WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a power, love, and self-discipline. 2 00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:08.880 So if you're trapped by fear, you know your enemies trying to keep you down. 3 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:17.120 He wants to destroy you, but remember your God has given you what? Power. Power. Not just a little power. 4 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:25.120 A lot of power. God-sized power. The power that'll electrify a train. A locomotive speeding down the tracks. 5 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:31.840 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today, as we look into God's word 6 00:00:31.840 --> 00:00:37.840 and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, 7 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:43.920 feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com, that's citylightnyc.com. 8 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:50.800 Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our 9 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:56.800 hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, 10 00:00:57.360 --> 00:01:02.400 that you are surrounded by his grace, and that he has a real hope and a future for you. 11 00:01:05.520 --> 00:01:10.240 I'm James Chavez. I get to hang out with you today. We've been in the middle of an incredible 12 00:01:10.240 --> 00:01:15.600 message series called The Clash of the Covenants, and it's been incredible, but we're going to take 13 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:20.480 a pause right at the halfway point if that's okay. Pastor Boyan is going to be right with us 14 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:25.280 next week, and he's going to pick up with part five, and he's going to take us over the finish line, 15 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:30.480 okay? But today, he's asked me to share with you a little bit, so if you would please indulge me 16 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:36.720 just a little. Don't all rush for the exit. It's going to be okay. I told a few of you that our 17 00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:43.600 daughter who's in college down in Alabama got in a car accident a couple weeks ago. Yes, scary. 18 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:49.360 I was on my way to Friday night service. I'm driving, so it's the long drive. I'm on the LIE 19 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:53.360 enduring that misery, and I get the phone call, and I say, I ain't at all. It's just, 20 00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:58.960 Dad, I think I just got in a car accident. Well, you think or you know? Well, I think I know 21 00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:04.000 that I got in a car accident because I hit another car. Yeah, okay. I think you know. Are you okay? 22 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.480 Yeah, I'm okay. I mean, I bang at my knee like how bad. I mean, I'm fine. I'm fine. Okay. How's 23 00:02:08.480 --> 00:02:12.720 the other car? The other person fine? Yeah, they're fine. Okay. What do I do? So I stayed the whole 24 00:02:12.720 --> 00:02:17.200 the next 55 minutes on the phone walking her through the police came, you get the registration, 25 00:02:17.200 --> 00:02:21.360 you get your license, give your statement, is it drivable? She's breaking pieces off, 26 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:26.560 putting them in her trunk so she can drive back to her. So wow, what an ordeal. So for the next 27 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.720 couple weeks, I'm dealing with insurance. Are we going to fix it? Are we going to total it? 28 00:02:30.720 --> 00:02:34.480 They finally total it. I go into the motor vehicle department a few times because that's a good 29 00:02:34.480 --> 00:02:38.320 time because the license plates are in Alabama, but it's registered in New York. So I got to go, 30 00:02:38.320 --> 00:02:41.680 I don't have the place. Where do you go to police? Did you get this form? Did you get that form? 31 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:45.920 Can I speak to your supervisor? Mr. Chavez, can I speak to your supervisor? 32 00:02:46.640 --> 00:02:50.080 I tell you what, it's a good time. Anybody like the motor vehicle department? 33 00:02:52.480 --> 00:02:56.480 I scheduled the route canal after that just so I can get some rest from the motor vehicle department. 34 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.960 I tell you, that's a hard time. But while I'm sitting there waiting for my number, they're like, 35 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:06.800 why 7217? What happened to just like 53? It's like seven digit numbers. I'm like, how many people 36 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.920 are ahead of me? My god. And then I'm like in the G's, well they start coming up with C's and 37 00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:16.560 then Z's. They do it just to throw you off. It's mind games. I tell you, it's mind games. 38 00:03:17.440 --> 00:03:23.200 Somebody's got to do the job, but I just, so I'm sitting there waiting for them to call my number. 39 00:03:23.200 --> 00:03:26.800 And I'm watching people get their picture taken for the driver's license. You guys remember that? 40 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:30.400 Then your picture taken for the driver's license? Who likes getting their picture taken for the 41 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:34.720 driver's license? It's kind of cringy having a show and someone says, let me see your driver's license. 42 00:03:34.720 --> 00:03:37.120 We have to pull it out for some reason and the person next to you goes like this. 43 00:03:37.440 --> 00:03:43.520 And you're like, no, you find yourself kind of explaining, right? This was a bad day. The wind was 44 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:49.680 really blowing. I was on antibiotics and was bloated. Whatever reason, I've been on a diet since 45 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:54.560 that, and what's worse, and I've seen this, you pull it out and they look at it and they're like, 46 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:00.240 look at you, you're wearing the same shirt. How weird is that, right? Or if you're completely 47 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.560 unrecognizable, that's another weird one. But no one likes showing the driver's license picture. 48 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:08.400 I think they train you on how to actually take a really bad picture if you're the 49 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:11.920 photographers for the motor vehicle department. It's either bad lighting. It's too much light 50 00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:15.040 and it kind of washes you out, right? Or it's not enough and it's kind of shady and you've got 51 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:19.600 those kind of shades on your eyes and you look real sketchy or they just kind of blow you out or 52 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:23.920 they say, okay, I'm going to take it on three. One, two, like what? You need to go on three or 53 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:28.400 after three. You don't even let me get to three. And they just laugh. Have a nice day. 54 00:04:29.280 --> 00:04:38.400 Number 472,989 million. What? I hate the driver's license picture. And now they give it to you 55 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:43.440 for like a hundred years. I'm like, why couldn't I got it when I was like 18 and I kept that one 56 00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:48.640 when I was all like, when I had one chin, you know what I'm saying? What is going on? But then 57 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:54.640 there's the other thing. There's portrait pictures. That's a good time, right? Anybody remember 58 00:04:54.640 --> 00:05:00.000 glamour shots? That was a thing. That was like, that's the way Hollywood would do it. I mean, 59 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.040 they get just the right lighting to compliment your skin tone. They get the backdrop just right. 60 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:09.440 They even told you to turn right. They just kind of tilt your shoulders and turn your head back 61 00:05:09.440 --> 00:05:15.040 and stick your chin out so you don't look. So I had to see the chiropractor after that because I'm 62 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:21.200 all contorted. So I don't look weird. But boy, they can airbrush out wrinkles and blemishes and 63 00:05:21.280 --> 00:05:26.320 that thing just looks like you just stepped right out of heaven. It is amazing. But what's really 64 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:31.600 interesting about those two different kinds of pictures, what they have in common is that neither 65 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:37.360 one is real. Right? You're not as bad as the motor vehicle says you are. I promise. 66 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:43.760 And I know those cameras add 10 pounds. But you're not as good as glamour shots says you are either. 67 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:56.000 Right? I tell you what, neither one is the real thing. In the end, only God sees our real selves. 68 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:03.200 He knows the real deal. Yet it's imperative. And that's what I want to drive home today, 69 00:06:03.200 --> 00:06:09.760 that we are authentic in who we are and how we live in our relationships. If you truly want to 70 00:06:09.760 --> 00:06:14.960 make an impact and have influence in our world, it's got to be real. Jesus said it this way in Luke 12 71 00:06:14.960 --> 00:06:21.040 2. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed and all that is in secret 72 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:32.800 will be made known to all. That's scary. Yeah. All that's in secret. All, you mean all? Or just the 73 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:40.480 things that I present? No, all? I need to work on a bigger mask. Well, this is October. 74 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:46.240 And this is when we have little kids dressing up and they trick or treating and masks, right? 75 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:50.720 So I thought it would be an appropriate time to talk about masks. The masks that we put on, 76 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:54.880 why we put them on, why do we choose to wear a mask? And I thought we would peel back the layers 77 00:06:54.880 --> 00:06:59.040 and first talk about the mask that we put on for ourselves when we look in the mirror. 78 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:04.240 Is that all right if we start there? That's not convicting at all. You're like, talk about 79 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:08.640 their mask. Why are you going to talk about my mask? So let's look at the one that we put on for 80 00:07:08.640 --> 00:07:13.760 ourselves. But here's the deal. When we put on a mask and we lie to ourselves about who we are, 81 00:07:13.760 --> 00:07:20.080 yes, you lie to other people and that's a bad thing. But most often who gets duped and deceived 82 00:07:20.080 --> 00:07:26.800 is us, right? And that's far worse. Some social scientists, they've been studying this for a 83 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:31.680 long, long time and studies dating back to the 1950s. They dubbed this cognitive dissidence, 84 00:07:32.400 --> 00:07:37.200 right? Where this is the theory that explains how people can fully come to believe something that they 85 00:07:37.200 --> 00:07:46.240 know completely is a lie. That's interesting, right? As humans, we'll go to great legs from admitting. 86 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:51.040 We don't want to admit it that we're believing something is a lie that it's wrong that we would tell 87 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:58.800 a lie. So it brings us to the point where I don't want to admit I'm a liar. I don't want to say I'm 88 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.320 a liar. I don't want to be called a liar. Therefore everything I say must be true. 89 00:08:04.320 --> 00:08:09.200 And then we start to believe that. There were some studies again dating back to the 1950s that were 90 00:08:09.200 --> 00:08:14.720 pretty interesting as I was reading through them. And there were a couple of psychologists, sociologists, 91 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:19.440 and they decided they were going to infiltrate a cult. Now cults are known for what? They're 92 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:25.520 honesty and transparency? No, not usually. So this was a perfect opportunity to understand this 93 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:30.960 phenomenon. So they infiltrated pretended to be converts and this particular cult believed that 94 00:08:30.960 --> 00:08:36.400 the world was going to end and they predicted the date by none other than an imminent alien invasion. 95 00:08:37.520 --> 00:08:41.680 Because that's a good one, right? Independence Day, who doesn't look, Will Smith just taken out some 96 00:08:41.680 --> 00:08:48.160 aliens on the 4th of July. I mean, it's not going to be plagues or pestilence or World War 3. No, 97 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:54.080 alien invasion. So they talk it up and they predict the date but as the date starts to get closer, 98 00:08:54.080 --> 00:08:58.560 they notice that these converts in the cult, they start withdrawing from their family and from their 99 00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:03.280 friends. They kind of close ranks. They stop doing interviews and they stop talking to the media. 100 00:09:03.280 --> 00:09:06.240 And they thought that was kind of interesting. So they're only listening in their echo chamber 101 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:11.440 to the other people who believe what they believe. But then as the date that this imminent alien 102 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:19.120 invasion approached and came and went with no alien invasion, a really interesting happen. 103 00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:24.800 Really interesting thing happened. A really interesting happening. Something went down. 104 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.680 They were really excited to talk to the media again. Why do you think that was? 105 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:33.440 Well, because they didn't want to act like they had been duped and they were fools. 106 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:40.640 Almost it's stupid. That's weird. Nicole right on the cheek. They didn't want to admit they were 107 00:09:40.640 --> 00:09:46.400 fools. So they had to come out and say they actually saved the world from the alien invasion. 108 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.640 How about that? They didn't want to believe and face the truth that they were deceived so they 109 00:09:52.640 --> 00:09:57.440 wanted to convince themselves and the world that they had actually done some good. Well, these same 110 00:09:57.440 --> 00:10:02.000 sociologists, they did another experiment where they actually took two groups of people and they 111 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.080 separated them and they asked the first group to tell a lie. And when they would tell this lie, 112 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:10.960 they would pay them $20. And they took the other group and they said, tell the same lie. 113 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:17.520 When you tell the lie, we'll pay you $1. Okay? And let me just, this was in the 1950s. That $20 is 114 00:10:17.520 --> 00:10:23.360 equivalent to about $255 today. Okay? So here's what was interesting. The people that told the lie. 115 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:28.880 Both groups told the lie. They got their money. The people that got paid the $1 for telling the lie 116 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.280 started speaking as if that wasn't a lie. They were acting as if it was true. 117 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:40.080 Believing as it was true. And they were really confounded and they really dug deeper and did 118 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:45.440 the study and found out that what it really boiled down to is we didn't want to believe that we 119 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:52.640 would sell out for such a measly sum of money. Now, the people that got the $20 also known as $255. 120 00:10:52.640 --> 00:10:57.040 No, you know, economy, right? It's easy to say, why did you tell the lie? I did it for the money. 121 00:10:57.680 --> 00:11:02.000 255 bucks. I can do a lot with that. I can be a new pair of shoes. I can have a nice dinner. 122 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:07.760 A dollar? What do I do with the dollar? What does that say about me, myself, worth an integrity 123 00:11:07.760 --> 00:11:11.840 if I'll sell out for a dollar? They didn't want to believe it. They couldn't accept it. So they 124 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:15.840 started to believe, well, it couldn't have been a lie. Really, it's true. It has to be true on some 125 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:21.840 level. A partial truth has to be truth, right? If there's any truth, then it's true. Isn't that interesting? 126 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:27.120 We see this all the time, even in the media today. 127 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:34.000 We're as fed as steady stream of lies, right? The steady diet just coming through. There's even a name 128 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:40.320 for it. Gaslighting. You heard that? Gaslighting. I use that phrase the other day and our kids now 129 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:45.360 are in their 20s and they look to me like, where'd you learn that word? Look, you don't have a 130 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:52.080 cool words just because you're in your 20s. I know what gaslighting is. Do it to you all the time. 131 00:11:55.440 --> 00:12:02.000 Just kidding, kids. I love you. But they lie to us and they lie over and over and over until we 132 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:06.400 start to believe that maybe we're the weird ones for doubting it was a lie in the first place, 133 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:15.200 right? Think to everyone, okay, if NBC and ABC and CNN and MSNBC and Washington 134 00:12:15.200 --> 00:12:23.200 posed in a New York, I'm the weird one. It's all true. It's not. Don't believe the hype. 135 00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:33.680 They're gaslighting you. Why do they do it? We can't distinguish after a while lies from truth. 136 00:12:33.680 --> 00:12:38.800 And after a while, we don't really even know if the people feeding us the steady stream of lies 137 00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:44.320 are just irredeemably deceived or just so diabolical that they just want to destroy us. 138 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:50.320 But it's one or the other. There's nothing in the middle. So be careful. We don't want to be 139 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:58.000 liars, right? Sometimes the truth of who we are or what we've done in the past is too painful 140 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:09.040 to face. So what do we do? Put on a mask for ourselves. Because guess what? Other people aren't 141 00:13:09.040 --> 00:13:13.120 thinking about you as much as you think about you. They're going about their day, 142 00:13:14.640 --> 00:13:20.400 living their life, dealing with their own problems. But you're obsessing about you and what they 143 00:13:20.400 --> 00:13:25.760 think about you. Maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe they know what I've done. Maybe I need to put 144 00:13:25.760 --> 00:13:32.400 on a mask. So I feel better about what they see. And so we listen to the lies. There was a guy 145 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:37.600 named John Beale. He was a former high level official with the Environmental Protection Agency, 146 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:47.360 the EPA. He pled guilty to stealing over $900,000 from the government. When I read the case, 147 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:53.040 I was intrigued as to how he swindled that much money out of the government. Because I thought, 148 00:13:54.480 --> 00:14:02.640 maybe I can learn something. But I was just curious, okay? In 1994, Beale, he convinced 149 00:14:02.640 --> 00:14:11.520 top officials at the EPA where he worked that he was a CIA operative. Get that? And he was dealing 150 00:14:11.520 --> 00:14:16.960 with matters so top secret and confidential that they couldn't dig in or ask questions. So his 151 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:22.960 supervisors believed this elaborate story and they allowed him to take long stretches of time to 152 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:28.160 disappear and have unaccounted time where he just went off and spent time with his family, 153 00:14:28.160 --> 00:14:33.920 fishing, playing golf, hobbies, learning languages, origami, whatever he decided to do, 154 00:14:33.920 --> 00:14:39.680 all while getting paid by the government. Because he's doing top secret work for the CIA. 155 00:14:40.560 --> 00:14:46.240 That's crazy. No one knows for sure how much money he actually swindled out of the government. 156 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:55.280 Because this scheme went on for 19 years. Could you imagine living a double life for 19 years? 157 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:02.880 How difficult must that be? It was probably kind of fun for the first couple of times he got away 158 00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:08.000 with it and he's like, look at me. Out on the golf course, just swinging around, I'm getting paid. 159 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:14.000 But then, hey, where were you? I can't talk about it. Stop secret. Who did I tell what to? 160 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:21.200 What mask was I wearing when I talked to this person? That gets rough after a while. It's hard to 161 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:28.240 know what's real. But here's what I thought. When I thought about that guy, I said, I'll bet 162 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:35.280 if I'm being honest and you are too, there's probably some inconsistencies in who we say we are 163 00:15:35.280 --> 00:15:43.920 and who we really are. Maybe not to the extent of all Mr. Biel swindling almost a million dollars 164 00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:49.200 from the government. Any fake CIA operatives in the audience today? Don't tell me if you are. 165 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:57.760 It's supposed to be covert. But I'm sure there's inconsistencies when you're being honest. 166 00:16:00.560 --> 00:16:09.760 When we pretend to be more than we are, here's what it does. We skip the process that God wants to 167 00:16:09.760 --> 00:16:15.920 do in your life to make you who he's created you to be. They're like, I want the shortcut. 168 00:16:15.920 --> 00:16:23.040 God says, I'm taking you on a process of sanctification. I'm making you more like my son Jesus 169 00:16:23.040 --> 00:16:27.200 if you'll let me. You say, that's rough. Let me just put on a mask so I'll look like Jesus. 170 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:34.720 I feel good now. I look good, but I skipped all the work that God wanted to take me on to take 171 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:40.960 me to where he wanted me to be. Pretending avoids the discipline and the accountability that are 172 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:47.120 essential ingredients to the productive Christian authentic life that God calls us to. Paul writes 173 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:52.480 this in 2 Corinthians 217. You see, we're not like the many hucksters who preach for personal 174 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:59.040 profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ's authority knowing that God watches us. 175 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:06.160 Paul got it. He knew it was more than what was just on the outside. That God saw all. He knew it was 176 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:11.840 going on. But why do we keep putting on the mask then? We say, we're Christians. Oh, God sees all. 177 00:17:11.840 --> 00:17:16.480 Well, why do we do it? Why do we continue to sell ourselves short and to tell us, tell ourselves 178 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:22.800 that we're not good enough? Why do we continue to believe the lie? That's the million dollar question. 179 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:29.040 I want to remind you of one thing that I think contributes to that is that we have an enemy. 180 00:17:29.760 --> 00:17:35.760 You remember that, right? This is the time of year when I think our enemy Satan, he just laughs and 181 00:17:35.760 --> 00:17:40.240 laughs and laughs because there are so many little devil costumes and we just water this thing down. 182 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:44.240 We think he's just a little pyro walking around in his onesy pajamas with his little plastic 183 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:49.760 bitch fork and it takes all the power out of it. But he's an enemy like a roaring lion looking 184 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:55.440 to devour you. He wants to chew you up and spit you out and he'll use anything he can to accomplish 185 00:17:55.440 --> 00:18:03.120 that. And lies are one of his main weapons because he can't really touch you without God's protection 186 00:18:03.120 --> 00:18:09.520 if you're one of God's kids but he can just tell you lies. And what do we do? We listen. 187 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.720 He whispers, you're not good enough. You have to lie about who you are to be accepted. We say, 188 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:23.360 yeah, that's true. I'm a mess. That's true. But here's the deal. It's not about who you are. I want 189 00:18:23.360 --> 00:18:29.520 you to hear that today because the important thing is not who you are but who's you are, right? 190 00:18:29.520 --> 00:18:34.000 If you're a Christ follower, you're a child of the king of kings and the Lord of lords. 191 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:40.240 That makes you somebody. That's impressive. Why would you hide that behind a mask? 192 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:45.120 But we belittle that and we look at our accomplishments in our flesh. We listen to the lies and we 193 00:18:45.120 --> 00:18:54.160 say, I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough. Don't believe it. God created you to be so much more. 194 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:59.920 I love this reminder in Ephesians 210 says, for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us a new 195 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:06.400 in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. So stop believing the lie 196 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:11.120 that the enemy is telling you and start believing the truth from your heavenly Father. He said, 197 00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:18.240 you're a masterpiece. You know what a masterpiece is? We call our kids second grade artwork masterpiece. 198 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:25.200 But that's not what this is talking about. This isn't just an affectionate pad on the head. 199 00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:32.560 You're a mess, but I love you anyway. He looks at you and he sees a Picasso, a Rembrandt. 200 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.280 You are a masterpiece. Poema. Don't cover it up. 201 00:19:42.080 --> 00:19:45.600 But if you're anything like me, you can be pretty good at hiding who you really are, right? 202 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:53.360 Pride, insecurity. They can cause us to do things we swore we would never do. I would never do that. 203 00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:57.360 And then you're faced with it and one of these things will cause you to do something bizarre. 204 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:02.880 Put on a mask. Because then you have to rationalize. 205 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:09.600 Did I really compromise? Did I really do that? No, I see the mask. I didn't do it. That's all I see when 206 00:20:09.600 --> 00:20:21.120 I look at them here. But fear keeps us hiding, right? Fear keeps us hiding behind the mask. 207 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:28.400 So why do you stay back there? What are you hiding? What are you afraid of? Is there an inappropriate 208 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:35.920 relationship? Maybe you're afraid to face? Is there some secrets in? Maybe some sin in your 209 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.880 thought life and you think, oh, I'm doing all the right things. But when I'm alone, just me in my 210 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:49.520 thoughts. How could I get a hold of that $900,000 from the government? How can I think my glamour shots 211 00:20:49.520 --> 00:20:56.640 into the motor vehicle department? Or maybe it's just when you come into this place, 212 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:01.280 you put on the mask because you think you believe the lie and you feel the fear that you're the only 213 00:21:01.280 --> 00:21:06.080 one that doesn't have it figured out. You look around and you say, gosh, everyone around me, 214 00:21:06.080 --> 00:21:10.080 we're singing, they got their hands up, they're praising, screaming, hallelujah, praise the Lord. 215 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:15.280 Am I the only one that doesn't have a super deep, super intimate relationship with God? 216 00:21:16.560 --> 00:21:20.960 And you feel alone and isolated. So you put on the mask and then you take a few steps back 217 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:29.280 so they don't see you have a mask. But while you're withdrawing so they don't see your mask, 218 00:21:29.280 --> 00:21:33.760 you know what's funny? The person that you were admiring that you thought had it all together is 219 00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:40.320 doing the exact same thing. Their mask is coming in here and being loud and putting the focus on 220 00:21:40.320 --> 00:21:46.240 something else other than God, but their holiness, the things that are off the check box, I went to 221 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:54.880 life group, I gave, I sang, I sit on the front row, I served, and we think busyness somehow equates 222 00:21:54.880 --> 00:22:01.760 to holiness. But we're still hiding fearful. I just want to let you out a little secret. 223 00:22:03.760 --> 00:22:09.120 None of us have figured it out. So if you were one of those and you're like, yeah, that was great 224 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:12.960 James, thank you for pointing out and singling me out that I'm the only one that doesn't know Greek, 225 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:17.520 I'm not the only one and I'm just preaching a whole sermon in tongues and I'm not just, you know, 226 00:22:17.520 --> 00:22:24.240 slain in the spirit swinging from that chandelier. Okay, thank you. We're all fellow travelers. 227 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:29.840 We all have our journey. You don't have to wear the mask. 228 00:22:33.120 --> 00:22:41.520 So why does spear keep us hiding? Fear is powerful. So I think it's appropriate that I remind you what 229 00:22:41.520 --> 00:22:46.720 Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1-7, for God has not given us a spear to fear and humidity, but a power 230 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:51.680 love and self discipline. So if you're trapped by fear, you know, your enemies trying to keep you 231 00:22:51.680 --> 00:23:01.120 down. He wants to destroy you, but remember your God has given you what? Power. Power. Not just 232 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:09.520 little power. Lot of power. God size power. The power that electrify a train, a locomotive speeding 233 00:23:09.520 --> 00:23:16.480 down the tracks. Power that will light up a city. In you, changing you from the inside out, 234 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:23.520 blasting that mask right off your face. You don't need it. You have power. Therefore you don't 235 00:23:23.520 --> 00:23:29.120 need to be afraid. Don't be afraid of what's under the mask. If you want that Hollywood ending 236 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:34.560 in your life, you want to stand victorious against the junk that's holding you back. 237 00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:43.040 God's power promises to do that for you. If you're a Christ follower, you have the power to 238 00:23:43.040 --> 00:23:48.560 overcome the fear, overcome the insecurity, overcome the pride, whatever keeps you hiding in the 239 00:23:48.560 --> 00:23:56.160 shadows, it's time to come out for behind the mask. We want to see how beautiful you are. 240 00:23:59.120 --> 00:24:05.680 It's time to take it off. Show the world the masterpiece God has created you to be. Be confident 241 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:12.240 in it. Anything less is selling you and God short. Don't forget that. We take him out of the 242 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:19.920 equation a lot. It's just me. What you're doing is you're saying, God, you didn't do a good 243 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:27.600 enough job. You call me a masterpiece. I call you a liar. I can do better. I can put on a mask 244 00:24:27.600 --> 00:24:33.280 that's going to be way prettier than what you created me to be. We wouldn't say it out loud. 245 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:39.440 I'm afraid of a lightning bolt coming and dragging me down, but that's what our actions are 246 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:48.240 equated to. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. Made in the image of your creator. Don't cover 247 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:54.000 it up with a mask. Don't hide who God created you to be. Authenticity is what the world needs to see 248 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:58.400 from you. We talk about it all the time. As Christ followers, that's our privilege. We're ambassadors. 249 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:02.560 We're a little Christ. That's what Christian means. So what good does it do to say, yes, I'm a 250 00:25:02.560 --> 00:25:09.600 Christian, but then you have a different mask on. How confusing is that to people? Be confusing to 251 00:25:09.600 --> 00:25:14.960 me. It's probably confusing to you. You look in the mirror. You see one thing, but then your mouth 252 00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:20.240 says another. The world doesn't need perfection. That's why we create the masks because we're afraid 253 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:26.240 they're going to see how imperfect we are. They just need to see authenticity. They care to see 254 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:31.360 that if what you say you believe matches up with what you actually do. And one of those actions 255 00:25:31.360 --> 00:25:37.680 is to take off the mask and be real. And what you say, what you do, how you spend, where you go. 256 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:48.480 The anti-drug organization, dare, remember that? Dare to keep kids off drugs. I'm old enough that I 257 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.400 remember they would send this mascot with a team to your school and you'd get a big old assembly 258 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:56.240 and they'd tell you, stay off drugs kids. And then there was McGruff, the crime dog, and he would 259 00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:00.320 come with his trench coat. You had these cool mascots. They'd tell you, call crime stoppers, 260 00:26:00.320 --> 00:26:09.520 McGruff. Stay off drugs with Darren, the drug dog, anti-drug dog, dare, drug, bear, lion, he's a lion. 261 00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:17.600 He was something. He was not human. Well, there was something interesting a few years back. 262 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.520 An old Darren, the dare lion found himself in some trouble. Well, I should probably clarify. He 263 00:26:23.520 --> 00:26:31.120 wasn't as much trouble as the 22-year-old man who was carrying him at a bus station full of narcotics. 264 00:26:31.120 --> 00:26:38.080 He had stuffed the drug-free mascot lion full of marijuana, cocaine, and LSD. 265 00:26:39.760 --> 00:26:44.720 I don't know how the police found him. Maybe they used McGruff, the crime dog to sniff it out, 266 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:49.360 but they were onto him and they found this young man at a bus station in Plattsburg and they 267 00:26:49.360 --> 00:26:56.400 apprehended him. I thought that was pretty interesting. So this guy, Darren, he comes dressed in the 268 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:01.840 black t-shirt bearing the motto, dare to resist drugs and violence. Gregory comes charged with 269 00:27:01.840 --> 00:27:08.240 possession of marijuana and control substance. I'm thinking about that and I giggled, but then I 270 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:16.240 thought more of us probably look like old Greg than Darren were hiding behind the pretence of 271 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:23.360 righteousness. Who would think to look inside a lion that says, stay off drugs and assume that it 272 00:27:23.360 --> 00:27:29.440 would be full of drugs? So if I say, I'm holy and I have a holiness mask and I go to church, 273 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:34.000 who would dare believe I have any sin in my life, any imperfection in my life, anything I'm 274 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:44.560 hiding in my life. And I felt really convicted. Thank you, Darren, the lion. But you got to come 275 00:27:44.560 --> 00:27:52.240 out from hiding. Did I say, Darren? It's Darren, Darren. I just remember he says they have drugs. 276 00:27:53.920 --> 00:28:00.000 But come out. Look what it says in Psalm 139, 23 and 24. Search me, oh God, and know my heart, 277 00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.120 test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along 278 00:28:05.120 --> 00:28:11.360 the path of everlasting life. For some of us, we've been marrying a mask for so long. We don't even 279 00:28:11.360 --> 00:28:19.120 see it anymore. It's just become such a part of who we are. We don't separate it from us anymore. 280 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:29.200 We've bought in hook line and sinker. But the way you can be free from a fake life is to ask 281 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:38.080 God to do the changing. Just like David did, search me, oh God, what is in me that I need to change? 282 00:28:38.080 --> 00:28:43.680 What do I not see? What are my blind spots? Because let's think about it. Why would someone put 283 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:49.360 on a mask? Probably everyone who's put on a mask tried to fix themselves at one point and couldn't. 284 00:28:50.080 --> 00:28:57.040 Right? Otherwise, why would you want to put on a mask? I want, I see something, I want to be 285 00:28:57.040 --> 00:29:02.960 different. I want to be better. I try. I fail. So I put on a mask. But if you could change yourself, 286 00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:08.800 you would have, hence the mask. You see how we're stuck in this little cycle. So the only way you can 287 00:29:08.800 --> 00:29:15.440 change is to let God do the changing. You got to invite him in. And that's my point. Don't keep 288 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:19.840 trying to beat your head up against the same wall. You know, you hear Pastor Bo say all the time, 289 00:29:19.840 --> 00:29:23.520 don't wait till you get your life together to get baptized, right? It's like saying, I'll start 290 00:29:23.600 --> 00:29:29.120 going to the gym once I get in shape. Wait, what? Yeah, I'm embarrassed. I don't want to go there and 291 00:29:29.120 --> 00:29:34.000 kind of be all we can fly me. Why do you go to the gym? Or I'm going to wait till I get better to go 292 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:39.600 to the doctor and see how things are. You've tried to change yourself. Don't rely on your own 293 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:44.720 power. Don't trust in your own understanding in your own ways. His ways are higher. They're better. 294 00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:50.560 acknowledge him. Submit to him. Let him guide your steps. Let him change you. Ask him to make 295 00:29:50.560 --> 00:29:54.560 the change. What's in me? What do you see that I don't see? And let's get this done. 296 00:29:59.600 --> 00:30:04.560 Funny thing is we put on the mask because it's instant gratification, right? There's an 297 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:09.120 instant change. That's the thing about a mask. I'm a mess. I put on the mask. I look amazing. 298 00:30:10.560 --> 00:30:19.760 But what really changed? Nothing. Nothing. What really changed? I'm still the same person behind 299 00:30:19.760 --> 00:30:27.200 the mask. A lot of you know that our family over the years before Disney went completely woke, 300 00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:33.360 full disclaimer. We were big Disney park fans, okay? Nicole and I on Wednesday celebrated our 27-year 301 00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:41.520 wedding anniversary. Thank you very much. That is a big accomplishment for you. It has been a 302 00:30:41.520 --> 00:30:49.360 breeze and a blessing for me. Thank you. But we actually honeymooned in Disney land all 303 00:30:49.360 --> 00:30:54.160 those years ago and we just kept going back year after year after year. We love the Disney parks. 304 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:59.040 You go there. All the cast members are so kind and they have their smiles. They don't even call 305 00:30:59.040 --> 00:31:03.920 them employees, right? They're cast members. They're there to help and serve and make your day magical. 306 00:31:03.920 --> 00:31:09.440 Hello, princess. Hello, prince. Have a magical day. They tell you it's the happiest place on earth 307 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:17.040 and I believed it. The place was so manicured and perfect. I mean Walt Disney himself. He was alive. 308 00:31:17.040 --> 00:31:21.360 He used to go through and he would he would watch and see how often people would just kind of look 309 00:31:21.360 --> 00:31:27.120 for a trash can. So that's how he determined how far apart to put trash cans across the Disney 310 00:31:27.120 --> 00:31:31.120 parks. He said, oh, every 30 feet or so, somebody's kind of looking for one. Let's put it that far. 311 00:31:31.840 --> 00:31:35.840 Every night they scraped the gum off the sidewalk. You know what, Universal Studios? They got gum everywhere. 312 00:31:36.800 --> 00:31:41.760 Not a Disney. They scraped that junk off every single night. They repaint every night. They 313 00:31:41.760 --> 00:31:47.200 reply flowers every single night. They transform the castle overnight. It's amazing. 314 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:54.640 I didn't realize Pixie Dust was that powerful but they make this incredible experience, right? 315 00:31:54.640 --> 00:32:01.360 And then they have cast members, characters that you'll see throughout the park. These kind of 316 00:32:01.360 --> 00:32:06.640 exciting random sightings, right? And there are tears to the characters. So if you've ever been to 317 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:10.960 a Disney park, I mean, we've been probably hundreds of times over the years. If you've never been 318 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:14.240 every now and then I run into someone and say, you're been a Disney park? No, like, okay, let me just 319 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:18.320 stop and pray for you right now. I wish I could just lend you one of my visits from the reservoir 320 00:32:18.320 --> 00:32:22.800 of our very many because you're missing out. But you see these tears of characters. So you might see a 321 00:32:22.800 --> 00:32:25.840 Buzz Light ear and you're like, oh, that's kind of cooler, Buzz Light. You're like, what are you over there? 322 00:32:25.840 --> 00:32:30.080 It's chip and nail and the rescue ranger. But if you see someone from the Fab Five, 323 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:35.200 that's like winning the lottery. That's Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy Pluto. 324 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:42.160 That's rich. That is gold right there, okay? So you're going through and you see all these different 325 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:47.680 characters, but out of nowhere, you see one of the Fab Five. It just makes your day. I'm going to show 326 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:51.440 you some pictures of some of the trips from so many years ago. Back when our kids were still very 327 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:58.000 little and we ran into, look at Donald Duck. Yes. Wow. And my good-looking kids. Oh, they were so 328 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:03.440 precious back then and when they were asleep. And then you see, then you should be any mouse with 329 00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:07.120 that good-looking lady right there holding that little girl. I tell you what, that's another good one 330 00:33:07.120 --> 00:33:10.880 from the Fab Five. And then you've got to keep going and I'm sure Mickey Mouse made an appearance. 331 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:17.440 He's even in his tuxedo, Nicole. Isn't that good? And then you've got to see the whole crew with Pluto. 332 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:22.800 That was a good day. That's a good time right there. He's man's best friend or a mouse's best friend. 333 00:33:22.800 --> 00:33:27.120 It's really weird how a mouse can have a pet dog and it's actually smaller than the mouse. 334 00:33:27.120 --> 00:33:33.120 But you believe it. You believe it. And those were good times right there. And you see all that. 335 00:33:33.120 --> 00:33:38.400 And even with all that magical experience in my grown-up mind, I still understand that it's not 336 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:44.640 all unicorn and rainbows. Did you know that they have an elaborate tunnel system underneath all 337 00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:50.640 the parks so that the cast members and the employees can all move around freely without the guests 338 00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:57.200 seeing them? You don't see trash cans and big supplies and big stocks of frozen funky hot dogs you 339 00:33:57.200 --> 00:34:01.440 would never want to eat? No, they hide that from you. So you just see the magical food. It's like, 340 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:07.840 oh, I want to pay $25 for that hot dog. That's magical. And you're never going to see Mickey Mouse and 341 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:12.320 Goofy having a smoke break behind the castle with their heads off just on winding after a long shift. 342 00:34:13.280 --> 00:34:17.040 Because why? That would take away all the magic. 343 00:34:19.200 --> 00:34:22.720 Disney understands that you can never see behind the basket. 344 00:34:26.880 --> 00:34:31.280 You don't want to spoil the illusion. And I think so many of us have taken inspiration from Disney's success. 345 00:34:32.240 --> 00:34:38.240 Ooh. If I take off the mask, loses all the magic. 346 00:34:41.680 --> 00:34:46.400 But I've talked to some of those people that wear the character masks. And I've talked to 347 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:51.040 mascots for like sports teams. And you know what happens when you wear that mask too long? 348 00:34:53.600 --> 00:34:59.600 It starts to smell funky. It starts to get a little rancid. There's no circulation in there. There's 349 00:34:59.600 --> 00:35:05.840 no AC. It starts to get a rash. Ooh, yeah, it starts to get real funky. And imagine it. 350 00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:12.560 Ooh, you're sharing masks. Just keep your own mask. But you wear a mask too long. It starts to get 351 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:32.400 fowl. The point I'm trying to make today is that even though we've convinced ourselves of the 352 00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:37.360 lies that causes to put on a mask that were more loved, more accepted, more appropriate with the 353 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:43.520 mask, I'm just trying to give you evidence upon evidence upon evidence to the contrary that the 354 00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:51.040 mask is detrimental. It's damaging and it's not going to bring the joy. Whatever you thought it was 355 00:35:51.040 --> 00:35:56.880 going to accomplish, it's literally doing the opposite. Our son in the third grade, he was in one 356 00:35:56.880 --> 00:36:00.880 of those pictures you saw. He created a little mask at school and it was his paper mache and then 357 00:36:00.880 --> 00:36:05.840 they painted it and they glued feathers and sequins and all these fancy things on it. He's very like 358 00:36:05.840 --> 00:36:09.840 analytical and disciplined so it was perfectly symmetrical. I don't know if your kids bring 359 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:15.120 home artwork but mine was always better than your kids. I guarantee it. This was a masterpiece. 360 00:36:15.120 --> 00:36:20.240 I mean it was perfect. It could be in like the Louvre or something. Good, good stuff. But as I'm 361 00:36:20.240 --> 00:36:26.800 looking at the mask, I think man, so often we can look at a mask like that and we can become master 362 00:36:26.880 --> 00:36:36.640 mask makers instead of being master Christ followers. You only have so much energy to invest in things in 363 00:36:36.640 --> 00:36:42.080 your life. Are you investing it in doing the work? God created for you to do the good works in 364 00:36:42.080 --> 00:36:48.080 advance to being more like his son Jesus or you investing it and becoming a great mask maker. 365 00:36:49.600 --> 00:36:53.440 Time to reinvent myself. Maybe I'll move to another girl with a brand new mask. 366 00:36:57.680 --> 00:37:01.920 What if we decided to take off our masks and take a good hard look in the mirror? 367 00:37:05.520 --> 00:37:10.560 What would we see? How would our lives be better? What would our communities and our church look like 368 00:37:10.560 --> 00:37:14.960 if we did that? Better or worse you think. 369 00:37:15.040 --> 00:37:26.800 Look at what first Samuel says. We're reminded of how God looks at us in chapter 16 verse 7. 370 00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:31.920 Don't judge by his appearance or height for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn't see 371 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:36.800 things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance but the Lord he looks at the heart. 372 00:37:37.680 --> 00:37:42.720 Samuel is looking at the outward appearance to anoint a new king but God shines a light on the 373 00:37:42.720 --> 00:37:48.880 situation and he reveals that no matter how pretty we look on the outside, how accomplished we are, 374 00:37:48.880 --> 00:37:56.160 how put together we are, how good your resume looks. He's looking at the heart. God's looking at our 375 00:37:56.160 --> 00:38:03.840 thoughts, our motives, what's behind the mask. I think it's funny that sometimes we believe the 376 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:10.720 mask hype so much so that we think we're even fooling God. That's why some people stop 377 00:38:12.080 --> 00:38:19.680 doing the work. Not the work of earning salvation but there is work to being a Christ follower. 378 00:38:19.680 --> 00:38:24.880 Jesus said, die to yourself, take up your cross and follow me. That doesn't happen on autopilot. 379 00:38:25.520 --> 00:38:28.640 No one's doing that for you. You're picking up the cross and you're walking. 380 00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:37.600 But we want to skip that. God look at my mat. Look how good I look. I made a mask of a cross. 381 00:38:37.600 --> 00:38:43.200 I picked it up. Meanwhile the real stuff's over there. We're not fooling anyone. 382 00:38:45.040 --> 00:38:51.840 God wants us to lay it down. The pretenses, the illusion and just be real because he created us to 383 00:38:51.840 --> 00:39:00.880 be masterpieces. You don't cover it up. If you're a Christ follower, you're fully loved and you're 384 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:05.120 fully accepted. And so I just want to encourage you today and tell you you don't have to believe the 385 00:39:05.120 --> 00:39:09.840 lies of the enemy that say you're not good enough and you won't be accepted without the mask. God 386 00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:15.920 says you are approved and loved just how you are. So let's thank him with a big round of applause 387 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:26.240 for that because that is good. If you're here today and that's not you and you say, well, 388 00:39:26.240 --> 00:39:33.760 that's great. But I don't know if I feel approved and loved. I'm still believing the lie. I don't 389 00:39:33.760 --> 00:39:37.760 know if I've surrendered my life. I don't know if I've made that decision. I'm still trying to fix 390 00:39:37.760 --> 00:39:44.240 myself. We have a solution for that too. I want to make available to you the opportunity. I'm 391 00:39:44.240 --> 00:39:47.360 going to ask the worship team to come and I'm going to ask everyone just to bow their head and close 392 00:39:47.360 --> 00:39:53.120 their eyes. And let's give everyone an opportunity that hasn't to surrender their life to Christ to be 393 00:39:53.120 --> 00:39:57.760 accepted, to feel the unconditional love and to squash the lies that say you're not good enough 394 00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:02.800 because you have a savior who said you are right where you are. You say Heavenly Father, I need you. 395 00:40:03.680 --> 00:40:10.800 I've tried to fix myself and I can't. I lay down the mask. I acknowledge I'm a sinner 396 00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:18.240 in desperate need of a savior. You died on the cross becoming my sin, taking the punishment 397 00:40:18.240 --> 00:40:25.520 and paying the price I couldn't pay. You're offering me a free gift. Now I accept it. Come into my 398 00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:38.480 life, change me, transform me, make me brand new, make me accepted, make me loved. I'm yours. 399 00:40:41.040 --> 00:40:48.400 Father, thank you for new life. Now I'm giving you mine in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 400 00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:54.640 This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you 401 00:40:54.640 --> 00:41:01.600 would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansik in City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. 402 00:41:01.600 --> 00:41:09.520 That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect 403 00:41:09.520 --> 00:41:15.200 with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God 404 00:41:15.200 --> 00:41:21.200 loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you 405 00:41:21.200 --> 00:41:29.440 subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.