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00:00 Whenever you meet someone and you know
00:02 that they're not from where you're from,
00:06 one of the first questions you typically ask them is what?
00:10 Where are you from?
00:11 Where are you from?
00:12 Because where you're from tells you a lot about
00:17 who you are and how you think.
00:18 So I'm gonna ask you guys just for fun,
00:21 and online you can type it in the comment section
00:23 where you're from, and then you guys can just shout it out.
00:26 As loud as you want, as long as it's not too weird.
00:29 Where are you from?
00:30 - [Audience] Where are you from?
00:32 - I heard a lot of different things,
00:34 but what I know about is this,
00:37 that if you've noticed that where you're from
00:40 influences how you talk, how you think, and what you do.
00:45 If you visit different parts of the world,
00:48 even if they speak the same language,
00:51 they often have a very different accent
00:53 or an entirely different language.
00:55 A lot of times they'll have different values,
00:58 maybe the way they think about dating or family
01:01 or money or relationships.
01:04 They'll often behave very differently.
01:07 For example, in college, I was the only American
01:11 on an all otherwise Australian tennis team.
01:14 I'll show you my mates, see what I did there, my mates,
01:16 because they were all from Australia.
01:19 The very first thing that I learned
01:21 in playing with an all Aussie tennis team
01:23 was the first thing I learned was the cuss words.
01:27 I know all the Australian cuss words.
01:29 I will not share any of them with you, but I do know them.
01:32 And in the United States, if you have a beer and a barbecue,
01:36 you call it a beer and a barbecue.
01:38 Aussies call it a beer and Barbie.
01:41 You have a beer and Barbie with your blokes in the shilas.
01:44 And if you're drinking beer, they're drinking fosters.
01:46 I'm not sure why, but it's actually a thing.
01:49 A cool thing about the mate culture in Australia
01:53 is when you have a nickname, and everybody has a nickname,
01:56 if you don't have a nickname, they don't like you.
01:58 And the cool thing is nicknames are easy.
02:00 You just add an O or an E to the names.
02:03 For example, my coach was Colin Robertson,
02:06 and so we called him Robbo.
02:08 Hill was the last name of a guy I played doubles with
02:11 for a while, so he was Hill Lee, Hill Lee.
02:14 My nickname was Gross,
02:16 but that wasn't the Australian version.
02:18 So they had to add an E to it.
02:20 I wasn't just Gross, I was Grossy.
02:22 That was my name.
02:24 Where you're from influences how you think,
02:27 how you talk, and how you behave in all sorts of ways.
02:31 For example, when it comes to shoes,
02:33 different cultures have different mindsets towards shoes.
02:36 When I went to Korea, they told me,
02:38 "Whatever you do, don't show the soles of your shoes
02:41 "because that could be very rude."
02:43 In Japan, they'll tell you to take your shoes off
02:45 before you enter into a building or into a house
02:47 because it would be rude to leave your shoes on.
02:50 Where I grew up, we had a culture
02:51 where my friend's mom made us take our shoes off
02:54 when we went into her home.
02:56 And when you got to the door,
02:57 if you found another pair of shoes
02:59 you liked better than your shoes,
03:01 the culture was to put them on and run as fast as you can.
03:04 That's what we did.
03:06 Where you're from determines how you act.
03:09 It influences how you talk, how you think, and what you do.
03:13 For those of you who are followers of Jesus,
03:17 where are you from?
03:20 And the answer is, you're not from here.
03:23 This is not your home.
03:26 If you are in Christ, Scripture teaches
03:28 that you are a citizen of the heavenly kingdom.
03:33 And because you're not from this world,
03:38 you are not aligned with all of the values
03:42 and customs of this earthly world.
03:46 And because you're loyal to a heavenly king,
03:51 you talk differently, you think differently,
03:55 and you live differently,
03:57 because where you're from influences what you do.
04:01 In fact, Peter reminds us that you're not from here.
04:06 He says this in 1 Peter 2, 11.
04:09 He says, "Dear friends, I warn you as,"
04:13 and then he uses two Greek words.
04:15 One of them is translated temporary residence,
04:17 the other one as foreigners.
04:19 He says, "I warn you," remember who you are,
04:21 you're temporary residence.
04:23 In other words, this is not your permanent home.
04:25 As foreigners, you're not from here.
04:28 He says, "To keep away from worldly desires
04:33 "that wage against your very souls.
04:37 "Because this earth is not your home,
04:40 "be careful not to get sucked into the customs
04:44 "and values of this world,
04:45 "but fight against those things
04:47 "that literally wage war against
04:50 "who you were created to be."
04:53 He uses two Greek words,
04:55 and I'm gonna show you these Greek words.
04:57 And again, if you don't know how to say them,
04:59 just say, "That's Greek to me, that's Greek to me."
05:02 The transliteration of these words,
05:04 or in the Greek language,
05:06 these words would be parakous and parapidemos.
05:11 I hope I said that close.
05:13 But what we do know is the first letters
05:16 are the word, come from the root para.
05:18 And this is the most important part
05:20 because these two words are very closely related.
05:23 Para means beside, or it means near, or it means temporary.
05:28 These words are, you're a foreigner, you're an exile,
05:32 you're a stranger, you're a sojourner, you're not from here.
05:36 These words literally together,
05:38 they mean to live near, but not in.
05:43 Or it means to be close, but not from.
05:47 It means you may live in the world,
05:50 but you are not of the world.
05:53 You may be close, but you're not in.
05:57 You may be near, but you're not of.
06:00 So if you're a citizen of heaven,
06:05 if this earth is not your home,
06:08 where are you from?
06:09 Paul said it very, very clearly.
06:10 He said this, he said, "We are citizens of heaven
06:14 "where the Lord Jesus lives."
06:17 Who are you?
06:18 You are a citizen of heaven.
06:20 You belong to the most high King.
06:22 You are from the kingdom of God.
06:25 And you say, that's good news
06:27 because I did the Jesus thing.
06:30 I checked the box.
06:33 Now I'm going to heaven when I die.
06:36 That's it, right?
06:37 Not exactly.
06:39 There's actually quite a bit more
06:43 to being a citizen of heaven.
06:45 There's a lot more to fully living for the King of Kings
06:50 and engaging in the world that you are not from
06:54 in a way that makes a difference in this world.
06:56 So if we're truly citizens of heaven,
07:00 if this earth is not our home,
07:03 how do we live for Jesus while we're on earth?
07:08 Paul used the conjunction, the word but.
07:11 He said, "But we are citizens of heaven."
07:15 But is a conjunction.
07:17 And you know the saying about conjunction, right?
07:19 If you know it, just sing it with me.
07:21 Conjunction, conjunction, what's your function?
07:26 Right?
07:27 Little schoolhouse rock fans.
07:28 Now here's what's really cool.
07:30 If you know what I just said,
07:33 schoolhouse rock conjunction, that means you're old.
07:36 And speaking of but, if you know that joke,
07:41 it's time for you to schedule your colonoscopy.
07:43 Sorry, that's gross, I know.
07:48 But everyone here, if you don't know that,
07:50 you don't need to worry about that
07:51 for another 15 or 20 years.
07:53 Conjunction, conjunction.
07:56 Anytime you see a conjunction, you see but,
07:58 you wanna know why is it there?
08:01 So if Paul says, "But we are citizens of heaven,"
08:03 we wanna know what was he saying before that
08:06 so it'll make sense in context.
08:08 So let's look at what he said before,
08:10 but you're citizens of heaven.
08:12 He said this, he said, "For I've told you often before,
08:16 "and I say it again with tears in my eyes."
08:19 When we're reading this,
08:20 I hope you'll feel the emotion of the apostle Paul
08:23 who was gonna say, "You're not from here.
08:25 "This isn't your home."
08:26 And I want you to feel the pain when he says,
08:28 "There are many whose conduct shows
08:31 "they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
08:36 "They are headed for destruction."
08:39 He goes on to say, "Their God is their appetite,
08:43 "and they brag about shameful things."
08:46 We see this all over in our culture today, don't we?
08:49 And they think only about this life here on earth.
08:54 And then he says, "But," everybody say, "But."
08:58 Type it in the comment section, say it again.
09:00 "But even though they are living
09:02 "for the things of this world,
09:03 "but we are citizens of heaven
09:07 "where the Lord Jesus Christ lives,
09:10 "and we are eagerly awaiting Him to return as our Savior."
09:15 There is a phrase, I must admit, in this verse
09:21 that convicts me deeply.
09:24 And the phrase goes like this.
09:26 They think only about life here on earth.
09:30 They think only about life here on earth.
09:34 Because although I know I'm a citizen of heaven,
09:38 I tend to think a lot about life here on earth.
09:43 And this convicts me because my mind drifts
09:47 toward the cares and the concerns of this world
09:50 way more often than I would like to admit.
09:53 And I'm guessing that some of you
09:54 might be a little bit convicted too,
09:56 because it's easy to obsess about this earth.
09:59 I'm a citizen of heaven, of course,
10:02 but we all wanna be comfortable, right?
10:06 I mean, we all wanna have a good income and a nice home
10:09 and maybe one day even get like a house cleaner
10:12 so I can have more me time for whatever me time it is,
10:14 your yoga or knitting or flying or rolling
10:18 or soccer or whatever.
10:22 We want more me time and we want a little extra cash
10:25 for our favorite watch or our shoes
10:28 or bracelets or our outfits.
10:31 And we wanna travel and we wanna go nice places
10:34 and we gotta get our coffee.
10:35 Gotta get our coffee.
10:38 For the glory of Jesus,
10:39 we can't serve them without our coffee.
10:42 And we know we're citizens of heaven,
10:43 but we wanna provide the best we can for our families.
10:48 And then we wanna show it all on social media
10:51 so we can tell everybody, my life is amazing,
10:54 hashtag blessed, right?
10:57 And when we get sucked into this,
10:58 like what we have and what we do and what we show
11:01 and what people think about us.
11:03 And we know deep down as followers of Jesus
11:06 that this isn't all there is,
11:09 but we just get almost dragged into it
11:13 where it almost overtakes us.
11:15 And we start to think, well, this is what matters, right?
11:19 What they think really matters, right?
11:21 What I have, that's what's gonna make me happy, right?
11:24 And we get pulled down into this world.
11:29 And there is something deep in your souls
11:33 that knows that you were created for more.
11:40 Why?
11:41 Because this world is not your home.
11:45 You're a citizen of heaven.
11:48 And when you're a citizen of heaven,
11:50 I wanna show you two things that scripture say
11:51 very, very clearly.
11:52 The first thing is, number one is,
11:54 you will think differently from this world.
11:57 When you're a citizen of heaven,
12:00 you may live by the laws because you're here,
12:03 but you are driven by the values of the kingdom of God.
12:07 Romans 12, two tells us this, scripture says,
12:11 don't copy the behavior and customs of this world
12:16 just because everybody else is doing it
12:19 and everybody else says it's right.
12:21 And everybody else says, well, now this is true.
12:23 We don't live according to what the world says is true,
12:27 but we are transformed into a new person by what?
12:30 Scripture says, by changing the way you think.
12:35 We will let God's word, let his truth renew our minds
12:39 so we're not dragged down into the lies of this world,
12:43 but we keep our mind set on things that are above.
12:47 And the world's gonna lie to us over and over
12:49 and over again because this world is broken
12:52 and marred by sin.
12:54 This culture will tell you, live for yourself.
12:58 Live your best life.
13:00 You matter more than anything else.
13:03 Live your truth.
13:05 Doesn't matter what you do
13:06 as long as you don't hurt anybody.
13:09 But scripture says, no, your treasure is not on earth.
13:13 Your real treasure is in heaven.
13:16 You don't get your value.
13:18 (congregation applauding)
13:19 From this earth.
13:21 And so Paul said this, Colossians 3, he said this.
13:24 He said, "Since then, you've been raised with Christ."
13:29 Where do you set your hearts?
13:31 Scripture says, "You set your hearts on things above
13:35 "where Christ is seated at the right hand of God."
13:39 You set your mind on things above, not earthly things.
13:45 Every day, my eyes see earthly things.
13:49 Every day, everything in media and on social media
13:53 and in the people I stream out,
13:55 live for this world, love this world.
13:57 So I have to intentionally set my mind up above
14:01 and say, I'm not gonna live for the lower things
14:04 that do not last.
14:05 I'm not gonna live for the lower things that do not matter.
14:07 I'm not gonna live for the lower things
14:08 that do not honor God.
14:10 I'm gonna intentionally choose to set my mind
14:13 on things above.
14:15 Scripture says, "Think more about me."
14:19 Putting my mind above says,
14:20 "Consider others better than yourselves."
14:23 The world says, "Think about what you can give
14:26 "and what you can have."
14:27 And Scripture says, "Think about what you can give
14:30 "and how you can bless others."
14:32 The world says, "Think about now, what matters now."
14:35 But when you look above,
14:37 you think about what matters eternally
14:39 because you're not from this world.
14:42 And if you're not from this world,
14:44 you will think differently from this world.
14:48 And if you think differently from this world,
14:51 then number two, you will live differently from this world.
14:56 Earlier, the traditional text, Paul said,
15:00 "As strangers and aliens, stay away from,
15:03 "abstain from worldly desires
15:06 "that wage war against your soul."
15:09 A devotional version of the message says
15:12 that same text this way.
15:14 It's not literal, but devotional.
15:15 It says, "Friends, this world is not your home.
15:19 "So don't make yourselves cozy in it.
15:25 "Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul."
15:30 I like that imagery.
15:33 I don't wanna be cozy with this world.
15:36 I don't wanna snuggle up with my favorite sins.
15:39 Because when you think about entertainment,
15:43 many times, what are we entertained by?
15:45 We're entertained by sin.
15:49 I mean, if there are cuss words and nudity and violence
15:55 all over the shows you're watching,
15:58 is that God honoring or is that convicting?
16:01 'Cause it's convicting to me right now,
16:03 as I'm saying it, like right now,
16:05 like the show I watched last night, right now.
16:08 Cozying up to it.
16:09 Feel comfortable in it.
16:11 When you set your mind on things above,
16:14 it changes everything.
16:16 I mean, it changes everything.
16:19 I'm not from here,
16:21 so I'm not gonna let my mind drift to other things from here.
16:23 I'm gonna intentionally set my mind on things above.
16:27 That'll change how I spend my time.
16:30 It's not gonna be like,
16:32 "Oh, I can't believe I spent four hours on TikTok."
16:35 It's like, "I can't believe TikTok has any slice
16:37 "of the time that God has given me."
16:39 It changes how you spend your,
16:41 it'll change what you do with your money.
16:44 Instead of seeing it all as for us,
16:46 you start to see it all as something to be stewarded
16:49 for the glory of God.
16:50 It'll change how you treat people,
16:53 even annoying people.
16:55 Because Scripture says to love all of them.
16:58 And some of them are more difficult to love.
17:01 And sometimes loving the more difficult ones
17:03 is exactly what you need to make you more like Him.
17:05 When you set your mind on things above,
17:08 it'll change how you date, who you date,
17:12 what you don't do on dates.
17:15 It'll change how you treat the people that you work with.
17:19 It'll change who you marry
17:21 and how you treat the person that you're married to.
17:23 It'll change your relationship with your kids.
17:27 It'll change how you think about parenting
17:29 and how you disciple them and what you do.
17:32 Because you think differently,
17:34 you're going to live differently
17:36 and you want to be different from this world.
17:39 Don't you?
17:40 Have you looked around recently
17:43 at what is normal in this world?
17:45 You want what's normal?
17:49 This world is like pulling us down
17:52 into everything that is not God.
17:54 What's normal?
17:55 I mean, let's just be practical, not even spiritual.
17:57 Normal is broke.
17:59 Normal is spending more than you have
18:01 to impress people with what you have,
18:03 so much so that you can't even breathe financially.
18:05 Normal is divorced and splitting the kids on the weekends.
18:11 Normal is lonely, scrolling all day long,
18:14 acting like you have friends on screen,
18:17 but don't have real intimate connection in life.
18:20 Normal is jealousy.
18:22 And normal is numbing yourself out on alcohol or drugs.
18:26 And normal is experimenting sexually and say,
18:28 "Well, maybe this is who I am and this is what I can do.
18:31 And now this is who I really..."
18:32 Normal is being ticked off at the world.
18:35 Normal is being skeptical of everyone that you meet
18:37 and not trusting.
18:39 Normal is walking around with a bitter attitude,
18:42 being a victim and everybody else is out to get me.
18:44 I'm not getting my peace.
18:46 And normal is being miserable and discontented
18:49 and never having enough and never having joy
18:51 and not having...
18:52 Normal is anxiety and depression and stress
18:57 and cutting.
18:58 Normal is hating life.
19:02 Normal is not working.
19:06 You're not from here.
19:09 You're not supposed to be like here.
19:11 I urge you, I warn you,
19:14 as aliens, as strangers, as foreigners, as exiles,
19:18 you're not from here.
19:19 You're citizens of heaven.
19:21 So you wage war.
19:24 You don't tolerate it.
19:25 You wage war against the very things that hurt your soul.
19:30 So...
19:31 (congregation applauding)
19:35 So who are we?
19:37 We're citizens of heaven.
19:40 And I wanna give you a moment just to say that.
19:42 Each week, we're kind of declaring who we are in Christ.
19:45 And I wanna give you a moment to say it.
19:47 We'll have to say it a couple of times
19:48 because you'll maybe believe it here,
19:50 but we wanna live it here in our hearts.
19:52 So who are you?
19:53 Say, "I am."
19:54 I am.
19:55 A citizen of heaven.
19:56 A citizen of heaven.
19:58 My life belongs to God.
20:00 My life belongs to God.
20:02 Because earth is not my home.
20:04 Because earth is not my home.
20:05 I think differently.
20:07 I think differently.
20:08 And I live differently.
20:10 And I live differently.
20:11 Who are you?
20:12 I am.
20:13 I am.
20:14 A citizen of heaven.
20:15 A citizen of heaven.
20:16 My life belongs to God.
20:18 My life belongs to God.
20:20 Because earth is not my home.
20:22 Because earth is not my home.
20:23 I think differently.
20:25 I think differently.
20:26 And I live differently.
20:27 And I live differently.
20:28 And that's why we remind ourselves
20:30 over and over and over and over again,
20:32 this world is not my home.
20:34 I'm a citizen of heaven.
20:36 Because if you don't remind yourself
20:37 over and over and over again,
20:38 if you don't remind yourself,
20:41 you will drift to the things of this world.
20:44 We all will.
20:45 The current is so strong.
20:47 Have you ever been to the beach, playing in the ocean,
20:52 and recognized while you were playing,
20:53 the current just moved you?
20:55 Anybody know what I'm talking about?
20:56 Type online, I know what you're talking about.
20:58 I'll look at the comments,
20:59 and you'll make me feel like I,
21:00 you know what I'm talking about?
21:01 You're playing.
21:02 We did this one time, we were playing.
21:03 We had our little beach sandcastle
21:06 and our little blanky blanky with our little sandwiches
21:11 with a lot of sand and the witches,
21:12 'cause we're at the beach, you know?
21:14 And so I'm out there playing with my kids,
21:16 and we're just playing, and the current's kinda going.
21:18 We're just kinda playing, and the current's kinda going.
21:20 We're just having a good time.
21:21 (imitates wind blowing)
21:24 We're playing and playing.
21:25 You know, you grab their little kid booty
21:27 and act like this.
21:28 "Ah, ah, daddy, don't!"
21:29 You know, we're playing, playing, playing.
21:31 And then we look up,
21:32 and our little campsite is way down there.
21:35 How'd we get here?
21:36 We didn't realize it, but the whole time,
21:39 very, very, very, very slowly,
21:41 the current was moving you in its direction.
21:44 Can I talk to those of you that are parents?
21:50 One of your greatest responsibilities,
21:52 if you are a disciple of Jesus,
21:55 is to help your children understand,
21:57 as disciples of Jesus, we are different.
22:01 Different is actually good.
22:05 And we have to intentionally resist the cultural current,
22:10 because it pulls us away from Jesus
22:13 toward the things of this world.
22:16 And so you're gonna say, "Okay, Craig, as a parent,
22:19 "what does that look like?"
22:21 The answer's like, "I don't know.
22:24 "All I know is in our home, we had certain things,
22:27 "and it wasn't even about the things
22:28 "as it was about the different."
22:30 In our home, like, as followers of Jesus,
22:32 we do these things, and we don't do those things.
22:36 And I'm promising you when I tell you,
22:38 it wasn't as much about the things as it was the principle
22:43 that we wanted them to understand
22:44 as followers of Jesus, we're different.
22:47 And you can pick your thing.
22:48 It might be that we don't give you a cell phone
22:51 when you're seven years old,
22:52 so you can have a connection with the whole world.
22:54 We don't get that until later in our home.
22:56 Or it might be, we want you to be secure
22:58 in who you are in Christ, so social media doesn't come.
23:01 You don't get that until a certain age.
23:03 Or it might be that, hey, on summer vacation,
23:05 yeah, we do a four-day trip for us,
23:08 and then we do a four-day mission trip,
23:10 because as followers of Jesus, we're different.
23:14 Or it might be like, you're really, really good
23:16 at this activity, but since the traveling team
23:20 does that on Sundays, oh, I know I'm getting in danger.
23:25 We don't do that because we prioritize the worship
23:31 of the place that we are from.
23:33 We worship our God in heaven.
23:35 So we're not doing that team.
23:38 And what I promise you is,
23:40 you would rather have a disciple of Jesus
23:42 than a star athlete when everything is said and done.
23:45 And that cold, cold, cold, don't mess with our sports, okay?
23:48 It might be that we don't listen to certain music
23:52 because we're a follower of Jesus.
23:54 Or you're not going on a car date,
23:55 even though all your friends are at this age,
23:57 whatever it is, you prayerfully determine,
24:01 as a follower of Jesus, in this area of our life,
24:04 we are strategically and intentionally different.
24:07 And again, it's not just about the thing,
24:09 it's about helping our children see,
24:11 to honor God, we are not from this world,
24:14 therefore we will not live like this world.
24:17 And I wanna say it very directly,
24:18 if you don't actively resist the current of culture,
24:23 you will drift into the deception of this world.
24:26 It has to be active.
24:28 You fight against the things that wage war
24:31 against your soul, you are not from here.
24:35 The Bible says we are called to be hagios,
24:38 that means holy, that means set apart.
24:40 Set apart means different.
24:42 Listen to me, church, don't worry
24:45 if you're different from the world, worry if you're not.
24:49 (congregation applauding)
24:51 God calls us to be different, to be set apart.
24:56 Now, some of you may find yourself saying,
24:59 kind of like what I would,
25:00 like, I know I shouldn't love this world,
25:04 but I kind of like the things in this world.
25:08 And the more I pursue them,
25:11 the more I realize I'm still not satisfied.
25:13 Why is it that we pursue more and more and more
25:17 and more in this world,
25:18 and yet find ourselves more and more and more and more
25:21 dissatisfied?
25:22 Dr. Tony Evans told an illustration,
25:25 I give him credit for the idea,
25:26 and I'm gonna totally butcher his and tell it my own way,
25:29 but he talks about a fish that's taken out of water.
25:33 I would explain it like this.
25:36 If you take a fish out of water,
25:39 and you drive that fish to Target, it's a female fish,
25:44 or Bass Pro Shop, if it's a male fish,
25:49 and give that fish $1,000 gift card,
25:53 is the fish happy?
25:54 No.
25:57 If you take the fish out of water
25:58 and you video the fish dancing,
26:01 I'm making this up, to a baby shark, okay?
26:04 And the video goes viral,
26:08 and now the fish has TikTok fame.
26:10 Is that fish happy?
26:12 Okay, if it's a male fish,
26:16 and you parade a lot of little female fishes
26:18 in teeny fish bikinis in front of that fish
26:21 while he's sitting there on the beach,
26:23 silly, right?
26:25 But is the fish happy?
26:26 The answer is no, why?
26:27 Because the fish wasn't made for the beach.
26:30 The fish was made for the water.
26:33 And if you find yourself living for this world
26:37 and living for this world
26:38 and never satisfied by the things in this world,
26:39 it's because you were not made for this world.
26:42 Stop acting like it's your home.
26:44 We're citizens of heaven.
26:48 If you continue to look for the things in this world
26:52 to satisfy you, you're looking in a place
26:54 that can never fulfill your deepest longings
26:56 because you are not created for this world,
26:58 you're not from this world.
27:00 Who are you?
27:01 Well, when you know who you are, you'll know what to do.
27:06 And over the past few weeks,
27:08 we've looked at who we are in Christ.
27:11 Who are you?
27:12 You are God's masterpiece,
27:15 created in Christ Jesus to do the good works
27:20 which God prepared in advance for you to do.
27:22 You're the masterpiece of God.
27:24 Who are you?
27:26 You're an ambassador of the most high God.
27:29 You are the highest ranking diplomat
27:32 sent by God from heaven to earth to show his love.
27:37 Who are you?
27:38 You are the salt of this earth
27:41 and you are the light of this world.
27:44 So be salty and let your light shine.
27:46 Where are you from?
27:48 You're not from here.
27:51 This is not your home.
27:55 You are a citizen of heaven.
27:58 And because your life is not your own
28:03 and this world is not your home,
28:08 your past on this earth will not define you.
28:11 The trials thrown at you will not stop you.
28:17 Fear can't control you.
28:21 Doubters can't deter you.
28:23 There's no person that can ever break you.
28:26 Money can't buy you because you're living
28:30 for the treasures of that which is to come.
28:32 Haters can't silence you.
28:34 Demons can never defeat you.
28:35 Why?
28:36 This world is not your home.
28:39 You were born in the kingdom of God for the things of God.
28:44 So live for the things of God.
28:46 So who are you?
28:49 With a smile on your face and joy in your heart
28:54 because you're fulfilling your heavenly purpose
28:57 in all you do.
28:58 Who are you?
28:59 I am a citizen of heaven.
29:03 My life belongs to God.
29:06 And because earth is not my home,
29:09 I think differently and I live differently
29:14 because the very same spirit that raised Christ
29:17 from the dead dwells within you
29:19 because you have the faith to walk into a room
29:23 and call the things that are not as though they were.
29:25 Your faith moves mountains.
29:27 God hears your prayers.
29:30 You're blessed by him to make a difference in this world.
29:33 When you walk in the room, hope walks in the room.
29:36 When you walk in the room, faith walks in the room.
29:39 When you walk in the room, you're just visiting the room
29:42 with a message from heaven to show the love of a good God,
29:48 but this room's not your home.
29:51 You're just passing through.
29:53 You're on assignment, on mission
29:56 by the creator of the universe who loved you so much
30:01 he sent his son, Jesus, for you.
30:04 This earth is not your home.
30:07 Stop living like it.
30:09 You belong to God.
30:13 Set your mind on things above
30:14 and let that change the way you think
30:17 and let that change the way you live.
30:20 And when you get different and a little bit weird,
30:24 don't be afraid 'cause normal's not working.
30:28 Don't be afraid if you're different.
30:32 Be worried if you're not
30:33 'cause this world is not your home.
30:36 So Father, we pray today
30:37 that your Holy Spirit would do a work in us,
30:41 stir us, God, convict us in a loving way
30:45 to let go of that which is below
30:49 and to look to that which is above.
30:52 As you keep praying today at all of our churches
30:55 and around the world online,
30:56 I wonder how many of you would admit
30:59 that you can be like me.
31:01 And I don't like to say it out loud, but it's true.
31:04 I am a citizen of heaven.
31:07 I've been born again by the power of Jesus.
31:10 I belong to God.
31:11 And yet the current of this world pulls me into it
31:15 and I can end up living for the things
31:18 that don't last and don't matter.
31:21 How many of you would say that can be true for you
31:24 and you want something different?
31:26 Would you lift up your hands right now?
31:27 Lift up your hands.
31:27 Online, you can type in the comment section,
31:29 God, help me to live for you.
31:31 Help me to live for you.
31:32 Father, I pray that this word would do a,
31:36 just do a serious work on our hearts.
31:39 Then our life groups, we talk about it over meals.
31:42 We talk about it with our family.
31:45 That as disciples of Jesus,
31:47 you've called us to be holy, to be set apart,
31:50 to be different.
31:51 Not because we're better, not because we're arrogant,
31:53 not because we're gonna stub our nose at anybody,
31:56 but just because we wanna live according to the values
31:58 of the kingdom of God.
31:59 Give us the courage to swim upstream
32:04 when everyone else is going the other way.
32:07 God, give us the faith to obey you
32:08 when you challenge us to do something different
32:11 with our money or different with our time
32:13 or different in the way that we parent our kids.
32:15 Give us the courage to stand strong.
32:17 Give us the faith to hear from heaven,
32:21 to be bold enough to be different, to think differently.
32:24 God, help us, help us.
32:26 We need help.
32:26 In your word, as we study your word, renew our minds.
32:31 And we choose, God, to set our minds on things above,
32:36 not on things below.
32:37 We're citizens of heaven.
32:41 Who are you?
32:42 You are a citizen of heaven.
32:43 You are a child of God.
32:44 This world is not your home.
32:48 So God, teach us, conform us to the image of your son
32:51 to live in a way that honors you.
32:53 As you keep praying today, nobody looking around,
32:57 some of you right now, you might say,
32:58 "Yeah, but I believe in God,
32:59 "but I'm obviously not a citizen of heaven.
33:01 "I grew up going to church some and I believed in God,
33:06 "but I did not belong to him."
33:07 There's a big difference between believing in God.
33:10 Scripture says that even the demons,
33:12 they believe in him and they're smart enough to shudder.
33:15 They tremble.
33:16 You may kind of believe in God,
33:17 but you recognize you're not following him.
33:20 You don't know him.
33:21 They're not in a personal relationship with him.
33:23 Let me just tell you about how good he is.
33:24 And he's also kind of demanding.
33:27 He is so good.
33:28 He is so loving that even when we've been sinning
33:31 against him, he loved us and sent Jesus, his son,
33:34 perfect in every way.
33:35 Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven.
33:39 And God raised him from the dead.
33:41 Now, what does God want?
33:43 Well, this is where he's kind of demanding.
33:44 He wants all of you.
33:45 Like he wants to be first.
33:47 He wants to be the Lord of your life.
33:51 I'll tell you what,
33:52 I don't want anything less than him to be first.
33:55 He is the only one who's ever loved us.
33:57 He is the one who created us.
33:58 He is the one who made the ability
34:00 for us to be right with him.
34:02 And because of his love,
34:04 I want to let go of everything in this world
34:06 and I want to surrender everything to him.
34:09 Some of you today, you may recognize
34:11 I've been around the things of God,
34:13 but I'm not really surrendered to him.
34:14 I'm not really submitted to him.
34:16 Today, all we're gonna do is we're gonna take
34:18 a really big step of faith.
34:20 Scripture says that when you call on the name,
34:21 the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name,
34:24 God actually hears your prayers.
34:26 When you put him first, he'll forgive your sins.
34:29 You're brand new.
34:30 All the old stuff is gone and everything becomes new.
34:32 If you recognize today, you're kind of like half in,
34:35 like kind of part of like the whatever,
34:36 but you're not fully surrendered to him.
34:38 We're gonna step away from our sinfulness
34:40 and we're gonna give him our whole life, everything,
34:41 everything, our past, our present, our future,
34:44 we're surrendering to him.
34:45 This isn't like a little Jesus check the box thing.
34:47 This is a full on take my whole life, every bit of me,
34:51 my present, my future, I give it all to you today.
34:53 Wherever you're watching from and you recognize
34:55 you need a savior, you need Jesus
34:58 to be the Lord of your life.
34:59 We're stepping away from our sin
35:00 and we're saying, yes, take all of my life.
35:02 I turn to you, forgive my sins.
35:03 I give you my life.
35:05 That's your prayer today.
35:06 Lift your hands high right now and say, yes, I surrender.
35:08 All praise God, we've got people today
35:10 at all of our churches saying yes, we surrender to you.
35:13 We trust you as the Lord of our lives.
35:15 Online, just type in the comment section,
35:18 I am surrendering my life to Jesus.
35:20 Just type that in, I'm surrendering my life to Jesus.
35:23 And in this holy moment, would you pray with those around you
35:26 pray, pray from your heart with faith,
35:29 Heavenly Father.
35:30 Heavenly Father.
35:31 I surrender.
35:32 I surrender.
35:34 My whole life.
35:35 My whole life.
35:37 Jesus, save me.
35:38 Jesus, save me.
35:39 Be my Lord.
35:40 Be my Lord.
35:41 Fill me with your Spirit.
35:45 Fill me with your Spirit.
35:47 So I could serve you.
35:48 So I could serve you.
35:49 Every moment of my life.
35:52 Every moment of my life.
35:53 Because my life is not my own.
35:55 Because my life is not my own.
35:56 I give it all to you.
35:58 I give it all to you.
35:59 Earth is not my home.
36:00 Earth is not my home.
36:01 I'm a citizen of heaven.
36:02 I'm a citizen of heaven.
36:05 Lord, use me to show your love
36:08 and to do your will because I belong to you.
36:13 Thank you for new life.
36:14 You have all of mine.
36:16 In Jesus name I pray.
36:18 Could somebody give a shout of praise today.
36:21 Welcome those born into God's family.
36:22 Come on church, let's give God praise.
36:24 Did you connect with this message?
36:25 Did it resonate with you?
36:27 We've got even more messages about your calling
36:29 and your purpose that you can watch right now.
36:32 Check them out here.
36:33 (upbeat music)
36:35 (upbeat music)