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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Gospel-Centered Community - A Humble Community
Welcome to our sermon series “The Gospel-Centered Community,” where today, Pastor Tyler Lynde delves into the critical role of humility in our latest discussion titled “A Humble Community.” Drawing deeply from Philippians 2:1-8, Tyler explores how embracing humility can dramatically transform our personal lives and, by extension, our community.
Tyler opens with a personal reflection on his struggles with what appeared to be humility but was cloaked in pride. By sharing his revelations about self-deprecating humor and its role in masking true feelings, Tyler sets the stage for a deeper exploration of humility. He challenges listeners to consider how often their actions, intended as humble, might stem from a place of pride.
The sermon progresses by highlighting the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in instilling humility among believers. Tyler emphasizes that true humility is not a human achievement but a divine gift cultivated through our ongoing relationship with the Holy Spirit. This discussion invites listeners to open their hearts to spiritual guidance and transformation, making it clear that humility is both a starting point and a continual journey in the Christian faith.
Throughout the sermon, Tyler tackles the contrasting mindsets of consumerism versus servanthood. He vividly describes how modern society often pushes us toward a self-centric view that values personal gain above all. In stark contrast, Tyler presents the servant mindset, demonstrated by Jesus, as the biblical standard. This part of the sermon includes practical advice on shifting one’s focus from seeking to receive to eagerly giving and serving others, which is essential for fostering a humble community.
An interactive portion follows, where listeners are encouraged to engage in self-reflection. Tyler introduces exercises designed to help identify personal inclinations towards pride—whether it manifests as arrogance or fear. This interactive approach makes the sermon engaging and practical, as it provides listeners with tools to recognize and combat pride in their everyday lives.
As the sermon nears its conclusion, Tyler powerfully reflects on the societal impacts of humility. He discusses the role of humility in mending and strengthening relationships, particularly within families. By advocating for an honest assessment of one’s shortcomings and a heartfelt apology where needed, he illustrates how these humble acts can lead to healing and reconciliation.
The sermon wraps up with a compelling call to action, inviting listeners to embrace humility not just as a personal virtue but as a communal necessity. Tyler’s closing prayer focuses on seeking God’s help in overcoming pride and fostering a spirit of unity and service within the community.
This episode offers a profound look into how humility can reshape our interactions and community life. By weaving together personal anecdotes, biblical teachings, and practical exercises, Tyler provides a comprehensive guide to living a life marked by humility. Tune in to discover how you can contribute to building a humble community that reflects the love and grace of Christ.
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Last week we started talking about some of the characteristic marks of a community that is gospel-centered, and remember what we talked about last week, and that is that a gospel-centered community is a joyful community. How many of you have experienced more joy in your life this week than you have prior? I hope that you've experienced that in great ways. I know that I've had some great times this week myself. So today we're going to be looking at the second characteristic, and it is humility. Humility the title of today's message is a humble community. It's from chapter six out of the gospel centered community book. So let's look at Philippians, chapter two, verses one through eight. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love and participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but, in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, that he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Let's pray this morning, father. I am so grateful for the words that we find in the book of Philippians and in every other book of the Bible. Father, your word is filled with life and light because they are your words, and so we ask that the words from this chapter today and the things that we speak about will produce life and transformation and change and hope and encouragement and conviction where conviction is needed. Father, we give you permission to do exactly what you want to do here today. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:So I've been in the ministry this year it's 31 years and for about the first 10 years of my ministry I practiced something that I learned that I needed to make a change on. So about for the first 10 years of my ministry, whenever I would speak I would use self-deprecating humor, right so I would talk poorly about myself. One Sunday, I asked my wife, who happens to be high in belief so if you have a wife who's high in belief don't ask a question unless you want the answer, okay. So I asked her one Sunday after church so what did you think of the service? She paused. The pause is always dangerous, right? So she paused and then she thoughtfully said you don't have to do that, you really don't have to do that. And I said what do you mean? Explain what you mean. And she said you don't have to talk that. And I said what do you mean? Explain what you mean. And she said you don't have to talk down about yourself all the time. It's really not, it's not necessary.
Tyler Lynde:And so I'm thinking I can't even remember all that I was thinking. All I knew is that I needed some time in prayer, so I needed some comfort from the Lord. So I began to talk to the Lord and pray, and he spoke to me so gently and kindly and he said Tyler, you're full of pride. I thought my wife was being harsh. She wasn't being harsh at all, she was just being honest. The Lord came right behind her and sometimes the voice of the Lord sounds strangely like my wife's voice. It's like confirmation, you know. And so she's.
Tyler Lynde:So the Lord spoke to me and said you're full of pride. And I said what do you mean, lord? How can I be full of pride? I only talk negatively about myself. I'm always, you know, tearing myself down or making myself look a certain way. And he said well, who are you talking about all the time? And I said it's like when you know the answer but you don't want to say it out loud, right? And I said me Myself, and I right. And so the important lesson I learned that day is that I right. And so the important lesson I learned that day is that pride can clothe itself in a lot of different ways.
Tyler Lynde:False humility is called false humility because it's not actual humility. It is actually a form of pride, and so I was being prideful because I was consistently talking about myself, even if I wasn't building myself up or talking about how great I was or whatever the case might be. Does that make sense? So in our passage today, paul is writing to the Philippian church and he's exhorting them to follow Christ's example when it comes to the expression of humility. How many of you are thankful that we have an example found in scriptures that just isn't some kind of like, something that's a fairy tale or, you know a story that we have an example found in scriptures that just isn't some kind of like something that's a fairy tale. Or you know a story that we have to believe that didn't actually occur we don't know whether it occurred or not. It's at. Jesus actually came to this planet and lived the life that he lived and died the death that he died. And we, we can learn from his humility, and that's what Paul is saying here.
Tyler Lynde:And if this community will learn to walk in humility we're learning, aren't we Even this morning we're learning to walk in humility, then the community would be able to walk in love and unity, especially as they were about ready to face increased persecution. Why are we harping so much on all of this stuff, my friends, things are changing in this world and we need to be prepared for what comes, and one of the ways that we can do that is to learn from Jesus and to put into practice the things that Jesus did and said and lived, so that we can face whatever it is that we face here in this life and know that if he's with us, everything's going to be okay, not as we define, but as he defines. Okay, right. So this would be such a powerful. If the church, if a community, could learn to walk in this way, to walk humbly before God. Think about the missional tool that that could be. How many more people could we reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ? If there was a church that practiced humility as a core part of who they actually were, what a difference that could be made in this world. So let's jump right into it.
Tyler Lynde:First point is we can't walk in true humility unless we are Christ followers. It's funny to me, and it's a little bit crazy, that we expect people to act like Christians when they're not Christians. Why are we shocked by what's going on in the Olympics? Is it horrible? Some of the things that are going on? Absolutely. But why are we shocked? This is not a Christian organization. This is not an organization that even all of the people that are involved are Christian by any stretch of the imagination, and so when things like this happen, we shouldn't be surprised. We can be saddened, we can become prayerful, we can be you know all of those things, but we shouldn't be surprised, right?
Tyler Lynde:So we can't walk in true humility unless we are followers of Jesus Christ, because we have to be changed, we have to be transformed in order to live this way and the passage again says so if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy. So Paul is giving several qualifiers before he asks the Philippians to do anything. He's saying because you have experienced these things, then you can live like this. Does that make sense? And that's what I want us to take away from this message this morning. God has provided us everything that we need to be able to be obedient to the things that he asks of us. To be able to be obedient to the things that he asks of us. We have every gift and every grace that we need to be obedient to him. So he wants the people that he's writing to, paul does, to focus on the things that they have experienced in their life with Christ. How has their life changed? What do they know? How is the gospel that's being preached to them? How is it changing them? How is it affecting their focus and their mindset? So let's break down the first part of this passage and look at it just phrase by phrase. The first phrase is encouragement in Christ. So all of these things again that Paul is saying to the church in Philippi. He's saying to them because these things have already happened for them. They've already experienced these things. Here's the reality, and this is one of the.
Tyler Lynde:There are two sides to the gospel message that we need to get right. The first side is this we are far worse than we could ever imagine. You don't have to say amen to that, but just think about it for a minute. We are far worse than we can ever imagine. You don't have to say amen to that, but just think about it for a minute. We are far worse than we can ever imagine. If we were to weigh every thought, every motive, every attitude, every action, every non-motive or non-action or non-verbal thing, when we should have said something or should have done something, and put all of that on the scale of righteousness and justice, we would come up severely lacking. We are far worse than we can ever imagine and despite that, we have been rescued by the work of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde:Let's look quickly at Colossians, chapter 1, 13 and 14. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transformed us to the kingdom of his beloved son, which is who, jesus, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. My friends, we should be encouraging ourselves in Christ, be encouraging ourselves in Christ. What a change has occurred in our lives if we have become truly true followers of Jesus Christ. The second phrase is comfort from love. So we are far worse than we could ever imagine, but there's a second arm to the gospel, and that is we are far more loved than we could ever understand, far worse than we could ever imagine, but we're far more loved than we can ever understand For God. So what Loved the world? And in Galatians 2.20, it says I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What was his motivation? What was his heart? What was the attitude that he took to the cross? It was love. It was love. It was love. Before you try to change, before you try to do anything in your Christian walk, please get these truths right. Please concrete them, cement them as a part of who you are.
Tyler Lynde:The third phrase is participation in the Spirit. How many of you are thankful that we've been given the Holy Spirit, we've been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. And not only that, but he lives in us. The Holy Spirit of God lives on the inside of us as believers in Jesus Christ. John 14, 26 says but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. We have a built-in tutor, we have a built-in autocorrect. Built-in autocorrect, we have a built-in part of the Godhead living on the inside of us as believers, encouraging us, helping us, strengthening us, convicting us, changing us. And then, finally, the last phrase is any affection and sympathy.
Tyler Lynde:Have you ever experienced the kindness of God in your life? Have you ever had him show mercy towards you when you knew that you didn't deserve it? That's the definition of mercy His loving kindness, his faithfulness. I don't know about you, but I feel like that. I'm continuously experiencing the kindness of God and the compassion of God.
Tyler Lynde:Ephesians 2,. Just let these words wash over you but God. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. This is the reality that we, as believers, find ourselves in. We're far worse than we can ever imagine. We're far more loved than we could ever understand, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God and the kindness and the mercy of God. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is good news Now. If you're not a believer yet, this can become good news for you, and I encourage you today to take this seriously, to acknowledge where you're at, the fact that you have not yet made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ.
Tyler Lynde:The Bible says that we are to repent, which means to change our mind, to turn away from our sin, our old way of thinking, our old way of doing things, and we are to what. Put our faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ and the work that he did here on this earth, taking my sin and my shame and my guilt on the cross, and by faith in him I can be given by grace. You are saved through faith. I can be given the great gift of salvation. It's a free gift from God. I encourage you this morning turn your heart to Jesus Now.
Tyler Lynde:Believers are called to walk in unity when it comes to the essentials. I know that word unity is not very popular anymore because everybody thinks unity is equal to what Compromise. I can't be unified with people because that means I have to compromise. I don't even know that. The biblical truth of unity is bigger than that. It's much bigger than that, and we should be able to agree upon the essentials. Amen, should be able to agree upon the essentials. Amen.
Tyler Lynde:Paul goes on to say to the Philippians complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. This is the way that we're supposed to live in unity. If we have experienced the gospel benefits in our own lives, then the result should be if we've been given these gifts, then what should we give to others? The same things that have been given to us. We should give to others the same grace that's been given to us. We should give to others the same compassion and kindness and mercy and love and all of those things should be given to others. It's a gift that we have to be able to do this. Our unity begins and ends with God.
Tyler Lynde:How many of you know, we're not going to agree upon everything. Like if I just mentioned the word rapture, I'm sure there's probably multiple, multiple feelings when I say that word here in this room. Some people are like I don't know what that means. Other people are like this, it means this, and then others. You know on and on and on Right. But the essentials, the essentials of the gospel, we should be able to be unified around because they are absolutely true and without a need for further interpretation. Does that make sense? You see, unity isn't agreeing on everything. It's refusing to let our areas of disagreement keep us from walking in love toward each other. Can't we go back to joy? Joy was so much more. Joy is important, and that's the reason why we started with joy, because if we get that right, how many of you know we can do with humility right If we're living a life filled with joy. So the next point is that pride is a community killer. I can't talk about humility without talking about pride. Pride is a community killer.
Tyler Lynde:Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, travel back with me to eternity, past, and envision heaven, father, son and spirit and all of the created beings that are with them. These are called angels. What is the angels' number one job? To bring honor and glory and praise and blessing to God and blessing to God. And one of the ways that they do that most proficiently is through praise and worship. And there's a choir in heaven like no choir that you ever heard here on this earth Perfect, pitch, perfect, never miss a note. Everything is done in complete perfection and all the time. There's no end to the worship songs of heaven, the sounds of rejoicing and the sounds of joy and the dancing and the celebration. Can you imagine what it's going to be like and what it is like and what it was like before evil ever showed up on the scene? Imagine the pristine nature of it, the perfection, the purity.
Tyler Lynde:There was one created being in particular whose name was Lucifer, star of the morning. That's what his name means, star of the morning, and he was particularly gifted within his being. He had instrumentation built in His essence, was gem-like in character and in quality, and when the light of the glory of God would shine upon him, it would reflect and radiate, and he was a sight to be seen, a sight to behold, and he happened to be the worship leader of heaven. He led the choir and over time and we don't know how much time, but over time a third of that choir began to say things like when's Lucifer going to lead worship again? We like when Lucifer leads worship. Look at you, look at how amazing you are. Have you noticed lately how that particular hue reflects off of you when the light just hits you just right? Can you imagine that song that Lucifer wrote? What a great song. It's the best song I've ever heard.
Tyler Lynde:And before long Lucifer began to believe what was being said and as he looked in the mirror and made his proclamations over himself you are brilliant, you are amazing, you are pretty much like God. Excuse me, let's pick it up in Isaiah how you are fallen from heaven, o shining star, son of the morning. You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. For you said to yourself I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the most high. Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths. Lucifer, star of the morning, the worship leader of heaven, began to believe that he was equal to God, and God made it very clear that that was not true as he kicked him and one third of the angels out of heaven.
Tyler Lynde:And how many of you know that Satan has been changed as well? He no longer maintains his beauty or his essence. He no longer reflects the glory of God. He's the antithesis of that. He's the opposite of anything that you could think of that would contain kindness or goodness, or love or joy or mercy or any of those things. He is evil and wicked in every way. He's a sadistic clown in a house of mirrors and he calls to us to enter into his house and to look in the mirror. Some of the mirrors in that house say to us you're amazing. Look at you. Nothing will ever stop you. And other mirrors in the room tell you that you're a victim and that you're owed things and that your rights are being trampled on and that you are less than All of these mirrors and all of these images. That are distortions of the gospel, distortions of what God intends for us.
Tyler Lynde:My friends, pride is insidious in nature and it attempts to rule mankind, from Adam and Eve to each and every one of us. Except for the Lord, jesus Christ, all of us have followed in Satan's footsteps in one way or another. All of us have succumbed to the temptation, except for Jesus, to be proud, to live a life of pride. See, pride in its most reckless form attempts to make God in man's image. I'll make him like I want him to be. You know what you're actually doing. When you do that, you're actually saying I'm God. I'm the one who makes the decisions. I'm the one who commands God what to do. I'm the one who prays and he jumps. I'm the one who confesses something and he has to do it. I'm the one. My friends, this did not work for Lucifer and it's not going to work for you and I. God resists the proud. Let that linger for a minute. God resists the proud, but thank God, the verse doesn't end there. What does it say? From there on out, he gives grace to the humble.
Tyler Lynde:The essence of pride is self-centeredness. It's all about me, regardless of how you look at it which can manifest itself offensively, as arrogance, as self-exaltation, or defensively, as fear, self-preservation. So I'm going to ask you to we're going to have an interactive part of the message here. So you've got two hands right. So on your right hand, I'm going to give you two lists. So, on your right hand, just keep track. Don't. Don't wave your fingers too much, because you don't want people next to you counting how many of these apply to you, right? So I've got six of them. So I'm saying none of you are going to actually get to six, but maybe some of each of each of these statements will qualify. You'll say, okay, I can relate to that, right? So just keep track. On your right hand for the first list, on your left hand for the second list. You ready, here we go. Number one. So these, the first list, is characteristics of arrogant pride. Arrogance, you know, flamboyant pride, outward pride. I must be in control. That's that thumb if you need it right, I must be in control.
Tyler Lynde:I am threatened by people with legitimate differences. I avoid disagreement or critique. I see other gifted, competent people as competition. I can be hypercritical of others. I lack self-awareness. I have a hard time seeing or admitting my sins, errors and faults. I long to be respected by everyone. How'd we do Any of those fingers get counted? All right, let's go to the left hand. Hopefully the left hand will be much better right.
Tyler Lynde:Characteristics of fearful pride. I avoid leading at all costs. I'm hesitant to take charge. Avoid leading at all costs. I'm hesitant to take charge. I'm paralyzed by people with legitimate differences. I spend a lot of time and energy thinking about or responding to disagreement and critique. I'm overly sensitive. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I see other gifted, competent people as threats. I lack self-confidence. I'm often paralyzed by an awareness of my sins, errors and faults and, finally, I long to be liked by everyone.
Tyler Lynde:We did better on that list right Now. The lists are not here, created here to create condemnation. Condemnation is when Satan says to you this is who you are and you'll never change. But they are here and I have to tell you I've been dealing with this all week, so, and I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me, I'm just saying this all week. So, and I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me, I'm just saying when we prepare these messages, god deals with our hearts too, right First, and so it's so important for us to humble ourselves before God and to acknowledge our need. And that's what this is about is qualifying where our need is.
Tyler Lynde:You see, all forms of self-centeredness manifest themselves in a lack of love for others. If you ask yourself the question why am I not loving well or I'm not being loved well by others? Pride or self-centeredness may be your answer. It's hard to love others when you feel this way, when you're driven by these things, when this is at the back of your mind at all times and you don't even realize it, don't even recognize it. All right, let's move on to some good stuff. It's all good, but a gospel-centered community is filled with people who put others before themselves.
Tyler Lynde:It goes on in Philippians 2 to say but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Now for honest, this is hard to do. Can we own that? This is hard to do at times. It's against fallen nature, it's against the agenda of Satan and it's against the culture of this world. How many of you know that the culture of this world in our generation and the generations my generation at least and the generations that follow, have been an individualistic culture. It's all about me, my feelings, my agenda, my whatever. It's all about me. It's all about me, jesus, have you ever sang that song with the wrong words? And all this is for me? Yeah, that's like if we were to sing honest lyrics to worship songs, we could come up with a lot of parodies.
Tyler Lynde:Right, we are trained to be consumers instead of servants. We're trained in our culture to be consumers. What have you done for me lately? So let's look, let's kind of compare a consumer and a servant, just with a few statements, a few questions. A consumer says what's in it for me? What does the servant say? How can I serve others? A consumer says who's going to meet my needs? That's a real big one in marriage, but we're not going to go there today. Instead of asking ourselves the servant question, which is, who can I relate to and whose needs can I meet See how different that is.
Tyler Lynde:I'm critical of the community's faults and weaknesses. I can tell you what's wrong with Trinity Community Church. Or we're looking for God's grace at work in the community. In other words, where is God working to bring about change? What is he doing and how can I be on board with that? Consumerism gravitates toward people who have something to offer. So I get around people who can be a blessing to me. Right, and a servant recognizes the diversity of gifts in the body. Every person should be able to be a blessing. It's not like just because we feel like we need a certain thing that we gravitate towards certain people. We should all be interested in all of the others, in each of us. Another one is consumer uses others for personal gain, while a servant empowers others for the good of the kingdom of God. This church is filled with servants. I've seen it time and time and time again.
Tyler Lynde:I have to say I have to say this carefully because of the subject matter but I'm proud of you. I know we're talking about pride, but I'm proud of you in a good way, in a good sense, because you do prove your love for each other by the way that you serve each other. But how many of you know? Just because we've scratched the surface on that, that doesn't mean that we're where we need to be. We still have work to do that we're where we need to be. We still have work to do.
Tyler Lynde:Our consumerism can actually be rooted to a lack of faith. In other words, we don't believe the gospel. Let me give you some examples. So if we're worried about what others think because we aren't convinced that God delights in us, that's a problem. Psalm 149.4 says for the Lord takes pleasure in his people. He adorns the humble with salvation. We're anxious and self-seeking because we don't believe God will meet our needs.
Tyler Lynde:I'm going to say something here and I know that I'm stepping on a landmine. But the prepper community that's all I'm going to say the prepper community we have to ask ourselves the question. There's nothing wrong with storing a few items, but some people have actually asked me this recently what should we do? And you know what I've said to them, and this is an answer I feel like the Lord gave me. If you're putting things away so that you can be a blessing to others if things get hard, that's a good reason to do that. But if you've bought a backhoe recently to dig up portions of your backyard so that you can bury an arsenal of whatever the case might be an arsenal of whatever the case might be that might not be the right motivation. Does that make sense? Because Matthew 6.33 says but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all of these things will be added to you. Have we forgotten about manna in the wilderness or quail being blown on the wind? Our God will provide and we do not need to be afraid Now.
Tyler Lynde:There's nothing wrong with using wisdom, and you know, we have some cans in our pantry that we have purposely. There's some asparagus in there, I think. There's some frozen spinach in the freezer. There's, there's some. There's frozen spinach in the freezer. There's a few things that we haven't tapped into yet, just in case. Right, so you still love me.
Tyler Lynde:All right, see, I gotta be real careful with that, because am I getting over into that mode where I'm, like, more concerned about what you think of me than what God says? Okay, we compare ourselves with others because we forget that Jesus is our righteousness Wow, 1 Corinthians 1.30,. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That's powerful. Those who trust God to meet their needs are free to consider the needs of others. How do you know that you're walking in humility? You're concerned about everybody else. Your thoughts are towards others, towards God first, and towards others. How can I be a blessing today as long as I'm looking to get my needs met. Here's a saying, a quote as long as I'm looking to get my needs met, I will never get my needs met. Here's a saying, a quote as long as I'm looking to get my needs met, I will never get my needs met. But when I begin to meet the needs of others, when I begin to live for them instead of for myself, I find that God graciously takes care of my needs in the process.
Tyler Lynde:I experienced this in 2020. I had a major colon problem which required four different surgeries and different points. During that time, I became and also I don't know if you remember or not, but we were at home a lot and as being at home and feeling pain and not having the energy to get up and do anything, and laying around a lot and getting grumpy and tired and weary my wife again the loving, I'm telling you, she is very loving and kind and compassionate, but she speaks the truth. She'd say to me things like well, what are you thankful for? Nope, we're not doing that, not today, maybe tomorrow, but today I just need everybody to feel bad for me, right? And so, again, I went to the Lord and I said Lord, what is wrong with me? Why am I feeling so down, so discouraged, so depressed? You know what he said to me Because you're not giving anything to anybody else. That's who I made you to be and you're not doing that. You know what I started doing. I grabbed my phone and started texting. I apologize if I spammed you back in those days, but I started texting people. I started calling people, I started reaching out and saying what can I do to be a blessing to somebody else? And you know what happened with. My attitude Started changing.
Tyler Lynde:Imagine a community where people consider the needs of others and took action to meet those needs. Imagine a community where pride and ego are put to death and selflessness and service are brought to life. Imagine how this would affect marriages. Guys, pride kills marriage. I don't care which side of it you're on. Pride kills marriage. The pretenders and those who try to rule others, both sides of that. Pride is a killer. Run away from it. Flee from it, by the grace of God. Imagine how families would be affected if fathers were humble enough to be able to say to their sons you got what it takes, you're going to make it. I'm praying for you. What if moms, instead of feeling like they needed to compete with their daughters, were able just to love them and talk about how beautiful they were and encourage them in their walk with the Lord, and community groups and workplaces, and on and on and on. All of our life, the gatherings of groups in our lives, could be affected so much if we would just make a little change.
Tyler Lynde:And let me finish by just concluding, as Paul did here, the grace of God turns us into servants just like Jesus. Rather than demanding that we be served, we joyfully lay down our rights and seek to serve God and others. Listen to this again from Philippians 2. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. In other words, he didn't hold on to his heavenly rights. He could have, but he let go of them and he became. He was all God, but he was also all man. While they walked this planet, he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Tyler Lynde:The message of grace and the message of the gospel is this Jesus did it perfectly right and by faith, by grace, through faith, being saved by believing that Jesus did it perfectly right, that his righteousness is applied to my life. But guess what? There's another gem to this the spirit living on the inside of us gives us the ability to say yes to the things that he says yes to, and to say no to the things that he says no to. We can be obedient to the word of God because of his grace. Amen. Stop saying that's just the way I am. Wouldn't you like to say that's the way I used to be? You can do that by the grace of God.
Tyler Lynde:We stand to our feet and let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we humble ourselves before you this day and we acknowledge our need, father. We repent of the areas in our lives where we have been arrogant, where we have exalted ourselves in ways that are ungodly and that reflect Satan's way and not your way, lord. We ask that you'd forgive us and cleanse us by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and make us whole. We also pray and ask you, lord, to forgive us for the times and the ways of our lives where we use false humility, or we lean to victimhood, or we're afraid to be ourselves because we don't want people to think a certain way about us. Father, that's another form of pride. Forgive us for that as well, lord, god, and change us. Create in us a clean heart. And, father, I just pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit and by the grace of God that you would equip us to bring about the change that we need.
Tyler Lynde:I ask that, instead of consumerism, that we would have the heart of servants, that we would be a reflection of Jesus Christ and that when people look at us, they wouldn't even notice us. They would see Jesus. Jesus, would you be manifest in our lives and would you display yourself to people around us, not so that we can get glory or honor or praise, but so that you can be lifted up, so that you can be exalted? Help our lives. Help us to be missionaries here in this life. Help us to love others the way that you've loved us. We can't say that we don't know how to do it, because we received the love from you. You've given it to us, so help us to be your hands and your feet and your mouthpiece and your heart to those around us. We give you glory and honor and power and praise for it.
Tyler Lynde:And, lord, I pray now for those who are here or watching online, who don't know you. I pray, lord, that this would be the day. I just I feel right now that there are some who are really contemplating whether to follow Christ or not. It's like you know him and you've experienced him, but there's something in your life that's telling you to run away. And, lord, I just pray for those people right now that they would not yield to the temptation to flee from your presence. I ask that you would draw them to yourself, lord, god, that you would bring about and I'm just kind of moving in and out here I feel like also that what the Lord is saying to you is that if you'll just give in, if you'll just surrender the questions that you have, the ways that you feel on the inside, all of those things will be dealt with because of the kindness and the compassion of Jesus. Father, I pray that, even now that you would infiltrate hotel rooms and hospitals and living rooms and wherever around the world these messages are being heard. Lord, god, we pray that you would touch and minister to the needs of each person and Father, we pray also for those who are dealing with sickness. We pray for healing. Lord, god, we pray for those who need freedom. We ask for deliverance. In the name of Jesus and Lord, we give you glory and honor and praise. Help us to walk in newness of life and in humility this week, not only individually, but as a community.
Tyler Lynde:Would you change families? Would you heal marriages, lord? Wow, just an apology. Apology, lord. I just sense that some people just need to apologize. Some people need to apologize to their children and some children need to apologize to their parents. Marriages that need healing and restoration begins with an apology, humbling yourself before God and before each other. Pray, father, that you would do these things and much more, much more than we could even think or imagine or fathom. In the name of Jesus, we pray. And Lord, I just pray that you would bless and keep each and every one of your children. I pray that you would cause your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them. Pray that you would lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace. In the name of Jesus, we pray, Amen, amen.
