The Making of a Man Part 1

♪ Well good morning to burn alive ♪ ♪ Why don't we stand and sing to the king this morning ♪ ♪ It's by grace through faith we've been saved ♪ ♪ We have nothing to boast in ♪ ♪ Come on, let's sing it to 'em ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ And what you say, babe ♪ ♪ I'm walking in the mercy that you've shown ♪ ♪ Lord, you've changed me ♪ ♪ Not by what's but grace through faith alone ♪ ♪ You've written me ♪ ♪ Well, he always gone, my life has been made new ♪ ♪ Lord, you freed me ♪ ♪ These chains are breaking on because of you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ My hope alone ♪ ♪ And Christ my King ♪ ♪ Not by strength ♪ ♪ Not by might ♪ ♪ Just across the Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Lord, you saved me ♪ ♪ You brings free both the story of our life ♪ ♪ Lord, you gave me love and joy and peace ♪ ♪ You've been so kind ♪ ♪ You sustained me ♪ ♪ I tested by a ball you brought me through ♪ ♪ So amazing, my future is secure ♪

♪ Because of you ♪ ♪ Because of you ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ My hope alone ♪ ♪ And Christ my King ♪ ♪ Not by strength ♪ ♪ Not by might ♪ ♪ Just across the Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ My grace do they ♪ ♪ I have been saved ♪ ♪ By grace do they ♪ ♪ I have been saved ♪ ♪ By grace do they ♪ ♪ I have been saved ♪ ♪ By grace do they ♪ ♪ I'll never be the same ♪ ♪ By grace do they ♪ ♪ I have been saved ♪ ♪ By grace do they ♪ ♪ I'll never be the same ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ My hope alone ♪ ♪ And Christ my King ♪ ♪ Not by strength ♪ ♪ Not by might ♪ ♪ Just across the Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪

♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ I will not boast in anything ♪ ♪ You're the best ♪ ♪ We give God all the glory ♪ ♪ 'Cause He's the only one who deserves it ♪ ♪ We put Him in His rightful place in our lives ♪ ♪ Which is Lord of our lives ♪ ♪ Let's magnify Him ♪ ♪ Well, creation suddenly are ticketed ♪ ♪ With a thousand tongues to lift one cloud ♪ ♪ Then from north to south ♪ ♪ And east to west ♪ ♪ We hear Christ magnify Him ♪ ♪ Or the whole earth echoing His eminence ♪ ♪ His name would burst from sea and sky ♪ (dramatic music) Let's sing we sing oh cries be magnified, let his praise arise, cries be magnified in me, oh cries be magnified in the altar of my life, cries be magnified in me. Every creature finds its symbols mellow, in every human heart that's made of pride. In a wall in rapture here in the praise, we'll sing cries be magnified. Oh, we'll lift it high, we'll sing oh cries be magnified, let his praise arise, cries be magnified in me, oh cries be magnified in the altar of my life, cries be magnified in me. You were loved, you loved my life, I went away, and I won't come to life as I strung the worship group. If it puts me in the fire, I rejoice 'cause you're in the fire. If I tell, I won't perform my feelings, and I'll hold fast to what is true. If the cross brings transformation, then I'll be crucified with you. Come on, sing this, 'cause death is just a doorway into resurrection life.

And if I join you in the suffering, then I'll join you in your eyes. And you'll retire, glory, with all the angels in the saints. My heart will still be saved, my son will be the same. Oh, cries be magnified, let his praise arise, cries be magnified in me. Oh, cries be magnified from the altar of my life, cries be magnified. Come on, let's sing it again, sing, cries be, oh cries be, come on declare it this morning. Let his praise arise, cries be magnified in me. Oh, cries be magnified from the altar of my life, cries be magnified in me. Oh, cries be magnified from the altar, cries be magnified from the altar of my life, cries be magnified from the altar of my life, cries be magnified from the altar of my life. Oh, cries be magnified from the altar of my life, cries be magnified from the altar of my life. I just wanna speak the name of Jesus, to every dark condition that starts to break, yes, Lord, declaring there is hope and there is freedom, I sweet Jesus. Break every storm, shine through your shadows, burn like a fire. You just won't speak the name of Jesus, overfearing all anxiety. So every soul will come to my depression, I speak Jesus, yeah. Your name is power, your name is feeling, your name is life. Break every storm, shine through your shadows, burn like a fire. Come away declaring, said your name is power, your name is power, your name is healing. Break every storm, shine through your shadows, burn like a fire. Don't miss seeing this over the room today, come on, shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy, Jesus from my family, I speak the holy name, Jesus. Oh, shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy, Jesus from my family, I speak the holy name of Jesus. Your name is power, your name is feeling, your name is life. Break every storm, shine through your shadows, burn like a fire. Your name is power, your name is healing, your name is life. Break every storm, shine through your shadows, burn like a fire. And Lord, we believe that your name brings healing, it restores all things.

And God, we're just asking for you to move in power this morning, in Jesus' name. Why don't you guys greet those around you when moving to service them? Chaos has followed me all my life, going through a region has helped me recognize that now I get to respond differently to chaos. Chaos is still there, I just respond differently to it. My identity before Christ was around violence and anger, spoke for vanity, man, responded out of violence. 2004, I was kidnapped by six men over a motorcycle that I did not steal. Being drunk through the field and beat, I heard a voice of, speaks to me, audibly, saying, "You're getting me to die and go to hell." But I didn't think about the bad things I had done, I started thinking about my kids, and all that hurt that I had caused them. The guys that were kidnapped, we realized they had the wrong guy, he ended up letting me go after they had done a lot of bad things to me. He ended up going to prison, getting caught for some stuff that I had done. Going to prison did, you know, state and federal time. I gave him a heart to Christ when I first got locked up, did my that anymore. I had the opportunity to lead grown men to the Lord while I was locked up. What keeps me from going back into the lifestyle again is biblical community. Being a part of a small group, being a part of region, being one of the leaders in region. I'm not going to live my life in sin and stand before somebody with a straight face and be a part of, you know, act like I'm part of something I'm not. So what I might need to be is being a number one, a priest for my family, number two, a protector, a number three, a provider, you know, being able to speak into my family's life, meaning to my grandkids, speaking to my grandkids and showing my kids I'm not that man I used to be and allowing the people around me and my family to see that there is a difference and it's a better life to live with Christ in it. I have a nine-year-old, a thirteen-year-old and a fourteen-year-old. I don't want them to have the same lifestyle that I had.

I want them to be able to walk in a new identity in Christ and I want them to be able to experience that identity in Christ now and live that out, walk it out as they get older. We've got such good leadership at church that there's no reason why we have no excuse as why we shouldn't be living our life for Christ. We have no excuse as why we can't. We've been given the tools just number one, except Christ your Lord and Savior. Find someone to mentor you, allow someone to speak into your life, allow someone to share with you who Christ Jesus is and how to walk that out and if you don't have somebody contact the church and we'll get you lined up with somebody who will help you find that right road for you. What your life means to me is total surrendering us, walking out your identity in Christ and not living in bondage. I don't have to use these anymore, my identity is in Christ now, I don't have to live my life in violence or anger anymore, now my strength is in Christ Jesus, now I get to share what people who Christ is, now I get to share the love and the new identity that I have in Christ Jesus. Praise the living God, Michael Berry, I'm so proud of you, thank you for sharing your story. I actually met Michael, a little Jim and Pleasant Hill I work out in, he's working out with his grandson, shared his story with me and I'm certain in some way we can all relate, it all changed when he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and he is a real man. You have become a man of God, Michael, I'm thankful for that and so many here as well as we begin a brand new series today to prepare for our men's conference at the end of the month. Listen, every single man ought to be there, it's an all call, whether you're a married man, single man, an old man, young man, every single one of us is going to be blessed to be here Friday night, half the day on Saturday, conference for men, what's it mean to be a man, to step into that calling God has made for us as men. So sign up really quickly, like it's half full already, Joby is preaching conferences like this around the country, dear friend and a real man that he is, I'm looking forward

to him being back at abundant life. I want to talk today about what it means to be a man and begin this series. Now ladies, it doesn't mean you can check out, I promise you're going to want to listen as we've preached for four weeks on the making of a man because I will promise you when men love and lead well, everybody wins. And men love and lead well, everybody flourishes. And so ladies, this is for you too, maybe indirectly, at times maybe directly, you're going to learn a lot about your man, but maybe you didn't know. If you're a young man, a single man, and you want to one day be a married man, you need to listen, prepare to be that man that God has called you to be. Whoever you are, I'm telling you, God wants to teach us what it means to walk in that colony. I want to talk today about the definition of a real man. I've shared this with our church many years ago, actually, I found this as a young father raising two sons. I wanted to raise them up to be real men of God. And this definition came straight out of a book that was very formative in my life called Raising a Modern Day Night by Dr. Robert Lewis. Best definition of what it means to be a man, I tried to come up with something original, but you can't improve on perfection. So this is it. A real man rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects the greater reward. God's reward. Gentlemen, would you stand with me right now at every campus, at every church house, right here in Lee's Summit? Would you stand with me right now? And I want us to gather as the men of God of abundant life, let's just read this together. Would you do this with me? - He says, "That's responsibility." He means courageously.

And he says, "That's the great reward I'm not through." - We're gonna use this definition all month long. Now listen carefully, gentlemen, I promise you, I do not believe that I'm a better man than anybody here. I want you to know that. Listen, I know what I am apart from Jesus. Whatever's good in me is only because of Jesus. And every single day, I have to do this. Reject passivity, because we naturally want to do what is easy. I have to every day choose to reject passivity except responsibility, lead courageously, and expect a greater reward. And every single day, I'm gonna wear my own heart, like your own pastor's heart is prone to wander. I quickly, it grows cold and calloused, and my heart grows quickly and runs to complacency and apathy, and every single day, I have to do the same thing again as men, to surrender all to the Lord Jesus Christ and do it over and over again. So I'm not preaching at you. I want you to know that I'm in this with you. And I'm convinced that God has called us to something greater. Ladies, would you give it up for these men right now at every church house, at every campus? Because some of the greatest men on the planet are on their feet right now. Some of the greatest men alive today are standing. And I'm grateful for you men, where you can be seated.

I wanna talk today not simply about what a man does. And this is a definition that you really ought to work from. I'm convinced it gives us a sense of destination. Is something to call ourselves up to, is something to call our sons up to. But this is what a man does. I wanna talk about what a man is. What is a real man? Because ultimately, our identity is what defines our activity. And I love Michael Barry's story. Here is a man that lived much of his life and chaos and confusion, hostility, animosity, anger. And when he fully realized who he is, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. He was born again now as a son of the living God to become a man of the living God. I want you to notice he learned his identity and it changed everything for him. And so many men aren't really sure what it means to be a man. I didn't ever thought I'd have to say this, but in our modern era, I need to say this. What is a man? It is a adult male. This stuff is really complex, isn't it? But listen, there's more to it than that. It's an adult male, but I'm doing a lot of adult males where they grow a man's body that's very much still a middle schooler inside.

They never fully grew up. Though their body grew up, they didn't grow up. And that's why we need eight identity. What is our identity? What is God calling us to? What's it mean to be a man of God? Because I want you to know that only when you know who's you are, you know who you are. Michael Berry now knows who he is because he knows who he is. He's a son of the living God. And it changes everything when you understand who you are. A man that knows who he is, cannot be manipulated, cannot be coerced, cannot be controlled, can't be intimidated. A man that knows who he is, understands. I will walk in the fear of God, not the fear of men. And I want you to understand that most men live with this false identity instead of understanding their identity, biblically. I mean, a lot of men say, well, being a man is about achievement. It's about accomplishment. It's about my degrees. It's about my trophies. I mean, it's about, you know, how much I can bench press or maybe how much beer I can drink in one time. I mean, these are kind of things that historically men try to measure up in some capacity, accomplishment, achievement, conquest.

I want you to know none of that is what makes us men. Listen, a lot of us don't have this understanding biblically of what's it mean, what's God called us to. And this is why it's so important, listen carefully, as sons of God, we've been born again to become like the son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to recognize what we were and what we are. Listen, you did not come into this world as a child of God. You not come into this world as a son of God. We're all born into this world as sons of men. God created Adam and this series is really going to be a comparison and a contrast of the first Adam and the last Adam. Did you know the first man to ever live had a name? His name was Adam. It simply means man. When God made Adam, he didn't get creative at all. When he named him, he simply said, man. That's what Adam means, man. But did you know the Bible talks about another Adam? First Corinthians 1545 calls Jesus the last Adam because God wants us to draw the line between the last Adam and the first Adam and did you know everything? The first Adam failed to do. The last Adam will fully finish. The commission that God gave the first Adam. That was canceled because of sin. remeath that commission and establish a kingdom that will be without sin,

that'll be without end, everything. The first Adam brought down this curse of sin for all men. It'll all be reversed one day with the last Adam, reversing the curse of sin for all men. I want you to see that we can all every day as men. Walk in the shadow of the first Adam, or we can walk in the light of the second Adam. You see, we came into this world as sons of men without falling image. Genesis 5, 3 tells us what happened when Adam sinned. Remember Adam was created in the image and likeness of God. And he was told by God, then be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, not with sons of Adam, but to fill the earth with sons of God. He was to reproduce the image of God in his offspring. But when Adam sinned, he died within, and we were all in him. And that's why it says in Romans 5 and verse 12, that is by one man's sin that was Adam, death center of the world, so death passed on all men. For all have sinned, there was this tree, and Genesis 3 we're about to see. God said, don't eat of that tree, and the day you eat or of you will surely die. And because we were all in him when Adam 8, we died with him. And this is why Jesus said you must be born again. Twice he said you must be born again. John 3 and verse 3, John 3 and verse 7. Marvel, not a saying to you, you must be born again,

because your first birth, your physical birth, simply got you into man's kingdom. We need to be born again, to be members of God's kingdom. Genesis 5, 3, perhaps one of the saddest verses in all the Bible tells us that Adam, begat his son Seth in his own image, in his own likeness. He could not reproduce the image of God any longer in his children. But when you put your faith in Jesus, you receive him now by faith of Savior and Lord. It's what Jesus called being born again. We're no longer sons of men over so much more than that. We've been born again to be sons of God. So let me ask you a question, it's really important. I mean, Michael said it best. The first step is accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. Have you done that? Have you accepted Jesus Christ and his death on the cross that he died for your sin and rose again? Have you by faith received him? 'Cause you cannot be what God's called you to be. As long as you're merely a son of Adam, you must be born again to become a son of God. Now you get back the image of God, that Adam lost in the garden. He says this in John 1 verse 12, for as many as received him, Jesus to them and only them gave him power to be called the sons of God. And I want you to know now, as a born again blood bought, ransom redeemed,

son of the living God, filled with the spirit of God, I can now live a different kind of life than I ever could have lived. Michael Berry is living a different kind of life than he ever thought he could. And I am too, and so many of us are. So I want you to see why sometimes there's men, we're not really sure if we wanna be like Jesus. I mean, I grew up in church guys, and I would hear my youth pastor, I'd hear my Sunday school teacher saying, well, you know, you need to be Christ-like. I mean, that's the goal, is to be like Jesus. And as a son of God, our goal ought to be, to be like the son of God. But I'm telling you, we have in our minds either wrong, the wrong image of Jesus. And honestly, it's not usually an image that really inspires men to become Christ-like. You know, I grew up seeing this picture everywhere of Jesus. Does anybody see this picture before? Yeah, like this picture of Jesus hung on my mother-in-law's dining room wall. Like from the time I met my wife and started going over to their house to eat, this picture of Jesus hung on my, so many grandmother's dining room walls, you know what I'm saying? So I grew up, I mean, this was the image of Jesus I had in my mind's eye.

And honestly, he looks like a really nice guy, a really gentle soul, but he does not inspire me to wanna be like Jesus. I mean, does he you? I mean, he looks like you belong to that head and shoulders commercial, personally. You know what I'm saying? Man, and he doesn't honestly look like a Jewish Messiah. He looks like a white guy. I mean, he does. He looked very gentle and he wouldn't hurt a soul. And something about this image just doesn't inspire me to wanna be like Jesus. I grew up in Sunday school. And this was a picture that I remember seeing over and over again. You got Jesus and he's bouncing little children on his knees. Now guys, look, I love kids, I really do. I love my kids, I love your kids. I love being out here at the kid's wing and greeting families with little ones. And, you know, sometimes they'll come up and they'll hug my leg and it's just so cute. I love kids, I really do. But a being like Jesus means starting a daycare, I'm out. You know? Or there's this one. I mean, this one has been around in some form over and over again.

I grew up in Sunday school and you got Jesus carrying a lamb on his shoulder. Nothing about this image inspires me to want to be like Jesus. And listen, I'm a kind of farm boy. I've got farm boy roots. I'm not against livestock. But being a like Jesus means carrying around livestock. It just doesn't inspire me. You know what I'm saying? I'm trying to tell you, man, we hear like be like Christ. And sometimes the problem is we have the wrong Jesus in our mind's eye. None of these images reflect who Jesus is. Did you know that Jesus is the lamb of God? And he as the lamb of God came to sacrifice and suffer and serve. But he's more than the lamb of God. He's also the lion of the tribe of Judah. And as the lamb, he came to suffer. But as the lion, he's coming back to conquer. He's a warrior. And in the heart of every Christian man, he's both a lion and a lamb. That's who Jesus is. He's both a lion and a lamb. And yes, there's a call in our life to sacrifice and suffer. But he's also called us to be men of God, warriors, to conquer. And I want you to see ultimately that sometimes the problem is some men are all lamb and no lion.

And other men are all lion and no lamb. But when you understand who you are, you recognize you're both lion and a lamb. I want you to see the four things that men are called to be. Not just simply do. Before things that God has called men to be. Listen very carefully like Jesus. God has called men to be pastor, prophet, priest and king. The four roles of Jesus, now listen, what we learn in scripture is that men in some way is to picture Jesus. We are to be Jesus to our families. We're some way to be Jesus to our wives. Ephesians 5, 25 husbands, love your wives as Christ. Love the church. So in some way you and I, as sons of God, are to reflect the image of the son of God. And Jesus came and really fulfilled four functions. He carried four titles. He was both pastor, prophet, priest and king. Is this gonna form the outline for the next four weeks? I wanna talk today about what it means for men to be a pastor. Check this out. I'm not the only pastor in this church. If you're a man today, you're called to be a pastor. And here's the deal. None of these titles demand any degrees. You don't need to go to seminary. You don't even know, need to know a lot of theology. They will teach you.

No, these titles don't demand degrees and you may never have the title pastor. But if you have the title father, you're a pastor whether you want to be or not. And we're all called to be fathers, not just physically, but spiritually, every single one of us as men is called to be a father spiritually. If not physically, that means every single one of us is called to pastor people. What's it mean to be a shepherd? What's it mean to be a pastor? I want you to see as we begin studying the first Adam comparing him to the last Adam. What does it mean to be a pastor? Look at what it says in Genesis three and verse one. Now the serpent was more cunning that any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Once you notice what's going on here, we have an enemy. John 10 10, we've been going through the A-life discipleship journey. And Jesus told us the battle lines, we have an enemy. He said the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I've come to give you life. You can have it more abundantly and that very safe that Jesus has a view in John 10 10 is trying to steal something from the very first family. He wants to deceive them. And that's always how he works. Listen carefully, the lies of the enemy that the serpent tells in Genesis three

are the very same lies he tells to you and me in the 21st century. And he's very cunning and says very subtle because he doesn't want to be obvious. Look what it says, the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, notice he doesn't come out without right lie, an obvious lie. He doesn't immediately attack the word of God. He just plants a seed to make her doubt the word of God. Has God really said, and he continues to run that play today. Has God really said, can you really trust the word of God? And look what happens next. He says, you shall, has God really said, you shall not eat of every tree in the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is amidst the garden, God has said, you shall not eat, nor shall you touch it lest you die. Then the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. He went from getting her to doubt the word of God to now completely denying the word of God. God's trying to hold out on you. If God doesn't really love you, He hasn't fully provided for you. He's trying to hide something good from you." And look what it says, "For God knows that in the day you eat, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil."

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desire to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her and he ate, now I'm telling you, these six verses are absolutely loaded. There's so much I could say, I don't have time to say. The one thing I want to point out here, to me what is most shocking, most startling, she also gave to her husband with her and he ate. God had been given the commission to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth with sons of God. God had given Adam one stipulation, don't eat of that tree in the middle of the garden. In the day you eat, you will die, not immediately physically, but die immediately spiritually. Adam knew exactly what God had said and we learned the first time in chapter 2 that Eve was actually deceived, but Adam sinned with his eyes wide open. He knew exactly what he was doing. And what is remarkable to me, is he wasn't some corner of the garden where he didn't see what was going on. Like he's literally there watching this interaction between the serpent Satan and his wife. He's literally watching the interaction, he's listening to what's going on. He watches his wife eat. He lets her go first, like a real man. As if honestly, the sacrifices, his little experiment, let's see what's going to happen. God did lie. And once she eats, now he participates knowing full well what God had said. Now what you'd expect to happen here, listen, God had told Adam what to do, he told Adam what not to do, listen, God told Adam I want you in Genesis 2.15 to tend the garden and keep the garden, meaning I want you to garden it and I want you to guard it. I want you to keep it, why? because God knew that the first family was very soon going to be under attack and the first family was going to be assaulted by the enemy. Listen carefully, one would expect Adam in the shining moment to be the man to step in between his wife and the enemy and go, oh no, I don't know who you are but you're not Jesus.

You're a liar. Get away from my bride. Get away from my wife. What you would expect. God had made him for conquest. Check this out. This is 126. God had given Adam dominion over the earth. God had given him power, authority, dominion, strength and then charged him to guard the garden. Protect this house. And one would expect any moment right now, Adam's going to snap into attention. He's going to get between his wife and the enemy and he's going to pick up a garden rake and whack the snake and lop off his head and then sweep up his wife and the two of them right out in the sunset, living happily ever after. You would think that would happen. That's what was supposed to happen. Adam was made for this moment but it's not what happens and the world is still reeling. It changed everything for everybody. Adam sold all of his posterity, all of humanity, under sinned penalty. The wage of sin is death from in 623. I want you to see what happened. What was the problem? Listen carefully. The first Adam failed to reject passivity and accept responsibility. When Adam should have been doing something, he chose to do nothing. He chose to stand there in passivity instead of accept responsibility for his family and step in between his bride and lead. Consequently, what happened because he didn't reject passivity, he didn't accept responsibility. He sells his entire family, under sinned penalty and the world is still reeling.

I want you to understand, listen carefully, gentlemen, we were made for these moments. God has given us strength for these moments. There's a time to be the lamb and there's a time to be the lion. All the sons of Adam have this conquering energy in them. Now today a lot of people call this conquering energy that God has given men, toxic masculinity. And historically here's the problem, men have used their strengths to pray on the weak. It's true. It's true, and I want you to understand that any man that uses his strength to prey on the weak is not a real man. Any man that uses his strength to dominate a woman is not a real man. You're a middle school boy inside full of insecurity. That's your problem. But I want you to know something. Listen, we live at a time where society has tried to overcome this, quote, male toxicity, the historic male domination of male-female relationships. And I want you to understand what's happened because with a pendulum has swung completely to the other side, where now we live in the age of the emasculated male, passivity. And you do not make bad men, better men, by making all men weak men, or you no longer have any strong men to deal with the bad men. God has made you strong for a reason. As a man, it's in our DNA. I want you to understand, it was this strength that God gave men in moments like this, D-Day, June the 6th, 1944,

the most important day of the 20th century. These men were using their strength, their conquering energy to do what? To keep the entire Western hemisphere from being slaves to the Nazis. These men are about to get off a boat and sacrifice their lives. They know that they're seconds away from many of them, sacrificing their lives in the very next frame. That's exactly what's happened. The boat is empty, and they're waging warfare, and they're waiting to the shore. Listen, God has given men this kind of strength. For a reason, God was calling Adam in this moment to warfare. You see, every man is a worker, and every man is called to be a warrior. And there are moments to be the warrior that God has called you to be. It was 9/11, this very famous story now, a 31-year-old account manager, who's one of the heroes of the day. According to the GTE operator, the last words Todd Beamer said, as he was on the phone with her. And by the way, that plane that he was on was the only plane on 9/11 that did not hit his target. We're talking ordinary men who rose to the occasion to be the man that got to call them to be in that moment. Called to be a hero, that's exactly what he was.

And the last thing he did was recite the Lord's Prayer with this GTE operator. And the last words she said she heard was him say, "Let's roll." That's not male toxicity. No, that's true biblical masculinity. See, men naturally reject passivity. God made us this way. I mean, men are naturally aggressive. This is why I listen, men love competition, whether it's in the corporate boardroom or the football field. I mean, think how God has made men. Now, you know, we live at a time today where people say, "Well, this is all just social constructs." Listen, there is a difference between men and women from the moment they are born. And if you ever had a baby girl and baby boys, you know the difference before they learn anything. They're just different. I had two little boys and one little girl and my little boys, when they were growing up over and over again, you know what they would say, "Hey, dad, you want a wrestle?" Yeah, I want a wrestle. They wanted to test their strength against dad. That's what boys do. "Hey, daddy, will you feel my muscle?" Now, not one time growing up did my little girl ever say, "Hey, daddy, you want a wrestle?"

Oh, it was dad, "Hey, daddy, can we go on a date?" Daddy, can we go on a dance? Daddy, will you dance with me? Not one time did my little girl ever say, "Hey, daddy, feel my muscle." No, not one time. You see that even when little boys and little girls grow up, there's a difference. You can see this when you go to somebody's house, this happened to me over and over again, over the years, go to somebody's house for the first time, go into dinner, green 'em at the door, and immediately the wife says to my wife, "Hey, come inside. "I want you to see my new granite countertops." Not one time ever has her husband ever said, "Pastor Phil, happy to see you, come inside. "I want you to see my new granite countertops." Not one time. No, while they're looking at the new granite countertops, he's taking me downstairs to a little corner of the basement called a man cave, and what's he wanna show me? He wants to show me his trophies. He wants me to see the big buck on the wall, or the big bass, or the baseball memorabilia. See, when men decorate, if they decorate, they decorate with achievement. Women decorate with beauty. Look at the difference between a bachelor pad of young men and young women.

Young women, man, it is a saying of beauty. I mean, everything is there. And if guys that age, if they decorate with anything, it's broken trophies from high school. Go to women, think about the movies we watch. I'm gonna say right now, tops, Gentlemen, Blue Springs, Crossroads, Johnson Cat right now, Lee Summit, number one movie all time that men love. Say it. Braveheart, Braveheart gets the vote. I knew it. It's on my, my number one all time, your number one all time, number two all time. Gladiator, yep, gladiator. Number three all time, this word gets a little fuzzy. Outlaw, Josie Whales. True Grant. Saving private Ryan. Last of the Mohicans. Now, what I want you to see is I'm gonna say the notebook was not on the list of any must see movies for any man here. Serendipity, no, no. I just want you to see God made men a certain way and it's time to quit apologizing for the way God made us. God gave us strength to protect the weak, not prey on the weak. God gave us strength to protect the vulnerable,

not prey on the vulnerable. And the fact that bad wicked men historically have used that strength to dominate the weak doesn't make being strong bad. Bad is bad. And I want you to see what happens here where we're naturally strong in the things that don't matter. Some of you, honestly, you are so passionate about your fantasy football team. Man, it's about conquest, competition. But on the other hand, while we're passionate about our fantasy football team, we're passive to the things that really matter. I want you to understand that comes from Adam. I'm convinced it is built in. It's part of our fallen nature as men. And this is why this is so important we understand Adam chose passivity and rejected his responsibility to pastor his family and the world is still reeling. And that is the average man today where we're really passionate about things that don't matter of less value. We are passive about the things that do. That is why historically, I'm gonna tell you guys, women are a whole lot better at this whole Jesus thing than we are. I mean, historically, women outnumber men in church almost two to one. Historically, women are far more motivated spiritually

than men, far more motivated in Bible study and learning the scriptures than men. And why is that? I'm just telling you, I'm convinced is part of our fallen nature as the sons of madam. And what happens when you fail to pastor your family spiritually, the same thing happens to your family as the first family. Listen carefully, what's it mean to be the family pastor? It doesn't mean you got a title pastor. It doesn't mean you're going home today and say, "Hey baby, call me pastor. I'm pastor, you heard pastor feel." Yeah, your children ain't gonna dig that. You're just dad. But within that title, dad is pastor. I want you to see what this means. Listen carefully. To be your family's pastor means laying down your life for the people you lead. This was Jesus in John 10. As the ultimate pastor, as the good shepherd, and that's the word pastor, it means shepherd. You're shepherding people. And every single person here, as a man, is called to shepherd others in some way, to be a spiritual influence upon their life. And here's what Jesus said. You want to be a shepherd? The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

Why do we follow Jesus today? Not simply because of what he said, but because of what he did. He secured the right to lead because he's willing to bleed. And gentlemen, you cannot lead if you're not willing to bleed. We're talking shepherds are called to suffer. And sacrifice for others. And there's a moment where you have to flip the switch. I'm telling you, this was a process even for me. I'm 28 years old. I have a little toddler at home. My wife is eight and a half months pregnant with my little baby daughter. That's about two weeks from being born. I will never forget when this happened. I go to North Missouri. It's opening weekend of quail season and pheasant season. Back in the day, I ran bird dogs. I was crazy about bird dogs. And I love my Britney's and I love bird hunting. And this was kind of a guys weekend. Bunch of guys I work with on the police department. One of them had a big farm up there that he was raised on. And so it's opening weekend. We get done hunting for the day. I'm like three hours from home. And I think I'm going to crush it as a husband. Man, I'm going to get extra points for this because I remembered to call my wife that night. Honey, I just wanted to see how you're doing.

And you could have cut the air with a knife. Over the phone. her husband's three hours away, passionately pursuing his hobby. Let me tell you what I did that night. I packed up, I got my truck, I drove home. Yeah. I was a slow learner, but I eventually learned. It's a call to be a man, this is what men do, instead of doing whatever you want to do. Here's the cost of being a pastor, a shepherd, you give up the right to think about yourself. You give up the right to think about what's best for you. And that was the night I started to grow up as a man. So I was 28 years old at the time, I started to grow up as a husband. All of a sudden I'm sacrificing something I love for something far better, something far more important, things began to change. First Corinthians 13, verse 11, the Apostle Paul said, "When I was a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child, I spoke as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things." You see that weekend was a childish thing. Boys think about themselves, grown men think about others. And that's what it means to be a pastor. You lay down your life for others. You lead because you're willing to bleed and you're not willing to bleed. You can't lead. What else would mean to be a pastor? Listen carefully. To be your family's pastor means setting the example personally for your family to follow. It's not, "Hey, y'all go to church and I'm going golfing." No, you don't go to church with your family, you lead them to church. You're setting the example, Jesus said this in John chapter 10, verse 27, "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me, or the people you lead following you, not because they

have to, because they see something in you that they want to imitate." Listen, 1 Corinthians 11, 1, "imitate me as I imitate Christ." And so you're setting the example, it says this in 1 Peter chapter 5, the Apostle Peter writing to other pastors, shepherds, elders, he says this, "Not lording me. Living over the flock, but being examples to the flock." See your right to lead and your credibility to lead comes from the example that you're setting with your life. It's not what comes out of your lips, but rather your life. It's not lordship, leadership. It's not being the boss. You're not daddy dictator. Now, you are an authority, listen carefully, leading your family is not leadership by committee. Your children are not in charge, I just need to say that, I don't know for who, all right? But if you lead only from your positional authority, I'm the head of this house, yeah, I'll see how far that goes for you. It works with their tube, not with their teens. I want you to see what else, to be your family's pastor means setting the direction, vision, values for your family, I actually sat down with my children years ago when they were about sixth grade, and we put together the Hopper family core values in the same way a church needs core values. We talk about them all the time at Abundant Life, a generosity, community, worship, evangelism, discipleship, serving. What are the core values of your family? What's it mean to be a Hopper? What is our identity? And this is what I'm talking about, listen, you have a family identity, whether or not you've ever identified it, you've established it either unwittingly or you'll do it intentionally. We sat down and together we discover what it means to be a Hopper. What is the DNA of our family? We came up with them to this day, integrity, tenacity, humility, serving other sacrificially,

doing everything for God's glory. That's the family core values for the Hoppers. And your family needs that. That's what pastors do. You're setting the bar spiritually. It might be a time, hey guys, we're not going to watch that in this house. We're not going to let that end our family. Need to turn that off, find something else to watch. It might be, honey, listen, I love you so much because I love you so much. You're not leaving the house dressed like that. Or it might be, hey guys, I want you to give me your phones before you go to bed at night. I know what happens when you go to bed at night by yourself and your phone. What are you doing? You're pastoring your family. You're shepherding them. You're both a provider and a gider. You're a leader and a feeder. That's what pastors do. We feed and we lead. How are you feeding your family? How are you leading your family? Listen carefully. To be your family pastor means to be a protector and provider, both materially and spiritually. Yes, as a shepherd, I am a protector. Physically, I am a protector. I don't mind telling you. I have a solution. My house is protected by three people. God Smith and Wesson. No apology needed. I'm called to be a shepherd. I'm a protector of the sheep God's given me. Gentlemen, you need to be prepared at any time. I'm telling you on a moments notice to go complete savage. I don't know if you ever thought about that before. I'll tell you right now, we're called

to be a danger. If you're not prepared to be dangerous, prepare yourself. But it's more than physically protecting, it's spiritually protecting. By leading your family to live under God's authority. We're not going to live in rebellion against God. We're going to live aligned against with God. It's not enough to be a physical provider. That part is mostly easy. We're called to be physical provider. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, if you're not providing physically for your own family in the mind of God, you're worse than an unbeliever. It's a pet peeve of God to be lazy. Most of us here are hardworking men. We want to provide for our families. That part comes kind of built in most of the time. But how are you providing spiritually? Ephesians 6 forces, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath or anger, but train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Listen carefully, your youth pastor can't access your child's head, but it's a father that can access their hearts. And in the end, the heart of the issue is always the human heart. And as a father, only you can really do that. We cannot do that like you. So with the same intention and the same passion, you would teach your son to hit a baseball or teach your daughter to kick a soccer ball. In the very same way, you need to see yourself as a life coach, a spiritual coach, that you're intentionally training them to succeed spiritually because in the reality, the Satan does not care how many home runs your son hits or how many blue ribbons your daughter wins. All he cares about, the only thing he's threatened with is a father, a man who is intentionally rejecting passivity, accepting responsibility, leading courageously for my family, expecting the greater reward. Passing on the faith to the next generation, I want you to see. The first Adam, he chose passivity, would not accept responsibility. Therefore, he died personally and took the life of his bride. The second Adam, the Lord Jesus, didn't have to do anything. Yet he chose to do everything. He was sinless. Yet he died for the sinful. See, he rejected passivity. He accepted responsibility. He died for his bride, you and I. Why? Because he led courageously. Because he was expecting the greater reward, not the small reward of now, but the greater reward that comes later, the eternal reward. And gentlemen, every one of us has a chance every day to choose between the two, the first Adam, the last Adam. Walk in the shadow of the first, we're in the light of the second. I want you to do something with me, man, right now. Would you stand your feet at every campus, at every church house? Listen, I need you in this room. October the 30th, Friday night, half today, October 31st,

I need you in this room, get signed up. You will not regret coming, I promise. But it will not do any good to come to this conference if you're not prepared to get on your knees. This was the turning point in Michael Berry's life. When he bowed before the Lord Jesus Christ. So right now is the men of God at abundant life, at every campus and church house. I'm going to invite you to go on your knees with me as we bow before our King. The last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what you're simply doing by bowing, is you're committing to be the pastor, God's called you to be. Not about a title, not about degrees. Jesus, I thank you for these men on their knees. I pray, blessing God over them. Would you help us? I pray to be filled with your spirit daily, the grace, Lord that you give us a double portion of your spirit that you would fill us God with the power and the presence of heaven, Lord that we would give our life for the things that matter as shepherds and pastors for the people we love, for the people you called us to lead in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, I love you very much and I hope you have a super blessed Sunday today. Give Jesus the glory today. Would you with me? Praise him. I'm gonna ask our response. (upbeat music)