WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.650 doesn't it look great in here today I kind of think this is how it should be every week 00:00:06.650 --> 00:00:13.110 so we need some volunteers of people that will come and tie ribbons every Saturday but it's great 00:00:13.110 --> 00:00:17.110 to see the building looking like this and it's great to see you all today we're in John's gospel 00:00:17.110 --> 00:00:22.170 so if you want to turn with me to John chapter 3 we're going to be reading from verse 22 to 36 00:00:22.170 --> 00:00:29.590 and just as a bit of a recap we remember right back at the beginning actually Nick would you 00:00:29.590 --> 00:00:38.420 right back at the beginning um andy introduced the gospel to us we looked at jesus being the 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:42.640 word um and this kind of cosmic thing that happened that he was there in the beginning 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:47.160 he was there before the beginning he's always been there um and then we looked at the beginning 00:00:47.160 --> 00:00:53.430 of the story of john the baptist and the beginning of his disciples uh we went to the wedding water 00:00:53.430 --> 00:00:58.750 turned into wine and then the very next week we went to temple jesus where he's zealous over his 00:00:58.750 --> 00:01:05.670 church over over us his people um and then last week uh we had remind me people what did we have 00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:22.230 last week yes and what was the scripture that we all know come on what did we have like it's only 00:01:22.230 --> 00:01:29.280 last week folks and it is the most famous scripture in the bible i absolutely do want you to say it 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:36.890 yes the fact that i was pausing is your cue roland what did we learn last week the most famous thing 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:37.670 that we learnt last week? 00:01:42.600 --> 00:01:51.180 That's the bit where you all went, 00:01:51.320 --> 00:01:53.160 whoever believes in him. 00:01:55.970 --> 00:01:58.610 Who is whoever believes in him? 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:08.760 I was actually using the one 00:02:08.760 --> 00:02:10.400 where it says whoever believes in him. 00:02:11.430 --> 00:02:12.110 Yeah, that kind of way. 00:02:14.950 --> 00:02:16.650 I would like it in French, Ali, 00:02:16.670 --> 00:02:17.730 if you wouldn't mind, please. 00:02:18.090 --> 00:02:19.190 We're going to speak it in French. 00:02:32.750 --> 00:02:34.210 Lovely, well done, thank you. 00:02:34.210 --> 00:02:35.470 For God so loved the world. 00:02:35.550 --> 00:02:37.230 So that's where we ended off last week. 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:42.030 And we're going to look at John's Gospel 22 to 36. 00:02:42.950 --> 00:02:44.790 So I'm going to read that really quickly. 00:02:45.450 --> 00:02:47.570 So then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem 00:02:47.570 --> 00:02:49.210 and went into the Judean countryside. 00:02:50.720 --> 00:02:53.440 Jesus spent some time with them there baptizing people. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.960 At this same time, John the Baptist was baptizing at Enon near Salem. 00:02:58.180 --> 00:02:59.540 I'm hoping I'm pronouncing that right. 00:02:59.600 --> 00:03:00.420 Please don't judge me. 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:02.680 Because there was plenty of water there 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:04.960 and people kept coming to him for baptism. 00:03:05.880 --> 00:03:08.100 This was before John was thrown into prison. 00:03:08.920 --> 00:03:11.020 A debate broke out between John's disciples 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.580 and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing. 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:16.820 So John's disciples came to him and said, 00:03:16.920 --> 00:03:20.760 Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, 00:03:21.160 --> 00:03:23.400 the one you identified as the Messiah, 00:03:23.560 --> 00:03:25.040 is also baptizing people 00:03:25.040 --> 00:03:28.220 and everybody is going to him instead of coming to us. 00:03:29.190 --> 00:03:31.610 John replied, no one can receive anything 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:37.170 unless God gives it from heaven you yourselves know how plainly I told you I am not the Messiah 00:03:37.170 --> 00:03:43.070 I am only here to prepare the way for him it is the bridegroom who marries the bride and the best 00:03:43.070 --> 00:03:50.490 man other translation says friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows therefore I 00:03:50.490 --> 00:03:57.110 am filled with joy at his success he must become greater and greater and I must become less and 00:03:57.110 --> 00:04:03.800 less he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else we are of the earth and we speak of 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:10.340 earthly things but he has come from heaven and I've lost my place and is greater than anyone else 00:04:10.340 --> 00:04:17.020 he testifies about what he has seen and heard but how few believe what he tells them anyone who 00:04:17.020 --> 00:04:24.120 accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true for he is sent by God he speaks God's word for God 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:29.660 gives him the spirit without limit. The father loves his son and has put everything into his 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:36.680 hands and anyone who believes in God's son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the son 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:46.010 will never experience eternal life but remains under God's angry judgment. Amen. I really am 00:04:46.010 --> 00:04:52.170 enjoying John's gospel and I particularly like the human side that we see popping up as we go along 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:58.430 and we have this amazing interaction with Nicodemus and the proclamation of the simple 00:04:58.430 --> 00:05:04.510 gospel Cornelius mentioned last week about the bronze snake and just by looking and and how we 00:05:04.510 --> 00:05:12.110 it's symbolic of the cross by looking at it that's how we're born again and so I like the human side 00:05:12.110 --> 00:05:16.210 of it but I'm also really challenged because you see humans pop up and behave in ways that 00:05:16.210 --> 00:05:21.350 humans are really good at behaving so I'm sure because I identified a lot with this passage as 00:05:21.350 --> 00:05:26.550 we went through and I'm hoping that you will as well. So he's baptising in a place called Enon 00:05:26.550 --> 00:05:30.150 which means many waters because there was lots of water there that's your first thing 00:05:30.150 --> 00:05:36.790 but that many waters is also really symbolic of cleansing and preparation and the Bible tells us 00:05:36.790 --> 00:05:41.850 that it's near a place called Salim which means peace. So right at the very beginning you've got 00:05:41.850 --> 00:05:47.990 a picture that's being painted John's disciples are baptising at this place of cleansing at this 00:05:47.990 --> 00:05:56.410 place of preparation and at this place of peace and I see in it this picture of cleansing and 00:05:56.410 --> 00:06:01.390 peace this wonderful harmony and right in the middle of that place of cleansing and peace 00:06:01.390 --> 00:06:08.340 an argument begins any of you ever been in a family situation where it's all been quiet at 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:13.300 Christmas and everybody is behaving very beautifully and there's harmony between everybody 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:19.320 and then suddenly an argument begins what topics are we not allowed to have around the meal tables 00:06:20.260 --> 00:06:20.700 Politics. 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.480 Yes, don't talk about which side of the fence you're on 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:27.100 because what is a calm and beautiful place of peace 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:28.540 will disrupt into an argument. 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:30.760 What's the other thing we're not supposed to talk about 00:06:30.760 --> 00:06:31.440 at the dinner table? 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:32.180 What is it? 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:33.360 Religion. 00:06:33.700 --> 00:06:35.480 Yes, religion is the other one, isn't it? 00:06:35.520 --> 00:06:37.160 Lovely place of calm and peace. 00:06:37.260 --> 00:06:40.400 You start talking about religion and an argument begins. 00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:41.440 So it makes me smile. 00:06:41.440 --> 00:06:44.820 It highlights to me that we're talking about real human situations. 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:47.260 Place of cleansing, a place of peace, 00:06:47.260 --> 00:06:50.920 It's a place of preparation for Jesus and an argument begins. 00:06:51.080 --> 00:06:52.720 I was out at Crystal Peaks the other day 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:55.300 and I went into one of these shops that's got lovely candles 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:57.740 that smell really nice and they play that whale music. 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:01.900 Oh, that sounds like a seagull, doesn't it? 00:07:03.540 --> 00:07:04.900 But you get what I'm trying to say. 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:06.740 It was so lovely and it smelled so nice 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:08.940 and I walked in and the lights were dimmed and what have you 00:07:08.940 --> 00:07:11.280 and I'd only been in there a minute browsing around 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:13.660 and a two-year-old came in and wanted a stuffed giraffe 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:16.320 and mum said no and in that moment 00:07:16.320 --> 00:07:21.360 that was no longer a place of peace, lay on the floor, stamped her for, I want the giraffe, 00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:26.820 I want them then. And it just made me think that we're really good at, because we're human, 00:07:26.820 --> 00:07:33.760 we're really good in this place of peace. This argument erupts, this debate between the John's 00:07:33.760 --> 00:07:40.300 disciples and a certain Jew, I love that, certain Jew, about ceremonial washing. Now just to get a 00:07:40.300 --> 00:07:47.900 bit of context here. Baptism and washing wasn't something that was new to the Jews at this point. 00:07:48.060 --> 00:07:52.640 Jewish people were really familiar with washing practices. They were very familiar with ritual 00:07:52.640 --> 00:07:57.420 baths. They were very familiar with cleansing before worship. These are things that they would 00:07:57.420 --> 00:08:02.800 do regularly. So this wasn't something that looked particularly brand new. But what was it that 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:07.680 caused this argument? Well, John was talking about something different. He was talking about an 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.300 internal cleansing he was talking about a repentance he was not saying this is about 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:18.820 outward washing but this is an inner thing and he was pointing the way to Jesus so again in my mind 00:08:18.820 --> 00:08:25.640 and forgive me if I've done a little bit of creative license here in my mind I wonder whether 00:08:25.640 --> 00:08:30.680 the argument because I can hear myself here full disclosure I wondered whether the argument about 00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:35.680 whose way was better any of you ever had an argument with somebody or should we let's not 00:08:35.680 --> 00:08:40.560 call it an argument let's call it a debate because that sounds about whose way was better anybody 00:08:40.560 --> 00:08:49.670 come on let's be honest whose way is better mine of course mine of course okay so that's what I 00:08:49.670 --> 00:08:54.710 think was going on again the really human thing and maybe John's disciples the reason that they 00:08:54.710 --> 00:09:00.050 were a bit agitated was because maybe deep down they didn't understand why things had to change 00:09:00.050 --> 00:09:05.370 because we've always done it like that now let me ask you a question ever had that feeling in you 00:09:05.370 --> 00:09:13.840 when things change and you're thinking to yourself we've always done it like this anybody yeah whose 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:19.020 way is the best way mine always and so I just wonder whether there's a little bit of irritation 00:09:19.020 --> 00:09:28.040 a little bit of issue there and and they go over to Jesus to John in this state and then I love this 00:09:28.040 --> 00:09:32.240 verse and I'm going to read it with a bit of a voice because in my head this is what's going on 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:41.820 rabbi that man who are they talking about jesus if you go back to chapter one they knew his name 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:51.860 they knew his name so they make a point of saying that man that man that you met on the other side 00:09:51.860 --> 00:10:02.350 of the jordan the one you identified as the messiah is also baptizing and everybody is going 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:09.980 to him instead of coming to us. Now what kind of language does that sound like to you? Why 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:20.180 do we get defensive? Insecurity. Insecurity and fear. To understand this, we need to kind 00:10:20.180 --> 00:10:25.520 of have a bit of an idea of what it meant to be a disciple back then. When you followed 00:10:25.520 --> 00:10:30.860 a rabbi, basically you gave your whole life to them. You walked with them, you learned 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:37.500 from them your whole identity was wrapped up in the rabbi if your rabbi was doing really well 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:44.300 then guess what you were also really doing very well if the crowds were gathering you felt 00:10:44.300 --> 00:10:50.280 significant if people were coming if you felt like you belonged John was a big deal and there 00:10:50.280 --> 00:10:56.060 was an awful lot of momentum around John and crowds gathering lives were being changed so 00:10:56.060 --> 00:11:04.190 when when the I've got a bit of fluff on my finger that won't go away when um so these disciples are 00:11:04.190 --> 00:11:09.930 getting their significance and their sense of worth and their identity and sense of value from 00:11:09.930 --> 00:11:16.930 what John is doing so when people start going to Jesus instead for them it must have felt like a 00:11:16.930 --> 00:11:26.700 loss of identity any of you ever felt that not quite sure who you are um circumstances change 00:11:26.700 --> 00:11:29.580 and suddenly the footing that seemed really clear, 00:11:30.160 --> 00:11:31.960 you're not sure about anymore. 00:11:33.070 --> 00:11:35.790 And I can be harsh on them in my mind, 00:11:35.890 --> 00:11:37.650 but I see it in myself. 00:11:38.310 --> 00:11:40.110 I want to feel significant. 00:11:41.520 --> 00:11:43.920 I want to know that I matter in this life. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.740 I want to know that my life has purpose. 00:11:46.900 --> 00:11:48.820 And so if there's that loss of identity, 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:53.160 if the disciples are going or the crowds are going to Jesus, 00:11:53.160 --> 00:11:57.060 you can imagine the disciples are beginning to feel a little bit insecure. 00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:08.150 that man well they knew his name but immediately distancing himself themselves from Jesus the one 00:12:08.150 --> 00:12:18.560 you identified what's happening there what was that blame John this is on you you're to blame 00:12:18.560 --> 00:12:29.290 I love this bit everybody is going to him instead of us everybody what everybody like the king of 00:12:29.290 --> 00:12:37.250 England or the, I mean, who? Have you used language like that? Yeah. Everybody is going to him instead 00:12:37.250 --> 00:12:45.390 of us. We all do that. Everybody doesn't listen. Nobody listens to me. Everything in my life is a 00:12:45.390 --> 00:12:53.140 mess. Everything is going wrong. Is everything going wrong in the world? No. But don't we use 00:12:53.140 --> 00:12:59.630 language everything is go we use these big exaggerated things when there is fear and 00:12:59.630 --> 00:13:05.710 insecurity and I really am speaking to myself this morning I said to Nick Nick said go for it 00:13:05.710 --> 00:13:10.010 preach this morning I just I actually just want to go home because everything about this makes 00:13:10.010 --> 00:13:16.650 me feel insecure and a little bit fearful I go through self-doubt working it through in my head 00:13:16.650 --> 00:13:23.550 When I go home tonight, I will analyze absolutely everything that I say today because of self-doubt 00:13:23.550 --> 00:13:28.550 and insecurity and vulnerability. And the reason I can be really open about that with you today is 00:13:28.550 --> 00:13:34.820 because what? I'm in a room full of people that also understand what it means like to feel 00:13:34.820 --> 00:13:41.480 vulnerable, to feel self-doubt, to feel afraid, all of those kinds of things. And insecurity makes 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:46.640 small stuff seems really massive and it exaggerates and amplifies threats. And do you know what it 00:13:46.640 --> 00:13:55.010 does for me, it justifies what I feel. Insecurity and fear also says that there's only so much 00:13:55.010 --> 00:14:00.850 significance to go around, and I'm not going to get any of it. That's what it does. 00:14:02.020 --> 00:14:07.040 Because I felt insecure, because Cornelius, you had slides last week, didn't you? 00:14:07.560 --> 00:14:14.810 You did. And when Chris Simpson preaches, he has slides. So because I feel insecure and a little 00:14:14.810 --> 00:14:26.910 bit fearful. I have a slide. I have another slide. Do I? No. There we go. I knew that 00:14:26.910 --> 00:14:29.830 would have that effect. That's what I was hoping for. I wanted you to go, ah, and then 00:14:29.830 --> 00:14:35.820 it would build my significance, you see? My sense of self. That's me there. Obviously 00:14:35.820 --> 00:14:39.880 staring into the distance, thinking about something else as usual. That's my younger 00:14:39.880 --> 00:14:43.200 sister. I absolutely love her face in that. I don't know what she was thinking about, 00:14:43.280 --> 00:14:49.420 but it's probably, I don't want to be part of this family. The reason I show you this, 00:14:49.420 --> 00:14:52.640 let's go back to the other one of me, because I love that. I look like a rabbit. Go back. 00:14:52.680 --> 00:14:57.060 There we go. I think I was probably about nine there. When I was seven, I grew up in Ghana. 00:14:57.540 --> 00:15:02.580 And when I was about seven, Ghana went through a lot of turmoil. They had several revolutions that 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:07.900 went wrong, not went wrong, but failed revolutions. So there was a lot of military presence, a lot of 00:15:07.900 --> 00:15:13.280 shooting, a lot of drama. And just before my seventh birthday, I think it was, Nick will tell 00:15:13.280 --> 00:15:19.960 me, 1979, the 4th of June or something, there was a successful revolution. And there were 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:25.680 machine military men all over with big machine guns they were roadblocks I remember going to 00:15:25.680 --> 00:15:30.060 school on the way to school with dead bodies at the side of the road that had been shot overnight 00:15:30.060 --> 00:15:36.080 that was where I grew up and I you when I was thinking about this I was thinking all the million 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.680 things in my life that I could think about millions of things including stuff that's 00:15:39.680 --> 00:15:43.560 happened this week that's made me feel insecure and fearful and all of that this is the one thing 00:15:43.560 --> 00:15:49.750 that popped to my mind. I remember imagining at this age, or a little bit younger, that 00:15:49.750 --> 00:15:57.150 my dad would only be safe if I was with him. Now when I think about it, I think utterly 00:15:57.150 --> 00:16:01.530 bonkers. But he was, there was no fuel, and he was a pastor. He would go walking out to 00:16:01.530 --> 00:16:05.470 the different churches, sometimes late at night. We would hear the gunshots, and I would 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:09.990 imagine that somewhere out there, my dad had been shot. That's what was going through 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:16.790 my head and so in my insecurity and fear I came to the conclusion don't ask me how I did it I don't 00:16:16.790 --> 00:16:22.590 know but I came to the conclusion that the only way that he would be safe it was if I was joined 00:16:22.590 --> 00:16:29.690 to him at the hip anywhere he went I had to be near him otherwise he would die going to school 00:16:29.690 --> 00:16:34.050 was an absolute nightmare for my parents for a very long period of time they would dress me in 00:16:34.050 --> 00:16:37.550 the morning and as quickly as they were putting the clothes on I was taking them off there was 00:16:37.550 --> 00:16:41.130 no way I was going to go to school because if I went to school what was going to happen 00:16:41.130 --> 00:16:47.630 my dad was going to die I remember them shoving me into a car we had carpool systems in those 00:16:47.630 --> 00:16:52.390 they shoving me into the car slamming the boot of the car telling the driver to go go go go go 00:16:52.390 --> 00:16:59.010 with me locked in there going ah get me out and amazingly my dad didn't die as a result of my 00:16:59.010 --> 00:17:05.350 trying to save him but I the reason I bring this up because it was because I wanted I wanted you 00:17:05.350 --> 00:17:12.570 to know and to see that how insecurity and fear has the capacity to grow and it causes different 00:17:12.570 --> 00:17:22.180 things in us. And even though the reality isn't true, insecurity and fear makes it true in our 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:28.600 lives and then therefore it changes the way we respond to things and changes the way we react 00:17:28.600 --> 00:17:34.140 to things. And what I see in these disciples is that in their conversation with each other, 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:40.440 their insecurity and their fear as they talked with each other those things began to find space 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:46.800 in their lives and suddenly what they were talking about felt very very real it didn't matter how 00:17:46.800 --> 00:17:51.680 many times people said to me your dad will be fine you don't need to be there other people were with 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:58.940 him in my head that was the reality and that was what had grown in my life so you can imagine the 00:17:58.940 --> 00:18:06.700 disciples are going through all of this and what they're coming to John for is comforting and 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:14.670 reassurance. They want John to say everything is going to be okay and he does something really 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:21.870 incredible. He doesn't dismiss them but he doesn't agree with them either. He says a person can 00:18:21.870 --> 00:18:30.440 receive only what is given them from heaven. In other words, guys you didn't earn this, you received 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:36.720 this as a gift. It was given freely to you. You don't have to compete for it. You don't have to 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.960 worry that if it's given, it will be taken away. You don't have to worry that you're going to lose 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:46.200 it or that you'll drop it or circumstances will take it away or anything. If it's been given from 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:53.690 heaven, it's a gift given to you. You've received it. Don't need to fight for it. You don't need 00:18:53.690 --> 00:19:00.360 to compete for it. And immediately you get this shift, this perspective change. And then he goes 00:19:00.360 --> 00:19:08.440 on to say this you yourselves know how plainly I told you I am not the Messiah he'd already 00:19:08.440 --> 00:19:12.880 reiterated that at the beginning of John's gospel he'd made it clear he wasn't the Messiah 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:19.840 and so he comes in again says I'm telling you plainly I can't fix this for you I can't make 00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:25.050 you feel better maybe they wanted him to go and have a quiet word with Jesus to go and move on a 00:19:25.050 --> 00:19:31.030 little bit he says I can't do anything because insecurity and fear is an issue of the heart 00:19:31.030 --> 00:19:41.130 and it takes a savior to deal with it might this might seem like a silly story but this 00:19:41.130 --> 00:19:48.210 insecurity and fear lasted for me for a number of years and I had to in the end have ministry 00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:53.090 and prayer about it because of what it had done to my life and John was saying he's saying 00:19:53.090 --> 00:19:59.990 disciples, listen to me. What you're reflecting here is the insecurity and fear in you, and there 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:07.130 is only one person that can deal with that, and who's that? Jesus, the Messiah. He says, I'm not 00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:14.910 the Messiah. What you're asking me to do is above my pay grade. I don't have the capacity to deal 00:20:14.910 --> 00:20:19.850 with that in you. I don't have the capacity to deal with your sense of worth or your sense of 00:20:19.850 --> 00:20:28.640 identity, that is only something the Messiah can do. As I was preparing this, I just felt, I wanted 00:20:28.640 --> 00:20:32.040 to say, and maybe it's not for in this bit, maybe it's for later, I don't know, but I just wanted to 00:20:32.040 --> 00:20:41.250 say that some of us need to hear that the people in your life are not your Messiah. Maybe you have 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:48.650 attached yourself, like I did with my dad, attached myself to somebody or something, wanting them to 00:20:48.650 --> 00:20:54.830 smooth your ruffled feathers wanting make to make you feel validated or secure and i just want to 00:20:54.830 --> 00:21:02.220 say this morning that that person that situation is that that's not your messiah and all that will 00:21:02.220 --> 00:21:07.700 happen is in time they will disappoint you it will disappoint you because it cannot deal with what is 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:17.770 going on inside you who can deal with that there's only one i just felt that i know that in my own 00:21:17.770 --> 00:21:27.130 life. We're asking human beings to only do what Jesus can do. And that's what John was saying. 00:21:27.190 --> 00:21:33.650 He's saying, guys, I can't do any of this. I can't fix this for you. I can't do this. This is 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:40.980 above my capacity. There's only Jesus that can do that. And then he goes, the other word that I 00:21:40.980 --> 00:21:45.820 thought came to my mind as I was thinking about that was actually, some of you maybe need to hear 00:21:45.820 --> 00:21:47.300 that you're not the Messiah either. 00:21:50.840 --> 00:21:55.470 What's that, an amen, I heard. 00:21:55.630 --> 00:21:56.650 Okay, all right. 00:21:58.850 --> 00:22:01.230 Need to hear that you're not the Messiah. 00:22:02.690 --> 00:22:05.050 We hear the term Messiah complex, don't we? 00:22:05.070 --> 00:22:06.710 And sometimes we can think it is imagining 00:22:06.710 --> 00:22:07.870 that we are amazing. 00:22:08.590 --> 00:22:10.650 But I think it's more subtle than that. 00:22:11.190 --> 00:22:14.550 I think it's a bit like, it's up to me to fix this. 00:22:14.790 --> 00:22:16.710 A bit like I had with my dad. 00:22:17.030 --> 00:22:18.850 It's up to me to hold this thing together. 00:22:18.850 --> 00:22:24.230 if I don't step in it won't be okay. It looks like responsibility and it looks like care but 00:22:24.230 --> 00:22:29.890 underneath it's often insecurity trying to take control and I recognised this in myself when I 00:22:29.890 --> 00:22:37.010 was seven. Genuinely believed that it was only safe if I was there with my dad and it sounds 00:22:37.010 --> 00:22:45.100 ridiculous but I utterly believed it. It was a messiah complex and in my mind I wasn't being 00:22:45.100 --> 00:22:52.020 difficult. I just felt that someone had to have control and in the absence of any other suitable 00:22:52.020 --> 00:22:59.060 person, the responsibility fell on me. Which when I think about it, my poor mum and my older siblings 00:22:59.060 --> 00:23:05.660 in the absence of any other suitable person. So some of you need to hear that that person 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:11.060 that you are going to, that relationship that you're going to, to get that 00:23:11.060 --> 00:23:18.020 the significance or insecurity stroked away it's not going to work it's only Jesus that can do that 00:23:18.020 --> 00:23:22.560 and maybe we need to also look at ourselves and think to ourselves actually in situations and 00:23:22.560 --> 00:23:30.740 circumstances am I the one that wants to be the Messiah Jesus is able to do it on his own and we 00:23:30.740 --> 00:23:35.880 don't think we're overstepping we think we're helping but sometimes what looks like care is 00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:42.700 insecurity trying to take control and we just have to ask the holy spirit to to prod us what 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:48.430 is it that motivates us and because before we realized which we're not just involved we're 00:23:48.430 --> 00:23:55.660 central um and i just really felt i wanted to to bring that out this morning we have to check the 00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:59.800 motivations of our heart which part of our heart which part of our body is the most deceitful thing 00:23:59.800 --> 00:24:05.120 above all things the heart it'll tell you it's got responsibility and care but if it is meeting 00:24:05.120 --> 00:24:12.280 a need in me if it is meeting a need in terms of I it is dealing with my insecurity and fear 00:24:12.280 --> 00:24:19.160 I have to go back to Jesus and not to that so John doesn't fix the situation he changes their 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:23.260 perspective and he gives them a completely different lens and he says this the bride 00:24:23.260 --> 00:24:31.820 belongs to the bridegroom who does the bride belong to in other words this was never about you 00:24:31.820 --> 00:24:39.540 in the first place. There is only one person at the centre of the story and his name is Jesus. 00:24:40.380 --> 00:24:48.880 He is the only one who carries things and it isn't you. He says the friend stands and listens 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:57.700 close but not central, certainly involved but not carrying, present but not responsible 00:24:57.700 --> 00:25:03.540 for the outcome and that's the shift when we recognize that actually we are the friend 00:25:03.540 --> 00:25:10.830 at the wedding and not the bridegroom who is responsible for everything going well today 00:25:10.830 --> 00:25:20.060 well i was thinking about the wedding afterwards but thank you but yes you're right jesus thank 00:25:20.060 --> 00:25:27.260 you dylan yes who's responsible for it the bridegroom the bridegroom is responsible we 00:25:27.260 --> 00:25:34.400 get to be part of it. We get to enjoy. We get to enjoy the ride. We get to enjoy the 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:41.780 event. We get to enjoy being part of it but not being responsible for it. And he goes 00:25:41.780 --> 00:25:47.340 on to say this. John says, he must become greater and I must become less. To me, this 00:25:47.340 --> 00:25:52.900 is the crux of the thing. The way I deal with my insecurity and fear, the things that debilitate 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:56.780 me, the things that make me shrink back, the things that make me controlling, the things 00:25:56.780 --> 00:26:02.220 that make me all those things that I don't want to be. The feeling inside me that I don't want to 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:12.660 have is to allow the Holy Spirit to become bigger in me. He must become greater. That doesn't mean 00:26:12.660 --> 00:26:16.700 to say, it doesn't mean that Jesus is little and somehow I need to worship him so that he grows 00:26:16.700 --> 00:26:22.100 bigger. He is big, bigger, biggest. Huge, hugest, hugest. Large, larger, largest. Are those the right 00:26:22.100 --> 00:26:30.220 words. He's all those things. He's bigger. But it talks about the space in my life. I don't want 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:37.920 insecurity and fear to dominate what I do and who I am and how I live. And the only way to do that 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:44.540 is allow Jesus to become bigger. I have to own up and say that sometimes my insecurities and 00:26:44.540 --> 00:26:50.920 fears arrive in the middle of the night. Anybody else know that feeling? Yeah. Arrive in the middle 00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:53.140 that I can be sleeping perfectly well 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:56.900 and suddenly, insecure and fear, boof. 00:26:57.630 --> 00:26:58.590 And then guess what I do? 00:27:00.190 --> 00:27:01.150 I wake Nick up. 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:07.400 And I say things like, should I be worried about that? 00:27:07.780 --> 00:27:09.980 And he'll say things like, no, and not now, 00:27:10.320 --> 00:27:11.300 and certainly not with me. 00:27:13.080 --> 00:27:14.400 Maybe we can talk about this this morning. 00:27:14.700 --> 00:27:16.840 And sometimes if it's a particularly difficult night, 00:27:16.860 --> 00:27:18.140 I can wake him up several times. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.960 I know you said don't be worried about this, 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:21.000 but should I be worried about that? 00:27:21.120 --> 00:27:21.300 No. 00:27:21.940 --> 00:27:23.380 No, you don't need to be worried about anything, Eric. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:24.420 You just need to go to sleep 00:27:24.420 --> 00:27:26.240 and you need to let me go to sleep and all of that. 00:27:26.820 --> 00:27:28.420 I don't even know what I was trying to say here. 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:31.380 But the challenge as I've been preparing this is actually, Erica, 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:35.240 I can't use Nick as my Messiah. 00:27:35.860 --> 00:27:38.120 He's going to remind me when I wake him up in the middle of the night. 00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:41.270 Who are you going to, Jesus? Who are you going to, Erica? 00:27:41.710 --> 00:27:47.230 The way to deal with it is to ask the Holy Spirit to be big in my life. 00:27:48.210 --> 00:27:49.290 He must become big. 00:27:49.350 --> 00:27:52.610 That's the antidote to insecurity and fear 00:27:52.610 --> 00:27:55.610 is to allow the Holy Spirit to grow in my life. 00:27:55.730 --> 00:27:59.600 And I also want to say as well 00:27:59.600 --> 00:28:02.360 that we need critical friends around us 00:28:02.360 --> 00:28:03.100 who will say, 00:28:03.840 --> 00:28:06.500 Erica, that sounds like insecurity or fear to me. 00:28:07.550 --> 00:28:08.710 What are you going to do about it? 00:28:09.090 --> 00:28:11.110 Because I could there there you. 00:28:11.330 --> 00:28:13.110 I could go, oh, I'm sorry. 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:17.600 Are you all right there? 00:28:17.620 --> 00:28:19.240 I didn't actually ask your consent. 00:28:19.660 --> 00:28:20.340 That's fine. 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:22.960 I'm going to be worrying about that now tonight. 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:24.140 Don't worry at all. 00:28:24.600 --> 00:28:25.380 I'll give you permission. 00:28:25.380 --> 00:28:27.240 Thank you, that's too late now, I've done it. 00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:31.340 I forgot where I was going with that. 00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:33.140 Yeah, we need critical friends amongst us 00:28:33.140 --> 00:28:35.740 that will say, actually, that sounds like fear to me. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:28:39.660 I don't want to validate your fear. 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:41.460 I don't want it to grow in your life. 00:28:41.940 --> 00:28:43.900 Why don't we take it to Jesus? 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.920 Why don't we allow him to become big? 00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.960 Because if he is filling the space in us, 00:28:49.100 --> 00:28:51.340 then there's no room for the insecurity 00:28:51.340 --> 00:28:53.260 and the fear and the self-doubt 00:28:53.260 --> 00:28:55.280 and the feeling like we're so fragile 00:28:55.280 --> 00:29:00.280 and we're so vulnerable we're going to fall over we need to we don't need to validate that we need 00:29:00.280 --> 00:29:06.700 to challenge one another and say what about Jesus in that what about Jesus in this situation 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:15.840 I don't know where I am but I'm sure it's somewhere how do I know whether insecurity is what 00:29:15.840 --> 00:29:20.580 is speaking Bible says very clearly in John 3 we've just read the scripture that there's earthly 00:29:20.580 --> 00:29:25.980 language and there's heavenly language by what we speak we can tell what's going on if it is about 00:29:25.980 --> 00:29:31.900 me if it's about not being fair if it's about insecurity if it points at me then it's insecurity 00:29:31.900 --> 00:29:41.220 and fear speaking but if it's saying things like which I'm somewhere on my notes here if it's saying 00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:46.860 things like Jesus is enough Jesus can sort this out I can give this to Jesus he is trustworthy 00:29:46.860 --> 00:29:52.220 all those things are the language of heaven we can tell out of the abundance of the heart 00:29:52.220 --> 00:29:57.440 the mouth speaks what you say will tell you whether or not you are living in a place where 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:02.760 you're trying to deal with it yourself or whether you're actually allowing Jesus to fill up that 00:30:02.760 --> 00:30:15.720 space in you. Jesus is greater. He is enough. That is a bit of a mantra. He is enough for me 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:23.380 in the middle of the night when I wake up in that moment and suddenly I get that overwhelming 00:30:23.380 --> 00:30:33.380 whooshy feeling. Any of you ever had that? He is enough for me. He is enough for me when I am 00:30:33.380 --> 00:30:44.980 wobbling or uncertain. He's enough. And I don't want to live with the thoughts and the feelings 00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:50.260 that go with insecurity and fear. I want to be like John and say, actually, I'm not worried 00:30:50.260 --> 00:30:54.420 about Jesus at all. I'm not worried that he's baptising over there. I'm not worried that all 00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:57.820 the disciples go over to him. I'm not worried about any of that. In fact, I'm actually joyful 00:30:57.820 --> 00:31:05.520 about his success. I want there to be joy in my heart and I realise that unless I allow Jesus to 00:31:05.520 --> 00:31:14.210 fill that space in me, that won't be my language. I can trust him. I've been given enough. You're not 00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:24.380 my Messiah. Nick, you're not my Messiah. Your circumstance is not your Messiah. You are not the 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:28.320 Messiah either. It is humbling to find a situation and go, actually, I don't know what to do about 00:31:28.320 --> 00:31:35.270 this but jesus does i realize i'm running out of time very quickly let's stand together i wonder 00:31:35.270 --> 00:32:20.480 if the musicians could come back just really want us to stand and be honest um maybe as we've been 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:27.250 looking at the disciples of john maybe you've recognized something of yourself in them maybe 00:32:27.250 --> 00:32:34.570 you can see where insecurity has crept into your heart maybe it's led you to retreat or to control 00:32:34.570 --> 00:32:38.990 or to compare or exaggerate or feel uncertain. 00:32:39.570 --> 00:32:44.440 Or maybe, as the disciples did and they said, 00:32:44.540 --> 00:32:47.660 that man, and they called him that man instead of Jesus, 00:32:47.820 --> 00:32:52.040 actually distance yourself from Jesus and from other people. 00:32:54.170 --> 00:32:59.390 Or maybe like me, you recognise that you've looked to someone else 00:32:59.390 --> 00:33:01.850 or something else to give you peace, to make you feel secure. 00:33:02.850 --> 00:33:07.100 And you know the disappointment that comes when they can't be enough. 00:33:09.850 --> 00:33:13.970 Or maybe you recognize the times you've tried to find your value in being needed 00:33:13.970 --> 00:33:16.470 or being the one to hold things together, 00:33:17.530 --> 00:33:19.850 carrying things that were never really yours to carry. 00:33:22.690 --> 00:33:25.950 Just wonder if we could just take a moment to be honest before God. 00:33:54.690 --> 00:33:56.200 We bring these things to you now. 00:33:56.320 --> 00:33:57.400 You see us fully. 00:33:58.060 --> 00:34:01.640 You see the places where we feel afraid and we feel insecure, 00:34:01.640 --> 00:34:05.260 the places where we try to hold things together, 00:34:07.330 --> 00:34:11.730 the places where we step in because we're afraid of what might happen if we don't. 00:34:12.110 --> 00:34:21.510 And the places where we've tried to find our significance in other people or in what we do instead of you. 00:34:22.010 --> 00:34:27.960 We bring those things that we've been gripping tightly, things that we've been trying to control. 00:34:29.350 --> 00:34:36.340 Forgive us for our misguided thinking that other people, situations and places are the source of our peace. 00:34:36.340 --> 00:34:46.200 and father if our insecurity is distancing us from you forgive us we draw close to you this morning 00:34:46.200 --> 00:34:58.550 we know you lord jesus are the only one who is meant to be the source of our joy help us to see 00:34:58.550 --> 00:35:07.270 you clearly at the center the bridegroom the one who holds all things please come and take up that 00:35:07.270 --> 00:35:14.390 space in us the space we filled with fear with striving with the need to be needed and would 00:35:14.390 --> 00:35:21.890 you fill it with your presence with your peace with your sufficiency and where insecurity has 00:35:21.890 --> 00:35:28.390 taken root would you bring freedom through your ever-increasing presence in our lives Lord God 00:35:28.390 --> 00:35:38.180 be greater in us grow in us I pray that you would be increased that we would decrease 00:35:38.180 --> 00:35:41.480 In Jesus' name, amen.