All right, let's pray. Father, thanks for uh thanks for today. Thanks for us uh uh uh all getting back in town and the kids in school and and uh ready to go and ready to refocus. And we just uh praise you for that and the seasons and the year and and our lives. We thank you mostly for adopting as us as your children, and we we praise you for that. Holy Spirit, thank you for being our teacher. We ask you to teach us this morning, just fill this room and to speak into into each one of us, that every single one of us will leave with something um from you. And Jesus, we just thank you for showing us what our father's really like, for making all that possible. We praise you for that. And it's in your name we pray. Amen. Well, this morning I want to take a step back and maybe look at our lives in a really simple way. I read once that if you want to see with fresh eyes, you have to reframe the picture. And so for the next few weeks, you know, maybe we can reframe the picture and uh and look at our lives from a slightly different perspective. I had a few weeks off from uh speaking, which was uh was nice for me. I got to do some things, work on some other things here. And one of the things I got to do was uh was read a little bit, which uh which I enjoy. One of the books I read I I really liked. It's uh it's this book. It's uh by Donald Miller. It's called uh A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. See, I'm not gonna try and share much of the book because you know it's what what he wrote uh it's what he wrote, and I cannot really um do it justice, but there's an idea he expresses in the book that was really uh it just hit me the right way, and it was kind of inspiring to uh to think about. I think to get a hold of that idea, I need to kind of tell you how the book came about. In 2003, Don Miller wrote a book uh you might have heard of it, it's called Blue Like Jazz. It was uh it was a bestseller. It was uh non-religious thoughts on Christian Spirituality, was the subtitle of the book. And uh it was kind of an autobiography, it was his life story and a lot of things that he had uh you know thought about up to that point. He wrote a book after that called Searching for God Knows What, which I really, really uh um liked. Um the new book is uh just him kind of recounting what happened when a couple of movie producers came and talked to him about turning blue-like jazz into a movie. Um it was, you know, basically an autobiography. It was his his uh life story. So they set out to convert that book, an autobiography, into a screenplay, a movie. And what Don quickly found out was that his life wasn't interesting enough to be a movie. You know, his autobiography revolved around a lot of things that he thought about. The difference, the big difference between a book and a movie, and I hadn't really thought about this, but now I see where it's true, is that in a book you can convey thoughts easily. You know, you get inside the character's head, you know, and you know what they're thinking about. Um in a movie, you only understand the character through their actions because it's something you're watching. You're not so much in their head. You know, and so in a book, you can think how you just can't stand for someone to be bullied. But in a movie, you've got to step up and do something about it. You know, in a book you can think courageous thoughts. In a movie, you have to act courageously. In a movie, you can can think about compassion. I mean, in a book you can think about compassion. In a movie, you've got to be compassionate. You've got to demonstrate, to show compassion. Books can be about thoughts. Movies have to be about actions. And so there's a reason that most books, um, most movies that are based on books, at the end of the movie there's a little disclaimer, it says based on a true story, as opposed to this is a true story. And it's because they've got to add some action. They've got to add some elements to make it interesting enough to hold our attention as a movie. And so Don and the two producers realize they're gonna have to add a lot of elements to the story. And Don has this unique opportunity. He literally gets to go back and rewrite his own life story. And what an opportunity. See, and he writes books, so he has to learn to write screenplays. And so he talks to experts and he goes to this seminar given by this uh renowned teacher, and he learns the elements of a great story. He learns about a good story first, eventually, he learns about the elements of a great story. And this is uh my paraphrase. But a great story in a movie or screenplay is a likable character that wants something important and overcomes conflict to get it. But the point of the story is the transformation of the character. And so you can apply that to almost any great movie, like the movie Blindside. Michael is a likable character. He wants something important. What he really wants is a family. And so he overcomes conflict to get it. But the whole point of the story is the transformation of the character. You know, uh even a greater example is uh obviously Talladega Knights. I mean, I don't know how many Academy Awards it won, but it had to be a lot. But Ricky Bobby, I mean, he's a likable character. I mean, it's a no-brainer. You gotta like him. Now he wants something important, and it's not to win races. The important thing he wants is a relationship with his dad. And he overcomes conflict to get it. But he's transformed in the process. The point of the story really is the transformation of the character. These are the elements of all great movies, of all great stories. A likable character that wants something important, that overcomes conflict to get it, but the point of the story is really the transformation of the character. And so understanding these elements, Don realizes he not only wants to rewrite his story up to now, he wants to live the rest of his life as a much greater story. And so this morning, that's our fresh perspective. Really for the next few weeks. How can we live our lives as a much greater story? I want to talk about the first element. The first element of a great story is a likable character. You'll start to notice in movies how quickly they show us that the main character is likable. In Rocky VI, first half hour, Rocky spends time at uh Adrian's gravesite. And when he goes to leave, he takes the wooden chair he's been sitting on and he hides it back in the tree. And so we know he spends a lot of time there. He's nice to his old fans. I mean, they they come up to him and he's constantly having to tell the same story over and over and over. But he's patient and kind to them. He walks a gal home and it's and he gets to her door, and instead of hitting on her, he reaches in and he replaces the porch light with the light bulb because her porch light had burned out. He takes her son and they go to the pound and they adopt the most miserable-looking dog in the place. I mean, you gotta like Rocky. How can you help it? He has proven himself a likable character. And the reason that's important is if we don't like him, we could care less whether he wins the big fight. He's gonna have the inevitable big fight, but we have to like him first for it to matter. It's the first element of a great story. And in a movie, what makes someone likable is their actions. And it's true in our lives too. To be likable requires action. Now, I want to make sure, I want to make, I want to be really careful to make sure I explain that in the right context. Because we talk a lot about the truth. I mean, we just worshiped it and sang it and received it. That God loves us just as we are. There is no action. We don't have to, we don't have to do something to make God love us, and there's nothing that we can do later that's gonna make God love us more. He created us, he cares about it, he loves us. That has to come first. That was really the point of chips last week. That first, before we can do anything, first we have to receive God's love. And the reason we talk about that so much is it's such a difficult thing. You know, it's it it just doesn't come easily. You know, we're not used to that in our lives. But God, our Father, He loves us exactly as we are. And so we receive that love and we connect with Him, and our spirits come alive, and our spirits connect. And God starts starts pouring Himself through us. And as He does it, and as His love pours through us, it comes out of us in actions. It comes out of us in actions. So we don't have to earn His love. We connect and rest. But His love does flow out of us in actions. In James 2, 16, this is Jesus' brother talking, says, Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-star and say, Good morning, friend. Be clothed in Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup. Where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God talk without God acts is outrageous nonsense? And so this morning we're not talking about resting in our salvation, resting in God's love, which is the first and most important thing. But we're talking about what makes a great story. How each of our lives can be a great story, how we can all together live great stories. And if we're gonna be likable characters, it's gonna require action. Back when uh running a business is most of uh what I did, I got to play in uh in a bunch of golf proams. A proam is where you know on Wednesday or on Thursday, if it's a senior tour event, three uh three amateurs get to play with a pro, and it's usually a charity type uh um tournament. There's usually a crowd watching, depending on who you're playing with. I'll say that of my ten most humiliating experiences in life, at least three of them happened in proams. But um one time I uh I and and and two other guys were playing with uh a guy named Bob Gilder. And um it actually was a great day. It was one of the rare, I mean, probably the two or three times I actually played good in one of those things. And I uh I really enjoyed the day. I enjoyed um Bob, he's from Oregon, lives in Oregon. Um I grew up in Oregon, and it was just an enjoyable day all around. We get done playing, and there's a tent, and we go and we eat lunch, and and the four of us are walking back to the clubhouse. You know, there's a little a little path we're walking on, and and off the side there's a trash can, and it's kind of overflowing from the from the spectators, and there's like eight beer cans kind of strewn around the the trash can that people have just kind of thrown there as they left. And so the the three of us, we're like people, man, that's that's rude. And uh Bob the pro he doesn't say a word. He goes over and starts picking up the beer cans. And now he's got all eight of them, and he's holding them like this, and he walks like 20 yards, and he puts them in the next uh the next trash can. And you know, I really liked Bob. I still do. Why? Because of his actions. The three of us were just talking about it. He took action, and that's what makes a likable character. It's actions. Matthew 7.20. Jesus says, yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. In our movies, our movies, in our movies, we need action. It's not enough to think that your wife is beautiful. You're not a book. She can't read your mind. You can't just think your wife is beautiful. You've got to tell her. She's watching your movie. You've got to tell her. You've got to demonstrate it. You've got to have action. It's not enough to think about how much we love our children. They're not reading the book. They're watching the movie. We've got to demonstrate. We've got to spend time. I've got to show them how much I love them. It's not enough to appreciate your customers. You have to tell them. You have to demonstrate. You have to show them. It's not enough for us to care about people. We have to help them. In Matthew 25, Jesus says, I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was homeless and you gave me a room. I was shivering and you gave me clothes. I was sick and you stopped to visit. I was in prison and you came to me. Then those sheep are going to say, Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you? Then the king will say, I'm telling the solemn truth. Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me. You did it to me. Jesus is encouraging us to live lives of action. Is there an area in our lives that we can take action? You know, it might be relatively easy, asking forgiveness, loving on our kids or spouse, helping a friend or a stranger, getting involved in a cause that makes a difference. You know, it might be difficult. It might be a difficult action, like getting help with an anger problem, or getting help with an addiction problem. I met with a friend uh a few months ago. It was someone I'd known for a while, and uh he was addicted to meth. I have a lot of empathy for people struggling with addictions because that's something that I've struggled and struggled with. It was heartbreaking talking with him because he was physically feeling so bad. He looked awful, he's shaking, he's lost his job, doesn't have a place to stay, he's lost his family, his wife and his kids have moved out of state. And he says, I'm afraid if I don't stop using, I'm going to destroy my life. And I say, Man, you have destroyed your life. You have destroyed your life. The question is, are you and God gonna rebuild it? You can rebuild it. See, he was reading the book where his thoughts really mattered. In his mind, he did love his wife. He does. In his mind, he loves his children. In his mind, he can be a great employee. But it was his actions that were having the impact. In Proverbs it says, even a child is known by his actions. So later that week he checked into a rehab. Okay, that's a good action. That's a great action. And he can still have all the elements of a life that can be a great story, a likable character that wants something important, overcomes conflict to get it. But the point of the story will be his transformation. We are all created to live a great story. We are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things. He planned for us long ago. One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible is Genesis 1. I think that's where we'll finish. And so if the worship team wants to come up, and if you all want to stand, we'll get ready to finish here in a minute. But the uh this verse, Genesis 1.27, says, so God created human beings. It says, so God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. And what that means is whether we're men, whether we're women, whether we're younger, whether we're older, we are created in the image of God. You've got God's image inside of you. You have what it takes to live a great story. You are more than you think you are. You can do more than you think you can do. We are all created to live a great story. And it starts with a little action. In Matthew, Jesus is talking to a guy named Nicodemus. It's really a cool conversation. It's a pretty famous conversation. It's the whole kind of born-again conversation. And so Nicodemus says, Well, how is that possible? Am I supposed to crawl back up into my mom? And Jesus says, No, I'm talking about something spiritual. It's your spirit. It's God's spirit, your spirit connecting, coming alive. It's hard to explain, is what Jesus says. And then he says, Nicodemus, you know what? You are procrastinating with all of your questions. See, Jesus loved Nicodemus. But he's like, man, it's time to take action. The first step. Get connected with me. Follow me. Get connected with your Father. It's a simple thing to do. We just turn to him and say, hey, I'm tired of trying it my way. I'm going to do it your way. I'm going to follow you. He fills us with his spirit. Our spirit comes alive. He does the heavy lifting. And his love starts to pour into us and through us. You'll never regret that. I mean, being adopted into God's own family. We can all live great stories together. We'll help each other. We'll help each other live great stories. We'll be likable characters. We'll want something important. We'll overcome all the conflict to get it. But the point of the story will be our transformation. It'll be our transformation. Next week we'll talk about kind of the next element of a great story: wanting something important. All right, let's pray. Father, thank you for being such a great God. Thank you for creating us in your image. Thank you for taking the time to design us, each uniquely and differently, but all designed to together live a great story. We thank you for loving us just as we are. We ask you to stir us up, to change us. We ask you to transform us, help us all to live a life that's a great story. We praise you and we trust you and we thank you. In Jesus' great name. Amen.