Made New Through Challenge

Message Transcription

Well. Welcome, church. We're glad that you've joined us, whether in person or online. What a gift it is to be together today. What a morning and a beautiful snow falling outside the windows. I hope that your homes are warm and that you're enjoying this special morning today. I know we are here. Uh, it's a special morning. We're heading into the season of lent. In fact, this week is the the beginning of the season of lent. It's a chance for us to reflect on our lives, the kind of people that we're becoming. That's a topic we spent a lot of time thinking together about here at Broadway so far this year, and we want to continue that effort throughout the year as we do. So. I wanted us to to spend some time thinking about how God helps to make us new. Uh, as we proceed through the season of lent, it's often used by the church to reflect on how we haven't quite lived up to the expectation, to the hope that God has for us the kind of people he wants and longs for us to be. But this is a moment here, 40 days before Resurrection Sunday, before Easter, that we get to intentionally plan and think about God. How will you bring resurrection life to us again this year? In just a moment, we're going to celebrate communion together. And so if you at home and you need a chance to go and grab your elements, please take a moment now to do so, we have someone here who's going to serve our community that's gathered together this morning.

But as you're doing so, I want to call your mind to a couple of thoughts, a couple of things I was thinking about as I was preparing for this series this week. There's a woman named Carol Dweck who is a research professor out at Stanford University, and she came up with this, uh, idea of growth mindset. What does it mean to have a growth mindset? She was setting people, specifically students, and what allowed some to achieve and some not to achieve. And so she talked some in this article about defining what growth mindset is. She says this individuals who believe their talents can be developed through hard work, good strategies and input from others. They have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset. Those who believe their talents are innate gifts. This is because they worry less about looking smart and put more energy into learning. When entire companies embrace a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed. They also receive greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation. In contrast, people at primarily fixed mindset companies report more cheating and deception among employees, presumably to gain an advantage in the talent race. Now, as I continued researching this idea of of what it means to have a growth mindset, what I found was there's a lot of scholarly debate happening on whether this is a real thing or not.

Uh, is a growth mindset. Does it impact certain groups of people more than others? Low achievers versus high achievers? All this, I'm not sure where you fall on all that. I'm not sure where I fall on all that, only to say, why are we talking about this this morning? Well, the season of lent is a chance for us to stop and think about who the kind of people that we become. In fact, that's one of our core values here at Broadway, is we want to be the kind of church that helps us realize the greatest gift that God gets out of our life is not the stuff that we do. It's the kind of people we become. Are we allowing God's way of life, his mindset, his heart to be our heart? We allowing the way that he thinks about others around him, others around us? Do we have that same kind of mindset? Are we intentional about focusing on becoming the kind of tree? Jesus said, we don't aim for the fruit. We aim for becoming the kind of tree that naturally produces good fruit. As I thought about all of this, it got me thinking about our time here at the table. And we gather at in the middle, literally the middle of our worship, right in the center. The heart of what we do is we gather around the table to remind ourselves of who we are, the kind of people that we're trying to become. People who love and who forgive.

People who are generous and sacrificial. People who don't seek their own good, but but seek the good of others. You know, the passage that often is used to kick off the season of lent is the season where Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness. That's where we get our 40 days of lent from. In fact, I want to read some of those verses to you today just to remind us of the story of Jesus as his ministry launches this. This happens right on the heels of him being baptized and coming up out of that water. You may remember God says, this is my son, my beloved. In him I'm well pleased. He begins his ministry with this incredible blessing from God. And then Matthew in chapter four tells us this. Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, if you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

Now Jesus answered him. It's also written do not put the Lord your God to the test. It's interesting as I was looking through and reading this passage again. Three different times. The devil offers him this. If then. If you'll just do this, then I'll meet a need for you. Whether it's a hunger that you have, whether it's a desire for. For wealth and riches. So you all the kingdoms of the world. Or whether it's just power. Just bow down and worship. If you'll do that, then I'll give you all the power you could ever imagine. One of the ways that God helps to make us new is through the challenges that we face. You know, I grew up thinking these temptations for Jesus probably weren't that hard because he was, you know, Jesus. Not thinking about. Well, Jesus was fully human. Jesus had to learn the scriptures just like you and I have to learn the scriptures. He had to read them, spend time with him, dwell in them. Now, if you think about a temptation, if something doesn't tempt you. Then it really doesn't count as a temptation. It actually has to to be tempting to you. Which got me thinking. Jesus, Matthew tells us, was really hungry. After 40 days in the desert, in the wilderness, with no food, he tells us Jesus was hungry. Friends, after about 40 minutes in the morning, if I haven't eaten, I'm hungry. Jesus was hungry. So this temptation of turning stones into bread wasn't just a small thing.

He was asking about what? What are you hunger for? I can provide it. Which might be a question we want to center ourselves in this Lenten season. What are we hungering for in our world these days? What are we hungering for in our life? Are we looking to someone other than Christ to meet that need? What are we hungering for? Or that second temptation that Jesus faced? What are we? What are we wanting for when it comes to wealth riches? Is there something out there that's compelling us, that's driving us, that's motivating us? Or maybe it's power like that third temptation. The devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. And all their splendor. All this I will give to you, he said, if you will bow down and worship. Each time Jesus met these temptations. With scripture. By holding on to the promises. That God is with him, that God is His Father who loves him, who is well pleased with him, and who promises to be with him, he says. Away from me, Satan, for it's written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only. I was thinking about this interplay of a growth mindset, a fixed mindset. Not sure where you fall on that, but here's where I do that. Each one of us are going to be facing some temptations this year. Many of us already have. And we're going to be tempted by those circumstances or those those situations to take our eyes off of Christ.

For some of us it may be hungering for for a certain situation at work. Maybe it's a relationship. For others of us, it may come in the form of riches or power. For some of us it may be a health diagnosis. For others, it may be a broken relationship that we long to be made whole again. See, one of the ways that God makes us new is by meeting us in the midst of our challenges, just the way that he met Jesus. Now there's our part and God's part and and we see in Jesus part. He was willing to spend the time listening to his father, spending time praying, reading the scriptures. But he also remembered God's promise to him you are my beloved. So my prayer, my hope for us in this season of lent is that we will hold on to the promises and the Word of God that we would remember that he is with us. That he loves us again. That's that's our reminder when we gather at the table each week. This reminder that that Jesus not only loves you, he really likes you so much. So he was willing. To give his own life. That we might have a chance to encounter that kind of life changing, life transforming love. And so we remember the body that that Jesus gave was willing to be hung on a cross on our behalf. But God didn't leave him in that tomb.

He raised him to new life and said, now through, through my body you have a chance to be made new. Let's pray. Father. What a gift it is to be your people, to be included in your family. Jesus, thank you for the gift of your life, your willingness to give yourself. On our behalf. Yet as we take this body, this bread, today, as it enters into our our bodies once again, God may not just be a symbol of your life entering into ours. But may we be nourished by it. May it be a reminder that we don't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from you. God, we want to be made new, more into the image of Christ. And so, God, would you help us do that as we take this bread, we give you thanks. In Jesus name, Amen. The body of Christ broken for us. Thanks be to God. As we take the cup, we remember the sacrifice of Jesus. Blood. Blood that was washing us pure as snow. The symbol of forgiveness in our lives. Again, thinking back to this idea of of a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, the blood reminds us that God is always making things new. He's always cleaning, redeeming, and reconciling no matter what situation or circumstance that we face, even in the midst of challenges. The blood reminds us that we're not alone, that God forgives and he redeems and he restores, and he invites us into that same reconciliation work.

Let's pray. Father, as we drink the juice, may it remind us of your grace that flows so richly, so deeply, so purely into our lives. A grace that can change us, can make us new. A grace that can help us let go of a difficult and challenging past. Grace that can let us help us. Let go of fear that keeps us trapped. Grace that can help us be sacrificial in our love of others. Just Jesus, the way that yours is for us. As we drink this cup, father. May it as well not only be a symbol of taking your life and your grace into our lives, but a reminder that you've called us to be gracious people ourselves. Yet, may we join you in being people of grace this week, helping to bring new life all around us just the way that you have brought it into our lives. Thank you, father, for the gift of this cup. May we live in light of its glory. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Blood of Christ shed for us. Thanks be to God. Now we have an opportunity to take what we're embodying in our lives and live it out in the world. One of the ways we get to do that is to partner together to unleash compassion. You hear us talk about that a lot. There's a lot of ways that we're trying to do that this year, and we could sure use your help. And one of the best ways you can help us is to give financially to the work that God's doing in and through us here at Broadway.

As Gary mentioned a few minutes ago, there are several ways that you can do that. Uh, if even if you're not here, you can go online, you can go into the app. There's a dropdown you can choose to give to our general fund, to the work that's happening here, because we believe that God is making us new all the time, that he is inspired us and equipped us and challenged us to be looking for ways that His spirit is at work in our community, and then to come alongside and join in on that. He's blessed us with an incredible staff. I can speak from experience. This is an amazing staff who who are dedicated to helping you find ways to live out, to take your next step on your journey of faith. We also have an amazing facility that we're trying to use in Jesus name as a blessing to our community. All those things require, uh, gifts to to make it happen. So we could sure use your help in partnering with us in that. So let me pray over this offering. And then, Gary, I'll invite you to come back up. Father. It is an amazing thing to be a part of a family, to recognize that we don't walk this road of life alone. That we're not called to be disciples alone, but to do that together.

And father, you have formed this church here, Broadway Church. And we get to do life together. We get to try to make a difference in this world, to try to be an answer to the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray that your kingdom, God, would come on earth as it is in heaven. If either one of ways that we try to do that is we we try to try to give we give our time and our effort and our energy to the incredible ministries that you have created here. We try to give financially to support that amazing work, a work that's not just here in our community, but God. We see it extended all across the world. God, we get to partner with incredible missionaries literally all over the globe to see your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. And God, we get a chance to to be a blessing right here at Broadway in Lubbock, Texas. So, God, would you take our gift today and would you bless it? Would you multiply it? Yeah. Would you help us to to live out the bread and the cup in our lives? May it impact the way that we give our financial lives. God help us to be radically generous just the way you have been to us. Thank you. Father. Thank you for your incredible giving. And we want to be just like you. Would you help us to give sacrificially today? Father, would you bless us now? We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.