well take your bibles today and turn to the book of philippians the book of philippians it's a joy to be here a real privilege to uh to be here this is um this is very humbling to me to uh come and address you men today i uh i want to thank you all for your hard work um being shepherds of God's people, under shepherds and the work that goes in. I travel throughout the year. I've made sure ever since I started traveling in 2002 that I had my family stationary for the summer. And for 13 summers up in Wisconsin, I had a pastor who I sat under and he worked hard every week to feed me, to feed my family. I now, I sit here, I'm very thankful for Pastor Doran and the hard work that he puts in to feed me and to feed my family. Spiritually speaking, there's nothing, there's no greater calling than really the calling of a pastor who week in and week out labors and feeds sheep. So men, thank you. I consider this a great privilege to come and to stand before you today. I don't know what we could do that would be better for us than to spend our hour staring at Jesus. So that's what we're gonna do in Philippians chapter number two. On one side, there's nothing that we could do that would be more encouraging. On the other side, we probably could not do anything that would be more convicting than spend our time staring at Christ. We'll begin in verse number one of chapter two, and we'll go down really through verse 11. Passage of scripture, you know so well, I'm sure you've preached through many times. How can I say anything of this passage that you haven't already studied and known yourself? But folks, let's spend our time staring at him. Verse one says, therefore, this is really coming off of chapter one, chapter break there, but really the thought begins in verse 27, living in a manner that's worthy of the gospel. pushing these people to be united around the gospel. He says, verse 1 chapter 2, therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfless or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own interests, your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Really, our text begins that we're gonna consider today, verse five, have this attitude or mindset, this thinking in you, in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of man, Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Let's pray and ask God to help us as we look at Christ. May he encourage us, may he convict us through his Holy Spirit. Father, we come to you. Lord, we are so thankful. Lord, that we can have some time to come together and have our hearts encouraged and pushed And Lord, we can join with other men, Lord, who are laboring for the sake of your church. Lord, we're just men, broken, frail, struggling, weak, but it's who we are. Lord, we're so thankful that your strength is made perfect in our weakness. Lord, I pray that you will help us to be men who are humble, honest, real. Lord, our churches don't need super Christians. They just need real people leading them who know that they need God really bad. So Lord, may this be who we are. Lord, help us. Thank you for Christ. Thank you that he has put before us as an example. Lord, you didn't just say, live this way. Lord, you didn't just tell us how. Lord, you showed us how. Christ has come. He lived before us. He held his glory. Lord, I pray that you will help us to be imitators of him. Lord, would you work in our hearts today in Christ's name we pray, amen. You know, I traveled with a man named, I traveled with Steve Pettit, evangelist Steve Pettit. Started traveling with him in 2002. The real privilege to travel with him and be discipled by him and work under him. My second year traveling with him, there was a girl who came onto our team and I was very attracted to her. I thought she was pretty awesome. She was just up here singing just a few moments ago. Her name is Stephanie, and there was a problem on the team. He didn't allow any dating on the team. There was a no dating policy on the team. Thankfully, there wasn't a no marriage policy, so it worked out okay. But as I get to know her, and I'm spending time with her, I'm like, man, this girl's incredible. I mean, it's like we were on the same page. There were other people on the team. There was a couple other single guys and some single girls. And like the team that travels now with me, we were together. And I mean, the other girls were great girls. But I mean, there was just something. There was a connection, you know? I mean, me and Stephanie, it was like we were on the same page. It was like we thought the same way. It was like sometimes we felt like we shared the same brain. I mean, it was like we were on the same page all the time. I mean, I would start a sentence. She would finish it just the way I was going to finish it. It was amazing. I mean, we were on the same page all the time, and then we got married. You know, we still finish each other's sentences, but not the way we thought they were going to finish, right? You know, it really is an amazing thing how hard it is to really think like someone else. That's not an easy thing to do. I think like me. But did you know that in this text of Scripture, we're being told to do something that is a bit beyond us? As we're being told in this passage that we are to think like Christ. Let this thinking, let this mind, here in the Nazareth it says, let this attitude be in you. which was also in Christ. We have a task that is laid before us that is for sure beyond us. It's one thing to learn over time as you dwell in knowledge, to learn to think like your wife. But folks, how far beyond us is it to learn to think like Christ? But yet this is what's laid before us in our text today and I want us to spend some time. I think that there's a couple mindsets or really attitudes that Christ has in this text that if we were going to really try to wrap up, at least for my purposes today, I'm sure there's nuances of this text that I'll be unable to handle in our time today. But I want you to look down And there's a couple of things that I want us to see in verse number eight, and we'll go back and fill in. I just want us to see because there's a couple of things that should be shocking to us. that we see in Christ, and if we're gonna be people, if we're gonna be men who are growing, okay, this is about the pastor's sanctification. I wrestled so much, what am I gonna do? I mean, what am I gonna say? But I do think that there's some mindsets that need to be going on in our hearts. then obviously these are both the product of Him sanctifying us, but at the same time, on our responsibility side, we should be striving after these attitudes. There's two things that we see that are really shocking. They're really shocking. Two words that should be shocking to us about Christ. When it says this in verse number eight, it says, being found in appearance as a man, listen to this, he humbled himself. What's God doing, humbling himself? When you're at the top of the food chain, folks, the normal course of action is not humbling yourself. But then he follows it up even beyond this, and he says, by becoming obedient. Folks, what is God doing? being obedient. But here we find a couple mindsets, a couple attitudes. The attitude of being humble, humility, and the mindset of submission. That if we're going to be men who are growing, If we're gonna be men who are moving forward in this matter of sanctification, then I believe these are attitudes that must be going on in our hearts and in our lives. Let's back up. We're gonna fill in here. We'll go back to verse number five. He says, let this mind, let this thinking, let this attitude, Be in you, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Verse number six, quite a statement. Paul wants to make sure his listeners, his readers, rather, are on the same page as he is. He wants to make sure he makes a declarative statement as to who exactly he's talking about. Who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard Equality with God, a thing to be grasped. A couple statements here showing very declarative statements as to the deity of Christ, who Christ is. He's in the very form of God, the very essence of God. Do not look at equality with God as something to grab a hold of. The core of Christian doctrine, folks, is the truth that God became a man. And He dwelt among us to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus Christ indeed is God Himself. And so He makes sure that His listeners understand exactly who it is that He's talking about. I'm sure we are on agreement, in agreement, full agreement here as to the, it's proper for us to receive this command that we think like Him because He wasn't just a man. He's God Himself. You know, it is a convicting statement though, when you think about what he says, and you think about the King James rendering, he said, being in the form of God, and then remember it was, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Here the Nazby says, did not look at equality with God as something to be grasped, something, you know, a robber, a thief. It wasn't robbery for him to go. What does a thief do? A thief goes and grabs a hold of something that's not his and he says it's mine, right? Jesus didn't look at equality with God as something that wasn't his and he had to go grasp it. But you know, there's a flip side to this that I think is very convicting to me because what I want us to see is how Jesus Jesus thought, but yet beside it is how we so many times tend to think. See, it wasn't robbery for him to grab ahold of deity because it was already his, but there's a flip side to this. It is robbery when we take a jab at deity. And I think we do it all the time. I think there's something in the human heart. It's the truth of the human heart. At the end of the day, you know what, we all just wanna be God, right? I mean, we're constantly grasping after things that are not ours, and we would struggle really calling it wanting to be God, but at the end of the day, that's the truth, and it's robbery. You know, every time we control and manipulate circumstances, you know, we never do that, right? Every time we murmur and complain, We're saying, God, I don't like the way you're running my life. I don't like the way, and so, in our own little ways, we're taking little pot shots of deity. We just kinda wanna be God. You know, complaining is such a in-your-face statement to God that we don't like his rulership in our lives. You know, I got married, shortly after I got married, my wife said, baby, can I say something to you? I said, yeah, sure, babe. I wasn't so quick to say, yeah, sure, babe, next time, you know? She said, I think that you're a subtle complainer. That was a stab that I needed. It's true. She said, she said, you just sort of have ways and it doesn't seem like it's complaining, but I've, I've just, as I'm learning to know you, I think you're kind of, I, and I was. You know, as I've worked on this, I've changed so much. I don't complain on the outside anymore. Folks, the complaining of our hearts, we're saying, God, I don't like your rulership. I don't like the way you lead. I don't like the way you rule. At the end of the day, I just want to be God. The reason why we sin is because we want to be God. We say, God, I don't care what you said. You know, we all want to go our own way. It's the condition of the human heart. It's not new. It's been around for a long time. That's why Satan fell. He just wanted to be lifted like the most high. That's why Eve fell. She just wanted to be as wise as God. This is why I fall. You see, we're not God. We just kind of want to be. But what we have here in this text is we have Jesus who is God. But I want you to see what he does with his deity. Now, obviously, as you've studied this text, you know, As you look at the kenosis of Christ, the making sure that we understand and we lay in front of our people that at no point did he cease to be God. He's 100% God, yet he takes upon himself 100% humanity. We wrestled through these things. We know how to make sure we state them correctly. But folks, it really is an amazing thing. He takes upon himself 100% humanity. Humanity, and there is a downward motion. There is the emptying of himself, the pouring of himself out, and we find it in these words that we find in verse number eight, and I wanna take them, and I wanna challenge us today as we spend time staring at Jesus, do we have these attitudes in us? Do we have these mindsets in us? Because I really believe that as we're growing, And as we're moving forward in our own sanctification, folks, there's got to be this mindset that we find in our Savior of humility and submission. You know, when we think about the humility of Christ, You know, there's things that he emptied is this word. He emptied himself. He poured himself out. There's, um, there's some things that we think about as he emptied himself. He emptied himself, you know, of his, of his, and this humility, he emptied himself of his heavenly abode. You know, he goes from being the king of glory and, and while he's on this earth, he is still the king of glory. But what does he do? He takes upon himself this life on earth. And he comes and he dwells among us as he takes on a full humanity. He leaves his heavenly abode and he comes. But what if, what if the father, what if God, the father gave you the job of assigning Jesus and earthly dwelling place, where would you put Christ? I mean, we'd put him in the best place we could find on the face of the planet. And rightly so. But what did he choose for himself? Looks he grew up in a little crossroads of a village even. As I heard one commentator write, a place called Nazareth of Galilee. There's nothing special there. It was the slums. Later in his life, he was made fun of because he came from Galilee. How could anything good come from Nazareth of Galilee? But yet this is where he was from. You see, he told those to follow him who said they wanted to be his disciples, but he reminded them the foxes have their holes, the birds of their air that have their nest, but I don't always have a place to lay my head. You see, he came and he was humble. He was meek. He was lowly. And in this text, it's telling us to think this way. Let this mindset be in us. You know, he not only laid aside his heavenly abode and the incarnation, but we know that he laid aside his heavenly position. He laid aside his heavenly position. He he went. The Bible says in verse number eight, or I'm sorry, verse number seven, just look at what it says there. It says, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. In verse number six, he was in the form of God, the very essence of God. Now in verse number seven, he's in the very essence of a servant, a bond servant, a slave. You see, Jesus was a servant, a humble servant, and he was made in the likeness of men. You know, he laid aside his heavenly position, and what if God the Father gave you the job of assigning Jesus Christ an earthly position? What would you make him? I mean, we'd make him a king somehow, someway, right? I mean, the president, at least the governor. We would do our best to assign him quite the title, quite the position, but what did he come to take upon himself? The form of a bond slave. A servant. And we're being told to think this way. A mindset of humility, a mindset of servitude. This is what we're being called to if we're gonna follow our Savior. If we're gonna follow the mindset of Jesus Christ. You know, this is why Jesus Christ said, I came not to be ministered to. that I came to minister and to give my life a ransom for many. This is what he came to do, and this is what we are called to do. You know, this isn't a very popular mindset in today's society, to be a slave, a servant, But this is exactly what Christ came to do. I think that the most incredible picture we have of this is really the night before he died. Here he is. He's in the upper room with his disciples. You know, as you take a Harmony of the Gospels, you know at some point there's a bickering that came up once again, who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom? This was no new argument. You see, you know what the problem with those rascal disciples are? Well, their problem was they're probably just a lot like me and you. They're grasping for their own piece of the pie. But what we have, though, is Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords himself. He's there in the midst of these bickering disciples. You can't help as you take the Gospels together, you can't help but wonder if right in the midst of the bickering is when you get to John 13, right? Supper being ended. A few things Christ sure understands that his time had come. He was going back to his father. All things had been put into his hands. Judas had already had already been put into the heart of Judas to betray him. He knows these things. You have this wonderful phrase that says, but he he says, and having loved his own, but he loved them to the end. You know, he you can't help but wonder as Christ is a man in just a few chapters. Pastor mentioned it this morning. The pressure, the struggle of his heart that that leads him to Gethsemane will be there in just a few moments with the struggle in his heart. I think he I think he was so ready to go to Gethsemane, but he wasn't done loving these people. And so we find an incredible passage of scripture, the most concentrated passage that I think there is in all of the Bible of a, of a, what a three, four hour period of time. It's like every word that was said has been recorded as we have John chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, all just one little conversation between Jesus and these people who we love his little flock. You can't help but wonder if it was right in the midst of this bickering that you come to this passage and he knows that his time has come. He knows that he's going to his father. He knows that all things have been given to his hands. He knows that Judas is getting ready to betray him, but yet he rises from the table. He takes a basin of water. He girds himself with a towel and he goes around and he starts washing dirty feet, the lowest job of the lowest slave on the totem pole. What's he doing? What's our Jesus doing as he washes their feet? He's serving them. He's serving to the very end. And we're being commanded to think this way. Let there be a humility about us. You think of just His humanity, the mystery of the incarnation, 100% God, yet He takes upon Himself 100% humanity. He possessed all the attributes of God, and yet at the same time, it's a mystery, but all the frailties of humanity We find that he became hungry, he thirsted, he got tired, he became emotional. These don't sound God-like. But folks, he took upon himself humanity so that he could come and dwell among us. He had this mindset of humility, and we're being called to think this way. You know, of the verb know, you have the, once again, that King James rendering is so convicting to me. He made himself of no reputation. Is that convicting to you? We all have a reputation we want, don't we? We all have a way we want to be perceived. We want to be perceived, even coming into a setting like this. I mean, I hope this is a time of encouragement. I hope this is a time that's refreshing as you come and you rub shoulders with some other men in the ministry who, I mean, you know, it's like not many people that you run into day in and day out understand the pressures and the trials of ministry. And here you come together and it should be a breath of fresh air. But we all know the way our flesh works. Because all of a sudden comparison starts and wondering here and thinking there and oh, our flesh is so alive, isn't it? We want to be perceived as successful in ministry. We want to be perceived as on top of our game. We want to be perceived as good. We want to be perceived as wise. We want to be perceived as spiritual, right? You think I don't come in here and I want you men to think I'm spiritual, right? Folks, do you understand our Jesus? Do you realize that on the day he died, they didn't think he was spiritual? At the beginning of the week, they're pounding their palm branches. They're saying, they're saying, you know, Hosanna, it's the king. By the end of the week, they're convinced he's a blasphemer. Try and crucify him. You see, when he, when he died, they didn't think he was spiritual. The people have been convinced that he was a blasphemer. You see, he literally made himself nothing. So that he could come to this earth and die, you know. He had this attitude of humility, of servitude, and we're being called to think this way. I want you to see, though, he also had, and you see it there in verse number eight, the second thing that should be shocking to us as we see God in human form being found in appearance as a man, first of all, he humbled himself. But then look at this, by becoming obedient, I mean, once again, what is God doing, becoming obedient? He became completely obedient to the father's will. He went from being co-equal in the command giving to being totally subservient to his father. It's amazing, we're talking about the one who spoke and the world existed, the universe happened. And yet here he is, and we find this phrase about him, that he became obedient. You know, I think as good a picture as you're going to find anywhere is just a little bit later, the submission of Christ. Just a little bit later that night, right? He leaves the upper room and he does go into the Garden of Gethsemane. And as he's there dwelling in the garden of Gethsemane, as he's there spending time with his father, and we find this tension between, I mean, the most perfect picture of this tension between his humanity and his deity, as he's under such great pressure, the Bible says that he begins to sweat blood, emotional, spiritual, physical, you name it. Christ knew it as he was there before his father in the garden of Gethsemane. You know what we find there is we find Christ in this submission. He prays a prayer. I'm sure we've all marveled over the prayer that Jesus Christ prays. Father, I would at this cut pass. I mean, the cop, obviously, obviously the suffering of the next day and all that was entailed at the same time, far more than even the suffering at human hands. He knew what was going to happen the next day. He knew that put to his account as though he had committed it were going to be the sins. Of all of us. And he was going to bear it before the father and God, the father was going to turn his back. The Bible says that he was pleased to turn his back and judge his son for me. And for you, that's what's in the cup, the wrath of God and Jesus, as he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, you find him praying and he pictures this cup that he's to drink. And on one side, pastor this morning mentioned that he does say, how shall I not drink? This is the reason why I came. But you find this tension as we find him saying at one point, him saying, is there another way? You see, Christ struggled. He knew struggle. He knew every struggle you and I could ever face. He knew it from every position. He knew it from friends. He knew it from family. He knew it from enemies. It was spiritual. It was physical. It was emotional. Everything you could ever think. I know it's so encouraging to run, and I'm so encouraged. This morning, it was such sweet words to me as I looked across the landscape of this room, and Pastor Dorn was challenging us that there's to be a Titus in our lives. I have a Titus in my life. But at the same time, we all understand that God will use a Titus, but at the end of the day, my friend, we need him. We need Jesus Christ. He's the only one who really knows the pain. He's the only one who really knows the pressure. He's the only one. You see, Jesus Christ knew it. He knew it from every side. He knew it in every way. But we're being told to be like Him, to think like Him. We're being told that we are to go and to have this mindset of submission. My friend, how much time do we spend in a place called Gethsemane? Gethsemane is where you wrestle. Yosemite's perhaps not a physical place, although maybe you have your spot. It's a place in your heart where you come to God and you come to Him and you lay out the struggle, you lay out the trial, you lay out the pressure. There's nothing wrong with coming to Him. There's nothing wrong with wrestling. But at the end of the day, folks, we become very, very good at praying the first half of Christ's prayer, right? But at the end of the day, we've got to finish the prayer. Not my will, but thine be done. There is a surrender. There is a submission of the heart. You know, I think every, it says that he became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. You know, I really, this morning as we were looking there at Paul, at one point, Pastor Dorn brought up the thorn in the flesh that Paul wrestled with. You know, I just recently was actually just struggling through that passage as I'm looking at some things in my own life that are struggles, things in my own life that are pressures, things in my own life that I want so badly to kind of be able to get out from under. And I feel like every move I make to get out from under it, it just follows me. You know what I mean? And they're struggles, they're trials, they're weaknesses, they're things that sometimes I don't understand and sometimes I struggle. And really, God said something amazing to Paul in the midst of that struggle. He said, yeah, but Paul, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. In other words, I mean, the flip side of this is, Paul, my strength isn't gonna be made perfect if you don't have weakness. It's not gonna be made perfect in and through you. Without this weakness, this is what I'm gonna use. This is what it's gonna be. And so Paul comes to the place where he says, so I welcome this trial. I welcome this struggle. so that the power of God might rest upon me. Do you want the power of God to rest upon you? I mean, I think if we took, you know, the next chapter and those statements that we find there in Philippians chapter three, verse 10, when it tells us that I may know him, do you want to know God? There's not a pastor in this room who wouldn't admit that it's the desire of your heart and your life, you want to know him. And what about the power of his resurrection? Do you want God's power in your life? Do you want God's power in your family? Do you want God's power in your ministry? Oh, you can take away so many things if I could only have the God's power in my ministry. Oh, it's what we would long for and yearn for. And my friend, we've got to stop trying to get out from under the fellowship of the suffering. because it's gonna be through our weakness that He's gonna prove His power. He's gonna prove His strength. See, moments in Gethsemane are really moments when we die. You know, we die to the things that this world says you live for, but it's so that we can, in turn, live for things that are far beyond this world. And so we live a life of dying. We live a life of denying ourselves. Isn't that what Christ said? If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Let him take up his cross. What a strange statement. The cross hadn't happened yet. I mean, it was a ludicrous statement for Jesus Christ to say to a bunch of people living in the Roman Empire before the, now we sing about the cross, we love the cross. But when Jesus Christ said that, they didn't understand the first thing about the cross. And for him to say, if any of you wanna come after me, be my followers, be my disciples, deny yourself, live a life of denying yourself, take up a cross and follow me. It's no wonder people walked away. But folks, here we are 2,000 years later and we're following him. And my friend, we've got to take up our cross. We've got to go to Gethsemane where we surrender, where we submit, where we take our hands off. You say, Aaron, you have no clue what's going on in my ministry right now. You have no clue how hard it is. I wouldn't for a second pretend I do. You say, Aaron, what do I do? How do I keep from being discouraged as pastor was talking this morning? Hebrews chapter 12 says that we spend our life looking at Jesus. That's why we're here this morning or this afternoon. That's why we're in Philippians chapter two. He said, look to Jesus, looking unto Jesus. Verse three says, consider Jesus. It's a lifelong stare. It's the gaze of your soul. We sing, be thou my vision. Oh Lord of my heart. It means that you put Jesus Christ in front of your vision. He's on the other side of the finish line in this race. He's already finished it. He finished it for him. He didn't finish it for himself. He finished it for me. He finished it for you. And we live our lives with our gaze on Christ at the end of this story. You see, for the joy that was set before him, he endured for the joy that is set before us. We endure with our eyes fixed on him. We spend our lives staring at him in the word. We spend our lives meditating on Him, the meditations of our heart. We spend our lives gazing at Christ. And I'm telling you, if we don't, Hebrews chapter 12, all those who've gone before us, but now let us run with patience, with endurance, the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, consider him, and here's what happens if you don't, lest you be weary. We will grow weary in this race if we do not spend our lives staring at the one who's gone before us, who has conquered this Christian life. Folks, we must gaze upon him. This is what we do when we get up in the morning and we read our Bibles. We're spending our lives gazing at our Savior. Folks, may this be the way we live our lives. You've got the last two verses there that are the end of the story. Just as actually I'm talking about, it says, for this reason also, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow to those in heaven. of those who are in heaven and those and on earth and those under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You see we live this life And as we're going through and we have this attitude of humility, we have this attitude of submission, surrendering constantly to the will of God as we live this life, we've got to keep our eyes fixed on Him at the end of the story. Our hearts bowed, our knees bowed before Him, submitting to Him as the King and the Lord of our lives. You know, my father-in-law, This is an ordinary man, very successful though. Very successful back, you know, he got an engineering degree, then goes on, gets an MBA. He's very successful, making good money. And I think it was 41, 42, right around there, he really felt like God wanted him in ministry. So he quits the business world, he goes to seminary. becomes a Christian school teacher. He takes a gigantic pay cut. He's got unsaved family members who think he's gone crazy. But spiritually speaking, he's a hero, folks. Don't you understand? Because he believes. He believes that there's a real city whose builder and maker is God. And you're no fool to give in this life what we can't keep in order to gain in that life what we can't lose, as Jamelia told us. And so he He surrenders the things of this world. Folks, we are called to surrender the things of this world. And we surrender, we take our hands off of our dreams of perfect whatever. so that we can live in submission to Him. You see, this is not just what we are commanded to do, this is what He modeled for us. We're following our Savior in a mindset of humility, in a mindset of submission to Him. This is what He's called us to do. You know, today, I'm not sure You know, what is the need of your heart? What is the need as we're here and we're studying, you know, about a pastor's sanctification? And I'm sure there's so many practical things that are going on in the workshops, but this attitude of Christ, may this mind be in me. May this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. A mindset of humility. brokenness, low-mindedness, and then a mindset of submission to the will of God, whatever it may be for you. Let's pray. Father, Lord, we come to you. Lord, would you please help us? It's such a joy to spend time thinking about our Jesus. Lord, it's such a joy to sit at the feet of the one who has died for us, And Lord, learn of him. Lord, we all would say we want to know him. Lord, we all would say that we want the power of the resurrection to be evidenced in our life and in our ministry. And Lord, I pray that you'll help us to stay under. Lord, we would stay under in submission Lord, the process that you have planned for us, whereby your strength and your power is going to be manifest in our life. Lord, may we not live life constantly trying to get out from under the pressure, but Lord, may we submit to it. God, would you help us to be humble and help us to be obedient as we see in our Savior. In Christ's name we pray, amen.