Normal Isn’t Working

whenever you meet someone and you know that they're not from where you're from one of the first questions you typically ask them is what where you from where you from because where you're from tells you a lot about who you are and how you think so I'm going to ask you guys just for fun and online you can type it in the comment section where you're from and then you guys can just shout it out as loud as you want as long as it's not too weird where you from I heard a lot of different

things but what I know about is this that if you've notice that where you're from influences how you talk how you think and what you do if you visit different parts of the world even if they speak the same language they often have a very different accent or an entirely different language a lot of times they'll have different values maybe the way they think about dating or family or money or relationships they'll often behave very differently uh for example in college I was the only American on an all otherwise Australian tennis team I'll show you

my mates see what I did there my mates because they were all from Australia uh the very first thing that I learned in playing with an all Aussie tennis team was the first thing I learned was the cuss wordss I know all the Australian cuss words I will not share any of them with you but I I do know them and in the United States if you have a beer and a barbecue you call it a beer and a barbecue um Aussie's call it a beer and Barbie and you have a beer and Barbie with

your with your BLS in the Sheilas and if you're drinking beer they're drinking Fosters I'm not sure why but it's actually a thing a cool thing about the mate culture um in Australia is when you have a nickname and everybody has a nickname if you don't have a nickname they don't like you and the cool thing is nickname are easy you just add an o or an e to the names for example my coach was Colin Robertson and so we called him Robo uh Hill was the last name of a guy I played doubles with

for a while so he was hilly hilly um my nickname was gr but that wasn't the Australian version so they had to add an e to it I wasn't just gross I was gry that was my name where you're from influences how you think how you talk and how you behave um in all sorts of ways for example when it comes to shoes different cultures have different mindsets toward shoes when I went to Korea uh they told me whatever you do don't so show the soles of your shoes because that could be very rude um

in Japan they'll tell you take your shoes off before you enter into a building or into a house because it would be rude to leave your shoes on where I grew up we had a culture my friend's mom made us take our shoes off when we went into her home and when you got to the door if you found another pair of shoes you you liked better than your shoes the culture was to put them on and run as fast as you can that's what we did where you're from determines how you act it influences

how you talk how you think and what you do for those of you who are followers of Jesus where are you from and the answer is you're not from here this is not your home if you are in Christ scripture teaches that you are a sin citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom and because you're not from this world you are not aligned with all of the values and customs of this Earthly world and because you're loyal to a Heavenly King you talk differently you think differently and you live differently because where you're from influences what you

do in fact Peter reminds us that you're not from here he says this in 1 Peter 211 he says dear friends I warn you as and then he uses two Greek words one of them is translated temporary residence the other one as foreigners he says I I warn you remember who you are your temporary residence in other words this is not your permanent home as foreigners you're not from here he says to keep a away from worldly desires that wage against your very Souls because this Earth is not your home be careful not to get

sucked into the customs and values of this world but fight against those things that literally wage war against who you were created to be he uses two Greek words and I want to show you these Greek words and again if you don't know how to say them just say that's Greek to me that's Greek To Me the transliteration of these words or the in the in the Greek language uh these words would be parus and paridos I hope I said that close but what we do know is the first letters are the word come from

the root perah and this is the most important part because these two words are very closely related perah means beside or it means near or it means temporary these words are you're a foreigner you're an exile you're a stranger you're a Sojourner you're not from here these words literally together they mean to live near but not in or it means to be close but not from it means you may live in the world but you are not of the world you may be close but you're not in you may be near but you're not of

so if you're a citizen of Heaven if this Earth is not your home where are you from Paul said it very very clearly he said this he said we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Lives who are you you are a citizen of Heaven you belong to the most high King you are from the kingdom of God and you say that's good news because I did the thing I checked the box now I'm going to heaven when I die that's it right not exactly there's actually quite a bit more to being a citizen

of Heaven there's a lot more to fully living for the king of kings and engaging in the world that you are not from in a way that makes a difference in this world so if we're truly citizens of Heaven if this Earth is not our home how do we live for Jesus while we're on Earth uh Paul used the conjunction the the the word but he said but we are citizens of Heaven uh but is a conjunction and you know the saying about conjunction right if you know it just sing it with me Conjunction Junction

what your function right Little Schoolhouse Rock Fans now here's what's really cool cool if you know what I just said Schoolhouse Rock conjunction that means you're old and speaking of but if you know that joke it's time for you to schedule your [Music] colonoscopy sorry that's gross I know but everyone here if you don't know that you don't need to worry about that for another 15 or 20 years Conjunction Junction what anytime you see a conjunction you see but you want to know why is it there so Paul says but we are citizens of heaven

we want to know what was he saying before that so it'll make sense in context so let's look at what he said before but your citizens of Heaven he said this he said for I've told you often before and I say it again with tears in my eyes when we're reading this I hope you'll feel the emotion of the Apostle Paul who was going to say you're not from here this isn't your home and I I want you to feel the pain when he says there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of

the Cross of Christ they are headed for Destruction he goes on to say their God is their appetite and they brag about shameful things we see this all over in our culture today don't we and they think only about this life here on Earth and then he says but everybody say but type it in the comment section say again but even though they are living for the things of this world but we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives and we are eagerly awaiting him to return as our savior there is a

phrase I must admit in this verse that convicts me deeply and the phrase goes like this they think only about life here on Earth they think only about life here on Earth because although I know I'm a citizen of Heaven I tend to think a lot about life here on Earth and this convicts me because my mind drifts toward the cares and the concerns of this world way more often than I would like to admit and I'm guessing that some of you might be a little bit convicted too because it's easy to obsess about this

Earth I'm a citizen of Heaven of course but we all want to be comfortable right I mean we all want to have a good income and a nice home and you know maybe one day even get like a house cleaner so I can have more me time for whatever be time it is your yoga or knitting or flying or rolling or soccer or whatever we want more me time and we want a little extra cash for our favorite watch or our shoes or our bracelets or our outfits and we want to travel and we want

to go nice places and we got to get our coffee got to get our coffee for the glory of Jesus we can't serve him without our coffee and we know we're citizens of heaven but we want to provide the best we can for our families and then we want to show it all on social media so we can tell everybody my life is amazing # blessed right and we get sucked into this like what we have and what we do and what we show and what people think about us and we know deep down as

followers of Jesus that this isn't all there is but we just get almost dragged into it where it almost overtakes us and we start to think well this is what matters right what they think really matters right what I have that's what's going to make me happy right and we get pulled down into this world and there is something deep in your souls that knows that you were created for more why because this world is not your home you're a citizen of heaven and when you're a citizen of Heaven I want to show you two

things that scripture say very very clearly the first thing is number one is you will think differently from this world when you're a citizen of Heaven you may live by the laws because you're here but you are driven by the values of the kingdom of God Romans 122 tells us this scripture says don't copy the behavior and customs of this world just because everybody else is doing it and everybody else says it's right and everybody else says well now this is true we don't live according to what the world says is true but we are

transformed into a new person by by what scripture says by changing the way you think we will let God's word let his truth renew our minds so we're not dragged down into the lies of this world but we keep our mind set on things that are above and the world's going to lie to us over and over and over again because this world is broken and marred by sin this culture will tell you live for yourself live your best life you matter more than anything else Live Your Truth doesn't matter what you do as long

as you don't hurt anybody but scripture says no your treasure is not on Earth your real treasure is in heaven you you don't get your value from this Earth and so Paul said this Colossians 3 he said this he said since then you have been raised with Christ where do you set your hearts scripture says you set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God you set your mind on things above not Earthly things every day my eyes see Earthly things every day everything in media and on social

media and in the people I scream out live for this world love this world so I have to intentionally set my mind up above and say I'm not going to live for the lower things that do not last I'm not going to live for the lower things that do not matter I'm not going to live for the lower things that do not honor God I'm going to intentionally choose to set my mind on things above scripture says think more about me putting my mind above says consider others better than yourselves the world says think about

what you can get and what you can have and scripture says think about what you can give and how you can bless others the world says think about now what matters now but when you look above you think about what matters eternally because you're not from this world and if you're not from this world you will think differently from this world and if you think differently from this world then number two you will live differently from this world earlier the traditional text Paul said as strangers and Aliens stay away from abstain from worldly desires that

wage war against your soul a devotional version of the message says that same text this way this not literal but devotional says friends this world is not your home so don't make yourselves Coy in it don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul I I like that imagery I don't want to be cozy with this world I don't want to snuggle up with my favorite sins because when you think about entertainment many times what are we entertained by we're entertained by sin I mean if there are cuss words and nudity and violence all

over the shows you're watching is that not honoring or is that convicting because it's convicting to me right now as I'm saying like right now like the show I watched last night right now cozy up to it feel comfortable in it when you set your mind on things above it changes everything I mean it changes everything I'm not from here so I'm not going to let my mind drift to the things from here I'm going to I'm going to intentionally set my mind on things above that'll change how I spend my time it's not going

to be like oh I can't believe I spent four hours on Tik Tok it's like I can't believe Tik Tok has any slice of the time that God has given me it changes how you spend your it it'll change what you do with your money instead of seeing it all as for us you start to see it all as something to be stewarded for the glory of God it'll change how you treat people even annoying people because scripture says to love all of them and some of them are more difficult to love and sometimes loving

the more difficult ones is exactly what you need to make you more like him when you set your mind on things above it'll change how you date who you date what you don't do on dates it'll it'll change how you treat the people that you work with it'll change who you marry and how you treat the person that you're married to it'll change your relationship with your kids it'll change how you think about parent parenting and how you disciple them and what you do because you think differently you're going to live differently and you want

to be different from this world don't you have you looked around recently at what is normal in this world you want what's normal this world is like pulling us down into everything that is not God what's normal I mean let's just be practical not even spiritual normal is broke normal is spending more than you have to impress people with what you have so much so that you can't even breathe financially normal is divorced and splitting the kids on the weekends normal is lonely scrolling all day long acting like you have friends on screen but don't

have real intimate Connection in life normal is jealousy and normal is numbing yourself out on alcohol or or drugs and normal is experimenting sexually and say well maybe this is who I am and this is what I can do and now this is who I really normal is being ticked off at the world normal is being skeptical of everyone that you meet and not trusting normal is walking around with a bitter attitude being a victim and everybody else is out to get me I'm not getting my peace and and normals being miserable and discontented and

never having enough and never having joy and not having normal as anxiety and depression and stress and cutting normal is hating life normal is not working you're not from here you're not supposed to be like here I urge you I warn you as aliens as strangers as foreigners as Exiles you're not from here you're citizens of heaven so you wage war you you don't tolerate it you rage war against sever things that hurt your soul so so who are we we we are citizens of heaven and I want to give you a moment just to

say that each week we're kind of declaring who we are in Christ and I want to give you a moment to say it we'll have to say it a couple times because you'll maybe believe it here but we want to live it here in our hearts so who are you say I am I am a citizen of Heaven citizen of Heaven my life belongs to God my life belongs to God because Earth is not my home because Earth is not my home I think differently I differently and I live differently I live differently who are

you I am I am a citizen of Heaven of Heaven my life belongs to God my life belongs to God because Earth is not my home because Earth is I think differently I think differ and I live differently I live and that's why we remind ourselves over and over and over and over again this world is not my home I'm a citizen of Heaven because if you don't remind yourself over and over and over again if you don't remind yourself you will drift to the things of this world we all will the current is so

strong have you ever been to the beach playing in the ocean and recognize while you were playing the current just moved you anybody know what I'm talking about type online I know what you're talking about I'll look look at the comments you'll make me feel like I you know what I'm talking about you you're playing we did this one time we were playing we had our little beach sand castle and our little blanky blankie with our little sandwiches with a lot of sand and the witches cuz we're at the beach you know and so we're

I'm out there playing with my kids and we're just playing and the current's kind of going we're just kind of playing the current's kind of going we're just having a good time sh we're playing playing you know you grab their little booty kid booty and act like it's ah daddy don't you playing play play and then we look up and our little campsite is way down there how'd we get here we didn't we didn't realize it but the whole time very very very very slowly the current was moving you in its direction can I talk

to those of you that are parents uh one of your greatest responsibilities if you are a disciple of Jesus is to help your children understand as Disciples of Jesus we are different different is actually good and we have to intentionally resist the cultural current because it pulls us away from Jesus toward the things of this world and so you're going to say okay Craig as a parent what does that look like the answer is like I don't know all I know is in our home we had certain things and it wasn't even about the thing

things as it was about the different in our home like as followers of Jesus we do these things and we don't do those things and I'm promise you when I tell you it wasn't as much about the things as it was the principle that we wanted them to understand as followers of Jesus we're different and you can pick your thing it might be that we don't give you a cell phone when you're seven years old so you can have connection with the whole world we don't get that until later in our home or it might

be we want you to be secure who you are in Christ so social media doesn't come you don't get that until a certain age or it might be that hey you know on summer vacation yeah we do a 4-day trip for us and then we do a 4-day mission trip because as followers of Jesus we we we're we're different or it might be like you know you're really really good at this activity but since the traveling team does that on Sundays oh I know I'm getting I'm getting end dangerous we we don't do that because

we prioritize the worship of the place that we are from we worship Our God in heaven so we're not doing that team and what I promise you is you would rather have a disciple of Jesus than a star athlete when everything is said and done and that cold cold T don't mess with our Sports okay it might be that we don't listen to certain music because we're a follower of Jesus or you're not going on a car date even though all your friends are at this age whatever it is you prayerfully determine as a follower

of Jesus in this area of our life we are strategically and intentionally different and again it's not just about the thing it's about helping our children see to honor God we are not from this world therefore we will not live like this world and I want to say it very directly if you don't actively resist the current of culture you will drift into the deception of this world it has to be active W you fight against the things that wage war against your soul you are not from here the Bible says we are called to

be hagios that means holy that means set apart set apart means different listen to me Church don't worry if you're different from the world worry if you're not God calls us to be different to be set apart now some of you may yourself saying kind of like what I would like I know I shouldn't love this world but I kind of like the things in this world and the more I pursue them the more I realize I'm still not satisfied why is it that we pursue more and more and more and more in this world

and yet find ourselves more and more and more and more dissatisfied Dr Tony Evans told an illustration I give him credit for the idea and then I'm going to totally butcher his and tell tell it my own way but he talks about a fish that's taken out of water I would explain it like this if you take a fish out of water and you drive that fish to Target it's a female fish or um Bass Pro Shop if it's a male fish and give that fish a $1,000 gift card is the fish happy no if

if you take the fish out of water and you video the fish dancing I'm making this up to to to a baby shark okay and the the video goes viral and now the fish has Tick Tock Fame is that fish happy okay if it's a male fish and you parade a lot of little female fishes in teeny fish bikinis in front of that fish while he's sitting there on the beach silly right but is the fish happy the answer is no why because the fish wasn't made for the beach the fish was made for the

water and if you find yourself living for this world and living for this world and Never Satisfied by the things in this world it's because you were not made for this world stop acting like it's your home we're citizens of Heaven if you continue to look for the things in this world to satisfy you you are looking in a place that can never fulfill your deepest longings because you are not created for for this world you're not from this world who are you well when you know who you are you'll know what to do and

over the past few weeks we've looked at who we are in Christ who are you you are God's Masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared in advance for you to do you're the Masterpiece of God who are you you're an ambassador of the the most high God you are the highest ranking Diplomat sent by God from Heaven to Earth to show his love who are you you are the salt of this Earth and you are the light of this world so be salty and let your light shine where are

you from you are not from here this is not your home you are a citizen of Heaven and because your life is not your own and this world is not your home your past on this Earth will not define you the trials thrown at you will not stop you fear can't control you doubters can't deter you there's no person that can ever break you money can't by you because you're living for the treasures of that which is to come haters can't Silence You demons can never defeat you why this world is not your home you

are born in the kingdom of God for the things of God so live for the things of [Music] God so who are you with a smile on your face and joy in your heart because you're fulfilling your heavenly purpose and all you do who are you I am I am a citizen of Heaven citizen of Heaven my life belongs to God my and because Earth is not my home Earth is not I think differently and I live differently because the very same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells within you because you have the

faith to walk into a room and call the things that are not as though they were your faith moves mountains God hears your prayers you're blessed by him to make a difference in this world when you walk in the room hope walks in the room when you walk in the room Faith walks in the room when you walk in the room you're just visiting the room with a message from Heaven to show the love of a good God but this room's not your home you're just passing through You're On Assignment on Mission by the the

creator of the universe who loved you so much he sent his son Jesus for you this Earth is not your home stop living like it you belong to God set your mind on things above and let that change the way you think and let that change the way you live and when you get different and a little bit weird Don't Be Afraid cuz normal's not working don't be afraid if you're different be worried if you're not because this world is not your home so father we pray today that your Holy Spirit would do a work

in US stir us God convict us in a loving way to let go of that which is below and to look to that which is above as you keep praying today at all of our churches and and on around the world online I wonder how many of you would admit that you're can be like me and I don't I don't like to say it out loud but it's true I am a citizen of Heaven I've been born again by the power of Jesus I belong to God and yet the current of this world pulls me

into it and I I can end up living for the things that don't last and don't matter how many of you would say that's can be true for you and you want something different would you lift up your hands right now lift up your hands on line you can type in the comment section that God help me to live for you help me to live for you father I pray that this word would do a just do a a serious work on our hearts then our our life groups we talk about it over meals we

talk about it with our family that as Disciples of Jesus you've called us to be holy to be set apart to be different not because we're better not because we're arrogant not because we we're going to snub our nose at anybody but just because we want to live according to the values of the kingdom of God give us the courage to swim upstream when everyone else is going the other way God give us the faith to obey you when you challenge us to do something different with our money or different with our time or different

in the way that we parent our kids give us the courage to stand strong give us the faith to hear from Heaven to be bold enough to be different to think differently God help us help us we need help in your word as we study your word renew our minds and we choose God to set our minds on things above not on things below we're citizens of Heaven who are you you are a citizen of Heaven you are a child of God this world is not your home so God teach us conform us to the

image of your son to live in a way that honors you as you keep praying today nobody looking around um some of you right now you might say yeah I believe in God but you know I'm obviously not a citizen of Heaven um I grew up going to church some and I I believed in God but I did not belong to him there's a big difference between believing in God Scripture says that even the demons they believe in him and they they're smart enough to shudder uh they tremble you may kind of believe in God

but you recognize you're not following him you don't know him you're not in a personal relationship with him let me just tell you about how good he is and he's also kind of demanding he is so good he is so loving that even when we've been sinning against him he loved us and sent Jesus his son perfect in every way Jesus died on the cross so our sins could be forgiven and God raised him from the dead now what does God want well this is where he's kind of to man he wants all of you

like he wants to be first he wants to be the Lord of your life and I'll tell you what I don't want anything less than him to be first he is the only one who's ever loved us he is the one who created is he is the one who made the the the the ability for us to be right with him and because of his love I want to let go of everything in this world and I want to surrender everything to him some of you today you may recognize I've been around the things of

God but I'm not really surrender to him I'm not really submitted to him today all we're going to do is we're going to take a really big step of Faith scripture says that when you call on the name the name of Jesus the name that is above every name God actually hears your prayers when you put him first he'll forgive your sins you're you're brand new all the old stuff is gone and everything becomes new if you recognize today you're kind of like half in like kind of part of like whatever but you're not fully

surrendered to him we're going to step away from our sinfulness and we're going to give him our whole life everything everything our past our present our future we're surrendering to him this isn't like a little Jesus check the box thing this is a fullon take my whole life every bit of me my present my future I give it all to you today wherever you're watching from and you recognize you need a savior you need Jesus to be the Lord of your life we're stepping away from our sin we're saying yes take all of my life

I Turn to You forgive my sins I give you my life that's your prayer today lift your hands high right now and say yes I Surrender oh praise God as we got people today at all of our churches saying yes we surrender to you we we trust you as the Lord Of Our Lives online just type in the comment section I am surrendering my life to Jesus just type that in I'm surrendering my life to Jesus and in this holy moment would you pray with those around you pray pray from your heart with faith heavenly

father father I Surrender I Surrender my whole life life Jesus Save Me Jesus Save Me Be My Lord be my Lord fill me with your spirit fill me with your spirit so I could serve you so I serve you every moment every of my life because my life is not my own I give it all to you you Earth is not my home Earth is I'm a citizen of Heaven Cen of Lord use me to show your love and to do your will because I belong to you thank you for New Life you have all

of mine in Jesus name I pray could somebody give a shout of Praise today welcome those born into God's Family come on Church let's give God praise did you connect with this message did it resonate with you we've got even more messages about your calling and your purpose that you can watch right now check them out here [Music]