Okay, let's go.
Hey Aaron.
There's more to life than coffee man, we're having church here.
What are you doing out there? Oh you are.
Hey is the food downstairs
and Aaron and Sheldon and the kids downstairs? This is not good for the women's baby shower.
Any baby shower
announcements?
Okay there's a baby shower after the service, guys are not invited.
Okay.
Hey so as we continue talking about presents,
I forgot to tell you, Sheldon and Jane have gone to Hawaii, they've come back
and they met some people there that we can work with,
God willing in the future if we build a relationship with them. So we'll be going back again in April or May.
And Tuni and Anilay and Sue are in Vernon
because Eric went to Guatemala, actually he's in New York, he leaves this afternoon
for a mission trip there. So Tuni, Anilay and Sue were doing the service last night.
And next week Don and Emily are going to Vernon.
Friday and Saturday I go to LA and then
a whole lot of people are coming from New York and LA
to Vancouver the week after.
So Manoj has graciously, as one of his last acts of kindness,
decided to host them and so we just want to thank you Manoj. Because these are guys from the US
and this would be the brotherly thing to do.
Alrighty, that takes care of accommodation for them.
So let's talk about...
Hey, so one of the things that's happening in New York is
I met with the five different house churches there that we've started and they're coming together,
so it's going better than I thought.
Yeah, those guys are really jelling. When you see the people they reach out to,
it's fascinating. I mean right from the homeless to people that are
from every strata of society. And these guys are really doing well.
They have a way to go and get people. They remind me a little of Prashant and Pawan.
Put Prashant and Pawan in New York and that's all that will happen.
So praise God.
We'll continue talking about presence, only today we talk about presence and humility.
And remember, he's here, eh?
Even while I teach I have to be aware of the fact that he, as in Jesus who is king and is kinging,
one of the things he loved to do when he walked the earth as king was teach.
You have to be aware that he is here and he wants to teach.
And you have to be aware that what if he's here and what if I was listening to him teach,
how would it affect my heart? So if we could remove your ears and my mouth from the equation,
this might work out really well. Because the Spirit of God will help us decode stuff,
find stuff that doesn't fit, find stuff that fits.
Close the echo.
Echo, echo, echo, echo.
Still there.
Cool.
So guys, one of the conditions for God's presence is humility.
One of the conditions for God's presence is humility.
So if you go to 1 Peter 5,
verse 5 and 6, 1 Peter 5,
5 and 6.
So if you're saying, Father, we really want to be aware of your presence,
it's not that his presence is not here. His presence is continuously here.
Continuously here. And if his presence is here, then the kingdom is here.
He's crowding the earth with his presence.
Like I said over the last two or three weeks,
it's like this heavy balloon full of water that's pressing down on the earth,
pressing down on us. We just aren't aware of it,
but what if we became aware of it? What if we became aware of the King and His presence?
Then I could stop at any moment, turn on a dime and do what He wants me to,
because I'm no longer the preacher or the pastor. I'm just aware of His presence.
Then He gets to do what He wants to. He can have a little more volume.
So His presence is here,
but some of the conditions that make it easy for us to always be aware of His presence
is humility. So if you go to 1 Peter 5,
verse 5 and 6,
it says that,
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you.
In some versions it says,
This is the idea of being brokenhearted or contrite,
one of the older words.
The Lord is near, as in His presence is near,
to the brokenhearted and He saves the cross from the cross.
So we have to be humble.
As in His presence is near to the brokenhearted and He saves the crushed in spirit.
The message puts it this way,
If your heart is broken, you will find God right there.
Let's go to
Isaiah 57.15.
I love this one.
Because He lives in two places very happily. One of the things God does really well is live in two of these
places so easily. The first place is
heaven. The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the holy one says,
I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble. I revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.
Let me read from the NIV. For this is what the high and exalted one says. He who lives forever,
whose name is holy, I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly
in spirit. Let's take one more. Numbers 12.3.
Here is a guy who actually saw
the glory of God. He wanted the presence of God. He asked for the presence of God. He saw the glory of God.
No other human being on earth had been able to dare to ask for it or see it before.
But look at what it says about him. Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than
anyone else on the face of the earth. Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble
than anyone on the face of the earth. That was his condition.
So there is this ability to become aware of God's presence
when humility is part of who I am.
Jesus himself said it in Matthew 18, verse 3 and 4.
Guys, the best measure
for a person's readiness
for kingdom and king is that of a child.
In Matthew 18, verse 3 and 4 it says that if you are as humble as a child,
you will know the presence of both king and kingdom.
Matthew 18, verse 3 and 4. Let's just read it.
Matthew 18, verse 3 and 4.
Matthew 18, verse 3 and 4. And he said, truly I tell you, unless you
change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,
whoever takes a lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
There is something to being aware of the presence of God that requires
lowliness and humility. And so we are saying that one of the things
that we need to do in the next 50, how many ever weeks, is an awareness of the presence of God.
We're not asking for the presence of God. He's already here. Like I said last time,
and I think I said it, there are four things we need to do. Look up. Revelation chapter 4.
Look up. There's a throne and there is a king seated on it. And there are creatures
and angels around him, thousands upon thousands, worshipping him. Look up.
Because the same king has decided to live inside me. There's a throne in this temple.
Then look in our midst, because this is his favorite resting place,
his people. And then look out there, because he's crowding the earth with his presence.
The moment Jesus came, he decided that he would crowd the earth with his presence,
that he's already there before I get there.
The idea of king is that the king is kinging. Where? Here on earth,
and he's also in heaven. He's in me, he's in our midst, and he's out there.
We're at a distinct advantage as people of the kingdom, eh?
Yes, there is a prince of the power of the air, but he's created.
And in the end, he's removed by a blast of the nostrils of the king.
That's how he's removed.
So, we are aware that he's here, but if I walk in humility,
it's good soil for him to have traction in.
Guys, the thing is, humility was discarded.
Humility was one of the first things discarded in heaven.
Lucifer discarded humility. It was one of the first things that was lost.
What was his intent? I want to be equal to God.
The first thing that was removed from heaven was humility.
There are two ancient spirits, and by ancient spirits I don't mean very old spirits.
As in ancient spirits, as in spirits that showed themselves first.
The first spirit that showed itself was the spirit of pride.
And the second spirit that showed itself was the spirit of fear.
The spirit of pride was what caused a created angel to rebel against the most high God,
saying, I will sit on his throne and receive his worship.
He comes down to the earth and he baits Adam and Eve with the same thing.
He says, I will sit on his throne, eat of this fruit and it will open your eyes and you will become like God.
It's an ancient spirit, pride, which is why it is necessary that we oppose it,
because what was lost in the garden at the end of the day was presence.
It might be an inappropriate question, but where does the spirit of pride come from if it's not from Satan himself?
If it is not from? Satan himself.
Yes, so it is an ancient spirit.
When what was good turned to evil, it would be like asking, and I mean this sincerely,
it would be like asking, how did roses develop thorns?
How did bacteria turn into harmful virus?
With sin and the fall, things mutate.
One that was supposed to be the ultimate expression of angelic glory
decides that because of free will that I will choose to be like God.
So it was sort of in tandem with what Satan was doing as opposed to that creating Satan's rebellion.
I don't understand.
It's okay, it can wait.
So pride entered, and pride is the opposite.
We must remember something, sin is the opposite of what God is, and one can always choose it.
Sin is the opposite of what God is, and one can always choose it because one has free will.
It is free will that allows us to choose what is not God.
And so here is Lucifer who chooses pride,
and then he has the same bait here on earth to draw Adam in.
And Adam does the same thing, wants to be equal with God.
And then comes the spirit of fear. The spirit of fear is what causes a man who used to walk with God face to face, heart to heart.
It causes that man to begin to hide.
And these things are still active, right? That is why it's important that we realize that humility
is something that must be practiced for presence.
Humility is key to an awareness of presence.
You okay, Gene? Humility is key to an awareness of presence.
Because what was lost in the garden, what was lost in the garden was presence.
What was lost in the garden was presence, and it was lost because of pride.
And so how can you define humility for our sake?
The essence of humility is the absence, this is a hard one, guys, is the absence of personal concern.
Is the absence of personal concern for our worth,
for our skills,
for our achievements,
for our status,
for our entitlements.
Humility, the essence of humility,
the essence of humility is the absence of personal concern.
As in, what would it look like if everybody in this room began to have no personal concern
as in, what would it look like if everybody in this room began to have no personal concern
for their worth, their skills, their achievements, their status, their entitlements?
We are no longer concerned. We are no longer concerned.
What's the difference between the personal concern for them and the drive to achievement in the first place?
What's the difference between personal concern for them and the drive to achievement
and the skills and achievements and the status of a lot of the person?
We push towards achievement, we push towards entitlement, we push towards honing our skills.
Self-worth is highly prized. What if there was no personal concern for these things?
We would achieve anything if that wasn't the case.
Yeah, so I'm saying that ambition is not a
kingdom quality.
Ambition is not a kingdom quality.
Our goal is to be obedient and to serve. Christ is the ultimate poster
person for this. If there was anyone who was skilled, if there was anyone who could have achieved,
if there was anyone who could have done whatever he wanted, it was Christ. Paul was
at one time someone who lived like that and then he says, it is dog dung.
That's the actual translation. That all the stuff I have achieved is dog dung.
This is why humility goes so against what
we see as present culture.
The acquiring skills would be, let's say
Emily knows how to sing, her acquired skill would be, I've been given a gift for
singing, I'm going to train it. I'm going to train it because I will serve King, Kingdom and his guests.
Where there is no personal concern for
her singing, her worth that comes from singing, skills, achievements, status
and talent, no personal concern. It's a very extreme way of living, man.
Why are we offended? We are offended because when these things
are not given the value that they must be given by those around us, it bothers us.
But this kind of living,
it will have the presence of God tent on you. You will be aware of it constantly.
Ambition is not a kingdom quality.
What will it do to us? It will hollow us out in the world
and yet it says humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will
exalt you. Look at what happened to Daniel and the three boys.
Decided not to take part in the fancy stuff that was set up by the King.
Decided not to eat of it. The guy who was in charge said,
you guys are going to have my head cut off because you guys will be worse off.
And what does he do? He says, give us ten days. Just give us ten days. And after ten days they were ten times better than everybody else.
Humiliation
Humiliation, and that's a word we would never equate with Christianity today.
Humiliation and exaltation are two sides of one coin.
What happens when you're not
included or recognized? What happens
when you are not included?
When you're not recognized?
When my good deeds are overlooked?
Or worse yet,
it's attributed to someone else?
Could you care less about such things?
Amazing, eh? So difficult.
What happens when you're not included?
When you're not part of the in-crowd or the inner core?
What happens when you're not recognized?
What happens when your good deeds are overlooked? What happens when you do a whole lot of good and then it's attributed to someone else?
Could you care less about such things?
Something bristles inside us saying,
but I'm entitled to that. I earned it. I deserved it. I worked for it.
The fear is though, if I behave like this, what will happen to me at work? Will I be promoted?
Will I get that job? Will I be lifted up? And God is saying,
since when has man been in charge of your life?
Since when does mortal man decide
your progress? Really, if mortal man decided your progress,
Don would not get into UBC. Derek would definitely not get through UBC.
Don was not even accepted in UBC Okanagan.
And yet he got it in Vancouver. How is that even possible?
Sorry, Don. You always come up in wrong examples.
Go, Butler.
Sorry, I said Go, Butler. Go, Mark.
What is your name? Yeah, Go, Mark.
Yeah, so God is a profitable God.
And so there are principles that you will not hold.
You will not gouge. You will be profitable. You will multiply.
You won't hold away for a rainy day. You will treat employees well.
Paul outlines them in all his letters. So there are principles.
Oh, I thought you were running to me and calling me mama.
Aaron, you're supposed to keep the kids down, not here.
We've got guests today.
I'm trying to impress them and you're ruining it.
Yeah, so he is a profitable God.
But he is also a super kind God.
So it's very hard for businessmen to balance both. Very few succeed.
Because at some point the need to be profitable begins to change who you are to your employees and with your customers.
Yeah, I would say as a businessman, if you can take Isaiah 61, 1-5,
and use that as a business model,
the Spirit of the Lord has anointed me as a businessman to preach the good news to the poor,
to open the eyes of the blind, to set captives free.
If that becomes why you run a business, then verse 6-11 goes into play.
And verse 6-11 says this. Foreigners will come and dig up your vineyards.
You will have double the profits. God will honor you with a double portion.
He will make sure that shepherds take care of your sheep and farmers take care of your vineyards.
He will crown you with whatever you need to.
And so 1-5, if we follow as businessmen and nurses, as mothers, as fathers,
then verse 6-11 just takes care of itself.
Because Jesus was a businessman. We don't remember that. His father dies early.
He runs a carpentry business. I don't know if he had employees, but perhaps his brothers and sisters helped,
because usually that's how family businesses were run. He had to take care of a mother and about six siblings.
And he was the oldest by far. And now here is a man who has to run this business
and make sure that his family is fed. And he's the same one who said
anyone who does not take care of his family and offers offerings to God is an infidel.
So he must have really worked hard at it. Oh my God, it must have been fun watching him
as a businessman.
So a follow-up question. So humility doesn't always have to mean like helping out everyone.
It can just mean like, because sometimes when you buy, you have to buy low
and somebody else is kind of, is taking the loss, so to speak, from your game.
Yeah, not always. Sometimes you have to do it, but it's not a flat thing.
To be humble is to let my family die of starvation
while you give Jacob a good deal.
But humility at the end of the day,
this part is important. C.S. Lewis put it this way. I love the phrase he uses
for humility. Self-forgetfulness.
Jacob, can you do things and then not just completely forget yourself?
Can you sing a song and then not even bother that someone else is singing better than you?
Can you write a book that is a bestseller and then Mark comes along
and he took you eight months to write the book. He takes eight days to write the book and it sells more than yours.
Part of the reason
we need to talk about this is because humility is a condition of the heart.
And the strange thing about pride and humility is those who possess it do not know it.
Do not know it. Others see it, but those who possess pride or humility do not know it.
Soon as you know it, no, you just don't know it.
One who is proud does not know it and others see it.
One who is humble does not know it and others see it.
Like, I just don't know that I'm humble.
It's strange. You see it, but I don't.
Yes, sorry.
I think that
one of the things that I think is hard is when
so if I'm at work and my boss asks me to do a project
but then doesn't include me in the meeting about that project but still wants me to do it.
That's different. It's when you're being deliberately excluded for
wrong reasons, but the heart is still humble as you go and argue to be included.
The heart doesn't thirst, heart doesn't crave, heart doesn't
desire to be included in everything. You're okay not being included
and then you go up to her and say, why didn't you include me because this is a project I'm doing.
But it comes from a heart that does not demand, is not entitled, is okay being humiliated.
How many people here are actually okay being humiliated?
Our immediate responses, but we shouldn't be a doormat,
we should stand up for our rights, all that is true, but let's swing to the other side for a second
because that part we have nailed down really well. Let's do the other part.
How many here actually are okay being humiliated?
Don't put up your hands altogether. Just take it easy.
True, but let's just take that statement for
how many of us are really okay being humiliated. Okay being humiliated as in
it's alright. Yes it is situational. There are places where you need to stand up.
But what I know is that I'm not okay with it yet.
I'm not okay being humiliated. Something in me rises up when I'm humiliated.
Pardon?
It is situational. Everything is gray. Nothing is necessarily always black and white.
But I'm finding out that something bristles in me when I'm humiliated and then I have to kick in my Christian.
Aha! Always stand up for justice for others but never fight for it for yourself.
When he was reviled, when he was humiliated,
when he was insulted, he went like a sheep to the slaughter.
That's the odd thing. I'm supposed to stand up and
fight for justice for others but I'm not supposed to insist that justice
be done to me. This is the part where I think we are not like Jesus yet.
Boy I'm not getting past the introduction today. Go ahead.
Yeah.
I am thinking that people that I know who are in really bad situations who don't stand up for themselves.
Well there is like job situations where they say this or this or this or this. And I'm wondering how do you frame that in that situation?
Yeah. If Jelan is not standing up for himself in his situation
and then maybe I can stand up for him.
Yeah.
This is good to lean on you like this.
So talking about not standing up for justice for yourself, I don't feel the same way I have personally.
It's okay.
Good.
So we are talking about justice,
we are talking about humiliation,
we are talking about speaking up,
and we are talking about evil and turning the other cheek.
All this
will go together and it's, and while Jelan's experience
is really painful for her, we still can't leave out these other things.
So in Jelan's case, she was abused by
the person who really treated her badly and nobody else stood up for her so she would have to speak up against
and mark boundaries and if you don't mark boundaries you get taken advantage of again and again
and again and so much so that even talking about it
and trust me she's a private person for her to bring this up like this is a big deal.
It's very painful for her. So there is that on one hand. On the other hand, there is the turning the other cheek
when evil is done to me. There is the humiliation that
Jesus Christ suffered at the hands of those that treated him unfairly and were abusive towards him.
There is the speaking up that needs to happen when he turned the temple upside down.
He didn't just speak up, he took a whip and spoke.
And there is the fair God who gives out justice and I'll tell you something else. Because she went through
what she went through, these are not words that I'm throwing out just for the heck of it.
Blessed are those that mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those that are persecuted
for my name's sake. Blessed are those that are poor in spirit.
These things suddenly come crashing down on her head. She may not be able to measure it
but there is a God who is faithful who does it. So the easiest thing for me right now
would be to say, man this is a terrible story, we must stand up for our rights. In her case
nobody stood up for her rights, she had to stand up herself and it still traumatizes her.
But when we look at the overall picture, humility requires all these things to be at work
and we cannot avoid it.
I know how difficult it was to share it so I'm grateful.
What is
going to happen at the end of the day
as we learn to walk in greater humility, we become more aware of his presence.
That aside, Matthew 5 begins to break on her
and break on you. There was a reason Jesus
shares the Beatitudes. The Romans were some of the most abusive masters that ever existed.
Judea was under the tyranny. They are waiting for a king who has not come.
And when he comes, he doesn't come as a conquering king.
He stands there and he is saying, blessed are you if you are bankrupt. Blessed are you if you are crying.
It seems unreal for us.
But this is what she gets. And I'm not just making it, just saying it.
This is what she gets. If she wants to measure it from today on, she will see Beatitudes break over her.
Because God is awesomely faithful.
C.S. Lewis uses the word
self-forgetfulness. He says humility is
self-forgetfulness. And self-forgetfulness is the opposite of self-engrossment.
I don't know who said this line, but I love this line.
Humility follows God like a shadow.
Humility follows God like a shadow. So if there is a shadow God casts, it's humility.
If there is a shadow God casts, it's humility.
When man is present with God, humility prevails.
When man moves away from God,
pride seeks him out. When man moves away from God,
pride seeks him out. When man
walks with God, humility prevails.
When man separates himself from God, pride seeks him out.
And the problem with pride
seeking me out is when pride seeks me out and I walk with it,
God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. It's this virtuous and
vicious cycle. The shadow that God casts is
humility. We just need to look at the sun as in S.O.N. Everything he did.
We'll read Philippians 2.69. It's marvelous what he talks about there.
One who is king decides not to grasp equality with God and becomes a servant.
The shadow he casts is that of humility. When man walks with God,
humility prevails. When I separate myself from God, and it happens a hundred times a day,
when I separate myself from God, pride seeks me out.
It seeks me out. When it seeks me out and if it can have me,
then God resists me. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
Presence is...
Presence proves you. P-R-O-O-F-S. Presence proves you against
pride. Presence proves you against
pride. It is very hard to be in the presence of the king and be proud.
In fact, it says Leviathan is the king over the children of pride.
Job 42 or somewhere there. Leviathan is king over the children
of pride. While Jesus Christ is king over those that walk
humbly. Think of the word self-forgetfulness. Play around with it.
I remember being in a situation once where I'd done a lot of work
there. Lot of work. And contributed tremendously. And they're sitting
and they're talking about the different people that contributed and it completely left me out.
And I knew I was the one who did most of the work there. Rarely happens, but this time I did.
And I'm listening and there was this
What was this C.S. Lewis phrase? Self-forgetfulness. And it was so comforting.
So what if you did a lot of work and nobody recognized you?
Self-forgetfulness. So hard man. Something in us
wants to be applauded and recognized.
Thank God for a Jesus of extremes.
Again, C.S. Lewis said this too. Spiritual pride is when I'm proud of something
Christian. For reasons other than Christ.
Spiritual pride is when I'm proud of something Christian. For reasons other than Christ.
I'm proud of something Christian.
For reasons other than Christ. Suddenly, spiritually I want to
increase. Why? So that I can be better than Jillian or better than Sheldon. For reasons other than Christ.
For reasons other than Christ.
Boast in him.
He's the one who made it possible for me. But when you do it for reasons
other than Christ, it has changed his things.
I mean, in pastoral circles this happens.
Forget pastoral. Oh, let me just say. So there will be a pastor sitting with you and he'll say,
yeah, I went to Asia and I prayed for two blind people
and they both got healed. And so you'll sit and listen to it and then you think,
you went to Asia and I think there were two and a half blind people healed. So you're waiting for him to finish his testimony because now it's your turn.
Yeah, I went to Asia and there were two and a half blind people healed because one guy only had one eye and then one deaf ear.
Now you up the ante. Now the next pastor, he has to come up with another story.
And around the table stories go, man. Each trying to up the other.
And then at the end of every story you will say, praise God, it was all him.
So we do this.
Trust me, Marcus.
They do it and I've been part of it too.
And then you leave the place and you think to yourself,
my God, that was the most ungodly testimonies that God, of God, that we have heard.
I realize that as soon as I leave what I believe is the truth,
I realize that as soon as I leave what I did.
See, my humility, I'm not aware of it.
Okay.
For presence and humility to work, there are things I must recognize about myself.
There are things I must recognize about myself.
You're still stuck with Lucifer. We moved on to God.
Okay, but go ahead.
Yeah, but that was because he willed otherwise, right?
He chose. He chose.
It must have been some kind of rebellion to be in the presence of Holy,
to be in the presence of Creator and yet choose
to rebel and then go and get
one third of the angelic armies to rebel with him.
And Christ was slain before the foundations of the earth,
which is even nuttier, or more nuts, like in the sense that
he knew this was going to happen and he had already made provision for it.
Before there was a church, Satan was already saying, I want to sit on Mount Zion.
Before the earth existed.
It's the most,
it's the most precious thing that God has given us,
is free will.
And because free will is the most precious thing God has given us,
to use power, love,
pressure, manipulation, deceit, to hijack,
control, affect, color, groom anyone's self-will
is something that God does not do.
And so as a pastor, if I ever try to force your will to do something,
then suddenly it reeks of ungodliness.
As a parent when you try doing it, you advise, you counsel, you correct, you admonish, you do all that.
But a point comes where once a person is of a certain age, not for little children,
once a person is of a certain age, you have to let them make a choice.
And when we take away that through pressure, force, carrots,
not carrots, like cake, any such thing, carrots wouldn't help.
But you never hijack someone's self-will.
You never use deceit or manipulation to take it away.
Because it's one thing God doesn't do.
When you are with such people like people in your family,
where you know that they are following you, moving out of this,
is it not easy?
When I'm with people who are trying to manipulate my self-will, I have to create distance. I don't have to separate, but I have to create distance.
When it happens again and again, then I have to create distance
so that I'm not as influenced as I would otherwise be.
Yeah.
That's the simplest way to start.
Nothing is black and white. I wish everything was black and white. Life would be so easy.
Cats, bad. Dogs, good. It's not like that.
You might find out soon that there are one or two cats that may have made it into good.
But not more than two.
Who brought her?
Someone in Vernon
sent me a text from the last message.
The only point I really got,
no she didn't say that, was when you said,
what if God gives you a cat as a pet when you get to heaven?
Guys, our humility is so contrary to the world.
Which is why, how do you handle Trump as a Christian?
Everything he does goes against the grain of what we are talking.
And yet, we think that
we are not going to be able to do anything about it.
And yet,
we think he's godsent and he's, maybe he's godsent, but he's definitely not godly.
Everything that we are talking about
is contrary to the world system.
Because humility, according to God, requires a glad acceptance.
A glad acceptance of weakness,
of dependence,
and of even humiliation.
Yeah, we'll get there in the next three or four minutes.
So when you look at the Beatitudes,
what are the Beatitudes basically about? The Beatitudes are Jesus saying,
rest in your neediness,
rest in your weakness,
rest in your meekness, and you will be blessed.
How crazy is that, man?
Rest in your meekness, rest in your neediness, rest in your weakness,
and you will be blessed. That's what the Beatitudes are about.
We try to take the Beatitudes and mix it with a little bit of how we should be in the world to succeed.
And then we create our me-attitudes.
Jesus was me-attitudes, not me-attitudes.
And we mix it up. And we can't afford to mix it up,
because that's why Christians don't look very different from the world.
They look slightly different.
What this means is I no longer generate, I no longer try to generate
confidence.
But I actually groove in my weakness
and my inadequacy.
Man, we can get here, guys. We can get here.
We don't try to generate a drum up confidence.
We groove in our...groove is an old 60s word that some of us will understand.
We groove in our weakness and our inadequacy.
Okay, we embrace. Embrace sounds like...
Groove has become very comfortable in it.
Like the beat just gets...so we groove in our inadequacy
and our weakness. It's okay. We are okay with it.
One of the things that at least I can say happens
for me when I'm in your midst is I don't care about my weaknesses
and my inadequacies. I'm not scared of them.
You're partly responsible for it, because you make it easy. You make it easy.
Don't have to put up any show here.
This is what Jesus is asking for. So now when I behave like this,
when I am weak,
his strong presence
tends over me.
Where is that from? 2 Corinthians 12.9.
His strong presence tends over me.
The first time I went to Mongolia,
first time I went to Mongolia, God did a whole lot of signs and wonders.
I was there, they're expecting the same thing.
I don't know how to recreate it. So they're doing worship up front.
I'm in the last room, walking up and down, speaking in tongues, making declarations, praying like crazy,
because they expect the same thing. And thank God the worship was long, because I got about 10 minutes in.
After 10 minutes, I hear the Lord saying, did you do it last time?
Can you stop speaking in tongues and pacing up and down, because it's not helping.
So I stop, because you almost try to generate this.
Can I do what it takes to make this happen, and you do not make it happen.
Presence makes it happen. You were just fortunate that last time I turned up and you were aware of it.
You can't create this. So you groove in your weakness. You groove in your inadequacy.
You have this squat you can do. And that is when the presence of God begins to tent over a person or a people.
Second Corinthians 12, 9 comes to pass.
And therefore, Paul says,
no longer do I regard these limitations and weaknesses as something that I have to hide.
I begin to revel in them. I begin to boast about it.
I begin to talk about it like it's a plus point.
That's what he says.
Weakness is no longer a regrettable limitation.
It becomes what enriches presence over me.
Weakness is no longer a regrettable limitation.
One of the things we love doing during encounter is to ask ones who don't know how to do things.
Hey, can you try and hear what God is doing and let God flow through you?
Because in your weakness, he becomes super strong.
Instead, we try so hard to pretend that everything is okay.
Come on, man. Everything is not okay most of the time.
Here's the part that
talks about, addresses the question
Jill was asking.
So once we embrace it and groove in it,
now you begin to recognize
your weakness.
You begin to recognize your limitations.
And then some of it
should disturb me.
And I must take it seriously.
And I must work on it humbly.
With God
and with man.
So on one hand, I'm okay with my inadequacy and weakness.
But as I see these weaknesses, some of them will begin to disturb me.
These are areas I can improve in.
And because I can improve in them, I take them seriously.
And when I begin to take it seriously, I go to God for help and I go to man for help.
Yes, my arm is weak.
God's arm is strong, he lifted. But as I'm growing, God will say,
hey, I want to try and build some muscles into this arm of yours so that I can go help someone else
while you lift stuff up. And so you now begin to work on certain weaknesses.
But if you're planning to work only with God, God will say, oops, sorry, you'll have to go to
so and so because they know how to strengthen your left arm. And so with both God and man,
it's not, I will embrace my weakness and I'll never get better.
These are my weaknesses. God will tend with great strength. But now I begin to improve them.
So what Jesus expects
is that he expects us to live in the tension
of, he expects us to live in the tension
of John 5 19. What does John 5 19 say? Apart from you, I can do
nothing.
He expects us to live in the tension of John 5 19 and then Matthew 11
27 to 29. What does that say? Come to me, all you that are heavy laden.
I'll give you rest. I'm gentle and meek. Take my yoke upon you. Walk with me.
And Ephesians 4 12 to 13.
Hey, I've also appointed people to help you so that we can
all grow together into maturity. He expects us to live in the tension of these.
Take my yoke. I'll go over things with you.
I'll teach you. So it's all three. On one hand it says,
on one hand you say, oh God I can't do anything without you. And then Jesus comes and says,
well then walk by my side, take my yoke upon me. I'm really gentle, I can teach you well. Great oh God, you and me.
Oh by the way, I've also appointed some guys to help you so you've got to go to them too so that you can become mature.
And we live in the tension of all three.
That's how we, on one hand, walk in our inadequacy, on the other hand we keep increasing in our strength.
Yeah, as you practice you get better.
Yeah.
It's easy to do
one and two.
Yes, it is easy to do one and two. Yeah, third one is a little harder.
But we are learning. We are learning. Guys, we must, I must say this to you,
like because I preach hard every Sunday, you don't get to hear how much you've changed
and how amazing you are.
My God.
Personally not concerned about
worth or achievement or accomplishment. Yeah.
No, it is coming from the heart because I know
each of you quite well and you perhaps don't see the change.
Just as you who have been here for 15, 16 years have seen changes in me.
And so we are changing, guys.
But because what we teach is hard, sometimes it doesn't appear so,
but we are changing. We are changing to become like Christ, eh?
I mean, you think Renny hasn't changed?
You think Jill hasn't changed? She's only been here for three years.
Me? Oh my God. Don? Let's not even go there.
He was planning to leave the church, by the way.
Oh.
Guys,
guys, as much as all this is true, most of us, and I pray God that this doesn't
continue for us, most of us are trying to become one, what we are not,
and let's abandon this. Or we are trying to become
what someone else is,
or we are trying to prove what we have, prove what we have already become.
There was this guy called Ahimaaz in 2 Samuel 18, 19.
He wanted to become what he was not. He was Zadak's son.
Zadak was a high priest. He was supposed to walk before God. He wants to run.
He wants to be a runner. Sometimes we desire what someone else,
we want to become what we are not.
Then sometimes we want to become what someone else is. Someone else is this,
so I want this too. And then when you don't get it, James 4, verses 1-6
kicks in. What does it say? Why is it that you have conflicts and quarrels
within Jacob? Isn't it because you desire what someone else has and you don't get it?
But you don't come and pray to me. Instead you begin to pray amiss and the conflict
increases. You try to become what you are not,
you try to become what someone else is, or you are continuously trying to prove what you become.
If you become something, people will see it. Don't keep supplying evidence for it.
She doesn't need to supply any evidence. They are both pregnant. It's very obvious.
I am not.
I am not. Just so you know.
Everyone is looking at me.
One of the ways to avoid
our weaknesses from being recognized is to isolate ourselves.
Isolate ourselves, create distance,
shield myself from correction.
Let's not do this. Let's not do it.
We want our weaknesses to be strengthened.
We want our weaknesses to be strengthened. So let's not isolate ourselves.
Let's not create distance. Let's not shield ourselves from correction.
The strange thing is if I am an elbow and I am not connected to the rest of the body,
I will not know my weakness. It's sin being connected to the rest of the body
that you recognize whether the elbow is working well or not. An elbow by itself,
you don't know whether it's greased, you don't know whether it's rusty, you don't.
It's in the context of being with you that my weaknesses will be shown.
And when those weaknesses are shown, now I have a choice to get better.
So as I am writing stuff on humility, I know one thing.
Nobody has ever said this of me except Sue's mum.
She said that when I think of Jacob, I think of a really humble guy.
Some of you are smiling. Wipe that grin off your face.
But nobody says that. People may say when I think of Jacob, great faith.
But they wouldn't say when I think of Jacob, I do not think of someone who is humble.
Sue's mum said that. And I'm sure she got a bigger mansion just for that.
I would like some words to be associated with me and this is not one of the words associated with me.
And so it's in the context of a body that weakness is exposed.
And therefore it can be strengthened.
So if I shield it, then it's not corrected.
I think half the church is outside there.
I just want to touch on one more thing before we go to solutions.
And here's that one thing.
Pride often leads to self-seeking.
It leads to bitter envy.
And we've got a God against us in this church.
Because self-seeking is when you want to be chosen.
When bitter envy comes in when someone else is chosen.
And here's the problem with this, guys.
It says in James chapter 3, verse 14, it says,
where self-seeking and bitter envy exist,
there will always be the demonic,
the soulish,
what is soulish and sensual,
and what is
unspiritual.
So eliminate this from your life, guys, because we can't afford it as a church.
Where there is self-seeking and where there is bitter envy,
and both are provoked by a lack of humility or provoked by pride,
as in when I am slighted, when I am not chosen,
and I am not included, when someone else is chosen,
bitter envy and self-seeking kicks in.
And the moment it kicks in, immediately in the church or in the group or wherever,
these three things are released. The demonic, what is sensual or soulish,
and what is unspiritual. And then it says in verse 16 that with that comes
all forms of disorder, ungodliness, and uncleanness.
We got to be free of this, eh? Whenever this happens to you,
just make sure you run to a safe place because it pollutes the entire body.
Even when you're being treated unfairly, think of the rest and choose not to.
All righty, solutions.
Any questions, guys?
James 3, verse 14 to 16.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah, if you know that someone is feeling slighted or overlooked,
you should come and tell someone who may be able to help with them being slighted or overlooked.
Yeah. Because it doesn't mean that when something is done wrong,
we let it slide. But there's two things that happens when something is done wrong.
When something is wrong, you must choose to rise over being wronged
because that's what we are called to do. And then the person who is wrong
must either approach or have someone else talk to the person who can help fix
the being wronged. It's both. It's not one or the other.
But you have a role to play in not being slighted, offended, bitter,
what is the other word?
No. Oh, shucks. Nothing there. The other word. Yeah.
Bitter envy and self-seeking.
Gotta work against it, eh? Okay, solutions. How do we
go into this place of humility? So let's take 1 Peter 5,
1 Peter 5, 5-7. Let me just quickly read it
and then we can use that. 1 Peter 5, 5-7.
It says that in the same way you who are younger submit yourself to the elders,
all of you clothe yourself with humility towards one another. This applies to spouses also, eh?
Some of the places where this humility priding really kicks in between spouses,
all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another because God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that He may lift you up
in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
And then it goes on to tell, remember, Satan's roaming like a lion. So the first thing is
wrap the
apron of servant humility
towards
each other.
There are days when I don't like some of you, for whatever reason. Those are the days when I will wrap
myself in an apron of humility so that when I meet you and I come here,
I'll be extra nice to you.
Maybe you've done nothing to be in a space where I should have anything against you.
But for whatever reason, let's say I'm annoyed or irritated with you.
I'm not saying it's right. But those are the days when if I come in here with that attitude,
I'll screw up this entire place.
I have to wrap myself with an apron of humility. But Jacob, wouldn't it be better if you were not annoyed?
Yes.
Once you wrap yourself in the...
It's amazing. You can tell a servant to do multiple tasks and they keep doing it without
grimacing, without letting things get in the way. That's not how we see servants today.
But in the Old Testament and in certain parts of the world, if you're a servant, it doesn't matter how many times
Elijah tells you to climb up the mountain to see a cloud that doesn't exist. You go happily and come back happily.
Thank God I was not Elijah's servant up and down the mountain.
And so the idea is, can you wrap yourself in an apron of humility
so that when you know you are not doing well with a person, that is when you
begin to serve the person even better.
Second,
be okay about humiliation.
Be okay about humiliation. Look at what it says there, man.
It says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
What's he trying to say? He's saying there will be times
when God will be okay with bringing you low
so that self dies.
This goes against Pentecostal thinking. This goes against what I really want. What do I want?
I want to be the head and not the tail. I want to be above and not below.
If you come from a Pentecostal background, those are powerful scriptures that you've used.
But there are times when it is okay for God to have me be humiliated
so that self may die
and I may be brought low.
No, Jacob, God would never do this. He did it to his son
for good reasons.
And he will do it to you for good reasons too.
That you may be obedient unto death.
If it's not clear, we must be okay about humiliation
under the mighty hand of God because he sometimes uses it to bring me low
and to have myself die.
Guys, the dangerous thing is if we take the scripture and apply it to everything that's happening in our lives.
But I'm assuming you have more sense than that.
This is when Don used to say, Amen.
It doesn't apply to everything, but there are times when I must recognize that it's okay, Jacob.
It's okay.
I've gone to places where people have shouted at me
in front of their family, in front of their children for no good reason.
There was no good reason. And you walk out of there with your head low but your heart high
knowing that you're not going to say a word back.
Because if you say a word, you don't want to visit them with anything that they're visiting you with.
And you walk away humbly.
You walk with your face down with your heart high knowing that you have done what you're supposed to do.
That's completely okay. Now do you want vindication? You don't write a psalm after that saying,
vindicate me, O Lord. Let their dog or whatever.
Third one from 1 Peter 5.57.
Cast your cares on him. Cast your cares on him.
It's strange how that is added after humility. Cast your cares on him. Why?
Because when we do not cast our anxieties on him, we sometimes go into self-reliance, distrust,
and pride. Pride in our own ability to solve it.
So what does that mean?
Remember when a man is separate from God, pride seeks him.
And if pride can have him, then God will resist him.
When anxiety, cares, and worries come and you begin to pull away from God because you think
you can be the architect of your future and you can solve it. When a man is separate from God, pride goes seeking for him.
The next one is Philippians 2.6-7.
It's such a beautiful passage. Just read with me, guys.
Philippians 2.6-7 and we'll end with this.
Philippians 2.6-7.
He said,
So,
not at all.
So,
it's a way of thinking, guys.
The first thing we need to realize is humility is a way of thinking.
It is how God thinks.
So,
it is how God thinks.
And so, to be like-minded will
make us aware of his presence. Be like-minded.
Be aware of presence. It's a way of thinking. And if it's a way of thinking,
then, like Marcus was saying earlier, when you practice it, it becomes real.
It's a way of thinking. I have to practice it. It is a way of thinking.
Humility is a way of thinking. It says, think like Jesus.
Be like-minded with him. Like-minded. Have the same mind as him.
It's a way of thinking.
So, how does his way of thinking work? Beautiful. How he says, he doesn't say, oh, I was a worm.
No, he says, I was equal. I am equal with God.
It begins with an accurate estimation. It begins with an accurate
estimation of one's
standing positionally with God, which is
sun and perfect forever and practically. And practically,
it's harder to measure. Positionally, we know who we are. We are perfect. We are holy.
We are heaven bound. We have Christ living in us. There's no
sin in us. We have been made perfect forever by one sacrifice. Positionally, we must
have an accurate estimation of ourselves. And then practically, too, we must have an estimation of ourselves.
That's a little harder. But when you live with the people, practically, it becomes a little easier.
When you live by yourself, you don't know what you don't know.
Marriage is one of the
easiest ways to find out what you don't know. Stay single
and you don't have that problem.
So, accurate estimation of oneself. After that, the next thing is
don't grasp,
don't seize, don't sulk,
don't jockey for
inclusion, recognition,
privileges,
or equality.
That's the third thing Jesus does. First, he says, hey, think like me.
Be like-minded. Second, he says, have an accurate estimation of who you are positionally and
practically. Jacob, I know this is who you are. I told you positionally you are this with me.
How about practically? How's it really working out in your life, Jacob? That you'll only
know when you live with people. Because every fruit of the spirit,
every gift of the spirit other than the gift of tongues, only works in
relationship.
Third, he says, now that you know yourself positionally and practically,
don't grasp, don't seize, don't sulk, don't jockey for
inclusion, don't jockey and sulk and seize and grasp for recognition, for privileges or
equality. Stop it! Because I didn't. I let go of all of that,
even though I had an absolute right to be one with the Godhead. I set it aside
and I never grasped for it while I was on the earth. They said to me, you can call
on a legion of angels and I refused.
Set it aside.
And then,
even when the devil comes to tempt you,
don't
inflict or lick your wounds.
So remember I was telling you that story where I went and I had done a lot of work and
no credit was given to me? And it didn't bother me because it was self-forgetfulness.
And then I remember going back home and I get home and then these voices
start coming up in my head. Do you realize that you weren't recognized?
Do you know how much you sacrificed?
Maybe they don't think you're sophisticated enough. Maybe they didn't want to introduce you to their friends.
Well, next time be careful about how much you give.
Some people are not grateful. And these little voices
are like a fool. Instead of shutting it down, I gave it some
airtime, man. I didn't realize that I was doing it wrong.
I gave it some airtime, man.
And it was fascinating how pride, which is basically
why I was beginning to get hurt and offended, crept in.
And then I suddenly realized that I ran out to my balcony because it was winter when this happened.
And cold air always does things to you. It makes you think right.
I ran out to my balcony and I stood there for a while and walked around and the cold air brought me back to my senses.
It was not the cold air, it was the Holy Spirit, but it felt cold.
At the end of the day after I was done, I went back in and I was thinking to myself, Jacob, why did you even give it airtime?
This is what we do. We sometimes walk away from situations without a scar and we go home and we give it airtime.
And that is when he comes and says, if you were the son of God
and you begin to inflict or lick your wounds, pride causes offense.
Then he goes on to say, I deliberately make myself
I deliberately make myself, I deliberately make myself
of no reputation.
Beautifully. Giving up privileges.
Earned privileges that have been earned
or bestowed or deserved. I give it up.
This is what Jesus did. He's telling us how to go about this from Philippians 2.
I deliberately, I know some of you old timers have heard this story before, but
there was a lady at Acts 29, her name was Betty.
Not the present Betty, this is the past Betty. And so Betty brought
two well-known prophetic preachers from Ontario.
And they came and Betty said, Jacob, is it okay if they preach?
And I said yes. And so they came and she said, can you meet them?
I said okay. So I went and picked them up. And they thought I was a taxi driver.
So they came and then
they told me they wanted Starbucks. Can I go get them some Starbucks?
They thought I was hired for the entire day. So I went and got them Starbucks.
Maybe I wasn't dressed well or whatever. I don't know.
Ah, that was it.
I didn't even realize because when you are humble, you don't realize.
So then
I had to go drop them at the shopping mall, wait for them. Then they said drop us back and then
come and pick us up after we slept. And at some point I realized
this is actually enjoyable when you deliberately make yourself of no reputation.
So I actually took on that role. Like I wasn't even pretending.
But I was also looking forward to the evening service.
That is a part of me that was slightly sneaky because I thought to myself, alrighty, when they come for the evening
service and Betty comes and introduces them to me, this is the past I wanted to see their face and it was priceless.
But the point is, can I deliberately make
and then they had an amazing prophetic word for me, which included humility.
So I deliberately
make myself of no reputation. This is something Jesus did.
He took on the role of a servant.
Giving up privileges that are earned, bestowed, deserved.
Privileges you have earned, privileges you have been bestowed, privileges that you deserve.
And then the last one is
you come down to the lowest level in the room.
You come down to the lowest level in the room.
That of a born man.
That of a born servant.
That's how low he went. And when that happens, the highest one
tents on you.
Always remember guys, the grace of God
looks for the greatest depression.
Because like water, the grace of God looks for the greatest depression.
In this room, the grace of God finds someone
who actually in their heart thinks nothing of themselves.
Because like water, it will find the lowest place
and that is what it begins to fill first.
And this is why sometimes some of the richest things come from some of the most
unexpected, unknown places. What good can come from Nazareth?
Some of the lowest places in Galilee.
That's why I marvel at some of you. You have such low places
but I just am fascinated at how God is using you.
I don't pick on names but I'm in awe of you.
To walk in presence we have to be obedient. To be obedient we have to be humble.
To be humble we have to depend on others.
To walk in presence we have to be obedient. To be obedient we have to be humble. To be humble we have to be dependent.
In a sense, salvation is the restoration of lost humility.
To walk in presence you have to be obedient.
To be obedient you have to be humble. Jesus, Philippians 2, 6-7.
He was obedient. He humbled himself. He was obedient unto death.
To walk in presence you have to be humble. To be humble you have to be dependent.
To be humble you have to be dependent.
And so salvation in a sense
or redemption is the restoration
of lost humility.
And so that makes us entirely dependent upon the presence of God.
So I'll stop there.
Can someone lead us in prayer with regard to this church
walking with greater humility? Can someone pray that I walk in greater humility?
I don't want to say word of caution, but some people say,
Oh God, humble us.
And to me that's scary because you said humble yourself.
I'd rather humble myself and have God.
I was reading a story of a Jewish rabbi who stood before the Lord and said,
I'm nothing. And then his cantor came and he also knelt before the Lord and said,
I'm nothing. And then there was a janitor. He came and said, I'm nothing too.
And the rabbi turned to the cantor and said, who does he think he is?
So it can get quite nasty when everybody is crying out humble us, humble us.
But let's ask God with this caution for humility in this church
where when we ask that strange thing happens, God begins to point out the areas of pride,
areas of elitism, areas of exclusivity.
And then please pray that
I'll walk in greater humility.
Humble yourselves in the sight of God. So we are going to God and saying, Oh God, we want this.
Please help us.
So pray the best you can because I think
there's a point to what Jill is saying. It always says, hey, humble yourselves.
Otherwise God has to humble us, but I would prefer if we humbled ourselves.
So pray the best you know how.
And pray for me. Why am I asking you to pray for me?
One, because it's an admission that I needed.
And two, if that happens, it will benefit me and it will benefit us all.
Yeah? So.
Father, right from 2 Chronicles 7 or 1 Chronicles 7,
you've been saying stuff like, if my people humble themselves.
In the New Testament, Paul says, humble yourselves or humble ourselves.
And then Jesus, you showed us how this works.
We just talked about it.
Because we want to be aware of your presence, because your presence never leaves.
Because we want your presence to have the freedom, the unrestrained freedom to flow through us across the earth.
We are asking for this soil.
Actually the word humility, guys, comes from the word humus. Humus means ground or soil.
And to be humble is to walk close to the ground or soil.
To eke out an existence from the dust of the earth is what the word humble comes from. Humus.
So Father, I ask for good ground above for us.
So please help us pray and be Holy Spirit.
And then the Lord will answer our prayers when we pray according to his will.
So that we begin to reflect this nature of you to the world.
That we stand out. There's a difference because we're okay to be humiliated.
We're okay to say, hey, it's not my shadow that I want people to see, but I want people to see Christ shatter.
And to let your shadow be what shines through me, requires that I humble myself.
That I humble myself.
So it's no longer me, but it's you.
And Father, you know the conditions of our hearts.
And there's too much deceitfulness in our hearts.
And pridefulness.
And just the things that we want to change.
And I think that you are a shepherd who will guide us with your heart at times.
Because through things where we become servants who follow you wholeheartedly,
we can be a shepherd who will guide us through the things that we want to change.
And I think that you are a shepherd who will guide us through the things that we want to change.
I just want to ask as an example to us Father, what his weaknesses are.
And I just thank you that he's able to bottle that for us.
Because I think that's the first thing to humility is willing to be honest with ourselves and others, Father.
What we need to change, Father.
I pray for myself, Father, and the things that you show me that I can be honest and be willing to change.
Thank you. Father, I struggle with entitlement.
And when that is challenged, when privileges that I have either earned or deserved or have been bestowed upon me
not given the attention or the respect, high bristle, Father,
just take your finger, Father, and remind me so that that area changes, Father.
That area changes.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you, Father.
Yeah, man.
Yeah, Jesus. Yeah, Jesus.
Yeah. Hallelujah.
Hallelujah. Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah.
Yeah, man. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, man.
Have the same mind as that of Christ.
He's here. He's listening. He will answer.
So feel free to pray if you want to.
He's praying for us.
Yeah. Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
The joy of humility. Crazy.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.
John 13, verse one to three, knowing where he had come from and knowing where he was going,
he took off his robes and he began to wash the disciples' feet.
Help us know, Father.
Anyone else?
Yeah.
Amen. Hey, can you pull up on a hill far away?
Stood an old rugged cross. We'll end with that.
How many know this song without the words?
Anyone who's about 30.
Hey, feel free.
It's called the old rugged cross.
On a hill far away.
Stood an old rugged cross.
The emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old cross.
Where the dearest and best.
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross.
Till my trophies at last I lay down.
And I will cling to the old rugged cross.
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Oh, that old rugged cross.
So despised by the world.
As a wondrous attraction for me.
For the dear lamb of God.
Left his glory above.
To bear it to dark Calvary.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross.
Till my trophies at last I lay down.
And I will cling to the old rugged cross.
And I'll exchange it someday for a crown.
In that old rugged cross.
Stained with blood so divine.
A wondrous beauty I see.
Thoughts was on that old cross.
She's a sufferer that dith.
To pardon and sanctify me.
So I'll cherish that old rugged cross.
Till my trophies at last I lay down.
And I will cling to the old rugged cross.
And exchange it someday for a crown.
To the old rugged cross.
I will ever be true.
It's shame and reproach gladly bear.
Then he'll call me someday.
To my home far away.
Where is glory forever I'll say.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross.
Till my trophies at last I lay down.
I will cling to the old rugged cross.
And exchange it someday for a crown.
We bless you father.
You never stop amazing us Sunday after Sunday.
Monday after Monday.
Weekday after weekday.
How are you always so new?
We bless you.
Alrighty guys, ladies you know where to go guys.
I don't know where you're supposed to go.
If you need prayer feel free to come up
and someone will pray for you.