New Episodes Weekly!
Nov. 1, 2023

Finding True Self: Overcoming Illusions and Deceptions

Finding True Self: Overcoming Illusions and Deceptions
The player is loading ...
CityLight NYC Church
Navigating through the aftermath of a family member’s recent car accident, Pastor James Chavez shares a profound realization. The ordeal of dealing with insurance companies and visits to the motor vehicle departments opened his eyes to an almost mundane yet significant aspect of life: self-perception and authenticity. The driver's license photo experience, often full of cringe and discomfort, reflected a deeper question: are we courageous enough to bare our true selves and confront the person in the mirror?
 
Building on this theme of authenticity, we delve into the riveting saga of John Beal, an ex-official at the Environmental Protection Agency who masterfully deceived his colleagues and lived a double life. His journey into falsehood, while seemingly far from our own lives, can serve as a mirror reflecting our own internal struggles. It's a tale about the lies we tell ourselves, how they can warp our sense of reality and obscure our true identity.
 
Lastly, we step into the enchanting and meticulously crafted world of Disney Parks. This well-oiled mask of magic has its own lessons to teach us about the pretenses we adopt in our lives. We also introduce you to the City Light Church Podcast, our vibrant community that fosters grace, love, and acceptance. Subscribe today, and be a part of our global family as we navigate the complexities of life together.
Transcript
00:00.140 --> 00:04.932
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but a power, love and self-discipline.

00:05.321 --> 00:08.590
So if you're trapped by fear, you know your enemy is trying to keep you down.

00:09.021 --> 00:14.113
He wants to destroy you, but remember your God has given you what Power?

00:15.216 --> 00:25.123
Power Not just a little power, a lot of power, god-sized power, the power that'll electrify a train, a locomotive, speeding down the tracks.

00:26.306 --> 00:28.433
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast.

00:28.674 --> 00:34.974
Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us.

00:35.717 --> 00:41.129
If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom.

00:41.449 --> 00:43.333
That's citylightnyccom.

00:44.780 --> 00:51.903
Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds.

00:52.644 --> 01:02.433
As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by his grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you.

01:05.681 --> 01:06.685
I'm James Chavez.

01:06.926 --> 01:08.492
I get to hang out with you today.

01:08.572 --> 01:18.248
We've been in the middle of an incredible message series called the Clash of the Covenants and it's been incredible, but we're going to take a pause right at the halfway point, if that's okay.

01:18.610 --> 01:33.028
Pastor Boyan is going to be right with us next week and he's going to pick up with part five and he's just going to take us over the finish line, okay, but today he's asked me to share with you a little bit, so if you would please indulge me just a little, don't all rush for the exit.

01:33.450 --> 01:34.212
It's going to be okay.

01:35.677 --> 01:40.688
I told a few of you that our daughter, who's in college down in Alabama, got in a car accident a couple weeks ago.

01:41.891 --> 01:45.926
Yes, scary, I was on my way to Friday night service.

01:46.026 --> 01:48.072
I'm driving, so it's the long drive.

01:48.112 --> 01:54.643
I'm on the LIE, enduring that misery, and I get the phone call and I say hi, doll, it's just dad, I think I just got in a car accident.

01:56.128 --> 01:56.690
What do you think?

01:56.770 --> 01:57.292
Or you know?

01:58.215 --> 02:00.923
Well, I think I know that I got in a car accident because I hit another car.

02:01.484 --> 02:02.868
Yeah, okay, I think you know.

02:03.148 --> 02:03.710
Are you okay?

02:04.091 --> 02:04.692
Yeah, I'm okay.

02:04.712 --> 02:06.729
I mean, I banged at my knee Like how bad.

02:06.950 --> 02:08.839
I mean I'm fine, I'm fine, okay, how's the other?

02:08.859 --> 02:10.446
car the other person fine, yeah, they're fine.

02:10.466 --> 02:11.892
Okay, what do I do?

02:11.932 --> 02:15.266
So I stayed the next 55 minutes on the phone walking her through.

02:15.306 --> 02:15.728
The police.

02:15.788 --> 02:19.104
Came you get the registration, get your license, give your statement.

02:19.486 --> 02:20.229
Is it drivable?

02:20.269 --> 02:23.522
She's breaking pieces off, putting them in her trunk so she can drive back to her.

02:24.604 --> 02:25.607
Wow, what an ordeal.

02:26.008 --> 02:28.433
So for the next couple of weeks I'm dealing with insurance.

02:29.061 --> 02:29.865
Are we going to fix it?

02:29.905 --> 02:30.750
Are we going to total it?

02:30.770 --> 02:31.695
They finally totaled it.

02:31.755 --> 02:37.507
I go into the motor vehicle department a few times because that's a good time, because the license plates are in Alabama but it's registered in New York.

02:37.768 --> 02:38.392
So I got to go.

02:38.452 --> 02:40.281
I don't have the plates, whether you go to the police.

02:40.301 --> 02:40.923
Did you get this form?

02:40.943 --> 02:41.545
Did you get that form?

02:41.806 --> 02:42.889
Can I speak to your supervisor?

02:43.190 --> 02:44.484
Mr Chavez, we don't have.

02:44.665 --> 02:45.969
Can I speak to your supervisor?

02:47.435 --> 02:48.679
I tell you what it's a good time.

02:48.699 --> 02:50.124
Anybody like the motor vehicle department?

02:50.847 --> 02:56.587
Woo, I scheduled a root canal after that just so I can get some rest from the motor vehicle department.

02:57.531 --> 03:02.309
I tell you that's a hard time, but while I'm sitting there waiting for my number, they're like why 7217?

03:02.530 --> 03:03.895
What happened to just like 53?

03:04.437 --> 03:05.883
It's like seven digit numbers.

03:05.903 --> 03:08.132
I'm like how many people are ahead of me, my gosh.

03:08.714 --> 03:09.858
And then I'm like in the Gs.

03:09.898 --> 03:14.316
Well, they start coming up with Cs and then Zs and they do it just to throw you off.

03:14.396 --> 03:15.601
It's, it's, it's mind games.

03:15.701 --> 03:19.655
I tell you it's mind games, somebody's got to do the job, but I just have.

03:20.939 --> 03:25.823
So I'm sitting, they're waiting for them to call my number and I'm watching people get their picture taken for their driver's license.

03:26.084 --> 03:26.826
You guys remember that?

03:26.866 --> 03:28.551
Getting your picture taken for the driver's license?

03:28.701 --> 03:31.453
Who likes getting their picture taken for the driver's license?

03:32.036 --> 03:48.322
It's kind of cringey having a show and someone says let me see your driver's license where you have to pull it out for some reason, and the person next to you goes like this You're like, nope, you find yourself kind of explaining right, this was a bad day, the wind was really blowing, I was on antibiotics and was bloated, whatever reason.

03:48.703 --> 03:57.292
I've been on a diet since then and, what's worse, and I've seen this, you pull it out and they look at it and they're like look at you, you're wearing the same shirt.

03:58.300 --> 03:58.982
How weird is that?

03:59.042 --> 03:59.243
Right?

03:59.624 --> 04:01.871
Or if you're completely unrecognizable, that's another weird one.

04:02.221 --> 04:04.490
But no one likes showing the driver's license picture.

04:04.711 --> 04:07.843
I think they train you on how to actually take a really bad picture.

04:07.903 --> 04:19.404
If you're the photographers for the motor vehicle department, it's either bad lighting, it's too much light and it kind of washes you out right, or it's not enough and it's kind of shady and you got those kind of shades in your eyes and you look real sketchy, or they just kind of blow you out.

04:19.605 --> 04:22.723
Or they say, okay, I'm going to take it on three, one, two, like what.

04:22.963 --> 04:23.847
You didn't go on three.

04:23.907 --> 04:28.607
Or after three, you didn't even let me get to three and they just laugh have a nice day.

04:29.408 --> 04:36.767
Number 472,989 million what I hate the driver's license picture.

04:37.589 --> 04:39.553
And now they give it to you for like 100 years.

04:40.160 --> 04:41.464
I'm like, why couldn't?

04:41.504 --> 04:45.705
I got it when I was like 18 and I kept that one when I was all like when I had one chin.

04:45.785 --> 04:48.094
You know what I'm saying, what is going on.

04:48.496 --> 04:49.440
But then there's the other thing.

04:49.540 --> 04:52.007
There's portrait pictures.

04:52.950 --> 04:53.812
That's a good time, right?

04:54.073 --> 04:55.377
Anybody remember Glamour Shots?

04:56.119 --> 04:59.608
That was a thing that was like that's the way Hollywood would do it.

04:59.908 --> 05:03.284
I mean, they get just the right lighting to compliment your skin tone.

05:03.585 --> 05:04.968
They get the backdrop just right.

05:05.148 --> 05:06.472
They even told you to turn right.

05:06.492 --> 05:11.212
They kind of tilt your shoulders and turn your head back and stick your chin out so you don't look.

05:13.220 --> 05:17.171
So I had to see the chiropractor after that because I'm all contorted so I don't look weird.

05:17.500 --> 05:21.737
But boy, they can airbrush out wrinkles and blemishes and that thing.

05:21.757 --> 05:23.745
It just looks like you just stepped right out of heaven.

05:24.127 --> 05:24.990
It is amazing.

05:25.733 --> 05:28.663
But what's really interesting about those two different kinds of pictures?

05:29.224 --> 05:34.054
What they have in common is that neither one is real right.

05:35.221 --> 05:40.281
You're not as bad as the motor vehicle says you are, I promise, and I know those cameras add 10 pounds.

05:41.603 --> 05:45.329
But you're not as good as Glamour Shots says you are either, right.

05:47.633 --> 05:51.084
I tell you what neither one is the real thing.

05:52.287 --> 05:55.712
In the end, only God sees our real selves.

05:56.213 --> 05:57.155
He knows the real deal.

05:59.720 --> 06:09.192
Yet it's imperative and that's what I want to drive home today that we are authentic in who we are and how we live in our relationships.

06:09.252 --> 06:12.744
If you truly want to make an impact and have influence in our world, you've got to be real.

06:13.728 --> 06:15.273
Jesus said it this way in Luke 12, too.

06:15.875 --> 06:22.653
The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed and all that is in secret will be made known to all.

06:25.120 --> 06:25.702
That's scary.

06:25.742 --> 06:29.311
Yeah, dun, dun, dun, all that's in secret?

06:30.594 --> 06:34.322
All you mean all, or just the things that I present?

06:35.264 --> 06:38.749
No, all I need to work on a bigger mask.

06:39.711 --> 06:46.270
Well, this is October and this is when we have little kids dressing up and they're trick-or-treating and masks, right.

06:46.391 --> 06:50.708
So I thought it would be an appropriate time to talk about masks, the masks that we put on.

06:50.848 --> 06:52.772
Why do we choose to wear a mask?

06:53.481 --> 06:58.543
And I thought we would peel back the layers and first talk about the mask that we put on for ourselves when we look in the mirror.

06:59.185 --> 06:59.525
Is that right?

06:59.545 --> 07:02.031
If we start there, that's not convicting at all.

07:03.501 --> 07:04.767
You're like, talk about their mask.

07:04.787 --> 07:06.133
Why are you going to talk about my mask?

07:07.017 --> 07:09.266
So let's look at the one that we put on for ourselves.

07:10.129 --> 07:20.564
But here's the deal when we put on a mask and we lie to ourselves about who we are, yes, you lie to other people and that's a bad thing, but most often, who gets duped and deceived is us.

07:21.126 --> 07:22.710
Right, and that's far worse.

07:24.775 --> 07:29.708
Some social scientists they've been studying this for a long, long time, and studies dating back to the 1950s.

07:29.728 --> 07:31.693
They dubbed this cognitive dissidence.

07:32.520 --> 07:40.045
Right, where this is the theory that explains how people can fully come to believe something that they know completely is a lie.

07:41.448 --> 07:42.069
That's interesting.

07:42.149 --> 07:51.442
Right, as humans, we'll go to great lengths from admitting we don't want to admit it that we're believing something is a lie, that it's wrong that we would tell a lie.

07:52.644 --> 08:00.515
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 a liar, I don't want to be called a liar.

08:01.110 --> 08:02.314
Therefore, everything I say must be true.

08:04.510 --> 08:16.957
And then we start to believe that there were some studies, again dating back to the 1950s, that were pretty interesting as I was reading through them, and there were a couple of psychologists, sociologists, and they decided they were going to infiltrate a cult.

08:17.990 --> 08:20.594
Now, cults are known for what their honesty and transparency.

08:21.938 --> 08:22.640
No, not usually.

08:22.810 --> 08:26.240
So this was a perfect opportunity to understand this phenomenon.

08:26.710 --> 08:36.396
So they infiltrated, pretended to be converts, and this particular cult believed that the world was going to end and they predicted the date by none other than an imminent alien invasion.

08:37.690 --> 08:38.755
Because that's a good one, right?

08:39.210 --> 08:39.913
Independence Day.

08:39.954 --> 08:40.416
Who doesn't look?

08:40.510 --> 08:49.256
Will Smith just taken out some aliens on the 4th of July, I mean, it's not going to be plagues or pestilence or World War III, no alien invasion.

08:50.050 --> 08:52.138
So they talk it up and they predict the date.

08:52.330 --> 08:58.999
But as the date starts to get closer they notice that these converts in the cult they start withdrawing from their family and from their friends.

08:59.290 --> 09:00.576
They kind of close ranks.

09:00.830 --> 09:03.018
They stop doing interviews and they stop talking to the media.

09:03.370 --> 09:04.415
And they thought that was kind of interesting.

09:04.470 --> 09:07.956
So they're only listening in their echo chamber to the other people who believe what they believe.

09:08.510 --> 09:23.114
But then, as the date that this imminent alien invasion approached and came and went with no alien invasion, a really interesting thing happened, a really interesting happening.

09:24.110 --> 09:24.853
Something went down.

09:26.170 --> 09:27.977
They were really excited to talk to the media again.

09:28.850 --> 09:29.714
Why do you think that was?

09:30.531 --> 09:33.554
Well, because they didn't want to act like they had been duped and they were fools.

09:33.574 --> 09:35.139
I almost said stupid.

09:35.290 --> 09:37.556
That's where Nicole right on the hook, she's like.

09:39.670 --> 09:41.176
They didn't want to admit they were fools.

09:41.810 --> 09:46.375
So they had to come out and say they actually saved the world from the alien invasion.

09:47.570 --> 09:48.092
How about that?

09:48.930 --> 09:52.174
They didn't want to believe and face the truth that they were deceived.

09:52.455 --> 09:55.896
So they wanted to convince themselves and the world that they had actually done some good.

09:56.950 --> 09:58.356
Well, these same sociologists.

09:58.436 --> 10:07.639
They did another experiment where they actually took two groups of people and they separated them and they asked the first group to tell a lie and when they would tell this lie they would pay them $20.

10:08.252 --> 10:10.875
And they took the other group and they said tell the same lie.

10:11.090 --> 10:13.096
When you tell the lie, we'll pay you $1.

10:14.490 --> 10:16.348
And let me just this was in the 1950s.

10:16.570 --> 10:19.539
That $20 is equivalent to about $255 today.

10:20.370 --> 10:24.298
So here's what was interesting the people that told the lie both groups told the lie.

10:24.830 --> 10:25.453
They got their money.

10:26.090 --> 10:31.939
The people that got paid the $1 for telling the lie started speaking as if that wasn't a lie.

10:32.030 --> 10:47.274
They were acting as if it was true, believing as it was true, and they were really confounded and they really dug deeper and did the study and found out that what it really boiled down to is we didn't want to believe that we would sell out for such a measly sum of money.

10:48.750 --> 10:56.241
Now the people that got the $20, also known as $255, in our economy it's easy to say why'd you tell the lie?

10:56.470 --> 10:58.734
I did it for the money $255,.

10:58.854 --> 10:59.637
I could do a lot with that.

10:59.710 --> 11:02.652
I can pay a new pair of shoes, I can have a nice dinner $1,.

11:02.953 --> 11:03.816
What do I do with $1?

11:05.230 --> 11:09.095
What does that say about me myself worth an integrity if I'll sell out for $1?

11:09.550 --> 11:10.374
They didn't want to believe it.

11:10.570 --> 11:11.202
They couldn't accept it.

11:11.650 --> 11:12.653
So they started to believe.

11:12.693 --> 11:13.857
Well, it couldn't have been a lie.

11:14.459 --> 11:14.980
Really, it's true.

11:15.210 --> 11:16.114
It has to be true on some level.

11:16.670 --> 11:17.955
A partial truth has to be truth.

11:18.430 --> 11:19.594
If there's any truth, then it's truth.

11:21.178 --> 11:21.840
Isn't that interesting?

11:25.150 --> 11:27.075
We see this all the time, even in the media today.

11:29.270 --> 11:31.318
Worst bet a steady stream of lies.

11:31.438 --> 11:33.076
Right, this steady diet just coming through.

11:33.490 --> 11:35.617
There's even a name for it gaslighting.

11:36.370 --> 11:38.250
You heard that Gaslighting.

11:38.250 --> 11:39.394
I used that phrase the other day.

11:39.435 --> 11:40.197
And our kids.

11:40.238 --> 11:43.012
Now they're in their 20s and they looked at me like where'd you learn that word?

11:44.870 --> 11:46.597
Look, you don't have a monopoly on cool words.

11:46.690 --> 11:50.114
Just because you're in your 20s, I know what gaslighting is.

11:51.230 --> 11:52.142
Do it to you all the time.

11:52.162 --> 11:56.301
I don't care, I don't care, just kidding kids.

11:56.390 --> 12:04.831
I love you, but they lie to us and they lie over and over and over until we start to believe that maybe we're the weird ones for doubting.

12:04.872 --> 12:06.397
It was a lie in the first place.

12:06.477 --> 12:08.510
Right, think, does everyone believe?

12:08.530 --> 12:18.218
Ok, if NBC and ABC and CNN and MSNBC and Washington Post and New York Times, I'm the weird one.

12:18.730 --> 12:19.594
It's all true.

12:20.830 --> 12:21.272
It's not.

12:22.370 --> 12:23.193
Don't believe the hype.

12:24.290 --> 12:25.335
They're gaslighting you.

12:28.950 --> 12:29.512
Why do they do it?

12:30.990 --> 12:43.895
We can't distinguish, after a while, lies from truth, and after a while we don't really even know if the people feeding us the steady stream of lies are just irredeemably deceived or just so diabolical that they just want to destroy us.

12:44.490 --> 12:45.193
But it's one or the other.

12:45.850 --> 12:46.573
There's nothing in the middle.

12:48.450 --> 12:48.972
So be careful.

12:49.890 --> 12:51.876
We don't want to be liars, right?

12:53.570 --> 12:58.414
Sometimes the truth of who we are or what we've done in the past is too painful to face.

12:59.170 --> 12:59.652
So what do we do?

13:00.870 --> 13:08.284
Put on a mask for ourselves, because, guess what?

13:08.530 --> 13:10.734
Other people aren't thinking about you as much as you think about you.

13:12.170 --> 13:21.018
They're going about their day, living their life, dealing with their own problems, but you're obsessing about you and what they think about you.

13:21.730 --> 13:22.534
Maybe I'm not good enough.

13:22.810 --> 13:23.834
Maybe they know what I've done.

13:25.190 --> 13:28.313
Maybe I need to put on a mask so I feel better about what they see.

13:29.910 --> 13:31.195
And so we listen to the lies.

13:31.850 --> 13:33.275
There was a guy named John Beal.

13:34.230 --> 13:38.277
He was a former high-level official with the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA.

13:39.670 --> 13:44.700
He pled guilty to stealing over $900,000 from the government.

13:46.350 --> 13:57.453
When I read the case, I was intrigued as to how he swindled that much money out of the government, because I thought maybe I can learn something, but I was just curious.

13:57.573 --> 14:09.832
Ok, in 1994, beal he convinced top officials at the EPA, where he worked, that he was a CIA operative Get that.

14:10.770 --> 14:16.378
And he was dealing with matters so top secret and confidential that they couldn't dig in or ask questions.

14:16.770 --> 14:39.336
So his supervisors believed this elaborate story and they allowed him to take long stretches of time to disappear and have unaccounted time where he just went off and spent time with his family fishing, playing golf, hobbies, learning languages, origami, whatever he decided to do all while getting paid by the government Because he's doing top secret work for the CIA.

14:40.730 --> 14:41.192
That's crazy.

14:42.030 --> 14:49.157
No one knows for sure how much money he actually swindled out of the government because this scheme went on for 19 years.

14:52.370 --> 14:55.318
Could you imagine living a double life for 19 years?

14:56.550 --> 14:57.754
How difficult must that be?

14:59.470 --> 15:02.480
It was probably kind of fun for the first couple of times.

15:02.570 --> 15:06.738
He got away with it and he's like look at me Out on the golf course just swinging around.

15:06.890 --> 15:08.094
I'm like I'm getting paid.

15:09.570 --> 15:10.475
But then, hey, where were you?

15:10.616 --> 15:11.159
I can't talk about it.

15:11.370 --> 15:11.651
Stop secret.

15:13.010 --> 15:13.974
Who did I tell what to?

15:15.290 --> 15:17.357
What mask was I wearing when I talked to this person?

15:18.430 --> 15:22.376
That gets rough after a while it's hard to know what's real.

15:23.890 --> 15:25.997
But here's what I thought when I thought about that guy.

15:26.730 --> 15:30.280
I said I'll bet if I'm being honest and you are too.

15:30.710 --> 15:36.535
There's probably some inconsistencies in who we say we are and who we really are.

15:38.510 --> 15:44.677
Maybe not to the extent of old Mr Beal swindling almost a million dollars from the government.

15:45.710 --> 15:49.174
Any fake CIA operatives in the audience today Don't tell me if you are.

15:49.690 --> 15:52.580
Put your hand it's supposed to be covert.

15:55.290 --> 16:02.556
But I'm sure there's inconsistencies when you're being honest, when we pretend to be more than we are.

16:04.010 --> 16:04.653
Here's what it does.

16:06.110 --> 16:12.555
We skip the process that God wants to do in your life to make you who he's created you to be.

16:14.682 --> 16:18.182
They're like I want the shortcut God says.

16:18.222 --> 16:21.151
I'm taking you on a process of sanctification.

16:21.260 --> 16:22.886
I'm making you more like my son Jesus.

16:23.166 --> 16:25.185
If you'll let me, you say, ooh, that's rough.

16:25.340 --> 16:27.166
Let me just put on a mask so I'll look like Jesus.

16:28.400 --> 16:29.184
I feel good now.

16:29.500 --> 16:36.046
I look good, but I skipped all the work that God wanted to take me on, to take me to where he wanted me to be.

16:37.900 --> 16:46.384
Pretending avoids the discipline and the accountability that are essential ingredients to the productive Christian, authentic life that God calls us to.

16:46.660 --> 16:48.828
Paul writes this in 2 Corinthians 2, 17.

16:49.220 --> 16:52.866
You see, we're not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit.

16:53.220 --> 16:59.006
We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ's authority, knowing that God watches us.

17:00.230 --> 17:00.711
Paul got it.

17:02.080 --> 17:05.406
He knew it was more than what was just on the outside, that God saw all.

17:05.700 --> 17:06.724
He knew it was going on.

17:07.620 --> 17:08.945
But why do we keep putting on the mask?

17:08.985 --> 17:11.607
Then, if we say we're Christians, oh, god sees all.

17:12.041 --> 17:12.633
Well, why do we do it?

17:13.040 --> 17:17.348
Why do we continue to sell ourselves short and to tell us, tell ourselves that we're not good enough?

17:19.120 --> 17:20.485
Why do we continue to believe the lie?

17:21.780 --> 17:22.784
That's the million dollar question.

17:24.600 --> 17:29.025
I wanna remind you of one thing that I think contributes to that is that we have an enemy.

17:29.940 --> 17:34.750
You remember that right, this is the time of year when I think our enemy Satan.

17:34.820 --> 17:40.106
He just laughs and laughs and laughs because there are so many little double costumes and we just water this thing down.

17:40.400 --> 17:46.445
We think he's just a little pyro walking around in his onesie pajamas with his little plastic bitch fork, and it takes all the power out of it.

17:47.400 --> 17:50.690
But he's an enemy, like a roaring lion looking to devour you.

17:51.040 --> 17:55.688
He wants to chew you up and spit you out and he'll use anything he can to accomplish that.

17:57.260 --> 18:04.143
And lies are one of his main weapons, because he can't really touch you without God's protection if you're one of God's kids.

18:04.203 --> 18:05.387
But he can tell you lies.

18:07.600 --> 18:08.022
And what do we do?

18:09.040 --> 18:09.482
We listen.

18:12.160 --> 18:15.907
He whispers you're not good enough, you have to lie about who you are to be accepted.

18:16.440 --> 18:19.561
We say, yeah, that's true, I'm a mess, that's true.

18:20.244 --> 18:20.846
But here's the deal.

18:21.720 --> 18:27.743
It's not about who you are, and I want you to hear that today, because the important thing is not who you are, but who's.

18:28.084 --> 18:29.449
You are right.

18:29.640 --> 18:33.869
If you're a Christ follower, you're a child of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

18:34.120 --> 18:35.145
That makes you somebody.

18:35.760 --> 18:36.724
That's impressive.

18:37.445 --> 18:38.260
That's good.

18:38.280 --> 18:39.786
Why would you hide that behind a mask?

18:40.420 --> 18:43.802
But we belittle that and we look at our accomplishments in our flesh.

18:43.882 --> 18:46.021
We listen to the lies and we say, mm.

18:46.061 --> 18:46.784
I'm not good enough.

18:47.760 --> 18:51.002
I'm not good enough, don't believe it.

18:52.240 --> 18:53.826
God created you to be so much more.

18:54.400 --> 18:56.006
I love this reminder in Ephesians 2.10.

18:56.500 --> 18:58.287
Says for we are God's masterpiece.

18:58.640 --> 19:04.289
He has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

19:05.160 --> 19:10.087
So stop believing the lie that the enemy is telling you and start believing the truth from your heavenly father.

19:10.880 --> 19:11.884
He said you're a masterpiece.

19:13.580 --> 19:14.524
You know what a masterpiece is?

19:16.100 --> 19:18.248
We call our kids second grade artwork masterpiece.

19:20.060 --> 19:21.365
But that's not what this is talking about.

19:22.540 --> 19:25.289
This isn't just an affectionate pat on the head.

19:25.900 --> 19:27.586
Yeah, you're a mess, but I love you anyway.

19:28.900 --> 19:32.570
He looks at you and he sees a Picasso, a Rembrandt.

19:35.026 --> 19:37.011
You are a masterpiece, poema.

19:38.500 --> 19:39.282
Don't cover it up.

19:42.290 --> 19:45.307
But if you're anything like me, you can be pretty good at hiding who you really are.

19:45.427 --> 19:51.223
Right, pride, insecurity they can cause us to do things we swore we would never do.

19:52.460 --> 19:53.164
I would never do that.

19:53.560 --> 20:01.865
And then you're faced with it and one of these things will cause you to do something bizarre Put on a mask Cause.

20:01.885 --> 20:05.127
Then you have to rationalize oh, did I really compromise?

20:05.600 --> 20:06.323
Did I really do that?

20:07.280 --> 20:08.244
Nope, I see the mask.

20:08.284 --> 20:08.746
I didn't do it.

20:09.180 --> 20:10.164
That's all I see when I look in the mirror.

20:16.140 --> 20:21.127
But fear keeps us hiding, right, fear keeps us hiding behind the mask.

20:22.651 --> 20:23.473
So why do you stay back there?

20:23.540 --> 20:24.183
What are you hiding?

20:25.320 --> 20:26.189
What are you afraid of?

20:27.581 --> 20:29.046
Is there an inappropriate relationship?

20:30.100 --> 20:31.525
Maybe you're afraid to face?

20:33.740 --> 20:34.666
Is there some secret sin?

20:35.100 --> 20:36.466
Maybe some sin in your thought life?

20:36.660 --> 20:43.502
And you think, oh, I'm doing all the right things, but when I'm alone just me and my thoughts how could I get a?

20:43.522 --> 20:45.549
hold of that $900,000 from the government.

20:48.227 --> 20:53.959
How can I sneak my glamour shots into the motor vehicle department?

20:54.900 --> 21:02.463
Or maybe it's just when you come into this place, you put on the mask because you think you believe the lie and you feel the fear that you're the only one that doesn't have it figured out.

21:04.140 --> 21:10.047
You look around and you say, gosh, everyone around me we're singing, they got their hands up, they're praising, screaming hallelujah, praise the Lord.

21:11.380 --> 21:15.287
Am I the only one that doesn't have a super deep, super intimate relationship with God?

21:16.800 --> 21:18.186
And you feel alone and isolated.

21:18.400 --> 21:29.068
So you put on the mask and then you take a few steps back so they don't see you have a mask, but while you're withdrawing so they don't see your mask.

21:29.460 --> 21:30.022
You know what's funny?

21:31.380 --> 21:34.724
The person that you were admiring, that you thought had it all together, is doing the exact same thing.

21:36.260 --> 21:45.987
Their mask is coming in here and being loud and putting the focus on something else other than God, but their holiness, the things that are off the check box.

21:46.100 --> 21:58.207
I went to Lifegroup, I gave, I sang, I sit on the front row, I served, and we think busyness somehow equates to holiness, but we're still hiding fearful.

22:00.668 --> 22:01.793
I just want to let you know a little secret.

22:03.902 --> 22:04.966
None of us had figured it out.

22:06.082 --> 22:12.580
So if you were one of those and you're like, yeah, that was great, james, thank you for pointing out and singling me out that I'm the only one that doesn't know Greek.

22:13.101 --> 22:19.907
I'm not the only one, and I'm just preaching a whole sermon in tongues and I'm not just, you know, slaying the spirits swinging from Nash and Alir.

22:20.088 --> 22:21.211
Okay, thank you.

22:22.741 --> 22:25.370
We're all fellow travelers, we all have our journey.

22:28.802 --> 22:29.765
You don't have to wear the mask.

22:33.348 --> 22:34.652
So why does fear keep us hiding?

22:37.781 --> 22:38.444
Fear is powerful.

22:39.721 --> 22:48.390
So I think it's appropriate that I remind you what Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy 1, 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, intimidity, but a power, love and self discipline.

22:48.751 --> 22:53.564
So if you're trapped by fear, you know your enemy is trying to keep you down, he wants to destroy you.

22:53.665 --> 22:58.010
But remember your God has given you what power?

22:59.141 --> 23:04.945
Power, not just a little power, lot of power, god-sized power.

23:06.201 --> 23:10.312
The power that'll electrify a train, a locomotive, speeding down the tracks.

23:11.322 --> 23:18.053
Power that'll light up a city In you, changing you from the inside out, blasting that mask right off your face.

23:19.082 --> 23:21.304
You don't need it, you have power.

23:22.480 --> 23:24.267
Therefore, you don't need to be afraid.

23:25.704 --> 23:27.250
Don't be afraid of what's under the mask.

23:27.751 --> 23:38.609
If you want that Hollywood ending in your life, you want to stand victorious against the junk that's holding you back, god's power promises to do that for you.

23:39.942 --> 23:47.205
If you're a Christ follower, you have the power to overcome the fear, overcome the insecurity, overcome the pride.

23:47.285 --> 23:48.969
Whatever keeps you hiding in the shadows.

23:49.590 --> 23:56.127
It's time to come out, for behind the mask, we Want to see how beautiful you are.

23:59.201 --> 24:00.082
It's time to take it off.

24:00.644 --> 24:05.934
Show the world the masterpiece God has created you to be, be confident in it.

24:06.981 --> 24:12.958
Anything less is selling you and God short, and don't forget that we take him out of the equation a lot.

24:12.978 --> 24:13.179
You think?

24:13.199 --> 24:16.230
ah, it's just me, you know it's no big deal.

24:17.421 --> 24:20.511
What you're doing is you're saying God, you didn't do a good enough job.

24:21.763 --> 24:22.851
You call me a masterpiece.

24:22.992 --> 24:23.878
I call you a liar.

24:23.898 --> 24:25.822
I Can do better.

24:26.684 --> 24:27.627
I can put on a mask.

24:27.707 --> 24:30.233
It's gonna be way prettier than what you created me to be.

24:32.182 --> 24:40.427
We wouldn't say it out loud, afraid of a lightning bolt coming and striking me down, but that's what our actions are equated to.

24:44.294 --> 24:47.869
But You're fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image of your creator.

24:47.929 --> 24:48.992
Don't cover it up with a mask.

24:49.401 --> 24:51.008
Don't hide who God created you to be.

24:51.800 --> 24:54.365
Authenticity is what the world needs to see from you.

24:54.926 --> 24:56.770
We talk about it all the time as Christ followers.

24:56.790 --> 24:57.412
That's our privilege.

24:57.692 --> 24:58.434
We're ambassadors.

24:58.480 --> 24:59.243
We're little Christ.

24:59.263 --> 25:00.346
That's what Christian means.

25:00.788 --> 25:04.500
So what good does it do to say, yes, I'm a Christian, but then you have a different mask on?

25:05.784 --> 25:07.049
How confusing is that to people?

25:09.041 --> 25:09.905
Be confusing to me.

25:10.226 --> 25:11.350
It's probably confusing to you.

25:12.781 --> 25:13.463
You look in the mirror.

25:13.503 --> 25:15.528
You see one thing, but then your mouth says another.

25:15.808 --> 25:21.872
The world doesn't need perfection, and that's why we create the masks, because we're afraid they're gonna see how imperfect we are.

25:23.262 --> 25:24.667
They just need to see authenticity.

25:25.322 --> 25:37.710
They care to see that if what you say you believe matches up with what you actually do and One of those actions is to take off the mask and be real in what you say, what you do, how you spend, where you go.

25:42.181 --> 25:44.788
The anti-drug organization dare you remember that?

25:45.609 --> 25:47.013
Dare to keep kids off drugs.

25:47.722 --> 25:53.800
I'm old enough that I remember they would send this mascot with a team to your school and you'd get a big old assembly and they tell you stay off drugs, kids.

25:54.262 --> 25:57.320
And then there was McGruff the crime dog and he would come with his trench coat.

25:57.721 --> 25:58.904
You had these cool mascots.

25:58.924 --> 26:00.328
They take cold crime stoppers.

26:00.368 --> 26:09.031
Mcgruff, stay off drugs with Darren the Drug dog, anti drug dog, dare drug bear lion.

26:09.111 --> 26:11.165
He's a lion, he was something.

26:12.302 --> 26:13.025
He was not human.

26:15.381 --> 26:20.873
Well, there was something interesting a few years back and old Darren the dare lion found himself in some trouble.

26:21.344 --> 26:30.794
Well, I should probably clarify he wasn't as much trouble as the 22 year old man who was carrying him at a bus station full of narcotics.

26:31.241 --> 26:38.157
He had stuffed the drug-free mascot lion full of marijuana, cocaine and LSD.

26:38.177 --> 26:50.120
I Don't know how the police found him Maybe they use McGruff the crime dog to sniff it out but they were on to him and they found this young man at a bus station in Plattsburg and they apprehended him.

26:51.023 --> 26:52.086
I thought that was pretty interesting.

26:53.681 --> 27:00.173
So this guy, darren, he comes dressed in the black t-shirt bearing the motto dare to resist drugs and violence.

27:00.700 --> 27:03.730
Gregory comes charged with possession of marijuana and control substance.

27:05.962 --> 27:07.607
I'm thinking about that and I giggled.

27:07.928 --> 27:12.771
But then I thought More of us probably look like old Greg than Darren.

27:14.102 --> 27:16.880
We're hiding behind the pretense of righteousness.

27:18.503 --> 27:24.194
Who would think to look inside a lion that says stay off drugs and assume that it would be full of drugs?

27:25.882 --> 27:34.933
So if I say I'm holy and I have a holiness mask and I go to church, who would dare believe I have any sin in my life, any imperfection in my life, anything I'm hiding in my life?

27:37.465 --> 27:38.489
And I felt really convicted.

27:39.843 --> 27:51.363
Thank you, darren the lion, but you got to come out from hiding, did I say Darren Derek, it's Darren Darren, I Just remember.

27:51.383 --> 27:52.287
He says they have drugs.

27:54.061 --> 27:54.583
But come out.

27:54.924 --> 27:57.411
Look what it says in Psalm 139, 23 and 24.

27:57.761 --> 28:06.500
Search me, oh God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts, point out anything in me that offends you and Lead me along the path of everlasting life.

28:08.124 --> 28:10.409
For some of us we've been wearing a mask for so long.

28:10.690 --> 28:12.294
We don't even see it anymore.

28:13.021 --> 28:19.134
It's just become such a part of who we are we don't separate it from us anymore.

28:21.582 --> 28:23.088
We've bought in hook, line and sinker.

28:25.061 --> 28:32.965
But the way you can be free from a fake life is to ask God to do the changing, just like David did.

28:34.221 --> 28:38.096
Search me, oh God, what is in me that I need to change?

28:38.236 --> 28:39.120
What do I not see?

28:39.481 --> 28:41.185
What are my blind spots?

28:41.606 --> 28:42.789
Because let's think about it.

28:42.849 --> 28:44.173
Why would someone put on a mask?

28:44.700 --> 28:50.353
Probably everyone who's put on a mask tried to fix themselves at one point and couldn't right.

28:52.582 --> 28:54.011
Otherwise, why would you want to put on a mask?

28:55.099 --> 28:58.051
I Want, I see something, I want to be different, I want to be better.

28:58.292 --> 29:00.240
I try, I fail, so I put on a mask.

29:01.963 --> 29:04.929
But if you could change yourself, you would have, hence the mask.

29:05.410 --> 29:07.114
You see how we're stuck in this little cycle.

29:07.581 --> 29:11.108
So the only way you can change is to let God do the changing.

29:11.289 --> 29:13.754
You got to invite him in, and that's my point.

29:15.141 --> 29:17.610
Don't keep trying to beat your head up against the same wall.

29:18.361 --> 29:19.885
You know you're Pastor Bosay all the time.

29:19.945 --> 29:22.332
Don't wait till you get your life together to get baptized, right?

29:22.542 --> 29:24.720
It's like saying I'll start going to the gym once I get in shape.

29:26.845 --> 29:27.286
Wait what?

29:27.767 --> 29:30.393
Yeah, I'm embarrassed, I don't want to go there and kind of be all weak and flabby.

29:31.201 --> 29:32.364
Why do you go to the gym?

29:32.585 --> 29:35.112
Or I'm gonna wait till I get better to go to the doctor and see how things are.

29:37.361 --> 29:38.586
You've tried to change yourself.

29:38.686 --> 29:39.990
Don't rely on your own power.

29:40.821 --> 29:43.288
Don't trust in your own understanding, in your own ways.

29:43.408 --> 29:44.692
His ways are higher, they're better.

29:45.760 --> 29:47.506
Acknowledge him, submit to him.

29:47.566 --> 29:48.690
Let him guide your steps.

29:48.991 --> 29:49.813
Let him change you.

29:50.034 --> 29:51.057
Ask him to make the change.

29:51.358 --> 29:51.820
What's in me?

29:52.141 --> 29:53.365
What do you see that I don't see?

29:53.626 --> 29:54.590
And let's get this done.

29:59.761 --> 30:03.171
Funny thing is we put on the mask because it's instant gratification.

30:03.231 --> 30:05.143
Right, there's an instant change.

30:05.163 --> 30:06.145
That's the thing about a mask.

30:06.807 --> 30:07.328
I'm a mess.

30:07.489 --> 30:11.625
I put on the mask, I look amazing, but what really changed?

30:13.623 --> 30:16.752
Nothing, nothing.

30:17.093 --> 30:17.915
What really changed?

30:18.677 --> 30:20.241
I'm still the same person behind the mask.

30:22.671 --> 30:27.983
A lot of you know that our family over the years before Disney went completely woke full disclaimer.

30:28.451 --> 30:29.814
We were big Disney Park fans.

30:29.994 --> 30:34.464
Okay, nicole and I on Wednesday celebrated our 27-year wedding anniversary.

30:35.731 --> 30:36.494
Thank you very much.

30:38.111 --> 30:39.617
That is a big accomplishment for you.

30:40.862 --> 30:42.910
It has been a breeze and a blessing for me.

30:42.950 --> 30:43.980
Thank you.

30:47.194 --> 30:52.244
But we actually honeymooned in Disneyland all those years ago and we just kept going back year after year after year.

30:52.751 --> 30:53.954
We love the Disney parks.

30:54.295 --> 30:54.956
You go there.

30:55.237 --> 30:58.164
All the cast members are so kind and they have their smiles.

30:58.631 --> 30:59.714
They don't even call them employees, right.

30:59.734 --> 31:00.656
They're cast members.

31:01.037 --> 31:03.603
They're there to help and serve and make your day magical.

31:04.071 --> 31:07.080
Hello Princess, hello Prince, have a magical day.

31:07.722 --> 31:08.223
They tell you.

31:08.263 --> 31:10.370
It's the happiest place on earth and I believed it.

31:12.600 --> 31:14.610
The place was so manicured and perfect.

31:15.593 --> 31:22.050
Walt Disney himself, while he was alive, used to go through and he would watch and see how often people would just kind of look for a trash can.

31:22.331 --> 31:27.370
So that's how he determined how far apart to put trash cans across the Disney parks.

31:27.691 --> 31:30.359
He said, oh, every 30 feet or so, somebody's kind of looking for one.

31:30.399 --> 31:31.101
Let's put it that far.

31:31.951 --> 31:33.956
Every night they scraped the gum off the sidewalk.

31:34.176 --> 31:35.159
You know what Universal Studios?

31:35.179 --> 31:35.941
They got gum everywhere.

31:35.981 --> 31:37.734
It's a middle, not at Disney.

31:38.591 --> 31:40.034
They scraped that junk off every single night.

31:40.835 --> 31:41.697
They repaint every night.

31:41.717 --> 31:42.439
They replant flowers.

31:42.459 --> 31:44.844
Every single night they transform the castle overnight.

31:46.651 --> 31:47.212
It's amazing.

31:48.837 --> 31:54.398
I didn't realize Pixie Dust was that powerful, but they make this incredible experience right.

31:54.799 --> 32:05.356
And then they have cast members, characters that you'll see throughout the park, these kind of exciting, random sightings, right, and there are tears to the characters.

32:05.837 --> 32:15.102
So if you've ever been to a Disney park I mean we've been, probably hundreds of times over the years If you've never been, every now and then I run into someone and say you've been to Disney park, then you know, like, okay, let me just stop and pray for you right now.

32:15.592 --> 32:20.130
I wish I could just lend you one of my visits from the reservoir of our very many, because you're missing out.

32:20.552 --> 32:22.280
But you see these tears of characters.

32:22.300 --> 32:23.425
So you might see a Buzz Lightyear.

32:23.445 --> 32:25.192
You're like, oh, that's kind of cooler, buzz Lightyear.

32:25.212 --> 32:27.680
Woody, over there it's Chip and Dale and the Rescue Ranger.

32:28.012 --> 32:31.630
But if you see someone from the Fab Five, that's like winning the lottery.

32:32.211 --> 32:38.403
That's Mickey Mouse, minnie Mouse, donald Duck, goofy Pluto that's rich, that is gold right there.

32:38.444 --> 32:45.670
Okay, so you're going through and you see all these different characters, but out of nowhere you see one of the Fab Five.

32:46.593 --> 32:47.295
It just makes your day.

32:47.315 --> 32:52.734
I'm going to show you some pictures of some of the trips from so many years ago, back when our kids were still very little and we ran into.

32:52.915 --> 33:00.697
Look at Donald Duck, yes, wow, and my good looking kids, oh, they were so precious back then and when they were asleep.

33:01.418 --> 33:05.645
And then you see, then you see Minnie Mouse with that good looking lady right there holding that little girl.

33:05.690 --> 33:06.333
I tell you what?

33:06.413 --> 33:08.080
That's another good one from the Fab Five.

33:08.321 --> 33:10.650
And then you got to keep going and I'm sure Mickey Mouse made an appearance.

33:11.592 --> 33:13.455
Woo, he's even in his tuxedo.

33:13.495 --> 33:14.497
Nicole, isn't that good.

33:15.479 --> 33:17.222
And then you got to see the whole crew with Pluto.

33:17.583 --> 33:20.214
That was a good day, that's a good time right there.

33:20.295 --> 33:22.541
He's man's best friend or a mouse's best friend.

33:22.991 --> 33:27.019
It's really weird how a mouse can have a pet dog, and it's actually smaller than the mouse.

33:27.279 --> 33:29.644
But you believe it, you believe it.

33:30.411 --> 33:31.833
And those were good times right there.

33:32.153 --> 33:33.075
And you see all that.

33:33.275 --> 33:40.245
And even with all that magical experience in my grown up mind, I still understand that it's not all unicorn and rainbows.

33:41.151 --> 33:51.185
Did you know that they have an elaborate tunnel system underneath all the parks so that the cast members and the employees can all move around freely without the guests seeing them?

33:51.690 --> 33:58.021
You don't see trash cans and big supplies and big stalks of frozen funky hot dogs you would never want to eat.

33:58.262 --> 33:59.664
No, they hide that from you.

33:59.710 --> 34:04.000
So you just see the magical food that's like oh, I want to pay $25 for that hot dog.

34:04.020 --> 34:04.942
That's magical.

34:06.371 --> 34:12.343
And you're never going to see Mickey Mouse and Goofy having a smoke break behind the castle with their heads off, just unwinding after a long shift.

34:13.631 --> 34:14.332
Because why?

34:15.033 --> 34:17.315
That would take away all the magic.

34:19.338 --> 34:22.802
Disney understands that you can never see behind the mask.

34:27.051 --> 34:31.298
You don't want to spoil the illusion and I think so many of us have taken inspiration from Disney's success.

34:35.351 --> 34:38.237
If I take off, the mask loses all the magic.

34:41.884 --> 34:57.960
But I've talked to some of those people that wear the character masks and I've talked to mascots for, like sports teams and you know what happens when you wear that mask too long it starts to smell funky, it starts to get a little rancid.

34:57.980 --> 35:00.023
There's no circulation in there, there's no AC.

35:00.770 --> 35:04.558
You start to get a rash, ooh yeah, starts to get real funky.

35:05.079 --> 35:07.043
And imagine that you're sharing masks.

35:08.451 --> 35:09.331
Just keep your own mask.

35:10.392 --> 35:11.554
But you wear a mask too long.

35:11.614 --> 35:13.415
It starts to get really foul.

35:27.411 --> 35:48.602
The point I'm trying to make today is that, even though we've convinced ourselves of the lies that causes to put on a mask, that we're more loved, more accepted, more appropriate with the mask, I'm just trying to give you evidence upon evidence upon evidence to the contrary that the mask is detrimental, it's damaging and it's not going to bring the joy.

35:50.211 --> 35:53.981
Whatever you thought it was going to accomplish, it's literally doing the opposite.

35:55.191 --> 36:04.670
Our son in the third grade he was in one of those pictures you saw he created a little mask at school and it was paper mache and then they painted it and they glued feathers and sequins and all these fancy things on it.

36:05.172 --> 36:08.650
He's very like, analytical and disciplined, so it was perfectly symmetrical.

36:09.011 --> 36:12.058
I don't know if your kids bring home artwork, but mine was always better than your kids.

36:12.099 --> 36:12.740
I guarantee it.

36:13.730 --> 36:14.794
This was a masterpiece.

36:15.335 --> 36:16.018
I mean, it was perfect.

36:16.339 --> 36:19.670
It could be in like the Louvre or something Good, good stuff.

36:19.990 --> 36:21.212
But as I'm looking at the mask.

36:21.292 --> 36:30.604
I think, man, so often we can look at a mask like that and we can become master mask makers instead of being master Christ followers.

36:32.850 --> 36:37.141
You only have so much energy to invest in things in your life.

36:37.730 --> 36:39.515
Are you investing it in doing the work?

36:39.916 --> 36:48.101
God created for you to do the good works in advance, to being more like his son Jesus, or are you investing it in becoming a great mask maker?

36:49.787 --> 36:50.630
Time to reinvent myself.

36:51.673 --> 36:53.498
Maybe I'll move to another burrow with a brand new mask.

36:58.810 --> 37:01.859
What if we decided to take off our masks and take a good hard look in the mirror?

37:05.710 --> 37:06.311
What would we see?

37:07.714 --> 37:08.636
How would our lives be better?

37:08.796 --> 37:11.281
What would our communities in our church look like if we did that?

37:14.073 --> 37:15.000
Better or worse, you think?

37:22.161 --> 37:23.804
Look at what 1 Samuel says.

37:23.910 --> 37:26.799
We're reminded of how God looks at us in chapter 16, verse 7.

37:27.611 --> 37:30.720
Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.

37:31.270 --> 37:33.037
The Lord doesn't see things the way you see them.

37:33.550 --> 37:36.839
People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord, he, looks at the heart.

37:38.150 --> 37:51.596
Samuel's looking at the outward appearance to anoint a new king, but God shines a light on the situation and he reveals that, no matter how pretty we look on the outside, how accomplished we are, how put together we are, how good your resume looks.

37:53.580 --> 37:54.422
He's looking at the heart.

37:55.630 --> 38:00.099
God's looking at our thoughts, our motives, what's behind the mask?

38:02.030 --> 38:07.373
I think it's funny that sometimes we believe the mask hypes, so much so that we think we're even fooling God.

38:09.790 --> 38:19.197
That's why some people stop doing the work not the work of earning salvation, but there is work to being a Christ follower.

38:19.890 --> 38:22.758
Jesus said die to yourself, take up your cross and follow me.

38:23.710 --> 38:24.875
That doesn't happen on autopilot.

38:25.710 --> 38:26.694
No one's doing that for you.

38:27.150 --> 38:32.013
You're picking up the cross and you're walking, but we want to skip that.

38:32.775 --> 38:32.996
God.

38:33.016 --> 38:36.207
Look at my mask, Look how good I look.

38:36.610 --> 38:37.654
I made a mask of a cross.

38:37.694 --> 38:39.532
I picked it up Meanwhile.

38:39.573 --> 38:40.535
The real stuff's over there.

38:42.410 --> 38:43.233
We're not fooling anyone.

38:45.390 --> 38:53.375
God wants us to lay it down, the pretenses, the illusion, and just be real, because he created us to be masterpieces.

38:56.090 --> 38:56.753
You don't cover it up.

38:58.452 --> 39:01.761
If you're a Christ follower, you're fully loved and you're fully accepted.

39:02.271 --> 39:09.240
And so I just want to encourage you today and tell you you don't have to believe the lies of the enemy that say you're not good enough and you won't be accepted without the mask.

39:09.930 --> 39:13.239
God says you are approved and loved just how you are.

39:14.430 --> 39:17.715
So let's thank him with a big round of applause for that, because that is good news.

39:23.770 --> 39:27.081
If you're here today and that's not you and you say, well, that's great.

39:28.245 --> 39:31.056
But I don't know if I feel approved and loved.

39:31.870 --> 39:32.874
I'm still believing the lie.

39:33.730 --> 39:35.116
I don't know if I've surrendered my life.

39:35.190 --> 39:36.355
I don't know if I've made that decision.

39:36.750 --> 39:38.175
I'm still trying to fix myself.

39:40.070 --> 39:41.054
We have a solution for that too.

39:41.910 --> 39:43.890
I want to make available to you the opportunity.

39:44.011 --> 40:00.420
I'm going to ask the worship team to come and I'm going to ask everyone just to bow their head and close their eyes and let's give everyone an opportunity that hasn't to surrender their life to Christ, to be accepted, to feel the unconditional love and to squash the lies that say you're not good enough because you have a savior who said you are Right where you are.

40:00.950 --> 40:01.572
I'm a heavenly Father.

40:02.275 --> 40:02.776
I need you.

40:03.870 --> 40:06.318
I've tried to fix myself and I can't.

40:07.311 --> 40:08.395
I lay down the mask.

40:09.090 --> 40:12.879
I acknowledge I'm a sinner in desperate need of a savior.

40:14.870 --> 40:20.371
You died on the cross, becoming my sin, taking the punishment and paying the price I couldn't pay.

40:21.630 --> 40:22.815
You're offering me a free gift.

40:23.410 --> 40:24.515
Now I accept it.

40:25.190 --> 40:35.932
Come into my life, change me, transform me, make me brand new, make me accepted, make me loved.

40:37.910 --> 40:41.394
I'm yours, father.

40:41.454 --> 40:42.437
Thank you for new life.

40:43.470 --> 40:44.394
Now I'm giving you mine.

40:45.410 --> 40:48.420
In Jesus' name I pray Amen.

40:49.473 --> 40:51.639
This is the City Light Church podcast.

40:52.150 --> 41:01.322
If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jansic and City Light Church, visit us at CityLightNYCcom.

41:01.890 --> 41:03.556
That's CityLightNYCcom.

41:04.990 --> 41:07.899
Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime.

41:08.430 --> 41:09.875
We would love to connect with you.

41:10.890 --> 41:18.378
We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace.

41:19.390 --> 41:20.093
Thank you for listening.

41:20.750 --> 41:26.116
Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.