Clothed in Christ | NextGen Sunday | Trystian Broussard

Hello Hills Church, Preacher Rick here with a thank you and an invitation. The thank you is to all of you that served in Renew Serve yesterday at all four of our campuses. Jamie and I were able to serve at the Keller Campus doing a prayer walk for Teen Life and preparing bags for students. And it was just a blessing to serve with people that love the community. And I know wherever you served, you went home with the same feeling of gladness. So thank you for doing that. Here's the invitation. Today is Next Gen Sunday. So at every campus, you're gonna see some of our young people hosting, praying, reading scripture, leading worship, speaking, even on prayer teams. I have never bought the idea that young people are the church of tomorrow any more than I think those of us who are older are the church of yesterday. We're just the church. And the invitation today is to be blessed by younger members of our church. Receive what they bring, pray for them, and expect a blessing. You are going to go home today equally glad that you're a part of a church

asking for nations and generations. Yeah, good morning. I wanna echo what Preacher Rick said. This is a church that ask for nations, especially for generations. Good morning, welcome to the Hills Church. We are excited that you have joined us today, whether that's online or here in person with us at NRH. My name is Tristan Broussard, and I get the privilege of serving as one of the student ministers here at the NRH campus. And I know when I said student minister, some of you guys took your, like you're holding your breath. I promise I have some preaching experience, okay? At least back in high school, okay? So we're gonna have fun, and what could go wrong, right? We'll just have a fun time. But it really is an honor to work with the students here at NRH. As you can tell, they have been leading us in worship and in prayer and in reading scripture. Our students are talented, and they're using these talents to glorify the kingdom of heaven. Yeah, you can clap for that. And so I hope today is uplifting and is joyful for you as you watch them lead our church so confidently. And I wanna say thank you on their behalf for giving them space to do that, to lead and to enact their skills and to grow

and to learn how to actually lead the church and the kingdom of heaven. It's life-changing, at least it was for me. Something else that was life-changing for me was when I met my wife, Haley. You can see us on the screen. We've been married now for two years. That's our baby boy, Lincoln. He's about three and a half months and old, and it's been the best journey of our lives so far. But the first time that I met Haley, we were freshmen at Oklahoma Christian University, and she told me that her first impression of me was that I was a big nerd. Yeah, that one hurt a little bit, but it's okay. But it wasn't by how I acted or how cool I thought I was. It was by my style. My whole life, I've had zero style, zero, literally zero, as you can tell on the screen. My mom, my sister, sometimes they would even let me dress myself. I don't know who thought that was a good idea, but it's okay, no big deal. But I'm the type of person who could care less, whether my outfits are coordinated or if they have holes in them or if they're wrinkled. Me and Haley still get in debates on if a shirt is too wrinkled to wear or not. Most of the time, I lose, so it's okay. But it wasn't until I met Haley

that I started to care a little bit more about what I wore on the outside. And I see this in our students as well. By the things that they wear, you can tell what they find important. The sporty students, they wear athletic clothes. The musicians, the artists, they wear more street wear, something eclectic, maybe something different. We even see this as adults. We know that someone works in the healthcare industry if they wear scrubs. Or someone's favorite sports teams by the jerseys that they wear. Or we know someone's a businessman or a lawyer if they're wearing a suit. We also know that if someone comes on a Sunday morning in full golf attire, they're basically screaming, I wanna be a preacher! And I'm like, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. The things that we wear tell others a lot about what we find important in our lives. So if what we wear physically is so important, then I'm gonna ask you, what have you been clothing yourselves in spiritually? If we're not careful, we'll dress ourselves in things of the world that won't last. Are you someone who comes to church each week, you look the part, but when you leave, you're allowing other things to sit on the throne of your heart?

Or are you someone who wakes up each day wanting a new life, desiring something different, but instead, the anger, the anxiety? the failures of your life, hold the most authority? Or are you someone who feels like you've done too many bad things? You're too far gone. You're too deep into whatever addiction to be loved by Jesus. And this is what the enemy wants us to think. He wants the dirtiest, the nastiest, the things hidden from this world to be what we clothe ourselves in, where over time, the dirty slowly and unconsciously becomes the most important thing in our lives. And these things we start to identify with. This is the enemy's goal, keeping us from living into the fullness of the resurrected life. And this is the tension we feel as believers, right? We know that in Jesus, we have new life and that we should live differently. However, we let the enemy in and he keeps the dirty, the nasty, the things hidden from this world. He makes us comfortable in those things, living our lives in clothes that reek, that are stained, that are nasty, that don't resemble the life that we're called to live.

And my friends, there's a different way to live. Because of Jesus and his sacrifice, when we place our faith in him, we no longer have to live in those dirty old clothes. And this is our mission as a NextGen team, to disciple the kids, the students, the young adults in this church, to see that the way the world lives is not actually living. That it won't satisfy them. That it ultimately leads to death, but encouraging them and pointing them to the feet of Jesus, where they will find life. They will find purpose and they will find a life that is fulfilling. And in Colossians 3, Paul does a really good job of outlining what this new life looks like. He says, since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven and not the things of earth for you died to this life and your real life is hidden with Christ in Jesus. It's really important the ways that Paul begins this chapter into the church. Before he does anything else, the first thing that he does is remind them of their identity. Because the new clothes, they don't matter if we don't know whose we are. Paul understands humans.

He was a human. He understands the way that we think, the way that we act. He understands that there's an enemy out there wanting to kill and steal and destroy every single one of us by lying to us about our identity. The enemy tells us how wrong we are, how unqualified we are, how dumb we look to everybody else, or that no one cares about us. These are the things that students are carrying with them every day in their lives. The enemy is scheming and trying to get our students, our kids, our young adults to believe this. And you can see it all over, all over culture and media. The lack of true identity is an epidemic that is sweeping our nation. The world is shoving empty truths down the throat of our next generation, telling them that their identity is based on likes and on views and on success and on romantic relationships or how fast their car drives. You can make the list go on and on. These are empty things. And Paul saw the same thing when he was riding to the church in Colossae. And before he does anything else, he stops down and tells them that their true identity is as resurrected people. Because of the cross,

we get to live a life that is risen with Jesus. When we surrender to Jesus, we gain access to these new clothes, to this new life, one that is full of power and purpose. This is the truth we are wanting the next generation to know and to grasp onto. But church, many times it starts with us, the older generations, knowing and owning the truth in our own lives. So if you're a believer in the room, this is your reminder today that your identity is as a raised person and not a dead person. And if you're not a believer in the room, this is your invitation to accept this new life into Jesus. This new identity is way better than anything the world could offer you. There was a man who once went up to his pastor and he says, well, pastor, I want to grow closer to God. And the pastor looks at him, he says, well, what do your days look like? The guy shrugs and he goes, well, I don't know. I kind of just live my life. I kind of go through the motions. The pastor looks at him, he said, well, that's the problem. Nobody becomes more like Jesus by asking. accident. Your life will always drift in the direction of your daily habits. Church, we need to get in the habit each day

of declaring our God-given identity over ourselves, over our families, over our city, over our state, over our nation, and then watch how the Holy Spirit reconciles it all back to God. But it starts with us declaring each day our God-given identity. Because once we know whose we are and who we are in Christ, Paul then encourages the church to set their eyes, their hearts, their minds on the realities of heaven. And this is where we begin to feel the tension as believers. A lot of people like the grace, they like the new life thing, but it's giving over the rule of their life that is the difficult part. Paul's telling them, since you are in Christ, your life should look radically different. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don't be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolatry, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of the world. But now it is time to get rid of the anger, the rage, the malice behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off the old sinful nature and all of its wicked deeds.

The resurrected life requires us to live radically different than our old lives. To give you a good picture, Paul compares it to dirty laundry. He says, remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes. We all know what dirty clothes are, but we can't live the fullness of the resurrected life if we're still burdened by these dirty clothes we allow ourselves to live or wear. We can't live into the resurrected life if we're still wearing the shirt of sexual immorality, or the shorts of impurity, or the shoes of anger, or the socks of greed. Think about it like this. If you were to wear a shirt one day, it got muddy, it got sweaty. In my case, I have a baby, so a baby threw up all over it. I go to bed, and I take my shirt off. I wake up, and the next morning, I put the same nasty shirt on again. Nobody would truly choose that. Everybody knows what it feels like to wear the same shirt for multiple days, and it's disgusting. No one wants to do that. No one would choose to do that. But that's what we do spiritually sometimes. We wake up each day with a choice of a new and a fresh life in Jesus,

but we decide to put the addiction back on. We decide to put the anger back on. We decide to put the lustful thoughts back on. We decide to hold tightly to the things of this world, but Paul's encouraging the church to throw the shirt in the trash, like to get rid of it. We don't need it anymore. He said, put it to death, not put it back in the closet. Like, get rid of it. You don't need it anymore. For us to live the fullness of the resurrected life, we have to put the things of the world to death. The money is nice to have. The pleasures, they feel good. The addictions come easy. The anger seems maybe to be uncontrollable. The dirty language just sometimes slips out of our mouth. But church, it is our responsibility to build the next generation to be resurrected people who can't just go on living in the stained and in the stinky and the rotting clothes of the world, but to choose every day to put on the things of Jesus, to put the old things to death, fighting each day to not let the old way be the way that they live. And the same goes for us, the older generation, to be aware that when we wake up, we have a choice to make, one between life and one between death,

one that leads to emptiness and nothing and one that leads to freedom. And the beauty is that when we put these things to death, when we get rid of them, we're not just left high and dry. There's something different for us to pick up. He said, since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts, for as members of one body, you are called to peace and to always be thankful. Instead, clothe yourselves with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we live into the fullness of this resurrected life, we have access to new clothes. Ones that are focused on other people and ones that when people see us actually live them out, turn heads. Paul was reminding the church that they died when they were baptized, that their old life is done away with, that it's no more. That's not what they're known as anymore. And now in their new life,

instead of anger and rage and sexual immorality or greed being the things that identify them, it's now compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and mercy. That we are people that are quick to forgive one another. That we are people when the world looks our direction, they're thrown off about how quickly we love each other. Or that when the world is in chaos, they look over to us as a church and they see that we are peaceful and that we are thankful because the blood of Jesus. My friends, this life doesn't have to wait. It's available to us right now. However, it will cost you. It won't be easy. And there will be struggles when you grieve the things that you once had. And Paul understood this by putting the things to death. It would be hard. And that's why he encourages us that we need each other to do this. And that's why he tells them, don't lie to each other. The Hills Church must be a place where we can be open and honest about the dirty and about the nasty and about the hidden things in our lives. A place where people don't have to wear the old clothes or put on a facade like they have new clothes on, but be a place where people can come in weary from the old and be encouraged to pick up the new. Amen.

And if we're really a church that is asking for the next generations, then I plead with you as the older generations to partner together with the parents in discipleship and in prayer. Speaking as a father church, we need you. We need to be unified as a church to pray and to serve and to pour into this upcoming generation so that they see a church as a place to be raw and to be honest about the brokenness in their lives. Not as a place where they have to come when they have everything all put together. To show them that they don't have to clothe themselves in the things of this world, but that Jesus is offering them clothes that are eternal and everlasting. So I challenge you today as a church to not just talk the talk, but let's actually walk out the discipling of the next generation. Let's be a church that shows the next generation that when you get to experience the fullness of this resurrected life, that you don't want to go back to the dirty old clothes. Because this is what we're trying to get the next generation to understand. To put on your new nature. To be renewed as you learn to know your creator and to become like him. You guys got to hear a story of Danielle

and her testimony of how her generation is changing the world. And this past summer, I got to be on that mission trip with Danielle. And it was incredible to watch her live out these new clothes. One of my favorite moments was watching her boldly encounter people with the gospel of Jesus. One of another moment, she was encountered by a scheme of the enemy in a moment of prayer. And instead of backing down, she was obedient and bold and spoke true identity over this person, bringing deliverance and freedom. This is what it means to be a living testimony of putting the old life to death and to live and to clothe yourselves in the things of Jesus. Church, it's our responsibility to build this next generation to be authentic believers. But we also must be willing to learn, to be encouraged when we see them throw off the old and put on the new. As a church, we need to see the discipleship of the next generation in Jesus as vital and as urgent, not something that can wait till tomorrow, but has to be done today. Paul is challenging the church in Colossae

to live into their true identity. My hunch is that if Paul was writing to the Hill's church, he would also be challenging us to live into our true identity, reminding us to take off the old life and to put on the new one that. we have in Jesus. And so there are some of you in this room where today may be the day that you need to accept Jesus for the first time in your life. And I want you to know that we are ready to receive you and to make that happen. The new clothes, they're waiting for you and they're awesome, they're pretty great. And some of you in this room, today may be the day where you need to come and confess and to get rid of the dirty clothes that have been hindering you from living into the fullness of the resurrected life. And there may be others of you where this is your call to join in on the mission of discipling the next generation of this church to love Jesus with all their heart. My friends, for the sake of the next generation, let us not be people who just wear the old but claim to be changed, but let us actually be people who put on the new life that we have in Jesus and be that example. I want you to close your eyes and open your hands like you're ready to receive something.

I want you to ask, I want you to ask God, God, what dirty clothes do I need to let go of? What am I holding on to? What baggage in my life am I letting rule my life? What do I need to let go of? It says that when we put these things at the cross, Jesus' burden is light. And so now I want to ask you to ask him, what do you want me to pick up? Now that I've placed something down at the cross, what do you want me to pick up? What is my call for today? How can I walk out of this room different than when I walked in? Because of the blood of Jesus. What are you calling me to, Jesus? And so Father, I just pray that you bless these men and women and young men and women in this room. God, to hear your voice clearly. To know that when they come to the cross, they are met with grace, Father. That you give them a different life to live when they pick it up. Father, that your burden is easy and light. And Father, that you are the only way, that Jesus is the only way to true life. Father, may we be a church that builds that up in our next generation. May we not just talk about it, but may we actually do that. Like may we actually disciple the next generation

to love God with all of their heart. Father, I know that there are many in here that agree with me, so that will come true. And so Father, we're confident to watch how that unfolds in front of us. So Father, I just pray in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.