His Workmanship

[00:00:00] Amen. [00:00:01] Amen. Well, good morning, Christ Church. Well, good morning. Good evening, Christchurch. [00:00:06] So, used to preaching Sunday mornings. My name is Javon. I get the opportunity to serve as the pastor over at our old Brooklyn campus. [00:00:15] But I am super, super excited to serve with you guys this evening. Can you guys give it up for that worship? My goodness. [00:00:23] I was ready to give my life to Jesus again, Lord. I am right, my Lord. [00:00:29] But, man, before we go any further, let me say a quick pray and then we'll dive into the scriptures. Dear Heavenly Father, today, this evening, we just want you. [00:00:38] We just want more of you. We don't need to hear more knowledge from an individual. [00:00:44] We don't need to hear more, just information. [00:00:48] We need more of you for the sake of transformation. So, Lord, we come to you to receive what we ultimately need, which is your truth, which is your grace, your mercy, and your love. Every individual in this room today has a need. [00:01:03] And you are the God who meets every single need. So, Lord, I pray that they hear from you first. They don't hear from a preacher, a man, or whatever he has to say, but they would hear from their heavenly Father and you would speak clearly to them and they would turn and say, I want you. [00:01:24] I pray that that happens for us today. I pray that one person echoes the words of faith that says, I trust you. [00:01:32] I trust you now and forever. Bless us, Bless our time. [00:01:37] Bless our. As we continue in worship and we dive into your truth, may the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. It's in your son's perfect name. It's who we pray. Amen. [00:01:48] Well, good evening, CC Midweek. How we doing, man? It's been a while since I preached here and it's been a while since I've been up here and seen it. This is amazing to see all of you guys here. We're so glad again that you're serving with us this evening. Today. I'm gonna jump right into the passage. Just got one passage for you today. That doesn't mean it's gonna be a short sermon. All right, I wanna let you know that. All right. But I do got one passage, and if you got your Bibles, go ahead and bring them on out or on your phone or device. I'm gonna be reading Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 10, Ephesians, chapter 2 and verse 10. I just want to read this before we go any further. And it says this wonderful words are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God had prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them. I love this particular passage. It says, we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that which God had prepared beforehand, that which we should walk in them. For those who may not know, I have two little boys. [00:03:08] They are the most quiet kids ever. [00:03:11] They sit Indian style and read the book of Psalms all day long. And that's just how we are as a family. You know, we love God, but anyway. But no, I'm just kidding. No, they're crazy and wild. But I got my oldest kid, he's 6 years old, and he made the ultimate mistake of asking his dad to help him with homework the other day. [00:03:31] Let me give you a little bit of rundown what happened. He was supposed to draw his favorite story in the New Testament. He goes to a Christian school, so he was supposed to draw his favorite story in the Gospels. Right. And I said, son, I got you. We're gonna draw Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. I got you. He's like, well, no, Dad, I want to do something else. I said, no, no, no, no. [00:03:56] I got you, son. [00:03:58] Listen to your papa. That's what they call me. Listen to your papa. And listen. As I started to draw. There's one thing you gotta know about me is I'm horrible at drawing. I mean, so. But Jesus was a stick figure. I mean, it was like. It was a straight down, come across. Here's his arms, here's his legs, here's Jesus head. You know, I gave Jesus a little Afro. And then I gave him the two eyes, little bit of smiley face. And then I just threw all a bunch of. [00:04:26] A bunch of circles representing the 5,000. And then I drew what I thought was bread, but it wasn't bread. Then I drew some cups and all of that. And I'm like, son, turn this in. It's going to be wonderful. You're going to get an A plus. [00:04:40] Well, he brought the homework back and the homework assignment that he brought back that very same day. He told me, my teacher said, next time, Jedediah, you need to write this. [00:04:53] You need to draw this, because this was not your work. [00:04:58] It was very obvious that the teacher could tell that, hey, look who did this. And he says, my dad. [00:05:06] Papa. [00:05:08] Right, right. I've never been a great artist. Right. It's kind of the reason why I failed art class in high school. Don't worry about it. But I've just never been a great artist. Right, right. But in that moment, I remember, just like, I had this bright idea that I thought would work, but it didn't. Work. [00:05:26] My son ended up having to redo the work. [00:05:29] Right. And ask his mother to help him the next time. [00:05:32] But when I think about that moment, that very much describes my life. [00:05:38] When I think about that moment of taking the pen, taking the paper and writing out what I think would work, what I think is good, what I think would get you an A, what I think would pass, that typically describes my life. [00:05:53] Taking the pen. [00:05:55] Right. Writing my own story. [00:05:57] Right. Leading my own path. [00:06:01] And I've noticed when I've done that, usually it ends up rushed, messy, unsatisfying. [00:06:09] Right. Things that I regret and themes of my life that I wish that I could rewrite. [00:06:16] Now, now, let's take a step back. [00:06:18] Because if we're honest, if we're honest, we all have felt that way before. [00:06:25] Because hasn't there been seasons in our lives where we look at our lives and we're not where we want to be? [00:06:35] Am I right? [00:06:36] Right. Things don't look how we envisioned. For instance, this could be your career, right? Career didn't start. It isn't going the way that you would like. It could be your marriage or for those who are married in this room, could be in your singleness, Right. It could be in some of the things that you're still struggling with and things that you're battling with and things that you're just trying to cope with with as well. You just thought that you would be a lot further along today, right? [00:07:11] Because we've all tried to control the narrative of our lives and we realize it just isn't working. [00:07:20] It's just. It isn't working. Right? And the tragedy is, isn't that we're all bad artists. [00:07:26] The tragedy is that we refuse to hand over the pen to a better author, that we refuse to hand over the pen to a better writer, to a better storyteller, right? And here's what I want to go with today. Your life was never meant to be self written. [00:07:50] It was meant to be God shaped. [00:07:53] Your life was never meant to be self written. It was meant to be God shaped because you are not self made. [00:07:59] Here's what the scriptures are going to echo to us today from Ephesians 2. Here's what the scriptures are going to lay out for each and every one of us. No matter where you are in your life, younger, more experienced, I want to be careful how I say that. Younger, more experienced, male, female, wherever you are, you were designed by God for God to reflect God, to reflect his goodness, to reflect his grace, to reflect his mercy. [00:08:34] Because a Lot of us, like when I was drawing on that particular piece of paper, a lot of us, we're trying to control. We're trying to write out what we think is good, but it leaves us unsatisfied. And we're just looking at the mass. But God wants to communicate to us a better truth. [00:08:57] A better truth to live by and to walk in as well. And that's what we find ourselves In Ephesians, chapter 2, Ephesians, Paul lays out for us early on, before we get to this particular verse, as a matter of fact, bring up the verse for them again. Let's read it one more time. In verse 10, Paul says, For we are his workmanship. His meaning God, for we are his workmanship. More on that in just a little bit. We're created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Paul, before he gets here, Paul has to explain to this church in Ephesus. He's explaining to them how one comes to faith in Christ Jesus. He says, hey, at one point in your life, you were separated from God. At one point of your life, there was disorder. At one point of your life, there was disorder, separation, and all of that. Lacking purpose, living in our own ways, influenced by all the wrong things, our sin, our shame. Paul describes that there was once disorder, there was once chaos. [00:10:11] But I love. And you don't have to read this or you don't have to go there right now. I'll just summarize it for you. Probably one of my favorite passages in all of the scripture, it says, yes, all that was at one point. [00:10:22] Because as a Christian, you have a before and after. [00:10:26] I don't know if you know that. If you're a Christian today, if you're a follower of Jesus, you have a before and after. I'm a 90s kid, and I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s. And I love watching the. [00:10:37] The people, the sitcoms, the actors, their before pictures and their now pictures. Have y' all seen some of these people? [00:10:44] Like, they still look good. [00:10:48] Mario Lopez, y' all remember Mario from, say by the Bat? My man. [00:10:52] I kind of look like him. I mean, it is just. It's crazy, right? There's some before pictures and then there's some after pictures that you're like, something's wrong with you, but we'll keep moving on, right? [00:11:05] In Christ, there is a before and an after. Before Jesus, there was disorder, there was separation. [00:11:13] You were lacking purpose, lacking rhyme and reason. [00:11:18] But Paul switches and goes on and says, But God. [00:11:24] One of my two favorite words in the Bible. But God, rich in his mercy, great in his love with which he loved us. Even though we were once messy, out of order, chaotic, far separate, though we were once far from Him, God brought us near to him, right? That's the great beauty of the Gospel, right? What makes Christianity. Christianity is God intervening. [00:11:58] What makes Christianity amazing is that we weren't searching for God. So therefore God came looking for us. [00:12:07] Not because we're so good, not because we get things right or sometimes right, or we draw good, nice sketches at times, right? Not because we're so good, but because God is so gracious. [00:12:21] God is so gracious, right? And so Paul sets it up. He talks about how one comes to faith in Christ. How one is saved, how one is born again. However you want to say it, right? How one is saved, born again, how one comes to Christ, right? And then he talks about not just how, but why. [00:12:40] Paul says you were saved to be God's workmanship, right? Paul shifts from the how to the why. [00:12:54] See, here's the thing. Jesus didn't come just to. Not only just to forgive us or to give us heaven, right? To get out of hell, free car, you know, he didn't do any right. [00:13:07] Christ came to save us with purpose and for a purpose. [00:13:13] See, when we were authoring our own lives. When you author your own lives, it ends up messy and unsatisfying. But once God is restored, he not only forgives, but now he writes new chapters full of his purpose, his mercy and his grace. [00:13:34] Because in Christ, you don't search for purpose. [00:13:38] Purpose comes to you. [00:13:42] In Christ, you don't search for purpose. Rather is giving to you. And here's the purpose of our lives to be God's. Put that verse back up for them. Verse 10. To be God's workmanship. [00:13:58] This word is poieima. You ready to say it with me? This is getting to Greek. You ready to learn Greek today? I'm not the Greek master. That's for Doc and Chad. But I'll give you a little Greek today. Are you ready? Say it with me. Poiema. Three, two, one. [00:14:09] That sucked. Church. Let's try it again, okay? I need your engagement. All right? All right. If it was the Browns, you would be all engaged watching them lose, okay? So let's be engaged in God's word today, okay? Say poiema. 3, 2, 1. Poima. There we go. I love this word. It's one of my favorite words that we find in the scriptures. What it means. It means something that is crafted, composed, constructed, made and it is used. Listen to this. [00:14:39] To reveal a work of art. [00:14:43] That's what Paul says. Paul says in Christ Jesus isn't just fixing something broken, he's creating something new in Christ. He isn't just fixing something broken. He's revealing his work of art. If you think about it now, I'm not an artist. I've never been to an art gallery. I don't know anything about art. [00:15:07] I've already told you that. But I can tell you right now, the best artist, the artist of artists, they go to all of these galleries and they reveal their beautiful work. [00:15:18] They don't reveal clumsy work. [00:15:21] They don't reveal their least favorite. They reveal and they put up and they show what they believe is going to get others attraction and get others to see and get others to look right. [00:15:34] They bring their best. [00:15:36] An artist brings their best. [00:15:39] And what Paul is trying to persuade us and here's what I want to help us to land at today in Christ, God is working something beautiful in your life. Because this artist, this artist, he's the best artist. [00:16:02] Now you might look at your life and you might say, well, that sounds cute, but have you seen my family? [00:16:11] That sounds great, but have you heard about my past? [00:16:17] That sounds great, but I don't think you know about this illness that I'm struggling with today. [00:16:23] Sounds great. This is all nice. I love this whole Christianity thing, but that doesn't seem real in my life. But see, here's the thing about this artist, here's the thing about this builder, here's the thing about God. [00:16:39] You're. [00:16:41] You're unfinished. [00:16:44] There's still work to do. [00:16:48] He's an artist that is always working, always perfecting, always sculpting. Even in the worst moments. God will bring beauty even in the tragedy and all of that. Why? Because we are his workmanship. [00:17:05] We are His. [00:17:07] And I want to encourage you today and I want to lead you into this delight. Friends. Yes. Listen, at the end of the day, the truest thing about you is that you are not a product of your circumstance. [00:17:20] You are not a product of the dysfunction that you find yourself in. That you are not a product of others failures, of even your own failures, but rather you are a product of God's grace in your life. And your life is meant to reflect his goodness and his work. So the next time people call out your mess, just tell them I'm a work in progress. [00:17:50] Why? Because God is still sculpting. [00:17:55] He's still working. [00:17:58] He's still working, even in the toughest areas of God is still working. But here's the thing. This artist, when he presents, is always beautiful. [00:18:09] It's always lovely. [00:18:11] I may not be able to see it, may not be able to understand it, but I do know one thing. [00:18:18] This artist, he presents beauty always. [00:18:25] That's what Paul wants us to connect to more and more, right? [00:18:31] You are his workmanship, church. [00:18:34] You were created for his good, right? As a matter of fact, next time people call out your mess, just be encouraged and tell them. Or even maybe just tell yourself. Maybe that's what you need to start with. [00:18:51] Maybe just tell yourself, you know, at the end of the day, God's gonna reveal his great goodness in and through this moment. No matter what, God's gonna reveal something good and something unimaginable that I can, cannot fathom quite yet, right? [00:19:12] If we are his workmanship, that means three things, friends. Number one, your life has intentional value. [00:19:19] Your life has intentional value in every part of your life. The good and the things you don't want to talk about. [00:19:27] The things you try to ignore, the relationships you try to look over, the brokenness you don't want anybody to find out. Every part of your life matters. Why? Because God uses everything to present his goodness more and more. You know what God wants to do in your life? He wants to show the world he is real and he is good. [00:19:53] He is real and he is good. [00:19:56] So when people see you, they see Christ in you. [00:20:01] And you tell them, well, how did it come to this point? [00:20:07] But God. [00:20:10] But God, right? Number one, your life has intentional value. Number two, your life is still being shaped. [00:20:19] Your life is still being shaped. Don't allow our messes. Don't allow our hardships. Don't allow our discomforts distort our view of God. As we said before, friends, you are unfinished work. You are a work in progress. Because the master builder never stops sculpting your life. [00:20:39] Number three, your life is meant to reveal the artist. [00:20:46] Paul says that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Now, it's easy to look at this word or easy to look at this language and to think that, well, our good works is what makes us good, or it gets us favor or it makes God like us or whatever it may be. But Paul doesn't. Paul's not trying to allude to that. Paul is saying that our good works are the things that flow from us, are a result of God's work in us. [00:21:16] So the patience that wasn't there before that. I'm still trying to work out with my children. So pray for me, right? The patience that I display, the mercy that I display, the forgiveness that I can display, the character of God is being at work with me is all a testament. Those are good works. Of what? Of God's grace. Make an expression on my heart. [00:21:41] Make an expression on my heart, friends, right? [00:21:44] Because this is the beautiful reminder that Paul wants us to connect to more and more. The good works are moments when grace finds its expression and there's simply God singing through us. [00:22:00] One theologian says this. He says, in creation, we see God's a singer and he's. And he's echoing to creation and to all of humanity, revealing his goodness and his mercy and his grace. But now in his new creation, he's doing the same thing. [00:22:27] He is singing through your life. [00:22:31] He's singing through your life. And he's showing the world, and he's showing others. [00:22:36] Look at the goodness that I'm doing. [00:22:41] Look at the work that I'm doing, producing in your life, right? Because when God saves, it's more than just forgiving you. [00:22:52] He begins to form something beautiful in us. [00:22:56] Something beautiful in us. [00:22:59] Don't get devastated over the mess. It's easy. [00:23:03] It's easy to say, this mess is too overwhelming. This chaos is too crazy. [00:23:10] But when we start to look to a master, to a builder, friends, we find hope. Now, Paul is saying this as we close. [00:23:22] If we are his masterpiece, we are his workmanship, then that means it's more than just talking about trying to understand your value. [00:23:35] Paul wants us to also connect and direct our attention to trust him. [00:23:42] Because if we are his workmanship, we are his masterpiece. [00:23:47] That makes him the master. [00:23:50] That makes him the master. And if God made you, he knows you, he understands you, and he holds what is best for you. Why? Because he is wise. [00:24:03] The same God who designed you, the same God who is directing you as well. [00:24:11] Recently, some of you are unfamiliar with me and probably don't know much about me, rather than I'm just loud and crazy. But. [00:24:17] But recently I was just diagnosed with a. [00:24:20] With a autoimmune disease. [00:24:23] It's called myasthenia gravis. And it causes me to see double. Like right now, it's like 800 people in the room right now, right? I'm doing my thing. I'm moving up to the big leagues, y'. All. Then I take this off. I'm like, wha. Wham. Wamp. You know, Right? [00:24:38] And I remember when it first happened, the first thing I said to myself was, why me? [00:24:46] My first Instinct was to take the pen, to take control, changed the narrative. [00:24:57] All this was running through my head. Why me? Why now? [00:25:01] Why this? [00:25:02] I didn't choose this chapter of my life. [00:25:06] I don't understand what is going on. And, friends, every day it feels like a struggle for me and some of you, if not all of us, have something that feels very familiar, right? [00:25:21] And though this is a chapter I didn't choose, there is an author still at work in it right now. [00:25:33] Because I am his workmanship, meaning this. I'm in his hands. [00:25:38] The question is not. The question isn't, why is life so messy? [00:25:43] The question is, whose hand is in it? [00:25:50] Whose hand is shaping it? [00:25:52] Who hand is forming something beautiful within it? But see, when this Master, when God holds the pen, even the hardest chapters still belong to the story. [00:26:05] Meaning defeat and failure, or illness or rejection or divorce or breakups or all of doesn't get the final word. [00:26:19] The Master does. [00:26:22] The Master does. [00:26:25] The master gets the final word. See, friends, this is not just a sermon to hear about how valuable you are. [00:26:33] This is a sermon that says, do we trust God with our mess? [00:26:39] We trust God to ultimately to build something better. [00:26:45] Because we're not good at writing our own lives. Because we were never made to do that. [00:26:51] We were made for him, by him, to reveal him. [00:26:58] Let's pray. [00:27:00] Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you would give us a hope, a sure hope that says, I trust you, that is rooted in I believe. [00:27:18] And Father, I pray that every individual in this room today would be moved by this reality that you are trustworthy. [00:27:29] You are the God deserving of all of our trust. [00:27:33] Not just partially, but fully. [00:27:38] Every ounce of brokenness, every ounce of mess, every ounce of uncertainty, every ounce of the areas in our lives that seem like we can't fathom or understand. Lord, I pray that we would cast it all over to you and in and through, that we would give it to a better author writing something beautiful for us today. [00:28:02] Help us to do this. [00:28:04] We can't do this just merely on our own. We need your work in us so that we can trust you, so we can lean into you, so we can experience redemption in a way like no other, so we can experience hope like no other. Lord, give us this faith and let us be led by you. Always is. In your son's perfect name is who we pray. Amen.