All For The Glory Of God - Relationship Goals

0:06 Welcome to another inspirational podcast at Real Life. Church for more great content and updates, visit Real Life Church. Kc.com a man, there's never been a king like this. He is the king of all Kings, the name above all names and That name is Jesus. Awesome. Welcome to Real Life Church. Everyone. How we doing this morning? Whoo. All right. Love it. I love it. Do you guys know today is a very big Sunday. We've had a lot of big Sunday's the past few weeks but today is time change Sunday, how about daylight savings time? We happy about that.

0:51 Alright, I hope you guys had all grown. Got a donut out in the Gathering space before we came in today. And if you haven't get one afterwards, welcome to Real Life Church here at Kentucky Trail. Elementary. My name is Brandon, if you have not met me before, but I'm just so happy to see your smiling faces out here this morning, but there is another group I want to recognize and I do not see their smiling faces but I know they're smiling at home or you're watching from another place. Wherever it might be, we give a big welcome to Real Life Church online. Make them feel welcome here this morning and he go Head and then say hi to a neighbor, give him a waiver a handshake and then find your seat. All right, all right.

1:46 Well if you are new here, this morning, first off, welcome. So glad you decided to join us for Real Life Church here this Sunday and we would love to see you back here as well. So I hope that you get plugged in helping able to talk to someone maybe someone with an ask me badge, just like this just to help you feel a little more connected here but we do have a couple next steps for you. Go ahead and pull out your phone and text are L knew to 97,000 whether it's going to do, it's going to take you to a link for our digital communication card. Just A few short questions that help us get to know you a little bit better and I'll be me will feel more connected here. Every Life Church you can do the exact same thing by scanning, the QR code on the seat back in front of you, which will take you to that same link, we'd invite you to fill that out now. And if you are joining us in person, I would advise you to the new here, Booth immediately following the Gathering where we do have a small gift for you.

2:33 Just for being here this morning, Well, Real Life Church is a church on Mission and that mission is to see people far from God, discover their real life and purpose in Jesus because we truly believe that every soul in this room and outside this room matters to God and was designed for a specific purpose to serve him. And so we just want to help people connect to that to lean into that. And we're finishing up, a series that has really helped us. You know, think about our relationships, you know, in person, but Also spiritually. And so as we conclude our A ship Gold Series this morning. We're actually going to invite our first lady. I realized Church up to the stage and she kind of concludes the series about how we can further lean into our relationships with each other, professional personal romantic marriage, whatever might be.

3:20 And so, let's give it up for Diane and she makes her way to the stage. Thanks Brandon will hey. hey, I did about what God damn it, man. I love that new song and I'm really excited that we get to sing in. I'm excited to see that. Maybe there's some faces out here that I haven't met. There's some faces, I haven't seen in awhile and so just welcomed. Like, if you're new with us, if you're returning, if you're our guest today, we are so excited to be with you. And so if you hadn't had a chance to jump into our relationship Series, this is kind of the final week the ending of this and I'm very excited to be able to speak to you today. So I don't know about you but man, God has been moving like his power and his presence in.

4:00 Relationships through this series and I know about you, but there is no better time than time change Sunday to let God change your relationships, right? So I'm just, you know, pumped about it. So this last week God's been challenging me through the last few weeks to be strengthening my marriage. Strengthened, my relationship with Sean, and I know many of you have shared that you've started, you know, like, putting God back into the center of your marriage adding in time to pray with each other, maybe adding in time to do other things with each other that Sean's like, hey, we'll have a baby. You know, in about nine months here real life church because this relationship serious when I said he's like, please say that joke. That's so funny in the sun like okay, I did Seth it's for you babe but you know, but it honestly some of you maybe have gotten honest with each other may be brutally. Honest and come clean about some things that need to be stripped away, some habits and need to change for your marriage to thrive.

4:52 Maybe some of you are doing the hard work of forgiveness, that is not an easy Road. Letting go of that, bitterness and the things that are holding you back in there. And I've even Talk to some people who say, you know what, this is really open some conversations that we can kind of manage our expectations about how we can best serve each other in our relationships. And so it's been so encouraging to me to see and just hear feedback about how God is moving in relationships through this. Because let's be real, like, relationships are hard, aren't they? It's it doesn't just magically fall from the sky that you have this, you know, beautiful god-honoring thing. Like it takes work and maybe today, you're like, you know what, I've never been in a healthy relationship. I don't What that looks like? Or maybe you've never been in a relationship or you're just looking for that mr.

5:35 Or mrs. Right. And you haven't found them yet, or maybe you did find mr. Or mrs. Right. And now you find yourself in the middle of an ugly divorce. It's just not going the way that you thought it was going to, you know, I see a lot of people who spend a lot of time looking at other people's grass too much time, letting comparison steal their joy and letting what somebody else has take away from what they have themselves. Maybe you've been in or you're in an abusive or controlling. This is a painful Topic in time, maybe you're married, but you've just given up altogether that. It's even going to work out or that God can use your marriage. We know globally that like 50% almost 50% of marriages end in divorce and that doesn't matter if your Christians are not, doesn't matter if you go to church or not, there's no difference in those statistics at all which gives us a clue about, just how hard it is. You can't just apply a sticker on top of something and oh that's magically going to make it easy or better. But I think for so, so many of us, the key that has to kind of flip and especially, you know, some of us been married a longer time as you have to turn marriage from something into that.

6:37 You just do and remember back to the reason why you said I do in the first place. Why did God bring you together? Why are you together and how can you use that to find the purpose of God in that? And so I believe that God wants your marriage, your relationship, you to exist, all for the glory of God. We've been talking about that over the last few weeks. So the first move, Talked about Adam and Eve and how God really wants us United together, for the things of God in our marriage, a couple weeks ago, Shawn shared through a fusions 5 and the foundation of marriage and that picture of Christ in the church and how we have that together to be with God, this the reality is this.

7:17 And today we're going to talk about that. Marriages are hard but marriages, that are based on ourselves are even harder. So how do you build a relationship that lasts that's all for the glory of God? And so we're going to dive in today to the story of A new testament. Power couple, I'm calling them for the glory of God to see how we can build our marriage, not only on ourselves but for God's glory. So we're going to jump into acts. 18 is where we see a lot of the story of this couple and we're going to start in verse 1 and it says this, then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth and there, he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila born in pontus who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife Priscilla. They had left Italy, when Claudius, Caesar deported all Use from Rome, it says Paul lived and worked with them for. They were tentmakers, just like he was and every Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince Jews and Greeks alike. So we meet our power couple here, this is Priscilla and Aquila or Aquila and Priscilla, they are always named together in scripture.

8:19 The order changes all the time which I think is just really fascinating. But first, it says that they met Paul in the marketplace, they were tent makers together and then he lived with them and worked with them. Now, I don't know what that might have been like, If you can imagine living with Paul, it's probably a pretty Rowdy time between by this point in Acts 18, like Paul's been, you know, Stone and imprison all this kind of stuff. So like, hey Paul, come stay with us, right? So during the day, there in the marketplace, their tent making, they're doing this trade of work together and they were probably making like linen type tense. It had to be woven for like awnings or sales or something like that. And then like all the rest of the time, like, 24/7, they're ministering together. Like I don't think Paul probably had pretty clear divisions of like oh work hours are done.

8:59 Now, we're going to go into Ministry time. I guess, just like it's who he was and by Nature, if Paul was with them doing this, that's who they were two, they were together United in that. So they're ministering together. They were growing together in their faith. They were challenging each other and they were on Mission together. But it's interesting to look at the duo of Aquila, and Priscilla in light of that because they had to be building a relationship that lasted on the glory of God, to be able to let Paul come and live with them in that moment. Like and so, it's just really incredible to see. So the first thing that we see here is that to build a relationship that lasts, you have to be matched together for the glory of God. So Aquila and Priscilla were together, some use this term equally yoked. You may have heard of or like match together for the things of God and they were together they were in Ministry together doing work together, all those things.

9:51 So if we think about their timeline, they were persecuted and deported from Rome for their faith. So essentially they were refugees for God move to a different part. Of the world. And so they're refugees. They have nothing there hanging out here in Corinth and they meet Paul. And the first thing there is like, yeah, let this guy come and move in with us, right? Homeless guy missionary Paul, who has nothing but the shirt on his back and Jesus, it's like, okay, yeah, come live with us, come stay with us. And it's just this simple Act of taking him in and then all of a sudden they become co-workers and co-laborers, together to the call in the mission of what God is doing in the world at that time. And who knows sometimes the will of God in our life is just that simple. It's like you know what hey we're Going to take this guy in because something cool is happening here.

10:34 It wasn't just what I want or what's comfortable. It might not be the best idea to have, you know, missionary Paul, staying in the dinner, you know, whatever that looked like at that time, period. But Aquila and Priscilla were on Mission together saying not just you and me, let our will be done but the third person in the relationship wasn't Paul. It was Jesus. They had already invited him into say whatever you want. Jesus. We want to be obedient to that. We want to be matched Together For Your Glory, in our marriage, but it Begs the question. What do you do when you and your spouse aren't equally yoked or matched up in that way? When you can't accomplish what God's calling you to together in this time frame? And so I want you to look at Second Corinthians 6:14. This is where this idea of this equally yoked comes from.

11:16 It says do not become Partners or the Greek word. Actually means mismatched with those who do not believe for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness or what Fellowship does light have with Darkness. So Paul's giving the Corinthian Church a warning there basically to say, hey you don't want to enter a partnership or a marriage with somebody who doesn't believe in Jesus who doesn't have Christ at the center and Foundation of themself. But here's the thing that I've seen, just because somebody goes to church and calls themself a Christian doesn't necessarily mean that they are matched with you, with what God is calling you to do in your life, after 15 years of ministry. I've seen this happen time and time again, where you have two people who are coming together.

12:00 There and it's not always the case. But sometimes the case where one person is being called of God to do something. And the other one is not a believer in there and then they have that hard work of trying to figure that out, but it's not that they were an unbelieving spouse. But what's often times more the case is that they had an unwilling spouse. So it's not the unbelieving spouse that holds you back from and what God wants you to do. But it's the unwilling spouse who's not entered into the call of God in your life. In that case then it's not you have to both believe, yes. But you have to both be willing to say yes to the things of God to be equally matched in yoked up for the glory of God and I can tell you what this looks like for me.

12:43 So when I was 19 years old I surrendered to God. I had a moment where I was like you know what, I want to use my life to serve God. I had no idea what that was going to look like. I had all kinds of ideas. Obviously God has different plans and past but at that time that I made that decision, God whatever you want. I want to be obedient to your call. I'm going to go where you lead. I was single. I was not dating, I was not engaged, I was not married. And so what happened was, then this guy comes along and I'm like, okay, and so, then he says, you're welcome, then when I started dating Shaun, there's like what I call this season of determining like, is this guy? First of all, you know, the normal dating stuff, you think of you're trying to meet those criteria. Of course, he's a Christian, you know, he knows God, he's going to Bible college, but the question I really have to determine and ask myself and you're in that period of dating or engaged and thinking does Does this person's passion for God?

13:32 Match? Mine does the way that this person follows God is that going to match me or even exceed me in a passion to move forward? Is this person going to encourage me to follow the call of God on my life? Are they going to hold me back from the things that I know that God is calling me to do? Is marrying Sean going to bring me closer to God? Or is he going to push me farther away from him in that moment? Because if this person is not able to help me answer the call of God in my life, then it Matter if that person is the nicest most church-going Christian person, you know that persons not for you because they're not able to match together with what God is calling you to do. The sole purpose of dating in that realm is to determined as our character. Does our passion, does our heart is our humility to those things aligned with what God is calling us to do. If the answer to that is, yes, then we can say, okay, great. This is all for the glory of God, but if not, there has to be some of those serious conversations to say. Where are we going?

14:30 What are we? Doing with this, you know? And so Sean and I are both really driven people in different ways and different Realms sometimes and so when we were dating and as we entered into marriage, you know I have a lot of personal goals. A lot of things that are on my heart, to follow God, to do Big Dreams that he's called me to and passions, he's giving me that you don't ignore just because your together he's wired, you passion to you for certain things. But what happened is when we entered into this Covenant of marriage, I can easily push towards those goals, but what had to happen Instead, as I can't just move myself forward without regard to our united calling. All of a sudden entering into that together, I can't just be like, well, God called me to go live and hunt in Africa, to be a missionary, sorry about your bad luck. You know, I have to say like God called us together to reach people for the gospel.

15:18 What does that look like with us using our gifts together? And so, when I married him as a wife and entering into this Covenant, with Sean, it's this, you know, one of the ways that I bring glory to God in my personal life, is By putting myself in a position to help him putting myself in a position to yield to his leadership in our life to say. And some of those really big hard decisions. Hey, I don't necessarily always know a God wants us to do, but I'm trusting that you were leading and guiding Us in that way. And as of wife, there is a submitted part of me that yields to that based on the order that God has given us. When I said, I do, it's more than just like a legal contract that I have signed. It is a covenant to be together matched.

16:00 On mission for the glory of God. And so we're United, I yield to his leadership, and that doesn't change as opportunities or circumstances or things. Come along. Our way that desire to be United together in on Mission doesn't change. Even if our roles change or different seasons make that different. So we are not just, you know, believing in God together and following him and serving him which is great and are good things. But together were willing for, as God, speaks to us, to do whatever it is that he calls us to in whatever. Season that that looks like and I determined that as we were dating to say if I'm United to that guy, then my life and my relationship can be all for the glory of God and decision that you have to make along the way.

16:44 So we're going to continue with our friends Aquila and Priscilla here, it says, in chapter 18, verse 18 through 21. It says, Paul stayed on in Corinth, for some time, we know from verse 11, actually the he was there for about 18 months. It says then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria accompanied by And Aquila. So he loaded those guys up and said, we're continuing on this missionary journey before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Centre a because of a vow, he had taken and they arrived at Ephesus which is modern-day turkey. Sometimes, it'll be called the churches in Asia in the Bible. And it says, that's where Paul left them. So he left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself, though. Went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews, and they asked him to spend more time with them there.

17:27 They had questions, they wanted to know more about this Jesus and he declined. Find. But as he left, he promise I'll come back. If it's God's Will, and then he set sail from Ephesus. Cool, is it, that Paul found so much value in Aquila and Priscilla and they're passionate Pursuit Of God that he could say? You know what, we're going to sail together to go on this missionary journey and I'm going to leave you here with these people who are eager to learn about God, who have these questions? You know, they were begging Paul to stay, please come back to the synagogue. Tell us more about this. Jesus, we want to know and he's like, I've got one better, I'm leaving you this United couple who is excited? I'm passionate about the things of God, leaving them here because they were willing to leave everything. They had to come here just to share the gospel with you, like there on that missionary journey together with Paul and they would go on to plant more churches in that area.

18:15 There's a whole cluster of churches in the area around Ephesus. And the next time, Paul writes back to them, it's cool because it wasn't just that they were in the synagogue, talking to the Jews. By that point, they were having a church meeting in their house. Their synagogue was no longer their place of worship it. Is Aquila and Priscilla has living room who they once again, opened up their house to be used by God. And really, the pattern that you see throughout here is that they were simply willing to be used. But to build that relationship, that lasts that's open to whatever God has for you, you have to be matched for the glory of God. And so, the second thing that we see this power couple for Jesus doing is that you have to be passionate about the word of God. So let's take a look at how passionate Priscilla and Aquila worry about the word of God as we continue. Acts 18 24 through 26 is here says, meanwhile a Jew named a policy, an eloquent speaker.

19:07 Who knew the scriptures? Well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. He had been taught the way of the Lord and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit. And with accuracy, man. Wouldn't that be a good one? Like who? She's got this going today? However, we he only knew about John's baptism, he says. Okay, so catch this when Priscilla and Aquila heard him boldly preaching. In the synagogue, only the baptism of John. They took him aside and what's it say they do. They took him aside and Explain the way of God more accurately. This couple was so passionate about the word of God, that they saw this young bright preacher in the synagogue and they recognized that he had so much potential but he was missing a few things. So what they did is they pulled the preacher aside, right? Can you imagine next week?

19:57 Sean's up here preaching and your over like that's not what it says you know. Come on. Give me a mean. That's pretty bold to go up into the synagogue and these people are preaching the word of God. But they're like, hey, good news. They pull him aside and they're like, we know the whole story like we've been hanging out with Paul for the last year and a half and he hung out with Jesus for three years before that in the wilderness. Like, we know the whole story of God is this and the baptism was John was just leading the way into this incredible work, that Jesus was going to do and now he rose again like so excited, like they had. But what I love about this is they weren't just like, oh man, I got he just, you know, only John what an idiot. He doesn't even know the whole story of Jesus and he's preaching the synagogue. Ugh.

20:38 Like they pulled him aside, they saw that and you know that I can't even think of words right now, they saw the potential that he had and said we want to take this young man and we want to make him better and as a couple they poured into him to say you have great potential for the power and the ministry of god, let's make this even better. So hey, you know, go back up there and get him and tell him the whole story. Now, but as a couple's, as relationships as people who follow God, we have to know the word of God. Well, enough to encourage people when we hear it, you know, not being spell. I've been thinking about going to a cafe. And so the brothers and sisters in Ephesus, his church was like, Hey, if God's calling you to go, let's go. Send you out to do this, to preach the word of God and so they encouraged him to go.

21:19 They actually wrote a letter to the Believers there in aquella asking them to welcome him, like Hey we're sending our guy appalled as he's coming and so when he arrived there it says he proved to be of great benefit to those who by God's grace had believed he this is a palace. He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in Like debate using. What does it say? He used, he used the scriptures, he explained to them. That Jesus was the Messiah. How cool is it? That just a little bit later in the story? We see that them pouring in the word of God, into this young man. Now he is going out and because of the fruit of their marriage and their Ministry together is now reaching people across the world for the gospel because they cared enough to step in and show somebody the word of God, the effective and fruitful Ministry that Apollo's was able to have, was because they poured into Him and so there's people in your life that God has called you to pour into in some Seasons.

22:14 It is your kids. It's your life group. It's people that God has put in your path at work. God has put people in the path of your marriage to reach with the word of God. And so we have to be passionate about that word of God. I want you to see one more person is even really cooler. Eventually God would raise a policy up as a great leader over all of the church. So in First Corinthians 1:12 it says this, it says, what I mean is this One of you says I follow Paul another, I follow a policy another, I follow cephas or Peter and still another I follow Christ. So what's happening in this verse here? Is it Paul's writing a letter to the Corinthians and he's kind of calling them out because they're getting really tribal and they're arguing with each other about which great leader of the church.

22:55 You know, that they follow like, which Mega pastors your favorite, you know, kind of thing that they're doing and they're arguing about it. But look at the company that a policy is keeping in this list. He comes from as this young guy who doesn't even know the word of God and now it's like Paul. Apollo's, Peter. Jesus, like that's some pretty significant company to show you that. He's been a great leader in the early church. There that Paul is writing that letter and so it's just cool to see how God is using Aquila and Priscilla to make a difference in the whole Church of God and the Believers of Corinth have that pretty impressive list there. What's truly remarkable also about Aquila and Priscilla is passionate about the word of God is that says that they were actually willing to die for it to move forward. So if we move to Romans 16, 3 through 5, It says this is Paul again writing to a different Church in Rome, give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila my co-workers in the ministry of Jesus Christ. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. Now I know that they were good friends and close to Paul but risking their lives so that he could live risking their lives so that the gospel could go forth. He says, I'm thankful for them and so were all the Gentile churches also.

24:02 Give my greetings to the church that meets in their home again, how far are you willing to risk? Your life risk yourself risk, your comfort even so that the word of God can go out to others really of everything. Our marriages our positions, our professions our families, our possessions, everything, that we have Really for the glory of God, God's given it to us, to further the gospel. And so Priscilla, and Aquila are an awesome example of saying, how can we use what God has given us to let the word of God? Go out in that way, when we're together, equally pulling for the things of God in our marriage. It starts with a passion, for God's word. And so, excuse me, in the last thing we see for healthy lasting relationships.

24:47 Is this, is that the mission of God Is Bigger Than yourself? So let's see again what Paul wrote back in his letter to the Corinthian Church? Which is the church where he first met Aquila and Priscilla it says in 1619 in First Corinthians the churches in the province of Asia so that is the church at Ephesus. Send you greetings Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord and so does the church that meets at their house? When we first met this couple in Corinth they were working in living with Paul, he was living in their home. We follow that timeline again, they were kicked out of Rome moved to Corinth and they Paul there, he took them to Ephesus and left them there to plant churches many churches. And then eventually they ended up back in Rome. What had kicked them out of Rome had, you know, that a died and they were able to come back to Rome. And again in that place they had a church meeting in their home everywhere.

25:37 They went along the way they had opened up a God gave them for the gospel. We see this passage in Romans 16 3 through 5, again to highlight a different part of it says, give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila my co-workers in the ministry of Jesus. In fact, they once Risked their lives for me, I'm thankful for them and so were all the Gentile churches. Give my greetings to the church that meets in their house living on Mission together in this way for them looked like opening their home to the word of God in multiple cities, opening their home for the Church of God across the area and just being in tune and being obedient to the call of God. It's so much so that I love this line in there that all the Gentile churches were thankful for this couple. There are some like theologians and historians. Ian's that actually proposed that outside of you know like the work of Paul and Peter and a few other key people that their willingness to be open and obedient to God multiplied. The early church far beyond what it could have been because they were willing to go and willing to be used for the glory of God. It's incredible.

26:38 How God blessed that obedience and their commitment to follow him. No matter what. Because, you know, it's really one thing to have that common denominator of faith. We both believe we both love God, we go to church, we serve God. But the reason that God brings us together in marriage is because he wants us to know him. Sean and I knew and that season of determining and coming together that we can do more together for the gospel than we can do a part. We know that together we can accomplish more for the kingdom together. We can be a force to fight back against Darkness together. We could be a power couple for Jesus one day, right? Like, how cool it would be to look back and be like, because of your obedience, God has done great things, that's the heart, and what It doesn't mean is that you have to have to be on Mission together.

27:22 You don't have to have the same gifts, we do not have the same gifts, we do not have the same personality. As a matter of fact, even within the mission of God, we have different passions and things that God has put on our heart that we can move in the same direction towards does it mean that we look identical in that way? And honestly in a lot of ways we couldn't be more opposite in the way that we communicate, the way that we see things, the way that we look at the world and really kind of You know, in a side note I don't need God to give me somebody, that's just like me. Because what I need is God to give me somebody who's going to sharpen me in the process of sanctification that God gives us through a marriage. If you say there's nothing, that's not painful about sanctification in the Bible, it's, you know, it's sandpaper rubbing off rough edges, its iron sharpening iron, it's burning away.

28:08 The things that don't need to be there. It's not for me to be comfortable. God has given me Shawn so that I can be closer to God and God has brought us together so that we can be on mission for his glory in the world. He didn't give me a spouse. Oh, so I would always feel good, always feel happy or get to the end of my life and be like, what a fun time we had, you know, like there's just there's such a bigger picture of what God is doing behind the scenes in his glory, is more important than my happiness. That doesn't mean that I'm not happy doesn't mean that we don't have a lot of fun together and they God has given us so many blessings. And we enjoy our life, our they're not fulfilled because we are but what it means is that the priority of our marriage has never been on happiness. I don't get to come to the end of the 15 years from now and say, oh well I'm just not really happy with you. Because that's not why we're together. If I'm unhappy with you today, then I get to talk to you about it.

28:58 I don't get to say like, well, I'm unhappy and that's a deal breaker. Today, the glory of God and the call of God, on our life is the most important priority of our marriage. And when that is at the foundation, then we can be on Mission together a couple of weeks ago. Shawn walked us through a fusions 5 is a model of Christ, in church in the marriage, the foundation. And it starts with verse 21. It says this in 521, it says in submitting to one Another out of reverence for Christ and who knows? Maybe Paul was reflecting back of that wonderful, couple Aquila and Priscilla that this church would have known to say. Remember how well they modeled that for us submitting to each other out of reverence for Christ. You know, you guys remember when you met and their home and you saw that because Paul wasn't married, so maybe God gave him a special couple to be able to instruct about marriage.

29:44 But it's interesting that the original Greek word here used for submitting actually would have been understood as a military term and it means to put oneself in rank. Somebody else submitting to one another, but if you're constantly submitting on one another, in the military, there's always a head, right? There's always a boss and in this case it would be Christ. So Sean and I are constantly trying to under rank each other under the submission of Christ in that way. And I can be honest with you today, our culture doesn't like that word submit very much because I have far too many preferences and my own selfish ambition. And my own rights that I have to keep right. Right? I got to keep up with all that stuff because that's important.

30:25 But you don't find that modeled in scripture anywhere that my rights and my happiness, and my comfort is more important than what God has called me to do. Because the meaning of the word submit here, really implied to these Believers, that it was taking on the mindset of a servant where instead of expecting others to cater to you and your needs, you get to look out for and seek to meet their needs. We've talked about, it's not a 50-50 kind of relationship where Shawn does his 50%. I do my 50%, this is like a hundred hundred kind of relationship. We're 100% of the time. I seek to meet his needs. I seek to serve him 100% of the time. I am trying to raise up and Champion the call of God in his life. One hundred percent of the time, I'm his cheerleader and greatest Defender when somebody else isn't 100% of the time, I'm trying to serve him.

31:10 Because when I'm really 100% of the time, submitted and yielded to Jesus, that's just an outpouring and outflowing of my already submitted self to Christ, and I can model that submission to shine because he's put him there in my Life. And it's pretty powerful because we don't see our own rights in the Bible very much. But we see a really clear model of how to serve others with the mindset of a servant. I want you to look in Philippians 2, 1 through 8 because I think that the life of Jesus has given us a pretty clear recipe for how to follow God in our marriage. That says, therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ that already sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? If any comfort from his love?

31:50 If any common sharing in the spirit If any tenderness and compassion than make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love being in one spirit and one mind that already sounds like a pretty clear recipe for a marriage relationship, founded on the glory of God, right? But of course, Jesus goes on, and Paul goes on about Jesus says do nothing out of selfish ambition, or vain conceit, rather in humility value, others above yourselves, not looking to your own Interest. But each of you to the interests of the others in your, what's it say? Help me out in your relationships, with one another.

32:31 Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. That's it. That sentence right there. How do you build a marriage that lasts for the glory of God in your relationship? You have the same mindset of Jesus. What does it say that he did? Who being in the very nature? God did not consider equality with God, something to be used to his own advantage and I'll stop and pause right there because that's where we The hard time with the word submit because maybe there's a leader in Authority, that's taken advantage of that. And they are in a position Over You for their own selfish, ambition, and vain conceit. But in my world and the world got intended for us that leadership, the headship of our family is Sean who is not leading me out of his own selfish ambition or vain conceit.

33:11 He's leading with the responsibility of Loving Me Like Jesus and just like he is the head of our family. Then Christ is the head of our relationship. We have this headship here in this lordship. God has created this Order for our good to have this. And so, can I submit to leadership in my life? That is seeking for my best good and needs, guess I can in that way, then we get to seek to serve each other so didn't use that to his own Advantage. It says, rather he made himself Nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance. As a man, he humbled himself being obedient by becoming obedient to death, even In the death on a cross.

33:56 Me. And if we started with that at the foundation of our marriages, I think we would be a lot closer to everything being centered on. The glory of God Jesus gave us the perfect picture of submission showed us exactly in modeled how to love each other to the fullest. And we're called to submit to each other, to be equally matched in purpose and calling to serve over any personal ambition. And I can tell you that this recipe E4 relationships is not easy. This takes work, it can be hard, it can be challenging. And if it's screwed up, that's okay. God can fix anything. He can restore anything that he wants to, and I believe that he can provide healing that today if that's not where you're at. But the reward for this recipe is a life well-lived that when you get to the end of your life or even beyond that into the next life to look back and say because we were matched and because we were passionate about the word of God. Because we were on a mission together. People can say because of the faithfulness of Sean and Diane man we came to Jesus because you were obedient to the call of God, we came to your church and we got saved because of The Obedience of you, your children, grew up in the Lord and they helped lead me to Christ like because you were faithful to share the word of God at your work together. I came to know Jesus that reward at the end for the life focused on.

35:21 Jesus is so much more than what's happening in the here and right. Right now. The last time that we see the mention of Aquila and Priscilla in the scripture, is at the end of 2nd Timothy. This book would have been written about 15 years after Paul first methane, and Paul knows that the end of his life is really near. This is kind of his last goodbye letter and it's small. It's simple. And second Timothy 4:19 says, greet, Priscilla and Aquila, and the household of one of citrus. He wanted to say goodbye to the people. He loved and cared for so much. What's interesting here though, it actually doesn't me to mention a church meeting in their home. This time period and that is probably because after they had moved back to Rome and how the church in their house, their there was a great fire in Rome in ad 64.

36:07 They actually think that the emperor Nero who was a terrible and ruthless ruler actually started the fire burned down his City, just so he could blame the Christians. So at this point Aquila and Priscilla had probably, again, lost everything their home, their possessions, the church meeting in their home. And not only that, they probably face pretty regular fear and persecution, just being in Rome under this kind. Of terrible leadership. But who knows? It does it takes more than Burning Down the city of Rome. The stop the work and the ministry of God, because the influence that they had in the lives of those young preachers in the life of Paul. In the way that these letters and this influence of the church was going across that area. It lived on far beyond anything that they had that they could physically intangibly hold the fruitfulness of their Ministry lasted through all of that.

36:52 And so I can say that I even in the hardest season of your marriage, maybe your health, Feeling, maybe you have a lot of unknowns right now, your kids are going off the deep end. You don't know what to do. You're facing some of the biggest challenges that you've been in the house is on fire. Maybe you're being forced to flee for persecution of your faith, leaving a job, whatever that looks like in the hardest season, what we get to hold onto is that Jesus is the Cornerstone of our marriage, whatever circumstances changed he is. There he is our Rock, he's our foundation, he's the Cornerstone, he holds it all together. It says by he binds everything together in Love no weapon that is held against us can stand because Christ is in us and Christ is for us. There's nothing we can that can stop him and so we hold tightly to the Cross.

37:37 So today, I just want to leave you with a challenge to have that imagine that Vision, put your mind forward into the future to say what if what if our relationship was all for the glory of God? What if we were matched together in God's purpose? What if we were so passionate about the word of God and we're on Mission together so that in the future people We'll look back and say I'm thankful that you were together for God because my life was changed. I know for Sean and I like, what could be, that's the desire. Why do you come do this every week? Why do you know, why do you give these things at forgot? It's like, it doesn't even feel like, giving up for God, it's not a surrender when the reward is, so great of seeing people come to know Jesus. I hope that one day to be like me and what a picture that you guys were matched to the Church of Christ. You modeled that so well like people were sent out, churches were built.

38:26 Has were made like our heart is to see that happen that even the world tries to smoke you out and it can't be done. You can't burn down the house of God because it exists in us. His glory is to go out for all people. And our job is to be a reflection of that light for the glory of God. Let's pray God, I pray that you would start a fire in our hearts, a Revival in our homes, through our marriages that, we Stand up today and say, God, it's not me, it's not myself but it's your glory is a desire of our hearts today. God and so we just submit ourselves to you to say that we are all in for the glory of God.

39:12 I'd like to talk to a first group of you today. Maybe that you're struggling for you're hurting our you're looking into your marriage or into yourself today and saying, you know what, my marriage is not centered on the glory of God, I've been about Myself, I've been stressed, I haven't been focused on you know, who God is or how I can use my life to mean more for him. If that's you today and you're struggling, you're hurting that you you raise your hand, I would just love to pray for you today. To say, God, I need you at the center of my marriage. God, I need you to be all in God. I want my life to be all for your glory. God, I pray for these people raising their hands today to say, I want to be all in for the glory of God today. I to set a Revival in my heart on fire for you. God help me to see past myself to see to a bigger vision of who you've called me to be.

40:05 Help me to have the mindset of Jesus, in my marriage, the mind of Christ. And I want to pray for a second group of people today as we just continue in prayer, maybe you're saying today, you know what, my foundation for my life isn't Christ. It's just me it's my anxiety. It's my fear, it's my pride, it's my worry. And today, I don't have Jesus in the center of my relationship because I don't have Jesus in the center of my life. He's not a part of me. So, maybe today you'd say, you know what I need Jesus, my marriage is not going to be healed until I am healed until I'm saved me before. So maybe today, if that's you, I need Jesus. If you'd raise your hand, I would love to pray with you. Today is how you can start that formation.

40:49 So, if that's you, I need Jesus today. Just lift up your hand. I would love to pray with you. I won't call you. You out. Just want to pray along with you. You need Jesus today. Raise your hand and then pray. This prayer with me in the prayer. Doesn't save you, but it opens up your heart to God and pray something like this to say Jesus today. I wasn't here by accident. I know I've messed up. I can't do this on my own. I believe you died on the cross for my sins. God, and I trust you today to Save Me From Myself, save me from my sins. So I can walk forward a new life in newness and you God, I trust in you, trust in your healing. And I just thank you for giving me life, take my life and use it. However, you see fit in Jesus name.

41:31 Amen. Hey, let's give it up to everybody who has trusted in Jesus today. Come on. What a word huh? That's what I say for you get out here, really? Really? I don't know. We don't God. Did this outside relationship with Jesus? This is the greatest gift I got right and I encourage you guys in your marriage has to go all in for Jesus for the glory of God. Right. I know a lot of you're like oh man I wish I had that. What they got, whatever. Hey the grass ain't Greener. Come on somebody, right it is. Look at what God has given to you, right? It will be faithful what's in front of you. So, thank you for sharing the word today. Come on somebody, give for Diane again.

42:13 And That's problem right there. So I would encourage you guys for the glory of Jesus few today made that decision. So they mean I'm all in for Christ today. I'm following him. I would encourage you guys still us know, we'd love to help you on your journey. I'm your next steps to follow him and we got a gift for in a way out. There's a red bat bags, got a Bible in it, it's got some next steps. Some resources, most important thing to do though is let us know. We have the privilege and honor of partner with you and just pulling the Jesus and we have all the answers. But if you let us know, let us celebrate with you and encourage you on your journey of Jesus and invite you in and say welcome home really to the family of God. Amen.

42:53 And so I would encourage is less know, you can text them on the screen to RL next. Another thing, that'd be just amazing this season a couple access for everybody to go into the Gulf of the glory of Jesus. We got a lot of come by things coming up, but the first thing is we got baptism coming up on April 9th, on Easter Sunday and know some of you guys have made a decision for Jesus. God, just blessed our church. We reached a lot of new people. People we traditionally baptized about 10% of her church every year and assume you guys missed their last opportunity to do this. We're portable. So we don't do that often. We do it twice a year and so if you made a decision for Jesus, you put Jesus in your life. Maybe you have not been baptized into Jesus. Be baptized before he knew Jesus were baptized outside the faith. I would encourage you to consider to get baptized on Easter Sunday.

43:39 Now, Easter Sunday is probably the greatest Sunday you can ever get baptized, come on somebody, right? It's a picture, which Just did for us on Easter, Jesus had died and then rose again. And so, when you're baptized the picture of you dying, your sin of your dead to Yourself Dead to sin, in your raised to New Life in Christ, Jesus resurrected from the dead. And so it's just a simple picture. It's called a Believers baptism and I would encourage you to let us know maybe of questions. What baptisms about? Maybe you're not sure it's for you. Maybe really want to do it as some of you guys want to last time and missed it and some of you guys here today, so, just get signed up and we're going to connect with you, okay? So We step of the way you're not on your own, you'll just sign up and then just show up that Sunday. And it's like, what am I doing?

44:20 Sorry. Walk through all the process and cellular big and so for the glory god, we're having a big celebration of Easter last year. We had about 450 plus people than Mother's, Day was about 100 more. So it's just packed. And so we're doing something very special this Easter. We're going to just take a step of Faith. We're going to make some extra room, really for the glory of God to move. And so we're going to add a third Gathering Especial. Third gathering on Easter and Mother's Day. Come also Body because they all know about that you're nervous. Ha ha ha. I love it. And here's the realities are space is pretty limited. We had 57 kids in one of our programs last year in one class on Easter Sunday now in about you. But that sounds a little crazy, right?

45:01 And so we're doing is making more space for more people and if you serve on the Dream Team, I would encourage you. We're not going to ask you to get overloaded. We're asking those either call real life, home to kind of step up to the plate on this one. Maybe you call real life home you come on Sunday. As you're not on the serving team on our Dream Team, I would encourage you to step in for the glory of God and to serve on Easter and make a way for more people to come to our church. And so we're going to have three identical, Gatherings, we have an amazing Easter egg hunt. That's going to happen. All three Gatherings, you can see the thing on the screen with goodie bags and toys and prizes for people. Invite people and new guests and stuff like that. But the reality is this, we do all this because we know it's a great time of year to advise somebody out who wouldn't normally go to church if you invite somebody Easter there. Likely to come.

45:46 A lot of people don't go to church. I've got tons of neighbors, don't go to church. So he talked about coming and so on your seat, I would grab those cards. You got a pack of five on there and out invite somebody. I would just invite them, I'll bring them. There's a big difference because you bring somebody you're like, hey, I'm saving a seat for you. Hey, you want to sit with me? Hey, I love to meet you in the parking lot or, you know, hangout comes with new good lunch afterwards. I mean, be a part of their life and their story is start playing those seeds. We got just under a month and I just know God's do something really big in our house. The screw you guys weren't even every single week and what Sons very special this year we haven't done this really since launch to this tal is rescind out 20,000 piece mailer across our community. And so it's going to go from 150 all the way through South to through all of bailed Oliver a Moroso.

46:26 The word of God is going out people to know where existing and we're here for them and our doors are open to welcome people and my prayer is that God just brings us people. That will know Jesus that Sunday. Amen. And we get to play a part of that story. And so I would encourage this next month, we launched into a series that's really going to lead into some evangelism. And I would encourage this guy, Leads me and play a part of the story of what God is going to do and just say all for God's glory. Amen. Maybe invite somebody over the next few weeks that needs Jesus and just invited me Easter, we're going to preach the gospel. We do that here in this church. We love people knowing Jesus and so I would encourage you guys last thing. Really about Easter is to reserve your spot. We're do a little different this year, we're actually giving out tickets through Eventbrite and the reason we're doing that is because we're trying to figure out if we're people are going to land. Now, our staffing, we're trying to go. 03 obviously. So how many people may come to the 8:30 or the ten eleven thirty?

47:19 And so it's a free event obviously but it's great for us to just kind of where people stand. So I would encourage you get on there, you can use a QR go online, it's awesome landing page and just let us know. We're going to go on that. If God leads you to serve, let us know. Let your team know or like a person or church or just let us know. There's lots of emails on it and we're excited. If you hear from her team and they call you just say, yes, come on somebody, you say yes blue glory god. You can do it. I will say this. Say, thank you for you guys to generosity really to be able to give a mailer out at that magnitude is because you guys have given and I don't know about you. But who is the result of a seeing or maybe a flag in the community, a sign out, or a mailer and made say they come to her church because they've had that kind of promotion.

48:00 There's a few guys have done so long but so many people come to our church because they see a flag likely just dry by Sunday morning. I had a guy that showed up, it was three years into our launch and he had showed up and said, hey, I got this mailer from three years ago and I've kept it on my fridge and it show up to her church. And so I would encourage you if that played a part of your story, if you seen Us online or some kind of promotion, when you give here, that's giving back to those things. Because so many people don't know, churches exist and they kind of cut that off. And we're just really praying for God to have a movement or church and to really see the glory of God go out. And so when you guys give this is what you're giving to in this season to make a difference. So encourage you guys to be faithful their stories to give as our Usher's come forward, you can give online. Anytime, you can give any amount to eight four, three, two, one text in or through the giving boxes, The back or the buckets.

48:46 They come to the aisles so I'm going to pray and invite dirty come up here in a second. He's got a few more things for you guys to hang tight. We're going to pray for God to use this. This offering probably come before you gotta pray. You just use this offering For Your Glory God, that you just change lives through it. You gotta pray, you multiply or generosity guy that we give not out of really out of just the excess guy, but we give out of want you'll be, we give out of need the weed sacrificially. Give for the glory of God, that we know that we have to lay our lives down for the mission to go forward. And I pray that Be kind of church that the world had to set the set, the city on fire to try to stop us. We kind of church. That was so passionate for you. That people would thank God for us. Don't people look back to say thank God, that this church was in this community that lives are changed as cities were changed because of these people's Faith. So God call us out into The Fray. Call us into the uncomfortable, got push us into the future on mission for you.

49:39 God, we give the glory for a chicken, do all the glory to Jesus. And I pray in his name and everybody said, amen. N. Man, what an awesome day. Hey, I'm the bearer of good news and bad news. You guys ready for the good news? Real life is going on a missions trip this summer. Back to Bogota Colombia you guys excited. That's right. You guys don't know what the bad news is. There's only a couple spots left. You guys better hustle up and jump on because we are getting ready to fill this team up. So immediately after the second Gathering, if you're interested in any level doll, come hang out with Diana, she gives you the information on what's going on. If you can't make the meeting, Eating for some reason, please call her this week as soon as possible.

50:20 So we can get your spot reserved, you do not want to miss out. If you never been to another culture to see how God Moves In Another Part Of The World, it will drastically and radically change your life. So take this opportunity, the price doesn't get better than what you're going to get on something like this, in your hearts and your lives will be changed. So check out the meeting. Get a hold of Diane. You guys do not want to miss it. Last thing is this next week. You're kicking off a new message, series called bring Pastor. Sean is going to bring the house down. It really what? We're Do is we're going to talk about what it's like to tear off this roof to bring people to the feet of Jesus. There's people around you every day, whether it's at work school just throughout life that are hurting their broken and they need something, they don't know what it is, and God's put you in their path to deliver the hope of the gospel and their life.

51:05 Sean's gonna bring this awesomeness. The series just to help us be equipped to bring people to the feet of Jesus. So, don't miss that either. Next week at 9:30 to 11:00. Hey, as always, there's somebody up here, if you need to pray, we would love to pray with you for any reason. And lastly is always remember whoever finds Jesus discovers real life and purpose. See you guys next week.