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Think Ahead Series
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I want to start with something fun. I found a few headlines online, and I need your help to determine whether they're true or false.
First: Disney buys the exclusive rights to the Bible and plans multiple sequels.
Second: An Italian province DNA tests dog poo to penalize lazy owners.
Third: Tim Tebow blows up the internet by wearing John 3:16 under his eyes.
Here's my question to you: What is truth?
We live in a world where there is a lot of fake news. If you spend enough time on TikTok, you'll realize that the life hacks don't usually actually work. We live in a generation that declares that my truth is the only truth, and it's becoming harder to discern what is actually true.
When it comes to truth, you need to remember: truth doesn't always make sense, it doesn't always feel good, but it always brings freedom. Real truth sets people free. The world is full of fake news, but God's word is full of good news.
While we may not understand fully everything in this life, we can predecide to always seek truth. Scripture tells us:
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
If you're tired of the lies, if you're ready to seek truth, the title of my message today is No More Fake News.
Let me bring back Tim Tebow for a moment. In 2009, he played in the College National Championship game and wore John 3:16 under his eyes. That day, 90 million people Googled John 3:16.
But here's what's even crazier. Three years later to the date, he's playing in a playoff game in the professional league, and they win. After the game, his publicist tells him: "Tim, do you realize what just happened?" Tim thinks they're just celebrating the win. His publicist says, "No—today you threw for 316 yards. You averaged 31.6 yards per pass, and running the ball, you averaged 3.16 yards rushing." You can verify this on ESPN's website. This is a powerful verse.
Let's look at John 3:16. Many of us know this verse, so I think it'd be great if we all read it together:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
This is one of the most famous, most well-known, most quoted verses in the world. But here's a question: Who was it said to? When you read it, it sounds like it's being said to the world. But it was actually said to one man, and his name is Nicodemus.
Nicodemus is mentioned three times in the Book of John. Some scholars believe that the first time he shows up, it's in a garden; the next time it's in a temple; and finally, it's at the cross at the crucifixion of Jesus. When you study his life, you'll see that he was committed. He predecided to seek truth at all costs.
Let's look at John 3:1:
There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee—a studier of scripture. He knew the law. He was also part of a smaller segment called the Sanhedrin, the rulers over the Israelites. These men were known as men of truth.
Listen to what happens next:
After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."
This was scandalous for him. Why did he go to Jesus at dark? We're not quite sure, but you can make the point that he was maybe afraid of being seen with Jesus. The Pharisees didn't love Jesus; they hated Him. He was taking a risk.
Nicodemus tells Jesus, "We know that you're with God. We know that you are from God." And Jesus replied:
I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus is confused. He asks, "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
Jesus replied:
I assure you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit.
Nicodemus comes with all his knowledge, but he's missing the spiritual part. And then we get to Verse 16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus addresses the real question. The question Nicodemus was really asking—the one he was eager to know—is: How can I be saved? How can I enter the kingdom of God?
Remember: there's a difference between knowing the truth and believing in truth. And this difference has eternal implications. Seeking, finding, and embracing truth impacts your eternity. But let's be honest, it also impacts your life right now, right here on earth. Eternity starts now.
It's imperative that we predecide to seek truth at all costs.
Nicodemus had to wrestle with three truths. If you want to live a life of purpose, of meaning, and of freedom, you've got to seek truth. Today, we're going to focus on three truths that you must discover.
Your identity matters. Here's the question you need to ask yourself: Who are you becoming?
When you think about your life—not just who you are right now, but who is it that you're becoming? Do you like who you are becoming? What you believe determines who you are and who you will become.
Nicodemus tells Jesus, "We know you're from God. We know you're teaching from God." He wants to confirm: "Are you really who you say you are? Are you really the Messiah?" And Jesus flips it on him. Jesus tells him, "No, listen—you must be born again."
Nicodemus had to wrestle with his own identity. Up to this point, his identity was based on knowledge, on the ability to judge and tell what's true. His identity was based on what people thought of him, tradition and culture. But Jesus calls him to more.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? When you stand there and identify your life, what do you see?
Some of us see pride and arrogance. We puff ourselves up because of our status, because of how much we've accomplished. We look at others and think, I'm not like those people. But pride comes before the fall.
But most of us, I believe, when we look in the mirror, we see shame or guilt. We don't like what we see. Be honest. Tell the truth.
In my twenties, I went through a season where I had a real crisis of my own identity. I was trapped in secret sin—specifically in lust and pornography. I hated my life. It was horrible. I would sin over and over and feel trapped by it. I wanted to let it go, but it wouldn't let go of me. Even though I hated it, I felt chained to it.
Every time I would sin, I'd look in the mirror and I hated what I saw. I'd look at myself and I would yell at myself—not with volume, but from the depths of my soul. I would say things like: "I hate you. You're so disgusting. You're such a hypocrite. How could you do this again? If people knew what you were doing, they would leave you. God will never use you."
You say these things long enough, and you start to believe them. You start to become them.
At one point, I finally confessed it. I brought it to light. I exposed my sin. I told a pastor about what I was going through. I found accountability, and I found freedom. But every time I looked in the mirror, I still saw that old sinful man.
And you need to know: if you wanna change what you see, you gotta change what you say.
Listen to me: You're not your mistake. Your past does not define you. You're a child of God. You've been forgiven. You've been redeemed. God will take your past and he will use it for his purpose. Your family loves you. You are loved by God. Be the warrior that God created you to be.
If you wanna change what you see, you gotta change what you say. Your identity needs to be based on truth. And I'm not talking about your truth. I'm not talking about my truth. I'm not talking about manifestations or declarations or power statements.
Because the truth is, you can write down a thousand times, "I am a millionaire." You can look to the eastern sun and declare, "Everything I touch turns to success." I could go to a steel pond, look at my reflection and declare, "I am 6'1"." It ain't gonna happen. Those things might actually come to pass. Not the 6'1"—I'm gonna be 5'6" for the rest of my life. They may happen. But here's what I'll tell you: Any declaration not based on the truth of God's word will still leave you empty.
If you need help, and I know I needed some help, you need to put together some declarations over your life that are based on biblical truth. Our team put together some incredible resources for you based on Pastor Craig's message "Words to Live By." These are declarations and statements created based on the truth of God's word.
If you wanna change what you see, you gotta change what you say. Do not live any longer under the false identity, under the fake news of who you used to be. Live the truth of God and what He says about you.
Let me just call it like it is. Some of you look in the mirror and you think you are a loser. Guess what? Fake news. In Christ, you are more than a conqueror.
You might look in the mirror and think you are unlovable. Fake news. Because nothing can separate you from the love of God.
You might think God could never use someone like me. Fake news. Because He takes the foolish things of the world and confounds the wise.
You might be sitting here thinking God could never use me to defeat this addiction. Fake news. With Christ, all things are possible.
You just need to hear it. You need to know the truth. When the devil shouts his lies, you shout back: Fake news. When the world shuts you out, you dig right in and declare: Fake news. When the haters try to take you down, you get yourself back up and declare: No more fake news.
You gotta know the truth about who you are. You gotta know the truth about who Jesus says you are.
Where are you belonging? Who are your friends? What are the groups that you are in?
The second time we see Nicodemus, he does something crazy. Remember, he's part of the Jewish rulers. What's happening is they're plotting Jesus' arrest. In John 7, Jesus had been teaching in the temple, and the religious leaders were planning to arrest Him and kill Him.
Nicodemus does something crazy. He takes a stand. Look at John 7:50:
Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. "Is it legal to convict a man before he's given a hearing?"
They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search the scriptures and see for yourself. No prophet ever comes from Galilee."
Sometimes you gotta speak up for the truth. In this moment, you can tell he's realizing these men are not seeking truth. They just want to arrest and kill Jesus.
Sometimes you look up and you tell the truth about your community: You got the wrong people in your life. Tell the truth.
Do you have the right people in your life? Or are your people negative and toxic, always full of drama, always doing too much? Or maybe they're not bad. Maybe they're just lukewarm or stagnant. They're not bad people, but they're just complacent. There's no drive, there's no sharpening—iron sharpening iron. They're holding you back.
Maybe you're in a life group, but let's get real—you haven't met for six months. The last time you met, you don't even get real with each other. You just kind of hang out. Tell the truth about your community. Tell the truth about the groups that you're in—that Facebook group that spews hatred all the time. It's time to get out.
That relationship that you know—Pastor Craig's been preaching it for three years—break up. And you're like, "Well, I'm gonna give him some chance. There's potential there." Break up. It's time.
Maybe you need to tell the truth to your spouse about where you really are so that God can begin to restore you. You gotta tell the truth.
Remember what your mom said: "Show me your friends. I'll show you your future." You are who you hang around with.
Proverbs says it this way:
Become wise by walking with the wise. Hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.
Tell the truth about your community. Get yourself some good people in your life that will encourage you and push you forward, that will be honest with you and tell you the truth.
The question here is: What master are you serving? Because here's the truth—we are all serving someone. We're all following something or someone. We're all chasing after someone. Be honest. Tell the truth.
Who or what are you following? Are you chasing after money, fame, popularity? What you chase after defines your master.
The third and final time we see Nicodemus is at the cross. Jesus has been beaten to a bloody pulp. A crown of thorns has been placed on his head. He's been whipped. He's been spat on, humiliated, hung on a cross. And in one final breath, He gives up the spirit and He dies.
Scripture tells us there was a man known as Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph asks for Jesus' body. This is important because at that point, the religious leaders were worried that Jesus' body would be stolen. Whoever took the body was a big, big deal.
Joseph takes the body, gets permission, and is about to take it to the tomb. And look what happens. John 19:39:
With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes.
This was used to embalm the body. Some versions say it was closer to a hundred pounds. He brings this with him. In that moment, it would have been the wrong time for him to declare himself as a Jesus follower. Jesus was dead. It's over.
But what does Nicodemus do? He brings his wealth—75 pounds of myrrh and aloes. The average amount for a normal funeral was about five pounds. He brought 75 pounds. You know what this means? The scholars believe this was close to $250,000, and he brought his wealth. This amount was reserved for royalty. This would have been considered a king's burial.
Scholars believe that this was the moment Nicodemus publicly declared: Jesus is my king. He comes and brings everything.
He found truth. All his life, Nicodemus had predecided to seek truth at all costs, and it almost cost him everything. He predecided to seek truth, and he meets Jesus for the first time. He tries to confirm, "Are you the Messiah?" He's confused. Jesus tells him about being born of the spirit, and he doesn't get it. He wrestles with his identity.
Then he stands up in front of his peers, in front of the people he grew up with who were following scripture. He declares, "Hey, I stand up for Jesus." So he wrestles with his community.
And then finally, he gets to this place where he has to wrestle with his eternity. He predecided to seek truth at all costs, and it costs him a lot—perhaps everything he has. But he found truth.
Truth was never a place to arrive. It wasn't a thing to possess, but it was a person to believe in. Truth is a person, and His name is Jesus.
I can envision Nicodemus, as he brought everything, saying something like: "For God so loved me that He gave His only son. And because I believe in Him, I will not perish but have eternal life."
The world thought the devil had won. Jesus is dead. Guess what? Fake news. Because three days later, the tomb was empty. There was nobody in the grave. Jesus was alive. And to this day, that is still the truth.
John 8:32 says:
And you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
God, thank You for Your truth. Thank You for Your son Jesus. Thank You for the freedom, Father God, that comes through Your son.
As we pray at all of our Life.Church locations and for those of you online, today is a day when I believe many of you're gonna take a stand and say: I am committed to seeking truth.
Maybe it's around your identity, and you need to just let go of the old thoughts you had about yourself. You need to start declaring new things in your life, your new identity in Christ.
Or perhaps you need to get some new people around you that will encourage you and push you forward.
Whatever the case may be, today is a day to say: I want to predecide to seek truth at all costs.
If you're here today and you say, "I wanna seek truth. I want to know Jesus," there are some of you who are here today relating to Nicodemus. You came here looking to see if it was true, looking to see if Jesus is who He said He is.
Maybe you've grown up in church. You know about God. You know scriptures. You know the Bible. You try to do good things to be on God's good side. Or maybe you walked in here today and this is the first time you step foot in a church. You're kind of surprised the walls didn't crumble down on you because you feel so far from God.
Whatever the case is, today is a day where you can actually be born again, be born of the Spirit. I'm not talking about joining a religion. Please don't join a religion. But I'm talking about surrendering your life to Jesus and entering into a relationship with Him.
Here's what I want you to know: Just like Nicodemus came to Jesus, Jesus met him where he was. And today, Jesus is here meeting you right where you are. And I believe there are those of you who need to make one decision—to step towards Jesus, to receive forgiveness of your sins.
Here's what you need to remember: Jesus is the son of God. He lived a sinless life and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. And scripture says that anyone—this includes you—anyone that calls on the name of Jesus would be saved.
Today is a day for many of you to take that step and say: "I need to give my life to Christ. I need to surrender." When you turn away from your sins and turn towards Christ, He forgives you. He gives you a new life. You are born again, born of the Spirit.
So I'm gonna count to three. When I get to three, if you say yes—I need to be born again, I need to be born of the spirit, I need to surrender my life to Jesus—I want you to shoot your hand up in the air.
One: God loves you. He's here for you, ready to forgive you and give you a new life.
Two: Don't wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow's not promised to anyone. Today is your day of salvation.
Three: Come on, shoot your hand up right now. God bless you. God loves you. Welcome to the family of God. No more guilt, no more shame.
For those of you online, just type it in the comments: "I'm giving my life to Jesus."
Church family, everyone pray together. Pray out loud.
Heavenly Father, I give you my life. I surrender my heart. Today I declare Jesus as my Lord and my savior. By His grace I'm forgiven. By His truth I'm set free. No more guilt, no more shame. My life belongs to You. It's in Jesus' name I pray.
Come on, church, let's celebrate! Do you want to keep learning how to think ahead and make better decisions?
