Embracing the Crucified Life in Christ | Galatians (Part 4)

Well, good morning. Hey, welcome to church, everybody. Let's stand to our feet. We're gonna lift up Jesus in this place and we'll invite you this morning to give Him some praise and celebrate the goodness of God this morning. I'll praise Him in the valley. Come on, church. I'll praise on the mountain. I'll praise when I'm sure. I'll praise when I'm doubting. Praise in that number. Praise when surrounded. Because praise is the water my enemies drown in. As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. I'll praise when I'm feeling. I'll praise when I don't. I'll praise because I know you're still in control. Yes, you are. I'll praise He is a weapon. He's more than a sound. Our praise is a shout that breaks Jericho down. As long as I'm breathing,

I've got a reason to praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. How could I keep it inside? Praise the Lord, oh, my soul. Oh, my soul. Come on, church. Come on, let's lift it up in this moment. Praise God as you reign, praise God as you run. Yes, you did. Praise God as you're faithful, praise God as you're true. Praise God as there's nobody greater than you. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul, you praise. Praise the Lord. Oh, we praise. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul, you praise. Praise the Lord. Oh, we praise. I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? I won't be quiet. My God is alive.

How could I keep it inside? Sing it. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul, we sing. We lift our voice today. I won't be quiet. Oh, Jesus. Come on, let's give him the biggest shout of praise this morning because he's worthy of everything we can bring in this place this morning. Amen. We praise him because he's good. We praise him because he is God. We praise him because he is creator and king. And we lift him up in this place. Come on, let's continue to sing to this majesty. The creation suddenly articulate with a thousand tongues to lift one cry. Then from north to south and east to west, we'd hear Christ be magnified. Where the whole earth echoing His eminence His name would burst from sea and sky From rivers to the mountaintops Did hear Christ be magnified Oh, Christ be magnified Let His praise arise Christ be magnified in me Lift it up, oh Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Take your place, Lord When every creature finds its inmost melody

In every human heart its native cry Oh, then in one, in one Should hymn of praise Will sing Christ be magnified Be lifted high Oh, Christ be magnified Let His praise arise Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Lord, be lifted in this place The exalted, oh God Listen I won't bow to idols I stand strong in worshiping You And if it puts me in the fire I'll rejoice cause I'll let it lead I won't be formed by feelings I'll hold fast to what is true And if the cross brings transformation Then I'll be crucified with You Come on, sing Cause death is just a doorway Into resurrection life And if I join You in Your suffering Then I'll join You when You rise And You'll return in glory With all the angels and the saints My heart will still be singing

My song will be the same Oh, Christ be magnified Lift Him up Let His praise arise Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified He's singing again, sing Oh, Christ be magnified Let His praise arise Christ be magnified in me Oh, Christ be magnified From the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Oh, oh, oh Oh, be magnified, Jesus Oh, be magnified Be magnified We stand upon the goodness Of our King, Jesus Oh, the cornerstone Sing, Jesus My hope is built on nothing less Yes, it is Than Jesus' polite and righteousness I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly trust in Jesus' name I dare not trust the sweetest frame But wholly trust in Jesus' Name Christ alone, cornerstone Weeping throng in the Saviour's love

Through the storm He is Lord, He's Lord of all Yes, He is, He's Lord of all Darkness seems to hide His face I rest on You, Jesus In every high and stormy gale My anchor holds within the veil Christ alone, cornerstone Weeping throng in the Saviour's love Through the storm He is Lord, He's Lord of all Lord of all, He's Lord of all Christ alone, cornerstone Weeping throng in the Saviour's love Through the storm He is Lord, He's Lord of all Lord of all When He shall come with trumpet sound Oh, may I then in Him be found Dressed in His righteousness alone Faultless stand before the throne Christ alone, cornerstone Weeping throng in the Saviour's love Through the storm He is Lord, He's Lord of all Yes, He's Lord, He's Lord of all Yes, He's Lord, He's Lord of all But just to go and extend the love of Jesus to our neighbors The church family has showed up to cook and to put out some amazing things so that the first responders in this community can feel seen, loved, and this would not be possible without the body of Christ getting outside of the church walls to turn the world upside down to know about the love of Jesus Christ. We've got a great group from Abundant Life here today working on various facility projects that's going to help our campus in incredible ways as we serve teens and families who are in crisis. We're here at William Bryant Elementary making connections in the community, bringing God's light and love to our community. What we're doing with Foster Kids KC is really a tangible way to show the families that care for kids how much we love them and appreciate them to give them Give them a day where they can come and play and relax, just have some fun. The gospel truth is that God and his love gave everything for our sake and our salvation. We want to be living proof of a loving God to a watching world, and so how else do we do that besides loving our city?

This is just an example of that as our church as a whole, and just grateful for the opportunity to be doing things like this, but also we're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and what better place to do it but within our city. I appreciate the opportunities to see what's going on in our city and to see where we can help. Not only on this day, but in every opportunity that is presented to us on a daily basis. It's love on our city, it is doing things when no one else is looking. Being out in the community and serving alongside people who may be different than you. Showing God's love to others. Like Christ does for all of us. Today we're going to love our city. Jesus will love on us. So there's so many things we can do to love on our city throughout the year, and love on our neighborhood. So it just takes that one person. Just get out there and do it. Organize it yourself, because again, we want to be living proof of a loving God to a watching world. Happy Sunday. I was chasing things of this world to fill me, and it never did. I just kept asking my wife for several years, what am I looking for? What am I looking for? Why do I feel empty all the time? There was one point where I scared my family half to death, my wife and two daughters. I was standing in the kitchen, just frustrated, and I screamed out across the house, what am I searching for? I was so angry and so lost and just irritated. My oldest daughter, at the time, she asked me, right here, over to my right, where our kitchen meets our living room, she walked up to me. She said, Daddy, I want to go to church, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Part of me dissolved on that hardwood floor over there that day.

So I go to work soon after that, and I'm pouring out to my best friend, Larry Jones, and he asks me two big questions that I'd never been asked before in my life. He just looks at me and he says, Steve, well, if you were to die today, where are you going to spend eternity? And so I just looked at him, I'm like, dude, I mean, look at me, I'm kind of a big deal. You know, we worked together, and he looked at me and he said, how are you getting there? And that's when it hit me. I started crying five-gallon buckets of tears and snot and all over the place, and realized in that moment, I was doomed, headed right to hell like a bullet. Romans 10, 13 laid it out, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And I'm like, what does that mean? He's like, it's calling on him in a prayer of faith, and he'll save you. I'm like, well, I've heard that word saved before, but now you're getting Bible on me. What does that mean? And he's like, when he saves you, man, he's going to rescue you, and he's going to let you spend eternity with him. I said, man, if it's really that easy, I want to go home on my own time, and I want to go home on my own time, and I want to have this personal time with the Lord in prayer. And that's what I did. I came home that night. I cried my eyes out and asked the Lord to save me. Before Christ, I thought it was all about performance and walking this tightrope and this balance beam of trying to be this good, perfect person. When I learned that he was going to accept me just as who I am, where I'm at right there, I didn't need to clean up or get a haircut or makeup or anything like that at all. That's when I really started seeing freedom. As Steve's wife, I spent years praying that he would grow into the man of God he is today. Steve is one of the most passionate evangelists I have ever known, and he shares his faith with everyone he encounters, whether that's a waitress or an Amazon driver, often taking a moment to pray with them and point them towards salvation.

Steve is so bold in his faith. He desires for everyone to know Jesus and to experience what he once lacked and now carries so deeply. He has led our family with strength, faith, and integrity, and our girls and I are so grateful for the transformation God has worked in his life. The A-Life to me is freedom and opening my mouth boldly and letting others know about Jesus Christ and that he is the only way to freedom. Well, praise God, man. And what a miracle just to see a man turn his heart over to Jesus. And Steve is here this morning in this service in this place. And so I know we have people coming from us, coming with us from church houses and tipped in prison and in Blue Springs and all these other places. But Steve's in the house. Can we honor Steve one more time? This is what God's done. Yeah, praise God. and we are praying for many more, many more men to give their life to Jesus, many more people to give their life to Jesus, and I believe that we are living right in the middle of a move of God, and I don't wanna miss it, and I don't want you to miss it either, and I'm so glad that you made the decision to get here. If we haven't met yet, my name is Pastor Chad, and I have the privilege of bringing God's word to you, and I wanna invite you to grab a copy of God's word and turn to the book of Galatians, chapter two is where we're gonna be at as we are continuing our line-by-line study through the book of Galatians.

If you're new to the Bible, Galatians is in the neighborhood of Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians, all in the New Testament or second half of your Bible, and we want you to grab a copy of God's word so that you can see the words for yourself, because I'm praying that they would hit you right in between the eyes this morning, and that you would have an experience with God that you would not soon forget. And I just wanna start off this morning, before we get into God's word, with a little bit of a confession. I don't know if you would relate to this confession or a little bit of a piece of vulnerability, but there's been a time in my life where I felt like my Christianity wasn't working. You ever felt that way? Like you come into places like this and you're like, you know, singing songs, and you're opening the book, and you're reading the book, and you're like, man, woo, I'm fired up, and then by the end of the night, Sunday, you're like, I'm back in the same ditch again, right? And then Monday, you're in the hole, and you know, and then Wednesday, you're all muddy, and then you're just like, what, is there something wrong with my Christianity? It seems like it's working for other people, but it ain't working for me.

And I remember this time in my life where I had the information, like I could quote, you know, Jesus plus nothing equals everything. I had the shirt, you know, and I knew Jesus died on the cross for my sin, but then when I looked at my life functionally, it just seemed like I was living a powerless Christianity. And when I was at this crossroads, this intersection, I was really faced with the decision, am I just gonna settle for a powerless, anemic Christianity? Or is there something more to this thing? Is there something more that I hadn't quite figured out yet? And when I came across the passage that we're gonna sit in this morning, it began to strike me to the heart, and it was like, how did I miss this invitation of Jesus and then this invitation of the biblical authors? How did I miss this? Because it just seemed so prevalent and prominent once I went back to God's word, but I had missed it up to this point in my Christian experience. And the thing that I had missed is this invitation to the crucified life. I don't know if you've heard that phrase before, but the crucified life, it's this metaphor that's in the scriptures that refers to you dying to your selfishness and following Jesus. Now, are you living the crucified life? At this point, I was not living the crucified life,

but this is like one of the invitations of Jesus early on. I mean, he says in Luke 9, he says, if anyone wants to come after me, he gotta deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. He was saying in Matthew 16, if you wanna gain life, you gotta lose your life. And if you wanna try to save your life, you're actually gonna lose it. And so you gotta give to get, is kind of what Jesus is saying. And the biblical authors in the New Testament, they just kinda circle around this invitation to take up your cross and live the crucified life. Even theologians in the history, in history, they've said things like this. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, he said, when Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die. And what I was missing was this reality that I was living for myself, and I was missing this reality to die to myself or live the crucified life. And when I found Jesus on the cross, I found eternal life. But when I found me on the cross, I found abundant life. If you're taking notes, I've titled this message, The Crucified Life. The Crucified Life. What I want you to see from God's word is I want you to see the invitation to crucify your life with Christ, to let him live in you and to live by faith

in the one who gave it all for you. If you're new to the book of Galatians, a guy named Paul who had his life radically changed by Jesus, he's writing this letter to this group of churches that he helped start. And he's writing this letter with a little bit of an edge. This is like the first letter that was written in the New Testament. And Paul's writing this, and it's the oldest letter that was written. He's writing this early on in his ministry career and what had happened in the church in Galatia is that they were polluting the gospel. That Paul came and shared Christ alone, and then they started adding all of these other things, and Paul's like, hey, you can't do that. He's like, stop it. Because Paul knew what we need to know. Anytime you revise the gospel, you reverse the gospel. Anytime you try to add to grace, it quits being grace. That Paul's basically writing in the book of Galatians that it's Jesus, it's always been Jesus, and it'll always be Jesus that brings salvation. You don't need any extra things. adding things to the beauty of the gospel. That Paul's saying Jesus plus nothing equals everything. And then Paul's in this section where he's dealing with legalism and he's writing to these guys and he's saying, hey, knock it off, stop the legalism already.

But he doesn't just call them out. Paul actually finishes in this section and he shares with them what he did in order to deal with his legalism. He shares with them what he did in order to deal with his legalism and a host of other sins. Here's what it says in Galatians chapter two, starting in verse 17. It says, but if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? He says, certainly not. He says, for if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. Again, what Paul's saying is he's saying, if I say salvation by grace, but then I wanna add to it later, well, that's on me, that ain't on Jesus. I'm the one that messed it up. He goes on in verse 19, he says, for I, through the law, died to the law that I might live to God. Paul is saying, I'm not bound to the law anymore. I'm not bound to the Old Testament things as a means by which I have to earn God's favor. Paul's saying, man, God's given me his favor in Christ. I've been justified by Christ. And then he says this in verse 20. He says, I have been crucified with Christ.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. I don't know if you are new to the Bible, but this is like, verse 20 is one of the greatest verses in the Bible, this is one of the top tracks in the Bible. If you're looking to memorize a verse in Galatians or if you're looking to start annotating in your Bible, then this would be a great place to start. This would be a great verse for you to memorize. And many years ago, I came across this verse and God used it to strike me to the core of my heart. And for the last 20 years, I've just been kind of marinating in this idea that we see in Galatians 2.20 and just trying to unpack what it means. And so over the next few minutes, we're gonna settle in this verse, verse 20, and we're gonna try to see what God has to say to us in regard to this. What Paul's saying is that I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. That Paul's teaching this principle that Jesus taught that we all need to know that the crucified life is the abundant life, that you don't get to the abundance without putting yourself on the cross. And so let's just sit in this verse again.

He says this, I have been crucified with Christ. Point number one, if you're taking notes, you could write this down. The choice, the choice. Again, Paul says I have been crucified with Christ. Paul, he's been talking about legalism, right? He said, I called out Peter. I stood up to Peter, the rock, the apostle Peter. I stood up to him, to his face. And so now I'm standing up to you guys for your legalistic, hypocritical ways. And I think Paul was so quick to call them out because he knew what it was like to be a legalist. I think Paul is basically telling these guys, hey, it takes one to know one, you know? And I can smell it out quickly because I used to be a legalist, or I'm a recovering legalist. And many of you last week when Pastor Phil was preaching on legalism, you were like, man, that's me. You know, you had to say ouch instead of amen, right? And Pastor Phil, he shows up week in and week out with a Bible, but he's got a hidden two by four. You don't see that one coming, right? And sometimes that truth just gets you, right? And many of you last week, me included, I mean, God was speaking to you. And what Paul's doing is he's trying to tell us what we do with our legalism. And he's trying to tell us what we do

with any of the sins that are in our life. What he's saying is that you have to make a choice to crucify it. Paul's saying I nailed it to the cross. Paul's saying I died to it. Let me ask you real quick, what do you need to crucify? What is the thing in your life that you need to die to? What is the obstacle that is standing in the way of you experiencing the abundance that Jesus died to give you? See, Jesus chose to be crucified for you, and you have to make the choice to be crucified with him. Have you learned to make the choice to crucify that thing that's keeping you from living the abundant life? Paul would say elsewhere, Romans 6.11, he would say you gotta reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to Christ. Paul would, he would teach this idea that you have to, at the intersection of temptation, you have to say I'm dead to that thing. I'm gonna crucify that thing. This is an anthem that we need to adopt as a church, that the intersection of our temptation that's gonna come at us, maybe by the end of today, we would declare I'm dead to that thing. I'm gonna crucify that thing. What is the thing that you need to crucify? What is the thing? that you need to die to. When your kids are getting on your last nerve,

and you're about to say something that you'll regret, that you would say, I'm dead to that. When you and your spouse are having a discussion, and you're about to treat him or her in a way that is unbecoming, you would say, I'm dead to that. When you have that bitterness in your heart, and you wanna be resentful, you would say, I'm dead to that bitterness. When you're wanting to feed your selfishness, and just be reclusive, and just be depressed, and be sad, or just do whatever you wanna do, you would say, I'm dead to that thing. We have to die to our selfishness in order to live for Christ. And maybe the reason why many of you are not experiencing, or many of us are not experiencing the abundant life is because we're satisfied with Jesus on the cross, but we just don't wanna join him. And Paul's saying it's a choice. You have to choose this day to be crucified with Christ. So what is the thing that you need to crucify? I don't know if you've heard of the parable of the man on the road, but it goes like this. Day one, there was a man walking down a road, and he didn't see this hole, and he actually fell in the hole. And he was like, oh my goodness. I didn't see this hole. This is an accident, and it took him a while

to get out of the hole. But eventually, he got himself out. Day two, he goes down the same road. And he sees the hole, and he still falls in the hole, and he's like so embarrassed that he fell in this hole, and he actually felt some shame. And it took him a little while to get out of the hole, but eventually, he got out of the hole. Day three, he went down the same road, and he fell in the same hole. And this time, he's thinking, you know what? I keep falling in this hole. This is my fault. And he started taking ownership, and he got out of the hole a little bit faster. This time, day four, he went down the same road, but he knew there was a hole in that road, and so he actually avoided the hole. And he thought, wow, that was close. I almost fell in. Day five, he chose a different road, because he knew there's a hole in that road. And if I keep going down that road, it's just a matter of time before I fall in it again. And what I'm trying to teach you this morning from God's Word is if you are in Christ, you have the power of Christ to choose a different road. That's the point of the parable. You can be crucified with Christ and choose a different road.

You can be dead to that thing. You can be crucified with Christ. And so what is the hole that you keep falling into? What is the thing that you need to die to? I know in the rooms that we're in this morning, there's many things that we could've identified that we need to die to, but I just brought a few with me this morning. Some of y'all, you need to die to legalism. Legalism. You know, again, last week, Pastor Phil preaching on this, and you're like, guilty as charged, that's mine. And you didn't make a decision, I'm gonna identify, I'm going to identify that this is the thing that is eating my lunch. Others of you, the thing that you need to die to is you need to die to anxiety. You're carrying around this overwhelming worry, and you think it's happening to you, but for a lot of people, you're choosing to be anxious. Because you have diminished the bigness of a God who spoke the universe into existence, and you think that somehow your tomorrow is bigger than his power. And it's eating your lunch. And you need to make a choice, I'm gonna crucify this thing. Others of you, it's self. That's the thing that you need to die to. Your ways, your time frame, it's all about you.

Some of you, it's self-abasing, it's self-loathing. Others of you, it's self-inflating. There's so many things that we could talk about in this category, but the thing that you need to identify is like, man, I'm just, I think the big problem is it's just maybe me. I'm selfish. Me, and my wants, and my needs above everything else. Others of you, the thing you need to die to is fear. Fear. How many decisions have you made out of fear that you regret? Yeah, I'm just afraid of being alone, and so I'll settle in my relationships. I'm afraid of rejection, and so I'm gonna go out with that group of people that are no good for me. And so many times, there's been so many things in my life where when I get down to the dirt, And I get to the root of the issue. The root of the issue was deep down inside I was scared. I was afraid. Others of you, maybe it's not any of these. It's just something else. You fill in the blank. What is the thing that is standing in the way of you experiencing abundant life? What is the sin that you need to nail to the cross? What is the hole in the road that you need to quit going down? What is the thing that you need to die to this morning?

And it is a choice. I'm gonna choose to be crucified with Christ. I'm gonna choose to die to control, to gossip, to envy, to greed, to comparison, or whatever the thing is. Because as long as I live, I will die. And only until these things die will I live. Choose a different road. Die to your sin. Be crucified with Christ. This is the key to abundant life. The abundant life is the crucified life. Paul says this, I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Point number two, if you're taking notes, you can write this down, the mystery. The mystery, again, Paul says it's no longer I who live, but Christ actually lives in me. Like, Paul's picking up what Jesus had put down for his guys when he was walking with his disciples. And when you read, really, the Last Supper, when you sit in the Gospels and you read about Jesus' conversation and the things that he was teaching when they had that final supper, Jesus is saying things that are wild. Like, it's just crazy. Like, he's gonna look at his guys and say, guys, it's better for you guys, it's better for you guys that I leave. You know, if I'm there, I'm like, come on, bro. No, Peter, I mean, Peter's like, no, we need you, Jesus.

It ain't better for us that you leave. And who knows where Judas is, we ain't seen him. Like, you know, like, we don't even know. Like, no, bro, you need to stay. Like, stay for a while, Jesus. He's like, no, no, no, really, it's gonna be better. And they're like, no, it's not. And then Jesus begins to tell them that the Spirit of God, he's like, you know, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we're one. The Spirit that is like, you know, that represents me, like God. Like, he's going to, I'm gonna leave, and he's actually going to indwell you guys. And then Jesus, he says things in this Last Supper, like in John chapter 14, he looks at his guys and he says, and you guys are gonna do greater things than even me. And again, if I'm there, I'm like, bull, no way, you know. I'm like, Jesus, come on, bro. Like, what are you talking about? You know, like, better than you, you know. But John didn't scratch that out of his gospel. He wrote it in, you know. And what Jesus was telling his guys, he's like, I know it doesn't add up, but somehow, someway, when y'all put your faith in me, my Spirit's gonna indwell you guys. And you're gonna be unleashed to be my body into the world. And it's gonna be like, like, we're just gonna multiply

and be witnesses and be empowered to do wondrous things for the kingdom of God. Like, this is wild. And so what Paul is saying is I've been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And so like, when you look at the Bible in the Old Testament, God's like, let's tell them what to do. And God tells us what to do, and we still can't do it. You know, even though we could read and we had it, we can't figure it out. And so Jesus comes, he's like, all right, let's show them how to do the thing. And then Jesus, you know, lives as a perfect example, but we still can't get it. And so right now, what God's done in his sovereignty, he says, well, you know what? We're not just gonna tell them, we're not just gonna show them, but we're actually going to indwell them. And we're gonna empower them to be who we called them to be. Let me explain it this way. I don't know if y'all have heard of the basketball player, Victor Wimbenyama. I don't know if y'all watch a basketball, but you know, I'm all things Texas. And so the San Antonio Spurs, like, I think they're gonna take home the NBA finals. They're gonna get there, they're gonna win this year,

because they had this guy who they call the alien. This is Victor Wimbenyama. Look how big this man is, all right? And like, this guy right here, this guy's taller than Pastor Phil, yo. I mean, like, this ain't Muggsy Bogues, you know what I'm saying? This ain't some short guy. But Victor, man, they call him. Wimby, they call him the alien because he's just, he's just a unique guy, he's from France and we got him on the Spurs and he plays like a, I think a power guard, I don't even know all the language, but he's just, he shoots threes and can dribble and he dunks, you know, like he has the Dodge, the rim with his head, you know. I mean, he is huge and he's athletic. And now what if I told you that I had some kind of weird Texas connection, cause we got family in San Antonio and what if I was like, hey man, I actually know Wimby. He'd be like, you know Wimby? I'd be like, yeah, I call him Vic, you know, because we liked that and you're like, man, this is wild because I'm trying to get better at basketball. And I was like, bro, I got you, because I was talking to Vic the other day. He actually is releasing a book called How to Be Like Wimby, you know, and I'll get you a copy, man, you read the book,

I promise you, you'll be able to play and be like Wimby. And you would kind of look at me like, bro, that would be amazing, but I don't think I could read Wimby's book and play like Wimby. I mean, look at him. I'm like, bro, you're right, you're right. Let me holler at Vic and I'll see if he can do like some, in the off season, maybe do like some personal coaching with you. And if you're trying to get better at basketball, you're like, man, I could be coached by Wimby? I mean, I could try to be like Wimby, but I don't know. But if he could coach me, maybe, you know? But eventually you're gonna come to the realization that you're like, you know what? No matter how much Wimby coaches me in basketball, no matter how much he's like, hey, just do it like this, you know, and he says something in French. He's like, le ballon roulette, you know, like this, right? And like, you know, like no matter how much he coaches you, you know, you would still be like, I can't be like Wimby. I can read his book, he could coach me. But I was like, hey man, check this out. Elon Musk got with some scientists and they did some mad scientist stuff where we could actually, Wimby, like he's agreed, he can actually indwell you, you know? This is some space jam stuff, all right? So like if you wanna sign up and you know,

and you would look at me like, all right, maybe. Maybe if there was some way where Wimby could like indwell me and then I like stretch Armstrong, my arms go into the 17 foot wingspan like he has, you know? And like just maybe if he could indwell me, then I could be like Wimby. Like the only way I could ever play ball like that guy is if he could somehow indwell me and take control of me. And that's the only way and that's the point I'm trying to make, that when Paul is saying Christ in you, when Paul is saying that you no longer live but he's inside of you, he indwells you, he's saying that he is giving you this divine DNA to live out the Christian life, that every Christian has the power of God pulsating through their spirit. What a glorious promise. Amen. But many of us, we're not living in the power of the Christian life because we're not willing to take on the pain of the cross. Where's the power in the church today? Where's the power in the Christian life? We are a powerless, anemic church because we want to live instead of being crucified with Christ. You don't get to the middle of chapter two, verse 20 until you first make a decision that I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me. This is the mystery.

And only until you die to yourself, only until you choose the crucified life will you experience the power of Christ flowing through you. The reason why we're powerless in the church is because too many people are hanging on to their life when we need to be crucified with Christ. Again, Paul, he says this, I have been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Point number three, and finally, if you're taking notes, you can write this down, the foundation, the foundation. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, note this, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul, he's no different than the other New Testament authors. They just never seem to get too far removed from what Jesus did for them. Like it seems like every time they stretch out the rubber band of Christian living, it just snaps right back into the foundation of the gospel. Like Paul, he just does such a great job of never getting too far removed from why he does what he's doing. And so when he says, man, you gotta be crucified with Christ,

and you go, well, why? He says, because, man, Jesus was crucified for you. And he just never graduated from the gospel. I don't know about you, but I never want to get, I never want to get beyond what Jesus did for me. I never want to outgrow my understanding of my need for the gospel. I never want to get over the gospel. I want to stand on the foundation of why I do anything in my life, and the foundation is because Jesus gave everything for me, and he is worthy of my life altogether. And so Jesus, I mean, Paul's saying don't get too far removed from what Jesus did for you. This is the foundation. Paul is just saying, man, I live by faith in Jesus who gave it all for me. No wonder this morning, have you come to the point in your life where that truth has gripped your heart, the truth that Jesus loves you, and he gave himself for you. I don't know if you were locked in for the testimony earlier, Steve's testimony. It's incredible. You know, see this guy just sharing how he was wrestling with the Lord, and I don't know if he caught the sound bite, but he's like, man, I even stood up in my home, and like, man, what am I missing?

And he came to the conclusion that anyone that is in Christ has come to, that the thing that I'm missing is the love of God, that every one of us, we've come into the places that we are in this morning, and there is a God-shaped hole in our heart, and we oftentimes lunge to this world to try to put different things in that hole, but only God can fill that hole in our heart, only the love of God, and he gave himself for you. And so, listen, if you're here, and like, you're asking that question, what am I missing? You're missing Jesus. That's what you're missing. And if you're missing Jesus, don't miss him. And so, I love Steve's story because he's just asked these pointed questions by a friend of his named Larry, and I know Larry, and so, you know, when he shares that part of his story, I'm like, makes sense. You know, and listen, let me just ask you these questions that Larry asked Steve. The first question he asked him is, hey, man, if you were to die today, do you know where you would spend eternity? Why don't you take that personal? If you were to die today,

do you know where you would spend eternity? And I love Steve's response. You know, he said, well, I'm kind of a big deal, you know? And I know Larry, so I'm sure Larry just looked at him like, are you done? You know? And the way that only a brother can look at somebody, man to man. You're not as big of a deal as you think before God. And so, the second question he asked him, let me ask you, do you want to go to heaven? If you do, do you know how you're gonna get there? And the only way you get to heaven is through Christ. And so, if you're here, man, and you like heard Steve's story earlier, and you're like, man, that's me. But before you are crucified with Christ, you need to understand that Christ was crucified for you. And you need to lay hold of that and allow that to change your life. What does that look like practically? Well, you simply admit that you're a sinner. You're not that big of a deal before a holy and righteous God. And you say, man, I have done things that have caused me to fall short of God's standard. And then you believe that Jesus is the Savior, man, that Jesus lived a sinless life. He died a sinner's death on a cross.

Three days later, he rose from the grave. He revealed himself for the next 40 days to people before he ascended to the right hand of the Father. And today, he's reigning as Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And one day, he's gonna return for his bride, the church. And you believe in that finished work of Jesus on the cross. You believe in that resurrection of Jesus. And then you confess him as the Lord of your life. Have you done that? Again, Larry just shared with Steve that, man, all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. I love this. It's all. That includes you. There's no one who is too far removed from the grasp of God's grace. All are welcomed. And let me just remind you, you don't have to go find some sort of version of abundance out there or find some sort of version of morality or religion and then bring that as you're gonna impress God. Just come as you are. All are welcome at the foot of the cross. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Have you done that? done that. And some of you, you need to establish the foundation by which we do everything in our life.

That the first thing that you need to do is have a right relationship with Jesus. And so if you're here and you don't know Christ, come to the cross and see Jesus crucified for you. Admit you're a sinner, believe he's a savior, and call upon the name of the Lord. And you can do that right now. Or just like Steve shared in his testimony video, he went home, bawled his eyes out, and called upon the name of the Lord. I don't know if you know this, but God doesn't live in church. He lives everywhere. And so you go to your nightstand, he's there. You may be in an alley, he's there. There's nowhere you can go where he's not. Call upon the name of the Lord. Others of you, you're here, man, you know Christ. You know Christ. You've called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. You've believed in Jesus crucified for your sin. But you need to come and you need to be crucified with Christ. Like this truth has got to seep into the roots of your heart so that when you wake up tomorrow morning, you wake up in all of your selfishness, just like all of us. You wake up in all of your distraction and disarray, just like all of us. And as you're rubbing the sleep out of your eyes

and starting to come to, you are choosing to be crucified with Christ. And at the intersection of your temptation, because it's coming for you, you're choosing to be dead to that thing that you're taking on the ownership of this invitation from this verse. Again, Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ. This is a choice. You got to make this personal, man. I can't want Jesus for you. You got to want him. I can't hunger and thirst for righteousness for you. You got to hunger and thirst for righteousness. You got to get over that part inside of you that's saying, man, I wish this person was here to hear this. And I need you to take it personal this morning. I am going to do this. I have been crucified with Christ. And then you got to say, I have been crucified with Christ. I'm going to take these things that are plaguing me and I'm going to take them to the cross. Some of you, it's fear that you need to take to the cross. And you're going to say, you know what? This week, I'm going to nail, today actually, I'm going to nail fear to the cross. I'm no longer going to be marked by the things that are plaguing me.

I'm no longer going to make those decisions out of fear of failure or fear of rejection. I'm going to nail it to the cross. Others of you, it's self that you need to nail to the cross that you need to get rid of those things that are causing you to always have to have your way and have it, your timing. And some of you, you're going to nail self to the cross and you're going to let somebody else decide where you're eating lunch after church today. Amen? Some of you, that got practical. Some of you, it's legalism. You're going to quit adding things to your Christianity, thinking that that's what makes you better than other people and you're going to nail that thing to the cross. Others of you, you're going to make a decision to nail your anxiety to the cross, that you're going to start trusting God and quit being so riddled with fear and worry. And others of you, you're just going to fill in the blank and you're going to take this thing to the cross. You're saying, I'm taking it personal. I have been crucified with Christ. What is the thing that you need to die to so that Christ can live in you? When you're at the point of temptation, you have to walk in this truth. If you really want to walk in freedom from your sin, you have to choose the crucified life.

You're saying, I'm dead to that. It's no longer me. I'm dying to the sins of my past. I'm dying to the shame that I feel. I'm dying to my prejudices and bitterness towards others. I'm dead to my people-pleasing, pleasure-seeking, self-abasing, self-hating, self-inflating ways. I'm crucified to the comfortable, conforming, controlling, compromised life. I have been crucified with Christ. That's the choice that we're making this morning. It's got to be personal. It's got to be practical. Paul says, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. In the life that I now live, I live by faith. It's choosing faith in the now. Not the life I used to live, not the life I want to live, the life that I now live. Jesus wants to meet you where you are, where you're at right now. And he wants you to put on faith where you're at right now. Some of you, you're a stay-at-home mom. And you're gonna choose the life that you're living right now to live by faith. Others of you, you're in a season of singleness. Some of you, you're teenagers here. And in the season that you're in, you're gonna live by faith. Others of you, you're empty nesting. Some of you, you're in a season of suffering.

Others of you, you're in a season that's down. Some of you, you're in a season that's up. Wherever your life is at, you're gonna choose by faith to live in the Son of God who loves you and gave it all for you. What does that mean practically? By faith, you're choosing Christ. You're saying no to yourself and yes to God. You're choosing faith to inform your feelings, faith to drive your future, faith to inform your reality, faith to choose the crucified life. Why? Because Jesus gave it all for you, man. He loves you and he gave everything for you. And so what do you need to be crucified to? What is the thing that is keeping you from living the abundant life? On your handout this morning, we have just a blank. It says, I'm crucified to, and then you fill in the blank. I'm crucified to, you fill in the blank. And I want you just over the next few minutes, we're actually gonna sing a song over you guys. And the song is a familiar song that just simply declares, oh, the wonderful cross, that this cross bids me to come and die to find that I might truly live. And some of you, you don't need much introspection. Like you don't have enough paper to write down the things you need to be crucified to, right? I was talking to a brother earlier and he's like, man,

you had me knelling, I was running out of cross space, knelling all my stuff, you know? Others of you, you need to take this time and you just really need to sit and say, Lord, what is it? What is the thing that I need to die to? And so I wanna invite you just to bow your head and close your eyes before we go into this time of reflection and song. And I wanna ask you a couple of questions, pray for you, then our team's gonna come out and sing at all of our locations over us and give us a time just to wrestle with the Lord. I don't know if the Holy Spirit does this to you, but there's been times in my life where the Spirit of God has had to put his forearm into the back of my neck and pin me to the ground and say, I'm not letting you up, Glover, until you deal with this thing because I have abundance for you and because of your arrogance, you're hanging on to that thing that you know is robbing you from life. And there's been times where I needed the Spirit of God to pin me into the floor mat. And then other times where I just needed him to say, hey man, come on, man. It just wooed me and it coaxed me out of that thing. And what I know to be true is that the Spirit of God, he is a convictor and a comforter. And he has a way of meeting you wherever you're at today. And he's the best minister that I know.

And so question number one, let me ask you, are you ready to make the choice? Do you want to choose to be crucified with Christ? To put it differently, do you want to choose the abundant life? Question number two, can you see the mystery? Christ in you, the hope of glory, Paul would say elsewhere. It's no longer the mystery of the abundant life. It's no longer you that live, but Christ lives in you. What a glorious promise for us to appropriate. Question number three, are you standing on the foundation? Some of you, the thing that you need to do is you need to come to Jesus for salvation. You need to ask him to save you. Others of you that have done that, you need to come to the cross and you need to join Christ on the cross, so to speak. And die to yourself and follow Jesus. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for today. God, thank you for the power of this truth. God, you know I'm not the man I ought to be, but I'm not the man I used to be. Thank you, God. And it's because of these things working their way out in my life, it's you, Holy Spirit, just graciously and sometimes aggressively chipping away at the things that are abrasive in my heart. And so, God, help me to come to the cross. God, thank you for the life that you have given me on the other side of me choosing to die to myself.

myself. Oh, that I would come to the end of myself. God, as we know, there is no resurrection without a crucifixion. And so Jesus, thank you that you have made the great exchange, that I've given you all of my death, and you've given me all of your life. And so God help us to live that way. And would you move now as we think about the wonderful cross in the invitation that you give us through your death on the cross. And then the invitation that you give us to join you in your suffering, so that we can join you in your glory in Christ's name. Amen. I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died. My richest gain I count but loss, and poor content on all my pride. Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross, bids me come and die, and find that I truly live. And oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross, all who gather here, by grace draw near, and bless your name. See from His hands, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love for me go down, dead as love and sorrow mean, or thus composed, so is a crown. Oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross, bids me come and die, and find that I truly live. And oh, the wonderful cross, oh, the wonderful cross, all who gather here, by grace draw near, and bless your name.