Here We Still Stand-Chad Bird

Opened with a story about George Foreman-he had to be brought to defeat and failure to reevaluate success, his world had been turned upside down

What was important was not him, but the One that had made him.

The best gift we can receive is failure.

There is a God who loves to create out of nothing.  And He continues to create out of nothing in us.

God continues to turn the world upside down through the theology of the cross. The way God works is not the way we expect Him to work.

God’s answer to the basic human questions of life are always the opposite of what we expect.

In our minds, our God is too glorious to be born in a manger, to hang out with sinners, to die on the cross.  

“Our Life As The Church That We Need To Give Up”

• Numbers-we often think about big. The big is all around us. We want big churches. What is beneath all of this? 
• What we are actually going for is pride, social status, safety, security
• We want options and we want to be associated with success
• Everything that belongs to God must be crucified including our size, metrics, music, etc.
• Don’t leave the pulpit without giving the people Christ crucified and resurrected. 
• Let’s get excited about the preacher who points to Jesus and the gospel
• American Optimism-we try to microwave ourselves to hope, to try and move forward
• When people come to me broken, I don’t tell them to look to the bright side. Instead, immerse themselves in the Psalms. We don’t know how to lament anymore. Where are you, God?
• If we hooked up our prayers to a polygraph, we would find ourselves lying. We aren’t being honest.
• My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Christ gives us to voice to cry out to our Father for comfort we need.
• Sexy
• Despite our ugliness, we gather around the cross.
• In our mess, we are greeted by the God who says I love you, you are my child.  Let me dress you in the righteousness of Christ.
• Jesus says, “I have gifts I want to give you-life, righteousness, salvation”
• We are all a mess and broken. If we could see ourselves in the eyes of God, we couldn’t recognize us.
• We might not be sexy, but we are beloved church.

Closed with story about Joe Jernigan-an alcoholic-After all of his brokenness, He went back to his hometown to preach the gospel. Authenticity begets authenticy. The hope is not built on glory, but on Jesus Christ.