30:35] And therefore God has highly exalted him, restored him, back in heaven, restored to his power and position, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, at that name, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[00:30:56] Now this, again, is about Jesus, but
[00:31:01] It's an example for us that there is a reward for doing the right thing.
[00:31:10] God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
[00:31:14] God resists the proud, we do too, don't we?
[00:31:17] We don't like that, people.
[00:31:19] But when you humble yourself, God will lift you up.
[00:31:24] Because remember this at work, it is God who promotes.
[00:31:28] Remember this, when times are difficult, it's God who rewards.
[00:31:31] It's God who fills your life with good things.
[00:31:34] It's God who gives you the win.
[00:31:37] When you come to that point where you humbly ask God, God, what are you up to?
[00:31:42] It's not about me, but what do you want me to do in this moment?
[00:31:48] What do you want me to say?
[00:31:50] How can I help?
[00:31:52] How can I serve?
[00:31:54] What's my next step?
[00:31:56] It's not about me, but what do you want to do?
[00:31:59] And you serve Jesus in obedience, scripture said.
[00:32:04] And that's when God can really use you.
[00:32:07] Back in Uganda at the schools that next day at the parent conference, God did give me something to say.
[00:32:16] And somehow through the power of God, the message came together.
[00:32:22] And it was because I went, I tried to write something up.
[00:32:29] I tried to do something.
[00:32:30] I got a few things together.
[00:32:32] And this happened again the next day.
[00:32:34] Because it kept going on, I spoke about seven times.
[00:32:36] Again, Alicia said, oh, there's two more.
[00:32:39] There'll be about 500 students, you know?
[00:32:41] I'm like, students?
[00:32:44] Ah, what do I do?
[00:32:46] That when I got on my knees, I was just praying.
[00:32:48] And God, you just kept, when I was praying, what do I say?
[00:32:51] What do I do?
[00:32:52] God was exposing my heart.
[00:32:55] He was showing me and reminding me of every thought that was about me.
[00:33:01] What am I?
[00:33:02] How I need something to say?
[00:33:04] I, what, me?
[00:33:05] It's still today.
[00:33:06] Whenever I get ready to preach this week, when I have those me thoughts related to preaching, I get butterflies because I remember that.
[00:33:12] Like, oh, no, step back from that.
[00:33:14] Don't do that.
[00:33:16] That'll shut it down.
[00:33:20] But it was after God broke my pride, humbled me down, ground me into the dirt, took away everything I could lean on or trust in or look to, and he got me out of the way.
[00:33:34] On that trip, I started learning.
[00:33:35] I'm not there yet, okay?
[00:33:37] I get it, it's hard.
[00:33:38] To have this Jesus mindset of humility and total reliance.
[00:33:42] Without one ounce of pride and worry about how I look or how this message is going or what people are going to think or how are they going to respond.
[00:33:51] And here's the gospel.
[00:33:55] The message that God gave me to use at the pregnancy center, I used every single time in Uganda that I spoke.
[00:34:02] Here it is.
[00:34:03] It's very simple.
[00:34:04] Those of you that want to share Christ with your friends.
[00:34:08] The creator of heaven and earth, Father God, sent his son Jesus Christ at Christmas.
[00:34:16] You've heard that story.
[00:34:20] He grew up and at about age 30 he started teaching and performing miracles and proclaiming the kingdom of God.
[00:34:27] Maybe you've heard about him.
[00:34:30] Not everybody has today, even in America.
[00:34:33] But at about
[00:34:34] Age 33, he was arrested, tried, beaten, and hung on a cross, and he died.
[00:34:41] He bled out, he was 100% dead.
[00:34:43] For three days, he laid in a tomb.
[00:34:46] And on the third day, he rose from the dead because he's the Son of God, and he died for you to show you how much he loves you.
[00:34:57] and that's great.
[00:35:00] And it's great he went back to heaven and restored to his position in heaven.
[00:35:04] Oh, that's great.
[00:35:05] But you know what I love about this story?
[00:35:08] Is that he's alive today.
[00:35:11] Because people will say, well, everybody thinks their way of thinking is right.
[00:35:14] How do you know?
[00:35:16] I know because Jesus Christ lives in my heart.
[00:35:20] I get up in the morning, I read scripture, I talk to him and throughout the day he will talk to me, sometimes encouraging me.
[00:35:27] Sometimes challenging me, but he's so real.
[00:35:34] My friendship with Jesus is as real as my friendship with you.
[00:35:40] There's no way you can convince me that he's not real.
[00:35:44] Their heads bobbing, people nodding.
[00:35:46] Do you know, how many of you, do you know what I'm talking about?
[00:35:48] You know he's alive.
[00:35:52] And that's the evidence.
[00:35:53] Some of you are like, I need some evidence.
[00:35:55] What's the evidence?
[00:35:57] It's all the many people that say, even though we're flawed, we fail, Jesus Christ is alive.
[00:36:05] Now, it's good to know all that, but you have to do something about it.
[00:36:09] I mean, it's great if you affirm all that.
[00:36:11] You're like, yeah, I'm down with that.
[00:36:12] That's great, yeah.
[00:36:15] But Jesus said, I want you to confess me.
[00:36:17] I want you to receive me.
[00:36:20] I want you to believe and place your faith in me.
[00:36:23] And I want to give you an opportunity to do that right now.
[00:36:26] That's a simple message.
[00:36:28] We shared it one on one.
[00:36:29] This team started sharing it.
[00:36:31] We shared it one on three, one on 300.
[00:36:33] It's a simple but powerful message of the gospel.
[00:36:39] And I believe and I've been praying that as many as have been set aside by God to receive Christ would respond right now and receive Jesus.
[00:36:49] Would you bow your heads?
[00:36:51] Close your eyes.
[00:36:54] If the Spirit of God has been talking to you, I want to ask you to raise your hand, because I think it's important for you to say, this is the day that I receive Christ.
[00:37:04] I see your hands, hands are beginning to go up.
[00:37:06] Would you raise your hand and just say, yes, I want the Lord Jesus Christ in my life.
[00:37:14] I see hands, yes, I see yours.
[00:37:15] Hold it up until I see it, because I wanna really pray for you.
[00:37:18] I see your hand in the back, sir.
[00:37:22] I see your hand.
[00:37:24] I see yours here in the middle section of that hand.
[00:37:27] And yours in the back, I see your hand.
[00:37:29] I see yours over here, ma'am, in pink, yes.
[00:37:32] I see your hand, young man, in the gray T-shirt.
[00:37:38] Anybody, I see your hand in the black shirt over here on my left.
[00:37:42] And I'm sure that I've missed people, and that's okay, it's okay.
[00:37:47] God sees you.
[00:37:49] It's important for you to be able to say, this is the day, this is the time that I prayed this prayer.
[00:37:53] Here's the prayer of your heart.
[00:37:54] God, I'm coming to you.
[00:37:59] I've given up on all this other stuff, all this other junk I've been doing, all these other, and Lord, I'm coming to you, Lord Jesus.
[00:38:07] I need you.
[00:38:10] I want you to save me.
[00:38:14] I want what you did on the cross to apply to my life.
[00:38:17] I don't even fully understand it, but I will receive it.
[00:38:21] You don't have to understand everything somebody gives you.
[00:38:24] I don't understand it fully, but I want to receive it right now, and I want to be saved.
[00:38:29] So here's the thing.
[00:38:30] I'm turning from my way of living.
[00:38:32] I want to follow you.
[00:38:34] I want to grow, be your disciple, be your servant, so I can reach other people, help other people.
[00:38:45] So can we just celebrate that just right now while we're suffering?
[00:38:50] Thank you, many, many people.
[00:38:51] Many people pray and receive Christ.
[00:38:55] Now, Lord, I pray for the rest of us that are believers and those who are new believers, Lord, we want to change our identity to a servant.
[00:39:05] You make this one simple shift mindset that I am a servant first, like my master.
[00:39:15] His identity was a servant.
[00:39:18] He said, I didn't come to
[00:39:20] Be served, I came to serve.
[00:39:24] Serve is the greatest of all.
[00:39:30] Help us to serve.
[00:39:32] Thank you, Father.
[00:39:33] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.