MOVE with Humility | Lucas DeVries

Well, hey, Pando family, we are so grateful you decided to click on our church's channel, our church's video to watch service with us here today. My name is Derek, I am part of our SC Online team, and we hope that you are ready for an awesome worship service. But before we get to that, I wanted to encourage you and remind you of a couple of different things. First thing, I would encourage you to write in and let us know how we can be praying for you and your family specifically. So the way that you can find the address to our church here at Southeast is in the description of this video. But also we wanted to remind you to subscribe to our Southeast Christian Church channel, because when you do that, not only do you get notified about our weekly worship services, but we have different podcasts and Bible studies that we put on there quite often as well that are there and they exist to be able to help you follow Jesus. But what I also wanted to remind you of is that your friends and family at home can download the Pando app, they can watch the exact same things that you are watching and experiencing every single week. And we think that's an awesome opportunity that's there for you to be able to communicate with your friends and family about what you're learning, what you're watching, and what you're viewing each and every week, y'all.

But today you are gonna get to hear from a guy, his name is Lucas DeVries, he's our Blankenbaker Campus Pastor. He's gonna be walking us through week three of our MOVE series, talking about moving with humility. And so I promise you, it's gonna be an impactful message that is gonna challenge each and every one of us. Y'all, so prepare your hearts and let's go worship together. ♪♪♪ ♪ I'll praise in the valley and praise on the mountain. ♪ ♪ I'll praise when I'm sure and praise when I'm doubting. ♪ ♪ I'll praise when I'm numbered and praise when surrounded. ♪ ♪ Because praise is the waters my enemies drown in. ♪ ♪ As long as I'm breathing, I've got a reason to praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. ♪ ♪ I'll praise when I feel it and praise when I don't. ♪ ♪ I'll praise because I know you're still in control. ♪ ♪ My praise is a weapon. It's more than a sound. ♪ ♪ My praise is the shout that brings 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, I won't be quiet. My God is alive. How could I keep it inside? ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ I'll praise because you're sovereign. Praise because you reign. ♪ ♪ Praise because you rose and defeated the grave. ♪ ♪ I'll praise because you're faithful. Praise because you're true. ♪ ♪ Praise because there's nobody greater than you. ♪ ♪ I'll praise because you're sovereign. Praise because you reign. ♪ ♪ Praise because you rose and defeated that grave. ♪

♪ I'll praise because you're faithful. Praise because you're true. ♪ ♪ Praise because there's nobody greater than you. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. We're gonna praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. Praise the Lord. ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, oh 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, oh I won't be quiet, my God is alive ♪ ♪ So how could I keep it inside, praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, yeah we give Him praise, yeah we give Him praise ♪ ♪ Oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul ♪ ♪ When I think of the Father, sending us His Son ♪ ♪ So we could all inherit the riches of His love ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exult in You ♪ ♪ When I think of the power held within His hand ♪ ♪ Impossible is nothing according to His plan ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exult in You ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exult in You ♪ ♪ Now to Him is able to do so much more than we could ask or imagine ♪ ♪ Glory to Him in the bright and in Jesus through all generations ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, glory to Him, all honor, all power, all glory to Him ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, oh ♪ ♪ When I think of the cross, how it set us free ♪ ♪ From heaven to heaven for all eternity ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exult in You ♪ ♪ And there will be a holy moment when we walk the raven's door ♪ ♪ Pain will be behind us and death will be no more ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't help but exult in You ♪ ♪ And lay my crowns down before You ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Now to Him, He is able to do so much more than we ask or imagine ♪

♪ Glory to Him in the blood, in Jesus, through all generations ♪ ♪ Forever and ever, glory to Him, oh Lord, oh God, oh glory to Him ♪ Thank you, Jesus. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ Forever I can't help but exalt Him ♪ ♪ Oh I can't help but exalt Him ♪ ♪ Down to Him is able to do so much more than we could ask or imagine ♪ ♪ So much more than we could ask or imagine ♪ ♪ Glory to Him in the blind and in Jesus ♪ ♪ Through all generations, forever and ever ♪ ♪ Glory to Him all honor, all power, all glory to Him ♪ ♪ Thank you Lord ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is simple, as simple as love ♪ ♪ You welcome the children, You stop for the wine ♪ ♪ We wanna see people the way Jesus does ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is simple, Lord teach it to us ♪ ♪ Lord teach it to us ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is humble, as humble as death ♪ ♪ His King is His Savior, who gave His last breath ♪ ♪ So may we dine in Him, our pride laid to rest ♪ ♪ His kingdom is humble, and the broken are blest ♪ ♪ Oh we magnify the Lord and sing, Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallowed be Your name, may we live and be Your friends ♪ ♪ May we live and be Your friends ♪ ♪ We do this forever, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Let all creation sing, oh the King of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ You reign forever, Lord, Your kingdom is calling ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is here, alive and awaiting ♪ ♪ And at work in our tears, so come to us quickly ♪

♪ Forever our prayer, Your kingdom is coming ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is coming, Lord Jesus come near ♪ ♪ We sing, Hallelujah, hallowed be Your name ♪ ♪ May we live and breathe Your praise, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, let all creation sing, oh the King of heaven reigns ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallowed be Your name ♪ ♪ May we live and breathe Your praise, forever we'll sing ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, let all creation sing, oh the King of heaven reigns ♪ ♪ All praise and honor and glory belongs to You ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is backwards, it flows in reverse ♪ ♪ Would You call it the kingdom of God? ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is here, alive and awaiting ♪ ♪ It's a treasure, this world calls a curse ♪ ♪ This small becomes great as a mountain ♪ ♪ Let the last be comforted ♪ ♪ Your kingdom is backwards ♪ ♪ Lord teach us to serve ♪ Come on we sing as it is ♪ With your kingdom let it be with your church ♪ ♪ Oh let it be so Lord oh hallelujah hallelujah ♪ ♪ Your being made may we live every day ♪ We sing hallelujah ♪ Hallelujah in all creation sing ♪ ♪ Oh king of heaven of every race hallelujah ♪ ♪ In all creation sing hallelujah hallelujah ♪ ♪ Oh your being made may we live every day ♪ We sing forever ♪ Hallelujah in all creation sing ♪ ♪ Oh the king of heaven reigns ♪ ♪ The high king of heaven reigns ♪

♪ Oh the king of heaven reigns ♪ ♪ You deserve all the glory Lord ♪ ♪ Oh the king of heaven reigns ♪ Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. And Lord you reign forever and ever. Lord, that's what we'll be singing in all eternity. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty. Reign forever, reign forever. Let it be so right now in our hearts Lord. On earth as it is in heaven. Be exalted in our lives Father. Be exalted in what we do. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Y'all can grab a seat. Thank you. My name is Tyler Ford and I go to the Elizabethtown campus. Hopped around different churches and stuff, different denominations. Never really had one that was quite like, felt like home. Then once the E-town campus launched from there, we kind of fell in love like right instantly. We're like, this feels like home. Something just felt different. The biggest thing that changed was just getting into a community that just poured its love to you. And really taught me who Jesus was. And then moved to college and the first two years like were the worst years of my life probably. Like I completely just fell off and was just living the college life.

And it wasn't until my junior year of college that I got connected with a Christian organization at the college and started like refinding my love for Jesus connection. I met Carmella my senior year of college and then we dated for a little over a year. And then this past July is when I asked her and proposed to her. So once college was done, kept feeling like, hey, I wanna move back south. And when I met Carmella, she had the same kind of thing too. It was like, before she even met me, it just so happened to be that one of the times we came back for spring break to visit, it was the same time as the KFC Yum Center move initiative that they kicked off and launched. So we actually got to go to that. It was really special. Like it was cool. It was hard to not feel the spirit moving. Watching people put the commitment cards inside those boxes at the KFC Yum Center, there was definitely something inside of me going like, hey, something big's happening and you need to be a part of it. Once you get engaged and you go to a marriage, there's a lot of expenses between the wedding and obviously you wanna save for a new house and a new car, because one of them's breaking down. But you wanna be that provider and that financial support.

And so it was really easy just to kind of sit there and just store away all my treasures in my bank account. So when we first moved back and started attending the E-Town campus, I did not tithe, I did not give regularly. It was not until October when the email came out with the move initiative kind of update. And I was just scrolling through, reading it all and looking at it and got all the way to the bottom where it said your total contributions. And at the bottom was a big fat zero. And that was the moment where my heart just was like, I can't just keep saying that I'm gonna do this and not falling through. Like enough's enough, like today's the day. And so that day I decided to start tithing and give my 10th. I need to surrender my 10th in tithe because that was my way of knowing or in saying. saying, God, you have it all, just giving it to the Lord, knowing that he will provide. Now that I have tithe, it's opened up the door of giving more, and what ways I can give more, both with my time and with my money. I'm about to become a husband, and later on become a dad in the future, and I really wanted to kind of build that foundation of commitment to the Lord and in surrendering to the Lord before we got married, so that way when we are married,

that the relationship and the marriage is starting and forever will be on that God foundation and that commitment to him, both financially and time-wise. And just seeing the little things that he's done, I think as far as the future goes, it really kind of eases and helps me go. I know he can do a bunch of small things, like I'm excited to see what he can do with the big. Before tithing to now, a lot of it was just me-centered, everything I could do and save, and a lot of it was about me. And the switch since tithing and just in all giving it to God is just more of less me and more of what can I do for others, what can I do for my fiancee, soon-to-be wife, and our future and family. And ultimately, how is God going to use me, and how am I gonna make myself available to him? Well, good morning, everyone. If we haven't met yet, my name's Lucas Cevriz. I get the privilege of serving as the campus pastor here at the Blankenbaker Campus. And this week, we are continuing in our study through the Book of Philippians. We're calling this our Move Midpoint series because we're halfway through a two-year church-wide journey of generosity. And through this journey, we've been praying a very simple prayer, God, how do you want me to move?

We've been praying a very simple prayer, God, how do you want to move in me? And God, how do you want to move through me? And so week one, we talked about gratitude. Week two, we talked about boldness. And this week, we're gonna see another way God wants to move as we once again turn to his word and ask him to speak. And so I'm gonna pray for us before we jump in. God, we love you. God, your word is sharper than any two-edged sword. God, it discerns between bone and marrow, soul and spirit, and it discerns the innermost truths of our hearts. And so God, we just lay our hearts out before you here this morning, and we ask God that you would show us the way everlasting. I pray that your word would speak to us. I pray that it would challenge us. I pray, God, that we would be different because of it. We pray all of this in Jesus' name, amen. You know, in high school, I had a football coach that decided that he wanted to teach us about team unity. And so to do that, he bought a tugboat rope. And in his mind, that tugboat rope would be able to pull something significantly larger than itself. And it wasn't because it was one rope, but it was because it was multiple ropes woven together, which increased its strength.

And so you can see where he was going. He wanted to encourage us that what we could do together would be far greater than what we could do apart. And so the way that this showed up in accountability was during practices or during games. If we were playing lazy, especially if there were any penalties, or we were fighting together, he would take the two that were messing up, and he would put that tugboat rope on our shoulders, and he would make us run laps until he wanted us to stop. Now, I'm not gonna tell you if I had to run, but I was in great shape that year. That rope exposed something really fast. We could look like a team. We could dress like a team. We could have an incredible coaching staff, but if we weren't moving together, if we weren't united, we weren't going to win football games. And I think that this is exactly the tone in the message that Paul is trying to speak to the Philippian church here in chapter two. Up until this point in the letter, Paul has been incredibly encouraging. He has affirmed their faith. He has thanked them for their generosity. He has praised their boldness. From the outside, this looks like a picture-perfect church, like they are checking all the boxes.

But Paul had received news that something was starting to ripple beneath the surface. Wasn't scandal. Wasn't false teaching. It was something far more subtle. It was division. And what we're going to see is that Paul is clear. His joy isn't complete if that division goes unaddressed. He's essentially saying, I am so grateful for what God has done among you. But if you don't get this one thing right, everything that you're building is at risk. And Southeast, I really believe that the same is true for us today. God is moving here in powerful ways. The vision initiatives that we are pursuing are strong. The generosity that we have shown is remarkable. The boldness with which we are preaching the gospel is unreal. But what Paul was saying to the church in Philippi, and I believe what the Spirit is saying to us today is simply this. If we don't prioritize unity, everything that we are building is vulnerable. And so as we walk through this text, we're gonna see that Paul calls the church to embrace unity, but they can only obtain it through one internal move, one posture that determines whether the mission keeps advancing

or if it quietly starts to erode, and that one posture is humility. So if you have your Bible, turn with me to Philippians chapter two. I'll start reading in verse one. It says, therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, by having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. And so Paul already is pointing out their need for unity, but I wanna show you how he persuades them. He's not trying to sell them unity. In fact, he's trying to show them that they already possess it. That word if here is probably better understood as since. He's not saying if you ever happen to experience Christ, he's saying since you have, since you have been united with Christ, since you have been comforted by his love, since the Spirit of God lives in you, Paul is saying if all of that is true, and it is, then it has to show up somewhere. And the place that it shows up first is how you treat one another. In other words, the same way that water is wet, and the same way that fire is hot,

a people united with Christ should be united with one another. And so Paul's logic is already pressing in on us. If unity is absent, it's not a relationship issue. It's a gospel alignment issue. And so already Paul is trying to build some tension here by giving us somewhat of a diagnostic test before we go any further. And the question he wants us to ask is if Christ is working in you, then why isn't he working through you? Several years ago, I was sitting in our basement watching TV. My wife said that she was gonna go take a shower. Five minutes turned into 10 minutes, 10 minutes turned into 20 minutes, 20 minutes turned into 40 minutes, and the water was still running. And so as the loving husband as I am, I sent a text and said, are you alive? She responded very quickly and let me know that she had been out of the shower for some time, which made me even more afraid. And so I got up, I walked over to the stairs, and right as I got close to our laundry room, my foot hit the ground and the ground splashed. And I realized that we had a leak in our basement. So I frantically ran around. I shut off the main. I was trying to find where the leak was,

but I couldn't find it. And so I went and I got a plumber, somebody in our church who came over and he knew exactly where to go. He went to the top floor. He went to our guest bathroom. He peeled back the drywall and sure enough, there was this pinhole leak. And he told me likely it had been leaking all night long and all day. And thus, there was about an inch of water in our basement. You see, as we step into verse four, Paul has already shown us the symptoms. Division is happening in the church. Everyone can feel it. Everyone knows that something's wrong. But now, like a master plumber, Paul is about to pull back the drywall. He's gonna show us the hidden leak, the real issue beneath the surface that's slowly destroying the unity in the church. And so here it is in verse three. Paul says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. And so Paul is speaking to the disunity in the church. And he says, if you really wanna deal with what's pulling you apart, start here. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Now, I love his wording here. He could have just said pride, but he doesn't.

He decides to go deeper. He names the pride. He calls it selfish ambition and vain conceit. In other words, the pinhole leak that eventually divides the church is when life quietly becomes about me. It's when life becomes about my agenda, my recognition. in my kingdom, it's what happens when my eyes become more consumed with me than anyone else. And here's what I've learned. Division rarely starts with two people fighting. Like that's water in the basement. The first sign is almost always smaller. It's a pinhole leak. It's when one person quietly decides that they're gonna build their kingdom instead of God's kingdom. You know, one of the most vivid pictures of selfish ambition in the Bible is in the book of Genesis. God speaks to his people and he says to be fruitful, multiply. He says it three times, to be fruitful and to multiply and to scatter the earth. And so they do. Genesis chapter 11 tells us that they were traveling east. They were following God's command. They were obeying what God was saying. They were moving. They were expanding.

They were spreading out. But right after this, in Genesis 11, the text says that they settled in the plains of Shinar. Somewhere along the way, they stopped moving. Someone convinced them to set up camp and they ultimately decided to settle for something less than what God wanted for them. And I think that this is where things begin to go wrong for us too. Like before we see division in relationships, before we see fighting in the church, you see people quietly settling, allowing selfish ambition to creep in. And here's what happens. They settle for building their own kingdom instead of building God's kingdom. And that's exactly what happens here in Genesis chapter 11. The people end up building what's known as the Tower of Babel. Someone speaks up in Genesis chapter 11 verse four and says, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. In other words, God said, go. And they said, let's stay. God's mission was about exalting his name in the earth and their mission became about exalting their name. Here's what I know.

The greatest threat to the mission of God isn't the opposition from the outside. It's self-exaltation on the inside. Jesus already told us that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. The greatest threat to the mission of God is when God's people settle for building their own kingdom instead of his. You know, I think there are several little kingdoms the enemy has used over history to divide and distract us from building God's kingdom. I wanna share three with you. I wanna share with you three little kingdoms that will divide the church. The first is the kingdom of nostalgia. This is where faithfulness gets measured with how closely today looks like yesterday. You've probably seen it before. We start saying things like, well, this is how we've always done it. That was when the church was really healthy. And in this kingdom, God's allowed to move, but only as long as it looks like it used to. And before we realize it, we're not resisting change. We're resisting God. You see, the issue isn't honoring the past, like we should do that. The issue is when the past becomes the standard that God has to live up to. And slowly but surely, brick by brick,

we start to build a competing kingdom inside of God's house, one more focused on preserving what was than participating in what God is doing now. And I am telling you, this kind of kingdom brings division in God's house. Number two, number two, the kingdom of being right. This is where theology gets used to win arguments instead of shape hearts. Now let me be clear, we care deeply about truth, but I think it's important to realize that there's a difference between essential doctrine and non-essential doctrine. All of it matters and all of it should be loved and cherished, but I think it's important to realize that essential doctrine, in other words, who God is, the Trinity, the Gospel, the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace through faith, these are non-negotiable. Like we will die on the hill of these truths, but not everything is essential. There are secondary issues where faithful followers of Jesus can disagree and still remain united. The problem is when being right about secondary things matter more than being one in Christ. That's when opinions get elevated. gospel and relationships become casualties of our convictions. The problem isn't loving truth. I pray that we are a church that loves every square inch

of God's word. It's when matters of opinion become more important than being united in Christ. Number three, the last one, the kingdom of control. This is where influence and voice start to matter more than humility and service. It's when we want a seat at the table. It's when we want a say in the decision, a hand on the wheel, and without control, we grow frustrated. We get defensive and we start to disengage. The issue here isn't leadership. We need godly leadership like never before. But it's when control replaces trust in God. And at the heart of this kingdom is the belief that things won't be okay unless we're the ones that are managing them. And slowly, dependence on God gets replaced with dependence on ourselves. This kingdom isn't built on trust in the sovereignty of God. It's built on the fear that if we're not in control, God won't get his work done. You'll notice something about every one of these little kingdoms. They're built in the same way that Babel was built. They're built on the foundation of self-exaltation. Each one of them says, let me make a name for myself. Let me protect what's mine. Let me build something I can control. And here's what's true about that mindset.

What starts as a climb upward always ends in a collapse. And that's what happened with the Tower of Babel. For a while, self-exaltation can look like success. It can look like momentum. It can look like a blessing. But eventually, what goes up must come down. And that's how pride always works. And Paul knows that. So instead of giving the church another strategy, he gives them another direction. He says, if you want to go up, you don't climb, you go down. If you want to be lifted, you don't exalt yourself, you lower yourself. Before Paul shows us what that looks like in Christ, he names the one move that changes everything. And if there is one move I believe God is calling us to make in Philippians chapter two, it's simply this. As a church, we need to move in humility. We see it in Philippians chapter two, verse three. We'll start at the beginning. He says, do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit. So you can see our pinhole league. But, here's our word, in humility, count others as more significant than yourselves. Growing up, I would say that I struggled with what's called the imposter syndrome. And it's where whenever I would walk into a room, I would just immediately think that eventually everyone's gonna figure out that I'm a failure. And I would look at everyone, I would think

that everyone had more experience than me, more talent than me, and likely they did. But I think the temptation is to think that Paul is suggesting that this is the kind of mentality that we need to have. Like, we need to have some kind of insecurity. But I want to be clear. Like, this is not biblical humility. That is pride in disguise. I love what C.S. Lewis said. He said, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but it's thinking of yourself less. Philippians chapter two, verse four, kind of fleshes this out more for us. Paul says, let each of you look not only to his own interest but also to the interests of others. And so, Paul is making this incredibly practical. It's not an ethereal trait that most of us grew up thinking. It's not a personality type. Humility is a life so focused on others that you forget about yourself. You don't walk into rooms thinking, how do I look? How am I doing? How am I being perceived? You walk in so aware of others that self just starts to fade into the background. You know, one of our core values as a staff is humility. And that's not just a word on the wall. It shapes how we build our church.

And so, anytime that we're hiring, we ask the question, does this person embody humility? Because we believe that humility is essential for unity. And we believe that unity is essential if we wanna stay focused on our God-given mission. And so, what I wanna do is I wanna share with you a few lenses I use when I'm looking for humility. I think that this is. It's helpful for all walks of life. And so here's the first of three lenses that help reveal humility. Number one, humility makes the conversation about you, not about me. You can tell pretty quickly when humility's a part of a conversation or when it's not. We've all been in conversations where somebody really isn't listening, like they're just waiting. You can see the gears in their heads turning, like they're waiting for the moment when they can bring the conversation back to themselves. And I don't know about you, but those kinds of conversations are exhausting. Like humility doesn't do that. Humility doesn't hijack the moment. It doesn't turn every story into a comparison one-up game. It doesn't listen just long enough to reply. Humility stays curious. It resists interrupting. It actually wants to understand.

And this may seem small, but division rarely is dramatic. It's death by a thousand cuts. And every time we choose self-focus in a conversation, we lose an opportunity to reinforce love. And so here's what I wanna challenge you to do. The next time that you're in a conversation with somebody, I want you to listen so intently that you know what they're talking about. And number two, I want you to ask them a question about what they talked about. And watch how God breathes life into that conversation. Watch how humility begins to grow in your own heart and how our church begins to grow in unity. Number two, humility speaks boldly, but yields gladly. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about humility is that it means being passive, quiet, or a doormat. But that's not humility. Humility doesn't avoid hard conversations. It doesn't shrink back. It tells the truth clearly and lovingly. But here's the tension. Real humility also knows when to let go of control because ultimately God is in control of it all. Scripture says this in Proverbs 16, nine, the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. In other words, we can plan. We can suggest a direction. We can speak up and then trust God enough to release the outcome.

Because your boss isn't in control. Your spouse isn't in control. The president of the United States is not in control. God is in control. He is all powerful and he is sovereign. Number three, humility is quick to say I was wrong. You know, several years ago I had a staff member on my team and we saw things a little bit differently. It wasn't about doctrine. It wasn't about salvation. It was about methodology. Instead of leaning in with humility, I leaned on my authority. And I am embarrassed to say it, but I made the decision that got the outcome that I wanted, not what was healthiest for the ministry and not what was healthiest for this relationship. And eventually things got so tense that the relationship was strained to the point to where that person could no longer work with me and so they decided to join another team. I wish I could tell you that I saw my sin right away, but I didn't. It took another brother coming alongside of me and helping me see that in my determination to be right, I had allowed control to replace humility and our relationship suffered because of it. Proverbs 28, 13 says, whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

And so I went back. I asked for forgiveness and I said I was wrong with no explanations, with no conditions. And by God's grace, we are great friends today. But there has been forgiveness and restoration, but here's what I learned. Humility isn't defensive. It doesn't justify itself. It doesn't shift blame. Humility takes ownership. And I wish I could tell you that I did it quickly, but I didn't. But maybe you can. And maybe some of you, that's where God is pressing right now. Like there is a relationship where bitterness has been quietly building. And for the sake of unity, for the sake of healing, and for the sake of the mission of the gospel, will you humble yourself and say, I was wrong? If I'm honest, there are moments when humility feels unattainable. Because it's one thing to talk about humility in theory, it's another thing to practice it with real people in real conflict and in real moments. That's what I love about how Paul ends this section. Paul doesn't say you should do this because I've done it and it's possible. In other passages, he says, imitate me as I imitate Christ,

but Paul doesn't say that here. He reaches for a far greater authority in the subject of humility. He paints a picture of the one who defines humility itself. Someone who isn't just humble, but the greatest picture of humility the world has ever known, Paul points to the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus. I read it in Philippians chapter two, verse five. Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself. By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen. And so Paul says, do you wanna know what humility looks like? And he points to Jesus. Not Jesus in the manger, but before that,

before Bethlehem, before angels sang and shepherds wondered Paul says Jesus existed in the very form of God, not a picture of God, not a silhouette of God, not a shadow of God, Jesus was God. He shared in the glory of God, the authority of God, the status of God. If anyone ever had a right to hold onto his position and exalt himself, it was him. And yet he didn't. He didn't cling to it. He didn't use it for his own advantage. He chose to let it go. And in that choice, he set aside his privileges and added to his nature humanity. Jesus never stopped being God, but like a king stepping out of his royal robe, he laid aside the comforts and honors of glory and he stepped fully into our world. He could have come as the pinnacle of humanity. He could have come as a king with power and strength and honor, and even that would have been a staggering descent, but he went lower. He didn't arrive as a powerful ruler with fame and influence, but rather he took the posture of a servant. The God of the universe learned dependence. He felt hunger. He knew exhaustion. He didn't come to be noticed. He didn't come to be admired. He came in obedience, and along the way,

he was offered shortcuts. And the wilderness Satan tempted him with the kingdoms of this world, self-exaltation without suffering, a crown without the cross. But Jesus didn't give in to selfish ambition or vain conceit, no. He refused to build his kingdom by lifting himself up. And if that wasn't low enough, Jesus exhausted the depths of humiliation. The Bible says that he was betrayed by a friend. He was abandoned by the people closest to him. He was mocked, beaten. The king of heaven was stripped naked. Crucifixion wasn't just a way to die. It was a way to humiliate, and Jesus, the son of God, was given that death. He was nailed up outside the city, lifted between criminals, left to suffocate in public shame, and he didn't call for rescue. He didn't step down. He didn't defend himself. Scripture says that he was like a lamb led to the slaughter, and he opened not his mouth. He endured to the end. When his strength was gone, he breathed his last, and the son of God was crucified. Paul essentially says, do you want to know what our inspiration is? Do you want to know the picture that I'm trying to show you?

Do you want to know the example that we are to live after? It's Jesus. You see, we've already discovered that the mindset of Babel reaches upward in pride. only to be brought crashing down by God. But what we see here is that the mindset of Jesus goes low in humility, and it is raised high by God in exaltation. The cross was not the end of his story. It was the doorway to exaltation. Jesus never reached for glory. He never seized it for himself. He entrusted himself fully to the Father, and God responded. God lifted him up. God highly exalted him. God placed him above every name, above every power, every throne, and the one who went lowest has now been lifted highest. And this is the mindset that we are called to carry, not climbing over one another, not grasping for position, not looking, but looking to Jesus and trusting that when we choose the downward path of humility, God will be faithful to give grace to the humble. In 1727, there was a revival that broke out among a group of believers known as the Moravians. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Carl brought it up

several months ago during a sermon. But Carl talked about the fruit of this revival. Two things came out of this revival. Out of it came over 100 years of nonstop 24-hour prayer. I mean, it's just truly an amazing thing to think about. It also birthed one of the greatest missionary movements the church has ever seen. Some of the missionaries were so committed to the mission of God, you probably remember this. They packed their belongings in coffins, believing obedience to Jesus was worth their lives. I mean, truly, one of the most remarkable stories in all of Christian history. But I think what's interesting is that this is the fruit of the revival. But I wanna tell you about the root of the revival. What most people don't know is what preceded that movement. Before revival, before prayer, before missions, there was division. You see, the Moravians struggled with the very same thing that the church in Philippi struggled with. They had relational tension and disunity. You see, they were refugees. They were people from different backgrounds, traditions, and convictions, brought together more by circumstance than by anything else. And at first, it worked. But over time, what had brought them together eventually began to divide them. They argued over non-essential doctrine.

They clashed over tradition and worship styles. Voices were elevated, others were dismissed, and bitterness quietly started to take root. The conflict became so intense that some of them refused to worship together until one day, after trying to reason, after trying to debate and fix things themselves, the leaders did something unexpected. They gathered the community together, not for an argument, not to decide who was right, but they gathered in a small church to take communion. Now, we don't know everything that was said that day, but history tells us what happens as they took the bread and the cup together. That divided, that bickering and fighting community started to repent. They confessed sin. They humbled themselves. They remembered the body broken and the blood shed, not for one group, not for one opinion, but for all of them. As they gathered in humility, remembering both the humiliation and the exaltation of Jesus, something broke. One of them later wrote about the communion service. They said, self-love and self-will disappeared, and an overwhelming flood of grace swept us all out into the ocean of divine love. In other words, pride lost its grip. Walls came down, and out of that humility came unity.

And out of that unity, God released a movement that changed the world. I don't know about you, but I wanna be a part of a church like that. I wanna be a part of a church that is defined more by how God is working through us than what divides us. I think what Paul would say is this. God has moved in you. You have received encouragement from being united with Christ. You've been comforted by his love. You share in the life of his spirit. And so because of that. Let that same love move through you. Today, I couldn't think of a better way for us to end than by taking communion together. Not as individuals proving something, but as one people receiving grace, remembering Jesus, by remembering the Savior who stooped low in humility so that we could be brought together in unity. So if you have your communion elements, I wanna invite you to take them out now. You can begin unwrapping the bread and the juice. Usually we take communion individually, but today we're gonna take it together. We're gonna take it as a visible reminder that because of the humility of Jesus, we have been made one. Each one of us is different. Our skin is different.

Our preferences are different. Even our convictions can be different. But because of Jesus, because of his sacrifice on the cross, we have been made one. And so just like the Moravians, and just like believers throughout Christian history, we're gonna take communion together. Scripture tells us that on the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body given for you. And so church, as you hold the bread, as you remember the body of Christ broken in humility, shared in unity, given not just for you, but for all of us, let's take the bread together. And in the same way, after supper, he took the cup. And he said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you. This cup reminds us that unity came at a cost. It wasn't cheap. It wasn't easy. It required Jesus to empty my cup. It required Jesus to give me a new life. It wasn't easy. It required Jesus to empty himself completely. As you hold the cup, remember the blood of Christ poured out in humility, shed to cover our sin and to bind us together as one body.

Let's take the cup together. May we be a church that is marked with humility. May we be a church that is held together in unity, empowered by God for the sake of the gospel. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for showing us humility through Jesus. God, I pray that you will forgive us for the ways that we cling to pride, control, or being right. God, I pray that you will give us the same mindset as Christ Jesus to count others more significant than ourselves and to protect the unity that you've given us. Jesus, as one church, we confess that you are Lord. God, I pray that you will shape us into a people who go low in humility. And Lord, we trust you to lift us up. God, we pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. We're gonna continue worshiping together. We're gonna exalt the name of Jesus. We're gonna look to the one who went low in humility, but because of God's power, raised him up. And because he did that, he gave us new life. I think for some of us in this room, the greatest step, the greatest move that you could make is to be humble enough to say, Jesus, I need you. The Bible says that we were separated from God, that our sin removed us from a relationship with Jesus, but because of Jesus, he came for us.

And he redeemed us back to himself, offering a way to be one with God again. And so that opportunity is here for you. And maybe you're sitting in here today and you're wanting that relationship. Here's the good news. It doesn't require you to earn something. It doesn't require you to work it out on your own. Simply, we repent, we turn to Jesus, and we put all of our lives on him. If you would love to have that conversation, we would love to talk to you. You can head over to our next step room on my right, your left. There's somebody back there who would love to pray with you. We'd love to talk to you about what it means to place your faith in Jesus's hands. Let's continue worshiping. Why don't you guys stand to your feet and let's worship our great God. ♪♪♪ ♪ Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness. ♪ ♪ Open my eyes, let me see. ♪ ♪ A beauty that made this heart adore You. ♪ ♪ Hope of a life spent with You. ♪ ♪ Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. ♪ ♪ Here I am to say that You're my God. ♪ ♪ You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy. ♪ ♪ Altogether wonderful to me. ♪

♪♪♪ ♪ King of all things, oh so highly exalted. ♪ ♪ Glorious in heaven above. ♪ ♪ Humbly You came to the earth You created. ♪ ♪ All for love's sake became poor. ♪ ♪ Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. ♪ ♪ Here I am to say that You're my God. ♪ ♪ You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy. ♪ ♪ Altogether wonderful to me. ♪ ♪ Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. ♪ ♪ Here I am to say that You're my God. ♪ ♪ You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy. ♪ ♪ Altogether wonderful to me. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ I'll never know how much it costs. ♪ ♪ To see my sin upon that cross. ♪ ♪ Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. ♪ ♪ Here I am to say that You're my God. ♪ ♪ You're altogether worthy. Altogether worthy. ♪ ♪ Altogether wonderful to me. ♪

♪ So wonderful, so powerful is the name of Jesus. ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪ There was a moment when the lights went out. ♪ ♪ When death had claimed its victory. ♪ ♪ The king of love had given up his life. ♪ ♪ The darkest day in history. ♪ ♪ There on a cross they made for sinners. ♪ ♪ For every curse is blood atoned. ♪ ♪ One final breath and it was finished. ♪ ♪ But not the end we could have known. ♪ ♪ For the earth began to shake. ♪ ♪ And the veil was torn. ♪ ♪ What sacrifice was made. ♪ ♪ As the heavens roared. ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world. ♪ ♪ The Savior of the world. ♪ ♪ There was a moment when the sky lit up. ♪ ♪ A flash of light breaking through. ♪ ♪ When all was lost He crossed eternity. ♪ ♪ The King of life was on the move. ♪ ♪ For in a dark cold tomb. ♪ ♪ Where our Lord was laid. ♪ ♪ One miraculous breath. ♪ ♪ And we're forever changed. ♪ ♪ We're changed forever. ♪ ♪ So all hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail the King. ♪

♪ All hail the Lord of heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ We magnify. ♪ ♪ And all hail the Savior of the world. ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ And all hail the Lord of heaven and earth. ♪ ♪ And all hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail the King. ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world. ♪ ♪ The Savior of the world. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ So let every knee come round before the King of kings. ♪ ♪ Let every tongue confess that He is Lord. ♪ ♪ Lift up your shout, let us join with all. ♪ ♪ We're singing holy. ♪ ♪ We're singing holy. ♪ ♪ We cry out holy. ♪ ♪ We're singing holy. ♪ ♪♪ ♪ So all hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ All hail. ♪ ♪ All hail. ♪ ♪ And all hail King Jesus. ♪ ♪ And all hail. ♪ ♪ Savior of the world ♪ ♪ All hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ And all hail the Lord of heaven and earth ♪ ♪ And all hail King Jesus ♪ ♪ All hail the Savior of the world ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪

♪ Church there is no name but the Lord's, amen, amen ♪ Well, what an awesome message in worship service that was, Pando family. I hope that you enjoy getting to listen to the message each week, worship with us, and especially see those baptisms there at the end of service. I think it just shows how God is moving in and through each of us through this move series, but especially in our relationship with Christ. And I genuinely hope that you enjoy getting to hear from Lucas DeVries, who again, is our Blankenbaker campus pastor. And if you didn't know, that's the building that we're in almost every single week coming to you from. That's what you get to see every single Sunday. So when Lucas gets to preach, we always enjoy that. And today he had talked about this concept of moving with humility. And I think that concept of humility can be so foreign just to us as people, as human beings, because generally, maybe you're like this, and maybe you're a lot like me, where we tend to look out for our own interests. We tend to look out for how we feel when we walk in a room, how are people perceiving us, how can we get what we want from life? And yet God calls us to something that is almost backwards than what the world will call us to.

And one of the quotes that Lucas talked about in his sermons today was, humility is not so much about just thinking about ourselves less or feeling bad about ourselves. It's not necessarily that. It's not about making ourselves feel guilty for thinking about ourselves, talking about ourselves, but it's to purposely make sure that we're thinking about other people just as much or even more. When Jesus calls us to make disciples, what he's calling us to do is to serve them, to love them. And if we're so preoccupied with our own self, what we need, what we want, we can forget this greater calling, this greater joy, this greater sacrifice that Jesus is calling us towards. And so my advice for you this week is maybe just think about one person that is living around you that you can serve and pray for this week, right? Think about one person that is around you that you can serve and pray for this week. And I firmly believe as you do that, you will be taking steps towards moving with humility. Y'all, but also we wanted to remind you before we hop out today that we have a MOVE podcast that our senior pastor Kyle is on. Steven Pericelli, who you get to see quite often on here is a part of it. It's a MOVE podcast kind of encouraging us

through different topics during this MOVE series that is for our entire church. And y'all, that includes you as well. And so those drop every single Thursday on the Pando app. And so if you've watched those before, we hope you've enjoyed it, but especially that you hop in with us over the next several weeks of that MOVE podcast journey. Y'all, but thank you so much for being here with us today. We wanted to close by talking through and praying through a new prayer that you probably noticed we started just a few weeks ago. And so I'd love to close by praying that over you today. It says, we pray that our love abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that we may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Amen. Y'all, we love you. We pray as we continue to pray that prayer each week that it will bless you and that the Lord's face will shine upon you. See you next week. Amen.