Gospel Driven

College Retreat | Hank Parker Jr. | Breakout

The Gospel deeply impacts who we are. It drives our lives, careers, choices in every days aspects. A practical look at how Paul instructed the church and us in the book of Colossians.

Transcript – Gospel Driven

You all ready to roll? I figured I’d give you a few minutes trickle in. It seems like the sun’s starting to come out, so we’ll get a few people go, go enjoy a little bit of non-rain. How’s that>? It’s been good so far. Hasn’t it? I don’t know if you can tell from my voice, but I’m about to lose my voice, you guys; it’s been so encouraging and so, exciting. I might just happen, lose my voice all the way through before I get finished with this little session we have here. How many of you been to all the sessions, the breakouts today, to Jeremy’s and Jay’s? That’s cool. That’s really good. That’s good. Well, my name is Hank if I haven’t had a chance to meet you, I’d love to meet you. I’m on staff here at camp. I have two daughters in college and so, as I was asked to come do a breakout session. I was like, there’s a lot of things to think about, as I’m navigating the waters with my daughters and just thinking about life and careers and majors and what’s the best route to take to get to where you want to be and all the decisions that have to be made and all the things that go on, so that you can have the right trajectory in life. It can be a bit overwhelming and when I was in high school, when I graduated from high school.

I went straight into a career. I didn’t go to college right out of high school and so, I had a real set plan. I knew exactly what I wanted to do and so, I had this really clear path. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I knew exactly, pretty much how I wanted to get there and so, for my daughters, it’s been a big deal to work through that with them and it’s not an easy deal and so, as I was thinking about you guys, I’m thinking about this right here, here’s what I was thinking and basically my objective, through the whole thing, would kind of, fit in this. My objectives for this talk would fit into this one thing I was thinking about, you are on the front edge of life. You’re leaving home, you’re going to school. You’re making decisions. You’re setting yourselves up for what the future is going to look like. You’re laying this foundation in life and trying to figure out what you’re going to do. Some of you are engaged. Some of you are in relationships that you’re ultimately be married to that person and so, you’re doing these things and so, as I was thinking about that, I was thinking through what would be the most beneficial, what’d be the most helpful and I’ll just lay it out to you.

As a guy who works here with a lot of college age students year after year, one of the things that when someone works in my department or works with me when they leave, when it’s time for them to leave and go do something, here’s what I’m probably going to say to them and here’s my prayer for them, for sure, is that when they’re my age and they look back, they have not wasted their life. That they have stayed the course, they have stayed faithful, they have stayed true, that through the ups and downs of life, that they’ve stayed true and so, today, I want to just walk through what it looks like to be Gospel driven, I was thinking as I was kind of, prepping this, my boys, I have two sons who are really into watching all this crazy stuff on YouTube. It started with Dude Perfect and then, it’s kind of, escalated, I can only handle so much of Dude Perfect, the first time I watched Dude Perfect, I was like, if they can make a half-court shot, blindfolded, behind their back, why don’t they play in the NBA. Wouldn’t you make more money? It doesn’t make sense to me, but we got into these YouTube videos, the Red Bull videos. Have any of you guys ever seen the Red Bull extreme videos? Like they’ll go and they’ll dive off these crazy cliffs in the water, they’re jumping off bridges and all this stuff.

When somebody wipes out, is bad. It’s crazy, but what intrigued me the most about is the interviews with these people when they go behind the scenes and the one that I was really drawn to these dudes, they put on these things called wing suits. So, it kind of, looked like a squirrel, a flying squirrel and they jump off these cliffs and they’re like, floating in the air and they’re going, it’s insane. It’s crazy and so, one of the things that, I think intrigues people, what makes people watch that. Obviously, you guys live in a generation where shock factor is a big thing. Anybody jumps off of a cliff without a parachute, messed up. I think we can all agree on that, but what intrigues me most is the passion that these guys have and the purpose, these guys, they’re not like, they don’t have 15 hobbies, they’ve got one thing and they’re doing that. Now, it’s crazy and their purpose might be misguided and it might cost them. We watched this one video where this guy was jumping off this cliff and he was doing this wing suit thing, they’re literally, they’re going so fast, it’s insane and if you mess up, if you catch an air pocket, if you and so, this guy was trying to see how close to the ground he could get and then, there’s, I guess there’s this rock somewhere out west. It’s got a hole in him.

He wanted to try to go through it. Well, he’s like, this is not a video game, he’s controlling this thing, but by slight, small movements and at the end of the video is it just kind of, faded to black. Said, tragically, he didn’t make it, he hit the rock, he didn’t make it through the hole so, this guy ended up, smashed into a rock, but the thing that drives us to that is that dude is super passionate. That dude has got, they work at it and they do this stuff over and over and over again. Take these risks, take these chances, do these things, because this is what drives them and for you and I’ve as you’re on the front edge of life, when you daydream about your life, when you think about things, when you dream about stuff, you don’t ever or at least I don’t and most people that I talk to don’t and I hope that you don’t, we don’t Daydream, I just want to squeak by life and not really matter. I don’t want to really be respected. I just want to do the bare minimum get through life, never really any big highs, never big joys, never big lows, just kind of, have a mediocre existence and just go through life unnoticed, unknown, unchanging Not having any effects or purpose or drive or passion in my life, nobody day dreams like that. Do they? You dream the opposite, like you dream big and you think about these things.

I like to accomplish and what life can possibly turn out to be, I love to fish, if I get a day off of work. I’m probably, you’re probably going to see me down here on this river fishing. I love to fish and I have this problem every time I’m driving to the river and I’m thinking about fishing. I’m like, world records going down today. Oh yeah, I’m catching the biggest fish today. It is going to be awesome and then, 15 minutes after I get to the river, all my lines all hung up in a tree and I’m trying my best not to cuss and I’m all aggravated and I’m not, catching any fish, but my dream and what I’m thinking about in life, isn’t that funny example, is, I want to have a purpose. I want to have a passion, some of what I’m going to say is a little bit redundant, because a lot of what’s been said this weekend is going to be repeated over and over again, but there’s nothing that would drive you. There was nothing that will give you purpose and passion, like the Gospel, it should drive us and so, rather than money, fame, success, or sex, or any of those things that would drive us, that will only leave us empty and hopeless, rather what should drive us and has eternal weight and eternal purpose, is the Gospel and so, here at camp, we have a mission statement. You’ve probably seen it around. We’ve got it posted in several places and it says this, Snowbird wilderness outfitters exist.

To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the exposition of Scripture and personal relationships to equip the Church to impact this generation, like this camp Snowbird wilderness outfitters exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why we’re here and we have five core values and these are characteristics that we want to highlight, so that we can achieve this mission and the first one is Gospel driven, like one of the first core value, we’re going to list is Gospel driven. After that, its servant hearted, relational is number three, hardworking, number four and the fifth one is a positive being positive, having a positive attitude, but the very central thing, the very first core value that we list, that we want people to understand when they come to work here, is that, one of the things we want to see highlighted in your life as a follower of Jesus is that you are Gospel driven, because if we’re going to carry the mission of Jesus if we’re going to carry the good news of the Gospel, then we’re going to have to be driven, by that Gospel and so, what does it look like to be Gospel driven, what does that mean and so, the Gospel first and foremost is the good or happy news that God saves sinners, that God has reconciled us to himself, that Jesus stepped into humanity and has redeemed us.

Through his life, death and resurrection, that is the Gospel and so, it first gives us a position, it gives us a value and it gives us a purpose because of that and so, what I want to do quickly as we go through this session is, I want to take a step and look at the book of Colossians. There’s, four chapters in the book of Colossians, if you have your Bibles, just grab your… We’re going to go real quick. I want to make four observations from a couple of verses from each chapter, where Paul exhorts that church and us on what it looks like for your life not to be wasted, so that you have purpose, so that you have a deep rooted passion that the Gospel is driving what you’re doing. It’s funny, I came in towards the end of Jake’s session and he’s kind of, hitting on some of the same things and so, I will tell you this. I’m a very practical person. I like to keep things very simple. My wife went to college in Chapel Hill and she became a registered dietitian and she loves to listen to all these nerdy, technical podcasts about what you should eat, what you shouldn’t eat. You all please say a prayer for me tonight. I’m for real, if I eat any more cabbage or lettuce and my wife, one time made lasagna with no meat in it and put, some kind of, nuts and cheese and ground up mushrooms t was so gross. I’m not kidding.

It was awful, but we listen to these podcasts and I act like I’m really excited and interested to listen to these podcasts because she’s wanting to help me with my health, because I don’t eat real good when I’m not around here and every time we listen to these podcasts, it’s like, there’s these basic things, you need to drink good water, you need to take vitamins and you need to eat healthy, you need to get good sleep and exercise. I can remember those things, but the next trip we’re going to listen to a podcast and it’s like, well, this is why this water is not good and you got to do this and you got to do that and you got to do this and by the end of it, I told my wife, I said, I feel like it’s impossible. There’s just no way to do it and so, sometimes we can complicate the Christian life like that. There are times that we can add so many things to the list where we just feel overwhelmed. So, for the rest of our time, I just want to, let’s just take a step back, let’s look at the basics, let’s see what it looks like to just remain faithful and let the Gospel drive our lives and so, Colossians is where I want to do that. Our mission statement comes from Colossians 1:28 and so, we’ll come to that, but I just want to take a sneak peek what I think are key verses in each of these chapters and we’ll, we’ll just, walk through this.

I want to just make some pretty general observations that I think will be helpful for us and what he says about our purpose, so we don’t lose our purpose, our focus and our drive. So, chapter 1:21 – 23 I’ll read those, but here’s what I think the first observation is, recognize the Gospel’s work in us, recognize the Gospels work that has taken place in you. I think John said this morning that you were saved. You’re being saved and you will be saved and so, let’s look at that. It says, in verse 21 says and you who once were alienated and hostile, in mind, let’s look at that just for a second. You were alienated, you were estranged. You were a foreigner. There’s, other words you could put there. You were hostile. You were an enemy, in mind, which points to your disposition. So, you are a foreigner, you were on the outside and you were an enemy and you had a disposition of aggression towards God, that was your status doing evil deeds it says, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. That is amazing stuff. Stop just for a second and just think about this. As followers of Jesus think about, I was 25 years old when I came to faith in Jesus. Some of you might have been a kid in VBS, you might have, whatever it was. Wherever you were it was you are an undeserving recipient of God’s grace he saved you.

Think about that for a second. That’s powerful and he has declared you, his declaration of you is that you are just, the legal demand has been met and you are declared righteous, he goes on to say that you are above reproach before him. That is your status now, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven in which I Paul became a minister like staying truth to the Gospel, continuing in that is evidence that God has transformed and saved you. So, the first thing that you and I need to do if we’re going to have passion and purpose, if the Gospel is going to drive us in our lives, we need to reflect often on the Gospel’s work in us the moment that we came to faith in Jesus the time we recognize, that we turn from our sin and we put our faith and trust in Jesus and we need to reflect on that and there are days where that’s going to be moment by moment, but it needs to be often. We’ve got to continue to think on this, to remember this, to reflect on that and to meditate on it. Thankfulness and gratitude should be a marker of every Christian. We will never love others the way God has called us to love people. We will never forgive others the way God has called us to forgive people, unless we recognize first that he first loved us. That he has forgiven us.

Of much and so, the moment that we have put our trust and hope in Jesus that we have turned from our sins, put our faith in Jesus he has declared us righteous. We are justified and from that day forward, our sanctification begins, he’s beginning to shape us and to change us and conform us to the image of Christ. So, number one, just reflect on that, remember that you want to be hard on other people, remember where you were before you came to faith in Jesus and how Jesus saved you and the second thing, the second observation I want to make is from chapter 2:6 – 8 and I just I titled this is grow in your knowledge of Christ and his word. Never stop learning and growing no matter where you’re at, no matter how old you are. The beauty of God’s word is that it’s shallow enough for a kid to enjoy, but it’s deep enough that you’ll never survey all of its depths. Stay in his word. Keep growing. Look at verse 6. Therefore as you receive Christ Jesus Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. How did you receive Jesus?

How did you receive him? Through faith, through faith alone in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, keep doing that, his grace got you in; his grace is what keeps you here. It is his work that keeps you and we want to put to death those things that are in us. Those fleshly things that are in us, but we’ve never come to a point where we say, God got me here. I’ve got to keep myself here. We continue to place our faith and our trust in Jesus and that, we don’t turn from that. There’s not any, like we don’t add anything to the Gospel. It is the centerpiece. It is the foundation. Peter says it’s the cornerstone. It’s not only the foundation on, which the whole building stands, but it’s the beauty of the building. It’s what we see. It’s the Gospel that keeps us here. It’s faith in Christ alone and so, the thing that I would encourage you, that most of you in college and what I’ve encouraged my daughters as they go away to college. The way that we’re going to do that is by staying in his word and being involved and active in a healthy church. Look, when you go to school, when you leave your parent’s home, when you go to school, when you’re two hours, four hours, 20 minutes, whatever it is down the road when you’re out from underneath your parent’s roof or wherever God calls you, find a church, get involved with a church. Be active in that church. You we hear so much in our culture.

About deconstruction, it’s been mentioned several times already at this event, but we hear so much about deconstruction and what I see is all the people that we listen, that I personally listen to on podcasts talk about deconstruction, have compromised and started to walk away from the Gospel. Have started to walk away from Jesus and they need a way to justify it. Listen, stay underneath good teaching. Stay in God’s word. Don’t walk away from that. Paul is writing to the church. Now, he does write to Timothy and he writes to people and he writes to individuals, but it’s always connected to his church, it’s always talking about the building of his church. Do not walk away from that and try to do it on your own. Stay in his word. Stay in church. Don’t, compromise there. Don’t walk away from that. Continue to push yourself to grow. Never stop learning, never stopped growing. So, the third thing, the third observation I would want to make is, in chapter 3 are you able to keep up with where I’m going from chapter to chapter So, chapter 3:1 – 4 and I just titled this, fix your eyes on Jesus. If then you have been raised with Christ. Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ, in God, Paul says it this way.

In Philippians, for to me, to live is Christ and to die is more Christ. It’s, another way of saying that when Christ who is your life, look at that in verse 4, When Christ who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. Our future is sure. We will be with Christ one day; Peter tells us that we have an inheritance that’s imperishable. It’s incorruptible waiting for us in heaven. The next verses after this that go down, we don’t have time to get into that talks about what this looks like. It says, put to death what is fleshly in you and put on your new life in Christ and it’s constantly talking about, fix your eyes and keep your hope in Jesus. Life will have its distractions. There will be plenty of distractions with life. There will be people, pastors, friends and even yourself, just you will be disappointed. People will disappoint you. Some of your own decisions will disappoint you. Your hope is not in people. Your hope is not in your own performance. Your hope is in Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus. When that famous pastor falls, when someone you love and trust stumbles, remember Christ is our hope. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Don’t walk away because someone else has failed you, if you make a mistake and we all are, when you stumble, when you struggle, when you mess up, get back up.

‘Remember your position in Christ, he has justified you, he has called you, he has declared you righteous in Christ, get back up. Keep pursuing Jesus. Keep your eyes fixed on Christ, he is faithful and he is true and the last observation I want to make the fourth and last one is, live on mission. Live missionally in your life, this is going to come from chapter 4: 2 – 6 it says this, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful and with thanksgiving at the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison. It’s crazy, isn’t it; just think like this, Paul is so joyful. Paul is, so on mission, he’s got passion, he’s got purpose. This dude’s in jail, it doesn’t take much to mess my day up and I’m pretty aggravated, it’s like this convicting, he says this, in verse 4, he says that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak and then, he tells us walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of time, let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person be ready in season to be able to give a defense for the hope that lies within you. 2nd Corinthians 5 tells us that we are ambassadors that we are to make an appeal to people to be reconciled to Christ.

Be reconciled to God through Christ, if we’re going to live a life that has purpose and has passion, what could be greater than telling other people about the good news of the Gospel of Jesus? To be reconciled to him that he has made a way for us in Christ if you will turn and put your trust in Jesus, live your life on mission, recognize the friendships that you have around you. The situation that you have around you is not permanent. You have no idea like when things will change. You have no idea when’s the last time you’re going to see somebody. You have no idea when you’re going to go to a different school, you’re going to go to a job, you’re going to move away, you think you got all this time to talk to these folks and you got people around you, that seems like this is going to be like this forever, life will change really quickly and things will shake up relationships and you may move and nobody’s promised tomorrow, live your life on mission and see people for what they are, made in the image of God. There is no hope for anyone outside of Jesus Christ and we have this treasure. We have this good and happy news to take to them, to the people we work around, to the people we go to school with, to our family and our friends and our neighbors live on mission, write people’s names down, pray for them. It’s funny; I get a reminder on my phone every morning at 4.30 each day I just.

It’s the only way I’ll forget. I forget everything. I leave stuff at people’s houses and I never see it again. I leave jackets. I don’t know how many jackets I’ve lost here at camp, I leave everything I have, but I’ll put people’s names down and I’ll write little notes beside it and say, this morning, I’m going to pray for my buddy Dale Wilkinson, that he will come to faith in Jesus and it’s the way that I remember and then, so when I’m talking to them, I’m thinking about it. I have purpose. I’m not just going to that dude’s House to talk about a football game, which might be what we talk about, that might be great, but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, there’s nothing greater for this guy in the world than to know love and follow Jesus live your life on mission and so, I kind of, started this off with our mission statement and it’s built off chapter 1:28 says him, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature in Christ. My hope for you, as I said, my objective at the beginning, is that 20, 30, years from now, you’re still following Jesus, that you haven’t left the path, that you haven’t gotten distracted, that your eyes are fixed on Jesus that you’re more mature then than you are now. You’re continuing to grow. You’re continuing to pursue Jesus.

That you’ve set your mind on the things that are above you set your heart, you’ve set your affections on Jesus. Not perfect, you’re not perfect, you’re not going to nail it every time. You’re going to have tough days; you’re going to have highs. You’re going to have lows. Your life is going to bring great joys and it’s going to bring sorrows, but in all of it, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. There could be nothing greater than to know that when I close my eyes in death, that I will see Jesus and hear him say, well done, good and faithful servant and I want that for you. So, let the Gospel drive you. Live your life on mission. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.