Message Title: “Adjust Your View” Colossians 3:1-11
w/ Pastor Michael Cawood
Special Music: Jeremy White
Macedonia Baptist Church
3119 Spring Place Road, SE
Cleveland, TN 37323
(423) 479-1713
Pastor Michael Cawood
www.macedoniabaptist.church
Online Giving: give.macedoniabaptist.church
Times of Worship:
Sunday Worship Times
Sunday School 9 am
Morning Worship 10 am
Wednesday Worship Times
Kidz Ministry 6:15
Youth Ministry 6:30
Prayer and Bible Study 6:30 pm (Coffee & Conversation at 6pm)
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CCLI# 820162 Macedonia Baptist Church
Countdown video:
From Dream to Reality by Evert Z
License owner – Macedonia Baptist
License Number – 538956 (Artlist.io)
Hope Takes Flight by BalloonPlanet
License owner – Macedonia Baptist
License Number – 538956 (Artlist.io)
Zero Gravity by Raz Burg
License owner – Macedonia Baptist
License Number – 538956 (Artlist.io)
Blue Skies
Song by Wolf Samuels
License owner – Macedonia Baptist
License Number – 538956 (Artlist.io)
Ending video:
Drive – Short Version
License owner – Macedonia Baptist
License Number – 538956 (Artlist.io)
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning welcome to Macedonia Baptist Church here in beautiful Cleveland Tennessee we are so glad youve decided to join us this morning if you’re joining us for the first time let me be the first to welcome you we would love to get to know you better and how we may be of service to you can do this by accessing our digital connect card by texting welcome to 228 338 3119 for more information about our church and events visit our website at Macedonia baptist. Church now let’s worship together and lift up the name of Jesus [Music] it’s good to see everybody here this morning hey I want to say a word of thanks we had a work day here yesterday and a lot of workers you may have seen some of the pictures up here as the thing was running a lot of hard work went on here want to thank everybody for if you notice that you know the most visible thing that that that shiny steeple out there that got clean but a lot of work done down Fellowship Hall and all through the building so thank you so much for everybody that worked so hard uh to do a lot of those things you always got to keep the facility up want to welcome everybody for being here joining us here today welcome the folks that are joining us online we’re so glad you’re here with us as well as we join together to worship this uh fine Sunday morning and here we are as summer starts look we got a lot of folks traveling be in prayer for them that they’ll stay safe and that they’ll have a good time and enjoy themselves as they uh are are out recreating and and doing all that good stuff that we try to catch up on in the summer but we’re here this morning to worship and we pray that you will open your hearts to the Lord Jesus here today as and let him speak to us each and every one let’s open with a word of prayer and then we’ll Jeremy will come up here and the musicians will lead us in some music let’s pray my dear heavly father we thank you Lord for this opportunity to come here this morning and As We Gather here today Father we gathered in the name of your son father and you’ve told us in your word that where two or three are gathered together there you are in our midst and so father we pray not to be blind to your presence father to allow your spirit to have its way with our hearts during this time father speak to each one that’s here today and each one that’s watching online father that you would bring us closer to you father examine our hearts Lord forgive us of where we fail you Lord and draw us closer to you and let us cling to your grace and we ask you this in Jesus name amen glory and honor and [Music] Praises let there be glory and honor and [Music] praise glory and honor to J Jus [Music] glory [Music] and glory and H to that again this morning let there be glory and honor and [Music] praise Glory and Honor to [Music] Jesus glor and glory and [Music] honor page 356 redeemed how I love to Proclaim redeem how I love to Proclaim it Redeemed by the blood of the breing through his in Mercy is sh forever I [Music] [Applause] am by the blood of the Lamb [Music] redeem rede and forever I am redeemed and so happy in Jus the language my Rapture can tell I know that the light of his presence with [Music] redeem redeem by the blood of the [Music] Lamb is forever I am I know I shall see in his beautyy the king [Music] is who love me guard my and give me in the [Music] weede Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb [Music] forever I am and the new name written down in glory page 524 I was once a sner but I did part to receive from my this was really given and I that he always kep his word there the in glory and is oh yes is and the angel sing the story a s has a home with and glory and his oh yes it’s mine with my sin fori i b for heav more toong I was something at the cross hearing up a god angry CR in the heavens open and I saw that my name was down there’s a new name down in glory and it’s oh yes it’s and the wi Angels Sing the story The sner has home there glory and it’s high oh yes it’s high with my sins forgiven I am B for heaven never more to in the book is written Save By Grace for the Jo that came to my soul now I am forgiven and I know by the blood am made there’s a new name in glory and it’s oh yes is M and the white angel sing the story the S has there’s a name GL and it’s mine oh yes it’s mine with my S for i b for heaven never more to R and the longer I serve him theer he grow page 520 I started for the [Music] kingom my life be [Music] control I gave my heart to Jesus the long i serve him the sweeter he grow [Music] the long i serve in the he the I love more he he sa like heaven my heart over the longer I serve him the sweeter he [Music] BR and every [Music] needly day my way Bri the longer I serve him the sweeter he [Applause] brow the longer eyes theet he grows the more that I love for love my heart overow the [Music] thank you may be [Music] seated before I get started um a lot of times you know we we get made promises by other people that don’t ever get held up or don’t get carried out but Jesus has never made a promise that he does not keep so so you can go ahead and start [Music] it I have a blessed assur and it helps me to face every stor a foraste of Heaven I cling to and that’s what I fill my life on so instead of the struggles I’m facing let me tell us of the Savior I know how his word is for today and for all so I always have a reason to hope there never be the long night he won’t bring me through there’s never been a morning that his mercies aren’t new there’s never been a moment he’s not all I need he never made a promise that he does not [Music] keep oh he tells me that he’ll never leave me that he will be strong when I’m weak and I find his grace is [Applause] [Music] sufficient whatever my heart A and G for the trials of this life always show me he’ll be faithful to me till the end and that’s why my song my story is of Jesus my Savior as friend there’s never been a long night he won’t bring me through there’s never been a morning that his mercies are new there’s never been a moment he’s God all I need he’s never made a promise promise that he does not there never been a moment he’s not all I need he’s never made a promise that he does not [Music] [Applause] amen and that includes promise of eternal life you can place your trust and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we hope that you have placed that faith and trust in him as well and leaning on that promise thank you Jeremy for sharing that with us I want to invite my come down here for just a minute and see me for just a second down here guys oh we’re all girls today it’s a pretty day down here how are y’all doing everybody having a good week you having a good time being out of school now summertime what are y’all doing this summer what kind of fun things are you doing nothing just playing riding bicycles playing and all that good stuff well that’s a good thing to do that’s a good thing to do I’m going to ask you I’m going to ask you I’m going to set this candy box right here he y’all see the candy in there if you’re looking at that candy right there now keep your eyes on that focus on that candy box right there don’t look at anything else okay just just just look at that candy for just a minute and think how good all that candy tastes when you’re eating it and all that now while you’re looking at that candy don’t look don’t look at anything else I want you to tell me while you’re looking at the candy what is the first window over here this side can you tell me no all right go ahead and look over here what’s the first picture in our window over there what is that it’s people you know how people they are what’s it look like is that a is a manger scene there it’s a it’s a picture of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus there in Bethlehem but you couldn’t see that picture while you were looking at that candy could you in church today we’re going to talk about where the Apostle Paul told the people in colassi this town over in uh over in what we would call turkey today he told them that they needed to focus on the higher things the things above because the things of world and even good things of this world a lot of times keep us from seeing uh the things that Jesus is doing around us and so if we get to looking at you know the have or maybe you know some grown-ups looking at their job and we need to make more money or we think about what’s going on at school and we’re looking at this and you know maybe what’s going on with my brother and my sister and we get we forget to look up and see what Jesus is doing when we get caught up in the thing World well then we don’t see what Jesus would have us to do so our challenge then is while we’re in the world and we’re enjoying the good of the world to keep looking to Jesus and what he would have us to do so that we would be good lights for him you can do that can’t you all right let’s pray our dear heavenly father we thank you Lord for these young hearts and I pray God you just help each one of us father to uh learn to look up not just get distracted by the things that are around us but father to Focus On Christ and to be his lights here in this world and we ask you this in Jesus name all right you guys can go back to your seats and thank you for being so good adjust your view it says I have to be reminded of this on a regular basis y’all you ever been driving down the road and you get distracted and take your eyes off the road and then all of a sudden you look back and there’s a car stopping right in front of you what should you have been paying attention to the road not your phone you know not the cows in the field that you drove by you know you’re supposed to pay attention to the the road have your head up looking down thead do you know I read uh uh this is years a study that was quite frightening it said that when they studied drivers going down the road the the typical driver and this still holds true today I want y’all to remember this when you get back out here on the road the typical driver focuses six feet past the end of their hood is where their focus is six feet past the end of their hood that is scary now you know to be looking down the road head up toward the Horizon seeing those problems that come but most people Focus right in front of them and a lot of times this is why you see accidents happen because you think why’ you run into that how’ you not you know how didd you not miss that they weren’t pay attention and their focus was too narrow and too close and they did not see the danger that was approaching in book of Colossians in chapter 3 we’re going to start reading in verse one where it says therefore if you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your mind on the things above not on the things that are on the earth for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God when Christ who is our life is revealed you will also be revealed with him in glory therefore consider the members of your Earthly body is dead to immorality impurity passion evil desire and greed which amounts to idolatry for it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of Disobedience and in them you once also walked when you were living in them but now you also put them all aside anger wrath malice slander and abusive speech from your mouth do not lie to one other since you’ve laid aside the old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according the image of the one who created it a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew circumcised and uncircumcised Barbarian syian slave and frean but Christ is all and in all we get too focused on the things of this world and we don’t see the things of Jesus you know we’re living in divisive times and hate filled times and it’s easy to get caught up in that I mean this group can’t stand that group and and and this faction has got it in for that faction and people want to set up different groups and different tribes and even us Christians fall into this trap we want to make sure our politics are right or our associations are right and and you know and we begin to look at the things of this world and we we consider those people in those other groups are our enemy but they’re not sin is our enemy The Devil is our enemy yes people can do things that they shouldn’t do and we don’t agree with and yes people can make it trying for us but they’re not really our enemy we need to keep our head up and look into Christ and we can recognize the true enemy and that is the sin that goes along and by by the way even though we’re living in divisive and hatef feeled times this is nothing new to our nation there have been other times as well many of us here uh might remember the those days in the 60s with the Counter Culture and you know Vietnam and the hippies and the protests and those times were divisive as well none of us living can remember a time when State split away from the uni from the from the Federal government and and we took up arms against each other for four years brother against brother killing one another and spilling blood that’s a pretty divisive time it’s happened before and unfortunately these divisions will happen again because we look right in front of us and when looking right in front of us we fear what the other person brings what the other side brings and we believe we need to fight you know we get in danger of being swept into the mix of division and unless we determin to look to something positive in place of the negativity that’s going on around us do you know it’s easy to get caught up in negativity I’m going to tell I’m just going to say something look I don’t know how it is in your workplace or in your Schoolhouse or with your group of friends and all that but there are times where uh if you get around when you it just seems like in a group of people get together in the workplace or someplace and all they want to do is complain about what’s wrong you know here it work and it’s easy to get caught up in that because everybody has frustrations about things in their life but I’m telling you we’ve got to rise above that doesn’t do any good to get caught up in the negativity we want to be a part of the solution and not the problem and sometimes you have to separate yourself from that say I’m just not going in that break room today I can’t deal with that I want to think of something higher and not be dragged down into that negativity of complaint well the higher thing that we need to look for is Jesus Christ and if we are going to see him at work in our lives and see him at work in the world around us we have to adjust our Viewpoint to see him we can’t look at the things right in front of of us we can’t focus at what’s going on right in the uh right in the immediate vicinity of us we’ve got to look up look at that Long View and Look to Him above all of the things that are going on in this world so our challenge today we’re going to adjust our view we’re going to change our Viewpoint and I’m going to ask you to adjust your view and first of all look toward Holiness change your Viewpoint instead of looking at the mess of this world look toward Holiness verse four and five says when Christ who is our life is revealed you will also be revealed with him in glory therefore consider the members of your Earthly body dead to immorality impurity passion evil desire and greed which amounts to idolatry now Paul was writing a letter to a group of Christians in a town called colasse and colasse was one of those Greek cities uh that was very important in the ancient world and the Colossians the colossian Christians were becoming influenced by an what we call an early U philosophy that we call dualistic gnosticism and that word gnosticism comes from a Greek word that basically means knowledge the gnostics would teach that all you needed was the right knowledge okay you needed to know the right things and if you knew the right things and if you had the knowledge then you were all good and it became sort of a almost a uh a secretive Club so to speak the ones who had the knowledge you know they were the super spiritual people and until you could figure it out you know you were down here in the worldly bunch and you know it was leading to some divisions in the church and a lot of the old gnostics also would feel like it doesn’t really matter what you do in the flesh because there’s this dual nature of people we’re spirit and we’re flesh and the flesh is corrupt everything we see in the world is corrupt and there’s nothing that we can do about it so just let the flesh do whatever the flesh wants to do as long as you’re spirit and your heart is right you know you’re going to be good this is why Paul has to write that’s not the way it is we are a unified entity as a person you are not split in two okay I know this can be confusing because as preachers always tell us oh we fight against the two Natures we’ve got the world in us we’ve got the Flesh and we’ve got the holy spirit in us but in Paul’s Jewish understanding the Jews did not understand that dualistic nature the way the Greeks did they understood it as one person your spirit soul and body was all one entity and what was in your spirit is reflected in what is in your actions and this is what Paul is telling these people you can’t let your flesh live like the devil and then saywell my heart is right with God we got a lot of people who live like that today we don’t think Holiness is important I’m saved I’m under grace hey it doesn’t matter what goes on right easy believism that’s what it’s turned into today and we have to look toward h it’s important now look none of us is perfect none of us is going to achieve that here in these in these bodies we’re all going to stumble from time to time but when Jesus Christ came to Earth Christ modeled Holiness In the Flesh as human beings we were called to represent the image of God but sin has tarnished that image sin has tarnished that image Jesus Christ came and is the only person who who lived a human life free from the taint of sin he lived the life we could not live he modeled perfect Holiness In the Flesh and as Believers we’re supposed to have our eyes on him and follow that example not look like the world but to look like Jesus in Romans chapter 13 it says the night is far gone and the day is at hand so let us cast off the works of darkness Ness and put on the armor of light let us walk properly as in the daytime not in orgies and drunkenness not in sexual immorality or sensuality not in quarreling and jealousy but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires that’s Paul writing there yes we’re going to struggle against that flesh but look toward Jesus there’s that question asking what would Jesus do what would Jesus do when this comes on the television what would Jesus do when this person treats me this way what would Jesus do when I’m confronted with this dilemma at my workplace and cast your view to Christ and live the life that he would live he modeled that Holiness for us and that’s what we’re supposed to do cheap Grace kind of affects what this dualistic gnosticism did back in the day the cheap Grace that so often preached today turns our view downward instead of upward turns our view to oursel instead of to Jesus Christ we look to me well I’m okay I do believe in Jesus it’s not really important How I Live yes it is Christ is in us we should represent him in our lives we should look toward Holiness now again none of us is going to be perfect but the idea is to keep look keep keep striving upward keep that Viewpoint upward treat people as Jesus would treat them live as Jesus would live if he was right here in your shoes and in fact if you are a child of God and he’s in your heart he is in your shoes he is there with you live that life worthy of him problem is we’re not doing it even when I listen to a lot of the not all but a lot of the contemporary songs that I hear Christian songs that I hear they’re so ey focused so me focused they’re uh there’s a lot of cheap Grace in them that turns my viewpoint to me I’m looking to me I’m gratifying me when we’re supposed to be looking to Jesus Christ and if we keep our eyes on him that’s our first step toward Holiness so we want to adjust your view we want you to look up to Jesus and above the dirt and muck of this world so that we look toward the Holiness he’s calling us to here’s another thing want to adjust your view and look toward peace that’s important in these days and times look at verse eight it says now you also put them all aside anger wrath malice slander abusive speech from your mouth do not lie to one another since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices it’s interesting in here Paul is not writing to a bunch of heathens he’s writing to a Christian church and telling them challenging them to seek peace with each other man why can’t Christians get along if you look down a little further in verses 12 and 13 it says as those who have been chosen of God holy and beloved put on a heart of compassion kindness humility gentleness and patience bearing with one another forgiving each other Whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord forgave you so also you should forgive others love which is the perfect Bond of unity and Paul’s not writing that to people in the world he was writing this to people who were gathering together on Sundays to Worship the Lord Jesus Christ and they had to be told to put on love the bonds of unity don’t be angry with each other don’t be malicious don’t slander think about that for a minute why do Christians have to be told these things doesn’t peace automatically come as part of our new self well evidently not it must be something we have to learn and we only learn it by looking up to Jesus Christ we only learn it to be looking up to Jesus Christ see the command for Christians to be agents of peace is clear in this world we’re supposed to be agents of Peace in Romans again chapter 13 starting verse eight Paul would write to the church at Rome owe no one anything except to love each other for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law for the Commandments you shall not commit adultery you shall not murder you shall not steal you shall not cover any other commandment is summed up in this word you shall love your neighbor as yourself love does no wrong to a neighbor therefore love is the fulfilling of the law guess what Christians we’re supposed to be agents of Peace are you an agent of Peace Where You Are if two of your co-workers were at each other’s throats could they come to you to mediate the decision to mediate a peace between them or would one of them at least avoid you because they knew you were going to take the side of the other one no matter what you can apply that in your family you can apply that in your friend group you can apply that on your sports teams we’re supposed to be agents of peace and so so uh uh often that it’s embarrassing we can’t even be agents of peace in our congregations with each other who claim to all have a Heart of Jesus and love each other and so we begin to hate we begin to fight and we business meet hey bless thankful and look that that is not the case here at our church and we pray that it continues to be that way but there are congregations who business meetings turn into tense angry sessions because this one wants this and this one wants that and and if this one wants this I’m going to be on this side and and I just believe that sister so and so is an agent of the devil that was sent here into our church just look at how she dresses and brother so and so he’s no good because I don’t agree with color he painted his house down my street whatever we let all kinds of worldly things divide us in our congregations and if we can’t be agents of peace with each other how can we be agents of Peace in this world how can we tell this Lost World about the Prince of Peace himself Jesus Christ if we can’t have peace with each other and that’s what Paul was getting to when the world looks at us they need to see the bond of unity and love that is what draws them to Christ we can only show that Bond of unity and love if we are looking upward to Jesus Christ because guess what if I’m looking upward to Jesus Christ I’m looking above your sins faults and failures and you’re looking above my sins faults and failures and we’re not picking each other apart and dragging each other down and whispering and gossiping about each other because we’re all looking to Jesus Christ and if we’re all looking to Christ and we’re all pulling together in Christ then our lost neighbor and our lost brother and sister that that we spend time with and those folks in our Civic organizations or our school houses or our workplaces see that Bond of love and unity and let me tell you that’s going to go a whole lot farther than our political arguments are ever going to go in this day and time we’re called to be agents of peace and our Christian culture has not been the upward-looking model of Peace thinking that it should be we have become ified by The Lost World with our political stance than our relationship with Christ and that is damning to this church not just Macedonia Church I’m talking about the church as a whole when we get more concerned with the politics when we get more concerned with the things of this world and we’re looking at the things of this world and we’re not looking to Christ we lose our Effectiveness as Witnesses for Jesus Christ we are called to be agents of peace to not get caught up look there’s plenty of division in the world there’s plenty of getting your face in the world they don’t need more of that they need Jesus Christ and we can’t show them Christ if we’re not looking to Christ so that’s why we have to adjust our peace now I know it’s hard to do when that guy you work with or that that girl that woman that you have to uh sit next to you know when you have your family reunions or dinners they live a lifestyle you don’t agree with and they want to maybe press you and push your buttons and some people love to do that if they know you’re a Christian they just want to see if they can go you into losing your cool look above it look above the world that’s far of the world and represent Jesus Christ adjust your view and look toward Holiness let’s live the life we’re called to live adjust your view to look toward peace because Jesus is the prince of peace and that’s where our peace lies and this last thing goes with the peace thing we’re going to adjust our view and look toward Unity verse 10 Paul would say have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him a renewal in which There’s no distinction between Greek and Jew circumcised and uncircumcised Barbarian syian slave and Freeman but Christ is all and in all now when I say the word unity and I know that brother Matt has pointed this out in his Sunday school studies Unity is not uniformity we don’t all have to have the same haircut or wear the same clothes or even speak the same language but we need to be unified in the bond of love that Paul was talking about this colossian church these colossian Christians were in danger of seeing that Christ had come to unify in him the whole world not just the select few that had special knowledge okay but the whole world everybody you remember that little song we used to sing back He’s Got The Whole World in His Hands he’s got the I’d sing it but I can’t sing right now okay aoll and has wrecked my throat and voice I’m lucky to talk but the Colossians were in danger of failing to see that Christ come to him and there’s still this danger of Divisions and when you read this you’re looking at you know when he says Greek and Jew he’s basically talking about you know a an ethnic identity we’re Jewish and everybody out there’s Gentile but in Christ that doesn’t matter uh circumcised and uncircumcised that’s a religious identity we we Hebrews we Jews we circumcised if you’re not part of our tribe you’re pagans Paul says look that distinction goes away barbar Barian syian barbarian was someone in the Greek mind who couldn’t speak Greek they were outside the language so these were people who were even farther a field than the Gentiles they were running into these were those these were those crazy people up in the far north you know that were running around uh dancing around fires in the woods and had The Druids and th those barbarians and you know their long hair and beards and fur coats hey Paul says God loves the Barbarian too and he goes on and he talks about uh cyan slave and Freeman some people were in you know an enslaved condition and some people were free but it didn’t matter and what Paul was telling these people was this it doesn’t matter from what background you come from in Jesus Christ We Are All One it doesn’t mean that you’re no longer a Greek or a Jew you’re no longer a Corinthian or a colossian or an Athenian you are still that you probably still dress like the people of your culture you speak the language that you spoke but that is no longer your primary identity you are now in Jesus Christ a Christian a representative of him and we are all one and it doesn’t matter what background we come out of and that still holds true today and that’s what we need to look out for we have to look above divisive barriers around us and look to Jesus Christ listen to these words Hebrews chapter 12 therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which cling so closely and run with endurance the race set before us look into Jesus the founder and perfector of our faith who for the joy sat before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the Throne of God look to Jesus don’t look to the divisive barriers around us doesn’t matter if my friend was a democrat or republican or independent or can I even say this a communist can I say that it doesn’t matter if they’re black or white it doesn’t matter if they speak Spanish or Portuguese or German or Chinese or slangy southern English or proper King’s English like they speak in London none of those things matter those are all things that we divide over in Jesus Christ all are one everybody comes from their own particular background and the Lord can use everybody in his own particular way to spread the gospel message and his love in this world and we want to get caught up in the tries we want to get caught up in the divisions and we want to have you know we’re only comfortable with people who look like us and dress like us and talk like us and sing the same kind of songs we like to sing and all that kind of stuff we’ve got to look Beyond those divisive barriers and look to Jesus Christ that’s what Paul was pointing out to these Colossians and that’s what we have to be reminded of today that’s why we have to adjust our view don’t look at the world around you don’t look at the world around you look to Jesus Christ you know the call to adjust our view is not just some Sunday morning advice for us to take or leave from a preacher sermon we’re talking about a Daily Commitment to positively upward as Paul said in verse one therefore if you have been raised with Christ keeping things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God keep seeking keep seeking every day look up every day look up every day that’s a direct command of scripture and a reflection of a truly renewed life in Christ so we get ready to leave who’s going to look up today and don’t trip over the steps and fall down steps when you go out okay look to Jesus Christ though for our guidance in this world look to Christ for our wisdom in this world look to Christ for the love that we would show to this world and if we can do that then we can be the agents he’s calling us to be in this world and that’s our challenge here today well here in just a second I’m going to invite Jeremy and the musicians to come back up front here and we’re going to have a time of invitation and response and as we’re singing this song Maybe maybe you would look and say I’ve had my eyes on the wrong thing looking the wrong way been looking at the world hey it’s easy to do c up in paying the bills we get caught up in worries of this world world it’s easy to lose sight of Jesus Christ you think of Peter sitting in that boat sees Jesus walking on the water says Lord if that’s you tell me to come on Jesus says come on he got out and he was doing fine long as he looked to Jesus right soon as he looked at the wind and the waves around him he started to sink that’s us adjust your view and keep your eyes because looking at the world around us will bring us down and if you’ve been doing that we challenge you today to look to Christ maybe for the first time to say I want Christ in my life I know I’m a sinner I know I haven’t lived right but I want to confess that and commit myself to him today I want to be that agent in this world and I want him for eternity we’ll Rejoice with you you may want to rededicate your life today to say I I made that decision a long time ago but my views got off-kilter want y’all to pray for me I want to look up instead of around maybe you’ve got a burden on your heart he wants to pray for we’ll be glad to do that bring it down here and we’ll share it and if you have a burden that you’re not ready to share yet but you still want to bring it to the altar uh come to the side benches and we’ll we’ll leave you alone and business with God there that’s private between you and him and we’ll let you share keep you lifted up while you’re there let’s up stand thank you for being here with us this morning Macedonia bap church we understand that folks may have questions and it can be difficult to respond if you’re watching us in the digital and online format but we want to give you the opportunity to respond as well maybe to something that you’ve heard in this message or maybe to something that someone has said to you in the days and weeks ahead something you’ve heard on the radio and you just have questions and the Holy Spirit is talking to you we want to encourage you to text ask me that’s a M7 7411 if you will do that someone will be back in touch with you and we will try to help you as you walk through your questions about salvation or about your relationship with God we will feel honored to help you in that place we also to encourage you that uh you can join us and get updates from us if if you’re uh enjoying what you see or it’s touching your heart in some way he’ll take up to date that’s up the number two d a t to 77411 that will get you in our Loop where you can get updates from the church announcements and things like that we want to thank you for being here again if you have questions feel ask me at 77411 and we will work together as you try to walk closer to the Lord thank you God bless have a wonderful day [Music] oh [Music]